Food for Thought

I know this isn't my typical type of posting, but this thought came to mind and I figured I'd share it before I forgot about it. Maybe when I am frustrated someday I can read this post and remember this thought. 

Most people say that opposites attract- relationship speaking. Well, when I think about Kasey and I, I tend to disagree. We have all the same hobbies, love spending time together, love the same movies, etc.. So how is it, that we follow the norm? Well one big thing comes to mind...romanticism. 

I tend to be very romantic. For instance, every Valentine's Day I spread the holiday out 10 days and I give Kasey a gift every day leading up to Valentine's. It is a TON of work coming up with 10 different ideas every single year. Some of the things I have done are: 101 things I love about you on sticky notes in his room, 52 things I love about you on a set of playing cards, "I wheelie like you" with several toy cars, and many more! It is really fun to see the way that he reacts to all the presents. 

Now on the other hand, Kasey is about as romantic as a pet rock. He grew up with a family that did not display public affection and besides that, he just tends to have no romantic bone in his body. He has been romantic about three times in our 2 1/2 year relationship, and those moments were surely treasured. But, I learned that when I committed my life to someone who's not romantic I needed to accept that and learn to make the best out of it. I don't expect flowers when I come home from work, cards for no reason, or cards at all really. It just isn't the way he is. 

Now I am sure some of you who are reading this are feeling terrible for me because I have made this sound like some sort of tragedy, but to be honest it really isn't. You see, me being overly romantic and him being not romantic at all complete the need for romanticism in our relationship. There is a very delicate balance. 

I do, however, pray for strength to continue to keep my end of the deal. Because if I am not romantic, what will happen to our relationship? I have noticed that when I am slacking on my end Kasey steps up on his end, but I would never want to see what happens when neither of us contribute.

 I enjoy making dinner for him and making him small DIY gifts! :) In fact, I hope he doesn't read this, but we will be together for 1000 days on October 1, 2014. I can't wait to plan a little party for him. He'll come home from work to dinner, a cake, decorations, and a small gift and have no clue why. It's things like this that excite me! 

So I leave with this...if you have noticed that you and your significant other struggle with a difference, find ways to compliment that void that they might have in their life with an over abundance in yours. If he/she is the jealous type, balance the equation by not being jealous at all. It is interesting how a balanced relationship, or the best effort a person can do to have a balanced relationship, can make life so much easier! Good luck! 

The Trip vs. The House

I must admit, I had an entire post written out about four days ago and then my phone decided it wasn't important and deleted it all :( I was very frustrated! I have been boycotting Blogger for the last four days in a meaningless self-pity pout. However, I have decided to give it a second try! 

We got home from our trip on Sunday and I was both sad to leave and eager to get home! The cruise itself was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I was entertained, fed like a queen, and fully rested while onboard. I was also sanitized every half-hour, but that's a story for later. Like I said, I could have stayed on the ship forever, but I was really excited to get home and see our new carpet and to see out puppy. Have I mentioned before that we are OBSESSED with our dog? She's a Toy Australian Shepherd and she is literally our child. 

Excuse the unpacking mess, but this picture is of her when we got home. I believe she was trying to send the message that we can't go on any more trips without her. And, I don't think we could. We had a friend from my work watch her, and I feel terrible because we literally asked for an update every single day. It was our first time being away from her and we were missing her like crazy! 

I am happy to say that the carpet turned out great (at least we think so)! We were so worried because we only picked it out based off of the tiny patches at the store. But, I think we did pretty good. It really looks great with the paint we choose. Speaking of paint, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!!! I tried to finish completely before we left because there wasn't any carpet or furniture to worry about dripping on, but no matter how hard I pushed myself through the sleepless nights, it just didn't happen. So now I only have one room of trim, one ceiling to fix (curse you textured ceilings that take two coats), and then the two bathrooms. I am pretty positive that I will be done tonight! I might not do the bathrooms tonight, because I still haven't picked out colors for those. 

So other than that, life is starting to get back to normal! We are living out of suitcases and boxes combined, but I think we will be moved in before we know it. Then, the real fun begins- decorating! I love to decorate, but I also love when my mom helps! *cough* *cough* I hope my mom is reading this and gets the hint *cough* *cough*. 

I hope everyone has a great week! Be looking for some upcoming posts that I plan on doing- cruise tips, review of Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas, and also the final "before and afters" of our first house. Tallyho! 

We made it!

Well, we are officially on vacation!!! We are spending a few days in Florida before our cruise because my mom is from here and all of her family is also here. So we are making the best out of our stay in Florida! 

Let me introduce you to Clearwater Beach- voted Florida's #1 beach by USA Today. And let me tell you, it is wonderful!! The air feels so strange here, but we are simple Idaho people with a dry climate so any humidity seems strange. I feel like I just took a shower and left the door shut. Do you know that feeling? You have a hard time breathing at first? Yep, that's here! 

The start of our trip was a little strange considering Kasey and I didn't sleep the night before! Kasey, being an officer who is on night shift schedule, could not get himself to fall asleep. And me, being a last minute packer had to stay up all night packing. But, it all worked out! We slept through both of our flights and were rested enough to spend all night enjoying the beach and dinner at an awesome restaurant! 

 

We met my mom's family and had dinner right on the shore of the ocean. Or maybe it was the gulf or the bay? Heck, it was the ocean and it was gorgeous! I kept watching to look for a dolphin because they say they see them all the time, but I didn't see any (sad face). 

After dinner my love and I took about a mile walk to walk off the (amazing) food. Kasey had never been to a beach on the Atlantic Ocean before so under the moonlight we walked with our toes in the sand and in about ankle deep water. I found a cute little shell and grabbed it for (tourist hoarding) memory sake. 

We went out on Pier 60 and saw a man juggling fire, a saxophonist, and several small tourist shops. The ocean was very refreshing and the mist from the waves kept us cool from the 80+ degree weather and 80% humidity. 

Today is day two and we started out by doing a little (okay, fine, a lot) of shopping. We are heading to Orlando today so that we are closer to our embarking place for our cruise. I wonder what trouble we will get ourselves into tonight! 

Gratefully Exhausted

Today I am gratefully exhausted...or something like that. My legs are numb, my shoulders have never been so sore, I'm covered in paint, and I am currently laying on a comforter in the bathtub. I only shared that last part because I think I might accidentally fall asleep in this bath tub if I don't get up and start working. 

I say that I am gratefully exhausted because even though these last few days have been some of the longest and most tiring days of my life, I am beyond grateful for the reason that I am doing all this. I have had wonderful friends who have stepped up and helped move appliances, paint rooms, and even stop at Lowe's for me to get more paint. 

However, I have owed the biggest gratitude to my Heavenly Father. I was talking to my friend about how God has been answering specific prayers for me lately. For instance, I prayed that we could get the keys by Friday- even though 9 times out of 10 people don't get the keys until Monday. Without an issue, we had the keys Friday afternoon. I also was stressed out about finding a washer and drier for the new house. I didn't specifically pray about this, but I know God was listening anyways. I found a set on Craigslist and I really liked them. When I messaged the girl, they had already sold and were pending pick up. I can't lie, I was pretty bummed. The next day, she texts me and says that the people backed out! I ended up getting my washer and drier. 

It's amazing to me how even though God has a million things to worry about, he still takes the time to listen to my insignificant prayers and requests and make them happen. I don't deserve anything that he gives me, but I appreciate everything. He has helped me so much during this past week! Now I just pray that I make it until Friday! 😜

And as promised, here are a few pictures of the rooms I have painted so far. I will do actual "before and afters" once the carpet is in so that you can see the real difference. 

We got a house!

So first of all, yay! We finally got the keys to our house yesterday! We had to wait for longer than we had hoped, but we were really excited because they got us the keys on a Friday, which seems to never happen with houses. 

After we got the keys, the real fun began! We wasted no time at all going to Walmart and getting a few supplies and then heading to the house with the new fridge in tow! The fridge is doing great, so that makes me really happy! 

When we are gone on our trip, we want to have new carpet put in. We could have just had the carpets cleaned, but we really felt that new carpets would add a lot to the house. The house is only five years old, so it doesn't need much- just a little Kasey & Brie TLC. To save some money, we decided to rip out our carpets ourselves. Neither of us had done it before, but I will tell you it is quite easy! If you are thinking of getting new carpets I highly suggest ripping your old carpet out yourself! 

                               Before

                            After 

Now here is where I tattle on myself and cause a good laugh. I have sticky fingers when it comes to electronics- it all just fascinates me! No, not the "stealing" type of sticky fingers. The, "ooh I wonder what that does" type of sticky fingers. That being said, imagine my excitement when I realized the house has an alarm system!!! I went into the room and said, "ooh, ahh" and started pressing buttons I shouldn't press! A few minutes later I left the room and started doing carpet again. Last night was absolutely gorgeous!!! So, I opened up a door to let in the breeze and cool us down. Just imagine what happened next!

You probably guessed it! The loudest, scariest, most ear piercing beeping/screeching siren was coming from the mud room where I had accidentally armed the alarm system! You can imagine Kasey's reaction, "oh great, now all the guys (remember he's a a cop) are going to show up and laugh at me!" Luckily no cops showed up, but anytime we opened a door the alarm would go off for about 10 minutes straight before stopping. 

I called the realtor and got the code from the previous home owners so hopefully when we head there today we won't have to listen to that! 

Today we are painting and I can't wait to share before and after pictures! I am praying that I picked out an okay color!!! 

What did I get myself into!!?

Is it just me, or does everyone else find themselves asking this question? What did I get myself into? 

My current dilemma is how I am going to: pack up my apartment, sign on the new house, move everything into the new house, tear out the carpet, paint, and be packed for my cruise all by next Friday. The list did contain one more item, but I just crossed that off the list- hopefully. You see, it all began at 7:00pm tonight. 

Kasey had a crazy day at work and he was extremely tired and totally passed out. I was waiting impatiently for him to get up, so I happened to look on Craigslist for a fridge. We knew that we had to buy a fridge, but we hadn't necessarily done our research as to where and how much we had to spend. I found a stainless steel fridge that happened to be in our small town and only listed a day ago. I started to text the guy and he said that we could go look, but they were leaving at 9:30pm and would be gone for three weeks! Time was ticking! 

I woke Kasey up- which I highly advise no one does- and we go to look at the fridge. Of course, the house we go to is not the best...okay, it was really scary, but they have this gorgeous brand new fridge! We left and decided it would probably be okay, so we called them and said we'd pick it up tonight if they would drop the price by $100; they agreed and we got our fridge! Score! 

So here's the "what did I get myself into" part. My whole 5'4" 124lbs was not going to be able to help Kasey lift and move this fridge by ourselves. So I start frantically calling- Kasey's stepdad, Kasey's mom, and my amazing friends Summer and Topher. No one is answering!!! I have less than an hour until these people leave and I need this dang fridge! Finally I call my friends Kayla and Billy and they came to my rescue! 

We get to the house and the boys start carrying the fridge out and into the pickup. Billy bravely volunteers to ride in the back of the truck with the fridge. 

We get home and I go to set this thing up. Girls, I don't know about you but I am totally the "get out of my way, I can do this myself" type. Kasey is being a "fuss butt" as my friends Summer and Topher would say. So I put the fridge together...three times. I kept forgetting screws! Ugh! Kasey would come out and ask how he could help and it only made me more frustrated! 

However, I'm happy to announce that the fridge is safely in my garage and running. Yes, I was a little afraid something would break between their house and ours. 

I hope that when this week and a half is over I can look back and laugh, but right now there isn't much laughing happening. I feel like I am Thomas the Train...I think I can, I think I can, I think I can! 

The life of an almost police wife.

Last night was typical, my baby dog, Chloe, and I snuggled up in bed and said our prayers for "dad" or as I call him, Kasey. Prayers that God watch over him and if needed give him the strength to deal with the tough situations that police officers often face. 

Sometime during the early morning I was awoken by sirens and before falling asleep again I wondered if just maybe that was him. I still haven't had the opportunity to ask if if was, but for the sake of a great story I'm going to still assume it was ;). I woke up alone in the morning- which was totally against the norm because he is usually off at 6:00am. I use the word "usually" loosely, because as any police wife knows, there is never a true set schedule. However, I kept telling myself, "he'll be home soon, don't worry". Did I really do that though? Not at all. The more I thought about it the more I worried. 7:00am came and passed and before I knew it, it was 9:00am. Where in the world could he be?? 

Do you ever wonder why we, as women, let ourselves adventure into the world of worry as much as we do? He has been late coming home several times. I know this lifestyle! However, I still had that weird imagination that wandered to a scene where the chief is at my door telling me something has happened. I don't understand why I do this, but I know I am not alone. 

Turns out I should have just trusted in my initial thoughts and in God- duh right? He just had a late call that progressed to more and more and before he knew it he had been on shift an extra six hours. 

As a Christian and a fellow (almost) LEOW I want to share my thoughts and feelings openly about my adventures as a police wife in hopes that my stories and thoughts will cause a laugh, a sigh, or even a "heck yes, I'm not alone!" 

We're going on a cruise??

It's been a long- and tedious I might add- process, but we are officially under the 10 day mark.  Well, technically 10 days, but if you count down to the actual time our plane takes off it's 9 days and about 15 hours.  Does that qualify me as excited, obsessed, or signs of OCD? At this point I'm not too sure. 

The ship that we are going on is called "The Freedom of the Seas" and it is supposed to be one of the biggest ships that Royal Caribbean International has ever built. We are leaving from Port Canaveral in Florida and headed to the Eastern Caribbean.  With a total of seven days at sea and three stops, it should be a very full trip!

This is my first cruise, so I don't have many expectations- except ocean, sun, and relaxation! I am so looking forward to the trip and I will be sure and share some of my experiences with everyone once I get back.  My goal is to be able and create a blog that will help people who have never cruised before to be better prepared as to what to expect and tips and tricks that will help them have the best trip possible!