April 26, 2012

Seriously, how cute is this?

We babysat for our friends' son, Kai, last night. He absolutely adores S and this is how I know that he is going to be good father.

I just thought this was cute and wanted to share :) There are so many of these posters everywhere, but this is one of my faves, obviously.



April 24, 2012

Need DIY hair ideas..

The Sub Ball is 3 days away and I have no idea what I'm doing with my hair! Okay, well I think I have an idea, but I'm not even sure I can pull it off. I really want to get my hair done at the salon, but cannot afford to pay $65+ this week to have that done. Does anyone have any suggestions for good DIY websites??

April 17, 2012

Celeb Dopplegangor!

Stolen from Handling With Grace ...

What better thing to do to pass the time at work than find out who my celebrity doppleganger is!

According to MyHeritage.com, my celebrity doppleganger is Alyson Hannigan. I'm not sure I agree? I've never been told this anyway.


A couple years ago, I saw these photos of Minka Kelly with John Mayer and I thought they looked uncannily like me...





I guess that's just my personal opinion! Who is your celebrity doppleganger???

April 16, 2012

New blog-look!

I was getting a little tired of the generic Blogger template that I had used to create my blog so when I came across Shabby Blogs, I was pretty excited to find a ton of really pretty, FREE stuff that I could use to personalize 'Honor, Courage, Commitment.' So here it is!

My week also has been cut even shorter as I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment and procedure done on Thursday. Turns out my doc won't be available that afternoon and it got moved up to Wednesday. I'm already pretty nervous about this and will probably be home the rest of the week following my appointment. We had talked about going to the lake this weekend, but after having S's Navy friend visit from NY all weekend, we are pretty exhausted and are thinking about just camping out in our apartment all weekend. Its not so bad when you consider the amazing pool, barbeque, and Netflix!

In other news: We are leaving for Kentucky in a couple weeks, I am VERY excited! I am so blessed that S has an amazing family and even if I don't get to see my fam that often, at least I have his! We will be away from May 2-7 and it will also Derby weekend. I think we will go to Keeneland for the simulcast (Derby tix = ridiculously expensive) and play lots of golf.

I have also been appling for any permanent jobs that get posted here at the college. I think I mentioned it before, but I am still a contract employee and even though I work 40 hours/wk, I am still considered part-time and that = no benefits :( The pay is laughable for someone with a master's degree and I am at my wits end with having to pay cash for doctor's appointments. My boss said that she is trying to get me a raise, but she can be such a flake sometimes so who knows..

How was everyone's weekend? Do anything fun and exciting?

April 13, 2012

T-minus 14 days until the Submarine Birthday Ball!

So I finally made a final choice on both shoes and dress. Both are ordered and on their way! I also found a great blog that has really cute DIY updos so I think I'm going to try and save myself $65+ and do my hair myself! Last thing I need to get is a pearl necklace and bracelet and a clutch and then I am all set!

I would also like to point out that although I'm not huge on using coupons at the supermarket, I sure do know how to find a deal on higher-end clothing and dress great for cheap. I'm sorry, but I rarely buy anything full-price unless I need it that day (price adjustments can usually be made within 7 days btw).

Growing up, I was a bit spoiled, and early on I got into the bad habit of always wanting brand-name everything; but now that I'm older and have to pay for everything myself, the price tags on some of the things that I'm dying to buy make me sick. Don't get me wrong, we all need to splurge sometimes whether it be a new iPhone (although you can buy those refurbished) or Louis Vuitton bag, let's face it, somethings just don't go on sale. I think I'll save further money-saving tips for another blog entry, great idea! But until then, this is what I've got.



Its all coming together...
 Hair -


Girl on a budget formal event:
JCrew Leona Dress - $89.99 + additional 30% off = $62.99 (orig. $225)
Badgley Mischka Randall Shoes = $88.26 (orig. $200)
Updo = Free!

Grand total so far - $151.25
Savings - $273.75

Not bad for all high-end, brand-name items. Who said you can't dress fabulously for cheap??!


April 12, 2012

My new Etsy shop!

This is just a quick post to promote my new Etsy shop, Southern Accents. I have always loved photography and took several photography courses in college. I could use a little extra cash these days so I figures, why not?! I love etsy and everything it stands for and am SUPER excited to become a part of it.

Please take a moment to check out my new diggs!


Southern Accents

April 11, 2012

I'm on TV, no big deal.

Before I moved to Charleston, I was already hooked on the show, Army Wives, and now that I'm here, I get to actually take part in the filming of one of my favorite shows! If anyone is familiar with AW, you know that it takes place and is filmed in Charleston, SC. There is an old Navy base here that is no longer used. Well, some parts of it are used, but some of the housing and other areas are used to film the show now.

There is a website called extrassignup.com where you can register to become an extra on the show. When I found out about this after moving, I signed up right away! I have participated in about three tapings so far and yesterday would make my fourth. I technically had to work at my real job, but decided to call out because 1) AW is way funner and 2) it's actually quite a bit more money than what I would have made being at my real job.

They always tell you to prepare to be there for what could be up to 10 hours (anything after 8 is time and half), however, I've never actually had to be there longer than about 6 hours. Yesterday was a different story - I was there for 11! I was kind of bummed because I was hoping to get home early to spend some QT with S, but I didn't really miss out on anything and I ended up getting three hours of overtime with is so that is definitely a bonus! Call-time was 6:00am and I didn't get released until 5:00pm. I was ex.haust.ed.

Here are some pics from my day :)

We were setup at this beautiful park on the river on the old Navy base -

It was a gorgeous day!


Ahhh Charleston <3

There was a really pretty memorial in the park -

I absolutely loved this statue.






I couldn't have asked for better weather, it was bright, sunny, and 80 degrees. I decided to skip my workout afterward since standing around in my Jack Rogers sandals for hours was definitely not the most comfortable thing to do. I cherish evenings of snugs and dozing on the couch with S more :)

Hope y'all had a great Tuesday and Happy Hump Day today!





April 9, 2012

Happy Easter!

Hope y'all had a great Easter! This year was the first time that I celebrated Easter without my family. Usually I go to church in the morning with my mom followed by a big Easter dinner at home. Since I moved to Charleston, it has been a big adjustment having to either travel for the holidays or celebrate sans family. Last year my mom was in town for Easter and we went to church followed by a great beach day, however this year I was on my own!

A few months ago, S and I had talked about going to church together. His dad's side of the family is Southern Baptist and I think his mom's side is Presbyterian? He wasn't exactly brought up going to church every Sunday, but his mamaw and papaw are very religious as well as some of his other aunts and uncles so he knows what's going on and does consider himself a Christian. I, on the other hand, was brought up Catholic where my mom dragged us to church every Sunday, I was not a fan. Once I turned 18, she backed off and really didn't bother me with it anymore.

Once I moved to Charleston, I noticed a big cultural, religious difference. I noticed the sheer number of churches in the area seemed to far exceed my neighborhoods in Connecticut. Being new to Charleston and in a totally different part of the country, I kind of started thinking about going back to church. I wasn't really sure which church, but I started to feel the need to maybe become a part of something like that again.

S has never really attended church regularly, but has tried a few different churches in the past. We didn't really start talking about it until about a few months ago. We talked about attending Seacoast, a  non-denominational church in our area. When the time came, he told me the night before that he wasn't ready. I completely respected that and was fine with it if he did not want to go. Maybe I wasn't fully committed to going back and still had a few reservations about religion. I hate to say it, but I feel like my Catholic upbringing jaded me!

Finally, last week, I asked S if he wanted to go to church with me on Easter and he said yes. We decided to still go to Seacoast and it turned out to be a great experience. The service was better than anything I had ever experienced in the past and I honestly think that if church had been anything like that for me growing up, maybe I wouldn't have despised going so much! I didn't feel a lot of pressure, I felt as though I could accept the sermon as I wanted to and I really loved how the pastor related it to real life situations. I also found that it touched S in a way that I never could have imagined; there were times throughout the service that I had to really fight back the tears. I think that this was exactly what he needed to get his faith back on track. He has some reservations as well, but I think this is going to be a new-found, ongoing thing for us. The theme of yesterday's sermon was "Love Is..." and this will remain the theme over the next eight weeks. S said that he is really interested in what the pastor has to say and is looking foward to it. I cannot think of a more fitting topic as we start this spiritual part of our life together.

Back in February, we had visited Kentucky for S's papaw's 80th birthday. While we were there, I got to talking with his cousin's wife, Jamie. Jamie is very committed to her religious beliefs and they attend church three times a week. We started talking about S's past and our future, etc. Jamie had then asked me if we ever went to church and I told her no, however, we had talked about going (at that point). She said that maybe it would be good for us, especially S. A little backstory: Although I only ask things on a need-to-know basis and choose to only ask about pertinant information, S has gone through a divorce that was finalized in December 2010. We met in January 2011. Although everything had just been finalized, he hadn't spoken to his ex since they filed somewhere back around this time of the year in 2009 (apparently things happen real slow in Washington State.) S is over her and luckily they really don't have any ties to each other anymore whatsoever so that made moving on for him a bit easier. S still struggles sometimes though and says that he feels broken. I can't really put myself in his shoes and I don't know what it feels like to go through a divorce, but I think part of him felt that he wasn't sure he could love like that again.

I am actually totally anxious to talk to Jamie about our experience at church yesterday. I can't believe how much she was right and I just know that our future there will help him heal further and what better topic than "Love Is." Going to church set the tone for our whole day yesterday and it was probably the best day we've ever had together. After church, we went to brunch downtown at Eli's Table then met up with some friends at Folly Beach. I felt an even stronger connection with him and I know he felt the same way. He told me last night that he fell even more in love with me yesterday and that he has never felt so loved. He said that he didn't know that he could feel love like that. Now tell me that isn't the sweetest thing you've ever heard?! After the events of  this Easter, I feel like I can confidently say that I know we are going to make it for the long haul. Not that I really had any doubts before, but this just really made me feel even stronger about it.

I never realized what a difference one day would make. I'm glad that we are in this together and that we will be right by each other's sides all along the way.


Easter Sunday


Good news!

Congrats to my sailor for getting 'Instructor of the Quarter' at NNPTC!!

And, a quote:

"The life of a sailor's girlfriend/wife, carries not only the burdens of her sailor, but the burdens of all under her sailor's care. Which is by far the toughest job in the Navy."


More to come!

April 6, 2012

Blonde for a day.

Well not even 24 hours really. I went to get a long overdue cut and highlight yesterday and what went from me really just wanting a few extra highlights than I normally get, I decided that I wanted to go all out. Not a good choice. I told my hairdresser that I wanted to go lighter and add a lot more highlights. This resulted in my being almost completely blonde. I am not naturally blonde, I'm a brunette. It was terrible. I didn't cry, I knew it could be fixed. I called my salon this morning as soon as they opened and THANK GOD my hairdresser had an opening at 11am because I took a long lunch, peaced out of work and hoped that no one would notice the amount of time that I would be missing and headed straight back there. My hairdresser is a sweetheart and wasn't bothered at all by me coming back to have her "fix it", well at least not that I can tell.

Yesterday, coming home from the salon when I thought for about an hour that I liked it..



This morning, not feeling it.



After lunch, back to brunette! :D



Dear self,
You didnt like it the first time you tried to go blonder, what made you think it would be any different the second time around? Word of advice, don't ever do that again!

Love,

kelly

April 4, 2012

Blogging from bed!

Oh man, my latest thing this week is - lets see how early I can make it to bed! Tonight it was 8:45. S is down in FL with his mom, dad, and youngest bro Joseph. Joe is a big time baseball player and is already playing on the high school varsity team even though he's only 14 and still in 8th grade. There is also a 16 year age gap between S and Joe! I can't even imagine having a 14 year old brother right now haha. Well I guess I don't really have to imagine because Joe may as well be my little bro, I freaking love that kid!

Anyway, S hasn't been too busy on vacation - I mean, work.. So he decided to take off to FL for the week. I contemplated going with him, but obviously, I don't get as much leave as him so I have to pick and choose my time off wisely. Joe is playing in a baseball tournament all week in Destin and S really wanted to take some time to catch up with him, take him fishing, and watch him play some ball.

It's times like this that really get me thinking... I'm so used to S being here all the time and now I'm starting to get a little sense of what it would be like if he wasn't. I'm just thinking - hmm, this is a great time to do all my girly things like get my hair cut, paint my toenails, workout on my terms, etc. But after all that is said and done, I start to think about how, in a couple years, our lives are going to change drastically. S is at the point right now that he can decide to get out of the Navy. He's been in for 9 years and will have done 12 at the end of this tour. Part of me thinks that he should stay in until 20 years then retire, so we can still reap the benefits later. On the other hand, I'm so used to having him around that I don't know how I would handle only seeing him for 3 months here and 3 months there. It kind of makes me really nervous. I know I've said it before, but I am really fortunate that S and I got to build this amazing relationship while he is on shore-duty. Now I'm really starting to feel how he feels, so torn on whether to stay in or get out.

How do y'all handle deployments and what are your thoughts on my particular situation?

April 3, 2012

Workin' on my fitness!

Recently, S and I have taken up Bikram Yoga or "hot yoga". There is a great little studio downtown and we came across a Groupon for 10 classes so we decided to give it a shot! I love that S is willing to try anything once and in this case, he likes it just as much as I do :) We have been trying to workout and get back in shape for a while now and are always looking for new things to do. My current regimen is run the bridge two days a week and yoga two days a week and anything else is just a bonus (soon we will start bootcamp two days a week on the beach instead of running.) We've also been keeping food journals and trying to eat healthy. Eating healthy is NOT easy to do when you live in a fantastic city with TONS of great restaurants!

For those who are not familiar with Bikram Yoga, it basically consists of a routine of 26 poses done while in a 105 degree room at 40% humidity. Yes, I said 105 degrees! You ask, am I crazy? No. Maybe? You can't beat the feeling of sweating all those toxins and who knows what else. You can't beat the feeling after you finish (and once you've entered the air-conditioned lobby area). I just know I won't be able to give it up after 10 classes though and this is not cheap unfortunately.

What do y'all do to stay in shape?

April 2, 2012

Spring has definitely sprung..

here in Charleston. It has already gotten up into the 80s and even close to 90 yesterday. Although the locals are dreading the inevitable hot weather to come, I am in seasonal bliss. I broke out all my summer dresses and ordered a few new ones online. Once the weather gets warmer here, say good-bye to dress pants (for work), you will only see me in dresses and skirts. I love shopping for warm-weather clothing, its so much more fun and brighter than cold-weather apparel. Here are some of the dresses I ordered from Kohl's yesterday:






I haven't really blogged that much over the last week or two, but now that I think of it, there is quite a bit to report on. First off, we spent another weekend at the lake last weekend (I think I mentioned that in my last post, but I will post some pictures here). We rented a cabin this time at the Naval Recreation Area, Short Stay. For those of you that have access to somewhere like this, it is definitely worth taking advantage of! S said that this particular one is a lot better kept than others he's seen, but I'm sure there are some that are just as nice. The cabin we rented had two bedrooms and friends of ours came out with us with their kids. Interesting dynamic when you get everyone together... Here are some of my favorite pics:


Our cabin and view of Lake Moultrie.

Our friends and son, getting ready to cookout!


S and I took the 420 sailboat out for a little while in the morning.


S and I took the 22' Catalina out all by ourselves this time! A little nerve-racking at first, be we totally got the hang of it :)




So, that was two weekends ago and this past weekend, we ran our first 10k! It was the Cooper River Bridge Run here in Charleston, which is in the top five for biggest road races in the Nation with 44,000 runners. It.was.crazy. I couldn't believe the people everywhere, you could barely recognize downtown after the race. We finished in 1h 13min, which isn't the best (we were hoping for an hour or less), but allergies and sinus infections got in the way of our training and bumped us off track. Still, I am okay with our time and can't wait to do it again next year!

From race day:

 Making our way over the bridge!


I'm running the bridge again today after work with a friend, does that make me nuts? :p
 
Blogging tips