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Monday, January 23, 2012

Giveaways over!

Well the giveaways are done and the winners were chosen on random.org.


The winner of the book is entry number 1 out of three.


The second winner is NavyWife & Mommy.. I need you to contact me with your information today or I will need to choose a new winner.


Thanks to those who entered the contest!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Locating Veterans

Nowadays we have many ways to locate people online.. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter.. etc.. But what if you want to find a Medal of Honor recipient? Find a grave site of someone who served in the U.S. Military? Well it turns out that there is an easy way to do that now.

There are now two easily searchable websites that you can use to do those searches and hopefully find who you are looking for.

First there is the Grave & Burial Site Records Website This site will help you to find lost friends and relatives who served in the U.S. Military but just searching for last names, cemetery name, or even the date of death. I found it to be easily searchable and it runs the search rather quickly too.

The second link Medal of Honor Recipients allows you to choose the war you want to search along with the name of the person you are looking for. So if you have anyone that you would like to look up this website makes it easy.

The main site is called Find the Data and has many options for different searches but these two links are primarily geared at Military members past and present. I hope you enjoy taking a look at it.

Homecoming Giveaway!

We all know that deployments can be hard, being away from family and friends, adjusting to life as a "single" parent for the ones left behind and adjusting to life on a ship or in the desert somewhere.

As hard as deployments are, coming home can be even harder. Readjusting to roles as husband, wife, father, mother, and all the chores that go along with home life. Integrating your spouse back into daily routines can cause stress for everyone involved. The left behind parent doesn't want to give up the "power" so to speak and the returning parent may not know how to handle the new requirements for their time.

There is hope for families dealing with these situations. Sometimes it can be hard to go ask for help from a counselor or even talk about it with your own spouse but communication is key to moving past the reintegration period.

I have recently found out about another helpful tool for people dealing with Coming Home to family.

You can check out this wonderful tool by clicking here!

Finally Home To Family Widget




IF you are interested in winning a special prize just post a response to this blog. You have until Saturday at 12p cst to post a response and then I will be choosing a random winner!

Giveaway of American Sniper!

The publisher of AMERICAN SNIPER by Chris Kyle contacted me and sent me a copy of the book to read. I am about half way through it now and it is hard to put down. It is so interesting to read about the life of a Navy Seal! Especially the most Lethal Sniper in Military History!

So here is the thing.. The company once again contacted me and offered to let me do a giveaway to my readers of this book. So, If you would also like to win a copy of this book then post a response on this blog and I will do a random drawing on Saturday to pick the winner.

Here you can check out an excerpt of the book to see if it is something that would interest you. I can tell you that just reading about Hell week gave me more insight into the life of a SEAL than I ever had before. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am! I am finding it very hard to put this book down to go to sleep!

All the things you have wondered about including what they are like in their downtime is all in this book. Wanna know what it takes to be a Navy SEAL? You should go grab a copy today, cause it will be one of the most interesting books you read this year.
AMERICAN SNIPER by Chris Kyle



So get to posting and we will see who wins!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

6 years have flown by...

Each year seems to blow by faster than the last one as my babies grow so quickly. I remember the day he was born and holding that sweet little one in my arms. It is hard to believe that 6 years have past since that day.. but here we are celebrating his 6th birthday.. This past year he started Kindergarten and unfortunately had to leave his very first school as we pcs'ed to Illinois. He still misses his school and Washington and tears up cause he wants to go back. I don't blame him. The schools and teachers there were so much better. I wish I could ship his teacher here cause I would do it in a heartbeat. He is such a sweet kid.. very emotional and a tad whiny at times...lol.. but so loving and giving. I am very proud of him. So of course I follow this with all the great memories of my baby growing up. I love pictures. :)


My baby boy when he was first born..


Around 6 months old
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May 2007 16 months

Dec. 2007 at almost 2

Jul. 2008 at 2 1/2

Jul 2009 3 1/2

March 2010 4 years 2 months

Nov. 2010 4 years 10 months

Jan. 2011 5 years

Jul. 2011 5 1/2


Dec 2011 almost 6!

My big boy is 6 years old!


And of course a picture of him with his cake.





I cherish all of these moments and harass my children with the camera constantly.. because who doesn't want to remember every little moment, every little facial expression, every little goofy thing they do that tends to slip away from us with time. Capture those moments cause they leave us all too fast.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Its that time again!

Well.. 2 years ago I got my Droid phone.. and I LOVED it.. I love android phones.. I got the original droid with the slide out qwerty keyboard.. mainly because I had always had an actual keyboard before and was afraid to go full touch screen. Well it turns out that I NEVER used the keyboard on my phone..lol.. only the touch screen.

So when it came time to replace my phone because as electronics sometimes do it has started acting badly and having many issues. I decided I would go with a full touch screen. My choice left me torn between the
Motorola Droid Bionic

and
The Droid Razr

After much research on price, specs, and reviews I decided on the Razr. It has a bit faster processor and a well made Kevlar backing. I found consumer reviews on the two phones to be about even but CNET's professional review put the Razr a step ahead of the Bionic and since that is what I am looking for .. that is what I went with.

My new phone should be arriving on the 12th and I am looking forward to seeing if we are in a 4G area and if it is as fast as it claims to be. I will say that I have played with both phones at the Verizon kiosk and the Razr did seem to be faster than the bionic.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hair Saver!

With all the moving around we do and the super dry weather I have had to deal with my hair was fighting back. It felt very dry and damaged, broke off easily, and was very dull. I always use conditioner but once it was dry it always looked bad unless I used a straightener, and lets face it .. that isn't good for your hair.

So I went to Sally's looking for a leave in conditioner that actually worked without making my hair look greasy as some leave ins can do. I am happy to say that I found one. It really feels like it hydrates my hair. I will warn you though it will increase your hair drying time by quite a bit. This stuff really works. Don't spray it too close to your head or clump it in one place or you will end up with the greasy look.. but I can tell you it makes my hair look and feel so much nicer. So go and check it out for yourself!
This product is made by ION..


And in case you are concerned with that sort of thing.. this is a completely VEGAN product.

Acne problems?

I have had skin issues most of my life.. but when I turned 25 they got worse.. I am now 32 and have acne worse than most teens! I have 3 different kinds! Cystic acne (under my chin), rash like acne(all over my face!) and regular white head pimples.. oh and lets not forget blackhead.. YUCK! Ok so what is my point? Other than my skin sucks..lol

Here is my point. I have been using proactiv for years.. .and it helped.. a lot.. as long as I didn't miss my day and night appointment with my face wash and cream! The rash acne (which bothers me the most) went away completely. The other 3 became less frequent but was still there. I haven't found any products that get rid of it all and trust me .. I have tried a lot!

So I have been looking for something that would work and cost LESS than the ever expensive proactiv.. but it seems that most products are made with salicylic acid.. Which for me.. just makes things worse. So here is a list of what I have tried.. Well.. not a full list.. that would take forever! lol

Murad-- Stay away from this product at all costs! I have oily skin and it is super drying, uncomfortable to put on and made my acne and blackheads WORSE! YES! WORSE!

Biore Blemish fighting Ice Cleanser- This one is great for blackhead but still a salicylic acid product and my rash acne came back.

Neutrogena Morning burst-- I couldn't use this more than once.. It says no oil but it feels extremely greasy to me.

Neutrogena night scrub (purple container)-- Felt nice on my skin and good for blackheads but my rash acne came back fast.

Proactiv heavy duty formula-- works great but the price is crazy high

Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser-- Doesn't erase anything or help in any way.. for me anyways.

And now for what I have recently found that WORKS! and doesn't break the bank!

Neutrogena Clear Pore Daily Scrub- Contains the magic ingredient 3.7% Benzoyl Peroxide ! This stuff cleared my rash acne in 3 days! The greatest thing is it is only about $6 at walmart!
With it I needed a Benzoyl Peroxide lotion.. Well walmart has come out with their own Proactiv like line! So I got a 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide lotion for only about $4! Great thing is it actually feels good on the skin and absorbs well! (keep it away from your clothes though cause it will bleach things quick as will all benzoyl peroxide products)
The face wash & lotion I use.



I do use a toner occasionally and have found that plain old witch hazel works wonderfully and it very inexpensive at around $5 for 16oz bottle.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Alora is growing up.

Well, it has been quite awhile since I have posted anything and a few things have happened.. One big one is that Alora is now completely potty trained! The day before we left for Illinois she decided to start using the potty and kept on going with it. Once we got to Illinois she switched to panties and hasn't gone back! She has done wonderfully and all on her own. I knew the time would come when she was ready which is why I didn't rush it. There has been no fight.. she goes when she needs to and has had no accidents.

Not only has she potty trained herself but she also decided it was time to move to her twin size bed from her toddler. She was more than happy to make the move herself as both beds are currently in her room set up. She was still in her toddler bed through Christmas as we had family visiting and one was using her twin bed. However, she informed me that after Christmas she would be sleeping in her big bed and has happily moved there on her own.

My little girl is growing up way to fast.. but so time marches on and I will just try to enjoy these moments with her.

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