How much Alcohol is actually in your beer?

Have you ever wondered what the alcohol content of that drink in your hand is? I know I Have. It is easy to find that label when you are reading a liquor bottle because it is right there on the front. However beer cans sometimes don't even say anywhere on the can how much alcohol is in it.

So for your information, in case you ever wondered..haha..
Here is a link that you can go to to find out what the alcohol content is in your favorite beer! Enjoy!

A List of Beers with the Alcohol Content

And here are a few of the more popular ones that I can think of and that my husband had me look up..haha..

BEER Alcohol Content
Budweiser 5
Bud Light 4.2
Coors Light 4.2
Corona Extra 4.6
Heineken 5.4
Keystone Light 4.2
MGD 64 2.8 <-- Yep, you read that right!

Your 64 calorie beer will not get you drunk unless you are a serious light weight and drink about 12 of them...lol..

Getting close..

Well, we are now 29 days away from our move to Illinois. I have most everything taken care of for the move but I Have a few more calls to make this week. I am still working on getting us a bigger place to live when we get there. Hopefully housing will cooperate with me. I also have to make sure everything is ready with the mazda as well.

The van is pretty much all set, I just have to clean it out and make sure there is enough room for all of our things. I am praying for a gentle winter at least until we get to Illinois. I have to admit driving through the ice and snow is worrying me some.

I still have packing to do and some Christmas shopping. Kris and I were able to get some shopping done today but the bulk of it will be taken care of on black friday.. Man I love black friday..lol.. It caters to the super saver in me! haha..

So with piles of paperwork and many things that never seem to get done (like cleaning) it seems we will never leave. Yet time is proving to us otherwise.
It seems to be dancing away from me faster and faster as I prepare to say "see you later" to my friends. Ahh Military life. However, I feel lucky to have had this time with them to get to know them. If we weren't in the Navy, I wouldn't even have had that option in the first place, so for me.. This life is a good one.. even with all the goodbyes ..

Sad Goodbyes & Happy Hellos,
~Pamela

Veterans Day

Horse Soldiers, you don't hear about them in the news, but they were the first U.S. armed forces on the ground in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001.

Veterans have been a big part of my life. My dad and my Uncles are Vietnam Vets. I am thankful that they all came through that time alive. I married a man that decided the Navy was his calling, so only a few short months after we were married, he joined. I supported him because it is what he wanted to do and I still support him. I salute all of the military men and women in our Military and all of the Vets who served before them.

We should also remember the animals that help, for they are also working on the front lines as soldiers. You can read more about them by following this link.
Secret Missions of the Horse Soldiers of 9/11

Car Maintenance

It is getting close now.. In only a little over 6 short weeks we will be heading out of Washington .. making our way to a new home. Hoping and praying that the weather during our trip is not bad.. We could use lots of prayers for that as we will be driving through the mountains, Montana, & South Dakota, among other places that are notorious for bad winter weather.

I have done all the maintenance on the van that I can to get it ready for the trip, including new tires, alignment, new plugs, wires, oil change, outer tie rods, and a coolant flush. I think that was everything.. but I can't remember now..lol..

I replaced my wiper blades but that will need to be done again before we leave because apparently the ones I purchased suck.. lol.. that is what I get for trying to buy the cheaper ones..haha..

The mazda is also getting worked on right now.. I took it into the shop because there is no way I wanted to deal with taking off the intake just to replace the pcv valve.. stupid mazda making everything complicated. So it is in the shop and has been there for about 4 days now because I had to order a valve hose and it took 3 days for it to get here from CA.. figures it would have to be a dealer only part.. bleh.. but at least now the mazda will be up and going.. I will be doing the maintenance on the car when we get to Illinois.. it hasn't been driven as much as the van so it doesn't need as much care..

Which reminds me.. I also replaced my battery in the van.. No there was nothing wrong with it.. But ladies this is what I mean by maintenance.. Batteries usually need to be replaced every 5-7 years.. Our battery is the one that originally came with the van, so it was 6 years old.. Why wait until we are in the middle of no where and break down to say, crap, guess I should have replaced it.. This is called PREVENTATIVE Maintenance. It prevents you from being stranded somewhere and dealing with all of that headache.

I replaced the battery on the car back in 2008.. but I had waited too long to do it.. It was at almost exactly 5 years old when that battery just died and the car wouldn't start.. I learned my lesson.. of course I was at home when it happened so I was lucky and it wasn't a big deal, but it gave me great information for future dealings with my vehicles.

If you don't know how to do all of the maintenance on your car that is fine.. It is going to cost you more but take it to a shop but be wary and do not let them tell you that you need something you don't! I have had shops try to take advantage of me as well but since I know a little something about cars that never works out well for them. If they say there is a problem with your car... make them SHOW you where the problem is cause there is always that chance that they are just trying to jack up your bill .. I even had this problem with a big name company.. AKA SEARS! Yes! SEARS! Now don't get me wrong, I like sears.. but the guys they have working in the shop are commission based.. the more "work" they get.. the more "money" they get.. so you do the math.

Anyways.. this was supposed to be about our move and ended up about car maintenance.. but really this is stuff every woman needs to know.. so I hope you take something away from this.. If you don't want to learn how to fix your car that is fine.. but just make sure you take it to someone to get regular maintenance done on it.. It will elongate the life of your car and keep it running smoothly...

Love & Spark Plugs..
~Pamela

5 weeks post op

Well, it has now been 5 weeks since my 2nd lipo surgery and I have to say the results are so much better this time. I am thrilled with how my jeans look and how I don't have bulges under my shirt when I am standing. I actually look good in my clothes again.
Here are the before and afters of my surgery.. from the very beginning to the very end.. but not the in between this time.

Side

Front

What is even better is that since my surgery I have taken charge of my eating habits and lost a few pounds too! I am not yet where I want to be but I will be there by the end of the year of that I am sure. :)

Still sick..

I caught a cold right after my surgery and let me tell you this is the worst one that I have had in awhile. I mean congestion, phlegm, coughing, fevers, body aches, I got it all.. and it sucks because coupled with the pain and bruising from my surgery and the fact that I can't freaking get a day off to rest with a family of 6.. I am not getting well fast..

I have even been sucking on cough drops at night and my percocet do nothing for me.. Sleeping hasn't happened much either.. between the coughing and getting up about a billion times a night to pee, yeah.. not doing so hot..

Other than that though.. lol.. I am doing ok.. Looking forward to Halloween, getting everything ready for our move.. Happy to be able to sell some of our gently used stuff so that I can at least make a little money to help us out. At least with going through all of our stuff I finally found my Halloween masks..lol

The move is getting closer now, we have about 2 1/2 months till we leave.. I will be getting our address sometime around the middle of October.. so I am looking forward to that. That will allow me to get all of the other things set up that I need to take care of.. like delivery of our car.

The boys are doing well in school and so is Mystry.. hopefully that will still be true once we get to Illinois.. As for me.. my goal once we get there will be to actually decorate our home for once. It will be the longest we have ever lived in one house. 3 years of shore duty.. I am interested to see how this goes.

Surgeries...

Yes that is plural on purpose.. As many of you know I had some micro-body sculpting done back in May. I can't say that I was pleased with the results. I felt as if I looked almost the same as before after waiting 4 months and seeing no real improvement.

So, after discussing my feelings with my doctor she decided to do a second surgery for me .. free of charge of course since I had already paid a crazy amount of money for it the first time around.

I can honestly say I do not regret having my surgeries and now I am actually seeing some results.

I had my second surgery yesterday and can already see a change. I don't feel as bad after this one as I did with the first and I am not sure if that is because I did not have my breasts done this time or if my body just got used to it. Either way I am walking around pretty normally, just a little slower.. Feels like I worked out for way to long.

So these are the pictures I have..
this is me from the front.. before, 4 days after the first surgery.. and 1 day after the second surgery.

Now here is me from the side, in the same order, before, 4 days after first, and 1 day after second..

I think my down time is going to be a lot less than it was last time.. especially since I won't have the breast problems to deal with..lol.. In a couple of weeks I will be posting some updated pictures.. Thank you to all of my wonderful friends that prayed for me during my surgery and for a quick recovery.. Love and blessings to you all!

Extreme Makeover Military Edition!

I was recently contacted by Corby Pons about previewing a season premiere of Extreme Makeover Home edition and I was thrilled to receive the opportunity.



I can honestly say I love this show, always have, and to see them doing a show dedicated to our military makes me very happy. So much has recently been taken away from our military. We struggle to make ends meet. Our veterans suffer through the trials and tribulations of war and return home to have their VA benefits cut and nowhere to live.

EMHE is giving our military another chance by helping Jubilee house to offer more services. It is hard for all military to transition from Active Duty to Civilian life. Even harder for those who have nowhere to call home once they sepearate from the military.

I have always enjoyed Extreme Makeover Home Edition and feel they are giving a face to an unknown problem. Our military is an important part of our lives whether we know it or not. They have fought and served to protect all of our rights and freedoms. It is only right that we give something back to them.

Being a Navy wife myself there is a special place in my heart for all military and I feel they deserve our respect and support the same way that they did for us by fighting for our freedom.


Be sure to take time out to see the Season Premiere of Extreme Makeover Home Edition on September 25th! You will not be sorry! It is a very moving episode!

A big thank you to all the Men and Women of the US Military who have served and continue to serve! God Bless you all!

School time...

Today has been a busy day.. but it won't just end with today.. my days are about to get a lot busier. I just finished enrolling my niece in the High School here but because we are moving on Dec. 14th she isn't doing regular high school.. she is doing the drawbridge program. This program allows her to earn half a credit in whatever class she is taking in only 3 weeks .. or less if she wants to move faster.

This will allow her to catch up and once we get to Illinois to enroll in regular school at a Junior level! I am excited for her! She will be taking one class at the actual school and that will be math.. So I will be driving her to school every day for her one class and for her 5 hour requirement to be at the school for drawbridge class...

Once we were finished with all the enrollment stuff she asked me to take her down to open a checking account.. her very first! I am proud that I was able to get her into NFCU because she is living with us. Normally they only let the children join if their parents are members, immediate family they said. But... since she is living with me she qualified! Woo for free checking and savings!

Since I was there and I had Mcleod's bday money in my purse from taking him to the store to buy an MP3 player last week that he just HAD TO HAVE NOW!!! haha.. I went ahead and opened a savings account for him as well.. Next time I will be doing them for Tristan and Alora with their holiday money. ..

Sooo.. Mcleod starts school on the 7th .. and Tristan & Mystry start on the 8th.. I am going to be running all over the place on a daily basis now, so if you see me out and about in my PJ's .. don't be surprised.. hahahaha

cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning....

Move day is getting closer and closer.. We now have a little over 3 1/2 months until we are leaving Washington and I can tell you that the stress of it all has not been lost on me. Although I have already gotten the major things done, such as scheduling the move with the Navy and turning all our paperwork in with housing in Illinois... There are still somethings that need to be done.. Downsizing for instance... I have been working on getting rid of the things we don't need, want, or use.. seems like a simple task.. but, not really.. as our things are randomly stored all over the house in not so easy to access areas.

If only I could get my kids to do this!! haha

Then there is the cleaning that has to be done.. I am slowly working on getting things cleaned up from the tornadoes called children that I live with to a point where I can keep it decent until the heavy cleaning begins a few days before we move. I will also be hiring someone outside of the family that was recommended to me to help me with the cleaning.. as apparently housing here does not clean up after people move out the way they are supposed to.. Don't get me wrong, I expected to leave the place clean.. but I think that wiping the tracks that the kitchen drawers run on is a little excessive.

So.. it is replacing light bulbs, scrubbing tubs, sweeping carports, washing walls, and sorting through toys and clothes for me. If anyone wants to help grab a magic eraser and come on over!! haha