Social networking--Love it or Hate it

What a day. I woke up and drug myself to the kitchen to make Jordan some breakfast. After he left for work, I went back to bed and I suppose that set the tone for my day. Where to start? I found out several annoying things today: UPS sent my wedding announcements back, door knob is very broken, my Valentines are going to be very late and dried burnt cheese is extremely difficult to get off a slow cooker! As Wynn Varble would say, that "sounds like life to me."

To elaborate, though, I will say that the highlight of my day was definitely walking around the snow in the neighborhood, meeting all the neighbors because I couldn't get back in the house. I finally found a neighbor who had a cell phone (Welcome to Alaska!) that I could use to call a TN number to tell Jordan to come home and break down the door, as I had no cell phone with me. Yes, that was by far the best part of the day. Insert sarcasm as needed.

Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow :)

Anyway, I was surfing the internet when I came across Chris Brogan's site. Brogan is all about using social media to connect with other people to build networks and relationships worldwide. I think it's awesome how far we've come in just my life time. I remember reading an article in fourth grade that warned of the dangers of the world wide web. While it certainly can cause problems with privacy and security, the net has also brought me closer to family in other states and friends that I've lost touch with. It provided me with a small group of contacts of other military spouses when I arrived in Alaska. It gives me a way to reach many people when prayer is needed. There's a wealth of information at my fingertips now. Prior to the internet one would need hours of library time to find what I can in just a few seconds. Ahh, technology. Do you love it or hate it?

There's nothing better than having that tangible book in my hand or sitting around, chatting with a group of friends. Not much else can beat that. But social networks and circles have done me well. As a military spouse, I am incredibly thankful for the advances in technology. Jordan and I lived our whole first part of our relationship via emails and Skype conversations. To this day, I know that I wouldn't change a single thing about the deployment. His words and mine were all we had and they brought us together and they kept us together. Perhaps it's odd to be thankful for the deployment. Believe me, I didn't always feel that way. I know now that God has everything in His plan. We were supposed to go through that time apart because it's true what "they" say--Absence does make the heart grow fonder. That being said, I'm fine with the fondness that I hold onto in my heart for J--deployments stay away! (hehe)

Have you ever thought about how having the world at your fingertips has affected YOU personally? It's a cool thing--in my opinion, of course.

Be Creative!

2 posts in one day? I must not have anything to do! Actually, I've been working on Jordan's Valentine so I wanted to share it with my readers in the event that someone has the free time that I do and needs an idea on making Valentines. I'll post the pictures and if anyone is interested in the directions let me know and I'll post those, too. It's super easy! Enjoy. (Shh....don't tell Jordan yet)

White coats and football

Take a look at this photo and tell me I had a bad weekend! It's hard to have a bad weekend when I have my feet propped up next to a warm fire sitting beside my man.

Friday night, we ended up going to the emergency room to deal with my ailments. I got some antibiotics and I'm feeling much better now. While there, a nurse checked my blood pressure and it was 150/93 which is terribly high for me. The doctor asked if I was nervous to which I replied "YES!" and he said I also suffered from white coat syndrome. No surprise there. I felt significantly more at ease as soon as I walked out the huge front doors of the hospital. Free at last!

The majority of our furniture has arrived so Jordan spent the rest of Friday night putting together our new, comfy bed. We finally drifted off to sleep after a late night.

Saturday we got a late start to the day. We woke up rather late and after breakfast we sat by the fire, read, and cat-napped for awhile. It was so nice. On Sunday I had to work, but I decided not to accept the position for several reasons. One of them being that Jordan wasn't happy about me having to work on the weekends. He works so much throughout the week so when he does get time off we like to enjoy it together. Even though this job was at a church, I felt like it would alter my time with God too much. I like attending church services on Sundays and by accepting this job, I would be giving that up. There were other factors as well. One biggie was that the hours weren't set in stone so it would be difficult for me to tell Jordan when to pick me up and drop me off. With his job as time demanding as it can be, it just wasn't going to work for us. Oh well. The job search continues.

After leaving the church on post, I came home to Jordan plugging away in the kitchen preparing appetizers for our company coming over to watch the Superbowl. He made his dad's spectacular guacemole recipe while I prepared a queso dip. We prepared some other foods and sat down in front of the t.v. to what we thought was going to be a blowout with the Colts ahead...looks like we thought wrong. Maybe next year, Peyton. :(

Despite the loss, I had a pretty good weekend. I hope all of you can say the same!

With love,

Kacy Sue

Kacy and the Terrible, Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day

I went back and forth on deciding if I should blog about the last 24 hours of my life. Some topics are perhaps a little TMI, but alas this is my blog so here goes--proceed with caution.

Yesterday, I ran to the bathroom with a strong urge to urinate that didn't leave all day. I didn't think much about it at first because it wasn't painful, just odd. After a couple times of this nonsense, I broke out the incredibly helpful and occasionally harmful google tool. Literally all the responses hinted that it is likely a urinary tract infection. Crap. I've never had one of those before, but I have heard they can be pretty painful.

I am a slight hypochondriac. I think I may have it all wrong, though because I always diagnose myself with some horrible problem and then decide that I do not want to get it checked out. I prefer to use the "ignorance is bliss" method of dealing with health issues. I get so worked up and scared that it might be something that I'm not prepared to handle so I prefer not to know about it. Crazy, right? Anyway, in my experience, doctors have been clueless, scatterbrained, and most unhelpful aside from Dr. Guider, of course. Why can't we all just not grow up and always go to him?

Anyway, back to the infection that I may or may not have...

I told Jordan about it and asked him to stop off and get AZO cranberry and juice after work. He's a jewel. I know he's rather uncomfortable in the female isle especially with his uniform on so I greatly appreciated him. By the time he arrived home, I was starting to feel pretty icky. I popped some AZO and drank lots of juice, only to see that he had gotten cranberry cocktail instead (we won't tell him). I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I almost passed out. My head was spinning and I became really hot. I layed on the bathroom floor until I felt fine enough to crawl back into bed (err, couch. More on this later.)

Today, I'm drinking strictly water and taking vitamins like crazy. Lots of vitamin C . Copious amounts of water. I know I shouldn't be treating myself as if I know anything about medical issues. I just really was hoping to kick whatever this is before a doctor became necessary. This is partly because I hate going to the doctor, but it's also because my TriCare card hasn't arrived in the mail yet so it will be a hassel to get into the hospital on post. Apparently, it was a horrible time to move,change addresses, etc.

In the midst of all this confusion that was going on yesterday, our furniture arrived. Some of it came, anyway. We got a sofa, love seat, ottoman, a night stand, and a bedroom dresser/mirror. I can't tell you how good it feels to have somewhere to sleep now. The floor was getting really old and I even have a bruise from laying on it so many nights in a row. I know, poor, pitiful me. LOL Sleeping on this couch made me so very thankful for Bailey's Furniture here in Fairbanks. Not only did they provide me with a comfy place to sleep, but the nice lady there told us about a friends and family sale in which we were able to save a thousand bucks!

I'm afraid to get moving and get all the cleaning done that I had hoped to do today once our furniture was in place. I suppose I'll get my knitting tools and finish the scarf I'm making. I could use some prayers today. My sister could use  some as well. She's been in and out of the hospital with severe migranes all week. Thanks! I look forward to a happier day tomorrow...

It wasn't me!

It wasn't me who decided that around 1100 I had accomplished enough for the day.

It wasn't me who got in the hot tub at 1300 today while my hubby was slaving away at work.

It wasn't me who drank most of and the rest of the chocolate milk for lunch.

It wasn't me who lounged around all day and neglected my duties so that I could watch LMN.

Welcome to my first post of "Wasn't Me Wednesday." More to come :)

Life's Greatest Blessing

I have a clean house. Picture frames of friends and family adorn our walls. There's wood nearby and a fire for warmth. There are scrapbooking supplies carefully scattered in the floor of the office waiting to be picked up again. Sandals are placed by the door heading out to the hot tub. The music of Chris Tomlin is ringing throughout the cabin. There's little else that will suffice except to say that life is good!

A week ago, I was concerned about getting our cable hooked up in time to catch all my weekly shows. I haven't even turned the T.V. on yet. There's just something about sitting in front of a fire that I made. Some call it fire therapy. Whatever it is, it makes me contemplate all sorts of things. In the mornings I do my daily bible studies by the fire. It doesn't matter that there's no furniture. These green fold-out camping chairs and my bible is all I really need. Now, as I sit here peering out the window, waiting on my husband to walk through the door and take off his boots, I'm reminded of the most important part of my life, aside from J.C., which is my family.

In the window sill beside me, there's a picture frame  that my mom gave me that says, "The love of a family is life's greatest blessing." How very true that has been for me. Being away from family and my dear friends is something I never thought I'd be doing for any significant length of time. I didn't even consider the idea that I would  meet and fall in love with a man in uniform--much less, marry him! Life has directed me on surprising paths, but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm so very proud of Jordan and I will always support his career in the Army. Even if it keeps me away from my family and friends, I have faith that it won't be forever. I am delighted in each new experience here in Alaska, but I also look forward to the next stop that I'm sure will be full of wonderful memories as well.

True Alaskan?

My weekend consisted of not much else more than packing and unpacking, cleaning then re-cleaning. Needless to say, I'm glad we're moved in. Now if Thursday could hurry up and get here.

The past few days I have felt like I embodied two very different people. First of all, I felt a bit like a real Alaskan. I mean, who else is thankful for two degrees above zero on moving day? I was walking around outside in a three quarter length button up and was still pretty toasty. It's so strange how one can grow accoustomed to their surroundings. I remember when ten degrees was barely heard of in Tennessee, now it feels like a heat wave.

I also felt like this guy-



This is Gus from Disney's Cinderella. Ya know the part when he is trying to grab as much food as he possibly can and is attempting to hold the huge stack under his chin? Yep, that was me on Friday. Taking boxes and stacking them up, praying they wouldn't fall and break in two. I sure am glad to have that over. Oh, how I look forward to having the Army pack us up and move us next time.

Today wasn't such a great day. I had plans to get so much accomplished, but I became discouraged after having to waste time at the hospital so I came home to blog with only four tasks marked off my list. Oh well...baby steps. There is good news to report, though! I have an interview on Wednesday with a church on post. They need help around the chapel...mostly with the children's classes. The hours are good (it's part time) and it's convienient for Jordan because I can ride to work with him instead of him having to drive the jeep in the cold. It would be nice to have another income so wish me luck!

Back to the To Do List-I go. Au Revoir!