I got soul, but I’m not a soldier.
I’ve got a million and one things to update about. I haven’t written in a couple of weeks! We’ll start with a marriage survey, since yesterday was our 2 year anniversary, and married folk get to do cool crap like this. 
1. When was your “engagement” anniversary?
February 13th, 2007
2. When was your “married” anniversary:
February 16th, 2007 (I’m impatient.)
3. How long have you known your spouse:
We met in January of 2006
4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged?
A few months.. haha
5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time:
Kuwait on wash rack detail.
6. What is your spouses name?
Robert
7. Do you have any children yet:
No, but we have a wonderful doggie, Lanna.
8. How many:
n/a
9. Do you have any house pets:
Just Lanna.
10. Do you rent or own your house?
We’re renting. Next year we’ll buy a home.
11. Do you live in the country or town/city:
Jacksonville is a HUGE city. Actually, it’s the largest city in the states. But we live in our own little laid back bubble at the beach.
12. What is one of your favorite activities together:
Uhm… we LOVE Law & Order marathons.
13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot:
We’re just happy to both have the same day off once in a blue moon.
14. How many siblings (including in-laws):
He has 3 sisters and I have 2 brothers and one sister.
15. What church do you attend:
We don’t. Currently.
16. Is this the church you were married in:
We ran to the courthouse in Georgia.
17. What town is your current address in:
Atlantic Beach, Florida
18. Do you work or stay at home:
I work full time at Quest Diagnostics.
19. Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We never really had one.
20. Leave a piece of advice for the other couples:
Accept your spouse for who they are, don’t try to change them.
Yesterday was our two year anniversary, as previously stated about 583 times. You could say the first year doesn’t count since he was deployed, but anyone who’s had a spouse deployed knows that it takes even more work to maintain a relationship with someone who is overseas. Originally I wanted to go out of town. However, that idea went out the window when we started pursuing a courier position for Robby at Quest. The next orientation started yesterday, (though the interviewing process took longer than expected, they scheduled him for the orientation at the beginning of March, should he get the position.) Though we were really hopeful towards the beginning, we’re not so sure about it now. He’s a had more speeding tickets than they’d like. Though he hasn’t had one in the last 3 years. We’ll see. Keep your fingers crossed.
Back to the anniversary, I had no gift for Robby. Or any idea what to get him. COTTON? How do you buy someone a cotton themed gift? I think I did pretty well with paper, but I don’t think cotton slippers really express my love and gratitude for him. Gator clothing is way too easy. If I hadn’t gotten him one for Christmas 2 years ago, I’d get a pillow case with a picture of me on it! His interests include cartoons (anime preferred), football (college only, please), and pizza (pepperoni, of course). I married a 16 year old boy. (Luckily, I enjoy those things, too.) So while I’m sure he’d be thrilled with a Naruto COTTON t-shirt, I just don’t think it’s appropriate as a wedding anniversary gift. Turns out he had no idea what to get me either. Our gifts ended up being pretty comical. I bought him seat covers for his car (he’s been talking about needing new ones for a while.) While I’m sure they aren’t 100% cotton, I think I got that covered with the giant towel I bought him. It big and soft, and he can be particular about which towels he’ll use. And it’s blue and brown, so it matches our bathroom! He searched high and low for one of those reading pillows. You know, the one that looks like half a chair? So you can prop yourself up in bed? Well, I always steal all of the pillows so I can write on my computer in bed, so he thought the pillow would be a great idea. Plus, pillows = cotton! But he couldn’t find one anywhere and ended up getting me this mini bean bag, personally, I think it works great! It’s less structured, and it’s pink, which is always a plus!
I cooked one of his favorites for dinner, spicy chicken and shrimp. A dish he loved from Johnny Carino’s, which no longer exist here in Jacksonville. I found the recipe online and I make it every now and then. The plan was to go to Coldstone for dessert. I haven’t had Coldstone in… well over a year, I’m sure. I always give the employees a pitiful smile when I do go there. I feel their pain. I always tip and insist that they don’t sing. I’m also very critical of how my ice cream is prepared. I loved that job, except for the f*cking customers. 
However, the only Coldstone we knew of was closed. I pouted for a few minutes and then said I’d settle for Baskin Robbins. (I had my heart set on ice cream at the point) However we were headed to the movie theater and had limited time. The only Baskin Robbins I knew of was incredibly out of our way. We hoped to find one on Southside Blvd, near the theater. No go. Robby thought he saw a Funari’s (an Italian creamery) but it turned out to be a Moe’s sign. At this point our only option was McDonald’s. I refused and had candy during the movie instead.
We went to see Underworld: The Rise of the Lycans, which was amazing. Despite not having seen the first two movies I had no trouble getting into it. The only explanation needed was at the end of the movie, but only because it was a prequel to the first two. Robby has seen them dozens of times and gave me a very thorough rundown of what happened next. (I’m going to put them on my Netflix.) I’m not huge into vampires and such, and I still loved this movie. I was leaning toward Defiance (a WWII flick with Daniel Craig) because that’s much more my genre, but Robby sounded so excited about Underworld when I listed off what was playing that it made me a bit curious. I kept telling him, “This better be good, it’s your choice!” and it was. I was pleasantly surprised.
Speaking of Netflix I have War (Jet Li and Jason Statham), The Women (Meg Ryan, Eva Mendez) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Because I’m the only one on earth who hasn’t seen it) on the way. Reviews to follow.
Quick Valentines day bit, home made cookies from me, flowers and chocolate from Robby, and a pretty crappy (but fun) dinner at Longhorn. It was just nice to sleep in together and to spend time with each other!
So we’ll back up to the end of January. I flew up to Atlanta to visit Tana for a few days. Thursday she had school and I told her I’d watch Kallan so she wouldn’t have to put him in daycare for the day. Kallan and I had a blast, though I think I freaked him out a little bit, I’m pretty goofy with the kids! Tana’s dad has the cutest dog, Snoop, who is terrified of Kallan! We had a good afternoon together.
Later that day we went and got manicures and pedicures then headed to the mall to do some pre-concert shopping. While shopping (something teal for me, something sparkly for Tana) the theme quickly became “Funky, like The Killers” and any item not meeting the criteria wasn’t even allowed into the fitting rooms. After an hour at H&M, 20 minutes at NY&CO, I scored at Belk and Tana found her dream shirt at Express. We wandered into Forever 21 for some inexpensive accessories to complete our trip. We opted out of going to the movies after some questionable sushi at the only available Japanese restaurant.
Friday morning was filled with anticipation and dread, that night was a long time coming, but we knew I’d be leaving the following afternoon. Tana’s dad took half a day off so he could watch Kallan for us. After some careful navigating in downtown Atlanta on Tana’s behalf we were able to park in a garage and check into the Hotel Indigo.
The room was adorable, as was the rest of the hotel, and I’m sad I didn’t get a chance to take a picture before we trashed the place! Makeup and clothes were everywhere within a matter of seconds, and at 5 we ordered room service, just to add to the mess. The food was great, I had the Greco Chicken panini (chicken, provolone, red pepper hummus, artichokes and baby spinach leaves) and Tana ordered the Tuscan Pizzetta but I believe she received a Southwestern Pizzetta instead, which was delicious, nonetheless. It took us much longer to get ready than we had previously anticipated (go figure, right?) but there was a cab stand right outside of the hotel so we didn’t have to call and wait for one to pick us up.
We headed straight to the Civic Center and got drinks and then found our seats. We were in the first tier and had aisle seats. The opening band was a band called M83, from France, and they were pretty funky (like The Killers) and totally cute with their accents.
The video is a little cheesy, but hold out till the roller skating starts.
I promise it’s worth it.
Finally the show started and aside from the stick-in-the-mud next to us, we had an awesome time. I took a bunch of 30 second clips with my camera, but I haven’t had the patience to upload them yet. I was sad they didn’t play Midnight Show, but All These Things That I’ve Done was freaking awesome. Everyone really got into it.
After the show we weren’t sure where to go, despite an hour I spent on Yelp the night before. Our options seemed only to vary between sports bars, dive bars or the kind of place you might meet an ATL regular, like Chingy. (It was actually written in one review!) Our first cab driver and another concert goer mentioned the Virginia Highlands, so we hopped into another cab and headed there. We were hoping for a bar atmosphere with a small dance floor, but it didn’t look like we were going to find that. The streets were lined with pubs. So we asked to stop and walked into the first one. I actually don’t know the name of the place, but we ended up having a great time. We met some people from a larger group, ate stale popcorn and drank beer. Some guy wanted to take a picture of us with his friend and his only request was that he use our camera. I think he was just having fun with his friend who had obviously had too much to drink. (After the picture he stood up and said “What just happened? Where are my keys?”)
Towards the end of the night we were being harassed by this creepy married guy whose agenda was obviously to cheat on his wife. That seemed to be our cue to catch a cab and head back to the hotel.
We ordered breakfast the next morning (we both had cinnamon swirl French toast with fresh strawberries) and packed up the room. As we checked out I spied an oversized chair. Who could resist?
I was so sad to leave Tana and Kallan, but I had an awesome time.
Thank you SO much Tana!
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I had to return The Almost Moon to the library, they wouldn’t let me renew it. So I checked out Paint it Black by Janet Fitch. I haven’t even opened it! I FINALLY finished The Total Money Makeover and we can actually START the makeover once I sit down and write out a budget. A lot depends on where we move, as well. But that won’t be until the end of March. I’m hesitant to start something just to have to go back and change things so quickly, but the first step is to save $1,000. I’ll make it my goal to finish that before we move.
Ok I’ve written A LOT so here are some LOLs, cause I need to sleep!
This one is totally for Candice!
Marriage is more than four bare legs in a bed.
I’ve been researching some stuff for our wedding anniversary. It is the 16th of February and we’ve tentatively decided to go down to St. Augustine, have dinner, stay the night and spend the next day in the historic district. Maybe rent some bikes and go for a ride, and I’d love to eat lunch at the Spanish Bakery. We’ve been there a few times and so we know our way around, but I’m having trouble deciding where to stay. There are more B&B’s than I can count, but they’re either out of our price range or decidedly “foo foo”. I can only handle so much lace. Robby insists it’s up to me, but I want him to enjoy the stay as much as I do. One place I cannot help but desire is the Casa Monica Hotel. (just let the slide show run through, you’ll understand!)
I REFUSE to stay in a Ramada Inn for our anniversary, but I can’t seem to find anything I like online. Maybe I should just drive down there… if I only had the time. The theme for the first wedding anniversary is paper, I made Robby paper fortune cookies with quotes about love and things that I love about him as the fortunes and I also gave him a book. He sent me a scroll with roses encased in a glass dome. Now up until about 2 hours ago I was under the impression that the second anniversary was wood, but have just found out it is cotton. I am hoping that while we’re in St Augustine we can find something following that theme that we can get to kind of physically represent our anniversary.
Now, for a much more current update, I leave on WEDNESDAY for Atlanta! Tana is living in Jasper, Ga, just north of Atlanta, and her dad bought us tickets WAY back in like October? to see The Killers THIS Friday! I felt like it would never get here, so I tried to contain my excitement, but here it is! I know Hot Fuss like the back of my hand but I’m not as well versed in their other albums, but I’m catching up right now. I’m totally digging Sweet Talk and Spaceman,
We’re staying at The Hotel Indigo in Atlanta, which is absolutely amazing! The date is COMPLETELY coincidental, but what a kick ass birthday present!
Yes, it is exactly one week today until I turn 24 years old. Not a very monumental number, but I enjoy getting older, I value the wisdom that comes with age. I’ve had a lot of fun and gotten into my fair share of mischief so I don’t believe I’ll ever feel as though I’ve missed out on anything. I suppose most people my age already have their degrees and an established career, but considering what I’ve done in my life up until this point, I think I can let the lack of college education slide. That will change later this year. And thank God I joined the army because now my college will be paid for in full! I told Robby I want to go to Joe’s Crab Shack for my birthday and I had told his mom that I was making him take me there and tonight she decided we’d all go there to celebrate my birthday, which I absolutely love!
I bought new laundry detergent, Arm&Hammer, and it smells WONDERFUL.
I know I had so much more to write about, a lot of little things, but maybe I’ll write again during the week. Between The Killers, my birthday and our wedding anniversary, I just don’t have the attention span to think about anything else!
some lol’s
