Yadi's 3rd Birthday Celebration

I promise this isn't going to turn into a dog blog.  Although I wouldn't hate it if it did.  If I'm being honest, I could write a dog post weekly.  Granted, 95% of them would be about Yadi.  Don't get me wrong, I love Vino.  But the problem is that she's just too sweet, too calm, and too perfect.  Yadi, on the other hand, has more personality than any dog or human I've ever met.  She didn't get the nicknames "Mouth of the South" and "Wildcard" for no reason.  She's a great dog, but has a lot of energy and sass and is pretty high maintenance due to her energy.  She has so many weird quirks and she is always keeping us entertained.

This past week we celebrated this crazy asses 3rd Birthday.  A lot of dog parents look forward to this milestone of a birthday because their dog finally begins to calm the eff down.  Not Yadi.  She is true to her breed and has just as much energy as she did the day we brought her home at 11 weeks old; the only difference is that she weighs 75 pounds more, goes potty outside, and no longer eats her own shit.

Because my dogs are my children, we celebrate their birthdays in this house.  I was way too busy with work to bake a doggie cake or pupcakes as I have done in the past, but she did get presents.  And she lots of outside time to enjoy some of them.

(She is incredibly focused on the treat Nick is holding)


I wanted a photo of me with the birthday girl, but of course I couldn't keep her sitting too long because the food in Nick's hand was much more interesting

Go home, Yadi, you're drunk.

If below isn't the definition of derp, I don't know what is

She finally got fed up and swatted the hat off.  Game over.

Following photos she finally got her presents.

Her first gift, we quickly discovered, is much more a gift for us.  We got the Kong Wobbler (and of course we got two to be fair).  This thing is amazing!  It keeps the girls entertained for so long!  The base is filled with sand so it always stays upright, but they have to knock it around to get the treats out.  They loved it!  Although, Vino got wise and started following Yadi around and just ate the treats.  She's smart...letting Yadi do all the work yet still reaping the benefits of said hard work.

Her other gifts were frisbees.  She is obsessed with balls and is really good at maneuvering her body to catch them.  She hasn't quite got the hang of frisbees.  She's not sure of they ways the move and she doesn't jump too often for them.  I want her to learn to jump high in the air for them.  So we got her some new frisbees and took her out in the field in our backyard to play.
{Brace yourself for Weim Overload}

Have you ever seen a dog look so happy?  I'd say she enjoyed her third birthday.

Where was Vino?  Running...what she loves more than anything in the world.  She couldn't care less about toys.  She just loves to be outside and running around in her ninja ways, chasing birds and other wildlife.

Do you celebrate your dog's birthday?  If so, how?

Nick's Birthday Gift Reveal

As promised, I showed up to class today to show you all what I got Nick.

This is what he saw when he walked out of the bedroom this morning:

TA DA!

I'm sure you're sitting there like, "what.the.crap? That's your awesome gift? I came here thinking you had some fabulous gift idea that I could steal". Well you're wrong. (But feel free to steal this one.  I guarantee it is awesome).

I promise, this gift isn't lame to Nick. You see, in 2012 and 2013, while Nick was going through Primary flight training, he was a part of the VT-3 Red Knight squadron. In their squadron bar, they had a giant popcorn machine. And they always made jalapeño popcorn. Always. Nick loved it (the flavored popcorn, not jalapeños themselves. He threw those out).  Ever since he left VT-3, he hasn't stopped talking about how he misses the popcorn. Always talking about he wants real jalapeño popcorn. Everything we tried just isn't the same. You see, he wants fresh popped, with the jalapeños in there with it. It really is heavenly. No bagged or flavored from a shaker are even remotely the same.

(Doesn't he just look thrilled that I'm making him pose for photos?)

So, I decided to get him a giant fancy popcorn machine so he can finally make it!! Now I don't have to hear him whine about it. We consume a lot of popcorn. A lot. So this bad ma'am-a-jama (totally made up my own spelling there) will get a lot of use. (Late last week, he took our car to Honda for an oil change. They always have fresh popcorn there and I got a text from Nick saying "it's not the same :(" When I asked what the hell he was talking about, he responded "the popcorn :( ". I giggled to myself knowing that in less than a week, he could have that glorious popcorn anytime he wanted.  (And let me tell you, it's been very hard keeping a secret!)

Of course to go with it I got the jalapeños (we already have popcorn kernels), popcorn scoop, measuring scoops, bags, and buckets.

The pups couldn't let their daddy's birthday go by without getting him a gift either. Nick has been eyeing these Craftsman drills for a while so each of the pups got him one. Now he can take the birthday money from Mom and Grandma and buy some more attachments for it.

There was going to be one more gift but it was nixed.  A few weeks ago, Nick told me for his birthday I should get him and I membership for a year of couples massages (or to use individually if we wanted).  I didn't want to make such a large purchase or commitment without his input, so I asked him about it last night. We decided that it would be best to wait until April (for budget reasons), and then we're going to go ahead and do it and I'm more crazy excited. April 6th is our dating anniversary so we'll just say it's a present to each of us for that. I mean when your husband suggests monthly couples massage, can you really say no?  I ain't no idiot!

But I think he was plenty spoiled with these gifts.  And he definitely loved them :)

As I said in yesterday's post, Nick's actual birthday kinda stunk. I woke up him up early so that he could open his gifts before I left for work because I knew I wouldn't see him the rest of the day. Then I helped him study all his EP's before I left for work. 

I worked 12 hour day ( no surprise ). Nick had a flight that took off at 11pm and he didn't land till around 1am, so that was pretty much all we saw of each other.  

However, I took it upon myself to make sure his birthday wasn't wasted. When I got home from work, I gave myself a little facial. You know typical girl things like removing that mustache (hashtag dark featured girl problems) and applying a mask. Then I filled up the bathtub with some lavender, Epsom salts, and bubbles,  lit some candles, grabbed a glass of wine, and my Kindle. (with the occasional interrupting Weim).  I'd say it's a damn good night.

So don't worry, babe, your day might have stunk and the majority of mine did too, but I made up for tonight for both of us. You.Are.Welcome.

Since the birthday sucked and all that really happened was gifts, I wanted to do something else.  I love giving gifts, don't get me wrong, but days (important or mundane) are all about the experience and memories, not the gifts.  So what shall we do?  Not too much.
As of now we have tentative plans to go out to eat tonight but we all know that Nick's schedule could prevent that. Actually, you probably don't know that so I'll fill you in. Being a pilot, Nick receives his schedule for the next day the night before. Meaning that tonight around 5pm or 6pm, Nick will check his schedule for tomorrow, and if he has something early in the morning that he needs to study and/or prepare for, that means no dinner plans for us. It's kind of a pain in the ass, but thus is the life of a pilot's wife.

Hopefully this weekend we can have some fun. A few months ago I saw commercial for the Harlem Globetrotters, and I told them I had never been to a game. Fast forward to a few days ago and he tells me that he got tickets for Friday night!  (I love that he listens and makes mental notes of the things I say.)  Other than that, I told him for his birthday that I'll go see that stupid Lego movie with him and play pool.  He's been nagging me to see that movie and I just don't have any desire to see it, let alone spend $10 to do so.  Likewise, Nick is obsessed with playing pool and I...well I am not.  I suck.  Downright awful.  But for my sweet husband, I will.  

And that is the recap of Nick's birthday.  

Nick's 28th Birthday

My husband has finally joined me in the wonderful (let's hope it's wonderful) age of 28.

He's not much for birthdays or celebrations but I am!!!  Last night, he just would not go to bed!  He finally got in bed at 1am, and was asleep by 1:30am.
Then I got to work.  I hung streamers all over and blew up balloons.  My goal was to blow up the entire bag but I hate blowing up one balloon, let alone 30+.  And at 2am and later at that.  So after 15 balloons, lots of dizziness, and almost an hour later I decided he was only going to get 28...his age.  It works out, right?  Even sounds like I originally planned it.
Then, on each balloon, I wrote something I loved about him as well.

(that's our bedroom door)

(view from our bedroom door)

And I made sure he had a birthday message waiting for him when he woke up.

(the "Good Luck" was in reference to a test he had that morning)

Nick had to work on his birthday but when he got home, he looked at all of his balloons.  (Somehow Yadi managed to leave them all alone).  But as soon as he read them all, he encouraged Yadi to go to town on them.  It was hilarious (and now we know what we'll be doing for her birthday in April). (video coming soon)

LOL this is the first balloon he picked up

Then we set out for dinner.

He chose to eat at Miller's Ale House and then we headed next door to Rooms to Go.  Nick and I had been planning for a very, very long time to get a new bedroom set and we were finally able to make it happen.  To be honest, Nick doesn't care at all about bedroom furniture.  He thinks its completely and utterly unnecessary.  {He's insane}.  However, he does think a 60"+ television is a necessity.  Somehow, I got him to agree that he will not upgrade our living room television (which isn't small.  It's a 42"  television), until we get new bedroom furniture.  He's really been itching to get his new television, so really, that was his motivation to say "Okay, we can afford the furniture now, so let's go get it."  It was a completely selfish motive.  He denies it but I am not stupid nor complaining!
So happy birthday to Nick, we (really I) got new furniture!!!  But the best part?  On top of the furniture being on sale, another President's Day special thrown in was a free 32" Samsung tv from Best Buy OR a $250 gift card.  So now he's $250 closer to his dumb, large, and completely unnecessary television.  So it did work out in his favor and is kind of a birthday gift for him, right???  It's just a distant gift.

We then went home, lit his birthday candles and he made a wish.  (I made him Rice Krispy Treats which are his favorite dessert.  He doesn't really care for cake, except angel food cake, which I made him for Valentine's Day.)

( I made them green.  Because, why not?!)

Such a goober

So many candles!!!  So bright!!!

Lots of smoke from this old man's "cake"!!

(please note the Weim photo-bomb.  She's staring up at the steamers hanging from the light.  Probably growling and about ready to bark at them.)

As for his gifts, one is being made and will take a few months to make (they're custom-made from wood when you order so it takes a while).  I ordered him a T-6B Texan II model with a customized base.

It will have his name, the dates he was in Primary, and in the middle will be the VT-3 Red Knights patch.
Such a great way to remember Primary, especially since he loved it so much.

He absolutely loved flying this plane and misses it so badly. (He pouts when he sees one flying). So I thought it'd be awesome to get him this model.  And he loves it!  (I also plan to get him the TH-57 which is what he's flying now in helo training.  And then obviously a model of the aircraft he'll fly in the fleet after he gets his wings.)  He's freakishly obsessed with all things aviation, especially his own career, so he really loves these gift ideas.
In addition, I bought him two new challenge coins (He has in excess of 20 already from various trainings, ships, milestones, squadrons, etc)

 one of the coins I got him:  NAS Whiting Field Challenge Coin

We ended the day with one of his favorite things...a movie.  We watched the first Die Hard movie, because I haven't seen any and he's been begging me to watch them.  He asked if we could watch it, and since it's his birthday, I finally agreed.


It was a fun evening and I'm glad we were able to celebrate.  Since Nick could be happy just sitting on the couch watching tv with nothing special going on, he very much so enjoyed his birthday.  And I did too.  Here's to making the age of 28 a great one for us both now!

Belated Birthday Celebration(s) with Nicholas

Nick was not able to be home in St. Louis with me for my birthday.
Therefore he wanted to "celebrate" when we got back to Florida.  The crappy thing was he didn't have a single free day.   Or even a free evening.  Just two to three hours each day.  So the things he had planned kept getting pushed back or cancelled.

The first night, we had about an hour or two to spend together.  So Nick wanted to take me out to dinner.  I am always craving a giant juicy super cheesy burger so I suggested we head to Red Robin because I had a free birthday burger!!!  Nick wasn't going to argue with that because he's a sucker for their bottomless fries.  And mmmmm was my burger delicious.  Then it was home for Nick to continue prepping for his next day's flight =(

The next night, again, Nick didn't couldn't dedicate his entire night after work to me, but he had a few hours to spare.  So off we went to the movies because he knew I had been anxiously been awaiting the last Twilight movie ever since the last one was in theaters.  (Yes, I'm one of those girls that love it.  And I'm not ashamed!)  Nick doesn't hate the movies.  In fact, he loves them.  But he wouldn't ever openly admit that ;)  I loved the movie and had a great time out with my love and I'm so thankful he finally took me to see it!  (Although now I'm super sad the series is done!)
(Sorry, didn't take photos.  I know, I know...photos make all blog posts better!)

Nick came home one evening, again a little later than expected, and things hadn't gone as planned and his day went later than he thought it would.  He came home a little annoyed.  He had wanted to take me to the beach to watch the sunset, followed by dinner.  Unfortunately, he got home just before the sun was setting so that wasn't able to happen =(  But he still took me out to dinner again.  And because he knows I loooove pizza, we went to one of our favorites, Mellow Mushroom!!!  It is so so so good!!!  I am such a sucker for their amazing wheat crust!!!  Then afterwards we did some Christmas shopping.

We always get the Mighty Meaty.  It's soooo good!

Lastly, Nick told me one night that we were going somewhere the next morning at 9:30am.  He needed to be home by 1pm to change and get to work and he'd be there until late that night.  I had no idea what we were doing.  I semi-hate these "surprise" dates because Nick isn't too good about telling me what to wear.  He gets annoyed when I ask questions but I need to know:  Do I dress in athletic clothes, dressy, or just casual?  Should my hair be up or down?  Should I put on makeup?  Can I wear heels or would flip flops or flats or sneakers be better?  If we're inside, I'll be cold and want a jacket.  If we're outside and in the sun, I should wear a tank top because it's supposed to be 80 degrees.  Should I bring my small clutch or is my normal large purse fine?  He just doesn't understand lol.
Anyway, that morning I woke up and got ready.  Casual with flats, flip flops, or sneakers I'm told.  We'll be outside. Whatever purse I want.  Okay, good!  That's start! lol

We started driving waaaay down towards the Pensacola base and I had no idea where we were going.  When we finally pulled in, I realized where we were!!!!!!  We heard about this miniature golf place that is all Navy/Aviation/Military themed and I've been wanting to go for soooooo long.  I've been nagging Nick and asking him over and over if we can go.  His response was always an annoyed "some day."  I gave up on asking him.  It had seriously been months since I last asked.  So I was so shocked and so happy!!!  I know it sounds silly but I'm a small child.  ANYTHING a child would find fun, odds are I do too.  My ideal dates are the zoo, mini golf, go carts, a carnival, etc.  And if the fun child-like activity is outside, I'm in heaven.  Like I said, it sounds silly but I much more prefer fun, laid-back, casual dates!
The course was not kept up since it's off season but it was still super fun.  Normally I do really well and either beat Nick or come pretty close to his score.  Not this time.  I sucked it up hardcore!!!  Either way, I had a great time and was really happy we had FINALLY gone here!!!!

These three holes spelled out USN

Aircraft Carrier

Aircraft Carrier again

Pentagon

Washington Monument

Army

Little helos all over the course

Anchor

USMC Obstacle Course

Sherman Field (where these guys land a lot)

Sherman Field (where these guys land a lot)

USS Alabama

We had NO idea what this was....anyone know?  We don't see anything lol

Submarine...Nick's prior community

Leaving the golf course

I was sad the sunset thing didn't work out but we realized we needed to give up on that plan.  Some other day maybe.  His schedule is just too busy and he's never home in the evenings now.  Either way, I had a great time with all these various "belated" birthday celebrations!!!