Secret Ornament Swap

I am participating in abbily ever after's secret ornament swap and I just got my first comment from Louisa who is also an ornament swap participant but says that she isn't my ornament person (the person who sends me an ornament). I will find out in a few weeks!!! She isn't my ornament person though (the person I send an ornament to)...

I can't wait to get a chance to read the blogs of everyone participating and hopefully I can make some blogger buddies through this! Wouldn't that be fun?

On another note: still haven't heard from Zach. He didn't get to call me after he got there. Hopefully he will be able to call soon or maybe I will get a letter. I just need something from him!!!

Anyways, if you would like to look at the blogs of the people participating in the ornament swap click on the picture above...

Saying Goodbye...

We were able to go with Zach to Montgomery for his departure today. He had to be down there last night so guess what my fabulous in-laws did??? Got us a hotel room in the same hotel that Zach was staying in!!! So we went to dinner and Zach got to spend the night in the room with the three of us!!! It was fabulous!

Below is what I wrote this morning...

Wednesday November 5th 5:49am:

I am sitting here in the bed waiting on everyone to get dressed so we can go over to MEPS to wait with Zach. He is already over there; he had to be on the shuttle over there at 5:00am. He was able to stay in our hotel room last night since we are in the same hotel that he is in. So we were able to snuggle for one last night. It is going to be odd to go home and sleep in our bed by myself tonight. That is not something that I am looking forward to.

I am also not looking forward to saying goodbye. It is going to be so hard to watch him get on that bus and drive away without me by his side. And it is going to be even harder to get in the car and drive back to Birmingham without him.

When he gets to Fort Benning he should be able to call and let me know that he is there. After that phone call I don’t know when I will hear his voice again.

You know when you were a child and you were sick or hurt all you wanted was your mom? That is how I am today… I wish she was here with me today… she couldn’t be off today because she couldn’t find a sub. I have Kathy and Larry here but for me it is like when you were sick as a child, I just want my mom!

I have no internet access so I have to save this and upload it later. I brought my camera, I can’t guarantee how many pictures I will take if I take any at all, but if I do I will load those too…

Keep us in your prayers; it is going to be a long, hard day for the Self family!

Wednesday November 5th 2:59pm:

I am home now just sitting here taking everything in. Zach left for Fort Benning around 12:30 and has already arrived there. He called me about 2:30 from one of the other guy's cell phones (he didn't take his since they aren't allowed to have them at Basic). He said they weren't actually there but they would be in a matter of minutes and we would call me when they let him.

It has been a VERY emotional day and I would classify this as one of the hardest days of my life... right up there with the day I found out I had skin cancer.

There were only 4 guys going to Fort Benning from Montgomery today so they were in a mini-van.

I can't believe he is gone... I have cried a lot this afternoon and yet I am so proud at the same time!

Please keep us in your prayers! Thank you!

Thanks!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came out yesterday for Zach's going away party! It means a lot to both of us that you came to support him.

If you would like his address at Fort Benning please email me and I will send you his address as soon as I get it.

Please keep us in your prayers as we go through the next several months. Zach leaves on Wednesday for Fort Benning but he will be going down to Montgomery tomorrow afternoon and spending the night down there. I will be going to Montgomery on Wednesday to see him off. Please say a special prayer for us as we travel over the next few days.

I hope everyone is having a great day!

Look How Smart I Am!

I named 50 US states in 10 minutes

I learned a little song in elementary school and I finished this with 5 minutes and 27 seconds left!

Halloween

Normally at work we go with a theme for halloween but this year we couldn't agree on a theme so we are dressing as we want. I found this ladybug costume but can't bring myself to pay $54.99 for it...

Yes, I could wear this to work, I showed it to our assistant manager and suggested that I wear tights or leggings under it and she said that sounded cute!

Oh, and for those of you wondering what my hair looks like...

This is the EXACT picture that I showed the stylist! This is some chick from Real World:Hollywood, I didn't watch the show but I LOVE her hair!

Zach and I are on Ava-duty. The alarm company for Matt's work called because the alarm was going off so him and Karmen went down there to check on everything. We have been in our room on the bed playing and then Ava's diaper leaked all over the bed so we brought the sheets and put them in the wash and we are now in the living room playing! She is so much fun!!!!

Good night!

Live Traffic Feed

If you notice to the right side of the page there is a live traffic feed that I have put up. I mainly did it to see if people were actually coming to my blog. which they are!!! YEA!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather, I surely am! I love to take pictures this time of year. I have an appointment with a very dear friend from high school on November 8th. I am photographing her and her son at the Botanical Gardens! I am so excited! I can't wait to meet him and I can't wait to see her again! If she gives me permission I will be posting his pictures on the photography blog!

Anyways, that is all I have for now! Have a great day!

It is almost time.

Two weeks from tomorrow my husband will be leaving for Basic Training. I am going to be so sad to watch him leave to go to Montgomery for processing. I can't go with him down there to see him off. He will board a bus bound for Georgia with no one there to tell him "good bye" and "I love you". That absolutely breaks my heart. I can take him to his recruiters office and they will be the ones to take him to Montgomery. (I am assuming they will take him down there, we haven't been told the final plan yet.)

As it gets closer to time for him to leave I dread it even more. I think this will be the hardest thing that I have ever done...

Moving along to something else before I start crying...

My friend Kydie here at work is at the doctor as we speak scheduling her c-section for next month. As soon as I know when it is I will update. I can't believe Miss Zoie is almost here!

Erika goes to the doctor on November 14th and she should find out if they are having a boy or a girl! When she went to the doctor last time she said that they told her she was measuring further along, they didn't move her due date so I will keep you updated on that!

In less than two weeks Ave will be 2! I can't believe it! She is growing up way too fast. I absolutely love living with Karmen and Matt because I get to be there for all of the funny and sweet things that she does!

In "me" news, I got my haircut and it is a style that I have never really had before! I absolutely love it! Karmen got hers cut too and it is SO cute!

Anyways, I will update when I hear from Kydie! Have a great day!

Edit: Kydie will have her c-section on November 24th! Zoie will be here just in time for Thanksgiving!!!

A thing to keep in mind...

The credit union that I work for attended the Birmingham-Jefferson Chapter Meeting last night at The Club. We had a fabulous dinner and there was a FABULOUS speaker. It was John Croyle, former Alabama player and founder of the Big Oak Ranch. He made us laugh, he made us cry, most of all he motivated us to give our all everyday!

I am going to keep this short and I am going to leave you with a quote from him last night...

"Would the child that you were be proud of the adult that you are?"

I was telling Zach about that on the way home from dinner tonight, it is a good thing to keep in mind everyday and in everything that you do.

Less than a month...

Life is still crazy... We are trying to get everything situated before Zach leaves. I can't believe how fast our time has flown by. It is going to be so hard to say goodbye to him knowing that I can't talk to him for several weeks! :-(

We are mostly spending as much time together as possible and moving stuff out of our house. And working too.

I will update again soon, right now I just wanted to let you know that we are still alive!

Oh, I almost forgot! I had my last dermatologist appointment for this year on October 7th! They didn't remove anything so I am CANCER FREE!!! I go back in February. Keep praying for a clean bill of health for me and pray for me and Zach as we are prepare for his departure!

I'm sorry...

I know I haven't updated in a while. A lot has been going on...

Our air conditioner at our house went out Saturday Sept. 13. We decided to go ahead and move in with Karmen and Matt until someone could come out and look at it. So we have officially been living there since Septmeber 14. I am loving the short drive to and from work.

Our house is officially on the market now so if you know of anyone looking for a house let me know!

We have been super busy packing and moving and spending time with family and friends before Zach leaves.

Karmen, Alline, and I started Weight Watchers last week. I am excited to start losing weight... That is my goal while Zach is gone. My ultimate weight loss goal is 20 pounds. I have already lost 2! I cheated on Saturday when we were at Zach's sister's house for the Alabama game, there was too much good food there... and I haven't been walking like I should because last week we spent a lot of time getting our essentials moved to Karmen and Matt's. Hopefully this week I can start on the walking!

Anywho, that is all I have time for right now! Have a fabulous day!