H20 Loving

A while back, I made a promise to myself to drink more of this water stuff that everyone needs to survive. I'm a tea, soda, lemonade type person. But, I thought I would give water a try. I problem is that my faucet filter needed fixing about a week into dpeoyment. I didn't know how to fix it, nor did I want to buy a new one. One day while I was shopping at the commissary, I discovered something amazing.    

A Brita water bottle. 

 Retrieved from Google Images 

 Retrieved from Google Images

It was exactly what I needed. It is a personal water bottle, but it has a filter in the bottle! Crazy, I know. This means I can go everywhere and have filtered water. I love it for road trips because I can just fill it up in the bathroom rather than pay the money for bottled water. During a 14 hour drive, it gets really pricy for a round trip. The refills are pretty inexpensive as well. 

 Retrieved from Google Images

I plan on buying one for Matthew when he gets home to take to the gym. I also bought one for my mom and she loves it too. She likes having filtered water at work. It's a really great investment when you have gross tap water. I adore it! 

Ladies Night

When someone hears the words "ladies night", they tend to think of a bunch of women drinking or doing something of the sort and having a blast. Last night, I encountered a little different version of ladies night. My friend Lauren and I went to ladies night at Shooter's Choice. It was possibly the best decision I've made in the last week.

I've never really shot anything stronger than a pellet gun we had growing up. But Matthew has a few guns, one being in the night stand, so I really felt like it was important to learn how to shoot one properly. Preferably, I wanted to learn before he got home from deployment. Anyone who is married knows that it's sometimes easier to learn something from someone else rather than a spouse. If learning how to shoot a gun goes anything like learning a little self defense...I may or may not have ended up accidentally shooting him. So, I decided to leave it up to the professionals.

We got to the store, signed up and paid for our session. For only $20 we got; a gun safety course, a rental lane, a rental gun and unlimited ammo. That is a steal. They also had a woman teaching the class, which I was so grateful for. I tend to get a little intimidated around men with guns. Now, I can proudly say I can hold my own around handguns. I understood what the instructor was saying the entire time through the safety course. She explained to us that even with hand guns, you hold them in different ways. Plus, loading the gun is different in different types. It was overwhelming at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. Then we headed to the range....

Disclaimer: Please excuse the ridiculously unflattering photos of me.

                           











First, we needed to make sure we had our eye and ears protected. Let me tell you, it gets loud and you will get hit with shell casings. I have a lovely little mark on my collar bone that resembles a hickey because the hot casing left a blister. Talk about awkward.

After making sure we loaded the clip properly and managed to get it into the gun without issues, they let us lose. The first shot was really scary for me. I was expecting to feel a really bad kick from the gun, but the recoil was actually pretty low. After the first clip, we felt practically like pros already. 

Here we are loading the clips

 Our first times shooting! 

We did it! 

By the end of the night, we were both able to hit a few "bulls eye" shots. Here are mine! 

 Here is my first "red" shot. 

 The end of the night, final results! 

Matthew is going to be so proud! 

Overall it was an amazing experience and I recommend it to any woman who wants to learn to feel comfortable with guns. Honestly, I was never "pro" guns. I'm more so "talk it out" type of person. However, I've come to realize that the world is not a safe place. And, I'm not the same 17 year old girl that I used to be. Plus, how awesome is detective benson from SVU is when she shows how awesome she can handle a gun. If I ever want to be a member of the BAU, I'll have to learn how to carry a weapon. Okay maybe not the BAU, but in the event of a break in I am confident I will be able to do some damage. I used to say that I don't believe in guns. But, they are very real. If you don't want to personally own a gun, that's alright. But I realized yesterday how important it was for me to take a class. Lord forbid you would come in contact with a gun. Do you know how to see if it is loaded? Or what the "safe" position. Or, even how to handle it in order to take to to a safe area? I learned how to do all of that and more in just an evening class. I can't wait for Matthew to get home so that I have some mad skills! Until next time!

Pumpkin Muffins

Pinterest is possibly the greatest thing ever. I was on the quest to find something to make ahead for breakfast in the mornings, or a snack when I'm hungry. I came across these pumpkin muffins that literally have two ingredients; yellow cake mix and a large can of pumpkin.

 I picked up a box of sugar free yellow cake

I know it only calls for yellow cake mix, but I also added some ground flax seed. Maybe 1/4 of a cup. I honestly just dumped some in from the container, no measurements. 

I also did the same for wheat germ. I just dumped a good amount on top of the flax seed.

I mixed it together well

Then, I began to add the pumpkin little by little until the entire can was mixed in well.

Since I added the extra dry ingredients, I added a little bit of applesauce. I'm not sure if I needed it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. 

I forgot pictures of this step but I put them in muffin tins and baked at 350 for 25 minutes. I ended up baking them for almost 30 minutes because they were still pretty sticky. The last batch, I added some chopped walnuts. Best. Decision. Ever. They turned out amazing and tasty. Best of all? They are so much better for you than regular muffins. 

Holiday Traditions:The Great Pumpkin

I expressed in one of my earlier blog posts about how much I absolutely love traditions. One of my favorite things since getting married is finding out traditions from each of our families and making them our own. My absolute favorite tradition since meeting Matthew is The Great Pumpkin.

Before Matthew and I "officially" started dating, he told me the story of his family's tradition of The Great Pumpkin. The background story of the great pumpkin is actually pretty funny. When my mother-in-law was married to her first husband it was the time period where VHS tapes were popular, along with video games. So, she wanted a way to get the kids more movies and games, thus the great pumpkin was born.

Basically on Halloween night, you leave out peanut butter cups for the great pumpkin. You also carve a little jack o'lantern in them. Think of it like leaving cookies out from Santa. Then when you wake up the next day, November 1st, the "great pumpkin" will have left you a movie or video game. When Matthew told me this tradition, I fell in love with the idea. We celebrate it every year, and my sister even started adopting the idea. This year I bought Parker a veggie tales movie that the great pumpkin will leave at my house for him.

Random nerd fact about me and Matthew. We are really into Studio Ghibili films. So, this year, I am hoping the great pumpkin will leave me The Secret World of Arrietty. Yes... I realize this is borderline lame, but there is a no judgement zone here at When North Meets South, hear me? The Great Pumpkin is actually saving Matthew's movie until he gets home. So it will be wrapped and ready when he gets home. But, word on the street is that he'll be leaving him Season 6 of Dexter. That's just what's going around the rumor mill.

Since it's October, I just wanted to share this fun tradition that we have in our house. What about you guys out there? Any fun tradition that you celebrate with your family? Please comment and share! I'd love to hear all about them.


Oh! on a side note, look at this cute fall wreath I made. Excuse the ugly green door please!

Deployment Adventures: Girls weekend

This deployment has taught me a few things, one of which is that it is important to be busy busy busy busy! And, that it is important to have an amazing group of friends to lean on. Last weekend was an especially fun week. For a few days, a couple of my girlfriends and I just enjoyed the weekend and didn't linger on the fact that our husbands still aren't home. But, it all started on Thursday....

The fair was in town! A little bit of information about me, if there is any type of fair or carnival going on...I revert back to a six year old girl. I get so excited, it's borderline ridiculous. I conned a few of my friends to come, and it is seriously a night I will never forget!

This was the first photo of the night, before it got dark. 

Now, a little piece of information about the North. We love these things called Elephant Ears. Basically, they are a piece of fried dough deliciousness with cinnamon sugar.  yeah yeah, I know they are called fried dough in the south, but there is just something about eating a real Elephant Ear. I haven't seen any Elephant Ears since moving in the south at any of the fairs I've attended. So, you can imagine my excitement when I saw this...

I was crazy excited when I saw that they indeed had real Elephant Ears at this fair. Jumping up and down, taking a picture for instagram, messaging my family..excited. I love fair food. Please, no lectures about how gross it is, and bad it is for you. I am well aware that it is possibly the worst thing for me to eat, but I am such a sucker for corn dogs. Well, and deep fried Oreos..and ribbon potatoe thingies..and lemon shake ups. Basically, I can only go to one....maybe two fairs a year. okay okay...three fairs a year. I ended up with a corn dog. Marina and Tricia rocked out these amazing chili cheese bacon fries. Yes, chili..cheese..and bacon, together. After we ate some awesome food..we decided to try some rides. It turned out to be a little bit like this..

Se

The first one went so well! Tricia hates rides. Again, don't lecture me about how dangerous they are. YOLO right? haha just kidding, but seriously. They are so fun. So we were standing in line for the Tilt A Whirl...

See how happy and awesome we looked!? I like to say that the end of our ride was similar, but it looked more liked this..

 

It was so Awful. I swear the guy running the machine was out to get us. I am a huge fan of the Tilt A Whirl. Now, I am reconsidering it. The first few minutes were great, then the last thirty seconds made me really think the machine was broken. I couldn't even breath we were going so fast! Talk about scary! We managed to get Tricia on one more ride before calling it a night at the fair, and then we went to get some frozen custard. 

Marina introduced me and Tricia to Rita's that night. All I can say is that it was down right amazing!

 Now, onto Friday.  Early into this deployment I saw a preview for this movie called Pitch Perfect. I've been patiently waiting for this movie to come out, and last Friday...it did! So we all went to see the movie, along with our friend Lauren. It was possibly the funniest movie I've watched this deployment. 

I may or may not have bought the soundtrack, I loved it that much. Then, we decided to hit up Cheddar's. Another "love" of this weekend. Amazing food, plus it's crazy affordable.

Can you tell which drink is mine? I will give you a guess, I didn't get a cool garnish :(

Saturday we all headed over to Morehead City for their annual seafood festival.

 We finally got a group photo of all of us.

 Tricia won a fish! He is officially our deployment mascot. His name is Papacito.

 

'Merica

 

Besides my trip to Washington D.C, this was possibly my favorite weekend. I has such a great time with my girls. I had my first run in with the Westboro Baptist cult church, more on that another time. Besides that little moment, it was the perfect weekend. We laughed, cried, and just had a blast. Until next time...

Wordless Wednesday; homework edition

Pinterest Project:Where I'm From

Pinterest can be a dangerous place during a deployment, heck it's a dangerous place in general. I had a million different projects planned in my head to do while Matthew was gone. However, that was not the reality of the situation. I only managed to have a few projects done that I deem Pinterest worthy. One project that I absolutely love is a project that I made with a few picture frames, some paint and the print out of three states. I saw a few ideas on pinterest that looked a little like this..

I loved the concept of making fun things out of states that are important to us. I decided on an outline of the state of Indiana with a heart in the city where I'm from. I made an outline of the state of Louisiana with a heart in the city where Matthew grew up. And then finally, an outline of the state of Georgia with a heart in the city where we got married. I absolutely love this concept. For military families, you can make one for every state you have been stationed in. There are so many ways to spin the concept.

The Finished Product

please excuse the terrible quality of the photo. Matthew is the photographer of this family, not me. 

This isn't the exact version of the project that I originally wanted, but I am beyond thrilled with the end product. I can't wait to possibly add more states, or find some way to add to the original project. I may add the state of North Carolina, where we live currently. Or, when we have children, make one for where our children were born. I eventually want to add the names and states underneath so everyone knows exactly what each heart stands for. There are so many possibilities! It wasn't a giant project, but it does add a little something to the house. The following pictures are just the initial process, but I hope you can take from them! 

 First, I printed out a picture of the state I wanted to use in the project

 Then, I used an xacto knife and cut along side the outline

Instead of tracing around the state I removed from the paper, I used the paper itself as a templet. I took think card stalk and painted in the lines of the templet. Simple enough right? I forgot take photos of the next few steps but...

Hartford City, Indiana 

Kingsland, Georgia 

Marksville, Louisiana 

Basically, I located the county of where the important place was and painted a heart on it. Then, I picked up dollar pictures frames for The Dollar Tree and popped those bad boys in. I put them on the wall coming into our home because I thought it just looked best there next to our key holder and the "God Bless Our Home" sign. Plus, it can be a nice conversation starter if you have guest to your home whom you've never entertained before. I hope I've inspired some of  you to make something fun for your own homes, it truly adds a little something special! Until next time! 

Proverbs 24:3-4

By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious pleasant riches.

Military Monday: Hey! It's October!

Yes, incase you had to recount, there are 27 tallies up on the mirror of misery . It's crazy, in a good sort of way. Not to sound full of it, but I am pretty darn proud of myself. I don't think I'm weak by any means, but I am not naive to the fact that I am pretty much a pansy when it comes to the department of emotions. I get my feelings hurt very easily and I tend to cry a lot when I'm upset. So, making it past the six month mark makes me want to give myself a pat on the back. God granted me with strength I honestly didn't know I had, and an amazing support system. I can't believe how fortunate I am. But, regarding the blog title, it is officially October.

I was writing out my calendar and didn't realize another month was down until I notice this little bit of information....

That's right, November is quite literally in sight. As lame as it sounds, I literally had tears in my eyes. I just need to make it through this month, month seven.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer-Romans 12:12