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rearden888 — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:31:26 +0000

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Card Inspiration

rearden888 — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 16:40:00 +0000

I had originally pulled out this magazine insert to use as a make-shift bookmark as I read the latest issue of Seattle magazine. But after looking at it for a few days, I realized it was the start of a cool design for a card!
I didn’t have the exact same colors, but I think it’s a good example of how you can look at something with a different tilt of your head and use it to inspire some crafty goodness.

I used three flower stamps to create the background pattern, and then used Stampin’ Up’s blender pens to lightly color in the blue and green flowers. I stamped the blue balloon on the card, then masked it to add the green one behind. I wanted to incorporate the balloon strings in with the sentiment, but I’m not loving how it turned out. Maybe a different stamp? Anyway, crafters – have you found inspiration in an unlikely source?

Cheers and Jeers

rearden888 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:52:00 +0000

Cheers… to possibly having our wedding featured in a Madison magazine!!! I don’t know all the details yet, but our wedding photographer asked if he could pass our name along to Brava Magazine, and now I’m working on filling out a questionnaire from one of their writers. I’ve been running around the house for the past two days yelling, “I’M GONNA BE ON THE COVER OF A MAGAZINE!” and NavyGuy’s been shaking his head and reminding me that a) the writer said nothing about the cover, and b) it’s an article about us, not just the bride. We’ll see about that…

Jeers… to having to work on Saturday instead of being able to visit Tally pup. I’m sending NavyGuy down without me, but with our camera (we’re still negotiating the video camera, as he’s terrified of being that parent), because even if I can’t see her, I need reassurance that she’s okay. And happy. And at the top of her class. And making friends. And brushing her teeth. (I’ll be sending a checklist with him.)

Cheers… to payday today. Thank god.

Jeers… to NavyGuy’s squadron. They deploy very soon, and yet they’re being completely ridiculous in scheduling the guys, and leaving them absolutely no time to get any pre-deployment stuff done, or even, I don’t know – see their families AT ALL. NavyGuy was one watch twice this week (which means 7am – 10pm at the squadron, no leaving), had two days of night flights, and there’s no sign it’ll be letting up. Way to go squadron – good job building morale before a deployment, and taking care of your own. Total bulls#$%.

Cheers… to getting my craft mojo back. It had flittered away for a bit, but with the arrival of the latest Creating Keepsakes magazine, and an invite to scrap next week with some of the Navy wives, I’m feeling artsy-fartsy-mojo-licious.

And all of you…?

My family is trying to kill me.

rearden888 — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:42:00 +0000

Phone conversation with Mom this morning:

Mom: Hey – am I waking you up?

NavyGirl: Nah, I’ve been up for a bit. What’s going on?

Mom: I have an idea.

NavyGirl: Shit.

Mom: Young lady!

NavyGirl: Your idea?

Mom: So, you know how we didn’t get a chance to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge when we visited Sister last summer…

NavyGirl: Yes…

Mom: Well, we’re going to visit Sister this summer and RUN across the bridge! Won’t that be great!

NavyGirl: Are you drunk? Are you drunk at school at 11:30 on a Thursday morning? Did you hit your head on something?

Mom: No! C’mon! We can do it! It’s only like two miles. I’m giving you ’til August to get in shape and do this. It’ll be like our version of The Amazing Race!

NavyGirl: Yeah, we’ve talked about this. We’d be kicked off Amazing Race in the first episode for refusing to bungee jump or eat monkey brains or you know, work hard in some way.

Mom: Well, I sort of already committed us to this…

NavyGirl: What do you mean, you “committed” us to this… did you… oh no, you didn’t.

Mom: I did.

NavyGirl: YOU ALREADY TOLD SISTER ABOUT THIS?!?!?!?! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

So, I guess I have until August to get my last will and testament in order. Cuz come this summer, my Sister and Mother are going to Bataan Death RUN me across the Golden Gate bridge.

De – wait for it- nial

rearden888 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 05:39:00 +0000

NavyGuy deploys soon. Real soon. I can’t give specifics about dates due to security issues (see a great introduction to Operational Security here), but it’s within spitting distance.

And I’m waaaaaaaaaaay in denial. Like, “it ain’t just a river in Egypt” kind of denial. Yes, I can look at a calendar and I can understand that D-Day (Deployment Day) is coming, but I’m in a weird sort of casual-oh-it’ll-be-fine-its-no-big-whoop-worrying-about-getting-the-garbage-taken-out-instead-of-the-fact-that-my-husband-will-be-gone-for-six-months kind of place. I don’t know if this is my coping mechanism for the moment, and when it truly sets in that he’s leaving soon, I’ll have a total melt-down or what. But I’m definitely not feeling what I expected.

We still have a not teeny-tiny list of things to do, and yet, I’m sitting watching Gilmore Girls reruns. And thinking of going to bed early.

It sure is nice vacationing in Denial – wish you were here!

The Latest From Your Friendly Neighborhood Starbucks

rearden888 — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:38:00 +0000

Tuesday was a big launch for Starbucks, with a new drink, lots of new merchandise, and a renewed focus on coffee (even a new way to brew coffee!). It’s a lot to take in and as your unofficial Sbux guide, I thought I should highlight a few things so you’re not completely bowled over the next time you wander into a sea of green aprons…

*Dark Cherry Mocha
The new drink, which is essentially a mocha (espresso, chocolate syrup, steamed milk), except it includes an additional cherry flavored syrup. I was terrified to try it as I don’t like cherries and feared it would taste like cough syrup. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The cherry flavor is subtle (and you could always ask for fewer pumps of the syrup if you’re really leery). It comes topped with whip cream and chocolate curls as well.

*Fun New Stuff
Tons of new mugs, tumblers, and cups in fun spring patterns and colors.

The spring themed cherry blossom gift card is a personal favorite (makes me harken back to our cherry blossom themed wedding!), but you’ll have to check it out for yourself in a store because I can’t find a photo yet online. UPDATE: Click here to see what the card looks like.

*New Coffee
The featured coffee at the moment is Peru Chanchamayo (rhymes with “on the bayou). I’m a fan because the acidity of the coffee is really low (so it’s less bitter than others). In fact, NavyGuy and I busted open our bag this morning (the renegade Starbucks in the Safeway in Anacortes had it on the stands already on Sunday night… they never follow the rules and tick me off every time I’m in there… but I’m not above taking advantage of their rule-breaking).

*Bold Picks Coffee
Starbucks is highlighting a different coffee each week for the next eight weeks. They’re obviously trying to get people to try different varieties, so every Starbucks should be brewing the standard Pike Place coffee as well as the Bold Pick of the Week. This week it’s Organic Yukon Blend. If you’re a plain ‘ole coffee drinker and you frequent Starbucks, there’s actually a deal to be had here – if you buy at least one 12oz cup of each bold coffee (so one cup each week for the next eight weeks), you can get a free pound of any of the Bold coffees. Just ask for a coffee passport at your Starbucks and be sure to get the coffee stamps each time you try one of the Bold Picks. Obviously, if you’re strictly a white mocha kinda person, this isn’t a deal for you, but, if you’re a brewed coffee drinker who often goes to Starbucks, this is a great way to get free coffee (assuming you’re going into Starbucks at least once a week to begin with).

The last bit of news is that Starbucks introduced a “pour-over” brewing method. The idea is that you should always be able to get a freshly brewed cup of coffee no matter when you walk into a Starbucks. So, let’s say, you’re at my Bucks – all we brew on a daily basis is regular Pike Place. We’re not a very busy store, and it’s silly for us to be brewing more than one kind of coffee every 25 minutes (which is how often Starbucks makes a new pot of brew coffee). So, using the pour-over method, we have ground Decaf Pike Place ready to go, and if you come in wanting a Decaf cup ‘o joe, we’ll make you your own individual cup of coffee. The ground coffee goes in a small filter, and then we pour the hot water over the grounds and the coffee brews (drips) right into your own cup. (Essentially, the baristas have become human coffee pots, because we’re doing by hand, what a normal coffee pot does, automatically.) We’ll see how it works out. Right now people are way confused and think we’re making them instant coffee (it’s not), or charging them more (we’re not).

Whew! This post ended up being a heck of a lot longer than I expected. As always, I’m not trying to convince any of you to buy Starbucks. I just know that before I worked there, Starbucks intimidated me. I never knew what to order, I didn’t know the lingo, I didn’t know what I might like, and I’d usually just end up getting a hot chocolate. So hopefully these little updates shed some light on the ‘Bux, and help those of you who may also share my weird fears.

Also – feel free to ask any other questions you may have about Starbucks! Either post them in the comments, or ask anonymously on Formspring.

rearden888 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:18:00 +0000

Reader Question, Answered

rearden888 — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Keep your questions coming here!

BeeHive asked:

Do you ever miss Pensacola?

Great question! The answer is yes, and no. There are tons of things I definitely don’t miss, including (but not limited to), sweet tea, Southern accents, the oppressive heat and humidity, bugs, fear of hurricanes, and more sweet tea.

Yet, I’ve realized there are several things that I do miss about Pensacola:

1) That it was a big city. Pensacola had tons of restaurants, stores, bars, and other important city components. Even though the geography of the city could make traveling from one part to another a bit of a challenge, it was still all there. And Anacortes just can’t compete there.

2) That it had a fairly substantial sized airport. Traveling home (or anywhere) was vastly simpler when we lived in Pensacola. Drive twenty minutes to the airport, and hop a flight. Now, it’s a two hour drive to the aiport in Seattle. Additionally, the Pensacola airport had lots of flights to Wisconsin, which was great for us.

3) That it was relatively closer to home than where we are now. Traveling from Wisconsin to Northern Florida is totally do-able. NavyGuy and I drove it in two days. Flights were a simple jump to Atlanta, then a short connecting flight to Milwaukee. Pensacola is also in the Central Time Zone, so it was easy to keep in touch with friends and family back home – no irritating math to try and figure out if I’m going to wake someone up or interrupt someone’s workday. Northwest Washington to the Midwest is a different ball of wax – basically, you have to allot an entire day just for the trip, which cramps my jet-setting style.

4) That it had beaches. Lots of beaches. If you’re going to get technical, Washington has beaches. But if I have to wear a wet suit and winter coat to go swimming, it ain’t really a beach.

5) That Pensacola meant I could see lots of NavyGuy. Let me explain. When NavyGuy and I were in Pensacola together, he was still in flight school, so he’d go several days without having to do much of anything. Maybe show up for muster at 8am and then back home for the rest of the day. One or two flights a week. So, I got used to having him around. And I’ll always associate Pensacola with us. It’s where we started our Navy journey, and despite all the struggles, sweat (literally), and sweet tea – I’ll always miss Pensacola just a little bit.

Where have you previously lived that you can now look back on fondly?

Deployment Prep: Driving Lessons

rearden888 — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:06:00 +0000

NavyGuy is teaching me to drive stick-shift.

Let’s discuss why this is complete and utter nonsense:

1) I don’t like driving to begin with. As a teenager, I wasn’t clamoring to get my license like all my friends. I didn’t count down the days until I turned sixteen. I didn’t beg for my own car. I don’t actually enjoy the act of driving. I find it tedious. Obviously I do it, but if I could simply blink and go from point A to point B, eliminating all that starting and turning and braking and whatnot, I’d be giddy. (Or if beaming me from one place to another instantaneously isn’t in the cards, then a chauffeur would be nice.)

2) So when I do have to drive, I like to be as comfortable as possible. With a refreshment in the cup holder next to me. A good song on the radio. Perhaps a snack. The ability to dislocate my shoulder and randomly reach into the seat behind me to reach my coat, or errant box of Cheerios that I want to snack on.

Stick-shift takes driving to an exponentially more complicated level and eliminates any of the possible comfortableness of driving. You can’t eat! You can’t drink! You can’t change the CD! You need both hands, and both FEET to drive a stick shift. One hand on the wheel, one hand on the shifter thingy (I’m still learning the lingo), one foot on the gas, one foot on the clutch, one foot on the brake… it’s humanly impossible! You have to watch like six different gauges on the dashboard, which means au revoir to being able to look at your lipstick in the rearview mirror, let alone being able to look at the road. You have to be in peak physical condition to balance the tricky “let the clutch out and push the accelerator down” at the same time (I’m sorry – if I wanted to do leg presses and work my quads, I’d go to the gym… not drive a car!).

It’s too much work. NavyGuy and I have had two lessons so far, and I hate it. Don’t get me wrong- NavyGuy was a shockingly good teacher. (Shockingly good – like, I didn’t want to kill him at all. And we’re still married). I just have no interest in stick shift driving. It feels like I have no control over the car. It jumps into gear and takes way too much work to slow down. And don’t get me STARTED on trying to deal with all the hills around here; every freaking stop sign is on a hill. NavyGuy is constantly telling me “more gas, more gas” as I’m trying to get into first gear, and it took me two hours to discover that you can brake when you’re in second, and it’s just too much work. Give me my nice automatic, please.

Who’s with me!! Why, if we’ve advanced to the point of automatic cars, are there still manual transmission vehicles? (NavyGuy, I’m not actually looking for an answer here, k?) Am I the only 27 year old who is just now learning to stick it?

Oh, P.S. – we’re doing this because NavyGuy has a stick shift car, and he wants me to drive it while he’s deployed… cuz apparently you can’t just leave the car in the garage for six months. (You should have seen how red his face got at that suggestion! Like a tomato!)

Got Questions?

rearden888 — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 20:12:00 +0000

BeeHive asked me a great question yesterday (which I’m working on answering), but it inspired me to finally jump on the FormSpring bandwagon. If you haven’t seen this floating around the blogworld yet, it’s basically a website that lets you create a profile, and then people can ask you questions anonymously. Vain? Sure. A good way to waste time? Obviously.

So…itching to delve even deeper into the insanity that is MarryingtheNavy? Click here and ask away. Crafts, wedding, cooking, Navy life, teaching, books, movies, Starbucks, or anything else you’re curious about. You can submit your question anonymously, so no need to be shy! Please remember that I am a person though, and rude or inappropriate questions probably won’t be answered (but probably will be shared and heckled on the blog).