Friday {Re}flection

My apologies for skipping last week, but we put in our notice to move out and so the landlords have been bringing strangers through this house we rent.  They raised the rent a few hundred dollars for the next would-be tenants and have set lofty expectations of it in the ad so it hasn't been taken yet.  (When I saw the ad, especially the photo taken from afar so that flowering bushes appear to frame the house, I was like, is that the house where we live??)  I dislike having strangers walk through my house.  I wish the landlords would place a fair market and realistic price for this 1960's home so the madness can stop.  Alas....



The beginning of May included the neighborhood ladies' annual brunch, hosted potluck-style at a neighbor's house in her lovely backyard.  Being gluten free and health-conscious, I brought Jell-o in little goblets, and was able to partake in the grits, fruit, and shrimp with cocktail sauce.  The ladies turned up on this warm day in bright springy clothing and it was nice.  I wore an almost flourescent maxi dress with a retro headband across my forehead.  My fine hair goes slack in the humidity, but what to do?

Brunch dress.  Love the dress, it's almost flourescent with pockets and a tribal braided belt.  Not sure about the headband, but my boyfriend likes it.  Sorry, I am not photogenic.  I look so annoyed, lol.

There seems to be a social divide between the ladies who have lived here many years and the ones who have only been here a few years like us.  I met a fun, nice, young professional mom who works for Cartoon Network who said I reminded her of an adventurous friend of hers.  I enjoyed talking to her.  Upon seeing the others and being asked repeatedly where we are being stationed next and telling them about house-hunting in San Diego got really annoying, but oh, well.  Everyone reacted positively about San Diego, but I must say some people showed facial expressions (my law enforcement background at work here) that revealed a sort of envy in a bad way, as if I had inadvertently "one-upped" them or highlighted the mundanity in their own lives.  Thankfully there were a few secure and balanced ladies who seemed genuinely happy for me.  I had wanted Hawaii or Europe, so San Diego was not my first choice, so I was not trying to one-up or brag.
My Marine took me down the road to the annual Lemonade Days in Dunwoody, Georgia.  They had a nice veteran's monument with a glass atrium of flags representing each military branch.  As soon as we walked into the tentapalooza area, someone shouted my Marine's name, and it was a retired USMC General whom we have come to know during our time here through his and my Marine's community involvement.  I felt the need to do a self-check to make sure I was dressed in a non-embarrassing way (no cleaveage, etc.) and was relieved that I was.  I scarfed down a caramel apple (gluten free, very fresh) and we listened to a really good band of gray-haired rockers play acid rock classics.

In anticipation of my upcoming Europe trip, I stayed up one night researching my family tree and ancestry to 7 generations in Norway and found my great-grandma (who died when I was 10 or 11)'s great-grandma's farm near Lillehammer.  It was cool to see some names on the census showing they had come on a boat over here around 1890.  There were a couple guys named Hans and lots of farmers, which I already knew.  Growing up, I heard my grandparents speak some Norwegian, but I never learned it.  I've been taking Norwegian lessons and I was surprised that I was actually able to read some Norwegian text online, for example in the book of farms listing.  My other half is Swiss, but I've already been to Switzerland.  Very clean and beautiful with Alpine mountains, lakes and timbered houses.

In Norway, we are planning to try out airbnb for the first time, see the jaw-dropping fjords, the Viking historical stuff, Edvard Munch's The Scream, the royal palace and a big festival with revelers in traditional attire, practice speaking Norwegian, and possibly visit a glacier and do some hiking or kayaking.  The temp will be 40-60 degrees, hopefully a welcome relief after the 85 degree humidity we've been having in Georgia.  We chose Norway due to my heritage (my Marine has already been to the countries of his ancestry) and because we wanted to explore a country that is new to both of us.

Me and my bike (picture taken in Virginia)

We hiked at Sweetwater Creek (see blog post here) and we have also gone to ride our bikes on the Silver Comet Trail.  I ride my black and pink beach cruiser with 3 speeds, ringing my bell when I pass children.  Seth has a fancy, expensive, high-maintenance triathalon style road bike that has the weird valves.  Last year we found a great air pump that converts to fit both types of tire valves.  Love it!

In preparation for our pcs (move to California), we've been taking out stuff from the attic and donating things to Goodwill.  I have some "nicer" clothing that I wanted to try to take to a Consignment Shop and PSYCHO SISTERS consignment went through the summer items and chose 6 things and wrote me a check for $42.  Not bad.  Now, maybe I'll try to sell some handbags online....
It's been hot and sunny, so I've been laying out at the pool.  I avoid tanning my face, but since we moved to Georgia my doctor told me I was Vitamin D deficient so I actually need sun.  I'm tan already and I've met some fun people.  My boyfriend (a ginger, aka fair, redheaded man who does not tan) joined me on Sunday and it was nice.  We have heavy duty SPF for him, and there was an umbrella.  He actually gets sunburned through the windshield in his car.
I also took advantage of a complimentary massage at the gym.  She kneaded me to relaxation!

Mother's Day Gift Scarf

Mother's Day Gifts- I mailed them.  We bought them awhile back at an art festival.  We often get the same thing for both of our moms, since they both like jewelry and handmade items.  One year we got them interesting bracelets made from fancy buttons, and this year we got them each a "scarf" that is made out of ribbony fabric.  We avoid buying them dust-collecting knick knacks and they don't really like spas or lotions.  Both of their birthdays are coming up, and I may make them paintings (I dabble in black ink sumi-e) or paint a ceramic serving dish my mom requested.

I have been a little slow this week, as I ate something (possibly gluteny?) that bothered my stomach earlier in the week.  My boyfriend has been out of state at a conference, so I'm looking forward to his return.  I have kept up my 5x/week workouts, including a 5 mile run on the indoor track and a 5 mile hike with the hiking group at Lake Alatoona this week, where afterward we ate lunch at Swheat where I ate gluten free chicken tenders (a bit dry, but a tasty honey-mustard sauce) and sweet potato fries.

May has several birthdays and other important events in my life such as:
+Military Spouse Appreciation Day May 9 (see my blog post here)
+Celiac Disease Awareness Month
+Teacher Appreciation Day (as a former teacher, I enjoy saluting other teachers)
+Syttende Mai (Norwegian Constitution Day- the second largest celebration in the world is in +Wisconsin where I have family, I also used to teach my students about our language, food, music, history, and traditions)
+Mother's Day
 +Memorial Day (where we plan to attend a local Veteran's celebration where the guest speaker happens to be a retired General who actually bought my Marine his sword as a prize for being the best at something when he was commissioned into officerdom).  Small world.

This weekend, my Marine gets back and hopefully he won't have to work too much.

I'm on TV! And the rest of my week

Chinese jasmine

               

Dogwood

So, last weekend was The Dogwood FESTIVAL at the HUGE and awesome Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta.   My Marine especially loves this park, so when we got here he began holding giant FIELD MEETS where the kids/high schoolers/poolees who are waiting to go to boot camp from all over Georgia are bused in to partake in a fun fitness competition amongst the various cities/recruiting stations.  The prize is a trophy of sorts and bragging rights.  

Some parents and significant others attend to watch these kids work together to CARRY LOGS above their heads, do a formation run (and sing cadence aka military marching chants), and all kinds of calisthenics.  They even get to eat MRE's (the meal ready-to-eat that real Marines eat on deployment).  The finale is a big tug-of-war and all the recruiters and my significant other leave there hoarse from shouting so much encouragement.  It's a big feeling of "esprit de corps" and since there are so many passers-by, it's fun to see all the attention the event draws.  After parking, I can hear them long before I see them!

On recruiting duty, the active-duty recruiting families are spread out and don't see one another much, so it's nice that we communicate through our closed facebook page and some of us were able to attend this event and socialize.  

Last time I joined in by jogging behind the formation, but this time I had to be dressed up since my art class was later in the day.  I wish I had pics of the side French braid I did and the dress that garnered so many compliments that day.  My mom (super shopper) had flagged the dress for my Florida visit and I approved and bought it there.  It's coral with a boatneck, giant white polka dots, and a "mullet" hemline (high in front and low in back).  It's quite unique from a handmade fleamarket place, it flows and had a transparent yellow panel in the back.  Strangers kept complimenting me as I walked through the park.

A gluten free note- as soon as I walked into the festival, I was pleased to see a LARA bar booth offering gluten free samples of nut bars and the like.  Fun!

car covered in pollen.  photo from accuweather.com

POLLEN-  the pollen here in Georgia is a major spring phenomena.  I have never seen anything like it. A yellow blanket covers cars, sidewalks, pets, everything.  The pollen count spiked over 4000 lately and there are big greenish yellow clouds of it floating around.  At the Dogwood festival, I saw people wearing white surgical masks, and I knew exactly why.  It reminded me of once when the fire season was so bad in Southern California, that ash was falling from the brown sky, a burning smell filled the air (even though we were far from the fires), and they handed out masks at my work.  

The pollen was so bad that my boyfriend was sneezing and suffering from post-nasal drip for the first time ever!  So we stayed inside the mall to shop after a lovely brunch (The Cheesecake Factory kale and quinoa salad! gluten free goodness!).  We only SHOP once per season, but when we do, we go big.  The boyfriend found 7 pair of shorts at Macy's.  He has the perfect body, so everything fits like it was sewn for him, but being a redhead/ginger means that many colors wash out his complexion.  We enjoy trying things on and giving each other the yay or nay.  We appreciate each other's honest opinion.  I took part as well, finding many dresses at Dillard's, and a couple my boyfriend liked at New York & Co. where I haven't shopped in years.  I also bought Easter clothes to add to the books I'm sending my 1 year old niece at Baby Gap.  

Two dresses, two skirts and a top.  Watercolor print, sheer polka dot (center blouse), and pleated skirt a la Taylor Swift.

Maxi dress (flourescent), lace backed hippie top, and flowery print dress with boat neck and 3 layers of ruffles on each 3/4 length sleeve.  It looks very "Duchess Kate" to me.  I have avoided flowers since high school, so it's new for me.

Yellow polka dot denim shorts, ruffly top, jean jacket, canvas khaki shoes, etc.  for my baby niece.

Monday, I went to my boyfriend's office (recruiting headquarters) to WELCOME the incoming WIVES.  Every other month, a handful of new families are stationed here for the strenuous and infamous recruiting duty.  It's nothing like living on a military base (which many have gotten used to over many years), the recruiters work 70+ hour weeks, and the families can feel isolated.  There is a slide on the powerpoint presentation for "family readiness" that lists my duties as a "commander's significant other".  There is also a handbook for Officers' other halves.   The welcoming is one way I choose to fulfill that role.  

These USMC families have just undergone a stressful move, have heard nightmare stories about the work stress  on this duty and the high divorce rate during it.  Experienced military wives as well as newbies have a very full 'cup'.  They need to talk and destress about their pcs (move) and adjusting to their new surroundings before they can take anything else in.  Once they feel heard, and emptied their cup a bit, then there is room in their cup to fill it with info on what to expect and how to utilize resources and support on such a difficult independent duty.   Luckily, all of these families happened to choose Georgia because they have family here and they got their choice!

Tuesday, I did chores and 60 minutes on the elliptical trainer at the gym.  Still working out 4-5x per week, in an attempt to look great in a bikini this summer.

Wednesday, I joined the hiking group for a 5 mile hike at Sweetwater Creek.  There is an old Grist mill there and some of the trails go along the river.  It was impressive that a new mom joined us this week, carrying her infant in a front baby carrier for five miles.

This is from another day last year at Sweetwater Creek.  That's the mill ruins.

Wednesday's hike.  Sunny, breezy, great hike!

Also, Wednesday, I got an email notifying me that I am in the running to work as an "extra" (in the background) on a hiking movie being filmed on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia.  Mostly I do these gigs for fun, but this is one I was really excited about, so I'm hoping it all works out!

Where's Waldo?  Vampire Diaries- I made the cut!

Thursday, the first episode I was in of Vampire Diaries aired.  Here I am as a "traveler" with special powers (kind of like a bodysnatcher).  It's cool that I made the cut and am somewhat visible!  

Friday, today it's rainy and my boyfriend has to work late as the guest of honor at a local high school "mess night"  (high school rapport is very important in recruiting).  Here is more info on "dining in" or "mess night" as a Marine Corps tradition.   Realizing he was going to be out late, he called and surprised me with a lunch date invitation.  He is really doing so much better with time management and showing me that our relationship is a priority rather than just lip service.

Lilly Pulitzer dress similiar to mine.  photo from ebay

Tomorrow we have a birthday party to attend where the dress attire is Black and White semi-formal.  It's my first party where the guests have a color requirement.  I'm wearing a hand-me-down white Lilly Pullitzer dress my mom gave me from when she worked at the mall and got great deals.  I'm hoping my tan isn't fading after the rainy days.  I plan to wear it with gold shoes to dress it up.

Easter- being a military family. we are far from family during many holidays.  Our Easter tradition has pretty much been to color eggs, hide them from each other, and then have a picnic.  We have a huge yard here with lots of plants and hiding places.  Last year my Marine never found some and I'd forgotten which hiding spots were still unfound.  Glad it didn't happen indoors (stinky eggs in a few days)!

Hoppy Easter, everybunny!

Another Week in Georgia Gone By...

The big bass I caught.  Boyfriend battered and fried it gluten free. num num

Weekend:
It was a small showing for the drawing class I teach at Hobby Lobby but my Marine finally had a Saturday off so he took me to a late lunch at Uncle Maddio's where we both ordered personal custom gluten free pizzas.  Later we got fro-yo at  Yogli Mogli where they have the allergens listed right on the flavor signs (I like salted caramel, peanut butter and mint- I prefer the milk-based yogurts, but, like many celiacs, I do need to chew up a Lactaid tablet with my first bite) and well-contained toppings (gluten free include Butterfinger crumbles, M&Ms, whipped cream, sauces, and fruit).
Sunday, I caught a BIG FISH!
When you're with a military man, there are strict grooming standards by which he must abide.  This means he gets his hair cut (with a razor fade) every 6 or 7 days (thank goodness it's tax deductible).  Inevitably, his barber becomes a good buddy.  In our case, a fishing buddy.  We went fishing with the barber, aka "Uncle Steve" for the second time this weekend at Lake Lanier and it was chilly but fun.

The piranha electric fillet knife made easy work of the gutting.

Uncle Steve, a "good ol' Southern boy", and his buddy taught us how to "shoot" the rubber lure by pulling it toward our bellies (bending the pole dramatically toward us), and then letting go, like a SLINGSHOT so the bait would propel under the dock where the fish are gathered.  Uncle Steve is pretty serious about fishing.  The boat has GPS to locate schools of fish!
We each caught four smallish crappie and I got the big bass, over a foot long, 2.5 lbs.  Last time the barber and I caught several fish, while the Marine only got one.  Uncle Steve filleted the fish quickly with his new electric knife called the piranha.  I know bass aren't known for "good eatin'", but since Mama caught the biggest fish, it was up to Daddy to fry it up in the pan!   My bf was intimidated by the task at first, but he found a simple recipe on Allrecipes and battered all the fish in a mix of Pamela's Gluten Free Baking Mix , spices, and corn meal.  We rarely eat fried food, so it was extra tasty.  The bass was the most substantial and not a fishy flavor, beating out the crappie that had too many bones for the speedy eating boyfriend.

I'm wearing the Norwegian flag headband.  My Marine ordered it- the same one  Norwegians wore in the Winter Olympic Games.

Mandag (Monday):  I am learning more conversational sentences with my Norwegian instructor.  I can do future words and am using memrise.com to practice adding vocabulary.  Flott (wonderful)!
Did you know only Danish and Norwegian use the ø?  It sounds like "eu".  So the word bjørn (bear, the animal) sounds like be-yeurn' or be-yearn'.

Tirsdag:  After a couple weeks of putting it off, I got my Marine to do some planning (reserving the movers, choosing dates) for the pcs move to California.  This used to be achieved via an office appointment at a nearby military base.  It's our first time using the website move.mil and we did not have the very first item required on the form (ugh!), but worked through the rest of it.  After I lost patience about him not knowing anything about the mystery number, I politely emailed the Sergeant Major.  The next morning, voila!
It can be embarrassing for the Marine when a significant other emails the Sergeant Major, and he was not enthused about it.  But after waiting weeks for my Marine to find time to begin this process, I needed to make progress.  The email worked and afterwards the boyfriend said it did not actually bother him because the number was not on any paperwork he had been given, so he was not at fault.

Tasty, light textured carrot cake gluten free cupcake at Cupcakelicious in Woodstock, GA.

Onsdag:  Fourteen members of the HIKING group met at the Old Rope Park in Woodstock, GA,  and hiked 3.5 miles (in under 2 hours) and then went to lunch.  It was a lovely, breezy day and the company and conversation was fun.
The lunch was at J. Alexanders (a breakfast & lunch place) that has several locations around here.  I have never been there before, and there was no GLUTEN FREE menu.  Online gluten free searching did not help, so I ordered grits, bacon (after the waitress assuring me they don't soak it on bread to drain the grease), and fruit.  Afterward, I hopped across the street in the quaint dining district to Cupcakelicious and was lucky enough to find a carrot cake gluten free cupcake.  It was light in texture and flavor, although a bit heavy on frosting, a lovely snack.  The friendly,chatty guy at the counter explained they have one different gluten free flavor each day.
Tersdag (Literally Thor's Day.  I had a grandfather named Thor.  I'm SO Norwegian!!):
I was disappointed to discover I had overlooked an email delivered Sunday asking me to work as an "extra" on a VINCE VAUGHN MOVIE being shot here in Georgia.  They needed me Thursday and Friday, so it was too late at this point.  I guess my email inbox was too clogged and I hadn't seen it.  Not meant to be, but a note to self to clean the emails out better so the good ones are more visible.  I can sort it on my laptop, but not as easy to sort on the phone.

At the gym (I've been going 4 to 5 times per week, yay!), there was an obnoxious-sounding sub teacher for my "Flirty Girl" fitness dance class so I joined the swim class instead.  It was such a sunny and lovely day, the class was in the outside POOL this time.  If you think water class is easy, I have two words for you:  Water. Resistance.  G.I. JANE is what they call the move that is like a belly crawl across the top of the water from one side to the other that I hope tones as much as it feels like it should.  My instant reward was to relax at the pool while getting bronzed (and absorbing Vitamin D, since I've moved here the Dr. said I'm deficient!).

Fredag:  My second attempt at the über-challenging "FITNESS QUEST" class.  This time I made it through, but felt dizzy and headachy from all the up, down:  overhead press squats, then down for mountainclimbers, etc.  Not sure how often I'll do that one.
I plan on advertising my art class more in hopes for a bigger showing tomorrow.   The Dogwood (beautiful trees) festival is this weekend as well as a big field meet with 500 poolees (future Marines), running and flipping tractor tires, etc.  I also plan on enjoying my latest gluten free find:  Blue Bell All Natural Fruit Bars 70 calories and bits of real fruit in there.  Super yummy.   I'll bid you adieu with a crafty creative Easter favorite of mine.  Deviled eggs that look like chicks emerging from eggshells.
Enjoy your weekend!

Here are the deviled eggs I made one Easter.  Some of the whites are jagged like shells.  It's easier (and turns out less messy-looking) when you have time to chill the mixture before stuffing the egg shells.

The Intentional Life Project...2014 Goals and Progress

Here are New Year's Resolutions from the past.  Sometimes I add on later.  Some never get checked off.

In college I learned a lot from an assessment on StrengthsQuest and discovered that I have a strength in planning for the future.  It was eye-opening to my (ignorant, young) self that people who were not planners were NOT LAZY, they were just stronger in and more oriented toward "present" or "past" tasks, ideas, hobbies, interests, ways of thinking.  Like many people of the planning persuasion, I have fairly religiously made annual goals/resolutions each year and revisited them at the end of the year.  (See above.)  My significant other is not a natural planner, but reluctantly joined my tradition a few years ago, and now HE is excited to revisit them and reminds ME to revisit them every SIX months, instead of annually!

Although it's not right on time (you can't wait until January to start everything!), I've decided to meld my goals for this year into the Intentional Life Project.  Linking up with Bre,  Ginny, Erica , Emily, and Jacqueline, who are also updating their progress and tips for this project.

===> JANUARY GOALS:  (FAMILY)

• Visit mother (out-of-state, same coast) since we'll move across country soon.
• Take vitamins and use my Vitamix to make and drink smoothies more regularly.  My mother always reminds me to take vitamins.  My Vitamix recipe photos go viral on Pinterest.

 ===> PROGRESS:  I visited my mother for the longest ever! 10 Days!  It's rare that she was between jobs and had time to hang out, and my stepdad (who has a serious illness) was feeling well and in good spirits, so the trip was better than I could have hoped for.  I was nervous about being a polite houseguest for so long, since my stepdad has a hard time dealing with company, my gluten free diet makes eating a bit difficult, and my mother can treat me like a child at times.  

My boyfriend sent me with a gift:  a box of cards he wrote in...one for each of the 10 days I was gone.

Before I left, my marine surprised me with a gift to open when I got to my mom's.  It was a box of greeting cards, one for me to open each day, with greetings and well-wishes and motivating words written inside from him and our furbabies.  It was very romantic and sweet (and extra special, since this type of thoughtfulness is not a habit of his, with all due respect, remember- he's not a planner)!  

***Karma?***After my divorce, when I was learning how to be a girlfriend again, I sent a card a day to my new boyfriend (at the time) while I was out-of-town for the holidays and when I got back, the jerk rudely, passive-aggressively, and purposely made a show (in front of me) of begrudgingly retrieving a bunch of them, unopened, out of the mailbox to illustrate how little he thought of the gesture.  At the time, it made me feel like he viewed me as desperate and trying too hard (hey, I was trying to correct the mistakes from my divorce and give out more attention).  Now, I feel redeemed!  I enjoyed receiving the cards from my CURRENT and BEST boyfriend, and have kept them in the box on my dresser ever since.

Regarding the vitamins and smoothies, I'd say I've been doing smoothies all week, biweekly.  Vitamins,  about every-other-day, which is an improvement.

===> FEBRUARY GOALS (Intentional Life Project monthly focus of Health):  

• Learn to speak some Norwegian. (I'm a Viking by heritage.  Puts some pieces into place, doesn't it?)  Keeping my mind active and healthy, always learning new things. Challenging new things!
• Eat healthier and increase workouts to 4 times per week.

===> PROGRESS:

• In January, I downloaded a Norwegian Language App and have been using it.

In March, I began Norwegian lessons in person.  He is pleased with my progress! Greit!

Norwegian woman.  Viking.  Vikings show.

• As of March, I am working out 5x per week.  I began working as an "extra" on Vampire Diaries to pay for a new "fancy" gym from our "has seen better days" crossfit gym.  I have been doing a 5k weekly, taking a swim class (water resistance!) and also tried new classes:  Sh'Bam!, Le Barre, and Kardio Funk.

===> MARCH GOALS (Intentional Life Project monthly focus of Money):  

• Earn $ by teaching a Zen Doodle class at a nearby spiritual center seeking instructors.
• Research expected expenses for our move to California this summer and discuss a "rough" budget with my marine.  
• Save the tax returns.

===> PROGRESS:

• I prepared for and taught the class.  Only a couple people turned up, but it was fun.  I probably will change the topic if I do it again so the price can be more attractive to people.  It'd be easier if I didn't have to give half my earnings to the center as well.  I have not been paid yet.
• My Leatherneck and I  had a "fro-yo" date and wrote the budget on a napkin.  It was fun.
• Saved the tax returns.