It's not about where you buy it, it's how you use it
Good morning friends. I have a treat for you today.
You know how I have given you the run down on my daughters, my snuggy buddy and little miss sunshine, well today I’m going to give you a glimpse of my wonderful hubs, honey do Dave. He’s the best MR. honey do ever! Lord knows I needed someone who was so good at home maintenance.
I can’t believe it has been already been a year since we PCS’d (moved) from Hawaii to Florida. Wow time has gone by so fast!
It always takes me 1 1/2 years after a move to feel grounded and to get things back on track. This move was no different, in fact, it may have been the most difficult of all. Yeah I know, I think I have said that the past few moves!
In fact, I think the more I move the harder it gets!!
But I am pleased to say, 12 months later, I am feeling more grounded, more controlled, less disconnected, less isolated, comfortable in my new community, and I feel like I can take on the world! I’m beginning to feel myself again!
PCSing takes a lot out of me, emotionally. It is one of the most stressful events in my life. So many people say ”oh, it must be fun to move every few years like that”. Yeah, it’s fun, a lot of fun after you get through the first year. It’s the process of getting to that point of being grounded that always seems to bring me down. There’s a lot that has to be done each time we move. We have to literally recreate our life and home each time we move. Change is also harder for me the older I get! Geeze I can’t belive I said that! That sounded so much like my mom!! Yikes!!
We currently live in a small planned community in Florida. A community that does not have many military families. In fact we chose to buy our home here so when we retire in 2014, we are in an established community that is not so transitional. A community that the girls can enjoy spending the rest of their school years with the same group of friends! Many social circles are slow at allowing newbies to join, definitely not like living in a military community where we share this special sisterhood immediately! But they are coming around! I have actually been officially invited to join our neighborhood ”Gourmet Club”!
I couldn’t be happier, well maybe a little more happier! ! I love this little community! I have been involved in rallying up the Military Wives of Westchase, and I have to say, connecting with these few wives has been amazing! Who knows, we may just pitch a TV series, “The Real Military Wives of Westchase”! HA, jk!!!!
David returns in about 50 days! YAY!!!! Life as we know it will be back to normal!
After a few weeks, I will hit him up with the real honey do list!
-crown molding
-hardwood floors
-unfinished projects from last year
-master bath makeover
-paint the study
-all other honey pleases that I have thought of since he deployed
I am so happy to feel normal again! Well almost normal! Just like 90% of us military wives, the stress of moving, living in a hotel for 3 months, transitioning into a new home, feeling alone and isolated, having a deployed husband, dealing with cancer, all combined in one year… well you know what has happened! Yep you guessed it, those terrible 10 pounds have turned into well who even knows! Please don’t judge me. I have had a good bit of transitioning to walk through in one year, and the fact that I only gained x pounds is amazing in itself! Right?
Please share your experiences of moving! How do you stay grounded during transition? How long does it take you to feel grounded after each move? Please tell me I am not alone with the weight gain!!
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A few months back, I posted these pictures on facebook and asked what would you do if this was your furniture.
Some of you said you would cry, some said you would actually burn it, some said buy slip covers immediately, and only a few gave suggestions on what they would actually do to make it work!
While I was visiting England with my husband, we stayed in the Military Lodge in Alconbury. Not a five star by no means but very comfortable, clean, and very affordable! This furniture was in the lodge where we stayed. However, it was also the furniture issued to us when we were living in Korea. Being stationed in Korea is not like Europe, we could only ship 4000 lbs of our household goods. That is NOT a lot at all! Furniture was issued so you got what the Army gave you! (Well I didn’t, I took a couch and recliner to be reupholstered (affordable too) because I knew better!) Anyway many families are issued this sofa and 2 chairs. This set came in 3 colors, navy blue, burgundy, and hunter green! Talk about a blast from the past!! Yep those were the 1990′s color scheme that the dotted print came in, there were other prints issued, but trust me, you got the “pretty” furniture if you were issued this beauty! Even though it looks like you are living in a cheap hotel, there are ways to make it work. Maybe not exactly what you had in mind, but for 2 or 3 years, it can work.
So to those of you who think OMGoodness, how in the world can I have a pretty, stylish,warm, and cozy home with this ugly furniture, I am going to give you some ideas on how to use what you got and when used with the right decor ideas, you can take lemons and make lemonade!
As I searched the internet for coordinating color scheme, I kept thinking what would I use with that furniture, because regardless of how short or long of time you live somewhere, it is still your home , you still have to live in it, with it, and it still needs to make you happy when you walk in the door!
I started with throw pillows. I found several pillows that I thought would work with the hunter green color. The pictures are hunter green, even though they look navy blue. I immediately thought about the new gold color that is so very popular right now. However I would not use a lot of it! You could use navy blue with the gold, but I found some accents with red that I decided to use. 
I know many of you are thinking, why would you even use such furniture. Because sometimes in life, it is what it is. This is one of those times, moving overseas limits you in many ways and having a beautiful home is not on the top of the Army’s priority list. But you always have options to make it work! Korea style anyway! HA!
I definitely would use a print that was on a light background to contrast with the darkness of the furniture. I’m a light and bright kind of person.
Potterybarn
Here are a couple of rugs (Potterybarn) that could be used to add color, texture, and interest.
I think a neutral rug like this one from Target would be fine as well.
Hang a neutral or gold pair of grommet curtains like these linen curtains.
A colorful pattern print would bring out more colors and really add some pizzazz to your room!
Use additional contemporary home decor accessories like these mirrors that I blogged about here.
Everyone owns family pictures. Gallery walls are trending right now so why not add something current and trendy to the room? It would give the room a contemporary feel. I love this whole display from Pottery Barn.
A gallery above the sofa would look great!
You can check out gardenberger for great tutorials on arranging pictures!
Here’s a look at the whole collection that I put together.
Here are examples how to put them together.
Add a comfy, cozy throw blanket over the couch. Light a few candles. TaDa we just made lemonade out of lemons!
What accessories would you suggest to make the furniture not so “hotelish”?
We all have had and still have furniture that really is not our style, how do you make yours work?
I am back home after visiting David in Europe for 2 weeks. It was a great time and I hated leaving him, knowing he was flying back to Afghanistan where everyday is “groundhog day”, as he calls it. He sure wanted to come home!
When I first found out that he was going to be TDY (business trip) to Germany, Belgium, and England for 2 weeks, I was so thrilled that I was going to get to go and travel all over Europe!
Well that really did not happen. The military posts that we stayed at were really not in a Metropolitan area, and heaven forbid the walk from Chievres, Belgium to civilization would have taken quite some time!
Chievres is in the country!
I was thinking it would be like living in Seoul, Korea and being able to walk out any gate and BAM, welcome to the city!
However Mons was about 20 minutes away and we went to the town square several times for dinner.
As much as I was hoping to sight see during the day while Dave was working, I was really satisfied just hanging at the military lodge all day, sleeping until mid morning or later, you know, no where to be and no time to be there! It felt great and was relaxing! It made my time with David more valuable and reminded me when were were first married and could lounge around all day, we sure do miss those days!!
We spent our two weeks bouncing back and forth from Belgium, Germany, and England. David and I were able to go into Cambridge and London, LOVED both.
We went punting down the Cam river in Cambridge.
Trinity College
Our day trip into London was amazing, hot and crowded! We ended up spending much of the day on this bus, touring the many historical sights.
The original Hard Rock Cafe
China Town
And of course 2 of my favorites! The UGG and Juicy Couture taxi cabs! I just love them!
While we were in Germany, we were able to have dinner with some friends that we have known for over 15 years, LTC Ken Gillam and his wife, Jennifer. Dave and Ken were platoon leaders together at Fort Stewart once upon a time and both attended the Advance Course at Fort Knox. We had a great time catching up. One thing about the Army, you never know when or how you come in full circle with friends from years earlier. It is important to never burn any bridges!
Coming back home was bittersweet. I am happy to be home again, home with the girls, and definitely being able to sleep in my own bed! I also miss David. We are going to dig deep inside and rely on our inner strength to make it through these next 3 months. It is like I told David, we ARE Team Hoffs, we can do anything! We are going to wake up each day, with our chin up, best foot forward, and take it one day at a time! That’s the best we can do and that is how you make it through a deployment!
Hey Friends!
I just have a short and sweet post today. I wanted to let you all know that I will be leaving for Europe and will be gone for 2 weeks. My husband has been deployed, to Afghanistan, since June 5th, you can read about the day he deployed here, and he has an opportunity to go to Europe for 2 weeks for a conference. What a treat! Yeah I know, is he really deployed? HA! I was surprised by an email from David that I received just days after returning home from my 7 week vacation to my parents!
We anxiously started planning when the little voice inside my head said, “check your passport.”
I had David on the phone so I got our passports out and to our surprise mine had expired! We began freaking out because it takes a while to get a passport you know and we had less than 2 weeks to plan! Anyway we found this company, and they were very helpful with getting the passport renewed. It did cost us, but it is so worth it! My new passport arrived yesterday! What a relief!
My parents arrive today to help out with the girls. Thank you mama and daddy, I could not have gone without your help! I feel guilty not being here for their first day of school, even though I know Mama Pearl and Papa T will do a great job! I do think this is their first time ever being able to visit during the first week of school. The girls are not happy that they are not going with me. They have worked pretty hard at making me feel guilty! This will be the first vacation that David and I have EVER taken together without our girls. This is actually the first time we have left them with anyone for this amount of time. YIKES! I know, they are old enough, but they are my girls, you know! Do moms take off and leave their kids behind, especially during the first week of school? Why am I feeling so guilty?
I am off to visit Brussells, Cambridge, and Stuggart, and any place inbetween, I do think we are planning a train ride into London. Too bad the Olympics end on the 12th! I would love to have been in London to watch and support the USA!! I am looking for all the must do’s and wonderful restaurants! Anyone have any suggestions? I can’t wait to share my travels with you! Make sure to follow me on Twitter or Facebook so you can stay in touch with me! I also have some guest bloggers scheduled that I really want you to show some love to! Oh and I will be having my blog redesigned, so you gotta check that out too!!
As I am sitting here starting to write another post , I am listening to the news, reporting on the possible threat Iran has on the US and Israel and how US military posts in Afganistan could be blown away within minutes if Iran were to retaliate! My heart literally dropped!
Father God Please protect my husband! His safety is in your hands. 
This is NOT what you want to hear on the news when your husband is in Afganistan and he promises he is in a “safe” area!! Safe being relative! I know that is David’s way of reassuring me that he is ok, but he is in Afganistan, how safe is safe? I mean within seconds something like this with Iran can happen. And it is scary!
My heart goes out to the many wives that have lost their husbands during this war! I just can’t even imagine! I don’t know what I would do if…
I planned to blog about my first month without my husband but I decided to write about what I am feeling right now! I don’t think there are words to even describe how military spouses feel every single day that we have our husbands deployed! We look around and life goes on for everyone. Even though we make the best of each day, David is missed, he is a HUGE part of our family and it just hurts to even think about what if! 
As you go about celebrating the 4th of July, just remember to pray for the safety of our troops and my husband. And pray for the families that are waiting each day for them to return home!
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