Tennessee, yo!

So, we left The Sailor's aunt and uncle's house in NC a little after 5 this morning and we are now happily on our way on Route 40, which will essentially take us right to California!
You can totally expect me to be posting random updates along the way; right now our plan is to drive until it isn't a good idea to drive anymore, haha.
In case you were wondering, we've just barely put a dent in Tennessee (I'm pointing to our approximate location in the picture below).
Until next time...

The Great Turtle Rescue!

So, this morning when I took Gabby out to do her business I noticed a little baby turtle in the middle of the street.  At first I thought he might be dead, but then I noticed he was moving - even though it was barely noticeable.

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Even though my general rule of thumb is to not mess with wild animals, I just couldn't stomach the idea of him getting hit by a car so I decided to move him to the pond/lake thing that is right behind The Sailor's Uncle's housing complex (where there are tons of turtles).  So Gabby and I went back to the house to get a plastic cup to carry him in.

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He really was adorable, and I Gabby would have loved to keep him, but I reminded myself her that he wouldn't remain tiny and cute, so we headed over to the lake/pond to set him free where he would hopefully find his Mom, or maybe a cousin or two to keep him company.

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And we set him free by the edge of the water.

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I feel kinda bad if he was trying to head in the opposite direction, but being moved a half mile in the wrong direction is better than getting killed by a Mini Van any day in my book!

Would you have moved the little guy or would you have let him find his own way?

TGIF!

So...when you aren't working Friday isn't really that big of a deal, but still, I'm not going to turn down a reason to have a good day, haha!

How does a quick recap of random for the week sound?  Good?  Awesome!

Staying with The Sailor's aunt and uncle is awesome - they're seriously the sweetest people in the world.  But I'm not gonna lie, I'm so ready to be on our way.  I need to get back to some sort of routine, which is next to impossible when you're staying at someone else's house.  Not to mention I feel like a total heffer.  Have you ever heard that the more you eat, the hungrier you get?  Totally true!  I just keep eating...and not working out...::blah::  Every morning I wake up and I'm like "I'm totally going to go for a run" then I step outside and it's at like 95% humidity and I realize I would probably die if I tried to go for a run.  So I'm sticking to as soon as we get to California, I'm getting back on track.  I expect all of you to hold me to it...


I also colored my hair red this week.  It didn't turn out as bright as I wanted it to, but it is brighter than I thought it would be.  However, taking pictures with my phone doesn't show any red tones in it whatsoever, so I don't have pictures to share with you - just believe me that it looks awesome.  And I'm totally taking to the role of sassy-redhead, haha.

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Our marriage certificate was ready to pick up, so we went and did that yesterday and then went to the social security office to change my name.  Crazy, right?  Well, I refused to drop any part of my maiden name, so now I have 2 middle names.  If I wasn't afraid of getting weirdo stalkers via the internet I would totally share my whole name with you, because it's pretty freaking awesome.  However I don't trust the internet that much...

When we were at the social security office I realized I had to sign the form and I looked up at the guy who was helping us as I was about to sign my "old" name and I was like "wait a second, do I have to sign his ::points at the sailor:: name?"  And the guy chuckled and was like, "well, in 24 hours 'his' name will legally be 'your' name in the system, so yes ::chucklechucklechuckle::"

And then I realized I had no flipping idea how to sign my name!  It starts with an H - couldn't remember how to do a capital H in cursive.  After I figured that out I hit a lovely little speed bump when I realized there's an S in my new name and I hate lowercase cursive Ss.  Grrrr.

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Needless to say I spent a solid portion of the afternoon trying to come up with a way to sign my new name.  I still haven't settled on anything.  I'm strongly considering working on something that ends up looking like a big, barely legible squiggle:

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I could totally rock a signature like that.



Last bit of randomness for today - so realizing that I couldn't even take pictures of my rockin' new hair color totally made me realize how I couldn't survive a cross country expedition without a real camera.  But I didn't really want to spend a small fortune on one.  So I turned to my favorite website, Craigslist, and found this awesome camera (Kodak Easyshare Z981) for $60!!!!!

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Now I just need to get a cord to hook it up to a computer, lol, because it didn't come with one.  But you seriously can't beat the price, and the photo quality is awesome!

All in all, I've had a pretty awesome week new hair, new name, new camera...my new life is totally starting to come together!  How has your week been?

Until next time...

Mmmmm...Muffins!

This morning I woke up before everyone else and decided to make muffins.  Since I don't have any of my cookbooks, I had to find a recipe online.  I ended up using this recipe to make blueberry muffins.

Can I just say it freaking sucks using another person's kitchen?  Because it does.  And what's even worse is that since The Sailor's Aunt has been sick (she's just recovering from leukemia) his uncle has been in charge of cooking and putting things away in the kitchen.  Yeah - the baking supplies were randomly spread across 3 different locations.  Absolutely no rhyme or reason to how things are stored, and I was trying to be quiet since everyone was still asleep.

The recipe I usually use to make muffins (from the How To Cook Everything cookbook) has a chunky batter and when I was done making the batter for this recipe it was really soupy so I was super nervous they would turn out like crap, but luckily they didn't!  And they raised much better than my normal muffins do and tasted delicious!

So, if you're looking for a good blueberry muffin recipe I totally recommend this one!  Muffins are super easy to make and a great breakfast food that makes your whole house smell delicious!  Everyone was very excited to wake up to fresh baked breakfast!

Until next time...

I'M NOT A HOBO ANYMORE!

So, yeah, in case you forgot, when I left Pittsburgh literally all I took was a suitcase and my dog.  And that suitcase wasn't even completely full!  Obviously I wasn't planning well, but whatever, no need to dwell on it.

Luckily, X was being totally reasonable about me just taking off in the middle of a random Tuesday and agreed to pack up my stuff and send my clothes, makeup, etc. to me and then give some of my bulkier items to a friend of mine for them to send to me once I've settled down.

I did some research and it turned out Greyhound had the best shipping prices.  I don't think I would trust anything fragile or super expensive to them, but clothes - why not?

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X sent them last Tuesday and was told at most it would take 5 days to get to me.  Well, this morning when I still hadn't gotten a call to come pick it up (you have to pick up at the Greyhound station) I decided to call them.  After almost an hour on hold listening to music from the Nutcracker (seriously Greyhound - please update your on-hold-music to be more season appropriate!) turns out my stuff was already in!  There was a note that the phone number given wasn't working, yet it was the right phone number.  Needless to say, I wasn't exactly happy with Greyhound, but you still can't beat $200 to ship 4 huge/heavy boxes from Pittsburgh to Charlotte, NC.

But, I'm seriously happy to say I'm no longer a hobo!  Now I just have to figure out how the hell we're going to fit all this extra crap in the truck and/or car for the cross country trip!

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I'm getting married tomorrow...

Crazy, right?
I'm laying in bed with Gabby (The Sailor and I have separate rooms until we are official) thinking about how crazy we must seem.  And maybe we are crazy, but at least we are crazy together!
My nails are done, my hair is straightened and ready to be styled, and my dress and accessories are ready to go. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little sad none of my friends are here for it but that's what I get for running away and quasi-eloping. We will just have to have a really kick ass anniversary party sometime down the road.
So, the ceremony is at 2 and tomorrow night The Sailor's aunt and uncle got us a hotel for the night in downtown Charlotte. I'm super excited for our mini {one night} honeymoon! We might go on a cruise after he gets back from deployment but for now one night alone sounds amazing.
That's really all for now; don't be surprised if I check in at some point tomorrow with pictures of myself (a side effect of not having any friends here with me, lol). Until next time...

Surprise!

We are getting married!
Yeah, it might sound completely nuts but I've never been so sure of something in my life. And oh yeah, its happening either tomorrow or Saturday.
Now, don't get all offended thinking I was hiding this from you; originally we were just going to go to the courthouse tomorrow and elope, so to speak. When that was the plan I was just going to tell you all after we were official. But word spread like rapid fire in The Sailor's family and they just weren't having it, so now we are getting married at his Uncle's house, which is awesome because it means my baby Gabby can be there!
We don't know if it'll be tomorrow or Saturday yet because his aunt is still on the hunt for someone to actually marry us! Apart from that we are actually good to go. One of his aunts is a baker, so she'll make the cake. We have our venue and another aunt is going to put together some flowers. We've had rings since we were in Maryland and I even went and got a dress from David's Bridal yesterday!  Today we are going to get our marriage license and I need to get shoes and accessories and we will be good to go!
I know it seems crazy to just dive in like this but first of all, it looks like The Sailor is going to be deployed in September - if we aren't married the Navy won't give two shits about me or keeping me in the loop if anything happens to him. Secondly, I have never been so sure of something in my life. I want to spend the rest of my life with this man and start a family with him. I would happily go with him from one side of the country to the other and then back again. If that's where this journey takes us. I'm just so excited.
I'll probably bother you all again later with pics of the courthouse and shopping excursion, but that's all for now!
Until next time...enjoy this picture if the dress I'll be wearing when I marry The Sailor:

I'm melting...

Good golly Miss Molly is it hot out! Yesterday it was 107 flippin degrees with the heat index! Mind you, this is abnormal even for North Carolina, but it still sucks!

Yesterday I got to meet a bunch of The Sailor's family and it was a blast. Most of them had no idea I was coming with him and were super excited about the surprise. Not to mention they all have the most adorable southern accents ever!

Yesterday afternoon I went and got mani/pedis with The Sailor's cousin and man did I need that! All the changes in my life are exciting as hell, and I couldn't be happier, but that doesn't mean it isn't stressful! Anf, in my opinion, there is no better way to unwind than a mani/pedi!

Last night The Sailor and I went for a walk around the "lake" (yeah - its totally a pond with a fountain in my book!) that is behind his Uncle's house and it was gorgeous. Despite it being a million degrees out its simple moments like that, enjoying the sunset by a "lake" with The Sailor and my dog that make the shitty parts (aka being crammed in a truck with a cat, a dog, and a sailor for hours on end) totally worth it. Not to mention The Sailor is the sweetest guy ever and never complains about having to do ALL the driving...

Well, that's all for now; its supposed to be miserably hot again today but should cool down starting tomorrow. Today I'm going shopping (yay!) with The Sailor's cousin and aunt and I'm not sure what else is on the agenda. Until next time...

Let's Get This Party Started!

Well folks, we are on our way.

The Sailor, my dog Gabby, his 30 pound cat Tom, and I are on our way to North Carolina. There's really no turning back now!

We started 2 hours late because Lincoln Military Housing effing sucks, but we are happily on our way now and should arrive at about 930. When I say we are happily on our way, I mean I'm pretty happy. You see, the Sailor stayed up all night last night to finish packing. Yeah, literally he did not go to sleep. And on top of that as much as I'd like to help with the driving I can't. Why, you may ask...? Well, that's because we are towing my car behind his truck. I would have enough trouble driving his massive truck, nevermind with it dragging my boat of a car behind it!

And let me tell you, we are lucky that we're getting more than 5 miles per gallon because not only are there four bodies shoved in the truck and the back full the bursting, but the massive vehicle we're towing is ALSO full to bursting! But I guess that's how it goes when you're moving across the country!

Well, that's all for now, we should be crossing into North Carolina soon and I can't wait!

Until next time...

Dear Lincoln Military Housing...

I hate you.
I'm sitting here on the front lawn when we should already be on our way to North Carolina all because you say you don't have anyone that comes and picks up bulky trash from the curb (outside of the bin) when I literally have pictures of one of your employees doing just that as he told us he would be back later to pick up the rest.
The truck is packed already or else we would just bring all this crap to the dump ourselves, so now we sit here trying to figure out what the eff to do so we can flipping check out and leave Maryland already.
Words can't express how excited I am to have to deal with you for the next 3 years in California. Especially if/when my oh so level-headed sailor is on deployment and you have to actually deal with ME!
Love always,
Amanda
PS - did I mention I fucking hate you?