[insert and April themed title of your choice] My brain can't think of one!

 Some may disagree, but for me, April has flown by!!! Here are just a few snap shots of fun times from this month. All the other times you can just fill in with work. Cuz thats what it was.

Alyssa, Chalice, Trigger, Juju, and I all went to hang out and tan at Lake Nicol on the first warm weekend of the month. Such a gorgeous day! (It was impossible to get us all in one photo sooo this is all I got)

 Trigger and Boss playing half way through Erica and I's walk along the Riverwalk.

 Katie's birthday party. Gotta love the tomato photo bomb in the background. Love all my girls!

My kitty boys. They love each other lots. And the sunshine. And sleeping in goofy positions.

Devin sent me a hoodie!!!!  Love the color and its nice and big! Gotta love giant sweatshirts!

Went to A-Day! Alabama won!! Hahaha It was a great last A-Day for Alyssa. And my second one ever. Love living in this college town!

Aaaaand went out and did some senior pictures for Alyssa. I'm going to miss my roomie! Although I will be getting a replacement pretty soon. ;) It's crazy to think that she graduates THIS WEEK! One of the most dedicated studiers I have ever seen. So excited for her and where life will take her!

See ya later March!!

So happy that another month is down! And it was a very productive month too!!
-I constructed an entire bedroom set from Ikea, AND it is not falling apart. 
-Hung some more stuff up on the walls.
-Organized stuff to put in the new furniture.
-Aaaand well I guess that's it.

Okay so it feels really productive for me!

This past weekend was EasterFest and Easter. It is so wonderful to be apart of a church that does an event like EasterFest for the community. Seeing the joy on all the kids' faces throughout the morning was so wonderful! And contagious! I can't wait for next year!

It is officially April and next month is MAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been a little less than 8 months since I've seen Devin. It's crazy to think that I have spent the majority of the last year without him next to me physically! But he's coming home SOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!

One of many conclusions that I have come up with over the course of this deployment is that we as humans are not meant to live life alone. Whether it be a spouse or group of close friends, everyone needs to connect. I can honestly say that I would not have made it through this time if it weren't for the blessing of friends and family. Relationships are important! Remember that!

Here are a few photos from the past month.

Trigger wanted to play with this one piece of cardboard, so we drew a mustache on it for him.

 Alex was my rockstar of a helper for some of the furniture. Clearly my critters wanted to help too...

Here was my view of EasterFest as a greeter. Got to welcome in the families!

I got to wander around the festivities for myself and of course got caught up at the petting zoo! Look how sweet this baby duck is!!! They were so soft and fluffy! Reminds me of college days when me and a couple friends decided to buy a couple ducks as pets. Hahaha So cute!! 

Hopefully I will have a few more fun pictures this month. I cannot put pictures up yet of the finished rooms, but I will once Devin is home.

Happy April Fools everyone! I will NOT be participating this year, but hope everyone is having good clean fun!

Love Always,
Emily

February In a Nutshell

Just a quick photo update of the things of life this past month. Two times blogging in ONE month!! I think I'm becoming a pro at this! ....not.

 Trigger's favorite part of the day is morning cuddle time.

Blaze figured out something that was even more than the playing in the water bowl.... thank goodness he doesn't know how to flush it!

I gave in and got a "trendy" shirt here for Tuscaloosa. Tuskwear is like THE stuff to wear, next to The Shirt Shop. It was too cute to pass up! AND super comfy! However I will not be wearing it for public events with tights and boots. You can go on campus if you want to see that, no need to wear it anywhere else like that.

Videos that have been going viral are these Harlem Shake videos. TONS of people have been doing them and its a clean fun thing to do. Someone organized one on the quad for UA and Alyssa and I decided to go. I wore my haloween costume for it. You can see how it went here: UA Harlem Shake Fail Regardless, I still got my first picture with Big Al!

My wonderful furry family. I know it may seem silly, but these guys are the best comfort on lonely rainy nights.  They have unparalleled snuggling abilities!

And as of this week/once I get all the paperwork done, Devin and I will be the proud owner of a new to us vehicle. Our friend Paul wanted to make the MPG friendly upgrade so we bought his truck. This will be Devin's new toy when he gets back, HOWEVER I will have everyone know that on paper... it's mine! ;) 

And one event that we got ZERO pictures from was my wonderful friend Kim coming to visit for a few days last week! She and I have known each other since 6th grade! Through awkward stages and crappy relationships we stayed in touch and are both now married and adjusting to new lifestyles. It was great to have her here and see where I am at and just share time with her. That means so much to me! BUT we got no pictures... well of the two of us anyway.

Well that is it, short and sweet! I'm awful with remembering to take pictures, so that will be a goal to get better at for next month. Love you all!!!

Love Always,

Emily

Exciting, Excited, and Swamped?

As February has begun I have realized a few things.
1) My husband comes home in about 3 months. THREE MONTHS!!!!!!!! :)
2) I am wayyy behind on home projects before he gets home.
3) My goal of being Wifey 2.0 has turned to Wifey 2.Forgot
4) I love learning my camera.

Three months can still sound like a long time. As Devin put it, its the same amount of time that he was at Basic training for, which seemed like forever! But when I break it down, it sounds so soon! February, is a short month. I also have one of my best friends from Illinois coming to see me at the end of the month! I have known Kim since the 6th grade, have stayed close ever since, and I even had the honor of singing at her wedding this past summer. March, will be slow around the beginning of the month, but come Spring Break my parents are planning to come for over a week and also spending Easter with me! This will be the time when many of the home projects actually get done. April, it will officially be warming up and staying warm consistently. Why is that important? Because spring is tied with Summer for my favorite season, and it means more walks/runs in the great outdoors with my pooch! Then May, when DEVIN COMES HOME!!!! No official date has been given yet, and we have no idea how long they will keep the boys to debrief;  all I do know is that my husband will be back on US soil and on his way home!

Home projects. Yeahhhh about that. I have a headboard to finish once I can paint outside and it not get below 50 degrees. A trip to Ikea to make. A whole bunch of wall hangings to make/hang. A dresser to completely redo, short of cutting the wood and nailing it all together. Hanging up curtains. patching walls up with paint. Aye! What all these projects are missing? Time. It is slowly coming and I am inching away at a few of these, but some of these cannot be done with inching.

Wifey 2.0 was a concept I came up with right after Devin left, of all the things I wanted to do for me. How to become a better me, so in turn he would have an improved version of the wife he left at home. Welllllllll I wont say I'm the same by any means, and I think the greatest improvements haven't even been outward ones, but still nowhere near the dream I had in my head. If anything these goals made me realize how much I suck at follow through and conjuring up motivation. Seriously I suck! But I have always been a bit of a procrastinator, so with the last few months having snuck up on me, February has started the month of getting my butt in gear. Literally and figuratively. (I'm being vague on details because he reads this, and there has to be some sort of surprise element when he gets home!)

The past month has been exciting, and I am so excited for the months to come. Although it may get a bit crazy, I have found that crazy is becoming my norm. Enough of the typing. Pictures!!!!

While waiting on my sister to pop out her second little girl, it snowed at my parents house. Jack frost visited the windows and so did I!

THIS is my wonderful, beautiful niece number two! Lena Mae Fuller. You can check out my sister's facebook for other pictures. This little girl was my first subject for a newborn photo shoot. Really I was just using as nice camera to take picture because I have SOOO much to learn still. This is one of the good ones.

My two nieces and I. Also, my new hair coloring. The red has now faded to pink.

In my first real big person portrait session I got to shoot my beautiful roommate Alyssa!! She was a great model, and very patient with my noviceness. I can't reveal them all but here is a nice one.

I am still learning lots with my camera, but it is so fun! I also have to tackle the monster of an editing software. Eeek! But I am so thankful for the camera that my wonderful husband got me so I can learn all this!
More updates to come as the months pass :)
Love Always,
Emily

Blogger FAIL

If there is any few number of you who read this blog you will notice one thing: I am AWFUL at keeping this thing up!! Sorry! So to make up for it.... I am going to TRY to find enough pictures from the past few months that I will create a story for you. :) Enjoy!

My Halloween costume. With all the ladies costumes out there that barely cover anything, I figured I would go with the most conservative costume I could find. :) It also doubles as something to wear to games...right?

Another critter that came into my household early September was a foster kitten. Someone had posted in a local facebook group that they found some kittens in a pipe at their work. I offered to pick them up and find them homes. In the midst of that they found yet another kitten, slightly older. I of course said yes to him as well. The kittens were so young I had to bottle feed them every three hours. After one night of that I found them a surrogate momma cat the next day! However the older kitten I held onto. He was covered in soot, couldn't lift himself up to walk, and his eyes were swollen shut. I later found out that they were found at Hunt Oil refinery which had a fire the previous week. I didn't think he would make it, but after a few baths and some soft food he regained strength. Here is his progress.

My roommate Alyssa and I made our own ASPCA commercial. I was going to narrate it, but would have busted out laughing. But it does a good job showing how pitiful he was.

We named him Blaze because he was in a fire and also because his coloring was white and orange.
About two weeks after I think. Eyes finally cleared. Still weak though.

 

First brotherly cuddle session that they allowed to be public.

 And let me just say that you need to check facebook for many more overly cute pictures of Trigger and Blaze. Trigger has been his over protective big brother since day one!!!

 Well as an early Christmas present, Devin said that Blaze could stay as a member of our household!!!

 And now he is healthy and handsome!! However as diagnosed by the vet, Blaze was born with a virus that affected his brain development. It has affected his motor skills, but other than bad balance and a goofy walk, he is just as active and cuddly as a normal kitten! I just call it his swagger.

The next adventure that has unfolded over the past three months is my tattoo.
I have faith on one foot, hope on the other, and I had to make love the biggest and most important. 1 Corinthians 13:13. And three things shall remain, faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. I try to make this a verse to live by daily. And the grace and love of God is so beautiful I wanted to express that in a way that I enjoy.

3 sessions, about 3-4 hours each time.

 I wont lie, the second session hurt the worst. Cuz of the rosebud being so high on the ribs. But I love it!!! So worth it!

 

And the hubby still gets the hubby of the year award even though he's gone. I was having a rough week, and one afternoon I walked into White House Black Market to work and these were waiting for me!!! He's so sweet!

The in-laws came to Tuscaloosa for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to have family there so I didn't spend the holiday alone! Of course had to do a little family shoot for the Christmas card too!

The family on SEC championship day!

Awkward family photobooth at the Youth Christmas Party!

Got to go home for Christmas unexpectedly! I surprised my family and also got to see my BFF's Jen and Alex. It was SO wonderful!!!

 Then after getting back from Chicago, I got to turn around and go back up to Louisville, KY for the Wesleyan Youth Convention. It was so much fun to see God moving in major ways within the next generation!

And latest has been my birthday! January 10th was my birthday and I had friends surprise me with wonderful cupcakes after dinner! Then we went bowling. Even though I had an absent husband, he still had his part in it, and it was a great birthday!!!

So there you have it!!! 3 months all wrapped up in one blog! Hope it wasn't too long or dull for you!

Love Always,
Emily