Fill in the blank Friday!

So here is my attempt at the Fill-in-the-blanks-Friday questionnaire as seen on fellow army wife's blog "Guinn and Bare It"


1. I am currently obsessed with craigslist! lol with the pending house purchase going on, i'm going to my ever so brilliant craigslist everyday to find stuff to fill up the house!

2. Today I am nervous because, I am yet to receive a reply from the seller of the house saying they will fix stuff that came out in the inspection report, & if they dont agree to fix we have to walk away from the house :(

3. The age I am is 23 and the age I feel is 30, i dunno, at 23 i feel like i should be out hard partying, ,making mistakes & exploring the world..however im saving all that for my menopause phase, at least then i'll have an excuse! hehee

4. My favorite place is ikea! i love ikea! can i live in ikea??? :)

5. Something I have been procrastinating is folding laundry!! omg i have about 8 loads of laundry to sort & fold & I hate it!

6. The last thing I purchased was a dvd rental.."you again" - horrible waste of $1.09

7. The thing I love most about my home is the comfort it gives me, there is definitely no place like home.

Chanelling my inner HGTV Designer..or trying to..

I love watching the HGTV channel! sometimes it's my absolute guilty pleasure to just watch all day! I get so inspired by all the home makeovers & renovations & also the new things I learn about designing, real estate, all that good stuff!

Hubby & I have recently purchased a house, or rather in the process of, we made an offer it got accepted after a few back & forth negotiations, now we're just waiting on the home inspection to be done & we will close in a few weeks. Exciting!! :)

I am always responsible for our home decor, furnishing & everything else lol I think of my design style as simple tropical modern yet homey kinda style..???.. yeah me too. lol I've been looking through the HGTV website for some inspiration. I would have really liked to incorporate some elements of our homeland (FIJI) into our home, right now all we have is a war club lol but I think that will have to wait till our next trip back home (I dunno when, maybe I win the lottery)...

Since we have a main level area and a basement level area, I have quite a bit to think about. For our main level living area, which consists of a living room, dining & kitchen, I am going to go for a light calming effect. My color palette would hopefully be within the beige/tan, chartreuse, mocha wood accents group. The basement level has a large family room/den (or man cave as my husband calls it) I would have to put all my existing furniture in there so the color palette would be dark brown, tan, reddish accents, sleek black..more of a cosy warm feel.

When I think about what furniture & decor I have to buy I always think about three main things.

1. Price : above all else, I usually do not compromise on this area because I know if I cannot get something for a price I want, there will always be something else, I can always find something within my budget, I just need to be patient.
2. Durability : I have 2 girls who are crazeee lol If the item is not child proof its unlikely to be in my house, for instance our sectional is microfiber, easy to clean..cushion covers are able to come off & machine washable, slip em back on they look good as new!
   
3. Function & Style : I don't like to have too much things crowding up the room, the less the better & if they serve a purpose or even multi purpose that would be awesome for example, we have an ottoman,rectangular bench like, made with leather or pleather whatever you call it, put a tray on it 'voila' coffee table, also top opens up so its a storage for my girls toys & if we have guests with not enough sitting room 'voila' again sitting bench..and it looks great!

I'm one of those people who walk into a room and my mind is already wondering about all the endless possibilities I could do with the room and I can almost see my family living in there..when I first walked into the house we bought, I just had this feeling that this was going to be it! My mind was already thinking about color palettes, furniture, wall hangings, family dinners & what not..I'm excited to move into a place that is finally ours & start making it 'our' home..and once my husband gets back, it will be complete! :)



Peace & Love!

4 years ago..

If you take a quick peek on my lilypie counter timer thingi on the right, you will see it says we have been married for 4 years! 4 crazy ass years!! :)

On this day 4 years ago, Valentines day, as cheesy as it gets my hubby & I tied the knot! no big ceremony, no flashy reception..not that we didn't want a celebration but at that time our budget could only stretch so much..

the day before the wedding, I called my boss asked for a day off because I was getting married (big shocker for her..Hi how are you? can I take the day off i'm getting married tomorrow ohh ok thank you!) lol I bought my dress the day before lol and I think I invited my witnesses the day before lol

It's weird because I did think about what my wedding day would be like growing up and if you're a girl & you say you didn't ..yous a liar!! lol and what I had was way different from what I dreamt about (besides I knew Justin Timberlake was taken)

As I stood in front of the wedding officiant beside my husband and the time came to recite our vows, I was so overcome with emotion, something I didn't expect and I remember thinking "wow this is really happening!" and "so this is why people cried at weddings" (I never really understood that till that day) Commitment was never an issue for me but man..to stand with this one person in front of your family & friends and commit to each other, nothing can explain that feeling you get..and yes as cheesy as it sounds..it felt magical..

Maybe its all these different feelings coming together..happiness, nervousness, anxiety, excitement, fear, courage, hope, faith, caution, optimism, joy! so many thoughts going through my mind and the thoughts were so extreme they turned into deep felt emotions, emotions I couldn't control & I felt them reciting those vows, looking into my husbands eyes holding his hands, barely speaking clearly trying to hold back my tears..Damn!

Looking back on that day and seeing how far we've come, all the ups & downs, our triumphs & disappointments..we're still here holding on, and I'm not going to lie, marriage is so hard to hold onto after a couple of years but we are determined to make it last come rainstorms and rainbows, because four years ago I put my hand in his, looked into his eyes & gave him my life & heart to keep and four years later...he still has it.

Peace & Love

*Happy 4th Anniversary babe, even though I know you probably won't read this..I still love you*

Too proud to beg?

If you live in the states, there are SO many federal & state programs that assist families that are.. how can we put it..not related to Mark Zuckerberg?! I can admit & am not ashamed to say my family is working class, lower working class? at least that's what the state qualifies us as, one income household, stay at home mom & 2 kids..yep we are blessed :)

There's the common food stamp program, unemployment and WIC..I'm sure there's more programs but these are the common ones I hear about..we don't qualify for food stamps or unemployment but we do qualify for WIC, Women, Infants & Children.

Another friend of ours had told us about this program, you get checks every month, which you can reimburse for food items as specified on the checks. We thought, hey why not? little did we know the amount of money we saved on basic stuff such as milk, vegies, baby formula..they basically give us almost $200 worth of food for free every month and we don't even use up all the checks.

The issue I have noticed, some people are actually embarrassed to say that they receive WIC benefits. I mean I can understand how some people like to portray a lifestyle & being on WIC of course that shows your income isn't that substantial or not as much as you would like people to know. It's cool, I always believe in the saying "to each his own"..I on the other hand..

I come from a country where I seen people don't have food to eat, kids don't have meals for school or families subjected to having meals that are not nutritious due to the high cost of groceries and forget it if you think the government would give people checks every month so that they can improve the nutrition of women & children..we were not fortunate enough..so to come to the states & find that we can get help (save money as well) from a federal agency, I am far from embarrassed..I am extremely appreciative.

So people can look down on us, or agree with us all they want, sometimes we learn that where we come from definitely affects where we go & to appreciate all the help you can get..getting help is not a bad thing, it is a blessing, knowing with all the suffering & unfortunate people around the world its OK to put your pride away & humble yourselves..

Peace & Love.

while the cats away..

..so over the weekend I went out with a few of my army wives for a "ladies nite"

or so I thought...

i don't know bout most of ya'll ladies but it seems like the clubbing scene is just a place to hook up & look for mr. or mrs. right now. I personally love to go out drink, dance & have fun..not go look for people to play with. I was very annoyed that some of my friends were leaving us quite a bit to "go to the bathroom" when all the while they were out scouting for guys to "play with" ..ay to each his own, but don't come out for a ladies nite if ya want to play around with guys, nxt thing you know random guys are hangin around our table coz they apparently found out our husbands are deployed so that means no man around & sexually frustrated women! F U! we don't need a deployment boyfriend!

& the nerve of some single soldiers out at the clubs! man you guys are cold! haven't you heard "karma's a bitch?!" Imagine if you're out deployed in some war ravaged country worrying about your life & imagine some soldier doing the same thing you're trying to do with your wife back home? don't like it huh? idiot..

actually it isn't the guys fault..men will be men..especially single men..but if you're a married wife? you don't need to be going out to a club & saying you wanna look for a guy to mess with & leave your girls half the time to go look for them..that's not a good look, have some dignity in yourself, I'm not trying to be on any high horse or anything but it's about time women start portraying themselves as strong real women & not Lil girls playing games.


and of course that's the last time I'm going to go to a ladies nite..well I can't say that, I still love to go out, just not with the little girls..I'ma go out with the real ladies..the ones who don't need male attention to get them excited..(unless its our husbands) ;)

Peace & Love!

I'm not that weak!

For the past how many months, I have been without a man, I think I've been doing ok..considering all the shit I have to put up with and yes, while I may rant ever so often about how I can't handle it all the time..that's exactly what I've been doing - handling it!

what is 'it'?

well a couple of us army wives, have decided to go out on the town tomorrow nite..get loose get drunk have fun etc etc..and then one of the girl's cousin's (who is also in the army and promised her deployed husband he would take care of his family esp wifey)..anyways so he asks where we are heading out to..I gave a club that was hosting a ladies nite promo event, & so we're told that place is dangerous, fights happen all the time, not to go there blah blah blah..great now the other girls are scared. OK first of all, bitch is from Fiji, I have seen many club fights in my lifetime lol

second of all, wtf who is goin to the club to frikin fight? I'm jus sayin if some guys wana hash it out at the club doesn't mean I'm going to be dumb and jump in the middle of it, I ain't into drama like that..I can be drunk as a skunk & still know to get out of the way..

I don't know it kinda irked me that we were getting instructions on how & where to go out..I understand the protecting his fam part but I ain't no kid & I don't go out with any..& have they seen the clubs out here? there's like ten cop cars parked outside every club & st lol

Don't get me wrong, I love the thought of having a strong male 'bodyguard' by our side but I like to think that the men know we can handle ourselves for a few hours without them...

time to bring out the rebel ;) I'm goin to do how I always do, have fun when, how & where I want..just don't hang up if I'm calling from jail lol I'm kidding! G'nite!

Peace & Love

yep this is another deployment rant!

I would just like to say deployments sux balls!!!! The crap you have to deal with while they are away & especially when they are away, it's just frikin ridiculous. I gotta deal with this whole "deployment husbands away poor you" shit & of course frustrated in so many ways emotionally, physically & most importantly sexually! & its not only the crap we have to deal with on the home front but I gotta deal with what my husband is dealing with as well, which means I get the brunt of all his frustrations out there & it sux but why do I feel like I would rather bear the brunt of his frustrations then have him let it out on his workmates & potentially get him in trouble? & because of that I get frustrated with him & of course he gets the blame & its just one big circle of love..or rather lack thereof. Man I swear it's just not right to keep men away from their families for a whole year & give them only 2wks off, c'mon can't they spare at least 6 out of 52???! I for one am not embarrassed to say I cannot cope with deployments, I'm not army strong right now so what?! It's like living 2 different lifestyles & the transition time between them isn't cutting it...so GOD PLEASE GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO SURVIVE THESE TIMES CAUSE HE KNOWS I'M TRYING MY HARDEST OUT HERE.

(goin to take it out on the elliptical & a nice hot cuppa green tea) Goodnight!

Peace & LOVE (lots of it)

mai kana!!

"mai kana" ..Fijian saying which translates to "come eat"
something you will commonly hear back in Fiji while walking by someones house..
I remember walking to school & I always walked extra slow by my dear friend Anaseini's (RIP) house, her mom always had a huge breakfast waiting for them, pies & cakes & tea (for breakfast?!! i know right?!!) & of course Ana's mum would always extend the invitation to "come eat" It isn't a suprise that us islanders love our food, we take pride in our food & how it brings everyone together whether its for a celebration or just hanging out with friends at school during lunch hour, all putting in money to buy a serving of food to share..and all the odd meals common in almost every house, maggi noodles eaten cooked or raw (similar to Ramen) long loaf (tastes like french bread) breakfast crackers which is commonly known as biscuits (not the southern biscuits they have at KFC lol) and for special occasions "LOVO" (similar to the hawaiian "imu" or earth oven). What inspired me to blog about fiji food is when I went to the Asian Pacific market today & I found guava jam, which instantly took me back to my aunty cooking jam in her kitchen the aroma filling the whole house & everyone waiting for afternoon tea with biscuits, butter & guava jam..just Heaven!! Its funny how back when we were at home we never really appreciated all the comforts of these different foods, not until we travel halfway across the world, live away & when we see something in the shop that almost resembles the original back home, only then do we realise how much we miss the food & how its a definite part of our culture & our lifestyles. Like they say 'there's no place like home" I add on "there's no food like Fiji food"!

Peace & Love!!