My First Love and My Last Love

2.) Describe where you were when you met a boy two boys. (inspired by Sadie Dear)


I decided to tell the story of meeting my first love at the age of 13 and then meeting my last love at the age of 32 and how they are oddly connected by Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. 


My First Love
 I was 13 years old and in 7th grade. I was at a "movie party" at my friend Chad's house. Well we watched some movie and after the movie my friends Kelly and Jenn started having some kind of freak out so Brian (Moose) and I went outside. We walked around the house talking to each other about random stuff for about 45 minutes to an hour until our parents got there to pick us up. I was in love (or as much as a 7th grader can be in love). Later that year I asked him to go steady he said no he wasn't ready. 


Well in our 8th grade year we were good friends and hung out a lot and went to the 8th grade dance together. We had a great time. After the dance a group of us went to see Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. We sat next to each other and shared popcorn. That movie always makes me think of him and I smile. (that and the song Sea of Love) 


Jump ahead to 1997...we got back in touch I lived in Virginia and he was going to school in Florida and had to drive through VA to get to Maine for the summer. He visited and we had a great time catching up. He visited again in 1998 then I got married and he graduated. I found out in 2005 two startling things...first Brian had died from complications of Crones Disease and that he had fallen in love with me in 1997-1998 but never had the nerve to tell me. Apparently we were meant to be star-crossed but he will always be my first love. And I think he had a hand in me finding my last love....


My Last Love
In November of 2007 I was on Yahoo Personals and I decided to take a leap and send winks to a couple guys that I thought had potential. J was one of them. Well come December I hadn't heard from any of them so I decided that my time on Yahoo had run its course. I shut down my account effective December 31st (or so I thought). In January of 2008 I signed up for a service called It's Just Lunch. It is a dating service that interviews you and potential mates and then sets you up for lunch or drinks. No big commitment you just have a brief encounter and decide if you want to see each other again. I went out on about 10-12 dates throughout January and February. Some decent guys but no one was quite the right match. 


Well January 30th I receive an email saying I have communication from Yahoo Personals. It was J responding to my wink. Apparently his sister had blown up his computer with a virus and he had to have it wiped so he was just getting back to me. We started texting and IMing daily sometimes into the wee hours. He asked me to come to his house on February 9th but I already had a drink date planned through It's Just Lunch so I asked if I could meet him later. So at 9:00 pm on Saturday, February 9th I pulled in front of his house and he met me on the porch. I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw him. I didn't even care that he was a smoker which I didn't know til I got there. I just wanted to spend time with him...and lots of it.  


I walk into his house and what movie happens to be on TV...Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. I didn't think much of it at the time other then the fact that I love that movie. But in hindsight I really think it was sign. And seeing as how J and I have been together (although not always physically) since that night it was obviously meant to be. 


This post was inspired by:


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Food Glorious Food

1.) If you had one day to eat anything you want and not gain a single ounce what would it be?
(inspired by The Coffee Pot Chronicles)


I started Weight Watchers two weeks ago so this is kind of a funny question for me to answer but I love and appreciate food. So here is what I would eat in a day if I could eat anything I wanted and not gain an ounce...

• Breakfast would start at one of my favorite places the Broken Egg Bistro... I would start with OJ and coffee. In my coffee I would have real sugar and real cream...it would be a perfect start to my breakfast...I would then have their big thick cinnamon French toast with butter and warm maple syrup. For my sides I would have their grits with butter and sugar, their thick sausage links, and scrambled eggs. Heaven on earth.

• This would be followed by a nap because I would be in a carb loaded coma.

• Lunch would consist of a trip to Simon and Seafort's in Anchorage, Alaska. As a child I loved going here! It was a bit of a drive from Eagle River but it was well worth it. I would order their Prime Rib French Dip, a slow roasted, thinly sliced prime rib on a grilled garlic French roll, served with housemade au jus with delicious crispy fries and a Coke. Followed by the most amazing hot, crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside housemade chocolate chip cookie of orgasmic proportions (I didn't realize this as a child but seriously you need a cigarette after and you may even walk away with JBF hair).

• NAP (cause sleep after is always good)

• Dinner would be a trip to the Lucern Inn in Maine. I would have their scallops,  Local sea scallops broiled with a lite rosemary butter, served with rice and seasonal vegetables. Their scallops are cooked perfectly so they melt in your mouth like butter. I would have a wonderful Pinot Grigio chilled to perfection to compliment the scallops. Following dinner I would have a piece of their chocolate French Silk Pie which is a delightful, decadent pie that is firm as the fork goes through but melts into a puddle of chocolate goodness the moment it hits your tongue. Your tongue gasps in delight at the coolness and the decadence. (Again a cigarette may be needed and you will definitely have JBF hair). 

• SLEEP where I would have dreams of wonderfulness dancing in my head.

That would be my day of food if I could eat whatever I wanted and not gain an ounce. What would you eat? 

This prompt came from Mama Kat's Pretty Much World Famous Writer's Workshop...head on over and read some of the others and/or join up yourself.

Please Won't You Be My Neighbor

Source

I am currently blessed with amazing neighbors (on one side)! They are so helpful and great friends. He kindly mows my lawn every week or two while J is away. She is a pet nanny and will check in on the cats and the puppies if needed. She has also helped me walk the dogs on occasion. He has fixed my lawn mower, weed wacked my yard, and even put down fertilizer. When we got a big snow he and another neighbor kindly shoveled my driveway. It is truly wonderful to live next door to friends. We get together for dinner, drinks, and general chatting. I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful neighbors.

Now on the other side is a strangely recluse man. He is friendly enough when he talks to you. But I think he is scared of me. And he has a lady friend who sometimes stays with him who is delightful. But he comes and goes at the oddest hours day and night 10:00 pm, 12:00 am, 3:00 am, etc. You may ask how nosy am I? Well it's like this...his driveway is right below our bedroom window and right next to our kitchen window so we hear him coming and going at all hours. The kicker is he sometimes wakes our dogs which in turn wakes me. One night at 2:00 am he and his lady friend got into a screaming match in the driveway. I almost called the cops. They also had a dog for a bit but no fence so they would let her run around. Well on more than one occasion she and my dogs had a run in with each other (I walk mine on leashes in the yard). Then they just chained her out which meant she sat there and barked. Fortunately for the dog she has found a new home. Currently we don't have a fence between our strange neighbor and us...I'm getting estimates so I can get a bit of privacy in our backyard. As they say...fences make the best neighbors.

I guess you never know what you'll get when you move into a neighborhood. Honestly even with the strange neighbor I feel pretty blessed to have great neighbors on one side and good neighbors around me.

This was inspired by:



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Coffee: An addiction or a necessity?

3.) How did your love affair with Coffee begin? (Or Diet Coke or Tea or whatever
your beverage of choice might be.) (inspired by Buried With Children)

I didn't drink coffee until I started working at McDonald's when I was a freshman in college. Not only didn't I drink it I didn't like it.  Then one morning when I was opening at 5:30 am and I was dragging they suggested coffee instead of my usual Coke. I mixed a bit of creamer and sugar and took my first sip. My initial reaction wasn't love but it did the job of waking me up. And the combination of the cream, the coffee, and the sugar were delightful. It took me a while to find my perfect mixture.

Now I have a precise mixture for my cream, coffee, and sugar. I love a good well blended mocha from Starbucks and it can make a bad day better. But my favorite is a good cup of regular coffee with a good amount of cream and about two packs of sugar. The creamy goodness mixed with the warmth make everything better. On a cold or rainy day it is a perfect pick me up.

My husband picks on me because he claims I am more of a coffee flavored, sweetened, creamer girl than a real coffee drinker but it does the job. I could go without a number of things but never having coffee again would be rough. Oh and no decaf for me...it's the real stuff or no stuff.  And on days when I'm out of half and half I've been known to add Bailey's and/or Kahlua instead. Yummy!!

Thank you to Mama's Losin' It! for the topic...now head over to her site and check out the rest.

Bubble Issues and Meeting In-laws

Inspired by Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop...


5.) Describe what it was like meeting your in-laws for the first time?


Ok so this one was really easy...but I must first preface this by saying at the time my husband and I started dating I still had pretty major bubble issues thanks to my ex husband. I was not really comfortable with people being in my space until I said it was OK. Keep that in your mind as you read this tale...


J and I started dating in February. He met my parents in April on Easter Sunday. So we planned a trip for August over his birthday to visit his family. We arrived at his sister T's house. And I met T, her husband J, and my J's other sister M. All of them gave big huge hugs from the get go. Hi this is Meg...{BIG HUG and KISS on the cheek}...an my girlfriend. Now I will say to this day I still adore T and she and I get along great. But I was a bit overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection. 


Then we left there and went to his parent's house. I didn't even get in the door before I got the BIG HUG and KISS on the cheek. On the outside I smiled through all this because until I told them a year later they didn't know how uncomfortable I was. J's sister T smacked him and said he should have told them so I wouldn't be so overwhelmed. No harm done. I love my in-laws and they are wonderful people.


So  I encourage you to head over to Mama Kat's and check out the other stories and even link up.

I Was Tricked...By Family

Source

This is actually a fairly recent story involving my sister-in-law and pizza. When she and my brother were home last we went to breakfast with Dad and his wife. My SiL had toast and coffee. We planned to go to dinner that night at a nice restaurant with Mom. Around 1:30-2:00 we decided to order a pizza. I asked how hungry everyone was and we agreed on one large pizza for the four of us and no breadsticks.

So it arrived and I took a piece figuring I'd come back for more. Well it was really good it had ham and pineapple and just the right amount of sauce and I was hungry so I went to get a second slice. I knew my brother had had a second piece but I didn't think my SiL had and there were only two pieces. Initally I took a piece and then I felt bad because I thought that meant someone would only have one slice. So I went to the kitchen and got a knife to cut it in half. My SiL watched me do this. After I ate my half slice and Mom ate her second slice my SiL proceeds to eat the other half slice. Which I didn't think anything of until it comes out that she had 2 and a half slices.

She confessed that she knew what I was doing but wanted the extra half so she said nothing. (apparently she was VERY hungry) My brother kind of picked on me for thinking a pizza would only come with seven slices but some pizza places have weird number of slices. Everyone had a good laugh but now I know it's everyone for themselves when it comes to pizza in our house.

This post was inspired by...

A Reverse Bucket List

Here is a list of 10 things I never want to do...

10) I never want to be buried alive...this is a pretty big one for me not that I go around thinking about it on a daily basis or anything but having watched it in movies, tv shows, etc I can tell I would go crazy long before anything else happened.

9) I never want to have a fish pedicure...there is a pedicure where you have live fish cleaning your feet as part of the pedicure. That messes with me in a major way. I love a pedicure but the fish would freak me out.

8) I never want to run because I have to...aka because someone is chasing me. I don't like to run for fun so I certainly don't want to have to run to save myself but I would.

7) I never want to climb Mt. Everest or Mt. McKinley...I'm quite proud of people who do but I don't want to go climb major mountains.

6) I never want to go bungee jumping...sky diving I feel I could handle but bungee jumping with the bounce factor just seems crazy to me.

5) I never want to go back to school...I used to want to go get a Master's Degree and/or a Doctorate Degree but I've decided that's not for me and I'm not sure the cost is worth it. Now that being said I could see myself going into the career switcher program to become a teacher or to yoga instructor training but not a full degree.

4) I never want to have four cats again...I love my cats but I admit there are days where the four of them are a bit much. So when they die I will not be replacing them until we get below two.

3) I never want to move again...now I know this may be unrealistic as a military wife but I've moved a lot in my time and it is not something I want to do.

2) I never want to go to prison...the good thing is I'm pretty law abiding citizen so I don't think this is likely but I just don't think I'd do well in prison.

1) I never want to have a black car in front of my house with two uniformed people knocking on my door...I think as a military spouse this is the ultimate of things we don't want to do.

New Year's Resolutions 2011 vs 2012

5.) Okay okay I have to ask…what are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012 and/or how did 2011′s resolutions turn out?


I didn't set formal Resolutions for 2011 but my informal Resolutions included:

• Getting healthier - I realize now that this is very general and I should have specified a bit more but I took steps to get healthier. In January I decided to lead a a weight loss Bible Study called First Place 4 Health that covered the balancing my life. As part of First Place it encourages you to exercise and follow the Food Pyramid for eating.
• Walking at least two 5Ks - In 2011 I walked three 5Ks (The Wounded Warrior 5K, the Newport News Shipbuilding 5K, and the Frosty 5K)
• Cook at home more often - I admit this was my hardest. When J was home it was easy I planned the menu and did the grocery shopping (he'd go sometimes too) and he would cook the meals.
• Getting our debt paid down - We are doing better on this but there is still a lot to get through.

Here are my Resolutions for 2012

• To read the Bible daily and do my Bible Study daily instead of all in one day. I'll admit I haven't gotten off to a great start on this. But it is early.
• To walk regularly so I'm ready for the 8K, 10K and possible 10 miler that I want to do in 2012. It has been freezing cold in the mornings so I'm reluctant to take my big babies dogs out for walks because they don't like the cold. And it is far more tempting to cuddle with them than to get up and go to the gym. I know I need to work on this.
• To eat healthier and to start eliminating artificial foods from my every day diet. I'm doing better with this because even when I eat out I'm picking real foods.
• To create a meal plan and to cook at home more often. I haven't started this yet I need to get my kitchen cleaned out of the junk that I don't want or need then I'll be off.
• To get our credit cards paid off. We are working on a plan for this. I think we are going to use Mint.com to help us out.
• To take some classes to expand my knowledge for work. I'm looking at schedules to figure out when I can take these.
• To continue yoga and dance classes. And to add weight lifting to my weekly schedule. Wednesday night I went back to Yoga...Thursday my body reminded me I went back to Yoga...Saturday I'm signed up for a dance class.

Thank you to Mama Kat for the writing prompt!! I encourage you to head over to her site and check it out and join up!

This Year in Blog Posts

January

Wisdom Teeth
I put off having my wisdom teeth pulled until I couldn't put it off any longer so in January I bit the bullet so to speak.

February
Girl Power and Why We Need to Claim It
I cannot say enough good things about Studio Rio (Now Twisted Fitness) it has empowered me in ways I can't explain.

March
Wounded Warrior Project 5K 
I set out to do at least two 5Ks this year. I've done three. And the fact that this benefited a cause dear to my heart made it even better. Also the fact that it was done around an old fort was pretty cool too.

April
Military Life from Alpha to Zulu
Riding the Roller Coaster hosted this and it was a lot of fun to come up with the list and to read others' lists.

May
Never the Same 
Family drama can hit you when you least expect it.

June
Hi there! I'm back
I had a great time in June welcoming home my hubby so I didn't post much.

July
My Heart Stopped ...Figuratively
As a military spouse you know that there could come a day when the men in dress uniform show up and I had a scare when they came to work for a funeral and my heart didn't connect with my brain at first.

August
Deployment Bucket List 
I decided to come up with a list of things to accomplish while J is gone.
Hello Irene!
Hurricane Irene hit and I hope I never have to go through that on my own again.

September
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Preview Review 
My blog was chosen to get a sneak preview of the opening episode with Mrs. Obama.

October
Hot Yoga 
I tried Hot Yoga for the first time and determined that it was for other people.

November
Teavana
I developed a new love affair with Teavana. My love of tea has been renewed.

December
Military Spouse Night Before Christmas

Now head over to Mama Kat's and link up!