Luckett's and the End of the World

 It has been a very hectic few weeks in our house! Getting my husband ready for deployment, saying a very tear full goodbye at the very public National Airport, my daughter getting molars in, a trip to visit my parents in Charleston, SC and a drive out to Luckett's for their spring fair. Wheeew, I'm tired just typing it all out. I suppose I should start at the beginning, but since that's what you'd expect lets mix it up and start from the end!

Luckett's is an amazing antique store. It's a mix of classic antiques with a new twist on antiques. It's antiques meets cottage chic meets french country meets awesomeness! They have things your grandmother, mother, sister and daughter would love. My friend Runs (yes, I'm going to use her nickname) and I set out for the annual Luckett's Fair yesterday. We figured that if the world was ending we might as well have one last great adventure on Earth and get some sun while we were at it. In my determination to redecorate the house I thought this would be a fantastic event to find some new treasures for our home. I had the great privilege to meet Marian...you know, Miss Mustard Seed. Her booth was amazing and if you've seen her blog those gorgeous pictures she posts of her creations don't do her work HALF the justice it deserves. She had some stunningly beautiful things. I was so lucky to snag a few of them! I could go on for a very long time about Luckett's and Miss Mustard Seed, but I'll save you and you can check them out for yourselves.

Before Luckett's we were in the good 'ol South visiting Grandma and Grandpa. My little bug had a wonderful time down there. She got to go swimming and run amuck on Grandma and Grandpa's land while I got to spend the day/night in downtown Charleston with an old friend having some girl time. My baby girl has been getting more and more teeth and she is turning into the "puppy" that chews on everything! I don't mind until she decides that my fingers look like good teething rings...OUCH!

The most unfun of all was deployment day. It was a little unconventional from our past send offs as he left in civilian clothes from a regular airport. We were running on time and had planned on the little bug and I going to the gate with my husband to spend a little more time with him and say our goodbyes there. Thanks to traffic...and my husband thinking he knew better than I did (as all married men do) we were late and had to drop him at the curb. Which I was not prepared for. I was trying my best to blink away the tears and pretend they weren't there, which worked until we were tugging his bags and gear out of the car. He got our little girl out of the car to give her a hug and a kiss, at which point I lost it because she started to cry. We stood there on the curb of the airport in a family group hug, tears streaming down my face. At which point I see a couple of people unloading their bags from cars behind us get out their camera and start to take pictures of us. Who does that!?! They didn't know us and they were taking pictures like we were on display at the American History Museum. Note to those of you out there reading this: It's not appropriate to snap shots of strangers, it's stalker-ish. The first day of deployment is always the hardest. You'll get into your routine and then before you know it you'll be getting ready to go to the airport to welcome them home again.

(I'd post our goodbye pictures, but I don't know the strangers who took them...I'm sure they've posted them to Facebook though.)

End Table Makeover

While my husband is deployed my biggest project is to redecorate the house. Yes, the WHOLE house. Little by little I've been finding things here and there, gathering new furniture and painting. If you don't know, I have a secret love for paint. I found this amazing end table a few weeks ago at the thrift store! I saw it and ran over with excitement and my friend Renee was looking at me like I had just told her "I have three boobs!"

Here is my beautiful new table (the before). It was baby powder blue(ish) on the bottom and a honey stain on the top. So I set to work sanding the ugliness off to turn those beautiful turned legs into something amazing.

It took 3 coats to cover this up in Churchill Hotel by Valspar (spray paint) but it was finally done. I found new hardware for the drawer at Lowes and HAD to have it. How cute is this?!

There is my beautiful new end table, bee and all! I love the way it turned out, I was so anxious to get it up in my living room I didn't even take time to distress it  make it looked well loved! I have a new dining room table and chairs that I'm working on next. They were great Craigslist finds! The table was all of $25 and the chairs (Queen Anne's) were $80 for all SIX of them!!! I can't wait to share them with you all!

Lucketts & Leesburg

When you're from northern Virginia and you hear Leesburg, you think of one thing: Outlets! It's not a terribley far drive and you can find some great deals out there. I have found another hidden treasure out in Leesburg! The Old Lucketts Store. It's not your momma's antique store. It's old meets revamped, classics with a modern twist and just flat out amazing. I could spend a fortune in that store...if only my husband wouldn't care. The best thing is that they are antiques at reasonable prices. They are holding their annual fair coming up in May. If you will be in the area make sure to check it out! I know I will be there!!! We're going to make a girls day of it! You can find all the details at The Old Lucketts Store blog.

Ball Jars and Betty Crocker

Ball Jars and Betty Crocker = A cake in a jar! I don't know who first thought of this fabulous idea, but I'm going to share it with you all because it is one of the best things to throw into a care package. I mean, who doesn't love cake and mail?!? Here is what you'll need:

 * Ball canning jars
 * Your favorite cake mix
 * Boiling water

1. Make the cake batter according to the instructions/recipe (***note*** I only used one box and it made 5 jars)

2. Grease the inside of the jar by spraying with cooking spray
3. Fill jar no more than 1/2 way with batter (about 1 cup)

4. Place jars on cookie sheet on rack in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean @ 400 degrees

5. While baking, boil jar lids in a pan of water (make sure lids are dry when placed on jars)

6. When cake is done, take one jar out at a time and cover with hot lid and ring.

7. The lid will seal as it cools. Listen to hear the "ping" as they seal. The center of the lid won't make a "pop" noise when pressed if it has sealed properly.

 Voilà!!!! You have made a delicious Cake-in-a-Jar. When you put them in your care packages make sure you pack them in bubble wrap. Don't forget to send along a fork or two and some frosting. I like sending the funfetti frosting because it has the frosting AND sprinkles in one package.  PLUS...they come in just about EVERY occasion! Perfect for any care package theme!

Hello Murphy...

  You know you're starting a deployment when Mr. Murphy's Law shows up. He's an old friend to us all. You know what I'm talking about, right? Your husband leaves for the field, training school or deployment and something breaks, your basement floods, you lose your cell phone and you have to take your child to the Emergency room all in the same day. We've all got those stories! As my husband has just left we had our own clandestine meeting with Murphy. After we dropped my husband off and said our goodbyes we started for home. My daughter didn't eat that morning and when we got home I made her favorite for lunch, mac n' cheese. She wouldn't eat it and ended up throwing it at the dog. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to pick mac n' cheese out of the poor ol' dogs fur. 

  Finally we reached nap time! She played for a little while and drifted off for a lovely 3 hour nap. I was emotionally drained and took a nap with her thinking the day would be better when we woke up. Silly me! I knew better than that, but alas it was not to be. When my baby girl woke up we were playing and she ran to her favorite spot in the house; the front window. (Enter Murphy) I hear the kind of thud that mommies know ice, band-aids or a trip to the ER are about to follow. I dart over and pick up my poor baby who has a geyser of blood pouring out of her mouth. My heart breaks for the second time today as my poor little angle is screaming. When the dust settled it wasn't as bad as all the blood made it seem, just a little cut on the inside of her lip. At dinner time the little princess decided she would not eat again.

  The day ended with one wore out fat-lipped baby, a frazzled Mommy who was covered in tears, blood and chocolate. We kicked Murphy's Law in the bum and wrapped up the day with a glass of wine and a phone call from the husband.

Half Full or Half Empty

  I am starting to notice a new trend with Military wives. I've posted about this a few weeks ago but have started to notice it more and more in the past few days. I am so disappointed in my fellow Military wives! Are there that many of you out there that are viewing the glass half empty? Perhaps I am just running into a lot of angry wives lately. I don't know.

  Why do we feel like we can bash people because they haven't experienced a deployment or being away from a loved one? How can you say "Well he's only going to be gone for X amount of days/weeks! You can't compair that to a deployment or a Field exercises!" I'm sorry to say this, but YES they are allowed to miss their husbands too. Just because our husbands are in (sometimes) dangerous situations doesn't make their time away from home better or worse than another situation. I feel like this can be said for some Military vs. Military wives too. A deployment on the ground can be just the same as a deployment on a ship. What's the difference, really? 

  I'm sad that you wouldn't offer support to your civilian counterpart. I know that when my husbands is deployed I can count on BOTH my Military wife friends and my Civilian wife friends. There's one thing that remains the same, we are all WIVES. We go through some of the same struggles; communication, conflicting schedules, kids, in-laws and I'm sure other things I'm leaving out. Sure there are differences, I'm not saying that there aren't...BUT I am saying, why sing the "Poor me" anthem? We all have our different struggles in life, but I would hope that you can look past the Military vs. Civilian thing, put your big girl panties on, grab your old friends and enjoy the company of Jack, Jim, Jose, Johnnie, and the Captain (because these are the only acceptable men to hang out with when your husbands are gone) and enjoy your half full drinks with all the wives (military or not).

CHEERS!

Deployments and Power Tools

 Every time my husband deploys I find new ways to fill up my days until he returns home. Our first deployment years ago I poured myself into work. I was working 60+ hours a week, volunteering and doing the Sea Turtle walk once a week with one of the other wives. My days were FULL, and it was fabulous to have my days going by so fast with some great distractions! Our next deployment was going to be filled with traveling. We had just gotten to our new duty station a few months before my husband left and my parents had just gotten stationed in Europe. While my husband went on his dessert "vacation" I went on my European getaway. I was gone for 3 1/2 weeks and it was wonderful to explore new cities (and some I'd already fallen in love with). Then when I'd gotten home I realized that "hmm, I was gone a few weeks...and I'm late..." I took a pregnancy test the morning after I got home...positive! My time was now filled with OB/GYN appointments a little bed rest and a lot of trips to Babies 'R Us.

  Now we get to this deployment. I now have a business that I'm growing, a one year old to run after and my newest love...building furniture. I am in love with it and I'm saving so much money by building it myself! How am I doing this you wonder? Ana White...and she is amazing! My first project is the 6 Cube Cubby. I was so happy to find these plans to make it myself and save $200. I like to keep busy when my husband is away and what a better way to do so than to work with my hands and create something fabulous for our home? With the wood, paint, nails and new drill bits my total cost to make this was $52.13! When I first found Ana's website I had a hard time choosing where I wanted to start. There were so many fantastic plans. I hope you have found things you love to keep busy with while your spouse is in the field, TDY or deployed. It really does make the time go by faster and before you know it you'll be showing off your fabulous talents and fun adventures when they get home!

Just about half way here.

Building complete...time to paint!

FINISHED!!!