So- the race, that 10k I signed up for. I came, I ran, I conquered!! In training I didn't go over 5 miles, but instead focused on training in intervals for speed and I think it paid off. My goal was 01:15:00, and I finished in 01:02:43 chip time. I'm pretty stoked, and it looks like I managed my 10 min mile pace pretty easily. Who knows, maybe next year will be the half :) I have a few more races planned this summer, so maybe I can work on getting my time down. I have no photos because my running partner flaked on race morning, but then I got to run the race I wanted to.
Now onto wedding news. I'm hoping I don't turn into a blogger that is all about the wedding, but I had to gush for just a little bit tonight. I'm making some hasty progress despite not having a date yet. Fiance and I are still waiting on some more news from the Army, but hopefully we'll get that in the next month or so. As of right now, we're planning on setting a date while he is in his Captain's course then honeymooning when I graduate from school. In the mean time, the moms and I are going to look at several venues while I am home for a few days. I've got them all picked out and now comes the fun part of setting up appointments. The plan is to take photos, get quotes and then have info to take back to fiance so we can make a decision together.
My future MIL has been interesting. She has some thoughts and opinions, and some of them are helpful. She is REALLY pushing for me to look at 2 venues in a small town about 20 minutes from the hometown. Unfortunately there are no hotels anywhere near by and also, they just don't do anything for me. I am still going to look at them to appease her. I think we'll just have to put our feet down on what is important to us, and include her in other things that aren't so much.
I'm also going to go try on some dresses for the first time with the Moms. There is a bridal store where my mother and grandmother both bought their wedding gowns near by. Naturally, for tradition's sake I want to go check it out. I'm just planning on trying on dresses and seeing what style/shapes I want to further look into. I think I know what I want, but I'm terrified it'll look horrible on me. So here is to an open mind :)
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
100th Post!!
To start off my post, I said I'd answer some question and Mel asked me:
1. What is your dream job when you finish grad school?
I want to be a clinical audiologist, primarily working in a hospital or medical setting, but NOT and ENT practice (pre and post surgical testing for an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, or as they like to say "pumping pure tones for The Man"). I would love to see all age groups, and I also love working with children and their families.
The nice thing about audiology is that it is super varied, and you can see newborns all the way to centenarians every day for a variety of needs. As long as I can do diagnostic hearing and balance evaluation and fit hearing aids, I'll be a happy girl :)
2. Coffee, tea or soda?
Yes to all of the above! I'm a regular coffee drinker in the AM, warm tea on some evenings, and iced tea all summer long. I've been trying to kick my pop habit, but if it has some alcohol added I usually say yes :)
3. What is your go-to music when you are studying? When you need a pick-me-up? When you're happy?
In terms of music I am all over the place. When studying, I usually rock my solo piano pandora station. For pick me ups, I go to my country music, the classic Garth and George Straight. My happy go lucky music is my Frank Sinatra/Michael Buble combo.
In other news:
This weekend, I am also running my first 10k! It's going to be a crazy day, but I'm so excited. Stay tuned for photos and I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes. I feel so much more prepared than I did for my 5k this time last year. It's amazing how interval training plus light lifting can shave so much time off runs. I overall feel strong and confident my body can do this. My goal is still to finish without walking, but I'm also aiming for finishing in under 1 hour 20 minutes. I think I'd be able to manage around an hour easily, but I'm giving myself some flex time.
Also, finals week has arrived! I have 2 presentations next week, a final on Thursday, and a take home due on the following Monday. A few days of clinic, then home for a few days! While I'm home I'm going venue hunting and dress shopping with the moms (my mom and fiance's mom), so that will be lots of fun. I'll be back at school for graduation and some of those festivities, and then down to spend time with the fiance. I have 3 weeks off from mid-May to early June to study for my comprehensive exams and also to work on my first draft of my thesis proposal for my Doctoral Research Project (DRP). While he's off playing Army, I'll be spending quality time at the library and we'll have evenings and weekends together :)
1. What is your dream job when you finish grad school?
I want to be a clinical audiologist, primarily working in a hospital or medical setting, but NOT and ENT practice (pre and post surgical testing for an Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, or as they like to say "pumping pure tones for The Man"). I would love to see all age groups, and I also love working with children and their families.
The nice thing about audiology is that it is super varied, and you can see newborns all the way to centenarians every day for a variety of needs. As long as I can do diagnostic hearing and balance evaluation and fit hearing aids, I'll be a happy girl :)
2. Coffee, tea or soda?
Yes to all of the above! I'm a regular coffee drinker in the AM, warm tea on some evenings, and iced tea all summer long. I've been trying to kick my pop habit, but if it has some alcohol added I usually say yes :)
3. What is your go-to music when you are studying? When you need a pick-me-up? When you're happy?
In terms of music I am all over the place. When studying, I usually rock my solo piano pandora station. For pick me ups, I go to my country music, the classic Garth and George Straight. My happy go lucky music is my Frank Sinatra/Michael Buble combo.
In other news:
This weekend, I am also running my first 10k! It's going to be a crazy day, but I'm so excited. Stay tuned for photos and I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes. I feel so much more prepared than I did for my 5k this time last year. It's amazing how interval training plus light lifting can shave so much time off runs. I overall feel strong and confident my body can do this. My goal is still to finish without walking, but I'm also aiming for finishing in under 1 hour 20 minutes. I think I'd be able to manage around an hour easily, but I'm giving myself some flex time.
Also, finals week has arrived! I have 2 presentations next week, a final on Thursday, and a take home due on the following Monday. A few days of clinic, then home for a few days! While I'm home I'm going venue hunting and dress shopping with the moms (my mom and fiance's mom), so that will be lots of fun. I'll be back at school for graduation and some of those festivities, and then down to spend time with the fiance. I have 3 weeks off from mid-May to early June to study for my comprehensive exams and also to work on my first draft of my thesis proposal for my Doctoral Research Project (DRP). While he's off playing Army, I'll be spending quality time at the library and we'll have evenings and weekends together :)
Thursday, April 19, 2012
100th Post Coming Up!
Thank you all for your kind words and for sharing your stories on my last post. Time and time again I'm reminded why I started this blog, the camaraderie that exists among military SO's.
In honor of my 100th post, I'm opening the floor to you readers for questions. I've seen other bloggy ladies do Q&A posts and I thought I'd give it a try. So, next post I'll do my best to answer any and all questions you pose. So go ahead, ask the things you've always wanted to know about me. Also to new followers, feel free to introduce yourself and I hope to get to know you better as well.
In case you hadn't noticed, I now have a blog button! Sue over at Hello. Also, I love you was ever so kind to create one for me. Check out her blog if you haven't already, she is super sweet and is a milie spouse living in Japan, how cool is that?
Finally, I had a video to share. I can't stop giggling when I watch this. I'd say about 85% of this is true for me. Minus the school and getting married parts haha. So if you are also 24-ish, give it a watch, it made my day.
The Official Anthem for 24 Year Olds
In honor of my 100th post, I'm opening the floor to you readers for questions. I've seen other bloggy ladies do Q&A posts and I thought I'd give it a try. So, next post I'll do my best to answer any and all questions you pose. So go ahead, ask the things you've always wanted to know about me. Also to new followers, feel free to introduce yourself and I hope to get to know you better as well.
In case you hadn't noticed, I now have a blog button! Sue over at Hello. Also, I love you was ever so kind to create one for me. Check out her blog if you haven't already, she is super sweet and is a milie spouse living in Japan, how cool is that?
Finally, I had a video to share. I can't stop giggling when I watch this. I'd say about 85% of this is true for me. Minus the school and getting married parts haha. So if you are also 24-ish, give it a watch, it made my day.
The Official Anthem for 24 Year Olds
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Weddings and the Army Life
I'm sure this is not something that is new to other milie bloggers out there, but man oh man is wedding planning plus army not a good combo. Currently we are still hoping to set a date in the next few weeks, just have to hold out for some SF information. Captain's course is coming up, and the fellow says we may just have to throw darts at a calendar, which I am SO not a fan of. *shrugs* but what can you do right?
I also did not realize how much weddings freaking cost!! We are hoping to invite just family and close friends, and already the guest list is spiraling past the 125-ish I wanted to stay around. Yes, many of them may not be able to attend, but yikes does it get expensive reallllly quickly. Both our parents are being fantastic and offering significant help, but it will still involve some contribution by the two of us. And by the two of us, I mean the fiance, because paying for a wedding with student loans is never a good idea.
The more and more we talk about it, the more and more appealing eloping sounds. I know that we may regret it and we're just saying that for all the wrong reasons but yikes that would reduce the stress immensely. It also doesn't help that we've resigned ourselves to spending our first year of marriage apart while I am interning and he is off doing Captain things, reporting to a new unit, or even deploying again. I just keep repeating to myself, in the end we will be married and that's the most important thing. It doesn't matter what I wear, where it is, or even what time of year it happens. The most important thing is the commitment we are making to each other for the rest of our lives. Just have to keep that in perspective and it'll all turn out just fine.
I also did not realize how much weddings freaking cost!! We are hoping to invite just family and close friends, and already the guest list is spiraling past the 125-ish I wanted to stay around. Yes, many of them may not be able to attend, but yikes does it get expensive reallllly quickly. Both our parents are being fantastic and offering significant help, but it will still involve some contribution by the two of us. And by the two of us, I mean the fiance, because paying for a wedding with student loans is never a good idea.
The more and more we talk about it, the more and more appealing eloping sounds. I know that we may regret it and we're just saying that for all the wrong reasons but yikes that would reduce the stress immensely. It also doesn't help that we've resigned ourselves to spending our first year of marriage apart while I am interning and he is off doing Captain things, reporting to a new unit, or even deploying again. I just keep repeating to myself, in the end we will be married and that's the most important thing. It doesn't matter what I wear, where it is, or even what time of year it happens. The most important thing is the commitment we are making to each other for the rest of our lives. Just have to keep that in perspective and it'll all turn out just fine.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
How Forever Feels
I thought I’d make a post about our engagement story, plus
I’ve had a few requests :)
It happened on Wednesday March 21st. We were in the Bahamas and had just
gotten back to the condo from a National park and Cave tour. We also got to see the beach where some
of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed, Gold Rock Beach. It was beautiful and I loved spending
time on another beach.
We decided to go check out the port again and see what was
happening in the Lucaya area. We
started off by walking along the beach to the big resort nearby. Walking around we scouted out some
potential dinner areas, and also found out the hours of the local liquor
store. You now, priorities.
We were walking around by the marina and had mentioned
checking out Taino Beach, and you have to take a ferry to get there due to the
canal system. We were walking
around and talking about going there.
Then, we saw the ferry pull up and decided to go for it on a whim. Why not, the ferry was already there, right?
 |
| Canal View of some condos |
 |
| Yacht Club, fancy |
We got to the ferry area, and started walking around the
area trying to find our way to the beach.
It is actually on the Ritz Carlton property, so we navigated our way
there after enjoying the lovely canal tour. We decided to walk
along the beach and check out the area.
Taino Beach is supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches on the
entire island, and I’d have to agree.
It was nice and secluded and very serene. There were not a lot of people around, and we started
walking around the cove.
After walking to the end of the beach and glancing at tide
pools we decided to turn around and head back. I may have also been whining because my flip-flops were not
the best shoes to be wearing on the rocks. Once we got back to the sandy area we stopped to rest and
just enjoy the beach for a moment.
 |
| The rocks and tide pools |
 |
| Absolutely breathtaking |
At this point he started really sweet things like how I am the best thing that happened him, and since deployment his life was really put into perspective and what was important,
and then he said, “vacation wouldn’t be complete without one more thing.” He
dropped to one knee and pulled out the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen and
asked, “Dani, will you marry me?”
 |
| Right after, and all smiles |
 |
| Close up of the ring, it is perfect! |
My answer was of course, YES! My exact words may have been "yes, yes, oh hell yes, forever, yes." We went to celebrate the
exciting news with a drink at the Ritz (holy fancy batman) and waited on the ferry back to Port Lucaya. Once
there, we hit the liquor store for some champagne and a cigar for him. Then came the fun part of calling
family via Skype, and they were all SUPER excited.
Apparently, fiancé had asked my parents for their blessing at Christmas,
and had the ring since January.
How sneaky!
 |
| Celebrating with champagne after dinner |
So we are now planning a wedding around the Army and my classes. Right now, the hard part is waiting to
find out when/if he has Captain’s course and where we’ll be PCSing to after
that. Here is to hoping for a Fall
2013 wedding! No date set, but we're looking at some venues this weekend.
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