Poor Use of My Time?

It's been awhile since Jaren has had to leave me for several days in a row. Almost 6 months! I've gotten so used to having him with me all the time (minus work) and I just love it. I can never get enough of him even after spending an entire 4 day weekend with just the two of us at home. I love that man!

Unfortunately, there are times, like now, when the Army takes him away for several days. This time it's only 5. Thanks goodness. The last time it was three weeks and I thought I would die before he came home! I know, it shouldn't be a big deal after going through a year deployment but ANYTIME he is gone is hard.

So, whenever he leaves I make sure the grocery shopping is done and I hole up in the house (apartment) with a pile of books to read. Some may consider this a poor use of my time. I could be doing all kinds of productive things but this seems to be the best remedy for the mopeyness that sets in when he's gone.

What would you do with your time?

What good books would you cuddle on the couch with?

Texarkana, TX

I can't believe how time has just flown these last few months! We moved to Texarkana, TX at the end of October and it is definitely different than Georgia. I really, REALLY miss my house, friends and the general area of Grovetown/Augusta. Texarkana is small but I have all the shopping I need. We are living in a small 2 bedroom apartment which is a HUGE adjustment coming from a 3000 square foot house. Although, it's a lot less cleaning and that's always nice! We have little to no cell phone coverage here. I feel so cut off from the world!!
This area has a lot of elderly people. Our little ward is definitely a geriatric ward but there are a few young families. One really nice thing about being out here is that Jaren really likes his job. There were all kinds of issues at his last job but the people here are great and work as a team. He actually comes home happy now! Night and day difference!!!
So far Jaren is the only one with a calling. I need one ASAP! It certainly didn't take long for them to jump at the chance to take advantage of Jaren being a high priest and call him into the bishopric. Jaren was quite relieved when we moved from GA so that he didn't have to be in the bishopric anymore. I guess the Lord feels he needs more experience. :) I was excited about the fact that I would actually get to sit next to Jaren in sacrament meeting when we moved here. I only got 2 Sundays worth. Darn it!
That's pretty much all that's happening. I feel like we're incredibly boring people because I don't have a ton of stuff to blog about. I can't even maintain my goal of one post a month. Oh well. At least you all know now that we're alive and well. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas!

Flower Wreath

At the end of the summer JoAnn's was having a huge sale on their silk spring flowers. I bought about 4 bunches for $6 total that were originally $4.99 a piece. I didn't quite know what to do with them until I got the great idea to make them into a flower wreath as a gift for my friend who's about to have a baby girl. I even bought a cute daisy hook to hang it on.

(This shows the daisy better)

(This is the truest color of the flowers)

The flowers were dark pink and light pink with a little creamy yellow color in the middle. I love the cute ribbon that matches the colors my friend is using to decorate her baby's room. I also got a super cute "Live, Laugh, Love" decoration that matched all of her colors too but I forgot to take a picture of it. Making the wreath was pretty easy. It was just a little time consuming because it took me two tries to even out all of the flowers just right.

I also found the most adorable little shoes! What can I say? I LOVE shoes! I had to get a pair for my friend's little one and a pair that I could keep in the hopes that one day I have a little girl to wear them. :)

Aren't they adorable! You can't really tell in these pictures but they have opal colored sparkly stuff woven all through the shoes.

I think this was my favorite baby shower gift I've ever given as a whole. I know decorations for the baby's room isn't a conventional gift but she loved them and I really liked making the wreath!

The places we've lived

With Jaren in the Army (even if it's only the Reserve), we have moved around a lot. We've lived in Colorado, Utah, Missouri, Washington, Wisconsin and Georgia. We've experienced freezing weather, lots of snow, endless rain, extreme humidity and sweltering heat. Now we're about to experience a new climate. Yep, we're moving again. This will be our 3rd move in 2 years. This is all very last minute and I'm quite sad to be leaving the Augusta, GA area. We LOVE it here. Even with the heat and humidity. Jaren has been offered a temporary position (up to 3 years) as a Captain on active duty in Texarkana, TX.

Where is that? It's on the border of Texas and Arkansas of course. The city itself is divided by the state line so there is a Texarkana, TX and Texarkana, AR. We haven't gotten a chance to visit or look for housing. I think we'll just end up driving out there when we move and hope to find a place real quick. We haven't officially gotten orders yet but Jaren will probably have to be there on October 3rd. Not much time! We will be renting our house here in Grovetown so we've been trying to complete most of our house projects in preparation for renters. So much to do and so little time to do it. It doesn't help that Jaren is required to work overtime every day until the end of September (end of the fiscal year). This is the contracting office's busiest time.

So here's hoping I don't go crazy trying to prepare for a move in 2 weeks. Good luck to me!