Wow. I can’t believe that today makes one year since I said “I Do” to my husband. Not that we have spent a full year together, of course. So far, we’ve spent about 10 weeks living together and about 13 weeks total together in the last year. Normal for a military couple, until you realize that he was only deployed a few months out of that time.

March 21, 2009 Huzzy & Wifey

I’m finally in Washington state and am loving spending time with Huzzy. He’s deploying very soon and will be gone for the summer, so we are trying to make the most of it. It’s tough, though, since we both feel a bit cheated out of it because the others in his division have been able to spend several months with their loved ones. But oh well, it is what it is, I guess. At least I’ll be able

Spending quality time with Huzzy before our first deployment began.

to see him up until the last minute this time and will be there when he gets back.  Okay, scratch that last one because I may be going to South Korea for a few weeks with the Navy myself and it may, depending on the timing, be about the time Huzzy is supposed to return. So he may return and I may be gone. That will totally suck.

However, we are doing what is best for the family. I still don’t have a job here and while I’m on unemployment (not that I’ve been “approved” yet nor have received my first check), going active duty for two weeks will bring in some much-needed money. Of course, I may have a job by then but it’ll be extra income then since Washington mandates that employers give four weeks of PAID military leave for reservists.

Anyway, I know several of you have been wanting to hear the story of how Huzzy and I met. So here it is. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a bit long.

Seattle Underground Tour on our 3 day honeymoon

It was 2007 when we first met. But the story starts before we met. I had been dating on and off for a few years and had been on a few online matchmaking sites. Well, two really. I found that the first one was just pretty much people who were trying to get laid and that’s it. So I tried Y@hoo Personals. By 2007, I think I’d been on the site for a year or two and had met some very nice people. I dated here and there and dated one person for several months during the summer of 2006. But it didn’t work out and I continued to stay on it.

Huzzy was also on the site. And it ended up he lived just a few miles away from me.  While he was kinda-sorta looking for long-term, he was also not above looking for the one nighters. What can I say, he’s a guy. Anyway, he

Goin' to the church and we... just got MARRIED!

contacted me in April or so of 2007. I think we talked a bit here and there, but honestly, I really wasn’t that interested. I’m not sure exactly why. His photos online weren’t the best (he is a HORRIBLE photo taker, I’ve found!) and he refused to used the “f” key, instead writing words like “phun” for “fun” and as a writer, that really annoyed me.

However, what was behind his words kinda intrigued me. And he always there if I wanted to chat. I do remember not liking the fact that he was military because that was not the type of life I’d envisioned for myself.

By May, I’d started kinda dating another guy and since I dated just one person at a time once I was about at date #3, I started blowing Huzzy off. Apparently, he started dating someone about this time as well but that didn’t last long. Neither did my person… he took off for a job in California and stopped contacting me. However, because we were “exclusive” I didn’t feel right about going out with anyone else until I had officially told the other guy that I was no longer going to date him since he couldn’t return my calls. However, I couldn’t get a hold of him.

My flowergirls... and now I'm an aunt!

June 10th rolled around, which was my 25th birthday. As per usual on my birthday, my plans fell through and none of my friends were going to go out with me that night. Huzzy and I were chatting online and he said he’d take me out to dinner and a movie. But, again, since I hadn’t talked to the other guy to tell him everything was off, I didn’t feel right about it. That and I really didn’t want to meet a random guy off the internet for my birthday. I just wasn’t into it. But Huzzy’s insistance was starting to wear me down and I was getting interested in meeting him.

Now, before we go on, let me tell you how careful I was when meeting people in person that I had met online. I was paranoid. And this will make the rest of the story funny.

First, I never met the guy in real life until I had been chatting with him for at least a month. Second, the guys never knew where I lived until I was in a real relationship with them. Actually, before Huzzy, only one guy was ever invited over to my house. Anyway, I also told my best friend all about the guy, where we were going to meet, how long I expected the date to last and when I was expected home. I would call her when the date was finished and let her know I was okay. If I didn’t call by the time I told her the date should be finished, she was to call me.

Huzzy and me with Skah when he was 11 months old. December 2008

If she was unable to get a hold of me or if anything had ever happened to me, she knew that when I went on a date with a guy, I left all his information–including all our conversations and his online profile–up on my computer. I figured that way, the police could easily track him down if need be!

So anyway, from about the beginning of May, I started having sinus infections and actually got strep throat for the first time in my life. It was constant for six weeks. Sinus infection, strep throat and tonsillitis. I’d go on meds and within 24 hours of getting off of them, it’d be back. My doctor decided that I needed to have my tonsils removed in order to stop the cycle. That surgery was set for Friday, June 22nd. My mom came over to help for the weekend since we knew I’d be out of it for a few days.

Huzzy and I had spoken on the phone a few times before my surgery. I loooved his voice and thought it was amazingly sexy. I knew I was eventually going to meet him in person, but preferably after I lost the 10lbs that I’d immediately gained just weeks before the surgery due to double dose of steroids they needed to put me on to get the tonsillitis to go away (so they could do the surgery since it’s risky to do it while you have a raging infection… especially on adults).

It so happened that after the surgery I had a severe reaction to one of my meds or something the following Monday. I was in such severe pain that the liquid Lortab they gave me was not even touching the pain. I have a very high tolerance for pain so it had to be really bad for me to even take the Lortab versus just regular Motrin. I react quickly to drugs so I generally don’t need as much as most people.

The doctor took one look at me and put me on Oxycontin… in ADDITION to the Lortab. That didn’t really help the pain so much as make me so entirely loopy that I didn’t care I was in pain. If you’ve been on Oxy before, you know what I mean by loopy. Add in the Lortab and man! I was flying high. If you have ever been on Oxy and have read the warning labels, then you know it says, “It is not recommended to make large decisions while on this medication.”

Can you see where this is going?

On Friday, June 29th (okay, techincally it was the 30th since it was after midnight), I made the best and stupidest decision in my life.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. And please know that the rest of the story is pieced together partly from what I remember in my fuzzy state and partly from what Huzzy has told me.

Huzzy had checked on me via internet a few days before. He was on leave and was visiting family in Ilinois. He ended up calling me on Friday on his way back from Ilinois. Even though it was painful to talk, I was enjoying talking to him and besides, the Oxy/Lortab combo was making me not care about the pain.

I talked him through a several-hour traffic jam and he kept asking when he could meet me. I told him after I felt better.

He was set get back home about 2 a.m. or something. And he asked if he could come over and see me since we were both up.

Our wedding cake and topper... entitled "The Pinch"

And I agreed.

To let him come over.

TO MY HOUSE.

At night.

Where I lived alone.

Remember my whole paranoid protocol when meeting people for the first time?  Yeah, thrown out the window.

I’m telling you, they don’t have the “Don’t make large decisions while on this medication” warning on Oxycontin for nothing.

I did tell Huzzy several times that he had better not expect anything because I wasn’t that type of girl (of course who knows if he believed me since I was letting a stranger into my house in the middle of the night).

I had taken a shower that day (not really an easy thing when you are flying high) and had pulled a brush through my hair after it air-dried (I blow dry it for a reason, folks, so you know how  AWESOME  my hair must have looked).  My face hadn’t seen makeup for two weeks and I had sweatpants and a t-shirt on.  Yeah, I was seexxxxxay!

Re-creating our wedding cake topper.

So he parked his truck on the street and walked up. I remember thinking that I couldn’t believe how tall he was (he’s 6′5″).

I think we talked for half an hour in the livingroom before I told him I was really tired and he was welcome to sleep here… in bed with me… but that he wasn’t going to get anything.

Yup, you read that right. I let a stranger in my house and invited him into my bed. Go me. Go Oxy!

Nothing happened that night. Huzzy was a gentleman. I think he rubbed my back. I remember unhooking my bra so he could rub it better (um… yeah… I’m NOT like that. At all. I’ve been called a prude more than once!). He tells me that I was insanely funny that night and kept him laughing the whole time. I remember nothing about that.

So he had to get up early the next day and work a balloon festival, or rather, the same day, and left a few hours later. He came back later that day. And every day after that. We went on our first “date” was July 4th where we went to the Michigan lakeshore to watch the fireworks. I was no longer on Oxy (I only stayed on it for a few days) but was still on the Lortab. Actually, I was on the Lortab for three weeks.  I tell my husband that by the time I was off drugs, I was already attached to him so I let him stay

And that’s the story of how we met.  It was both the best decision (hey, I found the love of my life) and the stupidest decision of my life. I still can’t believe I ever allowed a strange man I met off the internet to come to my house to meet me in the middle of the night. I can’t believe I wasn’t killed.

I’m the luckiest woman in the world… for more than one reason.

I still don’t have internet connection at the new house yet. So in order to write this post, I’ve had to go to a cute little diner that has wi-fi. It’s not so bad since they have awesome pies

When I get Internet connection and some time, I’ll have to tell you about our cross-country trip. For now, I think the only thing ya’ll are looking for is to find out who the winner is. I was surprised at how FEW Wal-Mart trucks we actually saw. Had we been counting, say, FedEx trucks, the number would have been upwards of 300-500. But apparently, Wal-Mart trucks aren’t as prevalent on the road.  Heck, we saw three times as many police cars as WalMart (we started counting for a prizeless contest on my Facebook page).

Several of you were close. Very close. However, one person hit the nail on the head. I mean, right on. She needs to go on The Price is Right. The contest was guessing the number without going over.

We saw exactly 43 WalMart trucks. And MrsSgtB from Married to the Military guessed 43.  So you win! Congrats!

Please send me your mailing information [wifeofasailor (at) gmail (dot) com].  Let me know the things you like (clothing, restaurants, fun places for the kids) and I’ll research the area where you live and what gift cards are available here that will work where you are. I’ll send you a list of choices and you can just let me know what you want!

Yay! That was fun.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post. It’s all about how Huzzy and I met as we celebrate our FIRST anniversary. Hint: it involves narcotics … legal ones… and bad decisions that turned out to be good!

Yeah, I know, I haven’t posted since I came back from DCO school this past weekend. A whole post is going to come on that. But that’s not what’s exciting right now…

*insert song and dance here* I’m going to see Huzzy in two days and a wakeup!  I’m going to be living in Washington in just about 10 days!

And that, folks, deserves a treat. And since I feel guilty treating myself, I’m going to treat you. We’re gonna have a little contest.

Contest: Guess how many Wal-Mart trucks we are going to see on our trip.  (Why? Because I swear you see them everywhere!)

Contest Rules: Come on down… you’re the next contestant on your guess is right! The winner will be the person who comes closest to the correct answer without going over. In the event of a tie, I will use random.org to name the winner. Sorry folks, but only one guess per entry. The contest will end at 2359PST (or 11:59pm PST for you non-Mil-Spouses) on Sunday, March 7. I will announce the winner as soon as I can… I might not Internet access for a while so be patient!

Contest Tips: We will be traveling from Southwest Michigan to the Seattle area. However, due to northern mountain pass closures, we are planning to travel there via St. Louis, Albuquerque, NM and Las Vegas (no, we are not stopping at the slots!). That comes to around 3,200 miles for our trip. So, plan for 3,200 miles of Wal-Mart truck sightings. We are also going to be driving straight through for the majority of it (stopping only once or twice to sleep in a hotel) so that may play a factor in how many we see. Makes me wonder if we’ll see more during the day when it’s easier to stay awake and during “normal” business hours or more at night when the semis have the road to themselves. Hmmm….

How to Enter: First and foremost, you MUST leave a comment on this post with your 1st guess. However, there are many other ways to increase your chances of winning:

1. One (1) additional entry if you: Follow my blog and leave a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) on this post letting me know that you are following. And if you are already a follower, let me know via a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) you will automatically get an entry… uh, as long as you remind me that you are a follower.
2. One (1) additional entry if you: Put me on your blog’s blogroll and leave a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) with the link to it. And if you already have me on your blog roll, leave that link in a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) on this post for your entry.
3. One (1) additional entry if you: Blog about the contest on your blog and leave a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) on this post.
4. One (1) additional entry per day for each day you: Tweet about this contest. While you can Tweet as many times as you want a day, only one per day will count! Don’t forget to @wifeyofasailor so I know you did it. Leave a comment (with another guess as to how many you think we’ll see) with your Twitter name, the time you Tweeted and what you said.

That’s a total of 16 chances to win if you start today!

Now, I’m sure you want to know what the prize is. And honestly, that’ll depend on the winner. See, there are just some contests that I don’t enter because I’m not the biggest fan of what is being given away.

So, for my contest the winner will get a $25 gift certificate to his/her choice of whatever I can purchase or buy online (without huge shipping charges). Meaning, I know that the area I’m moving to has gift cards I can purchase for Target, Wal-Mart, Bed Bath & Beyond, malls, Qdoba, iTunes, etc.  Now, if you have a local store/food place that is just in your area, chances are I can’t get a gift card to there. But, I’ll try. So, as long as I can get one, you’ll win a $25 gift card of your choice to what you want!

Good luck!

I’m going to DCO school folks. I’m going to try to suck it up and deal with still being sick. It’s best for the family because if I don’t, we’ll lose about $1200 (my work pays my regular salary while I’m on military leave and if I go in April, I won’t be working, so I’ll lose that… plus we’ll have to pay for someone to watch the dogs whereas I have someone here who will watch them for free).

So it really is in my best interest to try and do it now. Please pray for me because I’m not sure I have the strength. I still feel ill and weak, but I’m going to give it my all.

So, while I’m at DCO school, you will not be seeing any posts (we have no access to Internet… unless we get liberty next weekend and I can get off base). You will not see any Tweets (again, the liberty thing).

However, to keep us all looking forward to something good (okay,  ME looking forward to something good), here’s some tickers:

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that not only do I have my two weeks of officer training school coming up, but you also know that I’ve been ill off and on for a while.

A week and a half ago (on Sunday), I thought I had come down with the ‘flu, even though I had both the seasonal and H1N1 ‘flu shots. I had severe headaches, muscle/joint pain and a low-grade fever. I was really fatigued and could barely stand.

By Tuesday, I had decided I was okay enough to go to work. I was feeling much better and figured that since I’d had the shots, I had avoided the worst of it. I took the morning off to make sure I was strong enough. I was feeling much better. I got ready for work and was blow-drying my hair when I almost passed out. So I decided not to go into work that day.

I made it into work on Wednesday and have been feeling okay on and off. I’ve been exhausted and extremely fatigued the entire time, but wasn’t feeling “sick.”  I even got up, went to the gym and did a 10 minute run on yesterday (Tuesday). Today, I started really feeling unbelievably exhausted.

Of course, the Navy hasn’t been making things easy with getting to my DCO school. My orders just came in this week and I can’t get DTS to work  (the Defense Travel System… I have orders, but can’t get travel itinerary so far). I needed my CAC reader to continue to work on it, so I decided to take afternoon off work.

However, I went to the mall to pick up the 1st anniversary present that I picked out for Huzzy (totally cool… have to take pictures and show you later!).  While driving in, I decided that I really needed to go to the doctor to see if there was anything that could be done. Surprisingly, my doctor had a 2:30 cancellation and they could get me in.

Anyway, to make a long story a bit shorter, the doctor listened to my symptoms (and they checked and I have a 99.2 degree fever and since my body temp runs a full degree lower than most, that’s like a 100.2) and voiced concerns that I might have one of a couple of viruses that are going around. Ones that mimic the ‘flu but instead can make your body stop producing blood and therefore make you anemic. And beyond that, they can also start causing liver and kidney failure.

So, yeah, he sent me on for blood tests and they should be back tomorrow morning. The whole “liver and kidney failure” thing scared the crap out of me. Now I’m questioning everything. Wait, is my pee a orange/brown color? Does that mean kidney problems? I really had more joint pain than muscle pain last week… does that mean it was this virus instead of the flu that generally produces muscle pain?

Oh, and to top it all off, I’m pretty sure a sinus infection is starting. So I’m on an antibiotic for that.

Ugh. So yeah. I’ve taken off work tomorrow. If the blood tests come back clear tomorrow, the doctor said I should start feeling better within 48 hours. He said if I feel better I can still go to DCO school on Sunday but if I wasn’t feeling better I needed to postpone it.

Problem is, my place of work pays my salary and allows me to get my Navy pay on top of it when I do Navy work. If I postpone the school until April (the next available) when I’m on unemployment, I will lose that salary that my employer pays. That’s upwards of $1000 that we’d lose. Not to mention the fact that since Huzzy will be deployed at the time, we’d have to pay for someone to watch three dogs. That would cost $300-$500.  Yeah, so we’d be losing out on a lot of money if I don’t go now.

So yeah, please think good thoughts that these blood tests come back negative for kidney and liver failure. Anemia isn’t that big of a deal but the other two… scare me.

It’s Wordless Wednesday again!  Leave a message and I’ll try to return the favor.

I just found these of Skah while looking through my thumbdrive. I can’t believe it was only two years ago (he was born 21JAN08) that he was this small!

8 1/2 weeks old:

3 months old:

5 months old:

11 months old:

21 months old (and he still looks like this now):

The other day, Ashley from Raising Brats gave me a very sweet bloggy award. It’s my second on this blog. Woo-hoo!

Thanks girlie… and you really need to make it so those who don’t have a Google account can still post comments on your blog! I’d love to comment on your posts!

Rules for this one:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Paste the award on your blog.
3. Link the person who nominated you for the award.
4. Tell 7 interesting things about yourself.

-I got my first horse when I was 5 and started showing when I was 8. I love animals and have even been an animal demonstrator at a zoo!

-One of my Greyhounds, Chase, wears 4 legged pajamas in the winter because he’s always cold.

-I planned our wedding in 5 weeks. It cost less than $3,000 (including the tux rental, my wedding gown and all our rings… including the engagement ring). We had a historic chapel, professional photographer, DJ, catered dinner and everything. I’m frugal like that.

-I made it through college in 3 1/2 years while working full time through it. Even graduated from the Honors College with a 3.7. I’m pretty proud of that.

-I met my husband on the Internet. The first time we met in person, I was flying high on Oxycontin and liquid Lortab (both doctor prescribed) because of a complication of my tonsillectomy. Story to come on our anniversary… March 21st.

-I have worked a job since I was 15 (and full-time since I was 18) and the thought of going on unemployment next month both terrifies me and totally thrills me.

-I have never smoked ANYTHING in my life. Never even thought to try a cigarette let alone anything else. Of course, I’ve never done any sort of drugs, either.

5. Nominate 7 bloggers or less.

I nominate:

A Southern Belle and Her Officer

Hellcat Betty

Megan Writes

The Ever-Changing Life of a Military Wife

To the Nth

Under the Sea

I Heart Change

Please join me with the “Friday Funny” meme. It can be anything from a comment that made you laugh or a funny story or even a funny photo/video you have seen.  Leave a comment if you post one and I’ll visit your blog to see!

This week is another video. It’s a YouTube video called “The Best Cat Video Ever” and is a compilation of funny cat videos. No, I didn’t create it. But enjoy it yourself!

~Author Unknown

It’s time for the Thursday Thirteen again (okay so I missed a week or two… or month, whatever). If you have a Thursday Thirteen of your own, leave your website in the comments section and I’ll try my darndest to visit it 

This week’s TT is dedicated to a site that makes me smile every day., mostly because it scares me how some of my family photos could easily end up on there (though more on the “wow, she has a mullet” side, than the “why is the dad naked in the family photo” side). It’s a newly-found site. I hope you enjoy it.

My 13 Most Recent Favorite AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com Postings

1. Jerry decided to pitch a tent a little early (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

2. My Best Friend's Sweating (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

3. Hockey Mom (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

4. Just a little closer to God. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

5. Sweet dreams. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

6. Perhaps Candy Apples would have been a better choice for this family. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

7. Reminds me of the Harlequin masks. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

8. Screw Jolly. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

9. It's not easy being in a room with no corners. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

10. You may now smoosh the bride. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

11. Deck the Halls. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

12. Merry Christmas from the Swingers. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)

13. They couldn't wait to get their own choker. (from awkwardfamilyphotos.com)