+ moms'* afternoon out. My closest friends and I--we've decided that we could write our own Army Wives book based totally on fact and it would still be a hot seller--went to see "Moms' Night Out" at the on-post theater. Our tickets were $1 each and the national anthem played before the screening, complete with patriotic images and footage. I'm not sure which version we watched, but I know some of us wanted to see the "Shock and Awe" version.

"Moms' Night Out" was both funny and sometimes too realistic to actually be relaxing for me, but I appreciated the fact that it's a faith-based film.

+ independence day. We celebrated Independence Day with a last-minute cookout and ended the day watching fireworks from a friend's balcony. The conversation and time together was a better end to the day than the actual displays.

+ yet = still and other PA Dutchisms. My friend told me that my oldest goddaughter recently said, "It is really hot yet." I'm super proud. Also, she brought to my attention that I have a habit of asking my dogs, "Must you go out/potty?" I didn't realize it but it's pretty much the only sentence I use when I ask my dogs if they have to go outside and I'm pretty sure it's a Dutchism.

+ meal-sharing. A month or two (or more, who knows) ago, two friends and I decided to get together to cook for the week, because two of us typically end up cooking one big pot of soup and eating it for the week. And that gets boring. But it's also a pain to come up with meal plans when I'm only cooking for myself and I'm trying to save money. Hence, getting together to cook and then swap food. The first time we got together, we ended up making three pots of soup. This time, we made two soups, macaroni and cheese, and sloppy joes, three of which came from the Daniel Plan cookbook (one of our friends is starting the Daniel Plan).

+ blogging + life. Part of me was surprised to see that I haven't blogged since January and the other part of me doesn't even remember what I've been up to, aside from volunteering, classes, practicum, internships, home life group, church, and attempting to keep up some semblance of a social life. For a while, I was also getting up at 5 a.m. to go running during PT hours, but that's when the temps were in the 30s. Now that the day gets hotter faster, I don't have time to shower in between running and getting to my internship site (but I'm working on that). R&R also came and went somewhere along the line, though I intentionally didn't write about that for OPSEC reasons (but I plan to). And I went back to PA for a few days to visit family and we went to Walt Disney World.

*because we're all at various stages of momhood.

the d-word: deployment thoughts [25% done]

month 3 // Today was rough; I think it would have been easier if Alan were home. I was feeling sad and grateful to be blessed by a husband who orders pizza delivery from another continent and a friend who blessed me with a little pampering package.

month 4 // I don't want to say that certain people are "made" for the military lifestyle, as I don't believe that we were created to be separated from our spouses, but I do believe that some people adapt more easily and are more self-sufficient, traits that turn deployments into periods for growth and challenge instead of misery.

//

+ savage. Temperature in the 20s. Waist-deep water. Lots of mud. I ran the Savage Race and loved it. I skipped some of the challenges because I was afraid of hypothermia--Texas' Savage Race was the coldest on record!--but I still enjoyed the obstacles and have officially completed my second race.

+ volunteering. I started volunteering at the Family Life Chaplain Training Center on post. I'm there two days a week and I love it.

+ umhb. Three more semesters until graduation! Thanks to God and a supportive husband, I have maintained a 4.0 (which was a challenge, especially since I had a stomach flu during finals week). Also, I think solution-focused brief therapy is "my" approach. I really like it. One of my professors also loaned some emotion-focused therapy material to me and I've been studying it over break.

+ almost there. I ran 9.06 miles. I could have made it to 10 but I quit because my phone (and therefore, Endomondo) died around 7 miles and I wanted to know exactly how far I ran. Also, after surviving the Savage Race, I did two evening runs in 23F and 27F weather, respectively. It was raining the second time.

+ flyboys. After a friend recommended Flyboys to me, I purchased it and have been reading it off and on for several months. I finally finished it. In my opinion, the book was well-researched; I enjoyed learning about the history of Japan and Japanese-American relations as well as an area of history I had not studied before.

+ bucket list. Some friends and I went to Outback for dinner--it was my first visit, so I can cross off another item on my deployment bucket list! Also, I took a friend out to lunch at Rosa's after PWOC--yes, I was there the Tuesday after I posted about it and have been going semi-regularly ever since. I attended a class on mentorship based on At the Feet of Ordinary Women and asked the ladies to pray about whether any of them would be interested in mentoring me. Recently, one of them approached me and she's going to start mentoring me in the new year! And, I'm currently writing from Pennsylvania. Plus, my wonderful husband scheduled a massage for me last month and it was amazing.

+ snapchat. I downloaded Snapchat. My sister and I have been using it to send each other pictures of our dogs. While we're both in the same room.

adele + fireworks

I don't even know what it is about styling and painting my nails, but it's ridiculously therapeutic. Also, I took this photo while I sat in the university parking lot before taking my second final exam. I have one more on Monday and then I'm done for the summer!

After wearing Zora again for two weeks, I wanted a lighter look. I ordered Fireworks when it was on sale after Independence Day and dabbed it over a layer of Adele.

Also, I emailed Julep about the consistency of Zora--apparently, I had a faulty batch, so they sent a replacement. It arrived within two days but I haven't tested it yet to see what the difference in texture is.