keeping busy.

Whether I'm meeting someone for the first time, or catching up with someone I've known forever, the same piece of advice has been coming up in many of my conversations lately. This advice is simply, "keep busy".

So, I've been ignoring every inclination I have to hole up in my apartment with a carton of ice cream and sit in front of my laptop watching "Bridezillas" on Netflix (which, by the way, is totally my new guilty pleasure). Instead, I've spent the last couple weeks taking heed of this popular piece of advice and getting myself out and about.

Thankfully, I have many wonderful people in my life that seem to have no problem keeping me busy. So, here's a photo purge of what I have been keeping busy doing.

My last week with long hair ended with an outing to the Hillsboro Hops game. I couldn't tell you whether the Hops won or lost, but I can tell you that the free food was appreciated, and the beer was flowing. Cheers to that. 

A week ago, I took the plunge and finally worked up the courage to cut my hair! It was the first time I cut off enough to donate it, so I hope it finds itself a happy home.

On Wednesday, wedding planning continued, this time in the form of dress shopping (!!!!). It was a lot of fun, mostly because my mom and sister made sure to bring snacks and alcohol. What more can you ask for when dress shopping, right? My mother-in-law even caught me red-handed taking pulls of prosecco in the aisles. In all seriousness, I was so glad to have this experience with three of the most wonderful women in my life. We didn't find "the one" yet, but had a fun first stop on the search.

On Thursday, I was thrilled to head to Sammamish, WA to celebrate my dad's retirement at his final retirement party. After 31 years, my dad is finally taking a permanent leave-of-absence from his career with Proctor & Gamble. Dad's first job out of college was as a Sales Representative with P&G, and he's been with the company ever since. Pretty amazing, huh? Not surprisingly, he's made an incredible impact in his time with the company, and hearing all the tributes of all of his colleagues was very touching. I'm so looking forward to being roommates with this wonderful man over the next year!

On Friday, miss Dallas Defrees and I reunited and had a night out on the town with my sister. Rockin' times commence.

Saturday was wedding day! Congratulations to the gorgeous Lobdell couple! Erica and Ryan are college friends of mine, I met Erica through the sorority, and we also lived together senior year in our lovely, dilapidated live-out. Their wedding was wonderful, they had such a touching ceremony and great reception. Special thanks to my Hogan friends that let me tag along and be a wedding third-wheel. Much love to you, Mad & Ty. 

And today was about celebrating my favorite bride-to-be! Myself and a crew of bridesmaids drove down to Harrisburg for Madison's final bridal shower. This time, Tyler's Aunt & Uncle hosted. Their house is pretty much my happy place. Tyler's aunt, Rachelle, is a professional chef and the best hostess, ever. To those of you who aren't good at math, that pretty much means she constantly has delicious munchies around at all times. Today was no different, and we were completely spoiled with awesome bridal shower treats. Their house is also in the most beautiful setting, in the middle of nowhere on acreage for days. Eric, the Hogans and I have spent the past few years going to this house and camping out in their backyard during the Willamette Country Music Festival, so we've really come to love this family and so enjoy the time we get to spend with them in their wonderful home. Today was no different, and celebrating the bridal awesomeness one of my favorite people in this world was just an added bonus.

So, the moral of the story is: keeping busy really does help make the time pass more smoothly. I'm so thankful for the lovely people in my life that keep me busy in this time of adversity. Also keeping my spirits up, is the reminder that I'll be visiting Eric in Austin, Texas in just five short days!! This visit will be our last time together until he returns from deployment in May of 2015. That's a pretty heavy thought. Although it's so easy to put pressure on times like these to be "the perfect weekend" or the "best 4th of July ever", I'm simply just hoping that this weekend gives us some long-awaited quality time with each other. Can't wait, Mr. McOmie!

a response: why 20-something women need to stop reading articles telling them things they need to do.

Ahh, social media. There is something so great, and at the same time, so maddening, about seeing all the things your friends decide to share on a daily basis.

I see a variety of posts on my news feeds; photos of friends at wine tastings, pet videos, general status updates, engagement announcements, graduation photos, political memes, selfies, check-ins at bars, links to various articles, baby photos, new job announcements-- it's pretty much all over the board.

All fine and dandy, right? People sharing the exciting, important, share-worthy things going on in their lives. Lately though, I have noticed a sudden presence of material that, more or less, sends the message of "HOLY CRAP, GUYS. PEOPLE OUR AGE ARE GETTING ENGAGED AND MARRIED AND HAVING KIDS AND THAT IS CRAZY AND SCREW THAT AND HERE IS WHY PEOPLE ARE STUPID FOR DOING THAT AND HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO INSTEAD, YOU FREAKING IDIOT."

I think many of you know what I mean; we've all seen the Facebook status along the lines of: "If I see another picture of a baby on my news feed, I'm going to freak out!". We all watched the "The 5 Most Annoying Facebook Posts About Being Engaged" and "23 Things To Do Instead Of Getting Engaged Before 23" blog posts go viral. Just today, I read the article "Why 20-Something Women Need To Stop Thinking Like 30-Something Women" after seeing several friends posted it.

Feel free to read these for yourself, but if you don't feel like it or don't have the time, I'll roughly paraphrase them for you: Your 20s are for being young, wild, and free, and here is how to be young, wild and free, and you are super lame if you are thinking of things involving marriage and babies. Also, if you are involved in marriage and babies, please, for the love of god, don't put in on your Facebook or Instagram. BUT IF YOU DO, Here's how to definitely not announce it.

Alright, everyone. Let's take a deep breath and calm down.

Here we are in our twenties. This time in our lives looks very different for every one of us. Some of us are college graduates, some of us are high school dropouts. Some of us are married, some of us have never been in a relationship. Some of us are back to living with our parents, some of us have already purchased our first homes. Some of us are in graduate school, some of us are working multiple jobs and going to community college at night. Some of us are making great money, some of us are eye-deep in debt. Some of us are working our dream jobs, some of us are unemployed. Some of us are parents, some of us can barely keep our pet fish alive. Some of us are wise, some of us are scared, some of us are wild, some of us are damaged, some of us are clueless, some of us have direction, some of us are reserved, some of us have life figured out, some of us are completely lost. Most of us are many of these things.

What I'm saying, is that there is no "right way" to live the lives we have, so let's lay off the judgment. If you are in your twenties, and nowhere near getting married, great! Let things fall into place as they may, and don't worry about a timeline. But, at the same time, don't blindly eat up the articles telling you that your twenties should only be about one-night-stands, joining the peace corps, dating multiple people at once, making out with strangers, and most of all, staying away from anything that remotely looks like what is considered to be an adult life.

Now, don't get me wrong. If doing these things is what makes you happy and fulfilled, great! Then do these things and don't apologize for what it is that enhances your life. Just be smarter than the hype. There are a lot of voices out there telling you what you need to be doing, and how old you need to be to do other things. Listen to what serves you and dump the rest. Happiness is not determined by the age at which you hit or don't hit certain milestones. Life is messy, and we're all on this planet just trying to figure out how to live ours in the most successful way we can. I'm pretty sure there's no need to shame or bash others for being on a different timeline than your own, Amirite?

I think I get the intended message that's hidden deep in these articles, which is; don't feel pressured to find someone, fall in love, get married, and have kids just because you're seeing other people your age doing it. This is a message I'm totally on board with. I think "because everyone else is" is about the worst reason in the world to do anything. However, where these articles become counterintuitive is at the point which readers are told what they should be doing instead of "growing up", and at which point it's ok to "grow up" all of a sudden. Maturity comes with life experience, and what you take away from these experiences, not with age. While I'm on the topic, who says thirty is the magic age that it's ok to get married and have kids anyway? I personally know happy people that weren't ready for marriage and/or babies in their thirties, and waited until their forties, and some that never got married or had kids at all. Are they lame too? Are these people doing things all wrong? I don't think so.

Of course this topic particularly strikes a chord with me, because I am the 23-year-old married woman, who, according to these articles, is "blowing it". So I'm here, telling you that getting married, regardless of age, is not a virtual death sentence for fun and adventure. If it is, you're doing it wrong. Believe it or not, I still go out drinking with my friends, I travel, I do my best not to miss any music festivals in my area, and generally lead a very happy and fun life. In all reality, not much about my lifestyle changed with marriage, besides my last name and legal standing. Now, I just happen to do these things with my wonderful husband by my side. My life would not be a suitable one for everyone, but it's a life I'm happy with, proud of, and excited about. That's all that matters. The same goes for every single other person out there, regardless of how they're choosing to live their days.

So, to anyone reading this little blog post, I'm just here telling you to do what makes you happy and healthy, what you feel comfortable doing, and what you think will enhance your life into the best one you can create for yourself. Ignore the expectations society sets for you, and live your life with pride. (cue Kacey Musgraves' "Follow Your Arrow", which is pretty much the theme song of this blog post). 

oregon farewell.

For the past few weeks I have been nowhere near my blog, but for a very good reason.

On June 4th, Eric's unit traveled back to Oregon from Idaho, and reported to their Corvallis armory where they still had duty for a few more days. However, after several weeks in Idaho, Eric's leaders decided to release the guys at night so everyone could do as they please in their last nights in Oregon. So, we had more time together than expected! I woke up to the rascally face above very late at night after he drove home from Corvallis. I complain a lot about how the army will cut our days short, but sometimes they restore my faith in humanity and extend our days right back. 

So, the past few weeks have been really fun. We had a total of four free days to spend together, but it ended up feeling like more than that since we were able to sneak in some extra time together.

Eric's official break started Saturday, the 7th. This day was a busy one. It started out at the Salem Armory Auditorium for Eric's battalion's Mobilization Ceremony.

The experience was an interesting one. It was overwhelming to see the numbers of army men and women standing in formation, ready to go off and fight while we're thirteen years into this war. Just as overwhelming, was seeing the thousands of family members, friends, and community members in attendance. It was a somber reminder of just how many Oregonians are connected to this deployment, and just how much this is affecting our community. Regardless of everything, I was so happy to be there and so proud to see my husband standing there, ready and well-prepared to head off for his time in Afghanistan.

Right after the ceremony, we headed to my dad's house in Lake Oswego to prepare for Eric's pre-deployment party! Making this party happen was somewhat of a feat after Eric's schedule went through a few changes, but I'm so glad we were able to pull it together. There was an amazing turn out, a full keg, lots of snacks, sunny skies, and good vibes. What more can you ask for?

^^ Poor guy trying to take a nap between festivites. It was a busy day. ^^

After Saturday, we were truly free for several days. I took time off work, and for four days, we spent Eric's final time home together. As always, that included a lot of family time, friend time, relaxing, sun-soaking, and food. 

Then this past Thursday, our time came to a close. Another crack-of-dawn wakeup forced us into the car, and our little family drove to Corvallis to drop Eric off one final time.

Usually this would be a really emotional occasion, but we will be seeing each other in a few weeks when I visit him in Texas. So, we kept it together. Also, we stopped by Starbucks on our way out and had our breakfast sandwiches and drinks paid for by the person in front of us. Not surprisingly, this happens to Eric quite often when he wears his uniform in public. What a sweet reminder that there are people all over the place that admire and support our military men and women.

So now, Eric is in Texas for the next two months or so, and in August he'll leave Texas straight for Afghanistan. We get one final reunion, this time for the 4th of July weekend in Austin, Texas. I am so thankful we have another chance to spend time together before he ships off, and I feel so fortunate that it gets to be in a place both of us will be experiencing for the first time. It should be a fun adventure! So for now, things are ok, and life is adjusting to accommodate this long absence we'll have from each other's lives. Only 11 months to go until he's back home, let the countdown begin!

memorial day thoughts.

Hello readers, it's been a little while since I've updated!

Mostly, that's because I really have had a hard time thinking up anything significant to write down. I have kind of been on auto-pilot for the past couple of weeks, and I'm trying to focus on doing my best to revert back to the "living alone" routine.

I suppose it's going as smoothly as one can expect. Most of my days are filled up with work time and Perry time. I am so thankful that I can spend 40 hours a week in a job that I actually enjoy, and can come back home to a happy face. Those things alone put me in a very good state of mind for getting through this year. I also have been fortunate enough to fill much of my spare time with friends and family. There have been several nights out, dinners, lunches, happy hours, etc. I have also been focusing much of my attention on future plans, like Eric's upcoming pre-deployment party, our July trip to Austin, TX, and of course, our wedding. This week we picked our caterer, and have now officially secured all of our big-ticket items. The rest of the planning will pretty much be on my own, but we'll do our best to be as collaborative as possible even while Eric is overseas.

Eric has completed one training in Fort Hood, TX, and has moved on to another training at Gowen Field outside of Boise, ID. He stays there until June 7th, and will return home for a weekend visit! Looking forward to that little visit is a huge source of positivity for me right now, and I truly can't wait! It will be short but sweet, and our last chance to soak up each other's time in our own home. In the meantime, we've been able to communicate almost daily through texting, and have even gotten in a few phone calls.

In milestone news; today marks our one-month anniversary! How crazy, it feels like our little ceremony was just yesterday, and somehow it also feels like forever ago. Regardless, it's an absolutely wonderful feeling to be Eric's wife.

Today is also Memorial Day, and this holiday is such a somber reminder of what our military men and women are putting on the line to defend our country. I follow a blog called Defense Wife, and read an interesting entry by one of its contributors. Her words are a good reminder of what this day is all about, and I've shared them below:

"For those who lost someone in the recent wars, and those who lost someone many years ago today, it's about remembering them, and for many it will be a sad occasion. it may be the first Memorial Day without their loved one, and that will bring up painful memories, like the tearing of a scab off a wound. It is a step backward in moving forward. For others, they will tell stories and share their loved ones life with others; it will be bittersweet. Flowers will be laid, flags will be flown, balloons will be released into the air, photos will be shared, all will bring up strong emotions and plenty of tears. 

For those of us lucky enough not to be spending today in memory of our loved one, instead we remember our husband’s friends, our friends’ husbands, any and everyone who has died defending our freedoms. We don’t need to thank our husbands today, but we can tell them we are grateful they are home and hug them tight, because they are remembering all their lost buddies, even if they aren’t saying it out loud. 

Today is about remembering and  honoring all who have died in military service, defending the United States since 1775 – over 1 million of them.  At some point today, take a minute to pause and remember the true meaning of today. Teach your kids what today is really about, attend a memorial event, do something. All that is asked of us is to not forget."

On that note, I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. My thoughts are with all of you that have lost someone; the sacrifice and bravery of your loved ones have not been forgotten.

day one.

Well, one of the days I've been dreading has finally arrived. This morning at 4:00am, Eric and I got up, packed the car, and I drove him off to the airport. With a quick kiss and hug, he was off. I drove back in silence, came home to our already-quieter apartment, and recessed back into the depths of our bed to be alone with my thoughts before the sun had even risen. Eric, it never gets easier to be without you; maybe more familiar, but just as hard as all the times before.

If I'm thankful for any part about how this is going, it would be the fact that we're getting "phased in" to this deployment. Eric's time overseas won't actually even start until August. The fact that he's part of the Reserves in the Oregon National Guard means his unit needs more training-up time than an active unit would. So, here's what we're looking at:

Currently, Eric is heading to Fort Hood, TX for a nine-day training. From there, he will go straight to Gowen Field in Idaho for another training period. That wraps up in early June, and he gets a few days to come home and visit (yay!!). Luckily, we've figured out a way to reschedule that surprise party we had been planning to occur on this break. It will be a whirlwind, but I'm so glad we still get the chance to celebrate him, even if it's no longer a surprise, and even if it will be a very busy trip.

His time home wraps up on June 11th, at which point he's really gone for a while. He'll fly back off to Texas for his last period of intensive training. While there, he has a few days of leave, but can't come home. For that, I'll fly down to him for a little reunion in Austin, TX. Then once August rolls around, he'll ship off to Afghanistan and be there until May of 2015. Oy vey.

Of course, all of this above is according to the ever-changing schedule of the army. I'm still crossing my fingers that this deployment somehow gets shortened.

Anyhow, there's a very bright side of our current situation: we still have several days over the next couple months that we will be with each other in person! I am so very thankful and excited for that. Eric also has very good access to his phone in the meantime, which means we'll be able to talk and text regularly for a while.

On the other side, it is hard to believe that our days between Sniper School and deployment trainings have come to a close. In my very first dd&dt post, I wrote about the 81 days that we had, and my wish for those days to pass as slowly as time would allow. Well, after the army stepped in, those 81 days turned out to be more like 67 days. Regardless, we really did accomplish so much in that short amount of time.

First, we got engaged. Although doing this was something we had planned on and talked about for a long time, Eric made this experience such a surprise and so romantic.

Once we were engaged, it was amazing how much wedding planning we got done in a short amount of time. We basically accomplished all the decisions that Eric wanted to be a part of. So, after several venue visits we decided on celebrating our day at Zenith Vineyards in August of 2015. We also got our engagement pictures done, scheduled that photographer for the wedding, and are in-talks with a few caterers right now. Personally, we just can't wait for the tastings ;). We also asked one of my very best friends, Mishaun, to officiate our ceremony. He happily said yes, and we're so thrilled to have someone so close to us contribute to our day in such a special way.

Less than a month after we were engaged, we got married. Talk about a whirlwind! For a reminder as to why the marriage came before the wedding, feel free to read here.

This craziness doesn't sound crazy enough to you? Yeah, us neither. Which is why we decided to wrap up our time together with a couple of ring finger tattoos.

I never thought I'd be the person to get a marriage tattoo, but I absolutely love it, and wouldn't take my decision back for a second. The idea to do this came up when Eric realized he'd rather not take a wedding ring overseas, but wanted to have something to remind him of me and our marriage. As anyone who knows Eric can tell he's pretty enthusiastic about tattoos, so a ring finger tattoo was the natural choice for him. After some thought, I decided I'd join in on this choice as well. So for now, we're saving wedding bands for the wedding ceremony next year.

So, yeah, I'd say our 67 days together were very eventful. In addition to all these milestones, we had so many incredible nights in-between. We've created wonderful memories after all the nights out with friends, dinners with family, watching the Blazers, cuddling with Perry, trips to the beach, Colorado, and Corvallis, hunting, lots of beer, lazy mornings, yurting, Timbers games, and just hanging out. It really was a wonderful time.