FUN!!

I have been dying to get a decent camera for some time now. I was REALLY hoping to have it by the time we started our move, but that just wasn't realistic. About a week ago, Kevin surprised me and decided to go ahead and order it for me as an early Anniversary gift (I can't believe it has almost been 2 years!) I have been so anxious for it to get here so I can get out and take some pictures of Kodiak!

Well it finally showed up today! YAY!! And I must say...I am VERY pleased with this camera. We ended up getting a Canon Rebel XSi, and it is GREAT! Now if all this darn rain would clear up, I could venture outdoors to show off my beautiful new "hometown".

I immediately sat down and started trying to figure out some of the functions. One of the first things I wanted to learn how to do was blur out the background, and leave the object in front standing out. I've seen some awesome pictures with this technique, so naturally I HAVE to figure out how to do it myself. I'm pretty sure I will never get the whole editing thing down, but I'm hoping my sweet little sister will edit them for me if I email them to her! :)

So here are a few of the pictures I took tonight. Don't judge... it was my first hour with my new BFF! And for some reason, I had a VERY difficult time uploading them to Blogger, and as you can see above, it somehow messed with my text as well. I'll have to figure all of that out another day.

This is actually a centerpiece from our wedding, with our "You May Now Kiss the Bride" picture behind it

My Little Lion - Winston! (He REALLY needs a haircut!)

My little stinker- Charlie (He is just so darn cute it kills me! He definitely works the "puppy eyes"!)

Pretty Deep...

WARNING
This Post is Pretty Deep...Meaning Very Emotional

It has been a while since I have posted anything on our efforts to conceive a child. The main reason for this is because I have started a completely separate blog for that. I didn't want my "obsession" with becoming a mom to take over my day to day blog. Unfortunately I have set my TTC (Trying to Conceive) blog on private, so that is is a place where I can vent, share, cry, and most of all write without worrying about being "judged" or feelings like I have to censor my feelings. But if for some reason, you really feel the desire to read along, email me and I will use my "best judgment" to decide if I can handle having you follow along.

The main reason I decided to post on this topic here today, is because it is actually National Infertility Week. Although at this point in time Kevin and I are not considered Infertile, I have met some amazing women who are suffering with this. I am a member of a forum that's entire purpose is for women TTC to ask questions, share stories, and offer support. The women on there are incredible... some trying to have a baby for 4+ years! There is also an entire section for women TTC after a loss, which has been extremely helpful for me.

You see...Kevin and I are still very much trying to have our baby. Every month that passes with a negative pregnancy test and period that shows her ugly face,my heart sinks a little further into my chest. April 4th (which was what would have been my due date) has come and gone, and I survived. The pain from our loss is weakening, but I know it will never fully go away. We would really appreciate lots of prayers for a 2011 baby!

But enough about that... Today as I was looking through the blogs that I follow, I found a post with the most beautiful and touching video, and just had to share it with all of you! But I have to warn you... it may make you cry! The lyrics are beautiful (and SO very true), and the video itself will give you goosebumps!

ENJOY!!

April Showers Bring BOREDOM!

It still blows my mind that Kevin and I have already been in Kodiak for 3 weeks! Some days it feels like we got here yesterday, whereas other days it feels like we have already been here for months.

I am glad to report that the house has come along quite nicely, and everything is pretty much unpacked. There are still a few last minute touches, like hanging up curtains and trying to fill a few blank spots on the walls, but nothing major. It still kills me to drive through the other neighborhoods and see all the houses with their backyards and garages, but I guess I should be thankful that we were able to move into something so soon. The layout of our house is pretty nice, and the living/dining room is very spacious. The one thing that kills me is not having a yard for the dogs, but I guess I will just have to learn to deal. Other than that, we have a huge basement which is where our washer/dryer is and a storage unit which is so massive we don't even fill it up 1/3 of the way! Furniture stores are pretty much non existent unless you want to pay big bucks, so our new TV stand and desk are from WalMart, but I can't complain too much. We don't have the nicest furniture to begin with (mostly hand-me-downs) but with all of the moving around we have done, it has gotten pretty beat up. Once we find a place where we will stay a little more permanently we will splurge on some new stuff, but for now it works just great!

Other than the house, we have met some amazing people who have really welcomed us in. We went bowling with two other couples this past Saturday, and I think it is something that will turn into a weekly event. I was also fortunate enough to already find a job! I will be working with the Teen Center on base, helping coordinate and plan and work all of their events (Bingo night, dances, lazer tag, skate night, etc). I'm considering applying to be a lifeguard on the side as well. There is a huge indoor pool, where they are desperate for lifeguards. It would mostly be something to do on the side to help keep me busy and out of the house, but we will see what my schedule is like with the Teen Center first. I am still waiting for them to process all of my background checks and paperwork, and will hopefully start working the end of this week, or next. I'm DYING to start... I am getting pretty tired of being cooped up all day.

For the most part the weather hasn't been as bad as I was expecting...until yesterday! We have had to deal with a few rainy days, but nothing like yesterday. The wind was so bad, I thought for sure I was in the middle of a hurricane. As I was standing outside with the dogs, the 3 of us were nearly beat to death by the lashing wind and rain. Today the wind isn't as bad, but the rain has not let up at all. It really makes it difficult to want to get out and do anything (although there are not many options to begin with). But the opposite is true as well... when there is a pretty,sunny day, all you want to do is stay outside and soak it all in. Don't get me wrong... it is still cold, but the sun feels wonderful on your face (since the rest of your skin is covered up with layers of clothing)!

Thursday was a nice sunny day, so we decided to invite the two guys that graduated A-school with Kevin over for a BBQ. It was a little chilly, but the sun was out and since it had been raining the 3 days prior, we were ready to be outside. As we were sitting around the deck, it started to snow! Completely out of nowhere... a few wind gusts, some snow flakes, and it stopped (thank goodness)! We got a good laugh out of it, and continued on. Not 5 minutes later, another gust brought more snow! It was a little harder and longer the second time around, so we ran in and grabbed gloves and beanies. We were determined to enjoy the outdoors... and it was still sunny with the snow! It eventually blew over, and the rest of the evening was perfect.

Other than that, nothing new is going on the with the O'Connors. Lots of web surfing, video game playing, movie watching, P90Xing, with a little socializing mixed in. I DID finally order my camera this past week, so I am waiting very UNpatiently for it to arrive! I can't wait to test out all of the features and get Kevin to finally take me to some of the beaches to do some whale watching. There is also a huge Flea Market on base this Saturday that we are going to check out (not that we need any more crap!). We also caught wind of another local festival called Crab Fest. It is at the end of May, and it is THE festival to go to. They set up carnival rides along the boat docks, and have all kinds of vendors. I was looking over the schedule and sadly, I am looking the most forward to the book sale! All of the proceeds benefit the local library, and the books are supposedly sold dirt cheap. I plan on stocking up on children's books since you can never have enough of those! There is also talk that Chip-N-Dale's male dancers from L.A. will be in town... (wish Kelli was here to go with me!) but that is just a rumor.

It's funny to me how your perspective on life can really effect how you live it. Thankfully I had prepared myself for living in Kodiak, knew somewhat what to expect, and have been pleasantly surprised with how everything has turned out. I actually look forward to spending the next 3 years here, and I am happy to call Kodiak "home" (for now...).

Kodiak Whale Fest

Yup...you read right! The 2010 Kodiak Whale Fest actually started on April 19th, with visits to the elementary schools, but the majority of the events will start taking place this weekend. Here is a copy of the schedule of events.

A few of the events that I really want to check out are the Whale Skeleton's which starts tomorrow (and Kevin is off work... YAY!), the Narrow Cape Whale Watching which is on Friday (Kevin is off), and the Harbor Walking Tour on Saturday (Kevin has to work... boo!). I have been DYING to see some of the wildlife here in Kodiak, and just thinking about getting to see a whale gives me goosebumps. I'm getting excited knowing that they are starting to migrate through here, and people have told us that just driving down the road you can see them swimming by. Hopefully I can get some good pictures, but if I get frustrated with the camera, I plan on switching to the video camera so I can have some sort of proof and memory of our first whale sighting!

Not Alot Going on Here...

Now that I am juggling different blogs, I have started neglecting my first love... this blog. I guess since P90X is about the ONLY somewhat exciting part of my life right now, I don't have a whole lot to update on here.

I have also started realizing that I have been pushing back my emotions as much as possible, to try and stay happy and excited about Kodiak. Last night for some reason I got a horrible, sick to my stomach, homesickness for my sister Lauren. Her and I are 7 years apart, but we have always been extremely close. While she was in elementary, I was in High School, and often times I would wake up to her tiny little body in my bed. If she was scared or upset, she would run to me. When she was in the 5th grade (my senior year) our family went through hell and back. It still blows my mind that a little 5th grader had to go through and experience what she did. Once I graduated, my mom, Lauren, and myself moved to Huntsville. I left for college, leaving Lauren to basically be an only child. During my time in Texas it was crazy to see that she is no longer that tiny little 5th grader I will always remember, but he is a 17 year old Junior in high school now. She has a job, plays Varsity soccer, takes all advanced classes, and is struggling to decide what college she wants to go to. I can't believe she is all grown up!! I guess for some reason yesterday I realized that I will be here when she graduates from high school and leaves for college. I told Kevin immediately that I had to figure out a way to be there for her graduation.

Just thinking about this makes me tear up... it is "issues" like these that make living so far away really difficult. Not only do I miss my family like crazy, I am missing my friends just as much. And the scariest part of it all... I have only lived in Kodiak 2 weeks... I still have 2 years and 10 months left to go!

But don't get me wrong... I DO love it here. The people are AMAZING and it really is beautiful. I am still waiting to check out the beaches and the "super pretty" parts of Kodiak, which are about 45 minutes away, but just looking out the windows in my house is breath taking. I even woke up to snow this morning! The coldness will take some getting used to, and the sunlight is beginning to get longer and longer. Last night it wasn't "dark" until about 10 pm. It is so weird to crawl into bed at 9:30 and it still be daylight... I feel like I am 6 years old again!

And I have some exciting news... I have a job interview today!! It is with the Teen Center on base, which would be PERFECT! It is only part time, but I don't mind. I am thinking about volunteering at the Animal Shelter or at the hospital. I'm just trying to keep busy, and meet as many people as possible.

Speaking of meeting people... I have met some really great ladies already. Tonight we are having a Girls Night Out, which I am so excited about! We are playing "Dirty Bingo" which I'm a little interested to see how it all spans out! Basically you go and play Bingo, but the prizes are from a company called "Pure Romance"... if you catch my drift!

But considering how busy of a day I have ahead of me, I better get off the computer and try to get a few things done! Have a great Friday!!

Another Lindsey Creation

Well, I have a new blog that I am sure you are all going to want to follow! It will be all about my journey using P90X, and once I get 25 followers I will post the information on how to enter in the $50 Visa Gift Card giveaway I will be offering!

Check it out!!

A Few to Hold You Over...

Not any "great" pictures, but they are all I have so far!! I am hoping to get Kevin to take me out for an "adventure" to the pretty parts of Kodiak on Thursday or Sunday when he is off. We've heard that we can expect to see wild horses, buffalo, and possibly whales. Not sure when the bears really come out, but trust me... we have been warned about the bears (although I really want to see one and get some really good pictures of them)! I keep begging Kevin to let me get the camera I want, but who knows when that will actually happen, so for now you will just have to endure looking at pictures that may be a little blurry or not as zoomed in as I would like. I'm planning on driving to my **favorite part of Kodiak tomorrow to take some pictures of the view there and all of my little bald eagle friends!

**My favorite part of Kodiak is between town and the base. It is on a curvy road, where there are rocks and mountains to one side, and on your other side there is the water with the mountains in the background. I don't know why I love it so much, but every time I drive by I have to say, "Wow...this is my favorite part!" haha! I'm sure I will find plenty more "favorites" but for the time being this will do.

Facing town
Facing the direction of the base

The Munro- One of the Coast Guard Cutters
This is right at the entrance of where we live!

Oh! And last but not least.... our new address!!!

105 B Invincible Court

Kodiak, AK 99615

Where to Begin?!?

Wow... All I can say is I have felt like I fell off the face of the Earth! It has been roughly a week since I have had access to the internet, and I must say it is a little sad how dependant I have become to this form of technology. A lot has happened this past week, so let me give you a brief overview. (Sadly, I have been really slacking on taking pictures, but I plan on venturing out to take some on Wednesday or Thursday).

My last post was a week ago, which was Kevin's first day at work. I had been waiting around all day for him to come home and to hear what he had found out from the housing office. When he walked into the hotel room he told me to start packing, because he had the key to our house! I could not believe it! I was so thrilled to be leaving our hotel, although I knew it would be awhile before we would have internet and cable (and a "real" bed).

When Kevin started describing the house to me I became extremely disappointed and wanted to cry. The first thing I asked was, "Do we have a fenced in back yard?" and Kevin's reply was "No". Next thing I asked was, "Well, do we at least have a garage?" and once again, Kevin's reply was "No". At this point I knew we were in the 4-plexes and wanted to bust into tears! The 4-plexes are just like they sound... 4 homes in one building...2 upstairs and 2 downstairs. Thankfully we were able to get a bottom unit, so we don't have to worry about going up and down stairs every time we have to take the dogs out, but it really stinks to have to put them on a leash numerous time a day. As we drove to our new "house" I was really just expecting the worst. I think the reason I was having such a difficult time is because I know this is where we will be living for the next 3 years. There is no way we can move to a different house later on down the road unless we move out of the military housing all together, and find a rental house in town (the problem with that is they are extremely expensive).

As we pulled up I realized they weren't at ugly as I was expecting, and was pleasantly surprised as we parked the car. The house is a decent size, and considering it is just me and Kevin (and even when we do add one more) we really have enough room. I love how open our living/dining room is, and although we only have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, they are right next to each other, which will make for a perfect master bedroom and nursery (when the time comes). It is a little funky though. We have to go down into the basement to do our laundry, and it is in an open area that we share with the people above us. We also have a storage unit in the basement, which is massive and Kevin keeps talking about how he wants to make it into his "man-cave".

All of our hose hold goods arrived on Thursday, so I have been slowly but surely unpacking everything and trying to make it feel more like home. We have been lucky and have met several of our neighbors, and they all seem great. We keep getting told that we are extremely lucky... the fact that we not only got our house, but all of our household goods within a week seems to never happen. I must say that I am VERY thankful that we are in our house, have all of our stuff, and now we have Internet and cable (all within a week!). I still have a ton of unpacking, organizing, and decorating (my favorite part!) to do, but I don't have many complaints these days.

On Friday, Kevin's station had a B-B-Q for everyone that is leaving this summer, and for the new people who are taking their places (Kevin is the only new person here so far). It was at a "beach house" that sat up on a cliff and looked out over the water with the mountains in the background. It was absolutely beautiful. The town of Kodiak is actually very ugly, Base is prettier, and we have been told that if you keep driving past base it is gorgeous. We are hoping to make that drive on Wednesday or Thursday of this week since Kevin will be off work, and I PROMISE to take lots of pictures!!

That night was one of Kevin's supervisors invited us to dinner. I really was hesitant, and wanted to just stay home and unpack. Kevin twisted my arm, and I could not be more thankful! We went to dinner and ended up going out with everyone afterwards. Much to our surprise, the bars here don't close until 5 am!! That is just asking for bad news!! We had a blast, took a taxi home, and ended up feeling awful the next day! Needless to say, we didn't get any unpacking really done until Sunday. I already have plans for a girls night this Friday, and can not wait! I really thought it would take some time to make some friends of my own, but it is shocking how friendly everyone is around here and how welcoming they all are. I think the hardest part about living here is going to be when the friends I make, end up moving away.

So I am very pleased to say that after being in Kodiak for 10 days, I am loving it, and can't wait to experience everything Alaska has to offer.

Fingers Crossed!

I can not believe that the "move" is already over and it's back to real life... sort of. Today is Kevin's first day back at work after having a month off! Yup, I said month! It has been so nice having all this time with him after 5 months of never seeing him, although there were some days I was ready to strangle him! So considering it is his first day back at work, that means it is my first day of being alone. :( I know once we get into a house I wont mind being at home alone (until I find a job), but it just feels weird and awkward since we are still in a hotel. I hate taking the dogs out because I have to walk down the stairs, through the lobby full of people, try to keep them from barking, try to keep Winston from making his choking/gagging sounds, and try to find a trash can that is not placed directly next to the front door of the hotel to throw away their poop. Not to mention our hotel is located on the "main road" (there is only ONE road that goes through town) and I hate having the dogs so close to a road where the speed limit is roughly 55 mph.

Kevin has a lot of paper work he will be dealing with today, and he is meeting with the housing office!! I thought I would be able to meet with them as well, but I guess not. :( We drove around the different housing neighborhoods yesterday, so I was able to point out to Kevin which neighborhoods I want and don't want (and we were on the same page with that!). I have been praying for weeks now that they would have the perfect house ready for us immediately. It would be a dream come true if Kevin were able to sign the paperwork this morning and get the keys so we could move in this evening. I know I am probably getting my hopes up way to high, but a girl can dream! It is going to be killing me all day wondering what is going on since Kevin can't use his phone, and I don't even know what time he will get to come home tonight.

As for me (other than trying to keep my anxiousness at bay) I have a few ideas on how to keep myself busy. With nothing to do but watch TV for the past couple of days, I have been watching the Dog Whisperer A LOT! That show has made me realize that even though I have tiny dogs, they still need their exercise, and I never take them for a walk. So this afternoon we are going to take a nice long walk around downtown and see what kind of shops they have around there, and kill some time as well. I also found that the hotel has a business center where they have a computer and printer. I'm going to print off several copies of my resume to have with me when I apply for the jobs I have found online (almost all of them require that you apply in person). Other than that, I bought a new Nicholas Sparks book to keep me entertained, and I have a few people I need to call and chat with.

Hopefully today will fly by and I will hear something about our house soon! Once I hear anything, I will be sure to update.

FINALLY!!!!

FINALLY... that is the only word that keeps running through my mind. After 3 VERY long weeks, we have finally reached our final destination and new home!

We arrived at the ferry terminal in Homer, AK this morning at 7:30 am. We waited patiently until 9:45 to finally board the ferry, which was much smaller than the first ferry we took. This one was pretty interesting... to get our car onto the ship we had to drive it onto this "elevator" type machine, where it lowered us onto the car deck, spun us around, and then we had to back into our designated spot. Stressful to say the least! Once we were on the ship we went to our room and laid down since we were so tired from waking up at the crack of dawn. We went and had lunch at about noon, and this was when I realized I had left my motion sickness medication in the car. I should have known this would be an issue when I saw the "bark bags" posted all over the place. As soon as we stood up from lunch the water had gotten so rough I could barely stand. We were clinging to the hand railings as we walked back to our room. I thought that maybe if I stepped outside and had some cold air on my face I would feel better, but that was such a horrible idea! I guess seeing the water and boat swaying made it ten times worse because all of I sudden I started shaking and was on the verge of puking everywhere! I ran back to the room where I laid down, shut my eyes, and clung to the rail on my bunk bed. I slept on and off for nearly 5 hours! At one point they came on the speaker to tell us there was a pod of Orka whales, and sadly I felt so sick I couldn't even jump out of bed (not to mention open the curtain to our window) to go check them out. Thankfully around 6 the waters seemed to calm, and we went and had dinner. Our ferry was delayed about an hour, but we landed in Kodiak at 8:45 pm! Sadly it was getting dark, so I didn't get any pictures, but I plan on taking TONS tomorrow!

When we got off the boat, Kevin's OS-2 and Chief were waiting there to meet us. They showed us to our hotel, helped us carrying all of our bags in, and showed us around. Kevin and his OS-2 went to the station so he could get his orders signed to help make the process on Monday go by more quickly. His Chief took me and showed me around town. It was so welcoming and gave me such a great first impression of what it will be like to live here. To think... these men both have families and children at home, and they stayed out until 11 pm making sure that we were all settled in and felt comfortable.

Now onto the good stuff... Kodiak itself! The town has ONE stop light... can you say SMALL town! There is a Walmart, Safeway (grocery store), McDonald's, Taco Bell, KFC, Subway, Starbucks, a Vets Clinic, several auto shops, small gift shops, etc. It looks like a cute little town, but it was dark when I saw all of this. The buildings aren't very pretty, but are made to withstand the elements. On the base there is a hospital, Commissary (grocery store), Exchange (general store), HUGE gym with an indoor pool, movie theater, bowling alley, pizza parlor, and one section of the housing. These houses look the least desirable, but still didn't look that bad. The other 2 housing "neighborhoods" aren't right down the street from the base, and both looked very nice. I am so anxious to find out if we will be able to move into something on Monday, or even sometime this week.

All I can say is, so far so good! I think I am really going to like it here! I will post again tomorrow with some pictures. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

Winston Update

The vet seemed to think that he possibly ate something that upset his stomach. I highly doubt this since we have been living in hotels for the past 3 weeks and keep all trashcans on the bathroom counter to avoid issues like this. I am hoping it is just from stress and all the changes he is having to go through right now (how sad is that).

When we took him to the vet we took a sample of what we found in the bathroom, still uncertain of what end it had actually come from. They weighed him (he has lost about 2 pounds in 3 weeks), took his temp (he was normal), and gave him a rectal exam (which came out completely empty...guess he emptied himself out on the bathroom floor). They decided to hook him up to an IV to rehydrate him and gave him two different shots. We got two different pills to give him- one for the diarrhea and one is an antibiotic. We were told to keep him from eating or drinking anything for 24 hours, which makes me feel like a bad mama!

He has been more active since we got back from the vet. For a while he just laid under one of the chairs in the hotel room, as if he were in trouble. I think he is scared he is going to get beat since he has been pooping in the "house". After a while he started playing with Charlie and barking at the people who walked by our room a little too loudly. Hopefully he will be back to normal tomorrow, especially since I am so worried about him being in the car by himself for 10 hours while we are on the ferry (plus can you imagine what our car would smell like if he wasn't feeling better!).

Thanks to all of you who were concerned about my furbaby!

Funny How Things Work Out

After my tantrum yesterday about being so mad that we aren't getting on the ferry today, I awoke to the sounds of a dog barfing. Winston has been throwing up for about the past 3 days, usually just in the morning, and its all just stomach acid, no dog food or anything in it. We have been making sure he is still eating and getting lots of water, but figured he probably just got something out of the trash that didn't settle well with his stomach.

So this morning I rush out of bed to clean up the vomit, and smell an AWFUL smell... Of coarse he had diarrhea all over the floor too. As I'm cleaning all of this up (Kevin is still passed out asleep) I can see Winston squatting like he is about to again! I grabbed him, threw him into the bathroom and slammed the door! Once I finished cleaning everything I took Winston and Charlie out for the morning, where Winston continued to vomit. When we came back inside I made him a comfy little bed in the bathroom with his food and water, so that if he did get sick it wouldn't be on the carpet.

I waited about 10 minutes and went to check on him and was horrified! Thankfully I had already looked up the number to a vet, because I was on the phone immediately. When I opened the door all I saw was blood everywhere! I couldn't even tell you if it is vomit or "poop". We scooped up a little on a hotel cup to take with us to the vet, and we still have to wait another 30 minutes or so before our appointment (I'll update to let you know what we find out).

It's funny how dogs really do become your "baby". This has me so worried sick, and all I can do is just have Winston lay in my lap and pet him and try to comfort him. I don't know what I would do if there was something seriously wrong with him. But I can say I am VERY thankful we aren't getting on the ferry today, and will have all day today and tomorrow to get Winston feeling better.