Thursday, November 26, 2009

happy thanksgiving!

its chilly outside, macys parade is starting, gonna start prepping the bird soon (its a little 3-pounder, so i didnt have to wake up at the ass-crack of dawn to put it in the oven lol). its a good day! im so thankful for my wonderful husband, and my family and friends! everyone have a safe and happy day! :)

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Saturday, November 21, 2009

i am in desperate need of a girly day

it has been far too long since ive been to a salon, and i need a pampering day. i want to get a mani/pedi, i want a haircut, i want violet highlights (yes violet :). and i want to get my bellybutton pierced. and get about a million more tattoos. then i wanna go shopping, then dancing. i feel bored and frumpy and i need a change. blah.

ps i love that i posted this at 11:11...maybe this wish will come true? lol

Thursday, November 19, 2009

supporting our troops this holiday season <3

The American Red Cross again will sponsor a national “Holiday Mail for Heroes” campaign to receive and distribute holiday cards to servicemembers, veterans and their families in the United States and abroad.

The card campaign includes those working and receiving care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

A special P.O. Box address will be published the first week of November online at http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail.

In the meantime, people shouldn’t send cards to Walter Reed unless they are addressed to a specific wounded warrior.

Due to security restrictions, Walter Reed cannot accept generic mail addressed to “A Recovering Soldier” or “Any Soldier.” In past years, hundreds of cards were returned to senders because of generic addresses, many sent in response to misleading e-mails.

The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes Inc. will partner for the third year to provide screening of all mail sent to the following P.O. Box address:

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Cards should not be mailed until Monday, and postmarked no later than Dec. 7 to reach servicemembers recovering at Walter Reed.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

hello my name is brenda

and i am a bellydance addict. two lessons and im absolutely hooked. i love everything about it - its a fantastic workout, theres glitter and gorgeous costumes involved, and most of all it just makes you feel SEXY! speaking of costumes, i want this one. its $475, who wants to buy it for me? lol ;)

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

honoring those who served

i hope everyone took a moment to thank a veteran today ♥

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Sunday, November 8, 2009

i <3 christmas!!

ive already got the christmas fever, and its not even thanksgiving yet lol. one of the best parts about this year is that i have my own space to decorate! so phoenix and i went shopping this morning and i got all kinds of cute stuff! heres a few pix

pirate and irish nutcrackers

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pretty pretty candles
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random penguin stuff ^_^
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wreath for the front door
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i also got elf and mickeys christmas carol on dvd. i couldnt find a muppets christmas carol, but rest assured when i do, it shall be mine ^_^ its my FAVORITE christmas movie lol

ive been listening to christmas music nonstop this weekend...its pretty bad lol. if i could just skip thanksgiving and go right to chrismtas id be happy :) heres a sampling of my christmas playlist:

vive le vent - henri des (i love french carols lol)
mon beau sapin - roch voisine
merry christmas (i dont want to fight tonight) - asobi seksu
do they know its christmas? - band aid
feliz navidad - BoA (shes japanese, and the japanese lyrics put a great spin on this song :)
the restroom door said gentlemen - bob rivers
merry frickin christmas - frickin a
what christmas means to me - hanson (dont hate!)
christmas in killarney - the irish rovers
mele kalikimaka - jimmy buffett
we need a little christmas - johnny mathis
merry christmas, happy holidays - *NSYNC
wonderful christmastime - paul mccartney
my first christmas as a woman - the vandals
last christmas - wham!

so as you can see, im a huge fan of the non-traditional christmas carols XD
i cant wait til christmas is closer...phoenix and i are gonna bake cookies together. im gonna use my grandmas cookie recipe...hopefully it turns out good. theyll never be as good as grandmas though :)

Friday, November 6, 2009

from the U. S. Army's facebook page

A moment of silence is scheduled for 1:34 PM CT. Please join us in remembering those who lost their lives and keep your thoughts with our Fort Hood community.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

thoughts/prayers/good vibes needed for fort hood

NBC News and msnbc.com
updated 28 minutes ago

An Army psychiatrist opened fire Thursday at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 30 others before being shot to death, officials told NBC News.

Eleven of the victims died at the scene, military officials said. A 12th died later at a hospital, NBC station KCEN-TV of Waco reported.

NBC News’ Pete Williams reported that U.S. officials identified the gunman as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist who had been promoted to major in May. Defense officials said Hasan, 39, arrived at Fort Hood in July after practicing for six years at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, which included a fellowship in disaster and preventive psychiatry.

Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment orders.

The Associated Press, quoting federal law enforcement officials, said Hasan had come to their attention at least six months ago because of Internet postings that discussed suicide bombings and other threats. The officials said they were still trying to confirm that he was the author.

One of the Web postings that authorities reviewed is a blog item that equates suicide bombers with a soldier throwing himself on a grenade to save the lives of his comrades. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Medical records on file in Virginia, where Hasan was born and was registered to practice, and Maryland, where he received his medical degree at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, revealed no disciplinary actions or formal complaints.

Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commanding general of the Army’s III Corps, said the gunman used two handguns.

Two other soldiers were taken into custody after the shooting. Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said they were released, but later in the day law enforcement officials told Carter that another person had been detained for questioning.

Image: Nidal Malik Hassan
cstsonline.org
Maj. Nidal Malik Hassan was described as ‘upset’ about his pending deployment to Iraq.

A senior administration official told NBC News that the shootings could have been a criminal matter rather than a terrorism-related attack and that there was no intelligence to suggest a plot against Fort Hood.

Military and local hospital officials said the victims were a mixture of men and women, military and civilian. At least one of those killed was a civilian police officer, Cone said. At least four local SWAT officers were among those wounded, KCEN reported.

‘They shot me!’
Among the wounded was Pfc. Keara Bono, 21, of Independence, Mo., who was shot in the shoulder. She called her mother, Peggy McCarty, to let her know she would be OK.

Bono, who works with soldiers dealing with stress, arrived in Fort Hood only Wednesday from her previous posting in Topeka, Kan., NBC station KSN-TV of Wichita, Kan., reported. Her brother, Dustin, told the Kansas City Star that Bono was “mad more than anything.”

“They shot me! And I’m still here in this country!” Dustin Bono quoted his sister as saying.

Robin Geiser of Random Lake, Wis., said her 24-year-old son, who commands soldiers at Fort Hood, knew some of the victims. He had been scheduled to be in the readiness center Thursday ahead of his deployment in January, but he was spared because his day’s orders were changed and he was on the training ground, instead, Geiser said.

“I was terrified come January,” Geiser told NBC station WTMJ-TV of Milwaukee. “I’m doubly worried now. If you can’t be safe here ....”

Geiser said that in conversations with her son, he told her that “there’s a lot of anger in a lot of these soldiers.”

“Who knows what it stems from?” she asked.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

the sundays

the sundays were an english alternative rock group in the early 1990's. their album reading, writing, and arithmetic is one of my all-time favorites. heres the video for my favorite track, heres where the story ends. please excuse the poor quality and the 90's fashions :p

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

just a puppet on a lonely string

its been about 2 months since weve been home for a visit. i can tell because im getting homesick again. it seems to come in 2-month cycles. i *really* miss my friends. i want to go to ugly tuna with ashley and tanya and laura. i want to hang out at jackies with all my besties. i want to go to bdubs with ben and jordan and sam (male). i want to go bar-hopping and eat macaroni and cheese with sam (female). sadly it doesnt look like well be able to go home for thanksgiving as mitch will most likely not get a pass. so not only does this mean we wont get to see friends and family soon...it also means ill have to cook a turkey o.O that thought is mildly terrifying lol. i will, however, have to make a trip up sometime before christmas to pick up all my ornaments that are sitting in a box in nenes basement. so ill have to figure out a good weekend to make the trip. uuugh i hate making that trip alone, its so damn long (mitch cant come with me; he cant be more than 150 miles from post without a pass). i cant wait til mitch is done with all this army stuff and we can move back home. i miss being able to call up jackie or tine or sam or someone, and just meeting up some place and hanging out. i love the friends i have here, but they cant compare to the people i grew up with. i miss you guys :(

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Monday, November 2, 2009

im so proud ^_^

i usually try to keep army talk off this blog since, well lets face it, sometimes i just need a place thats totally army-free lol. but im so happy i had to post this: mitch was finally promoted to SPC (specialist) ^_^