And the winner is...

After polling my fellow bloggers and facebookers and family and coworkers and husband and possibly even my cat... I have made a decision on my dresses!

I am going with "Option A" and "Option B" (see previous post) but in a teal instead of pink. A lot of people said the same thing. That they really liked the dress but the pink was a bit much. So, I had them bring me over a teal one in the same dress from another store.

*pretend I'm smiling in the second one. Today's pictures were taken a bit more hastily. Just needed something to text to the hubby who was waiting from afar to give his feedback.

The dresses are now in the process of being taken in a teeny bit, hemmed, and having straps added to them. I know, I know! Why ruin a perfectly good strapless gown with straps!? Well, because I want to be able to dance in them. Like, really dance. Waltz, foxtrot... that kind of thing. And strapless dresses+small curves+raised arms = a show for the sailors! So, I'm having them add halter straps that will tie in a bow and have really long tails that run down my back. I think it will be very pretty and will make my shoulders look nice. The good news is, that they will be removable. So they are optional should i have a fancy occasion where there is no dancing. Or if I just change my mind on the whole strap thing.

Now all i have to do is figure out shoes and hair. Hair is going to be my biggest challenge. I've never had to do anything with hair this short. Guess it wasn't the best time to cut it all off! :) 
I'm very open to suggestions.

Navy Birthday Ball - Help me pick my dress!!!

I FINALLY get to go to a ball! He's been in the Navy for three years and we've never been able to go!

The Navy birthday ball is in two and a half weeks. And I need a dress! I went shopping today but I didn't have a shopping buddy and I am the most indecisive person in the world - so won't you all pretty please be my shopping buddies?

I'm going to buy two of them. One for now and one for Sub Ball just in case we get to go to that one too. Though, I don't even know when it is. Anyone know?

So, please give me your honest feedback, and maybe even which one you would wear to which ball - if you want. Any feedback I can get will help! (Except you know, like "you look like a big pink horse" or something.)

So here's some pics. Some awful cell phone pics... but none the less... here we go.

*right click on a picture > "open link in new tab" to see them larger in a new tab
Then on the new tab, click on the picture to enlarge even more

Let's call this option A

Option B

Option C

Option B
I love the neckline on this one. I'm just not sure if bright pink is too young - I'm 28, just FYI (Your thoughts?)

Option B

Option B
But, this dress is a little bit too small and it shows in the back.

Option C
I love this color and I love the front. But, I don't think it does my back any favors.

Option C

Option C

Option A
I wish you could see the actual color of this dress. It just doesn't come across in the picture. It's kind of shimmery and iridescent.

Option A

Option A

Leave your thoughts in the comments, please!

Awesome things...

So, for the last three years or so we have lived two very apart lives. For the first year or so he was living on the East coast (me on the West coast) going to his various Navy schools. Then he was given orders to Georgia. Super suck. But, we managed to make a fuss and get him an Ord Mod to WA. Less suck, but suck none the less. So, for the last year and some change we've been living about 3 hours apart. I see him on most weekends when the boat is in, some weekends when it's in refit, and obviously underway is underway. 

BUT!!!!!!!! Our last crisis has turned into a happy blessing! You see, we were not so happy when they ended geobach on his base and we found out we have to find him an apartment. (ie. we have to pay for two apartments) He ended up being offered a spare bedroom in an apartment with his friend and his wife. Well, this just works out perfectly because as I later realized that means when I go up there I don't have to pay for a hotel. Meaning I can come up much more often. Like every week more often! Because my job is allowing me to work remote two days a week!!!! So i'll drive up, work from there, get to spend a couple extra nights with my sailor, then drive back down to work from the office for a few days, then right back up again. Rinse and repeat!!!! Saweeeetttt!  

Ok, downside... lots and lots and lots of driving. But I really think that's a small price to pay for two extra days a week with my love!!!  

In other news, because I'm up here this weekend and he has duty for the third weekend in a row... (ug), I decided to have a girly day and get a hair cut, color, and pedicure. 

I was just going to get my bangs trimmed and the color refreshed, but I've been kind of annoyed with it lately, and it keeps getting all caught up in my gi collar in Jiu Jitsu so I decide to chop 6 or 7 inches off. I call it my "Jiu Jitsu hair". 

I'm just sad though, that he won't get to see it today when it looks all salon perfect. The next time I see him he'll be walking in the door at about 9am and I'll probably still be in bed = messy bedhead. And not the sexy kind.

Well, I guess that's enough for today. I need to go to the NEX and buy some toothpaste. I packed in a haste and forgot it. And, after last night's garlic fries... blech! I need it bad! Definitely before Monkey gets back.

Navy Surface Wives, enlighten me.

Alright, I have a question for all the Surface Navy wives/SO's out there.

Hubs has been lightly toying with the idea of a career change within the Navy. One, which could very potentially end him up on a surface ship. My biggest concern with this change is that if he does it, it obviously means that he would extend his contract, but also that he might end up on a ship with longer underways than he has now. And being so relatively close to the end of this enlistment, I would hate for him to make a switch that is supposed to be for the better but only renders him gone for longer periods of time. Though, perhaps it's worth it if he's also home for longer periods of time?

Currently his schedule is pretty consistent. More or less, in for three months, out for three months...ish. Basically, he's gone for half the year in evenly spaced chunks.

So, my question is: What is the surface schedule like. How long can I expect him to be out for and how long might he be home for?  I realize this might be different from place to place so i guess I'm looking for everyone's experience so I might get an accurate survey of what I could expect. 

Also, any other perks to being on a surface ship vs a boomer submarine? Like, do they get internet (webcam), carepackages, mail, portcalls, etc?

Warrior Dash was frikin' awesome!

More pics to come... but this inadvertent juxtaposition was too classic. I had to share.
This was actually after I had "cleaned up" in the pond first. We ended completely covered in mud from the chest down. COMPLETELY covered. 

Warrior Dash

Tomorrow is Warrior Dash!!!!
I will be running with a team from my martial arts academy.

Monkey unfortunately will not be coming with me. Because, well... he's in the Navy. And they had "more important" things in mind for him. :/  Soo, I guess I'll just try and get pictures for him.

Wish me luck!!!

Don't mind the smiley face. I may or may not have missed a pair of underwear on the floor when I took this picture.
Oops! How embarrassing! And super classy!

R.I.P. my furry friend.

Last night, our cat of 16 years passed away. They think it was renal failure. The onset came on quickly over the last few days so, while he was quite old, his passing was somewhat unexpected. Though, it was very much his time. He's lived a long good life. Tonight they buried him in the back yard and said goodbye. He's off to go re-catch all those mice he's brought home over the years. We'll miss you Buddi Cat. Rest in Peace. 

I'm trying to find a little marker stone with his name and memorial dates on it, to place where they buried him. But, they are all so expensive. (Seriously, these people are capitalizing on peoples' grief) I'll find something, though. 

Here's a couple pictures that my dad had. I have some others printed somewhere where he doesn't have glowing laser eyes that I'll scan in later.

Home decore and a boring weekend.

Well, I have to say this weekend isn't as bad as it was going to be, but I'm still bummed.

Originally, Monkey thought he was going to be on the boat all night Friday and wouldn't be coming home. Turns out because of some technicalities, he didn't have to stay all night. He got home about midnight on Friday. But, he's on his way back right now. He is working later today and on Labor day. I mean, I understand, they've got work to do. The boat has to be ready. But, now I have two days unplanned, and for the life of me I can't think of anything to do by myself. I don't have to work, and all of my gyms/studios are closed for the holiday. It's also a beautiful day which make it even more difficult.

We made use of the one day he was home, though. For our anniversary my parents got us a giftcard to Bed Bath and Beyond. So, after perusing the bedding section for the 5th time and not coming to a consensus on an amicable style, we opted to solve our dilemma of the poorly designed bedroom/bathroom. In theory this set up is quite convenient. The sink is outside of the toilet/shower room. And across from the sink is a second mirrored closet. (Perfectly sized for a certain sailors civilian wardrobe) It's great because one person can be using the bathroom/shower and the other can still get to the sink to brush teeth/put on make up/etc. The problem with this is that if you are laying on the bed and someone is at the sink with the lights on, you are blinded  by the vanity lights above the mirror. To solve this problem, we picked up a tension curtain rod and a single panel of a curtain. We hung the curtain as a door between the bedroom and the sink area. It doesn't block out all the light but it at least block the direct line of sight to the glaring lightbulbs. Plus, it's pretty. It's the only pop of color we have in the bedroom. Until this, we had only decorated the bathroom. And only out of necessity, because you kind of need a shower curtain and bathmat. 

Oh, I forgot. I also took him to Men's Warehouse and bought him some investment shirts. (read: expensive shirts) They were having a buy on get one free sale. I went in with a pretty good budget and ended up doubling it. Oops. But it's worth it. He owns maybe two nice shirts. He has a problem finding shirts that fit him well because he has such a big chest. By the time they fit his chest they are like a tent on the rest of him. So, I took him to get four new shirts and had them tailored so they would fit him correctly. I also had him sized for a jacket so they have all his measurements in their system and I can get him clothes while he's gone and stock his closet a little bit at a time. We also took pictures of some ties that I will get for him in the future. I just couldn't spend any more money on that trip. 

Ok, so that wasn't very exciting. But, I'm trying to relieve some boredom by blogging. Anyways, hope you all have a great long weekend. Do something fun for me. :)

Update:

So, the geo-batch-getting-cut-situation seems to be contained to his base. Turns out they are tearing down a couple of the barracks buildings so there is less room, so they are kicking out the geo-bachelors. *eye roll*  The thing is, I happen to know that there are guys in there who currently are required to live in the barracks until they make E5 who don't want to be there... seems to me that if you let them move out, (btw, some of them already have moved out on the sly so there are vacant rooms) there would be room for people who need those rooms. Just saying. 

Just saying. 

Monkey did find a friend who is going to rent him an extra room in he and his wife's new apartment for a very affordable price. (Thank you Sailor N and Mrs. N!) So, thank goodness for that. I don't know how permanent that situation will be, but it at least takes care of the immediate issue.