Important Life Update

As many of you know, Jordan (my husband) has had a pretty shotty back for awhile now.

This past February he was finally diagnosed (after 1+ years of pain) with having two slipped discs, an annual tear and nerve damage in the lower portion of his back.

Since then he has undergone physical therapy, steroid treatments and numerous visits to a chiropractor. Unforatuntely he hasn't made any recovery, and he finds himself constantly in pain.

This coming Tuesday, November 25 he will be undergoing back surgery at the Laser Spine Institute in North Tampa. From my understanding they will be shaving off parts of his lowest disk in hopes of relieving some of the inflamation, which could allow the disks to slip back into place.

However, it is likely that after this surgery he will be undergoing a second in the near future. 

Anyway, my point is this: we could use all the positive vibes, thoughts and prayers you have to offer.

I'm not so worried about the surgery as I am the recovery period and the results of the surgery. Back surgeries are always dangerous, of course, but I'm truly hoping this will be his only surgery and that he will find much relief. 

Also, I will be the one taking care of him in between all of my jobs and school and I'm very worried about making enough time for studying and life in general while he recovers. 

I'm sure everything will be fine, everything is just a bit stressful currently.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks in advance for all of those positive thoughts!

Xoxo,

   B!

Winter

I seem to change how I feel (about everything) quite often.

For example for literally 5 years Jordan would beg me to keep trying caesar salads that I hated- and finally, about 6 months ago I tried one for the hundredth time and somehow actually like it.

And now I'm obsessed.

Weird, I know.

The same stands true for a lot of other foods, ideas, activities, etc.

I keep me on my toes so nobody else has to.

When I was younger I couldn't get enough of winter- the snow, sledding, reindeer, SANTA CLAUS, decorating the Christmas tree, SO much hot chocolate, Christmas music & movies and the list goes on and on.

But as I got older I began hating winter. Don't get me wrong, I stilled loved everything about Christmas, however, I just hated the cold and would practically hibernate all winter besides work and school (and even then I sometimes wouldn't make it due to being ridiculously cold).

Alas, we are here. The best happy-medium I could ask for.

Florida, all year round.

I still freeze, just not as much. I still skip school sometimes (today) because I'm too cold to get out of bed, but not as often. I still LOVE Christmas, hot chocolate, music, movies, cuddling- but even more, because now I can actually get out of the house and enjoy life during the winters.

It still gets pretty cold here starting late December-February, a different kind of cold than the north offers, but I'm somehow okay with the cold knowing that summers come so much earlier & last so much longer.

Recently we've been in a crazy cold front, it was 37 degrees when I got up at 8:30 this morning, which is "cold" for us this time of year. Today the high will be back up to 77, thank goodness. With the wind I'll still be chilly & I'll still go grab me some Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks<3

But that's alright, because we need to experience a little fall before our winter actually hits.

For a girl that hates Winter, Florida sure has taught me to love it.

For all of my northern friends, keep warm- I know you're experiencing the true cold weather that's completely unbearable to me! & also, feel free to come visit whenever (:

P.S. Peppermint Mocha is available YEAR ROUND, in case you didn't know (:

Xoxo,

   B!

Little Update~

I'm slacking, like usual.

I truly just don't have time though, which stinks.

So here's a thorough, but somehow (hopefully) short update on life, if you're interested!

1. Jordan's orders went through<3

So basically he is guaranteed a job here, in sunny FL until February- which is still a bit stressful, but we are thankful for security until then.

2. I got a perm!

If you're already friends with me on Facebook or Instagram you know this. But OMG- I LOVE it. Multiple people have asked me if it destroyed my hair and since I've had it a few weeks now I can say it hasn't. However, I definitely need a trim since it did help destroy my ends a bit (just as a curling iron would).

3. Halloween Horror Nights!

Neither Jordan or I have ever been to Universal Studio's and we finally got to go! It was terrifying! I literally lost my voice from screaming and being so scared for so many hours all at once. And it was SUPER expensive, so we may not go again. However, it was an awesome experience and we really enjoyed ourselves (:

4. Hockey season is back!

On Monday & Tuesday of last week Jordan and I got to attend Tampa Bay Lightning games and oh how we've missed it (: We even got to watch Stamkos get his first hat-trick of the season!

5. Jason Aldean & Florida Georgia Line Concert

After that rude post on Craigslist and how pissy it makes me I was lucky enough to get us tickets, and for cheap! The concert was a ton of fun & I'm super happy we were able to get tickets and hangout with friends!

6. Anniversary!

Jordan and I had our anniversary on Monday, and we had so much fun! We went out for drinks Sunday after a loooooonnnnnnnggggg and not so great weekend at work. I skipped school and slept in on Monday. Jordan ran and got us breakfast from Dunkin' and then he surprised me with TWO bouquets of flowers. The first is SO adorable, but he wasn't sure it if would be "romantic" enough, so he also grabbed some roses. He is soooo good to me, love that man.

We went hiking at a nearby park later in the afternoon, followed by a lovely dinner  at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa and then a little Fifa and wine together that night. So so perfect.

Also my new Fall centerpiece on the dining room table <3

7. Christmas!

I'm super excited to announce that we're coming home for Christmas! However, tickets were RIDICULOUS. So we've decided to drive to make things easier, yay!

I'm sure I'm missing some important things elsewhere, but I'll hit them later. You know, eventually.

P.S. I'm patting myself on the back for being so great at taking photos lately. Otherwise this post would be incredibly boring. Good job, me!

Xoxo,

   B!

Craigslist: A Hopeful Let Down

Let's have a little Craigslist chat.

I'll start by saying, I never use Craigslist, with the exception of, "Crap today is our friend's birthday where her party is at the Jason Aldean concert, I surprisingly don't have work, and now I need last-minute tickets, and still I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for what were $40 tickets."

So, you get it. We've all been there before, I'm sure.

And as much as I do like Jason Aldean, they're LAWN seats. As in, they should be cheap- but everyone is trying to make some serious money because other idiots are willing to pay.

For THREE days now I've been searching rather diligently through Stubhub, Ticketmaster, etc. And finally, out of desperation I turned to Craigslist.

Today, I saw a post "Two Jason Aldean tickets $50 each for lawn seats"

I pretty much screamed of excitement on the inside. I texted the number very quickly, with the reply of, "Yes," they still had them. YAY MEEEE! So I reply, "I'll take them!"

A few texts we go back and forth... she lives about 45 minutes away. I inform her I work until 1 but will leave immediately and head her way. She's going to give me an address for a nearby Starbucks to her for us to (exciting, because that means I'm not getting raped or murdered, ya know?).

Anyway she's replies, "I'll check the physcial address in a sec."

And that's it.

This, by the way, is AFTER she's texting me checking that I'm positive I want them and that I'm coming because she has two others interested.

I text back letting her know I may be able to leave earlier.. no response. So I finally text her one last time nearly 40 minutes after her last text. I say, "If you're bailing please let me know so I can start looking for other tickets now /:" 

I said it kindly, but deep inside I wanted to say something more along the lines of, "Don't be a rude bitch. If you already sold the tickets to someone else just f*****g tell me." But I didn't Even though I already knew something was up.

Ahh... finally a response. 

And it makes sense. Because if my life could be summed up by a single photo this is the one.

Hands down.

My kind of luck. Or she was a lying B! Either way. NOT HAPPY.

In fact, I'm super sad. Because now I can't find any other tickets ): Boooooo!

Moral of the story: Craigslist, and the type of people I associate with Craigslist are the reason I avoid Craigslist!

P.S. I know I said Craigslist a lot there. It seemed necessary.

P.S.S. AVOID CRAIGSLIST WHEN AT ALL POSSIBLE

P.S.S.S I shouldn't have shown her number.. but I'm too lazy to edit right now. So don't go harassing the poor, stupid woman, please.

Xoxo,

   B!

The military life has been.. frustrating for us. 

Sure, it could have been worse in many, many ways. 

But we've moved A LOT. 

And it never really seems to end. Living day-to-day not knowing when your husband is going to be out of a job or shipped across the country is stressful. 

Thankfully we've been lucky enough to be in FL for two years now (barely officially). 

However, tomorrow we will find out whether or not Jordan will be living here for at least the next 6 months (at least) or if he'll be moved to Cincinnati.

I couldn't help but feel my eyes fill with tears as I overheard his Gunny through the phone, saying, "Well we aren't really sure what's going on. But, as of today it seems a lot more likely than yesterday that you'll be in Cincinnati."

And so, we wait.

Our situation is much more complicated than any active duty story you'll ever hear. Well, I can't necessarily say that- the military does a lot of crazy things to people.

My husband's orders are strange. He's a reservist that was activated over 3 years ago and each year he has gotten extended (though the first year they forgot about us for awhile and he was out of a job for a couple of months, unpaid). BUT his reserve unit is not here in Florida, but in Cincy instead.

He is still considered an Ohio resident and that is where his reserve unit is. And so, when he gets extended, if they can't afford to send him somewhere they get to keep him- and trust me, they want him there. This isn't the first battle we've had.

We just aren't sure if we'll win this time.

However, I will say that Florida is our H O M E. We've bought a house here and for two years now we've gotten to live together and come home to each other every night, even if it is 1 a.m. by the time I'm home from work. 

My mind is worried and my heart is sad.

And still, worrying will do no good as we have no control over this situation.

I'm hoping to know more tomorrow. We will see. If there is news I'll post here.

In the mean time all the positive thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Xoxo,

     B~