Guess who's back....back again!! Jeni's back....tell a friend....(a little Eminem for ya) :-D

This picture has no purpose

*sigh* Seriously folks...I looked at the last time I posted and it was in March. I know my thousands of readers have missed me...riiiiiiiiight. I know I always have excuses, but honestly this time they are legit. I'll take this opportunity to catch up with you all because MAN have I been busy.

First of all (and it's big one)....Matt deployed. :( I know...I'm really sad too. A king sized bed is just too big without him in there at night. And of course, this also means that I have not been cooking...so unfortunately, I can't share any new recipes with you guys, but I can always chat--share what I've been up to during the week...at least until he gets back and maybe put up some recipes I've done, but never shared. My cooking has consisted of putting stuff in the microwave and making small salads for myself...whoo hoo! :) Fancy. Only the best. I have said it before and I will say it again though, I feel so blessed to have had the time that I did with Matt. It was so great to have him back here on rear detachment for a bit and to spend that time with him. I felt very lucky.

So what have I been doing? Let's break it down by month I guess....

APRIL

The Ditchley Portrait

April was crazy!!! With the weird snowy weather (that happened all the way up until May by the way!--this is not a complaint!! I love the snow) my class got cancelled quite a bit during the semester. So there was always a paper due at some point...but then it was moved to another date...and then it caused another paper to get moved. So basically the last two months of school I was typing my little behind off with postponed papers. I did a research paper on Elizabeth I and one of her portraits. The research for this was amazing! I always knew, from my own random research, that she always had messages within her portraits. Political usually. But I didn't realize HOW MUCH! I examined the Ditchley Portrait and really enjoyed writing it. Which may or may not be a nerdy thing to say! :) April was also my birthday month! Whoo hoo! I had a GREAT birthday with my bff Stephanie coming into town to surprise me! We had so much fun catching up. On my birthday we went to lunch, got pedicures, went wine tasting at a place in Manitou Springs called D'Vine Wine, saw an elk...yes, just sitting there...a random elk, and went to dinner with Matt. It was a great day and weekend with her. Made me miss Leavenworth and being able to see her everyday! :)

MAY

Maggilicious is not outdoorsy

More paper writing...and Matt's brother, Mark came into town. He's in the Navy and had been deployed. So he decided to come see us while on some leave. It snowed the day before he got here which was crazy. But it melted which was good for landing in a plane and driving to Denver to go get him! We played a lot of disc golf, which I've missed! We also took him to play pool at our local pool haunt. I'm not 100% sure who won most of the time, but I know I beat Matt at some point...maybe. :) May was also the end of the semester of course and I honestly was sad it was over. I loved my class!!!! It was so interesting and exactly the subject I love: Tudor history. I could literally sit and listen to our professor for HOURS. Our last day of class was so awesome. Being in a more concentrated subject, you obviously have smaller classes which I like...you get to know people better and the professor gets to know you better too. We had a class discussion over Leviathan (this was our last graded assignment) and as a class gave her cards and a gift while eating pizza. She is a really neat lady and I look forward to picking her brain sometime :) May also brought the end to an era...in this case I'm mean my poor Kia Optima. It had to be retired. My poor little car made it so far, yet wasn't performing to the best of it's abilities anymore--meaning it was stalling and doing weird things. We were sinking money into it and it was just time. Especially with Matt deploying. I know enough people to call if my car stalled on the side of the road, but it was just getting to be slightly dangerous and Matt felt uncomfortable leaving me like that. His Avalanche is also having some problems--so it was a decision that had to be made....to get a new car for Jeni. We put it off as long as we could since I didn't have any car payments, but with Matt's car about to be paid off (yippee!!), we decided it would be an easy transition. We went with a GMC Acadia and I love it! It's a great car...rides wonderful and it's up high! Which I have been so used to being low in a car...ahhhh to have an SUV and be up high...so nice! :) We also went to Matt's family cabin in New Mexico! We took Maggie and left the kitties. It was so peaceful. We went hiking and exploring. We went to White Sands and the space museum there. I also had fun laughing at the hummingbirds coming to the feeder at the cabin. One would always wait for another to come to feed and it was chase it off! Meany! It was cute to watch though. During May I was also officially elected into the Mountain Post Spouses Club as their 1st Vice President. I'm super excited about it as my "big jobs" are a holiday bazaar in November and a super fun casino night in March!!! This group of ladies are AMAZING and I'm so looking forward to getting to know them better and having a wonderful year!!

JUNE

June was spent going places and doing things. Matt deployed towards the end of the month and we wanted to spend as much time together as possible. We even got to stay in the Stanley Hotel!! Spooky!!! It was really neat to stay there...even if I was scared and didn't go to sleep until 4am. :)

We also went to Estes Park...fed some chippymunks...went hiking! 

We went to the Renaissance Festival and watched a really neat cat show (like big cats...not domestic cats!)...of course we people watched! :) That's the king and queen by the way! ;-)

And then of course Matt deployed...which was sad. I was lucky enough, though, to have my mom fly up here so we could drive down with the fur children to San Antonio. That was at the end of June...

JULY

Back in San Antonio! Yay!! I miss San Antonio so much sometimes. It's a lot of fun to go back...plus I was able to spend about 3 weeks there so I got to see a lot of friends and family. My oldest brother, Greg, was actually there for a bit when I first arrived and it was so great to see him after many years. I really enjoyed catching up with him and it was an extra treat for my trip that he was there. My family and I had a lovely 4th of July with fireworks courtesy of Six Flags from the side of the road. We ate my dad's spectacular macaroni salad and had hamburgers/hotdogs! I got some Taco Cabana--which Colorado doesn't have (grrrrrr) and went on my mom and aunt's weekly grocery shopping trips to HEB (I miss HEB). I was able to see some volleyball teammates (yay Begging for It!) and watched them play one night. I really wanted to jump in!!! I miss playing and I especially miss playing with them and the whole group that we knew through the Sports and Social club. I was able to see my cousin April and her little boy, who is too cute! :) I just really enjoyed my time there. It was relaxing and fun at the same time. Going on walks with my aunt and mom, spending time with my dad as we went to the radio station that he takes care of in Seguin. And of course Miss Maggie Moo had a wonderful time being loved on by her grandpa :) Funny story though about my Millie kittie...well funny now...not at the time people! So, I go off to bed around 12:45/1:00 in the morning and I make sure Tiggie and Maggie and Millie are all in the room...however...no Millie! Where is she I wonder??? I look in the closet, under the bed, behind the dresser...in the bathroom, in the other bedroom...in the living room...kitchen...dining room...you get the point. My mom ends up coming out...sees me in a panic and we spend about 45 minutes actually looking for her. Maybe it was more...maybe it was less...I don't know. We look outside...we look inside...we shine flashlights on the roof...we look in the garage (this whole time we are yelling her name and I'm banging on things to see if she'll come out). No Millie....you see that day was grocery shopping day and we thought maybe she got out when we were bringing the groceries in. So of course I'm in tears...how could I lose her...I'm a horrible pet parent. She's mostly black with little white paws...how am I going to find her at NIGHT!?! So we are standing outside in front of the garage calling for her...suddenly...I hear it. A meow...her meow. Is she on the roof? No...is she on the side of the house? No...where is she??? I run into the house and into the garage...I call her name again....*meow* I call her again and I see her come out of her little hiding place...what the heck Millie. Apparently since we brought the groceries in through the garage she had decided to explore when no one was looking. Poor cat was out there from about 2:00pm until way past 1:00 in the morning...in the heat. What she did out there all day, I have no idea. But at the time I really didn't care...I gave her the biggest hug and took her into get water and some food. I'm 100% sure she won't be going exploring anymore. And I'm also very happy we found her because it could have gotten dangerous with that San Antonio heat :( so like I said...scary/sad at the time...but now slightly funny because all I can picture is her exploring all day and then being like "Alright! I'm done!....how do I get out of here??!?!" Silly Millie. Anyway...I came back to Colorado around the 25th of July. I needed to get back to get going on some spouses club stuff and school things as well. My mom drove back with me and I ended up  taking her up to Estes Park. She got to experience the joys of chipmunk feeding and I showed her the Stanley Hotel and drove her around trying to find the sheep and elk, but alas they made a liar out of me...probably payback from calling Matt a liar when he took me there the first time! :) She enjoyed herself and that's what matters!




AUGUST

And suddenly we were in August...how did that happen!?!? Not too much went on except meetings and such for the spouse's club. Maggie's AND Tiggie's birthdays were both on August 5th. I know Maggie is for real on the 5th, but Tiggie was so close to the 5th that that's what we decided on so we could remember it. Millie's is actually close to Matt's so we put it on the 29th of June with his. I bought some cupcakes for Maggie and me and I also bought her a new toy as well as the kitties some new toys.  I ordered my books for school--22 of them by the way. Yea. If you just said something like "oh my gosh!" or "you have to be kidding me" ...that's EXACTLY what I said. I did have a potluck to go to to meet people within the history department since all I had met last semester was the Director of Graduate Studies, my professor for my class obviously, and the admin assistant for the department. It was nice to meet new people--and meet students within the program as well. I also was able to meet one of my professors for this semester. We also had Super Sign Up for the Spouse's Club and Destination Fort Carson...all fun events to hang out with my fellow spouses and show what we have to offer!!!

SEPTEMBER

Ah...September. And here we are almost at the end of it too! Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE the fall. And right now the weather couldn't be more perfectly fall!! September has been pretty much the same as August, except with reading and papers due every week. I am learning a lot in my classes and enjoying them for the most part. I am making great headway in the preparation for the Holiday Bazaar in November. We have 64 vendors and counting. My last push for vendors will be tomorrow at a craft fair on post and then there's a craft fair at a church over near where I live on the 5th of October that I'm going to go to as well. Both events I will have applications in hand. Once those two are done, I think it'll be time to stop pushing. That doesn't mean I won't accept any more of course! But I'm just really excited that we are at 64 right now. It's been such a fun experience so far working with these vendors and seeing all of the different products they are selling. I am definitely doing some Christmas shopping at the event! :) I put my fall decorations up this past weekend. I am still looking for something to go on the porch. It needs something. I'll figure it out! :) The end of September means the start of October, which means that Matt should be coming home soon. I'm really excited and looking forward to giving him the biggest hug ever. I know it'll be here before I know it since I've been so busy. But being busy is good thing! :) Anyway...that's been my past 5 months or so. I apologize it's taken me this long to get everything written out, but now that we are caught up...I can attempt to get back to a regular basis of posting. It may or may not be boring considering I'm not doing a lot of NEW things...but I can still keep you up to date with stuff!

Well I hope you enjoyed my posting...come back for more!! In fact, I'm about to post another one too! hehe! You're so lucky. :) Alright...onto the next!