Alone, again...

Being alone is part of Army life, and alas, I find myself alone again. Alan was sent to the mainland for training for three weeks. While I do not think that being apart from my husband is something that I will ever get used to, it is definitely something that I have learned to deal with. I learn to keep as busy as I can, and to surround myself with good people. I can finally get to that project that I have been putting off, or visit that person I have not seen in a while. Moreover, I think that being apart makes the time we are together more valuable. Although I hate Alan being gone at all, especially during those fifteen month deployments, it is the life we have chosen and I would not change it for anything in the world. You may have your Prince Charming, but mine wears combat boots!

Finally puppies!!!!

What an eventful night we had last night!!! This post will be especially long as I won't spare any details!!!

I worked all day yesterday, and at the last minute, I was asked if I could stay and manage the computer lab that would turn my 8 hour day into a 13 hour day. I agreed, as I always love to have more hours, and was prepared to have a long night. Not long after Alan brought my dinner to me, the guy I was filling in for showed up and told me I could stay or leave, and I decided to go so I could spend the evening with Alan. Well, I am glad I made that choice because soon after I got home, foxy went into labor.

I had only been home for about an hour. It was a little after 7pm and Alan had just walked across the street to check on his work schedule. I was reading my book, and looking out for foxy (she had been in her whelping box all day, and was panting, and wouldn't eat). I saw her stomach tighten up real tight, and I knew that it was a contraction. I called Alan to tell him we were going to have puppies soon, and got my neighbor up here quick.

Foxy started pushing at 7:21pm and when we didn't see a puppy come for 10 minutes, me being the worry wart I am called the emergency vet. I explained what happened, that she had been pushing off and on for 10 minutes, and nothing was coming out, and the vet told me to wait for an hour to an hour and a half then if she still wasn't pushing out puppies to bring her in. So, not two seconds after I had gotten off the phone a puppy started to appear, FEET FIRST! You know me, I called the vet again. :D The vet said to watch her and if she hadn't pushed it out after a while to bring her in. I felt silly calling the vet so much, but hey, better safe than sorry right?

So, It was about 7:50 and by this time, the first puppy had two feet and his tail out of Foxy. Me and my neighbor were worried and decided to try to pull it out. (Alan still hadn't gotten home by this time.) So, as foxy pushed, we pulled, and together, we got our first girl puppy.

While we were waiting for the next one, Foxy's motherly instinct took right over, and she started bathing her new pup and letting it eat. It was pretty cute. When foxy started to contract again, we knew it was time for another, and got ready for number two. Well, guess what? He was backwards too!!! We first saw his paw, and knew we were going to have a problem. The first one was hard to pull out, but this next one had MUCH LARGER PAWS! We were worried...

Foxy just kept pushing, and when we saw two paws and a tail, and she was trying to push out the rest of this big puppy, we had to get to pulling again. This time I was scared. This puppy was much bigger, and I kept pulling and he wouldn't come out, I was so scared that I was going to crush this baby puppy that Alan had to take over, and wouldn't you know it, we finally pulled the big one out! (Thanks to Alan!) This one was a boy, and came about two hours after the first.

Me and Dani (my neighbor) figured we had a good break before the next one so we decided to clean ourselves up. While we were washing our hands, the men shouted, "Oh my GOSH!" Me and Dani rushed into the living room to see what was wrong, and there on the towel was number three!!! Number three was a boy, and the runt of the litter, I guess that after pushing out the big one, the littlest one just slipped right out, about five minutes later!

We took some time to clean each one after they were born to make sure they were breathing and didn't have any fluid in their noses or mouths.

The vet told us to expect three, but foxy still had a little lump in her tummy. It wasn't moving, and foxy didn't contract or push for about 45 minutes, so we got up and cleaned the little swimming pool we used as foxys whelping box, and got all clean linens, washed up foxy, and got everything clean and situated.

Well, right after we had finished cleaning foxy and getting clean towels in foxys box, more fluid ran out of her, and she started contracting! What a surprise for us! NUMBER FOUR!!! He cam out head first, and foxy was SO tired, Dani had to push on her stomach when she contracted to help the last one out! Another boy!

We were so surprised that Foxy had four puppy's! She is SO skinny, and I am a little worried about that, but she seems to be eating a lot, and we have a vet appointment tomorrow, so I will have to bring it up. So, all four puppies are alive and well, we have three boys and a girl! It is fun to watch them move around, and foxy is being such a good mother! We are so lucky to not have had any problems!

All four puppies and mommy sleeping after a long night!

Alans promotion

Alan finally got promoted today! He would have gotten promoted last week, but there were some problems with his promotion orders (shocking I know...) Anyway, Luckily I had work off and was able to promote him and stick on his new rank. It was awesome, and Alan really deserves this new path. I am very proud of you Alan!

After putting his new rank on, I got to punch him in the chest over the rank (It's customary :D)Together after the ceremony, Sergeant and Mrs. Burns
The first soldier Alan made do push ups as an NCO :D

Fourth of July Fun!

The fourth of July was fun, Alan had to work (of course) but I took off with some friends and headed over to Schofield Barracks for the celebration. Billy Ray Cyrus preformed for about two hours, it was awesome, I was too late to get close to the stage, but they had this screen set up so those of us without binoculars could watch the show :D It was definitely fun... free concerts, one perk for putting up with the Army... :D

After the concert, they had this really neat ceremony (I guess they do it often at military posts for the 4th, but I had never seen it...). The brought out 50 soldiers, each one carrying a state flag, in the order of when they became a state, then went through each state, and fired a canon after the state was announced. It was TOTALLY awesome! 50 cannons, 50 states, and each time a state was called, people from that state cheered, so, naturally, when Utah was called, I let out the biggest scream and 'woot woot' I could, and in a field full of a few thousand people, I was probably the only one :D but don't worry, you could definitely hear me :D

My neighbors came after the concert to watch the fireworks, and it was fun to watch with them. They have a 5 year old son, and he was rocking out those glow stick things... yeah so, here are some pictures...

Billy Ray CyrusMe and Dani, rocking the glow sticks... :D

I love the fireworks with the palm trees in the background :D
I love this picture, with the palm tree shadows and the fireworks...

More and more pregnant every day...

So, no puppies yet. Foxy is getting huge though! Her belly gets bigger
and bigger every day. Last night and this morning, I could see the puppies kicking her belly! It was so cute!!! I just sat there for a LONG time with my hand over her belly just feeling the puppies kick, It was the most amazing thing ever! I get such a kick out of it! She will hopefully go into labor soon, the way she is growing she may not be able to push the puppies out if she gets any bigger... Poor foxy, I almost feel bad for her, she is just so tired and lethargic, she cant even jump up on the bed or the couch anymore, and she waddles everywhere she goes, it is adorable! Anyway, we are just waiting to have puppies, I will keep you updated!

Julie

Twilight Saga

I am in LOVE! I had heard about this book, or series rather, just browsing through peoples blogs, and had seen them in book stores, but I didn't really have any interest until my friend Melanie told me I HAD to read them. Melanie HATES to read, and I knew if she liked the books enough to read the whole series, there had to be something about it. So, I bought the first one, 'Twilight', in the airport on the way home from Utah, but hadn't taken the time to sit back and get into it until a few days ago. Once I got started I could not put it down. I have since ordered the 2nd and 3rd and have the 4th on pre-order (it gets released on August 2nd :D). There are four books total in the series, and ladies, it is TOTALLY the most AWESOMEST, AMAZING novel EVER! I cant wait to start the second one.

So, add that to my list of obsessions, I am never going to get anything done until I have read all these books :D

~~Jules

http://www.twilightnovel.com/

Tagged... again, but different!

I got tagged again, but this time it is something different. Thanks Stephanie!

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was 13, hmm I was living in Utah, so probabley riding horses and being an obnoxious new teenager :D

2. Five things on your to do list today:-
-Make it through work
-Do a couple loads of laundry
-Watch the TV shows I recorded on DVR while I was on the mainland
-Study for Network+ and...
-Cook dinner? sounds good...

3. Snacks I enjoy:-
Otter pops, pop corn, pop tarts, lol... and crackers :D

4. What would I do if suddenly I were a billionaire?-
You know how in movies, you will see people in a room full of money just throwing it all around up in the air and money is flying everywhere? Yeah, I would have to do that.

5. 3 bad habits:-
Drinking Red Bull, cursing (I AM getting better though :D), and being a couch potato.

6. 5 places I've lived:-
Hawaii, Korea, Georgia, Missouri, Arizona

7. 5 jobs I've had:-
-Burger King (whopper flopper)
-KMart (checkout/cashier)
-Denny's (waitress)
-U.S. Army (Computer Geek)
-Education Center (A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a little computer work).

8. 5 things people don't know about me:-
Wow... again? hmm...
-I only eat the purple, green, and pink otter pops, (our freezer is full of orange red a blue ones :D)
-My hair is naturally blonde and my eyebrows are naturally dark (IT'S TRUE dangit people still think I dye my hair...)
-I got married in Seoul Korea
-When I was in the Army my combats boots were size 5 extra wide (flinstone feet haha)
-I beat the game Jewel Quest and all the bonus levels TWICE :D

I tag:
Kelly Dodge
Jenna
Nancy
Kaylee
and Lala

Sergeant Burns

MY HUBBY MADE POINTS!!!

Military Promotions 101:

In the Army, all promotions to Sergeant and above you have to earn, all others before then are automatic. I will not bore you with the details, but essentially soldiers have to go to a promotion board, where they earn their 'promotable' status. Then they have to meet a certain number of points which vary by MOS (job) and month. Soldiers earn points by doing various things such at pt, weapons qualifications, college, military schools etc..., and when the number drops below how many points you have, you get promoted. Promotion points are published near the end of the month, and soldiers who make points get promoted on the 1st of the coming month. *breathe*

So, last month my hubby missed the cut off by only 6 points! It sucks when that happens, and he got really discouraged. He has been promotable for quite some time, but the points for his job have always been high. He has worked hard to earn more and more points, and this month he finally made cut off!!!

He was sleeping this morning as I was getting ready for work, and I checked to see if July's points had been posted. I got excited as I saw they had and checked to see if Alan made it. The points for MPs were posted at 575 and Alan had 591! He made it by a long shot!!! I was SO excited and started screaming ALAN!!! YOU MADE POINTS!!! ALAN WAKE UP, YOU MADE IT!!! Imagine the wake up that Alan got :D It was fun to see his reaction since he has been waiting a long time for this!

So, I am SO proud of Alan and he definitely deserves this long awaited promotion! He gets promoted on the first, and don't worry my blogger fans, I will definitely be posting pictures of the ceremony! CONGRATULATIONS BABY!!!

Julie

Vet appointment, irony at its best!!!

So, before I left for the mainland, I scheduled an appointment for pre-surgery to get our dog Foxy Spayed. She came out of heat weeks ago, and we were tired of dealing with the mess during that period of time. Now, there is a dachshund that lives in the apartments below us, and him and foxy are good friends. They play together, poop together, walk together, and such. Clifford's (the dachshunds) owner always talked about the two dogs making babies, but I was never really a big fan of the idea.

When I was in Utah, Alan told me that he thought foxy was pregnant. I asked him why and he said that she was getting a big belly, and her nipples were growing. I didn't want to believe it and attributed the signs to her getting older and coming out of puppy-hood. Well, when I got home one look at her and I believed him. So, ironically enough, foxys neuter appointment turned into a pregnancy appointment. Come to find out that foxy will have babies in two to three weeks. The vet thinks there is three in there, but we will know for sure on the 2nd when they give her an ultra sound.

The picture on the left is her normal size, and on the right is what I cam home too. So, looks like we are going to be Grandparents! I am excited about it!

My trip to the mainland

Aloha!

I am back on this little island and had quite the adventure on the mainland, this will be a long blog, with lots of pictures, you are warned!!!




First I flew into Tuscon, AZ to make a 12 hour road trip to Utah with Jenna and baby Reilly. I LOVE little Reilly, and he is SO dang CUTE!!! Here is my first picture with him at a gas station in Tuscon... He was tired, hence hiding his face :D


So, we headed towards Utah, and put good use to my GPS,
even though I had driven the route many times when I lived in Phoenix several years ago, it was fun to use. I got to drive all the way from Phoenix to home, and it took 12 hours between food/gas/feeding baby breaks which is not so bad at all. During the trip, me and Jenna had lots of fun, I told her how CUTE Reilly was every five minutes, all the way from Tuscon to Phoenix :D. We talked a lot and got to catch up on lots of things, we listened to music we had from High School, and even changed the words to several songs. It was great, I would have never imagined me and my sister confined in a small space for so long would turn out so good!

The night before the wedding, we all went to the park where the ceremony would be, and then dinner. Here is a picture of me and my brother and sister. We got along so well, my brother and I played rock band a few nights, and we kicked butt! We played with his girl friend, and roommate, but me and Tyler were the only ones rockin' it on expert! WOOT WOOT! I like Tyler's girlfriend Melissa, and told him that if he messed things up with her, we would get rid of him and keep her :D It was fun.



The day of the wedding was amazing. My mom had a small ceremony at the park, and I got to see most of my moms side of the family that I had not seen in years. I also got to catch up with a distant cousin I had not seen in forever! Her name is Jenny, and we are only a few months apart in age. It was awesome to see her too! My cousins had all grown, and it was SO much fun to see everybody again. Before the wedding, they blessed Reilly, my Grandfather gave the blessing, and it was a wonderful moment. Anyway, here are some pictures of the wedding and blessing...














The day after the wedding my brother, his girlfriend, roommate, and my sister went paint balling. We had fun! My sister and I didn't bring any shoes that we wanted to get dirty paint balling so we went and bought cheap keds from wal-mart, here is a picture of us in our not so camouflage shoes :D




















As soon as I got cleaned up from paint balling, I took off to St. George to see Melanie, who is by far, my best, truest, most constant awesomest friend. I love Melly the most because it doesn't ever matter how long it has been since we have seen each other we always pick up right where we left off. When I last saw Melly, she was newly engaged. Now, she is married AND has a new baby name Trevor! When I visited he was 11 days old. It was fun to meet him, and here is a picture of me with Melanie's new addition. I always forget to get pictures with her though :( Maybe next time!!! While I was in St. George, I got to visit an old friend and his new wife. Kelly grew up just down the street from me, and I have lots of memories with him, most of which consist of scooping poop from horse corrals. :D It was AWESOME to see him again, we visited for several hours and time sure did fly! It was fun to get to meet his new wife as well, and it was funny because they lived only one mile away from Melanie! I also forgot to get a picture with the two of them... I suck at this game :D


It was sad to leave, like always, and it will be almost a year before I will be home again. This time with Alan. I spent the night in SLC with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids, who grew up WAY too fast, I remember when the oldest was born, and now he is 14! WOW, so there were three boys and two girls, and the boys all kicked my butt in air hockey, AND in a racing game on PlayStation. It was a blast! I miss those guys!!! Well, that is about it for my short trip to the mainland, and here are some more pictures of my new nephew Reilly, and just in case I forgot to mention it, HE IS SO CUTE!!!!!