Goodbye, 2008.

Hello 2009!

Not that I'm totally excited for this next year. Brandon leaves on January 9th, and he starts BOLC II on January 11th in Fort Benning, Georgia. That goes until February 28th, and then I visit for a week. On March 8th, he starts his Infantry Officer Basic Course, or IOBC or BOLC III, and that goes three months until June 8th. Then he has to go to Ranger School, which will start in July or August. Then he'll be home when he's done!! But that's like 9 to 10 months of him being away, with us not seeing each other that much.

Me, I have to finish school in May. Then I go to LDAC for a month to be assessed as a cadet. There I'll get commissioned. I won't find out my branch until October, so I have no clue what I'll do until then. Maybe find an easy job? Then I won't know when I'll do my training!!

So many unknowns... it's hard for my organized brain to comprehend.

2008 was an interesting year. I planned a wedding and got married June 1st. I turned 21 in April. We had a honeymoon in Mexico in June, and Brandon left for Fort Lewis for two months right afterwards. I worked two jobs that summer and got so exhausted because of it! I became an MS4 in ROTC and worked as the PAO. I got surgery on both my feet for my plantar fasciitis and am healing well. I wrote my senior thesis and had one of the best semester, in regards to grades, I've had in college (I got three A's and one A-, bleh). My nephew Grant was born on Valentine's Day, and my other nephew Blake turned two on November 3rd. Jessica went to college and Shannon moved to North Dakota. I went to Seattle for the first time.

There's so much more I just can't think!! We'll have to see what next year brings.

-Chantal-

Wait, weight?

I don't weigh that much. I really don't. I weigh between 130 and 135 nowadays. But it bugs me sometimes. I used to weigh 120, and I didn't sway much from that. Then I went up to 125. I was ok with that. Then I went up to 130. OK, I can live with that, I understand I'm getting old. But I've been hanging around at 135 for awhile now.

I figure it's because I haven't worked out a lot because of my surgery. But I've started to work out more in the last few months and my weight hasn't gone down. It bothers me to no end! I haven't changed how I eat, but that shouldn't make me gain weight? I don't know...

I really shouldn't obsess about my weight. I don't look big. I feel healthy (most days ;)), and I read all about how it's more important that you're healthy than thin. But it's the Army. They want me thin! I have to stay under a certain weight or they do a BMI on me. The military is obsessed with weight. It's kind of annoying and disheartening... I've even had one cadre member say that I had gained weight and looked fat. That's when I was 125. Way to wear down my existence, huh?

-Chantal-

Four Christmases

It's been such a busy week, we finally have some downtime today to clean, grocery shop, do the laundry, etc. I'm so glad!

Last Tuesday after work we headed to the in-laws because they are starting to move things into their new house. So we did that for hours! It was kind of fun, but there was a lot of stuff. 

Then Wednesday was Christmas Eve. Brandon's car is in the shop, so he has been driving mine. I guess it started shaking and driving weird on this day. It ended up being the spark plugs and coils (it was misfiring), which we fixed on Friday. But because of that, we had no car. So Brandon's dad came and picked us up and brought us to their house. We helped move a couple things, but we had to be at his grandparents house by 5, so we didn't get much done. We had dinner and hung out with his relatives (hm, kinda boring...), and then went back to his parents house and moved a bit more. Then we opened presents and chatted and had some fun!

Thursday was Christmas. Brandon and I woke up early (even though I didn't want to! haha), and opened our presents. I got him the first five Harry Potter books in hardcover, an RC Mustang, some clothes, a Michael Crichton book, a cocktail set and a cd case. He got me this computer!! I got the MacBook that I've been wanting for months. He's so perfect. :)

Then we headed to my mom's house for Christmas dinner. We brought our Rock Band game and played that for a long time! The funniest part of the night was when Jenny's boyfriend Dave took a percoset and was only eating green foods in "powers of three." It's hard to describe, it was hilarious. We opened presents before dinner. We got some great stuff! The best stuff was the kitchen things we got that we needed.

Friday we fixed my car and then went to the mall with Jessica, Jenny and my mom. We dropped the car off to get an oil change too. The mall was fun, we mostly just walked around. When the car was done a couple hours later, we drove to Monument and picked Jessica up because she was going to spend the night. That night we watched I Am Legend and Juno, and played Rock Band.

Saturday we played more games before going to my dad's for the last Christmas dinner. There we had stir fry, had some cheese appetizers, and played Trivial Pursuit. My dad and stepmom got drunk, as usual, which is kind of uncomfortable. But what can you do? Dave was at this dinner too, the first time he met my dad. What a great impression he got, I bet!

And now it's Sunday. I need to update this blog more so I'm not playing catch-up constantly.

<3>

Long Weekend

Friday: We had a Hail and Farewell/Christmas party at the LtCol's house this night. It was fun! It was a potluck dinner, so there was a variety of awesome food. We had a white elephant gift exchange too - we brought a Holiday Five Pack - and we got a beer mug and a laser pointer pen. Then everyone got drunk (save me, being the DD), we played Rock Band on his huge projection screen TV, ping pong, chatted... it was a good night, if not awkward for me, being a cadet at a cadre party!

Saturday: We had to get up early for the commissioning ceremony. It started at 10am and 4 cadets became 2LT's, which is pretty cool. Then we hung out for the afternoon, because Brandon felt sick, and watched a movie. Later that evening was a party at Judy's house. We played beer pong and ate pizza, though I didn't drink again because I was driving!

Sunday: Today was my grocery shopping and laundry day. So that's what I did! We really just hung out for the day, watched a movie, cleaned, played games, etc. It was our day to relax and recuperate.

Monday: We hung out with Jessica all day! It was the best day out of all four. We picked Jessica up after dropping the Mustang at the dealership. Then we brought her to our house, ate some Brie and crackers, then went on a hike up to the Austin Bluffs rock (I know it has a name, I don't know what it is though...). Then we loaded Sims2 on Brandon's computer, so me and Jess could play in the same room! Afterwards, we went to get Rock Band from a guy off Craigslist that we traded for Brandon's paintball gear. We totally rocked on Rock Band for hours until I had to drive Jessica home!

It was a good weekend. I can't until Christmas!! 2 more days!

<3 Chantal

Accidents

In the last 3 or 4 days, Brandon and I have seen an accident every day. We saw one yesterday right in front of us. Today, Brandon just texted me and said he saw one happen. Others happened too. I can't believe it! I'm a big superstitious person, so now I'm real worried to drive anywhere. They were all just fender benders - I'm sure the worst thing that happened was some whiplash - but still, it's worrisome. I don't want our cars destroyed! Or, of course, us injured. Especially since Brandon leaves in less than 3 weeks. We have to watch out now!

<3 Chantal

Attacking Winter

The Colonel says that: You've got to attack winter.

And so we did.

We've been so cold in our apartment every day since the weather turned. We know it's because of our windows. We can feel the air coming in, see the blinds moving, and know that's where the cold is coming. So finally I got an idea! Justin at work told me about these insulating window coverings that shrink-wrap your windows. So we bought them (very cheap, btw), and went to work.

It was tough because our windows are shaped weird and have random parts sticking out. We both kept our patience, because we get frustrated easy with things and with each other, and got to it. About an hour later and two windows down, we were done! I feel warmer already.

On another note, I've been horribly lazy. My body is working fine, my mind isn't. We finally went to work out this morning and boy, was it bad. I ran a quarter of a mile in 2.05 minutes, which is good, but couldn't breathe afterwards! I finished the half mile but had to stop. My lungs were closing, lol. My half mile was 4.55min :(.

Goal for me: Half mile under 4min, mile under 8min, by January 20th. Can I do it? No more laziness!!

<3 Chantal

Early Resolutions

I've been thinking the last couple days about my New Year's resolution. I could only come up with two very attainable and sustainable ones: Read more, write more.

Reading: Read more for school (yeah, I say that every semester, but I have hope!) and read more books that I want to read too.
Writing: Write more for school (like try harder...), write more on my blogs, write more on my stories.

I had a goal at the beginning of this past semester. I told Brandon, "If I write so-and-so amount of pages a day/week, I can finish a book by next May!" Brandon responds with, "Awesome!" Well, I have written close to no pages... I have a myriad of excuses, but it all boils down to distractions. There's always something better to do! Yet I'm constantly thinking of my stories and different plot ideas... I just won't write them down! So writing is a good plan.

Blogs are good too. Brandon leaves in 3 weeks and 1 day for about 9 months, so I thought for a New Year's Resolution that working on my blog would be a good idea. I'll be able to talk to him a lot, but I'll still be alone at home without anyone to tell my random thoughts to. Now it's my blog. And it's a good way to think through things as well.

I was going to start this on January 1st of the new year, mostly because my OCD loves having things start orderly! But I'm breaking it (also I couldn't stop thinking about it, maybe I'm giving in to my OCD?), and starting today.

I decided to not have the titles as dates anymore. That's in my blog anyway. Now the titles will have more descriptive... titles? I think I'm done typing for now. ;)

<3 Chantal