Liebster Blog Award, Again!

So, after I was recently nominated for the Liebster Blog Award, I found out that I was nominated again! Sweet Molly at Carry Your Heart With Me nominated me and I am now doubly honored to receive this award. Since I already nominated my 11 people and asked them my questions, I thought it would just be fun to answer Molly's questions! 

1. How did you meet your husband/fiance? ( I just really love Sarah's answer to this question so I wanted to hear it again) 

• Bryan and I met while I was in High School and he was attending a local college studying Computer Animation in Orlando, Florida. My friend's brother was friends with him and introduced us. Obviously, my mother was not to keen on me dating someone five years my senior, but I couldn't helping myself, I was quite smitten! We dated quietly for a while until I finally turned 18 and graduated high school and let the whole world know where my heart was. When he left for Basic in 2008, I was a coward and told him I think we should take a break and focus on other things. Truly, I was terrified of my heart hurting every day he was gone and missing him so much. Once I realized how silly my heart was making me, I wrote him a heartfelt letter, sent it to Fort Benning, GA and begged him to take me back (classy, right?). Six months later, he put a ring on it and I'm so glad he did, because there is no one else I'd rather wake up to every morning!

2. What is the best way you have found to pass the time while they are gone? 

• I tend to go on organizing/cleaning sprees while Bryan is away. Though, lately I have taken to a few Pinterest craft projects and I'm really having a great time doing them!

3. What is a base/post you've loved/hated? 

• We've only lived at two (Fort Stewart and Fort Drum) but we've visited several. Each post has a special place in my heart for different reasons. Fort Gordon always gives me butterflies because that is where Bryan and I really began this Army life. He was there for 18 weeks during AIT and I really got a feel for the Army and I was so proud of him. Stewart is where we bought our first home, had our first baby, fell in love with our first baby and where Bryan really began his Army career, I had a job that I adored in the heart of Savannah and a great extended family that we miss more and more each day, I could cry just thinking about that place! That said, we are settling in quite nicely at Fort Drum and I love the charming views, looking into the distance and seeing mountains (or are they hills?) and swooning over the adorable wildlife. 

4. What is your favorite military tradition? i.e balls, promotion ceremonies, etc

• I LOVE cadences! Nothing makes my heart quite as happy as hearing a company of soldiers calling cadence in unison. Bryan's 1SGT at Fort Stewart had an amazing voice and is by far, the best "cadence caller" I've heard to date. My Favorite is "Yellow Ribbon," always ahs been and likely always will be.

5. What is your favorite book you've recently read? 

• I recently started reading the second book in The Hunger Games series, I know I'm late to the party but so far, The Girl Who Caught Fire has me very intrigued. I'm super bummed we have to wait another year for the movie!

6. Did (Will) you have a military wedding? 

• Not really. Bryan wore his Class A's and we ran away to the beach with a JOP and said "I Do!" It was small and perfect, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

7. What do you think about ACU purses? Look here for examples if you don't know what I am talking about? 

• I hate them. I don't think my husband's job should ever define me, I do not define myself as an Army Wife in the sense that I need to brag about it via ACU purses or tacky bumper stickers on my car. I am Bryan's wife and I don't feel like strangers walking down the street need to know my affiliation with the military.

8. Do you have pets? 

• We have one cat, that said, I'm not a big cat person. However, she is a very sweet kitty and makes my son and husband very happy!

9. What area would you like to be stationed? 

• We have declared our "dream post" to be Fort Campbell. We love the south and would be quite content to never leave the East coast. Being away from the south does some crazy stuff to your head! But we have always said if given the chance to go to Germany or Italy, we'd pack our house up in a heartbeat!

10. What posts are you trying to avoid like the plague? 

• Polk, Irwin, basically the ones in the middle of nowhere. Ha!

11. How desperate do you have to be to brave the commissary on pay day? 

• There has to be a hurricane headed my way at warped speed and my pantry has to be totally bare. I hate the commissary on pay day! Everyone is like vultures fighting over the freshest road kill, it's so sad! Finding a rocket ship cart is like finding a needle in a hay stack and even though they clearly say "DO NOT REMOVE FROM STORE" on them, everyone does and leaves them all over the HUGE parking lot. It's rude, people, R-U-D-E! Yeah, so even the thought of it makes me angry. 

**BTW, Molly, I totally LOVED your military themed questions, if you couldn't tell by my long, drawn-out answers! 

Happy Insta Tuesday, y'all!

My, oh my. It's a lot easier to be a social media butterfly after the commotion of your husband getting ready to leave has settled! So, for the first time I am linking up with Taingamala for Insta Tuesday! I'm pretty excited! Y'all can find me on Instagram under AlyssaJames21. :)

I seriously draw blanks when it comes to a meal plan fit for just a momma and her toddler.

Day 3 of C25K and I felt like death, but I didn't give up!

On a rainy Monday, Aydan enjoyed watching "Momo" on Youtube. 

While picking up a few last minute things before NTC, Bryan was tempted by this awesome Pink Digi Backpack. 

Sometimes, you just need to stop and dance (and be extra safe doing so by wearing Dad's PT belt!)

My not so little boy and I at the splash park!

The Liebster Blog Award

The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.

The lovely Allison @ Keep Calm and Soldier On nominated me for this sweet award.

This is the second time I've been nominated for this award and I am so very excited! 

The Rules:

- Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

- Answer the questions that the tagger set for you PLUS create 11 questions for the people you've tagged to answer.

- Choose 11 people and link them in your post.

- Go to their page and tell them.

No tag backs!

NTC Mater

In my last post I briefly mentioned that Aydan gave his daddy his very favorite Mater truck to take to NTC with him. This has been so much fun! I love seeing new photos pop on my phone each day and even Aydan can't help but smile at the new places Mater gets to go each day! So, here is where Mater has been so far!

Mater managed to catch the New York sunset before heading onto the big airplane!

On the plane ready to head to California, but first he must much watch his safety brief via his personal TV!

After a five hour flight, it was time for a three hour bus ride. Sheesh!

Finally, a gross lunch is served! 

Being a soldier is hard work, Mater needed a nap!

Mater met a Humvee that was much bigger than him, but he wasn't intimidated one bit.

After a busy day, he must get some work done. A public affairs soldier mustn't rest until the story is done!

I'm ALIVE!

Yes, a slacker, but alive nonetheless.

Please forgive me for completely falling off the blog-wagon. At the time of my last post, we hadn't even been here a month and now we are quite settled here at Drum and a few major changes have taken place.

So, I'll just jump right into it! I, yes me, Alyssa, enlisted in the U.S. Army. I swore in on July 3, 2012 and my ship date is January 2, 2013 to Fort Sill, OK for Basic Training. Crazy, right? I did a lot of soul searching on my own before coming to this decision and when I was ready, I brought it up to Bryan and eventually to my amazing, supportive friends and family. Bryan was by far the greatest friend and husband during this time and I am so grateful for his support. Ultimately, I decided that I love being a mommy so much, it is everything I could ever want to be, however one day Aydan isn't going to need a mommy so much anymore and I'm going to be a real-life, normal person again. Does that even make sense? In order to be the complete, well-rounded person I aspire to be, I really felt like I needed to further my education and of course, the Army gives me plenty of freedom to do that! I will be a 35F Intelligence Analyst, and I my contract is three years long. I'm excited, nervous, scared out of my damn mind, EVERYTHING. I've had a few really weak days lately with the thoughts of leaving my sweet baby for nine weeks of BCT, but I'm doing my best to keep my goals in mind and reminding myself that this does make me a better mom in the long run. This opportunity allows us to open so many more doors for Aydan that neither of us ever had growing up.

Now that that's out of the way... we are truly falling in love with Fort Drum. This place really got a bad rep and we heard all of the horrible stories before we got here, but it seems like everyone failed to mention of truly beautiful it is up here. Being from Florida, I always swooned over the beach and the occasional dolphin I would see. The wildlife here fascinates me beyond belief! We see turkeys, deer, groundhogs and porcupines on a daily basis, I truly love it!

So, since nothing really sums up a long absence better than some iPhone pictures, I'll catch you up via some of my Instagram photos!

To say that my "little" Aydanator has gotten big, is an understatement. This little monster is 35 inches tall and 30lbs these days! Woah!

These two boys rock my world, and apparently I talk too much, according to Aydan! 

I completed my very first Pinterest project, a pool noodle wreath! 

Aydan had his first visit to the ice cream truck, it made for a great evening as a family, outside enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having! 

Aydan also visited the world's worst ER. After coughing up blood in their waiting room, we still waited an hour to see a doctor and we were told the "coughing up blood is really no big deal, it just looks dramatic." Noted! **Insert annoyed, sarcastic, mommy eye roll here**

Aydan helped Daddy kiss his old rank goodbye at his promotion ceremony! 

Aydan has become quite the social media butterfly. He has uploaded countless pictures to IG and made many FB comments, posts and called at least half of my contacts list. Oy!

Again, who is this kid?! And where is my baby?!

The "Incredibooth" app is free in the iPhone App Store this week, we had a few minutes of fun with it! Check it out and share your photo strips! 

Bryan left for NTC recently and Aydan decided he needed a travel buddy, so he let him borrow his favorite Mater truck. I'll keep y'all updated on Mater's adventures over the next month! Until then, feel free to follow me on IG or Twitter (alyssajames21)!  

Simple, Delicious Chili Recipe

Happy Thursday, Blog Friends! I am currently still trying to catch up from the Blog Hop and follow all of you sweet MilSpouses back and read all of your Blog Hop blog posts!

Lately the weather here at Drum has been heavenly! On average our high is somewhere around 74 on a daily basis! With such great weather, we have been spending a lot of time outside and I've been taking advantage of Aydanator's nap time to look for jobs and catch up on housework. So, that doesn't leave much time to prep and prepare big, elaborate meals. This is why God created Crock Pot's. Seriously.

I love chili, especially on rainy or cold days. While it's not your typical summer meal, it's definitely a good meal on a busy day! Browsing the web for something so simple sure did turn up a few very complicated recipes! So, I'm happy to share my very simple recipe with y'all and I hope you'll enjoy it! Enjoy!

Super Simple Chili


Ingredients:

• 2 - Cans Black Beans (Use what ever combination of beans you like best!)
• 1 - 26.46 oz Box of Pomi Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 - 26.46 oz Box of Pomi Pureed Tomatoes
• 2 - Pouches of McCormick Chili Seasoning (Store brand works just as well!) 
• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• 1 - Medium Onion Diced
• 6 Cloves of Garlic Crushed and finely chopped

Extras:

• Fritos
• Shredded Cheese
• Sour Cream
• Chopped Chives

Brown your ground beef and sautee the onions and garlic until the onions are slightly brown and translucent.

Combine all of the ingredients into the Crock Pot and give it a good stir. Turn the Crock Pot on low for 6-8 hours (4 Hours on High if you're in a rush) and serve! Add any and all toppings that you wish and enjoy!

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day! Blog Hop!

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day! In honor of this special day for such a special group of women (and men), Ann Marie from Household 6 Diva and RC from Riding the Roller Coaster are hosting a MilSpouse BlogHop for all MilSpouses to get to know each other! I couldn't be more thrilled! If you're interested head on over! There's even an opportunity to win some really great giveaways! 

I'm Alyssa, I started my blog a little less than a year ago and has been a little bit of an adjustment trying to find my "niche." That said, I think I'm getting there. I absolutely love "catching up" with all of my fellow milspouses via the Blogosphere! I am honored and so blessed to me surrounded my such a fabulous group of women! 

I am the proud wife to a Broadcast Journalist in the U.S. Army and we most recently relocated to Fort Drum, NY. There was a lot of uncertainty involved with getting here, but we are here and it's not so bad! I heard a lot of mixed reviews and maybe I'm just completely oblivious considering I haven't seen a winter just yet, but it really is beautiful here. My Soldier was most recently stationed at Fort Stewart, GA where we soaked up lots of sunshine and I worked for Mrs. Paula Deen herself at The Lady and Sons! Considering I grew up in Central Florida, there was not much of a culture shock when I relocated to Savannah after marrying my sweet husband in March of 2009. 

Savannah brought us many blessings, including our first home and our first child, Aydan! He is the greatest give I have ever been given and I am oh so honored to be his momma. He is now a wild and crazy 1 1/2 year-old! He is finding his voice and boy does he jabber! He is our little ray of sunshine and I'm so glad because Fort Drum sure does offer it's share of dreary days! 

I hope you will follow me as we tackle Fort Drum and find our little place in Upstate New York! I am eager to make the best of what the Army gives us and soak up my soldier and our little ray of sunshine!

Please let me know you've been by so that I can follow you back! I can't wait to see what's going on in your little piece of the blogosphere!

XO

Alyssa