Well....its been a bit

I had surgery on my hip in December....it hasn't been fun to find out that there was a problem with it and go through several rounds of physical therapy and imaging and that whole thing. I am on the mend now....but there is still some stuff going on that I need to figure out, so that is slightly frustrating on top of that I have gained a considerable amount of weight back so I am nearly at where I began when I started to lose weight in 2013. Motivation is lacking, but I do not intend to lay down, I'll come back from this, it hasn't been a year yet. :) I wanted to update a bit, and one of the things that is fresh in my mind is that I bought a used vacuum. It is a Dyson DC 14, an older model to one I have (DC 41) and use a lot, so I thought this will be great! Well, the guy was asking $89 I offered him $40 he came back at $50 and I went and picked it up. I did have him meet me at a place that has an outlet to plug it in and make sure it works. He plugged it in, he even put the head down and moved it around like he was going to vacuum. I did notice a high pitch sound but thought nothing of it because I have heard sounds come from mine that sounded similar. He loaded it up, I gave him my $50, and went on my way.....but not before he took the opportunity on say "if you have any problems, please let me know" so of course that reassured me that my purchase was a good one. I got it home, brought it inside, and I realized then what I had done....the odor coming from the machine was awful, it was horrifically dirty (but that is an easy fix), and I immediately plugged it in and turned it on and realized there were a lot more issues with this machine than I had originally perceived. The sound it made was constant, the sound was so loud I had to test stuff quickly because my ears would have bled. I put the head down to try and vacuum the floor, and I realized it was on bare floor so I put it on "carpet" and.........nothing, the brushes were not spinning. Broken belt? Oh geez!!! I haven't the foggiest about how to maintain these machines, I had always had good experiences with Dyson customer service, so called them up and the guy wasn't able to help me because of how old the machine was so he gave me the number to a repair shop, but basically I was on my own! I was extremely frustrated and so angry I just sat there looking at the machine for a while, and then I took it outside (the odor was horrendous) and started to dismantle it....I found that the older models of DYSON vacuums weren't as complicated as the newer, and it had many places where they had built in easy tabs to take the machine apart to check for clogs etcetera. I was on on a mission.....and I was going to attempt to figure out the problem myself! As I took the pieces off that were made to be removed without a screwdriver or any other tool, it became clear I would need to clean this out, it appeared that the previous owner didn't have have A CLUE of what you can and can not use this type of machine on, it looked as though they had vacuumed up liquid or something to that effect....just stupid! I found where one of the filters for the machine was, and released the tabs and pulled it out, and there was a tear in the seal....so I turned the machine on without the filter in, and the sound was gone! It was like magic had just happened....I was now determined to fix this thing! I called DYSON again and had some help from a representative that took the time to tell me how to clean and take apart stuff I hadn't figured out yet, and he ordered a new filter $29.99 with shipping free. The filter would be a fix for the noise the machine was making, but there was still the issue of the brushes not rotating so I saw the belt was intact.....however with the help of YouTube videos, I was able to take the "clutch assembly" out of the machine (with a bit of trouble and frustration) and in there I found the clutch belt was broken....there are 2 belts in this model. So I then ordered a replacement belt off eBay for roughly $5, and left everything apart awaiting the arrival of the parts. Yay!!!! I was excited I had gotten that far and was so impressed with myself...lol The day came the parts arrived at the same time, and I was so excited I immediately went out to the garage (where I had been watching videos and dismantling the machine) and proceeded to first put in the filter and then I plugged the machine in and turned it on and there was no noise.....YES!!! So unplugged the machine and I put the clutch belt on the assembly and replaced that, and put the machine all back together and Bryen plugged it in. I remember thinking to myself "please let this be it".........I turned it on and it sounded great, the true test was to put the head down and see if the brushes turned. I told Bryen to slowly push the head to the floor and there came a loud sound from the machine like buzzer saying "ERRRRR NO!" Bryen stood it back up really fast, and I quickly turned it off....I then said a few choice words (swung my arms and shit) and went back to work. The sound was like that you hear when you vacuum up the corner of a rug and the brushes get seized up, so, naturally, I thought the brushes needed to be cleaned up. Well whatever the dude vacuumed up really messed the brushes up too because that brush bar was NOT moving so I ordered a new one of those.....got it off eBay for $10. So......at this point I'm roughly $95 in to this machine and I said to my friend "if this doesn't fix it I'm washing my hands of it." So, I waited, I was anxious and hopeful and the new brushes showed up quickly, which was fantastic!<----(speaking of I need to leave feedback for that) I took the brushes saw how nicely they spun in comparison to the one that was on it, and (along with Bryen) went to put it on the machine. After a bit of trouble getting the new brushes on, I told Bruen to plug the machine in and turn it on....he did and as I pushed the head down again he covered his ears, I scrunched my face and closed my eyes and pushed it to the floor and....ahhhhh. OMG!!!! High fives to Bryen we were both hooping and hollaring , I couldn't believe I fixed this piece of shit I bought from this dude for $50 that was broken and I did it by myself! Oh ya, I definitely had to try it, I unplugged it and took it in the house, and watched it beatifully vacuum a portion of my rug! HOT DAMN I FEEL GOOD ABOUT THAT!!!!

Funny Thing

My mom is in here upper 70's and she uses an Iphone and and Ipad and she texts and she facetimes and she is all technical with her new apple products....unless she loses them or drops them in the toilet....LOL!!!! Anyways, the other day I was messaging mom and she mentioned that she had lost her phone and that she was hoping to find it soon and I told her that I would try to call her the next day. When I went to call her, I thought perhaps if she had not found her phone yet she would be able to get a facetime on her Ipad since she was able to text....so I placed a facetime call to her..........ringing.....ringing....I started to think that it wasn't going to work over her Ipad but I thought for sure it would.....and then someone picked up......and they said "This is so and so from the Family History Center in Vernal, Utah, the owner of this phone left it here." I couldn't see a picture and it looked as though the person was covering the camera on purpose to hide their identity to me....and I started to almost get suspicious but I knew that the history center was a place that mom went so....I told them her name, and she kept talking...all along with the camera covered and I just thought that was interesting, just must not want me to see her face...and then...I told her I would text my mom and tell her that they have her phone, the lady said "well if you text her it won't get to her because I have her phone" so I realized then this is someone that doesn't really understand how these tricky apple things work and I told her she has her Ipad where she has been receiving texts, so she was like "OH okay" and then we said goodbye and as I went to hang up I saw her face and realized that she had pulled the phone away from her ear because she had it to her face the entire time I was talking to her! LOL So funny! I was looking at this woman's ear and the side of her face the entire call! My 70 something mother can use these things and yet this 50 something woman doesn't....so so funny!!!!!! Have a good day!

Colorado to Mississippi

It's been quite a while since I last blogged, but I will try to sum it all up. I find myself spending more time on Facebook than I do putting things down in a better place where they will be kept and remembered better. I remember my mom taking time out and writing a little at the end of each day so that there will be a record of things, she spends her time now going through pictures that we had on slides (some are damaged) trying to put them in digital form so that we will have them. So many changes make it difficult to keep and have the things you once used everyday, and now they are all but obsolete, it's sad to me when there are things we have on VHS that I fear we won't ever be able to see again because we don't have a VHS player. There is a lot that has happened since I was on here and I don't think that I will be able to get it all in. Colorado was wonderful, it was one of the BEST duty stations we were able to spend time at. We should still be there now, except the command that RJ was attached to there was decommissioned and so we were forced to move on...it was California....or to Gulfport, Mississippi. We swore we would never move to Mississippi, but when the opportunity arose for it against going back to California...we jumped on it! California is beautiful and a lovely place to live when you're not trying to be sure that your child is well educated...I just could not go back there. It has been interesting, there are things that happened in the move that we have never had happen before like stuff getting damaged and broken so we had to deal with that after getting here, but it all got worked out. Since moving here I have re connected with a dear friend Jessica Nash whom we spent a lot of time with when we were stationed in Missouri several years ago. It has been really wonderful to have a close friend so nearby, it's harder and harder for me to make friends because I know the inevitable time will come where we have to move on to another place and leave them or vise versa and it is heart breaking every time. Some of our friends from NMCB 5 in California are here, and it has been nice to spend a little time with them, and the people we knew in Colorado, a few of them came here as well. RJ was responsible for finding people orders and he really worked hard and did his best to get the people to the places that they wanted to go....it wasn't all on his shoulders to do this, but he really wanted to be sure that he helped out the younger troops. He was 1 of 2 chiefs that were there in CO and it is good that he was stationed there for all of the work that needed to be done.

Since moving here (it's been about a year now) The kids have done a school year and a summer, and Marcus actually started kindergarten this year (BLOW MY MIND) I now spend my days trying to think of something to do outside of house work. I have an interview at a dentist office tomorrow, I only dropped my resume off on Monday and that very same time she asked me to come for an interview on Wednesday. I feel all crazy about it, I want a job, but I also want it to be the hours that I want and to be able to get the time off that I want because of doctors appointments and the fact that I have kids and that they are in school with homework....GAH...it just is a bit overwhelming to me. I can't believe that Marcus is in Kindergarten, it is hard for me to process I think that this is not a temporary thing...my baby is in school and I can't turn back the clock and make it start over....those years flew by and I can never get them back...I feel like I am just watching my kids grow up and soon before I know it they won't live with me anymore...that just brings tears. RJ asked me the other day what I'm going to do with myself when we are retired and he has to work all the time and the kids are all grown...and it made me really think about that...Marcus starting school has made me think about it....and I'm just trying to figure it out. The thought did cross my mind that I don't know who I am without my kids and my husband, I have made them my life and the problem with life is it always changes and it won't stop or wait for you to decide what you're going to do, time is going to pass no matter what you do. Since moving here we have gone on a couple of pretty fun kayaking trips with Jessica and Brice and their girls, and also we have been able to go with Jen and Steve! They were sent to Georgia after out time there in California and we went to CO, but since the command decommissioned we were close enough to them that when the time came for them to get orders we hoped they would be here...but no...all they had for Steve was back to California, so on their way back, they came this way and we got to spend a week with them. It was amazing to see them and it isn't always that you find friends you get along with so well as we do with them. We adore the Maldonado's they are in a very small circle of that we call friends. Rebecca and Phil are a couple that were stationed with us in CO and they went with us on the trip we did with Steve and Jen.

While the Maldonado's were here Jen and I decided to get matching tattoos, we had the hardest time trying to figure out what we were going to do, after all, it is permanently on your body. We thought about it for days, and then I mentioned maybe something about Iceland since that is where we met, and then Jen looked up some things and she found the Icelandic compass and we decided that since we will always find our way back to one another and that we will always be friends, that the compass was the perfect choice....it's a tie we will always have with one another!

We got to see Lee and Audra at new years, we had not seen them since Missouri and it was so good to see them and have the spend some time! They live in South Carolina where Lee's family is and he found a really awesome job after he retired!

It was great to see them! We also got to see our friends Mario and Linda and their boys because they are stationed in Fort Leonard Wood and are discussing possibly coming here after they are done there.

Well....here we are RJ is working so hard trying to prepare for retirement that is coming up on us so fast. Kyle is a freshman in high school, Bryen is in 5th grade chugging along, and Marcus is in Kindergarten. RJ started to volunteer as a reserve police officer for Gulfport PD and he seems to really enjoy it...I don't really enjoy it, but this is what he wants to do when we retires from the military and it would seem that this is the way to go to get his foot in the door for one of departments in Montana. Looks like that is the place we will be retiring, it will be nice to be back in the mountains after spending all of this time here away from our home in the Rockies. RJ starts the academy for the police department in about 2 weeks and after that he will continue to go out and patrol with the guys, he seems to fit right in with those guys, he is made for this kind of thing.

Okay, so the main reason I got on today was because I told Jessica a funny story about my mom losing her phone and so I will share that in another post now that I have mostly caught you up with what has happened since my last one. Mississippi isn't so bad, it's not my favorite but it really is a lot better than what we ever received for schooling for the kids...so for that, I am grateful. I think about another reason I loved Colorado so much was because it was so close to my hometown PLUS it was in the mountains which we have never had since we got married so it was amazing to get those 11 months we got.

A Couple Of Things

I went to a parent teacher conference here at the schools the boys are attending in Colorado Springs (Fort Carson) The Special Education teacher is WONDERFUL, and she wanted to share a story with me about something Bryen had said in class....it's funny. She said they were discussing synonyms of "SHOPPER" a couple of kids had said "buyer" and "spender" and it came to Bryen and he said "Ender" they all were interested to see how he came up with this word, and why he was thinking "ender" and he said "cuz, when you go shopping, and you spend all your money, that the "ender" your money" haha..that was quite entertaining. The other day, Marcus was kicking a plastic bag around, and he was saying something as he kicked each time, when I started listening more closely, I realized he was counting in spanish...YES...he was counting in SPANISH....and NO I do not teach my children to speak anything but English and maybe a few choice words that they shouldn't learn...however...spanish is not in the list....SO...I can only assume he has caught on from "Dora the Explorer" regardless it is really fun to hear that, and he is ONE SMART KID! ♥

List

I'm gonna make a list of things that have happened since the last time I posted on here and fill in...gotta go through stuff first. Also...I copied all of the posts I have on here and put them in a Word document so that I can print them off and have a physical copy to put in my journal...where I hope to keep up in better. I don't know that my life is all that interesting, but I would definitely like to have something for the boys and their kids etc to look back on. Stupid technology taking over and making the important things less important and the not so important things in the forefront of everything else. I'm really gonna try to do better at this. :)

I'm WAY Behind

Oh Boy! I do not even know when the last time I posted on here was, I do know it was a while back but not nearly as long as from the last time I wrote in my journal. I think having that physical book that someone can pick up and read about my life, is much better than this...specially with all of the passwords and all that, we have here....I am frustrated about that because I just haven't done it in so long. Myspace, Facebook, Blogspot...I have been putting all of my attentions into these and not actually writing anything down....there is so much to catch up on in my journal, I am sure I could fill that sucker up. I was talking with mom the other day and she told me to just start where you're at and then as things come back to you write them down....I am a little to much of a freak to be able to do that...so I am trying to get as much information as I can that I put down here or there and print it up that way I can fill in the holes and just catch it up to date. I can't believe that the last time I wrote in that Journal was before we went to Iceland....that was 2003!!!! I mean HOLY COW, it's 2014....it's been over 10 years! Anyways, I just wanted to say this really quick on here and let you all know that and that I am going to try and post on here as well as write in my journal WAY more often than I have in the past years! ♥

Five Finger Shoes

I got myself a pair of Vibram Five Finger Shoes....and I do enjoy wearing them for running, yesterday was the farthest that I have "jogged" in them, it was 1.43 miles, took me a little bit, of course because I'm still new to running...but, my Achilles Tendon is quite sore...I haven't run more than 8 minutes or so in them before and so this was a good test for the shoes to see if I can handle it, you have to break into the shoes slowly...and they are AWESOME...I wish that I had been able to start this program with these shoes...however, I will continue wearing them, because a slight amount of soreness is expected when I haven't used these muscles and tendons as much in the past....the next run I have will be tomorrow, my first 5k, I don't intend on running the entire thing, but it will be a good practice for the "color run" I signed up for in May on my birthday! :)