ER trips & Fun video clips

So Wednesday night we went to the ER for what I thought was a bladder infection, turns out I had a kidney stone in my bladder, and 3 others in my kidney. I passed the one in my bladder at the ER, and caught it so we've sent it to the lab to get it tested so we can find out what is causing them. I've had kidney stones since man, it's been at least 7 years, if not longer, and I've never been able to catch one, I've tried every time I've had them, but I just can't seem to get it. So I was so glad  I finally got it this time!

I didn't have as much pain this time as last time, and I think it had to do with the fact that we went early to the ER instead of waiting until I was in too much pain....

While there, the LT was playing around, his chair spun, so of course he played on it. And I got it on video, I love recording him because I always catch his silliness, and that is one of the things I love the most about him! And There are also pictures from the ER visit, these are all before I was moved to a bed and stuck with needles for an IV...so I wasn't too upset, and I even put on Twitter "Even though I'm in pain and might have a kidney stone I can still smile BC I have @negley22 by my side" He definitely went above and beyond in husbandly duties that night, and I am forever grateful to him, he is really the best thing that has happened to me in a long time, and I just thank God daily for him!

I am feeling a little better, I haven't passed any more stones, I think they might just stay in my kidney, I have to make an appointment with a specialist to see what the stone was made of, and find out if there is something we can do to stop them from forming since this is the second time in 4 months that I've gotten them. Anyways, just thought I'd update ya'll, and show you the fun stuff, ha!

Without further ado, I give you the LT in the ER! hahahaha

Red Cross Messages

The LT and I talked the other day about things we need to inform our families about. And one of those was how to send a Red Cross Message, and when to send one. So here goes(I got all this information from this site):

The Red Cross sends messages quickly, anywhere in the world, including ships at sea, embassies and to isolated military units. The information or verification in a message assists the service member's commanding officer in making a decision regarding emergency leave.

When to send a Red Cross Message:
*the death or serious illness of a family member
*other important events, such as the birth of a child

How to send a Red Cross Message:
*Active duty service members stationed in the United States and their immediate family members can call the Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Service Centers for help seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The toll-free telephone number is (877) 272-7337.
*Other family members who do not reside in the service members' household, members of the National Guard and Reserves, retirees and civilians may access Red Cross services through their local Red Cross chapter. Red Cross chapters are listed in local telephone books and on the American Red Cross Web site.

Things you HAVE to KNOW in order to send a Red Cross Message:
*Service Member's Full Name
*Rank/Rating
*Branch of Service
*Social Security Number
*Military Address
*For messages to service members stationed in the United States, you will need the Unit name and address.
*For messages to service members on deployment, you will need the deployment address (APO/FPO)
(I will give you all that information at a later date. Most of you know most of it, but if you don't, please call me, and I can help you send one.)

Because of the new privacy rules, you will have to give the doctor, or hospital, permission to give information to the American Red Cross.

Having the above information on hand before you call will avoid delays in processing the message.

If you have any questions about what events would require a Red Cross Message please contact one of us. I hope this was helpful.

Sunday Drives

"I'm the KING of the World" - haha

We went on a drive around the island today. Our main objective was to see Blow Hole, which is a small hole in a cliff that when the surf breaks on it, it looks like the Blow Hole of a whale, and there are also whales that show up too.

I got some AMAZING pictures of the Blow Hole in action!

That man is CRAZY for being out there, the surf was very choppy....further in the background is Sandy Beach!

This is Diamond Head, we did not hike up it today, but the LT went up it with his Best Friend when he was in town in March.

See the shadowed people - That's us, I did NOT even notice that until we were looking at the pictures on the computer, isn't that cute!! :)

We had a GREAT day, and the weather was so pretty, unlike earlier this week, when it was RAINING, I am so ready for the rainy season to be over. Hopefully with all the April Showers the May Flowers will be amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope everyone has a great week, and hope everyone had a great weekend!!! We had a 3 day, but the LT had to stay up all night Thursday night, so he slept Friday, and we ran errands yesterday. So today was an adventure day. We would have yesterday, but I've been having headaches lately.

Changes

I'm making some changes around here. I know, I know, I just made some, but this is something that will make it easier for ALL of us! It's a new comment system that a lot of people are using these days. I hate to become a follower and do like they are, but it truly does make sense, and is super easy to respond to comments, unlike the Blogger system. Here is the deal - it's called Disqus (this is the register link), it is a FREE service, and you can even sign into it with your OpenID (I'm not sure what that is...), it's just an easy way to keep track of comments you've made, and comments I get. And it makes it easier to know if someone responds to your comments, and keeps you from having to find the persons link and blog, because lets face it, having to go through all those steps is just pain stakingly dull. Ok, so here is how it works. You can go to Disqus and create an account, or you can create it when you leave a comment. There is a "name" "website" and "email" form under the comment box. Fill it out so I can respond to you, make a Disqus account if you'd like. If you already have one, then sign in, or just fill it out and hit respond. I hope I've made it clear, if you don't understand something please e-mail me - mandanegley09[at]gmail[dot]com

Show Us Your Life - How you met your mate

This week over at Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life it's all about how you met your husband/wife. Head over to her site to link up, and go here to see the schedule for future posts!!

So most people know our story, but some don't, so I thought I'd share it. It's going to be picture heavy, so you've been warned ;)

We met on a free dating site called OKCupid, I was on the site for all the fun quizzes and his best friend at the time had set his up for him. Neither one of us was looking for someone to date on the site. So when we started talking in Feb. 2009 neither one of us thought it would lead to much, but once we met in person we both knew it was something special!

He came to visit Chattanooga in March 2009, the picture above is from our first weekend together. We spent every day together that weekend, and things just went from there.

He made several trips to Chattanooga that first month, and I went down to visit him a few times as well.

Our relationship was on the fast track since he was scheduled to move to Hawaii for the Army later that year. And he had to go to Fort Benning, GA and then to Fort Sill, OK for training before then.

Even though neither of us thought it would go anywhere, we both knew from an early time that we would marry, and he asked me to move with him to Hawaii, and I told him that it was way to far to move without some sort of commitment. So we decided around June/July 2009 to get married. At the time he had just graduated and was in Fort Benning, GA. We met in Dahlonega, GA every weekend, except a couple, where once I went to Benning and the other he had to stay in Benning.

By the time he was leaving for Fort Sill, OK I had been laid off, and was going to look for a job, but decided since I hadnt' found one yet I'd go visit him in OK, so he bought me a plane ticket for a week, and I went to see him. I was only suppose to stay a week, but we were late to the airport and I missed my flight, and so we decided to save some money and that I would stay longer. What began as a week long trip turned into a month long trip. While there we offically got engaged, so we started planning. His mother was very helpful in the planning since we decided to do it in Dahlonega. Our original wedding date was Nov. 14, but the Army was not going to allow him to take leave in the hole, so we moved it up two weeks, Oct. 31. I had to go home to help plan, and so I left OK and went home. On his way back to Fort Sill from the airport, it was raining, and he hydroplaned, luckily he was not hurt, however, his car was totalled, so he needed me to drive out with my car so that we could drive back together when he was finished.

While I was back home we found a dress, planned as much as we could, and I even had a bridal shower, and we had webcam dates(as pictured above). Since I didn't have time, I had to take my wedding dress to OK and get it altered there, how I managed to get it done with out him seeing is still a mystery, but we did it. And I found a lady who did alterations in her home, and she did my alterations for LESS THAN $50!!!!

We left OK 2 or 3 days before our wedding. He wanted to drive through Texas, Lousisanna, Missippi, Alabama, because he had never been to Louisanna or Missippi, he doubled our trip. It was very stressful, but we got home in time to meet with the paster, who we had not been able to meet with until then, and get our marriage license, and we also changed my car into his name.

Our wedding was very small, but it was perfect! We were married on Oct. 31, 2009. We went to Atlanta for a couple days for a honeymoon and then drove to Chattanooga to get my things. We packed my things and drove back to Dahlonega, and then that weekend I drove him to the airport and he was off to Hawaii.

Almost a month to the day I was on my way to Hawaii!! Where we have been living happily since Dec. 2009. We rushed the marriage thing, and we taking our time on the children thing. We figure it is something we can take our time on, since everything else happened so fast. Although, we would happily welcome a child right now, we are not actively trying.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about our love story! Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Educate Yourself, you'll thank yourself later

I really wasn't going to give in to this woman, but after thinking about it, and after much thought and cursing, I've decided that things needed to be straightened out. I don't think it is right for anyone to post some one's full name on a blog, even if it is left when they leave a comment. I did not post my comment for her to devote a whole post* to me, (quite frankly I'm surprised and curious as to why she picked on me, when several people said things along the same lines as I did. I guess since I didn't post anonymously she felt she was "entitled" to calling me out) I left it to defend the men and woman who are in the Armed Forces, most importantly, my husband, who has been dreaming of being in the Army since he was a little boy.

She posted another post* along the same lines as yesterdays(the past few posts have been pretty much repeats of the others, just worded differently and with different examples), so my intention is to give examples, like she did, of what she said isn't all true. I think it's only fair to give you both sides of the story. I believe whole heartily that you should be well educated about things before you attack someone, or something.

A little background, on April 15 she wrote a post* about how she didn't like taxes, and I responded, and then she proceeded to close comments, after writing some more on it, and so I probably might have been out of line, but I went to the post* below it to leave another comment. And that is when she took it upon herself to place a link to my blogger profile, with my last name, which I had put on the blog, I have taken it off, and changed things on here, as so not to be put in that situation again. I don't think it is right to put someone else's last name on your personal blog, if it is not yours. Whether they have it as their blogger name or not. It isn't right.

The things she is putting on her blog about our military is very misguided, and I think taken way out of context. That isn't to say that some of the stuff she said isn't true, because some of it is, but I don't think it is fair to generalize. Here is my comment in response to her, because someone wanted to know what I had to say. So here it is, and I think it is very well said, and I don't think it was offensive or written to fuel this fire that has started.

I did not respond yesterday because frankly, you upset me. I didn't post the comment for you to put my name on your blog, I just felt that what I had to say would have been seen as cowardly if I had posted it anonymously. I am sorry you feel so strongly about this, but I have to tell you that not all people in the military are kids right out of high school, that isn't to say there are those who are. My husband spent 5 years in college before he joined the Army and got a degree, and plans to go for a Masters, so I think generalizing was wrong.



You also said that innocent people are being killed, it's true, however, when this first started we were very compassionate towards woman and children, and they have learned that, so now they are using that to their advantage and straping bombs to the woman and children. So they have been told to proced with caution. It is sasd that woman and children are being killed, no doubt, but if a child comes up to someone in the military and looks to have a bomb, they are going to do everything in their power to make sure nothing happens.


That video you posted was sad, but like I said above, they have been trained to proceed wtih caution, and act if they think they have a weapon, I looked at the video, you can't tell what they are carrying around, and from where the video was being recorded it looked like weapons. They were just following orders. And the fact that they were laughing and what not is wrong, but that is how some people deal with hard things.


I am not trying to cause a fight, that was NOT what I wanted in the first comments I left, but I just get very upset when my husband's character and job are being attacked.


Ok, onto what she's said, I am going to post what she said, and then post what I have to say. I am going to do my best to give you supporting documents to what I say. I hope you can follow along, and I hope it makes sense.

This is not warfare. This is a handful of young guys, losers, who could amount to nothing better after high school than to join the military for a paycheck, playing war games.

This one is one that really hit hard, seeing as my husband is a College graduate with a Bach. in Philosophy and Political Science with a minor in Spanish(that's 2 degrees and 1 minor, if you were wondering), it took him 5 years to get that degree, and he worked very hard to finish his schooling. And I am very proud of him, seeing as I am still trying to figure out what I want to get a degree in, and have been in and out of school more times than I care to admit (I am way off topic, so I'll end there, and this is not about me) There are several men and woman in the service who did join straight from high school, some did for the paycheck, like she said, however, most do it for more honorable reasons. Just go here to see the Enlistment Standards. My husband joined after graduating from college, while in college he was in ROTC and also served in the Reserves for a time, he became an Officer, as per what this link will depict. And my husband just informed me that pilots have to have a lot of education, so they are not high school educated losers.

As for soldiers fighting for our civil liberties, our civil liberties were guaranteed to us in the Bill of Rights, and have existed long before this war.

I'm pretty sure the Bill of Rights allows us, as Americans, the Freedom of Speech, and I do believe there was a war that led to the writing of the Bill of Rights, it's called the American Revolutionary War.

I guess this is the animalistic behavior one should expect when a policy of "Don't ask, don't tell" allows "natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed" (II Peter 2:12, Jude 1:10) in the military.

Uhmm, everyone should already know that the "Don't ask, don't tell"(DADT) is NOT about what happens over there, it is about not allowing homosexuals to be openly gay. I am not saying that this policy is right, however, the military feel it is for the safety of homosexuals. As for the verses she quotes, 2 Peter 2:12 says "But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed" - the Armed Forces does a very good job of educated their men and women, and so they aren't going into these countries randomly killing people, and again, the fact that she is using the DADT in her argument doesn't hold much to that verse. As for Jude 1:10 "But these men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed." is just a different way of saying 2 Peter 2:12. So yea, DADT is not about how they fight, but about the policy for homosexuals in the Armed Forces. Which if anyone watches the news knows Obama is trying to repeal DADT.

To be honest, I don't have the energy to dispute EVERYTHING she said, but I just picked a few things that just really were so outlandish. Like I said, this is not to fuel the fire, it is not to call people names or anything. I am just someone who thinks it is good to have all the facts. This is the one and only post I will do about this stuff, and if I were you I would leave her well enough alone. I am. And I will not be publishing negative comments, so you might as well just not try. I have too much going on to deal with any more drama, as this has taken way more time than I would have liked, and that is my fault, so no more. As this blog was first created as a way for our families to keep in touch with us. So after this post, that is what it will go back to, an informative blog for our families, since we are over 4K miles away from them.

*I am only linking to her site so you have something to reference from, not to be rude or to call attention to her, I just want ya'll to understand what happened, and see both sides. That is all

A video

I wasn't going to react to something someone wrote, but I feel that it is something I should do. I'm not going to name names or post links to this person, if you've come from her site, please only leave positive comments, I don't post on this site for you or anyone other than our familes back home. People make mistakes, and it was probably a mistake to go to this persons site and say what I did, I don't regret what I said, because I stand firm in my position to support our troops. I think it is horrible that innocent people have been killed by the hands of our troops, and it is sad that kids have to die, but those children are being used as a weapon against us. Small children are being used as targets for us, and they have fed into our compassion for them by attempting to harm our men and woman. It is sad and sick and wrong. But this isnt' what this post is about. It is merely a video of a song that means the world to me, and speaks volumns of the things our men and woman have done through out the years to protect us. Again, I wasn't going to respond to her, and I guess in a way I am, but I'm not going to link to her, or name names, I'm sure ya'll are educated enough to figure it out, because chances are if you're on my site it's because of her.

Again, this blog is for our families who we moved far away from, to keep them informed in our life, and to let them know we are okay. It was also something I wanted to do so that if we begin to have children they would have a place to come to see our child grow and change. Since they live so far away right now. I was very upset when I read that post, and after this post I am not going to give her the satisfaction of a response. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, but it saddens me when people are so misguided and ill informed.

Thank you to those who have come from her site and offered your positive comments. They mean the world to me, and I'm sure they will brighten my husband's day.

Please enjoy this video, you may need tissues!

Friends & 4 Day weekends

Hey guys! It's been a while since I wrote an actual blog, and for that I'm sorry. I'm (Amanda) going through a rough time right now, and am spending more time posting on my personal blog. So ok, on to what this post is about, because it is not about how I've been feeling, ha!

Steven and I went to dinner Saturday night with a friend I met through a community on a site called The Blog Frog, her husband is in the Navy, and they are stationed here in Hawaii as well. So we went to dinner with them, it was a lot of fun! They are a really great couple, and I think we'll be doing dinner with them a lot more now! After dinner, Steven and I both got sick. I'm not sure what it was, we both at the same thing, so there is no telling which one of the foods was the reason we got sick. But man, it was rough. The food was really good, so it's a shame it made us sick. We went to this place over at Aloha Tower called Gordon Biersch Brewery & Restaurant(for those in Chattanooga, think Big River Grille.)

By the time Saturday came around Steven had been off work for 2 days, Thursday and Friday were DONSA's (Day of no scheduled activity) and we got some shopping done, some cleaning done, some relaxing, some quality time! It was amazing. We were suppose to have dinner with a guy he shares an office with, but it just didn't work out, so maybe next weekend! Sunday we did NOTHING, didn't even leave the house. Some times, those are the best days! Especially since we had errands to run Thursday and Firday...and we were out Saturday too.

Anyways, I guess that is all for now, just thought I'd give ya'll a recap of our weekend. I think I might start doing that on Mondays or Tuesdays now.

Military Monday's, erm, Wednesday's...oops

So this is a Meme for Monday's, but I forgot about it, so I figured I'd do it today! Ha! Click on the button to head over to the Meme!

So, I'm gonna tell ya about this week, even though it is only Wednesday, but a lot has happened this week so far, so I'll fill ya'll in:

Monday - I went to ACS about a collections call I got Thursday and Friday where I got yelled at. So I went and talked to a lady who is helping with the Dave Ramsey class we are taking on Wednesday nights. She got them on the phone, and got that all taken care of. But I have another appointment next week to work on a plan to pay off our debts. YAY! Ya'll are going to laugh at me, but that's ok, that's what I'm here for =P My appointment was at 1pm, so I get in my car and I'm heading that way, and then as I'm about to cross over onto Schofield I look at the clock, it's only 11:45am, a whole hour and fifteen minutes before I have to be there...HAHAHAHA, and then I ended up being late to the appointment because when I got back home, LT came home and we ate lunch, but I didn't start mine until 12:45 when I was wanting to leave, oops....I'm a big dork most days, so it's all good. I try to be the comic relief, it works most days, ha!

Tuesday - what a busy day, I was suppose to go to PWOC, but I had a horrible headache, so I slept in, but I had to go to a Volunter Recogniztion Ceremony at 3 for our Battery, the guys played a friendly game of football, so I left the house to go there about 2, but no other wives were there, so I went over to the PX and got a drink at Starbucks with the giftcard I got at a baby shower on Sunday, it was the cutest idea, they used baby socks as holders, and I sat and read for about 30 min, and headed back over about 2:40, and by then other wives were there. Man, those ladies were all younger than me, and they were all enlisted wives, so I felt WAY outta place, ha! But they were nice, so it worked out! After the guys played football, they got in formation and we did the ceremony. About 6 ladies were recognized, only 4 were there. And a new baby was recognized. The cutest little 2 week old girl, with this major head of hair, she is the cutest! Later that night, there was a FRG meeting, and we had pizza and talked about things. We got this cute frame since we are new to the Battery. And the FRG leader who is going to take over next week came and met some of us, I already knew her, since we were both in the other Battery together. We have the change of command next week. It is so exciting and sad at the same time. It's a great feeling....

Wednesday - I've done some house work, and just resting, since I still have a headache, but we have the Dave Ramsey class tonight! So that's fun!

Oh on Friday I'm going to be getting a hair cut, let me know what ya'll think of this one, I'll probably go longer, and it'll stay brown, haha

Anyways, that is all that is going on with us right now. Sorry it's so late, but better late than never, and I'm really going to try to update this one more often. Hope ya'll are doing great!

Military Monday's - Training and Staff Duty

I found this new carnival from a friend who was participating in it this week, and it seems like fun!

So we're suppose to write about something Military related that has happened in the last month or so...EASY!

I'm gonna back to March though, because that is when he went in for some new training, and that has led to some of the things that have happened up to now, and plus, it's only April 5, so March ended not so long ago!

My hubs had to go to a 2 week long JFO course, luckily it was on island, and he didn't have to go to Oklahoma for 2 weeks. Luckily for us, also, he passed the course, if he had not have passed he would surely have had to go to Oklahoma for 2 weeks to take the course, as that was the last cycle they were doing on island, until November. But he finished, passed, and within a few days was moved to a new battery!

Which brings me to the next big thing that has happened for us! He is now in charge of 5 enlisted soldiers, and in a few months will be the Platoon leader, in charge of 40 some guys! His battery is getting a new commander in a few weeks, and so they are super busy getting things ready for the change of command, and since he now has an actual position in a battery he is super busy. Which is a big jump from where he was before this class, sitting in an office playing games on his phone. Yes folks, the Army paid him to sit in an office and do NOTHING! I joked with him about how all the times he complained about sitting around doing nothing is going to look great since he now is go, go, go all day!

According to his LES we should be getting a raise this month since it'll be his 2 year mark. But we aren't holding our breath, seeing as he's been Active Duty for less than a 1 year. I've heard though, that they base this on when you started getting paid, and he started getting paid 2 years ago this month! A raise would be great right now! It wouldn't be much, but it'd help!

Another thing he's had to do is Staff Duty, which if it is just Battalion Staff Duty you just go in a couple times through the night to make sure things are alright, or they'll call you if something goes wrong. If it is Brigad Staff Duty you have to spend the night in Brigad. Well, Steven switched with someone so he had Brigad Staff Duty one night and then 2 nights later had Battalion Staff Duty. His Brigad Staff Duty just happened to be on a DONSA (Day of no scheduled activity) which meant he had to go in at 9am and stay until 9am the next day. YUCK! And the power went out at our house for the WHOLE night, I was scared. I never sleep well when he has Brigad Staff Duty (this was his second time) and the whole power going out on my way to bed, didn't help! But it was all good. The power ended up coming back on at 8 in the morning.

That's about all I can think of that has happened in the last month. There are a lot of pregnant wives in our Battalion, but I think that has to do with the fact that they got back from a deployment in October!

Hope you enjoyed my first time doing Military Monday!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Easter

"Thank You Thursdays"

I usually do "I 'heart' Thursdays" but this week I decided to do "Thank You Thursdays" that a new blog friend does every week :)

You can find her here, I am pretty sure clicking her button will take you to her blog, but if not then I'll post a link too -



Here is the direct link to this week's Thursday post on her site - she goes by "Captain" on her site! She is a lovely lady!

So how this works is you write Thank You's to people, places or things. They can be sincere or sarcastic!

"Thank You" to my wonderful husband for always loving me and making me feel special! I love you!

"Thank You" to my dishwasher that always makes my dishes smell like BUTT...I really do love you, NOT!

"Thank You" to my friends for making me smile when I want to cry!

"Thank You" to my new friends on BlogFrog for opening my eyes to different sides of things, and for support. I am so grateful to have met ya'll!

"Thank You" to our families for supporting us through everything! We love you!!!!!

I think that is all for now, and I realize that it is Friday in most places, but I still have a couple hours of Thursday left :)