Best.Day.Ever.

This is all you get for now.
Pictures of the hugs and kisses will come later.
You know, when I'm not busy enjoying every second of R&R with husband :]

My Personal Heaven

I am obsessed with old people. Seriously, obsessed. I love everything about them: their wrinkly faces, the combed-over, white hair, and best of all, the vast array of multi-colored suspenders. Every time I see one of those shiny bald heads or saggy, age-spotted faces, I pretty much have to stop myself from breaking into a happy dance.

Recently, as luck would have it, I discovered the favorite meeting place of the old and wrinkly: Costco, on coupon day. I'm telling you, that place was crawling with white-haired people clutching coupons and meandering down the isles at the speed of snail. Discounts and dollar hot dogs draw in the old folks like you wouldn't believe. And shopping amongst them was like visiting my personal heaven. I even got the chance to take a few secret pictures. Those pictures, combined with the plethora of old people, pretty much made my whole year.

Rainbow suspenders?! Can I please keep him?

When we got to the food court area, I made sure to pick the table right in the middle of the old people action. Then this sweet old man smiled at me by the soda fountain and I almost died of happiness.

How can anyone resist these old, sagging faces and possibly toothless grins?! I know I sure can't. So next time you're at Costco, keep an eye out. Maybe you'll begin to understand what I'm talking about.

Until then, I'll be in the food court trying to make a new [old] friend.

My Love, My Valentine

Two years ago, Chris was deployed. We were "just friends". I sent him packages and letters and we talked all the time. One day, I opened the mail box to find a stack of pink and red cards, all addressed to me. Of course, they were from Chris. I flipped through the stack and found one was special...

...so I opened all of the other cards first. Some were goofy and some were super sweet. I loved every one of them. Then I got to the last card. Again, I read the note on the back: "This one's special. Open it last." Suddenly I was nervous. With shakey hands and a racing heart, I opened the card that would change my life, the card that told me Chris loves me. Less than 3 months later, Chris was home and we were engaged.

This Valentine's Day, it's my turn to do the surprising. Of course, nothing could ever top the card that changed it all, but regardless, husband deserves something special. So I got out my supplies and went to work on my masterpiece.

I cut. I glued. I shopped. I packed.

And I created the best surprise Valentine's Day box ever. The one that will greet husband with my love when he gets back to the sand after R&R. He'll open it and pretend it's cheesey, with it's pink paper and explosion of love. But secretly, he will love it. And when he gets to the card with the note that says, "This one's special. Open it last." he will smile. And he'll remember how our love began.

Advice!

Ok, bloggy friends, I need your help! I've never been one for making decisions and with all of the excitement messing with my head, I am hopelessly lost when it comes to choosing my homecoming (for R&R) outfit. So I am going to show you the choices that I've come up with and you get to pick! Keep in mind that I want my husband to think, "Holy crap, is that my hott wife?!" Ok, here we go!

Option #1:

Black top/dress, grey tights and belt! I know the picture is horrible but if you look closely, you can see that this one has cute little pockets, which I just love. I would probably also wear my black slouch boots.

Option #2:

Black&White fitted dress with black tights. With this one I could wear either black or grey slouch boots.

Option #3:

We will call the "Go shopping because both of your choices stink." option.
{If you choose this one, feel free to send a picture of your suggestion so I can get it right this time.}

So there you have it. That's all I have to offer as far as homecoming outfit ideas go and I seriously need some advice. Hair and makeup advice would be great too but I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with all of my needy demands. But seriously, if I don't get a little help, I will probably show up at the airport to welcome husband home in a plastic garbage bag. Then he will be scared away and I'll be all alone. And it will be all your fault and I will have to blame you forever. Just sayin.

The Spread of Hate

These people and their beliefs literally make me sick to my stomach. And they are here, in my state and all over the news. I can't get them off my mind. Why are they so hateful? Why do they believe the things they do? Why must they be so mean? I am so grateful to the state of Arizona for passing the law forcing them to stay 300 feet away from that poor little girl's funeral. But honestly, the more I think about it, the more I believe that really isn't good enough.

What do you think?

Puppy Karma

Quite some time ago, I was driving close to home when something caught my eye: a little black puppy on the side of the road! Of course, I knew I had to try to save him so I very carefully came to a stop on the road next to him. Trying my best not to scare him away, I slowly opened my door. Then the craziest thing happened: instead of trying to run away, the little black puppy looked right at me and charged full speed ahead! Without hesitation, he jumped into my car, landing right in my lap. Shocked, I just closed the door and finished driving home, puppy and all. 

On the short ride home, we fell in love. That little puppy just sat calmly in my lap, waiting patiently to see his new home. Sadly, mom had other plans for him. Looking at his collar, she discovered that Howie already had a home and forced me to return him. When a little freckle-faced kid came to the door to claim his puppy, I felt a little better about returning him. But I would never forget Howie.

Thankfully, he didn't forget me either because recently, mom and I turned onto our block to see Howie in the neighbor's yard! Beyond excited, I instantly went to scoop him up where he just settled into my arms, best friends once again. We hung out for a while, but eventually, mom made me give him back [again]. Again, the little boy answered the door [who lets their small children answer the door to strangers anyway?] and took Howie out of my arms, not at all excited to see the return of my favorite little dog.

As I slumped back home with a frown on my face, mom gave me a little pep talk about how returning Howie was the right thing to do. I begrudgingly agreed, sad that poor Howie couldn't be mine. Our good deed didn't go unrewarded long though, becasue a few steps later mom looked down and saw our prize:

A whole dollar! But I have to say, next time I find Howie, I'm keeping him unless I get a 20!

Our Beginning

A year ago today, I woke up with a smile. I showered and gathered my things, a smile never leaving my face. Then, I left the house for the last time as Miss Megan Rice.

Now, I know that all girls think their wedding was the best wedding of all time. But here's the thing, mine actually was. My wedding was, without a doubt, the most perfect wedding in the history of the world. Here's a little taste of my perfect day:

And that, my friends, is the day my Liberato Lifestyle began!

On a side note: Do you think that it would be wierd if I wore my wedding dress around for the day. Maybe just for a little while? You know, since it's my anniversary and my husband is deployed and all. People won't think I'm crazy, right?

Baby Steps

I don't know if I've mentioned it, but husband is going to be home for R&R very shortly. With all of the excitement over our upcoming reunion, I've been spending my time picking out the perfect homecoming outfit and thinking of all the fun things husband and I can do together once he's actually home. In the midst of all my shopping adventures and planning sessions, I almost overlooked a very important detail: my laundry situation.

As you may remember, I have not been the best housekeeper in husband's absence. But with his return fast approaching, I decided I needed to at least begin to consider addressing the issue. This meant that my ban on hangers needed to be lifted. Darn.

So a few days later, I gathered the unused hangers from my closet and walked over to my laundry pile. Looking down at the heap of clothes in front of me, I decided that just gathering the hangers was probably good enough for one day.

So I just set them on top of the clothes pile and went back to planning and shopping.

Eventually (as in many days later), I came back to stare at the pile again. This time, I was feeling a little more productive. In a gesture just short of a miracle, I sorted through the clothes and put all of the shirts onto hangers.

But then I got tired...and bored.
So I neatly (ok, not so neatly) put the shirts, hangers and all, onto the chair in the corner of my room, where they have remained untouched for the last three days.

Even now, as I stare at that pile of shirts across the room, I have absolutely no desire to actually put them in the closet. Who knew breaking this heathen habit was going to take so long? But hey, at least I made a little progress!

Right?

I'm the Lucky One

Today, as I was hurriedly pumping gas, trying to get it over with as soon as possible, the twelve-year old looking girl at the pump next to me turned and smiled. Being the friendly person I am, I smiled back. My dazzling smile must have seemed like an invitation to start up a conversation because she looked at me excitedly and said, "Is that, like, an engagement ring?!" A little confused, I looked down to check my hand and said, "Yes, and a wedding band too." As soon as the word wedding had passed through my lips, the girl got so excited, she looked like she might pee her pants. "You're married?!" she said, "You are so lucky!" In that moment, I just smiled at the girl and sense of pride washed over me as I realized that I really am lucky. My relationship with my husband is no where near perfect, but it is every bit the fairytale romance that my gas station friend imagined it to be. It's the imperfections that make our love truly beautiful and I wouldn't change a thing.

Secret Hobbies

One of my very favorite hobbies was introduced to me by my college roomie, Katie. One day, while shopping in Fascinations, she witnessed something that just could not properly be described in words. So what did she do? She took a secret picture and texted it to me! And that's when it all started...my love for the art of secret picture taking.

Since then, I have photographed many unsuspecting people. Like the man in front of me at the pharmacy who looked like a velour sweat suit wearing Santa with a leather hat. Or the midget walking down the street dressed as a Hawaiian hula dancer. In situations such as these, a text simply saying, "Guess what I just saw?!" just would not do justice. Photographic proof is absolutely necessary.

So, the other day, while I was walking into the store, I looked up to see this:

Nuns! Instantly, I knew there was no way I could pass up the opportunity for a secret picture. At the time, I was a little worried that it was sacrilegious to take secret pictures of nuns, but then I decided that if it brought me such joy, the nuns would probably say it was ok anyway.

So imagine my excitement when these two nuns got in line right in front of me! Because, let me tell you, there is nothing I love more than a close up secret picture! [If you plan on doing this, just be sure to turn off the camera noise on your phone. Otherwise it's not very secret. I learned that the hard way. But that's a whole other story.] Now, I have this beauty to add to my ever growing collection:

I can not even tell you how happy this picture makes me. Does that make me a wierdie? Maybe. But honestly, haven't you ever taken a secret picture of someone?