Megan Who?

I've been thinking lately that it's about time I share a little more about me. Then I saw Beckie participated in a link up called 100 Facts About Me and I decided to play too. But I can tell you right now, thinking of a whole 100 facts about myself is not going to happen. But some is better than none, right? Ok, here we go!

#1: I am terrible at sharing feelings. In fact, I hate it.

#2: I'm a lefty. But I do most everything right handed because that's the way my brother taught me.

#3: I don't eat anything from the ocean. Or anything with the bones still in.

#4: Water is my favorite beverage. I never go anywhere without a bottle of it. I blame Arizona.

#5: I love shoes. Heels are my favorite but husband won't let me wear them around him because they make me taller. It's very sad.

#6: I am ridiculously naive and extremely gullible. Not a good combination in my experience.

#7: One of my goals was to grow my hair long enough to cover my ta-tas. Now that it is, I refuse to cut it.

#8: Brand New is my favorite band of all time. But country music is my true love.

#9: Husband and I want 3 kids. But we will not be naming one of them Ariel. Even though Husband really, really wants to. Gag. [Sorry if your kid's name is Ariel.]

#10: I've been told that I'm very bossy. But I can't help it that people just listen to me, can I? Husband is the only one it doesn't work with. Even my giant brother listens to me.

#11: I hate being alone. I get lonely instantly and I have no idea how to entertain myself. I'm kind of freaking out about staying alone in Hawaii until Husband gets back. I may not survive.

#12: I have my own waxing pot and we have a love/hate relationship. My eye brows look fantastic but I always seem to forget how painful bikini waxes are until the wax is already stuck on.

#13: My alarm clock is never set for a logical time. In high school, I woke up every morning at 6:27am.

#14: I'm a Chevy girl at heart but I drive a Dodge. And all of my vehicles have been trucks. Unless you count Husband's girly car but I did try to veto that one.

#15: Mom is my very best friend. Even when I'm away, I talk to her every day and I can tell her anything.

#16: Caffiene and I don't get along. And my insomnia has gotten so bad that even my sleeping pills aren't really helping.

#17: I am a giant wierdie and I don't try to hide it at all. I make up words and make wishes on my "birthday minute" and tons of apparently crazy things.

#18: For a class assignment I had to choose my most valuable possessions. I chose family and Husband's love and didn't get full points because my choices were not tangible things. I'm still bitter about it.

#19: I had Invisilign braces for about 9 months because I felt like my teeth were crooked. I still wear a retainer at night because I'm terrified my teeth will move. Husband makes fun of me and asks if I "have my teeth in" like I'm an old lady with dentures.

[Pre-Invisilign and also my 21st birthday]



[After Invisilign and baby nephew, Max]

#20: I have incredible self esteem and think I'm pretty amazing. Nothing can really convince me otherwise, even mean people and drama starters.

Twenty is good, don't you think? How about this: If there is anything else you really want to know about me, just ask. Email or comment and I promise I'll answer because I'm really not shy and besides sharing feelings, I don't hold back either. 

The Waiting Game

When we got married and I moved from Arizona to Hawaii, we knew Husband would be deploying within 6 months of my arrival. Knowing we would just have to store everything during the deployment, Husband made the executive decision to leave all of our gifts at home. Even though I knew this made sense, I was bitter. I wanted to play with all of my our new presents!

After Husband deployed and I came home to Mom and school, I was even less thrilled with the idea that our presents were not in Hawaii. Having to look at them, day in and day out, for the better part of a year did not sit well with me. The longer they went unused, the more irritated I got.

Yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was tired of living like a transient, always waiting for the the good parts of my life to happen. I was ready to be happy with the way my life is now. So I got a giant box and packed it with my very favorite presents and other things that I just didn't want to live without anymore.

When I make my way back to Hawaii in about a month, this box will be flying with me. I don't care that it's going to cost $30+ to get it on the plane and I don't care that it's going to have to be moved again in another 6 months. I want to be comfortable with my current life and if it takes silverware and cake plates to do that, then that's what's going to happen. I'm going to stop waiting and just start living.

Finding the Good

Deployments are terrible. As much as I wish they could just disappear and everyone could have their loved ones home all the time, I know that will never be possible. So in this bad situation, looking for the good, no matter how small it may be, can be the only thing that helps maintain sanity.

Having said this, I believe that I have found the good that has come from husband's deployment:

My husband is one of those men that likes to think he's 100% badass and 0% sensitive. He's always talking about "manly" things and one of his favorite things to say to me is, "Because, Babe, I'm a grown ass man!" Needless to say, this delusion has caused him to be slightly less than romantic in every day situations. Well, when he's aware of it at least. His subconscious is another story. For example, he likes to pretend that he doesn't like to snuggle, so we go to sleep on our own sides of the bed. On multiple occasions however, I've woken up in the middle of the night to him snuggling me so tightly I can barely breathe. So I've always known there was a sensitive side somewhere behind that "manly" front.

Much to my surprise, this deployment has severely toned down the manly-ness. I would've thought that being with only men all day long, for months on end would have worsened his condition. [Thankfully, I was wrong.] His behavior during this deployment has made me feel more appreciated than ever before, as he constantly thanks me for the packages and love I send his way. Along with all of that appreciation, he's also constantly telling me how much he loves me and how excited he is to start our lives together in what I like to call his "lovey voice". Before this deployment, it had never really existed. Now, I hear it at least once in every conversation.

[On R&R, when he "fell even more in love with me."]

I am loving the change that this deployment has brought out in my husband. I think that it has strengthened our marriage and helped us to communicate all of our feelings better. It just confirms for me that he is the one that I want forever.

What good has come out of your family's deployments? 

The Comedian

My Dad is one of those people that says exactly what's on his mind, as soon as it pops into his head. He has no filter and thinks the more inappropriate and socially unacceptable he is, the better. He also "doesn't believe in": sunscreen, driving the speed limit or being early to anything. As children, he would always make my brother and I get in and out of the car like speedy, miniature Nascar drivers and would then speed to our destination because "Veterans can drive 5 miles over the speed limit". [To this day I still get in and out of the car faster than anyone I know.]

Once, when I was about 13 years old, I managed to trick my dad into arriving at the movies a little early. I lied to him about the start time of the "show" (as he calls it) so we wouldn't miss the first 5 minutes like we always did. Big mistake on my part. Minutes after we took our seats, my Dad was standing and began making his way to the front of the theater. He stood in the front and announced to all the other movie-goers that he was going to entertain us until the movie started. By the middle of his little stand up comedy act, I had sunk down so far in my chair I was practically sitting on the floor. Then, to my horror, my Dad pointed right at me and introduced me to the entire theater full of people. Everyone turned in their seats to stare at me, the comedian's daughter. My Dad and I didn't go out in public for a while after that.

With experiences like that under his belt, I should have known better than to invite my Dad to Zumba. I really don't know what I was thinking. Let's just say the class began with him dressing like a gangster, sagging pants and all, and ended with him discussing the quality of instructer's butt.

I don't even know how we could possibly be related.

Backyard Creeper

This past Friday, the weather was perfection. The sun was shining, birds were chirping and I was ready to get a tan. I threw on my bathing suit, turned the stereo on and headed out into the sun. I put my towel down in the middle of the grass, slid on my sunglasses and settled in for a nap.

Just as I was drifting off, I was startled back to consciousness by the sound of a man faintly singing to the song on the radio. My radio. Let's just say, I was more than a little concerned that I was being watched by a random creeper man. To check out the situation, I casually sat up, pretending to fix my towel, while really trying to locate the creeper. After scanning the yard a few times and coming up with nothing, I decided that maybe I had just imagined the voice. So I laid back down, ready to enjoy my nap in the sun.

Not two minutes later, the singing started again. This time, I didn't wait to locate the man behind the voice. Instead, I jumped up and ran back into the house at the speed of light. Instantly, my heart started racing as I realized the voice of the creepy singer was even louder inside the house! Bravely, I crept up the stairs to find it's source. That's when I ran into my brother, who I didn't even know was home, as he made his way out of the shower. It turns out he had been singing in the shower so loudly that I could hear him all the way in the backyard. So my afternoon in the sun was ruined only by my over-active imagination. At least there wasn't really a creeper though, right?

[still pastey white]

Oh, You Know

This morning I woke up with nothing to do, so in a fit of boredom, I accidently joined Twitter.

Now you might be thinking, "How do you accidently join Twitter?" And I really don't have an answer. One minute I was thinking about cinnamon raisin bagels and the next I was tweeting. It was a common sense blackout. But now that it's over and done with, there's no going back. So, do you want to be Twitter friends?

I can't garauntee that I'll be all that interesting but if you're brave, you can follow me at MrsLibbysLife.

In other, slightly more exciting news, I'm get to move myself back to Hawaii in 50 short days. [You know your husband is in the Army when 50 days is a short period of time.] In all seriousness though, I can't wait to move back to this:

[My pretty street]

Is it a little over ambitious if I've already started packing? Maybe. But it's never too early to start tanning. I better go do that before I do something else crazy, like try to use twitter from my new smartphone.

Trucks & Trash Cans

My day started with a bang.

And by bang, I mean the sound of me driving my brother's truck into the recycling can at the end of the driveway.

[In my defense, it's a giant truck. Ok, and I'm not the best driver.]

As the crash echoed down the entire street, I jumped down out of the truck to another wonderful surprise.  The garbage man apparently hadn't come yet, because the street in front of the house was littered with water bottles and newspapers. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, two of my neighbors came out of their houses to witness me frantically scooping trash out of the street.

After I had finally put all the trash back into the can, I got back in the truck and drove away. Not two minutes later, as I rounded the corner onto the main road, a man ran by wearing Army PT's. The surprise of seeing a soldier combined with my unfortunate driving incident pushed me over the edge and I just burst into tears.

I am so ready for this deployment to be over so I can stop being an emotional wreck all the time.

All American

Some things are just all American, like hot dogs, apple pie and baseball.

[Rockin' my Royals jersey]

I love [LOVE!] baseball. But my favorite part of the game is not the vibrantly green grass or the deliciously satisfying sound of the bat connecting with the ball. It's better than both of those combined. My favorite part of the game is at the beginning, when every player spills out of the dugout to line up side by side on the field. When every fan stands tall and removes their hats. It's when the sun is shining and the flag is flapping in the breeze. It's the goose bumps that raise on arms as the stadium fills with the beginning sounds of the national anthem.

In that moment, as everyone stands silently, listening to the song play, I am so filled with pride that I literally have to fight back tears. And just when I think the moment couldn't possibly get any better, jets from the nearby Air Force base fly overhead. Moments like this remind me how proud I am to be not only an American, but also the proud wife of a soldier.

Oh yeah, and to top off the best game ever, I got to touch Pedro Feliz.

Gotta love Spring Training baseball ♥

Welcome to the 21st Century

When it comes to technology, I have the skills of an 80 year old woman. I am, without a doubt, technologically challenged. I've had my Nook for about 3 weeks and I'm just barely learning how to use it. I take all of my pictures with my cell phone camera because I can't figure out how to get the other one to charge and checking my Facebook is pretty much the extent of my social networking skills because Twitter is absolutely impossible. [How the heck do you work all of those # and @ signs, anyway?!]

So, with my skills completely lacking, there was no way that I would be able to work a smartphone. Until my old, easy to work phone broke. Three times in the last week and a half. In my last trip into the Verizon store, the salesman lured me in with a promise of a better camera and talk of SkypeMobile. [Husband is deployed after all.]

So as of today, I am the proud owner of this beauty:

[picture from Verizon.com]

It sure is pretty, but I have absolutely no idea how to even make a phone call, much less Skype.

I need a technology tutor.

Am I the only one with this problem?