A whole year in Florida

On October 23rd we'd been living here in FL for a whole year - where has the time gone?! I don't think we've accomplished much persay, but a whole year as zoomed by already and it has kinda freaked me out to be honest.

Our (awesome) landlords sent us our lease renewal and gave us the option to sign for a year or two, so we opted to go for two - and, trust me, I almost went to the mailbox and pulled that lease out and changed it up the minute the mailman picked it up! Two years! Wow.
We do like our landlords though, they don't harp on us - but that may be be because they live nearly 45 minutes away, he's ex-Air Force, and they fix anything that is wrong in the house ASAP. We usually try to fix anything that happens first so that we don't bother them, but they are great about it. We really lucked out. Hopefully we can get things figured out here in the next two years while living in this house, and then go out and maybe find a place outside of town where there is more land - I can't help the thought of it, I want land, I don't like living in a neighborhood where you can pee on the house next to you. Sure, it has it's perks, but if you give me the choice, I'm alway sgoing to take the land. *lol*

So, onto a picture post of the last year:

October '08 we packed up our duplex on post at Fort Hood, and started out-processing. Rich drove the Uhaul truck with Bocephus as his sidekick, and I had the two cats (with the literbox) in the car with me - and we were off on our very, very long journey to Florida.

Our quaint 3 bed/2 bath house here in the sunshine state. If we could get the grass to grow evenly everywhere (and if Rich had his way he'd get rid of those 3 shrubs when you walk thru the gate, and the 3 small pine trees in the backyard, lol) we'd ba happy. We like the big backyard and the large storage shed.

I finally got to see the EOD school and Memorial. Rich knows a lot of people on the wall, and I know one guy. It's emotional. Beautiful. The reason he loves his job.

Rich standing at the ocean. This pic makes me laugh.

I'd only been to Galveston and Biloxi (pre&post Katrina), so seeing water this clear and sand this white was awesome. It was a little chilly for the end of October, but not bad- people were still swimming. Even a year later we have yet to go though. I tell Rich all the time that I can't be the fat chick on the beack with all the skinny-minis. So I'm on the look out for a more private beach so I can feel comfortable and enjoy myself. Plus my swim suit was too big, espeically in the boob section. Dangit.

Mom came to visit the the first half of December, her and Maggie brought our Jeep down - and the day the flew back home to TX it got totalled. Yea, that sucked.

It was nice to have Mom down, too bad we didn't get to do as much as we could have - but I think she was happy with playing around at the outlet mall. :)

We had our first Christmas away in '08, until this one we've never missed going home. It was strange, odd, sucked since we didn't do gifts since it cost so much for us to move here, and we only did a phone call that lasted maybe 7 minutes and it was mainly me listening to everyone else talk to each other in the background and forget I was on the phone. It blew.

Our tree on the other hand did not. We decided to do a UT Longhorn tree. This year the same while tree shall be decked out the same - Go Longhorns! :)

In january '09 I finally go to get into a doctor on base to start getting fills done, I'd only been able to get one before our move. The doctor here was awesome, he made me laugh and I miss having him as my fat-kid-doc. I do not miss the needles.

Rich ended up with two cases of MRE's somehow, so we decided to put them towards our hurricane box. We now have batteries and flashlights included. Haven't had the funds to go buy a generator yet - stay away hurricanes! *lol*

Some people don't like MRE's, but there are some really good ones in there! And, hey, they make you poop. :)

We had a family move in... of birds. A mama bird laid a nest in our UT house on our front porch, and some days she'd dive-bomb us if we got too close. She got so aggressive we had to move her from the front hook (nearest the door) to the one farthest away, and all was well again. Finally we heard babies and now nothing. Maybe another will move in this coming spring. :)

I miss La Finca back home, and I haven't found a place here yet that compares, so I've been trying to make my own mexican food. Granted mine is no where near up to par, but it doesn't hurt trying. So a lot of taco salads, taco strombolis, burritos, enchiladas, and mexican casseroles have been made. Rich is tired of it all. I am not. :)

We found this at a garage sale for next to nothing and Rich has taken up guitar. He's learned a few songs, and he's loving it. And, yes, that's my face on the inside.

We got a sewng machine, Rich finds it awesome. :)

So awesome infact that he made both Aimee and Tucker pillows for Christmas out of John Deere material.

It has rained. A lot. I don't mind it, I just don't like Rich haven't t work out in it. *lol* When wellies come back out again, I'm getting a pair for next season. Cute ones - polka dots, maybe?

We celebrated 5 years of marriage.

I got bangs. And then I remembered why I never, ever have them. I've made a vow to not do it again. The growing out process has left me with "devil horns", I'm hoping they grow faster.

We turned 26, and Rich made a cake to "celebrate" getting old. He's an ass. :)

We got hedge trimmers on clearance for those (awful) bushes, and Rich went to town on the them...

And we're trying to lose weight. But sometimes cookies say our name - they're evil.