Life is flying by....

Well everyone, life is flying by and I realized that I haven't posted in over a month (which isn't really unusual for me....) Anywho, here's an update:
I did the triathlon. I did it in about 1.5 hours. The winners did it in around 45 minutes or so. Not bad. I got up at 4:45 to get there for registration and I forgot my camelback with the Gatorade in it. Thankfully I had 2 water bottles but I drank one completely before I left so needless to say, I got REALLY thirsty. They had 2 water stops along the way, but it wasn't much. I finished though and that's what counts. I met a wonderful woman who cheered me along and took some pics for me. Her husband was racing and was pretty far ahead of me. My friend Justine came too. Here are some pics.





To make this shorter than a novel I'll touch on the big things.

We got a new puppy! We named her Libby, she is 7 months old now (5 months when we got her)and weighs about 25 lbs. Benny adores her and they have a blast together. Here is a pic.


We bought a truck. It is a 2005 GMC 2500HD Duramax crew cab with a 6" lift. I know, not the best for little ones, but it works for us. We sold Jason's truck and needed something that could hold us and our 2 dogs comfortably and in the future, our kiddos too. Here's a pic of that too.
Well, only 3 more weeks and my Honey is HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM ECSTATIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! It's hard to believe it's almost been 15 months since he first left. WOW! So much has changed.
I now am a licensed massage therapist and working at N Touch Therapeutic Massage in Elizabethtown. I'm there 3 days a week and after the first of the year I should be working at the gyms here on post too. Business is going very well! I recently got published in the Turret (the free paper here on post) in an article about army spouses who are entrapenuers. My business is Massage by Emily and I am contracted to N Touch and soon, the Army MWR. I came up with Massage By Emily on accident, very boring I know but it's my business email and so it's my business name too. Maybe after Jason and I get settled into where we're going to live for a while I'll open up shop with a more interesting name...LOL We'll see....it depends on if I have little ones at my feet or not.....
Well, I need to give my "babies" a bath. They've been running in the mud outside....and bringing it inside....ick.
Until later.......

my clelbruty look-alikes

It's official!

It's official! I am now Emily Hicks, Licensed Massage Therapist! All that schooling and testing has finally paid off. I am looking at a few different jobs right now, but in the meantime I am working at the State Fair. Our school rents a booth and we offer chair massage, for a fee of course. I get to work there for a few hours almost everyday the next 2 weeks! It'll be great exposure! Get my name out, and so on.

I am still working on training for the triathlon. Unfortunately I think I jumped in over my head. I have about 3.5 weeks before the race and I rode my bike today for the first time. I had wanted to get one, so I figured now was a good time to buy one. Then to top it off, the pool on post is closed for renovation so I can only do my lap swimming at the waterpark between the hours of 11am and 7pm. I'm going to do this, even if I come in last! The other girls haven't decided if they want to do the triathlon or not, so I may be flying solo.
I don't think I told you all the particulars of the race before so here they are: It is a 400 meter swim in a pool, followed by biking for 8 miles on some roads, followed by running for 3K (1.86 miles) out back where it is slightly hilly. This is going to be pretty tough, not in comparison to triathlons, but in comparison to how much I usually exercise. I've had to battle tired/laziness along the way and sometimes I lose the battle, BUT I'm trying. This is more than just a physical thing for me. It's physical, emotional, spiritual. It tests me on so many levels.
Thanks to all of you for your support. If I can do this, who knows what lies ahead!

I'm really going to do it!

I can't believe its true, but I am doing a mini-triathlon! Come September I will be swimming, biking and running for a day! There are 2 other girls doing it with me. Its interesting how it all came about.......I was doing a presentation with Arbonne when the hostess, Amanda, asked if I would like to do a triathlon with her. Normally I would have politely refused instantly, but something made me stop and think. "I've wanted to get into better shape and into the HABIT of exercising for a while now, but it's been hard to be consistent when there is no clear goal. Here is a definite clear goal. What a great opportunity for me! I get the bests of both worlds: workout buddies and an end goal. I don't have to finish first, I can go at my own pace during the triathlon...the important thing is FINISHING. I should do it! It will certainly push me outside of my comfort zone, but......that is where growth takes place. I really could use a change too and it would be GREAT to have something to look forward to instead of sitting at home alone, especially these last few months before Jason comes home. I NEED something to look forward to"......isn't it great how God provides for our every need even when what we need is to get out of a rut and off our butts?
I had a little extra incentive too...when I mentioned it to Jason he thought it was a great idea....in fact he told me how great that would be that we could finally run together. ( We attempted a run together when we were camping in Texas in February of 2006. It was awful! I had no stamina and our run ended up being a hoppy-walk for about .25 miles if even. It was so embarrassing.) Jason has really wanted to be able to run together and he joked that if I didn't learn to run then he would tie a rope around my waist and drag me along...LOL Even though he said it in a joking way, I knew he was still serious. I didn't realize how important it was to Jason that this be something we can share. Now I know and now it makes me want to do it all the more!
So now I have a bunch of reasons to motivate me to do this triathlon and now that I've told you all, you can keep me accountable...eek.
I really am excited to see what happens. I'm already feeling better after I exercise! Woohoo!

I passed the certification test!

Well, I passed! The certifiaction test wasn't the easiest test to do. I wish I would have done a little better in the assessment part, but hey, at least I passed! Now I just have to wait for the state to license me....
Last week a few of us Army wives were asked to comment on the show Army Wives that is on Lifetime. They wanted to know what a real army wife thought of the show. They actually got a few things wrong from the interview. I was the one who talked about the FRG not Carmen, but other than that everything else was the same. Check it out: http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/articles/2007/07/09/news/news03.txt
Today I have my first Arbonne presentation on my own. It should go well, since everyone there is really great! Well, I gotta get ready to go!

Family

I got back from the Kilbourne family reunion last night......there were so many people there! I met cousins that are my age that I didn't even know existed! It was great! We got to talk and catch up with everyone! It had been so long......I hadn't seen everyone in like 10 years! Everyone remembered me as a little pipsqueak. Last they knew me I was a quiet little girl that didn't have much of a personality. Well, I DEFINITELY have changed! I think I shocked some of them with my "loudness".....LOL
Family is great! Especially a family that cares about each other and makes the effort to stay in touch. Next time your family is having a reunion....be sure to go. You never know how blessed and refreshed you'll be when surround by those who love you.
Take my advice....you won't regret it. :-)

I'm biting my nails in anticipation

I got the letter stating I can take my Massage cert test. I scheduled it for Tuesday the 10th at 4pm. After the fact I figured I should have schedueld it for the morning when my brain is the "freshest". Ah well, I have no choice.
For some reason I always get super nervous before a test. I work myself up for no reason. Well I am determined to not freak myself out this time. It's going to be fine. Come on, it's mulitple choice questions. Not that bad.......
I am still trying to figure everything out with working at the massage clinic in Elizabethtown. Somehow, we've misunderstood each other so hopefully I'll still have the job. If not though, I do have options. A Chiropractor in Louisville wants to hire me and I heard that one of the spas in Elizabethtown is hiring. So we'll see......
This weekend, I get to go to a family reunion with my Grandpa's side of the family. Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma are picking me up along the way. I haven't seen everyone in years! It'll be nice to catch up!
Well, I should be off. I need to clean up the house for the girls that are watching Ben while I'm gone. Hope everyone is having a good day!

Natalie's trip....

Natalie arrived on Thursday night at 11:30 pm. We were both so excited and not too tired so I gave her the grand tour of the house, she met Benny and then we went to bed and being girls, we did the norm and stayed up talking until 2 a.m. You know there is so much catching up to do! :-)

We didn't really have any plans set during her trip except to go to six flags. So Friday we got settled, and kinda bummed around. I gave Natalie the short tour of Fort Knox and where are my favorite places to go. We hit the Old Navy store and Goody's, plus we grocery shopped so we wouldn't starve, then chilled that evening.

Saturday we bummed around for a while (we did a lot of that) then we headed out to one of our favorite spots.....Kart Kountry! We played mini-golf and rode Thunderbolt go-carts.

I knew I always had a bit of competitiveness in me, but I didn't realize it's full potential until we went on the go-carts. Whenever Jason and I go to Kart Kountry we ride the fastest go-carts and race each other around the winding 1.5 mile track. Well, needless to say, I left Natalie in the dust! At least the first few times.....

We had so much fun at Kart Kountry that after church and the FRG get together at the park, we headed back there! Natalie's putt-putt skills as well as her driving skills improved a lot overnight! Watch out everyone...she was hot and ready to go! :-) It was a blast!

Natalie had brough the BBC series called North and South. It was 2 DVDs. We watched it that night and just at the end of the first DVD when I was left wondering what would happen we decided to quickly, and I mean quickly, run over to the Asian restaurant to get a bite to eat. I ate in anguish, but soon it was relieved as we finished the movie. It was very good, btw.

Monday was our first day at 6 Flags. We decided to split up our time so as to not feel rushed and spent one day riding the rollarcoosters and the other at the waterpark.

Monday was rollarcooster day. We got there right after lunch and rode to our hearts content. It was perfect! The longest we ever waited for a ride was maybe 25 minutes!

We of course had our favorites: Breakdance and Thunder Run in particular. We both were screamers and it wouldn't be right to ride without our hands in the air either. Needless to say, the next day left us just a bit hoarse! But hey, that's just part of the experience!

Here we are enjoying some Dots Ice cream and a bit of shade!

It wasn't really that bad, but we're goofs! We really play off eachother well!

Tuesday was the waterpark. Now we couldn't go back without riding Breakdance JUST ONE MORE TIME! And another time, and another time.... So here we are....and it was worth it. It was our first and last ride of the day. The last time was definitely the best!

We were so busy soaking up the sun that we forgot to take pictures so this is the only one we have for the waterpark. We rode all the rides. From the lazy river, to the water cooster, to the funnel thing that you ride up high on the sides in a raft. That one was really fun, but for some reason the poeple up top had the hardest time believing that I didn't want to go down backwards so finally after the 4th time, I got to see us wooshing down into the funnel as opposed to just seeing why Natalie had a semi-frightened look on her face. :-) It was great!

On Friday we had gotten some Pina Colada mix so finally on Tuesday night, we blended it up with the ice and drank up.....virgin ones of course.

Wednesday was the worst day of all....Natalie had to go home. But we made the most of it. I know Benny was bummed to see Natalie go as much as I was. He really bonded with her. When we walked in it was like" Forget Mom, Natalie's here!" Just kidding, not QUITE that bad. LOL But He loved walking over to her side of the bed in the morning and sticking his cold wet nose in her face....

As much as I was bummed to see Natalie go, I was SO GLAD THAT SHE CAME!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like a little piece of heaven on earth! Thanks for the fun times Girl! Your the best! I love you!

I have not fallen off the planet.....

Though you might have thought so. I have been crazy busy! Let's see......
I planted our garden...tomatoes and green beans. Benny has managed to avoid it so far. Yahoo. Hopefully everything comes out well. Jason would be so proud. :-)
I finished all of my hours for massage and I have mailed off the paperwork for taking the certification test. I can't wait!
I got to go home for Memorial Day weekend and visit with my family, Sara and the Rogers. We had a great time. It was almost like the good old days on Henry Place. Between all of our crazy stories we managed to go without anyone peeing their pants, although we got AWFULLY close.....LOL I look forward to spending time with the kids again in July!
I sang my 3rd special at church this last Sunday. It went very well. I am building more confidence each time. I know my parents are happy about that...:-)
My best friend Natalie is coming for a week this Thursday! I am so excited I can hardly wait! We haven't seen each other since Thanksgiving and even then it was only for a couple of days. We are going to have so much fun!
Now for a not so good note......we got a time frame for Jason returning home. It is the middle of November. He'll miss both our 1st and 2nd anniversaries but at least he should be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is something to look forward to....
Well, I really need to finish laundry and get ready for bed. I'll try to update this more often than I have been. Note I said TRY.......

For those of you who do not know my wonderful husband Jason or have not seen him here is a photo of my handsome man.

Jason, the Knight of My Heart! I love you Baby!

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

I know it has been a while since I wrote. Thank you all for the wonderful birthday cards and comments! I had a GREAT birthday! Thanks to the Rogers especially for making my trip a real blast! The only thing that could have made the whole thing better was if Jason could have been here to share it with me! I can't wait for him to see where I grew up the first 15 years of my life.

When I was in the Chicago area I got to do some shopping, visit with friends, party, and enjoy the life I used to know. It was nice reminiscing about getting Subway every Sunday after church one summer and sitting at the lakefront eating and boat watching. What a great time we had.......

The museum was fun. I really enjoyed the bodyworlds exhibit, especially the one part off to the side where they had the babies and the 7 month pregnant woman. It was very tastefully and reverently done. No one after seeing the baby inside her womb could doubt there is a God. It was beautiful.

One of my favorite parts of the museum was the navy exhibit. Gen and I were like little kids as we tried to match the sound to the thing we thought it was. We had 2 minutes to hear 13 different sounds and figure out what they were. We tried it 3 times I think, before we got all of them correct in the allotted time. It was so much fun!

It was great to hang out with people who loved me and KNOW me. The Rogers have known me since I was who knows how old and it was nice to not have to explain anything, they just KNEW ME. It was a refreshing change. New friends are nice but sometimes you just need someone who knows you and loves you despite your idiosyncrasies. Someone who you can be completely comfortable with. Besides Jason and my family, I haven't had that since Jason left in August. I was sad to leave the Rogers, but I did miss my baby Benny. My neighbor Mindy was watching him for me. He was a good boy while I was away but still almost knocked me over when I went to pick him up, he was so excited to see me.

Benny is such a comfort and I'm so glad we have him. He is like Jason's personality in a dog's body. I love it! He cracks me up! He can be the cutest, happiest dog ready to play as soon as he wakes up but if he sees that I'm still tired he turns it down to low key and sleeps on his bed while I catch a few more winks. He knows when to be excited and playful and when to be snugly and quiet. I think that I would be miserable if I didn't have Benny right now.

I love to watch Jason and Benny together. They are so excited and they play and wear each other out then snuggle on the couch. It's really great. We only had Benny 4 months before Jason left and he was afraid Benny wouldn't recognize him but as soon as we got home after picking Jason up from the airport in late January, Benny came running up to Jason wagging his tail all excited. He knew his Daddy was home! I know that when Jason returns again later this year Ben will know him again.

Even though we don't have any kids yet, we still have a baby. Benny-boy! And boy is he cute!

Unfortunately with age I don't always get wiser

My birthday is coming up April 26th. It is hard to believe that I will be 23 years old! It seems so old, but at the same time so young.
I will be going up to Chicago to visit my cousins this coming weekend ( I wanted to spend my birthday with people who love me, know me and who I haven't seen in a while) and I'm going to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. I have heard so much about it I wanted to see it before it left. Since getting into massage therapy I have been more fascinated about how God designed our bodies. It is so awesome! I boggles my mind sometimes! I can't wait to go! :-)
For my birthday my husband was so smart and got me a fabulous Palm Pilot. I had forgotten a couple of appointments so in his wisdom he set me up. What a great man! That thing has been a life saver. But as with anything else, it's only good if you use it. I made the same mistake as before and didn't use ONLY ONE calendar and I managed to double-book myself. Great, now what? Well......thank goodness for grace, I managed to move things around so now I have some breathing space between appointments. If I had SOLEY used the wonderful gift I wouldn't have double-booked myself and would have been a much less stressed girl. Well I have learned my lesson: only use my palm pilot for scheduling!
With that note, I better call to confirm my appointments tomorrow!

I passed!

Well everyone, I passed my finals! I'm glad that is over, although it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I only have 10 more hours of injury massage to do and I will be FINISHED and on my way to licensure. I'm hoping to get that wrapped up the beginning of May.
After finals I went home to Missouri and visited with Mom and Dad, Amy and the kids and my in-laws. Amy, the kids and I met on Wednesday in Springfield, IL and visited Rebecca, Sarah, Grandma and Grandpa and Alice and Brian and their kids. It was a nice trip! The whole time! My one big day with my side of the family I ended up catching a few more winks during the day than I had planned......2 hours more....oops, but I guess I needed it! It was fun to stay up late talking with Amy in bed. It was like we were young girls again. I remember how all of us girls would stay up late talking in bed. Everyone used to joke that I had a button on the back of my head that as soon as I laid down to go to sleep it would cause my mouth to open and volumes of words to flow forth.....in my defense, it's just that when I actually quiet down for bed, I can think and remember all the things I wanted to say earlier but forgot....LOL
I spoke with a therapist in a town nearby and I have a job lined up. We just have a few more details to finish before I begin but it is a great start for me. Plus, I will be assisting at my school for the morning beginning class once a week! I am REALLY excited! It is so cool how God brought it all about. He still works out every detail of our lives!

My finals are Monday and Tuesday. Surprisingly, I'm quite calm. This is crazy since last week I was a nervous wreck. You'd think I'd get more nervous the closer it is to the deadline. I guess I'm at the point that whatever happens, happens. Just relax, pray and enjoy the ride.

I am looking forward to going back home for a few days after the final. I so need a break. All of my days have been jumbled together and moving in fast forward but I feel like I'm in slow motion. I barely have time to breathe. Hopefully that'll change. But it's up to me. I have to make the time to relax, just like I have to make the time to eat, sleep, have my quiet time and exercise. It's tougher than I'd like to admit, but I can do it. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, even if its just sitting down for a few minutes and doing nothing.

My friend Katie comes home on Tuesday. I can't wait to see her. She was one of the first girls I met when we moved here and a real blessing. It'll be nice to hang out with her again. She was in California for the birth of her baby girl Helena. Her hubby Tony is with Jason in Iraq. I've only seen pictures of Helena but I know that pictures don't do people justice. I just better be careful to not let my biological clock go haywire. I already want to be a Mom. But, nows not the time obviously. Anyways, it'll be nice to have a baby around. I miss playing with my nieces and nephew. Kids are great!

Well, now is the time that I need to make for exercising. I told Jason I'd do it today and the day is quickly becoming nil and void, so I better scoot.

I'll join the crowd

Well, it seems that almost everyone I know has a blog, so why not me?
My life is crazy right now and I'm in a transition time that I'm a little aprehensive about, not really knowing what will happen next. Part of that is due to being a military wife. With the army it's all about "hurry up and wait", "be ready to go at a moments notice" and overall BE FLEXIBLE. One day Jason is coming home in August, the next he might get extended. Hopefully we'll know soon. Although being an army wife is tough at times, holding down the fort at home, it also is a great growing experience. It honestly is really neat to see how God is drawing us closer together even though we're seperated by an ocean. I'm finding out new things about myself and Jason that I'm not sure I would have learned otherwise. It's bittersweet. To get the character, you have to go through the refining process. And boy, am I in that process now! But God's grace is sufficient, right?
I am staying very busy while Jason is gone finishing up my hours for massage therapy school. HOPEFULLY I'll be done the beginning of May and on my way to being liscensed. Woo-hoo!!!!! I am so excited! I have found my calling! I love doing massage therapy, I finally found something that I'm really good at and I enjoy doing. It is so cool how God's timing worked it all out perfectly too: I'd be able to do what I wanted in becoming a massage therapist without having to take away from family time, plus it gives me something to keep myself busy with while he's gone. Not just something to keep me busy, but something I'm excited about! I can't wait to see what it is like to do it for a living! I'm both excited and nervous! I've never done anything like this, it's all new. Where do I begin? :-)
Well, it's getting late and my brain is slowly turning into a fog so I better hop off before I drive you wonderful friends and family away with this lengthy blog. You know how sometimes I can ramble.
I'm going to try to keep it updated so be sure to check back periodically, but you know me.....I'll do my best.