Happy Wednesday!

There's No Place Like Home...

 

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

There's only one original...

I grew up with Calvin & Hobbes comics, and I miss opening the paper and reading them everyday.  Still, when I read this article about how the authors of the blog Pants are Overrated payed homage to C&H by bringing Calvin back as an adult, I was torn.  Yes, it was kind of cool to catch a glimpse of what Calvin and Susie might be like as grown-ups, but it seems wrong in a way, too. 

So while I kind of liked the two strips that Dan and Tom Heyerman came up with, I'm glad that they've decided that there won't be any more "Hobbes and Bacon" strips for a while...



An Aspiration...

photo credit

"I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others." ~ Grace Kelly

1, 2, 3, 4

This sweet video was made by three of the guys deployed with me here in Iraq for their wives for Mother's Day.  I may be a tad biased, but I think that Chaplain Blatter, Chief Howlett, and SGT Liechty make quite the talented trio...

No More Questions!!

No More Questions! from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

I'm a huge NPR fan, and I love their StoryCorps series.  I download the podcasts on my iPod and listen when I go for a run.  So it was fun to see this new animated shorts series that they created for some favorite StoryCorps interviews.

I remember listening to this story in particular during one of my runs through Daybreak and laughing out loud...I loved the grandmother's feistiness, and I teared up at the end when her son said that he still sometimes talks to her now.

I'd love to do an interview with some of my loved ones...

Less than two months 'til I come home...

photo via Princess Anne County

And in the meantime, I'm:

Reading...

Watching...

"Pandora-ing"...

Looking forward to...

P.S.  What a lovely photo, no?  Have I mentioned that I've always had a little crush on Paul Newman? Beyond the dashing good looks, sense of humor, charm, class, and philanthropy, his love story with Joanne Woodward is swoon-worthy...

Awe-inspiring

photos by Bryant Austin

Bryant Austin creates life-sized images of whales.  I would absolutely love to see these photographs in person....

Welcome home, Capt Fisher!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

An interview one of my college girlfriends, Karen, did with the Today Show regarding her homecoming from Afghanistan and how happy her dog, Molly, was to see her.  So touching and heartwarming...our four-legged friends are such a blessing...

"I'm not much of a dancer."

Pulp Fiction (1994) via this tumblr

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jin Juhua kisses her husband Zhong Weiqiao at a gathering of 60 couples who have been married to each other for over five decades, in Kaihua village of Zhuji city, Zhejiang province, China, on Feb. 14. Jin and Zhong have been married for more than 60 years.  photo via MSNBC photo gallery

Yes, I realize that it's almost 10 days past the 14th of February, but shouldn't Valentine's Day be celebrated EVERYDAY versus being confined to just one particular day out of the entire year?  (Plus, I've been terrible about updating this blog so I'm only now getting around to posting at all, let alone a Valentine's Day post!) 

And a few more lovely stories and photos that made my heart smile...

There's no one else I'd rather spend my next 50+ Valentine's Days with than my handsome hubby.  I love you, Bru.

It's all about choices...

image via dazeychic

"...Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”  ~ Victor Frankl from "Man's Search for Meaning"

Sanity is overrated, anyway...

photo via Northbrook Park District

Today's StoryPeople story of the day reminded me of when I first started dating the handsome hubby and he was coaching a kids soccer team on GTMO...

"There are a hundred good reasons why no sane person would ever coach soccer, he told me on the drive home, but I forget most of them when I'm on my meds & we laughed wildly in the bright spring air."

An excuse to eat more cupcakes? Count me in!

photo via The Bespoken:  For Gentleman

It's no secret that I have an incredible sweet tooth.  So when I saw this article about less sinful cupcakes, I had to share! 

Eve Turow came up with some recipes for cupcakes that have improved nutritional benefits so that you don't have to feel TOO guilty for indulging.  She used non-traditional ingredients such as beans, pumpkin, and yogurt to up the health-value of the treats without sacrificing flavor. 

I'm dying to try the chocolate espresso, the red velvet, and the pumpkin recipes...although I suppose I'll have to hold off until next year when I get back home.  If anyone decides to take one of these recipes for a spin, let me know what you think!

What a great cover...

Wise advice to live by...

image via i can read

I'm so proud... (insert sarcasm here)

Hello, lovely family and friends!  I'm finally (somewhat) settled in here in Iraq and have a semi-decent internet connection in my room. I promise to do my best to try to keep everyone updated...

I've been able to keep up with friends and family sporadically through Facebook (oh, the joys of social networks!) and when I logged on the other day, this was the photo I saw on my handsome hubby's page.  Most of our friends and family know that Bru is OBSESSED with CrossFit.  This was his "workout" the other day...the exact FB quote?  "Beer for time, while doing a one handed hand stand, against the wall of course.....If I could do it without the wall- then I would be the man." 

And that, my friends, is one of the many, many reasons why I adore this man--no one can make me laugh like he can.  (Although I just may be a tad concerned about what my house will look like in nine months when I return home...)

I hate good-byes...

Why?

                                                                                 photo via Baking and Books

Why is it...
While other people
Are thinking about all kinds of
Important things...
I am thinking about
What it would be like
to jump barefoot
Into an open box
Of jelly doughnuts?

~ James Stevenson ~

Yes, CrossFit would be even better, but....wow

Video Courtesy of KSL.com