Food Poisoning and Catching Fire

My weekend sucked.

It started off ok. I intended to stay in Saturday night doing wedding, PCS, writing project-related work. When dinner time rolled around, I ordered Chinese food from the place I've used for years - and got the same exact dish I always get.... After I ate, I started doing my writing work and an hour later, it hit my like a ton of bricks. I felt nauseous and went straight for the bathroom.

Needless to say, I got food poisoning from my Chinese food. The rest of the night was shot and Sunday too. I felt terrible and couldn't eat anything till Sunday night. I've never had food poisoning before and I now can tell you it's one of the most unpleasant things ever.

Before the food poisoning incident, I bought tickets to see Catching Fire with girlfriends Sunday night! I made sure I was ready to see the land of the living by Sunday evening. I'm a girl with priorities!

Anyway, I had a great time at the movies and at least, my crappy weekend ended on a high note. In my opinion, The Hunger Games are a thousand times better than the Twilight series (both in film, so far and books). Reading these young adult Sci-fi/fantasy novels are my biggest guilt pleasure!

Also, I have a girl crush on Jennifer Lawrence. She is so amazingly awkward in real life, more like a real person(!) and a dynamo actress!

What is your guilty pleasure?

 

Promotion Time! & Boys Behind the Blog

It was just made official that my husband will be promoted to Staff Sergeant on December 1st! I'm so happy for him and proud of all his hard work in Korea! As of December 1st, I'll have seen him wear three different ranks. It's crazy to think because it feels like just yesterday I met my adorable Specialist. Awe!

I'm a couple days behind in linking up with "The Boys Behind the Blog," but I figured, better late than never! Below are my husband's answers to this month's questions!

1. Who is your favorite band/musician?
I like lots of bands, but Disturbed has the most songs per album that I like.

2. What was your first CD/tape?
The Marshall Mather LP

3. Who was your first concert?
Virtuoso and R.A. The Rugged Man, live at the middle east club in Boston
*Ok, I have no idea what that means. I asked him and apparently they are rappers?

4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?
Turkey with gravy
*He can't be any more predictable!

5. Finish this sentence: I am thankful for...
Everything, especially coming home soon.
*I'm thankful for the end of my husband's yearlong tour!

**FREE** Photo Book for Deployed Military Members!!

Yes, you heard me! The USO has a fabulous photo book program that family members of deployed military can use! I found out about this through searching on the USO website - and thought that, hey, my husband is considered deployed, I should utilize this great opportunity!

About a month ago, I put together the photo book for him with photos we took together while he was home on leave. I wanted to wait and share it with y'all till my husband got the book (he reads my blog!) because it was a surprise. Well, he got it yesterday and LOVED it.

The photo book program was put together by the USO and RocketLife, a photo project website. Click here to find out more! It's very easy to use.

First, you need to go to this site: http://USO.RocketLifeProduction.com - and put in your military member's overseas address (any APO/FPO/MPO address works!). Afterwards, you receive an email with instructions and a special code.

The most time consuming part of this whole project was picking out pictures to upload on the pages! I had a good time looking through all the pictures and it was nice to reminisce.

My husband snapped some pictures (on his phone, so excuse the quality!) of the photo book and shared it with me!

If you have a loved one that is overseas, I would recommend taking advantage!

Waiting for orders!

AHHHHHHHH!

My husband is supposed to PCS out of Korea in less than two months and we have yet to receive paper orders. Although it's pretty much guaranteed that we'll get Fort Belvoir, we can't really start booking things till we get them. When I went to the National Military Spouse Network summit, I checked out some apartment complexes and we're pretty sure where we want to live. The DC metro area has a program set in place with apartment complexes that is called the "Rental Partnership Program" (RPP for short). It uses allotments out of military pay to in order for a reduced rate. After learning about that, I thought it would be perfect to use for my husband and I to save money for the long run!

Good news for the Tringali household too. My husband just passed the board a couple of weeks ago - and if all things go well, he'll get promoted December 1st! I'm very proud and thrilled for him! He's worked very hard in Korea and I'm so happy to see all his hard work paying off! Secretly, I'm personally excited because that means an increase for our BAH and dislocation allowance. (You know y'all think about that too!).

We want to buy a house eventually and all the money we can save up the better!

No joke this time, I really need to start a checklist for all the different things going on from planning the wedding, putting together the move, then enjoy our cruise vacation!

Also, I've been seeing some of my favorite blogger participating in blates! I'm hoping to get one going for the DC metro area! How do you get started?!

Take me out to the ball game!

After the blog post about my bridal shower went live, I realized that the title might not have made complete sense. Well, the theme of my shower was the New York Yankees! The whole room was decorated with baseball flair. I've mentioned it before, but I'm a huge Yankee fan! My friends decided to take my shower in that direction!

I'm still overwhelmed by all the love from my family and friends at my shower! It's so crazy that it happened already and went by so fast! In a blink of an eye, I'll be wearing my white dress down the aisle. AHHH!

Here are some pictures of the baseball touches from my shower taken courtesy of my bridesmaid, Tara!



Very cute favors! Each popcorn bag contained a Baby Ruth, Oh Henry, Peanuts and Cracker Jacks.

Table Centerpieces! The flowers were on a moss pad with a couple of baseballs. Each table was labeled by the plates (i.e. home plate, 1st base, etc.)

Cupcakes!

A very awesome photo booth was made too! Here are some photos of the prop table - and finally a picture of me taking a happy leap!

 

 

Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda)

My heart is really aching. As I was celebrating my bridal shower over the weekend, the Philippines was experiencing the worst-ever recorded typhoon. It barreled through central Philippines and people are saying thousands of people have died. So far, I'm hearing news that my family is safe and the towns that were badly damages are just several towns over where our family is from - I'm very thankful to hear that they are ok.

After my whirlwind weekend, I was able to catch-up with the rest of the world and then more news started pouring out of the Philippines as they are now working on recovery. The country is fairly Westernized, but most of the fishing villages/small towns live primitive to our standards, so the structure of houses and the way things are built were not exactly the strongest it could be. Also, the storm surge was just so intense that people couldn't hold on.

I'm not going to include any pictures of the destruction and devastation here because, frankly, it's way too much - and graphic for me to even handle. This natural disaster is hitting me closer than others because of my tie to the Philippines. My mother was born and raised there - and I actually lived there for five years too. I'm half Filipino and very proud of the culture I share with my mom.

I quickly began to look for ways to help. Money is really what the Philippines need. Money for supplies, food, water, manpower to help search for survivors and recover bodies, etc. A Facebook friend shared this link from CNN: How to help Typhoon Haiyan survivors. It lists out lots of ways we can help contribute.

I'm going to donate to the American Red Cross, which also serves the Philippine Red Cross. Contributions add up, so $10 or $15 dollars can go a long way! If you go to the homepage, they have it front and center to help the people affected by the typhoon. Or you can go directly to this link: https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod4650031&campname=donatetyphoon&campmedium=aspot_unassigned

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Veterans Day to my amazing dad! He's truly an amazing man and makes me proud to be his daughter everyday. In his 21 year military career he's sacrificed a lot, but still managed to show my mom and I all the love and attention of a strong husband and father.

Happy birthday to my amazing mom!! I was able to celebrate with her yesterday (on her actual birthday). They both are incredible role models and I love them so dearly! You two are a remarkable couple!! Love y'all!!

From close to the beginning of my dad's career to the end... :)

My Bridal Shower was a Home Run!

I just came back from dropping my mom off at the airport - and I'm still in shock! I had such an AMAZING and whirlwind weekend. Yesterday, my fabulous friends threw my bridal shower.

All of my bridesmaids with the exception of one was able to make it, but they ALL put lots of thought and effort to the day. I'm so very grateful to have them all as friends and I'm just looking forward to marrying my husband...AGAIN! This time in front of everybody that is near and dear to me. I can't wait (mostly I can't wait till my husband comes back stateside!!).

There was a fun photo booth set up and we had a great time with it! Here are just some photos from the day!

The whole group!

My amazing bridesmaids!!

My mom and I!

FREE Gowns for Military Brides

The Brides Across America program is very near and dear to me because I'm a BAA bride!

Last Veterans Day, I went to Pennsylvania with my band of bridesmaids (only two couldn't make it!) to a free bridal gown event. It was such a whirlwind experience, but so humbling that bridal salons nationwide participated to support military brides. (I've shared about my experiences before in a past blog post here.)  As y'all know, my husband and I had a civil ceremony last December and scheduled a formal ceremony for when he returns this coming January!

During my visit last year, I found my dream wedding dress. It was a surreal moment and so exciting! Thanks to the program, I was able to take home a designer dress home with me for FREE!

I wanted to share with you this language that I pulled from their website's "About Us" page:

"Military Brides don't always get their dream wedding. Some brides have to give up their wedding due to their fiancées getting deployed quickly. In other cases, brides have a civil ceremony and then await years for their fiancée to return home to finally have their wedding day. Heidi wants to make a difference by giving those in need the and help those troops that are fighting for our country get the wedding they deserve. Brides Across America efforts is part of the Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network and support Patriot Rovers organization."

Doesn't it sound familiar!? You can even still receive a dress if you and your spouse plan on renewing vows, etc. even after a wedding. They are all for making your "bridal" dreams come true.

I cannot tell you how excited I am to FINALLY wear my dress this January and show it off to my husband. And, to continue to share my story on how one organization truly made a different in my life!

If you know somebody that is planning a wedding or someone that intends to renew vows with their spouse or if it's even yourself looking for a dress!!, check out the site for participating locations!

Just for fun, here is the newspaper article I was quoted in last year: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times_news/military-brides-get-free-gowns/article_f406fd45-ad8c-5f80-882d-f147c169b0f3.html

Two months left? What?!

Ten months ago, I would have said that time would never fly by, but it certainly is now! There. is. so. much. to. do! I pretty much had a nervous breakdown at work (again) today. It's been a little hard to compartmentalize all my work prioritizes and personal prioritizes lately because of the amount of stuff that needs to get done. My coworkers probably think I've gone mad (well, they probably thought that when I married a soldier...).

Outside of all the exciting wedding/honeymoon stuff, I have to plan our PCS. My husband is counting on me to be the researcher and logistical keeper of all things stateside, which is a lot of pressure!

We're DITY-ing (doing everything ourselves). That actually is the easier option for us than going the military move route. It takes away any need to go to a travel office to arrange pick-up, etc. Doing a DITY move also allows us to do everything on our own time. We do plan to move to Virginia right when he gets back from Korea and then go on leave. Plus, I live in an itsy-bitsy apartment and the biggest furniture we need to move is a full-size bed. I'm pretty confident that my husband and I can do that on our own (I have been toning my arms lately) - and we are thinking we could potentially make some money, which we'll see!

Once we move my stuff to Virginia, we plan to fill-in our apartment. We're not going to go crazy here and only get necessary items like a couch, dresser drawer, office desk and TV. Also, we plan on doing that little by little. It takes away some pressure.

Right now, I'm sticking to living day by day. I REALLY need to get that checklist (or two) together. I might be able to calm my nerves if I put things to paper.

On a VERY exciting note, my bridal shower is this weekend! My mom is flying to New York from Texas along with other close friends! I also have people coming in locally in the East Coast. I'm very much looking forward to having people together. Ironically enough, the date of my shower is my husband's birthday - and the day after is my mom's!

Is it Friday?!

Phew! This week was exhausting! I don't think there is enough time in a day to tell you about all the madness that has been going on at the office this week. When it rains, it pours! Nothing bad, just lots to do in the next few months and we have around eight clients, so I've been really putting my prioritizing and time management skills to good use. Not only have I been busy at my job, I've been making personal strides too!

I booked my Christmas flight home! I'm pretty excited and bummed at the same time because this will be the first Christmas apart from my husband since we've been together. I just keep telling myself, once Christmas rolls around, it will only be weeks till we see each other again! So, YAY!

With that said, I've also booked my husband and my flight to Texas from D.C. (for our church ceremony)! Now that we know where we're PCSing to, I can start planning around that. Also, after a lot (and I mean a lot) of discussion, my husband and I decided to take a legit honeymoon right after the wedding. It almost seemed like a disservice to both of us NOT to take some time on a beach somewhere before he starts a new job and we start living our new life at Fort Belvoir. We've been doing a good job saving up and we've both been working hard in this year apart - we deserve it!

The last time I was at a beach!

So, we've booked our honeymoon cruise (yes, you heard me right, another cruise!), this time leaving from Puerto Rico! I have so much to be excited about and so little time to do it! I'm just thrilled that I'm able to share all the craziness in my life too! Thanks for listening everyone! :)