Wanna hold my helmet?

Back in November, Kristen asked Josh to visit the kindergarten classes at her school on Veteran's Day. Josh obliged.

Most of the kids were fascinated by the soldier in the uniform and listening to him talk. The stories Josh and Kristen both told from his visit were absolutely adorable.

Apparently all the classes thought it was hilarious when Josh would put his flight helmet on. I guess in a 5-year-old's mind it is pretty funny looking.

Kristen would allow the kids to ask questions at the end of his presentation. Josh found this part particularly entertaining because of the children's vast array of attention spans and abilities to form actual questions. Some kids, he said, would ask well thought-out questions that made perfect sense and he enjoyed answering them. Other kids would ask completely off-the-wall questions that he would chuckle at. And then there were the kids that would raise their hand to ask a question and begin it with, "One time my mom...." And Kristen would had to reel them back in to explain that a question begins with "what, where, why, or how." lol

Then it was picture time. Josh would ask each student if they wanted to hold his helmet for the picture or if they wanted him to hold it. Josh said it was about half and half who decided to hold it or not.

Kristen said Josh did a fabulous job, which I have no doubt. She also said that her students still talk about his visit all the time, and look at the pictures from that day she put on her classroom wall.

He's so great with kids. He and his sister have that in common. =)

Josh, Kim & Abby

The stockings were hung on the stairway railing with care

To piggy back on the previous post topic, I just wanted to share my latest Vera Bradley acquisition: A Christmas Stocking!!!!

This is the very first year they've ever made stockings. It's a pseudo-early Christmas present from Josh. So, we switched around our assigned stockings so that Josh now has the Gators one, I have Vera, and Abby still has her puppy stocking. Much more fitting, really.

By the way, I really miss having a fireplace to hang these on. Next apartment will have a backyard for Abby... and a fireplace. I added it to the list.

Christmas is only a week away!!! Then these stockings will be STUFFED!

Josh, Kim & Abby

Kim's Quilts

I'm a big fan of Vera Bradley. The patterns, the fabrics, the colors, the styles, the versatility... the everything.
I didn't used to be - in fact, I started out with a real dislike of Vera Bradley and all her purses. In college, my first knowledge of these purses was that every single sorority girl had the "tote" version with her respective sorority's Greek letters embroidered on it. I wrote them off as purely a sorority thing, which was not for me.

Fast forward one year when one of my friends at the hotel I worked came in sporting one of these patterned fabric purses... but lacking the Greek letters. It was then I learned that Vera Bradley was not just for sorority girls, and that I did not have to dislike them. Which was a relief... because I secretly loved them.

I now proudly own a bunch of Vera Bradley purses, of all shapes and sizes. Josh's parents usually buy me a new one each year for my birthday, and I also have totes, wallets, a lunch box, contact bag, etc.

Josh calls the purses and totes my "quilts" because of the patterns and stitching. I counter with the argument that because of the type of fabric you can wash them which is a plus, and because of all the colors they go with everything. I don't think he cares, and really he just likes to get me riled up. So this playful back and forth has gone on for several years now, and every time I get a new one, he spouts off with "Oh, you got a new quilt"... then he smirks.

Well... as much as I hate to admit this... my husband may be on to something. While out shopping on Black Friday, I stumbled upon these:

Yep. Cotton Quilt Handbags - knock-offs of Vera Bradley purses themselves.

I still love them. But this certainly doesn't help my cause. At least the sign didn't say Cotton Quilt Sorority Handbags.

Josh, Kim & Abby

Our box of meat

I came home from work last week and found a rather large box sitting on our front porch. Which is odd for a couple reasons: 1.) I didn't order anything that would come in a large box. And I knew Josh hadn't either. 2.) Most everything we order gets delivered to the front office at our apartment complex, not our front porch.

Once I inspected more closely, I saw that the box said "Omaha Steaks" and was addressed to Mr. & Mrs. Touchton. Turns out, Josh's grandparents sent us our Christmas present early: steaks, burgers, twice stuffed potatoes and apple tarts from Omaha Steaks. His mom said they sent it because they weren't going to go out shopping this year... I thought it was just a great idea in general!

I immediately put everything in the freezer like the instructions told me to do and then called Josh. He was in Clearwater, so when I called him and told him about the box of meat I found on our front porch from his grandparents, he was pretty excited.

FYI for anyone wondering what to buy a newlywed couple for an occassion like Christmas... Omaha Steaks is a fantastic idea. And fantastically delicious.

"Our First" Christmas Tree

It's a fake. And it's only 4 feet tall. And I've had it since high school.

But, this is the very first time I've ever set up this tree in "our" apartment, not just in "my" apartment or "my" room.

And it is different, because this time it doesn't just have my ornaments on it that I've been given and collected over the years.

Turns out, my husband and his family had the same ornament tradition as my family. So now, my tree has truly turned into our tree, because it has pieces of both our lives decorating it. Here are a few of our favorites:

this is my "first christmas" ornament

my "grumpy before coffee"... totally me

i made a liberty bell ornament for honors history in high school

go gators

josh's "first christmas" ornament

miami dolphins nutcracker

the gumball machine josh and kristen used to fight over as kids

go gators

josh's tonka truck
starbucks coffee cups ornaments i got for josh and i while he was overseas

I could get really sentimental over the tradition of Christmas trees, like how this one is already becoming a reflection of us and our life together... or how we'll eventually start buying real trees in the future when we have kids and they are old enough to remember traditions...

But for now, I'll just leave you with my favorite, most adorable ornament we were given:

Josh, Kim & Abby

Christmas Lists

(he used her grocery list... lol)

So I don't know if this is a common tradition or not, but it's something we do.

Everyone in my family makes a list of what they want for Christmas. Everyone. Which now includes Josh, although it took him awhile to realize we were completely serious about actually making one and handing it out.

The lists include items, prices of the items, stores where the item can be purchased, pictures of the items, website links to order the items online, catalog page numbers of where item is located, etc. Any and all information needed to aid the purchaser of the items.

I can't tell you what a wonderful tradition this is... not only does it take the guesswork out of what to buy for everyone, but everyone also gets exactly what they wanted. Additionally, it's a great feeling of accomplishment to find something on someone's list that no one else could find, or find it for a fraction of the cost. It's like a big game that starts right after Thanksgiving. Mom and I start on Black Friday, of course.

Our tradition seems to be evolving into an actual event itself as well - The Great Christmas List Swap After Thanksgiving Dinner. This year the kids in my family (my cousins) all brought down their lists and gave copies to everyone after dinner, proceeded to read off everything on their list... and subsequently explain what everything was or why it was indeed "cool". Yes, there were even things on their lists that I was not familiar with. I felt strangely old. lol. The whole thing was fun and funny and something we want to repeat, and expand next year.

Josh and I had been planning on bringing copies of our lists as well, but there is a severe printer ink shortage at the Touchton Residence which made it impossible. No, I don't want to talk about it. That's definitely a story for another time... =)

Next year I am planning to become the Christmas List Nazi, in that I will make sure everyone has their lists done, not just the kids (Josh and I are still considered kids until we have our own kids), and brings it to Thanksgiving Dinner so that everyone can participate in the Christmas List Swap.

By the way, we also do lists for Birthdays. And it's been known to see lists that appear to have been copies of previous birthday lists with "Birthday" crossed out and "Christmas" written in. One guess as to who that was....

My husband thinks he's so funny.

Josh, Kim & Abby

Black Friday

Yep. My mom and I are a pair of the "crazies" that go out on Black Friday. Early. Like, we get up at 4am, she picks me up at 5am, we're at the store by 5:15am, not home until around 2pm....

But in all honesty, we actually shop the day after Thanksgiving more for the entertainment value than the merchandise deals that are out there. Don't get me wrong, there are great deals and we do take advantage of them. But if you've never ventured out on Black Friday, you're really missing out on a great show. The things some people do to save $20 is amazing.

The key is to start the day with the right mind set. We know it's going to be crazy, the lines will be long, and there will be people EVERYWHERE. If you go in expecting it and relaxed about everything, the day turns out to be quite fun. We have a system for how it works: we first make a bet on how long the check-line will take, then alternate who stands in line while the other one shops, all the while making friends with those in line around us.

We went to the mall for the first time this year, which we previously had sworn we wouldn't do because we thought that's where the real die-hards would be and, well, we feared for our lives. However, this couldn't have been further from the truth. I'm not sure if it was because of the economy, or because it was really cold out, but there were hardly any people there at 5:15am. We had already bought our first gift at Macy's and dropped it back off at the car by 5:30am. We even had time to stop and look up at all the news helicopters circling the mall. I waved. Mom laughed.

It started getting a tad busy around noon-time, and when we found out that the Target parking lot was 10 times worse than the mall, we called it quits. Another Black Friday in the books.

If you've never done it, you should try it at least once. You may just get hooked like we did.

Thanksgiving, a few days late

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone's day was fabulous.

So we did, in fact, get up and watch the Macy's Parade. I coaxed Josh out to the couch with coffee, cinnamon rolls, and bacon... it worked. The rest of the day was filled with family dinners and a lot of laughs. Our first Thanksgiving was just as I'd hoped it would be. I'm excited about the many, many more to come.

And I made the Pinecone Dip! Here's how it turned out:
It was really good! And everyone thought it was adorable. It was as easy to make as I thought it would be... I'd definitely make it again.
Part of the family
My uncle carving one of the two turkeys.
Placecards my cousin Jill made... all by herself! Too cute.
Dad and Papaw watching football til dinner was ready.
Josh says he doesn't like kids............ right.
Helping get everything ready.
Cousins waiting patiently.
Thanksgiving dinner is served.
Jill excited about eating...
Us.
And lastly, I thought I'd take a moment to say:
I thank the Lord for my husband, my puppy, my family, my freedom, my job, my health... for Vera Bradley purses, Chick-fil-A, country music, Target, Pumpkin Spice Latte's, craigslist.org, and flat heeled shoes. =)

Josh, Kim & Abby

Pinecone Cheese Spread

I just thought this was the cutest idea and had to share. It's so easy to put together too. I think I'll make it for Thanksgiving tomorrow... along with the corn casserole I promised and Josh's homemade bread.
I found it on Taste of Home's website, and this is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons dried minced onion
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 1 cinnamon stick
• Fresh dill sprigs
• Breadsticks, crackers and/or raw vegetables

Directions

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and milk until smooth. Add the feta, mozzarella, onion and cayenne ; mix well. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until firm.
• On a serving platter, form cheese mixture into a pinecone shape. Beginning at the narrow end, arrange almonds in overlapping rows. Add cinnamon stick and dill for the stem and pine needles. Serve with breadsticks, crackers and/or vegetables. Yield: 3-1/2 cups.

I'll let you know how it goes! Looks delish though.....

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Josh, Kim & Abby

Domesticated

I wasn't required to do many chores growing up. My mom always told me that once I was an adult, I'd have to do all the adult chores, so she wanted me to be a kid while I was still a kid. I really, really appreciate that to this day. She also told me that one day I'd understand why the chores were important, and that I'd actually want to do them when I had my own house and my own family to take care of.

And she was right. Of course.

I think because of all this, I'm finding the little things I accomplish to be a bigger deal to me than maybe they would be to others. Or maybe other young newlywed women feel/felt this way too. I don't know.

Take for instance, cooking our nightly dinners. Josh and I sit down to dinner together every night at the kitchen table. We established this from the first night we got home from our honeymoon. The challenge has been finding enough dinners that we both (read: Josh) likes so that I'm not repeating the same recipes every week. This has taken me quite awhile and with much input from my Mom... but I am now proud to say I am up to 24 dinners we rotate through.

Another example that's kind of silly is magazines. My parents always ordered magazines from me during drives we'd have in elementary and middle school - the ones where I'd win prizes for getting a certain number of subscriptions, etc. They would order their "grown-up" ones, and I got the typical childrens' ones. As I got older, they always got me Guideposts (which is an amazing little magazine).

Well, a few weeks ago, my co-worker's son was doing the same said magazine drive that I used to do. This is the first time I have ordered magazines for myself and I was really excited to pick them out. I was even more excited when I got my first issues of my "grown-up" magazines a few days ago: Real Simple - which covers how to simplify tasks like home organization and decorating, cooking, gift giving, and finances, and Cooking Light - which is a recipe magazine. I seriously think I jumped up and down a bit when I saw them lying on the kitchen counter.

And then yesterday and today, I made broccoli casserole and 7-layer salad, all by myself, to take to a pot-luck luncheon at work... I used both my Pampered Chef glass trifle bowl and my Pyrex casserole dish and warming carrier. I got both of these as gifts over the past year and felt like such a grown-up cooking and using them today. And, the best part was that my two dishes were completely gone by the end of the luncheon. Success.

My mom called me domesticated when I called and told her what I did... I was all excited like a little kid. I'm sure she got the same feeling as when I used to bring home things I had colored for her to hang on the fridge. Such typical, every day things to her, but to her daughter such a huge accomplishment. Too bad you can't hang 7-layer salad on the fridge.

Little things like these keep happening that probably should not excite me as much as they do. I guess I'm just finding that being a young newlywed wife is fun. I like doing the adult chores. I like taking care of our house, cooking, reading, organizing.... and cleaning.

This all kind of snuck up on me. But I'm glad it has. And I'm glad Mom was right.
Kim

Gator Game Day

We got to go to a game!! Wooo!

And we won this time. Last year we got to go to the Ole Miss game, and it's the only game we lost the whole season. Since then though, we've won 21 straight games.....

Josh and I also just found out that I will definitely be able to get student tickets once I (hopefully) get into the Graduate Program, and TWO to each home game at that (since I'm married)!

I learned at the game that this was actually Josh's Mom's first Gator game ever. With a 62-3 win, it was a great one to be her first!

kickoff

halftime

touchdown pass!

Josh, Kim & Abby

"My current location is"

Josh loves his Palm Pre (it's a fancy cell phone). He is always getting these updates for it and always getting new "apps" - which is short for "applications" or programs that you can run on the phone. Every now and then he'll come over to show me a new app he just downloaded, and explain how cool it is.

Truth is though, that there are some really useful apps on there. One in particular has really been helpful for us.

If you recall the time Josh and his buddy were hiking in the forest and had the near bear experience, what you don't know about that day is that Josh and I had miscommunicated on exactly which State Forest they were in. He was in the habit of hiking for a couple hours each morning, but on this particular morning, he forgot to tell me they were switching forests. Had that situation turned serious, I would've had the rangers searching a totally different forest....

Don't worry, we fixed the problem. Which leads me to this wonderful app on Josh's phone.

I don't know what it's called, but for sake of this post, let's say it's the "Google Locator" app.

Basically, the Google Locator lets Josh send his exact location coordinates and a link to a Google map to me in one push of a button from his cell phone. In either email or text form. And I, in turn, with one click of the mouse or opening of a text message can see exactly where he is.

It's fantastic.

So now, every time he goes out into the woods, I'll get a text message from him or whoever he's with that says "My current location is: ____________," showing me exactly where they are. What's neat about a Google Map is that it will also show me terrain and satellite, so I can see that they really are completely off the beaten path. This one is from when they went out to watch the meteor shower last month:
They're the little red flag with the A on it.

He also uses the Google Locator when he's flying for the Reserves to show me where they are. I think he finds it more funny than anything though, because most of the time I don't know where they are planning to fly, so when his location comes in it's always a surprise. Like yesterday, I got a text message showing me he was all the way up in the northern part of Florida - I had no they were flying up there! And the ones when he lands in Gainesville are hilarious too. I get jealous. lol

Seriously though, it's a relief having this feature so that I can keep track of my husband as he pops up all over the state. And I so appreciate that he thinks to use it and understands why it's important for me.

I guess I'll admit that's he right about his Palm Pre... it really is very cool. Maybe I should get one when it's time to upgrade my phone?

Josh, Kim & Abby

Happy Veterans Day!

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived and Fought For This Country." -Patton/PH

I stole that quote from our good friend Angela.

I tell Josh I'm proud of him a lot, and I jokingly say "thank you for serving our country" to get him to roll his eyes at me. He isn't one for getting attention because he's in the military, nor is he one to ask for military discounts often. Unless he's in uniform in Clearwater. Then, you can count on him stopping by Sam Seltzer's with the other soldiers for 50% of his steak....

But today, he has to let me tell him, along with everyone else.

Josh,
I am so proud of you. For all that you've done, been through, witnessed and survived - for me, a citizen of this country. I am so thankful to you and your fellow soldiers who have served. You would give your life for this country, and some of your good friends have. I do not take this, or my freedom, for granted. I know you see it as a job, but I really do see you as a hero. My hero. I love you. I love being your wife. I love being a military wife.
Kim

If you forgot today, say thank you to a Veteran tomorrow. Without them, we wouldn't be here. God Bless.

Josh, Kim & Abby

View from Josh's "Office"

Just another day at work for my husband. This was Friday with gorgeous weather, flying over Orlando, getting ready to land at Orlando Exec then head downtown for lunch at Little Saigon.

It's a rough life. But someone's gotta do it. =)

Josh, Kim & Abby

Fort Hood

I don't know what, if anything, would be adequate for me to say about the Attack on Thursday.

I can tell you that I don't understand. More than anything, I just don't understand.

Last week, Josh lost a good friend he served with in Iraq, in the 57th Med. Shawn McNabb was one of the soldiers killed in last week's helicopter crashes in Afghanistan. He was also the first of Josh's Army friends that I've met to pass away. Needless to say, it was a tough week.

This week, over 40 people (mostly soldiers) were killed or wounded - not overseas in the war, but right here in the U.S, on an ARMY BASE, by an Army Major.

Really?

All this absolutely breaks my heart. We've been glued to the TV since we found out. When they started releasing victims' names and stories today, I got even more upset than I already was. Newlyweds, expectant mothers, recent-grads out of Basic Training... just going about their business at another day at work. Not fearing for their safety in their own country.

To add insult, it's my understanding that this all happened in a Processing Center, for soldiers either leaving or coming home from deployment. Which means, some of the soldiers had survived the war, made it home safely, but STILL lost their life.

I just don't understand.

Our prayers are with the victims and their families. May the deceased Rest in Peace, and the families and wounded heal quickly.

P.S. I haven't even mentioned the shootings in Orlando today. I really don't know what our world has come to. Just keep praying.

Josh, Kim & Abby

In Memory of Shawn "Big Grab" McNabb

14 May 1985 - 26 October 2009

Below: Shawn is making a funny face in this picture, next to Josh.

L to R - Kevin, Shawn, and Josh. Interviewing in Iraq for a news reporter.