A Not So Quick Update!

I promise I have not forgotten about my poor abandoned blog, just been a little busy getting settled here in FL.  As I'm still working on posts about our travels, I have fallen behind on my normal updates.  I'm working on trying to get caught up.

The house is finally all unpacked and just about everything is put away.  I'm still working on some organization, re-decorating Brinleigh's bedroom, hanging pictures and sorting random things that we need to get rid of.  All of which needs to be done sooner rather than later since I started working part time this week.

I had a couple of interviews at Best Buy and Target a couple weeks ago and was offered a seasonal position with both stores. Target seemed to be a better fit for our family since they were so willing to work around Kolt's duty and deployment schedules.  I will be working in the evenings and some weekends until January and then I will find out if they want to keep me on as a permanent part time employee.  So this will also be a trial period for us to see how it works with me working opposite shifts from Kolt.

Kolt got assigned to a deployment team and will be going on his first two week deployment in a couple of months.  He makes extra money every time he deploys so he is going to try and go as often as he can.  We did find out the results from the big test he took back in May to try and promote and unfortunately, they only decided to promote the top four scoring tests (for his rate).  He took the last week and half off of work just to study and prepare to take the test again today.  He will get his "raw" score in the next couple of weeks, but we never know how many people they will promote so we really won't find out anything for a few months.

After arriving in Florida, we decided that we aren't going to be using the trailer as much as we planned to.  Our financial situation has also changed drastically with the PCS and leaving Alaska.  So as of right now, we are desperately trying to sell the trailer, one less financial responsibility.  So cross your fingers and pray that we can get rid of it ASAP.

My free time is being spent on some crafting projects to help organize our families daily life and routines and also redecorating Brinleigh's new bedroom. (I will post more about that later.)  Kolt and I have also been working on our very first furniture re-purposing project.  At some point while we were in Sitka, I decided that I wanted a new TV stand.  Something taller so that Brinleigh couldn't touch the TV and preferably with cabinets or drawers.  And then I came across a dresser re-purposing project on Pinterest and became obsessed.  Of course, as soon as I saw the type of used dresser that I have been looking for posted for sale online, I jumped all over it and sent Kolt to pick it up.  I was even more ecstatic about the project when Kolt got excited about helping me with it, but that might have been more about him being able to buy and use power tools. 
 

Waiting for everything to dry is what took the longest.  Kolt sanded everything down and then I proceeded to stain and then re-stain before applying several coats of polyurethane.  We chose to leave the top middle drawer out and put down a piece of plywood to make a shelf for the blu ray player and cable box.  Kolt drilled a hole in the back for all the cords to go through so we could plug everything in and then I replaced all the hardware on the drawers.  We are pretty proud of how it all turned out since it was the first re-purposing project we have ever done.  I have another dresser sitting on the back porch that I plan to start working on this weekend.  It is long over due since I got the dresser when we were in Sitka, but I am going to make it a storage piece for all of my craft stuff.

Surprisingly, Brinleigh is still sleeping in her crib and so we decided to keep it that way as long as we possibly can.  We are gathering all the necessities and prepping to start our potty training adventure soon, so wish us luck with that.  I'm really not looking forward to the potty training, but I'm super excited about not changing diapers anymore.  We recently taught her "Patty Cake" which has turned into one of her favorite activities and has got to be the cutest things ever.  She is in love with squirrels and all things animals so we decided to go check out the Tampa Zoo next week.  She is still growing like a weed and starting to talk more and more every day.  She is such a happy little girl and so much fun to play with.  I am so proud of how patient she has been with all the changes that have been happening in our lives and how well she has adapted.

Happy Halloween!

It is finally starting to feel a little more like fall here in Florida with some cooler weather coming through.  A couple weeks ago we went to check out a local pumpkin patch and it was so hot outside you would have thought we were in the middle of summer time.  It was still fun nonetheless and we were pleasantly surprised with the normalcy of it all since we are accustomed to "Sitka standards".  There was a petting zoo which Brinleigh enjoyed, a pumpkin patch where Brinleigh had a great time picking up handfuls of hay and throwing it in the air, and pony rides, which she absolutely loved!

We have several projects going on at the house right now and with still trying to get settled and me trying to get a job, I have not been the least bit motivated to get into the Halloween spirit.  My decorations consisted of some window clings and a glitter sign on the front door and some pumpkins lined up on the bookcase.  We didn't do any Halloween crafts or make any festive treats and we even forgot to carve our pumpkin in time.  But hopefully we can start to get more into the holiday spirit around here after Thanksgiving.

Last weekend we went to our first Coast Guard event on base.  They had a kids Halloween party and costume contest in the C-130 hangar.  After Brinleigh's constant refusal to wear a witch hat for weeks prior, I finally changed her Halloween costume to a Bumble Bee and I was very happy with the outcome.  She has got to be the cutest bumble bee EVER!  Everyone who saw her thought so too.  We walked around and checked stuff out, got some candy, decorated a cupcake and Brinleigh won "Cutest Costume" in the costume contest.

I bought Brinleigh's bee costume at a local Halloween store and it came with everything we needed.  For some reason, even though it was a size 2T, the tights were so short that they looked like they were made for a one year old and Brinleigh refused to wear the headband with the bee antennas.  I ordered some larger tights online and then I bought some yellow poms and glued them onto small black ponytail bands and put those on her pig tails.  I had just bought the cutest little black dress shoes for her and they went perfectly with the costume.  When we were shopping at Michaels craft store one day, I saw a little bumble bee bag that matched her costume and we used that as her treat bag.  I had previously bought her a pink pumpkin bucket for her candy so we brought that just in case and she ended up carrying both of them.  She had to have her "perce" (purse=bumble bee bag) and her pumpkin bucket, both with candy of course. 

We decided to take Brinleigh trick-or-treating in downtown Dunedin. (The next town over from us.)  We love the town and it's such a cute little are right on the ocean.  They closed off the streets downtown and all the shops were handing out candy (just like Sitka does).There was a free movie in the park right in the middle of town and they played "Hotel Transylvania".  Downtown ended up being a lot bigger than we thought and there were a lot more shops and stores than we were expecting.  It was busy when we got there but once we started trick-or-treating it was getting packed full of people.  We stayed for about an hour and a half and then decided to go get dinner and head home at a reasonable time.  Brinleigh seemed to have a great time walking around and seeing all the other kids in costumes, but I think it was also a little overwhelming with how busy it was and all the older kids and tall people running around everywhere.  We received numerous compliments from everyone we passed about how adorable Brinleigh was and people gushed over her cuteness.

Brinleigh's vocabulary is quickly expanding and she is starting to understand and comprehend things a lot more.  Her most recent discovery is that ghosts say "BOO" and it's scary.  This is the cutest thing ever!

Brinleigh's "BOO" Video