Moving Day

We’ve moved!  To visit the “new” blog please visit http://loveofausten.wordpress.com/.

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Falling for Autumn

Whoa!  Sorry, y’all.  I know I haven’t posted in a while.  Things have been ca-ray-zee!  I started a post last Monday that I never finished.  So… as you can tell, things have been a little intense.

So to make up for it I’m going to share some awesome pictures I took of all the autumn-y stuff around here!

 

 

 

Okay, seriously you guys.  This tree.  This tree.  I’m in love with this tree.  It’s so beautiful.  It makes me a little sad because the pictures can’t do it justice but when the breeze ripples the leaves I swear they’re made out of gold.  There’s just something about that color and the way it absorbs the sunlight that makes me happy every time I see it.  I sound like a hippie right now but you’d be in love with this tree too if you could see it in real life.

It also looks super beautiful standing underneath and looking up at the branches.

 

And then of course the ubiquitous Aurora picture!

 

 

Of course now all of the leaves are falling off the trees, which is pretty in its own right but less photogenic.

Happy Autumn!

A Little Update

Today has been one of those days… you know, when you get a lot done on your to-do list but nothing seems to REALLY have gotten done.  I think that’s because I’ve made a lot of calls and organized a lot of stuff but haven’t physically done a lot (aside from going for a run and walking Aurora).  I’ve actually done a lot, but I’m seriously putting off any cleaning I have to do.  We cleaned almost all day yesterday so I’m a little cleaned-out.

Not really a whole lot to report, I figured I’d just chime in so that nobody thinks I’m dead (you were so worried, I know).  Aurora has been amazingly good today.  Seriously, just a perfectly well-behaved dog.  I think she’s knows there are some Frosty Paws on the other side of it.

Buy these for your dog.  Like NOW.  They will love you forever.

It’s getting cold here and I love it!  I think I’d be happy if it was fall all the time.  The leaves are all changing and there’s this one tree I’m in love with because of the colors and the way the leaves are so tiny and shimmer when the wind blows.  The temperature is perfect all of the time and I don’t mind going for a couple of walks a day with it like this.  I think I can actually say I’m going to be sad when all the leaves fall and it snows.  But not for long because then it’ll be CHRISTMAS! Which I’m already preparing for.  I’m just frustrated that none of the stores around here have started selling Christmas decorations yet.  For now I’ll just have to collect some leaves and drink hot apple cider. :)

A Cautionary Tale, or Don’t Be An Idiot

Tags

Air Force, base library, cautionary tale, GS, jobs, library, NAF, self-preference

by Bilbo Baggins.  I mean… me.

So I haven’t told a lot of people this because I didn’t want to say anything before there was anything to say, but I applied for a job.  It was with the base library and it was kind of a part-time, on-call, as needed kind of job, meaning I could work 5 hours one week and 35 hours the next.  I was actually kind of excited about because libraries are more my pace (I’m a “let’s do this slow and perfectly” kind of person) than, say, high-volume clothing stores (*coughH&Mcough*) and I love books.  I also volunteered the local library in high school and I loved it so much that I begged them to let me do more than scan and sort books, like man the front desk but they never did because apparently you need a master’s degree in library science to do that (lame, I know).

Sorry about that tangent.  I enjoy sharing my life story.  It’s a comedy of errors, as you’ll see in a moment.

I found out about the job through the grapevine.  Kyle heard that the position would be opening up soon and gave me a heads up, so I went over to the library that day to talk the librarian and find out a little bit about the job.  I’ve talked to her a couple times so she was really nice and able to give me a lot of info about the job, mostly what I described at the top of the page.  I left feeling pretty good because I’m an excellent candidate for the job (I’m allowed to be immodest a couple of times in my life, okay?  Let me have this).

When the job opened up I applied for it that day.  The process seemed long but maybe that’s just because I haven’t applied for a job in a while.  I actually had to rewrite my resume (that took a while) because my old one is still stuck on my computer that crashed.  So I finally got through with it and I was pretty proud of myself when I finally submitted it.

That was a couple of weeks ago.  Fast-forward to yesterday when Kyle got home from work.  For some reason the librarian called him thinking it was my number and left a message basically saying that I didn’t get the job and that it had something to do with “preference”.  Neither Kyle or I had any idea what that meant; we figured it might mean someone had a greater need than me for the job or that they’d been waiting for it longer.

It turns out that’s not entirely wrong or right.  From talking to my friend whose husband has been in the Air Force a while, I learned that spouse preference is something you can use at each base your spouse is stationed at when applying for NAF and GS positions.  There’s usually a time limit on how long after you get to the base that you can use it and you can only use it once at each base.  It has to do with being a military spouse and basically just gives you preference over someone who’s applying and has no connection to the military (isn’t a spouse, veteran, dependent, etc.).

There’s no saying whether I would have gotten the job had I applied self-preference to my application, but it definitely hurt me since other people had applied with spouse preference.  It at least would have given me a fighting chance, which I know now I didn’t have without it.

If all I learned from this experience was that, I still consider it a win.  Was I actually getting excited about the job and the prospect of working at a library?  Yes.  But I also could have tried to figure out more about self-preference before dismissing it.  So I guess my cautionary tale is kind of two-fold… first of all, always use spouse preference if it can be applied to you.  Second of all, figure out what stuff is before assuming it doesn’t apply to you (especially when it comes to military matters).

I’m still looking for a job I will love… I know it’s going to take time to find.  I just feel blessed that I have a husband who understands that and who allows me to take my time finding the right one.  Maybe it will just be getting a novel published and I won’t have to find a “real job”… or maybe it will be working for a literary magazine online.  Or as an editor somewhere (I would make an awesome editor… I basically do it all the time anyway).

Just sayin’.

 

 

 

Updated September 7, 2012

PS: Did I ever tell you about the time I tried to karate-kick an automatic door open, missed, slipped, and fell right on my butt?  Consider this a PSA from the College Students Against Doing Stupid Stuff to Amuse Your Friends Council.  Just another cautionary tale to throw into the mix.

Giveaway Winner

I assigned each of my comments a number and put it through random.org and the winner is… Rae!  You can expect the giftcard in a couple of days, Rae.

Thank you all for reading my blog!  I know I’ve been slacking a little on posting but that’s just because we had a long weekend (excuses, excuses, I know).  I actually have a great military-related post for you guys hopefully up today!

Breakfast Musings

Nope, not things I ponder while eating breakfast.  Just things I ponder ABOUT breakfast.

When I was in high school and college, I never ate breakfast.  Like, NEVER.  On the rare, rare occasion I tried to before 10 AM it left me feeling sick pretty much the whole day (especially eggs).  Around 10 I would suddenly get really hungry and eat more than just enough snack to tide me over until lunch (I’m basically a hobbit, so let’s call it elevensies).  Weirdly, after meeting Kyle (and I’m sure due to his influence) I started eating breakfast, first just every once in a while and then much more regularly.  For the better part of a year and a half I’ve been eating breakfast every day, be it an egg sandwich, cereal, or just a piece of toast, and usually around when I wake up at 7 or so.

But I realized lately that I still get hungry around 10, regardless of whether I eat breakfast or not.  So I decided to do an experiment.

I DECIDED TO STOP EATING BREAKFAST AGAIN.

Except not like I used to.  In fact, it’s more like delaying breakfast until I get hungry.  Because somehow by forcing myself to eat breakfast when I’m not hungry (which I pretty much never am at 7 AM) it sends my brain weird signals (or so I suppose, not being a nutritional psychologist… or knowing if that’s an actual thing. Maybe I should invent a profession like Sherlock Holmes?)

So basically I’m doing what every nutritionist in the world says to do and waiting to eat until I feel hungry.  Except now when I get hungry around eleven I’m like “Well, it’s almost lunchtime… I might as well wait until noon.”  So I am effectively skipping breakfast, which is causing me to overeat at other meals because I feel like I can.

Why does any of this matter in the scheme of things?  Because I’m realizing I lack balance.  I go to huge extremes and as good as I think moderation is for people I very rarely exercise it.  I’m either eating super healthy or super bad.  I’ll exercise a lot (for me) or not at all, and when I skip a day of exercise I often give up on the whole week, which is why I’m constantly starting and stopping diets or working out.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that its really important to learn to listen to your body’s hunger signals.  I’ve never been good at that, often ignoring both when I’m full AND when I’m hungry.  So I’m going to start listening to my body, and if that means only eating half a bowl of soup, that’s what I’ll do.  If it means stopping what I’m doing and grabbing something to eat so I don’t overindulge later, I’ll do that too.

That doesn’t mean I don’t love breakfast, though!  Check out my Pinterest board Breakfast for lots of delicious, healthy, and easy ideas!

 

 

 

PS: Kyle got an 89.8% on his PT test!  I’m so proud.  Time for some junk food celebration [in moderation, that is :)].

PPS: Kyle introduced me to West Wing recently and I’m hooked.  When are Josh and Donna getting together?  I’ve secretly been shipping them since the first episode but didn’t want to admit it until that whole episode with the State of the Union speech in season 2.  I’m pretty sure Donna is my favorite character.

OOTD: Lazy Day

I’m wearing fake Uggs (or Fuggs as I like to call them – from Target).  Needless to say, you don’t want to see the rest.  T-shirt, jeggings, possible VPL.

Look!  A puppy!

 

That pretty much sums up our day today.

The REAL Giveaway

*This giveaway has been closed*

Okay, so I was totally going to post on Wednesday and let you guys know that my “giveaway” wasn’t actually for real.  Like, I’m going to have a giveaway, but it’s not going to be for an ulu knife (sorry, Des).

The reason why I didn’t post sooner is because life has been CRAZY the last few days.  I’ve been baking cookies, packaging cookies, going to Key Spouse meetings, getting ready for the OSC social, going to the OSC social, and then today Kyle’s squadron had a picnic (which the Key Spouses had a table at).  And that’s all in the last three days.  So yeah… I don’t feel bad about not posting at all. :)

Anyway, I AM having a giveaway.  For real.  I’m sorry if you never trust me again, we’re just both going to have to learn to deal with it.  And what am I giving away, might you ask?

A $30 gift card to Amazon!

You can use it on whatever you want:

• pre-ordering Young House Love’s book
• blackout curtains
• Jane Austen novels
• cookie cutters
• pepper spray

Anything!

Just leave your name and e-mail address in a comment.  Liking the Facebook page counts as another submission (even if you’ve already done it), as does following the blog through e-mail (which you can do on the sidebar).  Let me know when you’ve done those in your comment!

Good luck!

One Year Blogiversary!

I’ve been blogging for a year!

Thanks, Misha.

Anyway, in honor of one year of blogging, I’ve decided to give away a genuine, Alaskan-make ulu knife!  It’s shiny and cuts things, like every other knife!  Except that it has an inconvenient handle!  Perfect for accidentally chopping off your fingers!

2 out of 3 Herberts’ give ulu knives 4 1/2 stars! (it would have been 5 but the ulu fell and cut the last star in half)

Want to win one of these fantastic knives?  Just leave a comment ranting incessantly about how much you want one!  Or several comments!

The Best Links on the Internet

Stuff I’m loving right now!

• This phone background, which makes your phone look like Irene Adler’s from Sherlock.
• Young House Love is finally gracing our bookshelves just like they’ve graced our hearts (I’m a little obsessed, yeah).  Pre-order their book now!
• Village Candle is a company that originated in my hometown of Topsham, Maine. Kyle accidentally used one of their candles in a gift for me and we loved the smell so much that we bought a huge version of it.  Treat yo self to a Mulled Cider candle.  They burn nice and strong (like a good whiskey… just kidding)!
• I miss Chik-Fil-A and Steak ‘n Shake.  Luckily I can make my very own nuggets and Frisco Melt at home!
• Monique’s blog has got a new name and a new look.  Actually… it’s a whole new blog!  Check her out over at Life’s Little Vignettes!