Let Me Wipe Away the Dust...

So, hmmm, yeah... Hi. Fancy seeing me here in the blogging world, right?

Since I've haven't written anything in months, I think I'm long overdue for an update!

First of all, we are all doing well here. As you might have seen in my last post, Jason was selected for Master Sergeant. Yay, Honey! We are all excited about that. Now we just have to wait until next year sometime, when he will finally get to put on that stripe.



Brennan is super happy that he will be starting kindergarten in the fall. I am excited and sad. But I guess that is how every Mommy is. We hope to do lots of projects and fun stuff this summer. Oh, and I've already started buying school supplies, I don't know which on of us is more excited about that.



As for me and my ankle, I've been to physical therapy twice now. It has really helped. For the most part, and depending what shoes I have on, I can walk normally. I still have a problem going downstairs without looking all awkward, but it will all come in time. My ankle and foot still swell up everyday, and my scars are quite lovely. The doctor said the swelling will probably be around for a year or so, and scars are scars, they will fade over time.

So, we've been in Turkey for over six months now. A fourth of the time we will be here. Wow.

A few views of Turkey so far...


Sabancı Merkez Camii


Horse drawn wagon on the road.


I love the crosswalk man. You must wear a fedora to walk here, haha.


Dur means stop. (That was your Turkish word for the day.)


Bread from a cart. Yum!


Brennan at the Atatürk Parkı in Mersin.

Obviously, we haven't had much chance to travel around yet. I am sure our next year and a half will be full of Turkish travels.

After being stuck on the couch for months, I am ready!

Drum Roll, Please...

The list is out, and congratulations are in order...



Job well done, my love!

xoxo,

Pretty in Pink

It's been awhile since I've taken any pictures of Chloe. Well, pictures that didn't include shenanigans in the backyard or that could be submitted to dogshaming.com.

Like these...

I love the look on her face here. This is totally one of those pictures that needs thought bubbles photoshopped in. (Yeah, I didn't do that obviously.)
The dog protruding out of our fence is Brutus, our neighbor doggie. I don't really know why our fences are built with holes in them, but I am glad Chloe isn't any smaller...she can't get her whole body through to the other side either.

As Brennan would say, "Silly Brutus." (...and another missed thought bubble opportunity.)

So back to Chloe's photo op. She just had to have some new PINK prettiness for her pictures. My opinion, not hers, of course.  Aww, doesn't she look like a little princess?

Ha, looks are definitely deceiving in her case!  Our current nicknames for her are Hog Dog, Grumpy Old Man, Scruffaluffagus, and The Lorax. Can pink polka dots counteract all that?

Besides the the beard and eyebrows making her look like a grumpy male Dr. Suess character; we've decided her goal each time she goes outside is to bring every bit of dirt and plant life from the backyard, back inside with her. And most days - she does a REALLY great job!

She's very much a tomboy, so I tried to girly her up.

Check out that new ID tag. Cute, right!? I love the pink and the little bow. I found it at the Etsy seller ModPaw'd. I am super happy with their service and the quality of the tag. They have lots of really neat designs. This one is called the Bella.

I love it. I've already decided when Chloe gets a new collar, I will order a new tag to match.

Coordinating collars and tags...I'll make her girly yet!

p.s. Just so you know, I did photoshop out our address on Chloe's tag, it is not a flaw in the stamping.

And Then He Was Five

Brennan's fifth birthday was last week. Um, I have a five-year-old! Wow, where does the time go?

Of course, he was all kinds of excited. He is very proud of being five. Not that he's not also looking toward the future. Actually, I think he's got his 6th-10th birthdays already planned, haha. He's got goals, you see. This past summer he got to hang out with his cousins while we were in Indiana. He found a buddy in his cousin Matthew. Matthew was 10 at the time, and to Brennan that is his ultimate goal. To be a big kid, and be 10 like Matthew. :) I'm just glad time doesn't fly by quite as fast as he wants it to!

Brennan is still all about Spiderman, so we had a Spiderman filled birthday.



I even hobbled around and made a Spidey cake.


Time to open presents!

These Magformers are awesome. We have played with them every day since he opened them up.







The birthday hat. Ha!


Can't have a birthday without balloons!




The birthday boy with his cake.

Please ignore the black run on the front of the cake. Turkey runs on 220v electricity. We can use our 110v appliances here with step down transformers, BUT the hertz are different, so things like mixers, hair clippers, fans, and digital clocks run too fast. So, no low speed on my mixer makes it hard not to overmix icing. It was still tasty though. :)

Five candles.


Make a wish!








I like how he had to stop and watch the smoke from the first one he blew out.




Still mesmerized.


Alright. Time to get down to business.


Fist clenched in determination!


Another breath.




He did it! But, of course, I don't have a picture of that. :P


Happy Birthday, Little Man! We love you so much!!


XOXO,

Injure-lik

I have had a long week. Well, I guess, almost week and a half now. Why, you ask? Well, if you didn't catch my super witty title, it is because I am down for the count (or at least grounded to the couch) for awhile. As in a broken and dislocated ankle, reconstructed tendon, two giganto screws, one plate, six pins, and a whole lot of stitches down. It has not been fun. And I'm not going to lie, I didn't come up with my super witty title, the guy in the physical therapy office at the clinic did, when he fitted and showed me how to use my crutches. By the way, crutches aren't fun either.

So...yeah, we've been here two months now, and I've already added myself to the Injured at Incirlik roster. Oh, and how did I do such a number on myself, you ask? It was done on an Instrument of Doom called a bicycle. Ha. I got distracted, got too close to the curb, and fell off. Actually, I put my leg out to try to keep myself from falling off, and that's when some crazy combination of geometry, momentum, and torque all got the best of my tibia and fibula. I don't have another scratch on me, not even a skinned knee or hand or elbow. My Doctor expresses amazement every time he sees me. Apparently, he's never seen anything quite like it. And just from a bike wreck. He originally thought I got hit by a car. :-S Wow. What can I say, my first broken bone ever, I guess I just had to do it with gusto.



Here is my splinted and wrapped up ankle. I should get a hard cast next week. I will save you're eyes from seeing what a dislocated foot looks like. Even the x-rays are cringe worthy. On the bright side, I get to wear yoga pants every day, and don't feel bad about it one bit. :)

Source: hahasforhoohas.com via Heather on Pinterest

In other news, our jeep is in Turkey. We don't have it yet, because of all the paperwork rig-a-ma-roll, but at least it is in the same country with us. Also, our household goods are being delivered tomorrow. Yay! Well, everything but one carton, it hasn't made it yet. Weird that they got separated, but we'll take what we can get. :)

P.S. A super big thanks to everyone who has helped us out since my injury - meals, babysitting Brennan, driving us around, just being there and checking on us - it means so much, and has made a rough time so much smoother! THANK YOU Incirlik friends!

P.S.S. A special thanks to Jason. He has taken perfect care of me and Brennan, made arrangements, cooked, cleaned, mastered laundry duty, and has just overall taken up all my slack without one bit of complaint. Thank you, Honey. I love you.

Christmas and a Brand New Year

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a nice quiet one - family time, friends, lots of food, presents. Fun.

This year Santa got cookies and milk and chocolate covered cherries. We also had to put carrots out for the reindeer, plus a pan of water. Brennan is very thorough. No thirsty reindeer at our house. Christmas Eve we watched Santa Claus is Comin' to Town and the listened to a reading of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Brennan said he was "so nervous" when I tucked him in. I don't know if he was nervous because he was excited, or nervous because he was afraid he was going to be on the naughty list. Ha.

As it turned out, he did make it onto the good list. This was right as he realized Santa had left presents under the tree. I love it!



Brennan had a blast opening his presents and helping us open ours. He was just as excited about the presents that weren't his. See my new Keurig on the couch. Yep, awesome! Thanks Santa! ;)





Brennan's new scooter. The scooter that was the stand-in for the skateboard that was on his list. Which prompted a discussion about Santa not always getting you want you want, but what is best for you after Brennan told us Santa "let him down" by not giving him a skateboard. I think all is good now. And for as many times as Brennan has wiped out on this thing, Santa definitely made the right call. :)



Jason got a home beer making kit. He's been wanting one forever, so he is a happy camper, or in this case, Beermaker. Apparently, coffee and beer make the world go 'round in our house. Ha ha!



The rest of the week we spent mostly kicked back relaxing. It was nice. Apparently, I was extra relaxed, because the only other picture on my camera after opening Christmas presents is the cinnamon roll Christmas tree I made for breakfast Christmas day. I know, right, totally not my normal take pictures of everything self. :)



And so that is that. Farewell 2012! I can't say it was a bad year, because it did have lots of good parts, but is was definitely a year of change and being unsettled for us. With Jason's deployment, we were apart for half of it, and then after he got back, most of our time and efforts were focused on getting ready for our big move. So now here we are, in Turkey, (most of) the hard parts are over, and this year we can hopefully just focus on being together, having some fun and adventures, and enjoying this amazing opportunity we have to be part of a different country and culture.

Welcome 2013!



I'm looking forward to it!