Today and Tomorrow

Ahh, Friday... so good to see you...

Today Jake had a very big checkride in the T-1. In fact this one specific flight gives like 20% or something like that to his ranking for assignment night. The weather was not good today so he was very worried going into the flight but he did AWESOME! Seriously, so amazing... he got a 3E (for those of you who know what that means haha). Anyways, he was very happy afterwards so he took me out on a date to a nice steak dinner... A-woo-hoo!

Tomorrow will be super busy but really fun. It's funny how I never really have much to do on Saturdays but tomorrow I have three "events" all in the same day. In the morning I have a spouse graduation meeting here on base, then at 2 I am going to a baby shower for my friend from bible study, then after that Jake and I going to celebrate my friend Ann's graduation. She's graduating with her Masters in Counseling from Mississippi State! What an huge achievement that is!! I'm really excited for tomorrow and all the fun it promises. I will do my best at taking pictures of it all :)

Photo shoot!

So I'm in the process of launching my new business and I realized that I have absolutely no pictures of myself to use on my website. I really think having a "face" to a business, especially an online business, can give a needed sense of security to clients who have never met you before. At least with me, it's nice to have a visual of who I'm working with on the other side of the screen. The problem is that other than my wedding photos and my ancient high school senior portraits, I really have no pictures by myself. And in just a week and a half, my smile will be tainted by braces so if there's a time to have some pictures taken it's now!

A good friend of mine recommended a photographer in the area so I contacted her and told her what I needed... basically just a few pictures of myself that are not too stiff or "posey". I told her my ideal setting would be to shoot in a big open field and incorporate some random prop to add visual interest. I was so pleased when I showed  up to the location and saw exactly what I had pictured in my head! Amber was so nice and totally worked with me to get the types of photos I wanted, not to mention her prices were really affordable. If you are in the Columbus area and need a photographer you should definitely check out her website.

Anyways, here are two of the photos that I'm not using on my new site or blog. And I'm really SO excited to show you (soon!) the ones I have chosen to use in my new designs... the one for my new blog header is so fun and artsy and just perfect!

Weather drama.

It's official... Mississippi has insanely crazy weather! I thought I had experienced it before but this weekend was the worst yet. If you are from the south and are used to tornadoes you will definitely laugh at my little "freak out" in this post but hey, I'm from the west coast and have never seen weather like this in my life!! I should start by saying that lately we have had gorgeous weather here. It's been in the 70s and 80s, sunny, and beautiful. Out of nowhere on Friday evening this HUGE rain/hail storm came in. It was raining harder, bigger drops than I have ever seen before and it stayed really warm outside during the entire thing. I was totally fascinated by it! I really do love when it rains... as long as I'm watching it from the inside that is :)

Saturday morning the weather was still pretty crummy, not raining but extremely overcast, crazy windy, and very humid. Jake left around lunchtime to go into town to study with some guys in his class (He has a big checkride this week so his weekend was ALL study no play) and I stayed home to get some things done around the house. Okay here's where the story gets entertaining... Around 3:30 I was inside and heard a loud speaker outside so I went to see what they were saying. Turns out, security forces (which is our police here on base) was driving around with a speaker saying "Everyone need to go inside immediately. Take shelter and stay away from all windows." They had never done this before in the year and a half I've lived here. I looked up at the sky and saw the clouds were low and swirling in this crazy way. It was hot and humid and even though it was mid-afternoon, the sky started to get kind of dark. Seriously, if you are not used to it, tornado weather is really freaky!

I ran inside and texted my friend who also lives on base and said "What do I do? Where am I supposed to 'take shelter'?" She said she was going to go in the closet under the stairs since there is really no other place in our house that is clear of windows. Nervous of the unknown at this point, I cleared out our closet (which is really only used to hold the vacuum, an old microwave and a few random boxes) grabbed the dogs, some blankets, and a book and started a little campout to wait out the storm. I didn't have any light in the closet though so I decided to put up our doggy gate and just leave the door open. Okay I know you are totally laughing at me by now but I really had no idea what I was supposed to do in this kind of weather and Jake was NOT home to calm me down! Haha. Anyways, after about 15 minutes, I got bored and decided it was not really necessary to be sitting in the closet. I mean the storm was bad - the worst I've seen before actually - but it was nothing life threatening. Or so I thought... Once my cable came back on, the news said that TEN people had been killed by tornadoes just south of us in Mississippi! How scary and awful is that?!

Because I document everything on film, here we are camping out in the closet. After we got out, it was so funny because Bailey did not want to leave!

Anyways, that was my dramatic Saturday afternoon. The bad part of the storm literally only lasted a little over a half hour and then suddenly blue skies were back out! This is just weather I will never be able to get used to. Hope you were entertained by my story :)

Introducing... Worlds Cutest Dogs!

Blah Blah Blah

I'm in a bit of blah mood this week. I think I am just stuck in this routine - work eat sleep repeat - and it's starting to wear on me. The fact is, life is just wonderfully busy right now.  I say its wonderful because I SO much prefer being busy to being bored. I just need to figure out how to put some pep back in my step in the midst of it. And I better do it fast too because life is not slowing down anytime soon... school starts for me in ten days. Ten days!!! Overall I guess I feel excited and nervous and ready. This next year and a half of technical web + design training is going to really set me up right for my entire career and I am sooo ready.

Okay, changing subjects, on Monday morning I went back to the orthodontist to get impressions done for my soon-to-be braces. I also made a hefty $640 down-payment... Yep, there's NO turning back now. I think that's been a big part of what's got me down this week - knowing that in just a little over two weeks I will have braces again. I seriously could've cried when I walked out of the ortho office on Monday because suddenly it was official... I wasn't just talking about doing it, I was actually going through with it. But ya know, its different every week. Last week I didn't really care about braces and this week I really do. I think this whole yearlong(+) process is going to be a giant series of ups and downs. Humor me as I work through it.

As for work. this week has been insanely hectic. We have a HUGE annual conference event for a client coming up in a few weeks and its a lot of work. My boss and I have been splitting the work load in half for the past month of planning and organizing but this week she is out of town and the load has fallen completely on me. It definitely helps the workday go by really fast but by the end of it all I feel like doing is sleeping. Hopefully once this conference is over my work will go back to a more manageable pace and I won't be so rundown. On a happier work note, yesterday was Administrative Professionals Day and everyone at work recognized me by taking me out to a super fancy lunch at the Old Waverly Country Club. It was SO nice to be thanked for all the tedious little office tasks I take on every week. Below is a picture of where we ate lunch. It's seriously one of the prettiest places I've seen so far in Mississippi!

But enough about work, let's talk about that handsome man I get to call hubby. I mean you think I've been working hard lately? Yeah, it doesn't even compare to what Jake does everyday. The poor guy is rundown, always stressed and overworked, and in the midst of all of it he is doing AMAZING in phase 3 of UPT. On top of everything, he still somehow finds a way to always put me first. Sure we don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like but he constantly does little things to show me that he loves me and supports me. It just amazes me how he can hold everything together the way he does. It's official... I have married Superman. Oh and speaking of being married, our two-year wedding anniversary is in less than two months! That seems crazy to me! Time just flys by way too fast.

Well there's your update on my life. I'm really happy tomorrow is Friday! Anyways, stay tuned the next few days for the launch of some new blog designs I've been working on. Hope everyone's having a great week!

An unexpected event.

So I am sitting at work this afternoon and my phone starts making this random ringing sound alerting me that I have a calendar event. I thought it was really strange because I seriously never use my iPhone calendar. I picked up my phone and saw this... 

Kristen is one of my best friends who I had to say goodbye to when I left Los Angeles. Apparently right before I moved to Mississippi back in December 2008, she very sneakily put this little "event" in my calendar for me to find over a year later. Brilliant, right?! So of course I called her the second I got off work and of course this whole scenario totally made my day!! Kristen, I love you and miss you... Thank you for making my crazy, long, stressful Tuesday so much better!

Before we know it...

...we'll be getting our new assignment and off to start the next "new phase" of our life. On Friday, I went with Ann to an assignment night on base and it made me realize that our own assignment night is not too far away! [FYI- Assignment Night is when all the UPT guys find out their next base location and the plane they will be flying for their career] We only have about 3 more months until ours... July 30th!! I can't believe how fast time has flown by out here and am so excited to think that we could be moving out of Mississippi in just a few short months. I am so ready! Don't get me wrong, I have great friends here and the base is decent but other than that I am SO not made to live in Mississippi... its just a different world out here...

We won't even have a realistic idea of our new location possibilities until Jake gets his "dreamsheet" in mid-July but that hasn't stopped us from dreaming of the wonderful new places we could be stationed next. As of right now, based on some of the planes Jake is interested in, the top bases we are LOVING are Travis (California), Hurlbert (Florida), and McChord (Washington). All of these assignments are not super easy to get but, hey, we can dream right?! Two of these locations would mean us being stationed right by family, and the other... well if we can't be by family, why not be on a beautiful beach in Florida?

As life always is in the military, everything with our future is so up in the air right now... but really I don't mind it at all! I'm so excited to see where life takes us and so thankful that God is always in control. I'm faithful that His plan for my life is infinitely better than anything I could even dream up for myself :) And yep, before we know it, change will be coming... and it will find me eager and waiting!

Sleepy.

Today I seriously cannot wake up! Two cups of coffee and I'm still dragging. It was one of those mornings where I would have done anything to just stay in bed and sleep an hour longer. Okay well maybe most days are like that for me (ha!) But really who can blame me for not wanting to get out of bed when I have two sleepy puppies and a handsome hubby to cuddle with every morning? I am just so thankful that tomorrow is Saturday... and I have no intention of setting an alarm :)

Tax day.

Oh yes, today is that day. April 15th. Usually this day blows by without me even acknowledging it, having already completed my taxes months before, eager to know if I'd be getting a refund. This year was no different. Right at the beginning of February, Jake and I compiled all our info, filed our taxes, and had a nice little $1800 return headed our way. Why did I just tell you that little story you ask? Well because it didn't end there. Fellow military spouses pay attention... this may apply to you!

Back in November, a new law was put into action stating that active-duty military spouses do not have to pay state taxes on income earned somewhere other than your state of residence. Seriously, its pretty awesome, check it out here. Well my state of residence is still California (and thats another new perk of the military - not having to change your residence every time you move) and Mississippi has definitely been taking state taxes out of my paycheck every month. I talked to my accountant at work about this and she said that I was definitely entitled to a refund of all that money. But when did I find out this information you ask? Yesterday. April 14th. And when is tax day? Oh yeah that's today.

To say the least it was a ridiculous struggle getting everything in line to get my refund (there was a ton of documentation involved) but I did it. Yes! And just in time too because this month we have to start making my new school payments [loans, yuck] and also have to put a hefty little down-payment on those shiny new braces of mine [ew, double-yuck]. Anyways, for all you other hard-working military spouses out there, it may be too late to get a refund for this year but its not too late to earn a little more money each month by becoming exempt from state taxes. Just tell your employer that you need to fill out a revised form 89-350. Thought you'd want to know :)

As for tonight, I've got American Idol on DVR and it's calling my name. Happy Thursday everybody! Hope this week treated you well.

Big things to come!!

I have been joyfully overwhelmed lately by the amount of emails I've been getting about blog design. Seems like there are quite a few people out there interested in investing in a fun and truly unique design. For this reason, I have decided to launch an official website for the purpose of selling my custom blog designs. That's right, my far away "future" business is starting now! Well more like a month from now. There is so much that goes into a new business and I want to do everything right so I am trying to focus on every little detail.

I'm in the process of designing my website right now and [insert shriek of excitement here] I am joining forces with Megan of MaeMae Paperie to come up with the perfect branding for my new small business venture. Megan is very creative and super talented and I am so happy that she is going to be working on my logo. And yes, the official name has been decided... but I'm not going to reveal that until the logo and branding work is complete :)

My goal is to launch the new design website [and of course new coordinating busy thoughts blog] sometime around the middle to end of May. Big things are happening and I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!! Here's a peak at the main inspiration image being used in the creation of my site + branding...

[image courtesy of Style Me Pretty]

Beach volleyball.

Well, minus a real beach that is. Today the weather was a beautiful sunny 78° so a bunch of guys in Jake's class decided to play some volleyball here on base. Being that the guys are super competitive and I have basically zero athletic skill, I opted to sit and watch, while relaxing and working on my tan :) Allison and Becky joined me on the sideline and that made for a great afternoon! It's days like this that I know I will look back on one day and really miss Columbus AFB and the amazing friends we've made here.

Ironic.

So remember how I just said yesterday that I wanted a desk someday soon? Turns out someday was yesterday afternoon :) After work, I went to my favorite thrift store just to look around (the same store where I scored my 50¢ shoes and an amazing piece of art a while back). I go there all the time and had never seen a desk for sale so I wasn't even looking for one. But then I stumbled across this big box all taped up so I curiously asked a worker what was in it. He said "Oh that's a desk. It's actually brand new, but it's missing all the hardware to put it together." I said "Hmmm... mind if I take a look?" He ripped it open and suddenly a beautiful, brand-new cherry wood desk was staring right at me. It wasn't exactly the Parson's desk that I had my eye on but it had almost the exact shape and dimensions and it was just lovely. And the price? Unbeatable. He said I could have it for $25. Score! I loaded the big box into my car and headed straight over to Lowe's to get some hardware. I actually carried one of the desk legs into Lowe's to make sure I found the perfect screw to fit. I quickly found all the hardware I needed and picked up a knob for the desk drawer, and was out the door for a whopping $10. By this point I was more than giddy and headed straight home to set it up. I don't have it decorated quite right yet nor do I have the right chair, but for now I was able to use some stuff lying around the house to make it work. Check it out below! When I was finished with the setup, I sat down at my beautiful little desk, cup of coffee in hand, and stayed there for the rest of the evening. Isn't life wonderful and ironic?

I am in love...

...with a desk! haha. No seriously though I am. I have been in complete work/design/school mode lately and a desk feels like the most exciting thing I could buy right now, especially because I currently don't even have one! Since Jake has overtaken the office with all things pilot training, I really have no place to work or study other than the couch or kitchen table, which are both not conducive to great design. I want my own place, a little cubby in the corner of our over-sized living room to call my own. I don't want anything extravagant or fancy, No No... Something simple with clean lines and enough room for a lamp and a laptop. It didn't take long for me to stumble across this perfect desk, the lovely little Parson's desk you see below. Ahh, with a little luck one of these will soon be mine :)

Design talk.

I got a little shout-out on MaeMae's blog today. Check it out. Super encouraging. Speaking of blog design, I'm currently working on three new ones and will be starting a few more in the next couple weeks... I can't wait to show you all what I've been up to! With every design I get more and more excited to start my schooling so that I can learn even more and turn this into a legit full-time career. This is definitely what I am supposed to be doing and I am loving every minute of it! Oh and I still haven't come to a decision on a business name... I think it might take a while. Thanks for all your emails with name suggestions!

Ah, weekend bliss.

Three day weekends are amazing! There's just something about a day where you would normally be at work but instead you are doing whatever your little heart desires. My weekend was fun and relaxing, and at the same time extremely productive (hence the lack of blogging). On Friday I slept in (but of course was up and out the door in time to catch McDonalds breakfast...) and then hit the road for a fun shopping day. I went to Tuscaloosa on a mission for spring clothes, work shoes, and some new makeup. I also tried something new... My hairstylist told me about this consignment store called Plato's Closet and said that they buy back gently used clothes and that they also sell some really cute stuff. So I decided to clean out my closet, spring cleaning if you will, bagged up a bunch of stuff and headed to the store. To my happy surprise they bought everything! And gave me some cold hard cash in return. Andwhile I was there, I also found some really cute spring dresses and a pair of shorts at the ridiculously low price of about $10 each. Score! Overall it was a very successful shopping day and it was really nice to get out of Columbus and just do something fun.

The rest of the weekend I was very productive around the house. I cleaned and organized and did all those pesky little chores I've been putting off. Then I decided to tackle the outside of the house! EEK... Nothing outside had really even been touched since fall, so needless to say, I had my work cut out for me. I swept and washed the back patio (scrubbing all the nooks and crannies, killing bugs all along the way), I mowed and edged the lawn, pulled weeds, cleaned the grill, cleaned the patio furniture, washed the windows... Whew, I'm getting tired just writing this all out. It sure was an amazing feeling though to sit on the patio afterward and just admire all my hard work. The only thing left to do now is go pick up some plants and flowers for the front porch and back patio. I'm so excited to start eating outside and grilling multiple nights a week. I love springtime!

Then last night, Allison brought her dog Elvis over and we has some fun girl chat while the dogs ran circles around the house...Bailey using the back of the couch as a tightrope, Elvis using the couch as a jumping hurdle, and Badger trying to attack both them while they're doing that. After the playdate, the dogs were exhausted which was perfect... because after all that housework SO WAS I!! Happy Monday everyone!

Calling all creative thinkers!

I need some help people! For weeks now I have been trying to come up with a name for my future freelance web design business. Although it won't be officially up and running until I am finished with my classes next fall, I want to get the name set now; one reason being that I need to purchase a domain name to serve as a portfolio site for my design classes and I would love to purchase the domain name of my future business so I can just switch it over when the time comes to launch my business. And in the meantime I can direct people to my portfolio site to follow what I'm doing design-wise.

So this is totally the hard part... what will the name be? I originally planned to use some variation of my name (Lindsay Nicole Pruitt) and just add the word design(s) to the end of it, but then I started thinking maybe I should have a name that stands out a little more, something more memorable. Unfortunately I have racked my brain for weeks now and searched all over the world wide web for inspiration and come up empty-handed. Arghh, this is so hard. I'm just waiting and waiting for that light bulb to turn on with an idea. Any advice? Do you think I should use my own name or form a company name? Is it silly to make a company name when I only ever plan to be a solo freelance artist? I would LOVE for you to help me brainstorm. Message me or leave me a comment if a name pops into your head or if you have any other advice on this topic. I would sooo appreciate it!