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.