Q is for Quick Trips (and Posts)

Do you travel spontaneously? 

The Sarge has a three(ish) day break between classes coming up, and I'm seriously thinking of traveling to Boston for the weekend (not this weekend... I'm crazy but not THAT crazy!). It's not too far from where he'll be, and would make a great weekend trip. 

Have you been to Boston, or are you from there? What are some things we can't miss? 

We love taking unexpected trips, it's one of the benefits of not having children. Heck, it's one of the benefits of being a housewife (no conflicting schedules). We've done everything from theme parks to historical (and ghost) tours, to just staying in a hotel a couple hours away. This trip is meant to savor some of our last days together before a long, long separation.

In honor of said trip... I'll be purchasing some fun travel accessories. We usually don't have to fly to where we're going, but this time I'll need a carry on. That's right.. I'm going to tackle the no-checked-baggage challenge. I am a notoriously heavy packer, so it should be fun. First, I'm getting this cute little carry on from Initials, Inc. 

As much as I'm obsessed with bright hues right now, I will probably get the Pewter color. There's something about a neutral that just tugs at my heart strings :)

Maybe I'll get this smaller piece in yellow... that would go right along with my yellow/grey obsession. This is a little makeup bag to go inside the larger one above.

And... why the heck not?

This is called a "Tune Keeper". It has an earbud cord keeper and
is big enough for the Samsung Galaxy or iPhone 5 WITH their cases.
Plus pockets for gym cards or IDs. I like it!

Just a little pouch.

and.. why not a key fob??

I'm sorry to be so short today, but we have a serious kitchen problem, AND our dryer is kaput so I have some housewife duties to take care of this morning. I can't wait to read everyone's posts! 






P.S. I haven't figured out how some people email me when I comment on their posts. Can I do that, too? I hear talk of it, and I think I've done it once or twice (on accident). Do you get alerted when I reply to your comments? Or do I have to email? Thanks, bloggy friends. Sorry I'm so clueless :) 

M is for Manifesto

You'll noticed I missed L. You will also be happy to note that I will be back on track tomorrow! The 'rents are departing and though I am sad, it will be nice to have my routine back. Except that my dryer is broken. Always something, right? 

I will get to the M in a moment (you can skip ahead if you'd like) but for good measure, my L post was going to be "London". 

via

I have never wanted to visit the UK really. As the child of a man raised in the south during the 50s and 60s, I've been all too aware of racial tensions and it is a scary thought to face such things so far from home. Now, I highly doubt that London, for example, has a race problem. They might. But I like to explore, often beyond the acceptable limit for tourists, and who knows where (or with whom) I might end up. I'll bet most of my friends and readers have NEVER thought about what it might be like to be a minority in a foreign land. Well, now you know what (some) of us black folks have to think about. (Some don't even give it two thoughts. My anxiety makes me weirder than most.) 

modalu.com

ANYWAY. That wasn't what the London post was about lol! Sorry. The London post was actually about me wanting to go to London. I do! I haven't particularly wanted to visit any part of Europe, save for Italy and Spain (see the above paragraph). BUT I have started developing an interest in the area. Mainly because of my new bag which was shipped to me from Farnborough. Which I am obsessed with. And is being delivered today!

Also, I realized I love watching documentaries about London's history and I actually kind of want to see the city. Or live there. Long enough to pick up the accent. Actually, that's what this is about.. the accent. Lord, help me. 


Now for the M! I have shared this song with you before, but some readers are new and need to be exposed to this simple but FANTASTIC song. It makes me want to go out and run like they do at the end of the video. Sing along!! (I did lol)

We believe in the One True God 

We believe in Father, Spirit, Son 

We believe that good has won 

And all of the people of God sang along

amen

amen yeah

We are free, He died and lives again

We will be a people free from sin 

We'll be free, a kingdom with no end 

And all of the people of God sang along 

amen

amen yeah

amen

amen yeah

Our father who art in heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

On Earth as it is in heaven 

Give us our daily bread 

And forgive us our trespasses 

As we forgive those 

Who have trespassed against us

And lead us not into temptation 

But deliver us from evil 

For thine is the kingdom, 

Power and the glory forever

We're singin'

amen

amen yeah

amen

amen yeah, yeah

Thursday!

UPDATE:: I decided to link up with Amber for It's Okay Thursday!

First of all.. GOOGLE READER! Why must you leave?? Makes me so sad. Just as I'm catching up on all the friends, Google decides to pull the rug right from under my feet. 

Well, it's okay... because I was referred to Feedly and I really like it!! It's got a clean, fluid design and a gnarly android app. I haven't put it on the iPad yet, but I have to assume the iOS app is pretty sweet too. They're even facilitating "limited time" seamless transitions for us Google orphans. Check it out once you get over your mourning like I had to do :)

Anyway, back to Thursday. I'm excited this Thursday because we just made plans for a Disney World day trip. I don't love Disney, but I do love seeing the Sarge's excitement about Buzz Lightyear (LOL). We're trying to go before all you crazy tourists get here. 

And it's okay that I am being a total heifer this week, even though I need to get in gear because my parents will be here in a month and we still have to paint the bathroom and buy new bed dressings!! But I am not freaking out AT ALL [even though I'm being lazy].

It's okay that I JUST discovered NARS Taj Majal which is like the black girl's Orgasm (the blush haha).

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Also, it's official. Sergeant J is being deployed. Lame. 

BUT it's okay.... it's part of the job description! And on the bright side, that gives me plenty of time for rabbit eating and saving up for Italy. YES. Italy. We're planning to go to ITALY for 3 weeks to celebrate our 5 year anniversary (next December). The BAD news is we might have to PCS (move) next summer or fall, which would put a small wrench in our plans. But Italy! I DIE!!

via

lake garda :: via

Source: flickr.com viaaleasa on Pinterest

Ahhh. Ship me here and leave me! Have you been to Italy? What was your favorite part of the trip?

challenge day 11: travel

i'm a little late today, again...whoops. but i'm writing this sitting in the honda dealership, where i'll be for the next 3 hours (at the very least). the joys of having one car! y'all email me and keep me company! :)

The greatest vacation or trip you've ever had.

israel. hands down.

i love history and i love jesus. put the two into one trip and i'm sold. i learned so so so much on this trip and i'll never forget it. and i can't wait to go back! i wrote about this trip in a blog challenge of old, so here are a few different pictures.

the red sea... so pretty!

the most fun band in the ancient town of jerash playing yankee doodle... random!

petra -- on of my favorites!

our crazy tour guide in jordan, samir. he was ridiculous. keep in mind, we were a christian studies group... he kept telling all these off color jokes lol... and making jabs at the pope. i don't know. he was cracking me and the friends up :)

hangin' out in a cave-grave (petra is awesome but they're all tombs!)

one of my favorite parts about this trip was that i got to see all kinds of different christians. there are much more ritualistic variations of our faith around the world. here is supposedly the preparation stone where they wrapped jesus' body and prepared it for the tomb. i think it's pretty much known that these "special places" are places and things of legend, but it's interesting to think that people worship so differently than american christians do (or even southern christians).

i put my feet in the jordan river. the place around where they think jesus was baptized was not accessible by our israeli tour guides.

JOIN THE PARTY!
it's never too late to spring clean. click here for more info on our 30-day blog challenge.

*please link to today's post, rather than your main blog page. there will be a new linky tomorrow! the main link up is located on the spring forward tab at the top of the page :))

challenge day 23: vacation

i'd have to say my favorite vacation was john and my honeymoon roadtrip.  we probably could have gone to hot springs, arkansas and it would have been my favorite.  so, i had actually been to most of the places we stopped at least once, if not more than that.  BUT john hadn't, so being with him as he traveled to a bunch of new places was really ... really awesome.  plus, we were off to start our new life in north san diego county, so the anticipation in the air was awesome.  AND we had a really flexible schedule so we had time to enjoy the scenery. 

we stopped in oklahoma city, albuquerque, flagstaff, vegas, and spent one night at an all-beach front hotel in carlsbad.  we also stopped at several man v. food and guy's diners, drive-ins and dives.  here are some pictures from our adventure.

oklahoma city memorial (across the street)

warren theater in OKC -- go if you can!

the largest cross in the western hemisphere... in texas.  duh.

dinosaur museum in tucumcari

haha.. don't stop here

the meteor crater!

john being nervous at the grand canyon

we crossed the hoover dam

vegas ... we stayed at nice hotels all the way, but the venetian was pretty awesome!

our hotel in carlsbad.  that is a full ocean view!  i know you can't tell in this picture.

but you can tell in this pic!  there was a storm
but when it cleared up, john got his first view of the ocean!!