Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Here are a few pictures from a 'Texas Thanksgiving,' 2009! It was so wonderful to be here with my family, but I wish Mr. Top Gun could have been with us... The next best thing to having him here? A phone call from him at my Mom and Dad's house, right as we all sat down to eat! 1/3 of the way through this damn deployment!!!


                                              Happy Thanksgiving, Mr. Top Gun!
                                                               I love you!!!

Raider and I love you too!!

Miss you!!

                      


                                                    Grandpa!!

                                                              My Dad being goofy!!

Proudly showing off the limes and lemons from his trees in the yard...

                                                      Love my little Brother!

The gorgeous table! Thanks, momma!

Yummy side dishes. There were too many to fit into the picture!

Turkey time... yum!!

Bad Things...

Apparently, Mr. Top Gun has been watching the series "True Blood" on DVD with his crew on their rare days off. How do I know this, you ask? Well, according to the subject contained within his e-mail I received 10 minutes ago... This is a snippit of what he said to me:

 "I am feeling a little bit better today, and have been enjoying the snacks and goodies you sent me. I miss you tons. I also have a song you need to check out- it's the theme song from the HBO series "TRUE BLOOD." I think you can find it on youtube or whatever. Anyways, it makes me think of you... wink, wink ;)"

Here is Mr. Top Gun's new favorite song now, hehe. Love him!

Looks like it's time for a Baby Top Gun!

This was a topic of conversation a few weeks ago when Mr. Top Gun called me. Yes, my deployed husband decided he wanted to talk about....


A Baby Top Gun when he gets home!!! 




***YEAH!!!!***



We have been waiting for the perfect time to start our family, and for awhile it seemed like the world was just against us. We move halfway across the world and the second we set foot on the ground, we are told that Mr. Top Gun will be deploying within a few months. WTF? Welcome to Japan, I guess! Second, I decide to get into a major car accident, total the car and freak the hell out of the entire Squadron and manage to get Mr. Top Gun home from god knows where to be with me... NICE! Now that he is gone for a little bit, I have been given the opportunity to prepare myself and my body for this soon to be little one. So, I scheduled an appr. with my Neuroligst to discuss weaning me off of my migraine medications last week.
This has always been the HUGE elephant in the room for me when it comes to talking about a baby with Mr. Top Gun... I have suffered from migraines since age 18, and have been on nightly maintenance medication since about age 20.


Now, with a little Top Gun baby on the horizon, I need to be OFF these meds before we even start trying to get pregnant. So, I met with him last week and I am pleased to announce that I have been weaning down from my meds for a week! So far, no huge side effects- but, I have noticed that I am tired in the daytime and have NO APPETITE. Ok, I can deal with the no appetite one (look a little lighter for Mr. Top Gun, right?? ;) But I don't like being so sleepy in the daytime. No migraines aside from last night- courtesy of my monthly visitor *ugh* The awesome news about this is by the time I head back to Japan in January, I will be completely off of the meds, and I can continue to take my regular migraine pain pills (when I get a migraine, of course) up until I am actually pregnant with a little Top Gun!


I have taken the liberty of already picking out a boys and a girls onesie... Hey, these are freakin' adorable!!

Sending Christmas in a Box

This year, Mr. Top Gun is not going to be around for any of the holidays, including Christmas- Courtesy of the Air Force! *Ugh* So, I decided to send Christmas to him!! I am going to list what I put into his 'Christmas Box' because he DOES not have time to get onto the internet, and even if he did he wouldn't have the time to look at my blog! After running around all day yesterday in search of the perfect last minute items to complete "Christmas in a Box," I finally landed at good old Target and walked around the entire store for 2 hours... I am sure the employees thought I looked like a weird old lady with odd Christmas items in her cart, but I successfully found everything I needed and more! Here is what Mr. Top Gun is getting...

Well, here is the short list!

A mini LED Green Christmas Tree, with handmade decorations on it (yes, I made them)
Handmade Red Felt Hearts with our names on each of them
Cookies, candies, goodies
3 new DVD's- G.I. Joe, Star Trek, and the Alway's Sunny in Philadelphia X-mas special.
2 pairs of super warm socks
Hallmark "Merry Smoochmas" Ornament
Chips and a mini queso from Texas!
Bean Dip (Mr. Top Gun Loves it )
Hickory Farms Summer Sausage (Loves this and MUST have one every x-mas)
Pita Chips
Stocking with his name on it
Picture of me in a frame :)
Toiletries
Chocolate marshmallow snowmen (enough for him and his crew)
2 Christmas cards from me :)
Beef jerky

 And so many other goodies, I can't list them all! His package was bursting at the seams when I taped it up last night, and thankfully the Post Office still accepted it in the flat rate overseas shipping box! Too bad I wasn't able to fit myself into the box and be shipped to him... *Sigh*

Seriously?!?

Dear Air Force,

 I would like to inquire as to WHY you turned me away today at the clinic, after waiting in line for the H1N1 vaccine? I am a Spouse of an Active Duty Sponsor, I am covered by Tricare Prime, and I am an ID card holder. I also FALL INTO THE HIGH RISK category (in case you hadn't noticed.) Therefore, why was I told "NO" by one of the rudest and grouchiest old men I have ever come across, after explaining to him that I am here in Texas for a few months and thus require the vaccine. Did you not hear me when I said my Husband is deployed? Did your ears close up when I mentioned that I am a world traveler, and traveling in and out of Japan and other Asian countries is kinda a red flag for this?? Oh, and please take note that my base in Japan is NOT giving out vaccines to spouses. You had better hope I do not contract this swine flu, or I promise whatever ER I end up in, I will absolutely be the most demanding and difficult patient ever!

      Sincerely,

    One royally pissed off Spouse. 


 P.S. *You are so on my not so favorites list at this moment in time. A deployment and refusal to take care of me?? Hmmm. FAIL.

Dear, Mr. Top Gun and his plane...

I am feeling sorry for myself today. Is that right? Probably not, considering where Mr. Top Gun is and where I am- I really don't have anything to complain about. But here's the thing... You know when you are single, you think of yourself and it's just you. When you get married, it suddenly becomes US, and you no longer think solely about yourself anymore. (Well, I am sure some people do, but you get what I am saying!) My point is that I am not whole without Mr. Top Gun by my side. He completes me, he stands beside me no matter what, and he always makes me smile when I think my world is crashing down around me.

I really hit the jackpot when I married him! Now, just send him home already! Or, feel free to fly your plane back to me at any given moment :) I am fine with the plane being the 'mistress' in our marriage, but I would like to point out that you have spent an excessive amount of time with her already.

Like my art don't cha? I know, I am good. Please don't judge the mess in the background... this photo was taken a few weeks prior to Mr. Top Gun's trip to the sandbox, and our house was a wreck! However, I would like to clarify that I completely cleaned it and decorated (all 4 floors of it!) before leaving for Texas. He is going to be so surprised when he gets home :)

Please tell said plane her time with you is shortly running out. I would like you in my arms in oh, let's say a few months? LOVE YOU!!

Thanks to all of our Veterans

God Bless all of our Veterans. Thank you for serving our country with honor, faith, and pride.

Let's Get Serious for a moment

I was sitting at my computer the other night, typing away an e-mail to Mr. Top Gun when I received a message from a very dear friend of mine. You see, this friend and I- we shall call her Mrs. "M," have been friends since the 10th grade! We both went on to different colleges after High School, me to Texas and her to UW- but we always stayed in touch with one another. Be both grew up, married the men of our dreams and started our lives in... THE AIR FORCE? Yep, she married a guy in the Air Force too! So, her Husband jumps out of Mr. Top Gun's plane and Mr. Top Gun flies it! Too cool right?

Well, I knew she had been going through some hard times recently, with an extended deployment for her Husband and some odd health problems that began to pop up. I chalked her migraines and aches, pain, and fatigue up to the fact that she is super mom! Seriously, this girl kicks major ass and she does it all while being a superb mother to two of the most gorgeous children I have ever seen. I am not the type to pry into other's business and I knew she would let all of her friends know what was going on with her health when she felt ready to do so. The message in the e-mail last night was this:

 I have lung cancer.

What?!?! You are only 28 years old. You are a mother, a wife and a friend. A daughter, a sister, an incredible person. WHY YOU??? I sat at my computer for 10 minutes and just sobbed out loud. I have been out of sorts all day today, and I just feel so helpless and my heart hurts. It hurts for her so much. I wish I could take this away! She is the model of perfect health- never smoked, lives a clean life, eats healthy... Why??? So, I come here today on my blog and ask all of you to please say a little prayer for Mrs. M. I can't stand to lose another friend to disease, so please send your prayers to her and her family while she battles this cancer.

Mrs. Top Gun's Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake

                                                          Chocolate Coca-Cola Cake

I was feeling rather inspirational last night, so I decided to play around with an old family recipe for Coca-Cola cake, and it turned out to be marvelous! I did make some changes, and added my own 'flair' to it to suit my tastes. Mr. Top Gun will love this when he comes home! It was a huge hit with my grandparents whom I used as my 'Guinea Pigs.'

Ingredients:



2 cups self-rising flour

2 cups sugar (I used about 1/2 a cup.)

3 tablespoons of Hershey's Dutch Cocoa

1 and 1/3 cup Coca-Cola (At room temperature, and NO DIET.)

1 cup butter
3 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Make sure it is PURE VANILLA.)




Coca-Cola Frosting


1/2 cup butter

1 tablespoon Hershey's Dutch Cocoa

8 tbsp of Coca-Cola *Room Temp*

1 box confectioner's sugar, (1pound)

1/2 cup chopped pecans, or mini marshmallows. *I DON'T ADD THESE* But, some people like the texture in the cake, so add them if you like!


Getting it all ready:


Grease and flour a 9 x 13-inch pan, or a Bundt pan. *I prefer the Bundt* You may also use those square cake pans too!

In a large bowl combine flour and sugar. In a saucepan combine the cocoa, Coca-Cola, and butter, bring to a boil. Combine the boiled mixture with the flour and sugar you just mixed.

In a separate bowl mix the eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla; add to the first mixture. Pour into greased pan or Bundt, and bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 




Making the Frosting: In a saucepan, bring butter, cocoa, and Coca-Cola to a boil. Stir in the sugar and mix well. Stir in nuts. *IF YOU LIKE THEM*  Allow your cake to cool slightly, especially if using a Bundt pan. Mix frosting and drizzle over the cake to suit your liking. If you used another type of pan, then frost as usual and top with pecans or even marshmallows if you like!

                                   ENJOY IT!!

Wurstfest!

Sausages, beer, all things German, fried foods and shenanigans... What could that mean?
                                                 WURSTFEST 2009!!!
This is a HUGE event here in Texas, and if you have not heard about this yet, then you my friends must have been living under rocks your entire life. Wurstfest is the annual event which takes place in New Braunfels, Texas every November and is touted as: "The 10 day salute to Sausage." They have some of the best international beers from Germany on tap, oompah bands, fried pickles, fried everything really, copious amounts of different sausages, German plates, desserts, and pretty much anything else that can be fried, grilled or smoked! The city of New Braunfels really knows how to throw a party, and for 10 days they do!

I had the pleasure of being home for this years fest, and I am so glad I was able to attend with my Dad and Brother! It was my little brother's first year that he was able to drink and imbibe in some good German beer with us! I can't believe he is all grown up already...  I had a blast, and wish that Mr. Top Gun could have been here with me! Here are a few pictures from our day!
                                Fried Pickles! These are a must at Wurstfest, and the lines to get them are unreal- but totally worth it. Even the non-pickle eating Mr. Top Gun thinks they are pretty yummy. And yes, I devoured my own personal serving of them...

Drink tickets!!!

Wurstfest 2009 cups. A must have in every Texas household :)

My not so little brother and I enjoying some beer and sausage! That giant red contraption behind us is the roasting spit for the roasted corn. Yum!

                                        Everyone loves a German Dad and his Daughter!

Haha! Those are Mandeln (Almonds in German) nestled between my umm, bosom! This picture was taken for Mr. Top Gun and will be framed and sent to him for Christmas.

OOps... I think I have a sausage caught in my cleavage! Another picture for my beloved Mr. Top Gun.

                                                

A broken toe, sushi, air sickness and Texas!

Well, I finally made it to Texas! I am regretably sorry that I have not posted anything since then, but I am just now attempting to regulate my body to the 14 hour time difference! Perhaps my lack of blogging lost me a follower? BOO! Anyhow, what a blessing and an incredible feeling it is to be back in the good ol' Lone Star State!! My trip was however, not entirely uneventful... Please let me go into further details!

                                                   Waiting in line to check in!


 My friend arrived Monday morning at our home in Japan to pick me up and take me to the airport. Like any normal person, I was up super early, dressed, packed, had unplugged the lamps, T.V. and anything else with a plug, and even managed to drag my huge suitcase down the stairs. Well, managed to drag it DOWN stairs with no problems- that is until I decided to walk back upstairs and apparently forgot how to walk at all... I suppose I just decided to stop walking upstairs, and slammed my left big toe right into the wooden stairs. Then, my house phone rings so I run to answer it and by the time I say hello, I am crying. It was my Dad, and he was like: "What the heck is wrong with you?" "I broke my toe. It hurts like hell, Dad and I don't know what to do!!" I ended up buddy wrapping it with band-aids (since Mr. Top Gun took the first aid kit with him, all I had was band-aids,) and somehow I managed to get it into my brand new Nike Shox that Mr. Top Gun bought for me before he left.

Don't judge. Not everyone can have cute toes!

Don't ask me how, but by the grace of God I was able to limp out of my house, into the car, through the airport, through the plane and then sat for 9 hours! I did, however muster up enough strength in Tokyo to wobble over to one of the numerous Sushi bars in the airport, and proceeded to eat my way through some of the BEST TUNA nigiri and sashimi in the world! I had in all, 6 pieces of tuna, 1 tuna roll, and 1 dragon roll (eel, cucumber, lettuce, and cream cheese and avocado.) When I ordered, the Sushi Chef looked at me oddly and asked if I was sure I wanted all of that sushi... He didn't think I was going to finish the 8 piece Dragon roll on top of the mountain of tuna I had on my plate. Oh, how wrong of him! I sat at the bar, so all of the chefs just smiled at me in astonishment when I asked for the check and they all realized NOTHING was left on my plates :) See, this American girl loves herself some Sushi! So, $4,2000 Yen later, my tummy was full, happy and ready to cross the ocean. Oh, and Yen to dollars makes my lunch an even $42.00. Blame it on the tu-u-u-na!

This is the Sushi bar I ate at in Tokyo!

Blame it on the T-u-u-na...

I then hobbled to my gate, boarded the plane and sat forever. and ever. and ever. When I arrived in San Fransisco, I headed to the nearest Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and ordered the largest iced tea ever! Man, was that like drinking sweet nectar of the Gods! I then limped back to my gate, sat down and decided to 'unveil' my toe... BAD DECISION. FAIL. I just about yelped out in fear, pain, and disgust when I removed my sock and was greeted by the most horrific looking toe I have ever seen! Now, I am the first to admit that I was totally shafted in the gene pool when it comes to my toes. I inherited my dad's lovely German genes for huge feet and weird looking toes, while my Mom decided she just didn't want to pass on her genes for cute, dainty and gorgeous little feet and toes! Toe comes out of sock, I scream and then cover it back up. It has now become all blue, black, purple, red, yellow and is the size of a large tomato. I put my sock back on and hobble to my last flight into SAN ANTONIO!!

The flight was hell. I absolutely abhore those little express jets, and for a three and a half hour flight, I was crammed next to a man who kept touching my arm when he was reading. I start getting airsick, and by the time we land in SA, I am running to the bathroom to puke. I hobble down the escalator and... SURPRISE! Both my Mom and Dad are there waiting for me!! I think my Momma must have known that her baby girl (ok, grown baby girl) was thirsty and not feeling well, because after she just about choked me and squeezed me to death with her hug, she handed me an iced green tea from Starbucks :) I am HOME NOW, and it feels good!! If only I had Mr. Top Gun next to me, it would be perfect. The Holidays are just not the same without him :(

Sayonara, Japan- Howdy, Texas!!

I'm leaving the land of the rising sun...

For the Lone Star State!!!!

But first I must make a trip into Tokyo *yeah* for my connecting flight into the US!! I plan on havng lunch at one of the many sushi bars in the airport before my 8 hour flight into San Fransisco. Then, I am a mere three hours away from San Antonio!! Don't worry about me not blogging- I plan on posting pictures of my trip as soon as I can!!