2-1 Aviation "Fighting Eagles" Military Ball

So last Friday (yes I know it took me a week to post pictures, sorry!) we attended a military ball for Fernando's battalion. I promised I'd post pictures so here they are, there's not too many because we don't really have too many friends here yet, and the friends we do have aren't in Fernando's battalion. We can only take so many pictures of ourselves!

(Warning: Fernando takes horrible pictures, sorry in advance)

In front of the lonely Christmas tree (that you can hardly see)

Sitting at our table waiting for everything to start

Table

My amazingly awesome glittery shoes, that match my dress perfectly!

In front of our decorated mantel/fireplace in our apartment

my awesome dress!

All dressed up :)

Hilarious Video

A friend sent me this today on Facebook. Absolutely hilarious and completely true.



‎"If you're voted most likely to be famous, most likely you never will, most likely you'll never leave Ohio" 

In other news, we're going to a military ball for Fernando's unit on Friday night. Everyone has asked me to take pictures so I'll post them on here probably on Saturday.

I know a few people who read this also do yoga. Vinyasa is my personal favorite and I found this amazing full session on YouTube today. The women's voice is so soothing and I think the poses move at a perfect pace.

Beautiful Song And Video

One of my all-time favorite bands, Jack's Mannequin.

Ironic

I find it ironic that if I had a job, and health insurance, I could go to the doctor about my insomnia, which is caused by my incessant worrying about how I am going to pay my bills because I'm unemployed.

The sad thing is that I know I'm not the only person with this problem. This economy is pretty awesome.

New Book = New Realizations

Since Fernando is away for two weeks "playing army" as he likes to call it, I am, of course, bored out of my mind. With no money for a plane ticket to visit anyone who would entertain me, I am stuck here, figuring out how to entertain myself. Although I have already secured what I'm sure are two fantastic friendships, with two great army wives, they cannot entertain me 24/7. So I ventured to a used book store called the "Dusty Book Shelf" today in Aggieville. I picked up a few books and on my way out noticed a book I wouldn't normally buy titled "Confessions of a Military Wife". While reading the back cover I noticed the author, Mollie Gross, was compared to Chelsea Handler, and we all know my love/obsession for Chelsea, so I purchased it. I'm now 75 pages in and loving every bit of it. Every new military wife or girlfriend should read this book! I finally feel like I'm not crazy! It's nice to know that other people dealt with their family and friends not approving of them dropping everything to move across the country for a military life. That it's difficult for most military spouses to make friends after moving to a new post/base. That crying while unpacking your stuff is normal, and so is eating chocolate and watching the Lifetime channel while your spouse is at work because you don't know what else to do! That having a panic attack after your first move because everything is so different is okay, and doesn't make you weak or crazy. I'm so glad I purchased this book. I'm pretty settled into my life here now, and I pride myself on my ability to adapt to any situation with grace and maturity. However, there were definitely things I had trouble dealing with. I don't at all regret my decision to move out here for Fernando. I love living with him and I actually really enjoy Kansas. I'm still having trouble with the fact that not everyone in my life supports my decision. I'm a people pleaser, and I'm having trouble realizing I can't please everyone. For the first time in my life I made a decision that was solely based on what I wanted, and some people can't accept that. I'm extremely happy out here, yes it's definitely different, I don't have as many friends or family members, or a job right now, but I'm happy and that was the whole point of this move. Fernando didn't have the option to move to Ohio for me, but it happened to be the perfect opportunity for me to move to Fort Riley for him. Part of being in any kind of relationship, married/friendship/girlfriend/family with anyone in the military is realizing that you will always come second. The government owns my boyfriend, and I understand that. We can't always go where we want, or do what we want, but we are supporting something much bigger than both of us. With Veterans day approaching I just want everyone to recognize how much these men/women and their families sacrifice so that we can all live freely in this country. Even if you don't support the wars we are in, realize that you could not live the (free) life you live today if it wasn't for these men and women's sacrifices. Many other countries are not as lucky as us, and I think too many people take that freedom for granted. I know I certainly didn't realize the enormity of the sacrifice of military families until I started dating Fernando. So this next week (week of Veterans day) make sure you thank a veteran, and their family, for everything they do for all of us. There are very few people who are willing to do what these brave men and women do everyday.

Sorry about the super long blog, just thoughts I felt I needed to share. Hope everyone is doing well, and as always, feel free to call/email/text me if you'd like. :)

What Is Beautiful?

As most of you know, I'm kind of obsessed with women's self body image and the effect it has on their daily lives and future. Today I came across this Dove article and I want to share it with all of you. This article is basically an extremely condensed version of my senior thesis on college women's body image [ I unfortunately read 60 journal articles to get this info! :) ]. A little background on Dove, incase you haven't heard, Dove has a program called the Campaign For Real Beauty, you may have seen some of their ads on TV (my favorite is posted below). The campaigns goal is to change the way the world, not just the US, defines women's/girls beauty. Dove is not only trying to change the way adults define beauty but the way young girls define beauty and view themselves. Building up young girls self esteem from an early age can change not only their future, but all of our futures. Strong and confident women will change the world! My dream job would be to work on this campaign, but for now I just want to share their work with as many people as possible. Hope you enjoy :)

Article: http://www.dove.co.uk/cfrb/articles/study-only-2-percent.html

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I

Exploring Fort Riley

We went for a walk along a path called the 'Riverwalk' which begins right outside of the Fort Riley post gates. The path is gorgeous, especially this time of year. These are just a few pictures from our adventure.

("Don't post these pictures! I look like a douche" - Fernando isn't happy with himself in pictures... he's a girl :) )

My Boyfriend is Adorable

Fernando found this in a thrift store and bought it. At the time I didn't even notice what he was buying but he put it on the mantel and it's possibly the cutest thing in our apartment. We're perfect for each other  :)

Kansas Is Beautiful

Yes pick your jaw off the floor. I said Kansas is beautiful, and it really is gorgeous, especially this time of year. I've always loved simplicity, I'm not very fancy, and Kansas is simplicity at it's best. When people think of Kansas most immediately think boring, flat, country farm land. Yes a lot of Kansas is farm land, but most people fail to see the beauty in farm land. It's a beautiful view of a simpler life many of us know nothing about. Manhattan is not a farm town by any means, but it has a very strong country feel. It's the home of Kansas State University, which boasts almost 50,000 students! The campus was founded in 1863 and many of the original buildings are still standing. Almost all the buildings are made of limestone (and the new ones continue this trend to look like they fit in) both on the campus and on Fort Riley's post. The buildings look like castles and I love it! Manhattan is a little city in the middle of America's Heartland. I'm beginning to love this country city and I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

(I'll post more pictures of the buildings on post soon)

This is on K-State's Campus. One of the old limestone buildings.

Beautiful trees on K-State campus.

This is one of the entrances into our neighborhood (my favorite because of the canopy of trees)

Part of the park across the street from our house. The park is huge, it has a football stadium, baseball fields, a huge outdoor pool/waterpark, tennis courts, and a beautiful towpath. 

One of the "castle" buildings I love so much, also on K-State's campus.

Andrew Bird never ceases to amaze me!

My Uncle sent me this today. I saw Andrew Bird live at Kent State when I was a sophomore, we sat front row and it was hands down one of the best live shows I've ever seen. He is extremely talented and has great stage presence. This looks like a really interesting film and hopefully he decides to release it on DVD, I'd really like to watch the whole thing. Check it out for yourselves!
Andrew Bird Trailer

Pictures!

Since many of you have been asking for photos of our apartment here you go! (these were taken when we first moved in and everything wasn't unpacked yet!)

We have a real fireplace!!!

Giant built in bookshelf (which I completely took over)

kitchen table in a little eating area off the kitchen

our living room is giant, this is just one corner

wall of windows across from the couches

kitchen

kitchen #2

hallway. bathroom on right, bedroom straight ahead

bathroom

bedroom

it's actually one giant closet with two separate doors (things still to be unpacked on the floor)

doorway. there is a huge walk-in closet/room to the right (which has become Fernando's "Military Closet") and a smaller coat closet to the left

Our New Kitty!

This is our new kitty, her name is Juneau (yes like the city in Alaska). We originally had a different kitty but he was biting and hissing a lot so we had to take him back. We adopted Juneau from a humane shelter this morning, they think she is a pure bread himalayan!

Isn't she beautiful!!??

True Love

This picture made me cry the first time I saw it. It's possibly the saddest yet sweetest picture I have ever come across. Thought you should all see it too.

"The night before the burial of her husband 2nd Lt. James Cathey of the United States Marine Corps, killed in Iraq, Katherine Cathey refused to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time. The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag. Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs that reminded her of "Cat", and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them to continue standing watch as she slept.
"I think it would be kind of nice if you kept doing it" she said.
"I think that's what he would have wanted"."

New State. New Life. New Blog

Well since many of you want to know what I'm up to, and I don't always have the time to call you all back, I figured this blog should satisfy everyone.

So we're finally all settled in Manhattan, Kansas. Our apartment is super nice (really big!) and it has a real fireplace! Which we love. We've already had one fire, but most nights it's still been too warm. The weather is super nice here, very different from Ohio. It's almost always sunny here, rarely overcast, which is easy to get used to. It was 70 degrees and sunny all last week and is just starting to cool down now. The trees are changing and the harvest moon is out! Speaking of, the harvest moon is gorgeous! It's like nothing I've ever seen!
I've begun to make a few friends here. Fernando's army friends seem to like me, my cooking helps I'm sure! I also have plans to start swimming laps a few days a week with Deanna, who is married to one of Fernando's army friends.
Overall everything is going well. I'm still getting used to being away from home, but so far I really like Manhattan. Kansas is certainly not as bad as everyone makes it out to be!

Hope this satisfies your curiosity for now!

-Taylor