Whoa..life is busy

I can't believe it is already the middle of February....Time flies when you don't have any. I'm in the middle of an internship at my place of employment and working my full time hours on top of it...basically, I should put a bed in the office and call it home. i can't believe how tired I've been but happy with the experience. As soon as this girl is done with the internship this blog is getting more attention. The things we love to do should never be put last. i think that there is a need for more hours in the day...Can we petition to make that a reality. How about 26 hour days?? That would help out immensely. I am hoping that sweetie and I can find a new footing under us because time is getting away and we haven't had any time to focus on us. We are in need of an intervention stat. So now that I have updated that I am going to go take an hour to pamper myself at home and get school work done until sweetie gets home.

another giveaway!

Forty Toes Photography is hosting a giveaway to the tune of $875 cash!!!! Who can't use a little extra money at a time like this! I know I could for our wedding/an awesome anniversary or birthday gift for the sweetie or a ticket home to see mom and dad! The possibilities are infinite for this girl with that kind of unexpected dough :-) You can enter by clicking the link below:
http://www.fortytoesphotography.com/2011/12/win-875-dollars-in-cash-giveaway-from.html?showComment=1324882217918#c1854261885923508810
I hope that you all enter and enjoy since I know there are some frugalistas reading this blog :-) Good luck ladies!

working during the holidays

We are getting ready for our first Christmas (really) since living together. Before the Army got in the way of us spending this holiday together and then last year at my old job I worked 12 hour shifts December 23-26th...It was a lot like watching other people be excited for Christmas time and not really being in the spirit since Sweeties whole family came to town and i was able to see them for about an hour before needing to go to bed. This year I have a new job and a new lease on life. We are in a much happier place and we will be able to go to his family Christmas because I work the overnight shift and am very happy.
Has anyone else ever worked for a total scrooge/dream squashing/clueless dictator/favorite playing psycho...or is that just me and the people I used to work with? How do you deal with that? My old boss was so rude to the majority of employees and was clueless to our needs for getting our jobs done but also just having a personal life at all. I literally had 2 days off in 3 months because I was called in every day off I had because her favorites were calling in to go to hockey games and drink. Needless to say, I did not lose any sleep when I lost that job. I found out that the 6 of us that worked constantly and asked her for a little recognition and went over her head to disclose the issues of absent employees and being taken advantage of all got fired by her though she did not give anyone a real reason. And then 15 people quit in the next 5 weeks...I'm smiling as I write this because she made our lives miserable and I hope for a minute maybe she thought the problem could have been her.
Well that vent felt good...
I'm sure I'm not the only one who has suffered through the holidays with a boss that forgets that their employees have families and traditions that they would like to get to participate in also. Aside from going home for Christmas to New Hampshire I think this is the best I can get right now and I'm ecstatic!!!! I love it :-) 12 hours with family. No worries or cares just happiness and love.

I don't even know how many readers I have but I hope you all take advantage of the time you have if you work during the holidays and don't let this time of year become a series of chores. Have the girls over for a cookie bake-off and swap and maybe a wrapping party...if everyone brings their gifts and a roll of paper/bows/tape/ribbons and add wine..BOOM Party! Bake some cookies and give them to coworkers and friends and be happy that you made someone happy! Dont identify everything with "Gahh I still have too...." and then "I have to do this and that." No, put some exclamation points in your life and love the little things you GET to do!!! so go bake and wrap friends! wait..Go bake and Wrap, (comma) friends...!!!!!

Planning is hard!

Well we are planning the wedding in advance of the engagement since it's a cross country affair. I've been following several blogs that I will link everyone too in my next post tomorrow. For now, my Favorite The Knotty Bride by Alison. She is hilarious, smart, insightful, and has giveaways here and there. Today it is a $75 dollar gift certificate to The Little Bride! enter here :http://theknottybride.com/28309/comment-page-1#comment-33208

and while you're at it start following the amazing Alison!

-Janna Lee

Wow...it's been 3 years.

The last 3 years I took a break from blogging...I can't believe how fast those years went by. To catch you up: Myself and the profile are still very much together and this New Englander girl moved to North Dakota in the Summer of 2010 to be with my sweetie. One deployment, 3 years of military and a cross country move have gone by. I'm still in school- getting my Masters in Public Health and the sweetie will finish his degree in May with me! I've decided to redirect this blog to more accurately reflect my wide array of interests. The Army will officially be a past part of my life when Sweetie finishes his last reserve weekend in January. Some things you can expect to see from me are wedding planning things, crafts for the home, DIY wedding stuff, fun children's things (clothes, toys, products) and so many other things.
To start: We are not engaged but the wedding will be in my hometown in New Hampshire so I'm allowed to plan certain things now since his family will be traveling quite far to attend. North Dakota is as cold as you think and then a bit colder after that. My cousin - the one that introduced me and sweetie- sent me an article this morning about the coldest cities in the United States. Needless to say, ours was one it and all 3 of the cities we are considering moving to once we finish school in May. My fashion has changed from heels and cute dresses to jeans, flats, and sweaters the majority of the year. It is WAY too windy here to wear the same light summer dresses of yesterJanna. <-- oh that...yeah, that's my name. Janna, not yesterjanna. I may occasionally ask for advice of how to deal with cold, a 6 year old boy with the attention span of a fruit fly, a love of my life that loves video games, in-laws to be that I love but live across the street and own our rental, how to maintain relationships with family and my best friends 2000 miles away and all sorts of things as well as offer up tips for what I have learned. I find that if you are close to your family it is hard to be away. Thanks to travel and the economy, more people than ever live away from their families. I'm here to help with that! That's all for today but I am excited about this new direction :-)

a nice weekend

After spending a lot of time unsure of why I was in this relationship- I mean I know how much I love Josh but he isn't one to convey his feelings verbally and assumes much is implied- we talked or I talked for a long time about the things I need from him and he listened. When he finally spoke again he knocked the breath out of me saying that when he gets back from Iraq he has all intentions of starting a family with me and going back to school to finish his degree. After that discussion we talked about where a wedding would take place and there we disagree. He wants North Dakota where he is from and I want New Hampshire. I think it should be up to the bride but I think I may be able to convince him to bring out his immediate family and close friends for like a week of vacation here and then the wedding here and we could have a reception of sorts back in North Dakota when I get there. I just really want my dad to walk be down the aisle and I want one chance to see all my loved ones before I move so far away from them all. Let me know if you think this is a good compromise on my part. I need the advice myself right now....

so about my voice

in case you couldn't tell me and the voice, Josh are together now. Last Summer over the phone I knew I was falling in love with this guy and like a coward I stopped talking to him...I just wasn't strong enough for a long distance relationship nor did I know what he felt about me. So we stopped talking although I did email him a few times in the Fall. We were both busy so it seemed no biggy. But when time slowed down in January I realized I missed him. His voice and the way he made me laugh and feel special. I needed him. So I called my cousin.... Josh was in the room, I could here his voice in the background and I almost cried. Daniel passed the phone over and Josh surprisingly said he couldn't believe it took me so long. He left and got his own phone and we talked all night. and again the next night, and the next, and the next. After a week of that I finally admitted that I had wanted him for months but I was scared of that. He laughed this cute scoff at me and somehow in that conversation we decided to give it a try. We haven't spent all night on the phone since then because his life with the ARMY has been work work work. He flew me out in March so we could see each other in person and not just online and over the phone. It was the best 8 days of my life. Then his platoon left for a month to the desert for training but we talked almost everyday and I felt like I got closer to him in that time than I had ever before. In May he came here for my birthday. Another great 10 days but while he was here he got a phone call saying he had received his orders and the platoon would leave soon for Iraq. He left and we talked even less leading me to do the psycho needy girlfriend thing calling him to talk about where I stood in his life...I was lonely. So in July I flew back out just for a weekend. Just to see him, to feel him. and now its August. It hasn't been all rainbows and butterflies, in fact I've come close to giving up but something about him makes me want to be my best me. His voice makes me melt and his laugh makes me giggle. His touch...well.....I hate being away from him. I can't wait for deployment to come and go and for him to be discharged and then maybe he can be all mine for a little bit. In the 7 months we have been together we have talked about living together in his home state when he is all done and we even discussed ages of marriage and kids. Little does he know, I would marry him before he leaves. Not for his benefits or any of that. I don't want any of the perks. I just want to know that part of him is mine, that I will always have him, that I have a tangible commitment that will make our deployment just a little bit easier to get through....we'll see. from now on this blog will be a journal, not just of my relationship but also on my cousin who is a mystery with all his girls/drama and my best friend and her now ex-husband trying to get back together.......we shall see. any one in a military relationship will know exactly what I mean and those who aren't will still know how hard love is in all of it's forms.