a touch of madness

I found this on Pinterest last night, and seriously, how true is that? Love it! Beethoven is my very favorite composer and he was certainly mad, but such a musical genious.

Some other favorite Pinterest findings lately:

All pictures are from my Pinterest boards, "Words of Truth" or "What I Believe." Credit to original owners.

Anybody found anything Pinteresting lately? That place is such an inspiration to me, no lie.

my awesome brother.

My brother graduated Army basic training on Friday. I am so, so proud of him. He has matured so much over the past few months.

(excuse the blurriness...I stole these from his cell phone) :)

He's been my best friend since I can even remember, we have always been attached at the hip and always think of the other one when making plans. We've had our share of staying up too late, playing video games, eating sour candy, watching dumb movies,  making late-night Wal-Mart runs; but they're our favorite memories and things we just enjoy doing together.

I have talked to him so much over this weekend, and I keep ending the phone calls with the same thought: Man, he's awesome. I am so lucky to have him for my brother! He has the biggest heart out of anyone I know, and I mean anyone. He is so compassionate and giving, he's even literally given the shirt off his back to someone who didn't have one.

These past few months have been difficult for me, letting go of him, in a way. He's an adult now, in an adult world, with an adult job and adult friends. However, I still know he is always there for me and will always listen and not judge or tell anyone anything I say, which I really admire.

I've been trying to add some more pics but once again Blogger does not like them. Whyyy does this keep happening?!?

In other news, B is doing well from what I do know. I don't get near as many letters as I used to. I do know he goes through the gas chamber tomorrow, so naturally I'm a little worried. I am sure he'll be alright though; it's just the worrywart in me coming out.

Good night, all. :o)

"After a girl is grown, her little brothers...become her protectors." ~Terri Guillemets

guilty pleasures.

(my brother, taken at Army basic training. he has about 4 weeks left of BT then on to AIT!)

Lady Gaga/Ke$ha/Katy Perry
McDonald's coffee.
Sour gummy worms.
Cheesy romantic comedies.
Ruffles.
Crazy high heels.
Derby hats.

Yessss. I have finally found some things to occupy my time lately. I bought Lady Gaga's new CD on a whim today since she's too weird not to like a little bit. Don't have a complaint about it yet except for the fact I have just found out the meaning of track seven. Whatevs.

Got another letter today. I actually got two yesterday; I'm definitely receiving more letters than I thought I would. I won't get too excited though just in case they taper off to a sudden stop. B said his wisdom teeth are going to be pulled on training day 25...not sure what date that is but I'll have to check. He said his Senior DI told him he would get a call home that day; I would freaking love that but I don't want to get my hopes up just in case.

You guys have no idea how excited I am about our 'new life' when this is all over with. And by 'all this' I mean boot camp...the 13 weeks are a killer. After that I'm sure his MCT and MOS schools are only 6 weeks each, not one hundred percent sure though.

Any weekend plans for you all? It's my weekend to work, so I'll be slaving away behind the glorious Subway counters for 18.5 hours. YAY.

"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, 'She doesn't have what it takes.' They will say, 'Women don't have what it takes.'" ~Clare Boothe Luce

If you're going through hell, keep going.

"If you're going through hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill

I think I might be right now. Going through hell, that is. They always say that when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade. My lemons must be rotten because this lemonade isn't very good.

I don't know why God is throwing all this stuff at me right now, I really don't. I feel like giving up and running away. But what would that solve?

Exactly.

NOTHING.

I don't want to go into detail, but my faith and perseverance is being tested so hard right now. It hurts to be told several things by someone and then have that person basically forget everything they have said, and live however they want to. It really, really hurts.

"To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it." -Confucius

I feel betrayed.

I'm hurt.

I just want to cry. And I almost did on the drive home tonight. But I kept it together because I didn't want B asking questions when I got inside.

I need a lot of prayer and good vibes. I want to come out of this with flying colors and be able to share my experience with other people. I don't want to give in to this test, run away, and ultimately fail. No, I'm better than that.

"The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it." - C.C. Scott

It's just that some people (actually...one person) really need to be beat upside the head to get the message. And even then? I still don't know if the message would get through the darned thick skull.

(In other news, I cut off a foot of my hair today. It feels weird.)

"When the world says 'give up,' hope whispers, 'Try it one more time.'" -Unknown

laundry.

Since our laundry hamper is overflowing and the overflow is falling on the floor, we figured it was time to do laundry. However, we always have an issue with the availability of the complex's washer and dryer.

Usually on Friday afternoon/nights both are available, but no, not today. Of course someone else's clothes are in there and probably have been for hours now. THIS is what we run into every single time we want clean clothes: lazy people who leave their stuff in there for hours and hours so other's can't do their laundry. We have been dealing with this for a year and a half, so I'm STILL doing laundry at my mom's house (thank goodness she's generous and lets me do that, otherwise we'd be up ess creek without a paddle) even after being married and on my own for this long.

I don't know what B did with our laundry basket, but he comes back through the front door exclaiming, "That's it. We're going to the ______ laundromat. Get some more clothes together." (cue the dun dun dunnn sound). THE LAUNDROMAT! This is where we spend tons of money just to get laundry done in a jiffy. Last time we dropped almost $40 there and we definitely don't need to be doing that. However, when you wait for weeks and weeks and weeks and are desperately low on socks and underwear, you gotta do what you gotta do. Even if it means going to the 'hood to do it.

Ah, the joys of apartment life. Soon this will all be over and I can do laundry on my own free will and not have to worry about other clothes in there all the time. And it's FREE. And no one will throw our stuff out of the dryer onto the floor just so they can use it.

Sounds like a plan to me.

"'Patience is the ability to count down before you blast off." -Author Unknown

three random things.

I tried and tried and couldn't consolidate my thoughts into one big, main point; so here I am and I'm going to write it all out to you anyway. Three things.

one. I found out my personality type today. I am an ISTJ (introversion, sensing, thinking, judgment). You can find out yours here. It's kind of scary how accurate it is, actually. I would love to know what my husband is, but he would definitely not take the test unless I ask him the questions and he tells me the answers. I wonder what personality type that is? :)

two. I wanted to write a whole post about him, but I'll do it here instead. I'm sure there will be plenty of more entries all about him once the Marines become an active part of his life, but this will do for now. I wanted to clue you all in on some things about my husband; some of his likes, dislikes, interests, favorites, the whole nine yards. (that 'read more' option would be really helpful right now, but alas! It has disappeared on my editing options.)

edit: nevermind, he won't answer the questions so I guess you guys will never know anything about him. how exciting.

three. I came across some quotes today that I really enjoyed, so see for yourself!

"Some people, no matter how old they get never lose their beauty - they simply move it from their faces to their hearts." -Martin Bauxbaum

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you are right." -Henry Ford

"Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit." -Peter Ustinov

"At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet." -Plato

Goodnight, world. :)