Letter to my Congressman

"To the Honorable Joe Courtney,

It has recently been brought to my attention that in the Congressional Budget Office report (Budget Options, Volume 1: Healthcare, December 2008) suggestions have been made to force military families to pay more for their healthcare. It also stated that military retirees should pay more for their healthcare as well. On each page pros and cons were listed, yet one major con was left out. Members of our military stay in until retirement for the healthcare benefits. If this budget is passed, you will have soldiers dropping out of the military like flies and I guarantee that you won't be able to maintain a well-staffed military in any of the branches. My husband is a 9 year submariner and the only reason he is staying in until retirement is for the Tricare for life benefits. I am asking you to please take the ramifications of this proposed budget into consideration, and vote against any rising healthcare costs to military families. Sincerely, Stephanie West "

Obviously I made some changes to my name but the message still stands clear. Granted this is only a PROPOSED way to cut spending...I don't believe any of this has been brought to a vote. They are just going over ways to cut federal spending on a lot of things. Either way, I figured I would make my voice heard. You can read the entire proposed budget here:

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=9925

The page dealing specifically with military healthcare is on page 189.

I urge all of you to write to your congressman/woman to make sure that this won't happen.

(See all of my conservative friends...I'm not a complete liberal hippie ;)

Midday Musings

So I feel like I don't update very often, and I would, except there isn't much going on in our world this week. My parents came up on Saturday and we were in and out of the bridal salon in twenty minutes. I picked the dress that I posted in my blog and am super happy with my decision. My dad didn't even blink at the price tag :) The good news is there is no tax on my dress and I get free alterations which is fantastic because I plan on losing weight. I started Weight Watchers again this week. I gained a good 5-8 lbs. since Jimmy has been home (beer mostly) and I want to lose...uhhh probably at least 30 before the wedding. It won't be easy since my body likes to stop losing around 175, but I'm going to give it a whirl and start exercising too. Jimmy offered to buy me and eliptical machine but I'm going to hold off on that for a while (expensive) and just try to go to the gym or take Floyd for long walks. I weighed myself yesterday morning and had lost 8 lbs. already (which isn't normal at all). That is the first week though...then it drops dramatically every week after. So I'll probably update on how that is going. You're supposed to look you best on your wedding day so I'm going to attempt to get there :)

Other than that our home inspection got pushed back to Tuesday because the seller's realtor wasn't there for the gas company to turn the gas on. Jimmy pretty much lost it that day...I hadn't seen him that angry in a long time. It was F this and F that and then he decided (good call) to talk Floyd for a walk to blow some steam off. I understand his frustration and try to be sympathetic but I hate when he gets like that so I just try to ignore him until he comes to me about it. We haven't had much luck in the house buying game and we really like this house and are so ready to move. He hates living here (and he's only lived here for a total of 2 months) and we want a yard for Floyd and a place to bring our babies home to. God just enjoys watching us squirm. Things will work out the way they are supposed to...we just have to be patient.

Our relationship as a whole has been better than ever. I was really worried that when he came home we would have a horrible time readjusting, but it hasn't been like that at all. We're so much happier together than we were even a year ago. We are planning our future and are committed to making each other's goals come true. After we had our offer accepted on the house I started freaking out over the cost and if we could realistically afford it. Jimmy sat down on the computer and came up with a spreadsheet of income and debt. He showed me how we could afford it on his income alone. I kept saying how I should really get a full-time job but I wasn't sure how I could do that and go to school an hour away. He looked at me and said, very sincerely, that all I need to focus on is school and that I'll be making good money afterward. It's reassuring and comforting to know that the person you're going to marry really believes in you and vice versa. In a couple of years we're going to be in a fantastic place financially and then we can start making babies :) I'm so excited and optimistic for the future and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with him!

I got my ring :)

So everyone pretty much knows that Jimmy did some random, kinda cute, over the phone proposal while he was in Bahrain part 3. Things spiraled from there when I found out that the place I wanted to get married at only had 3 dates left for 2009. I booked my wedding and a whole bunch of other "wedding funness" before i got a proper proposal. Well last night we went to Fall River, MA to see the Wood Brothers (check them out...we've seen them 4-5 times) and celebrate V-day (he has duty today). Apparently Fall River has a huge Portuguese population and I've never sampled their food so we went to a nice restaurant before the show. A nice bottle of red wine, littleneck clams, two fantastic entrees and dessert...then he mumbles something and plops on his knee in front of me. I don't really remember what he said...something along the lines of "I love you, we've seen the Wood Brothers a bunch of times and we've always had a great time, let's make this one really memorable, marry me". Don't quote me word for word on that. So I got the most beautiful ring in the world from the most wonderful man in the world. It is a 1 ct. marquise cut diamond in a cathedral, white gold setting. It sparkles a lot :) So today my parents are coming down from NY to look at my candidates for wedding dresses and hopefully we will purchase one today! I won't feel like a schmuck anymore trying dresses on without a ring. YAY! 11/7/09 folks :)

Back to it...

So Jimmy had to go back to working normal hours today. I'm kinda bummed since it's been nice having him home. We haven't had a whole lot of down time in the past month. Lately buying a house has been our big time consumer. We have found a house in Uncasville/Montville that now under contract. Our home inspection is next week and then the dreaded appraisal. Last time we did the appraisal and the bank wouldn't give us what we had bid and then the seller wouldn't budge....therefore...no house. So you can see how I am trying not to get my hopes up too high. Jimmy had the bright idea to go look at paint colors, so we had fun perusing the aisles of Home Depot...looking at everything from lighting to bbqs. We're just both so ready to have a place of our own that we can bring our future kids home to. So cross your fingers folks!

Other than that...busy with wedding plans. My mom is coming down this weekend to look at my candidates for dresses and hopefully we'll make a purchase! Jimmy has duty on Valentine's day so I will be babysitting..aka trying to bring some money into our bank account. So yeah...that's it for now....sorry our lives aren't very exciting :)