Hello! Are You Still Out There?

As I prepare for 2012 I am updating my business and blog! I unsuccessfully tried Wordpress for a while and am back to blogger, but not here friends! There are still about 180 official followers over here and I am hoping you will hop over to my new blog by clicking here! I have decided blogger is a better fit for me, and this will only be changing one more time: if I ever decide to go with my own domain.

In the meantime I am excited for the things that can happen for me in 2012 and don't want you to miss a single beat!

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

How to be a Follower

That's right kids, I think I know for sure how you can follow my new blog! "New Blog?" Oh, if you missed the announcement I have made the move to Wordpress and think it's my new home! I am currently hosting a giveaway of a box of my favorite things! I have gotten a few comments that people are unsure how to follow me over there. My posts automatically pop up on my facebook and twitter, so those are always good options. If you want me in your google reader though, I think this is how:

Step 1: From your blogger dashboard, you are going to scroll on down to where all the blogs you follow are listed.

Step 2: Click the "add" button [it will be down right next to the "manage" button]

Step 3: Add: http://theyoungretiree.wordpress.com

Step 4: VOILA! I am in your reading list and I think your google reader as well!

Happy blogging friends! I'll catch you over on the wordpress :D

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

Moving On Over

Well friends, as we prepare for the weekend, I've been readying a Wordpress blog. WHAT? That is correct, I'm making the switch over to The Young Retiree on Wordpress.

I am all too new with the website and am learning as I go. I don't know how to make a button, so if you are in the know and could share some info with me, that would be AWESOME! I want it to look like that picture up there of the flippy floppies.

I also don't know how to follow all of you :( I will be using blogger to follow you all until I figure it out- so even though the blog is active, I'll be posting over on Wordpress. If you wish to continue following me, I think you just have to add the url: http://www.theyoungretiree.wordpress.com/ into your subscriptions. I'll learn how to reply to comments, and figure everything out. I think my new home is over on wordpress though. See you over there where I'll be hosting my FAVORITE THINGS giveaway next week :D
Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

She's Gone Country

When I think of California I think of waves, waxing a board, and watching out for sting rays. I do not think of the rodeo. Last night hubs and I saw a commercial for a rodeo coming to southern California! We looked at each other and knew we needed to check it out! I'm only from Virginia- so I'm not exactly what you would call "Git R Dun" country, but I think it would be fun to see the rodeo live!

Today we went "redneck shopping" to get our western wear and prepare to look a little more legit when we go. Hubs got an "authentic western style" button down shirt. At least that's what the tag says. He also got himself a belt with one of the more medium sized huge buckles, which is also interchangeable. "Ooh-ee mayn!"

I got myself a reasonably priced cowgirl hat and my very first pair of boots! They are SO super comfortable!


Captured by the talented photographer: Hubs

Then of course the jean skirt and a pretty cute plaid shirt via Target completed the look for me. Oh, and I almost forgot! At Boot Barn I got the cutest necklace and earring set: horse shoes! I am ready to hit the country bars and boot scoot boogie, y'all! Yee-haw :D
Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

What I Love About Small Town Living

When we moved to Fallbrook we instantly fell in love with the small town feel of it. We're within driving distance to the city, but we're sharing the land with horses and chickens out here. One of the best things about small town life is all of the local places to dine. Sure, there's your fast food places and Subway. There's a Denny's and a Pizza Hut. But there are many fabulous independent places.

7 days a week, 11-9. Yeah, you'll learn this face!

Fallbrook FroYo opened up yesterday, and we headed out today to give them a try! All I can say is we are deliciously in trouble! The shop is dangerously within walking distance of our house, and there is a punch card rewards system. I didn't count, but I'm going to go on a limb and say there are about 16 flavors to choose from including: lemonade (I think it's raspberry or pink lemonade-it was pretty delicious), cookies and cream (eh, we were not fans!), peanut butter, cheesecake, double chocolate, tart Italian (which was very tart, but very delicious!), red velvet cake, Tahitian vanilla... and some more. There are tiny little pill cups that you could get a sample of any flavors you wanted!

I went with Tahitian Vanilla and hubs went with Red Velvet!

 Then, after you pour your FroYo, there are about 75 toppings to choose from! All kinds of candies and what not. Hubs went with jimmies and I went with strawberries and kiwi. Next time, I'm going to go with the berries: strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Delish.

Fix it yourself FroYo places are taking over the world of desserts, friends. What is your favorite flavor and topping combination? I always go with the fruits... because then it's a healthy snack, right? :D

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

Ice Cream to Doughnuts | 365

Well friends: four weeks are down since my husband got home from deployment. I feel as though as fast as the actual deployment went, our days now are going! I find myself some days wanting time to skip over our bad days, but stand still for the good times. This week, as we said good by to the shipboard life and hello to leave, we've definitely had some fun!

TOP CENTER: Ben & Jerry's! It was on sale super cheap at the Commissary, and so we stocked up! Yum, yum, yum!

TOP RIGHT: We head to bed for our last early night. The clock says 9pm... which was kind of late for us! Those 4am wake up calls had us in bed by 8pm most nights!

MIDDLE LEFT: Good morning! Leaving the house by 0500 to make it down to the ship on time for the very last day! It was a bittersweet day for us both. I, however, will not be missing early mornings!

CENTER SQUARE: DATE NIGHT! We headed to El Torito for date night :D

MIDDLE RIGHT: That's a big ol' burger! We headed to lunch at a local Indian Reservation Casino/Resort and had their giant burger! It took us three to go boxes to carry out our leftovers!

BOTTOM LEFT: 7-11 celebrated their "birthday" and we went to get our free Slurpee shot!

BOTTOM CENTER: There is a cute little place in town called the Donut Pantry. We treated ourselves to a breakfast treat!

I hope you had a marvelous week as well friends! Here's looking forward to another fabulous one and moving on to our second month!

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

Movie Mayhem

Hubs and I found a a little movie theater in Temecula where they still offer military discounts and tickets are pretty cheap. We saw "morning movies" and the price was so cheap they didn't offer the discount, because it is already the discounted rate. For the two of us, we paid $11. YES: ELEVEN DOLLARS = TWO TICKETS!

We have decided there were some movies that just had to be seen with the theater experience for this price. Saturday, we woke up bright and early and took the dogs to Dogtopia to be groomed and hang out with some buddies. Then we headed to the theater just to see if we were in luck and could catch a flick. We lucked out and saw Bad Teacher.

Yeah, it's not an awkward movie date without a self portrait during those trivia slides before the previews.
Taken at Horrible Bosses

I have been wanting to see this movie since I saw the first preview for it. First: Jason Segal. HILARIOUS! He is definitely my type of guy: awkward, funny, and a secret little charmer. Next: Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake- together again and hysterical! Followed by: the career I wanted and the type of teacher I could have seen myself being (I'm talking about the obnoxious red head with the decorated walls who is the arch nemesis of Diaz!). It was nothing but laughs with the lesson that you can do whatever you want and get away with it as long as you're smarter than the competition.

We thought the movie would be over in time for us to see the next showing of Horrible Bosses, but it was about 10 minutes into the movie, and that would have been the worst! I hate being late to movies. We decided we would go back the next day... and we did!

Get to a theater and see this movie, friends!

I don't think I've laughed so hard in my life! We went bright and early at 10 am. There were more people in the theater this time: maybe six other couples? It was like a private showing! Weekend mornings are just as dead as weekday morning movies and are a great cheap date. The only expense was the first day, we were little piggies and both got a popcorn which we didn't even eat half of. The next day we stuck with just drinks.

I think we've found a great little place for nice date days on the weekends :D
Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

July Evelventh | My Favorite Day | Twenty Eleven

This might be a little awkward, but when I moved from Virginia to California, one of the things I was worried about was: SEVEN ELEVEN! Back home you can't spit without hitting one- they are everywhere! Would they be out here too?

Happy Birthday 7-11



 This is my first July 11th in California (as last year we had travelled back home for July) and I am happy to report that there are TWO Seven-Elevens in Fallbrook! Hubby and I took the liberty of heading over to one today and getting our 7-11 Birthday Slurpee. You know, every year on the eleventh of July, you can get a baby Slurpee for free!

We both got Alienade: a blue raspberry lemonade flavor.

Yes, he is wearing PINK and yes, we asked the cashier to take our picture :D

So friends, are you lucky enough to live close enough to a 7-11 to get your Slurpee on? Did yo remember to head over today and get one? They are quite possibly my favorite summer treat! They instantly take me back to my childhood and summers with my grandpa!
Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

Nines on el Nueve: Baby Bull!

Last fall I was watching some show and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it. There was a couple who tried to be fancy shmancy instead of who they were. They had gotten into a rut of coming home, throwing on the comfy clothes and heating up frozen dinners or something. They decided they would be fancy people and get dressed up every night. After a week thy were exhausted and decided they just needed date nights.

I thought about it and decided we should do the same thing. I think date nights are so important to relationships- keeping them fresh, keeping focused on each other, keeping a little bit of the spark alive. We go out to eat every now and then, sure, but I mean a real "focus on each other" date night. We get so caught up in the rush of grabbing dinner that we don't make it special anymore- it's just dinner. When we were dating we went out all the time- we had two incomes and could afford eating out four+ nights a week.

The ninth night of every month we have declared: NINES ON THE NINES! It's our Mandatory Monthly Date Night. We'll get all dressed to the nines and go out for a fancier date night. Well, we failed this month because we overbooked the day. In our defense, we did shower and get dressed a little fancy... casual fancy :D

We headed to a cute little Mexican restaurant in Temecula called El Torito. We have not had Mexica since hubs has been back home!



And trust, I make him act like a complete tourist!
My time hosting and taking pictures of people gives me enough stories so we don't look too awkward!

El Torito is possibly a chain of Mexican Restaurants. I know they have coupons in those penny saver ads for $10 off your order of $30 or more. I'm down with it. They have two patios and a really cool tile wall waterfall thing!


The entrance to our Mexican Date Night



This is a waterfall!

 One of the best things in the world is a MANGO MARGARITE :D Wheneve we go out for Mexican, we treat ourselves to one or two.

Someone's a LUSH! We haven't even ordered food yet and his is GONE!

Absolute deliciousness.
Side Note: That bracelet is one of the many gifts hubs got me from deployment!
It came all the way from the Philippines!
Nail Polish: "Big Hair... Big Nails" by O.P.I.

 The absolute best part of date night? Sitting across the table from each other and gazing lovingly into one each others eyes:

My handsome hubs, gazing lovingly at his beautiful wife!

Our original plan was to head to Fish House Vera Cruz. Maybe next month? Do you have date nights with your significant other? I know one is going to be a fancy picnic up at the Temecula Duck Pond! We're ready to explore our area, and spend some special time with one another in the process!

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.

Ten on the Tenth

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon here in Fallbrook. We had a busy weekend, and I can't wait to get the pictures up and post all about it! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend, friends! As most of you know the hubs is on leave in between duty stations and we are enjoying each other as much as we can, and exploring the area. I forget I've been living here since last October... and, well... he has been living on a ship for almost all that time! We've been exploring Temecula, Pechanga (a local Indian Reservation with a Casino and great restaurants! We had lunch there today: that'll be a great post!), enjoying movies and... ice cream.

We've been on the run since Friday afternoon, but in taking a break to catch up on all your blogs, I came across a neat photography project. Yes, I call it "photography" even though I know my DSLR DOES NOT make me a "photographer"... or do I? I digress, over on Bleu Dress & Dress Blues I saw a post about taking a picture, every hour, for ten hours, on the tenth of every month. She linked up and I am planning on joining in next month (since if I started now, we'd be taking pictures into the wee hours of the morning!). 




I can't wait until next month to give it a try! The inspiration behind it is truly touching and I've been creeping at pictures today from folks who signed up and LOVE them all so much. It is interesting to see a day in another life unfold.

Stay tuned for some great posts about the Crazy Adventures of E Squared :D Enjoy what is left in your weekend!

Cuddles and Kisses,
The Mrs.