Army Wife

Bye bye Blair..until fall...

2011-03-30T16:38:00.000-05:00

Last week was my last week babysitting Blair. I'm going to miss spending lots of time with just her. She is a wonderful girl. It has been such a tremendous joy watching her grow! When I first started babysitting her she was 6 months old. She was eating baby cereal and formula from a bottle and could barley sit up by herself. Now she is one and eating a lot of adult food and drinking milk from a sippy cup and practically running. Oh, she is just so cute! can't wait till fall!
Elyzabeth Jacobs

FIVE MONTHS DOWN!

2011-03-30T16:32:00.000-05:00

So, it has been five months since Steven has left for his deployment. I've had bad days and good days; which is to be expected. I have been trying to keep myself busy.

My brother-in-law has helped me fix up my living room and kitchen (pictures to come soon) and I have been cleaning the house. I have 6 weeks till Steven comes home for his R&R and I want to have it lookin good.

I started my training for my second half marathon. I actually have people to run with this time, my sister, Jeanna and my friend, Tami. I won't have to do it alone! The other good thing is Steven will be home to cheer me on for my half marathon! :)

I start full-time at Sherbondy's next week, and then soon I start working weekends, so I am going to be one busy girl. I have been hanging out with friends and family. I have family game nights twice a month, once on my side at my cousin's house and once with Steven's mom's side of the family. It is a lot of fun! I love to play games and just have a good laugh.

Steven has been doing great! I haven't talked to him for long periods of time. But I have gotten some emails, here and there. With winter over, his unit is getting really busy working on things that weather wasn't permitting them too. Hopefully this makes time go by a lot faster for them. There has been a few articles about his unit and the awesome progress they have been making. Once I figure out how, I will post them on here.

No more brace face!

2011-03-30T16:21:00.000-05:00

After almost four years, I have finally gotten my braces off! I just love not having them!
Elyzabeth Jacobs

Yay! He shaved!

2011-03-30T16:20:00.001-05:00

thank gooodness! I didn't really like Steven's facial hair. I'm glad that he was getting tired of maintaining it!! He is sooo handsome!
Elyzabeth Jacobs

Full blown Stache!

2011-03-30T16:18:00.000-05:00

Steven really took on the moustache. That is all I'm going to say about this...haha
Elyzabeth Jacobs

Steven's stache!

2011-01-03T14:37:00.001-06:00

Steven and his platoon have started growing mustaches. I guess they called it "cheesey moustache month" it has been a month since they started, Steven still has his but I'm not sure if anyone else does. He wrote in an email once that he has been compared to Tom sellack. I am not a fan of facial hair so I don't care who he looks like, I don't like it! Haha
Elyzabeth Jacobs

Steven 1st Care Package!

2010-12-27T22:16:00.000-06:00

Jeanna, Abi and I may have had way too much fun getting stuff for Steven's care package. We wanted to make sure it was extra good since it was for Christmas. We included things he needed, like socks, trail mix, ziplock bags, containers, chapsticks, etc. And we included things we thought he would enjoy like a football, frisbee, men's health magazine and Teen Bop (we sent that out of fun...he needs to keep up on important news!..haha)

I posted some pictures of all the stuff we got (which he loved all of it by the way):

Fun with my new camera!!

2010-12-27T22:06:00.000-06:00

While Steven was home during thanksgiving; we decided to upgrade our camera. This is good news for me, because I get to use it while he is gone. It is a really nice camera and I really like taking pictures with it. Here are just a few:

A phone call...

2010-12-12T14:34:00.000-06:00

Well, Steven is in Afghanistan. We got the address for their unit, so now it is time to send some care packages. First, I have to think of things to send him. I have a few ideas, but I still don't know.

Steven called me last thursday. It was so great hearing his voice, but it makes me miss him even more. He said that they are still settling in and doing admin things. They should start their mission soon!

Last weekend, we had our FRG Christmas party. My niece, Abi went with me and we both had a good time. When it was time to leave, I asked Abi if she wanted to go and she responds with "I guess"! haha She said she wanted to always come with me to FRG events; which is fine because it is for the family.

A late Thanks-giving thought!

2010-12-01T16:46:00.000-06:00

With Steven being home over Thanksgiving break, I didn't get to post what I was thankful for.

I am EXTREMELY thankful for Steven being able to come home for a visit. It was really nice seeing him. We had a busy thanksgiving, did a little shopping and saw the latest Harry Potter movie that just came out. It was really hard this time to say good-bye because it may not be for another 11 months till I see him again. But I have been doing well and keeping busy.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I may be getting annoying or overreacting or sometimes underreacting to things, but they put up with it. My family and friends are there for me when I need them and they are very understanding with what I am going through. This experience, I have said many time before, has made me closer to them. When I say my friends and family, I am also including Steven's family and friends! Because I have for sure gotten closer to them, even just in the last couple of months. I love having a wide variety of people in my life, it never makes for a dull moment; which is exactly what I need.

I am thankful for my FRG family. They are included in family and friends, but I wanted to mention them seperately. Last year I almost left being the treasurer for the FRG because it was stressful and I figured I could live without it. I thought to myself that, I am so far away from these people, I could never really get to know anyone and that they have their own lives, so way would they want to get to know me. Well there were changes made in the FRG, good changes, and I decided to stay in it. And boy am I glad I did. I love being in it, the drive isn't always fun, but it's worth it. I have gotten close to the girls (there are men, but I mostly talk to the women) and it is nice to be able to talk to someone and they are going through the same things. It nice; because we can help each other out and talk about what works for them. They are a great support system and I don't know how I could do this without them!!

I am also thankful for God. God gives us challenges in life, not to be mean, but to grow. We may not like the challenges he has planned for us, but he knows what he is doing and he has a reasoning for all challenges. In the little time that Steven has been away, I have become stronger and I continue to grow as a person with each day that passes. I am thankful that God believes in me and Steven and that he gives us opportunities to grow as a person and as a couple. Not to mention our relationship with God, himself, to become stronger and closer.

It's nice to hear it from stranger....

2010-11-22T16:19:00.000-06:00

Today I got an accounts payable call at work. I won't bore you with all the work talk, but at the end of our conversation she said that she knew that my husband was deployed because of a previous conversation she had with Kip. She also wanted me to know that she has been thinking about my husband and I since then and wishes us well.

I just thought it was really nice of her. Most strangers, and even some people I know, just say "oh that's awful", "I could never do that", "How long is he gone?" or "well, a year will go by fast" and that is about all for the conversation. I do understand that not everyone knows what to say in these types of situations, because like someone mourning a loss and saying to them "I'm sorry", it is the normal thing you say. Steven hasn't even been gone for a month (but close to it) and I am already tired of people asking how I am doing, because what am I suppose to say. I'm sure people will get annoyed if everytime they asked, I say how I really feel which is terrible, sad, angry, annoyed and all other emotions like that. So, I just usually respond with a "oh, I'm good or okay. How are you" and then they always snicker like it was silly to ask how they are doing. I'm trying to return the politeness.

But this lady that doesn't even know me or knows what I look like, just knows my voice has thought about me and my husband. Instead of asking me the question I dread, she just wanted to tell me that she has thought about us and that she hopes we have a great Thanksgiving and that this period of time goes fast. I just thought it was really sweet of her.

Wish it was a year from now....

2010-11-21T20:58:00.000-06:00

So...it has been about 4 weeks since Steven left. It has been rough for me. Yeah, I have good days but I have a lot of bad days too. I am really hoping it gets easier. But I have AWESOME friends and family that really help me out. I don't know what I would do without them.

I have been crying at weird times, like just walking out of our garage I get sad because I see his truck. I get sad when he isn't here to talk to like when I am sad about losing my friends or when I got my speeding ticket. Yes, SHOCKER, I got a speeding ticket!

There are a few things that I am getting used to, like, when I clean a part of the house, it stays clean. I save money on water and heat. I don't have to do laundry as much and I save gas. But, I still want this year to go by really fast. I hate wishing a whole year of my life away, but I don't like going a year without my best friend!

I do have one goal by the time Steven gets back from his deployment: reading the entire bible. I am going to read the bible in chronological order. I think this will help me get through this rough time and for me to work on "me" spiritually.

2010-11-08T15:03:00.000-06:00

Letter to a military spouse

While I have never had the pleasure of meeting you or your husband, I felt the need to write you and express a very deep feeling that I have in my heart.

I, as a person, am not brave. I do not tackle things head on, as I hate confrontation. I will travel 100 miles out of my way just to avoid a conflict. I am an American woman that has no idea what is going on in the military other than what I hear on the news.

I have never had to let go of someone so that they could go fight for people that they didn't know, people that sometimes do not appreciate or understand what they are fighting for.

I have never had a sleepless night of worry because of a report that another bomb has exploded and I still haven't heard from my husband.

I have never had to wait for months on end to hold the one that I loved so.

I have never had to tell my children that daddy wasn't coming home tonight because he was so far away fighting for something that they aren't yet old enough to understand.

I have never had to hold my head high and suppress the tears as I hear that it will be at least another six months of separation before my loved one gets to come home.

I have never had to deal with a holiday away from the one that I thought I would share every day of my life with.

And I have never had to feel the panic rising in my heart at the sound of a ringing phone or knock at the door for fear that it is the news that everyone is terrified of getting.

For the reasons listed above, I can not tell you that I understand how you feel. I can not tell you that you must be strong. I can not say that you shouldn't be angry, because you "knew what you were getting into when you married a military man". I can not say these things because I have never had to walk in your shoes.

What I can say for certain is that because of your unselfish acts of bravery and your husbands willingness to stand up for those who see him as "just another soldier" - - I will never have to walk in your shoes.

I do understand that as a military wife you are expected to uphold a certain amount of control, but I never understood how you could do it, until now. I have figured out that you are not like other women. You are of a special breed. You have a strength within you that holds life together in the darkest of hours, a strength of which I will never possess. The faith you have is what makes you stand out in a crowd; it makes you glow with emotion and swell with pride at the mention of The United States of America.

You are a special lady, a wonderful partner and a glorious American.

I have more respect for your husband than I could ever tell you, but until recently I never thought much about those that the soldier leaves at home during deployment.

Until this moment I could never put into words exactly what America meant to me.

Until this moment, I had no real reason to.... Until I heard of you.

Your husband and his military family hold this nation close, safe from those who wish to hurt us...but you and those like you are the backbone of the American family. You keep the wheels in motion and the hearts alive while most would just break completely down. Military families make this nation what it is today.

You give us all hope and you emit a warming light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

Because of you and your family...I am able to be me. I am able to have my family. I am able to walk free in this great land. Because of you and your family, I can look ahead to the future with the knowledge that life is going to be okay. Because of you and your family, I can awake to a new day, everyday.

I realize that you are a stronger person than I will ever be because of these things and I just wanted to take the time today to say thank you to you and your family for allowing me that freedom.

I will never be able to repay this debt to you, as it is unmatchable. However, I hope that you know that no matter where you are...what you are doing...what has happened today...or what will happen tomorrow...Your husband will NEVER be "just another soldier" to me.... And you, dear sweet lady, will never be forgotten.

You are all in my prayer's everyday and I pray that God will bring you back together with your loved one safely.

May God Bless You!

(Author Unknown)

Military Pictures!!!

2010-11-05T16:39:00.000-05:00

We got military pictures done before Steven deployed. There are A LOT of they are all sooo good. I only added a few of my absolute favorites!

A Military Wife's Prayer

2010-11-03T19:52:00.000-05:00

Give me the greatness of heart to see,

The difference between duty and his love for me.
Give me understanding so that I may know,
When duty calls, he must go.

Give me a task to do each day,
To fill the time while he is away.
When he is in a foreign land,
Keep him safe in your loving hand.

When his duty is in the field,
Please prtoect him and be his shield.
And when he is gone for so long,
Please stay with me and keep me strong.

2010-11-02T00:31:00.000-05:00

Well, that time has come! Steven has been deployed. The unit had their send off ceremony Thursday, October 28th. There was an awesome turnout and it was so wonderful to see all the people that cared about our soldiers! If the send off ceremony was this awesome, I can't wait to see what the homecoming ceremony is going to be like.

This is Steven's first deployment; but he has been away from home before, just not for more than 3 months (for the academy). I always go through an adjusting period where I don't want to do anything or be around anyone, I get really moody and snap often. By for some reason, I haven't been that way a whole lot. I still have my moments where I snap but it isn't as often as I thought it would be. I think me praying to God for strength has really helped. It just goes to show that God does listen and helps us out when he know that we truly need it!

I have great family and friends who check up on me and see how I'm doing. It may be a text or short phone call but whatever the form of communication is, I am very blessed to have people in my life that care so much about me. I truly think because of them, I am going to come out of this experience a better, stronger woman! When you have a situation like this, you can only look at the positive of things. I know, every now and then I will be sad or angry but if I always focused on those feelings, this year would be hell and go by slow. I wouldn't take any good out of this experience and that isn't what we should do. We should take this opportunity to work on ourselves, on our relationships with others and more importantly on our relationship with God, because he will always be there for us!

Two friends that will always be remembered!

2010-10-29T16:30:00.000-05:00

Two saturdays ago, I lost two friends that I have known since elementary. Josh Royer and Cory Geise were in a horrible car accident on Saturday, October 16th. Cory was speeding and lost control of the car and they crashed into the ditch.

This is Cory. He just got out of the military and started going to UNO for engineering. He has been to Iraq and helped out in Haiti. Steven and Cory had recently started talking because Cory was thinking about joining Steven's national guard unit, which is the engineering unit. We saw Cory the week before he passed away at Steven's going away party. We weren't very close friends, but he was a great guy and so nice.

This is Josh. I was closer to Josh and I saw him last at my birthday party on the 2nd of October. He was so nice and had a great smile. Every time I think of Josh, I just remember he would always be smiling while saying "Hey Lyz". Josh just recently got engaged to a very nice, wonderful girl. I miss him terribly!

Death is always sad and even harder to handle when the ones that past were so young and just started really living their lives. With Josh getting engaged and Cory going back to school to do something he has always wanted to do, it just seems to soon. But we all know that everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for all of us. And right now, he really needed Josh and Cory! I will love and miss both of them and they will always be in my heart!

Three days after my friends' passing, my brother-in-law, John Paul's grandfather, Richard, passed away. He was 85 years old and lived an extremely wonderful and fulfilled life! I saw him as a grandpa figure and always called him Grandpa Peterson. Him and his wife, Pat, were the only ones out of this family to attend University of Iowa, the rest went to Iowa State. So, knowing I went to U of I for a year and was a fan of the Hawkeyes, every time he came into the Sherbondy's store, he would talk about the U of I and sing me the Iowa fight soon. He was always so nice and was interested in what was going on with everyone. Richard will also be missed very much and he will be in my heart as well!

“If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die, but real love is forever.”

The Crow (1994)

Half Marathon

2010-10-25T11:54:00.000-05:00

October 17th, I ran my first half marathon! My friend, Jamie and I participated in it in Des Moines, IA. I trained for about 3 months for it. My time was 2 hours and 45 minutes. I wanted to get it done in 2 hours and 30 minutes, but being off by 15 minutes isn't bad I guess. I did enjoy it and I do plan on doing the Council Bluffs one in May. Some people have told me that it is strangely addicting, and it actually is. It was fun participating in the race and having people that don't even know you cheer you on and tell you how great of a job you are doing. I got an awesome medal just for finishing it too!

This picture is me and my friend, Jamie, right before the race. It was a little chilly in the morning, but I knew I would warm up as soon as I started running. Jamie is pretty much an expert runner, she has done many half marathons and one marathon.

This is me at the finish line. I was sooo tired by this point but I just wanted to be done. I don't remember people being by me, that's how zoned out I was! hahaha

Steven was so proud of me! You can also see the awesome medal that I got!!!

IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!

2010-10-04T16:05:00.000-05:00

So, we are winding down to the last month before Steven leaves for deployment. So many things that we have done and still need to do.

Steven and I got our pictures done by McKenzie Ring. She is a wonderful and talented photographer and I would recommend her to anyone. We did a military theme and McKenzie got some great shots!

We went to visit Steven's Uncle and Aunt in Spirit Lake. It was a great time. We participated in Tottie time; which is pretty much cocktail hour at 5pm. I learned how to play Domino's; which is a really fun game and we played the card game Golf.

We celebrated my sister and mine's birthday just last saturday with a Hog Roast. It was mighty delicious. It was great seeing a lot of friends and family.

Next saturday, Steven, friends and family and I are going out as Steven's going away party. It will definately be a good time. But it is also sad to think that this is the last time some people will see if him for a whole year.

Steven and I are procrastinators, so there are still some important things that need to be done; like sign up for military healthcare. That is probably the main thing we still need to do.

With the 28th getting closer and closer, I get a little bit more sad each day. It is hard to think for a whole year I have to live without my husband, my best friend, someone that I go to when I need advice, need to be cheered up or if I need a bowl from the top shelf or if I need a spider killed. We learned that you can't put your life on hold when someone is deployed, but with this being our first deployment; it is hard not too. I feel like a lot of the things I want to do, I want to do with Steven. But I am going to work hard not to always think about it and to keep busy.

Prayers for all the soldiers and their families!

Yellow Ribbon Event

2010-09-13T21:26:00.000-05:00

This saturday Steven and I had to go to Lincoln for the Yellow Ribbon Event. No, it's not where we make yellow ribbons..haha We learned a lot of things about deployment, things we should and shouldn't do, how to communicate with each other and others and most importantly, health care while Steven is deployed. They do offer healthcare; which it is pretty good coverage, the only thing that stinks is that I may have to go to Offutt for my doctor appointments, it depends on what kind of coverage we decide on though.

They have a lot of information available and different resources for the soldiers and their families to use. It will be nice to be able to take advantage of them.

Blair

2010-08-24T12:26:00.000-05:00

My 1st day of being a nanny! I'm watching Blair Tuesdays and Thursdays while working at Sherbondys the other three days.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Steven's party

2010-08-24T12:12:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had Steven's birthday party. It was also a way for his friends and family to see him before he leaves for deployment. There was a great turn out and we appreciate everyone that came out!

We also went to Dave and Busters for Steven's cousin's birthday Saturday night. We had a great time and it was great to hang out with his families!

IMG00147-20100818-1534.jpg

2010-08-22T15:53:00.000-05:00

This is my niece, Abi in her army shirt.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

SHIRTS ARE IN!!!

2010-08-22T14:41:00.004-05:00

Like week felt like Christmas for me. I order some army shirts and I just got them in last week. Steven and I are getting our pictures done and we are making it a military theme. He will be wearing his ACUs and his Dress Blues. When he wears his ACUs, I will be wearing a shirt that says "I Heart (picture of a heart) my soldier" and then when he wears his dress blues, I will be wearing a dress. I am really excited to get these pictures done. Since I had to order shirts for our pictures, I thought it would be a good idea to order some shirts for his sendoff ceremony. I got a shirt that says Army Wife on it. Our families order shirts too, YAY! I also got a shirt that says My Heart Belong to my Police Officer. I wanted to support him in both of his job! If anyone else wants to order a t-shirt, the website I order mine at is: www.cafepress.com.

New blog

2010-08-17T11:40:00.004-05:00

It has been pretty much a year since the last time I wrote on the blog. Life just gets carried away sometimes! With Steven's deployment nearing, I have decided to dedicate most of my blogs to either how I am doing or how Steven is doing on dealing with deployment. This way, those who are interested will keep updated and other can give advice or just leave comments to help us get through this year. Steven deploys October 28th. We are trying to get things ready for his deployment. We have some landscaping to finish and some in house projects. We also have to get papers in order for while he is gone. And mostly importantly, Steven is teaching me things that I need to know while he is gone, like how to light the gas pilot thingy, where the ladders are for replacing our light bulbs and most importantly, how to put music onto my Ipod...haha! We are just trying to spend a lot of time together, this year was our 5 year anniversary, so we went to California for about 10 days! It was a blast! It was great to spend time just us. We have a few other weekend trips planned for the next couple of months which will be fun. One will be in Des Moines in the middle of October, I am running a half marathon which I have been training for for about 5-6 weeks now. Well, this is what we are up to for now. I will keep everyone posted on our lives! Elyzabeth

A lot going on!!

2009-05-22T18:43:00.000-05:00

School: Well...thank goodness I passed all of my classes!! woot woot! I am taking one class this summer. I was going to do two so I would have class four nights a week. So I am glad I am only taking one class...I don't think I could have done two. So, my school agenda is to graduate next May (2010). Once again, I added yet ANOTHER major. Steven thinks by the time I graduate I will have a book of majors. But I will graduate with three majors: 1. Accounting 2. Banking and Finance 3. Investments. I wish I had a little clue on what I wanted to do, but I still don't. I have 10 classes left to take, so if I can take 5 each semester, then I will be done in May. I am on a waitlist for one class next semester, so hopefully I can get into it! House: We are going to move our furniture to our new house this weekend!! YAY! We are getting stuff to the other house...slowly but surely. I will put pictures up soon...probably after we move! Steven and I: Steven and I are doing great. May 14th, we just celebrated our 4 year anniversary. We didn't do much because Steven had to work...so he pretty much slept the entire day and went to work at night. The following sunday we did take out from Skeeters, which is the best because she can do steak for take out..yum!! And that is what we did. I had a steak and rib combo...it was a lot so I couldn't finish it. And we watched the season finale of Desperate Housewives. That is what we did for our anniversary. We didn't any gifts...not yet at least. We think for a gift this year, we are going to book a trip for our 5 year anniversary. I know it sounds silly, but we want to do something big next year for our 5 year, my graduation and for Steven's deployment (if it happens). So next year is a big year and we want to do something great. I am thinking either Hawaii, Jamaica again or a cruise or Paris. That is it for now. I will try to get the pictures of the house up soon!

We got our house!!!!

2009-04-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

We are soo excited to tell everyone that we got our house. We closed on the 17th of April. There are still tenants that lived there, which they will be out no later than the 19th of May. I am so excited to move in. I can't wait. I am kind of glad we have to wait, because we still are packing and cleaning and I have finals in two weeks. So I can't move until after that, because I need to concentrate on my finals. We bought a bed set today. We went to Kelly's carpet and furniture and they were having a really good sale. If we need the measurements to our living room, we could have gotten carpet on sale too. But oh well! We already set the date for our "Pre-Transformation" House Warming Party on August 22nd. That is the plan, the date may change, but probably not. We wanted to have a party for everyone to see what our house looked like before we "transformed" our house into a single family house. YAY!!!! So, everyone mark your calendars!!

Abi singing!

2009-04-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite nieces!!! This was a couple years ago...but it is soo cute I had to add it!!! haha!!!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

2009-04-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

Today is my 8,950th day birthday!!!! Woo Hoo!!! I have been alive 8,950 days, what an accomplishment!! haha :-)

Re-Comment on something

2009-04-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to explain futher what I said earlier. When I was saying that I would put my husband first. Let me be clear. What I meant to say was that, they would be equal. I mean, babies and kids can't do things by themselves, like feeding them and getting them to places. So, of course, I would put my child first. I mean, I wouldn't be extreme. All I am saying is that don't forget about your spouse. I think it is still important to go on date and have your own couple time. You need to work on your's and your spouse's relationship just as much as you need to work on the relationship with your child. And some people don't think that way. Okay, I don't want anyone to think that I would never put my child first, because of course I would. Aight, that's all I am saying!! I won't be a bad mother, Don't worry.

Tredmill Videos

2009-04-05T18:41:00.000-05:00

This may sound mean, but the funniest videos to watch are tredmill videos. I saw these videos on Ellen a couple days ago and they cracked me up. The first one is my favorite. For those with sensetive ears, you may want to stop it right after the tredmill accident, because after that they cuss. Just warning you! You may have to copy and paste these. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XanTpm8dxMU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiWgcRZlKy8

I Want This sooo bad!!! haha

2009-04-05T18:30:00.000-05:00

I don't know if any of you have seen the commercials for Bump-Its. I don't know if they work, but I want to try out so bad. If you guys don't know what I am talking about. There are hair clips, that let you do the bump look or what I call a hump look. If you want to see the website: https://www.bumpits.com/?MID=544654 They look neat, but I don't know how well they would work!! :-)

Found this...an article at yahoo.com

2009-04-05T18:07:00.000-05:00

Dating 101: The Best Relationship Advice I Ever Got No doubt, there are days when you feel as though you deserve the "Best Partner in the World" award: You make sure dates with your mate stay fun, you settle arguments with amazing grace and you don't always go into whining mode when you find his dirty socks next to, rather than in, the hamper. How did you get so smart? You were given some stellar advice from friends and family. Here, the nuggets of relationship wisdom you've stayed faithful to over the years. More Dating Articles from Redbook: Eight Things No One Tells You About Marriage #1. Polite Fight "On my wedding-invitation RSVP cards, I left space for guests to write their favorite wedding wisdom. The tidbit that rings truest after almost nine months of marriage is: 'Attack the issue, not each other.' How it works: If my husband and I disagree about something, we stay focused on the issue and skip the personal put-downs." -- Melissa Gitter Schilowitz, 31, Metuchen, NJ #2. Fit to a Tee "My grandmother insisted that I learn how to play golf. 'If your husband loves to play, you can go along and spend hours together,' she said. So I took lessons, and now my husband and I hit the links once a month. We both love the game and are thrilled to share a hobby, even when we spend half an hour looking for my out-of-bounds balls!" -- Aimee Borders, 27, Houston, TX #3. Tabletop Trick "My aunt told me that if I'm running late when it's my turn to make dinner, just set the table. That way my husband thinks he'll be eating any minute, so he doesn't start complaining, which buys me some time. It's a silly trick that sounds straight out of the 1950s, but I have to admit that I've tried it a few times in the three years I've been married -- and it works!" -- Dawn Clayton, 34, Holdrege, NE #4. Boob-Tube Brilliance "Because my husband is such a remote-control freak, my mom suggested that we have 'my turn' TV nights. That means three nights a week I get to hold the remote and watch whatever I want, and on the other nights it's his turn to hold the remote and watch whatever he wants. Now when he starts flipping through the channels, it doesn't get on my nerves like it used to." -- Angela Clayton, 27, Odenton, MD #5. Pop the Question "My sister-in-law passed this helpful hint on to me, and it has served me well for our five years of wedded bliss: 'Marriage is not mind reading, so ask your spouse what he/she wants and believe what he/she says.'" -- Clare Graca, 27, Dallas #6. Nix the Nit-Picking "Before I said 'I do,' my mom (who's been married to my dad for 55 years) told me to take out a piece of paper and write down the top three things that bugged me about my husband-to-be. Then she told me to forget the things on that list and forgive him for not being flawless. Once you make a commitment this big, she explained, you can't let petty things get in the way. In our eight years of marriage, my husband and I have had two kids, tackled cross-country moves and started two businesses -- and so far, so great."-- Rebecca Hart Blaudow, 31, Jacksonville, FL #7. Space Smarts "Always have separate closets, my best friend told me. It may seem silly, but I listened to her and made sure to find a one-bedroom apartment with two closets (mine being the larger, of course). Now my husband and I each have our own private space, and we respect that: If he wants to keep his shoes in one huge heap or leave his dirty clothes in a pile on the floor, the mess doesn't bother me a bit!" -- Patricia Bontekoe, 26, Lake Hiawatha, NJ #8. Agree to Disagree "Before we got married, my minister told my husband and me, 'You are two imperfect people making an imperfect union, and that's wonderful.' This advice made me ditch my belief that in a happy marriage, the couple always agrees. My husband and I have learned to appreciate our differences (yes, even differences of opinion!); in fact, we encourage them because we realize now that those differences are what makes each of us unique and special." -- Beth Swanson, 28, Chicago #9. Comic Relief "Before I headed down the aisle, my stepfather told me to always laugh and never take myself too seriously. After four years of marriage, I know that this trick works. My husband and I often play practical jokes on each other and always try to crack each other up, even in the middle of an argument. Hey, if one person laughs, a fight tends to fizzle, doesn't it?" -- Lisa Giassa, 31, Bogota, NJ Anti-Pop Advice From the Experts You've probably heard a few of these pieces of marital pop wisdom before. If so, these marriage experts say to promptly forget 'em. Love means never having to say you're sorry. "Oh, please! In marriage, love sometimes means having to say you're sorry even if you don't know what you did or you didn't mean to do it." -- Trisha Taylor, psychotherapist, Houston, TX Always be totally honest. "What are you going to do, tell him that he's just too short and you can't stand his mother? Sometimes you need to temper the truth." -- Tara Fields, Ph.D., marriage, family and child therapist, Marin County, CA Children come first. "This is bad advice if it means your husband always comes second. Of course you should love and care for your kids, but you should never lose sight of your couple-ness. The best thing a child can have is happy, fulfilled parents who are deeply in love." -- Mary Pender Greene, chief of social work services, Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services, New York Always keep the peace. "No, no, no. If you don't face a hot issue head-on, you'll stockpile negative feelings. And before you know it, 20 years go by and you're still fighting over the same thing because you never resolved it in the first place." -- Rebecca S. Ward, M.S.W., psychotherapist, Little Rock, AR Never go to bed angry. "Forget it. Often a couple needs time to calm down before they can rationally wrap up an argument. And that may take a few days, so in the meantime, get some sleep!" -- Gilda Carle, Ph.D., psychotherapist, New York I have heard the "Children Come First" and "Never Go to Bed Angry", both I never agreed on. And now it is writing. There are times that Steven and I need to just "sleep it off" and then we are fine in the morning. Plus, when you are tired and want to go to bed, of course you are going to be grumpy and that doesn't make arguing any better. The childre one, I have seen and heard people do this. I always have thought that my husband should and will come first. This actually at one point made me not want kids, because I didn't want to be portrayed as a bad mother, because I would put my husband first, even though this would be something that would be between me and Steven. The first part, I think, are good advices about marriage, that everyone, married or not, should read.

Wasting Time in Georgia!

2009-04-01T14:56:00.000-05:00

When Steven and I lived in Georgia, we would do silly little things. I just found this video...it is kind of funny ..well, we thought it was funny! I thought I kind of looked like a dog jumping around...hahaha! And I have no idea what we were watching, the background music is weird. Hope you enjoy! :-)

I don't know what to do!

2009-04-01T14:18:00.000-05:00

I am so stressed out from school. I know that people are more busy than me, but I can't handle how busy I am. I may not work a lot of hours, but I am in Beta Alpha Psi, which is my business fraternity. I am the treasurer for FRG (Family Readiness Group) for Steven's national guard unit. Steven and I are trying to buy a house and pack to move. This summer I am a matron of honor in 2 weddings!!! Right now, school may be the only thing that I can control. I am not a book smart person...well, I am not really even street smart. I am, however, a hard studier, but only get average grades. I cannot take 5 classes a semester. To some, it is easy, but not to me. I am so burned out from school, but I only have one more year to go. So, I need some advice. I will provide some options that I am considering and I want to know what you guys think... I have 10 classes left to take and pass! Option One: Take 1 class in the summer '09, 5 in Fall '09, 4 in Spring '10 *I would be more stressed out, but get done in the spring of 2010 like I planned. Option Two: Take 2 classes in the summer of '09, 4 in Fall '09 and 4 in Spring '10. *The stress level may be the same, I add a class in the summer, but one less in the fall. Option Three: (which is what I think I am gonna do) Take 2 classes in the summer of '09, 3 class in Fall of '09, 3 classes in Spring of '10 and 2 in the summer of '10 *I can handle three classes a semester. I wouldn't be graduating till the summer, but I can handle that. (It works for Jeanna better too...hahaha) Option Four: Take two classes each semester (including summers) and graduate in dec of '10. *This put off graduating for another year and half. But I could work more full-Time and still get done next year. Steven said whatever I think will be the best for me, he will support. Which I love that he will back me up and not just prefer that I get it done asap so I can start working more. I would rather spread out my school load a little more, if that means that I can do better. I think my grades suffer more when I am taking more classes at one time. Well....blog readers....what do you think. If you leave a message don't forget to leave your name! Thanks Love you guys!

An Email I got From Traci:

2009-03-15T20:56:00.000-05:00

I thought it was funny!!! :-) If you think you have troubles with new software, read on. INSTALLING A HUSBAND Dear Tech Support, Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as: NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1 ( No Brasil paulista e carioca 2.1 ; Brasileirão 5.5 e voualicomagaleratomarumchopp3.3 ) Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do? Signed, Desperate. DEAR DESPERATE, First, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html and try to download Tears 6.2 and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applicationsJewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember that overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1 Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Farting and Snoring Loudly Beta. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.) In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0. In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend: Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7 Good Luck Babe! Tech Support

Twitter

2009-03-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

I have a Twitter account. I am still trying to figure it out but I guess you just update others with a one line. Kinda like the "status" part of facebook. Everyone should join...and we can all be together!!!! Just go to twitter.com My name is Lyz04

News on the house!!

2009-03-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

Well...we didn't get the Glen house. Actually, no one did! I guess the bank loan that the owner had to use it as a rental property was all messed up. I guess it is a big mess and the bank decided they don't want to do a short sale. The house may go on sale in about 6 months, but we don't know what it would go for. So, the Glen is out of the picture. Steven and I are okay with that. Thankfully we had back up. We have been looking at other houses and found a few more that we like, we called it our #2 and #3 choice. Now it is #1 and #2 choices. The #1 is on Lincoln. It is actually a multi-family house that we would have to change back into a single family house. It shouldn't be too hard, because it once was a single family, so some walls and doors would have to be taken down. It also has off street parking and a garage. So that is a plus that the glen house didn't have that. But the basement ceiling is shorter...which is more of a problem for Steven than for me! haha #2 is on Harrison St. It is a really nice house that is on a corner, but I don't remember the other street. It has a nice dining room and living room. The bedrooms are a good size too. It had a garage and off street parking as well. The basement was shorter too, but again that didn't bother me!!! Well, I will let you know what we decided. It really stinks we couldn't get our first choice house, but at least we didn't get it because of the other bidders got it. No one got it. It is actually worth more than the asking price, so the bank will probably ask for more, and we aren't willing to pay more for it. It needed a lot of work done to it.

Update on the House!

2009-02-11T15:54:00.000-06:00

No news on the house yet!! It has been a while, but we are dealing with a bank. It may take a while because of it. Our realtor, Kevin, called monday and said that the bank was going to do an appraisal on monday. So hopefully we find out soon. That is all we have for now, I guess no news is good news! :-)

I.C.E. In Case of Emergency

2009-02-04T13:30:00.000-06:00

I don't know if you all heard of I.C.E. It stands for In Case of Emergency. I was told that it was a good idea to put I.C.E next to your next to kin in your cell phone. If you were ever in an accident or unconsious, people would know who your next to kin is and they will be contacted. This is the website that explains it better than I did. http://www.snopes.com/crime/prevent/icephone.asp So, that is what I did. If anyone needs to know my next of kin, its in my cell phone as ICE Steven Jacobs!

2009-02-03T21:35:00.000-06:00

I cannot figure out how to add caption to the pictures so I have to make a new post for them. Picture 1:from the bottom That is Steven and I at his dinning out in Georgia. Doesn't he look nice in his dress blues!!! Picture 2: That is Amy, Me and Martha!! Ohh good times girls!!!! Picture 3: That is me and my niece Abi! She is silly..but i love hanging out with her! Picture 4: This is a picture of me and Briann. She is one of my greatest friends EVER!! She lives in Cedar Rapids, so I don't get to see her very often. Miss you! Picture 5: This is a crazy picture of Kristin, Amy and Me!! What a crazy and fun night!!! Amy, you are lovely!!! Picture 6: This is a picture of Steven when he was a little kid. He is soo cute!!!! Picture 7: My sister-in-law, Traci and my niece, Emerson!! Isn't she cute... I miss you guys very much!!! Picture 8: This is my brother, Brandon and my nephew, Quinn. They live in Michigan too, I miss you guys!! Pictur 9: This is me and my mom!!!! We were at the zoo on the train!!! Hi mom!! *I don't have a whole lot of pictures of other people that I can just upload. So, sorry for those who aren't on here...

2009-02-03T15:19:00.000-06:00

The Pictures Below...

2009-01-31T18:20:00.000-06:00

I didn't get a chance to explain who are in the pictures below... The picture at the bottom is me and my bff, Kristin. That picture is about two years ago, my hair is longer and blonder now. Kristin has been my bf since the 4th grade. She is actually getting married to my cousin, Ricky this June. So, finally she will be part of my family!!!!! The next picture is Steven doing his eye thing. He can move one eye while keeping the other eye still. It is actually pretty cool and he has taught me how to do it. We took a picture of me doing that and I looked extremely stupid! haha Next...This is my sister, Jeanna. We are very close, probably as close as we are in the picture. haha This picture is right before Steven and I moved down to Georgia. She missed me very much, she didn't know what to do with herself for four months!! The next picture is a picture of me and my friend Martha. This was a picture from one of her birthdays. Martha actually house sat for Steven and I while we lived in Georgia! She just got married to Aaron in December 2008. It was a beautiful wedding. The last two pictures are not updated pictures of my niece and of my nephew, Kelsey and Kaleb. This was a couple halloweens ago. They both look the same now, except a little taller. I have not put all of the pictures I want to on here, but I will add more. To be continued....

Pictures of Randomness!!!

2009-01-30T14:52:00.001-06:00

I am thinking that I should put more pictures on here. I have just been really lazy! So, here are some pictures of some of my friends and family. I am not able to put all the picture that I want to put on it, because I am short on time. So, there will be more pictures!!!!! Enjoy!!!!

House Hunting!

2009-01-29T16:31:00.000-06:00

So, Steven and I decided to take the next step in our lives and start looking at houses. That and the fact that interest rates are at an all-time low right now. So, it is a good time to buy a house. First, we wanted to take the process slow and just watch Channel 24 (which is my favorite channel). We also looked at the real estate websites. So we saw A LOT of houses on the website that we liked. We narrowed it down to around 10 and went driving around to look at them. From that we narrowed it down to roughly 4-5. But we only went to look at the inside of the two that we really liked. We put a bid on the house!!! We really like it. It has four bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, basement and an attic. The attic could totally be changed into a master bedroom and the basement could be transformed into a family room. The whole house needs cosmetic work. Which will be fun for Steven and I to fix up. We hope we get the house. There is another bidder and saturday will be two weeks since we put the bid on the house. So we have been waiting a while. We will keep everyone posted!! WOO HOO!!!!

2009-01-24T17:56:00.000-06:00

I am sorry I have been a bad blogger! But for now on I am going to start trying to blog regularly. First, I would like to thank my two readers: Jeanna and my Grandma!!! Thanks for reading my blog and telling me to update it. You guys keep on top of things. So, I have started school..woo! I hate the first week of classes. It takes me a long time remembering what classes I have. I know I am taking, Organizational Communication, Auditing, Mangerial Accounting (aka Cost Management) and two others that I don't remember what. I think my hardest class will be Auditing. I am already stumped on our first assignment. I actually had to take a break, and decided to write my blog. This year I also joined an organization called Beta Alpha Psi. It is a fraternity for Business students and they emphasize on accounting. This is a great way to meet a lot of people and to network. We do a resume workshop, so we can work on our resumes and they also have a lot of businesses come to talk to us, which is good. Also, with the overwhelmed first week, something sad and tragic happend. My AIS teacher, who I had last semester died our first day of class. He died at home by a heart attack, most likely. They didn't tell us for sure. But we learned a lot about him. He was 60 and had a 6 year old son. It is really sad that he didn't get much time with his son. So I pray for his family and hope they get through this sad time. Well, that's all for now...I should go back to my assignment. Hopefully I have good news next week. Peace Out, Elyzabeth

2009-01-05T22:49:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone! I have been enjoyng my time on Christmas break. It has been wonderful, I have done nothing. It is exactly what I needed. Since I have started school in the fall of 2007, Christmas breaks are the only breaks I really get. Because I took summer school last summer and I have to take summer school this summer. So the next break I really get next is when I graduate this December!!! YAY! I am really excited..im almost done with school. I was worried the entire semester that I wasn't going to get the grades I needed. I think a lot of majors are the same, but for the Accounting majors, you have to get a C or better in your main accounting classes. So, a C- would be not passing, which is crazy. But actually I ended up only getting one C. I got 3 A's, 1 B, and 1 C. I am soo excited, I did so much better than I thought I would. WOO HOO for me.... I have to start school next monday. I am not looking forward to it at all! But I guess the sooner I start, the sooner I get done...right? Well, I hope everyone has a great year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

2008-12-23T21:28:00.000-06:00

Hey guys! Sorry it has been such a long time. I had finals, so I have been extremely busy! I wanted to wish everyone a MERRY Christmas. I hope everybody enjoys their time with family and friends. With everyone thing going on...lets all remember the reason for the season. The birth of Jesus Christ! Let us all have a great time and celebrating his birthday! Have a great Christmas and Happy New Years!!!!! Love, Elyzabeth

Weekend at Cedar Rapids!!!

2008-11-22T19:45:00.000-06:00

We have friends that live in Cedar Rapids, Briann and Travis. This weekend we visited them, which we had a lot of fun. The only little downside I had was that I had to drive 4 hours BY MYSELF!!! Steven was still gone and got a ride there. It was so boring and I was tired because I left at 7 in the morning. Briann and Travis have been our friends for a while now. Travis and Steven have been friends since they were in elementary. Briann and I become friends when her and Travis started dating!!! Since then, we have become closer and closer all the time! Briann and I have so much fun together and we have a lot in common, which makes us such good friends. I am actually in their wedding...it is going to be so much fun!!! I am excited for July 25, 2009!!!!!!!!! Hey Guys....Thank you for letting us stay at your house this weekend and next weekend!!!! You guys are the best and so much fun!!! I am glad that we are so close!!!! Love ya guys!!!!!!!

2008-11-06T11:33:00.000-06:00

As you all know, McCain didn't win the election. One of the main issues I had with Obama, is the military part. He wants to take all of our troops out of Iraq and be done with the war. You know as nice as that may sound, I don't think it is a good idea. I know we have been fighting for a while now, but pulling out now may just ruin everything that we accomplished over there. I don't think that this is a risk we need to take. I'm sure he has a plan to evacuate, but it better be a good one. Also, cutting the military or military spending is the stupidiest idea ever! Let's just cut the numbers of the people that protect us, that fight for our lives...Idiot! Also, just a little FYI...the president isn't the only one that decides if we go to war, if we take our troops out of war. So, Obama wants to take the troops out, but it is not all up to him.... I can't wait to see what actually gets done with Obama as President.

AIS Buddies!!!!!

2008-10-29T22:57:00.000-05:00

Classes are so boring having to listen to the professors everyday. I think they just love the sound of their own voice. So, it helps to have friends in class to make it more interesting. My AIS buddies...Lindsay, Ashley, and Rae...HOLLLLAA girls!!! I know most of the time either I am to hyper or unorganized to listen to what is going on...but you guys put up with it. I think you have been putting up with it since day 1..when we really didn't know eachother and now you guys can't get me to stop talking. :-) You guys should take auditing next semster if you haven't already and we have more fun time! woo hoo!!! HEY-OOOOOO Girls!

Shout out to my Grandparents!!!!

2008-10-29T00:09:00.000-05:00

My Grandparents (Lee) have been together for over 60 years all together. I think it's wonderful that they have lived such a happy and great life together. Going over to their house and hanging out with them is a lot of fun. With my darn school schedule, I don't get to hang out with them as much, which sucks. So, this is my shout out to them...I am thinking of you and I miss and love you guys! I also want to shout out to the heavens to my other Grandparents (Howard), who I love as well. I don't remember a lot of memories with them, but I am sure I had tons. I will always love them and I miss them everyday!!!!

2008-10-28T12:16:00.000-05:00

I love weddings!!! It is so nice not having to do all the planning and just being able to enjoy the wedding. We went to Steven's cousin, Adam's wedding a couple weekends ago. I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but here are some.

Our First Blog

2008-10-20T22:56:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone!! This is our first blog. How exciting! We are going through some exciting things in our lives. Steven is at training for work. He has about one month left! I was going to be done with school in the summer of 2009, but I added a second major so now I will be graduating college in the December of 2009. I am double majoring in Accounting and Banking & Finance. So, hopefully I will have many job opportunities when I graduate. Well...we will have more to come!!!