typical.

want to know what a typical night at the rouse-lee household is like? look no further. feast your eyes on this little jewel and take a look at just one of the reasons I love our little life together so much. mike's just relaxing, playing his mlb game; benny boy is sleeping soundly (as usual); and I'm just hangin' out watching a little tv. there's something so nice about the comfort of our sweet little life. i love it :)

feeling inspirational

brrrrr!

the high today is only 90 degrees, and the low is...wait for it...66 DEGREES!!! this is texas in august and right at this very second it's 70 degrees! it's been a long time since i remember having weather this nice, this early. i definitely do not hate it, though! 

in other news, i haven't been able to stop listening to fatboy slim lately. it just puts me in the best mood! **flash back to this little gem**

is it weird that part of me still desperately wishes i knew that dance?? don't lie, you probably do, too. ;) 

have a great wednesday!

wedding daze

well, i'm officially overwhelmed with wedding stuff and literally haven't planned a thing. neat. 

at the rate i'm going, this will be me on march 16. 

for those who know me, you know i'm pretty organized, especially when it comes to events. well right now, my brain feels like scrambled eggs. invitations, budget, food, dress, bridesmaids, hotel accommodations, blah blah blah. my mom's so sweet (and probably reading this) and is offering to help me with whatever i need, but to be perfectly honest, i don't even know where to begin. i thought i wanted navy to be the main color, but maybe not? maybe i like the ever-popular dusk-rose-tan combination better? no, no...navy is definitely the way to go...right? 

and bridesmaid dresses. all the same? different? well if they're different, do they need to have the same fabric? if they don't will it look tacky in pictures? i mean, these pictures are forever, right? i mean, i don't really know why i'm worried about it...show me ONE person over the age of 50 that looks back at their wedding photos and actually thinks they look like a rock star. okay, maybe this is only a fair assumption of weddings pre-2000. (the 80's were especially cruel, weren't they?)

oh god, and don't even get me started on the music. i'm not traditional. i like rock music. so what if i want to rock out to incubus (an acoustic-piano version, of course) as i walk down the isle? sue me. but butterfly waltz IS a classic, and so beautiful. maybe i'll just stick with that. wait a sec--isn't that what bella did in the most recent twilight? yikes! don't think i want to follow in those steps...i mean, what if it's a bad omen and i end up being turned into a vampire. i'm kidding, but seriously, can i (or anyone else) take my marriage seriously if i included items as cliche as a tween-movie phenomena? 

oh forget it. i'll just have michael do this during the ceremony...

juuuuust kidding! although i'm pretty sure our friends and families would get a kick out of it...especially the dancing. lol. 

anyway, i'm just griping and being dramatic and ridiculous and negative. it'll pass and i'll get my crap together. don't worry! ;)

snapshots

i have the most fun sister ever. her friend, marcia, is pretty bomb as well.

don't mind the lazy eye. i was trying to wink and was a little late. whoopsies!

lol. favorite.

these were taken at urban rio's grand opening party. so. much. fun. mojo dfw provided the photo booth for the event and if you're ever needing a photo booth, i highly recommend them! it is so much fun, ads a lot to any event, and is run by the greatest people! if you book, tell julie that rachel at urban rio sent you! :) 

cheers everyone!

domesticity

for those of you who know me well, and as i've mentioned before, i am not very domestic. even as i write this, sweet michael is preparing our dinner (pork chops, garlic & butter pasta and bread & butter--gotta love being from south).

because you all know how i despise domesticity, you should all be very proud to know that i, rachel rouse, made home made bread last night. and before you ask, no. michael did not help...not even once! i'm pretty proud of myself. sooooo, if you haven't put two and two together yet, the aforementioned bread we're having with dinner is my home made bread. i'm stoked.

one hour to go!

just call me mrs. baird.

by the way, we had to go to wal-mart to buy our bread maker. neat.

 

'texas native serves country by saving lives'

Seaman Christian Adkins, corpsman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 6, crosses a canal during Operation Gospand-Sia in the Sangin Valley District, July 11, 2012. The Afghan-led operation was scheduled for 48 hours, but ANSF destroyed several IEDs and one weapons cache and cleared all of their objectives in less than 16 hours. Adkins is from Athens, Texas.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE JACKSON, Afghanistan – As a senior in high school, Navy Seaman Christian Adkins knew he wanted to serve his country. Two months after his graduation, he was on his way to basic training.

Adkins, corpsman, Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, Regimental Combat Team 6, credits the drive to join the military to his mother and stepfather.

Adkins’ parents divorced when he was young, and after living with his father during his freshman and sophomore years in high school, he moved in with his mother and stepfather. They encouraged him to consider the military after high school.

“They knew just as well as I did that school wasn’t for me,” said Adkins, from Athens, Texas. “Not to say that they didn’t have faith in me, but they just knew I don’t do well in school. They wanted me to go into the military because they thought I would be successful in it.”

Adkins agreed that joining was right choice to make at that point in his life. He graduated from high school in June 2010 and was on his way to Navy basic training that August.

Adkins choose to become a corpsman.

“I wanted to do something in the medical field,” Adkins said. “I thought the Navy would be the best thing because there are so many options … Plus, being in the medical field is always something you can fall back on.”

Adkins said he would like to earn his nursing degree while still serving. He also wants to commission and becoming an officer in the medical field.

“There are a lot of programs in the Navy where you can go to school and get your degree,” Adkins said. ““I’ve wanted to become a nurse for a while and that provides me opportunity.”

As a corpsman, Adkins had two options who to work for. “Blue side” corpsmen primarily work with the Navy while “green side” corpsmen work alongside Marines. Adkins chose to go to the “green side.”

“The camaraderie with Marines is really cool. It’s like a close knit family,” Adkins said. “I worked as a ’blue side’ corpsman for a little bit, but the relationships you have with people are different there than here. You’ll always have life-long friends here.”

To cope from being away from his family, Adkins had his parents send him pictures of home.

“It helps me if I’m missing my parents or feeling homesick,” Adkins said.

Adkins has been on several patrols where they were fired upon by insurgents and has been in two firefights since arriving in Afghanistan. He has used his life-saving skills to help both Marine and Afghan patients.

“Here on the forward operating base, we’ve had two mass casualty events where we had to stabilize (Afghan) patients,” Adkins said. “A lot of trauma patients come in whether they are locals, Afghan Uniform Police or Afghan National Army soldiers who have stepped on improvised explosive devices or got shot. We do what we can to stabilize them.”

Adkins day-to-day tasks include looking after the Marines in his platoon and going on patrols.

“He looks after us and makes sure we’re all doing good. He’s a good corpsman. You can ask him anytime if you need any help with anything,” said Lance Cpl. Brett Sloan, team leader, 2nd platoon, from Pearland, Texas.

[from DVIDS website: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/91648/texas-native-serves-country-saving-lives#.UAmZ8Y5Q8UX]

story by cpl. mark davis

i am beyond proud of my brother, christian. by default, i refer to him as my 'baby brother,' but i suppose that is not appropriate anymore. he's turned into a man overnight, it seems, and he's a man that i respect and value so much! happy weekend everyone!