Happy Thanksgiving (a week late-haha)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Thanksgiving this year was very different for us.

Instead of spending it with family in Wisconsin, we spent it 1300 miles away in Texas with new friends.

Instead of my mom or Joey's mom making the big dinner, I prepared the majority of the feast!

These are some of my favorite moments of our very different, but very special Thanksgiving!

*Preparing my first Thanksgiving feast and it actually turning out (minus the gravy)

(Here are some pictures, sad that I forgot to take a picture of the turkey finished and just didn't take as many pictures as I would of liked)

*Sharing this day with new friends

*Providing a place for those who weren't able to go home to be with their families either with yummy food and fun times

*Duke and Syd playing together outside

*Catch Phrase

*Wine

*Joey and all his help and support

*Talking to all our family, including some that we don't talk to all that often

*Not overeating this year, I was way to busy to eat a ton

*Watching the Packers Win!!

Overall I have to say Thanksgiving was a success! Kind of excited to it again! Maybe next year! Hope you all had a wonderful day too!

Question

Okay so I have a question??

First, I will give you some background info before I get to the actual question.

For our wedding we used Warrens Videography for our pictures and our video! They are great to work with and do Amazing work. But unfortunately it takes forever to get anything from them! We first got our pictures at the end of June, which was 7 months after our wedding! We were supposed to get them 6 weeks after we turned our order in, which was I believe the end of January! AND they also messed up on my order, no biggie in the end because I got plenty of pictures and have a CD of them all, but still! Also in our photo package we got a book, which was also supposed to be to us after 6 weeks. Guess when we received this??? October, 1 month before our 1 year anniversary! I just feel like this is ridiculous especially because they had no problems cashing our check right away!

So the big question is about our video? In their contract they said they have a year to produce it, which was fine with me! But guess what still no video and it is over a year now. My mom emailed her to ask her if they could bring anything to us when they came to visit us at the end of October and she said they haven't even started on ours and have 3 other productions before ours! AHHHHH this makes me so mad! So I am not sure what to do? I don't want to be rude or necessarily hurry them and get a crappy video, but I feel like they are in the wrong because they are not following their contract. I mean what is the point of a contract if you don't follow it.

So I just emailed her asking about it and said I want it by Christmas because we hopefully are going home and would love to watch it with our families! But what if she says it wouldn't be done? I just don't know what to do??

Any suggestions???

Dogs are AMAZING!!!

So I have always loved dogs! We had 3 dogs (at different times) when I was growing up. And I was devastated every time something happened to them or when they had to go to different homes, even Wilbur who was not even a nice dog!

Then I lived with Raina and she got Bailee! I love Bailee and always will, but with Duke he is different! He is very special to me! One main reason is because he is ours, Joey's and mine! He is something that we share together and have to take care of, he relies on us, we are his human parents!

One of the other main reasons he is so very special to me is the fact that, besides Joey, he is my best friend! When Joey left this summer to go to Washington, we had no plans on getting a dog, yes we wanted one and thought we would get one when we moved, but not as soon as we did. I think it was the 1st official full day Joey was gone, I was looking at classifieds for a 2nd job and got sidetracked by looking at the pet section! And guess what I found YELLOW LAB PUPPIES for sale! So I called and got all the info, talked to Joey, and did lots of research on if we did go to Korea if we would be able to bring him! That Sunday I went to go meet the puppies and picked out our little Dukey!!

Now I did not get to take Duke home with me that day, I had to wait about 2 weeks, but I was so excited! I knew it was going to be a very long 30+ days without Joey, but by getting Duke he gave me something to get excited about while Joey was gone, he gave me a purpose. Those 2 weeks before I got him, I prepared for him, did lots of shopping, and of course went to visit him as much as I could!

Then I got him and WOW, dogs are a lot of work especially when you are all by yourself! I was up every hour on the hour walking down the hall and stairs with him in my arms to take outside so he could do his job! Then getting him to calm down and go back to sleep, craziness! Needless to say I was pretty exhausted! But I would do it all over again if I had to!

Then I got to see Joey meet Duke and watch them bond! And boy did they bond quickly, best friends instantly! As a wife it is so amazing to see your husband be a daddy, sure he is a daddy to a dog, but it only makes me feel more confident in the fact that I know he will be an AWESOME dad to our kids! I mean if he is amazing with a dog, you know he is going to be amazing with kids! He always said that a dog was first then kids!! Can't wait!

I also have to say that this move to Texas would have been a lot harder for me to adjust had we of never of gotten Duke. Joey has had some really long days and has been gone for 3 weeks, so it has been just Duke and I a lot! No matter how much I miss Joey and am sad, I can't just stay in the apartment and cry! Duke forces me to face the outside world even when I don't want to! If I don't want him to go to the bathroom in the house I have to take him out, if I don't want him to go crazy and ruin things I have to exercise him! Because I am outside so much with him, I am getting to meet lots of people I don't think I would of ever met. For example, we met a great couple at the dog park who just happened to be from Wisconsin too! Instantly we have a connection and hangout quite a bit! We have also met lots of neighbors. One neighbor in general has a dog too and the dogs love playing together! It is awesome, they play and we chit chat! Tomorrow Duke even has a play date with Syd and possibly our neighbor too! Never would I of thought I would be having a play date for my dog, but it is awesome because he is so tired after and I get to socialize with a friend or friends!

Not only has Duke allowed me to meet some really great people, he also keeps me company when Joey is gone! I have a constant shadow, everywhere I go Duke follows. It is also very special for me to see just how much Dukey misses his daddy! He knows when we get on post because he starts whining and as soon as Joey leaves he stares out after him whining! He will also sit by the door waiting for him and any noise he hears he stands up, tail starts wagging, all in hopes that his daddy will walk thru the door!

So special, I think really he loves us!

Having a dog is amazing, they love you unconditionally! Even if you stink, are fat, skinny, short, tall, a geek, and even if you are mean, they still love you! Dogs can actually teach us humans a lesson or two! All I know is I am so grateful that Duke is in our lives, he definitely brings us so much happiness!

We love you Dukey Duke!!!

Leaving =(

So we are on the 3rd and final week of Joey having to go out to the field! You would think that because this is the 3rd week in a row that I would be used to him going! But to be completely honest, I think it has gotten harder! For as many times as Joey and I have been apart, I can honestly say it has never gotten easier! I HATE being away from him! I also want to say that as much as I love that he comes home on the weekends, it is also kind of tease because Saturday is catch up day for both of us and Sunday is packing and preparing for him leaving again! Like I said it is almost a tease!!! I am so excited for this weekend because it is the first weekend we don't have to worry about him leaving again hanging over our heads, we can actually just enjoy each other with hopefully no big worries!


Technically, I am not supposed to be here with him, so him being gone for a week rather then us being apart for almost 4 months is really nothing! A lot of people say to me in 20 years you will want to have a week away from each other, which maybe true, but then I look at my parents and they hate being away from each other and they have been married for almost 30 years! I can't say for sure that I won't wish for this, but as of right now I don't think I will. I married Joey because I want to be with him, he is my best friend and life without him is not the same, even if it is just a week!

Whats hard for me is that while he is away I think about him getting deployed, not sure why? But I think it sometimes reminds me of how good I have it right now, because he could be gone for a year or longer! For some reason though, deployment is always in the back of my head and I hate that, but realistically chances of this happening in the future are pretty high! It scares me because I don't know what I would do and how I would handle it! It scares the living crap out of me! But lots of wives have gone through not only 1 deployment, but sometimes 2 or 3. So I know I will get through it with the support of other wives who are in similar situations and the support of both of our families and friends! But thinking about it definitely makes me sick to my stomach!

But at the same time I knew this was always a possibility and I knew what I was getting into for the most part and I chose this lifestyle, because I LOVE & WANT to be with Joey! Has it been difficult? You bet! Will it continue to be difficult? Probably, cant say for sure but I am sure it will, I mean we are dealing with the US Army!! I feel like I will be able to get through anything they put on our plate as long as he is by my side! But I need him by my side!!

So it has taken me awhile to write this, not sure why exactly, but it has! I think I just don't want to come off like I am complaining and that I want others to feel sorry for me! Because I don't, its just that I love Joey and hate being away from him! This is kind of my way to vent out loud and get my feelings out! To me blogging is kind of like a public diary, I can document our lives through blogging and share my thoughts and feelings as well! To me it is so much better then actually writing in a diary and I am a lot better at this then I ever was in writing in a diary, and I really am not very good at this either! But I definitely like this much better!

Thanks to everyone who reads this for listening to me! Nice to get my feelings out like this rather then just vocalizing them all the time!

Hate that I am wishing this week away, but I am! I want it to go fast so he can be back home! So I am praying for Friday to come fast this week! Friday can't come fast enough!!

DUKEY gets neutered!!

This Wednesday, Dukey got neutered!

And

When I picked him up that evening he was still pretty out of it, his eyes were so glassy, and I could tell he was still pretty drugged up!

We decided that because we know our Dukey very well that we needed to get him a cone so he would leave his stitches alone or we would be at the vet daily!

He's not a fan of the cone, which by the way I have decided to call it his bonnet! To me it looks like he is wearing a weird looking bonnet, haha! The bonnet causes him to run into everything and makes it very difficult for him to find that perfect spot to go to the bathroom!

As much as I hate that he has to wear this bonnet, I do think he looks pretty cute and it is funny to watch him maneuver around with it on!

Naughty Biff

So this past Wednesday, Duke got neutered and was gone all day so Biff got the run of the apartment! I got back from work and sat down to check my email when all of a sudden I hear something outside on the porch, I look out there and there is Biff stuck under the patio wall! I of course freaked out because we are on the 2nd floor and if he would of fallen, ahhh I don't even want to think about it! The worst part is that I never would of thought to look outside for him!

So after about 10 minutes I was able to get him unstuck! I then fed him 3 worms, gave him a bath, and decided since I would be home to let him explore and see if he would try to escape again!

Sure enough, he went right back to the patio screen door and I caught it all on camera!

Trying to find the passageway to outside!

Found it!!!

And he's out!!

Now not only do we have to puppy proof our house, but turtle proof it as well!

You might be wondering WHY we have a whole in our screen?

Well, that would be because Duke has knocked the screen door out multiple times and put a hole in it when he is chasing and trying to get the flies outside on the patio!

My Parents Come to San Antonio

My parents came to visit us for 5 days and it was AWESOME!! It was so GREAT to see them! It had been almost 2 months since we have seen them last, so needless to say it was nice to talk to them in person rather then just on the phone! At first, it did feel a little weird having them stay at our place instead of us staying by them, but that wore off quickly and it was a nice feeling to know that we are now able to have them stay with us!

Joey unfortunately worked a lot, left very early in the morning and got home around 7 almost every night, and had to work on Saturday too! Which was hard I think for my dad because they get along so well! I also felt terrible for Joey because he so badly wanted to spend time with them! But we always waited to eat dinner with him, had the evenings with him, and had all day Sunday with him!

My parents and I though went down to the Riverwalk, did the boat cruise, of course had some margaritas, saw the Alamo, went down to the pool, and hung out with Dukey and took him for walks/runs! My dad and Joey also went to the gym together, which was nice bonding time for them and smoked cigars together after my mom and I went to bed! On Sunday, we went to Sea World and then watched the Packer game against the Vikings with our friends from Wisconsin too! It was a great time and I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did!

I can't put into words just how wonderful it was to see them, spend time with them, and show them where we are living and what we do everyday! It is nice to talk to them now, along with Joey's parents because they are able to picture what we are telling them now!

Thanks to both our parents for coming and visiting! It was so very special to us! And just always know you are always welcomed at the Ross household wherever that may be!

11.5 years ago I met Joey,

who became a great friend

For 9 years we were friends,

through many ups and downs,

friends we definitely stayed!

On December 31st of 2006, New Years Eve; that all changed!

Friends we stayed, but just became so much more!

After a year and 3 months of dating,

Saturday, April 26 of 2008---Joey proposed to me!!!

Yes we had been talking about getting married a lot, but he completely surprised me with how & when he did it!

It was a night I will never forget!

We did not have a certain day that we wanted to get married, it just so happened that the hall and the church were both open on November 1st, so that was the day we chose!

November 1st, 2008

I became Mrs. Joseph Ross!

After 27 years of being GERK, I was now Melissa GERK Ross!

For 6 months I planned and planned for this exciting day & it all came together to be a perfect day for us! I think the most memorable part of the day for me was definitely the church part, which is funny because it was the part I was the most nervous about! But I loved walking down the isle with my dad, I felt so incredibly special! Then seeing Joey's face when he saw me for the first time, still brings tears to my eyes! It was such a special moment! I feel so incredibly blessed to have experienced this and that I get to share the rest of my life with my soul mate!

Our 1st year of marriage has been filled with adventure

AND

I can only hope that we have many many more adventures together!

Where did this year go???

Hard to believe that in 2 weeks tomorrow, Joey and I will have been married for 1 year!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!

What a crazy year, so much has happened, and wow did it go fast!
AND

I still think that I am the luckiest girl ever to of snagged Joey!!

This is for you Mom

So my mom has been asking for me to take some updated pictures of our place now that we are more settled! I finally am doing it, even though in 2 weeks mom you will be here and can see it first hand! But I know that this will be nice for others who will not get to come visit us this time around! We are pretty much all settled or as settled as we are going to get while we are here for another 2 months before we head north 2 hours to Fort Hood!

It's been awhile...what have we been up too??

So it has definitely been awhile since I have written on here! Things have been pretty crazy.

The past 2 weeks included: me sick all week equals a trip to the doctor & emergency room; and Dukey getting really sick equals us having to take him to the pet emergency hospital and his vet the next day, where he spent the day being observed and getting him hydrated with an IV!

The highlights of the past 2 weeks are:

- Duke and I were at the dog park one morning where we met Sydney (a Great Dane) and Candace (mom) from Appleton WI. The dogs were playing and so Candace and I started talking and realized we were both from WI. We decided to exchange numbers and planned on getting together that coming weekend! Which we did-we went out to dinner and went to a hockey game! It was a lot of fun! We also got together for the Packer game. The dogs had a blast together! Duke was tired for days after!

He is HUGE!!! And he's not full grown yet!

Dukey in a time-out! Way to crazy!

Other highlights:
-My headache finally went away after having it for over a week!
-Lots of Joey & Duke time!
-Joey's friend Jared coming for a night-it was a fun & very relaxing nice!
-Getting a healthy Duke back after a very long day & half
-LASTLY...I GOT A JOB!! It is coaching soccer to pre-schoolers. During the week I go to 5 different daycares and teach kids how to play soccer! So far so good! Great to be able to contribute again and feel like I have a purpose!

Don't forget about this little guy!!

BIFF

Walked into the spare bedroom (AKA Joey's man room and Biff's room) and this is what I saw!

It looks like he is sitting down and trying to look out the window!! Such a cutie!

Finally--he's starting to get it!

Since Duke has been a puppy we have been trying to play fetch with him but he is not interested. He will run after what we throw but doesn't bring it back or if he does he runs away from you!

This past week, Joey had taken Duke outside when all of a sudden I hear him yelling my name. I run out on the patio and Joey says, "watch this." He has a football, which is throws and Duke chases after it AND yes he brings it back!!!! Very exciting for us! Another thing for us to do with the little guy that tires him out!!

Duke

So yesterday, Duke had a doctors appointment. The last time Duke went to the doctor he weighed 28 pounds and that was a week and half ago. Yesterday the big boy weighed

34.1 pounds!

He is getting so big so fast!

Here is a picture of me holding Duke right before we left.

Here are 2 pictures of me holding him now so you can see just how big he actually is getting!

Overall, Duke's doctor appointment went well! He got 4 shots, including his rabies! The doctor said we have a very healthy puppy!

Some other big news about our little buddy, is that he has lost 4 teeth with 1-2 more loose! He is already starting to get his grown-up teeth where he lost his baby ones! He lost the 4 that kids usually lose first too, the ones right in front! He is super nuts, drooling and always needing to have something in his mouth-including our hands!

AND

About 3 times now we have witnessed Duke lifting his leg when he goes pee!! Haha--he really is growing up!!

Ross's come for a visit!

As I said in the last blog, the past week has been filled with friends, family, and lots of exploring: the best part family!

The Ross's came to visit us this past week and it was AWESOME!
It felt so GREAT to be around family again, hard to put into words how AMAZING it felt!

We had so much fun exploring, but the best part was just hanging out and laughing together!

It was so great to see Mom and Dad Ross so relaxed and so excited to be here with us! We had a very busy week showing them the many sights of TX. We of course went down to the riverwalk, walked around & took a boat tour which was very cool. And of course had a few margaritas. You can't go down to the riverwalk and not have a margarita, it just isn't right!

Some other things that we did were:
-took Dukey swimming in Austin and to the doggy park
-went to the San Antonio Zoo..very cool

-went swimming in our pool with drinks in our hands

-went out to eat to the best Mexican restaurant and to a pub
-saw the Alamo

-took some walks.

The only thing that Mom did not get was her cowboy.

As great as the visit was it unfortunately came to an end! It was very difficult to see them go! Even Duke had a hard time, he kept going to the bedroom door and whining! He missed his Papa who became his buddy instantly!

Thanks for such a great week Mom and Dad Ross! We miss you and love you lots!

New Friends

So the past week and half has been filled with new friends, family, and lots of exploring!

Joey and I with Shamu

First, the weekend before last Jared, one of Joey's friends from Washington this summer came for a visit! He lives in Houston and is a Chaplin in the army and is studying to become a priest! He was so awesome to hangout with, which shouldn't of surprised me because there hasn't been a friend of Joey's that I haven't liked.

Because he was born and raised in Texas he was very familiar with the San Antonio area and showed us some really cool spots and gave us a list of fun things to do in the area!

We had a very busy weekend of going down and having fun on the riverwalk, SeaWorld, and lots of margaritas!

Weekend in Austin

In about a month and half, Joey and I will have been married for 1 year!!! AHHHH I can't believe it! So because on our anniversary Joey will be just starting his next phase of training and my parents will be here as well. So I decided to surprise him early with tickets to the Texas Longhorn Football Game in Austin, TX as an anniversary gift. Since I have known Joey he has always been a big fan of them and so I have been planning on doing this for him since I found out that we would be in Texas on our anniversary! Unfortunately, it ended up not being a surprise because he was looking at the bank account and found out! Oh well, still fun!

Because we have Duke I knew we would need to get a hotel because it would be to long for him to be in his crate. So I planned out the entire day and night to be spent in Austin. There is this park that I had heard about in Austin that is a dog park but is by water too. So I planned for us to leave early on Saturday to take Duke to this park so we could really tire him out and take him swimming again as well!

This park is AWESOME!! We love it and wish we could take Duke there everyday! It is an absolutely perfect place to take your dog when you are just starting to get them used to water! Duke gets nervous when he is around water, he is not sure what to make of it. But at this park he is so busy running around chasing other dogs that when they jump in the water so does he! Freaked him out at first, but eventually he got used to it! Very fun to watch him because he just bounces around everywhere, he could of stayed there all day!

Here are some pictures of our big swimmer!

Then that night we went to the Game. They ended up winning by a lot and we had a blast! It was our first college football game and it was awesome! Loved it...we hope to someday be able to go to a Wisconsin game now!

Here are some pictures from the game: