Dusty has arrived in Iraq as of early this morning. I still have not received a mailing address, but as soon as I get one, I will pass it on. Please continue with the prayers! Thanks to all!

One M&M At A Time...

You all must be wondering what the update with Dusty is. We said goodbye Thursday morning at 6:15, his plane was supposed to take off at 1:50, needless to say, many plane malfunctions, he is still on the ground at Hunter in Savannah. I just got off the phone with him and he will be taking off in about an hour. He will go to Newfoundland, then to Germany, then onto Kuwait, where he will be for about 3 weeks. Thank you all for the support and prayers. I want to give a huge thank you to my family and Dusty's family. We (I) could not have done it without you as you all know. The reason this blog is titled "One M&M At A Time" is because my mom, along with Kim and Dad, made Liz and I jars filled with 365 M&M's, tied with a yellow ribbon. We are to eat one, only 1 Liz, everyday as a way to countdown the days til he will be returning home. Now, we don't know exactly how many days he will be gone; could be less or more than 365, but it's a good guesstimate. Thank you all again to everyone reading this. Please keep Dusty and the rest of his battalion in your prayers. They are trained and ready for the tasks ahead!

Dusty's Party

Thank you to everyone who came out for Dusty's party! We had a really great time seeing everyone and are thankful for each and every one of you! Here are a few pictures from the night. Remember, I will keep everyone updated about the deployment as I know the information. Please keep Dusty and I in your prayers!

Back in Ringgold...

At the beginning of October, Dusty left for Ft. Irwin, California for training, and I went to stay with my parents in Ringgold. It was nice seeing all my family and hanging out with them. I got to see friends of the family I hadn't seen lately, meet new friends and people, and hang out with family! Layla and Paisley enjoyed themselves out on "the farm". Paisley couldn't run just in the yard; she always wanted to go in the pasture and then would never come back when you would call her, so she was stuck on the leash every time we went out. They did enjoy playing with Bertha and Ellie. It was mostly Bertha and Paisley playing. Paisley has gotten so big...she is now 7 lbs!!!! I can't believe it, but she is still so cute!
More of the things I did: My cousin Adam got married on October 2. It was a beautiful wedding out at Walnut Hill Farms ( I think I got the name right). Mom and I had a girls day and had lunch in Collegedale at End of the Garden Gate, a little tea room. Then we went shopping, which is always fun! I babysat a lot for Elli Grace, Anna, Jackson, and Jase...what fun kids! Many funny moments with them all!
One Sunday, me, mom, dad, and Kim all drove to Elijay after church to go to the Apple Festival. It was fun, cold, but fun. I had a funnel cake and we took a bag of apples home (they were soo yummy!).
Rachel, my older sister, is in a praise band at her church with her mother in law and another lady. Well they sang at the fair the last weekend I was home, so Dad and I went to hear her sing (Mom was out of town on a choir retreat). It was freezing that night!!! But they did an excellent job. After we left there, Dad and I went to a Halloween Party (bonfire thing) at some friends house that we go to church with. It was fun!
I learned how to pick turnip greens and cook them. A lady from her church took me to pick them and then the next day I went over to her house and she showed my how to cook them. Wash them 5 times, boil with salt, add oil and sugar and bouillion cubes, etc. They were pretty tasty!!!
Mom and I and Grandpa would go to breakfast/lunch once a week. It was good seeing my Grandpa and hanging out with him. I cooked supper a lot while I was home, and he would come over and eat most of the time.
I also made new friends. I hung out with my cousins and their friends, all of which have children and a little older than me, but thats ok. We had a lot of fun!
I also got to see my old roommate from Georgia Southern, Melissa. We first met at Dalton State in 2004 maybe, and have been friends ever since. She too is married to a man in the Army so we now have that in common. They are expecting their first baby, a baby boy, in February. Like Dusty, her husband is also deploying, so this next year, we will be seeing a lot of each other. She came up this past week and we had lunch and spent the day with each other. It was so nice to see her and visit with her. She is adorable pregnant!
Sorry this post is so long and I'm sure I left out many things I did, but that was most of it. Some days I did nothing and didn't get out of sweat pants until 4...nothing to do!
It's nice being back down in Savannah with Dusty. We are planning on taking a vacation soon. He has time off for 2 weeks, so that will be nice spending time with him.

Camping

Dusty and I went camping this past Thursday to Saturday here in the Savannah area on Skidaway Island. We decided to go at the last minute, so we didn't get to the camp ground until 9:56 p.m. I say 9:56 because when I called to reserve a place, the lady told us we had to get there before 10:00 because the gates close. So, as you can see, we made it by 4 minutes! We were so excited to make it. We (or Dusty, I just held the lantern) set up the tent in the dark. Dusty asked me to read the directions and the first line said "If you are setting this up for the first time, you might want to set it up at home so you aren't trying to figure out how to do it in front of friends and family" hahahahha! We both laughed and moved on. Thankfully, we got it up in about 20 minutes...not bad for first timers with this tent AND it being dark out. I hadn't camped in a long time so I forgot how uncomfortable the ground is...wow! Dusty, on the other hand, was asleep and snoring the minute he layed down...not fair. I kept tossing and turning and he would wake up and ask if I was ok. Yeah, just forgot about how it is on your back! We woke up early Friday morning and realized we forgot the cooler with the food and water, so back to Pooler we go. After we got back to the camp site, we took a 4 mile hike/walk through the marsh/jungle haha of Skidaway Island State Park. It was pretty, but tons of fiddler crabs everywhere. I am not exagerating about this one...there were thousands and everywhere! And the noise they made scurring on the ground was a little creepy! After the hike, we came back to our site and noticed some of the groceries were on the ground. Something (a raccoon maybe, only cause we saw one near our tent) stole our hotdog buns and popcorn :( We ate our lunchables for lunch after the hike, hahaha, and felt like we were in the 2nd grade eating those things! The temperature was a little hot, but in the shade it felt pretty good, so we relaxed in the shade and read. Then we drove around Skidaway, not much to see. For supper, we cooked hotdogs, bratswurst, and baked beans over the fire and it was so yummy! Since the hotdog buns were stolen, we ate our hotdogs plain. We had a little trouble eating with our utensils. We bought the cheepest stuff and they kept melting when we would cut into our hotdogs! But, we managed! We also roasted marshmellows and made smores! Sooo yummy...possibly one of my favorites! Saturday morning we woke up to rain! And lots of it! We had time to change clothes and then it poured! We were drenched! But luckily, we were going straight home anyway so it was okay. We had such a good time camping, roasting marshmellows, hotdogs, reading, hiking, and relaxing!

Past 2 Weekends

Dusty and I have been busy visiting with family for the past 2 weekends. It was great to see everybody and spend time with family. The first weekend we drove to Germantown, TN (right outside of Memphis) to see Dusty's parents and sister. We left Pooler Thursday night, spur of the moment, and drove to my parents house to spend the night. We got there late, slept about 5 hours, and got back on the road and drove 5 1/2 hours to Germantown. We did take the girls, Layla and Paisley, with us, and they were pretty good in the car, but a little stressed. With his parents, we cooked out, shopped, looked at houses, and ate some more! Haha! It was a relaxful weekend with them and we were so happy that Dusty had time off and we were able to go see them. We drove back to Pooler on Monday, 10 hours of driving, but making a stop for lunch at my parents house to see my grandpa.














My parents came down this past Thursday night and stayed until Monday. On Saturday, we went downtown to River Street for the First Saturday of the Month. They have arts and crafts and some entertainment down by the river; it was nice. That night, we ate at Uncle Bubba's...pretty good! Also on Saturday, we drove down to Wormsloe, the site in the movie Forrest Gump where he is running down the dirt road as a little boy and his braces fall off. It is so pretty and we even saw a buck! Sunday, we went to Tybee and packed a picnic and walked on the beach. After leaving the beach, we toured Ft. Pulaski...pretty cool! The brick work was amazing!

















Dusty and I are so thankful for the wonderful family we have. We were so excited to see them and spend time with them! Thank you all for everything. We love each one of you and are so glad you are in our lives!

Weekend in Atlanta

Dusty and I went to Atlanta for the weekend and we had so much fun! We took the dogs with us and oh what an experience/adventure that was. We only made it to Statesboro before Paisley had an accident on her pillow/bed that she was sitting on in my lap. Thank goodness it went on that and not on me. So after we got that all cleaned up and back on the road, we finally made it to Atlanta around 4. When we arrived, there was a dog bowl outside and a framed sign that had the girls' names on it...so cute! After settling into the hotel, Dusty and I needed a moment away from the girls and so we walked around and checked out what was around the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Palomar, right off I-75 in Midtown Atlanta (near Ga Tech). While walking around, we found an Asian steak and seafood restaurant to eat at and it was really good!

Saturday was our busy day. We got up early and headed out to the Georgia Aquarium. While we were there, we were able to see the feeding of the Whale Sharks...really cool. They are such big animals! We did learn that even though their mouths can get up to 4 feet in diameter, they can only swallow food as big as a quarter. So all the small fish they were swimming around are safe; they eat small animals such as shrimp. After the Aquarium, we went to the World of Coke...awesome! The cokes we liked were from Africa and South America; the ones we didn't like were from Costa Rica and we think Italy (the Beverly...yuck!). We had lunch at The Varsity...it was so good! Then it was off to Zoo Atlanta. We had a really good time here too, and were lucky, and got to see the feeding of the Gorilla's. They are amazing. To view the gorillas, you can go inside this "house" thing and there is a huge window to see the animals. When I was in Girl Scouts, one year we spent the night in this house, so it was neat to go back and see where I once had been. We stayed in there for a while, watching the animals eat and play. After the zoo, we went to the High Museum...kinda boring, not going to lie. We weren't really impressed. They did have a neat Monet exhibit of his water lillies, but other than that, there really wasn't anything too impressing. That night, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...yummy...and yes we had cheesecake for dessert! It was soo good!

Our weekend in Atlanta was so nice to get away with one another and visit the places we wanted to visit for the first time or revisit the ones we hadn't been to in a long time. Layla and Paisley did okay...they stayed in the room the entire time and played and barked anytime anyone made a noise outside the room (a little frustrating, but no complaints). I know they are glad to be back in their safe house with all their toys and houses and rawhides haha.

Here are some pictures:

New Haircuts

I took the girls (Layla and Paisley) to the groomers yesterday to get haircuts. Layla had horrible mats and needed to be shaved, unfortunately, but still looks kinda cute haha. Paisley, on the other hand, not so cute! She had a few mats near her back in but one night I sat and brushed them all out so they wouldn't shave her. So yesterday morning I dropped them off at the groomers, told the girl exactly how I wanted Paisley "Short all over, but do not shave her, please!" I called to see if they were ready and the groomer said yup and they have no hair. I said they...and she said yeah they were both shaved. I'm thinking oh goodness. I said Paisley was not suppose to be shaved. She said well you said short all over...yes but that doesn't mean shave. So I picked them up and sure enough, they have NO hair...poor things! Paisley's new nickname is ears...that is all you see on her!!! And Layla looks like a little lamb so she is lambchops haha! They are cute, but the groomers could tell I was mad and didn't make me pay for Paisley! I need to post pictures of them, but they won't sit still long enough for me to take a picture. Dusty and I always joked about when Layla would get shaved in the past how much more energy she had or something...its the same with Paisley. I don't know what it is about the short hair and them running crazy! Ha, at least they are enjoying each other's company!

Random Facts

I saw this on someone's facebook page and thought it would be fun to fill out...and it was haha! I'm bored, but I hope you learn more about it. I'm sure most of you already knew this about me, but if not, enjoy!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:15

2. How do you like your steak? medium

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? The Ugly Truth

4. What is your favorite TV show? Anything on the Food Network

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Ummm...Somewhere with a lot of land with Dusty

6. What did you have for breakfast? Chickfila chicken biscuit

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican

8. What foods do you dislike? black eyed peas

9. Favorite Place to Eat? B&D Burgers

10. Favorite dressing? ranch

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Volvo s40

12. What are your favorite clothes? t-shirt and jeans

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Europe

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 empty

15. Where would you want to retire? I have no idea...maybe the mountains or beach

16. Favorite time of day? when Dusty gets home from work

17. Where were you born? Dalton, GA

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't watch sports

19. Bird watcher? Not really

20. Are you a morning person or a night person? Definately not morning, unless its after 10 haha

24. Do you have any pets? Layla, our maltese who is almost 3, and Paisley, who is 4 months
-----------PART 2:
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I finished my internship and now have my degree

26. What did you want to be when you were little? A teacher

27. What is your best childhood memory? Oh goodness, I have lots...probably playing outside with Kim and Rachel and taking tractor rides in the pasture with Dad

28. Are you a cat or dog person? DOG...I dislike cats

29. Are you married? Yes...and he is amazing!

30. Always wear your seat belt? Yes

31. Been in a car accident? Yes, 3 that were my fault and 1 with my grandma

32. Any pet peeves? YES...when people don't use their blinkers

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Mushrooms and onions

34. Favorite Flower? Daisy

35. Favorite ice cream? Cake Batter

36. Favorite fast food restaurant? Chick-Fil-A

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test? learners 3, actual driving 0

38. From whom did you get your last email? it was all junk mail

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Gap

40. Do anything spontaneous lately? I used to be spontaneous but I haven't lately

41. Like your job? yeah its great...I get to wake up whenever and do whatever all day...I don't work at the moment haha

42. Broccoli? Yeah its pretty good....especially with cheese

43. What was your favorite vacation? the beach and New York City

44. Last person you went out to dinner with? Dusty

45. What are you listening to right now? hahaha....the 4 seasons....Oh What A Night

46. What is your favorite color? Green

47. How many tattoos do you have? I don't have any

48. What time did you finish this quiz? 11:37 am

49. Coffee Drinker? I like White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks, but thats it

Last night/early this morning, Dusty came home from being in the field since 3 weeks ago, I believe. It was so good to see him, and the girls, Layla and Paisley, went crazy. He got lots of kisses and hugs from the 3 of us. We were able to spend the day together just hanging out today. We had brunch at Cracker Barrel, bought a new computer (thank you Danny and Liz), walked around the mall and Bass Pro, and then dinner at B&D Burgers (yummy!!!). Nothing too exciting, but we just enjoy each other's company and being able to be with one another. We are hoping to take leave time in a couple weeks and go spend the weekend in Atlanta, then driving on to Germantown, TN to visit Dusty's parents and sister. When we get back, my parents will be down for Labor Day weekend. After Labor Day, Dusty will be leaving for a week to go to California for more training. Thank goodness it is only a week.

While Dusty was gone this time I was busy finishing my internship for my degree. Thank goodness it is all over with now. I worked/volunteered 481 hours in 11 1/2 weeks. I was asked to stay and work the rest of summer camp (2 weeks) and I would be paid, but when I found out it would only be for minimum wage or a little more, I declined it. It was not worth the sweat and headaches! Now that that is over with, I'm planning on taking it easy at the house, getting papers and everything ready for deployment, and spending time with Dusty. Also, I kept myself busy by hanging out with some girlfriends while their husband's were out in the field too. We would go to movies, out to eat, and lay out by the pool. It is nice having someone to talk with, especially who has the Army in common with you and knows what you are going through.

Please keep Dusty and I in your prayers. Thank you so much to everyone who loves and supports us! We love you all!

My Mom and her cousin, Pam, have been visiting since last Wednesday. We showed them a little of Savannah on Thursday by taking them downtown to eat at B & D Burgers, our favorite burger restaurant, then shopped around. Mom and Pam wanted to see Paula Deen's, so we went into her store and found out that she would be in town tomorrow morning doing a book signing.

Mom and Pam woke up at 4 in the morning and stood in line from 6 am to 8 am to meet Paula and the gang: her husband Michael (which gave Mom a hug out on the street), her brother Uncle Bubba, and her two sons, Jamie and Bobby! And I couldn't go with them...I was so upset. However, Mom did bring Dusty and I an autographed cookbook with all their autographs in it! Friday night, Mom and Pam let Dusty and I go on a date, so we went out to eat, then picked the girls up and went to Cold Stone (best icecream anywhere!).

Saturday, we went to St. Simons for the day. We walked the beach, shopped, toured the lighthouse, and ate dinner at Mullet Bay. Yum!

Sunday, we hung around the house and went shopping. Then had dinner at Vinnie Van GoGo's downtown in City Market. Another one of our favorites! The four of us are sitting there outside eating our pizza when Mom slapped Dusty on the shoulder...Mom was speechless and we had NO clue what was going on, until we turned towards the street and saw a man bent over with his shorts down at his ankles, and NO underwear!!! Yup! How entertaining he was, trying to balance his takeout pizza, sunglasses, beer, and his shorts falling down...it was a scene!!! The poor man was so drunk and couldn't keep up his pants...who knows who all saw what! Thank goodness we got the back shot and not the front hahah!

Monday it was back to work for Dusty and I and when we came home, we had a nice homecooked meal (and some came from our garden). Mom and Pam fixed meatloaf, squash casserole, and mashed potatoes. And for dessert we had strawberry and kiwi shortcakes....yummy!

Mom and Pam went to Tybee Beach on Tuesday and shopped in the cute stores there. I was actually there too on a field trip with about 60 children from the Y. Wish I could have run away with them!

Wednesday morning Pam left to go back to Indiana and Mom stayed and we hung out when I got off work at 3. We took Paisley to the vet...good news, she is well! And she now weighs 2 lbs, 4 oz!!! She's growing! We had a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden. After dinner, we stopped by Pet Smart and bought Paisley a new crib...a house like Layla's. Layla looooves her house and I have not been able to find one anywhere for Paisley. It's animal print and when Paisley gets in it you can't even see her since the inside is all black and so is she! She seems to like it...I mean c'mon, it even comes with a disco ball hanging inside, what's not to love! (It's actually just a ball for the cats to play with since its meant for cats...just in case some of you were wondering it was a real disco ball haha).

















Dusty is back in the field. He left yesterday morning at 2 am....yup, isnt that ridiculous, and he will be back sometime around August 15. Please keep us in your prayers and we'll keep updating everyone with what is going on at the Egglestons!

P.S. We didn't take any pictures the whole time, but I think Pam did, so hopefully I can get some and post them on here.

Raincoats and T-Shirts

Dusty and I went shopping today and had to pick up these cute dog clothes for Layla and Paisley. This is the first t-shirt for Paisley. It was the first time we actually found something little enough for her to fit into...after all, she does only weigh 1 lb and 6 oz (hopefully she has gained some in the last few weeks). Layla hates going outside in the rain, so much that she squats in the bushes right beside the concrete so she doesn't get too wet. We found a little raincoat at Old Navy for her! She loves it, or acts like it anyway. We haven't tried it out yet in the rain, but I hope it works for her.

On another note, we picked 5 squash and 2 tomatoes from our garden today. Mom and her cousin, Pam, are visiting right now and tried out the tomato today. They said it was pretty good. Yea! I can't wait to try more!

Wow, What an update! Jan- July

Hey yall! Sorry we haven't written in a while, I'll try and be better this go round.
Since the New Year...it's sad, I'm sure we were doing something, but at the moment I can't think of what we did.

March 1, I dropped Dusty off at Ranger School at Ft. Benning, GA in a snow storm. Who would have thought that it would snow 6 inches or so in GA in March!? He was there a total of 62 days and went straight through the first time....goooo Dusty! We are all so proud of him. He graduated on May 1, then a week later, I graduated from Georgia Southern University on May 9. I will have my Bachelor's Degree in Child and Family Development at the end of August. I am currently finishing up my internship at a YMCA in downtown Savannah.

At the start of the summer, Dusty and I decided to grow a garden. We planted tomatoes, squash, and okra. All 3 are doing really well and we can't wait to taste the vegetables we grew!

In June, we celebrated our 2 year anniversary (6-9-07) on June 6 at the Chart House on River Street. We are so blessed and thankful to have one another in our lives. We truly love one another and love spending time together. We also celebrated that day by adding a new member to our family, Paisley. She is a teeny tiny Yorkie and is adorable (currently 1 lb, 6 oz).
It is so nice to live near the beach...we have been several times this summer with friends. At the end of May, we took a mini vacation for a couple days to Jacksonville Beach, FL. We didn't have the best weather, but it was nice to get away and relax with each other.

We celebrated July 4th by going to a Trace Adkins concert at Ft. Stewart with some friends and watching fireworks. Then the next day, we went to Jekyll Island with 3 other couples and had a blast laying out all day, then fireworks that night. This past weekend, we had Dusty's Aunt Trish and her four kids come visit. We had a really good time eating out, going to Tybee, playing baseball (wiffle ball), playing Wii, and more.
This coming Wednesday, my mom is coming to visit for a week with her cousin Pam. We are looking forward to more family coming to visit and hanging out.
Further down the road, we recently found out that Dusty will be deploying to Iraq in early December. We will keep everyone up to date as more information comes our way. Keep your calendars open so we can try to see everyone! Please keep us in your prayers and we thank you for everything!

Happy 2009!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! To get everyone caught up, since August this is what we have been up to: We have been pretty busy traveling and visiting family in North Georgia and in Memphis, Tennessee. My parents came down to visit before classes started. We showed them all around Savannah, Ft. Stewart, and Tybee Island and had a really great weekend. I started my second to last semester at Georgia Southern and everything went really well. I am majoring in Child/Family Development and wanting to specialize in Child Life. I have been filling out applications for internships at children's hospitals in Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. We visited Dusty's parents in Germantown, TN in October. Then in November, we met his parents in Charleston and visited with them there, along with Dusty's dad's best friend from college. We went to a Citadel football game and visited downtown Charleston. Dusty was promoted to First Leiutenant in November, which we are all so proud and excited for him. We had Thanksgiving at my sister Rachel and her husband Beau's new house in Dalton, along with my parents, younger sister, grandparents, and Beau's parents and sister. We had a really nice time on our visit. For Christmas, we went to Disney World with Dusty's parents, sister Nicki, grandmother, aunt and uncle, and their four children and had a really great time! We went to Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot over a few days and had so much fun. When it was time to come home, Dusty's parents and sister came to our home and had Christmas with us. Then on the 26th, we went to my parents home and had Christmas and celebrated the New Year too. It has been so nice to have time off to spend with family! We have really enjoyed it. Here are some pictures from our time with family.