Final post

It's hard to believe that one year has passed. When it first began, it felt as though the end would never come, but here we are. Jason and I have been married for a year, and we have weathered our first deployment.


I want to thank everyone for reading the blog and supporting us. I hope you've enjoyed the adventures of Amanda and Flat Jason. If you are interested in checking out the adventures of Amanda and Real Jason, you should click over the Stapp Family blog, StappShot.

Much love, the Stapps.

He's Baaaack!

Finally! Captain Jason Stapp is stateside. He got back to Camp Atterbury the first week of March, and he was with a group of soldiers who were bussed to the Ike Skelton Training Center in Jefferson City, March 8.

The welcome-home ceremony was relatively short. The speakers kept commenting about how they knew they were the only thing between the crowd and their loved ones. (We couldn't see each other until he was released.) Carl Vogel didn't even talk, but told Mike Alden, master of ceremonies, to say thank you on his behalf to keep the party going.

After getting released, some of my family went to save seats at Chili's while Jason, John and I tried to find Jason's gear, load it and meet them.

Laissez les bon temps roulez!

I wasn't as much fun as Flat Jason had hoped for on Mardi Gras. I stayed home from work and the pantry was running a little low. I left him to party by himself, but I should have known it would be hard for him to stay out of trouble. He stole a couple of Jamie's no-bake cookies and Dustin's beer from the fridge. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

My husband is more sentimental than me...

...and I like that.

I started out strong: I got up on Valentine's Day and made pancakes - all by myself. (Be impressed. I've never done that before.) I even cut them into heart shapes. And I put my homemade Valentine card at his plate.

Later, I got to talk to the real Jason via Web cam. We played some games together and chatted for a while before he said that he had looked for some red velvet cake in the chow hall, but there was none to be found. Instead, he made due with the dessert available. I said it was too bad because I know how much we both like that flavor of cake and laughed at an inside joke, but it wasn't until after we had said good-bye that I realized the real significance of the red velvet cake.

That was the flavor of our wedding cake. Most couples save the top layer of their wedding cake to eat on their first anniversary, but not us. Our wedding cake was only one layer, and it was so delicious (thanks, Mom!) that we decided to eat it while it was fresh. How could I have forgotten about such a prominent wedding tradition? I thought about it the whole time we were at the Mud Room...

Erin of the Mud Room specially ordered us a rice bowl to paint and make a semi-matching set. Jason painted a dragon on the other rice bowl, so I needed to figure out how to paint a dragon. The only one that I could even come close to was Trogdor the Burninator. By the time it was completed, I had decided to see what sort of fancy desserts were available at Cold Stone Creamery.

Success! Cold Stone had some red velvet petite fours covered with dark chocolate. Mmmm! We gave one to Jamie and Dustin and ate one ourselves while drinking out of our sweet toasting glasses.

Happy anniversary, my sentimental one!

Letting off steam at the Mud Room on Thursday

Happy Anniversary to me

It's coming up fast...Valentine's Day AND our first anniversary. Traditionally, the first anniversary is the paper anniversary. In modern times, newlyweds have taken to giving clocks.

In keeping with tradition, Jason wanted to get me a book, but he was afraid of accidentally getting me a knitting book even though he knows I crochet. So, I suggested that I get my own book since I obviously know what books I would like and I recently received a Barnes and Noble coupon in my e-mail.

After listening to Bob Krist and Ralph Lee Hopkins speak at a National Geographic photography conference, I met Flat Jason at Barnes and Noble in Independence. We shared a piece of cheesecake and FJ read The Crochet Dude's Designs for Guys while I decided on the book I wanted. We also talked to Georgia, who just happened to appear at B&N to study.

Oh, Jason also mailed me another present: a yellow paper rose and a roll of anniversary toilet paper.

Courtwarming 2009

Lauren was nominated queen candidate for the 2009 EHS Courtwarming, so Flat Jason and I went to Eldon to watch the proceedings. Lauren looked amazing, and Flat Jason was sure to relay a message from the real Jason: If you don't win, punch the other girl in the face, grab the crown and run.

Well, Lauren didn't win, but she didn't cause a scene (although I'm pretty sure she could have outrun Andrea hobbling on her crutches). All three queen candidates are great friends, so when Meagan won, the other two were happy for her.