NO I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT CHIA PETS! LOL I'm talking about Matthew and Analise! They're getting SO BIG NOW! Ana is 7 months old.. crawling sitting up saying DADA and picking on little brother Matt! And Matt is now 2 1/2 and DRIVING ME CRAZY with those terrible 2's!!!! Thank God for the kids' afternoon naps! Between running after Matt, making sure he's not climbing onto any furniture, coffee tables, dinner tables, chairs etc. and making sure Ana is entertained and fed and everything you need to do for a 7 month old... I'm surprised that I even have time to clean the house!!!
By the time 7:00 PM rolls around I must say that I'm excited that in 30 minutes They will be in bed asleep and I will FINALLY get some much needed relaxation!
My cure for all the chaos: COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE! keeps me going and leaves me with enough energy to dance with the kids around the house to some music after all the chaos ends. (Mommy's workout) they love it!
google search
Monday, September 28, 2009
They will amazingly grow befor your very eyes!
Posted by Jill at 1:53 PM 0 comments
Friday, June 12, 2009
Matthew and Analise
Analise & Matthew have been growing up WAY TOO FAST! Ana's already learning to sit up all by herself, and she wants to walk! she's constantly go go go... unless she's sleeping that is.. she does that very well also! haha. Matthew has really come around to animals. It seems that ever since we bought our little kitten, Markie he's not as shy around them. Although, as soon as Markie is old enough Steven and I have decided to get her declawed.. as mean as i think that is, it's necessary with two little ones in the house.. especially with a kitten.
We'll be traveling to California soon for my sister-in law's wedding! She's getting married in Lake Tahoe on the 4Th of July and I think it's going to be amazing. Steven and I are really excited to see everyone and be back in our home town again.
Here are some pictures! :)
Analise holding her spoon, the first time she had her Rice Cereal last month.
such a beautiful smile!
i love this picture of Analise. She looks so content
Matthew with our new kitten Markie... or should I say, HIS new kitten. :)
where you goin Markie?
awwwh
Posted by Jill at 1:51 AM 2 comments
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
impassioned
Today my word is Impassioned because i think it's nicer sounding than your typical "angry" or "mad"
it appeared on the synonyms page under the definition for angry. Impassioned can be used in a number of contexts, but today, it's being used to describe an anger. 

Posted by Jill at 8:43 PM 0 comments
Friday, June 5, 2009
Amaranthine
The reason why i chose this word is because I've loved it since i was in junior high school. I even have a tattoo of the word on my back.
In the dictionary Amaranthine means :
1. of or like the amaranth.
2. unfading; everlasting: a woman of amaranthine loveliness.
3. of purplish-red color.
an Amaranth is an imaginary undying flower
To me the word means Undying, immortal, everlasting. And the reason why i hold it close to me is because after my time comes.. i know i will live on through my writing, my songs, my pictures, and art. Therefor, generations to come will know my name and hear my story. My Love for my family will live on forever.

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Posted by Jill at 8:22 PM 0 comments
Thursday, June 4, 2009
and the word of the day today is......
VAINGLORIOUS! (thanks to my cousin beth! who also does a "word of the week" and this was hers)
Vainglorious comes from the word Vainglory meaning:
excessive elation or pride over one's own achievements, abilities, etc.; boastful vanity.
Vainglorious:filled with or given to vainglory: a vainglorious actor.
Thank you Beth for telling me about this word! awesome.
Posted by Jill at 9:12 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
JILL'S WORD OF THE DAY!
Hello To All!!!
SO I'VE DECIDED TO DO THIS NEW THING.. HOPEFULLY I'LL BE ABLE TO KEEP UP ON IT. I'VE DECIDED THAT EVERY DAY I'M GOING TO PICK A WORD THAT BEST DESCRIBES HOW I'M FEELING AT THAT MOMENT, A PARTICULAR EVENT THAT STICKS OUT IN MY MIND ABOUT THAT DAY, OR JUST A WORD THAT I MAY HAVE HEARD AND JUST DECIDED... HEY! I LIKE THAT WORD! HAHA.. AS LONG AS IT'S UNIQUE AND SOMETHING YOU WOULDN'T HEAR EVERYDAY. THIS WILL BE CALLED.... JILL'S WORD OF THE DAY! I'm very excited!!! and today's word will be..........
humdinger: which means funny.
I LOVE IT! i'm going to try to use it a lot until it annoys my husband... because it will. LOL Whenever i learn new words i try to use them as often as possible.. hahaha.. He knows he loves it! sometimes i even get him using the word too! that's the best part. I'm thinking that when the kids get older this will be a fun game for them to play as well. Not only will it help them have a better vocabulary, but it will be good family fun. (Ofcourse the words will be more educational) haha

Posted by Jill at 11:14 PM 2 comments
tuna fish
OK. So last night, Steven wanted something "light" but he insisted that it have tunafish in it as well! lol (he had a PT test the next morning and wanted "good for you" food) Being that the only thing i've EVER made with tunafish was casserole and tuna sandwiches (HAHA) i hadn't the slightest clue what to make for him. SO..... i did what i always do, i went to good ol' dependable GOOGLE and typed in "light tunafish recipes" and came across the "Bumblebee Tuna" website.. They have literally HUNDREDS of different recipes you can go through.. some of the stuff i never even thought of using tuna fish in! SO, i came across this one recipe that called for Penne pasta, basil, EVOO, lemon juice and zest, and ofcourse, tuna. I didn't have Basil or lemon but i had fresh spinache leaves.. so i figured, why not substitute? and i kind of let my imagination take over from there. I took the basic sauce ingredient which was nothing more then extra virgin olive oil, added some garlic and spinache salt pepper, italian seasoning at saute'd. after all of that was done saute'ing i opened a 12oz can of tuna, drained it.. and just dumped it in there! lol
then i started thinking that i wanted more greens in there, something you could really bite into... so i added some broccoli. When the penne was done cooking i tossed it all together and told steven, "This is possibly the healthiest thing i've ever made.. i hope you like it! lol" Needless to say, He LOVED it, and ended up going back for seconds! YAY!!! i succeeded! AND I also thought it was quite delicious.
You guys should try it!
Posted by Jill at 3:19 PM 0 comments
Thursday, May 7, 2009
a recipe that i made up!!!
o.k so i know this might sound a little odd.. but i promise you that it is GOOD!
LIL SMOKIE POOR ITALIAN DISH BY Jillian Bittle:
SERVES 2
ingredients:
-penne pasta (1/4 THE BOX)
-chicken stock (enough so that you can boil the pasta)
-lil smokies beef links (about 1/4 of a package)
-parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top)
-butter (just enough to saute the shallot and garlic)
- 1 tbsp tomatoe paste
-1 shallot
-2 cloves garlic
-pepper (to taste)
-Italian seasoning (to taste)
Directions:
1. boil penne pasta in chicken stock until al dente'
2. while boiling the pasta, saute the shallot and garlic in butter
3. add the "lil smokies" to the saute'
4. add the pepper and italian seasoning to the saute' after about 2 minutes
5. The noodles should be done about now - add the penne to the saute'
6. add about 1 tablespoon of tomatoe paste
7. Stir together and let sit and simmer about 5 minutes
8. sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and serve.
I HOPE YOU ENJOY!
LOVING YOU ALWAYS,
Jillian Bittle
Posted by Jill at 10:28 PM 1 comments
Friday, March 20, 2009
Just A little peak into the type of people that live near me here in Alabama.... LOL
Posted by Jill at 9:01 PM 0 comments
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Right around the Corner
Soon we will be welcoming another beautiful Bittle Baby Girl into the family! I am set up to be induced on the 11Th of February at 5:30 AM. I'm pretty nervous! But I'm glad that my mom will be here to help Steven and I with Matthew while we get used to having another baby in the house! Only 11 more days and we'll have our little girl! we're so happy.
I'll be posting pictures and what not on here as I receive more baby shower gifts from all of you! Also, we will be sending out a picture of our little baby girl to everyone as a thank you!
Keep in touch and I'll be sure to keep you all posted!
much love,
Jillian Bittle
Posted by Jill at 12:03 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
It's been a while!
Hello to all!
It's been so long since I've posted on here last. I just wanted to give everyone an update as to how the family's doing so far etc.
So far we've been living here in Fort Rucker, Alabama for about a month now and we love it! It's beautiful and we feel very blessed. Our little girl will be here in mid February! that's just around the corner! I've been busy trying to prepare her bedroom and get everything ready for her arrival.. I've registered at Babies R Us and at Target.com for the baby shower. My mom's putting it together with the help of Danille and Mary so please send me your address just to be sure we don't forget to send you an invitation! We're going to be doing the same thing that we did for Matt, which is a "baby shower by mail" I'm SO EXCITED!
Christmas was great. It was Steven, Matthew and I's first Christmas as just the 3 of us.. I cooked dinner and we opened presents and just spent the day as a family, and even though i missed every one back home I have to say that i truly enjoyed myself this year.
Steven's Birthday was on the 30th of Dec. and so we decided to go out to dinner and celebrate. Then we came home and watched a great movie called Traitor. You should see it.
That brings me to today! Which is NEW YEARS EVE!!! Steven's going to BBQ some baby back ribs and we're just going to kick back at home and watch movies and eat and enjoy ourselves. I'm going to make Steven a Cheesecake for his birthday, hopefully it's a good one! =) I'll be sure to post some pictures on here soon! But in the meantime, here's some pictures from Christmas and of our house etc.
Love all of you!
Matthew and Steven playing.
Our family Christmas photo
Matt looking all cute Christmas morning!
Posted by Jill at 1:16 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 16, 2008
It's A Girl!
Posted by Jill at 10:32 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Baby's Kickin!
Posted by Jill at 11:44 AM 1 comments
Monday, August 25, 2008
For those of you who don't know already;
Steven and I will not be moving to Japan now. For some reason they denied Matthew and not me. I'm a little confused as to why they made their decision, but my best guess is because he's so young that maybe they thought the long distance and travel time would be too hard on him. Anyway, we figure everything happens for a reason! and now we're looking into moving to Fort Irwin, CA. With the new baby on the way this makes me very happy! I'm glad that we will be close to family and friends. We're still waiting to find out wether or not we will get Fort Irwin, but we should find out within the next week what's going to happen. If not Fort Irwin, then I'm sure we'll be presented with different options that will be open to us and I'll inform you of what those are if that's what the case is.
Keep your fingers crossed that we'll beable to move back to California! It's not that long of a drive home for us either from there!
love you all.
xo
Posted by Jill at 4:27 PM 1 comments
Monday, August 4, 2008
Just For Fun!
buy some drano crystals, pee into a cup, then poor the pee over the crystals.. If the crystals turn a blue green, then it's a boy, if they turn a brown green, then it's a girl.
if the baby's heart beat sounds like a horse galloping then it's a boy, if it sounds like a washing machine then it's a girl.
and the last interesting little thing i found was to take a strand of your hair and loop it through your wedding ring, hold it over your belly button... if it swing back and forth then it's a boy, if it swings around in circles then it's a girl!
Pretty interesting stuff!!!
lol. if anyone else has any interesting little stories or old wives tales about telling your babies gender, you should share them with me! i find them quite interesting!
Posted by Jill at 4:35 PM 2 comments
Monday, July 7, 2008
pregnant!

yes, it's me! We're due February 16,2009. I'm currently 8 Weeks pregnant! We're hoping for a girl, but of course will be just as happy if we have a boy! Be sure to visit every once in a while as i will be posting updates on here not only about Japan, but now our new Little Bittle as well!
Posted by Jill at 3:01 PM 2 comments
Once again, Travel Plans have been Delayed.....
hola everyone! Just an update:
In the last blog i posted i explained that there were MANY, MANY things to get done by July 10th. Well, we got all of 2 things completed on that list. The EFMP (exceptional family member program.. I'm not sure if i explained it befor, but that covers such things as certain doctors we might need and if they do or do not have those doctors in Okinawa for us. For example my thyroid problem, or the correct equip. to keep an eye on Matthew's heart murmur.) I'm pretty certain that they will indeed have everything that is needed, But they like to make sure. Lastly we still need to clear housing. Once the EFMP information comes back to us, we'll beable to make flight arrangements, and once we make the flight arrangements, we should beable to clear housing with no problems. Our Next deadline for Okinawa, Japan is August 10th. I assure all of you that this time WE WILL make it! :)
Thank you for supporting us! We Love You!
And thanks to all who have and will make it out here to say goodbye.
There's a small chance that we might beable to make it out to California one last time befor we leave for Japan. So keep your fingers crossed!!!!
Posted by Jill at 2:15 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
newest update : Okinawa!
So Steven got his clearing papers today and we've been busy, busy running around and getting everything done in order to leave Fort Carson, FINALLY! we got all of the easy things on the checklist done today, the ones that are going to be the toughest on us is clearing housing and Steven's CIF gear. (he has to wash and polish etc etc. ALL OF HIS ARMY GEAR! ahhh!) that will be time consuming. We have a deadline to meet of June 26th, so we're in somewhat of a hurry.. But we're confident that we'll get everything done in time.
There's a possibility that Matthew and I may have to travel to Okinawa a few weeks after Steven does due to the fact that our passports may not be in on time to make it there for Steven's deadline. That's going to be hard, but i believe that god doesn't give you anything you can't handle, or atleast learn from! every experience will make us stronger as a couple, as well as individually.
So for now, everything seems to be going as smoothly as it can for now. We're both excited, scared, and second guessing ourselves now that the date is getting closer.. wishing that we had picked a duty station closer to california and our friends and family.. But it's going to be the experience of a lifetime and something we would never beable to do otherwise! so because of those reasons we are eager to see what our lives will be like in Japan.
I love you all!
Stay tuned for more news!
Posted by Jill at 5:54 PM 1 comments
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Old Hospital Complex.
In addition to being a general and convalescent hospital. Carson Hospital Center was a major training center. The Army Nurse Training Center, activated on October 23. 1943, trained more than 3.000 civilian nurses in Army nursing techniques in less than two years. A large number of field. evacuation and general hospitals. and medical ship platoons were activated.trained and shipped to ports of embarkation by Camp Carson. When the war ended. the Camp Carson Hospital Center was inactivated. In its place, the 400 bed Station Hospital continued treatment of patients scheduled to be released before May 31. 1946. With the outbreak of the Korean War, the hospital was expanded to 1 ,500 beds. In addition to a greatly increased patient load. in July 1951 it was asked to assist the Camp Carson Separation Center. In a little more than two years. hospital personnel were responsible for complete physical examinations of more than 100,000 soldiers. "
Graduates of the Camp Carson Army Nurse Training Center pass in review
Volunteer Red Cross workers were a mainstay of the Camp Carson Station Hospital.Link:http://www.carson.army.mil/pao/History%20Book/History%20Book.htm
So now that we know a little bit of history, We understand that this hospital was once occupied by many WWII Soldiers, among many other people.. Children, mothers, wives, etc.
*Here's another story about the hospital/mental clinic on Fort Carson*
"Fort Carson - The old Fort Carson Hospital/Mental Clinic - The old Fort Carson Hospital and other surrounding building were built around 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the forties there were a lot of German and Italian POW's located on Fort Carson. There is also an intricate system of tunnels linking the hospital's buildings together, One of the post's Military Police investigated an open door one night and deep into one of the tunnels he found an old setup of children's toys, a small chair, a small kids table and a few other things. There were also witnessed by three military policeman words painted inside an area under the building with no visible way to get inside and paint them there. They weren't painted over because the surface wasn't painted, and they weren't sandblasted off either. On some nights especially when the weather gets colder, many strange noises are heard there. Movement is heard through the building like furniture being shoved around, repetitive banging noises, and sometimes faces are seen peering through the barred windows. An elder American Indian Woman says the site was directly on the old trail of tears. She said that there is a large low-lying field where no building will stand; several attempts at building there have been unsuccessful.
Link:http://release-me.net/colorado.phpIf your wondering what the "trail of tears" is, here you go..
"In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson's Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the "Trail of Tears," because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died."
This picture, The Trail of Tears, was painted by Robert Lindneux in 1942. It commemorates the suffering of the Cherokee people under forced removal. If any depictions of the "Trail of Tears" were created at the time of the march, they have not survived. Link:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1567.html
So Steven and I drove by the hospital yesterday morning and decided to walk around and take some pictures. It's not as scary during the day, and it was actually really interesting.
Here some of them are:
Here's a side-view picture of one of the entrances to the hospital.
Here's a view of it from the front.
a look at the inside of one of the hallways
this tree is in-between two buildings.. i imagine this is sort of like a corridor.
down one of the hallways on the other side of the building
a close up of the doors.
a big empty room. Possibly a waiting room.
Posted by Jill at 4:04 AM 18 comments



