Superficial Dilemmas

In most parts of the world it is now officially December 21, 2012 and, surprise surprise, we're all still here. In light of the recent new that the world is in fact not ending today/tomorrow I'm browsing Pinterest. My mind is just racing with incredibly superficial predicaments. 
  
1. I really really really want this tattoo in white ink on my left forearm.

 

However, the forearm is an incredibly conspicuous place for a tattoo and I'm just not sure that I'll want such a clearly visible tattoo my entire life. On the other hand, I imagine that probably after a while tattoos become so much a part of you that you don't even remember what it was like without them. And white ink when all healed barely shows up. But then, what's even the point of getting a tattoo if it's not going to be seen?

2. I loove the blazer trend. It makes pretty much any "just alright" outfit look pulled together.

Love this one from J. Crew!

I'm not sure I could pull it off though! I'm 99% sure I'd just end up looking like A) a little girl playing dress up, because I've come to terms with the fact that I look 17 or B) a lesbian. When I put on clothes with a masculine feel I don't make them look feminine, they make me look masculine. Yeah...not so sure about the blazer thing.

3. I am obsessed with boots! The bad news: my calves are so freakishly large that I have to get the kind made extra wide around the calf and none of the cute ones come that way! Anyone have any good calf shrinking secrets?

Sunday Blessings Link-up

I'm sure I'm not alone in finding it extra special to spend a little time counting my blessings this week, so I'm linking up with Kaity at (Bee)autiful Blessings for a dose of Sunday Blessings.



1.  As I said a few weeks ago I finally landed some short-tern employment. While it's by no means a glamorous or meaningful position, I am earning my own money again. It may sound materialistic, but the ability to make my own money and buy things I need and want with money that I have earned is very rewarding for me. Since I was 18 I've been working and providing for myself so the past two years of unemployment and having to rely on J's income for everything has been a huge struggle for me. More than anything though, I'm so happy to be able to buy gifts for J with my own money. I always feel a little dumb buying him presents with his own money and it feels so good to truly be able to give him something from me.

2.  Along with the making my own money thing, having a job enabled me to purchase a brand-spankin'-new laptop! Since I do all of my work on the computer having one that functions is pretty important, not to mention so much of every day life takes place around the computer, and I'm toying with the idea of going to grad school when we move. So the fact that neither of the two computers we had functioned properly or consistently was a drag and a source of constant frustration. I got myself a shiny new MacBook and I'm in love.

Isn't she pretty!?

3.  A few weeks ago I randomly won tickets to a San Diego Chargers game so J and I got up early today to                             drive through the crazy traffic to the game. We got there about an hour and half before the gates even opened. I was grumpy because I was tried, and we hadn't planned ahead and brought anything for tailgating, and because I didn't want to have to just sit in the cold for the two and half hours before the game. Basically I was just miserable for no good reason. J just treated me lovingly and waited for me to get over myself and enjoy the day. I admit that pretty often I'm not an easy person to be married to and J continually loves me and supports me even when it's not easy to do. 

4.  This may sound weird, but I'm really thankful that J and I will just be staying home in Cali spending Christmas together by ourselves. I love my family and I love my in-laws, but sometimes it's overwhelming to be around them. I understand this, because they don't get to see him often, but when we're with J's family they just swarm him and I just miss him the whole time we're there. I can be pretty selfish and jealous when it comes to my hubby and I don't like to share him, especially on Christmas. It's nice to just be able to be together on Christmas this year and not have to worry about anyone else...for most of the day anyway...

5.  J and I have decided to open our home to some of the young enlisted guys who will be here alone on Christmas, assuming there are some and they want to come. I can't imagine being 18 or 19 years old and not being able to be with people I love on Christmas, having to spend the day alone in the barracks. Because God has blessed J and I with each other and with a place to live and plenty to eat we decided to pass some of that on to some of these guys and girls who will be unable to travel home to their families this year. Pray that God brings some people into our lives to bless in this way and that He will work through the time we spend and the relationships we build with these young people.

Anyway, these are just a few small ways that I've been blessed this week. I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Reflections

This morning J is gone doing his Christmas shopping and I am home alone, reflecting on the horrific events that yesterday held. I cannot begin to fathom the pain that the parents and loved ones of those who lost their lives must be feeling. I cannot imagine being caught up in the joy of Christmastime one minute and then next finding out that I would never see my child again, never again be able to hold them or hear their laugh.

I don't generally post about current events because A) everyone already knows about it and B)I usually have nothing to say that hasn't been said better by someone else. But this, this is different.

Everywhere I look, Facebook, the news, the papers, people are contemplating what kind of sick person could possibly do such a horrible thing. How could someone be able to go into a school and take the lives of children who have barely had a chance to live?

And while I understand those questions, this morning as I reflect I find myself drawn to others who were there that day. Not the criminal, not the students, not the parents, but the teachers.

So often in our world today we hear about teachers and school employees only because they too have committed some formidable act against a child. They are found to have raped and molested children, had inappropriate relationships with students, gotten caught up in scandal in their personal lives. And again we find ourselves asking what kind of person does those things?

But in light of yesterdays events I ask the question what kind of person goes to work with their lesson plan prepared for the day and instead puts their life on the line to protect their students? A heroic one, that's who. I have great respect for teachers any day, but there are stories coming out everywhere of the teachers yesterday who put themselves between their students and the bullets, who risked and lost their lives to protect those precious, young students they spent every day nurturing. I read one story of a young teacher who directed all of her students into the tiny bathroom in her classroom, placed herself against the door and repeated to them over and over "I love you" because she didn't want the last thing those children heard to be gunshots. This is the kind of woman that causes me to look beyond these terrifying things that happen and see that there is still goodness and beauty in our world. This is the kind of woman that gives me hope.

I read something on Facebook that quoted Morgan Freeman's opinion about the senseless shooting. He made the argument that these deranged individuals choose to do such horrific things because of the way the media portrays them, because their name will be remembered for what they have done, that we don't hear news stories focused on the victims because that's not what sells. While that may or may not be true, I do wholeheartedly agree with what he said next. "You can help by forgetting you ever read this man's name, and remembering the name of at least one victim instead. "

And that is my goal. In the days, weeks, and months following this tragedy I'm going to focus on the children and their families, and even more so, the teachers who gave their lives to defend innocents. I refuse to give power to the monster that did this. I will not remember his name.

J and I went to see The Hobbit last night. There is a scene where Gandalf the Grey is being asked why he chose a small, insignificant hobbit for such a great journey. What Gandalf says in reply has been resonating in my mind ever since. He replies "Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. That is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small things, every day deeds from ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay - simple acts of kindness and love." 

May we live with intention, remember the heroes, and know that it is the light within each of us that will keep the darkness at bay.

Christmas Tiiiiime is Heeeeere

I've been scrambling like crazy to get my Christmas crafts done. Every year I have grand plans for homemade gifts and Christmas cards and every year I wait too long to get started and forget the whole thing. This year I did make an improvement in my yearly plan by actually buying the materials, which every one else also happened to be doing the same day. Michael's was CRAZY. 

I bought this adorable reindeer stamp set to attempt to make Christmas cards. Please note that I have never in my life made a card before. I spent all last night experimenting with paper, glue, ink, pencils, markers, and stamps trying to make something that looked nice enough to send to friends and family. Annnnd I will be continuing that today. Wish me luck.

I'm super excited about the blogging world Secret Santa I joined via (Bee)autiful Blessings and I'm trying to craft my gift by December 14th to get it out in the mail in time. I can't say what exactly it is I'm making for fear of spoiling the secret, but lets just say I'm trying to revive my knitting skills. And I haven't knitted in a very long time. I'm also trying to learn a new stitch and teach myself how to make button holes. I'm trying to practice as much as I can before it's really crunch time and I need to either make my gift or ditch it and come up with a new idea, which I'm really hoping does NOT happen because I have no other ideas. 

J and I went shopping last night. Yes, my husband went shopping. We have a mando-fun squadron Christmas party Friday night in which "business casual" attire is required. Ok. Who the heck has a Christmas party that requires "business casual"? It's a Christmas party. Shouldn't we all be wearing ugly sweaters and obnoxiously sparkly dresses? I think so. But instead I will be wearing my boring black skirt. It was, however, quite the bargain at 70% off at Gap last night, woooo! But J got some awfully nice dress clothes and will be looking mighty handsome!

And now I'm off to scramble to find a shirt to wear to the party, work on Christmas cards and gifts and somehow still get my work done for today. Whew. And also crossing my fingers that I get paid today so I can go get my new computer...last week the number strip on this one just randomly stopped working, which means all punctuation other than periods must be copied and pasted. Annoying! Anyone I hope everyone has a fabulous Thursday!


Oh! And I entered this awesome giveaway from (Bee)autiful Blessings! Wish me luck!

Happenings in the Life of a Newly Employed Woman

Clearly I am so overdue for a post. Life has very quickly become very crazy.

Quick recap:

About a month ago a friend of mine from college that knew I'd been struggling to find a job contacted me. Her dad owns a damage assessment business in Long Island, NY that surveys boat damages for insurance companies. After Hurricane Sandy and the following Nor'easter they were slammed with claims and needed help transcribing the reports. So I've been spending six to eight hours a day transcribing damage reports. Not the most exciting of tasks, but it's something to do and gives me some income of my own, which as materialistic as it may seem, makes me feel a lot better about myself.

J and I made a super hectic trip home to New York for Thanksgiving and so Jon could be a groomsman in his best friend's wedding. We arrived Wednesday night, spent Turkey Day stuffing our faces with my family, drove an hour for wedding rehearsal on Friday, spent all day Saturday partying with friends and family, Sunday recovering from hangovers that we had to try to pretend we didn't have to save ourselves from the disapproval of my mother-in-law and finally began our journey back to sunny Cali on Monday. It was incredibly hectic, but it was good to see our friends and family. Not to mention we got a good dose of snow while we were there to satisfy our winter cravings.

I have to admit that I don't have the greatest of relationships with my parents-in-law, particularly my MIL. We're incredibly different and it makes being around her unbearably stressful for me at times. Between that, the ridiculous sleep deprivation I was enduring, and being left alone while my hubby was off doing groomsmen things I may or may not have had a break down or two. But what would the holidays be without a little dysfunction.

Tuesday I immediately resumed working and have been working my booty off every since. I'm also supposed to take my Certified Medical Administrative Assistant exam on Thursday and I am so very NOT prepared. Upon completely bombing the practice test I took tonight I'm serious contemplating rescheduling.  Saturday night I was super sick which resulted in a trip to the ER so I'm going with that as my excuse for rescheduling my test.

J is flying through the syllabus in his training squadron and is expecting we'll be moving by the end of January. I am absolutely not excited about leaving gloriously sunny So Cal for blaahh North Carolina, but that anticipation of another move has me worked up already.

To top it all off the Christmas season is upon is, which I absolutely LOVE, but adds another layer of business to my life. I'm attempting to make my own Christmas cards this year, as well as Christmas morning pajamas for J and myself. I have never tried sewing any type of clothing before so this is sure to be interesting.

So that's my life lately. I apologize for my lack of dedication to blogging and have to admit that it isn't going to get much better for awhile. I'll do my best!

Fill in the Blank Friday Link-up

I finished my work for the day (yes, I got a job, yay!) and took a break from ball prep to do my usual Friday link-up!

1.  My best quality is I follow through. If I say I'm going to do something or be somewhere I will.

2.  One of my less flattering qualities is  there are a lot of things that irritate me and I'm pretty impatient.

3.  I'd rather be painting my nails.

4. Something I have been challenged with lately is   learning to apologize.

5. I am looking forward to  Wednesday because we're flying home for 6 days!

6. A super random factoid about me is  I barely ever drink water.  Not just water. Anything hydrating. I probably drink only 1 or 2 glasses of liquids a day. I'm just permanently dehydrated. It's a problem.

7.  I want to be motivated to get in shape...

FITBF Link Up

Woohoo! Fill in the Blank Friday, here we go!

1.  I like Essie nail polish, my iPhone, fresh apple cider, cold weather with cozy blankets, kettle corn, snow.

2.  A life goal of mine is  to be a good partner to my husband and mother to my someday children. I've got a lot of work to do  .

3.  The last thing you would ever expect me to like (even though I secretly do) is One Direction...*hangs head in shame*.

4. Some wise words that I love are  "If you go into marriage with divorce as an option, it will happen." I can't remember who I heard say this, but it was definitely a predominant mindset for both J and me going into our marriage.

5. Most mornings you will find me  cuddled up on the couch with a blanket, a bowl of cereal, and my puppy snuggling close.

6. Right now I am super into  Parenthood! I just started watching it on Netflix last week, but I love it. It's so raw and real. I can't stop watching it.

7.  Right now I am super over  politics fo sho.

Election Day Rant - Sorry in Advance

It's finally here. The fateful Election Day. I can't even begin to express how thankful I am that this day is almost over! Yes, I did my civic duty and mailed in my absentee ballot last week. However, I think you'll be hard-pressed to meet someone as unenthusiastic about politics as myself. I'm completely and utterly cynical. Of course, like everyone else, I have my opinions and ideals about the way things should be, but unlike so many people I feel that our bipartisan democracy setup provides to be utterly useless in getting these opinions heard. Despite what they've attempted to brainwash us with since kindergarten and before, my vote counts very little. Furthermore, there is yet to exist a candidate that I actually want to vote for.

I hate our entire system. Neither candidate is going to do all of the amazing thing they claim to be able to. Neither candidate is truly interested purely in seeing our country be the best it can be. All candidates, on some level, are interested in their own personal gain. Beyond the control of the candidates is the other bodies in our government like the Senate and House of Representatives. Remember the standoffs this past year simply because two political parties were too stubborn and stuck in their own agendas to come to an agreement and actually help the American people? I'm not sure of the implications of that infamous argument for the general public, but for us, as our income comes directly from the government because of my husband's military status, we were looking at the possibility of not getting paid for an indefinite period of time. Being young and fairly new at the marriage thing, we didn't have much saved up as a safety net and we wouldn't have been able to survive past one missing paycheck without asking for help from family or piling the expenses onto our credit card.

As I sat with my blank ballot I just shook my head thinking, "I don't wan to vote for any of these people" and things as juvenile and simple as "Can't we all just get along?!" But I did vote. Do not ask me who I voted for, because the undoubtedly leads to my having to defend myself and honestly, I don't have to.

And that's another thing.

People yelled at me when I said I didn't know if I would even vote. They told me I needed to fulfill my civic duty, that women fought hard for my right to vote, that I needed to get my voice heard. (Sidebar - I absolutely appreciate, respect and am thankful for those women who did indeed fight long and hard for my right to go to the polls, so please don't get me wrong on that point!) I had to defend my point of view to them. People yelled at me when I voiced my opinion about who I thought I may vote for. Who knew an opinion could be wrong? That in a country where it is our freedom to vote for whomever we choose, that there is actually a right and a wrong party to vote for? And again I was defending myself. Posting a bagillion Facebook statuses and political ads bashing a particular candidate and making another seem absolutely angelic will not sway my position. If you're yelling at me that I need to vote and I do, then don't yell at me for my choice.

So needless to say, I am very anxiously awaiting tomorrow. Not because I am excited to have another great four years of Obama, or because I'm rooting hardcore for all the amazing things Romney will do for us, but because it will be over.

End rant.

Anniversary Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, I know I did! Since J was gone last weekend for work and he was sick and busy with work this week on our actual anniversary, we spent the entire weekend celebrating. Friday J worked late and was still battling strep throat so we laid low, watched some post-Halloween scary movies.

Saturday we hopped in the car and drove the long windy mountain road up to a tiny town called Julian. Julian  hit the map during the gold rush, and is also famous around here for growing apples and using them to make amazing pie and cider, both of alcoholic and non varieties. We also learned that in 1880 there was a grand total of 55 African-Americans in the state of California, and of those 55, 33 of them lived in Julian as land owning citizens. So there's your cool history tid-bit of the day! Julian is filled with old country story-type places and we found quite possibly the best place on earth: The Candy Basket. We spent entirely too much money on candy, but it was so worth it!

Our bag full of salt water taffy, gummy bears, and chocolate covered pretzels.

We spent the whole day walking around the town and getting a little taste of fall, since it's been two years since we saw a tree change color and it actually happens up in the mountains here! We got cups of hot cider, and plenty of cold cider to take home. 

Walking through the historic graveyard. 

We finished off the day with dinner at Bailey's BBQ, which I wasn't a huge fan of since I don't like barbecue, but J loved it and they did have amazing chicken wings! We started the drive home just before sunset, so we got a pretty spectacular view as we drove back down the mountain! It was a really great day to get away from our every day lives. 

Super huge and delicious chicken wing!

 

Sunday we took our furbaby Miles to the dog beach where he ran around and got soaked and completely covered in sand. We came home, got cleaned up, and headed downtown to our couples massage, which was heavenly. Then we came home, got changed and went down to a swanky little seafood and steakhouse called Vigilucci's. It was probably the best thing I've ever put in my mouth. I couldn't for the life of me pronounce what my meal was called, but it was basically pasta in a ridiculously amazing sauce with scallops and prawns. Ohhh gosh I'm getting so hungry just thinking about it! I took a picture, but it came out so poorly that it just looks like a blurry mess. 

Ready to go! Oh..and I dyed my hair red!

Anyway, that was my weekend! Hope you all had super fantastic weekends too!

   

Fill in the Blank Friday Link-up

This week has been full of takin' care of business, finishing projects, and anniversary celebration planning. J is taking care of planning a surprise special anniversary weekend since all of his flights were cancelled due to him having to be on antibiotics for strep throat. Thanks to strep throat we get to celebrate our anniversary after all! Yay!

1.  Something I swore I'd never do, but have ended up doing anyway is   getting drunk, ha! In my adolescence I was totally 100% against the infamous 'binge drinking'. Needless turning 21 and being in college changed that ideal a bit.

2.  Something I've always wanted to do is   travel all around Europe and see all of the huge historical sites.

3.  Something I have absolutely no desire to ever do is ...oh man where to begin? Copycat answer: I would definitely never in my life bungee jump or cliff dive or anything like it!

4. The best thing I ever did was aside from the mushy, obvious answer of marrying J, I have to say going to college. I had so many amazing professors and really learned the meaning of being open minded. I definitely learned to view the world in a different way and broaden my horizons beyond the very limited view I had of things before.

5. When it comes to trying new things, I am  usually running the opposite direction. I don't like change. I don't like the unknown. I think I am getting a little better at it, but generally it's not my thing.

6. One thing I've never done is gone to either of the two biggest attractions in New York State...Niagara Falls and New York City. Yes, I lived in New York for 22 years, about five hours from the city and only about two and half hours from Niagara Falls and I've never seen either! That was my go-to statement for Never-Have-I-Ever, especially since I went to college about an hour from Niagara Falls, haha!

7.  My favorite thing do do is  I don't think I can pick just one, but I love snnugglin' with my hubby!

I hope everyone has a super great weekend!

2nd Anniversary: Our Story

Today is our second anniversary! Woohoo! I'm feeling pretty mixed emotions. I'm obviously happy to be able to say we made it two years when so many these days don't even make it this far. I absolutely love my husband and I'm so thankful that God has blessed us with unfailing love and commitment to each other. The mixed part comes from that other guy in our marriage ruining our plans...AGAIN. Yes, I mean the Marine Corps. People say when you marry a military guy you're marrying the military. It's true. We had planned to use both weekends surrounding our anniversary. The first weekend to dress up and have some Halloween fun and the second to do something fun and out of the ordinary for our anniversary. I had told J that I didn't want to plan it. I wanted him to and I wanted to be totally surprised. But that other guy had other plans. This past weekend the powers that be sent my husband on a flight to Middle-of-nowhere, Nevada for the weekend. J had decided that to make up for being gone all weekend he would request Tuesday, today, our anniversary, off. Nope. He's flying FOUR flights this week. Seeing as typically he flies once a week or once every other week, that's A LOT. Oh and by the way, he's scheduled to fly Saturday as well. He NEVER works weekends....except for the one that we have special plans. To top it all off J came back from his weekend away sick and won't even be able to enjoy the delicious anniversary dinner I had planned. Needless to say, I'm beyond frustrated. It's times like this that I absolutely hate the Military life. We can't plan a vacation. We can't plan a romantic weekend for our anniversary. Asking for even one day off is a HUGE hassle. I can't even sign up to take the GRE because I don't know when we'll be moving again. *Grumble grumble* But anyway, on to the happier part of this day...

I'm not sure that I've ever shared our story before, so what better day to reminisce.

J and I met when we were 14. My cousin had met him one summer through a mutual friend and it was by pure random chance (ok, and maybe some Godly direction) that we met the following summer at a music festival that took place at a Six Flags in our area. He just happened to walk by and my cousin happened to see him and took my friends and me over to say hi. My cousin is older than me and had no intentions with J other than to try to hook me up with him, so of course I ended up with his AIM screen name.

This is the day we met! J's the one on the far left in the weird stance and I'm the  first girl on the left. Yeah, the one wishing she was a punk-rock skater chick.

He and I lived about three hours apart, and being so young neither of us were really supposed to be dating or talking on the phone to persons of the opposite sex. So for two years we chatted online. I went to a summer camp every year that was about 20 minutes from his house and he had several friends that worked there and attended there. So I did see him once over those years. It was clear that we both had feelings for each other, but it wasn't practical to say we were 'together'. Eventually J kind of started struggling with some personal things and began to pull away from me. Before too long he stopped talking to me completely. He was never online and never responded to my emails. I found out some time later that he had a girlfriend and obviously, being 16, I was heartbroken. But I soon resumed my normal life and made peace with it. I moved on. Every once in a while I'd wonder what he was up to these days, but I held no hard feelings or remnants of the huge crush I'd had on him.

When I was 17 I started dating this other guy. One of those guys you wish you didn't have to say you dated. One of those guys you wish you could erase from your memory. But I dated him for over a year. For what reason, I do not know.

So fast forward to August 2006. I was still dating the aforementioned ex, though I was about sick of him, just didn't have the heart to break up with him. I was 18, had just graduated from high school, and was once again at the same music festival I went to every summer, enjoying it with my best friends one last time. We had just arrived and made our way into the park and had just gotten in line for our very first ride when I noticed that the guy in front of me looked an awful lot like a certain blond haired guy I used to know. Obviously I whispered to my best friend, Kaity that I thought the guy standing directly in front of me was J. And obviously, as any teenage BFF would do she yelled out his name. He turned around and awkwardly stared at me, to which I replied "Do you know who I am?" and he uncomfortably answered "Yeah..." We chatted politely, because what else could you do when you're stuck in line for a ride next to a person you used to love, who now had a significant other, and hadn't talked to in two years? After that we saw each other a few times throughout the week, but never said much more than hello. I left thinking "Well, that was kind of cool to see him" and thankful for I guess some kind of closure and never really thought about him again. Other than to add him on MySpace of course, 'cause that's just what you did!

At the end of August I'd broken up with my horrible ex and was getting ready to start college. One day out of the blue J messaged me in AIM. I later found out that he had also broken up with his girlfriend and had noticed the ever so dramatic MySpace relationship status change to SINGLE on my page. He began apologizing for breaking my heart and I assured him I was absolutely not still hung up on that. We talked a lot and by the end of September had started driving a lot to see each other and by October we were 'official'.

Two months after we started dating.

Three long years later...

 

And a year after that...

And two years after that...

We've been together a total of six years. They definitely haven't been easy, we've had our share of bumps in the road and I know there will be more to come. But I thank God he has blessed me with someone who loves me so unconditionally, who supports my hopes and dreams, and who's as stubborn and determined as I am to make this work! Love you J!

Photo Recap

As I said in my previous post, my best friend Jess came to visit over the last week. She just left yesterday afternoon and, while I miss her like crazy already, I'm so exhausted from all of our shenanigans! It had been nearly a year since I'd seen her and much longer than that since we really were able to hang out and spend quality time together. She sacrificed a lot to come out here and visit me and I'm so thankful to have such a great friend. So without further to do, here's a photo recap of my week!

Jess and I have a tradition that every time we see each other we  make t-shirts for each other. I made tie dyes with California Dreamin' on the front and our notorious nicknames on the back. Jess is Tuna and I'm Dizzle. I must say I made some pretty kick-ass t-shirts! We also spent several hours of the week doing our nails. Jess did my super amazing toes!

We did some super fun and some not-so-fun things. We spent a day at the beach and got a nice sunburn. We then decided to go get some refreshing smoothies. It just so happened that they had a lot of super health nut type things and naturally we decided to try a shot of wheat grass. To say the least, it was disgusting! It tasted like, you guessed it, grass. Straight from the ground grass.

Needless to say, neither of us will be doing that again anytime soon! After that we decided to find some fun things to attempt from Pinterest. As you can see, our taffy was an epic fail.

We were super pumped because a few weeks ago there was a deal on Groupon for a kayaking cave tour. Wednesday we got to go. We were pretty bummed since we weren't able to actually go in any caves due to water conditions. We did get to paddle right along side some seals and sea lions and we saw where Dr. Seuss lived! 

And what would a visit to Cali be without a night out. We consumed a few too many Jager bombs, but we finished off the night with an epic drunken night swim in the ocean. Overall, I'd say the                     horrendous hangovers the next day were well worth it!

We stuffed our faces daily while she was here. These are just a few samples of all the amazing food we sampled around the San Diego area. We found the best breakfast place and I've pretty much decided to walk there every morning...although I think my waistline wouldn't be too happy about it. We also found a Mexican restaurant that blew our minds. Well done Senior Grubby's, for the best carne asada tacos ever.

 

Saturday we decided to go down to San Diego for the day. We went to Balboa Park and explored. They have several different museums and cool things to see. We went to the train museum, which is the world's largest operating model train museum. Initially, I was opposed to the idea, but I was out numbered and it turned out to be pretty cool! I don't have any pictures, unfortunately, but it was really neat. There was also a variety of street performers and activist groups in the park which were...interesting. Overall, it was a really cool place to go hang out for the day!

One thing on Jess's vacation bucket list was to eat at a place that had been on the show Diners, Drive-ins, 

and Dives. We found a place called Hodad's and after watching the episode they were featured on, knew we had to go there. It's a little beach burger joint with the best burgers! Not only do they have Guy Fieri stamp of approval, but they were also ranked in the top five burger joints in the country by CNN. For those wondering, a 'hodad' is someone who hangs around at the beach with a super nice board and gear, but doesn't surf. AKA: poser! We got lucky enough to land a seat in their old VW bus turned booth!

We spent a lot of time just hanging out, talking, and reconnecting. It's nice to think that distance doesn't have any effect on a friendship, but the truth is it's very difficult to maintain the closeness you have with someone when you lived just around the corner from them from the other side of the country. Hanging out at the beach was an excellent setting to just enjoy spending much needed time together! Our last night together we went to the beach and had a camp fire, which was probably my favorite thing we did. The beach at night is so incredibly peaceful. We woke up early the next morning and went to a local bagel shop, got our bagels and coffee and made one last trip to the beach to eat breakfast. It was an absolutely incredible week!

Like, totally my BFF!

I've been totally absent lately. I wish I could say it's because I've been overwhelmingly busy, but it's quite the opposite. My life has been totally underwhelming. Buuut that is about to change on Sunday because my BFF from home is coming out to So Cal to visit! Being married to a Marine means that I have to leave my friends behind much more than most people and since moving to Cali I haven't met any new friends. It's been pretty lonely and I've been severely deprived of girl time. So basically, I'm so pumped she's coming. I can't even stand it.

I've known Jess since kindergarten! We were friends on and off through elementary, middle, and high school. We never had any big fall outs or anything like that. We were just better friends some years than others.

Jess and me in first grade on Cowboy/girl day! I'm on the far left and she's on the far right.

Senior year of high school we hung out a lot and when graduation came we just happened to be going to the same two-year college. We saw each other once in awhile at college and our last year took a Spanish class together. We talked a lot about the impending graduation and what to do after. It just happened to work out that we both decided to transfer to the same school. We decided to be roommates and avoid the whole awkward moving in with a stranger thing. I can't imagine any better outcome because over that year of living together, and the following year of living a few blocks from each other our friendship grew into something really great. 

Jess and me, our first semester of real college!

We both went through some really difficult things during those two years and through everything we just grew closer. We are so very different in so many ways, but she brings out more fun in me than anyone else. Her friendship has taught me that just because someone has different ideals and beliefs, doesn't mean you can't be super great friends. Most of my life if someone in my life had different beliefs than me or did things that I didn't agree with I tried to change them, and in not-so loving ways. I would push and push and push until I completely pushed them out of my life. I lost a lot of friendships that I cherished that way. But with Jess it's different. I've learned, through my many mistakes, to just love her and let her be her, and thank God I did. She's my best friend and I can't imagine life without her!

Traipsing around the trails at the bluffs.

Halloween 2009, Apple and Strawberry

Dancing like fools at the I.B.

At my wedding!

Fill in the Blank Friday

I'm way over due for a real blog post, but there's one on the way! For now, it's a link up with Lauren at the little things we do for...

1.  The last thing I ate was  a caramel apple lollipop! I found them at Target tonight and hadn't seen them since I was a kid. Obviously I had to buy a bag .

2.  The last time I went to the beach was  weeks ago. WAY too long ago considering I live a block away from the Pacific Ocean and all...I did go running down the road next to the beach yesterday though. Does that count?

3.  My last vacation was last weekend! J had Friday off from work so we packed up the car and went camping in the mountains for the weekend. There truly is nothing more calming than getting away from everything and just being in nature.

4. The last place I drove was    home from base. J is standing 24 hour duty so I brought him some oh-so-healthy Chick-fil-a so we could eat dinner together.

5. The last song I listened to was  Mumford and Sons, not sure which song. 

6. The last thing I watched on TV was   old Gossip Girl episodes. This show is really awful, but it's good background noise.

7.  The last time I said "I love you" was three hours or so ago when I left J at work.

Fill in the Blank Friday Link Up

It's been forever since I've done a Fill in the Blank Friday post! So, here we go!

1.  Something I am very proud of is   my relationship with my husband. We've known each other since we were 14 and we have come SO far together, even just in the last year and ten months that we've been married.

2.  My favorite thing about myself is  that I'm reliable. People saying they'll do something and not following through is one of my very bigggest pet peeves. I'm pretty happy that I don't do that to others, at least not often and not if I can help it!

3.  My favorite color for fall is  dark plumb purple.

4. Something I've been learning lately is    that being unemployed isn't an excuse to sulk, it should be used as an opportunity to better myself. 

5. A book I am reading now/have read recently is  Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yes I know I'm like ten years behind, and yes this is the first time I've read the series. But I LOVE it!

6. My favorite Pandora Station is  currently Mumford and Sons or The Avett Brothers. 

7.  This weekend I will   be going to Sea World and watching football! Those Patriots better step it up, last week was just embarrassing!

The Liebster Award

Apparently I've been nominated for the Liebster Award, woot! My dear friend Kaity at (Bee)autiful Blessings nominated me, and as I've been pretty absent from the blogging world for awhile, this seems like a good thing to do t try to get back into it! Kaity says..

"The Liebster (a German word meaning dearest) Awards is given to bloggers by bloggers.  It is given to up and coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers.  It is a way to acknowledge and encourage each other, and a great way to spread the word about smaller blogs who deserve a larger audience. "

The rules are as follows:

1)  Each person must list 11 things about themselves.

2)  Answer the 11 questions that the tagger has set for you PLUS you MUST create 11 questions of your own for the 11 people you will nominate with the award.

3)  Choose up to 11 bloggers linking them to your post.

4)  Go to their pages and inform them of the nominations.

5)  Absolutely NO tag backs.

6)  Remember to ONLY tag bloggers with less than 200 followers. 

Since I only have six followers and one of them is Kaity, I'm afraid I'm going to be failing #3 and possibly #6. But I figured I'd be forgiven and I'm gonna do it anyway! So here we go.

11 Things about myself:

1: I just moved to Carlsbad, CA about a month ago. It's a little ocean town about 30 miles north of San Diego. I LOVE it here!

2: I'm originally from a teeny town in central New York and while I thought I'd always end up going back there someday, I can honestly say that with the exception of my family, I don't miss that place at all!

3: I'm currently on a journey of discovery, trying to figure out what on earth I want to do with my life. I consider myself a very purpose-driven person and I want to do something that matters.

4: My husband is a1st Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. The Corps and I have a love/hate relationship.

5: I have the best little fur-baby ever! My little bichon frise/maltese mix Miles will be my only child for a good, long time.

6: I'm currently reading the Harry Potter series...only 10 years late...

7: I consider myself a terrible writer, but apparently six people out there like reading what I have to say.

8: I have a bachelors degree in Sociology...which is good for nothing except getting into grad school.

9: I'm obsessed with nail polish. More specifically, Essie. I want it all!

10: I hate cooking, unless it's for guests.

11: Forrest Gump is my favorite movie of all time.

Questions From Kaity

1. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? 

I would love to go to Israel and see the places where major events in Christian history took places. But really, if I could go anywhere in the world, I'd go everywhere in the world.

2. What is your favorite vacation you've ever taken?

Probably my honeymoon to Cabo. Even though I was sick the entire time, it was still fantastic.

3. What celebrity would you want to be friends with?

Zooey Deschanel. I LOVE her. 
4. What book do you never tire of reading?

Other than story books when I was little, I've never read a book more than once. There are many books I love, but I just can't do the reading my favorite over and over thing.
5. What is your guilty pleasure TV show?

Teen Mom & Desperate Housewives!
6. If you could meet one of your blog friends in real life, who would you pick?

I hate to say this, but I'm such a sporadic blogger that I don't have 'blog friends'. :(

7. What are your favorite baby names?

Liam, Grant, and Sophie. If we have more than three kids I'm in trouble.
8. Where do you work?

I've unemployed at the moment. I got a call back for an interview at Pier 1 today though. I've been trying to call back all day and their phones are busy. Maybe it's a sign that I shouldn't be going back to menial part-time labor?
9. What is your dream job?

I would love love love to be a wedding planner. I had so much fun planning my own wedding, I can only imagine how much fun it would be to plan how to spend someone else's money! Plus I'm a detail/organization freak. I'd also love to be an event coordinator for a charity, or some kind of not-for-profit youth advocacy organization. 
10. What's your favorite childhood memory?

Oh man. There are so many. One that immediately comes to mind for whatever reason is when I wanted to play hair dresser with my sister and I came up with this beyond brilliant plan to use her play clothes dryer as a sink. So I told her to stick her head in the front loading hole. There was another hole in the top where I could stick my hands to 'wash' her hair. When I was done and told her to remove her head....it didn't come out. Yes, I got my sister's head stuck in the front of a fake dryer. Ohh good times.
11. What is your "love language"?

Definitely quality time. More than anything else in my relationships I crave intimacy. Not the physical kind, but the I-know-you-like-the-back-of-my-hand kind. My hubby turning off the tv, putting down his iPad, iPhone and iWatever and just focusing on me is the best feeling in the world.

So now I'm supposed to tag my blog friends and create questions...except that I don't really know anyone from the blogging world, except the lovely lady that nominated me and it would be kind of awkward to do this to someone that has no idea who I am. So I'm incredibly sorry to say that it ends here for me. But I hope you enjoy reading a little about me!