october 31.

our first "date". 

two years ago.

happy halloween.

wk 18.

i lost my camera battery when i moved to california.

any pictures we have, we took with jon's little camera.

now i dont have a little camera and NEVER take pictures.

this is at amanda's birthday party.

it was SO much fun!

and this is the only photo i have of just me...

oh this picture a week is getting old but i will not give up...

the truck.

jon has a few friends that are into cars like he is, i told them that they can borrow the truck whenever they need it. i never drive it, and it can't just sit in our driveway the whole time he's gone. so our neighbor and borrowed the truck today.

he turned it on and revved the engine. it's so weird how much it sounded like jon.

he's been driving that truck ever since we started dating. 

usually i'd be upstairs talking to my dad in his office when jon would drive up. i could hear him coming into our neighborhood. i loved when he was in town, home from training, and driving his truck.  

one night before he went to boot camp, we said goodbye, and he drove home. 

i got a text from our friend in the neighborhood 

"Did Jon just leave?"

"yes he did...."

"Ha ha. I can hear him leave your house everynight."

then we got married and moved out here. we shared my car for like two weeks. for those two weeks, he wasn't going to work. (!!!:))

at the end of may, his mom drove out here for a vacation andd....brought his truck!

it was nice because in june, he started working at pendleton, so it got harder to share a car.

he would only drive his truck sometimes, it takes a lot of gas.

i loved it when he did, though. 

in the mornings, jon would get up really early, get ready, eat breakfast...etc.....and start his truck. then he would come up and tell me goodbye. kissing me was the last thing he always did before going to work. then i'd lay in bed and hear him drive away. usually i'd fall back to sleep, and the next time i heard his truck meant that he was home for the day! i told him he had to drive a certain way home, because that meant that i could see and hear his truck in the neighborhood before he got to our street. 

i really missed him today when i heard his truck.

i do appreciate nights like this, where i miss him so much that i feel i would do anything for a hug. 
i just love that man so much.

wk 17.

the only picture i have with these girls that are so dear to me.

katie, me, lindsey, tranique.

honeymoon.

jon and i got married, and the next day packed up all our furniture, clothes and other belongings to move to california and start our new life together.

we stayed a couple nights in salt late here and here. 

both hotels were beautiful and i would stay there again so fast.

we drove to las vegas and stayed here which was soo nice.  

then we drove to california and stayed...here.

hotels on base could use some work, ummm...i was grateful to get housing so fast.

anyway...

moral of the story is-we didn't get a legit honeymoon.

marrying jon and moving to san diego together is honeymoon enough, but we want to go on vacation. to a romantic place.

i'm thinking east coast-

Annapolis, MD?

i would love to stay in a pretty bed and breakfast there. 

like this. 

that looks so quaint and pretty. 

hawaii-

quite typical and we've both been there a lot.

but the pretty beach and perfect weather would be ideal.

(thanks stacy)

orrrr

catalina island. 

if we went here, we could just drive to long beach and take a little boat to the island for like $60 a person. then we could use the airfare we would have used for the other places on a nicer hotel or fun activities...zip lines..massages. 

it would still be like a vacation, away and on a little island.

the weather wouldn't be anything to write home about, i'm sure its the same as san diego. 

soo...please help.

i'd love advice and ideas. places that you went or have been, places you've wanted to go. we want to stay in america. i don't know if jon can go out of the country? so it's easier to stay here. we want to go over our one year anniversary in may. hopefully he's home in time!

thank you, i am so looking forward to what you have to say. 

too cute.

pet peeve of mine=

having to open the lid of the egg holder to get eggs out.

solution=

cute ceramic egg crates

thank you anthropology for having such cute ones.

thank you homegoods for having the same ones in white for $4.99.

i bought two.

you don't even have to find a place to store the second one:)

and by the way, don't even try using the homegoods website. terrible.

one month down.

it's been one month since i dropped this man off to be taken away on a long white bus to a far off place.

this month has been filled with new friends, full nights of sleep (i have a hard time sleeping with jon in our full bed...call me crazy), lots of work out sessions, a new internship, new recipes and phone calls and emails from my husband. 

it's actually been a lot easier than i expected, i think we both prepared ourselves really well.

jon loves what he is doing. 

he likes not having a toilet.

he likes having supplies get dropped from helicopters because they are in such a remote place. 

he likes sleeping on a cot in a tent with dirt floors.

he likes doing the whole camp out thing with the guys.

i like having a house to myself.

i like doing laundry for one. 

i like having the same income that we used for two people, only being used for one.

and i like being in a position where i HAVE to make friends. 

isn't that funny?

i do miss getting a goodnight kiss and pushing jon off of me in the night then laughing about it in the morning. 

i miss being excited during the day for him to get off work.

i miss sitting next to him in church and seeing how cute he is with our primary kids.

i miss cooking together, cuddling together, and laughing together.

i even miss fight cleaning together.

cleaning by yourself with no one to fight with is SO uneventful.

all in all, its been a good month. i'm excited to keep pushing onward for another 6 months until he gets home. 

i've been fine without him, but i do love life with my best friend. 

♥♥♥

How to be alone by Tanya Davis.

This is a really great video and poem.

If you are at first lonely, be patient. 

If you've not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren't okay with it, then just wait. 

You'll find it's fine to be alone once you're embracing it.

Tthere's prayer and meditation. No one will think less if you're hanging with your breath seeking peace and salvation.

When you are comfortable with eat lunch and run, take yourself out for dinner. 

Go to the movies. Where it is dark and soothing. Alone in your seat amidst a fleeting community. 

And then, take yourself out dancing to a club where no one knows you. Stand on the outside of the floor till the lights convince you more and more and the music shows you. Dance like no one's watching...because, they're probably not. And, if they are, assume it is with best of human intentions. 
Go to an unfamiliar city, roam the streets, there're always statues to talk to and benches made for sitting give strangers a shared existence if only for a minute and these moments can be so uplifting and the conversations you get in by sitting alone on benches might've never happened had you not been there by yourself

Society is afraid of alonedom, like lonely hearts are wasting away in basements, like people must have problems if, after a while, nobody is dating them. But lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it.

Perhaps in the interest of loving oneself, perhaps all those sappy slogans from preschool over to high school's groaning were tokens for holding the lonely at bay. Cuz if you're happy in your head than solitude is blessed and alone is okay.

 take silence and respect it. 

you could be in an instant surrounded if you needed it.

If your heart is bleeding, make the best of it.

There is heat in freezing, be a testament.

guest post.

i wrote a guest post for Goodnight Moon! this morning. 

my first one....

check it out here. 

this weekend-

-lunch with jenni from high school tomorrow. 

-my friend katie is coming over to hang out, go walking and see a movie with two other couples. katie's man is also deployed...we're each others date.

-on saturday, katie is coming over again and we are spending the day watching Army Wives. 

that's my whole weekend.

and i'm excited about it. 

is that bad?:)

wk 16.

Miramar Air Show 2010.

amanda came and spent the weekend with me so that we could go to the show.

we were both 100% amazed. it was awesome.

Candy Inspired Goodies.

Today I am having a guest blogger!
It is my dear friend Emma. 
We have known each other quite sometime now.
We went to high school together and have stayed friends.
Many of you know her and know that her blog is one of the cutest!
She blogs about baking, fashion, cooking and life with her cute husband.
(who was the disc jockey at our wedding)
I asked her to share some fun treats on my blog, and she said that she would!
Here is the post from Emma the Joy.


With Halloween just around the corner I have loved getting in the mood by baking yummy treats filled with my favorite candy.  It totally beats trick-or-treating...which I seriously miss...

Twix Cheesecake Pie

Ingredients:

2 8-ounce bars of cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

8-inch chocolate cookie pie crust

1 bag fun size twix candy bars

Preparation:

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with the sugar and eggs.  Mix in 16 chopped twix bars {about 2 cups}; pour into the chocolate cookie pie crust.  

Bake at 325 degrees until set, 40 to 45 minutes; cool.  Sprinkle with 6 chopped twix bars; chill until firm.

 Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 12-ounce package small peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Preparation:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment or wax paper.  In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.  

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until creamy.  Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine.  Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated.  Fold in the peanut butter cups.

Drop tablespoon-sized mounds of dough 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.  Bake until light brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to a baking rack to cool.

These are both super delicious and are sure to please all you candy lovers out there.  Enjoy!

Recipes adapted from Real Simple.

19 days.

gone 19 days and it feels like at least a month. i guess it almost is. 

what have i been doing for 19 days?

i've been going to the gym very frequently.

amanda and i decided to go 5 times a week

my new girlfriend, lindsey, and i go 5 times a week together. i feel great.

i've been trying to cook. i cooked chicken for the first time. ever.

i bought herbs and started a garden! 

(no one of my plants hasn't died already.)

i've been spending lots of time with other couples. its more fun than it sounds.

will, tranique, and i went to a crazy diner. 

the tables were glow in the dark. i still can't figure out how this worked.

i made a new friend! she came over and we made packages to send to our loves ones. her marine left a couple days before jon did. she's very fun.

rumbi gets in my way allllll day long.

i didn't put that paint on her face. 

we finally got a rainstorm! it was POURING rain! it was really pretty.

then afterwards....i saw a rainbow.

a double rainbow in fact.

it went all the way across!

i don't know what it means...?

and lastly, i've been watching movie after movie.

Date Night--So so funny. I loved how they portrayed marriage.

very cute movie.

The Back Up Plan--typical J.Lo movie, but pretty good. I love those cheesey movies.

In Her Shoes-Kind of graphic...it was rated PG-13 though. It was cute and VERY long. I don't know how many more times i could ever watch it, but i'd definitely recommend it.

these are all the movies i borrowed from lindsey.
they'll keep me busy for a week or so:)