wk 48.

for memorial day, we went to fort rosecrans national cemetery to watch a little program about americas military history. it was a beautiful day. 

lifetime original series.

well, we were on national tv tonight. 

it was somewhat anti-climactic. 

when they finished filming us, they told us our clip would probably be on June 5th. 

we never heard anything else. then someone text me tonight and said "i'm watching you guys right now!" total bummer. i was hoping to write on here and inform you when it'd be on, and be able to tell my friends. 

nevertheless, it was really cute. they did such a good job. I even teared up, and i hadn't cried the actual day it all happened, haha. 

so, jon decided that he wanted to surprise his dad at a harley dealership. they're both really into motorcycles, so he thought it'd be really special to do that. i don't really know anything motorcycle, but i knew that idea was great, and it was even more special that it was jon's idea. 

so on April 11th and 12th, Jon and I hung out just the two of us. no one really knew that he was home, and his entire family especially didn't know. his mom and brother did a good job at keeping it secret. john and kathy got into town late on April 12th. the show had flown the two of them out here, reserved them a rental car, and reserved hotel in oceanside, so they drove up and crashed in their room. 

april 13th, kelly, the producer, calls us early in the morning to ask if Jonathan has his uniform ready. uh, what? we forgot that we had decided on that uniform. whoops! so we took it to the tailor the second they opened and paid extra for it to be done in two hours. we picked it up at noon, went home and got ready, and then left for the surprise at 1. 

jon and i were both a nervous wreck!! 

we got to the harley dealership at about 1:30 and planned the whole surprise. then we started filming. we filmed for about 1.5 hours there. they didn't show any of that on the episode, which i was glad about. i felt like the biggest tool in front of the cameras. 

then, i left to pick up john and kathy. ummm, talk about anxiety! i had to pretend nothing was up. kathy knew we were surprising john that day, but she didn't know how or when. john started asking me questions on the way to the dealership like "did they have you sign a waiver?" and "what is the title of this show?" and i just had to brush him off! 

he was probably like "ugh, my daughter in law is such a snob."

when we got to the dealership, they mic'd all three of us up. then, we got back in the car and drove up to the dealership again to make it seem like it was the first time on camera. so when you watch the show and see us pull up to harley, that was the second time:) (third time for me, since i'd been there already with jonathan!)

i had to pretend it was the first time meeting everyone at harley, because john didn't know i'd already filmed there that day. it was crazy. i was such the ball of nerves. 

we walked around the dealership for awhile, looking at motorcycles and talking about them.

one of the guys, mike, that was helping us looked a little bit like jonathan; kind of short and stocky. mike was actually a former marine with 3/5, which was cool. he has dark hair, you'll see him on the show. he came up and talked to john about the motorcycles before asking if he wanted to test drive one. john didn't know they were going to let him ride one, but he was hoping they would, so he said yes! and things fell into place. mike told john that someone would bring a bike out for him to ride, and that he(mike) was going to go in the back to get all suited up. he said that john could follow the camera van, and that he would just drive behind john as a liability.  john didn't ask any questions. so mike went out back, and told jonathan that everything was ready!!!! 

 jon out back, waiting for us to tell him its time to go!

jonathan riding behind his unsuspecting dad :)

they brought a bike out for john, and then jonathan drove around the dealership and started driving behind john. they drove around the block for a short period of time, though it seemed really long while we were all waiting for them. all of the employees came out of harley and were all waiting for the two boys to get back! it was so cute! 

 

scary and exciting waiting for them to arrive!!!

so john drove up and pulled in front of me. i was in charge of saying the punch line for the whole surprise. they didn't tell me that until john and jonathan were gone. i could have been going over what i was going to say!!! 

anyway, john pulls up and i start asking him how his ride was and if he liked the bike and if jonathan would like it etc etc etc, while jonathan is getting off the bike behind john and SLOWLY taking off his glovessss and unbuckling his helmettttt and just taking his time. finally, when it looked like jonathan was ready, i said to john "why don't you turn around and see who your escort was?" so john turned, and jonathan took off his helmet.  

it was so cute. john said that when i told him to turn around, it registered before he saw him. he was still SO surprised that jonathan was home already! the whole weekend, john dad kept telling us how happy he was and thanking us for surprising him. he also said (on camera) that i'm too good and keeping secrets, but i didn't take it to heart. 

we had a good day wednesday. jonathan and i got to sleep at the hotel with john and kathy, which was fun. we went out and walked around the beach in oceanside. i didn't think i liked oceanside, but this area was actually nice! then on thursday morning, April 14th, we went to a condo for more interviews. they interviewed me, kathy, jonathan, john, and then john and jonathan together. it took so long!!! about 4 hours. then we were DONE! 

the people working on the show were so much fun, and had such energy!

Jon Surprises His Dad for an Episode of the TV Show "Coming Home" from Double Scoop Photography on Vimeo.

Melodee wrote about the homecoming here and the surprise here.

it was such a fun experience! it was crazy watching the show and seeing how much they didn't put on there. hours and hours of filming for five minutes of air time! i guess that's how it goes. 

i'm sorry i couldn't tell you sooner when it'd be on, but watch it tomorrow (monday!) here! it's episode 12, "three cheers for dad". 

or watch it on hulu here.

by the way, no, jonathan didn't get a motorcycle out of it, but the four of us did get free harley swag. ha!

wk 47.

i love her so much. 

house tour: entryway.

it's a shame that this tiny space is what i call my entryway. its one of the only things i don't like about living here. its such a boring and cramped space, it's always awkward walking more than one person to the door. haha. 

 when you walk in the door, the stars are to the immediate right. Jon's mother gave us that picture of Christ, and my dad gave us the picture of the draper temple, where we wed. 

 this is the view of the door from the stairs. i hung that string up for christmas cards over the holidays and i ended up really liking it. my refrigerator just couldn't hold all the pictures of my loved ones that i wanted it to. :)

 here is the canvas close up, this photo doesn't do it justice. it's beautiful. 

 my cousins gave me this mirror when we got married. it was black, but i decided to spray paint it maroon to match the rug. i lovelove having it here. it's a perfect place for our keys and shades right when we walk in the door. not sure why Jon's dog tags and random keys are all tangled on the left hook, i guess he had no where else to put them. his chevrons are waiting to be pinned on his collar when he's done getting his uniform ready for monday, a little miniature mug that says alexandra on it from my grandma, and one of those diffuser things. i have been looking for a refill, but i'm not sure they sell the oil separately anywhere...........

 i got this big rug from homegoods. i love it. it was starting to get a little worn down, but we got our carpets cleaned last week and jon encouraged them to clean that rug, so it looks as good as new again! and i just got that little cheap rug on the right to match from kohl's. 

our cute little blue door! this is the only color we have in the whole house. having it painted makes such a big difference. jon was happy with it when he got home, though he said he wouldn't help me paint it back white.

we all know he will. 

the light switch next to the door turns on a light in the stairwell. we have a porch light, but no light switch for it................it is automatic. it turns on when it gets dark, and off when it gets light in the morning. so all the porch lights on our street go on or off at the same time. weird huh!

wk 46.

rumbi and i shnoogling after church. 

house tour.

we've lived in our little house for almost one year! i didn't realize how much things had changed here until i went back and looked at photos from when we moved in. then i got to thinking............................................it would be fun for you* (me) if i did a house tour of our little place with photos of how it looks currently. i always want to post about stuff around the house, and then never do, so i guess now is the time.......starting tomorrow, leading up until the 19th, when we moved in. 

 jon and i, sitting on the bench in our "front yard".
(i.e. little patch of garden that i had them weed and put bark in)

*funny. 

our first anniversary.

(super adorable card i made for jon....)

when we got married, we decided to keep up the tradition of getting your spouse a traditional wedding anniversary gift for every year you are together. my sister katie and her husband have been doing it for EIGHT years now. here is the list. 

First: Paper

Second: Cotton

Third: Leather

Fourth: Fruit or Flowers

Fifth: Wood

Sixth: Candy or Iron 

Seventh: Wool or Copper

Eighth: Bronze or Pottery

Ninth: Pottery

Tenth: Tin 

Eleventh: Steel 

Twelfth: Silk or Linen 

Thirteenth: Lace

Fourteenth: Ivory

Fifteenth: Crystal

Twentieth: China

Twenty-Fifth: Silver

Thirteieth: Pearls

Thirty-Fifth: Coral

Fortieth: Ruby

Forty-Fifter: Sapphire

Fiftieth: Gold

Fifty-Fifth: Emerald

Sixtieth: Diamond

how cute is that? i can't wait until we get to our fortieth, fiftieth, and sixtieth...

BUT, i love how they progressively (for the most part) get nicer and nicer. and I think it is so funny and cute that year one was paper since...that's about all anyone can afford on year one. 

we decided, somewhat last minute, that i was going to plan our celebration. 

we had a chocolate-chocolate cake for our wedding. we saved the top of it....but.....it got lost. my dad had his wedding cake AND our wedding cake in his freezer. they didn't eat their cake on their one year anniversary (or their second...or third...). he got a new freezer. he knew they were never going to eat theirs, so he threw it out. but...it was actually our cake that he threw out. not sure how you could confuse your white wedding cake for someone else's chocolate wedding cake-but that is neither here, nor there. we were pretty bummed, but realized that the cake probably wouldn't be any good, anyway. 

we had a random groupon that we had bought, so we decided to use that and go on a picnic. we drove downtown and got our pizza, then parked our car and took the ferry to coronado!!!

 here we are on the boat on the way there! it was so much fun to be out on the water with such beautiful views of both downtown and coronado island. 

when we got on the island, i had a teeny tiny surprise for jon. i had him walk to cold stone with me and pick up our personalized ice cream chocolate-chocolate cake! he was so surprised and the cake was absolutely magnificent! 

then we walked toward the beach to find some grass for our picnic. 

it was so fun, and our date couldn't have been more perfect. it was simple, and gave us a lot of time to talk and reminisce about our first year together. 

so, about the gifts...

jon bought a frame, and put our marriage license in it! how cute is that for a "paper" gift?? right now it is propped up on the new shelves above our desk. i love seeing it displayed with our dads signatures at the bottom as witnesses and the phrase at the top "Marriage for Time and Eternity."

for my gift to jon, i got us some flying paper sky lanterns. !!

i got us two, for fear that one of them wouldn't work. it was so much fun and we have decided to make it a tradition! every year, we are going to buy the same amount of lanterns as years that we have been married and set them free! i can not wait until our 50th anniversary when all our kids and grandkids are helping us light 50 lanterns to send up into heaven.  

it was the perfect day, and i look forward to many, many more anniversaries with my babos. ;)

one year wedding anniversary.

it has been exactly one year since i married this man.

it only feels like we've been married for five months, 

so it boggles my mind that we'll be celebrating our one year today. 

he was gone 7 months of our first year, but it was still the best year of my life. pretty good, eh?

love you, bebe.

homecoming.

here we go.

this was my life in the days leading up to Jon's arrival.

7 days before reuniting with jon. 

Amanda Marie and I made a welcome home banner. 

this was a king sized duvet cover that i cut and sewed smaller. amanda used her pretty handwriting and then we used yarn to stitch the letters in.

the tape on the left is to show how large the banner is! 

 

 6 days before. 

shopped for and picked out an outfit to wear when picking him up. something that hopefully wouldn't date the photos too much, something cute but doesn't make me look 12. breezy in case its hot, but still modest. 

ugh, it sounds as hard as it was to find. but i found it, thanks to my darling friend, jenni hens.

5 days before.

one thing i liked about having jon away: i could do anything to the house that i wanted.

i knew that was going to change when he got back. 

so i celebrated by painting the front door.

  4 days before. 

i hung jon's signs!!!!!!!! that way, the whole neighborhood could celebrate with me!

the last two (seven month old) jr mints tasted better than the first two fresh ones!

2 days before. finished painting the door, and cleaned the whole house.

1 day. 1 day before. the DAY before he got back.

 cleaned our car, to make him think it was that clean the whole time he was gone. 

freaked out, freaked out, freaked out.

and failed an accounting exam because i was too busy freaking out to study.

then the day finally came.
after 209 lonely days apart.

April 10, 2011.

The day i had been waiting for since we found out he was deploying, over a year ago.

on sunday, i woke up anxious and panicky. 

i text my favorite girlfriend from church to tell her i couldn't come because i was too....just too.

she said that she thought coming to church would help, so....reluctantly, i went. 

she was right, it did help.

after church, i went and visited with the Vigil's in Carlsbad. 

they are our biggest fans, they're so so good to us.

they helped me calm down and made me feel a lot better.

then i met up with AMANDA.

jon was supposed to get home at 3:50 pm. his flight got delayed, so we did what anyone else would do. ate mcdonald's and chocolate. 

and, as you can imagine, we regretted it soon after.

greasy mcdonald's food, soda+caffeine, sugar+chocolate mixed with anxiety isn't good for the belly. plus, we had driven off base to find a pf changs to fix our addiction to their dessert shots, so we were about 30 minutes from where we were supposed to pick jon up and it was getting REALLY close to that time. so, our nerves were through the roof.

 then, i got this alert. 

(the timing was a little off)

and that did it for me. we really needed to hurry. so we sped back up to camp pendleton!

 and once we got there, we realized that we hadn't written on the windows!

my phone was blowing up with texts from jon saying he was on base and that he would be there soon and that he was nervous and couldn't wait to see me, etc etc etc...and the producer was calling me over and over asking me where i was because we needed to get our microphones on and everything and i hadn't put any lipstick on, and i hadn't written on the windows yet and ahh! it was a lot!

after writing on the car, we ran over to the parade deck, met with jon's family, got our microphones put on, and pushed in front of the cameras. it seemed like ten hours, but i think it was actually ten minutes before the motorcycles pulled in, followed by the big white buses that me and all the families had been dreaming about for seven months. 

they all parked, and i looked in the third bus and saw a tiny little hand, waving at me out the window about six rows back. i waved back and when i couldn't handle it any longer, i ran to the bus that jon was in and he jumped out and ran to me and we hugged the best hug i've had, ever. and hugged and hugged. he was squeezing me so tight. then we looked at each other, i took off his cover and his shades and looked at that cute leathery, clean shaven face and relief washed over me. finally, my boy was home from war, safe and sound. and it wasn't a dream, it was for real. he looked cuter than i'd ever seen him look.

 he was sooo happy to be hanging out with his favorite twins again!

 this is the photo that i sent out to my family, letting them know that he was home.

my car, on the way to dinner.

we all ate at the California Pizza Kitchen in La Jolla afterwards, and this was our view as we left the restaurant. 

the beautiful San Diego Temple. 

Welcome Home, Jon from Double Scoop Photography on Vimeo.

video from my amazing photographer. 

Double Scoop Photography.