wk 26.

this is when my gf katie and i walked across the bridge in balboa. 

it was such a fun and pretty night. 

i loved the view of downtown san diego. 

wk 25.

oh this is so difficult. i've been forgetting to consciously take photos for this. 

because of that, all my photos end up being the same.

i'm going to try harder and start taking pictures just for my year in photos. 

its already been five months since i started! i think i will stop a little short of a year on our anniversary and then do a different photo a week. then it'll coordinate with the years we have been married. maybe next year will be a photo of jon every week! i dont think i'll blog it, but that's a pretttty good idea.... 

here is the photo. i took it to send to jon. he's the only thing missing... :)

harry potter+american accent.

i am on such the harry potter kick. when i was home for halloween, my two bff's and i decided to read the whole series again. i'm on book four now and just loving it. the first three were quite a struggle to get through...

i haven't ever read books 6 and 7. i'm trying to get through the series before someone ruins the ending! please don't ruin it. i saw the 7th movie and loved.

anyway, i viewed this video and thought it was so cute.

hermione is so cute/funny and ron...swoon. 

moving up in the world.

not me of course. jon!

remember this?

well, it's happening again!

jon is getting promoted tomorrow my time, probably right now his time.

he's going from lance corporal to corporal! 

here is a little explanation of his new rank for myself/family:

"Corporal (Cpl) is the fourth enlisted rank in the U.S. Marine Corps. The Marine Corps, unlike the Army, has no other rank at the pay grade of E-4. Corporal is the lowest grade of non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, though promotion to Corporal traditionally confers a large jump in authority and responsibility compared to promotion from Private through Lance Corporal. 

"Theoretically, Marine Corporals generally serve as "fire-team leaders," commanding a 4-man team or unit of similar size" blah blah blah...

so it's a big deal! i am so so proud of him. 

oh, and to make it a little bit cooler-he's getting meritoriously promoted.

"In addition to the "normal" promotion system, commanders can promote a very few, outstanding Marines via the Meritorious Promotion System."

basically...in order to get promoted, you have to serve a specific amount of time, get good scores athletically and take lots of tests. that all adds up to a certain amount of points...lets just say, jon wasn't ready to be promoted. according to his score, he shouldn't have been. the guys above him thought he needed to get promoted anyway, so they all gave him good markings and said good things about him. they sent a packet to one of the main guys over in afghanistan. he looked at a lot of packets and only promoted SEVEN people! and jon was one of the seven!!

and to make it just a LITTLE bit cooler, i guess it's a big deal that he got promoted in a combat zone and will look good on his marine corps record. 

he is such a good boy, and i could brag for hours on end. 

i'll just stop with CONGRATULATIONS JON! i wish i could be there!

holidays.

i spent last week at home with my family.

it was such a short trip but very fun and so beautiful.

we left the NIGHT before it started dumping snow!! i'm so glad of it too. i don't do cold very well, but i do appreciate the beauty of it......

my dad said he kept shoveling all day yesterday.

it took TWELVE hours to drive from st george to san diego. it should have taken MAYBE nine. it was such a jokeeee. i'm happy to be back in sunny california. the weather has started to turn more fall-like. it has been about 55 degrees. today, my friend katie and i went and bought me a tree! it was the oddest thing, buying a christmas tree down in the city, just a few blocks from the beach. 

i came home and decorated it with this cutie-

he isss the sweetest. 

him and my lil cat kept me company while i strung the lights and added the ornaments.

look how cute. i got a tree for my bedroom a couple years ago. it was tiny. 

this tree i got is so big, i don't have quite enough ornaments to cover it! i'm excited to start collecting ornaments for jon and i over the years. i already got us two this year...they are so perfect and special. 

it's bitter sweet decorating without him... however, he deployed at a perfect time.

halloween, thanksgiving, christmas...etc. the holidays are such a happy time of year. its so nice to have things to look forward to and enjoy with my friends here and family back home. and i'm not mad about this deployment being 35% over....horrayyy..:)

wk 24.

this is the only photo i have of myself last week. 

hmm, what does this mean?

365 days ago. :)!

one year ago jon proposed to me here:

with this beautiful ring:

this is how happy i was:

and this is where we decided to get married. 

our lives have changed so much in just one year. 

he makes me so happy. i remember exactly how i felt last year. 

all through college, i wore a ring on my wedding ring finger.

i was wearing it the day he proposed. he doesnt know this, but i took that ring off when we went on our walk. he proposed on our walk...

boy, i read you so well.

thank you for proposing to me. and thank you for not doing it in public. 

you know me well, and i love you for it.