three years.

three years ago, on September 14th, 2010, Jon left for 7 months to serve in Operation Enduring Freedom in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

this day, and the months following rocked our world. 

i'm grateful every. single. day. to have him home safe and pray so hard for the men and women still over there and the families left behind and especially for those whose loved ones haven't and won't come home.

ashton+aaron

we made friends, ya'll.

jon googled a salon to get his haircut at and met a nice girl whose fiancé was also a former marine! he got me a coupon for $15 off, so i went in and got my haircut from ashton as well. turns out she's as cute and funny as jon described and we hit it off right away. we exchanged numbers and almost immediately planned to go to Main Event to bowl and laser tag, our favorite!!!!!

the four of us all get along really well and it already seems like we've been friends forever.

on august 25th, i went up to this tiny town about 3 hours away with ashton and her two friends amanda and kelsey for her bridal photos!!! it blewwww myyyy mind. there are actually little towns like this, you guys. i was taking pictures to show jon because i was so surprised. we didn't even have cell phone service.

i knowwww the trailer, but look how pretty she is!

the pictures turned out perfect, ashton is so beautiful. there are so many sentimental details about the photos/her dress/her wedding that make it so special. also this was the day i realized that i had to come to terms with the fact that i didn't want cowboy boots, i needed them.

we left the little ranch at like 10 pm and were all starving. my new friends taught me that DQ is "texas' stop sign" because you just have to stop and eat there. ashton was looking beautiful with her make up and hair done so when she got to the drive up window she said to us "they probably think we're in a country band because i look so fancy" and from the backseat i hear kelsey (the sassy one) say "yeah ashton. in a honda." soo funny. 

this was a few weeks later when we tried and failed to go to the fair. 

amanda, ashton and i. 

(i'm borrowing amanda's boots)

ashton and aaron's wedding was on september 7th. 

a perfectly beautiful day at a perfectly beautiful golf club. 

aaron and his mom.

ashton's mother passed away when ashton was in high school. this is her step dad escorting her mom's mom down the aisle. 

the whole wedding party arrived and stood behind the audience until two by two they walked down the aisle. as the flower girl and ring bearer were walking down the aisle, a golf cart pulled up with ashton facing the back. she stepped off the golf cart and didn't turn around until it was her time to have her dad escort her down the aisle. i didn't even see the flower girl because i was so busy watching aaron see ashton for the first time. his eyes were fixed on her and he was trying to hold back tears. he later told me that "she looked more beautiful than i could have ever imagined."

it was the most romantic little wedding ever, i loved every second of it. 

i did it. i bought myself a pair of brand spankin new cowboy boots. i'm not going to lie, i've always wanted a pair. but when it really came down to it and i was picking the ones i wanted, it was the weirdest thing in the world. this new little life of ours is a far cry from the life that we had in san diego. i told myself i'd jump in with both feet (ha) and we are doing just that and are learning to love san antonio and the texas culture more and more.

see what i mean about a far cry? have you ever seen these before!! long horns! i saw them on our drive to take ashton's pictures and pointed them out to the girls and they said "yeah, we're in texas. you'll see those a lot." for some reason i thought it was uncommon to see longhorns, but i guess it isn't.

cows are my favorite animals or at least tied for favorite with cats, horses, and puppies. but don't make the same mistake we did at the wedding-touching, prodding and pulling on the horns. jon was squatting in between the two horns when the cow turned his head to walk away and got jon's arm with one of his horns. luckily it didn't rip his suit but the next day he had a bruise right there. amateurs...

here are the newlyweds during their first dance! it was such a special night, i'm so glad we've met these two and were able to celebrate the day with them. during ashton's speech she let her true colors come out when she thanked her salon sisters for making her look like a princess and then said "yeah, that's right ya'll, i look like a princess!" but the best part was when she said that she and aaron met through tragedy, and that he was the one to "bring my smile back." they are the best together, jon and i love them so much and are so happy that they are married.

i miss you.

when i was growing up and i would have my friends drop me off, i used to stand right in front of the door and ring the doorbell. my grandma would alwayyys check the window next to the door to see who was there since we didn't have a peep hole and since i was standing in front of the door she couldn't see me. no matter how many times i did it, she was still surprised when she opened the door and i was face to face with her! she'd always say "oh, hi dear!"

about a month into living in new york city i did a crazy thing and purchased a plane ticket the night before take off and flew home. my friend kalie picked me up from the airport and dropped me off at my dads. i hid my suitcase behind me, hid behind the door and rang the doorbell. my gran came to the door and when she looked out the window and didn't see anyone, she opened the door. her face went white and it looked like she had seen a ghost. she was so taken back! she had a hard time wrapping her mind around me actually being there, in the flesh! after she got over the initial shock, she was excited and immediately offered to make me some lunch.

we took this picture just a few minutes after i'd surprised her at the door. 

i miss her so much. i so badly want to call her and hear her cheerful voice and little laugh. at 87 she was still way too spunky and sassy. she was the best, the very best. 

i'm a travel agent.

yep, you read that right! my dad and i started a franchise with Cruise Planners and we now have our ownnnn business!! we signed up with them way back in april. we were going to go to training in june, but my dad had all of his heart stuff going on so we pushed it back. i've been laying low about it because i wanted to go to training and learn more about the company.

we went to ft. lauderdale, fl the week before last and had an entire week of classes, learning and cruise ship tours! we had to be at the convention center at 7am everyday and we wouldn't leave there until around 5 or 6pm. we'd get dinner and go home to just lay in our hotel beds, we hardly did any site-seeing at all! haha...it was so fun to be there with my dad though and we laughed so much.

the first night we were there we had a cocktail party. i thought this was so funny because my dad does freelance work for a woman in georgia and he got on the hotel computer during our work party to do work for his other client. that man.

after the welcome party on tuesday we went out. i went for my 3 mile run and my dad went walking. i made it down to the beach! it wasn't as hot as san antonio is, but it was way more humid! i ran along the beach for maybe 1/4 of a mile before realizing it was the worst idea ever and found myself back on pavement. it was the only time during that trip that i went running even though i had big plans to do so. just too busy!

wednesday is the day that i ate nonstop. they constantly had food for us and i took advantage of it entirely. have you ever eaten so much that you threw up? i hadn't either until this fateful day. i woke up at 11:30 pm and tossed my cookies (and cake...and chipotle) then fall back to sleep and didn't wake up until the morning. weirdest thing ever!

 

Don Shula was the coach for the Miami Dolphins and apparently has steakhouses throughout florida and has started opening burger places called shula burger. it was pretty good.

cruise planners gave everyone $25 american express gift cards because the whole day we were running behind and we are partnered with american express. we took our cards and went out for a nice dinner at bimini boatyard bar and grill. i went out on a limb and ordered mahi mahi (this is about the time i found out that 'mahi mahi' and just 'mahi' are the same thing. i'm glad i asked my dad and not the waiter). we started out on the patio but it started pouring rain!!!!

on saturday we got to go to miami and tour the carnival liberty! it was so cool to be able to see all the different suites! they served us an awesome lunch which included crab cakes, salad, steak and creme brûlée. are you getting a good understanding as to why i threw up the first day there? 

check me outttt.

on sunday, our last day in florida, we got to tour the largest cruise ship in the world! royal caribbean's "allure of the seas"! it was a night and day difference from the carnival liberty. it is HUGE and has so many cool amenities! we got to see the largest suite on the ship (there is only one of these rooms) and it was beautiful. they had their own loft, hot tub out on their personal balcony and a baby grand piano in their living room. amazing. the other rooms were awesome too and the coolest thing about this ship is the option to have a room with a window or balcony looking into the interior of the ship.

it was such a fun trip! i love being business partners with my dad.

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this is my one plug for robinson's cruise planners, my blog isn't going to turn into a business blog. i just wanted to let everyone know what i am up to!