Our First Thanksgiving

Our most recent adventures were over Thanksgiving. It was our first Thanksgiving spent together in person and I'd say it was a major success :) We both had off Thursday and Friday to make it a long weekend. Thursday during the day we hung out and just relaxed. In  the evening we went over to Robbie's coworkers house for dinner and a bonfire. We hung out there until late in the evening. It was a relaxing and fun night. Friday we drove up to Anaheim. We got a late start and didn't leave until after lunch. We got a hotel, did some Black Friday shopping once we made it to Anaheim and called it an early night.

Saturday we went to Disneyland for the day. This is something that is on my bucket list to do before moving. I have only been once back in 2009 when I first moved to CA. And I was really wanting to go during Christmastime to see all the decorations. We spent the day there walking around, riding rides, eating and watching shows. We also did a little shopping..I had to get Minnie ears!! It was so much fun! We didn't even get to everything but we brought 3 day passes that we can use on any days for a year so we are planning to go again two more times before we're gone. Here are some photos of our Disney adventures :)

On Sunday we drove home and were lucky enough to leave early enough that we beat all the horrible traffic. Once we got back we ran errands. Monday I ended up taking off from work as well. I was already off in the morning because Robbie had a promotion ceremony at work. He got promoted to Sergeant. I'm so proud of him! Me and our friend Matt were able to pin him for his ceremony. They ended up giving him the rest of the day off from work so I ended up taking off as well. We relaxed and hung out with some friends. Here are some photos from Robbie's promotion ceremony :)

Happy Birthday Marines!!

On November 5th I was able to attend the US Marine Corps Birthday Ball with my handsome Marine! Last year at this time he was deployed. This year he was here and we were able to go. I was so excited! I went shopping with my friend Jessica one weekend for a dress. We found some we liked and we took photos with the dresses and tags so we could look online. The dress that I loved I was able to finally find online for a cheaper price so I ordered it. It shipped from China and I worried I wouldn't get it in time but I did. The dress however, was too big once I got it so I had to get it altered. Something I was not anticipating having to do. Luckily they were able to get it back to me in time for the ball as well.

The day of the ball Robbie worked and half day and I took off the whole day. Jessica and I hung out all day and ran errands. Once her husband and Robbie got off work we all met up at Jessica's house. We got ready together doing our hair and make up then headed up to the hotel the ball was being held at. It was in Valley Center, CA in the middle of nowhere lol. The hotel was part of a resort with a casino and pretty big. We waited in a long line to check in, got our rooms, ran up to them got dressed, did some make up/hair touch ups, took some quick photos, met up with some of their other coworkers and friends and then hurried down to the ball room for the event.

We quickly found our seats and the ceremony started. They had someone speaking and welcoming us. Then they brought the flags in, a band marched/played, the cake was brought in and cut. They had guests of honor that spoke. After all that was said and done we had a little break then they served dinner. Afterwards we were able to just walk around, take photos, go outside, go to the casino and just hang out. They had dancing and music. I spent the majority of my time with Jessica. Robbie seemed to know everyone and everyone knew him. He got pulled in a bunch of different directions all night. I was so thankful that I knew some people and had a female friend I could hang out with! All in all the night was fun! It wasn't what I was expecting but it was a good time. Here's come photos of us :)

Halloweentime

Our Halloween was good. It was our first Halloween spent together in person. We both worked during the day and then went over to our friends Tyler & Jessica's house for a party. We dressed up as Zack Morris and Kelly Kapowski from Saved by the Bell. One of my favorite shows and TV couples! :) I originally sent Robbie a photo of Zack & Kelly back either right before he got home from deployment or right before after saying we should be them for Halloween. Robbie agreed and we ended up sticking to that plan. He even kept his hair longer on top and brought a sweater at a thrift shop to be more like Zack. Here's some photos of our fun night :)

So Many More Adventures

Wow here I go again taking so long to write a new post. Sorry guys! It's been a crazy couple of months! Because it's been so long I'm going to have to write a few posts to make up for everything we've been up to! Since my last post about our LA trip we have been busy busy! At the beginning of October we went to the military airshow at Robbie's base. It was my first airshow in years and Robbie's first since being in the Marine Corps! It was hot but we had a lot of fun. We got to see the Blue Angels fly and some other planes, even some from Robbie's base.

We've were super busy in November! We've been working hard on crossing off items on our bucket lists of things to do out here before we move. More on some of the bigger items on our list later. But we did get to go see one of my favorite country singers, Jerrod Niemann in concert at the House of Blues and we went to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA that was a blast! Its smaller than the one in Colorado Springs but still fun! We walked around the grounds and took photos. Here's some photos from our trip :)

The Past Couple Weeks & The Next 6 Months

Wow for the past couple weeks things have been busy--with a capital B!!! I'm trying to think of what we have done since my last post and I don't even know lol. Work has been crazy and I've had a couple long days the last couple weeks. On Friday's after work we've been taking a marriage/couples class at our church. Its been so nice just getting to meet other young couples and have good Bible based discussions. Its been giving us more to talk about and I see more how much our views and beliefs are alike. It has been very helpful to me and has been fun!

We've just been trying to relax a little bit (which hasn't really been happening) and just hanging out with friends a lot. We've gone to a couple movies. Robbie and I had a date night and saw the new "Left Behind" movie. This past weekend I went with a girlfriend to see the new Nicholas Sparks movie/chick flick "The Best of Me" while Robbie went to see a scary movie I didn't want to see lol.

I've still been posting daily on the Facebook page Our Military Love Story that I mentioned joining a little while ago. That has been fun! I love getting comments and responses and getting all the fans of the page talking and interacting with each other. Its awesome to see such a good community for military significant others/spouses! The other ladies who are Admins of the page are great as well! Its nice getting to know them a little bit as well and to know we're all going through the same things together.

I do have some really exciting news to share! We finally heard back last night that Robbie's reenlistment got approved! We are both super excited! I'm so relieved and happy to finally have an answer and an idea of what is going on. As of right now it looks like we'll be moving the NC in June. Things can always change until we get official orders but that is the time frame we were given and the word right now. We've been planning that this was going to be happening next year but its so surreal thinking about it actually happening! Better get ready East Coast I'm coming back! ;)

As exciting as everything is it also feels like a time crunch--June is only about 6 months away! So for the next 6 months we're going to be busy Busy BUSY!! We've already been making a Bucket List of things to do on the West Coast before we move and now that we have a time to get it all done by we're going to be running around a lot I have a feeling! Not to mention the next couple weeks and months in general are super busy with lots of excitement planned!

This weekend we have a Luke Bryan concert. Next weekend is Halloween. November 5th is Robbie's USMC ball that we are attending. End of November is Thanksgiving. Then there's Christmas (with a possible trip to visit Robbie's family) and New Years. February is Valentines Day and a dual birthday trip to Vegas for Robbie's 30th and our friend Jessica's 21st. March is the only chill nothing-planned-as-of-yet month. April we're going to the 3-day country music festival Stagecoach again. May will be crazy with packing and getting ready to move and then June is the big move. So much to do, so little time! So much fun to have and be had, so little time! So much planned, so little time!

All in all, I'm super excited to see where our future takes us and to be near my family once again. Our friends Tyler & Jess are also supposed to move to NC (right near us) in July! I'm super excited that we will be going to roughly the same place together around the same time. It will make our move and life in NC that much easier! There are so many things we want to do out here before we move and I just hope we'll get to do most of them. So many plans to be made and lots of excitement to come. I'm so glad to have this prayer answered in such a beautiful way! I'm so thankful to now have a time line to be able to make our future plans and move forward with them. The best is yet to come :)

Happy October

Wow it's hard to believe it's already October! All my friends are excited its finally Fall season and I've been seeing all the Fall decorations in stores. Well even though it's Fall out here in California it still feels like summer! This weekend the weather is supposed to be in the 100s. Even though its been pretty warm I enjoy it. That just means more beach days before it starts getting too cold to go :)

Since my last post things have been just as busy! On Sept 25th Robbie and I and a couple friends went to another country concert. Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line & Tyler Farr all played. We left late for the concert and traffic was a nightmare! By the time we got there, parked and walked into the ampitheater we only saw Florida Georgia Line sing one song and then saw all of Jason Aldean. The place was PACKED with so many people it was hard to move around. But it was fun!

Last weekend on Saturday, Robbie and I drove up to Corona to visit my friends Ashley and Desiree. We hung out there all night and went to dinner. Afterwards we drove over to LA. Sunday we spent the day hiking to the Hollywood sign. Something that has been on my bucket list for awhile. We went in the afternoon and it was a nice day. It was a little warm but the breeze on the hills kept it cool. The sky was gorgeous and blue and it was very sunny. There was no smog over LA either! It was the perfect day for our hike! We stopped to take many pictures along the way. All in all the whole hike up, the breaks in between and the hike back down it took a total of about 4 hours. But it was worth every second of it!

After hiking we were pretty beat. We got dinner and chilled the rest of the night and I passed out early! Monday, we both had off work and went over the Thousand Oaks to visit the Law Office I used to work at when I lived up there. We were able to visit with all 3 of my old co-workers/boss. It was great to see everyone! Even though we didn't do all the sightseeing/touristy type stuff in LA we were hoping to do it was a great trip! I was glad we were able to see so many people that I hadn't seen in so long!

Since coming back to San Diego on Monday things have been busy here. Just working and trying to relax in the evenings. We're gearing up for another busy weekend this week as well. Robbie's base has an Airshow going on all weekend. He's working it today and we're planning on going to watch and enjoy all day tomorrow. Sunday will be errand day as usual. I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll try to write again soon. Until then, here's some pictures from our weekend in LA :)

A Couple Weeks Later

Well it has now been a couple weeks since my last post...I know, I know. I'm trying to get into the swing of this but life is busy! Work is going well. Last week was crazy busy and I worked some OT on most days. This week so far has been a lot calmer, thankfully. I have been able to get some minor things done at work that have been stacking up because they aren't urgent of have time limits to when they can get done. Getting all caught up on everything is nice.

The weekend after Labor Day was fun! Saturday the 6th I went to a huge country concert. I went with Robbie, my friend Jessica and another friend, Delaney. We went a little early to tailgate and made it into the arena in time for all the singers to begin. The "Ten Times Crazier Tour" featured singers: Blake Shelton, The Band Perry, Dan+Shay, and Neal McCoy. It was a blast!!!

This past weekend was a busy one as well!! My old roommate and friend Brittany was in town visiting from NYC on Friday. We went out and BBQ'd with some friends and spent the night out in PB. Saturday night Robbie and I went out downtown with some of his co-workers to watch the boxing fight. After the fight we stayed out and downtown for awhile with everyone. It was a blast but a lot more weekend running around than I am used to these days. Sunday was our relax and do nothing day. Robbie and I watched TV most of the day and I took a nap. It was very relaxing and just what I needed to rest up for this week of work.

Me, Brittany (visiting from NYC) & Ashley (one of my current roomies)

Other exciting news I have is I joined a Military Significant Other Community page on Facebook called "Our Military Love Story". I have been thinking about starting a page and blog of my own for military girlfriends/wives as a place to share stories and connect and a way to meet others who are going through the same things. I came across the "Our Military Love Story" page just recently and have been enjoying it! Over the weekend they put up a posting saying they were looking for a new Admin to join the page and post along with the current girls who do so. I jumped at the chance and contacted them. I joined the team on Saturday night and started posting on Sunday morning. So far I am loving it!! It is exactly what I was thinking of doing on my own but with others and the page is already established. The page currently has 2,126 likes on Facebook. I post regularly every morning from 8:00am-12:00pm (CA time). So if you're ever on check it out! If you know of any Military significant others and spouses that are looking to connect with each other please send them our way! The links are below :)

https://www.facebook.com/OurMilitaryLoveStory

What a Great Labor Day Weekend

This Labor Day weekend was much needed and enjoyed! The whole weekend was beautiful weather, warm and sunny!

Closing out the work week on Friday was a busy day at work for me as we had company photos and lunch brought in. I spent the morning getting all caught up on my work and spent the rest of the day running errands, setting up for lunch, taking company photos, helping with the photos and cleaning up after all the days events. After getting off at 5:00pm, traffic was a little mellower than usual and I got home in my normal commute time. Friday night was spent relaxing, making dinner and watching TV with Robbie, then hitting the hay fairly early.

Saturday I woke at 8;00am and did chores around the house. Ate lunch about 1:00pm then Robbie and I headed out to the beach. We went to one of my favorite beach spots, Coronado Island and drove around exploring some of the parts I hadn't seen yet. We ended up going to a brand new beach to me south on the island called Silver Strand Beach. Robbie got in the water while I laid out, soaking up with sun. We walked around some then headed to Seaport Village downtown. We walked around the Port of San Diego, saw the famous World War II sailor and nurse statue, took photos and walked along the water looking at the ships. There were some festivals going on but by the time we got there they were closing down as it was getting dark. We never made it back to check it out before the weekend was up.

On Sunday we slept in, and tuned into church via live viewing online. After church we ate some lunch quickly and then headed to Seaworld. Robbie and I both love Seaworld! I hadn't been all year but had wanted to. Robbie had been wanting to go down to Mission Beach by Seaworld to watch their summer fireworks shows but hadn't gotten around to it either. Since it was one of the last days of summer we headed down and spent about 9 hours at the park. We watched some of the shows and made reservations to Dine with Shamu (something I had always wanted to do). The majority of time in the park we spent at Dolphin Point. I could've stayed there all day watching the dolphins swimming around. We got a front and center view of a group that were able to be in the water with the trainer for some time with the dolphins and I was able to rub one of the dolphins noises and fin during an interaction. It was a blast! We sat in the soak zone (Robbie's idea) for the nighttime Shamu show and then were able to see the fireworks right after.

Monday we had talked about going hiking and to the beach again at Torrey Pines but ended up deciding to stay at home and relax instead. We watched TV/movies and just hung out, enjoying our time off together. We were also able to skype with my family back in Virginia for a little bit and I took about a 3 hour nap late afternoon/evening.

Today it's back to the normal work routine for me while Robbie gets to enjoy one more day off of work as he runs errands and gets all his normal weekend things done before the work week starts. All in all, we had a great weekend and really enjoyed our extra time off work! Until next time, enjoy some of our pictures from this weekend :)

San Diego Adventures

Wow blog world--long time, no see! I have been pretty absent from here since moving to San Diego back in February 2012. But I have decided to try and get back into blogging again. A lot has happened since my last post about 2 and a half years ago. I'll give you just a quick run down...

I moved down to San Diego from Corona the end of February 2012. I moved into an apartment by San Diego State University with a girl I met on Craigslist. We hit it off immediately. I started working for the Padres in March 2012. I had a blast being around baseball and worked almost every home game. The days there weren't baseball games I worked at the Regal movie theater in San Diego.

In July 2012 when our apartment lease was up--me, my roomie Mandy and another girl Brittany moved into a townhouse literally 5 minutes away from where our old apartment was by SDSU. And I continued to work two jobs and nearly everyday. My sister, Julia was able to come and visit in August as well for about a week. I was able to show her around San Diego and Los Angeles and had a blast with her visiting. I wanted to try and work full time in the office for the Padres but they never had any openings. So near the end of the baseball season in September I began searching for a full time job. I was lucky enough to find one right away--working in Customer Service for a cell phone case company called LifeProof.

Starting in September 2012 I left my job at the theater and began working full time with LifeProof. During my time with LifeProof the company underwent many changes. By April 2013 I was getting fed up with my job and not being able to transfer into any other departments. I was finally made from temp to permanent employee and selected for a 3 person group for a brand new start up program. I was thrilled! In May 2013 Otterbox (LifeProof's biggest competitor) bought us out. Shortly after I was moved into our Customer Service Admin department. I loved it there! With the new merger and company changes everyone started worrying for their jobs (as Otterbox is based out of Fort Collins, CO).

In the midst of all the changes at work I went to a concert with my current roomie Ashley and a big group of friends. At that concert a man named Robbie accidentally bumped into me. Little did I know that that day would change my life. Robbie and I started a conversation and hit it off. I was instantly intrigued by him, even after finding out he was in the US Marines. We went our separate ways that night but not without him asking for my number. He texted me as I left early and we began talking non-stop. 6 days later we went on our first date and were inseparable since. A week or after we met Robbie told me he had just found out he was going to be deploying for 6 months. Shortly after we started dating almost 2 months since we had met in September 2013 he deployed.

While he was gone I kept myself busy with work and friends. We texted through an app, spoke on the phone and skyped whenever possible. Around Thanksgiving time I learned that my whole department at work was going to be laid off effective December 31st. I hadn't been home for 2 years to see my family so over Christmas and New Years I fly home for about 2 weeks. I was stressing about not being here to look for a new job because I didn't want any lapse in my work or paychecks. The day I left to go back to VA for vacation I got a call from my boss saying they were going to keep about 10 of us to continue to help Otterbox in the transition until the end of January. I was one of the ones able to do so. I was happy! I was able to go home and relax with my family and come back to a job with plenty of time to find another.

A couple weeks before my last day of work I was blessed enough to be able to interview and be hired for a new position. I was also able to start the Monday after my last day (Friday) of work at Otterbox. No lapse in work, just as I was praying for. I started my current position as the Office Administrator at an IT company called SpotLink. It reminds me a lot of my first full time job in VA and I love it! I have been trained and given a lot of responsibility and everyone is great! It is a smaller company so everyone knows everyone and it was an easier transition.

In March 2014 Robbie finally landed back in San Diego from his deployment and I was there to pick him up and greet him with a giant 10 minute hug! Since he's been back we've been adjusting to life together in person again and our daily routines. We were able to go on a road trip to Tombstone, AZ, Four Corners & the Grand Canyon after he returned. We have also been going to a bunch of country concerts and just enjoying our time together in person again. We took a scuba diving class that he passed easily but I had some trouble with. Over July 4th we fly out to Kansas to visit Robbie's family. I had a blast meeting everyone and seeing where he grew up.

Most recently, we fly out to Virginia to visit my family and for my sister Julia's wedding. Being back in VA with my family and getting a vacation was great! Just like when we went to Kansas being in VA and having Robbie meet my family was so much fun. Seeing how everyone took to him right away, especially the little girls was so special for me. I loved being able to show him around a little bit (even though it wasn't much). Having him there with me for Julia's wedding was wonderful. He was a great help throughout the entire process of preparing for the wedding and then enjoying it. Leaving VA to come back to CA was hard but we're excited to see what the future holds and where God will send us from here.

That's pretty much were we are right now. Since we've been back in CA for about 2 days now we've just been adjusting back to our normal work routines and life. We're getting ready for the long Labor Day weekend that is just around the corner and more concerts coming up. Robbie was able to get his re-enlistment package submitted and now it's just a waiting game to see what's to come :)