To Round Out the Year

Well as you can see from all my posts 2014 has been quite the life changing year! So many good and bad moments but the good far out weighed the bad. Now that its 2015, it's a little weird to look back at 2014 and remember all the wonderful memories made along the way.

2014 started off with me at home visiting my family in Virginia. At the time my boyfriend was deployed and we skyped twice over the course of the night (and 11 hour time difference) to ring in the New Year for both of our time zones together. It was a good time!

Once returning home to San Diego I began looking for a new job as I was about to be laid off at my current job. I found one with a couple weeks to spare and was able to start at my new job the Monday after my old job ended. It was a seamless transition and just what I was hoping for. Since being at my new job I have been trained in so many areas and given a lot of responsibility and I've loved ever minute of it! My job reminds me a lot of my first full time job in VA and I love that. It has also kept me super busy and the majority of days fly by.

March was a month I had been counting down to for some time. Robbie was scheduled to return home from deployment that month. He was in one of the first groups to return home and I couldn't wait! Even though we skyped, texted and spoke over the phone most days--I couldn't wait to finally see him in person again! After some delays and time changes he finally arrived back to the US safely and I was there to pick him up. It was one of the best days of my life! After a couple days off he checked out of work on leave and we began our planned road trip. We traveled to Tombstone, AZ, Four Corners (AZ, CO, UT, NM) and the Grand Canyon. Robbie had a little bout with food poising but he never let it affect our trip. We also had a belated Valentines Day date (my first ever) that was so wonderful!

April brought more changes. As we both got back into regular work schedules after vacation Robbie was moved from his normal shop at work to an office in headquarters. He was miserable for awhile when first starting and missed his out doors work, but I was thankful he had a more consistent  schedule of hour. He was told he would be in the office for a year. Having him there meant he could not deploy or get sent on any dets--he was going to stay in San Diego for at least a year. The last weekend of April we also got to attend Stagecoach. It's a 3-day country music festival I had been wanting to attend since moving to CA but had never gone. It was so much fun! We also tried our hand at scuba diving. Robbie really wanted to give it a try and I agreed but was very hesitant. It wasn't really my thing but Robbie loved it and got certified.

May and June were a lot of working and discussing what the future could hold. Robbie's reenlistment time was coming up--he knew he wanted to reenlist but where and doing what were the questions. We talked about our options and decided together where he would request to get stationed next. It was a little bit of an adjustment for both of us getting used to having Robbie home again, but we spent every minute together that we could. We also made a bucket list of sorts of things we wanted to do since he came back from deployment and we worked on doing those things. We went to many country concerts and started having regular movie date nights.

July was an exciting month for us! Over the 4th we went to Kansas to visit Robbie's family. I had talked to his mom while he was deployed but it was my first time meeting all of them in person and I was pretty nervous. Robbie showed me around his hometown and I got to meet a lot of his friends and family. It was a really good trip and it was really hard for me to leave a couple days before Robbie to come back to work. On the 18th I had my 24th birthday and Robbie surprised me with cake and presents. It was a really good day!

August was another exciting trip for us! This time we traveled to Virginia for my sister's wedding and so Robbie could meet my family. We helped with the wedding decorations and getting everything ready the week before. I was able to take Robbie around my hometown a little bit and visit some friends but we mostly stayed at home with my baby sisters. The wedding was beautiful and such a happy day for everyone involved! Robbie hit it off with my family and they all loved him!

September we adjusted to life as normal back in CA and continued with our country concerts and getting things marked off of our bucket list. I also joined a Military spouse/significant other support page on Facebook as an Admin. I write and post regularly and I love it! I had been thinking about making my own page but then got connected with one that is already up and running and decided to give it a try.

October began the holiday season and brought so much fun! October was our first Halloween together. We dressed up as Zack Morris & Kelly Kapowski from "Saved by the Bell". An idea I had had for awhile and wanted to do. We went to a party over at our friends house and had a blast!

November came with many new adventures as well. On the 5th we had Robbie's USMC Birthday Military Ball. I had always wanted to go and was so happy he was here to take me! It was a little different then I was expecting but overall it was a good time and I was so thankful I knew some other people that were there! We also finally found out that his reenlistment got approved--right in the nick of time as his current contract was set to expire in December. Our long Thanksgiving weekend together we spent in Anaheim. We did some black Friday shopping and went to Disneyland. And it was so much fun!

December brought the biggest and happiest changes of all. It started off with Robbie getting a promotion to Sergeant at work on the 1st. Something he has been working towards for awhile. He was so excited, I was so proud of him, and I was so happy I was able to attend his ceremony and pin him! Robbie was also able to reenlist in the back of an aircraft and although I was bummed I wasn't able to be there--I was so happy for him that he got to do it how he wanted to. On 12/13/2014 Robbie proposed to me at Seaworld! It was completely perfect and the happiest day of my life! For the Christmas holiday we traveled back to Kansas and to Iowa to be with Robbie's family. I got to meet his grandma and more of his relatives. Despite being really cold weather wise, it was a really good trip and much needed vacation. The whole month of December was the absolute best way to end out the old year!

For New Years Eve I was pretty sick and slept most of the night. Robbie woke me up to see the ball drop and for us to share our first kiss of the New Year but then I went right back to sleeping. The whole weekend was pretty non-eventful for Robbie and I. We pretty much slept and watched TV all weekend since we were both sick. But never the less it was still a good time being able to spend the New Year together.

Over this past year I have really enjoyed getting to spend all the holidays with my fiance in person! I know this is a little thing that many take for granted but the fact that he was gone for all of them last year while deployed and knowing that with the military we won't always be together on the holidays--it really means something extra special to me. And I enjoyed soaking up every minute of them all (healthy or sick) with Robbie, together, in person! There is no better way to remember the old year then all the moments we got to be together!