It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

The last two months have somehow managed to fly by. I work in retail so needless to say I've been busy. I'm actually extremely grateful for the distraction. It's made the time go by so quickly being apart from the love. We're down to 10 days.. Ugh, I'm so anxious to see him! I hate this whole being apart thing... it's not for us.
I know, I complain an awful for 10 weeks being the longest we've been apart when some military couples are apart for years. I admire their strength because I don't think I could do it. Or at least I wouldn't take it bravely. I'd complain the entire time like I am now. I'm so extremely grateful that this is the longest we'll most likely have to be apart. I'm even more grateful that it's almost over.
It's been hard having the holidays without him. This is our favorite time of year. We love exploring the autumn weather and scenery...
But I've been trying to get into the Christmas spirit knowing he'll be here soon.
I'd love to share some exciting things going on in my life, but unfortunately I don't have any..how sad.
But here's some Christmas themed pictures to leave you with. :)

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"Home" Sweet "Home"?

Well, I am officially back in the Midwest... yippee...
I guess I should back up and summarize the last few weeks.
The move was stressful. I was so worried about getting something wrong with all of the moving forms or that something wouldn't go right and we'd be screwed. On top of that, I was incredibly stressed about our checkout with our landlord from our place. It had to be impeccably clean or we'd be charged.
Of course, I put off the cleaning until the last minute, which meant the last few days I had with my husband were spent cleaning or being stressed about cleaning. Besides the actual "moving out" part, that last week did not go how I wanted it to.
I wanted to spend every possible minute with him before he left doing stuff we actually enjoyed. Instead, we were cleaning or packing.
The day that the movers came went really smoothly surprisingly. We just sat around and they took care of everything. Perks of being military. :)
However, they came the next day for his motorcycle. That was an ordeal. We were told that we had to disconnect the battery and empty the gas tank. Well, of course we forgot to run the bike to empty it so we had to let it run all morning to try and get out as much as possible. Then, I ran to buy a siphon pump about 15 minutes before the time they were supposed to arrive. It took me about a half an hour to figure out how to put the little sucker together and how to actually use it. After all of this, once they arrived, they informed us we didn't have to do any of that because it wasn't being stored. Insert appropriate four letter word here.
That night my mother flew in to drive with me back home. I really wanted to show her our little part of California and actually do something fun, but instead we spent her only day there cleaning..:/
The next day, he left. That was absolutely awful. Do goodbyes ever get easier? Luckily I was distracted with all of the things that needed to get done and didn't get a chance to have a complete meltdown.
Finally, we gave back the key to our first home together and said goodbye to California. So began the 32 hour trek back to the Midwest. It was long. Really long. We ran into some troubles including needing a new tire, taking a half hour wrong turn, and driving through torrential rain and hail, but we made it.
It's been an adjustment being back, to say the least. My parents divorced a few months ago, so I get to adjust to the whole situation late in the game. My mother is currently living in a trailer that is small and old. I won't be too judgmental, but let's just  say she doesn't keep it that tidy.
I really  miss having my own home and my own space. I miss having my patterns and routines. I miss the people. Most of all I miss Ty.
It wasn't too bad at first with how busy I was and considering the fact that it was only going to be 6 weeks. A couple of days ago, however, he informed me that it was now going to be 3 months. What the hell. I lost it. I pretty much cried all night. I was so upset. I accepted 6 weeks. 3 moths is not an option.
He will get to come home for a week at Christmas so it's really only 9 weeks until I see him, but still. I don't know what to do without him for three months. He's my best friend. He's the one I want to do everything with...
I don't know how military wives do it. This is only 3 months. He's not deployed or going to be gone for a year. I should suck it up, and I'm trying. But it still sucks.
Well, this sure is a negative post. With all of this crap, there are things that I've enjoyed. I got to see my babies (nephews and niece). I didn't realize how much I missed them and cannot believe how big they are. I'm really looking forward to spend time with them while here. I also am enjoying the foliage. I haven't seen autumn in over 2 years. I'm going crazy over all of the colors...
Well, that's all I have for now. I hope I haven't whined too much.. but it's my blog. So tough! (just kidding)
Here's some pictures to hopefully make up for my complaining:

My nephew's birthday party!!

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The Future is Coming...Eventually...

Long time no post, I know. But life hasn't seemed that stimulating enough to share... How sad...
But I do have some recent developments. Kind of.
Well, if you've read my previous posts, you know we've been in limbo waiting to move to our next home. Finally we've gotten confirmation that it's happening the first of October!
Not only that, but I won't have to be away from Ty as long as I originally thought. We were told 3 months, but it's gotten cut down do only 7 weeks.  I'm so relieved. I know that some military families are separated sometimes years so I shouldn't even think of complaining, but 3 months would have been rough... I'm very blessed.
Not only that, but it looks like we'll be in our new home and on a new coast before Christmas! I can't believe it. We've been waiting over a year to move on and now that it's time, it's all happening a lot quicker than I imagined. I'm anxious, but admittedly nervous about the move. Starting over is rough. New place, new people.. new coast! It's hard to believe that in about 3 months from now I'll be over 6000 miles away from where I am sitting now...
I'm going to miss this place. As ready as I am to go somewhere new and start a new chapter, this place has become "home". It's where we were newlyweds. Our first house. Our first chapter. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to this beautiful place... Hard to believe I won't drive by the ocean every day and see the sunset over the water every night. It'll be sunrises on the horizon now.
I'm going to try my best at not being too sentimental. I want to be excited for this change. There's going to be so much to do out east. We're going to be in the middle of everything. History will be around every corner. As a history major, let's just say I'm ecstatic about that. We'll get to see the seasons again too. It's probably strange how much I'm looking forward to that. I haven't seen a real fall or winter in two years! I guess even a real summer for that matter. I'm not looking forward to the harsh New England winters, but I'll have to get used to it again. It's a good trade off I suppose.
I hope it's as wonderful as I imagine it to be. I hope we're as happy there as we were here. A new chapter is starting for us. I have a feeling our lives our going to change a lot in Maryland. Maryland will hopefully be where I become a mother. It's hard to wrap my mind around that fact... surreal. I'm anxious about it though, I'll admit. Probably a little too anxious for my husband's liking. I'm just ready to be a mother. With every day I grow more and more certain I'm ready. I want Maryland to be where we start our family.
I will say being a military spouse and surrounded my military families sort of makes having kids "quickly" the natural occurrence. It seems like everyone has children around us. Either that or the newlyweds announce pretty soon they're expecting. I guess it makes sense though. The spouse who isn't in the military tends to not work (not everyone of course, just I feel the majority around here) so it's easier to start a family.
I'm glad we've waited as long as we have though. We were able to figure out how to combine lives without adding a third to the mix. I'll admit, I'm glad we have had a chance to be selfish a little too. I had him all to myself.
But my maternal clock as sounded it's alarm and it will not be ignored! By the way, what's up with that? I'm 22... shouldn't it start ticking later? Hmm.
Well, since I don't have babies to take endless pictures of yet, here's pictures of Phoebe!! I guess you can say she was our first "baby"... :)

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New York, I Love You...

Not a real post (even though one is WAY over due). I just had to share this with you.

I though this was the cutest thing ever.
This is what I always imagined growing old with someone would be like.
I hope that in 61 years I'm still bickering with him and as in love as I am today.

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Recent Life Happenings...

Life has taught me that making plans is basically a worthless endeavor. Just when you think you've got your future all figured out, life cackles at your arrogance and completely turns your world on its end or goes the absolute opposite way out of spite. Being in the military has further validated this outlook. Nothing goes as planned.
We were supposed to be leaving here by now, but it turns out we have another two months here. I don't really mind as this is probably the most beautiful place to be "stuck". But that's what it feels like sometimes. We're stuck. We came here knowing this was temporary, expecting to be here no more than a year...and it will be two in a month. We're just ready to move on, get going with our lives. While this place has become a home, it's hard to get too attached because we know it's not permanent. We're ready to go somewhere we'll "know" we'll be for awhile. We're restless.
Despite all of this, the last few weeks have been pretty eventful. The in-laws came out for a visit for Ty's graduation from his program. We haven't seen any family since Christmas. While it was good to see them, I'll admit it made me a little homesick for my own family (even though I don't miss "home" in general). It's hard to believe it's already been seven months since we've been home. Even harder to believe Christmas is less than six months away... Time moves so fast lately, doesn't it seem?
While the parents were here, we tried to show them every corner of our little piece of California. We took them to all of the touristy places and the places we enjoy. I'm pretty sure we ate out every night. And I have never done that much day drinking in my life. My in-laws are the type of people who follow they're cup of morning coffee by cracking open a beer. Yeah. My in-laws are more awesome than yours.
We had an amazing time with them. I know my husband enjoyed having them here especially for such an important occasion. I'm so immensely proud of all of the hard work he's put in over the last two years in this sometimes shitty program. Seeing him graduate finally after all he's gone through was perfect.
So now, the in-laws have departed and Fourth of July has come and gone. We spent the day eating and drinking with friends which is basically how you're supposed to spend it, right?
We now are wasting time until we officially get to leave here. Or Halloween comes. Whichever happens first.
That's all for the present. Now enjoy some pictures!

SO PROUD!!

Aren't we cute??

The in-laws enjoying 17-mile drive.

Yeah, I rubbed this in my father's face.

Cocktails at Pebble Beach? Okay.

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Point Lobos Adventure...

I would apologize for being such a sporadic blogger, but there's not a lot worth remarking about in my life sometimes. Day to day mundane events probably would bore. Also, I like to have pictures with my posts and I've taken enough pictures of the inside of my house.
But I do have a little something to post about today.
This last weekend, it finally got about 65 degrees out and it was actually sunny all day. Of course we decided to take full advantage of this rarity and decided to go hiking with a couple of friends of ours. Considering our last hiking trip was like two years ago, I was pretty excited. I was hell-bent on climbing a mountain!!
We decided to go to Point Lobos this time instead of Big Sur so we could enjoy the beaches. It was absolutely gorgeous. We could not have asked for a better day. We galavanted by the water and explored a historic whaling cabin. Our friends were hiking newbies and were more inclined with exploring by the water than with climbing mountains. So no mountain conquering for me. Oh well. We had such a good time. I don't know why we don't hike more often considering how many beautiful places there are to go in this state. I say this a month before we leave. Hmm...
Well, here are some pics. It was nice to actually pick up my camera again. It's been too long. :)

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Happy Birthday To Me...

Yes, today is my birthday. I'm the big 22. It's hard to believe 21 is over. That's the number you live for your entire life before it. And now, it's passed. No more big deal birthdays. Only a few more years until I'm supposed to start denying my age, right?
For being such a big deal, 21 was nowhere near as exciting to ring in as 22 was. I expected so much from my 21st birthday. You know, the whole going out drinking with all of my friends, staying out until all hours of the night. The cliche'. Unfortunately, it didn't go like that. I thought maybe my husband would surprise me with flowers or something and we would drink mimosas, but he ended up having to work all day. So I spent the day by myself. We did go out to eat which was nice and I got to order my first legal drink. That was the highlight. At that point I had a total of 1 friend out here, but I would occasionally hang out with some of my husband's friends. He invited a few of them over to the house for a party, but no one showed saving my one friend and her husband. They came for about an hour and left. My birthday ended at like 10. It was really depressing.
This year was a million times better. We started hanging out with a new couple and a few of their friends last week. So we invited them over Friday to celebrate my bday. We ate, drank, played board games(we're awesome) until like 2am. It was the latest I had stayed up in I don't know how long. Saturday did not start well though. We were heading out for the day when our car decided to die on us. We had to get it towed, but sat in a parking lot for an hour waiting. Luckily, the same people we had hung out with the night before were nearby and kept us company. We finally got it fixed, but the afternoon was gone. Not having any plans for the rest of the day, we got invited out for the night. Then we asked everyone back for another game night which lasted until 4am. Somehow we woke up early enough yesterday to do our Sunday tradition of endless mimosas and the most amazing waffles ever at our favorite restaurant. And miraculously the group joined us there too. Then we all got together to "watch" the eclipse rounding out an amazing birthday weekend.
I know that this all sounds pretty ordinary, but for us it's not. We're a very anti-social couple. We enjoy spending time with each other. Somehow, though, we managed to find a group of people exactly like us. They like board games and staying in and hanging out. I thought they'd get sick of us this weekend but they kept coming along. While I'm sure I would have been just as happy spending my birthday with just Ty, it made it a little extra special to share it with new friends.
So, now after all of the eating and the drinking endlessly, I'm probably 10 pounds heavier, but no regrets. I think this was one of the best birthdays ever. :)
My 21st year was pretty uneventful overall. 22, however, is going to be drastically different. We're going to be separated for a few months and then we make the move across the country. Our lives are going to be very different 6 months from now. But I'm ready for a change. Mostly because we knew it was coming so we've been in limbo for over a year. It'll be nice to know that where we go next we'll be for awhile. We can really feel at home. I think I'm going to like 22. :)
And now some pictures...

Blue nails for my birthday!

I was craving brownies so I made brownies...

ICE CREAM CAKE BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

My birthday present from the love. Best husband ever??:)

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