Farewell

Farewell 2010, i don't think i'll miss you all that much. i don't know that i have ever cried so much in a single year. I rang in 2010 with Kat, since our husbands were still at Bootcamp... we got so dressed up and pretty.. and i fell in love with a little game called DJ Hero... which i bought Riley for a just because present (even though it was TOTALLY for me, and we both knew it) i was soo sure that 2010 was going to be miles better than 2009.. i was kind of wrong though. 2009 was ROUGH, with getting ready for bootcamp, and the false alarms as to when him and Zack would be able to go. however we had ALOT of really fun vacations, a couple AWESOME concerts, and multiple Vegas trips with Kat and Zack (including our valentines trip when the 4 of us saw our first cirque du soleil show.... KA) all in all we had a fun year, as stressful and scary as it was.. it was FUN... 2010 started with us being apart... which is kind of strange how we are ALSO ending this year apart. like i've said before, we spent less than 50% of the year together.. i don't remember the exact percentage, but you can go back a few posts and see all the stats.

As much as i miss him, and ache for him to be here to make me laugh and hold me... i'm doing ok... last year's holidays' took it's toll on me, even though they were spent with Family and Friends... it almost was a reminder that Riley WASN'T there... and i was alone, everyone pity-ed me. I think that made it more difficult. spending them with people who completely UNDERSTAND what i am going through made it that much easier. I didn't have to explain why i didn't want to go somewhere, or explain why i teared up every time people would say how bad they felt that i was spending the holidays alone. People on base understand that i am just trying to survive this time apart so Riley doesn't have to add ME to his list of worries. thats WHY i'm trying to hold myself together so well, i want to make this as easy as possible for Rye as i can. If i'm at home crying on the phone every time he calls... he's going to stress out about me when we're not able to talk. But with me keeping a grip on myself... he can focus on just kicking trash in country (and making the afghani kids as mad as possible by speaking to them in German, which they don't understand) i WANT him to be able to laugh about different ways to irritate these kids, cause it keeps me entertained, and when people try to talk war with me... i tell them about Rye's recent funny story, and the topic is instantly changed :)

i'm hopeful this year, but i am not as cocky as i was last year, when i was so positive that i wouldn't have to be alone again this year. i hope i can be JUST as blessed this year to be able to spend lots of time with my amazing best friend.

I don't want to make this post too uber long, cause it's new years eve, and i should go do something, like drive over to Sam's and watch the ball drop... while watching her fold laundry :) not exciting i know... but hey, this is just another milestone i would like to be past!

by the way, Jaxon started his new round of Chemo, it's a MUCH stronger version... he's nauseas, but doing really well.

Riley just called so i will go ring in the new year talking to Rye

Fairy Tale

Now that Riley has been gone for a while (far too long!) i've had alot of extra time on my hands. you're probably wondering what a Marine wife does all day to keep her mind from the obvious... well it depends on the day, but here is a little list of things that keep me busy most days. when i'm not running errands or doing pictures.. just the "at home" stuff.

1. Dishes (i can't believe how often i have to do this with just me)
2. Shower (yes, finding the motivation to do this is difficult when you don't have a husband around who informs you that you smell "ripe"... but i still do it daily!)
3. Laundry (even though when i'm home i try and stay in Rye's sweats for most of the day)
4. sweeping and mopping (i have a dog.. he drools.. and gets hair all over)
5. Play with the puppy, and play with him enough to tire him out so that when you're exhausted.. he doesn't want to attack you to make you play)
6. keeping food in the house (once again, this one is hard to find motivation to do... i go somedays with maybe eating one meal)
7. Reading... ALOT of reading, i recently got a Kindle. it may be the best invention EVER... except now that i can buy books with the click of a button... i do.
8. Chick Flix... i have Netflix so i watch alot of instant netflix, usually at night.. when everyone else is home with their families and everyone on the mainland is asleep so i get lonely.

So this post is actually about that last one. I am a total sucker for chick flix.. but not the uber cheesy ones, those irritate me. some of my favorites include...

• P.s. I Love You
• The Notebook
• The Last Song
• My Best Friends Wedding
• Pretty Woman
• A Walk to Remember
• Eat Pray Love
• Pride and Prejudice
• Titanic
• 50 First Dates
• You've Got Mail

Now those are only to name a FEW!!! pretty much any chick flick can catch my attention. except that stupid one that came out this last year "Letters to Juliet"...............LAME But that's just my opinion.. and this is my blog so i can say what i want about it :)

I was watching a movie the other day which is what made me think of this though. i was watching Eat Pray love, and when she meets the man of her dreams (the same guy that the girl in P.s. i love you meets) i had that typical girl moment of... "awwww i wish i had a fairy tale like that! i want to meet a gorgeous scruffy man and kiss him oh so passionately"  or something along those lines. but as i was sitting here swooning over this guy.. i realized that he looks alot like what Riley will look like in 20 years

Javier Bardem

My Better Half :)

now the hair is OBVIOUSLY different.. but all in all... fairly similar considering the age difference. as i was realizing how similar they are... i realized the ONLY thing i'm missing for the fairy tale of my dreams is for him to have an accent :) however... IF Riley had an accent he would say really awkward things and wouldn't realize how awkward they are... haha off topic!!!

Anyway!!! so i was putting all of this together in my mind, and i came to the realization.. i already HAVE my fairytale! it started the night i met him on the blind date and wasn't crazy about him, and how he chased me for months! (even though he'll TOTALLY claim he wasn't chasing me he just didn't date me because he had "better" things to do... believe what you want cute bum) down to the night he first held my hand during the midnight showing of Harry Potter 3... and a few weeks later when he asked if i would be his first kiss... and a few months later when we first said we loved each other. The countless nights we spent sitting on the side of the rock canyon bowl just talking about EVERYTHING in life, snuggled up in his sisters fleece blanket that we have stolen. The night he asked me to marry him, a few weeks after we'd had a fight, and i didn't think he would WANT to marry me... and how it started to POUR snow as soon as he asked me. The night before we got married, when he told me he didn't want a bachelor party, and the thing he wanted to do most was take me out one last time before i became his Mrs. we took his dad's jeep out on the trails behind their house and went Stargazing on the roof of the jeep, while listening to Bryan Adams... just like we had when we first fell in love.. only this time he brought along a little 4 pack of my favorite flavor jones soda...

All leading up to the moment that i walked down the aisle wearing my Aunts wedding dress (that i told her YEARS before when i was like 8 that i wanted to wear it one day when i got married) and i was able to marry my very best friend. We've definitely had our ups and downs... we struggle... but mostly we struggle with ourself, not so much with each other anymore... i've made more memories with him, than i ever did with my sibblings. we started out as an awkward couple... the girl that none of the guys wanted to date... just wanted to be "friends" with... and the boy, who had never dated, never kissed, and had never had his heart broken... and wasn't near as good looking as he's turned out to be :) but we've made it soo far. it's now been over 7 years since we first met at the Haunted Forest in American Fork, where you wore your red Forum hoodie, and those jeans that i hate and trashed looong ago :) and then you and Sterling took Meg and I on a moonlit picnic with spaghetti, Grapes, and martineli's and you bent your knife trying to open the Martineli's since you were dumb and forgot a bottle opener. :)

And another thing... in MOST of these movies, there is a common thing. Tragedy and heartbreak... in order for MOST if not ALL these girls to find their happy ending... and i mean yea i had a few heartbreaks, and a few tough choices, it was all worth it. every time i was told i wasn't pretty enough, every boy that cheated on me (and the one that i walked in on) all the tears i cried over STUPID boys, it all led me to my happy ending. we still have a loong road ahead of us, we still have a bunch more trials, and like i've said before, with the foundation we've built those will be just little bumps in the road. and hopefully we'll be able to continue to work together and NOT against each other in our difficult times, cause it makes it SOO much easier to have a partner.

Wow, this has been an UBER mushy post.. but i haven't blogged in a while.. and i wanted a good one for the end of the year... so here you go 2010, going out with a BANG!!! :)

Remember to Keep Riley's unit in your prayers! and continue praying for Jaxon, he's starting his 3rd round of chemo i believe tomorrow. He is responding well to treatments so far, but we don't want to get cocky... so keep the faith and the prayers coming!

Merry Christmas!!!

Well it is Christmas Morning, i'm trying to catch up on my blog while over at Sam's house, since i still have to get a new computer... so i'll try to make this quick.

last night, i was invited over to a girl in the wards house for Christmas Eve i assumed it would be her, her husband and her three boys, who i assumed were like 10 and 12, as well as the missionaries... i wasn't expecting to be one of 3 females in a house full of 12 guys all in their twenties, i was more than a little outnumbered :) but anyone that knows me, knows that i am usually just one of the guys, so i had alot of fun! i don't remember the last time i laughed soo much! it started out a little awkward, we were decorating cookies, but as soon as they realized i was TOTALLY fine with them making fun of me for putting each sprinkle on individually, the jokes started and things loosened up :)

my pretty cookies!!!

My Tree!

 

Santa's Sleigh :) you're impressed!

After they finished their cookies, they moved onto the Gingerbread houses(graham cracker) however, i was spending waay too much time on my cookies so i didn't get a chance to finish my house properly... one of the Elders actually made the New Zealand temple (where he's from) it looked SWEET i wish i got a picture of it.

my unfinished house

after that we had a fantastic meal of Steak, Baked Potatoes, corn on the cob and salad.. SOO good!!! then we played Spoons (VERY dangerous if you play with a bunch of 20-something yr old guys) and to calm down we played Uno (where the REAL danger started... emotional abuse :) haha) we were messing with eachother trying to get them to play whatever card we NEEDED. after we got all card gamed out! we headed in and played a few rounds of Wii bowling before we called it a night. that was soo much fun, even though they said i bowled like Charles Barkley trying to golf... try figuring that one out.

So Merry Christmas, Riley Got me one of the things i REALLY wanted and have wanted for a few years now, he got me the Body Bugg, i wear it on my arm 24/7 and it tracks EVERY calorie that i burn, then i upload it on the computer, and track what i've eaten... it's basically amazing!!!

and LOOK it's even zebra printed.

So Merry Merry Christmas. don't worry about me, my Christmas Eve was the best it could have been with the situation i'm in... i am still holding up pretty strong! i hope each of you has a FANTASTIC Christmas, and that you are able to spend it with as many loved ones as you can. Thank you for sticking around and reading all my bi-polar blog posts :)

Adventures of a girl and her Dog- Rainy Day

It's the Rainy season here in Hawaii, a few weeks ago Deezul and I had a rainy day. this was RIGHT before he broke my computer. i think he broke it later that night. but we had a nice relaxing day, it was really nice! so here is a picture play-by-play of our day :)

Playing out in the Rain

The wind blows his ears up like this all the time, makes me laugh.

wants to come inside

playing with the palm tree leaf he ripped out of the tree

tired from all the playing.

Soo much rain!

just watching the world

this is what he does almost EVERY day!

playing with the leaf again

Me listening to my Sirius Radio ALL day!!!

lighting candles, and enjoying the day!

really pretty rainy sunset!!!

I HAVEN'T DIED!!!

ok, so MOST of you are friends with me on Facebook, but for those of you who are not... and those of you that DON'T pay attention to my status's... Deezul spilt Kool-Aid on my laptop, and it's dead. so for the last 2 weeks i've been without a computer... except when i'm over at Sam's house. i'm getting a new one next payday, so i probably shouldn't start this project until then... and i don't think i will... but WHEN i get that laptop get ready for that 31 day challenge everyone is doing.

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with ten facts
Day 02 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest
Day 03 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show
Day 04 - A picture of your night
Day 05 - A picture of your favorite memory
Day 06 - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day
Day 07 - A picture of your most treasured item
Day 08 - A picture that makes you laugh
Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most
Day 10 - A picture of the person you do the craziest things with
Day 11 - A picture of something you hate
Day 12 - A picture of something you love
Day 13 - A picture of your favorite band or artist
Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without
Day 15 - A picture of something you want to do before you die
Day 16 - A picture of someone who inspires you
Day 17 - A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently
Day 18 - A picture of your biggest insecurity
Day 19 - A picture and a letter
Day 20 - A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel
Day 21 - A picture of something you wish you could forget
Day 22 - A picture of something you wish you were better at
Day 23 - A picture of your favorite book
Day 24 - A picture of something you wish you could change
Day 25 - A picture of your day
Day 26 - A picture of something that means a lot to you
Day 27 - A picture of yourself and a family member
Day 28 - A picture of something you're afraid of
Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile
Day 30 - A picture of someone you miss
Day 31 - A picture of yourself

so ya, i'm hoping to bring my camera over here tomorrow and get some new pictures up on my blog... i'll try REALLY hard to get that done. and to write a really good long update post... i've been DYING to blog since i haven't been able to lately... GOSH!!! ok so a real quick update...  the USO puts on alot of concerts for military, free of charge. Usually pretty big bands too! Daughtry was on Island in October, but Riley and I missed that concert. however i had been seeing signs all over base advertising the upcoming "Seether" concert, they were going to be performing on our base for free as part of the USO concert series... i mentioned this to Sam and told her Riley LOVED that band, so i would be sad going to the concert without him... however when it came down to it, i knew that he would be excited and happy for me if i did things while he was gone... he'll feel left out, but he wants to know that i haven't stopped living because he's gone.

Anyway, it was a BLAST! There were soooo many drunk Marines, the poor guys probably won't remember the concert now that the weekend is over... such a shame. they played a bunch of good songs, one of my all time favorites "Broken" they played acoustic, i'll include a video so you know the song.

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

‘cause I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
‘cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel light when you’re gone away

The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There’s so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

‘cause I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
‘cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away

‘cause I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
‘cause I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel light when you’re gone away 

Amy Lee, sadly was NOT there, but it was still a pretty good performance of the song. that was like the ONLY slow song they played, and if you don't know the band, you should totally check them out! i'll put up a few pictures from the concert. it's now been raining here for 2 days straight, and not just raining... it's been POURING! i looove it! plus i get to wear my AWESOME Zebra rain boots... watch out for my post coming up about my rainy day activities with Deezul.

Seether Performing

Me in front of the stage, we were only like 30 ft from the band

Sam, Me, and her youngest

The Bassist for the band... definitely the stud of the group :)

Don't You Wanna

Alright so this morning has been an interesting one :) really nice though. i woke up to my sister calling, which made me happy because she sent me the NICEST gift, and i got it last night. some gourmet bread from a place i found on the food network called "breadwinners" mmmmmmmmmmmmm i sent one to my dad a few years ago, but i had never tried their bread. I get to talk to her everyday, and we have become really close lately... so she knows how hard everything has been for me lately... and needless to say, it was the PERFECT ending to a horrible day

Check Them out in case you are looking for an amazing last minute Christmas gift.

So this morning i got to talk to my sister in law Michelle, she gave me the update on Jaxon. He just finished his 2nd round of chemo, and is home... running a muck! :) he's been jumping on the beds, and beating his little brother up... being a normal 3 1/2 year old... which of course brought tears to my eyes and made me soo happy. I want nothing more for Christmas than for him to be healthy. i would happily give up more time with Riley if Jaxon will just get better. And no Rye.. that doesn't mean i don't love you :) i know you would gladly stay in Afghan if it would help.... which it won't. but he's doing REALLY well. they are going in next week to harvest some of his bone marrow that they will use for a transfusion a little later on. and the week of Christmas they are getting tests done to see how the Chemo has been working, and how he's responding... so fingers crossed, and prayers their way please.

I've also been texting Tiff (who i adore!) all morning, she just got an AMAZING score on one of her exams for nursing school SO CONGRATS TIFF you're an amazing girl, and you'll be a fantastic nurse! And Nicole... now i've ALSO known Nicole since like middle school, we were a little closer than Tiff and I... but we still didn't hang out all too much. Her husband is in Law school, and she just graduated as an English Major...... ok so she totally reads my blog, and i'll be honest i secretly wonder if as she's reading them she's correcting all my mistakes in her head... sometimes i wish she WOULDN'T read them haha... anyway we recently decided to be texting buddies, since we're both living in new places far away from home. she's super adorable, and oh so crafty! Check out her blog here!

After getting off the phone with Michelle, i was playing with Deezul on the rug and he was winning (of course) when this song came on my Sirius radio.. i fell in love INSTANTLY so i thought i would pass it along. i LOVE the lyrics with it as well.

And... as always... here are the lyrics. i hope you fall in love just like i did.

i really hate to let this moment go
touching your skin and your hair falling slow
when your goodbye kiss, feels like this

Chorus:

don't you wanna stay here a little while
don't you wanna hold each other tight
don't you wanna fall asleep with me tonight
don't you wanna stay here a little while
we can make forever feel this way
don't you wanna stay

lets take it slow i don't want to move to fast
i don't wanna just make love, i wanna make love last
when your up this high, it's a sad goodbye

(Repeat Chorus)

oh yeah!!!
oh it feels so perfect baby..
don't you wanna stay here a little while..
(Repeat Chorus)

Don't you wanna stay..
yeah yeah yeahhh
yeah yeah yeahhh

Simply Summer!!!

Alright so my little cousin Summer is in a contest. i'm normally not the person who harasses everyone to vote, but she is soo cute, and really wants to win. she ONLY has to get into the top 20 to move on to the next round... you can vote everyday, and we are only about 400 votes from being in the top 20... the voting ends end of January... PLEASE!!!

Vote for my Fancy Nancy Fantastic Fan Photo: Summer's Super Fancy Bday


and you just click to sign in with your facebook... it really takes like 30 seconds MAX. THANK YOU!!!

Oh Goodness--- time to vent.

Can i just tell you how OVER stupid wife drama i am?! This blog is about a few of the crazy wives that i have met. Far too uppity and easily offended girls who lurk on facebook to POUNCE on any comment that can be viewed as offensive to them. Taking my comment that was HONESTLY meant to welcome home a unit, and give them a nice shoutout. and ended with a huge/nasty paragraph written about what a horrible person i am. My sister is in the Army, my cousin is in the Air Force, and my other cousin is in the Navy... yet i am married to a Marine, do you want to tell me that my sister has never made a comment about how Marines are the dumbest bunch of guys to ever walk the world :) she's probably a LITTLE right when it comes to that statement. my one cousin will proudly say that if you join the airforce you won't do much, but sit around.

Riley's BEST FRIEND is a POG (for those of you who don't know what this is but have seen facebook and are now curious... POG stands for person other than Grunt. and a grunt is anyone who is infantry) it is NOT a bad term, it's like how people call me "Mormon" i am Mormon, you can say it like it's a swear word... but it doesn't bother me, because it's part of who i am... and i'm proud of it. If YOU are ashamed of what you or your husband does, that's no one's problem but your own... you should OWN what he does, and proudly. Riley will tell you that grunts are stupid... cause no one in their right mind would join the Marine Corps... and if they did there would have to be something seriously wrong with them to become a grunt. And i've met my fair share of grunts, ha, alot of them are borderline dumb-as-a-post. But i am the extremely proud of my Grunt of a husband. if he were a Pog, i would be JUST as proud of him, and you can bet i would have a few status's about how grunt's are retarded, and Pog's are where it's at. anyone that know's me should know that i AM and WILL be proud of my husband, no matter what job in the Marine Corps he has... however right now, his job is 0351 he carries a Rocket Launch... and makes bombs with c-4 and det-cord to blow things up that are in the way.

Alot of girls on base will pretend to be your friend... don't be fooled, they are NOT your friend. when someone flips out at you, cause you ignored their e-mail that they sent you 2 days before your husband deployed to Afghanistan... they are obviously NOT putting your best interest anywhere on their radar. when that SAME person tells you that you don't know anything about marriage... when you've been married for 4 1/2 years and they are about to start year 6... they are trying to make themselves feel better that their marriage has hit bigger bumps, and almost hasn't made it... but you did make it, and for that i'm happy for you... don't tell me i don't know anything about marriage. And don't tell me that i don't know my husband, or that i'm naive to think that he won't drink or smoke just because he's a Marine, or that he secretly swears all the time at work (you've never met him first of all......and i KNOW the guys would happily bring this up every chance they got if it were true) and don't tell me that i'll have to end up sending him porn just because he's deployed.... apparently you KNOW your husband, and know what his weaknesses are... i know mine, and i know that those are NOT his weaknesses... nice try though.

Also, if you are going have minors at your house drinking... be smart.. and don't put pictures of said minors drinking on your facebook... THEIR husbands can get busted over that... even if they don't think they can.and so can YOU.

One of the comments against me that was made was that i spread gossip and rumors to anyone i'm able to, and about people i don't even know... why would i care to spread rumors about people i don't know first of all. it's interesting that the person that said this has had a few get-togethers that i wasn't able to attend... and after everyone, people suddenly have ALOT they want to say about me, to me... i'm not Naive, i know i probably come up in your conversations.

and to clear something up... Mormon... is a christian religion... OH MY GOSH am i being serious?! when you tell me that "Christian's" believe something different... find a better word. because THAT is offensive... yet do i flip out on anyone that says that... nope. because i know the point they are TRYING to make, and i'm not going to start drama over something like that. can i tell you how many comments i receive weekly about how because i'm Mormon i think i'm better than everyone else, and that i'm probably going to burn in hell over my beliefs... or that when the road gets tough, i'll abandon what i believe. And every time i have a come-back, i don't use them though... i could answer any of their questions about what i believe and why we do what we do... but they wouldn't listen anyway. so why waste my breath to start with. if you want to know what us "Mormons" believe.... just ask. wow, what a novel concept.... asking someone NICELY to not do something that bothers you.

I may not know ANYTHING about life because i don't have kids... i'm sorry i didn't have the opportunity to get "knocked up" you're right though... people can't know anything about life until they have kids... so what does that say about my 45 year old Aunt who hasn't ever had kids or been married, and her 2 brothers that have been married for years but have never had children.... they don't know anything about life?

Also, it should be CLEAR facebook etiquette that when a Mother, Aunt, Grandmother posts something on your wall..... you're NOT allowed to make a rude comment. did my Aunt call you dramatic and hurt your feelings? you don't post that if you were ABLE to comment you would have... have i ever once commented on a post someones mom put just to make a rude comment? no people... cause that is crossing a line.

i assumed that we were close friends, i mean i watched your kids for you, you wanted me to stay a weekend and watch them... i sat and listened as you got things about other wives off your chest... and then you listened as i did the same. then you put on my facebook that i gossip about every person on base? wow..... exaggerate much? gossip generally has malicious intent in the speakers heart. Rather than venting which is just letting off steam about someone. Its all in what you are hoping to accomplish with the conversation. If you just have some pent up energy then you are venting. If you are hoping to injure in some way the person discussed you are gossiping. I am sorry i made the mistake of thinking that you were someone that was trustworthy... it's ok, you proved me wrong, and i won't make the same mistake again. and i'm really sorry that unlike you i don't choose to confront everyone for everything that they do... and instead i vent.

You're petty and immature, and it'll come back to bite you. i hope someone posts something horribly mean and untrue on your facebook, so you can get all uppity and say that they have no right to do so... and then you'll think to yourself, oh wait, i deserve this. you can't have such a soft skin in the life girly, everyone is bound to offend you at some point.

100 Red Balloons... oh wait, thats not how the song goes!! Shoot!

Well happy 100 blog posts!!! Woooo!!! how will i be celebrating? eh you know, a glass of pineapple juice and a chocolate chip butterscotch cookie, the usual. i've been thinking for the past few weeks that i couldn't believe i was about to hit this milestone... and i was going to Blog something EPIC!!! but then once i wrote post number #99... i have spent the last few days trying to figure out what i could possibly do for this momentous occasion. I'm pretty sure i'm going to let you all down.... so this is my LAME attempt of trying to be less than totally disappointing. i'm going to do a few lists... of 100 of course... hopefully this isn't too daring and i can come up with that many things.
100 Things i have learned about life

1. If you don't plan ahead, you'll most likely feel twice as stressed
2. Duct Tape is NOT a suitable replacement for shoes
3. speaking of shoes, a pair of shoes says alot about you... if you are willing to ROCK a pair of hot pink heels, do it! you'll gain alot more respect from people
4. when you wear a pair of heels with a pair of jeans... your Butt will look AMAZING
5. Anyone can rock Red lipstick, you just have to find the right shade
6. Get the whole story before you accuse people of things. i've been on both sides of this... not pretty
7. The world gets harder for Teenagers every year. i can't imagine having to go through High School now
8. Look closely at what you put in your cookies, make sure you have the FLOUR container and not the PROTEIN POWDER container... it'll ruin a batch of cookies real easily
9. Frogs are dangerous to Puppies.... keep them faaar away
10. There are no starfish in Hawaii... and if there are, we haven't found them yet... Rye will complain about it every time we're at the beach... without fail
11. When you're afraid of your world crashing down around you, don't push the people closest to you away... pull them close, and don't let go... if the world falls apart, you'll be glad they are with you when it all ends.
12. liquid eyeliner is harder to put on the bottom and have stick... go with the traditional pencil.
13. That irritating Indian girl from the office... you know the one i'm talking about, people like her really DO exist... i sat next to her twin on a 6 hour flight.
14. When you fall off your bike and your dress flies up and people CLEARLY saw your underwear.... smile and shake it off... don't act embarrassed, they'll remember you as the girl who should have cried, but instead laughed and hopped right back on that bike
15. Boys don't usually have innocent intentions... they'll be nice to you because they know that you are naive and then pounce when they feel you are weakest... 
16. along with number 15.. don't be afraid to knee a guy in the junk... if he deserves it.
17. Wingers has the best wings in the history of the world
18. Baby carrots are NOT good for you, they are really high in sugar, just get the big ones, and CUT them
19. Be proud of your beliefs, people will admire you if you are the one person at the party who in the middle of a George W Bush bash fest... you stand up and admit that you think he's a great man, and will probably go down in history as one of the best presidents. 
20. Verizon charges WAAAAY too much
21. Rainy days are romantic :)
22. Coloring in a coloring book relieves stress.
23. Running when you have cramps doesn't really help...
24. be careful with the back windows in minivans, i smashed my fingers in them once, they have scared me ever since.
25. Good Inlaws can help your marriage grow in soo many ways
26. DVR is the best invention EVER!
27. Painting someones wall can make their whole week better
28. Pig's are NOT cuddly!
29. BluRay's are AMAZING! 
30. watching HD TV can hurt your eyes cause the colors are really bright!
31. The Divorce rate in the Marine Corps may be 85% but because of the foundation that Riley and i built before he joined, i KNOW we'll be in that 15% :)
32. people who don't deserve to be parents, will have no problems trying to get pregnant, while other totally amazing families will have to adopt the crack head's baby.
33. The fusion razor blades (i think Gillette makes them) work MILES better than the Venus razors... i have converted!
34. The Lego games (lego starwars, lego Harry Potter and such) are really fun! and even though they are meant for little kids... Sav can still get lost trying to play.
35. Driving stick shift is NOT hard, but sooo many people have NO idea how to do it.
36. XM/Sirius radio is one of my favorite inventions... worth every penny
37. Military wives are INSANE.
38. Anyone can get a Tan... even if you have been white your entire life... move to Hawaii, and little by little you will get tanner.
39. A picture can mean the world to someone, if you have a picture of their loved one that is away, frame it and give it to them... and watch them LIGHT UP!
40. True Blood is naughty... yet highly addictive
41. cigarettes are nasty... i will still NEVER touch them.. but being around them more, makes me remember why i won't ever pick up that habit.
42. Mormon's know how to through a kickin party WITHOUT alcohol... and everyone has a blast.
43. I really love to sing
44. girls that were "hot" in high school, seem to get less pretty as the years go on... but the "nice" girls seem to get prettier and prettier, makes me happy to watch them grow into GORGEOUS women.
45. The girls from my highschool, married good looking guys and have the best looking kids in the whole world!
46. if you water your lawn in Hawaii it will grow... even if it is TOTALLY dead.
47. Dragon fruit is pretty yummy... kind of like Kiwi but in a weird way
48. Josh Groban never ceases to amaze with new albums.
49. People will use you... if you have something they want, they will use you and dump you.
50. if you find someone who isn't afraid to admit they LOVE Glee and Twilight... keep them around.
51. if a boy is willing to Admit that Glee is funny... he's not gay, he's a keeper :)
52. Lush's face masks are AMAZING.
53. people will try to bring you down if you are in a good mood. especially if THEY feel you shouldn't be hapy. don't let them, they're not the boss of you :)
54. painting your nails makes you feel prettier.
55. Folding laundry is over rated
56. The Kotex U tampons, in the black box are the BEST!!! (tampax pearls should only be used as a back up in case your store doesn't stock the U ones)
57. Pepto helps puppies when they are sick
58. Hanging pictures up can make anywhere feel like home.
59. if your husband tells you that you don't need a pair of Zebra rainboots... wait till he leaves for Afghan, and buy them the next day :)
60. Ground Zero is a place EVERYONE should visit, it can make anyone cry a little.
61. louis vuitton doesn't put prices on their shoes for a REASON... 
62. My husband can sing, even if he doesn't think he can... he can give me chills :)
63. Vinegar is good to put in your washing machine and dish washer.... helps clean out the system
64. Being part of Acting Up was one of the best things i ever did, it allowed me to SHINE, and grow my talents soo much... and since i graduated i have missed performing OH SO MUCH.
65. if some jerk-off's leave a half empty bottle of beer at your house... keep it on the counter, it'll catch flies and kill them.
66. Dave & Busters is SOO much fun! and Rye and I can waste a good hour playing deal or no deal :)
67. A good bra makes a world of a difference 
68. When you move away from Utah (where you are the LEAST crafty person) you are suddenly the MOST crafty.
69. hike Angels Landing... once you get to the top, you'll feel as though you have conquered the world
70. Just because you are a good person, or an amazing little kid, you can still get Cancer, and you can still put up a dang good fight!
71. Disneyland really is magical... 
72. The military sacrifices alot more than i used to think.
73. Sometimes even though you HOPE everything is going to be ok, you still need someone to tell you it IS going to be ok.
74. They make Chocolate with pieces of bacon inside (sounds healthy huh?!)
75. when you make your own headbands, you get alot of compliments, and you treasure the compliments alot more.
76. A GPS is the best thing to have when moving to a new place. but asking where the best breakfast spot is... priceless
77. Don't work for a place that makes you miserable. and if you have to... do so for as little time as possible.
78. When on a cruise ship.. you can tell the man that you want a sprite, and a coke all you want... he'll still spike your drinks... 
79. When your husband gets excited because he has seen a billion movies where they pop the champagne cork... and you have one sent to your room with no intention of drinking the nasty stuff... DUCK when he touches the cork... or you MAY be missing an eye
80. Bring a little fleece blanket to the movie theater.... they try to freeze you out of those places.
81. Running shoes make a big difference... you're not cool because you've had the same pair since 7th grade... save up and get some new shoes... you'll be amazed
82. Singing hymns can make a puppy fall asleep, and lift the mood of the house.
83. losing weight is hard... but TOTALLY worth it, when you look in the mirror and smile at yourself.
84. splurge on things like nice sheets, you'll appreciate the splurge every time you crawl into bed.
85. Get some cute stationary and write some letters... there is nothing sweeter than getting a letter in the mail. 
86. Beauty and the Beast is still one of the best disney movies.
87. if you have the chance, rent a SUITE in vegas... or try to get upgraded to one... you'll feel like a celebrity for the weekend.
88. if you start a blog... people will read it.
89. every time you have a thought like "i should really call her" or "i wonder if he needs help moving" thats really the Holy Ghost giving you some direction... listen to him.
90. Satan really wants you on his side.but God wants you more.
91. if you get the chance, talk to someone who lived during WWII... especially someone who served or was a japanese American, you'll get some pretty interesting stories.
92. Hosting Thanksgiving is stressful, but not as hard as it seems.
93. Every married couple will NOT be as happy as you are, try not to rub your happiness in
94. try yams as many times as you want... they don't ever get less gross... that goes for olives and mushrooms too
95. Get your food storage set up, you won't regret it
96. flip flops are bad for your feet.
97. it's bad luck to cry on your birthday
98. don't touch the middle plate inside of a microwave... yes it gets hot... no you don't need to test that theory... i did that for you.
99. Marry your best friend.
100. I'm able to spend Time and All Eternity with my best friend... i just have to want it bad enough :)

And 50 things that remind me of Riley  

1. Phantom of the Opera
2. Xbox
3. Ice Cream (but only if said like IIIII GREEEEEEAM)
4. Spongebob
5. haunted houses
6. Plaid
7. Oakleys
8. Top Gear
9. Addidas
10. Hinder
11. Harley Davidson/Buell
12. Dodge
13. Classic Rock
14. Mexican Restaurants
15. Harry Potter
16. The Notebook (i made him take me to this like 7 times while we were dating)
17. PT Cruisers
18. Jeeps/Jeeping
19. Lance Armstrong
20. Biking (both Mountain and road)
21. Ginger (remember the smoothies with WAAAY too much ginger in them!) gross
22. The Golden Arches
23. the song "banana pancakes" 
24. The song "i'm yours" 
25. Midol :)
26. Greek Yogurt
27. Biggest Loser.
28. Glee
29. Wynonna
30. nissan dealerships
31. Hollister the smell mostly :)
32. my nail polish
33. yoyo's 
34. those gross little toy spiders.
35. Nintendo DS's since we both HAD to have one....
36. anything with old school art... reminds me of our class.
37. Cherry Pies
38. Pocket Knives
39. the color Red.
40. MOLD!!!!!! (said in the worst horror movie voice EVER)
41. Gerard Butler
42. those stupid gold wrappers.
43. The Ish
44. people talking about hernia's
45. That's neeeew :)
46. The Jo-Bro's-I JUST LIKE A FEW OF THEIR SONGS... GOSH!!!
47. the six-flags face
48. driving 145 in a 55
49. toenail clippers
50. OLLIIIIIVEEEEEER!!!!

Strange Dreams

I had a really strange dream last night. i was in a store or something, and i was recovering from a rough night of Riley being gone, so i went out to breakfast... and a guy who had been in my dream earlier (i think he had crashed while kite boarding or something,) and his friends (a big group of girls/ a few guys) were with me. i wanted to go shopping after breakfast, and just mentioned which store i was going to, and left them. so i'm in the middle of this store, and one of the guys from breakfast who i DON'T know, stopped me and said something like "i know how unhappy you are, and i can make you happy." and pulled out a ring... i've painted a picture of the basic shape so you see whats in my head.

obviously the blue squares are the diamonds. and in case you don't know the shape of MINE. i was going to put a picture of it up, but i can't find any good ones... lemme check again real quick.

you can click the picture to make it bigger.

 ok so you can see how it fits WITH it. ok so he puts the ring on me with my other ring and then LEAVES before i can say anything to him... all of a sudden i'm sitting in a kitchen similar to my inlaws kitchen, only there was a swinging door that went into like a hotel sized kitchen(hey it's my dream, it doesn't have to make sense) so i am sitting there with Kat and Lauren(except they didn't look like themselves.) telling them about what happened. and talking through everything... because this guy had like CONVINCED me that i wasn't happy with Riley. and the ring was GORGEOUS! so i told them i didn't know what i was supposed to do... and then Riley(he looked like chase crawford though.. not my Riley), a bunch of his buddies, and Ring guy all walked in and were just kind of chillin with us.

This is Chase Crawford, he's on Gossip Girl

I tell Riley i need to talk to him about something, and take him through the swinging doors. and the conversation went something like this
Me: I need to tell you something, but i don't want you to get angry because it's not what you think
LOOOOONG PAUSE
Rye: ok can you hurry and tell me so i stop running scenarios through my head
ME: well that guy out there gave me a ring and convinced me how unhappy i am with you.
Rye: ...................................
ME: but the thing is, i'm really confused, because i'm NOT unhappy with you... you make me happier than i ever imagined possible, you're my best friend... and i cannot IMAGINE being married to anyone else... ever.
Rye: Well thats good news.... so what now
ME: WELL I AM SOO KEEPING THIS RING!
Rye: what?!
ME: listen babe, the dude tried to break up our marriage... i am keeping the diamonds
Rye: what are you going to do with it
ME: dunno, i'll figure something out.

and that was kind of it

weird huh?!?!?!?! ok so here is my interpretation....

The ring guy, he is Satan... he's going to try ad tempt me with everything he can, do DOESN'T want me to be happy, and he's going to try and convince me that i'm not happy so that i will try to find false happiness with him.

Riley, i don't want to say that he is God... 1st of all because he doesn't need that kind of ego boost, but 2nd of all i think that's a bit sacrilegious..... but i think he was Good...


in my dream i honestly thought i was going to be with someone other than Riley, they were trying to paint this picture of how happy and good and fun my new life was going to be. and when he was SAYING that, it sounded good. but as soon as i reflected on it, i was sick to my stomach thinking about a life without Riley. It was one of those dreams where you really think you're going to lose something that is so important to you, and it was devastating. i don't want to be in a world where Riley and I aren't together... being with him is the highlight of my life. anyone that REALLY knows us, knows that we are one of those few couples who are soul mates. when other guys are stoked for a guys night out and away from their wives, Rye is the one asking if i can tag along. we're best friends... i tell him everything... he knows i have a slight crush on Chase Crawford, i know he has a MAJOR crush on Jessica Alba. when girls hit on Rye, i'm honestly HAPPY for him, it's such an ego boost when people let you know they think you are attractive.

We are so comfortable with ourselves and our relationship, and we KNOW we have nothing to worry about when it comes to outside influences. there is NOTHING wrong with admiring celebrities... you can't say that just because you're married that they get less attractive. God made them too, as long as you're not LUSTING over them, i think you're ok. you're just recognizing a job well done by the big guy :)


So those of you who get upset and weirded out when you hear me and Riley talking, and i'm trying to convince him to take me to a chick flick... and if i mention that Jess Alba is in it... and all of a sudden he's all gun ho about the idea... you can think to yourselves how weak our marriage is, and how we won't last.... but at least we're honest... 100% honest about everything, we have nothing to hide from each other, and no reason to hide anything. we live our lives in a way that we don't ever have to be ashamed to tell the other what we've done.


alright so this has been a strange post.... whew... within the next few days, look out for a special post... cause this one here is post number 99!!! ya, i can't believe that i've blogged that much either. i should get a hobby or something :)

Christmas Cards

Alright so i haven't sent out Christmas cards in a few years, i really LOVED doing them, but with him being gone both last year and this year i didn't even have a little bit of motivation to do so. a few friends have been planning on it and ordered some from walmart and costco, but i couldn't find any layouts that i REALLY loved. but then a friend of mine blogged about this AWESOME promo from Shutterfly

SHUTTERFLY 50 Free Christmas Cards


they have SOO many cute ones! i've never used Shutterfly before, but i have been wanting to try them out for a long time, so what a perfect way to do so! Check them out, you're sure to find a bunch that you want and then have to make the tough decision i am not having to make... here are a few of my favorites.
This One! or This One! or This One! and This One Too!

I really love those last two, and they both benefit different Charities. the 3rd one is actually a LiveStrong card... and for those of you that don't know Rye too well, his HERO is Lance Armstrong... I loved the card and THEN saw it was for that Charity... so i know that will be a big contender.

This season is for giving thanks, and remembering those people in our life that we are glad we have around. I may not be having a big time Christmas this year, but it is making me focus more on the Christ aspect of it this year. don't get me wrong, i love a carmel apple cider as much as the next girl. and i REALLY love getting mail and letters... and most of my friends have now gotten my address to send me a card, so why shouldn't i do the same. we have had a crazy year, and i'm sure people would love to get a card, and know that we have ONE normal thing in our life.

here are a few links for different kinds of cards they do. so you can send cards all throughout the year!

Holiday Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards

New Baby Cards (as apposed to old baby cards) http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/baby-cards

Thank You Cards http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/thank-you-cards

I really love all the cards that they have! So take a look, you will probably fall in love and end up ordering some! and if you do! throw one in the Mail for me, i could use all the holiday cheer i can get.

Those are a few of the pics i'm thinking about using, and Riley has decided this is the card he REALLY wants. and wants me to send him one in Afghan.

Please continue to pray for my husband's Unit and all the other men with him fighting this war against terror. and also Pray for Jaxon, he's finishing up his 2nd round of Chemo today and should be at home recovering tomorrow. his spirits are high, his hair is gone... and he's such a strong little Fighter...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I honestly meant to write this post last night, because it just doesn't mean the same today, but i was falling asleep! and then Riley got online so i talked to him for a bit. i guess he tried to call not too long after that, and i was so asleep i didn't hear my phone..... none of the 7 times he tried to call... I know i know, i'm the worst wife in the whole entire world!!! So now i am sitting in bed FINALLY writing this blog. Deezul has been on super protective mode lately, so he got me up at 5 so he could patrol the perimeters of the house growling, and then go outside and bark at the little old lady who was on a walk... freakin butthole.

Yesterday was exactly 1 Year from the day Riley left for bootcamp. how crazy is that?! Babe, when you read this, i want you to know how extremely proud of you i am. i can't imagine doing what you do everyday...

Anyway, i thought i would do kind of a highlight on what has happened to us in the last 12 months... well mostly me, cause i can't keep track of Riley completely. So here is my list of my first full year as a USMC WIFE.

• I have lived in 8 different houses.
• I have had 9 hotel stays 
• I have camped on the beach for almost a whole week. 
• Between Feb 24th-May 14th i Logged 198 hours in JUST my back and forth from Utah and California, that doesn't include around town driving, just the LONG trips. that equals out to 8.25 days. and might i add, i never once got into a wreck, or got a ticket of any kind.
• During those drives, i listened to 14 Audio Books
• I met Kristy, and Kaitlyn.. who have both proved to be amazing friends
• We were stationed at Camp Pendleton in San Diego
• THEN we were switched to Hawaii
• i've learned to not take technology for granted, being able to chat, text, or message is an AMAZING thing that most people never fully grasp how much it means.
• i lost almost 30lbs (and only gained 5 back from all the traveling and living in hotel rooms)
• I got a puppy in June (little Deezul Oliver Gardiner... yes his initials are DOG) he's now 7 months old, and is the greatest blessing in my life right now. he keeps me busy everyday, loves me when i'm lonely... and makes me laugh and smile when i just want to break down. i love him alot.
• i celebrated 4 years of marriage to my best friend. He was away at training, but we both got new running shoes for eachother.
• i quit biting my nails (after doing it my entire life!) 
• i spent 8 Holiday's without Riley (Christmas2009, new years, his birthday, my birthday, Valentines, St Patricks Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving) Here's to hoping next year includes a few more holidays spent together.

I know i'm forgetting alot of things, and i know that there is a WHOLE other list that Riley would have to put together of things that he's accomplished this year... i'll see if i can get him to put one together and e-mail it to me, i'd actually really like for him to have a post on this blog that HE did.... so RYE!!! when you read this, what do you say Cute Bum? would you mind?

Well i've turned on the Christmas Music... and there is one that i remember would make me BAWL last year whenever i'd hear it, this year i'm doing a lot better with it, but it can still jerk a few tears from me. i think it has quickly become my FAVORITE Christmas song... last year i found comfort in the lyrics "through the years, we all will be together. if the fates allow" i assumed last year that this year the fates would allow us to be together... i don't know what God has planned for me, the big guy has plans... that i DO know for sure. so i'm trying to live through this deployment and be as upbeat as possible... because i know that i'm not supposed to be with him this year, he's off doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing. and i'm here on the home-front... doing exactly what God wants me to be doing, i'm the best possible support and motivation for Riley, i support him in every single possible way, and he knows what he has waiting for him at home, and he's going to fight as hard as he can to get home to me and little Dee. soo.... as i like to do... here is the song of the day :)

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
From now on,
our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Make the Yule-tide gay,
From now on,
our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,
Happy golden days of yore.
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more.

Through the years
We all will be together,
If the Fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.

 

Next year babe, i have a feeling the Fates are going to allow us to spend the holidays together. :)

Come Home

The Nightmares have started...

I remember when Lincoln was deployed and Tiff was on the home front. i would try and either text or call everyday, just to see how she was doing, if she needed to talk to anyone, and just because we were getting closer and i LOVED chatting with her. first of all, that girl is an AMAZING woman, i have no idea how she got through the deployment with soo much grace. she makes us all look bad... and she's so modest she'll totally tell you that the rest of us handle them better. i loved everyday that i got to talk to her, and got to know her better... she's one of the first people i met when i moved to utah, we went to elementary school together. We were friends, just not really close... more of the "AT SCHOOL" friends... which there is nothing wrong with, and i'm not sure why we never hung out more. (probably cause i was too boy crazy for people to want to be around me) i always thought she was one of the nicest people in my grade though, and i can HONESTLY say, i never once said a bad thing about her. and had i tried i don't know what i would have come up with. She married Lincoln 2 years ago now, and they are PERFECT for eachother! really, they are. I've also known Lincoln since 6th grade, he lived a few blocks up the hill from me, and we'd play. i actually broke my arm on his trampoline, and for years he told me i needed to come get the blood stain off his trampoline.. gross! i hung out with him all the way through high school, but he wasn't in my normal group of friends. He's a really great guy, and like i said Tiff is an AMAZING girl... they are perfect for each other.

When Lincoln left for Afghan, that was the first time that someone i really knew was going over there, not just a friends husband. And like i said i would talk to Tiff almost everyday, and that's how i kind of gauged what a deployment would be like for me. So far Riley has been more fortunate to have access to phones and such, and i'm not Naive enough to think that it will continue like that for the entire time. not that i would complain. but Tiff usually got about one phonecall a week. give or take. and she was ecstatic when she got a call, and be sure to text or call me and let me know that he called and give me a little update on how he's doing.

And then there were the days that i would text her, ask how she was holding up... and all i'd get as a reply would be "it was a rough night, but i'm ok" now i had just SURVIVED bootcamp... which i thought was the worst thing in the world. so a "rough night" for me, was when i would bawl uncontrollably for like a few hours, and then not really be able to sleep... She was nice enough not to elaborate for me, i don't think she wanted me to know how hard things really are as a wife getting through a deployment. because the night before last, i had my first nightmare... and it was the realest, saddest, scariest dream i think i've had since i was little. i'm not going to tell you what it was about. but you know how every wife has that ONE thing that scares them on deployments, whether it be transports, post, patrols just a number of different things... this dream was about the one thing that i really honestly don't feel comfortable with, i know what his job is... and i know that it's not going to change because i'm scared of him going out and doing this thing... but that doesn't change my thoughts on it.

so i had my first "rough night" and i'm sure there are many more to come. i survived. it's now been 2 weeks since he left. 14 whole days. i still have not cried since the night he left, i'm holding up. well unless you count the few tears from the st judes commercial, or the little girl on the news that started bawling when she skyped with her mom in afghan... but not anything normal like laying in bed crying. please don't tell me it is flying by... i KNOW that for the rest of you, these last few weeks with the holiday and shopping probably HAVE flown by. however for a wife who's husband is off at war, they have felt like months. i'm glad that we're 2 weeks down now, it means i'm 2 weeks closer to having him home.

So babe, when you read this... Come Home



"Come Home"

[Verse 1]
Hello world
Hope you're listening
Forgive me if I’m young
For speaking out of turn
There’s someone I’ve been missing
I think that they could be
The better half of me
They’re in the wrong place trying to make it right
But I’m tired of justifying
So i say you’ll..

[Chorus]
Come home
Come home
Cause I’ve been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
And right now there's a war between the vanities
But all i see is you and me
The fight for you is all I’ve ever known
So come home
Oh

[Verse 2]
I get lost in the beauty
Of everything i see
The world ain’t as half as bad
As they paint it to be
If all the sons
If all the daughters
Stopped to take it in
Well hopefully the hate subsides and the love can begin
It might start now..Yeahh
Well maybe I’m just dreaming out loud
Until then

[Chorus]
Come home
Come home
Cause I’ve been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
And right now there's a war between the vanities
But all i see is you and me
The fight for you is all I’ve ever known
Ever known
So come home
Oh

[Interlude]
Everything i can’t be
Is everything you should be
And that’s why i need you here
Everything i can’t be
Is everything you should be
And that’s why i need you here
So hear this now

[Chorus]
Come home
Come home
Cause I’ve been waiting for you
For so long
For so long
And right now there's a war between the vanities
But all i see is you and me
The fight for you is all I’ve ever known
Ever known
So come home
Come home

Tis the Season

Well, in blog news, and i know you all probably don't care ALL that much... but i am now only 5 posts away from hitting 100.... that is INSANE!!! when i hit 100 i'll do a special post about my blog... i'm going to blog about blogging... YES...

Now onto the post. Yesterday was officially thanksgiving, and i honestly hope you all had soo much food you couldn't breathe! Since i had the turkey and rest of the amazing turkey day food a few weeks ago, i tried to spend yesterday as a normal day. i walked Deezul down to the beach at like 7:30 in the morning. then came home and was just watching the Macy's thanksgiving day parade, When Shaunci called and asked if i wanted to hit up the beach for a bit. so we went and laid out for about an hour... I am pleased to announce that i am NOT sunburnt. but have a little bit of new color on me. i came home after ONLY an hour, and Deezul had gotten ahold of my black pen that i use to write Riley's letters... and had killed it... all over the white sheet that was on the couch needing to be put away... it was my fault, he loves playing with those pens, and i forgot to pick it up off the floor... but i'm serious, a few weeks ago, before Riley left... he never would have done anything like this... i am learning alot about patience... and how to deal with him, without screaming or wanting to cry and pull my hair out.

sitting next to the scene of the crime.... Butthead.

closer view of the damage.

Speaking of Deezul, soo he LOVES to just hangout on the back porch, we have like a 25 foot chain for him out there, so he can lay in the grass or sit on top of the hill and over look the neighborhood and beach. Riley and I take advantage of him hanging out outside to get treats and eat them when he isn't around to beg... HOWEVER. he has intuition like a mother. i'll come into the living room from the kitchen with ice cream, or fruit, or popcorn... or anything really... and as soon as i step out of the kitchen, EVEN if he was passed out in the grass when i went INTO the kitchen, i'll walk in the living room and he's sitting at the back door with this creep "i know what you have" look on his face... 

I Know What You're Eating...

 Ok so after he destroyed the pen, i showered, put on some sweats and headed over to Shaunci's for movie day. we watched "Charlie St Cloud" i read the book a few months ago, so i LOVED the movie... PLUS Zack Efron is not too rough on the eyes.... Riley, don't act surprised by this, you TOTALLY know i have a little crush on him :) after that we watched Princess and the Frog, a personal favorite of mine. Shaunci had never seen it. Of course she loved it, how could you not adore that movie!

I was able to get a quick phone call from Riley yesterday around noon. he had just come off a 12 hour shift, and had 3 hours to sleep before he had ANOTHER 6 hour shift... he's exhausted. so if any of you are sending him packages, Energy Drinks are one of the newest thing to put on your lists... before he left for Afghan he had given up caffeine COMPLETELY he had looked into the health pro's and Con's of it and decided that it wasn't good for him, and gave it up. (i know that as Mormon's we're not supposed to have caffeine, but it took him looking into the health aspect for him to want to give it up... i still will have a caffeinated drink if i'm out to eat and they don't have caffeine free Diet Coke) anyway with his 18 hour days over in the desert, he is actually wanting energy drinks... he prefers the low-carb ones... low carb monster is his favorite, just FYI. also pancake mix and syrup, but the pancake mix that only requires you to add water.

Well today is black friday, but because of a few calls from Germany that cost much more than we were expecting, i will not be shopping today. i usually DO the black friday shopping, but it will have to wait this year. I have decided i am actually going to decorate for christmas and try to enjoy the season. last year it was a bit too much to handle, but because i was always with friends i had no choice but to do Christmas-y things. i was originally going to not do ANYTHING for the holidays, If Riley were here, he'd want me to enjoy this time. this IS his favorite holiday, and this will be his 2nd year missing it. so i am going to celebrate, and get my practice in for next year...

Riley Gardiner, next year's Christmas is going to knock your socks off!!!!! so get ready Babe!!! i love you and i miss you!!!!!

So today i will be breaking out the Christmas music. and on payday next week, i'll be going out and getting some christmas lights and a tree, and will be PRAYING that Deezul doesn't destroy the tree....

As Always Keep 2/3 in your Prayers, especially my Island Warrior Riley. and continue to Pray for my Nephew Jaxon, he is starting his 2nd Chemo treatment next week, and has recently lost all his hair. however my sister in law is an AMAZING mother, and she shaved her head to make him feel better about losing his.

Thankful

Alright, so call me a little Cliche, but tomorrow IS thanksgiving afterall... and even though i celebrated the holiday 2 weeks ago, the Calendar still says it's technically tomorrow. So this is my post about being thankful.

I am thankful for sooo many things, so don't think that it is limited to what i have on the list here.

1. I am thankful for Time... i know it might seem like an odd thing for me to be thankful for. But i am. Riley left for Bootcamp almost exactly a year ago... he was around last Thanksgiving and left shortly after. if you've been following my blog, you'll know that he was away for trainings after that... i saw him on weekends, and then he came here to Hawaii, where he started his "work up" to this deployment. in the last year (365 days) since last thanksgiving, i've been able to spend 153 days with him... if my math is correct(which it totally may not be, i'm no good at math) that adds up to 41.9% of the year... not even half of it. the really strange thing is that next thanksgiving my time will have been less than this year, because of the deployment. but i am extremely thankful, and grateful for every day i get to spend with him. he is amazing, and definitely my hero.

Last Thanksgiving, only a few days before this journey started.

2.I am thankful for Technology... on the 58.1% of the year i was not able to spend with Rye, i normally had absolutely NO contact with him. except for the occasional letter. however, while he was in California for that month, i was able to receive phonecalls.. not a ton, because his cell didn't get signal. but he was able to borrow phones. when he was at work, but not away, i was able to text him during the day... something alot of people take for granted. i could text him about something funny that happened. or how mad i was that some ants found Deezul's food, or ask what sounded good for dinner... that kind of stuff. NORMAL stuff. i'm thankful that technology allows me to stay connected to him even when he's NOT half a world away. and i think Skype falls under this category.. i recently discovered Skype, while Riley was in a random foreign country. being able to see his face, made everything better. i sat on Skype with him for like an hour just making faces at him :) i'm thankful that even though he is in Afghanistan that he has phone/internet access... not all the time, and it's not uber reliable... but i'll take it. i don't know how you world war 2 wives did it... you are some STRONG women. 

3. I am thankful for Deezul...when we first saw Dee and his 2 sisters, Riley had already insisted we get a BOY dog, not a girl. so we held Deezul and tried to get him to play with us. he was only 6 weeks old and basically just fell asleep in my arms.. but he was precious. we went back to base, and later that day Riley turned to me and said "should we get him?!" i had already forgotten about Dee, Riley will let me play with puppies, but then tells me no when i ask if we can keep him :) so i had learned by this point to NOT get my hopes up. but i guess little Dee had stolen Riley's heart. i looked at the clock and told him they closed in 30 min cause it was a sunday... he grabbed the keys and we were out the door. and we went and spent alot of money on the little guy that would soon have my heart in the palm of his paw... it took me a few months to actually LOVE him, and for him to be "my baby boy" rather than the puppy that cost us alot of money. In August he started losing his hair in patches, and i was worried that he wasn't going to be the pretty dog we had hoped he would be. but we found out he had demodex mange, common for his breed, and curable.. so now it's maintained, and he is healthy and GORGEOUS! the only thing now is we have to get his eyelids fixed... call it an eyelid lift. but he honestly makes my life more enjoyable. he's alot of work, and sometimes i feel like just setting him into the wild and telling him not to come back, but 90% of the time, he's a PERFECT puppy, he doesn't chew on furniture, chords, anything really. he is realizing that I'M the alpha, and he is required to listen to me, and it's making both of our lives easier for this deployment. He's really depressed since Riley left, he's been acting out, and he'll scratch at the bedroom doors until i open them and he can check that Riley is not in there, then he comes back to the living room, and either looks like he's the saddest puppy in the world.. or he'll whine. but he sure is a snuggler, and he loves his mama more than anything :)

Deezul being a butthead... this is what i get to deal with for the next 7 months. :)

and then he's the sweetest dog in the whole world!!!

4. I am thankful for Music...it's one of those things that can ampliphy your mood. if you're sad, you can listen to something sappy, if your happy you can listen to GLEE and sing along at the top of your lungs! which i do... again, i'm sorry to my upstairs neighbor.. but i'm sure on HER list of what she's thankful for.. she's probably thankful that i have talent, and i don't sound like a tortured animal. but in all seriousness, there are alot of songs i can listen to, and know that sometime in the last 24 hours, Riley has probably listened to that exact same song... on my ipod of course, cause the idiot stuck his in the washing machine back in October, and being the good wife i am, i let him take mine to Afghan, and i'm stuck with his handicapped one until i get a new one.

5. I am thankful for Friends...new and old, i treasure each and every one of you. Since Riley left, i have experienced an outpour of love from so many people that i didn't know even paid attention to what was going on in my life. i promise, i facebook stalk most of you :) and look at soo many of your pictures, i should be better at commenting, and i'm trying to get better at that. everytime i see a comment, text, or e-mail i light up. knowing that i have the support of soo many of you, and that if i really truly needed something, that you would all be there with whatever i need. and to my new friends, i'm learning more and more about you everyday, and while we may not be close forever... know that you have honestly changed me!

6. I am Thankful for Riley.. i didn't mean to make him number 6, but i've mentioned him in every one of the other things.when i met him, i honestly didn't see myself MARRYING the kid, i mean i was 15... but as some of you may know. i got engaged halfway through my senior year. i know you all think that getting married right out of high school is a dumb decision, and when a teen comes to me wanting me to be ALL FOR IT, and convince their parents that it turned out ok for me, i won't do it... because 90% of the time, i don't recommend it. HOWEVER, as soo many people will tell you, they've never met a happier couple. even after 4 1/2 years almost. i love him, he's honestly my soul mate. these have been the best years of my life. i am also thankful for the fact that we have grown into full blown adults. makes it alot easier on our relationship that we don't really fight anymore. we've figured out what is worth fighting over, and so we don't normally fight over anything anymore, it's not worth the anger and resentment. i will tell you, i used to get SO PISSED, because he will put his McDonalds cups in the sink after he was done with them. instead of dumping them out and throwing the cup away.. and that is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves about him.. i can't even tell you how many times i probably yelled and screamed about that... you're probably laughing at me now. haha, heck i'll laugh at myself... i've learned that i can be irritated with him, but NOT need to fight him on dumb things like that. he also leaves his vitamin wrappers on the counter. i DESPISE those gold wrappers.. he knows that both of those things bug me to no end, and i honestly don't know if he does it on purpose, because he thinks it's funny to watch me throw away the wrappers and cups while muttering what an idiot he is under my breath. or if years of living with his mom who does the same thing, and is too OCD to leave it there too long, that he really doesn't even realize he's doing it. all i know is. FOR 7 MONTHS I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOUR CUPS AND WRAPPERS!!!! haha and i am oh so thankful for that :) so many other wives are like "i miss how he used to pee on me in the shower" (ok no one has said that, but you get the point, something disgusting and irritating...) yes they claim to miss the things that they would scream at them over.. don't lie to yourselves ladies, everytime you're in the shower, you may miss him... but you are also secretly grateful that you dont have to share the hot water with someone else, and you're not getting peed on... :) ok on a serious note, since i know Riley is going to read this and think to himself "Sav, i KNOW you miss the wrappers and cups" I'm thankful that i was able to marry my best friend. i'm thankful that we fall more into love everyday. i'm thankful that no matter how much i love you, you'll always love me more. i'm extremely thankful that you work, and have such a demanding job, to support me. and you never once complain that i'm living easy while you bust your butt everyday. i'm thankful that you WANT me to be happy, and to not have to go to a job that i hate everyday. I'm thankful that you were willing to sit through one episode of Glee, so that you could fall in love with it. and last, i'm thankful that you are the most loving and supportive man, and i can't wait to have a family with you, but i am oh so thankful we have waited :) it's been a crazy ride Cute Bum, but i wouldn't want to do it with anyone else.

Our wedding Day Aug 19th 2006.. LOOK HOW YOUNG WE LOOK!

Feb 25th, after not seeing him for 3 months. we've grown up alot!

we've definitely grown up alot since we first met.

7. I am Thankful for Family... our families have been soo supportive over these last few years. even though some of you may have thought i was knocked up when we first got married(don't worry i would have thought the same thing... and i probably would have put bets on our marriage as well haha). and since Riley has joined the Marines, i'm realizing how amazing you all are. i mean the Washburn side of Riley's family is doing care packages for him, they are so proud of him... and he won't admit it, but he secretly loves all the gushy things people say to him about him serving our country. after the ball a bunch of people would stop and stare as we walked by them, cause he was in his blues, a few people stopped us and thanked him for what he does. some asian chicks kept taking his picture... but he loves that, he loves that people are thankful for HIM! when he talks about how his mom called him on veterans day and thanked him for serving our country.. he got all choked up. he likes to think that he is actually doing something with his life. and what he's doing is actually worth something. and you all help him to know that what he's doing is AMAZING. so i am thankful for all of you!

last but certainly not least

8. I am thankful for The Gospel... almost a year ago, i posted about my testimony, and how i hoped the church was true, and i thought it was true... but i wasn't sure. i can now post, with total confidence... THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! i don't think i even understood what i was unsure of. Living in a place where i am basically the only Mormon, i'm learning ALOT about what other people believe. i mean on Oprah yesterday, some catholic nuns had said "Everyone is only married till their Death, but our love for Jesus is eternal" and until recently i honestly didn't realize that other religions don't believe in "Time and All Eternity" like we do. i am ETERNALLY thankful that i can spend FOREVER with Riley. I am thankful that a 14 year old boy was brave enough to stand up for what he believed. i'm thankful that our church doesn't require perfection... only that we STRIVE for it. i'll be the first one to admit that me and Riley aren't perfect, FAAAR from it. but we are trying, and we're improving. i'm at the point right now, where i see SOO MANY people that i know, and i just want to tell him everything i know about the church. and that i know as soon as they hear it, they'll want to get baptized. however, if i were to do that, i would then become the pushy Mormon friend... and no one wants that. so instead, i'm just trying to be the best example i can be. and when they point out my flaws to my face, i take it. i don't fight back and say things that may be true but are also hurtful. i'm trying to realize that people will try to point out things that i do "wrong" because they don't want to believe that Mormon's are perfect.. REMEMBER how i said we're not perfect, i don't need people pointing that out, i already know. however when they point things out, i honestly strive to improve, and i am thankful that i am open enough that i am able to see that i need improvement. I am thankful for Thomas S. Monson, and for the rest of our leaders, who will continue to stand up for what is RIGHT, and not for what is convenient for the world.

we went to see the temple the night before he left, it's kind of a tradition, and i took this picture of the Oahu Temple

well i won't make this post any longer, just know i am also thankful  Josh Groban, and Glee :)

Keep 2/3 and the rest of the military in your prayers this thanksgiving. because hopefully you are as thankful for them as i am.