OWWWWW

So Yesterday (Monday) i started my surf camp... i showed up to the beach at 8:45 ready to go! we get briefed, and then head down to the beach. we practice popping up for about 30 minutes. and then the instructors both seem a little worried about the tide and the size of the waves. so around 9:45 they decide we can try to brave it and go out. so i'm heading out with Bob (the main instructor) and we're paddling along.. and there were alot of 3 and 4 foot waves... WAY TO BIG for a beginer. a 4 footer came along, spun me around and luckily i was holding on for dear life, i rode the wave on my belly... before it decide to rip me from my board and thrash me about... AND THAT my friends was my very first surfing expierience. it was TERRIFYING. after that i caught one.. maybe two baby waves... didn't get up very well but thats besides the point. we headed in for a breather... and i could not catch my breath! that one wave had tried to murder me. Bob thought it was AWESOME i guess he was talking to me telling me to paddle over the next one coming... and he turned around to make sure i heard. and i was GONE.

so on the beach they were saying the tide needed to go out a bit more. we waited on the beach for about an hour. tried to go out again. but this time i went out with Matt (another instructor) he was SUPER cool. and i caught a bunch of much more acceptable size waves. went back in, he watched my pop up and tried to show me what i was supposed to do, and what i was doing on the beach. vs what i was ACTUALLY doing in the water. a few more girls showed up and we made the short trek to another part of the beach where there were not very many monster waves... just little baby ones... JUST THE WAY I WANTED IT! so me and the 4 other girls headed out with the 3 instructors. and they took turns pushing is into the wave to catch it. they didn't want us paddling too much so we wouldn't be too sore for the rest of the week... HA. anyway.. i caught a bunch but couldn't get the right balance, and then i went through a stage when i was nervous to let go of the board. so i'd be squatting... and hanging on! but by the end 1:30 pm i had an AMAZING run. i stood up perfectly carved a teensy bit(on accident) and road the wave in. Matt was behind me and had pushed me in, Bob was on the beach and was watching the whole thing and was IMPRESSED! and then Rusty came in (Bob's son and the third instructor) and told me how awesome that one was. and that was my awesome start to Surf Camp.

I woke up this morning... and i cant move. my triceps are about to burst... that muscle that is like under your armpits and side-boob... that one i think might hurt the worst. my back is SORE and my Abs and core muscles are in much pain. and somehow... i have to get up get moving and drive back to the beach to continue with my lessons... i'm pretty stoke with surfing... the sun can go suck a lemon. cause it killed my face. but i learned my lesson with that the hard way. i would bring my camera and take pictures... but i'm doing this solo and have noone to come take pictures. so if anyone in the san diego county area wants to come and take pictures... i'd love you forever!

Oceanside CA! I love my life

sooo. i've had time to play with my camera with all the time i've spent in California. it's actually really fun! anyway my newest thing i LOVE taking pictures of... Beaches... usually at sunrise or sunset.... so here are a few pictures.. i LOVE the beach!!!

Amazing Weekend!!!!!

So as most of you know i have decided to dedicate my life to being on the road while Riley is still in training. so this last weekend... well from Friday until Monday, i have now logged almost 2000 miles of ME driving... wow! so i  have spent more than a few hours on the road! i am now sitting at my in-laws house in St George... and for the first time in almost 5 months. i feel like i'm home.. i know that probably sounds crazy. but i mean, i stayed at my mom's house on a futon in there guest room, and everyone was more than a little anxious to get me out of there so they could return it to being the game room. and then i was at Zack's parents house. and they were AMAZING! but i was still staying in a room that was sarah's even though she's moved out. and they weren't mine or Riley's blood family, so i still felt like an intruder. then for the last 4 weeks i've been in hotel rooms, condo's and here and there for a night or two at a time. I am homeless.. AND IT FREAKIN SUCKS!!!

I am so ready for Riley to be done with training so i can actually settle in somewhere. if i knew for sure that we would be stationed at camp pendleton, i would move out there in a heartbeat. it would be alot easier than driving 6 or 7 hours each way to spend 45 hours with my soul mate. the love of my life! every time i'm with him, he reminds me EXACTLY why i fell in love with him in the first place. He is the most amazingly awesome person i've ever met!

friday night... I got to Camp Pendleton about 6:30 pm... i was expecting him to get liberty around 6, but Kat had taken my GPS so she could get to the base, so i had printed directions TAPED to my steering wheel. so it took me a bit longer than expected to get there. anyway, so my new friend Kaitlyn was also there waiting for Bravo Company platoon 2 to be released for weekend liberty. so i hopped in her car, and we killed time.. which consisted of driving up to there barracks a few times and spying! it was exciting, and nerve racking!

then around 8-ish we started seeing more boys in the barracks running around and popping out of windows to try and get cell signal to make their first texts of the weekend. we were sitting in Kaitlyns VW bug, and all of a sudden i saw him! i couldn't see his face. but i could tell from the way he was standing and was holding his cell. anyway so he called but our signal was terrible. i got out of the car and just stood there. and he saw me :) it was pitch black but he was like "SAV?! IS THAT YOU DOWN THERE?!" so he ran down and had me meet him by the stairs. and he's never run so fast to me in his life! gave me the HUGEST hug and had a massive grin! so of course first thing out of my mouth was "wow babe, you had a REALLY bad week didn't you?!"

anyway so we drove to san diego, got some in-n-out, and checked into the hampton inn.

Saturday!
we started the weekend off early. we were up by 4:30. got up, i threw my new hollister sweats on, with a tank and a zip up. Riley put his running shorts, and running shoes on.. and a shirt. and we hopped in the car. the goal was to find a beach with a pier and a boardwalk that Riley could run on. well... my GPS sucks at life, and could not find us a beach the life of it! we ended up at plenty of coasts but they were all on cliffs... WHAT THE CRAP! so FINALLY after rye wanted to stop at a donut shop on the coast we decided to ask the guy in there where a good beach would be. well bless his little heart, the little asian man did not speak a word of english except for donut terms... WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?! anyway a guy in there gave us directions. and we found our way... RIGHT as it started getting light. i brought my camera and we had some fun. p.s. none of these have been edited yet in any way..... so ya!

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so after that, we went back to the hotel, Riley went to the little gym, he came back and showered while i hurried and got ready. then we headed to sea world, being a Military Family (wow that still feels weird to say!) we got in for free. we didn't want to spend too long there because we still wanted alot of time left in the day to spend together. so we saw shamu, Riley got me a pearl, i got to pick the oyster and everything! i held a starfish... ok that's a lie, but i touched it! and we went to a few aquariums.

after sea world, we found a MUCH closer beach, and walked on the beach for about an hour. then on our way back up to the car we ran into a group of Riley's Marine buddies so we chatted with them for a bit, then headed back to the hotel to change for the evening. we were planning on doing dinner and a movie. but with it being a little later than we were hoping, we ended up going to chick-fil-a for dinner NEVER A BAD OPTION! then we went and saw "the bounty hunter" i REALLY liked it. Riley like it but didn't love it. probably cause we were both sooooo sleepy we were falling asleep towards the end. we went back to the hotel and pretty much passed out!

Sunday- got up, got breakfast, got Riley a haircut, then had to start driving BACK to Camp Pendleton. once we got back we were able to sit on the grass and have a mini picnic. Riley had a REALLY hard time saying goodbye this week. which made it sooo much harder for me i'm not going to say much about it, cause i am getting all teary eyed just thinking about it.

well i will quit writing, since i'm sure noone is STILL reading, since i just keep typing. but ya. it was an AMAZING weekend. and i'm going to bed now!

OH YA....... Cold Sores SUCK!!!!!

OK i give in!!!

Alright everybody... you asked for it!!!

When Riley left for bootcamp on december 1st, i went into Zombie mode. as anyone that saw me the first 2 weeks he was gone knows. but about 2 weeks in i decided to do good on my promise to myself.
I decided a few months prior that while Riley was away, bettering himself... for US.. i would do the same. obviously in a bit of a different way. my Friend Kat had lost about 35 lbs in about 5 months... so i talked to her and found out how she did it. She told me she went to ABsolute weight loss in Orem. so i called the next day and made an appointment. on your first consultation they take your blood pressure, and test for your body composition. they tell you how much fat you have, how much water weight you have, how much muscle weight... and so on. and then you talk to the dr on staff and figure out which plan you want to do.

I did the Traditional plan. so i went in once a week for my weekly weigh in, and got a B12 shot. all the B12 shot does is give you energy. seriously it works! then i talked to a nutritionist who sat and taught me what proportion of protein to carbs i need to have. taught me a bunch of other stuff. and then i also take an appetite suppressant. and thats it. i've basically taught myself how to eat smaller portions. and GENERALLY pick better things to eat. they know everyone is going to cheat every once in a while. but they teach you that when you cheat... it doesnt' mean to throw all your hard work out the door. if you want chocolate cake... eat the chocolate cake... just don't eat the whole thing. eat like HALF a slice. anyway it worked! i still have a little bit to go, and i'm working on it. but since my husband is in California, and i'm going back and forth every weekend to see him, i can't exactly go into a center in orem weekly for my shot. but i am STILL losing weight. and i am hoping by summer i'll be as small as i want to be. anyway i'm done ranting. and the only reason i posted this is because i have had A BILLION texts and facebooks asking me about it. so here is a before and after picture for me and Kat. she looks AMAZING... and soon... i will too!

the girl far left is Kristy, she's an absolute doll! and is from SLC! anyway.. i'm done now!

LOVE YOU ALL!

soooo i'm gonna be a little Vain here!

I'M HOT NOW!!! ok i think i'm done. lemme explain myself a little here, so you don't think i'm self absorbed! i've now lost about 30 lbs since december. and i'm starting to notice. i'm in st george right now. and me and Kat decided to go lay out by the pool since it's 70-something outside right now. but we're also doing massive amounts of laundry. and as fate would have it. my tankini is in the wash. so i was forced to wear my bikini. keep in mind, i haven't worn this since the summer before i was married... almost 4 years ago. and i was not completely self conscious. i still have a bit to go. but i am happy with myself... FINALLY!!!

i've always had self esteem issues. i mean c'mon... my best friend has been Lauren for like the past 10 years. and she is GORGEOUS!

but i think the fact that i spend every weekend on base with Riley now may have something to do with it. boys look at me there. but because i'm Sav and not some other girls i don't dress like i'm advertising. so i don't quite get them to drool over me... but Riley has had more than a few guys asking hopefully that we were not together. BACK OFF BOYS! my heart belongs to one and only one Marine! it's really funny when i'm not with Rye and i'm walking... or running somewhere... i've never seen so many heads turn and crane to look at me...

ONCE AGAIN I DON'T THINK I'M THAT HOT. because any of you that know a Marine.... most of them are not picky at all... i had one kid i was talking to tell me he didn't care how obese and hairy she was, he just needed to find ANY girl willing... and i replied with "DUDE, you've been here for 4 days!!!!! you're that desperate already?!" Riley laughed at me, because i'm always the one to say exactly whats on my mind. but it just proves my point. these boys have WAY too much testosterone built up... they will pretty much drool over anything that has an F on their drivers license... even if all the surgeries haven't been completed. and with that visual.. i'll leave you.

big time update!

ok so with Riley's Graduation, his 10 day leave, and him being at SOI i haven't even had a chance to update. so HERE I GO!!! by the way. my camera deleted most of the pictures i have from graduation... so i won't have too many pictures to put up!

Day Before Family Day- Feb 24th
Me and Kat show up in San Diego the day before family day to check into our hotel and get settled. we're staying in a 3 star hotel... so not like AMAZING... but no bars on the window... right.... well not exactly. the room was probably the worst hotel i had ever seen. the wallpaper was peeling off. the fixtures were all coming off the wall... not good. so kat ran to hurry and shower since we'd just been at the beach. while she was in the shower i sat on the bed and got out my laptop to check out some pictures. while sitting on the bed i look down.... there is a blonde chunk of hair sitting on the bed... me and Kat both have VERY dark hair. Kat came out of the shower and pretty much said we weren't staying there. and she didn't want to have to shower in there again. apparently the bathroom like was on a motion sensor timer. so you'd be in the shower soaping up. and 90 seconds later the lights would go completely out. so you'd have to open the shower curtain completely and close it and it would go back on. but that only worked about 3 times. then you 'd have to get out of the shower completely naked run across the bathroom and press the button again. so i took the floor lamp from our room and put it in the bathroom. right after i showered, we went down stairs... told the guy the room/hotel was unnacceptable.. and checked into the hilton.... SOOO WORTH THE MONEY!!!

Family Day- Feb 25th
we showed up on base around 6:30 so we could watch them practice. then right about the time that the festivities were going to start.. me and kat hopped out of the car. i went to open the back door to grab my back pack... but kat had just locked the doors and closed them. so i asked her if she still had the set of keys... "oh... i don't think so" yes everyone... my keys got locked in my car AGAIN! so Mark and Paula showed up (Zack's parents) and after a few minutes we had unlocked the car. and there was much rejoicing. we ran into my new amazing friend Kristy.

So we ran over to where we needed to be. watched to presentation from one of the SDI's( Senior Drill Instructor) and then lined up for the moto run (motovational Run) we all stood on the sidelines and watched as each platoon went for a run, yelling cadences the whole way! after that we headed over to the theater for a video and another presentation. me and kat left that a little early so we could get good seats for the family day formation ceremony. we sat and watched the ceremony, i saw Riley and was soooo excited! then they got the magic word "Liberty" and it was a mad dash for everyone to book it to their families. i saw Riley and watched him head towards his parents direction. but he was looking around frantically... for me. we made eye contact and i smiled... and he looked away from me. then he looked at me again and cocked his head to the side, he couldn't decide if it was me or not... you see i now wear glasses which i had not told him about, i had also lost 25 lbs since he last saw me. it was a pretty big compliment to NOT be recognized. and then the tears started. i felt like that day would NEVER get here. and i couldn't stop myself. i was BAWLING. luckily i had a feeling that would happen so i wore water proof mascara and eyeliner. we drove over to the church and had a picnic, then he wanted some time with just me so his parents drove back and we walked back and just chatted. we hit up the museum and one of the gift shops... and then it was time to drop him back off at "home" so i walked him back over to the barracks... we kissed... and he left.

Gradation Feb 26th
So i got up early because i was doing my hair curly. so we arrived on base around 7 am. and went directly to the bleachers to try and save as many seats as possible. Curt came over to help. and my dad and grandpa both wanted to be there for Riley's graduation so they drove down for it. so we saved ALMOST enough seats. the ceremony started and it was SOOO LONG! well it was only like an hour... but i was ready to have him back. i had my camera with one of my bigger lenses so i could zoom in way far and could tell which one was Rye from way far back. then they moved closer... and i couldn't help myself... i made some of my classic "Sav" faces... and then i would look through my zoom lenses and could see that he was trying not to smile. i leaned over to Riley's sister michelle and told her that Riley saw me. so i tortured him for a while... then after what seemed like forever they were released... and i had my husband back. we grabbed his bags... and took about a million pictures and then booked it the heck out of there!

So ya... the rest of the day... IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.... :)

Riley's 10-Day Leave
so the day after graduation Riley wanted to take me shopping... since none of my clothes fit me anymore. so we went to an outdoor mall. and the weather was terrible. it started raining so hard at one point we were both dripping wet when it finally stopped. i mean my hair looked like i had just gotten out of the shower! we went to california pizza kitchen for lunch, and that evening we went to see a movie "cop out" which i REALLY liked... i thought it was funny. then we headed back to st george. we hung out at his parents house most of the week. we went down to Vegas and stayed in the condo with them. did some more shopping. Rye took me out to the CheeseCake factory cause i'd never been. way yummy! we were going to go out to dinner at this super nice restaurant and Rye was going to get dressed up in his uniform... but as we were getting dressed to go... he realized he'd forgotten his belt and so we had to cancel. then on sunday we had to head up to provo cause Riley was flying out of salt lake to go to SOI (School of Infantry) the day before he left my best friend of a billion years did some pictures for us. i got a few back and they look awesome!

So He's been gone for a week now. but being the dedicated Marine Wife i am... i drove the 12 hours to go see him. me and Kat drove thursday... left at 11pm got to san diego around 10 am on friday. Riley wasn't expecting me till saturday. so when he got a few hours liberty on friday night. he just wanted to call and say hi and talk for a few minutes... but i showed up... he was SOOO SURPRISED. it was a good surprise... i was pretty pleased with myself. he LOVES being able to see me on the weekend. but said it's going to make the weeks harder. but it's worth it. i met a bunch of his buddies. and got a whole bunch of "is this the girl from the postage stamps?!" and i'd reply with "the very one!" so i sit here on tuesday morning.... knowing that the day after tomorrow... i'll be getting ready to see Rye the next day. and he has OFF base liberty this next weekend, so we're heading down to san diego getting a hotel and hitting up sea world and the beach... i am so excited. this is SOOOO much easier than bootcamp.. but hard in completely different ways.

so there you go... i promise i'll be better about blogging. cause i really don't want to have to do such a long post again. plus there are so many things i left out.. so i'll be better i swear!!

Thanks for reading :)