My whirlwind summer.

Wow, it has been a LONG time I blogged! My summer has been flying by and I haven't had time to stop and think about writing on my blog, which is kind of a shame because so much exciting stuff has happened this summer. I will give you a brief overview of my last 2 months.

I left for California in May and went to my college graduation. It was so awesome to walk across that stage and know that all my hard work over the past 4 years was finally complete. I also got to see all my friends who I have missed so so much since I've been gone. Here's a picture from graduation.

After that weekend, I said goodbye to Jake (he left for training in Colorado) and I headed to my hometown of Turlock. The night I got home was not a good night. Bailey had to be rushed to the emergency room, almost too late, and was hooked to an IV for 12 hours. It was so awful! Apparently according to the doctor, Bailey ate a large dose of a narcotic drug and said that it was most likely marijuana. Figures, my dog comes to CA and gets some pot. My whole family was shocked and upset but all we could think about was the fact that she was okay once it got out of her system. I realized then that I don't know what I'd do without her. She is my best companion when Jake is gone and I'm so thankful to have her. Here is a pic of her and my brother at the park this summer.

June was seriously a whirlwind. I had a graduation party the first weekend of June with my best friend from home, Allison, which was so great. Then the next weekend I was off to Europe! We went to Praque, Vienna, and Salzburg. It was such an amazing trip and it really opened my eyes to the fact that we live in a huge world! It definitely gave me the desire to travel more. I will have to post some pictures from that trip in another blog. The last week of June I mostly helped Allison get ready for her wedding, worked on her wedding present (which was a scrapbook of us from kindergarten until now), went to the beach, and hung out with friends and family. Here are pictures from my grad party and one from Europe.

July started with me getting to go to LA for a taping of Family Feud! My family auditioned a year ago and finally got asked to go on the show. It was a lot of fun and a crazy weekend! I think its supposed to air around October but I'll keep ya posted. The next week was a good surprise. I got to see Jake! He was able to get some leave to see his family in Sacramento, which is only 2 hours from Turlock, so Bailey and I drove up there for a few days. It was so amazing to see him after 6 weeks apart and we were so giddy the whole week :) We got to see our friends John and Sarah while we were up in that area and that was awesome. I also stopped on my way home to have lunch with my good friend (and old roomie) Candy. It was just a great trip! From there, I rushed back to Turlock to begin Allison's wedding festivities. Her wedding was so beautiful and I bawled through the whole thing (which by the way is very unlike me...thats how perfect the wedding was!) It was a bummer that Jake couldn't be with me for that but he needed to get back to Mississippi and it was great for me to have some girl time.

Another surprising turn of events is that Jake and I got the offer to move into a brand new house on base!! It was literally finished being built in June. Its a two-story, 2000 sq ft. home with 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths. It has a wonderful screened porch, walk in closets, and a garage! Its my dream house that I never thought I'd get, at least not for a long time, and the best part is that its free!! My dad and my sister drove me back out to Mississippi and even stayed to help us move and get settled. We somehow managed to get the whole house moved, unpacked, and decorated over the time of one weekend. And even more surprising is that all my decor and furniture from our tiny old house seemed to fully furnish the massive new house! Now thats a miracle :) Heres a picture of our new house and one of me and my sis on our way out here.

Anyways, Jake starts pilot training here in Mississippi tomorrow and is very excited about it. We had the opportunity to have his entire class (29 guys+ 10 wives) over for a get together last night and had a great time. We feel so thankful that he has such a fun class for us to do things with over the next year. I had a great time with the wives too! We sat and talked for hours. Another great thing is that a good majority of our class lives on our same street in our new neighborhood. We can literally just walk a few houses down to see eachother.

I know I really have to enjoy this time I have now because August 10th I go back to work and foresee no vacations for a long time. Thanks for everyone who took the time to read this long post. Once I get back to back to my regular routine, my regular blogging will come back into play, I am sure of it!