Happy Turkey Day!

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday and was able to spend time with family and eat way too much :) I had the most amazing time in California, as you can see from my lack of blogging! Every day of my short trip was jam packed with family, friends, and lots of good memories.

Tuesday when I arrived my mom picked me up at the airport in San Fransisco and, of course, we got some Starbucks and headed out shopping. Oh how I have missed you Nordies! Great way to start the trip!

Leavin' on a jet plane.

Less than 24 hours from now I will be on a plane on my way to California!! Do you feel my excitement? I am SOO excited to see my family and friends. Thanksgiving at "home" in Turlock means so much to me. I'm especially excited to see my sister...

With her living in Seattle and me living in Mississippi we never get to see eachother. We are both flying in tomorrow night and I can't wait to see her! This little guy is someone else I can't wait to see and squeeze into a giant bear hug...

Looking forward.

I am so ready for the weekend & excited for all that this next week holds...

Thankful Thoughts #9.

I am so thankful for the Internet and how it helps me stay connected. 

I am not a phone person at all so the internet is my solution to keeping in touch. The Internet is practical. I can update my blog daily {which I do} and everyone can stay up to date on my life without me telling the same story to multiple people. Then when we do talk on the phone or in person, we can skip most of the long catching up part and get straight to good conversation. Video chat is also something that amazes me and makes me so happy since I am so far away from my family.

I love getting emails. I love getting blog comments. It makes me so happy to know that someone took the time to think of me and write to me. It makes my day to know that someone cares enough about me to read my blog. And I love reading other people's blogs {as you can see from my excessive blog list on the right}. Every morning while I sip on my coffee I check my blogroll to see what new and exciting things are going on the lives of my family and friends. I also love facebook. I have stayed connected and reconnected with so many people from high school, college, distant family, church, and even people from my childhood daycare! There is no way I would still have contact with all these people without facebook. People of all ages now have facebook and I think that if you don't have one, you should get one. And you should be my "friend".

The Internet gives me no excuse to lose touch with friends or family even if we have to move to Timbuktu and for that I am so thankful!

Sweet little Badge.

Badger is the sweetest little guy. He's a mellow, happy, chubby 5 month old puppy. Seriously, he is such a good dog and seems to only want to make us happy. He never gets into things he's not supposed to and he very easily can entertain himself.

This morning he had so much energy but Bailey was not quite ready to wake up and play with him. I needed to get ready so I gave him a small rawhide to chew on; but instead of chewing he started playing with it and flinging it around the room. It was so cute! He is so easily entertained :)

I grabbed my camera and got a video of some of it but he seriously played with it for a solid 10 minutes by himself before he actually started to chew on it! Watch the video below to see what I mean.

I love my sweet little Badge!

Puppy stockings.

I realize that my last post was very sad so I thought I'd share something to lighten up the mood of my blog a little bit. I want to share one of my best holiday finds so far... Puppy stockings!!

I wanted to buy some stockings for the dogs this year to hang up next to ours. Well, when I was shopping around at this random little Mississippi store I found the one that looked like Bailey and I thought no way. I dug through the bin and saw that they also had a green one. I pulled it out and it was Badger!! Those were the only dogs they had on the stockings and I couldn't believe it. The best part is that they were only $1! I'm very excited about these puppy stockings and I plan to stitch their names at the top of each stocking and use them year after year.

Sad night.

Last night was really hard. My best friend here on base, Ann, had to put her dog {Kai} down very quickly and unexpectedly. You all know I am a dog person and Ann is the same way. Kai was like a child to Ann and her husband Derek and they rescued him from an unloving family right after he turned 7 years old.

Kai was actually the reason Ann and I even met in the first place. Bailey and I were on a walk last March and Bailey saw Kai playing in the park. She bolted over to play with him and Ann and I got to talking, realizing we had a lot in common and both needed a friend on base, especially since our husbands were both gone at training in Alabama.

To say that Kai was a good dog is an understatement; he was probably the sweetest most well-behaved dog I've ever met. I hope that in a few years my sweet little pups will be somewhat comparable to him in their actions and attitude. Jake and I loved Kai so much! He was actually going to be our house guest for a few weeks over Christmas break while Ann and Derek went to visit family on the west coast. It all changed so quickly...

I love weekends.

This weekend was a lot of fun and, like always, it flew right by. Yesterday I enjoyed sleeping in and then got the extra special treat of getting my hair done. My hair was very grown out and the color was getting a little dark for my liking. Surprisingly, my natural color was coming in a very light red brown. I feel much better now that I am nice and blonde again :)

Last night Jake and I ate in and enjoyed a movie and some time with our wonderful puppies. I organized and sorted through all of our new Christmas decorations and even started a few holiday crafts {I will post a blog on those soon...} Jake has not been feeling very well this weekend so it was nice to stay in and relax.

Toady was great too! At church this morning we heard a powerful testimony that really touched me and made me realize how blessed I am. I am so thankful for my family and friends and all the little blessings God has chosen to give me. After church, we went out to the lake here on base to take our family Christmas pictures {Jake& I, Bailey & Badge}. My neighbor and good friend Molly was nice enough to take the pictures for us and be patient while we tried to get a good shot with both of the dogs...not an easy task! But it was beautiful weather and the pictures turned out great! Thanks Molly!

I really wanted some pictures of our family in this phase of our life {Us in Mississippi, Jake in his flight suit, and our two babies}. Of course the main reason we took the pictures is to use them for our Christmas cards. I have designed our cards on my own this year and am excited to add the pictures so we can send them off to the printer. If all goes well, we will send them out to family and friends during the first week or two of December. Here is a picture that we liked but didn't make the cut for the Christmas card... for the rest of the pictures, you'll just have to wait and see!!

Thoughts on marriage.

Marriage is hard work. Don't get me wrong, marriage is wonderful but today I feel the need to be realistic and transparent. For those of you who are married, I think you will understand...

Thankful Thoughts #8.

Today I am very thankful for having things to look forward to. Being a planner and an optimistic person, I always have an event (or several) on the horizon that I can look forward to in order to get through a long week. For example, all week I have been looking forward to today - the much anticipated Christmas shopping trip with a friend (And my first holiday Starbucks of the season... Thanks for the giftcard Aunt Teri!). Earlier in the week when I was dragging through medical tests and appointments, I could look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel and pull my self out of my bad mood.

Whether its an upcoming visit to see family or friends, an unexpected three-day weekend, or just knowing that I get to end the day by cuddling up to my husband, there is always something to look forward to and for that I am so thankful!

Pinecone decorating.

Today after work I am heading out to Tuscaloosa to do some Christmas decoration shopping with my friend Ann. As I sit here listening to the Michael Buble holiday station on Pandora radio, sipping my coffee, I am brainstorming about how exactly I want to decorate.

Being that this is our first Christmas to decorate (considering last year we were in the process of moving and living out of a hotel), we are starting from scratch in the area of holiday decor. Our families have given us bits and pieces to start us off, but we are far from the winter wonderland I see in our living room.

We have saved up money for this, knowing that we need to buy just about everything, but I've also been looking for crafty ideas to make some of my own decorations and save a few bucks. The thing that has inspired my creative juices most so far is pine cones. There are so many easy holiday crafts that can be done with pinecones and the Mississippi woods are full of them!

My puppy is no longer a puppy.

Today is Bailey's birthday and now she is one year old...no longer a puppy. She has been nothing less than my child for the past year and has traveled with me across the entire U.S. and back. She is the first life I've ever been solely responsible to take care of and there have been many times, especially when Jake was away, that she has taken care of me.

If you aren't a dog person then you might not understand what I mean, but Bailey is what officially turned me and Jake into a family :) Here is a photo blog of Bailey's first year...

 

 

Here's to many more years with my baby!

Happy birthday Bailey girl!

Healthy heart.

My heart seems to be just fine! To find this out though I had to endure the longest, weirdest doctor appointment ever... After my initial exam and EKG with the cardiologist, he said that he was pretty sure my heart was just fine but thought it would be a good idea to run some tests just in the small chance that something was wrong. He said based on my symptoms there were several things that were possible (less than 10% chance) but not probable and that I shouldn't worry.

Baby Drew!

On Saturday night, our good friends Kevin and Katie brought their first son, Andrew John Rynbrandt, into the world! The Rynbrandts have been some of our closest friends out here in Mississippi, as Kevin is in Jake's UPT class and we carpool to church with them every week, not to mention they live across the street. Yesterday I got to visit them at the hospital and meet their newest addition. Congrats Katie and Kevin! He's perfect!

P.S. This happens to be my 100th blog post. Wow, that's a lot of blogging!

Cardiologist.

I'm going to the cardiologist this afternoon. I'm not sure exactly what types of tests they are going to do but I've heard that some can be very long and exhausting. I figure either way it will be good news: I will either know that something is wrong and be able to fix it or I will find out that my heart is healthy and happy.

If they don't find anything, it looks like I'm going back to the doctor for more tests because I have finished my antibiotics and am still having a hard time breathing and lots of chest pressure. It's gotten significantly better, but it's definitely not gone. Maybe I just need to give the meds a few more days to run their course.

Anyways, I will update you all after my appointment today. Thanks for your prayers!

UPT Career Day.

Today was career day here at Columbus AFB. I'm not quite back to feeling 100% but I really didn't want to miss this event. Twice a year, pilots from all over the country fly their aircrafts to base and let the student pilots and their families walk through them and ask questions (about the different missions, deployments, bases, etc).

The most wonderful time of the year.

The holidays are coming so fast! I am going shopping for Christmas decorations this weekend and plan to decorate the house in just a few weeks. This is the first time I have had my own house to decorate and the first time I will be hosting Christmas. I plan to go all out!

If you know me at all, you know that I am ridiculously peppy around the holidays. I am that annoying person that starts playing Christmas music in November, wears Christmas sweaters throughout December, and buys stocking-stuffers for her pets. I freak out with excitement when I see Christmas decorations come into the stores and when I see a Starbucks Holiday cup for the first time it literally puts me in the best mood ever! Last year about this time both those events happened on the same day and Jake thought it was hilarious how giddy I became. He took this picture to document my excitement...

While Jake does not share in my crazy holiday spirit, he does a great job of going along with my silly ways because he loves me.

If you are not a "holiday spirit" type person and you like to read my blog, I am apologizing in advance because this next month and a half promises to bring a ridiculous wonderful amount of holiday related blogs.

Thankful Thoughts #7.

Being sick this week has given me a new list of things to be thankful for...

I am thankful for my health.

I am thankful for encouraging words.

I am thankful for my job and my boss.

I am thankful for comfy over-sized sweatshirts.

I am thankful for McAllister's chicken tortilla soup.

I am thankful for my neighbors who all wanted to help.

I am thankful for my husband who knows how to take care of me.

I am thankful for $1 Redbox movie rentals.

I am thankful that so many people care. 

I am thankful for a week of sunshine.

I am thankful for cuddly puppies.

I am thankful for medicine.

I am thankful for sleep.

Tomorrow I will be able to blog about something other than being sick and for that I am so thankful!

Health update.

This morning I went to my doctor on base to see if she could help figure out what was wrong with me since the E.R. told me nothing. At the time I went in I had been having trouble breathing for almost 48 hours!

Lots of people that I talked to yesterday kept implying that my breathing difficulties were just all in my head and I was too "stressed". I knew that I could not control my breathing problems, that it was not a result of stress, and that something was wrong with me. Thank goodness the doctor found the problem because I was starting to go crazy!

My trip to the E.R.

Yesterday did not go as I had planned. I planned to go to work, go home and see the pups, go to the gym, eat dinner with my hubby, and then go to Bible study. It's amazing how quickly a good day can turn bad...

He loves us.

Ever since I first heard this song "How He Loves Us" by the David Crowder Band it has been stuck in my head. I love the creative words and beautiful melody. I think this song is so powerful and I wanted to share it with those of you who might not have heard it before {I've listed the lyrics below the video}

He is jealous for me, Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden, I am unaware
of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me. 

And oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh, how He loves us,
How He loves us all.

{Repeat}

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If his grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.

And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way... 

That He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves. 

Beautiful fall colors.

Beautiful fall colors? I am obviously not talking about Mississippi. The leaves barely change color at all here; most of them seem to just turn brown and fall to the ground. My sister lives in Seattle and posted a picture blog yesterday of the beautiful fall colors and sights she sees everyday around her school. Everyone definitely needs to check out these beautiful photos! I am so wishing I was there.

Two years ago about this time, I took a trip to beautiful Boulder, Colorado to visit my best friend Tori. Coming from Los Angeles (which also does not experience fall colors) I remember being so excited to see the beautiful trees. Everyone thought it was hilarious how excited I was but its not something I've ever really gotten to experience!

Maybe someday I'll get to live in beautiful Washington or Colorado but for now I can only dream of a real fall.

Sunday afternoon nap.

Everyone loves a good nap after church. Today we somehow all crashed on the living room floor for a solid hour and a half. I was the first to wake up and was able to snatch a few cute pictures of my little family :)

(Ps. Sorry for the bad quality of the photos. I only had my phone on me.)

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween! As it turns out, Jake and I did not get to dress up this year. We just didn't really have anywhere to go to show off cool costumes. To get in the spirit though I found a cute Halloween shirt and wore it all day.We also decided not to buy the dogs costumes because #1: they are usually too expensive and #2: they would hate wearing them anyways. Instead, I found Halloween bandannas at Walmart for only $1. They wore them all day and looked so cute!

 

I attempted to get some pictures with my cute pups in their outfits but getting two dogs to behave for pictures is not all that easy...

Take 1

 Take 2

Take 3

Take 4

Hmmm...maybe we should try this individually... There we go!

 

Perfect!

Even though we didn't have any set plans, our entire Halloween day turned out to be really fun. First we went out to Mexian food for lunch and then went to buy some decorations and candy (which worked out perfect that we waited till the last minute because everything was half off!). Then we went on a bike ride, decorated the house, and waited for the trick-or-treaters.

And wow were there trick-or-treaters! Kids came in swarms down the streets of our neighborhood. I guess if I was a parent I would want to take my kid on base too; its so safe and friendly. The base cops were driving around all night patrolling and passing out candy which I thought was really cool. Once we ran out of candy, we headed across the street to some of our friends' house for a couples' game night. We had a blast! Even without costumes and parties, our Halloween was just perfect!