Sometimes It's the Little Things

When you're only 3 weeks away from your love finally coming back home, it's the little things that can make the wait a little more bearable. Jake seems to know this well and has actually been sending me funny greeting cards all the way from Kuwait. I was so shocked and excited when I got the first one, definitely not expected. It is so thoughtful of Jake to send ME cards when HE is the one deployed and should be the one receiving the cards.

One card he sent in particular made me laugh hysterically... it's days later and I am still laughing! Jake and I definitely share the same sense of humor. Oh goodness, I miss him so much!

So while that is a funny card by itself, the part that made me laugh hysterically was the little insert that came with the card. You see, after Jake's sweet little note and signature, there is also a signature from our good friend Camie (Remember him?) But not only was there a signature, there was a photo of Camie signing his name. HAHAHA! It is so ridiculous and it yet made my WHOLE WEEK! See for yourself...

Sometimes it really is the little things. Oh and one more cute picture while we're talking about Jake... Here he is in his desert flighsuit and funny desert hat. This was a celebration picture taken after Jake won a big award last week. Always so proud of my hubby :) Only 3 more weeks to go until I'm squeezing him in my arms!!

Mini-Vacay to Southern CA!

While trying to figure out ways to fill my weekends with Jake being away, I decided to take a mini-vacation to Southern CA/Orange County. One thing that I LOVE about living in CA is that I can drive 6 hours away down south and get a total change of scenery and environment. Seriously though, NorCal and SoCal are so different that they might as well be different states haha. Anyways, I had an absolute blast down there!

The trip was for more than just a change of scenery, I mostly went to visit one of my closest friends from college, Kristen. We were both business majors at Biola and had a majority of our classes together the last 2 years of school. Out of all my friends I don't think there is anyone more alike than Kristen and I - We just completely understand eachother and can talk about anything together even if we don't see eachother for years, and I love that!!

I got down to So-Cal on Thursday night and we spent most of that evening just catching up and relaxing. On my drive down, I hit ridiculous traffic coming out of LA which, yes, is normal but this was way more traffic then normal and the freeway was at a complete standstill. I decided to get off the freeway and take the side streets to her house instead which saved a TON of time... and I have to say I was very impressed with myself for remembering my way through all those crazy streets and freeways!

On Friday the weather was ridiculously perfect in the mid-80's so we decided to make it a beach day! Before heading to the beach we stopped at this cute little outdoor restaurant in Brea for some amazing Belgian waffles - Sooo yummy! Okay and maybe we stopped by Starbucks too :)

Next we headed to Table Rock beach in Laguna to enjoy the gorgeous day. The weather was the perfect mixture of very warm and slightly breezy to where we were never cold but never too hot. We just relaxed and read magazines and talked and people watched.... Doesn't that sound amazing? It was!

Random story from the beach... Not long after we got there, we saw a man in a kayak heading around the rocks towards the beach (that alone was impressive because the waves were crazy that morning). When he got closer to shore we noticed something else was on his kayak, and soon realized it was a dog! The dog had a little life jacket on and was just bobbing up and down on the kayak through the waves, loving it!! When they got to shore, the dog hopped off and ran around the beach with his owner. That dog was seriously living the life!! After a few hours, they both hopped right back on the kayak and rode away.

Here's the best picture I could get without being a creeper...

Besides going to the beach, one of the main things I wanted to do while I was in SoCal was visit Biola. I hadn't been back since graduation 3 years ago and I just really wanted to walk around and enjoy the campus... and maybe get a few alumni souvenirs at the gift store :)

I hadn't thought that I missed Biola very much - I guess when I graduated I was just SO ready to be done with school and move on to life that I just said "see ya!" Well when I arrived back at campus on Saturday, I was so overcome with emotion and feelings of nostalgia that I literally had to wear my sunglasses to hide my misty eyes (I know, I know, ridiculous!). I started realizing that I had the most amazing memories and feelings tied to that campus. It's where I learned about myself, learned about God, began dating Jake, made new and wonderful friends, the list goes on and on...

Everywhere I looked I had a memory of some kind, and almost all of them involved Jake. Tie that with me not having seen Jake in 2 1/2 months and yes I was emotional... and it was so wonderful! I was so very blessed to be able to go to such an amazing place for college.

After spending most of the day wandering around campus, we headed back to Kristen's place and enjoyed a few hours catching some warm sun by the pool. It felt like summer that day and that made me so happy!

Saturday night we put on our boots and went to a new county music line dancing place in Anaheim called The Ranch. It was awesome! There was a live band and tons of people and lots of dancing!

On Sunday I was sad to have to head home but was so thankful that I made the quick trip down there. The weekend was exactly what I'd hoped it'd be and more! I forgot how much I love Southern CA and how huge of a role it has played in my life. Thanks Kristen for an amazing weekend! Let's not let it be another year before we do it again okay?!

Random Tidbits

As of tomorrow Jake has been gone officially 2 months - crazy! The time has gone by much faster than I expected and its so nice to know that in less than 5 weeks he will be back at home with me :) When he gets back we plan to take a spontaneous trip somewhere beachy and I can't wait!! I already have butterflies when I think about picking him up at the airport. Eeek!!

For those who have been asking for an update on him, Jake has been doing really well and seems to be enjoying his job while deployed. He does mention often that it feels like groundhog day every morning because he just wakes up and does the exact same thing as the day before. I know he is anxious to be back home but is proud of the work they are doing over there. In addition to his job he is also working on his Masters right now so he has been busy busy busy! 

The other day he got to meet Chuck Yeager (who is one of his flying heroes!) at the base and was able to hear some of his awesome stories in person. Very cool!

Also, here are some funny pictures of Jake and the rest of the crew with their "Mustache March" staches. I am very happy to report that the mustache has now been shaved :)

 And yes, my husband would be the one hugging the rock... haha!

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Last night I had a fun girls night/puppy playdate with my good friend Allison and her pup Elvis. Allison and I first met back in Columbus, Mississippi in 2008 and were lucky enough to get to both move to  Travis AFB together. With our hubbies flying different planes in different squadrons, we don't get to see eachother as often as we'd like but every week or so we try to get together to catch up. She's one of those people where even if I don't see her for a while we pick up right where we left off when we get together and always have the best time!

Yesterday she came over to my house and we ate dinner and chatted while the dogs ripped around the yard together. Elvis was Bailey's very first friend in the world and they even took puppy training classes together at Columbus. Good times :)

Here are some fun old pictures of our "puppy playdates" back in Columbus...

And now a picture of them from last night.. Our sweet little babies are all grown up :)

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One last random tidbit... I'm not sure if I've mentioned it before but here at Travis we have a ridiculous amount of wild rabbits that just chill around base. They are everywhere! It's not unusual for me to look out my window and see a rabbit or two hopping around the yard. Well yesterday when I went outside to take pictures of the flowerbed, a rabbit hopped right by me in front of the house and I snapped a quick picture mid-hop. I think these rabbits are so cute! And I have to say that I much prefer cute rabbits to the creepy armadillos that I used to see roaming around Columbus AFB, haha! 

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Tomorrow I am heading down to Southern CA for a few days and I am so so sooooo excited! Wait, did I mention that I am excited?! The weather is supposed to be AMAZING and I can't wait to catch up with old friends. Excited for a fun trip and praying for good health the whole weekend. I'll be back to the blog next week with some pictures! Have a great weekend everyone!

Earning my "Green Thumb"?

It's been another super busy and productive couple of days around here. The weather has been awesome and has made me want to spend all my time outdoors. I mentioned here a few weeks back that I did some major prep work in my backyard (pics of that in a minute) but this past weekend I actually managed to tackle the front flowerbeds too which needed a TON of help! My dad and brother decided to come up and help me with the overhaul and I'm so very thankful that they did. It takes a lot of muscle to fix up a yard! 

Shame on me, I didn't take any "before" pics but I did get a fun in-process picture of us ripping out the dead plants and mulch in the flower bed...

 

That mulch/bark/"ugly dirty stuff" was easily half a foot deep and it was NASTY! Just from the front flower beds alone we filled up 2 huge green trashcans and 6 trash bags of that stuff. It was so gross looking and absolutely had to go. Once that was gone, we were able to see what we had to work with. 

We then pulled out a bunch of dead plants and weeds, which left the entire left side of the flower bed empty, so next we transplanted five overgrown plants from other parts of the flowerbed to fill in the space. After that we planted several new flowery plants to add some color and to fill in the empty spots, and then laid fresh clean bark across everything. 

I so wish I had some "before" pictures to show you because these after pics are such a massive improvement. For someone who has considers herself to have absolutely NO green thumb, I think it turned out pretty awesome! I'm excited for the pink flowery plants to grow in more and add even more color to the front of the house!

I also added a few fun potted plants to the porch...

As I mentioned before, the backyard was my main goal to fix up before Jake gets home. We love spending time out in the yard barbequing during the summer so I wanted it to be a nice space for us to really enjoy.  The yards on base are not very large and the grass that was put in was not looking so good so for the past month I've been filling in empty dead spots with grass seed, fixing up holes dug by the dogs, fertilizing, mowing, edging, and watering like a crazy person!! It's finally turned nice and green and starting to look like a nice yard - its a miracle!

This past weekend I added the finishing touches on the yard (for now) which included new patio cushions, some patio decor, an outdoor rug, a few hanging planters on the fence, etc...

One of the biggest things I did was install a small side fence that keeps the dogs only on one side of the yard when we are not home (the yard actually curves around the house which you can't see in the photo below). Bailey and Badger are now able to play, dig, and "do their business" in their own area which keeps the rest of the yard clean and green and nice. The dogs have taken to the change really well and don't seem to mind much at all. This area of the yard has shade all day long so it's a perfect place for them to be. I've also moved their igloo doghouse around the corner for them to enjoy where it's no longer an eyesore :)

So what do you think?? It's such a major improvement on what we had last year at this time that it's hard to believe it's the same yard. I definitely worked for it though! My whole body has been so sore all week and I also ended up with this horrible farmer's tan and some super sunburned lips :(

It wasn't even 70 degrees out so I didn't think about wearing sunscreen... not smart!! It went down a lot by the next day though and thankfully I'm headed to the beach this weekend so I can even it out :)

Friday the 13th

Every time a "Friday the 13th" rolls around it makes me smile. I know, not the normal reaction to a day full of bad superstition. You see, Jake and I got married on Friday June 13th almost 4 years ago (wow!) and it was the most perfect day! It actually worked out in our favor from the start because the wedding site we booked typically had a morning/midday wedding and an evening wedding in the same day, but being that so many people were superstitious about the date we were the only ones booked that day. We ended up getting the entire site to ourselves for the whole day with no extra charge - the guys enjoyed the golf course, while the girls enjoyed the beautiful clubhouse and reception area.

Everything went so smooth and perfect for Jake and I that day (especially the gorgeous weather... always a risk in Portland!) that it squashed any superstitions we might have had about the 13th as being unlucky. There was one part of the night that went hilariously wrong though and I thought it would be fun to blog about it tonight... ya know, reminisce a little since the hubby is away :)

So after the wedding reception ended we had a fabulous grand send off by all our family and friends and hopped into a gorgeous white limo. We were both so giddy and excited and also completely exhausted from the long day/week of wedding festivities.

In the limo there was a basket of yummy fruit, snacks, and bubbly drinks and a huge moon roof that displayed a gorgeous sky full of stars. Instead of being normal people that sit in the seats and sip champagne or something classy like that, we ended up kicking off our shoes and laying flat on the ground of the limo completely stretched out and comfy using the seats as a headrest. We just held hands and looked up at the stars and tried to start processing the whirlwind of the day. I remember being so surprised that I didn't "feel" any different even though we were married now and thinking we were just the same old Lindsay and Jake, just dressed up all fancy with rings on our fingers.

Anyways, our limo pulled up at the hotel (we were staying at an airport hotel since we flew out for our honeymoon early the next morning) and we practically skipped into the lobby to check in. There were a bunch of people in the hotel bar area that cheered and clapped for us as we walked in which felt like a movie and I loved it :) We got up to the check-in counter and gave them our name (which I believe was said giddily as "Mr and Mrs Pruitt checking in") and the woman at the desk proceeded to tell us that there was no record of us ever booking a room there. We tried to explain, while standing there in our wedding tux and gown, that there had to be a HUGE mistake because all of our bags had been dropped off for us earlier at the hotel and were supposed to be waiting for us in our room. Right about the time I was going to break down, a lightbulb look flashed across Jake's face and he said to the receptionist "Just curious... what hotel are we at?"

Yep. The limo dropped us off at the wrong hotel!! At the same moment we both spun around towards the hotel entry to see that our limo was already long gone. Turns out the hotel we were supposed to be at, and the hotel where are bags were already waiting for us, was about 5 miles away, definitely not close enough to walk. We had been so excited and "on clouds" when we walked into the hotel that we didn't even think to check what hotel we were walking in to! Seriously, who does this happen to?? Only us!

While it is so hilarious to us now, it was definitely so NOT funny at the time. It was already midnight, we were exhausted, and we had to be at the airport at 4:30am for our flight to Cancun. The hotel staff must have seen our desperation and felt bad for us because they got a shuttle driver who was not even on shift to take us to our correct hotel which ended up being over 10 minutes away. It must have been so confusing to all those people in the hotel bar to see us turn right around and walk out... wedding dress train and all :)

Long story short, we finally made it to the right place and went on to have a ridiculously fun trip and today it has become our hilarious wedding story. Never trust the limo driver!! Haha

Happy Friday the 13th!