California Dreaming

Since we're in California there are quite a bit of places that we would like to experience/explore before we leave. Some of the places on our list include:

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{SAN FRANCISCO}

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{SAN DIEGO}

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{CATALINA ISLAND}

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{LAGUNA BEACH}

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{BALBOA}

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{LOS ANGELES-we've already explored some of L.A., but would like to explore more}

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{BIG BEAR}

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{NAPA}

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{YOSEMITE}

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{BIG SUR}

Since we'll be here for probably the next 3-4 years we should be able to take quite a few of these little trips. Some of them are day trips and some of them would be good for the long weekend. We will be in San Diego the beginning of November as Ryan is running the color run with some friends so we are going down. Also we will be near Balboa around Christmas time (Newport Beach area) because they have a Christmas Light Yacht Parade. It's apparently rated in the top 5 for the best Christmas lights in the country. We recently learned about this and are really looking forward to this. Who knows if at that time we'll actually be able to explore Balboa or if we'll go another time. Those are just the little trips that we have planned in the "near" future.

Luncheons

Since Ryan and I have lived in California we've really been blessed with a lot of amazing opportunities. While our life is far from perfect, we've been able to attend some pretty cool events.

Our favorite is by far the 1st Carrier Classic on Veteran's Day 2011. Ryan and I even got into an argument about the fact that he got tickets and I didn't. At the last minute, he was offered another ticket and I was able to go too. It was silly, but I was SO jealous. We had a great time and it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to be able to go and watch Michigan State.

Another fun event that we got to go to was the American Country Awards in Las Vegas. In California you're able to get free tickets for quite a few live tapings. Some of them all you have to do is put in the date and they send them to, while others you have to send in a "I want to go" request and sometimes it requires pictures and other information. For this event I submitted our pictures and the request and surprisingly we were able to get tickets. We made a day trip out of it and while it was a long day it was a fun one.

In January, Ryan got free tickets to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We were really hoping Michigan State would be there, but they weren't. Ryan went with a friend and it was such a good time for him. I watched from home, I was newly pregnant and it wouldn't have been fun for me at all (not to mention, they only had 2 tickets).

This morning Ryan called me at work. He rarely calls me during the work day because normally we're both busy and unless it's something important we rarely talk unless it's through text. I answered and he asked me if I wanted to attend a luncheon tomorrow with the Joint Chief Of Staff's Wife. Let me be the first to tell y'all, even though I'm a military spouse I know absolutely nothing. (side note, Ryan asked me if I knew anything about his job the other day and I said no...it's the truth!) So he asked and I said, "not really." His response was basically, "okay, so it's tomorrow from 12:30-1:40 and it's business casual at the club. I'll let Sgt. L know that you're gonna attend." I don't really enjoy going to military functions without Ryan.I am not part of any spouses clubs and the spouses I do know are either from Ryan's shop or my neighbors. I like it that way, but I will do things for Ryan that will help him in the long run. To be even more honest, it's kind of an honor that I was even asked. Let's be honest, he would have never volunteered me had he not been asked by one of the supervisors in his career field.

So for those of you who don't know who the Joint Chief of Staff is, he is Gen. Martin Dempsey. If you click on the link, you'll notice he's the 18th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and is also the nation's highest ranking military officer. His wife is Mrs. Deanie Dempsey (who I'll be having lunch with). From the research that I've done, she meets with military spouses at many different bases and talks about military life and other matters (along with many other duties).

So with all that said, I am normally pretty shy in these situations, but I am looking forward to the luncheon tomorrow. I was pretty annoyed with my husband for "volunteering" me, but like I said it is a pretty big honor that I was even asked and will go along with ~25 other spouses. Now hopefully I don't make a fool of myself...or Ryan. :)

A Life Update

Ryan and I have been so busy with everyday life that I haven’t even blogged in almost a month. Nothing really that exciting has happened which has lead to no big posts. I guess I’ll update on all the little things going on recently:

+Pregnancy-I’m officially 33 weeks pregnant and it seems to be going by so quickly. I’ve been feeling great and aside from the belly getting in the way from some everyday activities (bending over) and the occasional aches and pains I can’t really complain too much. I’ve had a really easy pregnancy and I am just so thankful for that. A couple weeks ago I was experiencing horrible sciatic pain and had no idea what to do with it aside from be in misery since Tylenol just wasn’t cutting it. One night Ryan went rucking with his friend and I turned on Netflix and found a prenatal yoga video. I decided to embarrass myself in my own house. It was the best decision I could have made this whole pregnancy. By the next morning the pain was pretty much all gone and after one more night of yoga it was completely gone. Every time the pain is rearing its ugly head I do yoga or some of the stretches I “learned” and I’m good as new. I have to admit, it’s super cheesy, but totally worth it. Aside from that, I have acid reflux and heart burn quite often; which goes away after a couple tums. And lastly, I go to the doctors every 2 weeks now and in 2.5 weeks I’ll start going every week. It’s quite the drive, so I could really do without that, but that’s what we get for being so lucky and living in the middle of nowhere.

+The Nursery-All the furniture is put together and we are pretty much waiting on wall prints and frames to be hung and the linen to arrive. We’ve bought a few boxes of diapers and wipes to start our stock pile. And we hung his name in mapped letters. I happen to think it’s coming together nicely. If only the space was a little larger, but there’s nothing we can do about that now. Oh and Dominick has SO many clothes. All of his clothes from newborn-3 months are washed, hung, folded and put away. His dresser is full and his closet is getting there also. We have bigger clothes that are stashed away and ready to be washed when that time comes.

+Ryan-He celebrated his 25^th birthday. We weren’t really able to celebrate too much with him having to head to LA to pick up friends from the airport, but I think he enjoyed his day for the most part. He received a comp day and took the day off a couple of weeks later. He has started doing lawns with his friend as a little side gig on base and they’ve been SO busy. It’s worth his time and he doesn’t mind. He has a friend who recently cross trained to EOD and so he would go rucking with him. He really liked that, but it wore him out and he doesn’t go alone so that’s kind of ended. As always, he’s busy at work and I keep him busy at home with honey-do lists. The poor guy is a saint. I have been “super sensitive” aka hormonal the past few weeks (maybe months) and he takes it like a champ.

+Calli and Rocky-Our sweet pups celebrated their 5^th birthday yesterday (7/11 aka free slurpy day). It’s hard to believe they’re already 5. Calli used to be this tiny furball who we couldn’t get to gain weight. Now she’s 5, independent, incredibly stubborn, still furry and a tad on the overweight side. When we got Rocky he was timid, scared, neglected and somewhat aggressive. He’s turned out to be quit the cuddler, so playful, happy and confident. I love that we rescued him. We’ve dog sat for a friend of ours a few times and we are again this week. It’s like a birthday slumber party and they just love him. I made them a cake and “ice cream” for their birthday and they all loved it. It was all dog friendly of course.

+4^th of July-Since the 4^th of July was on a Wednesday and we both had to work we stayed close to home. Was it just me or did it feel like 2 Monday’s and 2 Friday’s. I didn’t enjoy that. We ended up going to two BBQs and watching the fireworks on base. We had a good time with friends. We also were surprised with gifts at 1 of the BBQs that we went to. It was so nice and we appreciated it more than they will ever know.

 

 +Insane Heat-Unlike the rest of the country we hadn’t been experiencing the crazy heat until recently. It has been in the 90s for a while and that’s tolerable for summer weather in the desert. This week we reached 112 and it was pretty horrible. Everyone envies us because of the dry heat, but let me be the first to say that even a dry 112 is still HOT. It takes your breath away as soon as you go outside and we’re all thankful for the storms that are coming our way this weekend so it can go back into the 90s/low 100s. Because we had a fairly dry rainy season we’ve been seeing lots of wildfires. One happened to be about 45 minutes from us and spread 200 acres in 2 hours. The jump in temperatures has also meant a battle of the air conditioner. I am constantly turning the air down and he is constantly turning it back up. He just doesn’t get it. ;o)

So now that I’m all caught up, hopefully I can stay caught up for a while. I know that my due date is going to be here before we know it. The list that continues to grow and grow proves that we will be busy in the upcoming weeks. My parents will be here in about 6 weeks and we’re looking forward to having them here before/after Dominick’s arrival. We have also started planning our first trip back to Michigan with a newborn. We can’t wait for this new adventure that we get to experience together.