New 'Do

I got a new hairdo last week, in preparation for our pictures last Sunday.  Here is a pic:

Yes, I know I look a little crazy in this picture!

In other news, Jesse is trying to get all the gadgets and things that he wants to bring on his deployment.  Today he got a new iPod.  Other than that his day has been pretty short, and is enjoying his time off.

We have also gotten the date changed for when we're moving onto post.  We're going to be getting keys the 16th instead of the 19th to be able to move in a little bit earlier.  Again, I will e-mail the address for our house when we get closer to move in.

That is all I can think of for now, I will write more again soon!

Goodbye September!

Sorry it has been a couple of days since my last update.


Sunday Jesse and I got professional pictures done in Tacoma (by downtown Tacoma & by Point Defiance).  We did half of our pictures with him in his ACUs, and half of them in his civilian clothing.  The photographer is awesome, if you are in the Puyallup/Tacoma/Seattle area I highly recommend her.  You can see some of her work here:


http://www.juliewattsphoto.com/


I will post more about the photos, she's going to be putting them online after she's done editing them (which should be on Sunday).  If you're on my Christmas card list you'll probably get familiar with those pictures!! :)


Monday Jesse worked most all day, and while he was working he ran into like four NCOs (non-commissioned officers) that he had served with previously with third brigade.  He had a great time catching up with them, and was psyched when he called me after work to tell me all about it.


Yesterday Jesse and I went to the Newcomers Orientation on North Fort Lewis (which was mandatory for him), and something I did go to when we got to Ft. Benning.  Nonetheless, Jesse and I learned lots of information (like Ft. Lewis has about 35,000 soldiers and over 23,000 of them are currently deployed).  We also learned a lot of new information of what is available to us through the police and through recycling (I thought it was interesting at least! I don't know about Jesse...).  They also had lots of booths which had information services that are available to military families and the surrounding area (which, for the most part, we know already).  It still was very helpful, and I have to say that I recommend going if you are coming out to Ft. Lewis!  They had a LOT of information on childcare and information on what is offered for them.  None of which I knew, because of course, we don't have any children!


We have decided also that we are going to be moving on post very soon.  We get our keys on the 19th.  I will e-mail out our address to everyone when we start our moving process.  I do have the address now, but will let you all know closer to the date.  If you happen to send mail to my parents address, that is okay, we can still get the mail of course.


I finished my day yesterday with working, when I got home my very sweet adorable husband decided that he would surprise me with a new jacket (before I left I was saying I didn't have a jacket with a hood to wear to work) and a couple of movies to watch this weekend.  It was very sweet of him!


Also, this weekend Jesse and I will be going out to the wine country (Rattlesnake Hills, Yakima Valley area) on friday.  We will be staying there for the weekend, to spend some much needed time together before deployment.  Sunday we're going to meet up with a couple people we met at Ft. Benning and that  are currently stationed at Ft. Lewis.  Jesse was in IBOLC (Infantry Basic Officer Leaders Course) with him at Ft. Benning, and his wife was in the FRG.  They also have a dog, which is a white german shepherd, so we often ran into them at the Ft. Benning dog park (I visited that park religiously).  They are very nice people who bought a house in the Olympia/Lacey area, and I know Jesse is looking forward to showing him the ropes.


In other news, there was a tsunami warning on the west coast (for those who are non-west coasters that may not have known) which was very interesting to hear about last night!  The earthquake in American Samoa had caused most of the west coast to have this warning.  I feel like since we've been back I've noticed more of these tsunami warning signs than I had before (they're posted EVERYWHERE around here it seems... We do have a lot of water!).  Also, fall has officially come as of yesterday.  It has definitely cooled off!  I officially feel cold all the time.  I guess that's to be expected from a desert baby!


I'll probably post more tomorrow, I did get my hair cut and am going to post pictures soon.  The weekend is probably going to be pretty busy, but I will post pictures of Eastern Washington when I can! I do work more next week, nearly full-time hours, but after that I'm working next to nothing since Jesse's going to be leaving soon.  Please keep Jesse in your thoughts and prayers as he prepares for deployment!

Saltwater Fishing

Jesse went fishing at the Straight of Juan de Fuca yesterday (yay for saltwater fishing). He had a great time with his friend Alan, Alan's father Bob, and Dean. They caught mostly ling cod, none of which they took home (too small). He can't wait to go again next year!

Wreaths Across America

Many of you already know that Jesse had a fellow schoolmate and ROTC classmate that died in Afghanistan June 25th, 2009 from a pressure plated IED.  His name was 1LT Brian Bradshaw.

Bradshaw's family supports this organization, Wreaths Across America, for Bradshaw is buried at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, WA.  The organization helps make sure there are enough wreaths to place on grave sites for those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

As his mother has posted on Facebook, last year the cemetery only had 174 wreaths to place on the many graves at the cemetery.  Sponsoring a wreath helps Tahoma National Cemetery along with the many national cemeteries across the country and are only $15 and are delivered directly to the cemetery.  The cemetery code is WATNCK Washington Tahoma National Cemetery Kent.

Visit this site to learn more information:

http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/ 

If you can't give monetarily and would like to lend a hand, they have a ceremony where volunteers place wreaths on the grave sites across the country.  This year the ceremony will be on December 12th at 0900.

If you would like to donate money for a scholarship being set up in Brian Bradshaw's name at Pacific Lutheran University (where Jesse went to school), this is the address:

Brian Bradshaw Memorial Fund
Pacific Lutheran University
Office of Development
Tacoma, WA 98447

Thank you!

Fishing

So, Jesse has been fishing quite often, and I thought I would show some of his fun times out on the river for those who haven't gotten to see his pictures. Today he was going to go out, but work was calling (or, as he would say 'uncle sam' or 'the man'). These were all taken on the Puyallup River, except for the king salmon, which was taken on the Skokomish River (first picture).











See More @:

Fishing 2009

Shutterfly Account

You can view more pictures of ours & even order them at:

http://jesseandmarissamcadam.shutterfly.com/

Also you can view photos of our trips at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/marissa.mcadam

Monday!

Today my father had the day off, my mother worked an early shift (at her NEW job), and Jesse basically went into work to do PT before he came home. My mother is at a friends house chatting it up, and my dad and Jesse are working on replacing the front window. It looks great, if I may say so myself :)




Yesterday we went to a friend's wedding (Bob and Gillian), which was beautiful. They had autumn colors (along with white of course) which went well with a Mexican theme. Mexican food, margaritas, and Mexican beer. Very cool. The event was at the Orting Manor in Orting. There was a pool in the back, which the guys couldn't resist by the end of the night, and all of them ended up jumping in. It was a good time!







See more photos:

Bob & Gillian's Wedding

New Address!

I don't remember mentioning it before, but we do have a new address!! If you would like it please e-mail me at marissa.mcadam@gmail.com. I know I didn't mention my e-mail address before, so if you would like to be on my e-mail list regarding Jesse and his adventures to the 'Stan, please let me know via e-mail.

Thanks!