Days 10, 11, 12 & 13

Remember how I said I was going to have a hard time keeping up on my blog?  Yep.

So, covering the past four days....

Day 10:  Thankful for Glitter.

Now, I realize that that might be kind of strange, but that's sort of been my life for a few days.  For example:

Glitter Pumpkins 

Glitter Branches 

Martha Stewart Glitter

Glitter Corn

Basically, it's going to be a glittery Thanksgiving!  I seriously think I'll be finding glitter until the time we move out.

Day 11:  Thankful for Our Veterans

My Veteran:

For you who serve, have served, and are family of someone who served:

Thank you.

I don't think anyone could say that too much.

You're awesome!

Day 12:  Thankful for my brobie, who's birthday was the 12th

My Brother (and me):

Love ya, Taylor!

Day 13:  Thankful for Starbucks

Red cups are heeeeeeeeeere!

Yay:)

I enjoyed myself a peppermint mocha today...Makes me happy.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

♥

Road Trippin': Day Six

Day Six: Last Day in Arizona

The last day in Arizona was eventful, Jesse & I got up early, visited Rhonda's {fabulous} shop in Phoenix.

We then went out to Cooperstown {the restaurant Alice Cooper owns in downtown Phoenix}, which is always interesting.

When we got back, my Aunt had driven down from the northeastern part of Arizona, and visited with us for a while.

Overall, it was a relaxing and fun trip, getting to catch up with everyone.

I really really love visiting Arizona.

♥

Road Trippin': Day Five

Day Five: Fun in Arizona

Our first full day in Arizona was a blast.

We slept in, relaxed, and called my parents on Skype so that they could talk to David, Myra, and Rhonda.

No one knew how to Skype except for my mom, so it was a treat for them.

They talked for two and a half hours.

Basically, the battery on my computer died.

Anyway, mom had a collection of gifts she had not sent to any of them, but had collected for about five years.

They chatted, opened gifts, and David showed off some of his prized possessions.

We had dinner {Mexican food, yum}

and enjoyed some more pool time.

I love visiting Arizona and it was a great time,

100+ degree weather & all:)

♥

Road Trippin': Day Four

Day Four: Arizona Bound

So we left California, got some Panera, and headed south.

It's really interesting how the terrain changes in southern California and then when you go into Arizona the terrain changes again.

I wonder sometimes how people thought of where to place the state lines because sometimes the terrain, trees, and landscape completely changes when you cross a state line.

Weird.

Anyway, it was a nice trip, we drove around Los Angeles {instead of through LA}

where a cop kindly reminded Jesse he should be going 55 {think hand gestures...and not the "number one" if you catch my drift}.

It was at least in the triple digits way before we got to LA, and we almost ran out of gas partway through Arizona.

Oops.

Let me tell you, that made for an interesting 20 minutes...A black vehicle with pets, virtually no gas, and, in trying to cut down on gas usage, no AC.

Did I mention it was like 110?

Good times.

All & all we got to AZ without a hitch...went swimming and then to bed.

Good times.

More on Arizona next time!

Thanks for reading:)

♥

Road Trippin': Day Two & Three

Days Two and Three: California

The beginning of our California visit began with Jesse doing some fishing with the guys {Jesse's brother, nephew, and some friends of his brothers} and going to the Oakland A's game while I had lunch with the ladies {Jesse's aunt, sister-in-law, and niece}.

The ladies went to Panera, did a little shopping, and then came back for a little nap.
{Well, technically the nap was for Alana, Jesse's niece, but I zonked out too}
12 hours on the road will do that to you.
We finished off the evening with visiting with Jesse's Aunt Donna.

We started the next day the same way we ended the previous day:
With Jesse's aunt Donna.
And coffee.
Then was a little bit of fishing, Chipotle for lunch, and visiting with one of Jesse's elementary school friends.

I love it out on the west coast...The cool, foggy weather was a great sendoff!
A great visit.

♥

Road Trippin': Day One

Day 1: Driving to California

So I will be doing a post a day {or at least trying to} about our road trip for approximately eight days, telling you all about our lovely "little" road trip across the United States.

We took a more southern route, heading first through Oregon and into California.  I always really enjoy driving through Portland, but after driving through Portland the state of Oregon gets boring for a while.
Once you get past the fields, livestock, and a few vineyards you get into mountains and the landscape starts to change.  By the time we had reached this part of Oregon it was 90 degrees (quite a bit warmer than the Washington we left) and we refueled with some Starbucks.

We got to California, drove by Mount Shasta, and through most of Northern California.  It seemed like a long drive into the bay area, the sun was setting as we got close.  By the time we got to where we needed to be it was nearly dark.  We still got to see lots of water, bridges, and a beautiful sunset into Casto Valley.

Jesse's brother was just wrapping up a BBQ, and we enjoyed some leftovers before settling in.

More to come on our California trip!  Stay tuned:)

♥

Cupcakes!

Yay for Cupcakes!!

These are banana with a honey vanilla frosting:

 These are a strawberry with strawberry frosting:

These are devil's food with a dark chocolate frosting:

So if you're wondering why in the world I wait so long between blog posts, it's probably because I'm making cupcakes.

I am Marissa and I am a Bakeaholic.

Anyway, last weekend was fun-filled and crazy.

Friday we went up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival,

(see last year's photos here)

Visited Jesse's mom and brought her lunch.

Then we went out with friends...

Saturday we slept in, went and saw the movie

Something Borrowed

(I love you Emily Giffin but the book is better!)

Saw Jay Leno do a concert for the troops,

and baked the lovely chocolate cupcakes that you see above

(they were good too).

Sunday we met up with my family, had breakfast in Seattle,

then enjoyed some cupcakes.

More time with family.

Worked. Worked. FRG Meeting.  Work some more.

And here we are!

I hope you all have a lovely week this week,

happy hump day,

tomorrow is thursday!

Goodnight.

♥

Birthday With the Fam

Here are my photos of the day for the 28th & 29th....And holy crap it's the last day of January today!

Time flies

Well, when your husband isn't deployed.

Anyway, my photos:

January 28th:  Flowers from my husband.  A little late, but beautiful!

January 29th:  Dinner with the Fam

I hope you all had a great weekend, today is the last day of my husband's weekend.  The battalion got their own DONSA and we've been enjoying the extra day.

We relaxed most of friday night, saturday we got ready to have my family over, went out to eat, and had cake and ice cream here.

Oh, and gifts.

Yesterday we had our friends Megan and Jacob over for dinner and a movie at our place.

We saw Red, which was pretty good.

Today we ventured out, Jesse takes over an XO (executive officer) position tomorrow so he's excited and anxious for that.

I will be taking over for the HHC FRG leader.

We bought a small freezer (for home of course) along with a small cheap microwave for Jesse's new office.

We also saw the Chiropractor and did some grocery shopping.

We are having one of Jesse's old soldiers over for dinner tonight.

On the menu:  chicken, carrots, garlic bread, and mashed potatoes.

I'm starving, but trying to keep myself from munching!

I hope you all have a great week, and I will talk more soon!

♥

Lots and Lots of Family

Just a snippet of the family the day after Christmas:

Like I said before...Crazy amount of fam!

And my friends, I forgot yesterday & the day before's photo:

The other night we ate teriyaki chicken & watched Eat Pray Love.

Well, I watched Eat Pray Love.  Jesse fell asleep.

Yesterday was the Sehawks game...

(go HAWKS!)

Where they were AMAZING and beat the Saints.

My dad told me I had to wear my "lucky" jersey next week.

And not to wash it, of course.

He was joking.

Today my big accomplishment was making my grandmother's rolls.

I didn't do so well.

In my defense, I believe my oven isn't working because the bottom coil isn't heating.

Things burn on the top, don't cook the bottom.

It takes an hour to preheat to 375*, and basically doesn't heat to 400*.

You get the picture.

I'll wait a few weeks....Then try again.  I have to master making yeast breads!

♥

Christmas Day 2010

One thing I forgot about yesterday's post...We had a great Christmas Eve breakfast at Jesse's brother's house...And a great Christmas Eve Dinner at Jesse's aunt's house!

Jesse's aunt also makes an amazing Apple Crumble Pie...

So Christmas Jesse's mom made it over early in the AM, and surprisingly Jesse and I got up early too.

Guess who didn't get up so early?

The kids.

When they finally were woken up it was probably about 8 AM.  I'm not sure though, I wasn't checking my watch.  Jesse's niece got lots of princess stuff, make-up, and nail polish while his nephew got lots of Star Wars and Iron Man toys.

The kids opening gifts.

Uncle Jesse wearing one of Evan's Christmas gifts.

Alana showing off her new outfit.

Jesse playing bartender at Christmas Dinner.

Jesse and I did manage to make a Starbucks run mid-day...And picked up some treats for dinner and the next morning.

Stryker and Logan ripping Logan's new toys apart.

Our day was rounded out by playing with the kids, Evan learning lots of new magic tricks, and a big Christmas dinner.

Last but not least:

365 Project Photo!

My focus was to get up early (didn't happen), work out (didn't happen), take the dog out (done!)...Then I got the urge to make some treats (done!) before heading to a battalion meeting to round out the evening.

These pictured are chocolate mint kiss brownies.

Have a good one.

♥

Christmas Eve 2010

So Christmas Eve was our first solid day in California, our main plan was to get a trial membership from 24 Hour Fitness so we could do some exercise and classes that Jesse's sister-in-law teaches.

So here I was with Stryker in my work-out gear:

 So while the Jesse and his brother were out doing some things (I can't remember what for the life of me...Except that they were supposed to stop by the store and get butter and they got just about everything but that...lol), I helped Jesse's Sister-in-Law (JoeEtta) make cookies with the kids:

 There was a lot of gift-opening for the kids, at several different houses including Jesse's Aunt Donna's and some members of JoeEtta's Family.  We made a trip by Jesse's step brothers house to visit some family and family friends...

Here is a photo of Jesse's Nephew cleaning up all that wrapping paper:

Overall our Christmas Eve was eventful, we did make it by the gym for a short run.

We were exhausted by the end of the night...But it was well worth it!

Hope you all enjoyed the photos & stories of Christmas Eve...Here is my photo for my 365 Project:

This is {again} at the dog park.  Yes, I go there often...Probably too often!  Outside it is still pretty cold, so I thought this piece of holly looked cool -- with a frosty white glaze on it.

I will post more tomorrow!

♥

Beachin' It....Round Two

SO sorry I've been MIA lately...

It's hard to keep up!

So we went back to the beach...

Here are some photos with the fam!

♥

Day 18: Whatever Tickles Your Fancy

Famin' it up

And Because animals are family too...

♥

Happy Birthday To My Momma

The Family at HG Bistro

Wishing my mother a

Happy Birthday!!

♥

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!

I know it's super late in the day to be saying this, with only 2 hours left of the holiday left on the west coast, but better late than never I always say!

This year I had Easter dinner at our house.  My mom and dad came, my brother staying up at school today.  We tried to call him, but of course he ignored didn't answer the phone when we called.  Go figure.

I started my day with a brief conversation with the hubster, then got ready for the day.  Stryker and I went out to Steilacoom to the dog park out there.  Let me tell you, I've been missing out!  I really have to say that in all the time I've lived here I haven't truly brought Stryker there.  He had a good time playing and meandering out of my eyesight, but slept like a baby when he got home.  Thanks Nikki for bringing the dog park to my attention!

So when I got home I did some laundry, some vacuuming, and stuck the ham in the oven.  I frosted cupcakes, and by the time I had started that mom and dad arrived.  We made dinner which was an awesome ham, balsamic potatoes, a green salad with strawberries and lime dressing, brown sugar carrots, and crescent rolls.  For desert we had cupcakes.  This is my little display:

After we measured a million windows (mom is going to make me curtains) they headed home and I started my second load of dishes through the dishwasher.

I hope by the end of this week I have some amazing news to share.  I hope that everyone has a great week, and again, Happy Easter & Happy Spring!