What did you say? It's February?

For those of you who are enduring an insane winter storm, getting pounded with snow, getting your flights cancelled, and/or having a hard time getting out of our driveway, you might want to skip this post.

I got off of work early today (amazing diamond show at work tomorrow, they're doing damage control for our hours tomorrow) and was so energized by the beautiful sun outside.  It felt like spring.  Yes, spring.  An amazing, unbalanced, unnatural winter we are having.  If I could make it all balanced, giving us a little bit of that colder weather, I would do it.  It's just unnatural here.  But, I had the urge to take some pictures of our beautiful weather.  The blueish skies, the wood pecked tree (that woodpecker is still working his magic in the back yard), the chives and chocolate mint that is already springing up in a pot in my parent's back yard, and my magnificent dog.  Yes I do have some photos of Stryker and I looking out the window along with the a Valentine's Day Starbucks cup which are quite random...But I mainly wanted to share a few images that I believe makes this state such a beautiful place to live.  I.  Love.  This.  State.

Anywho, I realized today that my blog was featured in December here.  Thank you Joint Fort Lewis-McChord business Chamber of Commerce.  A big surprise!  I've only have one hit from that link, but still.  Totally didn't realize it was even there!

Oh, and woo-hoo, it's nearly mid month.  Can I consider it mid-February yet?  I mean, this month is a short month.  I guess I should declare it mid-February around V-Day.  I like now better.

For you who are surviving the snow, stay warm!  For you who are getting amazing weather, get out and see that ball of fire we call the sun!

Woodpecker

My parents discovered this today in their backyard.

My dad's reaction was that the bird makes a "cool pattern."

Then he told me how he realized Stryker had been chasing a bird out of the back yard every time he went outside.  He realized then that it was the woodpecker.

My dog is such a good bird dog!

Enjoy the photo!

Well, That Was Exciting....

So yesterday morning, as I was trying to post the day's blog, our power went out.  Mom made a comment about how she heard some loud "pow" noise, but thought it was just a backfire.  When we started to notice the amount of traffic that was backing up and then turning around in our driveway, Jesse and mom decided to take a look.  Jesse came back frantically, wanting the camera.  This is what he saw:

Apparently a Pierce County Sheriff officer was chasing a burglar when someone pulled out in front of him, and he lost control.  It was early on a Saturday, so I don't believe there would've been that much traffic.  He hit a power line, and ignited a gas line.  So, we had Comcast, PSE (Puget Sound Energy), probably six sheriff vehicles (including motorcycle cops), and three fire trucks.  No one was hurt.  It made two news stations, and you can see one of the stories here:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/65910082.html

In other news, Jesse went fishing this morning, probably for his last time in a while.  He has some pictures that he has gotten from fishing, but I don't have them yet.  I will update our online album and post them when I get them.

We're going to be going to lunch today with a bunch of friends, and then going bowling afterwards.  I will post those photos also when we get back.

I updated the October album online, if you would like to check it out, you can click here:

October 2009

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

Back in the GREAT Pacific Northwest

It has been a while!!

I had planned on updating this blog plenty while Jesse was at Ranger school, and as most of you already know, Ranger school didn't work out quite to our expectations. Jesse got medically dropped out of Ranger school, proving the Georgia heat can be overwhelming. He is doing fine, but he did almost pass out a couple of times during the first day. He and a few others did get dropped, only to return in winter months.

Jesse came home slightly defeated, but more than ready to move on. We decided that it would be best for us to stay stateside instead of going to Italy, for multiple reasons. Jesse called Branch (the go to people to change duty stations) and tried to get in an airborne or light infantry unit. There were no spots open at Ft. Bragg, Ft. Campbell, Ft. Drum, or Ft. Carson. But there was an opening at Ft. Lewis, which he took without hesitation. Not his first pick, but it would do.

So here we are in Washington, all we know as of now is that he is going to be 5/2 (5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division). He is currently in processing until about mid next week. We are approximating he has about 45 days (give or take) until he deploys for Afghanistan, where the unit is currently deployed.

I will post more updates as I go, I'm going to get in the habit of updating this blog!! As of now we are living with my parents, where we will stay until Jesse gets back from deployment. We're hoping in the spring we will be moving on post.

Please e-mail me via gmail or Facebook if you would like our current address :)