A Note From Stryker the Dog

Happy Halloween!

Love, Stryker

♥

Isn't he good looking???

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:)

♥

Greetings from Georgia

Hello, friends!

It has, again, been a while.  A long while.  I am sorry that I'm not more on top of my blog posts!  I have to say that things have been crazy for us, starting with moving out of our house mid-August.  We shipped our stuff, roomed with my family, left and maneuvered through Oregon to visit family in California and Arizona, drove through New Mexico, visited more family in Texas, and then made it in one {long} day through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and finally into Georgia.

Our awesome friends, the Pippy's, let us crash their pad {and their kid's room} before we found our new apartment in North Columbus.  The following monday after our arrival we received our stuff, and since then we've been trying to piece stuff together.  That's not including an awesome wedding between two amazing friends {Brent & Megan}, meeting up with the always delightful {and a little bit crazy} friend of ours {Ashley}, and lots of gym & spin classes!

So, am serious this time, I will try and keep you all posted on our adventures through this blog!  We're talking photos from our tip across the country, weddings, our apartment, Stryker & Spuz, Jesse and his training, DIY projects I undertake, more baking {I can't resist}, and anything else I can think of.  Really.

I hope everyone has an amazing week!!

♥

Starting to Say Goodbye

Today Jesse and I said goodbye to our house on JBLM.

Didn't it seem like just yesterday we were moving in?  Or I guess I should say, I (with a little help from some family and friends), since Jesse was overseas at the time.

This of course marks the very first of goodbyes that we have to say to our new friends, our family, the places we love to go.  It's strange because I'm not sure if it gets much easier, I don't know how I will be feeling when we get in the car one final time and leave Washington State.  I do know that we will be back, that military families never really consider friends "friends," they are considered more like family.  I am realizing it more now than ever now that this is our third move through the military.  It reminds me of something I read on Facebook:

An old military tradition is that true friends who have not seen each other for long periods of time never question their friendship. These friendships resume at the same place they left off regardless of distance and time between them. We call these friends 

"Family."

I hope everyone has a great week!  The weather here in Washington has been phenomenal, I definitely hope to get some outdoor time before we head southward:)

♥