Thanksgiving 2012

This year we couldn't go home for Thanksgiving (first time ever). I even had to work on Thanksgiving, which I didn't realize I was so upset about until I had a melt down in the middle of the grocery store. Jesse thought that was pretty funny. Regardless, we had our own Thanksgiving on Friday since neither of us had to work. I made my first turkey without any help (pretty impressed with myself). It also just so happened to be Derby's 2nd birthday. We showered her with presents and then took her to the Coronado dog beach to play and take Christmas card pictures. It was a great, relaxing day of eating and loving on Derby McDogg.

2012 Marine Corps Birthday Ball

A fun evening in downtown San Diego. 

Halloween

Just a few weeks late. Amy and Rob came over to carve pumpkins and grill.  Yay for Pennsylvania friends!

Mission Trails Hike

The weather has been perfect lately so we took Derby for a walk through the back yard.

She loves running around without a leash.

Cheeeeesseeeeee!

The following is me attempting to get ONE picture with the McDogg.

 

Success! Kind of. 

Great day :)

Reception Menus

Yesterday I prefaced a request to Jesse with, "I love that you don't have to work today so we can spend some time together!" What I really meant was, "Get off your butt and get dressed...we have to go to Michaels."Surprisingly, he went along with it. I told him I just needed to pick up some card stock. He had no idea that it would take me an hour to scour the entire aisle of card stock. Silly boy. It only took him about 5 minutes to start asking how much longer it was going to take. He stuck in there with me though and only laughed a little bit when he found me sitting in the middle of the aisle, surrounded by about 1000 different shades of green paper.  His patience was rewarded with a new pen (his favorite kind of office supply). I also used a coupon. I think he was secretly impressed.

Four hours later, the project was complete. Reception menus for the low low cost of $28.

Wedding Planning Sneak Peak

Even though there are only a few pictures I can post (in the off chance Jesse ever reads this), I think I should blog about wedding planning so I can look back on it again some day.  Everyone keeps saying how quickly it will go by, and I'd hate to forget all of the excitement.  Wedding planning started out being not so fun; I was taking part is some major stress-related meltdowns. It started out being stressful because, as it turns out, only a crazy lady would try to plan a wedding on her own, 3000 miles away.  My family has been beyond helpful, but there's only so much this control freak will let others handle. So at last, 2 churches and 3 reception venues later, we solidified a plan. 

I flew home to Pennsylvania two weeks ago, and my parents drove up from North Carolina. My mom, grandma, Phran, Kathryn and I had an action packed weekend. My grandma is amazing. She set up all of the appointments for the dress fitting, florist, flower nursery, cake, church, and wedding planner. This wedding would not be happening without her (picture me running around in circles, crying). 

Church- First United Methodist Church of Pottsville

Reception-Schuylkill Country Club

Save The Date

Sneak Peak!

(Thanks Kathryn!)

Best Friends

I typed this post weeks ago and then never hit send.

It's the first day of Fall today, my favorite season, and I just lit the spiced apple candle that Lindsey brought me last weekend. Oh yeah, Lindsey came to visit last weekend! I needed it. This is the first move we've made with zero friends and it's rough.  Even though I really enjoy moving frequently and trying out new places (and new jobs), I have recently realized that moves have always been really easy because our friends have moved with us.  This time around, everyone went their separate ways and it's kind of lonely.

I'm lucky to have a best friend who has visited us just about every place we've lived.  Lindsey is 5 months pregnant so our shenanigans have taken on a different purpose, but we're both at pretty exciting points in our lives: wedding planning and baby preparation. We spent the weekend stuffing our faces, catching up, shopping for maternity clothes/rehearsal dinner dresses, and brainstorming over nursery fabric swatches.  The weekend went by far too quickly but it was a great visit :)

Derby Goes To The Beach

Jesse is in SERE School this week, so last weekend we cruised over to Coronado to check out the base, North Island.We took Derby with us so we could spend the afternoon walking around the town with her.

Derby had a great time walking around. Coronado seems more like a vacation town, so it's very calm and laid back. Fortunately for Derby, Jesse asked this dog's owner why he was wet, and the owner told us that there is a dog beach on Coronado.

What a great place. There is just a small sign that separates the dog beach from the human beach, which makes the dog beach seem really open and free. The dogs run around without leashes or confinement. Unlike Pensacola, this beach actually has waves. Watching the dogs tackle the waves and then run away in fear is hilarious. She was so happy! I become more and more impressed with San Diego with every adventure we take.