Through the Looking Glass

Big Changes Ahead...

2010-08-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I have officially made a HUGE decision...

After 8 years in the Marine Corps, we are gonna make a switch and join the Air Force. It's an idea that's been stewing in our heads for a long time now, and we've weighed the pros and cons very carefully. We've bounced back and forth between staying in the Marines or joining another branch a billion times. But it basically comes down to one thing – living near family. We are very close to my family and I miss them more than words can say. We are trying to have children now, and I can't imagine raising a child away from my mom, dad, and sister.

I understand a lot of people are just fine raising their own families away from their immediate family, especially military. But if there is a way for us to remain in the military (because Kevin loves it) AND live near family, then we need to do all we can do to make that happen. Unfortunately, there are very few Marine bases and I have zero family near any of them. The Air Force on the other hand, has a lot of options that would put us near family. Hill AFB in UT and McChord AFB in WA are two of them. Ty and Emily and their happy little bunch live in WA, and I have a feeling my parents will end up moving there when they retire, so we're hoping for McChord. Plus, I think I was born to live in the Pacific Northwest. I've never actually been there, but I've seen videos and pictures and I think it'll be the perfect place for me.

Another big reason that swayed us was the fact that we will more than likely never be able to afford a house in Southern California. We've worked hard to get ourselves prepared for the big purchase of a home, but even being 100% debt free will not help us afford the cost of a home in Southern California on just Kevin's income. And me working once we have kids is not an option, it's most important to us both that I stay home to raise our future kiddos. McChord WA, on the other hand...I think we can definitely afford a home there!

I am going to miss the Marines though. I feel so torn. Part of me is excited and hopeful about the possibility of living near family, but the other part of me feels like I'm losing another family – the Marines. I'm not even the Marine! I'm just the spouse, but I feel so sad that we'll be leaving the Marine Corps. I am really REALLY going to miss it. I can only hope the Air Force will be just as great as the Marine Corps has been.

I am also going to miss Southern California! Holy crap, I love it here. It's gonna be a big adjustment for me to make a new place my home. A few things I'm going to miss....

Nothing like a sunny day in Southern California...

The Happiest Place on Earth...

San Diego...

The Oceanside Pier...

The Camp Pendleton Animal Shelter and all the amazing staff. This is a picture of Vanilla, the prettiest little cat currently calling the shelter home.

The gym on Camp Pendleton and all of my workout buddies that keep me motivated...

The beach at Del Mar on board Camp Pendleton. It's military-only and never crowded...

Did I mention Disneyland?

And most of all...

...the Marines.

And I gotta say, I'm so proud of Kevin. I know it's not an easy decision for him to leave the Corps. But as always, he will do anything, and sacrifice everything just to take care of us and our future family. I know we will make it through this gigantic change together. We'll come out on the other side with everything we've ever wanted, but couldn't quite get a hold of in the Marine Corps.

Sorry for the length of this blog, but it's kind of a therapeutic venting for me. It feels good to get it out there.

2010-06-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

We have a local website called pendletonyardsales.com where military can purchase and sale their belongings. I was browsing one day and found a really cute side table for $15. The seller had started to refinish it, but I guess gave up and just wanted to get rid of it.

I wish I had taken a before picture because it was hilarious. I should have told the lady that she should pay me $15 to take it off her hands, because she left it a mess! Haha. She had put stripping gel all over it, and then I guess halfway through, decided she didn't want to finish it. So it had dried out stripping gel aaaaall over it! It really didn't even need to be stripped. Some light sanding and a few coats of paint would have been just fine.

Anyway, as I got to work removing the dried stripping gel with some fresh stripping gel, I began to wonder "What have you gotten yourself into?"

I'm not one to quit something that I start so for the next few days, I worked hard to get the table to the point where I could paint it. My favorite part of refinishing furniture is the trip to Home Depot to pick out the paint.

...and voila! The finished product...

I'm so glad I stuck through it. It's the cutest little table, and for only $15! That's a steal. And old furniture seems to be so much better in quality than the furniture they make now-a-days. This table should last forever!

I highly recommend browsing yard sales, and consignment shops anytime you might be looking for some new furniture. It's well worth the effort.

Our lovely new neighbors...

2010-05-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

I often find myself not thinking very highly of humans, in general. There are several reasons I tend to think this way, but I will not go into detail because it strays from the point of this blog, which is this....

Every once in awhile, people come along and do some really nice things that renew my trust in humankind.

Kevin and I recently had some new neighbors move in below us. Being cat lovers ourselves, we've often noticed the two adorable cats that are always peeking out of their window. I've noticed they both wore tags with a microchip tag, AND a nametag. This indicates to me a very a caring, concerned owner that wants to make sure their cats are safe.

So one day, we were coming home and we noticed one of the cats on their patio. We had never seen their cats outside before, and their owners were nowhere in sight. We figured this cat had escaped somehow. We knocked on the door. No answer.
We called the phone number on the cat's tag. No answer.

After a little investigation around their apartment we found how it escaped! One of their windows was cracked open and the screen was torn at the bottom. This surely must have been how the cat got outside. So we decided we'd lift the screen, pop the cat back in their apartment, and shut the window. There's a lot of danger outside for a cat - cars, coyotes, getting lost, or even stolen! I'd personally have a heart attack if I knew my little Pumpkin was outside all by herself.

So we called them back and left a message telling them not to worry. Their cat was safe inside their apartment. We hoped we weren't overstepping our bounds, but we didn't want to take the chance that they could lose their cat. So about an hour later, our neighbor called and was very thankful. Phew! I was a little relieved that he wasn't annoyed or angry at us. Who knows? Maybe they had put their cat outside for a reason.

So the next evening, Kevin and I were home. There was a knock on our door, but we weren't able to answer it at that moment. They knocked twice so I figured it was someone that actually wanted something. So a few minutes later, I checked the door to see if they had a left a note or something. Surprise! An envelope was hanging on our door that said "To our neighbors"

I opened it up, and found that our neighbors had left us a Best Buy giftcard and a little note saying "Thank you for getting our cat back into our home." So thoughtful and adorable!! I ran down there and knocked on their door to thank them. They are the cutest couple ever. Early 20s, I'd guess.

And very thankful for rescuing their cute little cat.
Well THANK YOU for making my world a little brighter with your nice gesture.

Anza-Borrego Desert

2010-03-15T23:51:00.001-07:00

We made a trip out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in hopes of catching some wildflower blooms. There's something wonderful about finding flowers in the middle of a desert. I've noticed a lot of people tend to think deserts are empty, desolate, wastelands...if you happen to be one of these people, then you need to go spend a few hours romping around a desert. You will definitely feel differently.

We set off with the goal to find this beauty...

It's a Desert Lily. I shouldn't say "we." Kevin made it clear beforehand that he was coming along only for the hiking and exercise, and had no interest in finding flowers. But he ended up being as enthusiastic about it as I was. He'd point out flowers as we were walking by that I didn't even notice. Then he'd pull out his I-Pod to figure out what flower it was (we downloaded a cool program that has pictures and names of the desert flowers we might see).

When I stumbled across my first Lily, it was like finding a diamond in the rough. They're very camouflaged, small, and pale...so they can be hard to see.

The giant cactus in the picture above is called a Barrel Cactus. They are so awesome to stand next to. Most of the Barrel Cactus we saw had pretty yellow flowers blooming at their tops.

The plant in the picture above is called an Ocotillo. You can't tell from the picture, but it has these insanely sharp, vicious-looking spines. It gave me chills just to stand next to it. It's also probably the reason for the grimace on Kevin's face in the picture. Haha.

So after a little more hill-climbing...

spider-searching, flower identifying, and sunshine-enjoying...
we called it a day. I already can't wait until our next trip!

She's My Angel Forever...

2010-03-03T16:54:00.001-08:00

I'm extremely saddened by the loss of Chelsea King. For some reason, this case has affected me more than any other before. I think about it several times a day, and it brings me to tears every time. It was a wakeup call for me. I didn't know Chelsea King personally, but I do know this...the world just grew a little darker.

Parents...please do what you can to protect your daughters. They need our help to keep them safe from the monsters in this world that are more than willing to take their lives.

Teach them to be safe and aware. Lead by example.

R.I.P. Chelsea King.

Things I love about today...

2010-01-25T16:52:00.001-08:00

The text message, out of nowhere, from my husband
"<3 U 4eva" (or 'heart you forever' for those not familiar with 'text-speak')

Having turned that red knob on my bike to the right EVERY time my instructor yelled to do so, even though every part of me screamed "DON'T DO IT!" (turning to the right adds resistance)

Noticing a cute, tiny lizard scurry into the bushes in front of me. I had never seen a lizard quite that small, and wondered if it was a baby. After a little research I found out that these particular lizards lay eggs that hatch in September, so it must have been!

Finding Disc 4 of 5 of the "True Blood" Season 1 at my local Blockbuster. Sookie, Bill, and the colorful world of vampires and mind-readers inhabiting the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana - here I come!

What did YOU love about today?

A Few of My Favorite Things

2009-12-29T19:53:00.001-08:00

These are my three favorite Christmas gifts I received this year...

My Grandma Sims has been collecting bells for a VERY long time. She has a cabinet full of them. I always stand in front of it, admiring them. I point out the ones I love most, and my grandma always surprises me at Christmas with my favorite bell. This Christmas bell is BY FAR my favorite gift - in fact, probably one of my favorite belongings.

A 'Money Tree' from my mom and dad. There's something really convenient about being able to pull some cash off my tree whenever I need it. My mom must have been fibbing when she said "Money doesn't grow on trees, Trina."

The cutest little Bambi figurine in the world, from my cutest little sister in the world.

And last but not least...

A beautiful necklace from my husband.

What were your favorite gifts this holiday?

High Maintenance

2009-12-13T13:57:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin has decided she prefers to drink from glasses instead of her water bowl. Even though her water bowl is full of fresh water...she'll go from glass to glass around the house, sticking her head, or paw, all the way to the bottom to check for water. So we've just resorted to leaving her a glass full of water on the counter from now on. (Sorry for the sideways video. I didn't realize my camera didn't automatically flip the image when I turned it)

What a princess...

Cycling Class

2009-12-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

I've started a new cycling class at the gym on base and it is FANTASTIC! I've recently started attending group exercise classes regularly and I'm already a HUGE fan because they really make me push myself a lot more than if I were exercising alone.

My numbers:
50 min
170 avg heartrate
800 calories
10 in HR zone (0 below, 40 above)

Wooooo...I can't wait until I start seeing improvements in those numbers. This was only my third class, but it already seemed a ton easier than the first.

This picture is kind of ridiculous....they are smiling WAY too much, and not sweating nearly enough :)

I talked to the instructor and a few of the women in the class for a bit afterwards. One of them has lost 65 lbs - she was about my age, I would guess. And the other has lost 75lbs!! I was so proud of them. I don't even know them, but I know what a struggle it is to lose weight. It was a big motivation to talk to them. Kind of gave me the refreshing boost that I needed - reminded me exactly why I am in these classes in the first place.

I'm ready for the next class!

Here goes something...

2009-12-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

A new blog template for a fresh start...

I feel compelled to give blogging another go!

Wish me luck. :)

5 months! Pititful...

2009-02-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

So I noticed it's been 5 months since my last blog. I decided that is pretty ridiculous and so here I am!

I just discovered the cutest pair of birds outside my window. I'm on the 2nd floor and noticed them on the ground below - sort of scratching at the ground, obviously searching for food. So I pulled out my binoculars to get a closer look and they are definitely one of these --->

It's a White-crowned Sparrow! It's always exciting for me to identify a bird I haven't identified before.

My family just recently came and visited me in California. It was really good to have all of them here at the same time. We had the BEST time romping around Disneyland. We had a three-day pass and of course ended up spending almost an entire three days there. My poor parents - being drug around Disneyland for days by four 20-somethings! My dad took some really nice pictures which I will be posting more of as soon as he gets them emailed to me. The castle picture above was taken by my dad!

<3

Happy Birthday Nicki!!

2008-09-19T07:51:00.001-07:00

What can I say about Nicki that would even do her justice? I mean, just look at her. She's stunning.
I just thank my lucky stars that I'm the sister of practically the most amazing woman in this universe!

It sounds cheesy, but I'm being quite serious. I LOVE YOU, NICKI!

A Blog...FINALLY! <3

2008-08-05T11:06:00.000-07:00

haha. well, where on earth do i start? a lot has happened since i last blogged...
and after much persistence on krystal and mindi's part, i decided i had better fill everyone in on what's new since kevin came home!

kevin's homecoming was, of course, amazing. there's nothing that can compare to the feeling of a homecoming. the air is just full of energy - excitement, anxiety, elation - from all the families and friends waiting for their marines to come home. i showed up at 11 am, expecting them to arrive around noon. hour after hour rolled by until finally they started showing up ..at 4pm!! i should have known better than to show up on time. haha. in the military if they say noon, they really mean 5 hours after noon.

well bus after bus of marines started unloading. they're all in their camouflage and look identical so it can be pretty hard to find someone in the crowd. but i saw kevin as soon as he stepped off the bus! i ran to him as fast as i could!

i watched a lot of people reuniting before i actually got to see kevin. i noticed a lot of them cried as they hugged their boyfriends/husbands for the first time in 7 months. watching them made me teary-eyed, but when i saw kevin...i did not even come close to crying!! i was ecstatic! soooo happy! i was kind of surprised that i didn't cry, but i was just way too happy.
but it made me think about each of those women, and their reasons for crying...so many women have to be so strong and independent for 7 months. maybe it's just their way of releasing all of that.

for a few days after kevin got home, we just relaxed and enjoyed each other at the hotel on base. we had to wait a few days until our new apartment was ready to be moved into. i remember being so excited. it was like when you were little and got a new toy for christmas - always so excited to get home and play with it. that's how i felt those few days right after kevin got home. i'd be in the shower or something, and suddenly remember "kevin's home!" you may wonder why that would be something i'd have to remember, but after 7 months of him being gone....well you can imagine. it's all very exciting.

here's some pictures of kevin my dad took while he was with kevin on the ship.

well that's a little bit of an update for now...

i'll write more soon! i have much more to blog about!

What I've been up to...

2008-05-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Since I've been in Utah, I've been helping a former professor of mine with some research. We're doing a survey on a small shorebird called the Snowy Plover. We're basically trying to figure out how many live and breed in the area around the Great Salt Lake. So we walk these huge gridlines mapped out on the ground and count how many Snowy's we see while we walk. I've been working an insane amount of hours. For the past 2 weeks I've had consistent 12 hour days with barely a 2 days off. Haha. But I really don't mind it. It helps pass the time until Kevin comes home.

It seriously is so much fun. Because the areas we survey are randomly chosen by GPS coordinates, we end up in some of the most crazy, wild places around Utah. It's really quite an adventure. Every day we just tromp around in the mud, exploring, walking about 8 miles per day and looking for birds. Yesterday, for example, we got our ATV stuck in some pretty bad mud. SUPER sticky mud. Well during the process of getting the ATV out, I laughed harder then I've laughed in awhile. There were four of us, 2 students from Mexico who barely speak English, and then another student from Weber State. But laughter is universal, so the language barrier meant nothing in this moment. We were all laughing so hard we could barely stand up.

My research also lead me to another adventure. An airplane flight all around the Great Salt Lake. We were in the air for about 3 hours just flying along the shoreline so I could mark off any of our plots that were underwater. I was really nervous to fly in a small aircraft, and almost chickened out. But I'm glad I decided to go. It was a neat opportunity. Though I must say I wouldn't do it again! :) I get nervous when I fly.

Here's a picture of the pilot and I.

This is me while in the air. The headphones keep out some of the noise and allow us to talk with each other through a mic.

A couple shots from the plane. The white dots on the island are nesting Pelicans! The island was packed with them!

Anyway, just a little update on what I've been up to.

Blog from Kevin

2008-05-14T14:27:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Well..we're on our way to Hawaii now from Australia. That was
a nice couple of ports. Yes..I drank..a lot. Seriously. But I had a good
time. I think I just drank to pass the time away until we come home. But
it was fun. The people were nice and very talkative. And every time I
call Trina, Mark is making preparations to come on the ship with me.
Hehehe. And I can't wait to see him. I think it's cute. Ever since I've
met mark, he's always been a busy little bee. Sometimes when I hang out
at their house with Trina, I feel lazy because mark and Lori are both
running around the house or going out to either work or take care of
personal business. But I enjoy visits with them. It'll be 3 weeks and
I'll be home. I'll be walking off whatever takes us to the shore with
Mark and I'll be running into Trina's arms while lugging all my personal
stuff behind me. I'll probably have to go to work all that day, but
it'll be okay. I asked Trina to take the Corolla out of storage for us
so I can drive home that night. It's seriously going to be the best
drive ever..at least I think so. I seriously think Mark is going to
enjoy the ship as grey and depressing as it is. It looks as if there's
going to be a bingo night and maybe an ice cream social or 2. We'll see
what happens when he comes on. I've heard rumors of a karaoke night as
well. Hehehe. Whatever happens, it's going to be awesome. He's going to
get classes during the day and he's going to have fun at night like we
do. He'll see what a life in the day of me was like when I was underway.
And I do believe he'll enjoy it a lot. Ummmm. That's all I can think of
for now. Trina knows this..but I love her! HI TRINA <3!!!!!1

Blog from Kevin

2008-04-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey! I know I haven't blogged for you guys in a really long time. And
I'm sorry. But things have been hectic. We're about to go to Australia
twice! Hehehe. And we roll our sleeves tomorrow!

And I've already got a bed picked out for mark. Much like mine..but on the opposite side of where I live. Like..right across the row from me. So that way we can
have paper ball wars or something! Hahaha. Yeah right. Mark would
probably own me. He's a big scary guy! He would definitely own me.

Let's
see here. This deployment's almost over. So I don't think I'll be
blogging for you guys until the next deployment unless Trina decides to.
It looks like I'm going to be a marine recruiter after this! It's
exciting. I don't know where I'm going to be recruiting. I'm leaving it
all up to Trina and where she wants to go to school at. But I've been
talking to her about moving by our friend, Larry, in Kentucky. We'll see
how that works out. Trina told me she has a school she'd like to go to
there anyway. So we'd be by Larry and Trina would be able to go to
school! You know?

So we start rolling our sleeves tomorrow. Hehehe. I'm
counting that as a turning point in the deployment. There's only a
little over a month left! And then I'll be cuddling Trina to death. Yes.
I'll cuddle her so much that she will probably die. Die from being
overly loved. Heheh. That's all I can really think about right now. Only
a little over a month until I get to hang out with you Mark! I hope
you're ready! Just bring your camera, a sleeping bag (we won't have
linens for you. I won't even have linens), and a week's worth of
clothes! I'm pretty sure there will be classes for you guys. We'll see
how that works out. And that's all folks! I'll see all of you really
really soon I'm sure. I'll at least call a bunch of you anyway. *waves*

Living in San Diego

2008-04-16T14:52:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like Kevin will be going to Recruiter's School at the Marine Corps Recuit Depot in San Diego. We're pretty excited about living in San Diego.

Since we will only be there for a few months while he goes to school (July-October), we decided to spend a little more and get an apartment right in San Diego. He will have only a 7 minute drive to MCRD. So we'll make up the cost of extra rent in gas money alone - considering the price of gas is probably around $4/gallon in San Diego!

We've already picked out our apartment. It's newly built and here are some pictures:

Our apartment is right near the pool, which should be pretty fun! Kevin and I LOVE to swim. We're like a couple of fish. Last summer, we went swimming every day after work. We swam so much I ended up getting swimmer's ear. Ouch!

Our apartment also has an air conditioner!! YAY! In our old apartment we didnt have one and it got terribly hot during the summer. On some days, it was 85 degrees in our apartment, and SUPER humid. It also comes with other fancy things like - granite countertops, 9-foot ceilings, a fancy sliding door on the shower (i'm really excited for this, our old apartment only had a curtain and it was a pain to avoid splashing water all over the bathroom).

A little over 1 month until Kevin comes home!

I CAN'T WAAAAAIT! *squirm*

Spontaneity

2008-03-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I've been feeling pretty spontaneous as of late...

I think it just has a lot to do with Kevin being gone. So I decided to get my septum pierced!! I'm very happy with it. It was my first piercing and was quite an adventure. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect, but it was pretty painless. It was a strange sensation really...kind of...electric. The studio where I was pierced was very professional. They layed me back on a table (the same type of table that's in a doctor's office). Then they put a bunch of gross stuff in my nose to disinfect. He had on latex gloves and a doctors mask and was explaining a lot of stuff to me which i barely remember because I was so nervous/anxious/excited about the actual piercing! Haha. Hopefully it was nothing too important. :)

He told me to take some deep breaths. Now let out that breath sloooowly...and BAM. I felt the piercing. It was a pretty strange feeling, but it was over in a few seconds.

It's pretty subtle, the jewelry is basically a silver horseshoe type thing. And the nice thing about this type of piercing is that I can flip it up inside my nostrils to hide it...it's very difficult to hide any other type of piercing.

Well! That's it for now.

Talk to you soon.
<3

Thank You Nox

2008-02-28T22:29:00.000-08:00

This was written about Kevin and I by a good friend of ours. I loved it so much I had to share it with everyone else. Enjoy...

I watch her on the beach, watching her watch birds,
She's as captivated by their beauty as I am with her own.
All the small things that she does
(like making transformers stickers)
With me purely in mind
Only strengthen this feeling that this will never die.
That we will never die.
That in some small sector in humanity
Love still matters.
I'd give my world to put a smile on her face
and the beauty of it is that she'd do the same for me.
All day together
Always together.
Forever.

I'm comfortable in your arms, forever protected.
You never leave my thoughts, forever respected.
Counting the days til I can touch you once again
Counting the days until my soul is whole again.
Filling my life with idle monotony
Hoping to drown this lonely misery.
Though my answer doesn't come from the world around me
but the eyes of a soldier who marches on despite me.
With you by my side, I'll never taste fear
With you in my soul, we'll always be near.

Through the good and the bad,
The right and the wrong,
The tried and the true,
When you're here or when you're gone.

Two parts love and one part strong
The Lover and the Soldier.

A Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

I rushed home from work as soon as my mom called me to tell me I got a package from Kevin. And these beautiful roses are what I found!

Thank you sweetie. I love them!

And I will thank you properly for them as soon as you get home! Hehe.

<3>

Reminiscing to Bide the Time...

2008-01-26T22:11:00.000-08:00

This is how the first explorer of Yellowstone
must have looked.
I think it's safe to say that Kevin has got this mountain conquered...

And they lived happily ever after....the best day of my life.

Kevin and I at the Marine Corps Ball. It's been years
and yet I still get butterflies
when I see him looking this handsome...

We found this Christmas tree laying outside by the dumpster!
No way in hell we were going to just let such a beautiful tree go to
waste! So we dragged it inside our tiny apartment...

Our first picture taken on the patio of our new apartment.

At the Oceanside Pier, such a beautiful sunny day..

Kevin accosted with the camera on his way in the door.
You wouldn't believe how much you miss something as simple as your
husband walking through the door after work...

Blog by Kevin

2008-01-09T06:21:00.000-08:00

Well guys..i'm off to Kuwait soon. Time to grab my m-4 and sceedaddle for a few weeks. As of today, just send all emails to my yahoo address. And I'll probably actually be able to blog on the website! I don't think kuwait's internet is run by NMCI..but we'll see. Nothing really has happened. We pulled out of Bahrain this morning. And we're going to be docking again pretty soon. I don't know the name of the base which is probably a good thing. Hehe. But yeah. My mom just got a new black kitten that she named Velvet. I haven't seen her yet but I have heard her purr a little. Hehe. She sounds very friendly. She's my mom's new lap kitty. Maybe my mom will post pictures of her on the blog? I've requested some pictures of her as well considering she sounds reallyfreaking cute. Other than that nothing is happening here. I'll blog once I get into kuwait. And Mark..it's only that much closer until you're going to be on the Tarawa with me! HOORAY! Hehe. Take care all.

Post by Kevin

2008-01-04T08:13:00.001-08:00

Well..this deployment has been eventful..i just found out I got orders to recruiting duty..but they forgot to screen me. So I have that to look forward to when I come home. I think I'll do good at it. I just need toknow where Trina wants to go. We could end up going to Salt Lake if there's a recruiting station there. But we'll see what Trina wants to do.

I'm leaning more towards either Salt Lake, Oklahoma, or maybe even Kentucky! Hehe. Personally, I don't care where I end up..it's all about Trina's choice of graduate school..wherever she wants to go is the place I NEED to go.

Other than that, I'm working with one of nicki's friend'sbrothers. His name is chris finney. He's a nice guy. And he seems kinda quiet. I don't know him that well..and he doesn't know me that well..but sometimes we talk about random things. You know? He's such a nice kid.

We're around the middle east now and it's starting to get colder. I'm kinda looking forward to getting off and going into Kuwait for a fewweeks. It'll be something to do. Something to get me out of this big grey box for a few weeks. Other than that, there's nothing else going on.

2007-12-26T18:42:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas you filthy animals! And a happy new year.
-Home Alone 2

hehe. On that note..i'd like to wish everyone who reads this a merry Christmas. It's not going to be much of one for me..but we get seafood and real steak! That's DEFINITELY something to look forward to. We'realmost to the middle east..as you guys know. And crap..i don't think this is going to be much of a blog. Meh..ah well. At least I got to say it! Have a merry Christmas everyone!

BLOG by Kevin

2007-12-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I know I haven't been blogging much. But I just haven't found anything to blog about lately. We're going to spend some liberty time in Dubai (in the Middle East) for a few days. And then we're going to Kuwait for a few weeks. And then we're going back to Dubai for a few days. I think from there we're going to either Australia or Thailand.We'll see what happens.

Either way, we leave Kuwait in the beginning of February and start heading home! Man. It's going to go by so quickly. I can see Trina waiting for me and her dad at the pier right now! Hehe. I'm really excited to have him on the ship with me. There's going to be classes and stuff for them I think. I was looking at last year's pictures and that's what it looked like.

Man..I've been really antsy lately. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's because I'm heading home sooner than expected? I'm not sure. But in a month, this deployment will be halfway over. It's crazy eh? It seems like yesterday Trina was crying on me as I left to get on this big grey and cold-looking ship.That poor girl. I know she's hanging in there. That's pretty much all she can do really. I wish I could clone myself temporarily to help keep her company while I'm gone. Or maybe make her a robot or something. Something to keep her occupied you know?

How are things with all of you?I hope they're going well this holiday season. There's a little something missing for Trina, but that little something's coming home in a few months. I hope you all have a merry Christmas. And there will be more souvenirs on the way!:)

BLOG by Kevin

2007-12-19T13:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys. How are you all? Just left Singapore this morning. And I got souveniers for my family! I was going to get something for my friend, Larry. But Trina wouldn't let me. I'll send all the souveniers for Trina and she'll send them out to whoever they go to. The post office would only give me one box. So you know..no multiple packages going everywhere. Singapore was beautiful. I wish Trina was there to see it.She likes Asian woman and thinks they're cute too. So she would've gone crazy. Hehe. and now we're off to a liberty port in the middle east! And then we do our thing in Kuwait for a few weeks..and then it's off to home! Not too long now. I'll be home before trina even realizes I was gone. Hehe. and that's all for now. I'll blog more soon.

BLOG by Kevin

2007-12-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Hey everyone! If trina hasn't told you already then I can tell you because now the whole world knows. So much for that secret thing that we're supposed to have eh? As we speak, personnel are off loading food and water to the people of Bangladesh. I'm not getting off ship. But other people have already. And it looks like the CO of the ship istrying to get everyone on the Tarawa the Humanitarian Service Medal. Our departments have already submitted rosters and what not. So I'll have at least a star on my Overseas Service Deployment ribbon and a new medal when I come back.

And it looks like I might be doing this again a year after I get back unless I'm doing the recruiting thing. We'll see what happens. I don't want to come back to the states and turn around a couple months later to deploy to Iraq. I've been there. And 2 months at home only isn't enough of a reason to go back. The fact is: I loveTrina. And I'd like to spend as much time with her as possible. Our goodbyes prior to me going onto the ship were heartbreaking enough. Imagine getting off the ship just to tell her I'm going to deploy in a couple months. Once I get back though, I'm going to try and look into recruiting. Or maybe try being a career retention specialist. Like I said, we'll see what happens. I'm looking out for the best interests of me and Trina. I know she wants me home. I know I want to be home with her.

Other than that, it looks like we're going to have some liberty for a few days in Singapore. Really looking forward to getting off ship because I'm kinda starting to go stir-crazy. Hehe. I'm going to go with Wood (Trina knows who he is) and we're going to go see the sights. They plan on drinking that night, but I think I'm going to go back to the ship. Never really was much of a drinker.

I've started up my gym routine. And due to all the hot spots around the ship., I've been sweating a lot. It also means I've been burning fat! I've really started to slim down some, which is good. Trina was worried that I would get fat and have a heart attack or something. Hehe. I'll probably be looking real good when I come back. (winking in Trina's direction). That's all I can think of so that's all the blogging for now. I'll blog more as soon as I can.

11th MEU Homepage

2007-11-25T22:06:00.001-08:00

Here's a link to the 11th MEU homepage if some of you haven't already seen it:

http://www.usmc.mil/11thmeu/

There's a cool .pdf newsletter they do each month. Called Pacific Pride. It has lots of nice pictures and info about the unit. You can find it on the 11th MEU website.

Let's see...what else? Oh! If you're planning on any kind of a christmas package...now is the time to send that out. It seems it could take a good month to get there.

I'm glad you guys are blogging! He enjoys posting. And loves the replies too.

Love,
Trina

2007-11-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

Well..We passed Guam this morning! I could see the little island through the fog. It was quite strange to see land after a month of seeing just water everywhere. I can't wait to get back. One month down..5 more to go! Hard to believe it's only been one month already.

Trina makes it sound like she had a fun little project for you guys for thanksgiving. I beat guitar hero 3 on medium for those of you interested in that sort of thing. I'm practicing on hard right now! I'm definitely turning into a little rock star on ship. Wait until you see me play it. Your jaws will drop and your eyes will widen in excitement! And Trina will drool and flock to me like a little rock star groupie when she sees. Mark mywords. BWAHAHAHAAH.

Other than that they've got me trying to learn FarsiArabic. I'm confused every time I learn a language I'm not really concerned about learning. I can't wait for Trina to start helping me with German when I get back. And I'm going to help her with her language when I get back as well!

Anyway. I'm just a month closer to coming home. Still don't know where we're going and how long we're going to stay there but I'll let you know just after we leave. You know. For security reasons. I'll keep everyone posted.

2007-11-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

Just to let all of you know... i'm moderating comments because we keep getting spam from random people. So if you don't see your comment pop up instantly, it'll be there soon! I just have to approve it first.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T08:37:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Happy thanksgiving everyone! I had an alright turkey day. I had steak instead of turkey. And mashed potatoes. I'm about to get some chocolate and take a shower. You know. Comfort food. By the way, I saw my first insect on ship! It was quite strange. It was one of those tiny moth things. Don't know what they're called. But they're really really tiny.And they look like moths. It was quite interesting. Crap. This isn'tmuch of a blog. But it's all I can think about right now. It's been along day. I had to take a nap today because I was so tired today. I hope you all had a happy thanksgiving though!

2007-11-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Well guys, I'm sick. I got this chest/head cold thing that's been going around. And the word out there is there's something worse in the form of a stomach virus that I don't want. Hehe. Just glad I got the latter of the 2. Trina would probably think my sniffling is cute or something. And I got some medicine for it. I told them I just wanted the pain to go away. So they game me stuffiness medicine, congestion stuff, and cough drops. Pretty much all I need! I don't know if I'll blog again until Thanksgiving Day. But we'll see. Because what if something cool happens before then. You know? Looks we're going to pay the Corolla off within the next 2 months which is good. And Trina's one step closer to trading her Echo in for a Prius when I get back! She'll be happy about that. Well I'm going to go now. I'll blog again sometime in the near future. See you guys!

2007-11-17T00:33:00.001-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Well..it looked like we were going to go to Bangladesh for a few days. But the hurricanes are making that kinda impossible. We were going to provide humanitarian aid but the 22nd MEU is going to do that instead of us. Not a whole lot is going on here. Trina got me a little morale booster in the form of a MP3 player that she's loading up as we speak. Hehe. It'll be good for the gym. I'm actually starting to find stuff around the ship now. And now the ship doesn't seem so huge anymore. They switched my shifts so I work in the day now. My eyes aren't used to the light anymore. Hehe. We're still in the middle of nowhere. We just got away from Hawaii and are heading who knows where. That's about it for now. I think I'm going to try and get a phone card so I can call Trina. I'll blog more if I can think of it some other time.

2007-11-11T21:24:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

So it's really really dark out here. There's hardly any light. And I was just outside looking at the stars. They're really really pretty when youcan actually see them. And I just put some clean clothes on..and they still smell like our detergent! I was like oh man. There's only 23 moreweeks left..if not more. Crap. That's all I can think about really.

2007-11-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

So, there I was on watch last night. Playing guitar hero 3 all night long. I played so long that I didn't realize the time flew by, and in comes a fellow co-worker LCpl Wood! I was like.."GEEEZ..did that time fly by." I was like.."holy crap!" to myself. So he was jealous of all my GuitarHero song progresses. He said I would totally own him. There's some really good songs from really crappy bands on that game. "My Name Is Jonas" from weezer is on it. Haven't played it yet..but I'm going to. This song from Dragonforce is on there too. I LOVE playing it. Even though I never make it through the whole song without failing. I'm going to work on that some more tonight. Anywho. I'm going to go for now. ButI'll blog some more later. See you guys!

2007-11-08T22:46:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Well..took a shower today! First shower on ship! It was weird. Theydon't use normal faucets and whatnot. You have to spray yourself with a water sprayer. It's sprays kind of hard and stings a little. But it's alright. It gets me clean! So here I am squeaky clean! *sparkle* hehe That's all for now. I'm sure I'll think of something new to blog soon.

2007-11-07T21:57:00.000-08:00

Posted by Kevin:

Well. Here I am on ship writing to my baby and everyone else reading this. Things have been weird for me so far. Trying to establish a schedule around guard and a language class they got me taking. Somehow I have to work the gym into it. Eventually I will. But you know. It’s only the beginning of the deployment. Anywho. i’m eating 3 meals a day, we’re out in the middle of the ocean, and they’re taking care of us with a troop lounge so we don’t get bored out of our skulls. Check this out..the bed I chose to sleep in is friggen awesome. I have a very bottom bed so it’s dark and quiet. I just crawl into there at the end of my day and go to sleep. Sometimes I feel like some kind of reclusive spider when I do that. It’s nice though. I crawl into my bed and the boat rocks me to sleep. Hehe. It’s great. Well, that’s all for now guys. I’ll be sure to post as much as I can.

Black Widow Costume!

2007-10-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

I've been having this almost...obsessive idea about the cutest black widow costume. I kept picturing it in my head, so I just had to put the idea on paper (so to speak). Haha. I love it! I think it'd be soooo adorable on a little girl. Hopefully someday I'll be able to bring my masterpiece to life! Be sure to click on the picture if you want to see it larger.

New Arrivals!

2007-10-29T12:54:00.000-07:00

My brother, Tyler, and his wife, Emily just had twins! Welcome to the world, Savanna and William! Can't wait to meet you!

Our Vacation

2007-10-25T19:47:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Disneyland today. We had a blast! It was REALLY hot - lower 90s, which made it sort of miserable to walk around Disneyland. We had plenty of time though early in the day, and then later around 5 when it was much cooler to enjoy ourselves. We like Disneyland best at night anyway.

I always find funny hats for Kevin to pose in. Hehe. You should have seen the picture of him with an Eyeore hat on.

Here's a picture of Kevin after just getting into our room. I think it's at this moment that his vacation officially started. :) He looks pretty relaxed, wouldn't ya say? Our room was very nice, which is good because we spent a lot of time in it. Hehe. It had a fancy flat-screened TV!

We ran into a lot of characters. The park was pleasantly uncrowded so there were no huge lines to take pictures with them. Here's Me with Jafar (that's my villain face), Kevin with Alice and the Mad Hatter, and us with Mickey!

It was nice to escape the stress of the fires. When you're in Disneyland you're sort of in your own little world. The fires might as well have been on Mars! Hehe. At least that's how it feels when you're immersed in the wonderful world of Disney.

Well, back to getting ready for the deployment. Got things to pack, clean, and square away. As far as the fires go, we're safe. Out of the way. Other than dirty ashes in the air, on our cars, shoes, and all that - we're fine. It's sad to see so much of Camp Pendleton burned though. On our way down to Disneyland just a couple days ago, I was talking about how pretty Camp Pendleton was - the hills are so green, and right next to the coast; and it's really the only bit of wild land left in Southern California. But now a lot of it is charred. I hope the vegetation grows back quickly.

Anyway, we're out for now.

Love you all.

Kevin and Trina

Pre-deployment

2007-10-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

Wow. The time before Kevin's deployment is going so fast! We've been busy preparing for it. I'm definitely going back to Utah because there is really no reason for me to stay in California for 6 months. Maybe next deployment we'll have kids (or, a kid. i know you Moms out there noticed it was plural, hehe) or a good job that would motivate me to stay while he's deployed.

We've decided to use these handy storage things called "PODS" for the move. They are really convenient. They'll deliever the POD to our apartment. They leave it right in the parking lot. We take as many days as we need to fill it, give them a call, and they come pick it up and take it to their warehouse for storage. We'll also be storing the Corolla here in California. Kind of stressful. We hope all of our belongings stay safe while we're away.

Kevin's pre-deployment leave starts on Friday. We're going to spend a nice few days at Disneyland! We're staying in a fancy hotel room right across from the park. It comes with robes and slippers! Haha. We'll be sure and post lots of pictures from the trip. The park is decorated for Halloween, which is always fun. We're also going to try and find a good haunted house to go to. We're looking forward to it. And Kevin is in much need of a vacation. He's been very busy with pre-deployment training.

Anway, we'll talk to you soon.
Love ya,
Kevin and Trina

Hooray!

2007-10-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

We're bloggers!

Since our family and friends are scattered all over the country, we thought this would be a fun way to keep in touch with you.

And while Kevin is deployed, it will be a perfect way for us to document this crazy time in our lives - sort of like an on-line journal!