Through the Looking Glass

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?

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...

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!

A new blog template for a fresh start...

I feel compelled to give blogging another go!


Wish me luck. :)

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

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!

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!