Friday and Feeling Adventurous?

So Friday morning rolls around and of course I am feeling pretty down due to the fact this is yet another weekend that Jon won't be here an I have nothing planned. At around 8:43 am at work I get a text from my brother: Korean BBQ tonight? Hmm I thought to myself... I could stand to go out. So I texted my Dad to see if he could watch Landon and I was set! We went out late so I could put Landon to bed before I went and then we were off! It was nice to catch up with my brother especially since he will be starting Fire Academy soon and will probably be so busy with everything. Arriving at the Korean BBQ restaurant in Annandale, Il Mee, I was excited. I am very adventurous when it come to food and I was ready to try something new. It was a great experience. It was all you can eat so I needless to say we were stuffed when we left. Overall it was a great way to start the weekend. It's nice to be around my family when Jon isn't here. It definitely makes it a lot easier. So Jon starts classes for his MOS in just a little over 2 weeks. I know he's excited just to get started after doing just odds and ends jobs while he's waiting for his classes to start. He is supposed to come home this weekend so we can get family portraits, but in true Marine Corps fashion it must be approved first. I'm praying it all goes fine! I will post pictures as soon as their available!

Photo Wars

So anyone that has any type of competitive spirit knows that when someone lays down a challenge you go for it right? Well to tell you the truth I have no idea how this challenge even became a challenge. With Jon being gone pretty much all the time since September we have had to find some interesting ways to keep us all connected. My husband is actually a pretty good amateur photographer. Nothing to quit his day job for or anything, but way better than me on any day. Well we have started to take pictures and send them back and forth to each other as a way to keep up with everything that goes on in our lives. Since he finally got his phone back after MCT we have sent so many pictures! I am not a picture person at all. I don't even take very good ones, so this has been a totally new experience for me. So needless to say I used pictures to tell Jon that he will have a new niece! He was really excited and so was I. His sister has 3 boys so we have 3 nephews and this is the first baby on my side of the family (one of my sisters are pregnant!) that we are so thrilled to buy some dresses! Okay maybe just I am, but Jon seemed pretty excited too.

Then it got real interesting... when I went to visit Jon in Virginia Beach we decided to take this 30 day photography challenge we found on Pinterest. Each day we would send each other the picture of the day. Well let's just say we started to get a little competitive. I would still say that he has me beat so far, but hey it's been fun. Here are just a few that I think are kinda cool!

"From a high angle"- Me

"Something Green"- Me 

"From a low angle"-Me

"Clouds"-Jon

"What I Wore Today"-Jon

"Bad Habit"-Jon

So we are on day 10 which is "childhood memory". This should be interesting.... I think I know what I'm going to send, but I can't wait to see what Jon sends. I think that's half the fun. Well that and acting like my picture is so much better than his. Of course his is better, but I would never let him know that...

The Valentine's Day....

This morning when I woke up I realized that is was the 7th Valentine's Day for me and Jon. We met senior year of high school but didn't actually start dating until the Spring. Well I actually had invited Jon to my youth group's Valentine's Day banquet before we started dating and that was when I knew that I really was interested in him. So that was 7 years ago... Wow time flies when you're having fun huh? Through the years Valentine's Day has brought many different things... we always seem to have some sort of fiasco or incident surrounding the day. Many of them we look back and laugh about and I'm hoping this will be one of them. Just maybe not today... let me start at the beginning....

So the morning started out great, I woke up, got Landon dressed and was out of the door on time. I always text Jon on the way to work so I sent him a text message. I got a message back from him on my way to drop Landon at school which made me smile. I even got there so early, so when my phone rang I was puzzled as to who would call me so early. Jon called to talk to me in the morning which he hasn't done since being at MOS school, probably because he has to report earlier than I do. Well we got to talk for a while so my day started off great. Then I get a phone call from him at work around 10:30 am. We have been waiting for his recruiter's assistance to be squared away so he can come home. He told me that he went to see his command this morning and they still hadn't received everything. So of course that wasn't the greatest thing to hear. After that everything at work started to go wrong. From accounts backing up to systems going down. I was starting to think that Valentine's Day was out to get me! Then I went to a meeting that went longer than anticipated and I was running (quite literally) to school to pick up Landon so I wouldn't get charged a late fee. To top it all off since I was late I missed going to my class. Seeing as though I only have class on Tuesdays and every other Wednesday (this being my Wednesday off) I confirmed Valentine's Day has bone to pick with me. Exhausted I dropped by this Jamaican restaurant for dinner and made it home to babysit for one of my friends so she and her husband could go out. Whew! I am so tired, but at least Jon and I will have yet another Valentine's Day blunder to add to our history. If I ever get around to finding the humor in any of this... Hopefully, everything will be done with his recruiter's assistance paperwork tomorrow and he can make it home for their 96 or 4 day weekend. I am praying for a miracle because God must know that I have been up and down stressed out about all this. I know that God is teaching me patience and his timing is perfect, but sometimes a sneak preview would be nice. Even so Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Virginia Beach?

So this weekend was one the best that I have had in a long time and it wasn't even planned. As most you know Jon's recruiter's assistance has been approved by the office but not by his command at MOS school so therefore he couldn't leave. I was more than a little disappointed, but hey what ever goes according to plan right? Well Jon and I were talking on the phone Friday night and he said "Hey babe, why don't you just come down here to visit?" Of course I gave a slew of excuses because I never do anything without planning it at least a few days in advance. Well he wore me down and I agreed to go. So I decided that I would go alone this time because since Jon left for boot camp in September we haven't had anytime alone. I booked a room and headed out on Saturday morning. The trip wasn't bad at all only about 3 1/2 hours. Then I got down there and couldn't find the base. This of course is because it is just an annex of Naval Air Station Oceana. Eventually I got there and we had a great time. I got to see The Vow which was amazing! The next morning we watched the webcast for our church back home, went to the mall and the NEX or Naval Exchange. All and all it was great to feel like a wife when I haven't felt like one in a very long time! I also found out how cool Instagram really is. Enjoy my new photo projects!

Recruiter Assistance, Or So We Thought...

Jon was supposed to be coming home today... yes I did say supposed to. I thought that the recruiter's assistance was all approved. Not the case apparently. After I talked to him last night I resigned myself to not think anything was going to happen the way it was supposed to until it happens. Seeing as though nothing has happened according to plan I say right now that is a safe bet. Jon's sister and Mom are heading down there to get him hopefully tonight or tomorrow. I will say that I am learning patience is a virtue. One that is really, really hard when you haven't "lived" with your husband for any extended period of time in the past 5 months! I think that everything will work out fine and his recruiter's assisstance will come through fine, but who knows. I think God is choosing to teach me some very valuable lessons about the perserverance of love and how much patience you can really have when you make a conscious effort to show it. There is one down side to my over zealous thought process though... Landon thinks Jon is coming home tonight! So I have officially 2 1/2 hours before I go pick him up from school to think of a way to break the news gently. I'm thinking there will be some doughnuts involved. (My son's favorite sweet treat!) Don't harp too bad on my for trying to buy a little grace from a four year old with sugar. I mean this is some pretty bad news for a little boy that has been playing his play schedule with his daddy for the past 2 days. I think there will be a lot more Batman tonight instead of the date with my Hospitality Law textbook I had planned. No worries I can always do that later I mean sleep is overrated right?

Marriage, Motherhood, and the like

I wear many hats at any given time of day. I actually like to think of my life as one big production and I have the starring role... okay maybe not seeing as though my acting skills are null and void but you get my drift. So yesterday I woke up pretty much unable to move. I have chronic back pain and from time to time it chooses a time to show it's ugly head. I shuffled down the hall as fast as I could go to collect some Ben-gay and proceeded to "show" my back who's boss. Well it laughed at me and my attempts at making it better with my "massage" therapy. To the medication! I took some ibuprofen and tried to lay down. Then it got so bad I couldn't take it anymore and gave in to take my muscle relaxer.  I hate taking it because it makes you feel loopy. So that meant I couldn't drive to church. The great thing about our church is they have a webcast!  You can check it out here if you like. That was just the beginning. Yesterday was also Jon's birthday and he was down in Virginia Beach. I called to wish him happy birthday but of course he was sleep. Then I texted him a video of Landon singing happy birthday. Cutest thing ever! He called back and we talked for a while before he said he was going to go to the chow hall before he came back to his room to watch the telecast with me. It was special too because our Pastor wished Jon happy birthday because he knew he would be watching on telecast. Aww the joys of marriage especially when you are apart. I felt bad because I wanted to be with him on his birthday. So we were getting to the message of the telecast and the line went dead. Well I guess I should get some work done seeing as though my magic pills had killed the back pain. I started a project for Landon's uniforms for the week that I saw on Pintrest. I'm actually pretty proud at how it came out.

Hopefully this will make my mornings run a little more smoother... I doubt it though. Then to round out my day yesterday Landon got his first big boy boo boo. Yep I know what kind of mother is excited about their child getting hurt. I'm not excited I really am not. I just realize that my son as "adventurous" as he is will get many a boo boo, but this was his first one. What was he doing you might ask. Well let's just say he probably won't be jumping from the 3rd step at church anymore! While being a mother is one of my more rewarding "hats" my marriage is one of my most favorite. Jon and I truly just love spending time together and I am so blessed to have a husband that was everything I could ever imagine and more. It's true! So his recruiter's assistance is approved and he will be home in 3 days! I am so excited to spend some more time with him and just enjoy being a husband and wife in the same house at least for a few weeks before he goes back to training. And just because I like to track the time with my planner self I made a new purchase! You can pick one up on Etsy just follow this link. Whatever hats you may juggle have fun because the most exciting part of the journey is the ride on the way.

Living life on the edge of your seat!

Everything has been so much more exciting since Jon enlisted. It started with MEPS and waiting for his dependent waiver to be approved. Then waiting to see when his ship date would be. Finding out that he was actually going to leave 5 months early to surviving 13 weeks on just letters. And more recently living through 29 days with no contact and now being able to talk to him every day. Everything that has been thrown at him he has met and i am so proud of him. I now realize what the saying "living life on the edge of your seat" truly means. I have been on the edge of my seat for every letter, phone call, and change of plans. So now we are waiting to get his RA (recruiter's assistance) approved so he can come home before his class starts on March 12th. I am finding that taking each day one step at a time and not getting so stuck in your own plans is the best thing for your sanity! It's so amazing to see God work not only in my life but the life of my family. We are loving every minute of it. So much can be said of reliance. I have learned it is not a dirty word but just another tool in God's toolbox to make me the wife, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and person He wants me to be. So bring it on I can't wait to see what up next. I'm even sitting on the edge of my seat for the ride!

MCT done! What's next?

So this past Monday I headed down to Jacksonsville, NC to see Jon and his graduation from Marine Combat Training or MCT as everyone so affectionately calls it. I made the little over 6 hour trip with my friend Sabree and Landon. We planned to leave Sunday night around 8 pm after church. Well with a whole rental car debacle we didn't get on the road till after 10pm. No worries we were making good time and avoiding the traffic. Then we got off of 95 South and then the anxiety kicked in. So I just have one question is Jacksonsville not off a major highway?! 2 of our 6 hour trip was on back roads into the city. Then we finally made it there around 4 am. I was so tired so we went straight to bed. Landon of course was wide awake so let's just say he had a lot of fun watching Nick Jr. for about an hour straight which I never let him do. We got to spend some time with Jon that evening. They only had on base liberty so we just went to the MCX to get some things Jon needed and had pizza at this place on base.  The next day was graduation which was a lot more informal than graduation from boot camp. Then it was time for them to get on their buses and head to MOS school. I got to give a kiss goodbye and then he was gone. It was great to see him and spend some time just hanging out. It's weird now that he has his phone and we can talk everyday. We even got to Face Time on Tuesday which was so nice. So the update is his school's delayed and he can't start until March 12th so hopefully he'll get recruiter's assistance and get to come home for a little bit. If everything goes as planned (I'm not holding my breath) we should know where we will be stationed in June. All this is happening more quickly than I thought but that just means we're that much closer to being together.