True friendship is a beautiful gift from God :)

Once again I was lucky enough to see my friend Jessica, yes she visited me back in February, when we were still in Washington. Well this time she came here to Utah, for a whole week. It was wonderful.

You know when you have someone, someone who knows a lot about you, who loves and accepts you just the way that you are? For me that's Jessica. The most beautiful thing about it is, we don't always agree on everything and we like different things, but we don't care. That must be true friendship, because if it isn't, than I don't know what is.

So what did we do all week? Well... We did some hiking, played some minecraft (she's not to bad for a beginner), watched some Anime, went to the water park, did some shopping, watched some Mythbusters (because they are awesome), and sometimes we just hung out and talked.

I didn't find out she was able to come until two weeks ago. Once I found out I was of course over the moon, but not just because my best friend/sister was coming, no that wasn't all, she was going to be here in just a week, and she was staying for a week. The jumps for joy and  the running around the house shouting "Aunt Jessie is coming", were just the beginning of my expressions of delight. I think I may have driven my husband nuts all of that week, but at least he came home to a clean house near the end of it.

I got to drive to Salt Lake city airport for the first time, and it was very easy to get to. I really love it when that happens. From the map it looks like it's laid out very similar to Sea-Tac, but when you actually get there, you realize it's not. That's okay though, I was only lost in the airport for a minute until I got where I needed to be to meet her. Once her plane had landed I told the kids, that the first one to spot her wins. Darien won :P, but not by much. We nearly knocked her over, but I don't think she minded.

Having her here was just like the good old days back in San Diego. The inside jokes, the helping hand that insisted on doing something, the awesome conversations, and the discussing and watching of our shared interests (Anime, Star Trek, Dr Who, Mythbusters... you know all of the good stuff).

Dropping her back off at the end of the week was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I know (but mostly hope) that it won't be long until I see here again.

All in all, you are awesome Jessica! Don't you ever change!

My sister came to visit! And we finally have some news!

Okay so first things first. My sister came to visit! Now when I say sister I really mean best friend who I refer to as a sister because we are so close. I have known her for 7 years now, and consider myself very blessed to know such a friend.

Her visit was planned somewhat last minute, but worked out really well. I just woke up last Monday thinking "wow I really miss Jessica. I wonder if I could arrange for her to fly up this weekend and get some best friend therapy?" and it worked out. You got to love when things just happen to go that way. I had an awesome time. We played games, went hiking, baked brownies, and talked a lot. It felt like home to have her here, and I think she enjoyed herself as well.

So now for the news. We have finally, after waiting for 6 months, heard back from the Navy, and my husband (Jeremy) is getting out of the Navy the first week in March. Jeremy also has a job interview in Texas next week, so if all goes well we will be moving to Texas in the next few weeks. I know it's crazy, and yes, here we go again.

So if you would like to send any prayers our way we could sure use them. I'm just praying that everything works out great, and we'll be able to schedule everything on time, and we'll have no problems getting down there. I just want to let everyone know that I am excited and I am happy.

Thank you all for your prayers, and thanks for reading.

In San Diego with Jess

Yup I back from my trip. It was crazy and fun and I am very tired, but I do need to tell everyone about it (right?). So here it goes

In San Diego with Jess


-Day One (getting there is half the fun right?)-

Okay so I woke up early (6:30am) not being able to sleep any longer, and got everything started. I packed a few last minute things, and had some snuggle time with Olivia. My plane was leaving a 12:50pm, so I wanted to be at the airport by 11:00am. We got to the airport a little early (excited to leave), and I ended up sitting around and waiting. After checking in with security I got myself a snack, and sat down to watch the mythbusters on my Ipod. My first flight was to Newark, NJ and I had a 3 hour lay-over there (yeah fun). So I get to Newark, and I fly into the commuter terminal, and my other plane was going to leave from terminal C, so I have to take a bus (yes I HAD to do it this way) to terminal A, then take another bus to terminal C (yup FUN!). So I get to the gate that is on my ticket and on the monitors, and I sit for about an hour, then an announcement is made that the flight to San Diego has been moved to a different gate (at the other side of the terminal)(yup that's right). As I was getting there I notice a pigeon in the airport (just flying around)(interesting), and no one else seemed to notice him. I get on the plane (finally!), and it's full (completely), and because of that it took forever for everyone to get there stuff put away and sit down. After a long flight (that only had one working bathroom in coach) I land in San Diego at 8:35pm (their time), so on the east coast it was 11:35pm (I was super tired). As we were driving back to Jessica's place, the fireworks at Sea world were going off, and Claire (Jessica's oldest) asked "Why are they setting fireworks off momma?" and Jess said "Because Miss Randi's in town." (if only that were true) So I get to Jessica's place and crash, because I had been up forever and I tend to turn into a pumpkin after 10pm EST.

-Day Two (Shopping is fun, but you guys are grumpy)-

I woke up a 4:30am (7:30am EST) not being able to sleep anymore. I wonder why? That day we went shopping for Jessica wedding dress. We wanted to look in Ross, TJMaxx, Burlington coat factory, and Marshalls. It took looking in all of those to find it, and I was shopping with 2 very grumpy people (you know who you are). I guess I can cut them a break, they were stressed about the wedding and the planning. If it were up to them, they would just run off and elope. I kept telling them just to run to Vegas (just a 4 hour drive from San Diego), and I'd watch the kids. Back to the story.... We finally found one (yay!). I just needed to make a few alterations, and then it would be perfect. We got pick-up-stix for dinner (the only good Chinese on the whole coast that is west)(and they don't have any Pick-up-stix on the east coast). It was good, and I missed eating there.

-Day Three (Lets act like tourist, and lets all dress in Purple)-

Thursday was our day to play tourist (apparently Justin doesn't like that kind of thing), and see the things that I miss. First we went to Balboa Park, we played on the playground, walked through the Rose Garden, then all around the theater, we also played in some fountains, and saw some awesome Japanese Koi Fish. We also took some great pictures, and they are up on facebook. Next they took me to the Cabrilmo monument, on Point Loma, right next to the light house. We walked all around the monument and light house, but I wasn't feeling ambitious enough to walk all the way down to the tide pools. Next was Seaport Village. Where we looked at some cool hats, and I got some post cards for the boys, but I think I left them in Jessica's house or car (I can't find them, heads up Jess). Saw the bay, and it was beautiful, and nearly got run over by tourist.

-Day Four (Ocean, Beach, Water, Sand... ect...)-

Yup it was Beach day! We went to the beach on Camp Pendleton (Marine Base). I found the boys some rocks (I wanted to find shells, but didn't see any), and I got in up to my knees (yup I'm a wimp). Justin was mad, because the surfers were on the wrong side of the flag. Zoe decided to roll around in the sand after getting completely wet, so that was fun to clean up. We got Little Caesars for Lunch, and IHOP from dinner (yup I was living it up).

-Day Five (very last day, very long day)-

I got up and re-packed everything. I also re-charged my cell phone and Ipod. I altered Jessica's dress, and she looked beautiful in it (of course), and it's not just because I am master of the sewing machine. After lunch time we got in the van and went for a drive. We first drove by my old neighbor hood, and house (I miss that place). It looked the same, and so familiar, it also felt as if I had never left. My old house still looks beautiful, and they had flowers out front on the patio (just like I did). We also went to my old walmart. There I got some San Diego stuffed animals for my kids. Next was Mission Beach, and that place was crazy. After driving around not having any parking open, we found a spot up front (that was a freak accident). Jess and I rode the roller Coater, and then it broke down (yup I told Jess it was her fault). I got a Henna Tattoo, of the Starfleet symbol (if I was ever crazy enough to get a real tattoo, that is what I would get). We went to Jessica's Grandmother's house next (I had meet her before, and I wanted to see her again). Jessica's Mother and Aunt were visiting as well, and I had dinner with them. Jess dropped me off at the airport at 8:30pm. At the airport I got stopped by Security, because I had a water bottle in my carry-on, that I forgot about. Oops! I got on my plane at 10:30, it was not going to land in NC into 6am, so my plain was to sleep the whole ride, but I didn't get much sleep, because it was way to cold on the plane. I land in NC super tired and waited 2 hours to get on another plane to Baltimore (by that time it was day 6 I guess...).

-Home again-

So after Jeremy picked me up from the airport. He got me some McDonalds coffee (much needed at this point). We get home, and I snuggle with Olivia, post my last pictures, and I lay down to take a nap.

It was nice to get away, and I'm so proud of Jeremy. He took great care of the kids, and the house. He let me take it easy on Sunday, and made me feel like the most loved wife. Yup he's a keeper, and I love him with all of my heart.

Best birthday present ever!

Yes it's still about 2 weeks until my birthday, but I did get a birthday present already, or I guess I should say I'm going to get one, and it will be the best gift ever. Also to say that I'm getting it early would be wrong as well, because in-fact I'm going to get it late, by a few weeks. Like I said, it will be the best gift ever, and not because of what was spent, because it was more of a gift of understanding. What am I getting? Jeremy is letting me go see Jessica for a few days! Yup down in sunny San Diego! I'm so excited!

How did this all start? From a break down and crazy crying (that's how all things start right?), I'll explain. Well Sunday I was getting ready for church, and I asked Jeremy why he wasn't ready yet. He didn't want to go, because his ankle (that he sprained really badly), was still bothering him, and he wanted to get some house work done. Along with all of that, he mentioned he wasn't comfortable with the people there as of yet. This got me worried, I'm tired of trying out churches, and I just really want to make some new friends, and I was just starting to get use to this new church. This also got me thinking on how unfair it is that I have to find new friends (so to say), I miss my old friends, and it's not fair that I don't get to see them anymore. So I started to get upset. Jeremy who is very perceptive realized why I was crying. I miss my old friends and most of all Jess. She and I were really close, mainly because during Jeremy's last deployment she and her 3 lovely girls came and stayed with me. We both were going through a tough time in our life. I was lonely because Jeremy was gone, and hers was a totally different situation, but we were there for each other, and we became really close. We enjoyed watching Star Trek and the Mythbusters together, we spent days listening to Relient K, and we ate a brunch of baby oranges. We always had an on-going argument about how the laundry should be done, and we traded favors and chores. Yup good times! I consider her my sister (by love if not by family). After a long hug from Jeremy, I when to church in hopes that it would clear my mind, and put it on track. When I got home from church, Jeremy had shown me, an e-mail he sent to Jess, and told me to set a date, because I was going.

Aug. 17 - 21, From the east coast to the west, and back again, all in under 5 days (wow). I can't wait to see Jess again and San Diego. I really miss that place, it's my second home. I feel in-love with that place and I'm excited that I get to see it again. I have missed it so much, and sometimes I wish I could have stayed there longer.

I know God brought me back east for a reason, I think it's because I need to work on my relationship with my family. I have fallen away from them, and that's mostly my fault. When I gain my independence (back when I moved to SC), I stop depending on them all together, and I need to find the right balance. God has shown me a lot of reasons why He did all those things in my life, and why He sent me all of those places. He sent me to SC to teach me how to be independent, and to teach Jeremy and I how to be a married couple (yes nothing is ever easy). When he sent us to VA when Jeremy was stationed to the Hampton, that set in motion His plain to bring us to San Diego, because the Hampton ended up doing the home port change there. I believe he sent us to CA to get us back into His word. We found a great church there, and met friends that would change us, and make us see things differently. He has been so good to us, I still can't believe how blessed we are. I am so grateful (beyond words) for my kids and husband and our life.

I will fill you in on the trip after I get back, and tell you all of the wonderful things I got to see again. Please pray for a safe trip, flying by myself makes me a little nervous, even though I've done it before.