Orange County!

***WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG POST AHEAD! FULL OF PICTURES AND WORDS! IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE READING AND OR LOOKING AT A LONG POST, COME BACK LATER! :) ***

So this past weekend, I along with my sisters Chelsea, Breanne, Lexus and my step-mom Sherri, headed to Orange County for a short visit with her family. I haven't been there in years but it was such a blast! It went by all to fast and I wish I could have spent more time by the beach. I'm looking forward to when Eric comes home for R&R because we are going back to So Cal for 2 weeks!

I will try to post everything that when on but don be surprised if I forget a lot of stuff lol! And honestly you wont know any different because you weren't there. Unless you are of course one of my lovely sisters :) So we left Friday night after Breanne got off work, which wasn't until 9pm. Sherri drove the first leg and I took over from 11:30 on and got us there safely at 4am Saturday morning. After a few short hours, 4 to be exact, of sleep, we were off to the beach!! It was such an amazing day. Not to hot, not to cold, not to many people.

This is me laying on the beach after a swim. I attempted (and we should use that term lightly) to surf. I took the board out to the water but the tide was already going out so not much trying!

This is my cousin Taryn. Shes 12 and so cute! Look at that hair :)

Lexus with Taryn's surf board. They were in the water all day playing around on them

My sister Breanne and Cousin Karissa taking a break to show off their muscles :)

These little boys next to us came over to show us the mini crabs they were catching! Super cute

This was me, Karissa, Chelsea and Breanne pausing for a quick pic during our game of "NEVER HAVE I EVER..." It has been years since I have played that game, and I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time! It was a blast

Chelsea took this picture of the beautiful palm trees at the beach!

So along with volleyball courts, picnic tables, a park and much more, you can rent pedal bikes. This one seats 6 and there's one that seats 2. A huge thanks to Eric for being deployed, because when I went to pay with the military ID the girl gave me a free hour with the bike since he's fighting for our freedom! Thanks hunny, love you!

This is Lexus after a long day at the beach and lack of sunscreen. It has since turned into a nice tan.

While we were at the beach, we learned how to keep your phones dirt and sand free! Thanks Aunt Kim for the tip and plastic bags.

Breanne using our new plastic bag as a phone protector!

There were also jets in the sky advertising for an air show. I thought it was so cool!!

My legs and feet in the sad! It felt sooo good :)

Lexus and Taryn fresh out of the water

The only boy cousin out of 7, Noah rocking his surf board. This kid is amazing!

Cant go to the beach and not get a picture of the life guard stand with the lifeguard.

I'm not sure, but I just love love love this picture of Breanne :)

Me and Chelsea, sitting under an umbrella getting our tans on.

We also had lunch and an evening BBQ that day. Hamburgers, hot dogs and some great Asian salad that our friend Sandy made. It was so nice to sit with my sisters, and get some much needed girl time. I love you all and I miss you when I'm not here :) By the end of the day, I was beyond tired to say the least! After a nice shower I was already falling asleep by 7:30pm. I was so tired, that Eric called and I don't even remember a thing! Sorry babe!

So on Sunday, we took family pictures. Before we did that, Breanne, Karissa, Taryn, Lexus and I went to the mall. The one thing I noticed about Orange County was there was not an ugly person in sight! The people of the OC are so pretty and in shape! Here are a few pics from the mall.

Me, Breanne and Karissa, found some really cute masks and snapped a few pictures before we got yelled at! We didn't but just in case!

I found this headband at FOREVER 21 and it was huge! Looking at it i thought it was way to big for anyone to actually wear, but looking back now, I am in love with it and I would wear in proudly if i ever bought it! Don't hate

Karissa, Me and B with headbands. I also tried on the red one that Karissa is wearing and I liked that one too!

So as cheesy as this is, I had to take a picture of SAKS FIFTH AVENUE. I have always heard and seen this store on TV but I have never, ever been or seen one in real life. I just couldnt help myself and took a picture. Your probably wondering if I actually went inside, but that answer is NO!

After a few hours at the mall, we headed home to get ready for family pictures. Its usually rare for all of us to be together. Us other girls have jobs, school and live in different states (talking about myself), so when we are together we make sure to take pictures!

Here is a silly picture of all of us together.

A much more formal picture of the whole family

This is my individual one.

My sister Breanne

Chelsea

Little Lucy!

After pictures, we had a really nice dinner. Then we went to the park for a one on one soccer game between Breanne and Noah. Breanne schooled Noah 3 to 1 if i remember correctly. When we got back, we played a really fun game of SPOONS! Pretty much drama free :)

All of the spoon lined up.

Noah getting ready to deal out the cards

Me being really bored!

That pretty much sums up our short but very fun weekend. We drove back this morning and Im still so tired! I have a feeling Im going to sleep good tonight. A huge shout out to the Pennington's for letting us stay at your house. I had so much fun and hope to see you all sooner rather than later!!

On another note, my blogs worst dressed pictures from the Grad were talked about a lot! So all weekend long, the girls were trying to find people to take picturs of for me to post. So here are the winners from this weekend and actually just from the beach.

This man was in his boxers and a t-shirt while on the beach. It doesnt look so bad here but thoes shorts were super shorts and really underwear not shorts lol

These two women were walking along the beach and they are self explanatory!

And this woman was by far the worst dressed person the whole time I was there. This was a very shiney, sparkly and spandex top and bottom. We just couldnt helop ourselves!

Hope you enjoyed the blog, post a comment and have a great week :)

Happy Birthday Mom!! (1 day early!)

Well tomorrow is my wonderful moms birthday! Ill be out of town away from my computer and pictures, so I figured its better to post a day early, than a day late! For any of you who know my mom, you know how great she is. But for thoes of you who dont, I'll try to give you a little piece of my mom. with pictures :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Oh gosh, I dont even know where to begin! Mind you all these pics are in no order, so bear with me!

First I want to say thanks for being so good looking! Its because of you I have my stunning good looks :) You always taught me to be grateful for the natural beauty I have. I'm so glad you always thought I was pretty enough, whenever I would say there was something I didn't like about myself, you would quickly tell me how beautiful I was.

Thank you for making such a great family life for me. I am also so proud to tell people about my parents, but especially about you. And for being such a great mother. You are always there for me no matter what I need. Even if you cant give me the advice I need, hugs work just as good!

Thanks for always being so funny, even if only our close nit family gets to see this part of you. We have so many inside jokes and I love everyone of them. Also thanks for allowing my to have the best graduation party ever! (Side note: in this picture, it looks as if shes being nice and kissing me, but she's telling me something very funny that she didn't want everyone to know lol)

Thank you for always taking me places to see new things. I am very lucky to have you to introduce me to other cultures and life outside of our box. I loved going on vacations with you and Rich even if it was just a drive to the ocean.

Thank you for always telling me I can do anything I want all by myself. That I didn't need a boy to function in life or to be happy. Thanks for helping me get ready for prom with Liz as my date and for encouraging us to have a great time without boys as dates.

Thank you for always pushing me to follow my dreams and be what I want to be. Thanks for letting me make choices for myself and not for what you think is best.

Thank you for loving Eric. You took him in with open arms and most days I think you both love each other more than me lol. You are both very similar in your personalities and I love how well you get along. I love all of us being together, Rich included, having so much fun. I cant wait for Eric to get home so we can be together again.

Also, thank you so much for being OK with the fact I married into the military. For taking me on base when it was time for him to go, and being there to love and hug me and tell me it was going to be OK after he left. I love you so much for your support to both of us all the time.

Thank you for taking pictures of me at my worst time. Maybe with this Ill remember not to drink so much then I wont have these embarrassing pictures for everyone to see. Thank you for allowing me to make life choices when it come to drinking and other things. I love that no matter what I do, you still love me just the same

Thank you for always being there for me at anything I had going on. Weather it was soccer, cheer leading, volleyball or taking me to concerts. You were always my number one fan and now we both get to go support Eric together in everything he does.

Thank you for sitting with me in the rain 3 hours before Eric deployment ceremony started.

Thank you for allow Eric to blend in with our family and for showing him the side that only Rich and I usually see. He loves you so much I think its great. Thank you for loving him with your whole heart and being his support when other people aren't.

Thank you for being so artistic and creative! And always carving the best pumpkins every single year without fail. You make me so proud when I see the work you do when it comes to painting, drawing or whatever. I think your so talented and you should do it more often.

I love that I never had to go with out anything I needed. No matter how much you may have struggled as a single mother when I was younger, I never knew any different. I always had anything and everything that I needed. And thank you for always having the best birthday parties for me a girl could ask for!

Thank you for creating such great traditions with me growing up. I always look forward to Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, whatever. I love going to cut down a tree as a family, or going to the pumpkin patch. I still run around like a little kid and that's because of you!

One of the biggest things I have to say thank you for is the relationship that you and Rich have. Its a great example for Eric and I as we begin our life together. You and Rich love each other so much its insane and you always have fun together. I hope that Eric and I can continue to follow in your footsteps to loving each other as much as you and Rich do.

I could go on forever about how great you are. I love you more than anything and I couldn't have asked for a better mom. We are so much alike, its scary sometimes but I wouldn't have it any other way. I hope you have the most wonderful birthday ever, even though I'm not there to share it with you! I love you mom :)

The joys of having a deployed husband!

I'm a little heated at this moment so bare with me and remember I really really do love my husband. This is what sucks big time about him being gone besides the fact that hes not here. Some days we just have extremely shitty conversations and I just want to scream. And today was one. I haven't talked to him much because of how busy they have been over there which is fine since its a situation I cant control. But when I finally do talk to him I want to tell him everything that's going on and what I have been doing while hes gone. Now most days he really enjoys what I have to say (or at least hes really good at pretending!) but not today! The main purpose of this blog is to keep track of all the things Ive been doing and feeling while hes away. So I ask him if he read it lately and he said yes. I was happy, until he started lecturing me on what I chose to blog about! And it just made my fly of the handle or whatever that saying is! Its like please for the love of you know who, do not tell me what I can and cant write about. This is what keeps me sane while hes away and I was hoping he would see that. Maybe I was wrong, I don't know. With that being said, our allotted 30 minute Skype conversation was spent arguing. And that just annoys me even more.

Now I know your probably thinking, why couldn't you just let it go. And I agree...because almost 90% of the time I do bite my tongue if E says something that rubs me the wrong way or hes in a sour mood. I try to always be supportive and make sure we have a good talk that way he knows I'm still here being strong for him. Not to mention, hes in a more stressful situation than I will ever understand so I do what I can to make sure I don't add any other stress. But after a while, it kind of piles up and I explode, which is what happened today. I feel lost and alone. And I was truly hurt by the fact that he didn't read my blog and said he did. I don't think he sees how much I look forward to writing to keep him in the loop. My blog is turning into my husband and its the one I tell everything to when I cant tell Eric.

I just love him so much and I want to tell him anything and everything that goes on in my daily life. I don't want him to feel as if hes missing out since hes gone. I have a hard time doing fun things without him because it makes me feel guilty and I'm working on that. Its also hard because he never tells me how hes feeling or whats been going on. Eric keeps to himself and doesn't want to burden anyone with his problems. He likes to show me how strong he which in his mind means showing no emotion. If he was here I could read him like a book but hes not so its that much harder to try and see how hes really doing.

I know that when Soldiers are fighting in a war, they don't have time to grieve or feel anything when something happens because they have a job to do. So they have to keep on going regardless of what may have happened 10 minutes earlier. That breaks my heart. Here I am blogging about how annoyed I am by my husband but yet they all have it so much worse. Some of these men and women haven't even been able to call their families yet so really I should be thankful I get to talk to Eric at all.

I guess sometimes we will just have our days. Life isn't perfect obviously and we will still have days where we might argue more than usual and I think its normal. Sometimes I wish there was a manual telling me what is going to happen or how I'm going to feel or what our conversations are going to be like but there's not so I just have to go with what life gives me. It continues to blow me away how hard families of the deployed have it. Thanks for listening or reading to me being selfish and needing to let out a little anger. It helps put everything in perspective when I'm acting childish and it reminds me of how lucky I am and that it could be a million times worse.

And to Eric:

I'm sorry for arguing with you. I love you so much more than you will ever know and I'm glad to be called your wife. I try to be strong for you every single day, but sometimes I'm weak and I cant do it. I miss you so much. Everything about you. They way you look when you come inside from mowing the lawn. That half smile you do every Thursday when a new manga comes out. They way you look deep into my eyes every morning on the weekend when you wake me up. I cant wait to be together again. I think about you all the time and I'm so proud. I want to include you in everything I do and that's why I post on here. It makes it seem as if you were actually here instead of a million miles away. I'm sometimes scared of loosing you and loosing us in this whole deployment and that's why I act dumb. I'm sorry for acting childish and getting angry over something so little. Please forgive me and know how much you truly mean to me. Stay safe and continue to be the strong person I know you are and remember I'm here waiting for you :) Love you always and forever

The Grad!!

Before I got to California my BFF Amanda would tell me about The Grad. What is The Grad you may ask?! Its a bar/club/restaurant whatever...but every night of the week they have some sort of dancing. Well on Monday, Wednesday and one weekend night, its country line dancing. When she first told me she went, I laughed to my self with my mental image of that. I told her that I would go when I came down to visit. I was really nervous at first but I now look forward to Mondays! I am not even close to being good at a lot of the line dances, but I try my best! I have a blast and I'm so glad I still have 4 more Mondays to go :)

Kaitlyn, Me, Alyssa and her boyfriend Robert :) First time at the Grad!

Kaitlyn and I busting a move on the dance floor...I look pregnant but I'm not and don't judge me for my skills lol

Amanda and Me taking a break, they always have suckers there and they are delish! **SIDE NOTE: Everytime Amanda and I take a picture, we have to try 45876 times before we get the right one :)**

Me in the car, don't mind my lazy eyes.

Me taking a break from dancing for a picture.

So while I have a blast at The Grad, its also just a fun place to people watch. Most of the girls wear cowboy boots, skirts or shorts and cute shirts. No big deal..Well some of them tend to come dressed very provocatively. So as proof I snapped a few pictures of people who were dressed horrible last night. (Sorry if you are pictured below and ever happen to fall upon my blog!)

Article #1: Both girls don't have the best fashion sense in my opinion but the girl on the left if wearing very very tiny shorts...It looks like a bathing suit! I was shocked when I saw this outfit that's for sure.

Article#2: I'm not sure what the heck was going on with this boys pants...for a long time Amanda and I were staring at his butt wondering what the hell is going on. I also had to laugh at his dancing!

Article #3: We are focusing on the girl in the middle. No offense when your skirt is so small that you cant move without it riding up, its to small! And not everyone want to see your boobs in their faces when your dancing.

I probably shouldn't judge what people are wearing when they go out but in this case I couldn't help it! Some people just need to look at themselves before they leave the house! I have so many great memories at The Grad! I'm going to miss it :)

A HUGE RANT!!!

So today my younger sister Lexus and I went to the commissary on the base that's close to here. She stayed home from school because her new braces were giving her unbearable pain. I felt so bad! Anyway, I always love when we get to do things together as sisters :) I love the 10 year age gap because she truly looks up to me and we have so much fun together! In a way its like having my own child but I can give her back at the end of the day! She truly enjoys going grocery shopping with me and often times helps me pick out things for myself or even what to send to Eric. We always have a blast!

The point of this blog wasn't really to talk about Lex but oh well!! Love you lucy :) (She reads this all the time!!) It was to say how shocked I was while driving back home!! The people in California never cease to amaze me that is for darn sure! This is what I saw... Two boys, aged probably like 3 and 6 or 7, hauling ass down a very busy street. No shoes, no shirts, no helmets and NO PARENTS IN SIGHT!! I about pulled over my car and told them to go home. I also wanted to find the parents of those boys and give them a talking to. I know that doesn't only happen here in California, it happens everywhere. I can stand seeing children who have parents that don't care about their safety and well being! In my opinion its one thing to let your children ride a certain distance alone but while being safe. Anyway that's my rant and I was just so annoyed by it!