So Much to do! So Many People to See!

Since Heath has been home we have been able to hang out with so many friends. It has been great!

Saturday we had an open house BBQ…man I have missed grilled food!

Sunday our good friends Ben and Chara hooked us up with an airship tour, better known as a blimp ride.
It was amazing to see all of San Diego from the air!
I got a little queasy on the way up, but once we leveled off and I pulled myself together I was able to soak it in.

This was our ship... hard to miss!


Afterwards we went out for San Diego's best BBQ, it really was good. Then we met up with Lisa at BJ’s for a pizzooka; a warm giant cookie the size of a pizza, with a ton of ice cream melting on top. I wish I had taken a picture of this heavenly cookie.

Wednesday we had the new church I have been attending at our place for dinner. We made Aunt Tammie’s delicious Thai dinner…everyone loved it!

Friday we had dinner with our old friends from Texas, David and Katie and Jake and Jess came down form Corona. Josh joined us around midnight and all 3 fullers spent the night and all day Sat. with us. I had to work:(. But everyone else hooked up with the Cotes and went to the REI used sale and found great deals. That evening we went to Pizza Port for great pizza and a light honey ale. Again no pictures…hmm I need to work on that.

Great time with Great friends!

Heath is home!

It is so wonderful to have my husband back!
Words cannot describe how amazing it is to have him home.

He arrived Saturday March 12th in the afternoon.
We hung out all weekend and whenever I could during the week.
He had the week off, and it was one of my busiest weeks of the year.
Grades were due, I started with a new group of 8th graders and finished with my elementary kids, I had many meetings and my professional development class.
(I took off Friday after things started to slow down)

We had a fun weekend!
BBQ and sangria all day Saturday with friends.
Air ship tour (blimp ride) Sunday afternoon.

Today he went back to work.
Two weeks and we will be hitting the road for our spring vacation up north.

Heath is working on a more detailed message…coming soon.

Sooner Than Expected...

Heath is coming home!

He called me in the middle of the night to let me know he is coming home sooner than planned!

Now I can count the days on one hand!
(I can not post specifics)

I am so excited to have my husband back!

Please pray for his safe return.

Heath's next couple weeks

Heath comes home soon! I can’t believe it is finally almost time! We have a little more than two weeks left! Life here has been flying…Thank you God!

Heaths tentative timeline:

Today he left for Qatar (I think); he gets to spend a few days getting away from work there to take a little retreat, and do things like water sports and study.

When he gets back to Kuwait he has to take his advancement test (on his birthday)

His replacement will also be there for him to train

He will move back into the tents and prepare for coming home.

Yeah!

Where Did February Go?

This week I have off and the past two weeks flew by with my visitors here.

I had a great visit from my friend Jen and her little boy Elijah. They were able to extend their ticket and stay almost two weeks, which was great since I was a little under the weather the first week they were here. I had great time talking about life and marriage and my excitement for Heath's return with Jen (that is much better than being giddy with strangers) I also had a lot of fun playing with Elijah...

Who so adorably made me realize I live quite close to an airport, that or am directly under a major flight path. He is like the smartest little guy; his first understandable words include octopus and airplane. When he first got here he would go for walks with me to get the mail and when he would hear a plane he would point up and his eyes would get huge, it didn’t take long before each time he would hear one he would point up and say, “aaaaaaaaair-plane.”

He also was so good at changing the subject and talking in his own way of explaining things. So, when daily, we were unable to find yet another one of his wooden puzzle pieces we figured we were getting nowhere with him jabbering away and pointing at random things. Well, turns out he probably was telling us his exact hiding place we just didn’t understand him. Poor guy. Gosh I can’t wait until we can make sense of what he is saying.

Anyway, I was also having problems with my dishwasher and Elijah showed great interest in it, if it were open he wanted to try helping load or unload, and if it were closed he liked to lock and unlock it. So when the door started making a funny noise every time it would open or close, I started to get curious. This curiosity caused me to finally, the night before they left, examine it a little more closely, I noticed that at the hinge it appeared a floating part, which at first looked like a piece of the plastic had cracked off. But, upon further examination I noticed there were two pieces, so I stuck a knife in the whole and wow, I flipped the pieces and one was the motorcycle and the other a farm animal I cannot recall. They were inside of the door. We discovered that all seven missing pieces were carefully slid into the little slot that appears only when the door is, in fact, locked. If only he were awake to explain this to us as I sat on the floor with the drill taking my dishwasher door apart. Kids are funny!

"Hi Heath"

Yesterday I went up to Orange County with Ben and Chara to go for an air ship (blimp) ride. The weather was too overcast and visibility was poor so we just hovered a couple feet above ground waiting for it to clear up. It did not.

The rest of the day we spent with Chara's family and her adorable little niece and nephew. They are a lot of fun and love Heath. So Heath here is a little message from them.

We miss you!
I am not exactly sure how this works, I think you have to download the DivX software first.

Download the DivX Web Player Plug-In for Windows

Download the DivX Web Player Plug-In for Mac

Read more about the browser plug-in here

2 New Things I Love

2 New things I love:

1. Shopping at local Farmers Markets!
Everything is so fresh.
It helps local farmers.
The produce is not sprayed with junk.
You buy what is in season. (What our bodies need)
It is a lot of fun to go with someone.

Chara and I went one sat and she showed me the ropes. Yesterday Brooke met me at the one in Carlsbad, and I found so many good buys. I even bought these tall crooked willow stalks to decorate with. I should post a picture once I arrange them; they are so cool.


2. Eating beets!
I have always disliked beets. But all I had ever tried was canned beets…yuck!

I tasted fresh beets last fall when Ryan and Holly shared the beets they received in their CSA (community supported agriculture) at one of our cookouts. I thought they were surprisingly delicious.

Well, I bought some with Chara, to see if I really did like them or if it was a one-time thing. I cooked them right up, ate the whole bunch and wanted more. I have been craving them since. So yesterday I bought two bunches, only $1 for 4 large beets. I can’t wait to cook them up! You all really should try them! I guess they are good for your kidneys…who knew?

OH MY CRAZY!

Many of you know I teach.
Currently I teach middle school art.
I am part time so am trying to piece it together.
I work for Kids College
(an after school program at local middle and elementary schools)

Monday I showed up for my first class at a new (to Kids College and me) school. There were 15 students on my roster. For after school art that is a lot! On my way to the school the director calls me to inform me I have about 22 students. “Oh no”, I only brought 20 pieces of paper.

So upon arrival, I check in at the office, and find a line of people signing up for my class. In total I ended up with 32, First through Fifth graders ready and eager to do art. Yikes, I thought 15 a lot. I survived, I don’t know how, but I did. We ended up moving to a larger classroom and I found a paper cutter to cut the project size in half. I also had the PTA president and the site principal observing me juggle 32 little ones.

Two More Boys Today

More good news...

Baby friend # 2 today, was born this evening. Friends from back home, Sean and Kelli just had their first little boy, Jonah. He was not early and from what I have heard so far is very healthy.

This morning Alison called me to say that she had just delivered her and Shawn's little boy and that he was healthy but to pray that he will stay strong, breath and eat well; he is 6 weeks early.

So all day I was thinking about him and wondering if Sean and Kelli had had theirs yet, well now I know.

Two more boys have brightened this world today.
Two more boys will be lavished by incredibly loving parents.
Two more boys will be nurtured in amazing homes.
Two more boys have families that will believe in them!

Carlsons and Thackers/(Klines);
You have been two families that have challenged and encouraged me.
Two families that over the years, I have admired and been inspired by.
Two families I feel like I could call my own. (In fact, I do)
Two families that truly are a picture of God's love.

I am so excited for you all, but more excited for the two little boys who get to grow up surrounded by so much love and some of the most amazing people I have ever met.
I love you all!

Posting 3 weeks in a hurry

I finally had a second, believe it or not, on one of my busiest days, to finally post my updates.

7ish Call from my best friend in VA…She just had her baby boy…please pray he is 6 weeks early!

7-12 Taught Middle School

12:30-2:30 Taught Elementary

Now: Update Blog at Panara Bread (enjoying a caramel drink and apple crisp bagel…so yummy!)

4-6 Beginning Teacher Class

6:30 My new home church

Pray for Heath

I got a call from Heath today...

He sounds awful! He is so sick, sounds like the flu.
He is feverish, has a bad cough and isn't sleeping.
He had to miss work and is trying to rest.

I so wish I could be there to help... please pray!
Thank You!

Home Alone

So I have more than survived my first week home alone, but I think I have truly thrived. What ever that means, it just sounds right.

Anyway, I have had a great time believe it or not. (Besides missing my sis a ton!) For like the first time ever I have really been alone and enjoyed hanging out with myself, doing what I want to do, relaxing, getting things done and living on my own schedule.

So far I have felt safe, which is big for me. I thought I might get easily freaked out here by myself, but I just feel a peace or confidence or something like that. It is cozy and fun to know I am getting the house ready for my man to come home.

Overall it is really good to be home…I know that this is one step closer to Heaths return.

4 Down 2 To Go

The three weeks back in MI went so fast!

So when I left CA, Heath I and I were half way through the deployment; 3 months down 3 to go.

Upon arriving back in CA, we were 2/3rds of the way through; 4 months down, only 2 to go.

Wahoo!

I find encouragement in that the time we have left we have already done twice.

He will be home in no time!

Time Flies

My last week at home was a whirl wind, I was able to spend time with friends and family, which was so nice, but still never felt like enough time. Overall I am thankful for the time I was able to be home.

Miller Family Vacation

We had a great time creating memories.

Our family went to Double JJ Ranch in Muskegon.

The log cabin we stayed in was amazing! It was huge and everything was like new.

The weather was a gray and rainy but we were still able to take advantage of some of the outdoor activities like tubing and horseback riding.

Most of the time we played games and ate delicious food.

Our favorite game was extreme spoons. If you know how to play the card game spoons, the “extreme” part comes in when mom or dad hide the spoons upstairs. So you can imagine 5 of us running up to the loft (pulling each other back down the stairs) and then tearing up the beds and luggage looking for the spoons and wrestling once we hear them jingle in order make it back downstairs with a spoon. So much fun!

Pics on the way...

Christmas Fun

Chrismas day was very busy for me, but full of family!

Went to church with my family...when not an stage doing the music (4 of my talented family members), we took up a whole pew.

It was great to see everyone at Grandma O'Brians...the food was delicous!

Heath called my parents house and we exchanged our gifts with him on speaker phone.
The Miller family Christmas also included Nana and Gramps Thill. Dinner was great and we all were showered with many great gifts.

The evening was spent with the family at Grandma Rices, again great to see everyone...the food looked and smelled delicous, but I had been eating all day!

It was good to talk with Heath. But seemed so unfair that I be able to see everyone and he had to hang out alone. This was the hardest part for me, it jsut didn't feel right. I miss him like I never thought I could. Time please fly quickly!

Christmas Eve

So last year my family came out to California, only they got stranded in Chicago for 3 days so spent Christmas there. This year we repeated what they did last year and will probably continue as a family tradition. The whole family runs into Meijer and has to shop for a $10 dirty santa gift all at the same time. We run home wrap them and then draw numbers and take turns choosing a gift or stealing an alreay opened gift.

Dad got two insulated mugs (one with yellow snow in it)
Mom got a miniture cooler
Amy got a glow in the dark vollyball
Russ got 3 goldfish in a large jar (this was my gift)
I got a fondue set and a Bee Gees CD
Rachel got condiments and a shirt that says "Practice safe lunch...use condiments"
Chase got a recorder(like a wooden flute) with a music book

Shopping

Today I had lunch today with Grandma O'Brien, Auntie Sue and Linda (Ma) It was so much fun. I love spending time with them!

I started and finished my Christmas shopping in no time. It felt so good to get it all done so quickly.

Tonight I babysat Elijah so Jen and Brian could get some shopping done. Whenever he sees me he sings "Hoppy-Bah-day" so when I was getting him ready for bed we read a book about the Christmas story and at the end the story turned into the song "Away in a Manger". So I sang it to him and then asked him to sing so he sang "Hoppy-Bah-day". It was the cutest thing so I told him on Christmas we celebrate baby Jesus birthday, so we sang "Hoppy-Bah-day Je" over and over. He is so much fun!

Christmas thoughts

I slept in late today…I must still be on CA time plus vacation. I spent what seems like forever on the phone today going from the house to cell phone back and forth.

We went to Mars Hill tonight for the service, (they do it during the week to free up Christmas weekend so people can just relax with their family,) and the press gives them grief. Can you believe it? Just because the 25th of December is when our culture chooses to celebrate the birth of Jesus doesn’t mean that we can’t/don't celebrate this historical event while savoring the time to connect with family and the beautiful traditions that foster this time. In my opinion adding another “event” to an already full day will take away from time to relax with and visit all families.

Don’t get me wrong it will be nice to worship with my childhood-home church Sunday am, but I will admit that my time with my family, my grandparents, Heath’s mom’s family, and Heath’s dad’s family all in one day is a lot to fit in, and my time with each group will be spread thin.

At least Monday will be with my dad’s side of the family. Then Tuesday-Thursday my immediate family will be taking a surprise trip to create memories. That will be good quality time! I sure will miss having Heath a part of it! This has been hard to not have him here!!!

More Encouraging Relationships

I had a wonderful lunch with Tracy...I am so blessed in the whole friendship area of my life! Talking with her and realizing we have a lot of the same goals for the next few months made me realize I really want to be better at keeping in touch when I go back in January.

The afternoon was spent with the Raymonds. Again, more wonderful people in my life that I love being able to pick right up where we left off but would love to keep in touch with better. I am always encouraged and feel understood when I am with them. The girls are growing up so fast and are so talented it is great to catch up with what they are doing these days.