Wilhoit Reunion: Great Fun, Great Family and Great Food

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day!

The party was at Ma and Pa''s new house. They have done a lot of work to make it absolutely perfect! The house and the yard looked fabulous. Everyone brought delicious food! Pa and Heath were slaving over the hot grills, making 5 delicious beer-can chickens and more than enough hambugs and hot dogs. i love pot luck gatherings when there is tons of food to choose from.

It was so great to see everyone all together and from both sides of the family!


Heath's amazing beer can chickens... my favorite meal! Is there enough to feed this crowd?


Pa's got it covered. The double fisted flips. In fact, it appears he is juggling the dogs.


Herald and Heath relaxing after filling up


Lots of laughter from the O'Brien side!


Great time enjoyed by the Wilhoit side as well!


Aren't they sooooooooooo cute!

Dj's Wedding

Dj and Katie and his parents


Long time friends catching up


Who is having a better time?


I am not sure if my husband is winking or sleeping.

More Miller Mania Fun!

This is a lot of the Millers... we really missed those of you who couldn't make it.

Not being a part of the Miller family must be rough... the fun that follows will make you even more jealous! I must say that not only is this a "good-looking" group (as Grandpa always told us over the phone), as well as the most fun bunch in the world, they happen to also be the kindest people you will ever meet. I am proud...I can't help it.



Water balloon toss... fun and refreshing for everyone!


Chalk drawing contest... we are also artistic.


The Pink Rockers tearing up the scavenger hunt!


The kids had a blast cooling off on the slip and slide.


That is, I think, the biggest kid of all... my Heath.


Volley ball for hours, even past dark (glow in the dark ball)


Grandma even got in on the game! You go Grams!


Hoola-hoop contest... nice form Chase and Cassie!


Some card games... does anyone know why we didn't play extreme solitare?

Miller Mania

The drive through the night was not bad. I was planning on sleeping and giving Heath a break; instead we talked the whole night and once we made it into Michigan and the sun was up, we took turns sleeping until we arrived in Standish, MI. The drive was supposed to take 11 hours but we did hit morning traffic it ended up 13 1/2.

We had a fun packed couple of days! We set up about 6 tents in Grandmas back yard.



Saturday evening we had a softball tournament. It was fun for me to see Heath playing with my family. (He had only met them at Russ and Amy's wedding and then our own... so it was great for them to get to know him and vice versa!)





Sunday all the major festivities began:


Bochi ball tournaments



The water balloon toss, and then water balloon war.



We had a scavenger hunt (Heath kept the crew occupied while it was being set up)

This is where the batteries in my camera died. I hope to get more pics soon!

Other highlighs include; Grandma spending the whole day with us, lots of laughs and catching up, volleyball until past dark, and our last day we took a canoe trip down the Rifle River with about 12 canoes.

It was wonderful to finally spend another Miller mania with everyone.

They Finally Meet

...And the trip gets better... We finally made it to Lynchburg.


It was great to relax and catch up with great friends and finally show Heath off. We were also excited to meet Alyson’s and Shawn’s little boy Landon, he is precious!


Heath and Shawn hit it off just like Ali and I expected. So night 3 of vacation we stayed up hanging out until past 2 again... but this time on purpose.

Car update: Thacker’s referred us to their mechanic who lubed up the car and got it ready to roll. We were relieved to have it running smooth! Thanks Connie for getting us in right away! We will drive through the night tonight in hopes to avoid holiday traffic and maximize our time with everyone.

Can it get any worse?

Well, so far on our vacation (24 hours) we have done a lot of waiting around (flights delayed, canceled, waiting in a 300 people line to be rerouted and receive a hotel voucher, waiting for our shuttle and a room, waiting on standby, waiting for a taxi and now …

Where to begin…

Currently we are sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. We have a flat tire, no jack, we really don’t know where we are, there are no signs, it is after midnight, for an hour and a half we have been unable to flag anyone down, we finally had to call 911 and tell them where we think we are. So again waiting.

…Ahh, I just got attacked by a beetle…they seem to like my computer light …

Desperate and afraid we were wrong about our whereabouts, I finally waved (frantically) down a 1970’s muffler-less, one tail light out and the other hanging, ratty old pick up truck. As he was backing up to meet us, Heath handed me his cell phone and said, “If anything happens to run as fast as you can deep into the forest and call 911.” As I began to panic more lights arrived on the scene and thankfully it was the cop finally, he could not/ would not help us except to call a tow truck. So this is where we are at in the story... waiting another half hour for our rescue. It should not cost anything to have him help us with the tire, but we will have to pay $95 service call…he has just now arrived.

Well that was kind of him, he led us to a hotel across from a Wal-Mart so that we can replace the tires in the morning; which we have discovered, have dry rot. We have picked up this car for a co-worker and will be driving it back to CA. At this point I am very nervous, its check engine lights are on, it does not have air conditioning or cruise control, it is full of stuff and filthier inside than out. Everything from the trunk we moved to the back seat with all our luggage when we were digging for the spare tire and jack. All we can do is laugh, can it get any crazier? I am just so thankful Heath is with me! So this will be day 2 of staying up past 2am trying to get to our destination.

Vacation to Vacation

No, we are not always on vacation, we have just been away from blogspot for a couple months. You will (hopefully) no longer have to check Ben and Chara's blog to see if we are still okay.

So, we are no longer on spring Holiday...

We both enjoyed our trip,
went back to work (me at 5 different schools),
as well as, the realities of everyday life and marriage.
It has, in fact, been much better face to face, not easy, but much better!

We are excited to once again be on vacation.
Tomorrow, we leave for VA and MI for 3 weeks.

We look forward to seeing many of you again.

On Holiday

We are enjoying our time away in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

No phones, no Internet, no noise.

It is beautiful.

We are having a lot of fun remembering how nice it is to just be together enjoying living life next to each other again. Heath was the first one to say it is like he can breath again. That is exactly how it feels for both of us; we can relax and rest and breath again.

Today, I have some time at a cafe at the bottom of Panorama Mountain Village. I will see what kind of updates and photos I can post between watching the skiers (I just saw a couple get on the lift in a suit and a long pink dress) so check previous dates for a quick catch up.

Heath is skiing one last time before we leave this beautiful country and head down to Seattle for a few days and then back home. It has rained the past couple days so the bottom of the ski area (beginner trails) is all slush and ice; up at the top (black diamond/advanced trails) they received about 5 inches of powder. So I don't mind taking a day off to let Heath have a whole day to go to the top and get his extreme sport fill.

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.

Day to Play

Today was such a great day to just hang out. Jen and Elijah spent the night last night. It felt like we were in college again, only this time we stayed up talking until 3am and I think our usual was 4am…we must be getting old. It was great to catch up, but then a rough day to chase a toddler around on only a couple hours of sleep. He sure is turning into a little man! And he is so smart, he can say octopus and uses some sign language and it is like he knows exactly what we are talking about all the time. Chase took him out on the tractor and mommy pulled him in the sled. He gave me tons of hugs today also…. I am still catching up! It was wonderful to share the day with the amazing super mom and continue to share life with her.





This evening I went over to Holly’s to hang out, I left very encouraged. It is so nice to have friends that really know and love you and time and distance don’t mean anything. Catching up and picking up where you left off is so easy.

We were talking about being unsettled and the synicism in some of our circles and how that attitude can be so discouraging and frustrating when trying to grow and in seeking out how to best live out God's love. She was so encouraging when she said, Rhianon I think you are someone who is at peace, full of love, and have an intimate relationship with God. Just that conversation helped me realize how much I need to work on and fall short of who I would like to be. I can't let frustration keep me in the same place. I desire more from this life! I desire more from myself.

My birthday top 10

10. Chase woke me up singing (I fell back asleep and slept in late)
9. Relaxing was on the agenda for most of the day
8. Heath called and sang to me and made me laugh and cry (good tears)
7. Nana and Gramps gave me great big hugs
6. Rachel made me mom’s yummy pot roast for dinner
5. I had some delicious sangria and cheesecake
4. Friends and family came over and showered me with hugs, cards and gifts. (thank you all!)
3. I got to see the newest parents to be: Sean and Kelly with her cute belly
2. Baby Elijah sang “Hopp-ee Bah-day“ and gave me hugs and kisses
1. Heath sent me a brand new amazing wet suit! And called me a 2nd time to hear about it!


My surprise ....... The average surf stance....... My surf victory stance


















Rachel and Chase had fun blowing up my wet suit and then dancing around with it. What a fun gift! I can't wait to actually use if for what it is supposed to be used for! The waves are calling my name! (Not right now with its 15-20 feet waves...yikes!)

Home for Christmas

Stayed up packing and cleaning all night long

Safe, uneventful flight to Chicago

Slept the whole flight and drive home

Lots of snow here…it is so pretty

So so cold…ears are going to fall off!

Arrived just in time for the RBC Christmas cantata...

Russ directed it, mom and Amy sang in the choir, Chase and Russ played guitar. It was beautiful and so good to be back where there are lots of people that know and love me! I am catching up on the past 3 months of hugs…man have I needed them!

Update from the HEATH Man

(Heath sent this for me to post)

Well it has been some time sense I have talked with a lot of people/family, you know. So here is an update of what’s been going on with me here in Kuwait. Each day passing by with an almost normal routine just like back in the states, but you know each day has it wrenches too.

Well, my contact with my wife is an ever-changing schedule, some days I will be able to talk with her for an hour and other days only 5 minutes. Normally on Sundays I will be able to talk with her more, it is my only day off each week. If it was up to me, I would like to work each day so time would go by fast. Just can’t wait to see my wife again.

I tell you what, when you are away from you best friend\ spouse you have this new longing set in your heart that has a beat of it own. At times it is a low beating feeling and others it is a load percussion sound that is felt in my chest and the look a pond my face. Like my wife said one time or another, I just don’t feel whole without you by my side. These last three months here I have truly learned what those words that Steve Welch used on the day of our wedding “two hearts coming together to make one“. Some times I feel that I am walking around here without half my body, not knowing how to act, react, interact, and even relate with others without Rhianon by my side. It is kind of hard for me to become friends with other people, it feels that I am cheating them cause they are only getting to know me and not my better half. That is where all the bragging comes into play; I like doing this.

I have been so proud of my wife; she has been taking care of everything back on the home front. Also I am so thankful for my sister Rachel for being there, helping a ton and just being a great friend & sister to my wife during this time of separation. I could never thank her enough!

In short I can’t wait to be that husband physically back by my wife’s side.

Well, with my time off after work or on Sundays I do keep myself busy. One big thing is that I have been training with two other people on running. We are working up to a half marathon slowly, it has been fun. I never though I would say that running is fun but for the time it is. We are running about 20-25 miles a week, broken up, with Sundays our long run day. Right now on our long days we are up to 8 miles and by the end of February we will be running 13.1 miles each Sunday. During the week, in-between running, I am lifting weights. My last 5k run was on Thanksgiving Day. I ran a 20:40, beating my last Halloween 5k by two minutes. The races, running with a few hundred people are fun. I had never done it before I came out here.

Oh just to let you know this is a very large base and everything I do is on base. We really never go off unless it is work related. I walk everywhere that I need to go each day: the chow hall, PX (General Store), small movie theater, barbershop, and the gym.

Not too much to look at around here, just a whole lot of sand. It has been cooling down here also, not as hot as it was when we first got here. It has been getting down to the 40’s at night and 70’s during the day. I guess we are coming up on the rainy season, that’s what everyone is saying. So much, do I wish, I could be spending this time back in MI with some snow on the ground. I will be missing Christmas with family, maybe next year.

Well for now, those are the main things that have been going on for me around here in the sand box. Miss you all!

Love Heath

Holiday without Heath

I just talked to my adorable husband. Gosh, I love him so much!!!! We are almost half way done with this separation, and then it will all be down hill from here on out.

Right now I am just trying to figure out what to send him in his next package. Hey, if anyone wants to send him anything it only costs $7 to send a flat rate box. Lately it has been taking 1-1 and 1/2 weeks to deliver packages and less to deliver letters or cards. I am sure he would love to hear from you even if it is by email.

It will be so strange to go home for Christmas without Heath, I almost feel guilty when I get excited to go. It will be hard without him there. But I am so excited to see everyone!

December Nights and More

This week was a busy work-week, with appointments and observations and meetings and my BTSA class and tons of work for that. So I still have not done much to my home in a while. Rachel has been very sweet in helping me out with some big projects around here, things that I have only been able to think about when I crash into bed after a long day wishing there were more hours in a day or that I could function on less sleep and somehow have more energy. So that has been a big help.

This weekend we had a lot of fun. Friday night I took her to the extremely crowded Pizza Port for dinner and realized when we left they were celebrating the 9th annual Strong Ale Festival. No wonder it was sooooo packed. I somehow ended up with a free t-shirt and didn’t even have anything to drink. We stopped by more of our great friends, Ben and Chara’s and made plans for Saturday...

What a great, fun filled day. First we went to REI’s outdoor used items sale and found excellent deals. We stood inline for an hour before they opened and went in and just grabbed everything in sight and then sorted it out, I got some great deals!

For lunch we had So Cal’s famous Wahoo’s and then headed south to Balboa Park for “December Nights.”

It was a fun filled day! Tons to see, all museums were free from 5-9 so we ran through all of them. My favorite was the photography of ethnic history or something like that. We then ended the night with a huge bag of Kettle Corn...Yum!

Catch Up

It has been a while for these past couple posts! My internet connect has been a little sketch and every time I go to post I am kicked of line.

Life has also been busy…as always…right?

Only it has been a great “busy” the past two weeks!

I had a wonderful week off of school (thanksgiving week). Rachel and I had a lot of bonding time and time with all of my wonderful friends out here. I think it was extremely needed for both of us to get out of the house and play and be around loving, funny, wonderful people. So, here’s the deal…

Saturday we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with the Doung family, I had the juiciest turkey I have ever had. I also got to hold baby Dominic and he sucked only his thumb for the first time, I guess he usually shoves his whole hand in his mouth. He was so cute, and so good, he slept in my arms…well…like a baby.

Sunday we had yummy enchiladas with Matt and Brooke. And decided this Thursday to check out the new home church they are going to.


Wednesday we went down to check out Lisa’s new place and walk around her cut little neighborhood grab burritos and Mexican Hot Chocolate. This week she came over to hang out. It is great to have friends you feel so comfortable to just chill with. You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to, or on the other hand you can talk about anything with; real life or fantasy/dream world, deep or useless facts, or simply your own quirks and you know you still will be good friends just the same.

Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving …it was!

Now, the best thanksgiving would be one celebrating with everyone I love, but under the circumstances, I still had a fabulous Day/weekend. Missing Heath and family, I still was with people that I love and had a great time.

In honor of Heath I took the surfboard out and met the Fullers at the most amazing beach I have been to yet. Santa Onefree (?), just north of us. It was amazing company, amazing waves and amazing to watch the sunset on a surfboard. I felt like a true surfer. I caught a lot of waves and rode quite few a longer than I ever have, in fact longer than I could ever imagine. I now know why Heath loves it so much! The waves were setting up beautifully and one after another. I even rode one next to someone and steered away without falling off and kept going. That was…awesome! It was also a much more laid back, non-competitive beach. Made for a great confidence booster.


It was fun to all be out in the water together. Rachel was also tearing it up, I am so glad she tried again with easier waves. We are hoping to go more the next couple weeks before we head home for the holidays.

We then went out to Corona to have dinner with the Fullers. We ended up staying the night and spending Friday with them, their house-mates, and their family. Rachel and I got up Friday am, took a trip to Target for the essentials; toothbrush, underwear, and a new outfit for only $16. We had so much fun…

Do you know people that when you are around them you feel good? You feel…really special, cared about, interesting…even funny. That is how we felt around the Fullers they just exude love and compassion, it is always nice to be in their presence. And always sad to say goodbye to.