Marine Corps Ball 2010

Nov. 18th was the Marine Corps ball for us over in Temecula, CA. We had a blast!! Now that Tucker knew more people from deployment and I got connected with some girls during the deployment also, we felt a whole lot more comfortable mingling with everyone =)
We don't have the professional picture yet, (coming in the mail!!..hopefully we can send out some for xmas pics) but we do have some photos we took we would like to share right now!!


















Happy Birthday Marines!!

Fun with friends

Once again, its the start of the holidays..and best of all..this year we get to spend them with each other!! =)

We kicked off Halloween with a pumpkin carving party at our neighbors, Tim and Jens, house (its always fun to have friends as neighbors!) I was surrounded by lots of creative people! All the pumpkins turned out GREAT!

Tuckers twin pumpkin:


My goofy frankenstein pumpkin:


All our finished projects:


And whats a pumpkin carving party without roasting pumpkin seeds?


I'm also trying to get creative with desserts, so I tried out a mint chocolate brownie recipe! They didn't last too long..and even "the king of not wanting sweets" aka Tucker, liked them! I think I will be making more when Christmas time comes around!



Then a few days later we walked around Balboa park in San Diego. Met up with two other friends, Sam and Ryan, and walked around a science museum. There, we watched an IMAX movie of the Hubble Space Telescope. If you're ever in town, I DEFINATELY recommend going here and watching it. It will change you're perspective on life forever. It still blows my mind that people can really look at the complexity of our universe and not believe in God. It is WAY too genius to just appear, thats all I have to say.



Later on, Sam and Ryan convinced us to walk around the Balboa Haunted Trail. I'm not one for haunted HOUSES, so I thought maybe the trail would be less of a scare thrill......my theory was VERY much wrong. The trail is a little over a mile long, and lots of little cabin-like huts you go through along the way. There is a point where you actually walk through an abandoned school bus with dummies sitting on it, along with real people dressed up. You don't know who's real and who's not until they're IN YOUR FACE!.....not so fun. Needless to say, I think we both filled our scare meters to last us a lifetime, plus some!

Jul/Aug 2010--Video Diary--Post Deployment

I put together a video diary of Tucker's well deserved leave..got to see lots of friends and family...some of which I unfortunately did not get pictures of (Jordan, Remie, Tyson, Tamera) So bummed :(! But very thankful for the moments we did catch on camera! Hope you all enjoy!!

Home sweet....but messy.....home!

Tucker came home at last, last Wednesday!! Thank you guys for all your prayers and thoughts..I sure felt them at work and I'm sure Tucker did too. We now have had each other for 6 days and our marriage seriously couldn't be any better. Cherishing every moment!! Last night was the 4th, we saw the BEST frieworks show on the beach, a tribute to all Marines on Camp Pendleton and military around the world. It was AWESOME! And being surrounded by friends and being wrapped in the arms of the man I love made it even better =)








The puppies had no problem remembering their daddy! And Tilo became a whole different dog since Tucker came back..possibly handing Tucker "alpha dog" title again?..I sure hope so, that stinker! lol.

Right now we..well..Tucker(haha)..is in the process of putting all his stuff away. Today is cleaning day for us, vacation mode needs to die out a bit.

In 2 weeks Tucker is taking leave, and we're starting it out in Vegas! He's keeping parts of it a secret from me..we're trying to do somewhat of a 2nd honeymoon type thing, staying at a hotel on the strip. I'm sure we'll see family and friends there too while we're out there! Cant wait!! SOOOOOOOOOOO glad he's home!

MONTH #7--home stretch!

FINALLY can see the end of this mess!!! The expected date they say he'll be back in the states is nlt July 2nd..yay! Hopefully the next post I'll write will be about Tucker's homecoming!! =) I can't wait. This has dragged on for far too long now, its about time it comes to an end. As awful as this was, I can't say it hasnt been rewarding. They say deployments can make or break a marriage...for us I'm certain it did wonders. Not that we had a horrible first year of marriage..it was awesome! But getting used to each other and the whole "team/unity" thing wasnt the easiest thing for us to conquer. Tucker had his life and everything put together, and I was still trying to figure out life (fresh out of high school none the less) now married, in a whole different state, no job, no school planned out. It was hard adjusting, and Tucker (being 3 years older than me) didnt quite understand why.
I feel like I know myself a whole lot better now than I did prior to him leaving. I feel more organized, and I have goals set for myself...with college and just my overall future. I'm still not ALL put together, but I believe in myself now, and I wouldnt put it past me to REALLY try once Tucker is back home.
Also, the time apart has taught us how important each moment with each other truely is. How lucky and blessed we are to have each other, and not to take it for granted. Time is precious.

MONTH #6

We made it to the half year point, holy cow!
The past month went by real fast for me, had a great easter with the family, and I currently have 2 of my friends staying the weekend in California with me!

Tucker sent me a few pictures of what his life looks like out there in Afghanistan and wanted me to share =) Hope you enjoy! (I know we all cant wait for him to just get his butt back home!!!---NOT TOO MUCH LONGER!!!)

First off...this is Tucker...with...a mustache. lol it was March Mustache Madness for the corps:


These are the humongous tents set up around the base:


Tucker's sleeping quarters: (notice the pillow with lipstick kisses on it I sent him =P)


I forget the technical term for this area..but basically this is where they go if they are under attack...not my favorite pictures...



The chow hall (seriously, they've got it made!):


The guard tower: (One of the posts Tucker guards doing his week of duty)


Beautiful Sunset through the mountains:


Tucker's work station--(notice I have my own shrine going on there in the back lol, he's so cute):


Some of Tucker's 550-parachute-chord projects:





Tucker's new friends =):




(goofs!)


A local-run store on the base, Tucker has bought a few things here:



MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program):

MONTH #5

Wow, 5 months. One more and it will be half a year already, sheesh. Does AND doesn't feel like it. So supposedly it only gets easier from here on out, hopefully 2 to 3 more months to go. I'm hoping for 2 or less...obviously lol. The sooner the better, I miss my husband!! Its getting very, continuous, sometimes it doesnt even feel like theres an end to all of this, it just keeps going!! ughh! But I know that day will come, and it will all be worth it. I seriously think it will be the best day of my life, maybe even tops the wedding day.

So updates, I've been on my own for a little bit, I've had a taste of what life on my own feels like...its different and something I don't think I could ever get used to. As much as I hate being alone though, I'm very thankful that I can say I did it. At least now I know I CAN do it, and live through it.

Tucker and I have been talking a lot more this past month (God bless him) he's really been trying to call me every chance he gets, he knows how hard this is for me. I tell him I always understand if he wants to sleep in more or is busy and cant call, but he insists lol...I always feel so guilty for taking his time.

A couple weeks ago, he was on guard duty for a week...we thought we wouldn't get to talk much that week at all...turns out we talked the MOST that week...whenever he was the guard for the communications tent, we could get on skype. Granted it was anywhere from 11 pm to even 5 am my time, but I'll take whatever chance I can get to talk with my husband.

I will say, people that go years like this without their spouse, are very highly respected in my book. I can barely endure 8 months apart, I don't know how people can go longer. And I also think about how often I talk to Tucker, some don't even get to talk to their husbands once a week...I'm so spoiled!!

We're very blessed to be able to have this communication.