Christmas time happenings!

So there has been an obvious lack of blog updates but I've been keeping myself busy. I will post lots of pictures so you get a taste of what I've been up to. Jarrett and I went to his squadron's Christmas party a few weeks back. We had a great time and I finally got to meet most of the guys that Jarrett works with everyday.
Last week some friends from Cal Poly and I went to San Francisco for the day. I had such a wonderful time catching up with my lovely friends and getting some good ol' shopping in. San Francisco was absolutely beautiful and Union Square was a sight to be seen with it's humongous Christmas tree and all the surrounding buildings lit up with twinkling Christmas lights. I love my girlfriends and only wish I could see them more often.


On Saturday, Jarrett and I finally got the opportunity to explore little downtown Vacaville. We had lunch at a nice Mexican restaurant and then walked around, although not for long because it was a chilly 29 degrees.



On Sunday, Jarrett and I packed up and drove to Modesto where my aunt livesto spend Christmas. My family drove up and brought along with them their new puppy, Dewey. We spent a lot of time playing with the puppies and just chatting and hanging out. Jarrett got to spend a lot of time with my brothers going to a movie with them, playing monopoly, and golfing. Christmas Eve we went to Church and then enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by my mom. And on Christmas, we woke up early and opened presents and just enjoyed spending time with eachother. Jarrett and I had a wonderful first Christmas as a married couple. Unfortunately, my cousins both had bad colds, and then my family started to come down with something and then this morning I woke up with a bad sore throat. Jarrett's family is coming up for the weekend, so I've spent the day drinking airborne, drinking tea, and just taking it easy with the hope that it will subside by the time the Boyd's arrive. Also on Friday, Leighanne, Paul's wife is leaving California to move back home while Paul is gone on deployment for the next 6 months. Paul leaves on the 2nd. Jarrett and I are both really bummed because the Wheeler's have become good friends and the couple that we spend a lot of our time with. I can't wait for them to be back in 6 months! Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and hopefully a wonderful new years!

Mmmm the good things in life.

One of my most favorite things to do is to go to a good coffee shop, sit down with either my favorite soy chai or hot chocolate and enjoy a good book or just think about life. I could do this every day if I had the time or money. But today is one of those days where snuggling up at a coffee shop is a must for me. It's cold here, try 30 degrees this morning at like 10 and it doesn't get much warmer than 55 degrees. I mean that really isn't that cold compared to the freezing weather that most people in the country are experiencing right now but it's still chilly. My favorite coffee shop that I've found so far up here has got to be the Starbucks on base. I know I know it's a Starbucks, Heather would be mad at me, but the atmosphere is the best with a ton of big comfy chairs and not to many people during the day. Today, I decided on the peppermint hot chocolate which is a winter favorite of mine. Unfortunately, I guess Starbucks has started setting out brochures with all the nutritional content of their drinks and I happened to stumble upon it today. Way to go Starbucks... now I feel even more guilty about this delicious hot chocolate I am enjoying so much. I guess that's why they call some things guilty pleasures because this is definitely one of them.

For all you music lovers, I came upon this amazing band recently but just bought her cd yesterday. A Fine Frenzy is I feel like a girl version of Coldplay which I think is like the hot chocolate of music. Sweet, smooth, rich, and warm. Her lyrics and melodies just make me smile. That's what music should do... that's when you know it's good music.

And for book lovers, I have started reading a good book...I love a good book. I haven't strayed far from authors such as Karen Kingsbury and Francine Rivers lately, but I stumbled upon this book at Borders recently and I knew I had to read it. It's called "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. "What is the What" is a novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, who was a so-called Lost Boy, who was forced from his village in Sudan. Eventually he settles in the United States and the novel follows his experiences, heart aches, and challenges. This book is about the life of Valentino but it couldn't be called a memoir due to the fact that Valentino couldn't remember exact words said in conversations and such but all of the experiences and challenges, Valentino did actually go through which I find fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time. Anyways, you should check it out.

Well I'm going to get back to my book. Tonight Jarrett and I are going to the Christmas party for his squadron so that should be fun. I'll post pics soon.

Accomplishments...church, school, and Christmas tree!

The wind is howling so loud right now it sounds like I'm inside a tornado or something, not the most comfortable and relaxing sound. But life is good as I sit here with my puppy on my lap next to my Charlie Brown Christmas tree and my old man of a husband who is already asleep at 9:15 on a Saturday night :-) So perfect time to get a little blogging in. This week has flown by and I survived this week a heck of a lot better than last week. I'm still a little homesick but I'm starting to really get attached to my little Olive and I really do enjoy having her around now as opposed to last week when I was about ready to hand her over to my mom as an early Christmas present. She is a really great puppy and sure does love to cuddle. Olive loves everyone. This is our friend, Paul.
Olive was chilly so she climbed in Paul's jacket.
Here she is playing dead.

This week Jarrett and I decided it was time to get a tree. We were set on getting a real tree but when we thought about little Olive and the possibility of her trying to eat the tree and also because of our lack of space in the apartment we decided on a little 4 foot pre-lit fake tree that we just set on one of our end tables. It's pretty pathetic but it works. I tried to spruce it up by adding some ornaments which helped. Here's our little tree. Here are my socks my Grandma gave me. Gotta love festive reindeer socks, bells and all.

Last Sunday, Jarrett and I tried out a church that a friend suggested and we ended up really liking it. So on Thursday, Jarrett and I met with the associate pastor and his wife over coffee and chatted and learned more about the church. It sounds like it's going to be a good fit and Jarrett and I are excited to go back tomorrow. Tonight, the women's ministry at the church was putting on their annual Women's Christmas dinner, so last Sunday, with a lot of pushing from Jarrett, I purchased a ticket so I could go. I have to admit that I am pretty proud of myself for deciding to go because as a pretty shy person, i really don't enjoy going places where I don't know anyone, especially places where everyone knows everyone else. But I'm so anxious and well I'll be honest pretty desperate to meet people, that I got up the guts and went by myself. It was a little awkward and at times very uncomfortable but I really enjoyed being surrounded by a bunch of other women who just wanted to have fun and worship the Lord. And I came away with a sense of confidence, yes cheesy but true, and also some new friends. I met a few other military wives around my age which I was really excited about because I haven't met anyone my age here yet, only women who are older, and most of them with children. So all around, it was a successful night.

Update on school. After a few stressful weeks of overnighting transcripts, making phone calls, and meeting with counselors a few times, I am set and ready to register for classes on Tuesday at the local junior college. I find it odd that it was a lot more difficult to get everything ready at this college than it was for Cal Poly. I'm thankful that I have gotten to know a really wonderful counselor who actually called me personally to help me with everything and then gave me her cell number in case I had problems or questions. She also helped to get me cleared to sign up for a few classes that I needed my high school transcript for, but I didn't have, but she cleared them based on my gpa at Cal Poly which they don't normally do. This whole school situation has really been stressing me out but the Lord has really worked things out, like He always does... I should know this by now you would think. I also have a meeting with a guy from Davis on Monday to discuss what else I need to do in order to get into Davis in the next few semesters.

So no word yet about getting a house on base and no words yet about Jarrett deploying. Hopefully we will hear a yay about housing soon and a definite nay on the deployment! As for Christmas, since Jarrett can't travel more than 3 hours away from base, my family is coming up to my aunt's house in Modesto and Jarrett and I will drive down there to meet them for Christmas. Modesto is only an hour and a half away so we're good to go. And then after Christmas, Jarrett's parents are going to drive up for a weekend which I am excited about. I'm thankful that I will still be able to see family even if it's not at home in beautiful SLO. Sidenote...a lady at the church dinner asked where I was from. I said San Luis Obispo. The lady next to her said "Oh is it nice there?" and the other lady went "oh yes, it's beautiful, very posh." I thought that was funny. I just think of it as home! And what does posh mean? I just know it's a spice girl.

Anyway, enjoy the pictures and for all my wonderful friends from Cal Poly who are going home to their homes up by me, Call me!!

~Kate

Crying mess...

This week has just been one of those weeks. The kind of week when everyone and everything seems to cause me to tear up and turn into a blubbery mess. But today, finally, after about oh noon, the skies opened up and halleluja my eyes are tear free. Jarrett and I drove home on Sunday and since then I've been battling homesickness. After spending an amazing week with my family, friends, and Jarrett in my favorite place in the world, SLO, coming back to Vacaville just didn't seem right. And did I forget to mention Jarrett and I brought home a friend? Yes, well Saturday for the first time in a long time I made a decision without thinking about it thoroughly over many hours or days. Jarrett and I adopted a little puppy from Woods Humane Society and we call her Olive...Olive the Other Reindeer, the name courtesy of my mom. Jarrett and I weren't too fond of the name, but after trying to call her other ones, they just didn't seem to fit and Olive just seemed right and not to mention that she looks a lot like the cartoon dog from 'Olive the Other Reindeer.'

Olive, Olive, Olive. Where to start. She's an amazing puppy...when she's not peeing on our carpet. No, I'm kidding. She's great but I just didn't realize how tough training a puppy was going to be. If it's anything like having a kid, I can say right now that I am not having kids for a very very very long time. Well, Jarrett and I realized that our apartment is just way to small to have a puppy and we've been wanting to move on base anyways, so Jarrett finally filled out the paper work to put us on the list for on base housing. I know Jarrett has reservations about living on base, but he realizes that it will be really good for me. I will feel a lot safer living on base and not so isolated. So they say the longest we will be waiting to get on base is 3 months, so please pray that the Lord will work everything out.

In other news, Jarrett was informed today that he can't travel more than 3 hours away from base incase they call him up to deploy with short notice. We are really bummed because this obviously means that we can't go home for Christmas. I was really looking forward to going back to SLO to spend the holidays at home with family and friends, but I know the Lord will make this holiday special even if it's just the two of us. First Christmas as a married couple. Cute.

Jarrett and I are getting prepped for the holidays and boy is it fun. We went to Wal Mart today and spent a little more than we should on Christmas cd's, lights, ornaments, cards, and why the heck is a Christmas tree skirt $25? Maybe I'm cheap but that just seems silly. Tomorrow we are going to go get our tree. We haven't figured out where a tree is even going to fit in our apartment but even if it means throwing our dining room table out on the balcony for a few weeks, we are getting a tree! I'll post pics of it soon! In the mean time, here are a few pics from our time at home and Olive! Enjoy!
(Lance is Amazing)
(Holiday Tradition. Heather is crazy)
(Soaking in sun in Avila) (My attempt at baking. It had to be documented.)
(Meet Olive.)
(She's cute)(She loves her Momma. Momma's starting to love her now that she's not peeing on the carpet 6 times a day.)
(Olive is festive)
(We love being married.)

Busy Week

I seriously apologize for the lack of blog updates. The past few weeks have been very busy with lots of driving to SLO, a trip to the emergency room (I'm ok!), and lots of time spent with family and good friends. Unfortunately, I can't post pictures yet because I don't have my lap top with me but I will post some as soon as I get home.

My mom drove up to Vacaville and picked me up last Saturday so that I could come home early to see my friends that were coming home from school. Jarrett wasn't able to drive home until Wednesday afternoon. In the past few days I've spent time roaming the beautiful streets of downtown SLO with my wonderful friend Heather, which I miss so much, I went to Sundae Sunday at my Bible study leader, Tracy's house and got to catch up with a lot of the girls from my Bible study who I miss more than words can say. Tuesday night, a bunch of my high school friends got together and went to Klondikes for the all you can eat pizza night. My whole day/ week/month/year was made when I got to see my dear friend Lance. I'm particularly thankful this Thanksgiving season that I got to see Lance and give him a big/gentle hug considering what he's been through in the last year. For those of you who aren't familiar with Lance and his story, Lance who is in the army, was seriously injured on September 10 in a horrible accident in Iraq that claimed the lives of 7 of his buddies and seriously injured the rest of the guys in his platoon. Lance had many severe injuries, the worst being a broken back, but is doing well and recovering in a hospital in Georgia. I look up to Lance for more reasons than I can list but mostly for his strength, courage, and unshakeable faith in the Lord.

On Wednesday, I got to relax and breath in the sweet ocean air in Avila Beach with Heather. Going to the beach with Heather is a must do every time she comes home from school but I can't say it's the most comfortable experience. Heather who goes to school in Colorado, comes home to SLO and thinks it's like 100 degrees here compared to Colorado. So because of this, she insists that we have to lay out at the beach and attempt to tan. All of my attempts to convince her that 65 degrees is not ideal laying out conditions failed, so there I was with goose bumps and my towel rapped around me tightly, my sweatshirt zipped up to the top, with a smile on my face because although it was freezing, I wouldn't give up that time spent with Heather for the world!

Thursday was Turkey day, and my first holiday with Jarrett as a married couple. We spent most of the day with Jarrett's dads side of the family. Shout out to Grandpa Ron. And then later on we went to my house and enjoyed dessert with our good friends,the Maguires. So I feel 5 pounds heavier, and I'm sitting here pondering how I managed to eat so much. Oh well enjoying massive amounts of mashed potatos, green bean casserole, and stuffing is worth every calorie and guilty feeling.

Jarrett and I are leaving for home tomorrow. I hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm truly thankful for all the wonderful people in my life, good health, my amazing families, and of course for my better half, which Jarrett is, and for the fact that I get to have him home instead of overseas, at least for now!

To everyone in SLO...

We're coming home this weekend!!!! Yay, I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. Yesterday, I realized that Jarrett doesn't have work on Monday because of Veteran's day, so I immediately called him up and said, "you don't have work on Monday, can we pleeeeeeeaaaaassseee go home this weekend?" and of course he couldn't say no to my pleading so he agreed that we can leave Friday right after he gets off work. I'm hoping to get on the road and arrive in SLO by 7:30 because my brother, Jimmy, got pulled up again to play on the varsity football team against SLO's all time rival, Arroyo Grande! This weekend is also the annual Straight Down golf tournament, and my parents always have a big get together, so I'm excited we will be able to go to that on Sunday.

When I go home I will also be able to meet the new addition to our family, little Spock. Our good friends up the street have this very rare cat that has these ears that lay permanently flat. Apparently these cats are very expensive and rare. This cat of theres is an indoor cat and for some reason wasn't neutered. After a quick escapade outdoors one day, it came home knocked up and soon after gave birth to some kittens. A few of the kittens have normal ears, one kitten has the flat ears, and the last kitten has ears that were half up and half down which they named Spock. My family was interested in adopting Spock before Carlos ever got sick, but when he did last week we decided to pass on bringing Spock home for fear that it would stress Carlos out. Well, Carlos unfortunately passed away last week and so when my mom got home from Modesto this weekend, my dad surprised her with little Spock. My mom was referring to Spock as a he last week and then when I called this week she was referring to Spock as a her. I got a little confused and asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?" and my silly mother responds, "I'm not really sure, I have to take her to the vet to find out." Oh goodness. Well, my mom has already spoiled this little kitty with a leopard print bed and other accessories and when I call home I can always hear Spock meowing in the backround. I just can't wait to meet him...or her.

Well, whoever is in SLO this weekend and wants to get together, call me up! Jarrett and I don't really have any plans other than soaking in the goodness of SLO....mmmm can't wait!

Birthdays, hello's, and goodbye's.

Jarrett and I have had a busy past few days, but busy is good for me considering I spend my days during the week just hanging out. My birthday was on Friday and I can say that turning 20 does make me feel a little older as I am no longer a teenager. I didn't get to spend much of my birthday with Jarrett since he had to work, so I made sure I kept myself busy. I decided to drive to Sacramento to go walk around the big mall there. After almost having a heartattack like 20 times, I finally made it there safely. I'm still getting used to the busy 4 lane freeways compared to the relatively traffic free two lane freeways back home. My gift from Jarrett was a new pair of jeans so I picked out a nice pair along with a couple t-shirts and a cute pair of shoes. I can't remember the last time I went shopping so it did feel good to treat myself to a little something. For lunch I had my favorite grilled cheese and then also some french fries and a milkshake! That night, Jarrett and I along with the Wheeler family all went to BJ's for dinner which was delicious. My birthday was good, but I was a little sad that I didn't get to celebrate with my family and continue our tradition of dinner at the Madonna Inn Coffee Shop.

Early Saturday morning, Jarrett and I packed up and drove to Modesto to my aunt's house. My mom and brother Jimmy were also driving up to meet us there. I haven't seen my family since Jarrett and I got married, which is a long time for me, so I loved that I was able to see my wonderful Momma and brother. Unfortunately, a few minutes after my mom arrived, she pulled me aside and informed me that my little Carlos had passed away from a heartattack.
I then understood why my parents had only briefly talked to me on my birthday, they didn't want me to receive the news and have it ruin my birthday. My family and I are heartbroken as Carlos was such a part of our family and going home with be a little weird without the familiar yapping and scratching at my legs to pick him up.

The rest of the weekend was great. I enjoyed a nice lunch with my mom and aunt at a beautiful vineyard/ b&b. Then later on we played "Are You Smarter Than a 5th grader?" with my cousins. Let me tell you, whoever made up the questions for that game must have been going to some expensive private school because as far as I know a 1st grader shouldn't know what the less than < and greater than > symbol means. On Sunday morning, we all went through all the boxes that were moved from my Grandma's house to my aunt's after she passed away two months ago. Jarrett and I received her old dining room table as well as a cute side table and a few other things. Last night I opened the drawer to the side table and found it full with all of her playing cards, which her favorite hobby was playing bridge, and a few trinkets of my mom's from when she was little. It was a sad moment for me, but I'm so happy that I get to have a few things of hers to help make this apartment into a home.

Well, Jarrett and I are just relaxing tonight. Jarrett's getting ready for his day tomorrow by ironing his uniform and polishing his boots.
This time change is really killing us, so I just might go to bed tonight at the same time as Jarrett. Married life is great and we are both really getting used to living together and learning eachother's little habits. Jarrett's favorite quote this week is "I love being married...I do! It's just so fun!" And it's the most wonderful feeling to hear that coming from my husband and of course I agree! Well, I hope everyone else had a wonderful weekend and thank you to everyone who sent me cards and messages, I'll be getting formal thank you's out real soon!