Surprise in Ohio

This past weekend I drove up to Ohio to join in on a surprise baby shower/going away party for one of my best friends, Valerie. I saw her over Labor Day weekend and had to pretend I was so sad that I wouldn't see her again before she moved to New Mexico. Little did she know that I was driving up just 2 weeks later :) It was so great to be able to surprise her and have lots of people that love her under one roof... including her mom all the way from California! It was a wonderful weekend full of love :) It's been so nice to have Val within driving distance, even for the short time we've been here.

The cutest pregnant lady ever!

Boo Boo's

Gorgeous day in Corn Country ;)

Diana and Valerie

The AMAZING cake that was made for Val.

When I was living in Colorado and Jason was still at USAFA, I used to listen to this song called "Far From Here" which was the theme song for Army Wives when it first started. I used to think that being far from USAFA and all that it comes with would be great and we would be so happy, but I am finding it the exact opposite! I miss Colorado and all the wonderful friends I made there like crazy. While we were in the middle of it it seemed awful, but now looking back, they were some of the best years of my life. I made some amazing friends that I will keep with me for the rest of my life and it made mine and Jason's relationship very strong. Here are some of the lyrics to the song:

Far From Here by Alissa Moreno

Fight hard on a night like this
Look for a star and wish
You could get out of it

Bite down and then pray, pray, pray
You'll make it through this to sing and say
You hold life dear

Moments turn to hours which become years...
And now I'm

Far from here, and we are happy
Far from here, we are all right
Far from here, things are peaceful
Far from here, we have insight
Far from here, we've detangled
Our strangled hold
And I hope to see you there

Rise high out of this whole scene
Look down and separate yourself
From your worst dream

Then fly far and then stay, stay, stay
Out of the way until the coast
Is clear and safe

I finally got a set schedule at work! I now work 8-5 Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Which is nice to have a day off every other day, but it's also only 24 hours per week which I was promised at least 30 =/ Oh well.

Jason has had a ton of stories on the radio and local television here! I am so proud of him. He is doing really well in his Jounalism program. We found out he got an A and a B+ in his two summer courses! They were really tough, but he did outstanding!

I am going to start documenting the things I cook and bake on here. I will document my recipe, where I got it and what we thought of it. I will try to remember to put pictures up of the process. Tonight I am making Calzone's so check back for the recipe and hopefully good reviews by the hubs ;)

Feels like Home

Indiana is definitely feeling like home for us. We are all settled in our home and getting involved in a lot of different things. I am now working at an amazing dental office here in town, and it has been such a blessing. I found out about this opening from our pastor at church and everything fell into place so quickly! The girls I work with are amazing and the Dentist is such a joy to work for. I work in two different offices, one here in Bloomington and one in a neighboring town. It's a lot slower paced than Dr. Couchman's office, but it's nice to be comfortable with procedures after such a short period of time.

Jason is now working at the Indiana University television station as well as going to school. He should be on our local station tonight for the first time! He has been a little nervous about doing this story, but I have faith that he will do an amazing job! He just needs to do well on a couple stories to get his confidence up. I have seen some of his stories on his computer and it seems to just come so natural to him. I don't know how he does it, but I am so proud of him!

Valerie (Boo Boo) and her dog, Buddy, came to visit us this weekend! It was so great seeing her before she makes her move to New Mexico! I love to see God working in her and Jesse's lives. They were given the opportunity to move closer to Val's family in California and she will be able to stay at home with their baby when he/she is born in February/March. Such a blessing for them!

Here are some pics from our wonderful weekend:

Misty and Buddy had such a great time together! Misty has missed playing with bigger dogs since we moved away from Colorado.

We saw The Help this weekend and it was way better then I expected! I loved everything about it and kinda wish I had read the book before I saw the movie, but it was still amazing.

I receive Military Spouse Magazine through the mail and this month's was all about how 9/11 and 10 years of war changed the lives of military spouses everywhere. There was an article called "Things I Know for Sure" written by the Air Force Spouse of the Year. She made some great points about how her life would be different if September 11th had never happened. She is getting ready for her husband's 5th deployment and can't help but wonder how much more she would see him if it was just another day. Some of her main points were:

1. Military friendships are very unique and special. Some of the greatest "girlfriend memories" will happen when husbands are deployed.

2. The anticipation of the deployment is just as hard (if not harder) than the deployment itself.

3. I have yet to find an adequate answer to the often-asked question "How do you do it?" The truth is... I don't know how I do it. But somehow, some way, I find a way to get through each and every deployment.

4. Other military spouses are the only ones who truly get it.

If you have a chance to buy or subscribe to the magazine (all my military spouse friends) I will highly recommend it! It always has great articles and real life stories from military families :)

Jason and I are finally going to get back into our workout/diet plan. It's been so nice eating whatever we want these past few months (especially after not eating before the wedding... due to stress). But that has all caught up with us and it's time to get back on track. Wish us luck!

Visiting my Boo Boo

This past weekend we headed 4 hours North East to Ohio to visit Valerie and Jesse. We thought there was a lot of corn in Indiana! Oh my. I am so happy that we are within driving distance of my boo. Since neither of us live in California anymore, its rare when we are in the same state at the same time. Having Boo and Alex as my Maids of Honor at the wedding made me realize what amazing friends they have been to me the past 10+ years! So I did a little looking back at pictures from high school and found these gems!

So glad we grew up!