And Then Life Got in the Way

I told myself I would be a "good blogger." I would blog consistently, I would post pretty pictures, and I would post content that people would enjoy. But then life got in the way. 

Since my last post, exactly a month ago, things have gotten extremely busy. I was past syllabus week at school, and things that I forgot how to do, like study, started happening. I got a second job that now puts me at working about thirty hours a week. My family moved to North Dakota, which has made me quite sad.

I have been struggling with even wanting to blog, but I remembered how much I genuinely enjoy it. I enjoy taking the time to remember the great things that have happened, and I even enjoy looking back on the not-so-great things and how I can learn from them. I enjoy interacting with other bloggers, through comments on my own posts and me commenting on other bloggers' posts.

So here is to catching up, one post at a time!

When I was staying with my grandparents in California we ended up going through about seven boxes of all of their old picture slides. Grandpa set up the projector, and for a week we sat down and looked at all their pictures. There were some of my mom and aunt when they were babies, but most of them were from all their travels once my mom and aunt were out of the house. It was fun to see all the pictures of my mom and aunt with different boys...ha! My grandparents lived in Germany for a year and I absolutely loved looking at all the pictures from that time. One of my favorite pictures, though, was of my grandma and grandpa when they were newly married. I cannot tell you how happy it made my heart to see a candid photo of them in a snowball fight with each other, smiling and so in love. My grandma told me that they probably hadn't looked at those photos in years, and it made me so happy to sit there with them as the reminisced about their adventures together.

That Time I (Was So Happy I Cried)

So I kinda sorta like this guy who may or may not be slightly amazing.

When I first decided to go to California I'll admit that one of the first things I did was look up how far away Dillon and I would be from each other. He was doing ops at Travis AFB in Fairfield, CA but when I looked up how far we would be, it was about 2 hours. I knew that was too far for me to drive there and back in one day, and plus I didn't really feel comfortable getting to my grandparents' house and saying "Okay great, can I borrow your car to see my boyfriend?" That would turn me into the worst granddaughter of the year, I'm sure.

So once I got here Dillon asked for the address to see how far it was. Once he looked it up he said "that's far :(" and we left it at that. I didn't want to make him feel bad if he couldn't get a vehicle to drive out here and back in one night. We texted as usual and then all the sudden I get this picture:

Uhh...what??? I was so confused...this was the front of my grandma's house! I look out the windows but don't see anything. I go to the front door and look through the peephole and there he is, walking up to the door!! I threw the door open and jumped into his arms; I seriously couldn't believe it! We only got a few hours together but those few were amazing.

So yes, I did have a few tears in my eyes, but this wasn't the time I was so happy I cried. That was the other time Dillon surprised me.

It was a weekend in October of 2012. Dillon had a three day weekend, but I didn't. For awhile we were thinking he would come spend the weekend with me in Tucson but then he found out that he had baseball practice that weekend, so it wouldn't work out.
About a week before Dillon told me that he sent me a package and that it would get there no later than Friday! I was super excited, Dillon always gets me great gifts.
That night I had a chemistry exam and then afterwards I went to my friend Becca's house to hang out. Dillon kept saying that the package should be there and while I was excited to get it, I didn't want to go home on a Friday night to hang out by myself just for a package. I asked my roommate Toni if there was a package delivered for me and she said no, so I just stayed at Becca's. Dillon was adamant though, insisting that I should go home because he really wanted me to open it and then have a nice Skype session.
Finally, around 10pm, I decided that it was time to go home. As I was driving home I called Dillon and we talked for a while. He said he was in his room watching TV, but it honestly sounded like he was outside. I kept thinking "maybe he's here to surprise me!" but tried not to dwell on it because I knew if he wasn't there I would get upset, and that wasn't fair. We hung up right as I told him I was driving through the gate to the neighborhood. I turned the corner to go to my house....and there. he. was! I slammed on the brakes and jumped out of the car, running into his arms. And I just couldn't keep the tears from coming. Like, you don't understand, I was pretty much bawling I was so happy and surprised. He thought something was wrong and I was upset but I was just like no! I'm really really happy!! Haha.

 We went shopping and got that spiffy outfit he has on above at J. Crew. How unfair is that...I don't even have anything from J. Crew...but at least he looks darn good. This was also on our date night. We went to Panda Express and a movie. :P

 Can't you tell he just loooooves taking pictures with me?

He also paid to get my hair done this trip. He's such a sweetheart. :)


As always, go on over and visit my beautiful friend Alex! She's talking about that time she went to Whistler, BC!

California Livin'

If you read this post then you know that I am staying with my grandparents in California right now. Even though I am here to help them out I have been enjoying this time between work and school. It has been really nice to talk with my grandparents - about how they grew up, about how they met, my mom's childhood, and even my early childhood. Even though I'm "on duty" 24-7, I have gotten a lot of time to relax by reading and tanning by the pool. I have been here for a week and I have gotten into a routine...one that I definitely can't complain about!

.*I was outside reading and my grandpa came out and asked me if I could "stand a margarita." Why yes grandpa, yes I can.

8:00am - Wake up time! Even though my grandma usually gets up before this time, it's around now that she makes coffee and wants breakfast. So Emily to the rescue! ;) Mainly she just needs someone to carry over her coffee to the table, and then help getting all the things she needs for breakfast.

10:00am - By this time we are all either sitting in the living room reading our books or I am out in the backyard tending to the garden. On Sunday I spent a good two hours or so outside watering all the plants. She has tomato plants, citrus trees, and flowers galore!

Although this is a tiring feat, I am loving it. It definitely helps that I'm able to do all this outside work in 70 degree weather instead of 100. I'm thinking that I want a lot of flowers blooming in my future home...and might even make it my semester project to plant some flowers in my college home!

And then this happened:

She wanted me to do some trimming of this plant so I went out with the little garden trimmers I had used before and she told me where to cut. While I was behind the bush she disappeared and came back with these ginormous clippers. You have to admit it's quite comical...my grandma in a leg brace with her walker, but using these clippers to cut her plants out front. That's what I call dedication!

12:00pm - Lunch time! We usually just have a sandwich and chips and depending on the weather we'll go outside to eat. Nothing too fancy, but it's just another nice time we get to chat.

2:00pm - It is around this time that I suit up and head for the pool. Before my aunt left she made sure I knew how to set up the rafts so that I could lay out and read in the pool. It is glorious. But because I have #whitegirlprobs I try to only stay out for about 30 minutes. I'm trying to just get a darker shade of white, not tomato red here. ;) So it's about an hour total tanning the back and front and getting my read on.

*I'm proud of myself because it only took me three tries to get this picture. But then my grandpa came out and asked me if I wanted him to take my picture and now I'm embarrassed.*

5:00pm - Dinner time! Can you tell I get excited about the times when food is involved??? 5 o' clock is a little early for me to be eating dinner, but what the grandparents want, the grandparents get! I don't do anything too fancy. My aunt said for dinner it's "meat, vegetable, salad." I can handle that! Grandma likes to feel helpful so she'll make the salad as I prepare the rest. Grandpa likes to have a glass of wine every evening with dinner and when he offers a glass to me, I only slightly hesitate. ;)

7:00pm - By this time we are all seated in our comfy chairs in the living room watching the news. I have to say, I never knew the news could be quite so interesting! We watch the 5 o' clock news; local and world news! After that we watch jeopardy. At first we were watching kid's week which was grand because I could at least answer some of the questions! Or is it question some of the answers... But then we got into the grown up stuff, and the only answer question I knew was "What is Doctor Who?" Figures. Then we'll either watch more TV, play a game, or read until bed time.

10:00pm - This is my "me" time when at least grandma is in bed and I hit the weights! Okay, not really. They have a bike that I have been riding for a few miles every night and then I do a tone it up work out. It may not be much, but it makes me feel good!

12:00am - Sleep..........and then repeat!

I could honestly see myself being a caregiver. 18 more days of this!!