V-day Surprise from the USS Boxer

Although Valentine's Day was two days ago, and it really isn't my favorite holiday (it's not really a holiday!), I was surprised this afternoon when the doorbell rang, and a box was waiting for me. Chris sent flowers! Gypsy either liked them, or was wondering just where in the heck her V-day present was. Thanks buddy!

Uh, where's mine???

Behind again!

Alright, I know, I know. The last update was before Thanksgiving. What can I say? I've been busy! So, here's what we've been up to (and you're getting mostly pictures because let's face it - I'm not too great at keeping this updated on a regular basis, and the photos are always the best part)!

Chris and I were able to get away for Christmas this year, and thanks to our friend Kjersti, spent the holiday in Carson City, NV and South Lake Tahoe, CA. Here are a few pics from our trip:

We had a great time exploring Virginia City, NV, an old mining town just outside of Carson City, as well as South Lake Tahoe. One of the best parts of the trip was watching Gypsy discover snow! We are happy to report that she loved the snow! She's gonna be a great midwest doggie! She also turned out to be great on the long trip - it was about 10 hours each way. She really likes to go for rides. :)

We also had a great New Year's Eve! We spent it with our friends Laurent & Aimee at their house, and had a FEAST! Aimee is an amazing cook, and as always, her menu did not disappoint!

After a great holiday season, we began the dreaded pre-deployment preparations. Chris started packing, and Gypsy and I started to realize the date was coming all too quickly. On January 9th, we packed the last of Chris's bags in the truck, and headed down to San Diego to see the 13th MEU depart. It was a sad day, but as I write this, we are now more than five weeks in, and it's going pretty well. Actually, it's going FAST! It could be because I also decided to throw another round of school into the mix...Yep, I'm back in school! I am enrolled at Cal State University's San Marcos campus Tuesday (and soon to be Thursday) evenings, and am working on getting an HR Management Certificate. It's really interesting, and is helping to keep me super busy (like I really need help there!). I am fast-tracking the program so that I can finish up in late August, right after Chris is scheduled to return from deployment.

To end this posting, here are a few pics from the day Chris left, and a couple pics of the Gypsy Dog. She's doing really well during the deployment, and is making sure I don't turn into a couch potato. And yes, as you can see I finally caved, and Gypsy is now a permanent fixture on the bed. She even sleeps on Chris's pillow! That's what he gets for breaking me down. :)

Hope all is well with everyone. I will try to be better about updating this. Really, I will try!

I made no promises...

So, if you'll remember when I started this blog, I said that I would probably start out strong with frequent updates and postings, and then the "Katie" would kick in, and I would not post anything for a long time. Well, here it is, the proverbial update post! I told, ya. No promises. Anyway, here's what's been going on lately...I went home to MN the first weekend in November and had a great, relaxing time in the rain/snow/wind/cold! Thanks everyong for the fun times!!! To those who I was not able to meet up with, hopefully it won't be one year and nine months before I get home again! Otherwise, Southern CA is a pretty decent place to visit - hint, hint. :-) Here are a couple of photos from my trip home:

The first is of the snowy day that I spent in Minneota (for those that don't know, that's a small town where my Dad grew up, and yes, it's spelled correctly!); the second is of the house where I grew up; and the third photo is of me and my friend Missy and her awesome kids, Jon, Grace & Daniel. They stopped by and surpised me - thanks guys! Like I said, it was a really great trip. Thanks everbody!

The weekend after I got back, I got to spend a day out on ship with Chris! We weren't too sure what to expect, but it ended up being a GREAT day. I got to see and do a lot of really cool stuff, and I have a much better idea of what Chris will be doing during deployment. Here's a few pics from my day aboard the USS Boxer...And, no, the weapon isn't loaded. I just look cool!

This past weekend, Chris and I attended one of my favorite/least favorite USMC events - the 233rd USMC Birthday Ball. We weren't sure if Chris was going to be home in time to attend (he got home late Thursday night), but with a little bit of "forward thinking" on the part of the Wife, the uniform was ready, and we were able to go. For those that don't know, the Birthday Ball is a a formal ceremony to celebrate the Birthday of the USMC. The ceremony is steeped in tradition, complete with a Birthday Cake! It's a night where everyone gets dressed in formal attire, and celebrates the phenomenon that is the US Marine Corps. It's kind of like prom for Marines. :) I say that it is one of my favorite and least favorite events. I really like the tradition and the ceremonial part of the Ball, but I could do without some of the rest. We did have a good time, and since this would be our last B-day Ball, we made the most of it, complete with the Birthday Photo...

And, here are a couple of funny photos from the evening:

Well, now you're all caught up. Again. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The USMC & Navy in action!

Today, the families of the Marines and Sailors attached to the 13th MEU were invited to come out to Red Beach (a Camp Pendleton Beach used for trainings) to watch some of the "practice" maneuvers. It was really cool to see some of the operations that are carried out by the various elements of the MEU. Below are a few photos from today: the first is of a few helicopters; the second is of some of the vehicles used by the ground elements of the MEU; the third is of an LCAC (a vehicle used to transport troops from ship to shore); and the fourth photo is of the USS Boxer (center), the ship Chris will call home during the deployment, and the Comstock (left), another ship that is part of the 13th MEU.

Minnesota bound!

I get to go home next week - yeah! Home for me is Sunburg, MN a tiny little dirt spot on the map in the middle of MN. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunburg I'm pretty excited since I haven't been home since January, 2007. Um, yes, that's nearly two years. I won't be home for too long - Nov 6-Nov 11 - but it will be nice to be in a place that actually has seasons. I'm hoping for weather that will require me to wear real shoes (preferrably with socks!), pants and long-sleeved shirts. I might even get to wear a coat!

While I'm home, Gypsy will also be on vacation. She's staying at the Animal Keeper, a kennel not too far from our house. I wasn't too kean on the idea of kenneling her, but Chris and I took a tour last weekend, and it is pretty great. It's really clean, there is a big play yard for the doggies, and they can play in a large group, or in small groups, several times a day. She will also get to go to the doggy "spa" to get a bath and have her nails trimmed. She will get frozen doggy treats every day, too! It sounds totally nuts, but it makes me feel better about leaving her if she'll get let out to play several times each day, and will have 24 hour on-site care. Check out the link: http://www.theanimalkeeper.com/oceanside.html It almost makes me want to stay there!

The reason Chris isn't watching Gypsy, or going with, is because he left this morning for another at-sea training period. He'll be gone for a few weeks, returning the weekend before Thanksgiving. We aren't sure what we'll be doing for Thanksgiving, but Chris does have a long weekend, so he might head back to St. Louis to visit his family. Tickets should be good and spendy by the time he gets home and is able to decide, but that's the fun of living by the USMC calendar!

Officially another year older...

As of yesterday, I am now officially "old". Well, older, anyway. I turned the big ol' age of 31 - whew! For those of you who knew me way back when, I bet I surprised you all by making it this far, huh?!?! We didn't do a whole lot of celebrating (pretty sure I got that all taken care of last year when I hit the big 3-0 - no dancing at Neighbor's until 4 a.m. this year!), but Chris and I did enjoy dinner aboard one of the San Diego Harbor dinner cruise's on Saturday. It was pretty cool! I discovered that SD has a pretty great skyline...Not as great as Seattle, though. ;) It was a nice surprise, and we had a good time.

We also hit another mile stone Saturday - we officially began the countdown to Chris's separation date from the USMC! As of this posting, we have 361 days, 13 hours & 15 minutes...uh, but who's counting?!?! And no, we haven't decided where to or what's next. It's sort of the great debate in our house, and we aren't telling just yet! Stay tuned...

Another day, another fire

I'm note sure if this info is making the national news or not, but we've had another fire here on Camp Pendleton today. This is the second fire on Base in less than a week. This one, the Juliet Fire, was a bit more destructive, and caused several Base housing evacuations, as well as evacuations in many of the surrounding civilian housing developments (non-Base housing developments). Fortunately, our housing area isn't in danger at this point. The fire is still burning as of 10:33 p.m., and has burned over 2000 acres at this point. http://www.10news.com/news/17706683/detail.html If you get a chance to go to the news link, be sure to click on "Viewer Images" on the left menu. There are some amazing shots of the fire. Here are a few pics that I took:

The first two are shots of the fires burning behind our house (about 3-5 miles away at 6:00 p.m.), and the other two are of the sunset looking out at the Pacific from the hill behind our house. That's smoke in the air, not regular clouds. Despite the destruction, it's a pretty awesome sight.