tomorrow...

Tomorrow morning bright and early I leave for Chicago! So, basically, if you text/call me, you will most likely not get a response, my apologies ahead of time. But I'm going to visit my favorite person in the entire world! And, it just kinda works out that he usually gets my undivided attention when we're together. This weekend is going to be amazing...

Pancake!

Today I officially pancaked my first volleyball! I have always wanted to do that. Seriously. And it finally happened! Yay!

Random Update.

Today I decided to reread Jacob's letters from boot camp. I can't believe how it feels like so long ago! Time is weird like that. I just love him so much. I know, it's mushy and stuff, but seriously. He is amazing. He doesn't ever let a day pass without telling me how much he loves me and he goes out of his way to make sure there's time to talk to me every day. I'm pretty darn lucky that's for sure.

It's hard getting back into school after having two snow days last week! I do have some motivation though...I leave for Chicago on Friday! I'm excited.

Also, very exciting news, we got the carpets in out apartment cleaned today! It looks so much better. I love when things are clean!

It's Snowing...Still.

So, like I mentioned earlier, a pretty crazy snow storm was heading our way, and it hit last night. Hard. Cars are disappearing under blankets of white stuff. School got cancelled for today and tomorrow. They're expecting at least 4 feet! But of course, Shawn, Amanda, and I ventured out into the storm for two things...food and pictures!

I'm going to Chicago!

In 9 days I get to go back to visit Jacob in Chicago! I'm very very very very very very excited! He is so amazing to make sure I could visit.

Also...apparently there is supposed to be something like 30-50 inches of snow by Friday here in Flagstaff! That's a lot of snow....

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie...

Amanda, Shawn, and I made pizzas! Okay...Amanda and Shawn made pizzas and I watched and helped a TINY bit. Shawn helped out in a pizza shop in New York while he was on his mission, so he had a secret sauce recipe that he taught us. All I have to say is that those were some pretty dang good pizzas.

We can't be serious.

My New Room!

Okay, so there are some updates in my life. The first week back, Amanda & I re-did the entire upstairs. I rearranged my whole room and finally put up some decorations.

The merry-go-round sign is a present from Shawn and Amanda...

I got my sailor picture!! I love it!

It's like I have nothing to say...

Well blog world...not much is going on here. But I'll give an update anyway.

• It is SNOWING. And I fell on it this morning. I don't like when it snows just enough to be obtrusive but not enough to cancel school.

• I spent all weekend getting over a runny nose, sore throat, and fever. According to Jacob, it was compliments of Division 802. Apparently all kinds of weird diseases got passed around in boot camp and Jacob and his shipmates were kind enough to share one with me! So sweet.

• I watched another season of Shark Week. I learned some pretty interesting things, and I'm still convinced I'll be staying out of the ocean for the most part. I wonder if Jacob will see sharks when he goes diving...

• My flowers from Jacob are blooming so nicely. I'll work on getting a picture up of those.

• I'm finally figuring out how to use my new phone, and I can facebook on it now!

• Jacob and I are trying to plan a trip to Chicago, but it is proving to be a daunting task. Between him being stuck on the base and me being 19 things are not exactly working in our favor. It is pretty lame because anything we do is going to be expensive, and our goal is to be saving money, not spending it! I try to be optimistic, but I have to admit it can be pretty defeating sometimes. Too much stress!

That's about it for now...

Boot Camp is OVER!

We did it! Boot camp is finally over. It's crazy how I thought it would never get here and now it's over and I'm back in Flagstaff like it was nothing. The few days leading up to Chicago and so far all the days after have been such a blur! There's a lot to catch up on...

Wednesday night I went to bed so excited and worried I wouldn't be able to sleep. But I did, and I got woken up by my mom at 4:30 am informing me that my flight had gotten cancelled! Not delayed, not rerouted, CANCELLED! I won't even begin to describe the panic that ensued at that point. So, I started calling other airlines looking for someone who would fly into the snow storm, and ended up booking another flight. When I got to the airport, I found out that that flight was delayed! I was beyond aggravated. I just wanted to be in Chicago! Finally my plane left and I arrived in Chicago and met Jake's parents and we were officially on our way!

After what seemed like forever, Thursday was over and we woke up early on Friday to get ready to head to the graduation. Lucky for us we had Heather along, she is also in the Navy and she got us everywhere we needed to go without having to wait in big lines or anything! I definitely appreciated that. Then the graduation started. It was really amazing, but I still had a super hard time sitting through it seeing Jacob mere yards away! Once the graduation ended, liberty was called and we ran down the bleachers to meet up with our sailor =]. That was the best feeling ever. All the waiting and letter writing was over.

Jake is the tall one in the middle =]

Finally, I got a picture!

At lunch after graduation

I love being together!

The rest of the weekend is seriously a blur. Everyone's emotions were all over the place. The way liberty works made it so every night we had to take Jacob back to the base and then pick him up the next morning. So every night we had to say good-bye all over again. It was exhausting both physically and mentally. It's crazy how time was going so slow, and then suddenly it sped right back up as soon as we got to spend time with him. The days were never long enough and the nights seemed to drag on endlessly.

Before any of us knew it, it was Sunday, which meant time to leave Chicago. Dropping Jake off at the base that last time was by far the worst. Even though boot camp was over, there was still a lot of uncertainty about what the near future would hold. I didn't know when I'd see him or really talk to him next.

Luckily for me, Jacob is amazing, and he called me almost as soon as I got to the airport and we talked until I was sitting in my seat on the plane. And we got to talk on my new phone that Jacob got me! While I was in Chicago, he added me to his family plan...which I think is so cute! He got me a pretty intense phone that I'm still trying to figure out...but it is awesome.

Now, back in Flagstaff, my immune system has surrendered and my body is fighting tooth and nail to catch up on sleep. Classes have started and it seems like I'll be pretty busy this semester. Now, Jacob and I can talk pretty much everyday, which I did not realize I had taken for granted before he left. Boot camp was hard for both us, but I think we both gained a lot of perspective on things which has strengthened our relationship. I would never want to do it again, but now that I've lived it, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.

On Tuesday, my second day back, a package came for me! Jacob sent me roses and white lilies. He is so incredible like that and it made my day so much brighter. He is the best person I could ever ask to be with. I love him in ridiculous amounts and I'm so thankful to have him in my life. A lot of people ask me how I can possibly deal with this crazy navy life, and the answer is simple. He is worth it!

The One With the Duck Tour

Well, here it is. The very last memory. Perfect timing, huh? The weekend before Jacob left for boot camp, I came up to Washington one last time. Jacob took us out on a Duck Tour, a guided tour of Seattle in a truck that can also become a boat. It was so fun, and it's the only thing I have pictures of from the entire weekend.

After that, Jacob left for boot camp, and I spent 2 months recounting all the memories we made together. I had fun, but I am so glad the wait ends tomorrow! I cannot wait to see Jake and his parents and spend some time together.

Also, today Jacob and I have been together for 9 months! That is crazy, it went by so fast! I can definitely say it's been quite a journey so far. Full of excitement, love, and trials. But so far so good! I'm looking forward to seeing what forever brings.

Battle Stations 21

I'm getting really excited for Jacob because TONIGHT is his final "test" of boot camp. It's called battle stations, and basically it's a bunch of hands-on, life-like scenarios that could happen on a boat once he is an official sailor! They start at 8pm and go all night...so it will be pretty exhausting. But I know Jake will do awesome! I found this video about it on youtbe...

The good news is, once he finishes this tomorrow morning he can graduate! Can you believe that? Because I can't. Have you noticed my countdown....THREE DAYS! I remember when it said 53!

The One With Our Engagement Pictures

While Jacob was in Flagstaff my friend Shawn (you guys know Shawn, he's been in the blog before!) offered to take some engagement pictures for us. This was great because obviously you could see earlier that our other attempt failed miserably! So, as soon as Jacob got off the plane we whisked him away and put the poor guy in all these different coordinating outfits I had picked and had a photo shoot! I love the pictures, but I have been keeping them pretty secret...but I'll release a few more with this blog! Here you go...

I love them!! Thanks Shawn!

Twenty Ten

It's 2010! Crazy, huh? I have no idea where 2009 went, but I'm excited to start this new year. I've had a lot of great things happen already.

First, I rang in the new year, as always, at Dumont with the Benites'. I love going to the sand dunes! We got there on Thursday night and just barely made it to midnight. I'm too used to going to bed early now! On Friday Sam and I took a great rail ride and spent the rest of the day relaxing and talking. It was pretty low-key, which turned out to be exactly what I needed. It was especially good to spend time with Sam, our friendship needed the trip. It was short and sweet.

Then, on Saturday, Jacob called! Yes! For an HOUR. It was by far the best New Years present ever. It was nice because we had enough time that we didn't need to rush through the conversation, even though I could have talked for the rest of the day. He is doing amazing in boot camp, so I'm pretty dang proud of him. He got to call because his division won the Captain's Cup Challenge, which is kind of like boot camp olympics. There are strength and teamwork competitions, like volleyball tournaments, relay races, and push-up contests. Go Division 802! Next up, he has battle stations. And then he can graduate! This Friday! I cannot believe it's really almost here. I am so excited.

I'm spending the beginning of the week hanging out with my family, looking at wedding places, and having a spa day with Sam. Then on Thursday I'm finally off to Chicago and then it is back to Flagstaff.

There is a lot for me to look forward to in 2010. I'm leaving Flagstaff (that's kind of bittersweet), getting married and moving to a brand new place, turning 20 (good-bye teendom!), transferring to a new school, and learning to be a wife (scary!). I can't wait to see the memories I can make. So, 2009 has been good to me and we will part on good terms, but I'm ready to bring on Twenty Ten!

The One When Jacob Came to Flagstaff

At the end of October, Jacob had a tiny break in his coaching schedule so he came to see me in Flagstaff! I loved having him back in town.

We went tailgating because it was Homecoming Weekend! Jake really liked calling himself an alumni the whole entire weekend.

Jacob's mom sent him up with a Team Jacob t-shirt for me! I loved wearing it around town because it embarrassed him a little, but he thought it was funny too.

The One at the Park

Before I had to go to the airport, Jake and I went with Haley, Ralph and the kids to the park. I seriously could not remember the last time I was on a playground. It was a lot of fun. Haley and I tried to flip on the bars, but that ended up being a bad idea! It hurt a lot!

Jacob and I also played on the monkey bars without much success!

I just put this picture up because it makes me laugh (and also scared) how much I look like a mom! Adeline is just so stinking cute!