Wedding!

Ahhh what an amazing weekend I had! I got to marry my best friend, Aaron, who is a US Marine. We got so many amazing gifts and cards even though this was a very small informal event. Instead of normal thank you cards I decided to make a Thank You card on Shutterfly. They did such an amazing job with our christmas cards so I figured why not! Look how cute they turned out!

Monogram Stamp Teal Thank You 5x7 folded card

Invitations, announcements and Valentine's Day cards by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Rewind.

Well! It's been far too long since my last blog, but let me tell you, a lot has happened since late November. I went to San Diego and watched my baby graduate as a United States Marine. The entire trip was amazing. Being able to hug him again after 3 months was a feeling and memory I will never forget. The ceremony itself was different than I had expected, but I did really enjoy it. After graduation I gave Aaron his graduation/birthday/Christmas present. I got him an iPhone 4, and I am happy to say that he absolutely loves it (how could you not?!). While in California I also got a chance to meet Lauren in person. Lauren and I had been talking since right when our boys left back in September. It was nice to be able to put a face with all of the conversations! Also, shortly after getting back into Wisconsin, I turned 21. It was one hell of a weekend to say it simply! Aaron's birthday was 4 days after mine and we spent that celebrating in Holmen with his family and friends. Now I am back in Madison finishing up the semester and taking finals. Tomorrow is my last day of class for the semester and my last final is Tuesday the 21st. I can't wait to go home after finals and spend more time with Aaron before he goes back to MCT first of the year. I'm extremely thankful that I get to spend the Holidays with Aaron and our families. I know a lot of Military families are without their loved ones this holiday season. Please be sure be thankful for who you have with you this Holiday because I know a lot of Marine significant others that would trade places with you in a heart beat. 

Lauren and me before USMC Graduation 12/3/10

Graduation

Aaron and myself after graduation

My 21st birthday dinner

My Marine and Myself on my birthday 

Until next time, Semper Fi!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Hey guys!
Today's blog is a little different! As I was cruising around Facebook one day, I heard about this crazy promotion going on for Bloggers through the company Shutterfly! I've never used the website before, but being an employee at Apple, I had heard customers talk about it in the past. WELL! I decided to look into the promotion a little bit more! Come to find out, the company was offering 50 free Christmas/Holiday cards to bloggers! I started playing on the site and got super pumped to make a card for 616 1/2! If you've never been on the site you should definitely take a minute or two and check out this link riiighhhttt here. That is a link to the Christmas photo cards. They have 100's to choose from and they are all completely customizable! If you don't celebrate Christmas or you're looking for a more well rounded holiday card, check out this link! Honestly, I was really impressed with the site and I can't wait to get my cards in the mail super soon! Also, because I wasn't a member of the site before this, I also got 50+ free picture prints! This was great considering I'm going to California in 2 days and will have tons of pictures to print! Also, if you're in need of a great holiday gift idea, check out there customizable calendars! Always make a great gift for anyone on your list :)

My card is filled with photos of my roommate and myself since we moved in together in June! We pooled our favorite pictures from Facebook as well as some GEMS her mom took on a visit down to Madison! I can't wait to see how they turn out! 

If you're interested in also participating in this promotion check out THIS link. It has all of the details :)

Until next time, Semper fi!

Time Crunch

Every so often, reward yourself for being a rockstar. Being a Military significant other is not an easy task, at all. Whether you're going through a deployment, living in another state/country, or just surviving boot camp, the Military lifestyle takes a toll on you! Whenever I make it through a rough patch stronger, I reward myself with a mini shopping trip. Most of the time I will buy myself new makeup or shoes that I wouldn't normally buy myself. I view it as a little, HEY Congrats on being a strong ass women. YOU ROCK! So, consider it :)

WOW! A lot has happened in the last five days! The days are all blending together and time is flying by! I couldn't be happier about it! I went home for about a day and a half for Thanksgiving with my family. It was a great time to spend with family. I got to see my sister quite a bit plus I got to drive up to my Step Mom's and see my niece and step siblings! It was amazing. My first Black Friday at Apple honestly was a disappointment. It was busy but there were so many employees that I found myself standing around a lot. They day dragged by and after 12 hours my feet calves were throbbing. The the next day I did a 9 hour shift and I was just beat. Today I had a nice short 4 hour shift. I've got a ton of homework done in preparation for being gone this week in California!!! I figure I have about 7 major homework assignments to complete before flying out Wednesday. As of now I have 5 done. One I need to speak with my accounting TA about and the other I am waiting on some responses from my group to go about completing it! Hopefully they get back to me soon so I can get going on it!

Oh man, I really should start packing! I hate waiting to the last minute to pack but it's one thing I truly dread doing! I've made a list of things that I keep adding to so I don't forget anything. At this point I hope everything fits in my suitcase!!! Three days till we fly out. Four days till I get to hug my boy again. I'm stoked, for sure!

Well I guess I should progress more on packing/listmaking/homework

Until next time! Semper Fi!!!

SINGLE DIGITS!

Find good books to read! There are so many great books being published all the time, it's impossible to not find a few that spark interest to you! For my Marine ladies, I highly recommend Confessions of a Military Wife. It's hilarious and from what I hear, it's highly accurate. The author is a Marine wife that does stand up comedy around the country. I highly recommend picking it up from amazon! Also, make sure you have a Bible in your home. His word always gives encouragement and strength when you need it. Sometimes the things you need to hear don't come from family or friends but from our Father up above. Keep that in mind!

So today I finally hit the single digits! This has been 78 days in the making! Today, I also hit 10% left! THANK GOD! It's easy to be optimistic from here. California next week! HOLLA! :)

Tonight I am doing my first overnight reset at work. I am really pumped to see the changes that Apple is making in our retail stores first hand and before anyone else gets a chance to. :) Plus we're ordering pizza, which is always fun!

Tomorrow morning I am going home, which has been hard since Aaron's left for Boot. Aaron and I are from the same hometown. I would always spend a lot of time with him whenever I was home, but with him being at Boot, he obviously won't be there. I am excited to spend time with my family and friends that I haven't seen in a few weeks though. I hope I get to see my niece. I haven't seen her in months! Fingers crossed she'll be at my step mom's house when I'm up there!

It's now that time where I start getting ready to head to class. Hopefully the next week flyys! Pray for the men in Golf Company as they finish up the Crucible tomorrow! I can't wait to be able to call my baby a Marine! :]

Until next time, Semper Fi!

Another Week Down!

It's OKAY to break down sometimes! I feel like a lot of girls think crying is bad because it shows a weakness, but we have to remember regardless of what we're going through, we are still human beings. Breaking down is normal and honestly, I'd say it's a good thing. Breaking down means that you actually have someone in your life that's worth missing and crying over! Use the experience to reflect on what an amazing individual God has brought into your life! It's okay to eat Ben&Jerry's, watch The Notebook, go through a box of tissues, never get out of your PJ's and stay in bed all day every once in a while!

So today is Sunday and as Aaron says in all of his letters, this means another week down! It's weird to think that next week I will be packing to go to California for Aaron's graduation! We fly out in 10 days!! TEN DAYS! So bizarre! I think I have just about everything I need before going to California, I just need to put it all in a bag and go! I am so happy that it is only 10 days away. I sent my last letter out yesterday. I was able to express a lot of my emotions in those letters now I'm just in this phase where I randomly get choked up. It's frustrating because it happens at random times. 

It's been a great weekend so far! I worked 10-7 yesterday. Initially I was supposed to do 10-2 but someone was ill so I worked a longer shift! I need the money anyways! Last night I went out with Jessi, Jared, and TJ. We all haven't hung out in a while so it was much needed!

So I've been on this massive wedding kick lately. I would like to point out that I am not even engaged. In the past week I have tried on rings, spent at least 5 hours looking at dresses online, and at least a few hours looking at photographer pages on Facebook. This is a very bad addiction! Arg! I wonder what Aaron would say if he knew! haha!

Since my last post, Aaron's graduation picture was posted on DevilDogs.info! He looks so handsome! I've got some positive feedback from my friends too in regards to how I "picked a good one." Carly was also very happy I left her video on her computer! :) He looks so much different in the picture compared to when he left. I can't wait to see him in person and see how much he really has changed. He looks so tan! I think that is the #1 difference I can notice so far! It's going to be so weird seeing him with no hair! I guess I shall be getting used to it because that won't be changing for a few years! 

So the rest of today will be spent working on a few homework assignments as well as possibly making a run to EyeMart. They gave me really uncomfortable contacts and I can't stand them.

I'm so happy there is only one more Sunday to go! In these next 10 days I get my hair done, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. That's a lot for 10 short days! Fingers crossed they FLY! Please God make them fly by!

For now I am going to start my homework, 

Until Next Time, Semper Fi!

Magnifico!

Make smaller countdowns to help may the big countdown go by faster! When Aaron first left for Boot all I could think about was, omg, 87 days till I get to see him again! These 87 days are going to drag on forever, I am going to be so miserable, etc! NO! You can not let yourself think like that! As soon as I started making short term countdowns of events to look forward to, it seemed as if time flew by! I'd have little stickie notes on my desk saying: 20 days till Halloween, or 4 days till the next Badger football game! It was much easier to tackle little countdowns compared to the huge scary countdown! Baby steps girls, they make everything easier!

Today was an overall an average day. It had some highs it had some lows. High! I got my American Apparel T-shirts that I ordered! This to me is always a highlight! I love having new shirts, especially amazingly soft colorful shirts! High! I went to dinner with the lovely Carly. We talked about normal girly stuff - our friends, boys, sexual things, weddings, jewelry, etc. We went to Granite City and oh boy did we have a very fast speaker waiter. High! After dinner Carly and I went to get my ring finger sized, just in case! :) Following we just looked at rings for a while. It was overall a great time. Low! I didn't get a letter today from Aaron, which is particularly sad because I've been pretty consistently getting letters on Thursdays. Hopefully one will come tomorrow! Either way, if one never comes, I get to see my boy in 14 days - 2 weeks - and that's a reason to be happy and thankful! Low! I ran out of Midol. For anyone that knows me very well, you'd know this is a very bad thing. :( 

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances - Philippians 4:11 NIV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been temped in every way, just as we are - ye was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV

I found those two verses in my Faith Deployed book. Even though Aaron is technically not deployed I find that a helpful book to keep me optimistic and know that God is always on my side, through thick and thin. He will never let me down and He is truly amazing. Never forget your relationship with Christ, even when you're weak. He is only here to help. Accept Him and let Him do beautiful things in your life!! :]

Until next time, Semper Fi!!!