134 Days

We've had a busy past couple of days!

Thursday evening, Jon and Brad got together to work out so Lisa brought Remy over so we could have some girl time and the kids could play. Arianna is such a little mommy! She didn't leave Remy's side the entire time they were over and she even got to feed him some applesauce

As for the weather out here, we're getting closer and closer to snow! We got "frozen rain" and came out this morning to an ice coated windshield on the truck

Luckily, the roads weren't too bad. Arianna and I went to the barn with my friend Stephanie. We didn't really get to interact with the horses much since the weather was so bad (and it was muddy!), but Arianna did get to see them and she also remember Stephanie. When the weather clears up a bit we're going to try to go out to the barn so I can get some good shots of Stephanie riding.

Arianna and I got home around 4:30pm. We were going to go to the store, but decided to wait until tomorrow after church. Arianna and I had been gone all day and we were all just too tired to pack up and leave the house again. About 7pm, Jon decided that we should do a Dairy Queen run which sounded too good to pass up. I took a few pictures with the point-and-shoot camera before we left.

Family picture








Silly girls






The Dairy Queen run turned into a Sonic run when we discovered that Dairy Queen was closed.





My root beer float


Arianna enjoying her Oreo Blizzard (or whatever it's called at Sonic)

When we finished the ice cream, we walked around Books A Million for a little while before coming back home. We're all getting ready to go to bed so we can get up in time for church tomorrow. This will be Arianna's first week back at the church daycare. She wasn't able to go last week because she was still sick and coughing. She's excited to see the other kids :)

133 Days

129 Days

Just stopping by to share a recipe! We've had this for dinner twice now since Jon likes it so much.

Mexican-style Shredded Chicken

1 1/2lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs ( about 4-5 )

4 cups water

1 teas. salt

1/3 teas. pepper

1/2 teas. garlic powder

1 teas. onion powder

2 teas. chili powder

1 teas. dry oregano

1/4 teas. cumin powder

Thoroughly wash your chicken and then simply add all of the ingredients to a large skillet or sauce pan big enough to hold everything. Bring it to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to low to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes with the lid cracked. You’re looking for a nice little bubble.

After about 40 minutes, most but not all of the liquid should have evaporated and the chicken should be falling apart when poked with a spoon or spatula.




Go ahead and shred it with your spatula or spoon and remove from heat to cool slightly.

You can use this in tacos, enchiladas, burritos, or on top of salad.

126 Days

It's been quite a day for our family.......

This morning was Jon's reenlistment ceremony. We all got up early and went to work with him. Arianna was a total daddy's girl the entire time and didn't want to leave his arms

Showing me their gum


Getting ready for the ceemony

Jon wanted his reenlistment ceremony to be small (he hates being the center of attention) so it was just him, myself, Arianna, the SgtMaj, and the CO. The hanger was being set up for the SgtMaj's retirement ceremony so Jon's ceremony was performed in the shop.

SgtMaj Banks reading Jon's certificate


Dedicating another 4 years to the United States Marine Corps

Sadly, right after Jon's ceremony, we were given some unfortunate news. Jon's grandfather suffered a stroke and was hospitalized last night. This was completely unexpected and it hit pretty hard. It's had being so far away when something like this happens. Jon was really upset, but he was able to clear his head enough to get through the ceremony. It absolutely amazes me how strong my husband is even when he's scared and upset.

The SgtMaj's ceremony in the hanger




Jon was part of the ceremony. He's the one marching on the end


You can barely see him in the very back on the left


Arianna clapping for the Marine Corps band

Luckily, the ceremony was not too long and I was able to give him some encouraging news as soon as it was over. Jon's mom was keeping me updated on the situation and was able to tell me that Papa was stable. The doctors did not find any bleeding in his brain and he did not feel that he needed to stay in the ICU. He's in a private room and is able to have visitors. Jon's grandma, aunt, and dad have been with him at the hospital all day while they wait on results from an MRI. His left side is affected, but he's able to speak and they said they are seeing improvement. Please keep him in your thoughts and pray that he continues to improve.

Due to the family situation, Jon just took the rest of the day off. Staying at work would have been too stressful and we were both just exhausted from the morning. We came home, had some lunch, and we're going to spend the rest of the day relaxing.

Jon with his certificate

I was given a certificate as well which I appreciated


The poem that came with the certificate




Jon took these and he liked them

124 Days

We received wonderful news today! Jon spoke with his career planner and we have orders for VA in MARCH!!!! That's three months earlier than we were originally told! We are thrilled. Our prayers have been answered and God has really blessed us.

Of course I'm a bit anxious as well. It means packing up the house, moving again (though luckily it's only 6 hours away from where we are now as opposed to 2400+ miles), finding a place to live, and settling in again. I told Jon I want to start packing now; just boxing up anything that we haven't touched or used since we got here. It will all be worth it though. This is what we wanted and we GOT IT!

Unfortunately, we got the good news as we were all getting ready to leave the house. Arianna wandered into our room last night around 2am coughing and burning up. She broke our thermometer so I had no way to take her temperature, but she felt like she was around 102-103. I gave her some Motrin and called her doctor as soon as they opened. Thankfully, they were able to get her in at 9am. The appointment was mostly uneventful. They said it's probably just a virus and all we can do is wait for it to pass. They gave us a steroid to give her over the next 3 days to help keep her lungs strong. This was our first time at the pediatrician and I really like them a lot. They were very interested in hearing what Jon and I had to say and did not give me a hard time about Arianna's shots (though I do intend to slowly start vaccinating her).

My sick (but still happy) little girl


She was 40 inches and 31 pounds

When we got home, Jon got ready for work. We originally thought he was going to be doing his reenlistment ceremony today so I got myself and Arianna ready to go, but it turns out that they're going to do it on Friday so we just stayed home. Before he left, he found some Incredible Hulk hands that one of the kids left in the garage yesterday.

I really want him to make this his Facebook picture, lol


We were talking to our neighbor when her son came outside with pudding all over his face


Then the kids decided to check our junk mail

Overall it was a good day. My poor baby is having trouble sleeping though so I need to figure out how to make her comfy.