Blast from the Past...

So a bunch of us have been uploading old pics on facebook and it's so much fun!! Some of them are so embarassing, but that makes it even better! I guess I enjoy it so much is being away from home for so long. I'm proud of who I was and who I have become. Everyone of those people and experiences have made me who I am today and I'm very grateful. Some people seem to be upset about the pics, but I really think it's funny. I guess if you've met all new people and potrayed yourself as something you aren't, you would be embarassed, but I haven't. I am who I am, a proud little wild band nerd turned conservative mommy. I like for Cameron to see old pics of me. It shows him how far I've come! haha. Well, gotta take care of stuff to prepare to move to the new house. :)

We did so good shopping on Black Friday. We got so many great deals. We bought new furniture for the new house. It's gorgeous, we are so excited. We also got some Paula Deen cookware, a printer/scanner/copier, all kinds of good stuff. We have been decorating like crazy and our house looks amazing. I will take pictures as soon as dad gets back with my camera so I can post them. It's so pretty and colorful around here and really helps to boost our spirits as we go through what will probably be our hardest Christmas so far. I wish Cameron was here. I stay strong and handle deployments surprisingly well, but occasionally I break down. I hope I can get through Christmas okay. Knowing that he is coming home in January instead of April is making it easier. October was a long month, November went by quickly once I found out that Cameron made it into the program. Hopefully December will be the same. I don't really have much to say, just wanted to try to get in the groove of doing this. OH. Friday night was SO much fun. I go out with friends once a month and we were going to Footdown, but Anna and Erica got there and it was lame so we went to WhistleStop. They were playing "NuWave" music. Lora calls it "Charlie Brown Hipster." It's super chill, you can just kind of relax and dance without worrying about weird creepo guys grinding on you. I'm not a big drinker, we've had way too much of that in my life, so I've learned that you don't have to get smashed to have fun. I can have like 2 or so drinks (I found that Malibu and Pineapple is delicious) and I'm just fine. We had so much fun. Well, Boomer needs a bath. Shih Tzus get so dirty! Gotta get to that...

Where to start...???

Well...here I am. I'm kinda scattered so I don't know if all this blogging stuff will work out for me, but sometimes I need to get stuff off my chest, so I'm gonna try. My life is simple, yet complicated and I kinda like it that way. I'm super laid back and calm. I probably don't take things as seriously as I should. I just don't see any reason for getting ALL worked up over nothing... But things that I do care about...I care A LOT. I will kill for my family and friends, but I'm a calm driver, and I'm actually pretty patient. But here's what's going on in my life.

Cameron is deployed again. This is our 4th one in 5 years. It's been kinda rough, but we are very emotionally strong and we handle it well. Trust and Love are the 2 most important things in a relationship and luckily we are super strong on both of those. He's on the USS NIMITZ, right now somewhere in the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. Of course I worry, but at least he's not "on the ground". That would be terrifying. His deployment was extended to April, but he was recently accepted into a program to become a Naval Officer so he will come home in January or February to start school. After going to college for 3 years, he will be commissioned. That is the biggest blessing ever. He is amazing. He's like Einstein or Jimmy Neutron. I'm so proud of him. He is too good to me.

Jaxon is 3. He is truly a precious child. I couldn't ask for any better. He's our little miracle. I was actually diagnosed infertile at 18 years old and had 3 different doctors tell me that year that I probably wouldn't have kids at all, and if I did it would take fertility treatments. So we basically gave up and decided to wait a few years til we were more settled. We got pregnant right around our 1st wedding anniversary and it was such a surprise!! Pregnancy was rough, but I wouldn't give anything for him. When I was in labor, his heart rate dropped and my blood pressure dropped 3 times before the docs finally decided to do a c section. He was born July 5, 2006 at 11:35pm. He didn't breathe for 3 minutes, but ever since then he has been the healthiest child you can imagine. The very first time I left him, he was one month old and I left him with a friend while I drove to get Cameron on base. I was ran off the road by a crazy car and totaled our 2004 chevy cavalier. The entire back window shattered and landed in his empty carseat. So yeah, he's a miracle. He's extremely funny, and is getting bigger everyday. I can't wait for Cameron to get home to see how much he's grown. Maybe next year we will have better luck making him a little brother or sister, he's been asking for one for a few months now, but we kinda have to have daddy for that!

Right now, We live in a 5 bedroom house in a suburb of San Diego. We love it so very much but we will be moving soon to a smaller house, not far from here, in Spring Valley. Right now we split the rent with mom and dad, $1250 each (SD is expensive) but my daddy has pancreatic cancer and we don't know how much longer he will be able to work because he is getting worse. The last year has been a tough one, but it's been such a blessing. My dad went through rehab from June 2008-October 2008. He quit drinking then moved back to San Diego and got an amazing job and we moved to this house. We had some amazing times with him being sober and healthy, but then he started getting sick a lot. He finally went to the doc and after several tests, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in July. He went through one round of chemo which was the most awful and painful thing I have ever witnessed. The chemo did slightly shrink the main tumor, but the cancer had already spread to his liver and stomach so instead of going through that painful course again, he decided to just work, live, love and do the best he can and honestly that is the best thing for him. He has been extremely strong. He hasn't missed a whole day of work yet. He gets up every morning to go work on the elevators around town. Sometimes he has to come home early and take a nap because he gets weak easily, but he won't give up and I really respect that. Right now he is in Alabama visiting our family for Thanksgiving. He gets to go hunting and he's really excited about that. I'm so glad he got to go.

My mom is the strongest woman you will ever meet. She went through a lot while my dad was drinking and she never showed weakness. A few years ago she was diagnosed with lupus. It's mostly in her joints and she hurts a lot but she is still really tough. Some days she can barely get out of bed, but she stays tough and keeps the family together. I love her very much.

My Grandaddy and Granny have stayed with us for most of this year but they will be going back to Alabama in January. I hate to see them go back and be taken advantage of by my cousins, but that's what they want, so there's nothing more we can do to help.

My sister is 19 years old and is finally straightening herself out. She was kinda wild for a while, but she is engaged to an amazing guy, Marcell. He's in the Navy with Cameron. Lora is going to San Diego Career College to be a Medical Assistant. I'm proud of her and I hope she keeps on this path. Lora and Marcell will move to San Antonio later this year and we will miss them, but I'm sure they will be back.

We are super excited to move to our new house in January. I love this house so much, but the new one will be nice too. It's a brand new 2010 model manufactured home, never been lived in. We have tons of decorating ideas. It will be kind of hard to downsize like that, but we will do what we have to do to stay together as a family. We all really need each other right now.

That's about it for now. We are waking up super early to go shopping at the NEX. We are buying new furniture for the new house. :) Then coming home to do more Christmas decorating, hanging out with some friends and eating tons of leftovers while watching the Iron Bowl (ROLL TIDE!), then getting dressed to go out tomorrow night. I have 2 really great friends here in San Diego, Anna and Erica. They have accepted me (the boring mommy!) into their group. I can't go out often, I have a lot of family stuff to take care of but I have started going out once a month to "FOOT DOWN", just to hang out and dance. It's a blast and I can't wait! When Cameron gets home, he's SO going with me. He will LOVE it.

YAY YAY YAY! SHOPPING! :)