2013 in Review

First, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Last year was filled with many good times, challenges, and changes.

January

I rang in the New Year with Joe at the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! I was living in Los Angeles and able to spend so much valuable time with my family. During this time I was working 2 jobs and flying back and forth to visit Joe in Arizona. 

2013 New Years

February 

February came around quickly and marked the beginning of Joe's 9 month deployment. It was so difficult to say goodbye to my best friend. I wasn't sure how I was going to handle the deployment or even where my relationship with Joe would go. I am so happy that I was able to be home with my family during this tough time. A few days after Joe left, I celebrated my 27 birthday at Disneyland with my Family by my side. 

The day Joe left

My 27th Birthday

March 

I spent most of March working and started sending Joe his care packages. I worked 7 days a week and began to make working out a priority. All of my free time was spent with my family and I could be found at Disneyland at least once a week. 

My first care package

April 

I decided that I would make small trips to visit my friends and I visited Nikki, one my close friends, in Vegas! We spent most of our time baking and hiking. I had a blast and it really helped take my mind off of the deployment. Her husband was deployed at the time as well, so it was nice to talk to someone who knew what I was going through. This is also when I started to see some results from all of my hours at the gym.

Nikki and I hiking in Vegas

May

May was one of the best months of the year. I pushed my working out into high gear to prepare for a trip to Hawaii to visit my best friend from college, Amanda. I spent time with my sisters exploring the Los Angeles area and crossing off things that I wanted to do. Of course we spent many days at Disneyland, but we also hiked to the Hollywood Sign, and went horse back riding! May was also the month that I began to Blog!!!

My sister and I hiking at the Hollywood Sign

Horse Back Riding with my sisters

Stevee, Amanda, and I in Hawaii 

My sister and I on top of Koko Head

June 

Next on my list of people to visit was my amazing friend Brittany! We met up in San Antonio, TX to go wedding dress shopping. I will be in her wedding this year and I had so much fun going dress shopping with her. June also was when I decided that I needed to try out microdermebrassion. I ended the month with surgery on my eye. 

Britt and I with her dress!!! I can't wait to post a pic of it. 

I'm so LA! 

July

Most of my time in July was spent working at Van Nuys Airport! I loved every moment of my time there. The people I worked with became my friends. Going to work was fun and I never was bored. I enjoyed the summer at Disney and loved food truck fridays. I received a job offer from Denver International Airport mid July, so I packed up my stuff and traveled to Colorado!! I had an amazing road trip with my mom. 

Just another day at work!

I love food Trucks!

Somewhere between CA and CO!

I made it to Colorado!

August 

I started my job at Denver International Airport. I also met my blogging friend and real life friend Mal!! We have been good friends since. 

Denver International Airport

Mal and I at a race we ran in Nov

September 

The time had finally arrived for my 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland! I ran the race with my mom and sister. 

Disneyland 1/2 Marathon 2013

October 

I spent most of my time working at DIA. I was finally signed off! 

November 

Joe finally came home!! I was able to successfully fill up my time with trips, work, and working out. I was beyond thrilled to have Joe home and I am so thankful for what he, and all other men and women, do for our country. The deployment was long and stressful, but it made up closer then ever. We hired a photographer to capture this special day!

Joe and I

December

Joe and I traveled to Iceland and had my family over for the holidays! Iceland was amazing and I will be sharing pictures over the next few days. We hiked on a glacier, went in a lava tube, swam in the blue lagoon, and saw the north lights. We got back home a week later my parents and sisters came to visit. 

Iceland!

Thank you Joe for this year. Although most of it was spent away, you were always there for me. I love you and I can't wait to see what next year brings. 

Thank you family, for being my rock. I will always treasure the trips to Disneyland and all of the fun moments we shared in LA. 

Thank you friends, for the amazing trips and for supporting me when I needed someone to talk to at night. 

And lastly, thank you readers! I truly believe that this blog and all of the encouragement that I have received from it helped me get through the deployment and this past year. 

I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2014 and I am excited to continue to blog and share my journey with you all! 

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Things I am Missing!

I have been here in Colorado for just over 2 months and time is flying. I am really enjoying my time here in Colorado, I have met new friends (some bloggy friends turned real life friends; Mallory, Kaitlyn, and Hannah!), started a new dream job, put our new house together, and am trying to get back on a running schedule. Life here has been very busy and fulfilling. But I would be lying if I told you that I didn't think about life in LA every single day!

Here are a few things that I am missing about California:
My Family- I miss having someone to always go to the store with me, go to a movie, or just hang out with.

My old job and co-workers- I loved working at the airport on the field. I miss the tight group of friends that I gained from my job, both inside and outside of the work place. I always had Ana to work out with and be my bestie, Brenda to talk about aviation stuff, and Mereca to remind me what it means to be young and have fun! I worked with so many amazing people and I miss those days! I also miss seeing celebrities every day (Josh Duhmel, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Levine I am talking about you).

I miss Disneyland! - I am really missing just getting up and going to Disneyland. It was always an option, even if it was just a few hours! I spend countless hours with my family making memories. I loved every minute of it. I miss trying to get all of the character signatures, I miss training for the Disneyland Marathon with my sister, I miss late nights watching fireworks. I miss it all. 

I miss the Food! - Food Truck Friday was my favorite day of the week! There is nothing better then just heading to the food trucks to try all kinds of fun and different types of food all out of a truck! There was also a really great breakfast joint near my house that I am really craving! I also miss the amazing farmers markets. I loved all of the fresh from the field produce, it made my green drinks so good. 

The list really could go on, I miss home. 

What have you been missing lately?

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California to Colorado - H54F

This week has been so much fun. I was lucky enough to get to go back home to LA for the weekend to spend some time with my family. Mid week I was back to Colorado and back to reality. This week I am linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for H54F! 

1. The main reason for my trip to LA was to run the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon with my mom and sister. You can read the recap of the race here. I am so happy that I was able to run a race with both my mom and my sister. 

2. On Monday, my parents took my middle sister to back to college and I got to spend the entire day with my little sister. We started the day at the Aquarium of the Pacific, took a boat ride in Long Beach, then met some aviation friends for dinner. It was so much fun to spend the day with her. 

3. Tuesday morning I woke up way too early and caught a flight back home to Colorado. LAX was a nightmare, the TSA line was a 2 hour wait. I got in to Denver around 10am and went straight to work. I had a 12 hour shift at work but spending the weekend with my family made it so worth it. 

4. I love Joe! He is the best. I causally said that I really like Justin Timberlake and that I would love to see his concert. I didn't think much of it, but Joe surprised me with tickets to his 20/20 Concert in Denver!! I am so excited and so spoiled. 

5. I received my VoxBox this week! It was actually filled with a ton of really great products and I can't wait to do a few product reviews. 

My new schedule is kind of amazing/sucks. I work 4 days a week 10 hour days, which means I have 3 days off a week in a row! But...My work week is Friday to Monday. So, tomorrow is my "Monday". So long weekends, it was good knowing you. 

What was your highlight of the week?

I hope you have a great weekend! 

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#NOtivation - What I love about RunDisney

My Disneyland 1/2 Marathon is this weekend! I can't believe how it just snuck up on me. Since the move I have not really had much time to train. But I don't think it will be an issue because it is a RunDisney race. This will be the second 1/2 that I have ran with the RunDisney program. I would like to share with you why I choose RunDisney.

• I LOVE Disney - If you are a regular reader of mine you know that I love everything Disney. It is no secret. How can you not enjoy a 13.1 mile run with all things Disney around you.

• The race is FUN - From the moment you check into the race at 4:30am to the very end of the race you are entertained. There is great music to get you pumped, live shows as you are running the race, characters to take pictures with along the 13.1 miles (great way to catch your breath), ChEARSquads to keep you motivated, and a ton of other amazing things. 

• It is a whole weekend event - The fun really starts on Friday with a Disney Health and Wellness Expo. This is a great event to see the latest and greatest in the running world and just to check out another creative event hosted by the most creative company in the world. There is never a dull moment. 

• There is a race for everyone - Every race weekend there is a race for every skill level and type. For the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon weekend, there is the 1/2 Marathon, a 10K, a 5K and a Kids run. They make their race weekends very Family Friendly. 
• ChEARSquad - This is a program that is for your family and friends who are their to cheer you on. It gives them seating, t-shirts, and other goodies. It is great way to get young kids involved that are not able to run the race. 

I will be sure to post some pictures next week and update you all on how I did! 

Today, I am curing  #NOtivation and linking up with Mal from Mal Smiles and Hallie from LIfe: Oceanside!

Do you know of any Race Programs I should try?

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Disneyland - Care Package

I am so excited to finally have another care package post. I have been totally slacking in the care package department. When Joe first deployed, I was sending a care package once every two weeks. But, after the move and starting a new job, I think it has been almost a month. Hopefully, I will be able to get back to at least once every three weeks. I made sure to make this care package a good one. I have a bunch of really awesome things in my mind of what a great care package should be, but most of my ideas really take some time and planning. I knew from the moment that I got my Joe Doll, that I needed to take him to Disneyland! It is my favorite place in California and it gave me an excuse to take a picture with all of the characters (not that I needed one).

The finished box!

My main idea for this box as to go to the park and get as many signatures in an autograph book and get a picture with me, Joe Doll, and the character. It was so much fun and everyone was so thankful for what Joe is doing. My sister and I were able to get the book filled up by noon! Later this week I will share with you another secret of Disneyland and how I got to meet all of the characters. But for now, here are a few of my favorite pictures.

Back to the box,  I went to Michaels and found some really cute paper and stickers. I decided that I would put Disney quotes on the main flaps of the box and I even put some on the outside of the box (there were way to many good ones that I couldn't leave out). 

Inside of this box I put the following items:

• An autograph book with signatures and pictures
• Chocolate and caramel popcorn from the park
• Mickey Mouse rice crispy treat
• Chip and Dale Pretzels
• Mickey Mouse head shaped "gold fishes" (Joe loves Gold Fish)
• Candy from the Candy Shop at Disneyland (Joe's favorite, Candy Corn) 
• Cookies, Crackers, and all kinds of snacks
• More water enhancers, Mio
• More wipes 

The autograph book couldn't have came out any better. I loved that the characters where all very excited about the Joe Doll and some even left personalized "thank you" notes to him. 

This is one of my favorite boxes that I have done. Disneyland is my favorite place to go and I am so happy I was able to share that with Joe. We will be going to Disney World early January and I am planning on getting an autograph book there and getting pictures with all of the characters with me and the real Joe! 

Check out my other Boxes:

• Favorite Sports Team
• Oh the places we will go
• Honey, I Shrunk the Care Package
• Zombies are Coming
• 4th of July
• Hello Summer

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High 5 for Friday!! - Last time in LA :(

This week has flown by! I can't believe it is already Friday and I move on Monday. I am no where near where I should be on the packing department, but I'm ok with that. It is also my last day at my current job. This whole week has been like the last week of college. You know that feeling you get when you know there are things that could be done, but you just can't seem to focus.

1. I started the week off at my favorite place on earth... Disneyland. I took my two sisters and we had a blast.
2. My new Mac Book Pro! I have been going back and forth on if I really needed a new laptop, my current Mac Book won't really hold a charge. I got it while I was in college, so it was time for a change. There is no better love/hate feeling then treating yourself to a nice gift.
3. After working a block away from the famous lights at the LACMA I finally wen to go take the require picture. It is so neat to see all of those street post at night.
4. Food Trucks!! I love Food Trucks - I was told by a good friend that I criticized his choice of eating at a food truck once. I don't remember this story, but if it did happen, it was because he was eating a regular old food truck. But these trucks are special. They have amazing food in them. I was so happy the other day that I have a girls night with Ana tonight to go to one last Food Truck Friday.
5. Denver International Airport here I come. I am so excited that I will be working at DIA. It's so amazing to be able to do what I went to school for AND be in the same area as Joe.

So many other amazing things happened this week, but the link up is 5 things. I also have so many fun things planned for my last weekend in LA. I hope I can fit in all in.

 I hope you have an amazing weekend! 

Link up with Lauren Elizabeth of H54F!

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Sister Time - Disneyland

 

My favorite place to visit in LA is DISNEYLAND! I am slightly obsessed...ok who am I trying to fool, I am OBSESSED! I am currently an annual passport holder and have had either a Disney World or Disneyland annual pass for as along as I can remember! I grew up at Disneyland and spent most of my college years at Disney World. I ran my first half marathon at Disney World and will run my first marathon there. I love that my family will often meet up at Disneyland on a random night just to go hang out for a few hours and it is very evident that we all really enjoy our time together. This past Saturday I went with my sisters for a sister day at Disney and we had a blast! 

We arrived around 5pm and to our surprise, it wasn't too busy! Stevette and Stevee where able to get on the water rides that they have been wanting to go on for awhile now and I got to sit back and enjoy my favorite (Joe's Favorite) snack. It's always nice to have a pass because you don't have to feel like to have to get everything done. We have been trying to go on the rides that we haven't gone on in awhile.

 

We ate some dinner then headed over to Cars Land. Our favorite land has to be Cars Land! We love the rides and the best time to visit Cars Land is at night! Disney did an amazing job with the details (as Always). 

After cars land we headed over to the other side of California Adventures and took some photos with some characters. 

 We made it to Disneyland just in time to catch the fireworks! Everyone, including Joe doll, tried their luck at the Sword in the Stone. Then we went on a few rides and called it a night! I am so lucky and blessed to have such a great relationship with my sister and have the ability to do fun things on "just another night!" We will be heading back to Disneyland one final time this Saturday to make some more memories before I leave.  AND as an extra bonus, I will be back for a weekend of Disney fun and running Aug 29- Sept 2 for another 1/2 Marathon at Disneyland!

 

What is your favorite theme park?

Are you obsessed with anything and everything Disney?

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