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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Tips for a Successful Re-Deployment

Joe has now been home for almost a month and it has been amazing to have it home. I wanted to share with you some tips for a successful re-deployment. I did my best to have everything ready and planned for his homecoming and of course there were some hiccups, but in my opinion everything went perfect.

1. Have the house stocked with your soldiers favorite food - Joe and I have very different tastes in food. So I made sure that the house was stocked with his favorite foods. It is easy to forget about this and it is a very nice touch to make sure that his favorites is waiting for him when he gets home. They travel for almost a day, so food in the house is a must.

2. Make the perfect Sign - I searched the internet looking for the perfect sign. I looked at everything from random google searches, Pinterest, to Instagram. I invited Mal over (her artistic talents are amazing) and we made the best sign ever! It even made the front page of the Ft. Carson paper. Having a sign is a great and easy way for your soldier to find you in the crowd.

3. Find a great outfit - It always shocks me that you go to re-deployments and no one is dressed up. Your soldier has been gone for 9months to a year, you would think you would want to look good for him. It's also a place that you might meet his boss and his co-workers. I searched a ton of websites looking for a dress and ended up going with a Loft dress that I found on clearance for less then $30. 

4. Bring someone with you to take pictures - I hired a photographer, but you can also just bring a friend to take some pictures! This is a special day and you will want to remember it. You can see some of the photos here. 

5. Let your soldier sleep - Joe traveled for over 24 hours and he was tired. This is normal. It's going to be tough to sit there as he sleeps but it will be worth it to give him some time to rest. I was able to adjust my schedule to work really early in the morning so that by the time the redeployment ceremony was over I was exhausted as well. 

Re-Deployment is a very exciting and stressful time. Be flexible and just go with the flow. 

Do you have any re-deployment tips?

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Cheers to Mal!!

This week I am sending my cheers to my good friend Mallory! Mal Smiles was one of the very first blogs that I ever followed. Mal has always been one of the kindest people in the blogging world. She has given me advice on how to get the most out of blogging and how to make my blog the best it can be.

Mal / Kaitlyn / Stephanie 

It was a very fortunate turn of events when her husband DLW got stationed at Ft. Carson. I admire Mal's commitment to work, she moved to Colorado a month early so that she was able to maintain a career as a teacher, while still being a supportive army wife. Mal and I moved around the same time and she was one of the biggest supporters during Joe's deployment.

It was so nice to learn that we have a ton in common.  Mal and I both love to do anything outdoors and active. We have hiked up the incline and ran a 10K. We are also able to just hang out. It is nice to have a go to friend here in Colorado. Since Joe has returned we have been able to hang out as couples. Joe and DLW also have lots in common and they also have become friends. 

So cheers to you Mal! Thank you for being a great friend. Here is to many more years of friendship! 

Link up with Casey for Cheers not Jeers! 

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I'm Running a Marathon!!

I am excited and very nervous to share, that I am RUNNING A MARATHON!!! Joe and I will be running the Walt Disney World Marathon. This will be my 3rd Run Disney event and I am very excited that it will be my first full marathon. I always knew that I wanted it to be my first. (maybe my only)

I can't believe that a few months ago, Joe and I decided it would be a great idea to run a marathon. Looking back on it, I have no idea why we thought that. I have always wanted to run at least one marathon and I am so happy that I am going to be able to share this run with Joe, my biggest supporter. But after my last 1/2 Marathon  I was having second thoughts.

Nothing about running feels right here in Colorado. I can't make it past 2 miles without wanting to turn around and walk home. The furthest run I have done here in Colorado is a 10 mile run. I have a long way to go and not a whole lot of time to prep. I am really hoping that I can get out and put in the miles need to run a successful marathon. Wish me luck!

Have you ever ran a marathon?
Do you have any cold weather running tips?

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Easy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I will be the first to admit that I am not much of a cook. So, I take pride when I can actually make something good. I am going to share with you a super easy, crock pot, pulled pork recipe.

• 3-5 lbs of pork shoulder 
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1/2 head of garlic 
• 1 cup of chicken stock
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• Barbecue sauce

Instructions 

1. In a small bowl mix all spices (cinnamon, cumin, brown sugar, chili powder, and salt) together. 

2. Slice the onions and garlic into thin slices and add to the bottom of the crock pot. Pour the chicken stock over the onions and garlic. 

3. Pat pork shoulder dry with a paper towel, place on top of onions and garlic,  and add the spices to the  pork. I treated it like a rub. 

4. Cook the pork on high for 6-8 hours. I checked mine at 7 hours and it was perfect! 

5. Remove the pork shoulder from the crock pot and on to a cutting board and strain the remaining onion mixture and keep the juice and throw out the onions (you can keep the onions if you would like). Shred the pork with 2 forks and add the shredded pork back to the crock pot. Add the stained juice and barbecue sauce to the crock pot at cook for another hour on low. 

6. Once the pork is done add it to buns with more barbecue sauce to taste and enjoy! 

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Re-Deployment Pictures are Here!

I am so happy that I have a few photos from the Re-Deployment from my fabulous Photographer Kristi Anne! I am so happy with the way the photos came out and I can't wait to have our outdoor shoot with her. Thank you Kristi for being apart of our re-deployment. Hope you enjoy the photos!

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Five on Friday!!

It is finally Friday! Yesterday felt like eternity because it snowed here and that snow turned into ice on the roads which turned my hour drive to work into a lovely 4 hour drive. I loved working in the snow, but the drive sucks. But, that is behind me and hopefully our roads don't turn into ice every time it snows. Let me share 5 happy things that happened to me this past week! 

1. Last Saturday Mal, Joe, and I ran a 10K! It was a good wake up to Joe and I reminding us that we have a Marathon coming up in January. The course was tough and actually closer to 7 miles then to 6.2 miles. But we all finished it and it was a free race, so it was a good time. 

2. Then on Sunday Mal and Dan came over to watch some football and eat some food. This was the first weekend Joe got to meet two of my favorite people here! It is so nice to have a couple  that we can go out and do things with! I made some yummy pulled pork sliders that will be up on the blog on Monday. Joe grilled up some wings and Mal brought the best veggie mix that we threw on the grill and it was so perfect. 

3. On Monday Joe got his wisdom teeth removed and we spent all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at home just relaxing. It was so nice to be able to do nothing. On Tuesday I got the most beautiful little flowers sent to the house with a note from Joe thanking me for taking care if him. How sweet is he that even when he is in pain he still puts me first. I think he is a keeper. 

4. With all of my free time on Tuesday, I decided to redo my blog. I was over the summer theme that I had going on and put together what you see today! I really like it and hope you do too! I think it is a design that will grow with me. I was thinking about hiring someone to do it for awhile but just played around with a few things and less then an hour later it was done! 

5. Last but no least! Some of my photos from Kristi arrived! I am so excited to share some with you tomorrow and through out the week! But here is one of my favorites. Who doesn't need a photo of shoes right? 

I really hope this snow stops and I can get back to my normal life. Ha I hope you all have a great weekend! 

      

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