Coke Zero with a shot of cherry and a shot of vanilla....

When Chris commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps I was about as proud of him as I have ever been. I was also just about as unsure about the future as I have ever been. I knew he would do six months of The Basic School in Quantico, Virginia but after that our future was a black hole. I packed up and moved to Virginia a few months after Chris started his training and I spent 2 whole days in our new apartment all alone. Then God blessed me in a way I never could have imagined. Chris called from work one day to tell me ,"Deboy and Ellison's wives are gonna take you out today". Ummm...ok...cool. What should I wear? What are their names? What if they don't like me?

I had these thoughts for a few hours but they dissipated about 15 seconds after I met Clare and Tara. The two amazing women have become such beautiful inspirations and supports in my life. They introduced me to Brittany, Sarah and Caitlin. And the rest is history. We talked, cooked, went to lunch, took our pack of dogs to the beach, went to WaWa a billion times a week for Coke Zeros, shopped,sang karaoke, stayed up late watching movies and playing wii while our tired husbands slept (sometimes they slept inside sometimes they were gone for whole weeks in the field). We discussed life, love, faith and the Marine Corps. We became a family. I am proud to say these women have made me a better person.

When the six months in Virginia ended we were scattered to the winds. Me to Yuma, Caitlin stayed in Virginia but now lives in San Diego, Tara spent time in Oklahoma but now lives in North Carolina, Brittany was with Tara in Oklahoma but now she lives down the block from Caitlin in San Diego. Clare and Sarah were lucky enough to both be stationed in Hawaii. Can you tell how large and yet how small the Marine Corps family is? Do you need a flow chart to remember all the places we have lived? Yea....me too!

This week I am thrilled beyond belief to be heading to Hawaii to visit Clare and Sarah. It will be a recharge for my soul to see these ladies and catch up on life. The only sad part is that all six of us can't be together for this week. (Don't worry! Reunion in the works for the fall!) I will try to update you on the gorgeous Hawaiian adventures I will be having but until then here are some pictures of our time together in Virginia!

So here we are Brittany, Sarah, Caitlin, Me, Tara and Clare.

A pretty classic photo of some classy ladies after a few drinks at Firkin.A little jumping photo action in Baltimore. Sarah, myself and Clare at the midnight release of Twilight (we were all obsessed).After the guys graduated from The Basic School.80's night karaoke for Tara's birthday.Sarah and I with some fire power on Family Day.Self photo skills in Baltimore. And the men who brought us all together!

Olive Oil

Sauce on the Side

The past week has been very busy, sadly not all with exciting blog-worthy activities. However, as always, I will share them anyway! HA, so there.

Saturday I spent several hours washing the Jeep Cherokee. This I consider to be a favor to my husband, even though he is a million miles away and won't be home for 3 more months. I am an adult so I can admit my short comings (well, some of them) and taking care of cars has never been my strong suit. Sure I will throw out all the collected trash every few months and run them through a car wash if I have the right cash on hand. It is Chris who changes the oil and filters and makes sure he lovingly washes and vacuums the vehicles. So, spending the greater part of a Saturday cleaning every nook and cranny is indeed a gift for my beloved. It did feel good to accomplish it and the car looks wonderful...for now.

Saturday evening I watched the girls while their Mom and Dad went on a date. I spend 50 hours a week with them but have never fed them dinner or put them down for bed. It was a lovely evening. They had spaghetti and pineapple for dinner, took a bath and played with rubber duckies and then we watched Snow White on the Disney Channel. They had Cheerios, I had popcorn. They are too cute and I love to snuggle them!

Sunday I drove two hours round trip to El Centro to go shoe shopping...are you beginning to grasp the reality of me living in a small town? I HAD to get to a real shoe store and there is a DSW in El Centro so off I went. 5 pairs of shoes and 20 minutes wasted in the line for the boarder control checkpoint I was home and happy!

Also this week. Paperwork. Why is it that all the paperwork pertaining to our lives and cars and household always comes around while Chris is away? I think he is paying someone off to set it up in this manner. This paperwork includes, but is not limited to, renewing our lease, figuring out how to keep our Colorado car registration while living in Arizona (military loopholes people!) getting my name changed on my passport (umm...2 years of marriage you think I would have done it by now) finishing our taxes and ordering copies of Chris' college transcripts for a packet he needs to complete. Did I mention our office is a train wreck? Well it is,it hasn't been cleaned or set-up properly since we moved in, who can even find the paperwork amidst the mess. Next year it is all you baby...have fun.

This weekend I watched my friend Bekah's dog Bailey while her husband and she ran the LA marathon (yes, she is a rock star). My dogs LOVE Bailey and it basically a play fest 24/7 when they are together. Except Sunday afternoon when they were to tired to even stand and this was the scene of doggie exhaustion littering my household.

Random- Saw this creepy van in the Albertson's parking lot. I expected a creepy man to offer me some candy or ask me to help find his lost puppy...

And, to wrap up this weeks Sauce here are some too cute pictures of the girls. Seriously, I love these girls.

Drool

Sauce on the Side

This week there has been a lot of drool thus far.The twins are teething and also fighting colds so they are leaking from pretty much every place. Poor kids. Poor Jen. If there is one thing a one year old does not like it is having their nose wiped. When you are one year old a sick day looks pretty much the same as when you are 24 years old. Here is Mckenna enjoying her mountain of pillows and blankets while watching utterly too much television.

This week I have read the venerable P.D Eastman's The Alphabet Book no less than a zillion times. Taylor loves to be read to and that rocks. What does not rock is that out of the twenty or so books surrounding her she always seems to pick this one. She brings it to me, holds it in her outstretched hand and thrusts it towards me, making a sound I can only assume means, "read this now or die". I mean anyone who can't do any better for the letter J than to say "Juggler with Jack-o'-lanterns" deserves to live a sad and lonely life. The following are the faces of Taylor.

First- If I read said book. Second-If I don't read said book What would you do? Yeah, I thought so...I read the book too.

Also, in more exciting news. We have been playing in box forts all week. The gals got new big girl car seats this weekend so I am a lucky nanny because boxes make the best toys! Here we are indulging in some box time.

It was 83 degrees here in Yuma yesterday. Yes, folks it heats up quickly here in the "dessert southwest" (this is what the local news team calls it to sound better than "hot as hell no-place town") However, hot weather means new hot weather clothing (there has to be an up side to 83 degrees in early March). So I headed to Old Navy and got some cute new sundresses. Here is the bottom of one of them, sorry I haven't repainted my toenails yet.

This week I was looking for a pair of earrings and they were no where to be found. In my search I did find a whole box of jewelry that my Mama helped me pack when I left Fort Collins (so January of 2009) It was like finding treasure! Things I forgot I even owned...maybe I own too much stuff? Anyway, I found this locket which was given to me by one of my oldest and dearest friends, Lainey, when I moved from Pennsylvania to Colorado in 8th grade. It still means a lot to me even now, as does her friendship. I am lucky to have so many friends that stand the test of time!

Mckenna is walking now. Full on, not holding onto anything, not freaking out every step walking. It is amazing but it still catches me off guard when all of a sudden she just toodles across the room. Growing up is crazy stuff!

And there you have it. This week's sauce.

Happy St.Patrick's Day!