2011 Retrospect

Last year I wrote a 2010 Retrospect entry and I think it is only fitting to do one for 2011!! I love writing these entries because I look at most of it and go "Wow, that happened this year? It seems like ages ago." Time sure does fly...


JANUARY



Ryan experienced his first Swedish Christmas and we rang in the New Year with friends and family in New Jersey.
I met two fellow bloggers for the first time, Kaylee from Moore Kaylee and Holly from Semper Fi to Apple Pie
I did my first Vlog.
My cousin Christie gave birth to our family's first great-grandchild Kimmie.
And we sadly lost Ryan's amazing grandfather unexpectedly after a brain aneurysm. He was a wonderful man and his presence is very missed in this family.



FEBRUARY



The re-enlistment debate takes off in full force.
I did one of my most favorite guest posts ever... hint: it involves Disney!
I used Groupon for the first time to go to the DC International Wine Festival as a surpise for Ryan on Valentine's Day.
Ryan turned 23
My surgery , breast reduction from 36DDD to 36C, that was supposed to be in January happened at the end February. I had a whole slew of guest posts including my husband.

MARCH



I wrote a post about what I was like in high school *shudder*
My cousin Kim gave birth to a beautiful boy named Gabriel
Cherry Blossoms bloomed and my best friend came to visit
25 Facts (out of 100) about me
We began to panic as Ryan's re-enlistment was drawing closer and it was not a good time for use to EAS...

APRIL



Six weeks post-surgery I did a Before and After picture post
I posted facts 26-100 about me
Ryan's re-enlistment/MOS change finally starts to go through!
My car just had to get a little more banged up....
And I watched part of the Royal Wedding because Ryan forgot his keys!



MAY



Ryan and I had our first Wedding Anniversary!
I met some AMAZING ladies at the Milblog Conference!
I went to a Beauty Boot Camp for MilSpouses... appreciation!
My little brother got his black belt in tae kwon do
Thanks to google searches my Yoga entry takes over my blog stats! It is to date one of my most popular entries!
Ryan RE-ENLISTS for five more years! Whew!
A snake climbed up our apartment
I go to Arlington Cemetary alone on Memorial Day to say thanks, and see the president drive by

JUNE



I made some delicious fried oreos for the first time
I found some important things NOT to say to a military spouse
We went on our first big married vacation, a week in Myrtle Beach, SC. It was so big it took me four separate entries to write about it!



JULY



We spent the 4th of July together and went to Mount Vernon
Ryan's Orders officially came in
And we made the difficult decision that I would stay in Virginia and he would go to 29 Palms, CA
We dogsat for Molly and I freaked out when she ate my birth control...
And I saw my FAVORITE artist Josh Groban in concert!



Ryan left July 31st for 8 months (now 9)



AUGUST



I wrote about Ryan's last week home and our trip to Busch Gardens, The Marine Corps Museum, and his going away party
Carrie and I started to become uber close and explored Mount Vernon and King Street
I took my first Solo Venture to the Irish Festival
At 23 years old I experienced my first earthquake... in Virginia!
My Poppy turned 89 and I went to visit
Hurricane Irene hit



SEPTEMBER



I rediscovered the amazingness of a first kiss
We went to LAS VEGAS for Labor Day weekend!
I turned 24
It was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11
Nationals Game!!
For a surprise for Ryan I did a sexy boudoir shoot



I got to shoot my first national commercial



For a change I dyed my hair red

OCTOBER



I slacked on blogging so I wrote a catch up entry about visiting NJ, swimming twice a week and loving pintrest
My commercial aired



Another big entry for me was my USMC Ball Dos and Don'ts
Ryan came home on leave for two weeks



NOVEMBER



I drove up to NJ to see my mom and won tickets to see Miranda Lambert!
After some debate I went completely back to blonde



Ryan and I attended the 236th USMC Birthday Ball in Palm Springs (Student Ball)
Thanksgiving meant Ryan was home and we went up to NJ to see my family




DECEMBER



Ryan got promoted to Sergeant
Carrie and I went to lay wreaths at Arlington Cemetary
Roller Coaster hosted the Milspouse Blog Swap
I visited the Tear of Grief
500 posts!
Plus the best Christmas present ever.... Rylie!




All in all it was a pretty great year, but I am excited to see what 2012 will bring!!!

Meet Rylie

Last year we spent Christmas with my family in New Jersey. This year we drove down to South Carolina to spend it with Ryan's family. I had to work until 5pm, so we did not get on the road until 5:30pm on Friday for an 8 hour drive. We only stopped once to switch drivers, eat, and get gas before we were on the road again, arriving in South Carolina at about 1am. As soon as we get in the door Ryan stops me in the living room saying, "I have to go to the bathroom!"

I looked at him oddly and said, "Oook. Go ahead." Oddball :P He doesn't need my permission to go! But he barrels out of the living room as I say hi to my mother in law. Suddenly he is back holding a tiny ball of fluff with a red ribbon.

"Sorry she is early, I don't think I could keep her hidden until Christmas."

A puppy!

Oh. My. God.





We sat right on the floor together as Lil Miss Sugarbee proceeded to chew off her red ribbon and give us snuggles. Oh she is so adorable.



I totally did not see it coming. We had talked about it just a few weeks before when he was asking me what I wanted for Christmas. Jokingly I said "A puppy, but you know that!" and he quickly shot me down. So quick that I was actually a little hurt by his tone! But he told me later he thought I guessed (or my sister in law told me!) and was panicking! He had picked Rylie out online in South Carolina while still in California. My mother in law then drove two hours to get her and bring her home the day before we arrived so she would be there waiting for me. Love them all!





Rylie is a combination of our names, Ryan and Allie. It was a joke we had for ages about how celebrities have their names combined in the media (see TomKat, Bennifer etc) and loved that our names actually made a decent name. We didn't want to name a child that way, but we had no shame in doing it to a dog! So Rylie has been dubbed for ages before she even existed!





So far she naps quite a bit, pup is only 2 months old as of December 25th! She will run around like crazy and then pass out snuggled in our arms or somewhere else in a cute position.



These daytime naps sadly do make her wake up at night wanting to play. After we thought we got it out of her system the first night she was up at 3am to go outside. Ryan gallantly took the first run. I got the second one at 8am. One night she did sleep from about midnight until almost 8, but she usually has to get up once or twice during the night. They say at her age it tends to be every five hours that they need to go outside. Oooh boy. Rylie is in for a schock, Virginia is a lot colder than South Carolina!!





Rylie is also teething, so she looooves to chew everything! Including us! We are trying to encourage "No Bites" but sometimes she gets caught up in the moment.





We made a little nest in the back seat for her on the 8 hour drive home, but her crate (in the box) blocked her from seeing us and she did NOT like that.



Before we were even out of Ryan's neighborhood she was in my lap in the front seat. After awhile Daddy's looked more appealing so she jumped over.



Lucky for us she spent most of the drive napping. The first time we stopped for her to go, and us to eat, she decided she did not have to go! We were pretty nervous but we stopped two more times and each of those she went. No accidents in the car! Whew. And considering she slept most of the ride (and tore her giraffe apart in Daddy's lap the 10% she was awake) she slept pretty well last night. Rylie woke up at 6:55am and Ryan took her out. I took her out again at 7:30am before I left. I got a text that Ryan took her to McDonalds then the dog park but someone did not want to get out of the car....



She is mostly crate trained, we have had a few accidents, but we are hoping this week when Ryan is home with her he will be able to get her more comfortable. We are more than likely going to hire a dog walker to come in during the week when I am at work to play with her. If not I work close enough to home that I can drive home to walk her and feed her.



So far she is a big fan of our kitchen in the apartment and follows me in there every single time I go in. Sorry for the photo heavy post, I am quite excited for our new family of three! I am glad Ryan gets until the 4th to be with her because he most likely will not see her again until April when he graduates and we PCS! Hopefully Rylie will remember her Daddy (who is SO cute with her) and video chatting will help. I know we have a few months of sleepless nights until she is on a schedule but it is so worth it

My husband didn't want me to be lonely anymore with us apart, and he definitely helped that with my Christmas Surprise. Thank you Ryan.

I will post more on Christmas later (I have to upload my pictures that are not on my iPhone) but I hope you and yours all had a wonderful holiday.

500

This is post number 500. I cannot believe it! 500 posts... it feels like just yesterday I started this blog when in all actuality it will be three years ago this June. Over the past two and a half years I have blogged about pre-deployment leave, deployment, Disney internships, an engagement, a wedding, our first year of marriage, re-enlistement and now our separation as Ryan is in school 3,000 miles away. Crazy isn't it?

Anyway... my baking is done!



Hershey hugs on pretzels with M&Ms! Yum (:



And my husband is home!!! His plane landed at 10pm last night and he is probably still sleeping at home while I am at work.

About six clients are here. Total. Usually there is about 40. Most plan on leaving early. We are here til 5. Thanks work. Love it. It is SO dead. Ryan and I are driving to South Carolina tonight for Christmas with his family, so I wish all of you and yours a Blessed and Merry Christmas!!!!


I'll leave you with this, I cannot resist sharing! A package came for a client that we tried to repack to a smaller box to forward and couldn't...



That would be a Scientology ornament thing. It was paper/cardboard complete with L Ron Hubbard quote. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a Scientology infinity thing!

Tear of Grief - Wordless Wednesday