3rd Time's a Charm

Has it already been 3 years?!

or should I say...

It's ONLY been 3 years?!

I find myself saying both of these phrases. 

Sometimes, I can't believe how fast the last 3 years have gone by.

Then again, sometimes, I feel like I've known you my whole life and have been married to you for 20!

It's crazy to reflect on all we've been through.

Drill Field, Recruiting Duty, Buying a Home, a Beautiful Baby Girl, Afghanistan deployment...

It's hard to believe we fit all that stuff into 3 short years!

I can't wait for next 100 years with you :-)

You give life just that extra little "kick".

I can sit here and go on and on and on about how wonderful you are...

But you and I know...

between us...

we keep secrets from the world....

"You're the marshmallow to my s'more... "

I love you.

Laughing Baby and a Waterhose

***The best sound in the entire world is the sound of my child's laughter***

It means she's happy.

It means she's having fun.

Oh how I love these chubby little feet.

Interior Designing

I ordered a floating canvas from our photoshoot with Two/Eleven Photography.
I am SO happy that I made that investment. 

It was the perfect addition to my blank wall above my computer in the living room.

Sorry this one is out of focus...

I took some old frames that I had laying in my storage box and decided to make use of them.

I grabbed my scrapbooking box and started coming up with ideas and things to frame.

Here's what I came up with....

This is my FAVORITE Love Letter that Nick wrote me from Afghanistan. I was going through some really tough times, and it really brought me up. My FAVORITE quote from this letter is "Sometimes you have to struggle to remember what being successful feels like."

 These are just some 4X6 frames and scrapbook paper letters cut to spell the word "LOVE". I didn't trace any of these letters nor did I care if they were the same height/width. I freehanded them and just glued them on!

I made these with stickers from my scrapbooking kits. 

Family Photos

They're finally in!

Last month, we had family pictures taken at Calafia Beach in San Clemente.

This beach has special meaning to me cause it's where I had my maternity photos done when Dannika was still baking in my stomach :-)

I'm so blessed to have gotten to know so many AMAZING photographers in my time here in Orange County...hands down THE BEST!

This was my first photoshoot with Two/Eleven Photography!

Ashley is an amazing and talented photographer.

I know I tend to say that about all my photographers, but what can I say...

Us Romer's only hire THE BEST!

She captured EXACTLY what I wanted through her camera.

No cheesy "posed" photos and just photos of our family having fun at the beach.

I can't remember the last time I took portraits at JC Penny or Sears or anywhere like that.

Those portraits are just SO OUTDATED.

I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you spend the extra cash to get professional photos done on location using natural light.

Like the someone once told me...

"We will never get these moments back!"

Have them captured the way YOU want...not the way some studio wants to "pose" your kids and yourself like an awkward family prom pose pic...lol.

Thank you again Ashley!! 

Here are just a FEW of my faves...

I think this photo captures the word "LOVE" perfectly

Summertime, and the Livin's E-Z...

It's officially Memorial Day weekend.

This means Nick and I get a 4 DAY WEEKEND!

We skipped our work out today and decided to have dinner at Smokey's House of BBQ!

Their tri-tip po boys are A-MAZING...

ALMOST as good as the good SOUTHERN BBQ we get back home in Texas and Alabama!

Before going out to dinner, I took my camera out to take some pictures of Dannika in her watermelon dress.

I also haven't been practicing much lately with my camera, so it was a perfect opportunity!

I LOVE this dress. 

It's so summery...and delicious!

Life as a care free toddler!

Mike's Challenge...Against the Corps

Mike is Melissa {Gilbert}'s boyfriend.

I met him for the 1st time while Nick was in Afghanistan.

He's such a sweet and funny guy!

Nick FINALLY got to meet him a few weeks ago...

Imagine that.

I've known Mike for almost a year now...

After telling Mike a few Sundays ago at a "dinner date" with the Gilbert family about Dore (LtCol Gilbert) and Nick's Saturday adventure doing the O-Course, Mike wanted to try it.

Nick took an hour off work to introduce him to the famous...

"Marine Corps Obstacle Course" (dun dun duun)

Melissa came with him to take pictures...

 

Unfortunately , I couldn't be there cause of work :-(

I kept texting Nick to see how it was going.

He said Mike did awesome and better than some Marines he knew!

What a S-T-U-D!

Marilyn Merlot and the Rapture

Meet Marilyn "Merlot"...

Nick, Steve, and Gavin bought this wine for Becca and I on Saturday.

They thought it was so clever and so great (I guess it is pretty clever).

Nick claimed it was "vintage" because it was 2004.

I must say though...it was delish...delish enough that Becca and I finished it off together...

Well...

I might have had a few more glasses than her...

a few too many...haha.

We spent Saturday morning driving ALL THE WAY to Menifee, CA (think Inland Empire).

Nick's friend Tommy's son, Logan was having a birthday party.

We have flaked on Tommy a few times for playdates and such, and so he gave us a month's notice about his son's birthday.

There were NO excuses for us to miss it.

We made the drive out there, and as much as I was dreading it (I wanted to cancel, but Nick said no), I ended up having a good time.

Tommy is Korean and thank God for Korean bbq!

The food was amazing and there was SO MUCH!

We left the party a little early to head over the Conolly/Reed residence for yet ANOTHER BBQ!

They boys played volleyball in the freezing pool for a few hours while Becca, Jackson, Dannika, and I just hung out, ate, and talked. 

While we had no intention of drinking...

We all ended up having a few too many.

Being the responsible adults that we are, we didn't go home, and all of us crashed (babies and all) at their house.

I haven't partied quite like that in YEARS! 

But all in all, it was a wonderful night filled with great food, friends, and a friendly game of Texas Hold 'Em that Nick, Becca, and I apparently weren't too good at :-)

Oh...

And if the rapture happened...

that sucks that Dannika, Nick and I are still here and didn't go to heaven...darn :-(

Here's our silly little girl...

That is a mixing bowl on her head.

"Here mom, you try it!"

I have no caption for this one...

 

And lastly...

I forgot to post these pictures I took.

The Yubeta's celebrated their 3rd wedding Anniversary last weekend, and we forced them to drop off their two beautiful sons with us so that they could enjoy an evening ALONE!

Kanoa and Devon

Kanoa and Dannika's beautiful artwork

Dannika looks so lost...but Kanoa and Devon look great!

My Marine Corps Life

I've always LOVED being a in the Marine Corps.

I LOVED to deploy.

I LOVED being gone for a month or two to go train to deploy in some crazy new place.

In fact...

Those were some of the best times of my life.

I used to beg to deploy and beg to leave.

Funny how life changes when you have a child.

I think it's different for mothers.

I spend all day long looking at the clock and waiting to see when I can go home to see my daughter.

Don't get me wrong...

There are a TON of Marine Moms(oorah) out there who are AMAZING and doing an AWESOME job raising a family while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world!

For the mothers out there in the Marines that are making it happen...WOW...You are S-T-R-O-N-G.

It's not for everyone.

including me.

I never thought I'd say that in a million years.

I can't wait to get out.

It's not that I don't like being a Marine...

I just don't like being away from my baby...

I don't like missing milestones...

and I DEFINITELY could not see myself DEPLOYING for 7 months and missing that chunk of her life. 

Everything happens for a reason.

I have had knee problems for 6 years now.

I never complained about it because I didn't want to be non-deployable 

*Marines with medical issues can not deploy*

It got really bad in the last 2 years though.

I'm a runner.

I run a lot.

I run more than the average person.

I run more than my body can handle.

I ran until the week before I gave BIRTH.

This causes injuries.

I finally had an MRI done last month and got the results this week.

I have cartilage damage in my knee.

Cartilage damage is non repairable.

That means...

I can't stay in the Marine Corps.

I am on a limited duty board....

It'll probably be another year before they finally process me out...

But until then....

I'm still here.

It's a blessing in disguise...

and LASTLY...

Dannika has decided to try and learn to start dressing herself.

I caught her trying to put her pants on the other day....

Sorry for the crappy photo quality...it was taken with my IPad.

I {LOVE}

My {family} and My {life}.

It's not always perfect. 

but it's absolutely, positively beautiful. 

beautiful...lol

The Romer Girls

Family Picture

"Blow Kisses!"

WINNING!

Notice the goofy guy in the blue shir in the background...yep...he's mine

KISSES!