Meet Dozer

He is the newest member of our little family.

He is a purebred American bulldog "puppy" that is 11 months old.

Yes..this big beefy fella is only 11 MONTHS old, and has 2 more years of growing to do.

I would guess he weighs about 75lbs right now.

The Story

I met Dozer roughly 8 months ago at my work.

He belonged to a fellow Marine I worked with, and because he was still a little itty bitty puppy who wasn't housebroken yet, he brought him into work.

I thought he was cute, and that was about it.

I had convinced myself that I did not want to have a dog after our short ownership of a dachshund named "Grizzly".

*Nick brought Grizzly home shortly after Dannika was born.

I tried my best to love him and like him.

When that didn't happen, I tried my best to tolerate him.

I just did not like Grizzly.

We decided to give him away because he was just not a good fit for our family.*

Fast forward to this past Friday.

It was my first day back at work since knee surgery, and when I came in, this humongous dog was sitting behind my desk!

He startled me at first just because of his pure size.

I realized he was really a big sweetheart, and I mighta sorta have fallen in love with him on Friday. 

I could not believe that this was the same dog that I had seen at work 8 months earlier!

That teeny tiny itty bitty puppy!

He had easily SEXTUPLED in size...no joke.

The Marine that owned the dog realized that he just did not have to time to give him the attention that he needed so he gave him away to one of my Marines (a Corporal in my shop).

That Corporal lives in an apartment complex, and he knew that he could not provide a good home for him, so he had found a buddy with a huge yard that wanted Dozer (a civilian).

That night, I came home and told Nick all about Dozer and how THAT was the kind of dog I wanted.

The more I told Nick about Dozer, the more I realized that I HAD to have him!

I called my Marine that night and asked him...begged him...for Dozer.

With a little bit of selling (thank you recruiter school), he decided that Dozer belonged in a home with Marines :-)

Saturday morning, he dropped off our new son.

I have never been more in love with a dog in my life...except my first of course (Lucky).

RIP baby boy

Dozer is an extremely sweet and gentle puppy that doesn't realize how big he is.

Him and Dannika have become BFF's already, and she has hardly left his side since we brought him home.

He's roughly 75lbs, and supposedly, he'll gain another 20-40lbs!>!>!>!>!>!>!>!

Ellen's Dance Dare

If you don't know what it is....

just search "Ellen Dance Dare" on youtube or google it.

This is Dannika doing Ellen's Dance Dare...

'Egg'stra Special Easter

He is Risen!

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter weekend, and celebrated what today TRULY means to us.

It's not about fancy dresses, Easter baskets, egg hunts and bunnies...

It's about our Savior Jesus.

While he lived, he loved us.

When he died, he saved us.

When he rose, he gave us eternal life.

 

We had an amazing sermon at church, and I hope that all the newcomers to our church continue to come and grow with Christ.

 

Our family had an amazing weekend.

Friday night, we went to a Good Friday service.

Saturday night, we had a "farewell" bbq at the D's house.

 

I feel extremely blessed that Nick was here for Easter this year :-)

 

Easter Bunny Pic 2012 (Much better than last year)

Easter Bunny at the Dana Point Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Hunt at the D's house

Easter Sunday

 

 

 

A Little Heavier on the Collar

It FINALLY happened!

Nick was promoted to Gunnery Sergeant yesterday!

Look at that handsome guy :-)

 He initially found out he was selected at the beginning of LAST Summer, and he has been patiently waiting almost a year to wear the rank.

I know how frustrating it was for to look at the MARADMINs every month to see how many GySgts the Marine Corps would promote that next month.

I am also thrilled that he came home just in time for me to be a part of his big day. 

Everyone who was anyone in the artillery community at Pulgas showed up to include some of our close friends.

I know it meant a lot to Nick.

Colonel Frazier, the Regimental Commander for 11th Marines came out to promote Nick.

That was a huge deal for Nick.

Nick had deployed to Iraq the first time with Colonel Frazier (then a LtCol), and he had made quite an impression on Nick.

Enough of an impression that the Colonel even could recall personal stories and details about Nick as a Corporal and a Sergeant.

I sorta got teary eyed when he was talking about Nick.

Part of Nick's speech included that everyone that came to support him had made some sort of professional or personal impact on his life.

As I looked around the room, it all made sense.

They were all great men, amazing Marines, and loving family (our friends are our family) that Nick had told me stories about at some point in our marriage.

Funny stories, serious stories, stories about courage....

They were guys that saved his ass a few times when he did something stupid (let's face it, even Nick isn't perfect...lol).

They were Marines who motivated him when he wanted to quit.

They were friends who took stupid pictures in Iraq together of them in skivvies and their weapons.

They were friends who would risk their lives for him (and vice versa)

They were leaders who saw potential in a young NCO.

I'm a true believer that no one gets promoted just off their own merit.

It's the Marines around us that influence us the greatest, and the leaders above us that see potential in us.

You couple that with your own hard work, dedication, selflessness, and achievements......

God will do the rest, and He always comes through for us.

I know Nick isn't a big talker or one with words.

But I know if he could express just how much everyone's genuine support meant, he would.

Congrats, baby.

You deserve every rocker on that collar, and many more to come :-)

April Fool's!

Man...it feels like forever since I've written in here.

This will be a long post, since I have a ton of catching up to do...so bear with me!

My last few weeks since St. Patty's day has been INSANELY busy!

With Nick coming home early unexpectedly, my knee surgery that happened the day AFTER he got home, and BOTH of my parents being out here at the same time...life has been one giant roller coaster.

I guess I'll start with the homecoming.

Nick was scheduled to come in at 2230 on Wednesday evening, so I took the entire day off from work to clean the house and do last minute things to get ready.

When I found out Nick was coming home early (2 weeks ago), the first thing I thought of was, "Oh crap! I haven't even ordered a welcome home banner for him!"

That's probably my A.D.D. kicking in, so I had two banners rush delivered to my house JUST in the nick of time!

This one was hung on Pulgas Road right on the baseball field. 

I wanted to make sure it stood out :-)

Thank you and a shout out to my Marines who took 30 minutes out of their workday to drive me down to Pulgas to help me zip tie my sign up :-)

The sign over our garage...Rated PG-13....

I headed down to Pendleton at around 2200 lookin' extra purdy to pick up my man.

I don't know what I was thinking...I should know better than ANYONE that if the Marine Corps says 2230, it really means 0100.

I guess every time the Marine Corps gives me a timeline of some sort, I pray for a little miracle that they will actually be on time.....I'll keep dreaming.

Did I mention I was wearing 5inch heels on a bum knee that got operated on the DAY AFTER we picked up the boys?!

Oh, and it was like FAH-REEZING outside, and I wore a short dress.

Maybe not my brightest idea, but gosh darnit, I looked cute!

Just waiting on daddy....

Patiently waiting for our men....

The boys...ahem...men...started marching in at around 2330.

It's weird because I felt that I wouldn't feel the same as I did last deployment because he wasn't gone the full 7 months.

As soon as I heard Nick's voice marching the platoon in, I immediately began tearing up, my heart started pounding, and the butterflies felt more like hummingbirds in my stomach....just like always.

I realized that when you're in love with someone, it's not the length of time that they are gone.

I wrote this on Nick's facebook wall:

" Even though our time apart has been shorter than we anticipated...the feeling and anxiousness I have right now of seeing your face and kissing your face again is like I haven't seen you in a year. In our love...a week can feel like a month, months can feel like a year, and years can feel like a decard. Even if it's for 2 short weeks...I am going to cherish EVERY minute I get with you..."

Pretty much sums it up :-)

I LOVED Dannika's reaction!

When Nick walked up, she gave him a dirty look at first because she couldn't recognize him with him cover on.

As soon as she realized who it was, she screamed, "Daddddyyyy!" and lept into his arms like they had never been apart.

That's when I started to uncontrollably tear up.

It is definitely one of the most memorable homecomings of my life thus far!

THANKS TO TAMARA FOR BRAVING THE LATE NIGHT AND THE COLD WITH ME TO CAPTURE THIS MOMENT!!!

Like we've never been apart.

First Newcastles...their favorite beer :-)

Dannika giving Jackson a goodbye kiss!

We got home around 0100, and we were up by 5am to take me to my knee surgery!

Tired and ready!

My knee surgery went just fine.

I haven't had my post op appointment yet, so I don't know the exact findings.

I do know that she found extensive cartilage damage in my patella and trochlear (????) and shaved a lot of cartilage down.

 I have been in a lot of pain...needless to say.

Here's my gorgeous swollen leg.

 

LASTLY...

Nick surprised me on Friday night at the Swallows Inn (a dive bar by our house) as a late birthday gift to me.

When we got there, a bunch of my closest friends had made it out to celebrate!!

The Gilbert family and the Yubetas!

It was SUCH a fun night.

Even though I couldn't dance.

Just sitting there hanging out with everyone and drinking made for an amazing night!

Here is Nick and I at MY final Sundried Tomato date of the deployment...

He actually made it this time!!!