Here are the latest pictures from Mark on the ship. :-)  Sometimes I get random pictures and I'm not really sure what they are...Navy stuff!  Mark said they were replenishing supplies on the ship this day, so not much flying (or working!) going on. :-)  Good, they need some down time once in a while...those guys work such long hours every day.  I can't imagine working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for SEVEN MONTHS straight!!  No weekends, and a port only once every six weeks to two months.  I couldn't do it...I'm so thankful for those who are willing though!  Please keep those boys (and girls!) in your prayers these last few months... :-) 

And yes, his hair is LONG in these and no mustache.  Yay!  :-)  He promptly got a haircut the very next day, and I'm still waiting for a new picture with the new haircut.  Hopefully I will get one soon! (hint hint hint...)

These next few pictures are from the halfway party for the squadron.  It was a Luau for the wives and children--so fun!  And these girls are so much fun to spend time with!  I'm so thankful for Amanda and my new friend Kristy!!

Amanda, me, Kristy...on our way out of the party... :-) 

So...without Mark here I thought I would be struggling to find things to do. But that hasn't been the case, for the most part. Of course I've been doing my fill of housework, and the wedding is taking up quiet a bit of my free time (that deserves a whole separate post for itself :-) ). Besides that though, I've been keeping busy with family and friends. I'm so blessed to have my family and such great friends nearby!! Here's a bit of what I've been up to...

On the way back to the cabin from Sunday brunch the weekend of the 4th of July...a big giant car made an illegal turn in front of me. :-( Poor Mark's car.


The next Saturday, Ashley and I went to Ikea. :-) I figured that would be a great place to look for centerpiece ideas and I think I may have come up with something fun and festive!


And then we stopped by Alameda on the way home to have lunch with my friend Brad. I hadn't seen him since last summer so it was great for the three of us to catch up. And OF COURSE we had to stop by the beach!


Still at the beach...hmmm.....


When I got home from our road trip, there was a package waiting for me. My birthday gift from Mark's parents. A table runner with grapes because they know Mark and I enjoy wine. Two handmade dish cloths. And a bread basket with a warmer cloth...I absolutely love that bread basket!! Isn't the fabric cute!?


One afternoon Ashley and I stopped by the church where I'm getting married to take a few pictures...I forgot to make an appt and the church was locked, so these are the best pics I could get. I think the grounds are so pretty. :-)




The next night Ashley and I tried to watch Shawshank Redemption and put together a baby gift for Deborah...we didn't get very far in the movie, but we had a great time creating this gift! Isn't it adorable??


A few nights later was my family birthday party. Here's my birthday cake. Chocolate with tiramasu filling...just like part of my wedding cake will be! Yum!


Mom and dad


Mom, dad, and me


Mom, me, and my grandma


Dad and me


Last night, my friend-birthday-dinner night :-) Thanks to Ashley, Breanne (and Dallen and Tyson), Jewely, Paul, and Sarah for taking time out of your busy schedule and in some cases driving over 45 MINUTES (each way!) to celebrate my birthday with me! You made my day so special!


Me and Jewely...amazing how cute we are, even out of focus. ;-) hehe.


Me and Paul, an old friend from church.


Ashley trying to give me a birthday kiss on the cheek! Silly girl...hehe.


Part of Jewely's birthday gift to me...WOW, so perfect!! She knows me SO well! hehe.


Also...I finished summer school last Thursday and am on vacation for two weeks before I have to go back to work for a couple of workshops, and only a month until school starts! Ashley invited me to exercise with her ANYTIME, so I've been meeting her and two of her girl friends in the mornings at 545 (ugh!) to go walking, and today will be my first evening at the gym as well. It's killer, but I know I need to get back into shape before Markie-Mark comes home!

We were out in the boat on the lake for the fireworks show tonight, along with hundreds of other boats.  It was incredible!  The only thing that could have made the night any better was if Mark could have been here to share it with me.  I hope next year!  

Here are just a few of the pictures I took tonight.  Thanks to dad for driving the boat!  Don't forget to click on the pictures and make them bigger!

We're at the lake for the 4th of July, and I'm very happy to report that the boat is working and runs like a champ. 'Bout time! For the last four years we'd been waiting on my grandfather to replace the windshield so we could take it out into the water--FINALLY this year it was done! But when my dad and gpa launched it Wednesday morning, it overheated quickly and was dead by the time they got to the dock. However, after two days of thinking we were going to have to watch the fireworks from the shore, gpa went down this morning and to everyone's surprise, it started right up! We took it for a spin around the lake this afternoon, and you'd really never know it was 50 years old! My grandpa takes amazing care of that boat, and it's in good shape. Here are some pictures... My 4th of July flip flops...Old Navy, of course!
One of the cabins decorated for the 4th.
Meeeeeeeeee, so happy to be in the boat again. Can't wait to see the fireworks tonight!!
Mark...this is for you. Can we buy a boat that goes fast like this?? :-)
Funny story with this last picture. I guess the guys in the boat thought I was taking a picture of them, when really I was just waiting for their boat to catch some air (like the pic above) so I could show it to Mark. In a couple of the pictures they were waving at me and smiling (like the pic below). haha. My new friends! So funny...

Can't wait to post some fireworks pictures from tonight! Hope everyone is having a great holiday!