Tico & Kiwi in photos

Kisses

Silly Kiwi

Kiwi on top of the destroyed Tiki Hut

Hanging out

Exploring their new home

The cage is a monster compared to Tico's old home

Kiwi's eyes are changing more each day

Swinging together

Pocket Pal

Backing up life

I am very behind on blogging and there has been so much happening to us lately. However, none of it has been very good news and the feelings that associate with the stories overwhelms me. I made a decision when I started my blog, that I wasn't going to blog when I was upset, because then I would either 1. say something that I would regret, or 2. sound/feel like I was looking for sympathy for all the wrong reasons and I'm not. But here is a little bit of what is going on.

As I have talked about before, we should be out of the Marines, but we are waiting results from Jared's PEB Board that was submitted 6 months ago. (The PEB is a fact-finding board that evaluates all cases of physical disability on behalf of the Marine/Sailor and the Service in accordance with the Secretary of the Navy Instruction 1850.4E (Disability Evaluation Manual). The PEB investigates the nature, cause, degree of severity, and probable permanency of the disability concerning the service member referred to the board. The board evaluates the physical condition of the service member against the physical requirements of his/her particular office, grade, rank or rating. The PEB provides a full and fair hearing as required by § 1214, Title 10 United States Code (10 U.S.C 1214), and makes findings and recommendations required by law to establish the eligibility of a service member to be retained on active duty due to fitness, or separated or retired from the service because of a physical disability.) We have been hoping for 30% because that would mean that he will be officially retired and we will have the benefits for the rest of our lives because of his injuries. When Jared submitted the board he had to make copies of his medical record (Which is larger than most people who have been in for over 10 years) and they looked over the major things wrong with him. He had at least 13 (Back surgery, Esophagus surgery, Central auditory processing, Tulio, Ulcers that burst and he was bleeding internally, So on and so forth) Well it's been a really hard thing to deal with because we are just stuck and we can't make plans for our future or anything. In turn that has put us both in a bad place both mentally and physically so we have been very unhappy for quite some time. Needless to say it's taking its toll. This week has been the breaking point for us. Tuesday night was not a good night for us so we both went to bed upset. Wednesday was the major jump off though. When I woke up I was upset and could not stop crying. I had reached my final breaking point and just lost it. I have not done that in a long time so I just couldn't stop, well I made the decision that because I was affected so much by everything that I was going to give myself the day off (I ended up working a half day anyways). Before I left work Jared called me, he said   "well I have good news..and bad news..the good news is that I finally got my board back. The bad news..they only want to offer me 10%" So of course Immediately I started crying again, I knew that meant that we had to fight it and that means longer time before we are finished. I went home for the afternoon and we both just looked at each other when I walked in the door. we said what do we do now? we agreed that a nap was in order so we could get our head back on straight.

After we woke up we decided to go out and get a drink, being in the house was just making us feel more down. Jared's dad had asked him the question "Are you ready and willing to fight them again? Do you guys have the energy for all that?" Jared was seriously considering saying no I don't, I am thinking about giving in. But I told him that wasn't an option, we have come way to far and have fought with them way to long to just give up, roll over, and play dead. It sucks that it means we stay in longer but it is so worth it in the long run. He has these injuries that will affect him the rest of his life and I feel like they should take care of him because of it. So today Jared met with an attorney at the navel hospital and we are starting into our new fight. We have 5 days to give them our response...But trust me friends..the gloves are coming off and we are going to get the justice we deserve! Wish us luck!

Much love,

Tiki Hut Update

The babies love chewing on it. The roof is just about gone! We tried to put kiwi in it but she didn't take to that very well. haha.

How did I get so lucky?

I love this man. He does everything in his power to make me happy. I appreciate him so much!
His guy friends make fun of him because of the things he does for me, and girls wish their guys would do a little more haha. For example: Yesterday he took the day off of work, so he braided my hair for work (He also braid's my hair every night before we go to bed because it's so long.), Made me dinner (He makes me dinner all the time), did some housework and erronds (He always helps me out when I ask with housework, well almost always haha), and painted my toes. Plus as most of you have seen in the past, he brings me just cuz it's wednesday flowers all the time. I feel very blessed to have not only such a wonderful husband, but best friend.

I love you Jared! Thank you for everything!

Date Night

Date night is a pretty common thing among couples, but Jared and I only did it once in a great while. Mainly special occasions. Well this year one of our "couple's" resolutions was to go out on a date night at least twice a month. That way it doesn't get to expensive but we have time to go out and have a good time.

Yesterday afternoon I left work early so I could go to base for my new military id. I was supposed to get a new one in October when the old one expired (because we would have been out of the marines then) but I have been so busy at work that I never had the time. I figured 3 months later was long enough. I wanted to keep my old id so bad because of the sentimental value it held for me, but they make you turn them in. The girl who was helping me was really sweet though and she said no like she was supposed to. I told her that I just wanted to scrapbook it and her response was, "well we can cut out the picture if you want but that is all we can let you have" haha the picture is definately not the point of why I wanted it. As she was laminating my new one she said "scrapbooking huh? I enjoy scrapbooking but I'm not very good at it" I said "yeah me too, that is why I am so bummed that I can't keep the id." Then she winked at me, slid my old id behind the new one, and then sandwiched it in between my drivers license.

THANK YOU JRC LADY!

After getting the ID (an hour and a half later of just waiting) Jared and I went to Johhny Rocket's for dinner. We had only eaten there once in Hollywood and it was the worst dining experience we have ever had. But they just built one on base and we thought we would give it another chance. They are running a promotion for a spicy burger called the Houston. The manager was our waiter, and he felt so bad that they ran out of jalepeno's he gave us free malts because we had to choose something different from the menu. He definately redeemed this place for us!

 On our way home we saw the worst accident I have seen in a long time. On one of the streets next to the left turn light there was a 7 car pile up. And I mean PILE UP! They were litterally on top of each other. The cop had just arrived so traffic hadn't gotten bad yet. Then I turned left onto College Blvd and not even a half a mile away..ANOTHER 4 car pile up! Same as the other one, but it happened a bit before because cops, ambulance, fire truck, everyone was there already and traffic  was getting Horrible. Good thing it was going the opposite way of me. It was so bizzare to see that same type of accident so close to each other. Crazy California Drivers! When we got home we changed and rushed back out the door to go see this..

 What a cute show! It was refreshing to see Disney trying to go back to their roots. They included singing...and a lot of it...something I haven't seen them do in a LONG time. But it was fun, you should go see it.

That concludes our date night number 1.
Thanks hubby, I Love You xoxo

Getting Comfortable

It's day 5 of Kiwi being in our home. Jared and I are loving the stuffin's out of this baby bird..Tico..Yeah not so much. Here have been her highlights so far. (Keep in mind she is only 7 months old, so she is so not coordinated!)

- She didn't eat for the first 2 days..It was sad..So we rushed out and bought her a special bag of food and she is gobbling it up now.

-She makes noises every time we pick her up. It has gone from a wierd squeak to a nice mellow whistle (most of the time)

-we found out she loves string cheese and mashed potatoes just as much as Tico. (last night we gave her potatoes and she grabbed the fork and potatoes went everywhere. It scared her and she bailed to the floor)

-She wants to play with Tico so bad, but he wants nothing to do with her. She has always had a cage mate so it's no problem for her to be lovable and share. Tico on the other hand has been alone for the last 3 years and has never had to share, especially his mommy. He doesn't not like it! We made them sit in his cage together the other night. She climbed over to the perch he was on so she could snuggle, and he snapped at her. She will grow on him and the jealousy will go away.

- She still eats like a newborn. She grabs the food really fast and then horks it down making that strange movement like she is regurgitating. It's crazy!

-She is trying more and more to be vocal. She said a very muffled but distinct Hi the other night. Nothing since, just whistles.

-She loves to have her head covered. For example she likes us to hold her close and she puts her head under our chins. We love mauling her!

-Monkey See Monkey do has been really good for her. Because she is young, and almost everything is a first, she wont do it until she see's Tico do it. Example: we always give Tico juice out of a glass. Jared had some orange juice last night and gave some to Tico. I told him to share with Kiwi so he went and got her and offered her the glass. She was very much afraid until we gave it back to Tico. While he was taking a drink she tilted her head and watched him. Then we handed the glass back to her and she did with no problem. It was cute.

That is all I can think of right now. I know I know, it sounds like I am posting about a child..but they are my children. I don't plan of having kids for like another 10 years...if any at all...so these birds are my everything besides my wonderful husband. Hope you enjoyed my update ;)

Photo's Evolved

For Christmas Jared got me this amazing Nikon D3000 professional camera. I AM SO EXCITED! The photo quality is stunning! In the first week that I had it, I had already taken 230 photos. Can't wait to keep using it and learning more.

The camera on the left was my first camera ever, The middle was the camera that I bought myself while Jared was in Iraq, and finally my amazing Nikon! My photos.....Evolved...

Kiwi Bird

The evening of January 4th was exciting for us. It was our first day being back in California and we just couldn't wait to go pick up our baby bird. So we went to the bird store after I got off work to play with her. We pulled as many pennies as we possibly could, ( I have been saving since we left on vacation) and we had just enough to take her home that night!! So our precious Kiwi now has a home with us and is still trying to adjust. The bird store is the only place she has ever been her entire life, so it was really scary for her when we put her in the car and brought her home. Tico is having some Jealousy issues, but will eventually get used to her. She wants to play with him so bad but he keeps snapping at her. we are currently keeping them apart unless we are there to intervene if he gets a little froggy lol. We are so excited!!!! She is starting to feel a little more comfortable because this morning when I woke her up she was trying to be very vocal. (Her voice is still coming in, but last night she muffled a distinct "Hi")  I can't wait for them to start talking to each other!

Tico isn't liking that she was in his cage

Loving on my babies

Holiday's Catch Up

I am back home now and finally took the last couple of days just to catch up on reading everyone's blogs. I figured it was time to update my own, now that I am getting back into the swing of things.

As most of you know, Jared and I were able to take some time this year to go home. I am so glad that we were able to get the time off and visit our home state. Growing up there you don't ever think that you will miss it, but then you move away and life just sweeps you up and you realize just how great it really was. This is a basic run down of our trip. We pretty much went from Mexico (The border is only like 45 minutes from my house) up to Canada (we drove into Montana) and back to Mexico.  On the way home, Jared and I figured out our trip totals..We drove 4,033 miles, used 250 gallons of gasoline, spent 50 hours of driving time in the car, Went through 7 states, and slept in 6 beds. All in the course of 14 days! We also added up the gas bill..But trust me you don't want to know! ;)

Christmas Week:
I worked late the entire week before so that I could get off work early to venture the long drive home that friday. We filled the truck to the brim! We decided that it would be easier to start moving things home since we were taking the truck anyways rather than wait until moving day. So my best buddy came over and helped up load it up. We took home all of our things from both of the garages so we only will have to pack up the house now. We spent most of the week at my parents house but we did a lot of running around so be basically just slept there. :) We were able to go have lunch with Jared's grandpa in Jackson, Wy. That meant a lot for both of us because we aren't sure how much time he has left. He has been in and out of the hospital quite frequently recently. One day while we were there, we pulled William out of school and took him shooting up Grover park. I was surprised that I did as well as I did :) We saw many familar faces that was so good to see and say hello to again. The 23rd is my nephews birthday so we made him a cake and had marinated kabob's for dinner. He just turned 5, but he requested that he had a shrimp dinner on his birthday lol. On Christmas Eve we went bowling with family and friends at the new lanes in Afton. It was a really fun outing. Christmas Day we split the day up between my parents and Jared's mom. We usually spend the morning's at my parents because Jourdon is there and likes to open the gifts early, then we go to Maud's in the afternoon. We are very blessed and loved. It was a great Christmas, and it was even more special because we were home and there was snow so it truly felt like Christmas to us again. Being here in CA I couldn't get into the mood because it never snows, so it just feels like another day.

New Years Week:
We left Star Valley on Monday to drive to Montana. Since we don't get much time off we decided it would be best to go check out our potential future homes while we had the chance. What a beautiful drive. You truly appreciate the beauty of the country when you no longer live in it. The concrete jungle just doesn't quite do it for me :) We spent the first few days in Bozeman with our friend from high school. Thanks Ryan for giving us a place to crash! We looked at the town and schools (the schools are really our deciding factor) I found a cosmetology school that I am interested in so that was fun. On Wednesday we drove up to Missoula to look at that area and the other beauty school. It was funny because before I went to see it, I was a lot more interested in the school in Missoula rather than Bozeman. I was lucky that the school was open and I was able to have a tour..It left me a not so good impression and now I am leaning back to Bozeman. I hope to go back soon so I can talk to them more though. The school in Bozeman was closed so I just got to look in through the window but it seems really nice! While in Missoula we had a wonderful dinner at the Montana Club and then headed back to Ryan's just in time to drive through a winter storm. ICK! I've decided that I need a tranquilizer when we travel because my anxiety kicks in and I feel like I am going to die. I think Jared is determined to give me a heart attack or an ulcer with driving. Thursday morning (NYE) we got back into the car and headed to Boise Idaho to see Jared's dad. (Very much out of our way but it was good to see him) Everyone kept calling us telling us to go home because a horrible storm was coming. Sure enough...We drove right through it for hours! It was very scary..you couldn't see the road and the snow was sticking and turning to slush. We saw about 10 snow plows but they were on the other side of the road. So we just had to kick it in 4wd and hope for the best. We made it there just in time to sit down and watch the ball drop on tv. It was a really low key new year for us, but it was just so nice to not be in the car or in the storm, that we didn't care.  We spent a day there and then got back into the car to head to Las Vegas for a night. The drive between the two places was long and a whole lot of nothing..But the best part of it all..When it got dark the stars were absolutely amazing. Probably the best stars I have ever seen! I'm like obessed with that too. We spent the night and half of the next day with my cousin in Vegas before loading in the car again. It was fun to be traveling around but nothing beats your own bed. It was nice to be back in our own home and not living out of a suitcase. Thanks everyone who let us crash at your place and for making our Holidays so great!

Happy 2010 Everyone!