A day at the beach.

Jared & I at Del Mar Beach on Camp Pendelton
My reenactment of me at the beach today: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH THIS IS SO FUN THE WAVES ARE SO BIG HAHAHAHA" WHACK!!!!!!!!! *screams before getting dragged under the water and flipped over a good 3 times like a rag doll.* GASP! *Sobs as I crawl onto the beach....Collapses onto the sand* So yeah I pretty much almost died today LOL The waves were peaking at like 10 feet and the rip tide was incredibly strong!

The waves were so vicious there that we had to leave and move to another beach.

Jared in the water at the Oceanside Pier

Typical SoCal Weekend at the beach

Taking photos......

I said "lets take some more" and he gave me this face.....I guffed at him

THE END!

If You Rest...You Rust!

So I haven't updated you readers on my new healthy life. Well...Bottom line is that it sucks! I have been going to the gym religiously since march and guess how much weight I have dropped?

ZERO!!!!!!!!

It's so frustrating for me because I am working so stinking hard for so long and I have not seen any results at all. Like one week I gain, then I lose, then I gain, then lose, but it's all within the weight that I started at. That doesn't make me happy. I know I know, it takes time but I am so sick of it being this long with nothing to show for it. It's breaking my motivation hard core, because recently I have not been wanting to go to the gym at all. But then I make myself go anyways. I wish it were as easy to lose the weight as it is to put it on. I'm sick of being so Fat and mocked by the wii that I am obese. Annoying. haha

Oh July...Where have you gone?

It seems like it was just the other day that we were starting into the month of July and preparations for the 4th were underway. Looking back I never told about our 4th or anything. So I am going to back up a little bit and then later I will do just a picture post.

Because the 4th of July fell on a saturday this year, and seeing as it's a paid holiday, I was given friday the 3rd off to make up for it. It was so nice! Well the San Diego fair was in progress and we only had until the 5th to go. (It had been going on the entire month of June and we went right before it ended.) We have lived here for 3 years and we never would go every year so I made Jared go with me because I wanted to see how the city folks celebrate a fair. *Cows are big deals to them remember hahaha* It was crazy! there were so many people there and of course you have to pay to park and even get into the fair. Lucky for us we went the night of the monster truck rally and it was free so that was a fun event to take part in. We had a few hours before we needed to take our seats so we walked through the booths with the cows, chickens, turkeys, pigs, llamas, rabbits, and goats. It was so funny listening to some of the people talk about the animals like they were from another planet or something. There was one city girl...dumbest girl ever....She was taking pictures of her friends in front of cows and then she said " Is this really a cow?" sad thing was...she was dead serious and her friends starting making fun of her. Yeah I laughed pretty hard. When we went to the truck rally we had to get ear plugs for Jared because he can't take noise any louder than 100 decibles and the trucks rank at about 180 or more. He would have been puking every where otherwise. It was so fun to watch though.. The second truck of the night jumped and lost it's tire..It went flying across the arena and almost rolled out the other side. Great entertainment! After that we had some chocolate covered bacon and walked around more booths. The only ride I wanted to go on was the ferris wheel because everyone told me how cool it was to get on it and look over the ocean. You don't get that sight in Star Valley so I wanted to see. Again we had to pay for the ride so it ended up to be like $10 for one ride. Crazy! It really was amazing though. I enjoyed it. By that time of night we were running out of cash and all of the food vendors were over priced so we went to In N Out and had some burgers. For both of our meals it was still cheaper than the price of one at the fair. While we were there we saw a few drunk men dressed up in Kilts. It was funny, definately not your everyday site here.

Our 4th was really good. My bestie Jamie invited us over to her house to celebrate with her family. What a great day! We swam & played volleyball in the pool, BBQ'ed of course, sat in the Spa, and later that evening we went and watched the firework display. I always tear up to those, especially when they put them to music and they always put that sad song where it has the kids sending their dad a video letter while he is in Iraq. I guess just because I know how it feels and how hard that situation is. I'm a little bitter patriotic baby lol. Even though I am bitter about the military it has changed my life and I am deeply touched by things that I never would be before. I made Jamie cry twice that day hahaha she hated me for a split second. It breaks our hearts that I am leaving so she gets teary when we talk about it. After the fireworks we got some carne asada fries *YUM* and went back to our house to play some video games until wee hours of the morning. It was a great day!

The 5th we just kind of hung out and made a big "last meal" for Jared since he went into surgery in the morning. Poor guy still hasn't been able to eat. It's not fair because he is loosing weight like a beast so I keep teasing him that I need to just get my jaw wired shut or the lap band system around my stomach! he doesn't think i'm funny.

Well this posting is the longest posting ever so I hope that you have all had a great summer this far and I will be in touch with blogs ;)

Cute Car Completeness!

So ever since I bought my car I have been on a search for the perfect license plate frame. We custom made our plates as a souvenir for our time that we lived in California and so I needed something that would compliment the plate. I wanted to go with the whole tropical theme I have going on so.....I eventually found some the other day! These are hand painted steel frames from Hawaii! I think it looks so stinkin cute! Jared says that I made it too girly but my rebuttle..."It's my car and I am a girl so it works!" hahaha.

I will stand up!

Did you know that the ACLU has filed a suit to have all military cross-shaped headstones removed and another suit to end prayer from the military completely. They're making great progress. The Navy Chaplains can no longer mention Jesus' name in prayer thanks to the retched ACLU and our new administration.I'm not breaking this one. If I get it a 1000 times, I'll forward it a 1000 times!

Let us pray...Prayer chain for our Military... Don't break it! Please send this on after a short prayer for our soldiers don't break it! Prayer: 'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands Protect them as they protect us Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.' Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world. There is nothing attached. Just send this to people in your address book.. Do not let it stop with you. Of all the gifts you could give a Marine, Soldier, Sailor, Airman, & others deployed in harm's way, prayer is the very best one.

New Hair!

I am going to get a wild style on the 15th of July. I am so excited. The up keep is going to suck but I was ready to go back to something funky. I just loved my hair when it was Brown, blonde, and bright red. So this will be fun. Check in over the next few days to see the end result.

Day after: So I am unhappy with the way it turned out. All in all it looks fantastic....BUT....The red isn't near what I wanted....It blends into the black and I wanted to not blend at all. I wanted something that was like BLAM!! In your face red and that isn't what I got. So I am going to go back because I spent a lot of money on it and I want it to be right.

Well after two nights spent in the salon it turned out! I hope you like it readers!

MUCH LOVE EVERYONE!

Big Goal....

I am setting a big goal for myself....I am going to read an entire book! I haven't done that in almost 4 years! haha I hate to read so this is a pretty big thing for me ;)

Getting Crafty.

So as the birth of my brother's baby was drawing near I decided that I was going to make him a baby blanket. I wanted someting cute and babyish but also something big enough in size that he would be able to grow with. Here are the pictures of my process and finished result. I hope you like it readers!

Rayden Greg Dana.

Here are the photo's that I promised of Rayden as soon as I got some.

Rayden. 07/08/09

Greg, Kara, and Baby Rayden

Proud daddy

Look at that cute Pout!

He loves Momma. Already Smiling

SO Tiny!!

This Monkey thing was Greg's when he was little

Jared's Surgery

Going into surgery. He was so nervous!

Right after surgery and trying to eat. Poor Guy!

Lisa the Therapy Dog! So Cute!

All of his Incisions

Jared went into surgery at 10:00 monday the 6th . The procedure he had done is called Lap Nissen fundoplication it's a surgical procedure to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. During fundoplication surgery, the upper curve of the stomach (the fundus) is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and stomach (lower esophageal sphincter), which stops acid from backing up into the esophagus as easily. This allows the esophagus to heal. the gastric fundus (upper part) of the stomach is wrapped, or plicated, around the lower end of the esophagus and stitched in place, reinforcing the closing function of the lower esophageal sphincter: Whenever the stomach contracts, it also closes off the esophagus instead of squeezing stomach acids into it. The procedure lasted until 1:30, I was able to walk with him to his shared room and sit by his side.

He was very fiesty coming out of the anesthesia as I warned them he would be. There was so much pain on his face it was so sad, he keep swearing and demanding that he had more meds. One moment he would be cussing at something and the next he would be snoring as he was coming out. I was informed that he stopped breathing while he was under and they had him on high watch until further notice. His lungs weren't filling to the capacity that they should have been. It should be at 100+ but it kept dipping below 89 and then the vital machine would go off and the team would rush in. It only led to startling him and more fiestyness. They ended up putting him on oxygen only an hour after waking up. One nurse actually told him to watch his mouth.." story of my life at home so tico doesn't pick it up ;)" we did a few laps of walking around the ward to release the pressure in his stomach but it didn't seem to help. He was having trouble urinating so there was talk of a cathatur but he pulled through and narrowly missed that pain.

Our night didn't go very well. Jared's pain stayed up in the 7/8 range most of the night even though he was getting a double dose of morphine every 2 hours. Around 11:30 he started to spit up something and the doctors had to come poke around to make sure nothing burst or went wrong. That continued to happen until about 3 am. So between painful yet unsucessful trips to the restroom, people in and out all night for both jared and his roomie, and pleas for pain meds we had a very long night with little rest. Tuesday morning he was allowed to finally have some water but couldn't swollow. Even though he was swollen that wasn't normal. More frustration with nurses. We would call for them to ask a question or for Jared to get more medicine and they would ignore his page from upwards of 40 minutes to an hour. Then they would come in and say "oh did you want something?" While hovering in the doorway and then running out as if we were contagious. It was a long day, he finally got down some liquid at 2:30 and has been slowly improving from there. Finally at 7:30 in the evening it was announced to us that he would be staying an extra night. I decided to come home because Tico was all alone and didn't have anything to eat all day. I needed some good rest too. So He is at the hospital right now and from our last phone call still is not feeling any better. We will see what tomorrow brings. They said that he is very behind on his meal plan so I think they might hold him until he is able to eat something solid and at least have some type of Bowel movement. Poor guy! And yet through all of this he still wants a cigarette...It's so annoying!

Wednesday 8th at 11:00 I drove back to San Diego to sit with Jared until he was released from the hospital. We ended up waiting around until 3:00 before they finished all of the paper work for him to come home. He is still having a hard time with pain and using the restroom but he is doing a little better. Glad to be back in the comfort of his own home though, that's for sure!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

He's Here!

My brother became a daddy tonight!

His baby was born tonight at 10:09 pm.

His name is Rayden Greg Dana.

Weighing in at 6 pounds 9 0z.

and 18 inches in length.

I can't wait to come home and meet him. I'm an auntie again! 6 times over now!

In other exciting news...Jared's sister is also in labor and we thought she would be having a little girl today. Nothing yet but I will post that later.

Pictures coming soon readers!

My Patriotic Nails...

I am so proud of them! It only took me about an hour.

Happy Independence Day!!!

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July filled with BBQ's and fireworks, But I also hope that you take some time out of your busy day to remember what this day is all about. Not the hamburgers and sparklers but your military men and woman who have made the ultimate sacrifice for you. I just want to say that I am so proud to be an american and I am so proud of people like my husband who make my freedom possible each day. I now tear up at the sound of our national anthem and see a flag waving in the breeze. Because I now know just how hard that life is to make that available to everyone. I am so bitter about the military because of our experience over the past 4 years but I have grown so much and I appreciate the little things a lot more. I am the most patriotic than I have been in my whole life and I hope that you all feel the same. Have a great day and remember the reason for the season. Pictures Later!

Breaking News...

Jared will be officially out the Marines in 3 months! Bad news though...We will most likely be put on a medical hold because he still has 1 or 2 more surgeries in his near future. I was just thinking about it though today and I am so glad that we are almost finished.

Other news...Jared goes in for Throat surgery on monday the 6th. So we will be at the hospital on the 6th and 7th. I will keep everyone posted from my phone.

Much Love Readers!

A family in need.

My name is Margie Hess, my husband Ryan was diagnosed on June 12, 2009 with a rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Since this is an aggressive form of T-Cell Lymphoma, his doctor has put him on an aggressive chemo regimen that will result in him being unable to work for the next 4-6 months and possibly longer. At the time of diagnosis he was finishing up his 1st year as a Podiatry Resident at the V.A. in Tucson, AZ. Ryan is a devoted husband and father of two children, Hallie (5) and Max (2). By the end of this month (June 2009), Ryan will use up the last of his vacation and sick leave and will have to go on unpaid leave. Ryan is the sole provider for our family; I stay at home with both the kids. Without him working we have no income. I need to stay home to help care for him, so I cannot get a job right now, either. As difficult as it is for our family to have to ask for help, we have realized that we must do so at this time.

We were told that any federal employee (ie: military, Border Patrol, DEA, FBI, Dept of Justice, EPA etc. EXCEPT Post Office employees) can donate vacation time to be used as sick leave for another Federal employee.

We would be so thankful for any number of extra paid days we can accumulate.
Thank you so much.

How can you help if you ARE a Federal Employee?

Go to your HR department and request to donate leave to Ryan Hess who works for the VA. (Your HR person will know the form that needs to be filled out- each Federal agency has their own form to donate leave)
Once filled out and signed, the HR person will then need to fax or e-mail the form to:

OLIVIA McCLURE - Benefits Specialist (TUCSON V.A.)
Phone #: (520) 792-1450 x 6076
Fax # : (520) 629-1849 attn: Olivia McClure
E-Mail : olivia.mcclure@va.gov

ALSO, for those who are federal employees, please print out this message and post it in break/lunch rooms to help get the word out as well as emailing it to co-workers!

How to help if you are NOT a Federal Employee:
PASS this along to ANYONE and EVERYONE that you know and then ask them to pass the message along. Post it on blogs, Facebook...whatever you can think of.Thanks again everyone- this will help SO much!
GO TEAM RYAN HESS!

(E-mail teamryanhess@gmail.com to receive updates or to send a message!)

Your Wish is My Command.

So our letter was sent, read, reviewed in a few different offices, and now they are sending it to the Marines in D.C. Things are getting started and we are just preparing for the can of worms to open. I have a feeling that things are going to get messy. Fasten your seat belts and hang on for dear life!!!

Katsu.

Friday night we went on a double date with Jamie and brian to Katsu. It's a japanese seafood and steakhouse where they cook everything in front of you on the grill. It was pretty cool and really fun. I love Jamie..she is the bestest friend ever! Brian wasn't to happy that we ruined their original plan for date night..Sorry Brian! but oh well, we had a great time. We enjoy hanging out with you guys! I wish he would like us more :) Anywho here are some pictures of our fun night.

Enough is Enough

I figured maybe I better explain the letter I mentioned in my last post. As you all know we have had a bad go at the military. It basically boils down to 4 years of straight up Hazing! They rather enjoy making our life a living hell and so they wont let us get a way from them a switch to another company. what I don't understand is that if they hate us that much you would think that they would be dying for us to leave but it's the exact opposite. All of this hate towards us led to lots of depression, weight gain, and arguments about nothing. Jared dreads having to wake up and go to base every single day and when he comes home and tells me what they did to him that day I just break down and cry because I can't help. Well after almost 4 years we decided to say enough is enough!!!!! SO we are writing a letter to congress as a cry for help because no one higher in rank in the marines will. I hope it gets some attention and we get our just rewards. Anywho that is a breif summary of the letter.

Zebra's

So last night I painted my nails while we were writing our letter to congress and decided to go a little wild. I think they turned out really nice and wanted to share with everyone. Maybe when I get some time I will put a whole slide show of my work. I hope you guys like them as much as I do!

Oh the ups and downs of life

Lately I have been dragging my feet at updating my blog. I just have been feeling rather down...life was feeling well...inadequate. I didn't want to write while I was upset and later regret it only to wind up deleting the post so I opted to just ignore it. but basically here is our life update.

Jared has been having things rough as usual with the Marines. I can't wait until they don't have entire control over our lives! Being in the military is a wonderful thing that most people are so proud of and just can't image life without that experience *usually tending to be a good one* However we have not been that fortunate. It has been a shit storm for us since day one. Most of you readers know Jared, and he is a great guy full of love. But for some reason we have been viewed as the shitbags no matter what we do. So in turn they treat him like that. It just breaks my heart because no one wants to see the one they love go through that and not being able to do anything. But I have to just sit back and let it happen. I so badly want to go tell some people where to go and how to get there ending with a nice big punch in the face but I can't. I don't know about all of you but would you not be emotionally attached since this is the life you have to face each day? Well since I am, Jared gets upset and feels like he can't talk to me about his day because it is always so bad and they treat him so poorly. They are trying to make up excuses to not promote him even though he should have been promoted 3 years ago. It's just very frustrating. Dispite all of the negative in this experience some positive has come from it as well. Jared and I have grown so much. I have learned to be independent and live alone yet still manage our entire family, bills, and life in general. I HATE HATE HATE when people complain that their husbands have to leave for a few weeks at a time even though they still get to talk to them at night on the phone. And I hate when people are like "Oh I miss him so much" ok so when was the last time you saw or heard from him? " oh yesterday!" AAhhh that eeks me. lol I am just bitter I guess, but that isn't that bad. Jared goes in for his next surgery on July 6th and they will have to keep him over night just to make sure that everything goes well. My poor Boo...he has been under the knife so many times within the last year. But anyways that is my rank for the day about the Marines lol Sorry readers.

Things for me have been alright. I have been really busy with work lately. I think that another reason I have been so down was because I was feeling very underappreciated at work and then with the military consuming our life it was just hard to stay on the top end. I fell to the bottom and like always I am working my way back to the top. I still have been going to the gym almost every day. I make a point to go at least 4 times a week. It's such a great feeling when I walk into the gym and they all greet me by my first name and ask how things are going. *that goes to show you how much I am there* So far the scale isn't tipping the way I would like it to but I have lost inches and I have been told that there is improvement even though I don't feel like there is. But Hey if you can't tone it...Tan it! And I certainly do! I have also been sewing lately. I have made a few baby blankets. One for a friend of mine and one for my brother's baby. He's due July 26th so that is exciting.

Tico is doing well. He learns new words daily it seems like. He has a lot of pin feathers coming in so he has been a little fiesty lately and when Jared left for Seattle he grabbed my hand when I was going to put him in the cage. That is the first and only time he has intentionally grabbed anyone in the 3 years that we have had him. He is so great though and never ceases to make me laugh! I will have to post a video of him talking.

Well readers there is a lot more going on in our lives but this is becoming a novel and I'm sure you are all bored ;) I hope that blessings pour into your lifes and I will be checking up on your blogs almost daily!

MUCH LOVE!

Forgot to post about this!

A couple of weeks ago Jared went to Seattle for an extented weekend vacation over Memorial weekend. He felt like he needed some recuperation time from the military, doctor appointments, and life in general. This was the first vacation that he has had from work since December of 2007. I was happy that he got that time but I was also very upset because I wasn't invited to go. So I was abandoned for the weekend but he made up for it. He is the most amazing ever. He brought me back some beautiful beveled glass with real flowers pressed in the center. He got them at a street fair in seattle and the lady makes them herself. I love him. Here they are...