Orders Up

Michael called me two days ago and before we exchanged any hellos how's it going he said four little words I have been waiting to hear for the past month, "we got our orders!" I was so excited I could hardly hold still. Could we be moving to Japan- hopefully not, thats so far away, could be go to Hawaii- that would be nice, also far away but a girl can't complain, could it be Virginia- that would be new and exciting, could it be California- oh please let it be California I love it here! As these thoughts rush through my head I anxiously wait for the next words to come out of his mouth but all I hear is a muffled "yes, sergeant. Hey can you hold on a second?" Hold on a second? You must be crazy! I need to know! After what felt like eighty years he got back on the phone and told me! We will be spending the next three years in California! I am so excited, I have grown to love California, its close and warm and it is starting to feel more like home. Now we are starting preparations to find a place to live and move in, finally after 5 months of being married we will live in the same place.

Living on the moon

Michael and I are still waiting for orders.  Those orders will tell us where we will be living for the next three years, when we need to be there and if we will be able to spend Christmas in Utah.  I was hoping we would find out last week but it was just that, a hope.  I have been forced to learn a lot about control living this life style. I have no control over my life right now but the great thing is that I am still happy.  Many people think that in order to be happy or successful you have to be in control over your life.  This is simply not true, you can be happy because you choose to be happy.  Michael and I are giving up control because at the end of the day we are healthy, taken care of, and we don't have worry about him losing his job, and that is something to celebrate. 

For all we know we could be living on the moon for the next three years.  But what an adventure that would be!

Thank You Mood

I have decided to try and be domestic and what better way than taking on a large, complicated sewing project!  First stop, Mood fabrics.  My dreams of seeing Tim Gunn there were not fulfilled but I did find some great fabrics.  To say I was overwhelmed would be a massive understatement.  Hundreds of rolls of fabric in every type, color, pattern imaginable.

I heard a girl next to me talking to one of the employees about how she works for a vendor who sells to Anthropologie and she was finding fabrics for their new spring collection.  Obviously I followed this girl, she was probably uncomfortable with me standing four inches away from her but I didn't care, I had fabric to find.  She picked a few and left a few and one of the rolls she liked but decided against I nabbed.

I found the perfect fabric, bought a few supplies and started sewing.  After one meltdown, a few swear words and a lot unpicking, I finally finished!  Even though I didn't hear Tim Gunn tell me "make it work" I must say I am pretty proud of my final product.

What else can we shave?

Michael is practically bald, and in his job (which he likes to refer to as a gun club- a tactic he uses to try and comfort me when I freak out about deployments and combat and such) there are regulations about a marines hair cut, two acceptable hair styles, high and tight:

HOT!

 or bald.

Obviously we like the high and tight, who wouldn't want sexy locks like this guy?  So fluffy and feathered, but after talking it over we decided to give bald a try.  Get the shaving cream, razor and after shave, we had a mission. I have never shaved a persons entire head before, but how hard can it be?  I caked on some shaving cream and got to shaving, thinking to myself the whole time that he will look good, not to worry.  Final rinse, towel dry and oh crap, I do not like a bald head.  I'm standing in the bathroom, staring at his shiny head with really wide eyes. So of course being the sweet wife that I am, I made fun of him for a good half hour.  He finally let me take his picture but he was not happy about.

After a couple days I started to get used to his new hair and I must admit I like it more and more. The best part about his hair is that it serves the same function as velcro. I walked into the laundry room today to find my dear husband stuck to his own t-shirt. He had tried to take off his shirt, pulling it over his head but only got about half way before his hair attached itself to the fabric of the shirt. Poor guy couldn't move the shirt forward or backward, his arms were stuck in the arm holes and I couldn't stop laughing for long enough to help him. Maybe next week we will try the high and tight, can't go wrong with fluffy 80's hair right?

Duty Section

Michael and I live and breathe for the weekends. We never get to see each other week days, just daily phone calls and an occasional text message, so when the weekend finally rolls around we both can hardly contain our excitement. Michael more than me if you can believe it. The poor guy has to stay on base Monday through Friday, where the only things to do are sit in your room, walk to the convenient store which is two blocks away, or sit in the DVD lounge, which is really just some couches, a TV and a DVD player- excitement! So even the thought of being able to leave base is like Christmas. Every weekend he can leave base with me and we can be together for about 54 hours straight, and after not seeing each other for five days, those 54 hours mean the world.

But there is something that ruins everything- duty section. This is when a group lucky guys have to stay on base, stay in their uniform all day and all night (literally), cant laugh, smile, joke, high five, share stickers, eat candy or show any form of happiness (not literally). Michael was that lucky guy last weekend. The one good thing about duty section is that it rotates weekends so Michael only has to do it once every five weeks. You can imagine how excited we were to have this weekend together. Everything was planned. We would go to San Diego, go to the zoo, go to the beach, watch movies, and be together for 54 hours straight! Then one stupid phone call messed it all up. Michael called me on Wednesday and told me that our plans for going to San Diego would have to wait. Apparently a couple Marines didn’t clean their rooms, left them completely trashed, I mean seriously heinous work- in the real world that translates to a cup in the trashcan and a bed that was made but wrinkled. And if one Marine screws up then everyone gets punished. I was devastated. But then he gave me a glimmer of hope.

“If everyone in my class gets outstanding marks on our rooms than we can all be relieved of duty section.”

Yipee! There’s that light at the end of the tunnel I have grown to know and love! But then the light gets squashed, again. Two guys failed room inspection. So here I am, sitting alone in a hotel room in Oceanside, waiting for morning when I can go on base and be with him. Spending time in the DVD lounge or walking to the store. I’m not allowed in his room.

Update

Michael and I are living in Los Angeles right now. He lives on base, Camp Pendleton, and we get to see each other every weekend which is really nice. He is in school until December 12th and after that we are hoping that we can come back to Utah for Christmas. In about three weeks we will find out where we will be living permanently, well at least for the next couple years. Michael requested to live on the west side of the country but nothing in the military is certain. The last graduating class all got send to Japan, so the possibility of some where far away, foreign, or unknown is very high. At this point we don't care where we live as long as we get to live together. We have been married for four months and we have never lived together. I guess this is the military way, I am just really grateful Michael is not planning on doing this forever.

People I Need and Love

It is amazing how nice people are when you need them. My family and friends have been so supportive during the hectic time that is my life now that I am married to a Marine.

Last weekend my best friend Courtney showed me again how wonderful she is. I flew to Utah on Thursday night, and two hours after landing Courtney and I were on the road headed for St. George. Anne and Howard were nice enough to loan me their car for a couple months while I live in Los Angeles. My parents left a viewing early to come get me at the airport. Scotty drove in the car with them so he could be there to say hi to me when I got in the car. Emily and Dave call me and let the boys fill me in on their life. Chris and Katie are always checking up on me. Kate and Rob opening their home to me and many more people showing me what it means to be kind and warm. Everyone in my life is so supportive and I am extremely grateful.

Courtney and I had a fun weekend with Michael, we did demolition on a new house, bought and returned a toilet, shopping, dinner, movie, food, talking and catching up. It was sad saying bye on Sunday but this weekend showed me all over again that I have the best friend in the world. I can't wait for December when Michael and I get to visit Utah for Christmas.

Preparing a Coconut

Michael and I bought a coconut the other day at the grocery store. Michael served his mission in Fiji and he learned how to prepare a coconut there. He hadn't done it in years but we tried it with a kitchen knife, a countertop corner (that method only lasted one try) and a spoon.
The first question he asked me when getting this production started was, "Do you see a smiley face on the coconut?" Which is a completely reasonable question to ask someone when you are trying to break open a coconut. I lied and said that I did and promptly showed him where I thought it would be. He then started hacking away. I just stood back, watching coconut pieces fly over Michael's head. There was a point where we both starting to give up but he hit it one last time and the sound it made was different from the previous ones. We were past the hardest part. Two more hits and we were through, the coconut split in to two perfect halves. Things taste better when you work for them and this was no exception. Well worth the struggle.

First Hurricane

We had a hurricane/tropical storm here in Florida a couple weeks ago and it was really amazing. I have never seen so much rain and the winds were crazy. I literally got blown over a few times, but it was so much fun watching it from the safety of our beach house. This was the sunrise here when the storm was rolling in. Simply beautiful.

The Button Bouquet and Boutonnière

New Adventure

I am headed to Florida on Thursday. I will be staying there for a month while Michael continues his job training. I found a two bedroom condo on the beach and I can't wait to see if the top beaches in the nation really are in Florida. More on that when I actually get there.

Michael and I talked on the phone today and he told me two stories and from these came my two favorite Michael quotes for the day.
Story number one (keep in mind that this is Michael talking):
I was sitting in class today and my Sargent got up in front of the class and asked, "Who here is married?"
I raised my hand.
The Sargent said "Christensen! You are married? Why?"
So I stood up and said, "Because I am in love sir"

Story number two, not really a story, more like a couple sentences:
"Michael, apparently you are not supposed to keep score in a marriage" I took a marriage class last semester and I like to pretend I am very knowledgeable and seasoned in the art of marital satisfaction.
His only response,"Oh thats good cause you are probably winning"

Family Day, Graduation, Wedding, California

Michael graduated from bootcamp on June 24th. The day before was family day and that was the first time I had seen him in three months. In the Marines they are very strict, they don't allow showing any form of affection when a Marine is in uniform. So even though I had not seen him and even though we were getting married in two days we couldn't touch each other! We couldn't hug, we couldn't kiss, we couldn't even hold hands! The only thing we could do was he escorted me around the base. We got to hug once, kiss once and that was all. The next day he graduated. There is nothing more patriotic and moving as seeing 250 men in uniform saluting the American flag as it passes by.

Right after graduation we drove to the county building and got our marriage license, had a wedding dinner and the next day we got married. It was the most busy 72 hours of my life. After honeymooning in San Diego I had to drop him off and say goodbye. I didn't know when i would see him again but I was surprisingly calm. I drove home to Utah and two days later drove back to California because I found out that there was a very slight possibility that I would be able to see him on weekends. I moved to Los Angeles and waited.

Oh, the fam!

I think Bob Wiley says it best in the amazing movie What about Bob?

"oh wait, let me guess, I'm very good at this.

That's Harriet, and Ronny, Gretchen and.... Rita.

Wait, wait a second, Cecilia, Dorothy, and this is Kenneth and Bambie."

Close... This is my family. There will be a new addition in one week. No, not a baby. My new husband Michael.

Two Weeks

Michael left for boot camp on March 28th and the first time I will be able to see him again is in two weeks from today. It is completely normal to go without seeing your fiancé for months at a time and then the day after you meet again you get married right? Obviously I am nervous and excited to see him, mostly nervous at this point. Good thing I have an amazing best friend that knows Michael so well that she can calm me down. It wouldn't be that bad but we can only write letters to each other. Letters, seriously, I feel like I am living in the 1940's and my husband has just gone off to fight in the war.

How am I expected to say "I do" to someone (without having at least a little anxiety) that I haven't said one word to in three months!

Literally, three months! Don't even get me started on how much it bothers me when people use the word literally incorrectly.

"I literally died laughing!"

"Did you? That would be really nice right about now because then I wouldn't have to listen to your lame story"

These have been my thoughts for the past few weeks, my nervous, anxious, heart pounding thoughts. But then his letter came. Thank goodness for the United States Postal Service. Something about a good old fashion love letter to calm the nerves. Now all that is left is to wait, which I have been doing it for the past eleven weeks, I think I can make it two more.

My Newest Endeavor

I found this new idea for a bouquet to use for my wedding. I have never heard of a button bouquet but I think they are amazingly beautiful. So instead of buying one I have decided to make one.

First stop, the Treasures Antique Mall for a jar of buttons. After dumping them on the kitchen table my mom and I start the creative juices flowing. We worked on the flowers for about two hours today and we aren't even close to finishing. It makes sense now how people can charge $400.00 for one of these. Needless to say, after all the hard work, we did come up with some pretty amazing looking flowers.

My whole family is getting involved with this flower making production. I want each of my siblings to make a flower that I can put in the bouquet. The end product should be something special, I will be sure to post a photo or two.

Treasures Antique Mall

On Saturday I went to my new favorite store, The Treasures Antique Mall. I will admit that most of the warehouse looks like your grandmothers attic but if you are willing to search you can find some real gems. It is there that I found this amazing bag.

It is gorgeous! 1950's overnight bag and it only cost $25! and the best part is

It has old woman curlers, no extra charge!

Here is our story

Michael and I met October 2009 at Xpedx. Who would have thought that getting hired on for seasonal help at a paper store would help me find my husband. We started dating a few months after we met and we have been together ever since.

Well, not really together, the big twist in this textbook romance is that three weeks after he proposed he left for bootcamp with the United States Marine Corps. His job will be Air Traffic Controller. Never did I think I would be a Marine wife but here I am, waiting for three months until he is done with bootcamp.