Staff Sergeant Garcia?

Steven was asked to go to ALS (Airman Leadership School) this month. Usually they ask airmen who have already passed their staff sergeant test, but of course, Steven is an excellent firefighter and airmen, so they sent him early. Steven tested last year for staff and didn't pass, but we will find out next week if he passed. The testing is kind of weird to me. You take two tests, one on AF history and one is job specific, and the rest of the decision for you to rank up, is how active you've been with you AF career. How many deployments you've been on, years in service, and all other kinds of stuff. I'm proud of Steven either way and he would be an EXCELLENT staff sergeant because he basically oversees guys at work anyway. It's kind of a catch 22 with making staff. After you make staff, you get a line number. Until your number is I guess activated, you are still a Senior Airman. It usually takes a year for you to put on staff/ your number to be called. Steven's job is overcrowded with Staff Sergeants, and many of the guys that finally get activated get forcefully re-classed, meaning they are forced to retrain in a new job, and not do firefighting and meaning sending you off to a different base. Making staff is an honor, but it's short lived in your current job. We have a lot of thinking to do in the next couple of months. Steven has the date of November 18th, where we can put in for our base of preference! California, Idaho, and Colorado are the states where the bases we can are located. If there is room for Steven there at any of those 6 bases, then we will be moving in a matter of months after November. If the first round of trying gets denied and all the bases are full, we have to wait 3 months to try again for the same bases and hopefully something will turn up available. Long process, and who knows, Steven might decide to retrain for a new job, so we might have a better chance to stay in and be closer to home. There is still a huge possibility we could move back home to Sacramento as well. We have more options than two people could have, but we will make the one that is best for us and the future we want to have. Steven still needs to finish school and I still want to go to graduate school. Staying in would allow us to get both of our educations finished for free. YES! For frrrreeeeeeeeeeeeee. (like Adam Sandler in Bedtime Stories.) We will keep everyone updated on everything once we know more. In a perfect world, I pray for us to be able to go to a base that we would want and be stationed closer to our families, to both finish school, and start thinking about having a family.

Cali boy in Colorado

Last Friday, Steven got some time off from work to take a VERY LONG road trip to Colorado to mountain bike. He had a blast, but with the excessive heat warning and temperatures feeling like 110, I decided to lay low and do my late spring cleaning! I had the weekend off from work with the exception of a "5 hour move the store around" day on Sunday. I shampooed the entire house minus one room, rearranged rooms, got rid of some old furniture and cleaned anything in my way! I also decided since we had to be at work at 7 a.m on Sunday, that I should make my boys some goodies.

Fresh blueberry scones!!! They were sooo amazing! I also made some cranberry-orange muffins as well!

Tonight, I continued being Susie Homemaker and made an OLD family recipe. It's my great-great grandmother's mac and cheese recipe from my mom's family! I grew up on this version of mac and cheese, and so will my kids one day!

The players.

Start by making a classic white sauce. (melted butter, flour, and milk) When it gets thick, add that cheese!!

Cheese heaven!!!

The secret ingredient!!!

Mac meet cheese and tomato soup! YUM!!! It sounds different, but it's absolutely AMAZING!!!! Hope this makes everyones mouth water!

Birthday Wish/Shopping List

Well, this year I'm turning 24!(holy crap I'm getting old!) I've been starting to think about what I want to do for my birthday. Steven asked me the other day what I wanted, and I just said I wanted to go shopping. His response...Okay! :) So I'm thinking about what I want. Gotta start thinking and planning! So here are some things I'm thinking of...

Nixon Vega Watch. It comes in a million different colors but I'm leaning towards this white granite color or black. Gotta love the pink one though!

I really want a pair of Tom's. These ones have a little bit of sparkle on them! Love them. I'm starting to see a white trend of my birthday wishes! I really like them in solid black and the black glitter too!

I loooove the color of this bag! It's small and I'm in love with crossbody bags right now. Cute bag to go out to dinner! hint hint. haha

I'm really diggin' the sailor pants. cute, simple, and classy.

I LOVE this top from EXPRESS. When to the mall and they didn't have it in the store. Everyone must seem to be in love with it as well since it's on back order until August 19th! :(





Well these are a couple ideas for now, but I'll be updating this blog when I think of more things. I have to make a list or else I forget what I want! i have to be prepared when I go to the mall on my birthday!

Cali Love

So after our week in Oregon, the next week was VERY BUSY!
Sunday was Father's Day. Mom had bought tickets to Mary Poppins on Broadway. We let dad rest and have the house to himself while we went out. It was absolutely amazing. We were in the third row right smack in the middle! It was so magical and just so much fun! The actors had amazing voices and the costumes were perfect!
Monday I had lunch with my best friend Katie! She's having a baby boy in August and I haven't seen here pregnant! It was just like old times. No matter how long I'm gone or how little we talk on the phone, it feels great to spend time with her. I don't really have any girlfriends out here, so I enjoy my girly time with Katie. We filled each other in on what's been going on and strolled around the mall.
Tuesday, Mom and I had lunch with Grandma Jeanie! I could tell she missed me because she was holding my hand and had her arm around me. I used to go over there all the time for lunch and we would catch up while Grandpa would fall asleep to us talking. Being this far away from everyone makes me miss the little things like my Grandma making me a salami sandwich with mustard. We had such a good visit, I just wish I had more time to spend with her.
Wednesday, I left bright and early to go to L.A. to see my Aunt Mer! I was anxious to see her, and a little nervous. I just didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if she'd be her normal energetic self or just be quietly resting on the couch. She wasn't feeling well but my Uncle Tim and her picked me up from the airport. I couldn't help by cry when I saw her. I was so relieved to see that she was still the same super cool and super hip aunt that I've always known! I know she was having good days while I was there, but I was so good to just see her in person!! We all got back to the house sported our do rags and walked to Abbot Kinney for some crispy shrimp tacos!

After lunch, Uncle Tim went to the Airport for the 2nd time to pick up my Aunt Wendy! We went for a walk to let Aunt Mer rest a little and then we got all dolled up for dinner!

Sangria (red and white), octopus salad, assorted cheeses, tuna tartar, mussels, and paella! I always eat the MOST AMAZING meals with my Aunt Mer! The next day, we had Chinese food! My Aunt Mer and I shared eggplant and shrimp tempura, shrimp and spinach dumplings, and fried rice with cashews! The best part of the meal....FRESH GINGERALE! SO AMAZING! We had to walk home quickly to go to the hospital for some blood work. We gave Aunt Mer some time to rest and we all went out to the beach on the beach cruisers! Venice is a little...weird, but being able to walk EVERYWHERE and having the beach like 2 blocks away, I know why my Aunt Mer loves it so much down there. For dinner, we let our Food Network star Michael Symon inspire us. CHA-CHA Chicken in Santa Monica!!! Coconut Fried Chicken! YUM! Although, their other dishes looked amazing as well. Shortly after dinner, I packed and said my goodbyes. I had such an amazing time in a short time period, and I hope to return to Venice soon to spend more time with my Aunt!

Friday was Steven's 23rd birthday! We went up to Northstar for him and his dad to  mountain bike! Us girls did what we do best, SHOP! Shocking, none of us found anything to by, but we had fun hanging out together by Lake Tahoe. Avii, our niece, was copying me all day and telling me how much she liked me.

Saturday was Katie's baby shower. Baby Marcus has SO MUCH STUFF! It was great to see more of Katie and her family. Chris is always short with words but I know he's excited. Can't wait to meet my godson! <3 After Katie's shower, I went to Steven's parents house for a BBQ to celebrates Steven's birthday. This is my 3rd homemade ice cream cake for Steven! After that, we hit up Thunder Valley Casino. Again, we didn't win anything, but had fun anyway!

Even though we were SO busy, I still can't wait to live closer to friends and family. It's rough being so far away and missing out on things back home. We can't wait to spend more time with everyone and hopefully that day will be very soon! Love you all and it was so good spending time with you guys!

The Many Adventures on Our California/Oregon Trip

Where do I begin!? Our trip back home was amazing. I was SUPER busy trying to see everyone, but I had such a great time. So here's some pictures and a play by play of our 2 week vacation!

We flew to California on Friday the 10th! EARLY morning. Left our house at 3 a.m. to get to the airport for our 6:10 flight to Sacramento! Amazingly, we got into Sacramento before many of our friends and family were even wake! We surprised Steven's family! We came a day earlier because Steven and I both had Friday off! We left for Oregon on Sunday the 10th and drove all the way to Bandon, Oregon. LONG DRIVE! Steven and I followed in my dad's car and kept busy singing to his XM radio! PoP 2K is where it's at! Lots of songs from when we were younger.

The next day we had lots planned. We went to the Bandon Wildlife Park! It's a small little family owned park but there's really cool animals and up close and personal experiences! Case and point...

WE GOT TO PLAY WITH BABY TIGERS AND PET A BABY LEOPARD!!!! Honestly, one of the most memorable experiences in my life! After the park, we went to the town of Bandon along the water and ate a delicious fish and chips meal and followed in with walking around the town! Back at the campground we rode our bikes to the lighthouse!

The next day we drove to Newport beach and stayed there for 2 nights.  Josh and Steven went to Blackrock which is a well known mountain bike park! It was a little too extreme for me, so I spent the day with mom and dad! While in Newport, we went to the Rouge River Brewery for lunch! Mom always wanted to do glassblowing so she made something at a local glassblowing shop. We also went to the Newport Aquarium!

After our two days in Newport Beach, we met up with Grandma Sandy and Aunt Wendy in Florence! We had more fish and chips at Mo's! SO YUMMY!

Our last night was spent at Sunset Beach State Park by Coos Bay! We went to the Mills Casino to celebrate Steven's bday a little early! We didn't win big, but we at a yummy buffet and had lots of fun! The next day we drove home! I had sooo much fun! It was busy but relaxing! A nice change from the heat and humidity out here in Missouri! Hopefully we can move back to the west coast soon so we can explore more of Oregon!!!

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, Steven had Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off and I had Sunday and Monday off! Sunday we went grocery shopping and went to Lowe's to get a firepit! We also bought a rug for the sliding glass door and a mat for out on our patio. We have friends over a lot and we grill, so lots of stuff gets tracked into the kitchen! Here's a picture of our cat enjoying my new rug.

She's a ham!

It was SO nice outside! Very windy, but it was the perfect day to sit outside and slow roast some ribs! Here's Steven with his sweet grill! We looove bbq-ing!

And here's the finish product!!!

In the words of Rachael Ray, YUMMO!!! After dinner, our friend Wiggins (Brian) came over and we roasted some mashmellows in our new firepit and made s'mores! Haven't had those in forever!

The next day we went fishing on Wiggin's boat at 4 am. I can wake up for the day after Thanksgiving sales, but for fishing, I struggle! It was a lot of fun, but it was so windy and the fish weren't bitting, so we called it a day at 1. I came home made some chicken enchiladas (my mom's recipe with my twist on it of course!) and fell asleep on the couch by 5! It was a great weekend to finally spend with Steven since our work schedules next seem to let us see each other!

I'm going back, back to Cali Cali!!

Steven and I are at the week marker until we come home! Weather back home has been super cool and wet, while we've been having some CRAZY weather here! Last Wednesday, Steven called me from work asking if I heard the sirens! TORNADO SIRENS! I didn't even know what to grab to take with me in the bathroom! I grabbed our cat, pillows, blankets, water, some snacks, and our sweet latern with a built in radio. Our cat was making biscuits on the blanket and wasn't phased by me crying! It was absolutely terrifying! Apparently, the funnel started forming, but for some miracle it didn't drop to the ground in the tiny town we live in. 15 minutes east of us wasn't so lucky! Sedalia wasn't so lucky. One of my co-workers/boss lost his house. The whole state of Missouri was in a Tornado watch/warning. Pray that I never have to experience something like that again, especially while I'm home alone!

On a happier note, Steven and I are so excited to come home! The 18th thru the 25th we will be in Oregon camping with my family. The 22nd and 23rd, I'm going to be in Venice, CA to visit my aunt. Then back in Sacramento for Steven's birthday on Friday! We don't leave until Monday the 27th, so we have a long, relaxing, busy trip ahead of us! We will be mountain biking, soaking up the sun at the lake hopefully, lunch with my Grandma Jeanie, meeting my second cousin baby Zeke, hanging out with Steven's hilarious friends, visiting with my best friend Katie who's having a baby in August and SO MUCH MORE! AHHH! Can't wait. Jillian and Jillian's hair doesn't do well in the humidity! See you soon loved ones!!!! <3