A much needed, long over-due, blog update!

It's mostly going to be pictures and small summarizations since I'm catching you up on over 2 months of our lives!

First (and most importantly) we beat deployment! YAHOO! That was a big milestone. After 9 months apart, we were reunited and it felt like Derek never left. We picked up right where we left off, fell in love all over again, and started really enjoying life as a married couple. It was such a relief to finally wrap my arms around my big ol' hulking husband - now I hug him every chance I get! (Even when he's brushing his teeth, ha!)

Nope, this license plate doesn't belong to
my dad. We saw it in a parking lot in Visalia
and thought it was the most ironic thing ever!

How cute are we?

Then we found out that I got into the Masters of Social Work program at USC (that's University of Southern California to you, readers), which is a great accomplishment. It's the same curriculum as the in-class program, but it's all available online through their Virtual Academic Center (VAC). The classes are just like regular classrooms except we log-in through their web portal and have class online! We can even see all the other students, as well as the professor, so the experience is more interactive and exciting. Let's all give me a big pat on the back, eh? After that we started a whole month of leave, so we hopped on a plane and took off to California for a few weeks. While we were there we caught up with family, saw a Giants game (where Matt Cain pitched a perfect game - the first in Giants history!), toured around San Diego, and ate more food than we probably should've.

Go Giants!
The perfect game at AT&T Park - June 14th, 2012

He really needs to work on his smile!

Le bebe leopard.

While we were in California we also celebrated our first anniversary together as husband and wife! Can you believe a year has already gone by? It seems like our wedding was just yesterday! So, naturally, we celebrated by going to the San Diego Zoo. Since it was the first time I'd officially been to the zoo (my parents took me when I was about three, but I was too young to remember), Derek planned the whole day for us. We walked and walked and walked; we saw lions, and tigers, and bears (oh, my!), as well as some adorable baby leopards. I begged Derek for one but, alas, for some weird reason, we couldn't take one home with us. However, we are looking into bringing home a small furry friend sometime in the future, since both of us are experiencing serious fur-baby withdrawals...

I was extremely excited to be there :)

By the end of our California trip, we were exhausted and ready to go back to Colorado, though I might add that we were sleeping in a very small, very hot, full-sized bed... And in Colorado we've got a huge king-sized bed. While I love being home I think we were both definitely ready to sleep on our own side of the bed and get a good night's sleep.

Our rest was short lived because we took off to Utah to visit Derek's family three days later! It's always a fun time with the Swearingens - we played with the kitties, enjoyed a day at the lake, and watched some spectacular fireworks! In keeping with tradition, I got my yearly sunburn while Derek just got a darker, more lovelier tan (I'm incredibly jealous). We also spent a day playing a friendly game of girls-against-boys whiffleball in the park; the girls won, although I doubt the boys would ever admit to it.

Beautiful Utah sunsets, gorgeous fireworks, cute kitties, and perfect couples.
But I think I might be a little biased in that last statement...

Now, we're wrapping up the last of our adventures and Derek's started going back to work. Currently, I'm on a job hunt and I've been refining my cleaning skills at home, though I'm mostly preparing myself to go back to school (my noggin is a little rusty since I've been out of school for a year). We're thoroughly enjoying being married, spending time together, and (officially) starting our lives together! Stay tuned for more updates on our life - I promise it won't be another two months before I return to the blogosphere!