Visiting Family in Central California

So here I am, writing from my broken laptop in California, watching reruns of Chopped and trying to love on all the cats like there’s no tomorrow. It feels just like every day I spent in my second trimester of pregnancy waiting for Jonathan to get out of boot camp. Not kidding. I spent the whole time trying to tune out the TV and gather my thoughts, and failing miserably, and as a result  just churning out rambling blog posts and run on sentences and trying to remember why I’m staring at a text box and… anyway. Allow me to share my visit to California thus far via Instagram! Cuz it’s really not gonna happen any other way. (And forgive me for the rambling. We’re watching Kid Snippets on YouTube now.)

Tessa and I spent the morning yesterday lazing around the apartment with Jonathan, not getting packed till the very last minute. We barely made it to the airport in time, because what kind of adventure starts with timeliness and promptness and all that boringness? Not baby Tessa’s first adventure, that’s for sure!

Tessa was completely enthralled by all of the people in the airport. If I suspected before that she is a freakishly, abnormally awesomely chill baby, I know it for a FACT after yesterdays travels. With 8+ hours of travels, Tessa did not cry ONCE! She flirted with everyone, got a trillion compliments on her pixie hat, and had every passenger on the planes going on and on about how cute and calm and wonderful she was. She was giggling and chattering and watching the world when she was awake (which gave me great company when I’d finished reading through the two books I’d brought) and she was sleeping snugly and soundly in her ring sling when she was conked out. It was the easiest thing on the planet! Tessa kept watching the passing clouds out the window, completely entranced. She gets so focused and calm when she’s encountering something new. She’s already such a smart baby. Have I mentioned how much I just love her!?!?

My flight was about 40 minutes behind schedule. Which meant I left my dear friends (whom I’d never before met in person, haha) waiting at In and Out Burger for awhile. I first “met” Josh and Kristen when I was looking for breast milk donations for baby Tessa awhile back. Kristen provided Tessa’s early colostrum heavy milk and has become one of my favorite people. We like to tease each other about how we’re mutual blog / Facebook / Instagram stalkers. I am so blessed to know this lovely couple and Tessa is blessed not just with amazing nutrition, but with an amazing Auntie and Uncle in Southern California! I was so dang excited to meet these guys!! We spent so much time visiting we didn’t hit the road for Hanford till.. what? 8ish? I think?? (I stole some of these Instagram images off of Kristen’s page.. cuz I’m baaaad like that.)

So when we finally hit the road, my mom was all like, “Waaah wah waaah, I have to pee!” So we started to pull over at the nearest exit (Lyons Ave in Valencia) and then we realized, hey! Dennis from Billy Hill and the Hillbillies at Disneyland usually plays with his bluegrass band The Grateful Dudes on Saturday nights at a pizzeria right off of Lyons, let’s see if they’re still playing! And lo and behold they were! We stuck around for an hour or so to listen to the band and catch up on old times, then when we hit the road for the Central Valley it was well past 10pm. See? Timeliness = BORING.

After much coffee and soda and other unhealthy caffeine laden beverages, we finally made it home past 1am. Lots of visiting and settling in ensued and finally, around 3:30am, we headed to bed. Look at Tessa, all snug as a bug in her borrowed bassinet!

This morning we headed to Marshalls so I could buy the Christmas gifts for family that I didn’t have room to pack in my bags. Jessica had fun trying out the ring sling with Tessa. Check out their matching penguin hats:

My brother Jeremy and his lovely wife Angie visited from the coast to meet baby Tessa for the first time. Tessa LOVED them. It just kind of dawned on me today… she’s going to have an auntie and uncle that are going to spoil her rotten.

We headed over to Grandma Ree and Steve’s house in Lemoore for a kind of impromptu family reunion. Look, here’s my brother, me and my sister as babies!

Grandma Ree and Steve meeting baby Tessa for the first time!

THEN! My Aunt Peggy stopped by and Tessa got to meet her Great Aunt. It’s funny to me that Tessa was an angel on the flight -didn’t fuss or cry ONCE – but once we got to visit with family she decided to go all teething infant on me and drool on everyone. She got a tiny bit of a fever today, and kept trying to bite everything (but mostly her overalls). But still, Tessa was being a super cutie, and loving on everyone with her perpetually alternating “oh!” and “wtf?!” faces.

After the family get together, we all headed back to my old apartment (now my dads super secret lair) and spent some more time loving on Tessa. My mum sniped this shot of all three of us “kids” with the first grandbaby. I can’t wait till Tessa has some cousins to play with!

Anyway, I’m going to head to bed now. SO. VERY. TIRED. It’s only been a day and a half and we’ve already had some fun little adventures. Sorry for the rambling nature of this post. I’m tired, I’m distracted, and I’m… I can’t even remember what I was going to say. Yeah, that’s my cue for bed time. Goodnight, ya’ll!

Baby Tessa With Daddy In New Orleans

My favorite part of our New Orleans trip? I loved watching Tessa’s face as she took in sights and smells and sounds. She was always looking UP. As we sat in Pirates Alley for a short break, between the Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral, Tessa couldn’t stop staring at crows landing on the wrought iron crosses along the tiled roof. Her eyes kept flitting to and fro, trying to keep up with the movement, with her little brow wrinkled and mouth pursed into an “O” in her concentration. Then she’d look around, at the water trickling along the cobblestone water gutters, at the artwork hung along the Vieux Carre, at the sidewalk performers tap dancing, performing solo jazz… it was making my heart so happy to see my daughter soaking in the beautiful swirl of life all around us, snug and safe in her daddy’s arms.

Anniversary Weekend In New Orleans

New Orleans is always pulling me back with its siren call of cobblestone walkways, French courtyards, lush ferns hanging from bead strewn balconies, Spanish moss, lamp posts, Dixieland jazz, creole and Cajun cuisine, the mystical and muddy Mississippi River, and history ranging from cultured plantation life to primal voodoo bayou life. I just can’t get enough.

Jonathan and I fell hopelessly in love with this place when we first visited with our best friends David and Shauna when they were living in San Antonio, Texas. We immediately started making wedding plans for a small and intimate gathering at our new favorite getaway spot. It was quite the feat, planning for a wedding in Louisiana from California.

Now, a year and many many life changes later, we find ourselves living just a short three hour drive from the spot where we said, “I Do”. Hello first year wedding anniversary trip!

Last year, it was just Jonathan and I, enjoying life together. Now, we are SHARING life with our little girl. It was so nice to be back in New Orleans, reflecting on our past year and dreaming about the years to come.

Oh. And the BBQ Shrimp, Jambalaya, Red Beans and Rice, Beignets and Café au Lait was nice too. (Sometimes my love for New Orleans is 99.9% the food!)

A couple of repeat visits to The Big Easy are in order before we have to leave Pensacola, methinks. *nods*

Road Trip from California to Florida

These are some snapshots from my 3 day road trip from Hanford, California to Pensacola, Florida with my dad, my dog and my five cats. We crossed through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on our way to my new home. We were hauling a little 5×8 Uhaul trailer behind us stuffed with as many of my belongings as we could cram into the tiny space, so we were puttering across the countryside at a roaring 55mph the entire trip. Even with our trailer-induced slow pace, we made the nearly 2500 mile trip in good time… we left at 9am on Tuesday August 13th (my birthday!) and arrived at midnight on Thursday August 15th.

The majority of these pictures were snapped through the dirty windshield of my little Ford Escape. We really did not take the time to stop and sightsee. My animals did amazing on the drive, with my cats being happy, playful and purring each night we smuggled them into the Extended Stay hotels we stopped at.

The most stressful portion of the trip was my fear that my cage of cats would be spotted and we’d be hotel-less for the night. Extended Stay hotels allow animals, but with a limit of two per room. Whenever you ask management, “Hey, can I bring five cats and a dog into your facility?” The answer is always a very quick and oftentimes bitchy, “Hell no.” Since my cats are amazingly well behaved, socially adjusted and clean little buggers – and because they stayed in the crate the whole time and were only let out in the bathroom for a quick cuddle and playtime – I didn’t see the harm in making sure the coast was clear and then carting my cage of cats through the exit doors at 1am for our 8 hour stays. So I can now add, “Smuggler of Cats” onto my growing list of random things I’ve accomplished in my life.

While it got long, boring, redundant and stressful at times, I had a blast on this road trip with my daddy. I know I could not have made this drive at 8 months pregnant all by my lonesome. Since we arrived in Pensacola we’ve been busy beyond belief, and I’ve only now just found a chance to upload these photos and find some free WiFi at a local Starbucks. But I’ll be sure to update with more of my travel / moving in weekend when I get the chance!

On The Road to Pensacola

The fortune cookie has spoken.

I’ve been rather silent the last few days – and will be silent for the rest of the week because!… Tomorrow morning I embark on my cross country road trip from California to Florida to join my husband in Pensacola!

Our little 5×8 foot uHaul trailer is filled to brimming with my bare essentials (and maybe just a couple little luxury items, too).

My SUV is loaded up with roadtrippy goodness for me, my dad and my furry babies.

Oh! And tomorrow is my birthday.

I’ve been a broken record on this blog about how my life is about to undergo many, many changes… and tomorrow is definitely one of the major ones. Keep me, my dad and my unborn daughter Tessa in your travel prayers?

I’ll be back to blogging sometime next week!

Packing Up The Apartment

THE KITCHEN BEFORE

THE KITCHEN AFTER

Despite the universe throwing every conceivable road block in my way – the car breaking and needing serious work in the shop, my edema acting up and making standing for more than 15 minutes at a time painful, the cost of moving mounting up to unbelievable proportions, etc. etc. – I am defying the world and packing up our 400 square foot studio apartment in Hanford, California to embark on a cross country road trip to Pensacola, Florida. That’s 2,261 miles. At 8 months pregnant. With a car full of cats. And a retarded moose dog. Who says I don’t have adventures?

My dad is going with me so I won’t be alone, but it’s still a daunting task. I’ve spent the last few days slowly packing up the apartment with the barest of essentials. And the more I pack the more I think “essentials” includes things like my antique phonograph horn (otherwise, how could I listen to turn of the century Al Bowlly music in the mornings on the porch with my cup of coffee..?) and my various carvings of cats and cougars.

The prospect of leaving so many of my precious collectables behind wrankles me. Oh. And I HATE touching cardboard. Hate hate hate hate it. It’s like nails on chalkboard to my fingertips. It ripples through my nervous system like a sour high note at a demon opera. So needless to say, I am one cranky bitch these days.

But I’m excited to be living – if not WITH my honey right away – at least near him. Until he is released to live off of the base, I will be carving out our little nest solo and preparing our home for baby Tessa. But it brings us one step closer to being reunited as a family under one roof again. Only this time, it’s 15 minutes from the beach and a day trip to New Orleans. I’ll take that.

Well, I better get back to packing. Just the living room and bedroom left!

Just Landed in Chicago

After a LOOOONG day of driving, waiting, more flying, more waiting, delayed flights / connections, waiting some more, rental car mishaps, driving some more, and finally, hotel sweet hotel at 2am – my dad and I safely arrived in the Windy City.

The adventure was long and action packed. By action,  I mean, my feet swelled up like marshmellows stuck in the microwave during the flights. I have come down with edema that would be fascinating if I were observing it in others, but simply freaked me the eff out when it was my own feet trying to eat my toes. My dad the coroner kept squeezing my ankles to see the pitting from the fluid retention and commenting, “That’s what ankles from corpses that died from congestive heart failure or deep vein thrombosis look like when I get them in the morgue.” My feet inflated so much that my shoes would not fit after the flight and I had to walk barefoot off the plane and through baggage check. So that was fun.

But it’s another day, my legs feel much better, and while my ankles and feet look like those stuffed Halloween store limbs you buy to stick out of the trunk of your car, the swelling has massively gone done. I just woke up from a delicious 8 hours of sleep, and am about to embark upon the great “Jonathan’s Navy Graduation” adventure. Which I insist starts with food, since I slept through the complimentary breakfast here at the hotel.

Anyhoo, this is more of a post to say that I won’t be posting in the next few days. Sightseeing, deep dish pizza, Lake Michigan and most importantly, my handsome sailor man awaits.

I can’t believe it’s here.. Sarge’s Meet in Greet is in just 6 1/2 hours, and then my honey graduates tomorrow morning. I’m in a kind of numbed emotional state (or maybe I’m just really hungry and still partially asleep), but I expect to explode in a frenzy of tummy tickles and pent up emotions any moment now. I’ll wrap this blog post up now before that occurs and spare you all the excessive caps, exclamation points and made up words I spew when I’m hyper and excited. ^_^

Thanks to everyone for all your love and support, and thank you to those reading my blog and keeping me busy during these last two months when I’ve been lonely and restless and pregnant without my husband! I appreciate you more than you know! See you guys after the weekend!!  ^_^

Things to Bring to Navy Graduation (PIR) Checklist

I’m leaving tomorrow morning for Chicago to see my handsome husband graduate Navy Boot Camp as a United States Sailor. I’m going insane with last minute packing and with my preggo brain, I’m terrified that I’ll forget something vital to pack… hence this super long and largely common sense list that I’ve compiled. As I have personally never attended a Navy PIR, this is all info I’ve gleaned from seasoned Navy wives and mothers, and things that I’ve found that I personally would like to bring or include.

Since I’ve thoroughly raped this checklist in my Word documents, I thought I might as well share it with the blogosphere. I hope someone out there finds it helpful, haha!

THINGS TO BRING TO NAVY GRADUATION (PIR)

Plane tickets, hotel reservations and car rental information – Have all of your important travel reservations and documents handy, along with phone numbers and street addresses of hotel, car pick up / drop off locations, the Meet and Greet and the Great Lakes military base.

Phone, laptop and chargers – These are essentials for me when it comes to travel. I usually don’t forget the actual phone or laptop, it’s the chargers that I have a tendency to forget.

Camera, lenses, batteries, charger, memory card and uploading cord – One of my worst nightmares is the thought of forgetting my camera right before an important event, or just as awful, any one of the elements of my camera that are required for photography. I literally have nightmares before major happenings – my honeymoon, a vacation, a graduation – so I’ve gotten really anal about checking and double checking this part of the list. And just last week a gal on the 900 division Facebook group reported having to take photos on her iPhone because she forgot her camera’s SD cards! It happens. So make sure you have your camera, your lenses (standard and telephoto), your batteries, your cameras charger and an uploading cord for getting your photos safely stored onto your laptop ASAP.

Your toiletries and medications – I could go on an even greater checklist with this little category (and my unabridged checklist on my iPhone notebook does just that), but for brevities sake – toiletries and medications. You know what you need / want.

Make up with waterproof mascara – Emphasis on the waterproof mascara. Don’t forget to pack make-up remover wipes as well. (Or better yet, don’t wear any makeup on PIR day, to avoid smudging the Navy whites.)

Outfit for the Meet and Greet – From what I can tell, the attire is casual. I plan on wearing a nice-ish top and leggings, with comfortable pumps.

Centerpiece and place cards for the Meet and Greet – Division families are encouraged to show support for their divisions by creating centerpieces for the tables at Sarge’s Meet and Greet. It’s obviously not a requirement, but our division group is so tight knit and ambitious, we went all out and plan to take the Meet and Greet by storm. In a fit of Martha Stewart-esque craftiness I decided I’d make personalized origami boat place cards for all the people in our group and ensure that we can all sit together.

Gifts for fellow division families at the Meet and Greet – If you were lucky enough to find an amazing support group of fellow Navy families from your sailors division through Facebook that you plan to meet up with, show your appreciation for their company and support with a small gift, candy, cards, whatever (if you’d like, it’s certainly not mandatory)! In the first few weeks of discovering my new online friends, I decided to make up a batch of patriotic lapel pins as gifts. The group has since grown to a number that exceeds the lapel pins I made, so my generosity and act of friendship is only extending to the 938 Facebook old-timers. (Classy, I know, lol.)

Parking passes, base pass and IDs – Make sure you have all of this printed out and set aside prior to leaving for Great Lakes. These guys don’t mess around. If you don’t have the appropriate documents, you won’t be getting in to see the graduation.

Outfit for the PIR – The going consensus is that the attire is business casual, though there is currently no enforced dress code, so jeans and a tee are welcomed. But really? Jeans and a tee for a NAVY GRADUATION? Come on. I’m planning on wearing a nice navy blue knee length day dress. I was agonizing trying to find the perfect dress to show off my baby bump to my husband, and had planned on wearing a 1950’s style circle skirt with an empire waist, but finally decided to opt for something simple, comfortable and classy.

Comfortable walking shoes – Make sure you plan to wear comfortable walking shoes – if your sailor wants to go out on the town, you may be spending the day in whatever you are wearing.

Support ribbons or attire – Don’t forget to pack any ribbons or other support trinkets if you are planning on sporting them to the PIR.

Jacket or wrap – I have been hearing rumors that the PIR room is pretty cold. A lot of gals online are advising bringing something warm to cover up with, like a light jacket or a wrap.

Tissues – If you’re not crying like a baby, you’re a robot. Or a monster. Or a robotic monster. Anyway, make sure you bring something to sob into when you see your sailor on the PIR floor. And when you hear liberty call. And, you know, for the whole weekend.

Graduation gifts for your sailor – I got my husband the Performance Division’s Ship 2 Challenge Coin, and a leather Burberry bomber jacket that I found pre-used for an AMAZING deal. I am going to wrap them and bring them in my checked luggage, but as I have had wrapped gifts unwrapped by TSA before, I’m bringing extra paper just in case I need to re-wrap.

Sailors cell phone and charger, and other electronics. – Your sailor will be able to take these things with them to A School, but they have to be handed off at the airport after their day of leave. I’m going to make sure I have Jonathan’s phone charged and activated during his free time after graduation though, as I’m sure he’d enjoy checking his phone, logging onto Facebook or Google searching random things throughout the day.

Sailors rings and personal jewelry – I’ve been wearing Jonathan’s wedding ring and his Aragorn ring on a necklace since he left for Boot Camp. I can’t wait to see them back on his fingers, and I’m sure his hands have felt naked without them.

Change of clothes for your sailor – If you plan on spending any time in your hotel room, give your sailor the option of changing our of their sailor uniform and into some comfortable and familiar clothes. I’m planning on bring my husband some pajamas, an actual outfit (jeans a tee shirt), and one of his favorite loose hoodies so he has a choice of what to wear / change into.

Your sailors favorite cologne, deodorant or shampoo – While Jonathan isn’t big on cologne, he does love him his Axe brand shampoos and deodorants. People talk about how much their sons / husbands loved returning to their familiar and personalized scents and grooming products. I don’t know how much the gesture will be one that Jonathan delights in, but I’d rather have that option open to him if it would make him feel that much more “at home”.

Lingerie and massage oil – This is for the wifey’s (obviously). I don’t know when / if we’ll have time to ditch the in-laws and indulge in some, uh, quiet time – but in the off chance that we do, I am planning on bringing my classy honeymoon lingerie as a sweet surprise (Don’t look at me like I’m some kinky temptress, it cover more than the average swimsuit. I wore this for my 30 week maternity photos), and some massage oil, and I’m hoping to give my honey a long, relaxing, peaceful massage. Hey, he’s earned it!

Lint roller and tide pen – The sailors must wear their white uniforms in public at all times during PIR weekend, so if you are planning on going out and about, make their life easier and have a lint roller and tide pen to keep them neat and clean.

Dental floss, mint gum, chapstick – Keep some handy “just in case” essentials in your purse. This is not the weekend to be irritated and made uncomfortable by a pesky / stubborn piece of food stuck in your (or your sailors) teeth. Or chapped lips. Or a rank breath from the extra garlic on your deep dish Chicago pizza. Take extra steps to make the weekend a cheerful, joyous, stress free one for all!

Change / cash for toll booths – If you plan on driving in to the Chicago area at all, make sure you have loose change and cash on hand for parking, toll booths and various expenses.

Directions to places you may want to see in Chicago – In my experience, a GPS can get really spotty once you get into the downtown areas. So it’s a good idea to know where you are going, what the address is, and a the directions for getting there instead of embarking on a point by point Google maps excursion.

Letters for your sailor – I have been writing to my husband every single day since he departed for Navy Boot Camp two months ago. Even though I’ve had to stop sending letters with his PIR date approaching, I have not stopped writing them. I plan to bring the unsent letters for him to read on his plane trip to A School.

Book for your sailor to read on the plane – I have not gotten a clear response on whether sailors will have room for an extra book on their flight to A School, but I figure it wouldn’t hurt to bring my bookworm baby a novel just in case. If he can’t take it, I’ll just have to bring it to him when I follow him to A School later.

Complete List of Things to Keep in Your Car for the Chronically Forgetful

At times, I am the most addle-brained, forgetful person on the planet. No, really. I’m constantly asking, “Is there any chance we have any (fill in the blank) in the car? No? Darn.” I had been toying with the idea of one day, when I’m really bored or motivated or nesting or SOMETHING, to get my act together and actually flesh out my car with every conceivable necessity possible.

With an imminent cross-country road trip to Pensacola, Florida looming over my head and a baby on the way, I finally decided to invest a day in making my car road trip proof, oops-I-forgot-this proof and new baby proof. For those of you who know me, you know I get ridiculously giddy over checklists. So here’s my complete list of things to keep in your car. This is particularly useful for the accident prone and chronically forgetful.

Absolute Essentials:

(Most of these items can be found in pre-assembled Emergency Car Kits in auto supply stores)

Owner’s manual – Helps with everything from, “How do I turn the wiper fluid on?” to “What does it mean when the check engine light is on and fire is happening?”

Registration and Insurance Information  – Always good to have on hand. And make sure you always know where it is. I always feel like cops are thinking I’m some creeper digging around for a gun when it takes me a lot of ferreting around to produce my license and registration.

First aid kit – Make sure you familiarize yourself with everything that’s in it. I had one for like 4 years, and never knew what it contained. And after like a trillion backpacking trips where I endured blisters, chapped lips, bug bites and the like, I finally opened it and was like, “Hey look! Chap stick! Moleskins! Insect repellant! Awesome! And kind of lame for me…”

Jumper cables – Always nice to be in a position to be the Good Samaritan. Of course, I’m usually the one in need of a jump, but that’s besides the point…

Road flares – Good for accidents and the like. Also, in the off chance you find yourself in a Jurassic Park type setting, they are useful for luring T-Rexes off into the woods while you save the childrens.

Flashlight and extra batteries – So you can see in the dark. NOT recommended for shining in the eyes of T-Rexes whose eyesight is based on movement.

Emergency Blankets – Living in the heart of the Central Valley in California I don’t particularly feel the need to keep one of these on hand, but it came along with a ton of other not so essential essentials in the Emergency Car Kit I purchased. The kit I bought came with rain ponchos, a set of tools, a tow rope, glow sticks, an oil funnel and tons of other things I was kind of “meh” over.

Bottled water – For drinking or emergency radiator fluid. Having burned up an engine once, (okay twice) in my day, it’s particularly relevant for the latter.

Money – Everytime I do this I usually just end up spending it on Starbucks or some impulse buy. But I’m going to try and make a point of keeping a handful of change, and at least $20 in cash in my car at all times for emergencies. (Example: card being declined at gas stations and you’re running on empty.)

Cell phone charger – So you can always be able to make emergency calls and troll Facebook.

Important Medications – I have pretty severe asthma at times, and I very rarely actually keep my inhaler on hand. So I’ve set aside room in my car for an inhaler and allergy meds so I don’t, ya know, die.

Oil – I wasn’t going to throw this one on the list, but then a friend convinced me that if a car starts leaking oil on a long road trip, having a can on hand is the best $5 insurance you can invest in. So I agreed and decided to pretend it was my idea to add it to the list. Then I accidently shared this whole story. Oops.

Rags – For checking engines, oil levels, or anything to protect your hands / clothes / whatever.

Bucket to hold all the junk – Slap some Velcro on the bottom so it doesn’t slide around.

Nonessentials:

(But equally vital for the chronically unprepared…)

Pen and pad of paper – Always good for jotting down important notes and phone numbers, and for the writers out there, essential for capturing random ideas!

Dog treats, spare leash and doggie poop bags – Obviously this is for the dog owners out there. I’m always like, “Come on Thor! In the car!” And then I’m half way to the dog park before I’m like, “So. You didn’t happen to bring your leash, did you boy? BAD DOG!”

Kleenex – No more wiping your snot on your husband or car seat!

Plastic utensils – Okay, this one came about accidentally. My husband would take packed lunches to work, and found that it was easier to use throw away utensils than remembering to bring silverware back from work. After the dozenth time a fast food joint forgot our utensils after we drove away we were kind of like, “Heeeey. This isn’t a bad idea to keep these in the car!” Ditto for napkins and fire sauce from Taco Bell.

Breath mints – Cuz yo breath stanks.

Deodorant (for me and him) – I’m always rushing out the door being stinky. Okay, not ALWAYS, but it’s awful when it happens. I grabbed some tiny (non-meltable) deoderants, one for me and one for hubby, to keep on hand. Ya know, just in case.

Air freshener – I am so retarded for Fabreeze it’s not even funny.

Floss – This is one of those things that doesn’t seem important till you absolutely need it.

Travel razors – Okay, you can start judging me. I really am that unprepared most (all) of the time. I’ll be halfway to a friends house in shorts and then go, “Oh yeah. I should probably take care of these gorilla legs of mine.” Or I’ll find a huge stray hair on the back of my leg that somehow dodged my razor at home. At any rate, I recommend keeping one on hand. If you know how to, ya know, groom properly or whatever, disregard.

Lip balm – Always nice to have on hand. I made sure I got a non-meltable (cars get hot!) uni-sex tube one so I can share with my hubby.

Hand sanitizer wipes – Good to have, cuz you never know.

Lint roller – With a dog and five cats, this is an essential that I almost never have on hand, and really should. But with my honey in the Navy now, I can’t imagine his white Navy suit and black Maine Coon, or his blue Navy suit and his golden retriever would make a good pair without this bad boy on hand.

Sunglasses – I have taken to keeping one pair in my purse and one pair in the car at all times because I always lose and / or break these. ALWAYS.

Tylenol – I’ve taken to keeping this, and due to pregnancy ails, Gas-X and Tums in the car. I’m also keeping Band-Aids up in the front in addition to the ones stashed in the First Aid Kit in the back because PAPER CUTS CAN’T WAIT.

Protectant and Glass Wipes – For cleaning the car out and wiping down random spills and dog slobbers. I bought the pre-moistened wipes because they are ready to use and just easier to mess with.

Windshield Reflector – I really only use this as a light bouncer for photography, but I may eventually one day actually use it for my windshield. So in the car it stays.

Music – iPod, CDs, whatever. Make it happen.

So that’s pretty much it! I went on my epic car supply hunt, and then took my car to be professionally detailed. It looks and smells BETTER than when we drove it off the lot! I seriously don’t know how I’m ever going to let my dog back in the car after this sparkling cleaning job of awesomeness. I feel much more confident and empowered in my car preparedness, both in the emergency realm and in the “Uhhh, sir, you forgot my spork” at the drive thru realm. I’m super ready for this road trip and feeling just a tad more prepared for motherhood! Car down, only a trillion more nesting tasks to go!

Camping at the Grand Canyon, Arizona

Jonathan and I had been craving a camping trip for some time now, and after tossing around various plans (Yosemite? Yellowstone? Sequoias?) we finally decided on a quick jaunt to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, one of the seven natural wonders of the world – thus allowing me to check off another location on our 501 Places To Visit Before You Die checklist. I love me my checklists. Our friend Nate came along to spend his birthday weekend with us at the Canyon.

While I tend to pride myself on my vacation planning abilities, this weekend was, uh, not well planned. First we forgot it was a holiday weekend. (Oops.) Then, we didn’t check routes till we were halfway there (landslide in the park made us have to backtrack and reroute), we misjudged the cost of gas, and once we arrived at the National Park, we found that Desert View – the first-come first-serve campground we intended to set up at – was full, and we had to drive 15 miles out to Ten-X Campground that LUCKILY had a cancellation and let us set up camp. But all those adventures aside, the trip was a blast!

We were up at 3am to drive to the canyon, grab a vantage point and watch the sunrise. While Jonathan and I had both been to the canyon prior to meeting each other, we’ve concluded that this is THE way to see the Grand Canyon for the first time. We literally watched the canyon unveil. It’s gorgeous. At its widest point, the canyon stretches 18 miles across and is around 6000 feet deep, so in the dim light of the pre-dawn moon, you can only see the cliffs around you faintly – the gap across the canyon and the floor is pitch black. Then as the horizon lightened and the sun rose, the canyon was literally unveiled. It was unreal. It was like watching a literal painting in process.

We spent the morning hopping along vantage points and visiting Native American ruins. When we went to the historic Indian watchtower at Desert View on the South Rim, they were playing the Disneyland Grand Canyon song that plays during the train ride and I was like, “OMG, it’s for real!” (Yes, I get all my real life adventures out by reenacting my childhood make believe sessions from Disneyland..)

We also brought our puppy Thor along with us and he was fantastic. It was the first major trip we brought him along on and he couldn’t have been a better behaved dog. He spent most of his weekend off the leash because he was so well mannered and obedient. I really don’t know what happened to the little terror we’ve spent the last year trying to train! ^_^

So, according to the Grand Canyon National Park Service, the only thing more dangerous than a person hiking the canyon alone, are two men in their 20s hiking together. The majority of people who die by falling over the edge of the canyon are men aged 20-40, and many of the deaths involve guys peeing off the edge. Guess what Jonathan and Nate both did? *sigh*

I don’t really get the appeal of peeing into a giant hole in the ground. What is it? Claiming your territory? Although I do kind of get the bragging rights concept. I mean, I once peed in the original Batman Bat Cave in the Hollywood Hills. In high heels. So there’s that. And for the record, I also peed in the canyon. Well, Tessa started kicking my bladder so I hid behind a bush to go. So it was less peeing in and more peeing on.

Anyhoo, we had a fun weekend of camping and sightseeing. I love creating memories around the world with my handsome husband – and soon our family vacation will include TESSA! I’m so glad we had a chance to do this last minute trip, it will be our last family vacation as a two-some. Jonathan leaves for boot camp in just 7 days.