Busy Bees!

Wow, what a great past few days its been! I have a lot of updating to do, so here goes!

We had a great first Christmas together. Although Josh and I are just starting out and lets be honest, the military doesn't pay major bucks, its great see how we work together to pull together the best Christmas that we can. We had decided not to get each other presents this Christmas so that Anistyn could have enough. And really...we got what we wanted back in September.

Christmas Eve we went and picked up Josh's parents...Grammy and Poppy! They flew out here so we wouldn't be be alone for the holidays and we were happy to share it with them. We spent Christmas Eve night setting up. Anistyn even wrote Santa this letter:

In case you can't make out the writing it says: Dear Santa, Can I ride on your sleigh? Can mommy and Josh go too? I'd like to see Rudolph's shiny red nose. I've not been bad on Christmas. Love, Anistyn

Aaahhh...she's too cute. Santa wrote her a letter back...and on top of all the sweet things he told her, he also put in there that it would be GREAT if she would go to bed when her mommy and daddy asked her to.....we'll see if that helps!

Christmas morning we were all awake by 7am and ready to open presents!

Here's Anistyn checking out all of the presents!

Here she is trying on her slippers from Grammy and Poppy!

Christmas Day was spent playing games together, eating, and just having some quality time together! Since Grammy and Poppy were here for 5 days we got to do a lot of sight seeing! Since I grew up watching action flicks with my Papa Joe I had been wanting to go to Carmel to eat at Clint Eastwoods restaurant. Months ago Dane and Ellen had promised me a trip there...and they follow through on their promises!

This is the outside of the restaurant when you first walk in. It was a little chilly so opted to eat inside. Its so pretty! That Clint Eastwood...he can fight off bad people AND decorate a restaurant....what a guy!

Here's me chowing down on my Dirty Harry burger! My Papa Joe would have been so proud!

On Monday we decided to head to Monterey to take a walk along the Fisherman's Wharf. We walked a little ways stopping to see the sights as we went. We ended up at ANOTHER restaurant I had been wanting to go to...BUBBA GUMP'S!

What can I say? I'm a skinny chick who LOVES to eat! My poor Josh...he grunted at every picture he had to take...but with me AND his mother there....there was no way he was getting out of it!
I love love love how Bubba Gump's is set up. The little drink menu is a ping pong paddle and on the table there are lots of Forrest Gump quotes. The waitress comes around and asks Forrest Gump trivia and the place is loaded with different kinds of memorabilia. It made me want to watch the movie again! Oh, and we got all of the trivia right!

Here was our view from our table. I love sitting where you can see the water!

This was my favorite sign!

After some more walking we had to stop and take a picture by this fountain. It was cold so me and Anistyn got new hats thanks to Grammy and Poppy!

We had a great visit with Dane and Ellen. They even made us some Ukranian food one night which was great. We dropped them off at the aiport tonight so it will be months before we're able to see them again.

In the morning we're off to San Francisco. One of my best friends Kelly is coming in with her little boy, Caleb! I am SOOOO excited to see them! We'll be able to spend the day in San Fran together so I can't wait!

And what did we do tonight while it was just the three of is? We rocked out.

Man, I love my life!

Christmas Eve...

All of the presents are wrapped and under the tree...except for the ones from Santa of course.

I just got the cookies for Santa out of the oven and now they're cooling.

I had a very good cookie helper.

Josh is currently putting all of the remaining cookie dough together and trying to make one HUGE Christmas cookie...aaahhhh, boys. Gotta love them.

My apartment has been scrubbed down and looks lovely.

All of the grocery shopping is done and we're ready for a good meal tomorrow.

In a few hours we will go to the airport to pick up Josh's parents.

I LOVE this holiday!

And I LOVE the main reason of Christmas....Christ is born!!!

I won't be able to get on here for awhile, so before all of the craziness starts I am taking a moment to think about my wonderful first "married" Christmas. I couldn't ask for a better husband. Its been a great year and the "first" Christmas of many together.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Love,
The Freemans

Tis the Season...

The last few days have been somewhat hectic since we are just now starting our Christmas shopping. We didn't have the time before this though, since Josh had a load of tests before his break started. This past weekend we were able to get some of the shopping done. Tomorrow we're going to drop Anistyn off at school and get everything for her!

On Saturday, Santa came to the office of our apartment complex. The ladies that run the office there are very involved and love having little get togethers. Anistyn gets so shy around Santa. I asked her why she didn't want to talk to him and she said "I really do like him...I just get so nervous!" Here is my "shy" daughter and Santa though!

Ahhh...well, Anistyn said next year she would talk to Santa...so I'll hold her to that. I am very excited about this week. Josh's parents are coming in on Christmas Eve...then its our first Christmas as a family...and one of my best friend's Kelly is coming next week! So I have a lot to look forward to. In the meantime we are just enjoying having Josh around all the time!

(Anistyn took this picture...and while it looks like Josh is lovingly looking up at me...he's actually trying to get my head to hit the ceiling...haha)

Kids These Days...

I must start this post by stating an opinion. I think my daughter is pretty darn funny. All kids are funny for that matter, but being her mother, I am of course, with her more. Josh and I often glance at each other and laugh together when we hear Anistyn singing one of her "made-up" songs, which she does frequently.

I wanted to recap two things that she said to earlier though.

Her first comment came after seeing a children's show which had talked about car safety and how drivers need to be aware of their surroundings and how they need to stay alert. Anistyn came up to me and said

"I know how to drive mom, I just need my driver's liscense like you. Can we go get one soon?"

Then later she said

"Mom, when I use my spit, I'm just trying to blow bubbles with my mouth. I'm not really spitting. So you don't need to get onto me when I do that because bubbles aren't bad.

Kids these days...

On another note, we had Josh's Christmas party last night. It was a nice for us to get out as a family and meet some more people. We ate great food and Santa was there, although Anistyn was of course acting way too shy to go talk to him. I didn't get any pictures except this one of Anistyn and Josh as we were leaving. Anistyn had wanted a picture in front of all the pretty lights.

I just love those two people. Now tomorrow is Josh's last day of work before his leave...thank goodness! I know he's ready to relax a little bit, especially after these last couple of weeks!

Fun times!

My day today started at 5am this morning. It was one of Ani's school days and since we live about 20 minutes from her school and Josh's school too, I just decided I would spend the whole day in that part of town instead of wasting gas going back and forth. So, we were all out the door by 6. I dropped Josh off, then took Ani to school and then  I was ....BY MYSELF!!! Granted it was for 3 hours, but thats really all the time I need. So, I got a hot cup of coffee and headed to Target. I LOVE being able to do that. Not really going to buy things, but just looking. I looked at different things we could maybe decorate with, looked at some possible Christmas presents for Ani, and my personal favorite...I got lost in the book section. I now have a list of must reads.

Then, I went and picked up Anistyn from school. We grabbed some food and then headed to the beach for the afternoon. I love the path that they have to walk on right by the beach. As you walk along, you can search for seals, and any other other ocean life. They even have benches that you can sit on just to take in the different views. Anistyn adores it. Here are a few pictures of us at the beach!

Anistyn had to bring Kitty along of course.

There were seals laying out all along the rocks, so Anistyn was making her seal sound to try to get their attention. I think they knew she was an imposter;)

Here are the seals...they are so funny to watch! Anistyn and I will sit on a bench and make up voices pretending to be the seals...she thinks its hilarious.

She loves to pose...here she is  with seals and seagulls in the background!

Me and my princess...don't you just love the flower she picked for me...

What a great way to spend the day. Being a one car family means most of the time I'm at home, so I love when I'm able to get out! Now we're just two days away from Josh being on leave...and then all the busy-ness starts!

I did it.

I can't believe I did it.

I STILL can't believe what I did...or how I had the courage to do it. But I did.

I cut my daughter's hair. BY myself.

For those of you who don't know...my daughter's hair is like a prized posession of mine. I think Anistyn is pretty much beautiful...and her long brown hair is as well. Before this, she had only had ONE haircut. And she's 4 and a half. I just have a hard time with her and hair cutting. To me...cutting her hair means she's getting older. Can't she just stay little forever?

Her first haircut was probably a year ago. She had precious baby curls still in and it was time to get rid of them. I didn't want to...I think I was pressured into it. I caved though, and took her to Desirae...the only person I would trust enough to cut my baby's hair. Desirae had told me to hold my hands at the bottom of Anistyn's hair in a cup shape so I could catch some of the baby curls so I could keep them. I did so, and a few cuts later Desirae looks up at me and says "Tara...you can't keep ALL of the hair...". I'm just attached...

Of course, you can only deal with the cries that come with brushing out tangles for so long. Detanglers, conditioners, it all comes down to another haircut. So, I bravely made an attempt to cut it myself. My mother always cut our hair...well I have pictures to prove maybe I shouldn't use her as an example;)

Here is the princess before:

How much did I cut? This much:

The aftermath:

She is so very cute, isn't she?

In other news, we're just getting ready for Josh to be on leave!! He's been doing a ton of studying and school work lately. You would think they would take it easy on the guys before Christmas break, but its very much the opposite. Between tests and projects and other assignments it will be great when he can take a break from all of that for a little while!

Friendship

The last couple of months I've been adjusting to life as a wife. I'll give myself some credit, I think I'm doing pretty good so far. Everyday I love Josh more, if its possible. I haven't always made the greatest decisions in my life, but marrying Josh...I got that one right.


Being in California is great, and I love being in a new place. I love learning to cook great meals for my family. I love listening to Josh sing Ani a song before bed. The list goes on and on...


The only downside...is being away from my family and friends.


For this blog...I just wanted to talk about my friends though. I miss my family like you wouldn't believe, especially around the holidays now. But where I'm at now, surrounded by soldiers, you wouldn't believe what I would give for some girl time.

Marrying a soldier is rewarding in so many ways. I love that I married someone who stands for what he believes in. Not only does he make ME feel safe, but its unbelievable that he, and so many others would risk their lives for the safety of others. I love that he has ambitions and goals and wants the most out of this life that he can get.

Being around my soldier, and others...as well as living on a base where I haven't made any friends yet...I constantly hear about "soldier" stuff. M 16's, MRG's, boots, army regulations, ranks, missions, equipment...this is what I hear about. All the time. And don't get me wrong, I love listening to Josh talk about his day. I love that he's so excited about what he's doing. I support him more than anyone in what he is accomplishing and I'm so proud of the person that he is and where he wants to go.

But he doesn't really like to talk about nail polish, hair styles, lip gloss, or bras. And thats perfectly fine with me. I think it might be kind of odd if he DID like to talk about those things.

The great part about my friends...is that they've always lived far away from me. Granted, its a lot farther now...but we've grown accustomed to having our friendships consist of many many phone conversations. We can't do our weekend trips like we used to, but even from far away, they've been the  best friends I could ask for. And I miss them. Extremely.

I thought that once I moved over here, it would be easy to make friends. And I'm sure if we got out more in the social scene we would. But we really just like spending time together as a family since we're so new to it. There's a Christmas party that we're all going to soon so maybe I'll be able to meet some girls there. But for now, I miss mine. I can tell them anything and they don't judge. They are the friends that are few and far between. The ones that have seen me at my worst, and been there. The ones that have listened to me rant about anything under the sun, and sympathized. The ones who I have laughed with until we cried. The ones that watch Lifetime movies with me all day in our pj's. We've watched each other turn from adolescent teenagers, to mothers and wives. Like any relationships, we've had bumps...but we mean enough to each other to get through anything. Whether blood or not, they've been there for me and vice versa. I can see why God made friends. And I'm glad he picked the friends he did for me. I love them, support them, and would do anything for them. Because they would do the same thing for me.

So today, I just want my friends to know that I am so forever grateful for everything that you have done. I know you don't expect recognition, because you're real friends and real friends don't expect it. But you deserve it. For every tear, every laugh, every scream, rant, sickness, birth, wedding, drive, and more I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I miss you and love you unconditionally.

(Note...Shannon, I couldn't find a picture of me and you!)

Back to Routine...

After a nice 4 day weekend its now back to the routine, just like everyone else. We had a great Thanksgiving and I had a wonderful time cooking for a big group. I didn't burn my kitchen down! I started early that morning and stayed highly busy preparing all the food. Josh was a big help, getting the place ready and taking care of Anistyn so I could handle all the food. By the time everyone arrived I was pooped! I didn't take many pictures...I wish I had, but I was busy hanging out with everyone and getting to know some of Josh's friends. I did snap a few pictures though. Here is how my food turned out!

I had turkey, ham, macaroni and cheese casserole, sweet potato casserole, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and rolls. I have to give credit to Josh because I think he would want everyone to know that HE made the deviled eggs....

There were still a lot of leftovers so we've been eating the rest all weekend! I didn't get any pictures of all the guys and I wish I had. However, I will let you know what they did the entire time...they played some military war game on xbox. Yes...so  very exciting for me;) So, just imagine 6 guys around a TV and three game controllers...and there ya have it!

We also got our Christmas tree put up:

Anistyn did a wonderful job of decorating! I can't wait for the next few weeks until Christmas!

Thankful

Since I will be highly busy tomorrow I wanted to go ahead and post what I am thankful for! Josh has invited some guys from base over for Thanksgiving since they weren't able to make it home. I have been VERY busy getting everything together! I am really excited to have a group of people to cook for now...but nervous at the same time! Lets hope I can pull it off!

On to what I am thankful for:

These two people:

I am forever thankful for my husband. Words cannot express how much I love, admire, and respect him. He is my own hero. I adore him and love how easily our lives have meshed together to create a beautiful family. He was definitely worth the wait.

I am thankful for my beautiful little girl who has been the key to my happiness these past 4 years. Through her I've learned what love, and princesses, are all about.

I am thankful for my parents who taught me all about life.

I am thankful for my sisters and brother. I love how different we all are, and at the same time...so extremely close.

I am thankful for my aunts...I have looked up to them since I was little. I still do.

I am thankful for my uncles...who love God and their families.

I am thankful for Nana...the leader of the Lamb family. Where would any of us be without her?

I am thankful for my MB and Paw Paw...some of the most loving people I know.

I am thankful for all of my cousins...they all inspire me.

I am thankful for my new family that I have happily joined. It was easy to love them immediately.

I am thankful for my friends. Somehow, in all his business...God knew I would need those exact people in my life.

I am thankful for the life that I am living, the air that I breath!

I am thankful for the military, who keep us all safe!

Most of all, I am eternally grateful for God. Through him, all of this is possible. A life without Him is meaningless!

I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving!!!

Updates!!

Wow, what a weekend! I would have posted earlier, since a lot of things happened, but the weekend was so busy that I never had a chance.

Friday was my birthday so I spent the day with Anistyn. She refused to tell me happy birthday though because I did NOT have a cake! But, that afternoon the doorbell rang and there stood Josh with a birthday cake all lit up for me. So we had a fun Friday night just relaxing at the house.

Bright and early Saturday morning our furniture came!!! FINALLY!!!

We spent the morning trying to organize as much as possible since we had plans for that night. Here is a picture of our living room! Ignore the boxes that are still there. We filled up the apartment garbage posts with boxes already...so we have to wait for it to be emptied so we can take the rest out!

I will have to post some more pictures of it later! Saturday night I got to do a little shopping for my birthday, then we dropped Anistyn off at 'Parents Night Out' at her school. They do it once a month on a weekend night from 6pm-11pm. I had signed Anistyn up, but was worried. I didn't want her to be the only child there...but she definitely wasn't! I guess thats the only chance a lot of parents around here get to go out by themselves so I was glad to see that Ani had plenty of children to play with! They served them dinner and had all kinds of games and movies for the kids. So Josh and I were able to have a little date! Soooo....what did we do???

We went to see New Moon!!! Here we are on the way to the movie!!! Can't you tell how excited we both were!!!

Okay, so maybe I was a little more excited....this picture cracks me up. Josh was a trooper though! Notice how we're matching...this seems to happen a lot when we go places! We get ready seperately and when we're finally ready to leave we notice that we're always wearing the same color shirt! Its happened three times...we've worn blue, yellow, and black. Maybe lame, but I just thought it was cute.

So, we got to see the movie I have been DYING to see! We had to endure some preteen screams...and we were sitting next to some guys that were making fun of the movie through the whole thing. Which I thought was pretty funny considering they came to the movie by themselves...they didn't have any girlfriends or anything to MAKE them watch the movie. They came willingly, yet they made fun it....hmmm

After the movie we went and picked up Ani who had a great time at school. The next day we finished off clearing up the apartment and getting everything organized. Its great to have a handy man around! He even figured out a way to hang up our robes:

Please note the towel rack because I need some decorating help! Josh and I are having a "disagreement" with it. Obviously we are going for a brown and blue theme. Now, I had originally planned to have two big brown towels and then two little blue towels sitting on top, just like the towels on the right. Josh thinks that that we should keep the big blue towel up there, and get a little brown one...so please post your input! It won't hurt my feelings if you think Josh's way is better...but I just need some help with it!

Now to just get ready for our first Thanksgiving together! Josh and I are going to cook a small Thanksgiving meal together. I can't wait to see what traditions we can come up with!

Also, last night I went to check on Anistyn to make sure she was asleep since she had been getting out of bed a lot. As soon as I opened my bedroom door, this is what I found:

I love my life!

Growing...

Today, my big girl started pre-k! Granted, its only 2 mornings a week....but its still a big deal to us! Its the first time we've been away from each other in a very long time! Also, I've always taught where Ani went to school, so its a big adjustment.

We had to wake up and take Josh to school. I had packed a bag for her just in case we weren't able to make it back home to change and thank goodness I did. We made a quick stop at Burger King for a biscuit:

Once she was all ready we headed into her class!

This picture makes me almost cry. I just can't believe how big she has gotten. Holding her hand and walking her into the building with her little backpack on was just too bittersweet. I am such a sap and you wouldn't think her going to school for 2 mornings a week would be a big deal...but she's my only baby! She did great, she was a little hesitant at first, but once the teachers got involved she happily went with them. She is SO excited about Thursday...she gets to go on her very first field trip! The teachers are taking the kids to a Whole Foods market and she gets to ride on a bus...well actually, its a van but she calls it a bus and thinks it is the coolest thing in the world!

Also....I have to post these pictures I snapped last night. Josh was laying on the floor watching TV while I was cooking dinner last night and he dozed off for a bit. Anistyn made him nice and comfy though.

Isn't she sweet. I think its so funny seeing him in his army pants and boots...then with a little afghan...and Tookie of course!

I love how Tookie was sharing the pillow with Josh...

I love little moments like these!

Coupon World....here I come...

I am finally attempting to become a "coupon queen."

I have vowed to myself that once I was in California and settled, I was going to start trying to save money by using coupons. I have so many friends that swear by it, that I figured it would be dumb not to at least TRY...

See...I'm already a little bit prepared. Bethany gave me a little binder to put all my coupons in...and I have a lot of websites that I can print coupons off of too....as soon as Josh hooks the printer up and we get some paper. Must do this weekend.

I really hope I can be as good as my best friend Michelle. That girl is rediculous when it comes to coupons...and I completely mean that as a compliment. She has a family of four and is always calling me, telling me how much money she saves...I am completely in awe. Of course, I think she eats, sleeps, and breaths coupons...note our conversation we had earlier today:

Michelle: So, are you pregnant yet?

Me: Um, no...I highly doubt that will be happening anytime soon. Why?

Michelle: Well I just saw  these coupons for pregnancy tests. They were half off. I was just thinking if you thought you might be, you might want to go get those.

Me: Yes...thank you. I'm sure if I thought I was pregnant the first thing on my mind would be saving money on the pregnancy test. For sure.

That conversation seriously cracked me up!

Anyways, I went grocery shopping 2 weeks ago and spent $120 with no coupons. I didn't even attempt to use them then, because we didn't have ANYTHING in our apartment for one. Also, I had to REALLY think about what I could cook...seeing as we don't have a lot of things to cook with. We finally got a microwave, but before that I could only cook on the stove. Which seems easy, right? But I didn't have mixing bowls, casserole dishes...and I'm not an amazing cook yet either. SO, I did my best. I still had nights where I thought I had really found something to cook that could just be cooked on the stove, only to find out that there was SOME item that I needed (I made sphagetti and didn't have a strainer...so I had to run out and get one.)

Now though, bit by bit, our kitchen is getting a little fuller. So this weekend I will be attempting my coupons. Wish me luck!

Why little girls are fun...

Today, while Anistyn and I were at home I was busy trying to figure out coupons (I have not succeeded yet...but its a work in progress). There's only so much I can do to keep her occupied...tomorrow we are going to register her for some pre-k classes! In the meantime, I am glad that she has an extraordinary imagination.

Anistyn decided that she would teach "school" to all of her stuffed animals. I saw a glimpse of my older sister in her...of course back in those days, Tiffany always used me as one of her students...and she was a very strict teacher;)

Anistyn was nice enough to let me come in and teach the class their ABC's while she planned their "activity." And yes...those were her words. I didn't know she knew the word activity, let alone how to use it in a sentence! She is always surprising me with how smart she is!

Here is a picture of Ms. Anistyn with her class:

I love her pose!

Tookie, however, was not able to participate in the activity that Ms. Anistyn had planned. He had hit Kitty and therefore, was placed in time out.

That'll teach Tookie to behave next time;)

Salinas

I thought I would share a few pictures of the town that we live in. Salinas is right outside of Monterey, so it takes us about ten minutes to get to the beach. I know my way around Salinas pretty well...I just still get confused in Monterey. I haven't really driven out there by myself though, which is how I learn my way around. Almost everytime I've been, Josh is driving...therefore I am much more interested in the radio rather than street signs;)

Salinas is a cute little town. If you turn right out of our apartment complex, you hit a whole bunch of stores and restaurants. However, if you turn left....

You hit a whole bunch of fields that are growing cabbage a strawberries. They might be planting more...but I've SEEN the strawberries and you can SMELL the cabbage!

Its beautiful though, because there are miles and miles of fields, then these gorgeous mountains in the distance.

If you drive by at certain times of the day you will see all these cars parked along the fields. Then you'll see all these people all over the fields, picking the fruit. I told Josh I thought it would be fun to take Anistyn out there to pick strawberries. He said that he doubted other people would like that...seeing as they were picking the fruit for money, not fun;)

And yes, I was taking these pictures while I was driving and/or parked. Governor Arnold has passed the law prohibiting California citizens from talking on cell phones while driving...but he didn't say anything about taking pictures now did he? ;)