4 more years!

Today, I am so proud of my hubby, well I am proud of him every day! But today my Marine reenlisted for another four years with the Marine Corps!

It has been a wild ride these past four years since he joined back in 2008. But I would not change a thing because it has made us grow as individuals and as a couple. I may not like it when he has to go away but I am proud that my man in a Marine and is serving his country.

Alex's blues picture from boot camp.

The military has moved us from Colorado to California to Hawaii where we will stay till 2014. We don't know where the military will send us next but I know that no matter where we go, we will make the most of it and create new memories to last a lifetime.

 Alex at MCT (San Diego, CA)

Alex at DLI (Monterey, CA)

Today's ceremony was wonderful. I could not be more proud of my husband and all he has accomplished during his Marine Coprs career. And as he was called up, my heart swelled with pride and all I could do was smile.

I was very surprised to find out that I would be receiving a certificate of appreciation. I had no idea, but Alex did. I was honored to stand next to my Marine with him during the ceremony.

I can't say it enough: I love my Marine and I am so proud of him and all he has accomplished!

Coming Home!

January 5th seems like such a long time ago. Alex left for deployment on January 5th. When he first left it felt like time was standing still and July felt like it would never get here! I want to say it was easy to get used to sleeping alone and doing all the things I used to do with him alone but it wasn't. But I did eventually get used to living the "single-married" life.

I made myself busy with school. I was fortunate that school started the week after he left. I spent all day in class and all evening studying so I did not have too much down time. And to take care of any down time I might have had...I got a job! I also was able to stay busy hanging out with some amazing women here in Hawaii. So I just want to say thank you to Reagan for staying up late with me on the phone listing to me ramble on and on. And thank you to Danita for the many dinners you fed me and all your kind words. To Amanda to all our late nights at Target and cleaning. Without you lades (and many others) this deployment could have been a lot harder. 

I started working at the exchange on base. I was hired to work the front registers but I was eventually moved back to work in customer service. I now had no personal time at all and that is just how I wanted it. Time started to just fly by! Before I knew it, it was all ready March and time for me to fly off and see Alex and Lindsay in South Korea (there will be more on that later, yay!!!). 

Once I was back in the states it was back to work and back to school. School ended in May and I just started to work all the time. I was elated to hear that my boo would be coming home three weeks early and he was now going to come home in June instead of July! And before I knew it June 14th was here! I was nervous, excited, and anxious all at once to have my hubby home again. And I can't describe how happy I was to see that duty van pull up with my marine inside it!

As a surprise I got Alex a new wedding ring to replace his old one which had gotten pretty beat up over the past three years....he loved it!

I love my marine. I will always wait for him, no matter how long he is gone or how far away he has to go. I love you boo....and WELCOME HOME!!!!

A Very Kinney Christmas!

I have been a bad blogger and I have yet to post about Christmas! So here it is!

This was a very different Christmas for both Alex and I, it was our first Christmas away from home. But a piece of "home" came to visit! Alex's parents came out for Christmas this year and we were so happy to have them! It was great getting to visit with family and share the holidays with them.

The fist thing we did when they got here was of course was check out the beaches!

It was fun getting to show Mom and Dad around base and showing them where we now call home. That night we went out to dinner and had a relaxing night just catching up. We spent the next few days relaxing and enjoying each others company. I was able to go out to lunch with Mom and one of here family friends who happens to live out here and go shopping at our local mall. That same day Alex got to take Dad golfing on Kaneohe Klipper Golf Course here on base. We finished up with a great dinner at Bubba Gump, it was an all around great day.

We spent Christmas Eve cooking and lounging around the house. As Mom and I cooked for Christmas dinner, Dad and Alex hung out. We spent the afternoon playing Taboo and watching movies. That evening it was off to church on base for the candle light service.

After church we all got into our comfy clothes and settled in to watch Author...and then it was time for Santa's Elves to get to work! Alex's parents and I were in cahoots about his big Christmas gift. To play a little trick on him (all in good fun of course) we made a scavenger hunt for him to figure out what all the money was for that he would get Christmas morning. So as Alex went up to bed, I snuck around putting out his clues for the next morning.

We started Christmas morning off with my Mom's amazing breakfast casserole! It's a tradition in my family to have it for breakfast every Christmas.

And we can't forget the roaring fire!

Once our tummies were full we got to opening gifts! We opened our stockings first.

We then started on our gifts! We worked our way from youngest to oldest...starting with Alex.

Once he had opened all of his gifts it was time for his scavenger hunt!

 Hint 1: Go to the place where dreams are made...

Hint 2: Go to the place where lint bunnies are born...

Hint 3: Go to the place where the creepy critters crawl...

It was a hoot to watch him try and guess what it was he was going to find. He found his bike at the end with a sign saying to fix it up.  And he did just that! He got new rims and a tune up after the holidays. Next it was my turn to open gifts and then Mom and last but not least Dad!

For the rest of the morning and afternoon Mom and I cooked. We made an 11 pound turkey and all the fixings! I have never made a turkey without my Mom so this was quite exciting for me. And of course we had to take pictures with the bird...

While the turkey did its thing we watched Christmas movies and hung out playing with our new toys. Once all the food was ready and the turkey was done it was chow time!

Once we were all stuffed to the brim we cleaned up and played a round of Marine Corps Monopoly which Alex got for Christmas.

Even Hercules passed out from food coma!

For Mom and Dad Kinney's last day in Hawaii we went to the USS Missouri. And just my luck, my camera died three photos in...

It was a lot of fun learning the history that surrounds this massive ship. I had a ton of fun on the tour through the ship (it reminds me of the time I went on my Grandpa Heitkamp's ship). For dinner we went out to Ala Moana. We were very sad to see them go...I cried for a good five minutes as we drove away from the airport. We are so blessed to have had them come out for a wonderful visit. But this year we WILL come home and see the rest of the Kinney clan. 

So thank you Mom and Dad for a wonderful Hawaiian Christmas!