Late Night Ramblin'

After posting "late night" in my title, I looked at my clock to see it's only 8 o'clock, HA! Since Ryan has started working his new job, we get up at 2am so our bedtime is usually 6:30-7:00. Most nights, like tonight, we put a movie in and watch until we fall asleep. Tonight however, I'm trying to stay up a bit later so I can hopefully sleep better. I know it sounds creepy but I love watching Ry sleep. Not for like hours, that would in fact be creepy, but just looking over and seeing him sleep makes me just want to hug him so tight! I wonder if all people in love feel this way? Well, whatever. On a different note, I applied for a job at a school called Spring Ridge Academy last week and was called in for an interview a couple days later. Well, today I got the call offering me the job! I was so excited and so proud of myself but hesitant to take the job because of the hours. It's a boarding school so it's functioning 24/7 and unfortunately I got offered either 2nd or 3rd shift which would really cut back my time with Ryan. We talked things over and I ended up accepting the position for 3rd shift. All in all, I'm pretty excited and I know it will be a great opportunity. I'm so happy that they felt I'd be a good candidate for such an amazing position. I'm just very proud of myself. And if it's not all that I hoped it would be, I can always quit. I'd rather know for sure than wonder "what if?" There's only one way to find out and thats to try it out so we shall see!

I was going to complain about some stuff thats been bothering me today but you know what... I'm feeling too happy and too blessed right now to even worry about the selfish, mean people in my life and they're not worth my energy. Instead, I'm going to curl up with the most amazing husband and have a great night. You do the same!

Birthday Boy

Ryan's birthday is almost here! My hubs is turning 24! I am super excited for so many reasons for his birthday that I could just scream! The biggest thing is that he hasn't celebrated a birthday since he first joined the Marine Corps. He says it's been more than 5 years since he's celebrated and that is just unacceptable! Three years ago, his birthday landed during his first deployment to Afghanistan. Two years ago, his birthday landed during a rainy, month long deployment training in AP Hill. Last year, his birthday landed during his second deployment to Afghanistan where he stood post for 18 hours and didn't realize it was his birthday until it was almost over. Although I sent him an awesome birthday package, it still doesn't count as celebrating. All of that is changing this year! If you know Ryan, you know that he is a super simple guy who isn't too fond of being surprised with say, a huge party or something along those lines. He doesn't expect some grand celebration or extravagant gift. He's just a really simple, down to earth type guy. So, let me go back a ways to help you understand my birthday planning ideas. Ever since I've known him, Ryan has talked about how badly he's wanted to go skydiving. Since he came home from his second deployment, he's begged me to go with him countless times all of which I've firmly said NO! Yeahhh right! Me go skydiving? I don't think so. At least not until I try a few other things to help me work up the courage, like for example, riding roller coasters, hang gliding, etc. So, with his birthday coming up I've been wondering what to get a guy who doesn't need or want anything, really. I mean, I thought of a few thoughtful gifts, but I wanted something to make this birthday really memorable for him. And the thought came to my mind : SKYDIVING! I found a place here in Arizona that offers skydiving over one of the most beautiful spots in the state and I booked a date and was super excited! I was planning on just driving him up there the day of, and surprising him by saying "You're going skydiving!" I know that completely contradicts everything I said about what Ryan likes... Something simple, no surprises... but this was different and I knew he'd love it. Well, if you know me, you know I'm horrible at keeping surprises and I ended up spilling the beans and telling him what I had planned. He was so excited he couldn't quit smiling. I guess when I told him I should have said YOU are going skydiving, not, WE are going skydiving because he immediately said "You're going too!?!" Oh.. Nope, not me. Well, after talking about it, he told me how important it was that we do something together for his birthday and that his first time skydiving, he wanted me to be there with him, jumping out right after him. And even though I told him how exciting it would be for me to see him float down to the ground, we decided that someday, probably later than sooner, we would sky dive together. So, that left me to decide a new birthday plan. Poo. I went to work on it though and came up with something just as enjoyable, but nothing near as extreme. Something simple, just the way he'll like it. There is a place about 45 minutes away called "Out of Africa" and it's a wildlife refuge type place where you can interact with and see all kinds of different animals and watch some really neat shows they put on. You go on a Safari that tours the place and everything. It takes awhile to see and do everything, so by the time we're ready to leave, we'll be hungry enough to enjoy a dinner in beautiful, sunny, Sedona; one of the most talked about and beautiful places I've ever been to. They have such amazing food and beautiful views. It's going to be the most perfect end to a wonderful day. I am super excited and the best part is, Ryan wanted me to keep this one a surprise and I've done a good job and not giving any hints! So, that's what we'll be doing this coming Saturday. His birthday isn't until next Wednesday though, which I also have something planned for! We've been craving chinese food since we moved to Arizona, but there aren't many restaurants near by that serve it, so for his birthday, we're going to a Chinese food place with our family. Afterwards, we'll come home and have the homemade cake I'm going to bake. I'm going to bake a white cake with homemade cream cheese frosting, and raspberry filling with raspberries on top! Perrrrfect! Raspberries are his favorite so let's hope it turns out super delish!

Long Overdue

Wow! I didn't realize it had been this long since I've updated my blog. So many things have happened since the last time I wrote so let's get started!

Ryan is officially out of the Marines and we now live in Arizona! We made our journey cross country about a month ago and we're finally getting settled. We had a bunch of little projects to do on our house and the first one is finished... the bedroom! I wish I would have remembered to take a "before" picture because the transformation is unbelievable! It is so nice and cozy and we're so happy to finally have a place to call ours. Here are some pictures of the bedroom and I'll throw some in of the kitchen as well. As we make more progress, I'll add some more!!

Part of the kitchen while we were unpacking

Kitchen Area

Part Of The Bedroom, we added all the wood trim

The 3 cubby things are shelves and mirrors

I don't know why this one is blurry but thats the door leaving the room and the arched doorway is our bathroom

That's it for now, dinner time!

Babies for The Haley's

Recently I posted on Facebook, and here, about some potential super duper exciting news for Ryan and me and I was surprised at how many people thought that we were pregnant!! I understand why a lot of people would assume that is what I was referring to. We're a newly married, young couple and that is something that newly married, young couples do and look forward to, but that is not what I was talking about. Don't get me wrong, I most definitely look forward to having a family with Ryan and the thought of it excites me beyond belief but not right now. We're 22 and 23 years old, we have a lot of things that we want to do and experience before having children. We have goals we want to accomplish and want to be in a "secure" place before bringing a child into this world. That doesn't mean that I don't catch "baby fever" every now and then because believe me, I DO, and I convince and think to myself, "I want a baby now!" but in all reality, we'd both like to wait. Part of our reasons I guess could be considered selfish... We enjoy our life right now the way that it is, just the two of us. We treasure the alone time we have with each other and use it to truly learn more about one another and fall even more in love than we could have imagined. We like having the option to just "get up and go" as we please. But then there are the reasons we both feel very strongly about. Like I said before, we want to be in a "secure" place in our life. We both want steady careers and a good source of income so we're not worried about living paycheck to paycheck or worrying if our child is going to have everything that it needs. We want a safe and happy place that our children can call home. A place that we are proud to call "ours." A steady, happy, and healthy life. This isn't about being " The Jones' " or even keeping up with them. It's not about having the perfect little house on the corner with the white picketed fence and red front door. I know that even when we feel we are prepared enough for children, we'll still have struggles along  the way and at times feel like we are falling short as parents. Every parents dream is to give their child everything they want and everything they need. What better way to achieve your goals than to start by building a strong foundation in which you can build off of? We want our children to be able to look back on their lives and be proud of the family they came from. We won't ever be perfect parents but we will be the best parents we possibly can for our children. When the time is right for Ryan and I, it will happen and when it does, they are going to be the cutest, most precious little babies you've ever seen.

Super Duper Exciting

So, I have some super duper exciting news that I want to share, but I can't because Ryan thinks I'll jynx it, so when and if it becomes official be on the lookout for a super duper exciting blog.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!! Yippie!!

2 Years & Counting

Well, today is mine and Ryan's 2 year anniversary! It's hard to believe that it was two years ago today that Ryan and I had our first date. It feels like 10 years ago, but in a good way! We have both grown so much and our appreciation for each other and our love is at an all time high. Two years ago today, I was literally pacing back and forth in my living room waiting for him to pick me up.  I decided to wear a really cute navy blue flowy top with some jeans and some super cute navy blue and white heals. I looked pretty cute :) I watched as he zoomed on passed my house, missing the driveway. I felt a sigh of relief knowing I had an extra minute to chill out and catch my breath. It was so unlike me to be getting nervous over a first date but holy heck, I was more nervous than I had ever been. So anyways. Here he comes, pulling into the driveway as I walk outside to wave him down. Thinking I'd just walk over and get in the car, he surprised me by getting out and giving me a big hug. I don't even think I said hi... all I could say was "Are you wearing Abercrombie cologne?" Really, Ann? That's all you could think of? So, we headed to town and about 3 miles down the road, Ryan completely runs a stop sign while trying to show off his sweet driving skills in his new BMW, almost killing both of us. Jokingly I asked him if I should drive and I think I embarrassed him. The original plan was to just go to dinner and if we ended up hitting it off, we'd go see a movie. I was super paranoid that after dinner I'd want to go see a movie and he'd just want to take me home, a sure sign that he wasn't interested. Much to my surprise though, one of the first things he asked was if I'd like to go to a movie first and then get some dinner. I took that as a good sign :) We went and saw Marley and Me and yes, I cried my eyes out. When I cry, my eyes get suuupper red, suuupper puffy, and my chest and neck get really blotchy. Attractive, right? Haha. Ryan didn't seem to mind though. So, he told me he wanted to take me to this Hibachi Grill and thought he could remember how to get there... Well, he couldn't and we ended up driving around for a good 45 minutes trying to find the place. Needless to say, we settled for Mexican food. I figured that after dinner, the night was over and he'd take me home but out of nowhere he said "I don't know what there is to do in this town. All I know is that I'm not ready to say goodnight to you yet." How perfect :) We ended up spending the rest of the evening talking about everything you could imagine. I think he took me home around 1 or 2 in the morning, haha. And well, that was the start to our journey. Here we are, two years later, husband and wife, living our dream. I couldn't be more thankful to be spending my life with that crazy Marine who ran a stop sign, took me to a movie that made me cry, and got me lost on the way to dinner... Oh, and by the way, I was right about the cologne :)

Happy Anniversary Babe!

New Year...

Christmas is over and the new year is fast approaching. You know what that means! New Years Resolutions! I haven't quite figured mine out yet but the whole idea of having a resolution has me thinking about a lot of things. With a new year comes new things, new possibilities, new opportunities.... room for change! Lots of change! I'll be the first to say that I'm usually not very fond a change. Familiarity is very comforting to me but for some reason, I'm looking forward to some of the changes I'll be making in my life this coming year. Some of them are self-improvement changes like having more self-confidence, being an all around healthier person, to stop worrying so much about things I can't control, etc. Some of them are life-changes like finishing up school, moving to a new place, starting new jobs., etc.. And some of them are just changes I want to make for the sake of my own personal beliefs on having a happier, healthier life... like surrounding myself with loving, supportive, and unselfish people, welcoming obstacles as opportunities, and only focusing my attention on the people and the things that matter. Whenever I seem to be having a hard time or dealing with a difficult person, my Dad always reminds me that "Those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Completely true. True family and friends accept you just the way you are... they accept your faults, your quirks... everything about you because that's who you are. I live my life the way I want to. I do the things I want to. I don't do the things I don't want to. If someone has a problem with any of that, why would I want them in my life? That is who I am and I only want the people who love me to be in my life. I am so unbelievably lucky to have grown up with such a loving and accepting family. I am proud of the family that my husband has become a part of... a family (most of which that have not met him yet) that accepts him and loves him unconditionally. I feel so privileged to have been raised with such high morals and values... something I will instill in my own family one day. I was taught the importance of The Golden Rule: "Treat others as you wish to be treated." All of these traits that make me truly proud of the woman I've become. All of these things that make realize exactly what I want in and out of my life. All of these things that I can easily achieve to make my life a happier and healthier place. I have so many things to be thankful for... a loving husband, an amazing family, great friends... the things that truly matter. Why waste my time on anything else?