Our apartment in San Diego

I intended to post these photos of our apartment while we were still living in San Diego, but better late than never, right? 

San Diego to South Carolina

I am so far behind in blogging that I hardly know where to start.  Maybe I should follow through with my intent to write shorter, more frequent posts instead of getting myself into the position I am now where I'm overwhelmed and don't think I can catch up. :-)  Oh well, here goes.  Since the last post, Kevin and I moved from San Diego to South Carolina.  We are excited about the new area we'll call home for many reasons, and here are some of those:

1.) Real estate is more affordable here so we get to be homeowners! 
2.) We're closer to the great state of Oklahoma, and thus, closer to loved ones.
3.) We get to live in a historic area in the South - which we think will be a great experience.
4.) We should get to live here for several years, and that's a long time to us.  (I say should because I have learned that nothing in military life is set in stone!)

Even though we're thrilled about this new chapter of our lives, we were sad to leave San Diego, too.  A bunch of reasons why:

1.) The weather was sunny and gorgeous almost all of the time...which made me very happy.
2.) The terrain was absolutely beautiful...unlike anything I'd ever seen.
3.) There were so many things to do and in our 15 months there, we didn't get to do all of them.
4.) It has Yogurtland, home of the best frozen yogurt ever. This is not a joke...it was delicious!

Nonetheless, we feel very blessed to be stationed in such wonderful places.  Thank you, USMC!

Here are a few of the last photos I took in fabulous San Diego.  In upcoming posts, I'll share photos of our apartment (since I never did that while we lived there), our cross-country drive and our new house.

Celebrating my birthday at George's Ocean Terrace



  

View from the corner of our apartment complex

Love of my life and the Pacific

An overdue post with photos!

The past six weeks have been really busy, but they've been full of so many great things...starting with a visit from my wonderful mother-in-law, Belinda!  She visited us in San Diego in mid-November, and we had a really fun weekend with her.  It was such a treat to have her in our home, and I wish the weekend could have lasted longer!  The weather was gorgeous while she was here, so we were able to get some beautiful outdoor photos, too.

Belinda, thank you so much for coming to visit!!!  We loved having you here!

My attempt to be a photographer...

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking family photos for my sweet and beautiful friend, Nicole. In case you're wondering...I have absolutely ZERO experience doing anything like this, and I have only had my DSLR camera for three short months. So, PLEASE lower your expectations before you scroll down. (Thank you!) On the other hand, I really enjoy taking photos with my new camera and I just love this family to pieces...so I had to say yes when Nicole asked me for this little favor. Before the big day, I spent quite a bit of time scoping out potential locations and even more time researching photography tips online. Kevin was also a huge help in this effort because he willingly 'posed' in front of different backdrops for me so I could see what my practice photos would look like w/ a human in them. :)

I went into the photoshoot incredibly nervous and came out of it just as nervous about the results because it was one of the hardest things I've ever done! I knew that it was going to be difficult because photography is truly an art form and I am such a beginner, but I didn't realize how brief the moments would be when I had everyone's attention and happy faces! Fortunately for me, this family looks cute all the time no matter what they're doing...so I managed to capture some great shots while learning a LOT about photography. I would love to be great at this craft someday but I need much more practice if that is ever going to happen. Thank you, Nicole & Adam, for letting me take your family photos! I miss you guys already, and it still hasn't sunk in that you're living in Japan for the next three years. :(

Here are some of my favorites from the 500 or so I took.

A shout out to my MOM, our faithful visitor!

A couple of weeks ago, my wonderful mom came to visit! This is her third trip to see us in San Diego (her first trip was w/ my dad & brother and her second trip was w/ my dad), and we were ready for some girl time in this fabulous city! To sum up our week, we did most of the things we do best together...we shopped, we talked, we sunbathed, we baked, we ate and then we shopped a little more...okay, a lot more. It was SO much fun!!! Surprisingly, my mom and I (who are both photo fanatics) didn't take one photo together while she was here! :( Totally out of character for us...but we made some great memories and enjoyed quality girl time. Mom, thank you for making another trip to see us! We appreciate you and all that you do for us! Love you so much!

I will try to be a better blogger...

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in several weeks! Since I am new to the blogging world, I still feel a bit awkward posting things b/c I have no idea if anyone is reading them. :) Oh well, I'll just work on getting better and cross my fingers that friends and family who check our blog are enjoying the posts. Today I read some helpful tips on blogging by the one and only Pioneer Woman so I feel rather inspired to post. By the way, if you haven't been introduced to www.thepioneerwoman.com then let me tell you, her website is so informative and entertaining! The content on the website seems endless, and you can find everything from photography tutorials to her real-life love story to extremely tasty recipes (with detailed instructions and step-by-step photos!). If you aren't fully convinced to check her out, then you should be when I tell you this -- she's an Oklahoma girl! Yea!


A few weeks ago, Kevin and I went to Sea World San Diego for FREE! How generous is it for Sea World to give military families free admission once a year?! So nice. The weather was perfectly sunny, we had a great time seeing all of the exhibits and I really enjoyed taking photos with my new camera! The Shamu show was probably my favorite part of the day, because I was completely amazed by the tricks those whales could do...especially in unison. Here are some of the 600+ photos I took. (I just love my new camera!)

FUN-FILLED ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, we planned several days of fun activities in San Diego and the surrounding area. We feel so fortunate that we get to live in beautiful Southern California as newlyweds! Our first event of the weekend was something I have wanted to see for a long time -- a Keith Urban concert! He played in Los Angeles at the UCLA tennis center, and it was actually a great location because it was a more intimate setting than most concerts we've experienced. It was a gorgeous evening to be outdoors, and his performance definitely lived up to our high expectations. Before the concert, we made time to stop at the new Magnolia Bakery for some delicious cupcakes (I first fell in love with these cupcakes at the original NYC location). Thank you, Diana, for letting us know that a location opened in L.A.! The buttercream frosting was just as incredible as I remembered.

On Saturday, we went sailing on the Pacific Ocean with our good friends, Diana & Chase Newman. (They were celebrating Chase's birthday.) It was extremely relaxing, and it allowed us to see the harbor and the ocean from a completely new view. We absolutely loved it!

Beautiful homes on Point LomaLook closely...we saw a dolphin being trained to detect things like underwater mines!

We enjoyed a special anniversary dinner at Firenze Trattoria on Saturday night. It had a very romantic Tuscan atmosphere, and we had a great time reminiscing about our wedding weekend and how much our lives have changed in one year. I have to say that this was possibly the best dinner date I’ve ever had with my husband! Gotta love mushy romantic conversation over a delicious meal with the love of your life. :)

Kevin has been anxious to go to San Diego’s Wild Animal Park since we moved here in October, so I took him there Sunday and surprised him with tickets to a special Photo Caravan adventure. The caravan takes you on a two-hour up-close and personal tour of animals in their pseudo-natural habitats. The tickets for this adventure were a bit pricey, but thankfully they were totally worth the money! I was crossing my fingers that Kevin would love the experience, and he enjoyed it just as much as I did. During the tour, the animals walked right up to our caravan so we were able to feed giraffes and rhinos! Yikes – see the terror in my face below! What a memorable way to mark one year of marriage. Overall, we spent about seven and a half hours at the park, and we took over 800 photos. (Truthfully – I actually took more than that, because we filled a huge SD card just three hours into our time at the park, so I had to sit down and delete a couple hundred photos before we saw the rest of the park!) I think it’s safe to say I/we love our new DSLR camera. To see more of our park photos, visit our shutterfly page at http://theobriens725.shutterfly.com/.

Yes, feeding them was as scary as it looks. Our guide told us to drop the apple slice into the rhino's mouth AND touch the rhino's bump for good luck. I found it rather difficult since I was so focused on keeping my hand from being eaten! How CUTE is this baby elephant?!?!Remind anyone of Aslan??

I had to add this one to see if Kevin is reading our blog. ;)

One thing that we loved about the park was how active the animals seemed to be compared to zoo animals. Here's an example: This photo is significant because the huge stick that Kevin is holding was THROWN by the gorilla at the crowd of people on the other side of the railing! Look at the distance between the gorilla and Kevin! There was a sign that asked visitors not to stare at the gorillas because they don't like people to stare at them in the same way we humans don't like others to stare at us...but, come on! We're there to see them! Plus, how do you not stare at these incredible animals interacting with each other? We ended our first anniversary by eating some of the top tier of our wedding cake and watching our amazing wedding video (yes, Kevin received major points for sitting through every minute of it, yet again.) The cake tasted pretty yummy for being one year old!

Okay, there’s one more thing I have to mention, because it was the most special part of the whole weekend. The traditional first anniversary gift is paper, and Kevin gave me the most sacred and thoughtful gift ever – our wedding vows, written in calligraphy, in a beautiful frame. I can’t imagine a more precious gift, and I will cherish it for the rest of our lives. In case you’re wondering, I did not give an equally precious gift! My gifts to Kevin were the photo caravan tickets I mentioned above and a magazine subscription. I guess Kevin is now the sentimental gift giver in our relationship!