Hello everyone,

Not much has been going on recently, which is why I haven't been updating the blog. Greg and I are both into the groove of work, which is nice. Work is still extremely busy for both of us, as Greg starts up his deployment training, and I essentially work two jobs in one. It's nice though, especially when the pay checks arrive at the end of the week!

This weekend and next we are enjoying the calmness and lack of activities in preparation for the holiday season. In a week and a half we head off to Blue Bell for the first time in 8 months for Thanksgiving, which we can't wait for. After that, we may go to Las Vegas to watch cousin Ted Holt run the Las Vegas marathon, followed by Ann's wedding in Utah, followed by a weekend in Arizona helping Mom and Dad set up Christmas descorations, followed by Christmas! It's going to be crazy from Thanksgiving through the New Year, so the calmness now is great. We've already bought most of our Christmas presents (thanks to Greg...I never buy this far in advance, but it's so nice to think ahead and do this!), and are getting excited for the holidays.  

That's the latest update...besides the fact that it's 75-85 degrees here during the day (yes, it varies that much), so if the weather back East is getting chilly, come visit!

Pics

View of Palm Springs from 8,500 feet
Lazy afternoon in AZ...
Rocky (Jeremiah Trotter) chewing his pigskin on Howl-o-ween

I can't believe it's already November! I hope everyone had a great Halloween. Greg and I spent it handing out candy to the dozens of trick or treaters who came to our house. It was the first time in my life trick or treaters have ever come to where I live, and it was so much fun! We saw many good costumes...and even saw a few pathetic teens who attempted to get candy without any costume at all (we're too nice - they succeeded).

Today we went to the Aerial Tram, which is a rotating tramcar that goes from the base of Mt. San Jacinto (the largest mountain in SoCal, in Palm Springs) all the way up 8,500 feet. It was pretty amazing - the temperature was 40 degrees cooler! There is a restaurant up there, so we ate lunch, then came back down. It's one of the top sites in Palm Springs, so I'm glad I was able to experience it.


I was also able to go on a desert jeep tour through work on Monday. It was really cool - we went to the San Andreas Fault, where there are oases with tons of palm trees, and small streams that don't flow like a normal river, but instead have water bubbling up from cracks in the ground (the actual fault). It was fascinating, and also need to see how the land around it is moving so fast. The fault was also home to the Agua Caliente band of Cahuilla Indians (one of the local tribes here), only 97 years ago. It's amazing that the classic "Indian lifestyle" that everyone learns about in school existed there at the same time as World War I! The area of the fault where we went is now used for various commercials, movies, and photo shoots - the Victoria's Secret catalog has been filmed there twice, a Wells Fargo commercial was being filmed the day we went, and portions of the Star Wars films were filmed there. Pretty cool.

Other than that, life is fine. Greg has been gone the past two weeks at Camp Pendleton for training, and is starting to pick up training with his unit. It's tough, because he's been gone so much and will be gone a lot in the coming weeks, but it's a reality I knew I would have to face at some point, so we might as well get part of it over with now.

Last weekend Greg, Rocky, and I went to Arizona to spend the weekend with my dad. We had a blast! Dad took Rocky for a long walk, made us breakfast (and bought dodos from Safeway), and watched us when we played golf. It was fun and relaxing to be out there. We can't wait for Christmas. Wickenburg is definitely one of Rocky's favorite places.

That's about it! I'll keep everyone posted as November speeds up - we have the Birthday Ball, as well as Thanksgiving, and other events. It's so hard to keep track of time when it's 90 degrees outside in November, but we can't wait for the holidays!