I thought I'd give a quick update on our life, since I haven't written in a few weeks. Greg and I have both been plugging away hard at our jobs, which to be honest are wearing us both extremely thin. Our schedules are the complete opposite, and it's not uncommon for us to have our only conversation of the day over the phone, when Greg is driving home from work. It's been hard, and isn't helped by the thought that he will only be gone for longer periods of time, and the few free weekends together are quickly being filled up with visitors (which we LOVE!, but it's still hard to get some time for the two of us these days). Greg leaves tomorrow for 2 weeks in the field, after which he will be back for a week, gone for 3 more, back for 2 weeks, gone for a month, and then deployed! I can definitely understand at this point how people say that the pre-deployment training is much worse, more stressful, and harder than the actual deployments.
In other news, we are enjoying spending time with Frank Furman, who is still staying with us while he settles in to life out here/looks for a place to live. It's nice to finally have an old friend out here, and to show him around town. He's also been a great help, looking after Rocky when we go out of town, and even fixing us gourmet dinners!
This weekend Greg and I went to the O.C. to run the Surf City Half Marathon (in Huntington Beach, which is the "Surf City" that the Beach Boys always referred to in their songs). We arrived yesterday and went to Fashion Island, which is a famous upscale shopping center in California. We finally broke free of the Verizon chains, after almost ten years of poor customer service, hour long phone holds, and being overcharged. What did we do? We got iPhones! I love mine already. I've never had a Blackberry or any kind of "smart phone" before, so it's definitely a lot of fun to play with. After making our big purchase, we went to our hotel in Newport Beach, where we relaxed before getting some wonderful sushi at a local restaurant in Irvine.
This morning we woke up bright and early and headed over to the beach, where the race was being held. It was an out-and-back route, on the PCH, so it was right on the beach. The weather was foggy and about 50 when we started the race, but soon the sun burned the fog away, and we were running in 70 degree, sunny weather. It was fun to see surfers surfing in the waves, and to see all of the beautiful local dogs frolicking in the water! It was definitely a great view for the run. As for the race itself, I was really proud of how we did. The largest training run Greg and I did was 7.5 miles, and besides that we had only run 3 or 4 miles regularly. Despite this, we felt great, and kept a steady pace the whole time. We finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, which is a steady 10 minute mile the whole way. We were both hurting a TON at the end, but finishing felt great.
After the race, we went back to hotel, showered, and headed to In-N-Out Burger to scarf down the best tasting food I've eaten in a long time! Once we were full, we headed back to Yucca Valley, where Frank had made a gourmet Italian Super Bowl feast for us. I'm completely sore, and am dreading tomorrow, but I'll survive. I'm sad Greg's leaving, so make sure to call/email to check in, so I'm not completely lonely these next two weeks!
That's all for now - I promise I'll write again soon!
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