finally. ♥

213 days after charlie left for war in afghanistan, he was finally back on american soil and i was finally back in his arms.

words can't possibly ever express the amount of joy, excitement & nervousness i was feeling the days leading up to his homecoming. [not to mention all the butterflies in my stomach! haven't had that feeling in a while.. :)] i can't imagine how anxious charlie was feeling!

my parents, charlie's 2nd mama, a few of our friends and i came to welcome our hero home. 

since he was supposed to be arriving around 12:30am, and we wanted to be there a couple hours early, we arrived at camp pendleton around 10:30pm. 

and of course, with the craziness of over 1,000 family and friends waiting for the 308 marines coming home, the time got pushed back a wee bit...

to 3am.

but man, he is SO worth the wait. :)

i can't describe how amazing it feels to have my husband safely home. 

all my [and all of our friend's and family's] prayers and faith worked. 

and i am SO thankful.

i just keep thanking our heavenly father every time i look at him. 

we've been enjoying each other's company to the max!

lots of cuddles

lots of laughs

& lots of loving has been happening the past two days. 

we just can't get enough! 

charlie and i are looking forward to finally starting our life.
outside the marine corps.
:)

 my amazing friend teleatha and i cuddling in the cold waiting for our husbands.
i can't imagine what i would have done during this deployment if it wasn't for her!
sad we'll be living on opposite ends of the country in a couple months.. :(

 the freedom riders [marine veterans] escorted our men from the air force base they landed on all the way home. patriotic doesn't even begin to describe the vibe they brought to the atmosphere.

our giant neon arrow signs that made our husbands find us worked like a charm!

[don't mind my horrid hair. the salty ocean air cramped my style. big time.]

this is the few seconds that i was looking for charlie through the crowd. luckily he knew where i was the whole time and found me in no time!

my expression when i laid eyes on my husband after a long 7 months..

our first kiss since last summer. ♥

didn't want to let go. it's safe to say separation anxiety was in full effect. haha!

♥

[looking for his gear.]

photography by Jenna of Operation Cherish Photography. 

when we got to our hotel room, charlie was welcomed with this..

welcome home gifts!

one last deployment package filled with presents. :)

and some of these! chocolate covered strawberries with some filled with cheesecake filling. 

he was a happy boy.

YAY!

what i wore wednesdays.

husband said "you look very pretty today, babe." 

which means HE'S HOOOOOOME! big post to follow soon. :)

leopard cardigan: kohl's.

white shirt: pink zone.

coral pants: target.

shoes: target.

flower headband: forever 21. 

key necklace and white watch: charming charlie.

turquoise bracelets: forever 21.

gold bracelets: NY&Co.

what i wore wednesdays.

reaaaaaally not diggin' today's outfit because well...[as much as i adore fall] it's not fall. it's spring!

but if you look in my closet, you'll find that i don't have "springy" clothes [except for those coral pants i wore last week.] looks like someone will have to go shopping soon. wiiiiiiiiink. ;)

white v-neck long sleeve: target.

olive green sleeveless cardigan: charlotte russe.

striped scarf: old navy.

dark blue skinny jeans: NY&Co.

brown flowers wedges [that i wear WAAAAY too much haha!]: target.

on a side note: we got approved for our town home today!!!! yay! yay! yay! 

oh, how pinteresting!

a good friend of mine, teleatha [aka T. who is also an avid reader of mine. hi teleatha!!!!] had this cute wooden framed mirror next to her trash can.
i pointed to it and said "don't tell me you're throwing that away."
and she said "eh, yeah. i've had it forever and i'm sick of looking at it."
uhh..."GIMME!"
so without much more effort, that poor abandoned mirror was MINE! score!

and i quickly remembered this pin that i repinned not too long ago..

imagine via

cute and easy idea for perfectly straight stripes, yes? i thought so, too. :)

so after standing in the acrylic paint isle of hobby lobby for a while, completely dumb founded at all the hundreds of color options, i finally settled on two shades of burnt orange. [the "pop" of color in our home. sorry for the poorly lit pictures!]

i painted two coats with the lighter paint, waited for it to dry, then taped & measured off the stripes. then went to town with the darker color. 

waited for the dark color to dry and...

here's the finished result! 

[this won't be it's permanent home, i'm not hanging it up until we move to our new home in a couple months. just propped it up for picture's sake. :)]

not too shabby for some lazy saturday night crafting. if i do say so myself!

highlights of the week.

make that the past few weeks.
[stop being a slacker, samantha! sheesh.]

at my last cake lesson last month, we made a jungle cake! 

that gray blob down there is supposed to be a hippo. i'm a rookie. :)

took a trip up to oregon to visit with charlie's family, look for our new home [found the perfect town home for us! cross your fingers all goes as planned!] and to cuddle this little angel. our newest niece, madelyn. i was a total baby hog. love her. 

pretty sunsets make layovers much nicer. 

flower delivery day from my babe. :) as much as i love receiving these every two weeks during deployment, i'll enjoy having my husband home MUCH more. 

one of my best friends, liana, asked me to be a bridesmaid. and how ADORABLE is her little DIY personalized box with her wedding inspirations and little notes?! i'm honored to be a part of her big day.  

husband and i love doing activities and having hobbies together. our next 'thing'? yoga!

NO CAVATIES! :D

spending last saturday in dana point. one of my favorite cities coupled with *perfect* california beach weather makes for one happy girl. 

my first groupon item! we are [were] in desperate need of knives for our kitchen. we seriously would eat our steaks with butter knives. not anymore! woo!

199 days too long without seeing my love. not many more days to go.. :)

why oh WHY can i only find travel size of this glorious lotion?! [this coming from the girl who normally doesn't like the smell of lavender] i bought three the other day to last me until i find a big pump of it. 

receiving texts of this little bundle of joy. is she not the most precious little girl you've ever seen?! 

lastly, a friend of charlie's posted this blog on her facebook about a couple hoping to adopt. i just spent the last hour reading about them, their story and about their two angels in heaven. such a lovely and strong couple. help spread the word so hopefully someday soon they will be chosen to raise a baby. 

what i wore wednesdays.

spring is in the air! i'm slowly incorporating springish attire. 

like my coral pants. :) 

love myself some coral. so happy it's "popular" now so i can find it easily in almost any store. 'bout time, fashion world!

white short sleeve: some random store called "pink zone". scored the shirt for $3. and it's my favorite white shirt now. win!

printed polyester razorback top: target.

coral pants: target.

brown flower wedges: target.

skinny brown leather belt: target.

[i'm a target whore. haha]

white watch: charming charlie.

key necklace: charming charlie.

bangle bracelts: NY&Co.

gold "pearl" bracelet and rhinestone bracelet: given as a gift.

these pants, that i'm officially obsessed with, look SO cute with my leopard cardigan. don't be shocked if that's my outfit next week.. :)

tag, you're it!

i've been tagged! my friend and former co-worker, janelle, tagged me in the "11 Things" blog-tagging party that's been floating around.

i'm suddenly having flashbacks of copy and pasting questionnaires of my high school freshman days onto my "myspace" page..hehe. but oh well i'll play along- why not, right?!

These are the rules...

rules:
1. you must post these rules.
2. each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.
3. answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
4. you have to choose 11 people to tag and link them on the post.
5. go to their page and tell them you have linked him or her.
6. no tag backs. 

these are the questions janelle asked..

1. Are you a introvert or extrovert?

2. What is your love language?

3. Favorite holiday?

4. Where is your happy place?

5. Favorite genre of music?

6. Spender or saver?

7. Pet person or not?

8. If you had a day alone what would you do?

9. What is your beverage of choice?

10. If you could travel anywhere where would you go?

11. If you could give someone a gift with out a spending limit what would it be and to who?

and my answers!

1. a little bit of an introvert and shy when you first meet me, which is why to some people i come off as bratty [to put it nicely. some of my best friends have admitted this and feel totally guilty for judging me so harshly! haha] but in reality, i'm a total extrovert.

2. "quality time". husband and i both got that result after taking the test which is funny to us since we're always forced to be separated. thank you, marine corps. 

3. oo...this is a tuffy. but i'll have to say christmas. then 4th of july then halloween.

4. my nightly candlelit shower. so relaxing. :)

5. country, baby!

6. a little of both. been saving like crazy lately. but every once in a while i'll save up money on the side for some splurging. :)

7. definitely a pet person! but we're dog people. no cats for us.

8. oh i don't know.. sleep in, work out, go shopping at target then calling my husband to join me out of boredom and missing him then we'd go get frozen yogurt haha i'm so lame. 

9. either ice water with lemon or diet green tea. but i also looooove milk.

10. somewhere in europe. i want to visit all 10 countries of my heritage someday. [i know, i'm such a mutt.]

11. to my mom and dad for always being such hard working and wonderful parents. not sure what i'd buy them though..i know if i had unlimited money i'd buy my dad his dream beach house in newport beach. or lake tahoe. and my mom either a pinto horse [her fav] or this one snazzy quilting machine she's always talking about. 

now tag 11 blogs!

-liana

-noelle

-bethany

-megan

-mandy

-shelly

-kimber

hmm.. make that 7 instead of 11. 'cause that's all i got. at least the numbers rhyme. :)

my questions for y'all:

1. what is your guilty pleasure when it comes to tv shows?

2. if you could pick one dessert to eat for the rest of your lives, what would it be?

3. your favorite memory of the past year?

4. super power...which one do you want?

5. were you named after anyone?

6. if you were another person, would you be friends with yourself? why or why not?

7. what is the first thing you notice about people?

8. what is your favorite snack?

9. what is your favorite thing about yourself?

10. if you were a crayon, what color would you be?

11. if you could live anywhere in the world outside the US, where would it be?

aaaand...GO! :)

fact.

i LOVE facts. don't you?!
like this one: "A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for 6 years." via [don't get confused, not my husband. another charles osborne. hahaha!]

i found this on pinterest the other day and i just have to share. :)
and since i'm not one to elaborate about our religion without someone asking, i'll leave it to the facts to do the talkin'.

image via

what i wore wednesdays.

today is simple. and simple is always good, yes?

black v-neck long sleeve: target.

olive green scarf: target.

distressed boot cut jeans: big star [got this specific pair at buckle]

and my favorite accessory [besides my own wedding ring]: wearing my husband's wedding ring around my neck while he's away. ♥

tech savvy.

look at me bein' all techy this past week.

-fixed the comment count for each post and now we can all see how many there are! [thanks to my mother in law for helping me with that one!]
-made this blog nice and clean. [been wanting to do that for a while, just now have gotten to it.]
-no more cutest blog on the block background codes for me! no sir ree. [now i'm a poet, too?!]
AND
-i made cute little buttons for our blog for our followers to put on theirs!

here's a deal fellow blog lovers, put our button on your blog and i'll put your button on ours! everyone wins! [just be sure to let me know when you do, so i can hold up my end of the bargain!]
grab which ever button of mine strikes your fancy on the mid right hand side. see?
the pictures look like this...

in case you're a newbie at this whole button thing, all you do is copy and paste the html code underneath the button you choose on the mid right hand side. go to "design" then "add a gadget" then choose "HTML/javascript" then copy my code onto the main body of the html/javascript and voilå! you've got yourself a 'sam & charlie' button. 

yay. :)

lessons.

it's march.


MARCH!


i've been waiting for this month since august.


7 whole long months of worrying, praying, half my heart missing and only having a full night's sleep without waking up in fear ohhh about 4 or 5 times...FINALLY coming to an end sometime this month.


hallelujah.
thank you, lord.


i can't speak for charlie, but i can tell you that i've learned SO much these past going on seven months since charlie left for war.


deployment truly is a blessing in disguise for us.
not many newlyweds have the opportunity to learn what we have learned this early on in marriage.
it taught me faith, patience, love, communication, to be thankful for the little things, and strength in prayer.
as interesting as it sounds, this forced separation has brought charlie and i even closer together than we were before. [and for those of you that know us as a couple personally, you know how close we were before he left! :)]
i honestly wouldn't have traded learning these valuable lessons for anything.
i am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason.
C wasn't even supposed to go on another deployment. we were planning on smooth sailing with the military until he was honorably discharged this coming june. 
but! of course, plans with the marine corps changed and charlie had to go. 
i had no choice but to be the strong, supporting wife charlie deserved. 
hats off to the military couples that go through deployments every other year for 20 years. i, for one, am happy with this being our first and last deployment together.   


i will never take for granted the little things my husband does and says. 
i will never take for granted hearing his footsteps down the hall. 
i will never take for granted his huuuge pile of dirty clothes that never seem to end. :) 
i will never take for granted the moment our hands touch. 
i will never take for granted just knowing he is in my presence. 
because all of that means he is home and he is safe.


life will finally be complete again very very soon.
now hurry home, babe! 
this wife of yours is missing you more than ever.