Goodbye Utah!

Today is Casey and I's last day in Utah.  It doesn't seem real! I'm sure it will hit me as we drive off into the sunrise tomorrow! I'm really excited for our next adventure and hope everything goes well.  To Florida or Bust!

North and South Carolina Vacation

Casey and I are now just at the tail end of our vacation to the east coast.  It was my dad's 50th Birthday on the fourth.  We've had a lot of fun this trip :) We go home tomorrow and I am so freaking excited to see my little girl.  I miss her so much! I never thought I'd get this attached to a puppy but I have.  She's amazing.  This week is also fall break for me.  I've got a whole lot of catching up to do! Missed all last week of school so I'm going to be focusing on catching up and applying for jobs.  I found out just last week that I passed both of my state CNA tests.  I'm now certified! I just need to find a job to tide me over for the next few months.  I'm a bit worried and nervous about it all but I hope it will go well with the search this next week.

Long time no...blog?

It's been awhile since I've blogged anything and there is so much that has been happening!! So I think I'll just make a list :)

-Casey got a new truck and he loves it! He was like a kid in a candy shop :)

-Our poor little Lulu got her lady parts taken away.  She wasn't a very happy camper but she got spoiled rotten while she wasn't feeling very good (which really isn't that different from the way she is normally spoiled rotten)

-Casey and I were accepted to Jacksonville University.  We both got scholarships and will be starting in the spring.  Which leads us to...

-WE ARE MOVING TO FLORIDA IN DECEMBER!!  We are so excited but kinda terrified at the same time.  It's going to be one heck of a giant adventure.  Casey will be doing air traffic control and I will be continuing with nursing.

There are lots of other super fun and crazy things going on in our lives and when the time is right (and if I even remember to) I will blog those too :)

Happy 4th of July!!

Casey and I had a VERY eventful 4th of July weekend.  And I've officially decided that I LOVE it when this fun holiday falls on a Monday...you get two extra days of partying! 

Saturday

We bought a new car!! Like brand new! It was definitely not what we had planned for our Saturday activity but we feel really great about it.  He is a 2011 Toyota Corolla Sport and super fun! We drove him off the lot with only 15 miles on the odometer.  We haven't even owned it a week and it's already been vacuumed about a hundred times.  

Sunday

We had an impromptu firework show of our own.  Casey and a family friend decided to light off a box of fireworks that were probably about 100 years old.  Scary! Luckily nobody lost any fingers.  Now that bigger fireworks are legal in Utah it was a lot of fun to do the big aerials. 

Monday

Happy 4th of July! We cooked hamburgers at Casey's parents and then met with Ty and Alicia (Casey's brother and sister-in-law) for some of the coolest fireworks I've ever seen! Clearfield really knows how to throw a party! 

We had such a fun weekend all together.  One of the fun things about living in Utah is we get to do it all again in just a couple weeks to celebrate Pioneer Day.  Woohoo! Fingers crossed that everyone will make it out of that one with all of their...well...fingers.  

New Beginnings

So much has happened since I last posted a few weeks ago.  On the 14th of June Casey was medically discharged from OCS.  He hurt his back and would not recover in the time he had there.  My wonderful husband is now home with me.  This has been a bitter sweet blessing and we are both just enjoying being together again.  We don't know what the near future holds for us but we are taking many things into consideration as we plan out what our next steps will be.  

I officially quit my job today! It was not a very nice place to work and I'm so glad to have that heaviness lifted off of me.  It amazed me today the amount of optimism that I have felt.  I haven't felt this positive and just so GOOD in a long time.  It's seriously been a great day.   I'm focusing on school and getting stuff done around the house for now.  Who knows what will happen next!! 

Casey, Lulu, and I are all getting very excited to go to his family's cabin in Idaho.  We even got Lulu this cute little life jacket so that we will feel better about having her around so much water!

She has also been rocking this cute little number :) She isn't too thrilled about me dressing her up all the time but I think it's hilarious! I love this little dog so much :) But she was super happy to have Casey home because he plays with her much rougher than I do!

On Saturday we went to the Manti Pageant with Casey's Parents.  Our adventure was lots of fun! We were trying to go down early so that we could do a temple session at the Manti temple but I got us lost and we weren't going to make it on time for the last session so....we turned around and went back to Provo! We had a nice session in Provo and then, FINALLY, made our way to Manti (this time on the right road).  It was a really cool thing to see and the Manti temple is beautiful.  Someday we will make it there :) Needless to say I'm not allowed to navigate without supervision anymore :)

  

Laundromat Musings...

I just want to start this by saying that I know with all my heart that Heavenly Father knows me perfectly.  I do believe that He knows exactly how much I can take and when I desperately need him to throw something good my way.  I think today was one of those days.  I've been missing Casey so much.  Before this I didn't know it was even possible to feel this way.  It's felt like forever since he left even though it's only be one and a half weeks.  I think the lack of communication is what really makes it hard.  I simply can't fathom what Casey is currently going through or what I might be able to do to help.  Around 3:00 this afternoon I received an phone call from a number in Virginia.  My heart probably skipped a few beats.  I answered and heard a woman's voice on the line.  She told me her name was Sister McGrath and our conversation went a little something like this:

Sis. McGrath: "Hi, is this Sis Zimmer?"

Me: "Yes?"

Sis. McGrath: "Hi, I'm one of the people in charge of bringing Sunday services to the LDS candidates here in Quantico and met with Bro. Zimmer last Sunday.  He wanted me to give you the message that he is doing good and that he loves you.  He can't wait to talk to you in two weeks."

Our conversation went on for a bit longer but by this point I was in tears.  I could feel Heavenly Father's love just flow over me and I in turn instantly loved this dear, sweet, woman.  I don't know if she had any say in her church calling but I hope someday I will be able to tell her how grateful I am that she serves in it faithfully because that one phone call was probably the one thing that will get me through this week.  I can't remember much of the conversation except that I passed on a message to my husband.  And I was reassured that if I needed to get a message to Casey I could call her to pass it along.  

I love this gospel.  This eternal gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  I have seen too many miracles to believe otherwise.  He loves me and, even though my faith can be lacking at times, He continues to love me and watch over me.  I am so grateful for the blessing that is to be a Latter-Day Saint.  And even more than that I'm so grateful for the knowledge that even though my husband and I are separated for this short time there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can separate us permanently.  I love my Casey so much and can't wait to see him one month from today.

Pray

Casey has been gone for 4 days now.  I literally feel pain when I think about the next 6 weeks.  This is the hardest thing that I've ever done.  I miss him so much.  I've been writing him daily letters but so far I haven't heard anything from him so I don't know where to send them.  Casey and I had seen each other every day since he kissed me at the lake.  I think when I start getting letters from him it will feel better but until then I don't know what I'm going to do.

I heard a beautiful song today by Justin Bieber.  It's called pray.  I definitely can relate to the chorus of this song that says:

But I know there's sunshine behind that rain
I know there's good times behind that pain, hey
Can you tell me how I can make a change
I close my eyes and I can see a better day
I close my eyes and pray

I've done my fair share of praying since Friday.  I'm constantly asking for strength to get through the next 6 weeks.  And I pray always that Heavenly Father will give Casey the strength to rise to and conquer any challenge that he is faced with while at OCS.  I'm so proud of  him.  He is my best friend, my first and only love, and my hero.  I can't wait until I see him again.

Justin Bieber- Pray

The Beginning of a Long Stretch...

Casey left for Officer Candidate School early this morning.  He will be in Virginia for the next 6 weeks undergoing some crazy intense training.  After sneaking him home last night from sneaking him out of the hotel he was supposed to be staying at I dropped him off again at around 4:30 AM.  I'm pretty proud of myself for holding it together pretty well this morning.  Of course there were tears but I did a good job keeping it contained.    On our drive to the hotel this morning we realized that today marks 10 months to the day that Casey kissed me for the first time and changed both our lives.  Even though our relationship advanced quickly from there, we couldn't know then that we would have this life together now.  I love my husband so much.  It's been just a few hours since I said good-bye to him but I already miss him so much.  I am completely dreading the next 6 weeks.  I'm seriously not sure how I'm going to function.  Today I feel like I'm just kind of in shock.  I cry sporadically and feel as though at any moment I'm just going to come apart.  This is definitely the beginning of a long stretch.   

Little Miracles

Sunday, Casey and I were the direct recipients of several different miracles.  It surprises me every day how shaky my faith can be when Heavenly Father's hand is so obvious in my life.  I've seen so many little miracles in the past few days.  It just blows my mind.  I know that Heavenly Father will strengthen both of us while we are apart and we will grow closer because of it.  I can see the various ways that He has prepared us for this difficult time and I know that He will get us through it.  I'm grateful for these miracles and blessings in my life.    

The Temple

Casey and I were able to make it to the Salt Lake City Temple tonight.  I'm glad we did.  We were only there for a short time but the peace that I feel there is incredible.  I'm grateful for all the temples around the world and especially to be so blessed to be surrounded by them here in the Salt Lake Valley.

All things in my life I am grateful for...

Today has been a special day for me.  Not because something incredible has been happening, in fact, it was a pretty cruddy day all together.  But because I was able to start seeing and realizing that I truly am grateful for everything in my life.

I was running late for work this morning and didn't have time to pack a lunch, we didn't have the stuff to make my usual salad anyway.  So my sweet husband volunteered to go buy the stuff, make me one, and then come have lunch with me.  I was surprised to see him with a Cafe Rio salad when my lunch break finally rolled around.  It's my favorite, and it was a little thing, but it made my whole day.  And that's when I realized that the one thing that I am most grateful for in my life is my Heavenly Father who directed me into the arms of the most caring person I will ever meet.  This shows how shaky my faith can be in Him but it blows my mind each day that my happily ever after includes Casey Zimmer.  I love him so much, and more than I could ever describe.

Tonight, Casey and I are planning on going to the Temple.  My heart feels peace there.  In my increasingly chaotic world the peace of the Temple is the one place I can go to just feel better.  That and into the arms of my husband.

My new goal is to post each day something that I'm grateful for.  I know I won't be perfect at it but it's worth a shot :)

Just Some Thoughts

I know it's been a while since my last post.  I keep telling myself I'm going to get on top of it! No pictures this time, just some thoughts.  My wonderful husband means everything to me.  Last night after my last chem class this semester he surprised me with some beautiful flowers.  I seriously think I'm the luckiest girl in the world.  But despite all this my heart is aching with the thought of losing him for 6 weeks this summer.  We have been given the incredible opportunity of pursuing a career in the United States Marine Corps where Casey hopes to someday become an Officer.  This is a wonderful blessing in our lives but also a source of sadness for me as I prepare to live independently for the first time...ever.  I simply don't know what I will do with out Casey.  He jokes that being married to me is like being married to a 5 year old and I have to admit that there may be some truth to that.  In our home I can't seem to find anything...Casey, on the other hand, seems to have the incredible ability to know where EVERYTHING is.  I think I may spend a good portion of the 6 weeks just wandering through our tiny apartment trying to locate various things.  Yikes.  But the thing that scares me the most is not being able to talk with my husband and have his companionship.  I don't know how I will overcome that trial.  I will be a day to day experiment.  The only consolation I can think of is that I have our amazing puppy, Lulu, to care for and to keep me company.  I hope it will be enough.  I hope and pray that at the end of the 6 weeks I will be able to look back at it knowing that I am a stronger individual and that Casey and I have a stronger relationship because of our time apart.

Conference Weekend Babblings

I've been up to so much since the last time I posted! This is going to be another long one :) But first, I think I've failed to mention the adorable little addition that Casey and I made to our life.  This is Lulu and we love her so much! She is simply precious.  She's been with us for a little over a month and it's been a lot of fun.  The poor girl got shots just this morning and so she's not feeling so hot but she was such a great little puppy at the vet! She amazes us all the time! She is a long-haired mini dachshund and NOT YAPPY AT ALL!!! That is such an amazing thing to find in this breed since they are known to be loud little dogs.  We are so greatful that our little girl isn't a huge barker!

The other thing about Lulu is that she is a total Daddy's girl :) She does everything with Casey! It's so cute to watch them be buddies.  She even tries to steal my spot when it's time for bed! I'm not jealous at all...ok maybe just a little bit :)

This is one of Lulu's favorite things and how Casey lifts her up onto the couch.  Her feet are not touching anything!  They are so goofy!

This is the fabric for my next project.  I'm super excited about it! It's going to be the second apron that I've made and is for my mom.  I'm stoked because I'm going to be able to fix a few things from the first apron and make it look even better! Also I just love this flower pattern! I think it's super cute!

This is the bottom half finished.  It worked out so great and is already looking better than the first one did! Had a couple of hiccups with the top part of it but I'm getting everything ironed out slowly but surely.

This is the most recent thing that I've actually finished.  It's the second skirt that I've made.  It's really cute and, again, much better than the first skirt as far as craftmanship goes.

And finally, here are some things that I simply just love.  I'm kinda, sorta...ok definatately a hot chocolate addict.  I love the stuff and since we got a super cool Cocoa-Latte for our wedding I make it all the time! It's the perfect drink for late night homework sessions.  It's made complete by a heaping pile of whipped cream.  YUM! But I was getting kinda bugged because I had to get up and down from homework to keep filling my cup.  My solution? This gigantic cup/bowl :) It's seriously huge.  Gave up on it though and went back to regular cup size because with the big one the hot chocolate seems to become cold chocolate very quickly. Oh well :)

Finally, I think my adorable husband knows me better than I know myself.  I was having a stressful week from all the school work/studying that was being done.  Thursday night I went to my Chem Lab just a bit exhausted and really not feeling so hot.  When I got done I was very confussed to find something in my drivers side seat of my car.  Upon closer inspection I discovered that it was the movie Tangled.  I love this movie and Casey knew that I was looking forward to watching it again once it was released on DVD.  Apparently, he and Lulu had taken and walk, found my car, and left it for me to find.  It was exactly what I needed right when I needed it.

 Basically...

 My life is pretty great.  My husband is pretty great.  My dog is pretty great.

I could not ask for anything more :)

Crafty things...and ramblings

I was informed yesterday that every good blog post should have a picture...or two...or about a billion.  I'm going with option #3 today. 

Sewing and cooking are two things that I love to do when I have a moment to spare.  Here are pictures of some of my most recent projects.  I think I did pretty good! ...for the most part



These cute fabrics were destined to become an adorable vintage apron.  There are a few things that I will be tweaking for the second and third additions of this project but for the most part I was pretty thrilled about it! I mean, for goodness sake, I drew the entire pattern and designed the whole thing myself! I think I can cut myself some slack on this one.

The finished project!! I look a little like a goober in this picture but I was sick :)

Other things I'm not so good at...lol.  This cake would be a great example of that.  It's just a touch loppsided...haha...ok maybe a lot loppsided.  But the sprinkles are cute, right?! ...right?

These, on the other hand, turned out amazing! They are from a knock-off recipe of molten chocolate cake from the cruise Casey and I went on for our honeymoon.  So good!! Even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to melt on top!! Yum!! On a random side note, I was driving past the Human Societies electronic billboard by the freeway.  You know the one with all the adorable dogs that need good homes...anyway...one of those dogs pictures said his name was Scoop.  Ok...now isn't that just one of the coolest dog names? Just saying...and that's the end of that tangent. 



This is another one of my sewing projects! I have recently been in desperate need of more cute skirts but everytime I go shopping I just leave disappointed.  It's so freaking hard to find modest cute skirts in the stores!! Frustrating!! So I took the matter into my own hands and decided to make my own pattern and skirt :) It turned out so good!! Again, a few things that I'm going to change for round two, which will be made of the white fabric below.  You can't see it in the picture but it has all these tiny white flowers all over it.  I think it will make a great skirt.

But I guess this whole blog thing really isn't so bad :)

Just loving life and taking it all one day at a time!! 

And so it begins...

I swore up and down I would never do a blog! But here I am typing away.  What's my reasoning? Well I'm not exactly sure...just kind of a whim I guess.  Maybe I should start by explaining the name, Punkin Patch.  Yes, I know that's not how you would typically spell "pumpkin" but this version is very near and dear to my heart.  When I first met Casey 3 years ago this was one of the things that I found endearing.  He always said "punkin" and not "pumpkin."  Now here we are, 3 years later, and that has become his nickname for me.  Hoping this blog will help me show off some of my more creative streaks, keep everyone updated on any happenings, and just have some fun! Here we go!!!