UPDATE!!

This weekend has been crazy busy. This past friday Nolen went out with some friends to play airsoft and had a blast. He is healing from his wounds well hahaha. And then on Sat we met some friends from back home up here in Seattle. We were down there all day and had fun. We met them for lunch and then babysat the kids while the parents went out. This is the family that i nannied for all of those years and havent seen them for months so it was fun to see how they are doing. The kids got along with Nolen great and little Daniel loved him!








And then on Sunday we enjoyed watching General Conference together. We enjoyed the talks and have our favorites. After the 1 pm session we went out on a drive with our friends Chris and Angel. We went up to Snoqualmie Falls. It was B.E.A.utifull! We enjoyed it so much!

















So much has gone on since i last posted. My days of liking WA are growing and im actually having more fun. About 3 weeks ago i was called to be in Young Womens as the Beehive Advisor. So far i love it. I have 3 active beehives that come each Sunday. They are very sweet and respectful. Even though as the advisor it is not required to attend mutual i still do. It gives me the opportunity to get to know the girls and leaders better. All of the leaders are in their 20's which is fun. After being called i started thinking....i still have not found a job and realized that i would love to change what im doing. I have always wanted to get a degree in Sociology and this calling has motivated me to go back to school. I have applied for a position in the School District. The job is working with students who are academically at risk. I have total confidence that if i am faithful everything will work out. I have no fear. Nolen is re-enlisting and has a swear-in ceremony at 6:30am on wednesday morning. because of this he gets a week off starting tomorrow. He is re-enlisting for 2 more years, so this is where we will be. The first 6 months he gets to do school which is nice. Then he will go back to active duty and in another 2years we will re-enlist for possibly a different location. We talk more and more of making the Army a career. Its not a bad life and the benefits have been very helpful.

We bought our plane tickets to come home in Dec for Christmas and are very excited. We set our temple date....we will finally be an eternal partnership. We can not wait to be home and to see everyone.

My Project

A few days ago a friend from the ward called me and said that she was going through her garage and wanted to know if me and Nolen wanted to go over and look through it all before she got rid of it. We did and we found a cute little coffee table, the only problem was that it wasnt the right color, we took it anyway. While Nolen was at work one day i decided that i would make this table my project, so i went to Home Depot and picked out some Black-Semi Gloss spray paint. (if any of you are rolling your eyes because you know that spary paint wouldnt worked, i know that now haha i just thought i would take the easy way out.) The spray paint went on easy enough and looked really good. I let it dry and dry and dry. All through the night it dried. When i woke up i went straight to it, it still hadnt dried entirely so i took a paper towel and wiped it. It didnt ruin it, but the paint was rubbing off. Not enough to uncover what i cover up, but enough that if you touched the table you would get paint on your hand, and that wouldnt do. I had to tell Nolen my mistake and he calmly said, "that is why you ask the poeple that work at Home Depot what to buy." Needless to say my project eventually became his. Whatever though, right?!? Its not like he wants to relax on his days off....that would be booooring!! (sarcasm) He really wasnt in a bad mood about it and it only took an hr haha. That night i made it up to him though, we went out to dinner and a movie and had fun :)


Table Before:



Table After:





Nolen had another day off today, we didnt plan anything, but i got a call from a lady in the ward who needed a babysitter. She said she could bring her son to our house to make it easier and so we agreed. We got to act as parents haha. Jessie, the little boy, is 3 and sooo cute. He was not difficult or hyper, and there isnt much for him to get into at our house, but he gave Nolen a run for his money. Nolen was helping him with his lunch when i asked him if he was ready for one. He assured me he was good for about a year. I reminded him they dont come out at this age, but im not sure if a new born is any easier haha.


Life is good. We are still planning on coming home in Dec for Christmas and then at that time the we will head to the Temple. We met with our Bishop and he said that Dec was do-able although he isnt very quick to action. He says we need to attend a Temple Prep class but gives us no information on when the next one starts. I guess its up to us. :) No worries, since we want it we will get it!!

I talked to each family member yesterday and it felt good! Mom and Dad are great, Jerica is still working on her mission papers while attending possibly her last semester at GWC for a while, Aubree started her first semester at GWC and is a little overwhelmed but handling it well. She got an 83% on her first math test and was stoked! Amanda is overwhelmed already with her sophomore year, but what do you expect when you work hard to be a straight A student AND a track star. Elizabeth is doing well and is excited to have her 3 best friends in her 5th grade class. 3 of them just pulled off a surprise party for the 4th and she was excited it was a success! I love my family and miss them terribly but love that i am able to talk to them whenever! :)

MaD MoNeY

It has been pointed out that i haven't had a recent blog....sorry! No excuse, just being lazy i guess. But here is the update:

I have been here for a month now and have my feelings changed about being in WA?!? Not sure what I've said before (lol) but if you ask me now this is what i would say...i don't love it, i don't like it, i tolerate it, and even then those days are few. Nolen has been home for the past 2 weeks, i guess since they spent 10 months in Iraq they thought they could use a break haha. My poor husband has heard his fair share of whining and complaining...from me! More often than not i vocally express my distaste for where we live. For his sake i am trying to suppress my feelings, but am not very successful at it. Every time i meet someone new they ask me where I'm from. When i say SO CAL they look at me with wide eyes, impressed but confused as to why i moved HERE, all i have to do is say one word, MILITARY and they eyes go back to their normal size as they say.... "Ohhhhhhh". They continue to explain that their summers are sometimes nice and warm, but still nothing like CA. But that's not the problem. Rainy weather doesn't bother me one bit (well wait to get a better update of that during winter, i hear its supposed to be brutal this year) I tell them this and again they look confused. I explain to them i feel very isolated. Some agree, but most look at me like im crazy, they definitely stick up for WA saying, "there are tons to do, you have the mountains not far and the beach is only 2hrs away!!" NO WAY, ONLY 2 HRS AWAY?!?! Ummmmmmm thanks, but i grew up with the beach being 15 min away thanks...PS i hear the water here can give you hypothermia in minutes if your not properly prepared! but heck thanks, NOW i feel at home hahahaha. (I'm really not rude to them i promise) But from a CA's point of view there is nothing around me. Its forest, seriously, i never knew so many trees existed. And you know what trees and forest mean....little creatures! yuck! You can not drive 1 mile without seeing a new freshly hit/splattered on the ground road kill! I shiver and gag every time one lies in my path.....ITS SOOOOO GROSS! and you think that's bad, get this....Target (my favorite store) - about 20 min away! Costco - 25-30 min away! The nearest mall - 25-30 min away! Khols - 40 min away! So let me say this again...ISOLATED!

During a conversation with a ward member (from church) she expressed her love for WA. She swore to me that there were things to do here you just have to search them out. So she invited us to go down to Seattle with her and her husband to the famous World Market. We spent almost the entire day down there and had fun.




I decided i didn't mind WA as much if we could do something big every once in a while, and if you read on you will see we get that opportunity......

Every month Nolen and I get an envelope in the mail. Inside that exciting envelope is a check. Before i left for WA my aunt took me out to dinner and said that moving to somewhere new isn't easy. She wanted to help make it more enjoyable and that she has. She sends us a check every month and calls it "MAD MONEY". There is one rule to how we spend the money...her instructions included: "spend this money on something that will introduce you to where you are living. EX: The Space Needle. Find something that this state might be known for, and something about this state that isn't well known." It has been a blast.

This past Wednesday Nolen and I drove up to Seattle for the baseball game. It was the Mariners vs the Angels. How perfect, a piece of my home town in the new town. I had a great time. I consider this our first real date since he has been home.




On Tuesday we were told about the Northwest Trek Wild Life Park so yesterday we decided to take a drive and check it out.







It was so neat. They have a "FREE ROAMING" area for the plant eaters that you can take a tram through. Because it is free roaming they are "free" to go where they please, so for us on the tram it is a hit and miss for the animals you might see, but it also means the opposite...we had a few animals come right up to the window-less tram and, they were right there. haha







Once you have done the tram tour there are other things to see. They have bears, wolves, foxes, owls, beavers, and so many others. This Wild Life Park is NOT a zoo, meaning the animals are not in cages. They have acres and acres of free land to explore, but because the dangerous animals are not "tram tour" friendly they are REALLY hit and miss on seeing them. The wolves came very close to where we were which was awesome.




Once Nolen goes back to work and i get a job i think i will have less time to think about how much i dislike my surroundings here in WA. At least I'm hoping! lol I'm excited for our next month's "Mad Money" adventure! Stay tuned!!

My Man is Back!

What an experience. Friday August 6th all of the wives in Nolen's unit were sitting by their computers checking their email every 20 min, well at least i was. Their flight was scheduled to land Saturday August 7th....when exactly?!?! At 4:50 am!! HOLY COW! Us wives were suggested to arrive on post at 3AM!! my home is NOT close so in order to be there at the suggested time and look semi decent for our reunion i had to set my alarm clock for 1:30 am. Not to mention who could sleep the night before?? It felt like just as i had laid my head down my alarm went off. I got a total of 2 hrs of sleep that Friday night.

Once we arrived at the gym on post at 3am we sat...and sat...and sat......We were told to be there at that time because they would have a movie going, a home made one from the soldiers while over in Iraq. However, the system wasnt yet up and running, so we sat. We sat for almost 2 hrs, and then at the time they were supposed to land we were told the plane was still an hr away. BUT military rule says that an hr before or an hr after, they are still on time. So, all we could do was sit some more. We were tired and frustrated, sleepy and annoyed. After a while they got the computer system working so they put on the movie they promised us hrs before.

Around 6am the movie cut out and the camera was transferred to a live feed of the Mc Chord Air Force Base, where our heroes would be landing. We all cheered as we watched on screen the plane landing, as the soldiers got off one at a time and we saw them all. The camera followed them to the waiting room where they turned in their weapons and waited to file onto the buses that would bring them to Fort Lewis. This process took about another hr. Now we were getting excitedly impatient. But again we waited some more.

7:15 ish, we were told to cheer and yell, of course we did. It was like a high school football game, all of us wives were so nervous, fixing our hair, and asking one another how we looked (remember we had been up since 1:30 am). Once we were loud enough a curtain raised and our soldiers we behind in formation. It was sooo awesome. We all tried to find our husbands but they all looked the same. Even though they were supposed to be serious you could see some crack a smile. They had about 10 min of yelling commands and marching and singing the army song before they were dismissed and allowed to greet us.

Seeing Nolen again for the first time in 6 months made me realize that this very looooooooooooong year was worth it. Being without him didnt make me love him any less but seeing him again reminded me of just how much i do love him.

He loves our new home and since he has been back we have been making it "ours" :) He has been able to get back into the swing of normal life pretty quickly, but is constantly on the go....he HAS to be doing something. Its driving me nuts hahaha but i know that it is normal, that i just need to be patient, he will eventually slow down. I know this is normal because another wife says her husband is doing the same thing.

We were able to spend our 1 year anniversary together, which was sunday. The real deal of married life has not been as weird as i thought it would be. Although we still need to work on "us" since it has been just "me" for the past year, but i have no doubt that will come in time.

Since i have been here i have met some pretty neat people. Another wife that i was friends with through facebook during the deployment has been so fun to be around in person. I think this is going to be a great move for me. . . although its NOT like my army wives show! lol

We quickly have to get back into the swing of reality. Nolen had to be back to work today, although its not his full 8 hr days and he doesnt have to do PT for the first 2 weeks. I guess they are more focusing on their emotional and mental health. Their days are full of classes that teach them how to deal with PTSD if they should have it.

It is so exciting to finally have my own home with the man i love. This past year has been a learning experience that not all have the opportunity the have. Even though it has been more than difficult like i said, seeing him proved to be worth it!

Thank you for all those who have soooo sincerely support me and who have put up with my highs and lows this past year! You are all amazing!

GREETINGS FROM WA

well i made it...it was a long couple of days getting here but i had good company :) My dad and I left CA on thursday the 29th adn drove all the way to Weed CA before we stopped for the night. We had an interesting encounter about 30 min before we found a comfortable place to stay. We were driving through wood areas, the scary kind if you watch alot of scary movies you know what im talking about. The scenery was very pretty but my imagination got the best of me and my anxiety was too strong for me to enjoy the ride. We only had about 1/8 of a tank left so we had to stop to get gas, all that was in sight was a scary old looking gas stationed, we got off the road not knowing where the next gas station would be. Once we were off the main road it was worse tahn it had looked. It was more than just old fashioned, it was knotts berry farm style. They only took cash and so my dad ran in while i waited with the car. I saw a young guy get out of his car with his dog and go into the store like place. once the gas was pumped and we were heading out a different guy came out and was looking through the young guys car. I mentioned to my dad that that was not his car and how freaked out i was. My dad said, "yeah the cashier said, 'watch out for that other guy' " i asked my dad who was the "other guy" and he said he didnt know...we got outta there so fast hahaha so i told him we would drive until i felt safe, once we came up on Weed it looked good enough. 5am on friday we were up and on the road again. No more stange encounters lol.

I have loved having my dad with me, its been great but now hes gone back to CA and im so lonely, all there is left to do is wait now, ugh.

My place is better than i thought it would be so im excited about that. My stuff still isnt here which is a bummer because unpacking could help keep me busy. I have an interent apt set up for wednesday but until then i have to head to the army post to get online, and the post isnt that close, its about 20 min drive on the streets and then another 5 min of freeway. Im sure there has to be a shorter way but i just dont know it yet.

i have my bed set and love it so far. Nolen just ordered a TV so that should be here in about 8 days...i think.

I dread being at home with nothing to do so walking around the PX is my favortie thing right now. For those who have never been to one i would describe it as a military walmart, and right out side the entrance they have a few shops and a food court. Its fun.

Im holding off on finding a job until Nolen comes home and we can settle in, get our lives together organized. Althought i am keeping my eyes out for places.

I cant wait for him to be home. I cant even try to explain the emotions that i am going through right now hahaha. it still feels like we have months to go, not days. Its weird being in WA and on post without him, the last time i was here it was with him, so everywhere reminds me of last sept. They have "welcome home" signs for teh companies that are coming back from deployment and last sept i remember nolen saying, "in just a year a sign will be hung for my company" fast forward a year and here we are.

I went to my new ward on sunday, its def not my home ward in CA but i guess it will do for the next 2 years. Since we arent going anywhere id better jump in and start introducing myself to make friends. Same thing with the army wives.

Well as of right now i have nothing going on today, or tuesday, or wednesday, or thursday and so on hahaha but i am excited to be here, it means we are almost done with this hell of a year, i can say that we have at least learned and grown in a different way than most newly weds <3

5 weeks left

I had the opportunity to feel what it is really like to be married but single this past week. My entire family left for upstate NY to visit church history sites. I didn't go for a number of reasons, and even though i know i would have enjoyed myself, being home was nice too. Before they left i was thinking that i would be scared at night and bored during the day, but neither idea ever actually became a reality. It has been nice and quiet and i have enjoyed it, but it has been semi lonely, which has made me realize how glad i am to have been able to stay with my family during this deployment (I haven't been completely alone...I have had good friends bring me into their home for dinner most nights which has been fun). But i have had a taste of whats it like to be in my own home. With Nolens deployment coming to an end and me moving in only 5 weeks, this fantasy and dream of being a wife will soon be here. I am so proud of my husband for wearing the uniform of our country, for actively serving the United States of America but i don't think its selfish of me to want him home. I miss him. I will be gone in 5 weeks to start a new and exciting life, that is what my focus has been on to keep me from allowing my mind to go completely insane, but these last couple of months have not been easy. I feel like i am in limbo...everything is one hold. We've got the movers in place, a town home picked out, a bed set ready to be ordered, yet i feel like we are just sitting. Most tell me 5 weeks isn't long to wait and i agree with them, but when you have been waiting for 9 months i find myself getting a little impatient for the last 2. I have refused to let my emotions get the best of me although some days they are easier to control than others haha. I made dinner for myself tonight and imagined what it would be like to have Nolen walk through the door at the end of a work day instead of me eating by myself with the TV as my company. I ache for the small things that for most are daily activities. Besides making dinner with/for my husband the one thing i can not wait to do with him is to have daily scripture study. What a small and silly thing to wish for i know, but when it has been "you and me" for the first year of marriage the "us" really starts to sound good. I am so grateful for the commitment that we made to each other almost a year ago. Without it these past months would have been completely unbearable, but since we expressed our love for each other in a legal way, it has some how strengthened our relationship, learning that if we stick together we can make it through anything. I am excited to see what the 2nd year of marriage will bring. I have looked at this deployment as a gradual step into marriage. We have almost figured out all of the emotional ideas of one another along with the finances (for the most part anyway) the next step is the live in roommate part haha. I have confidence that in only about 2 months we will be getting it under control! :)

Almost Done....

We are well past the half way mark, which brings many emotions. Of course i want my man home and i cant wait, but that also means its time to leave CA. These past 9 months have been hard to explain and to deal with so i am so thankful to those who have been supportive. Deployment life has not been what i was expecting although i guess i have to admit that i didn't know what to expect haha. For the past 3 years many people have told me "i don't know how you deal with it, you seem so strong." for a couple of reason. (obvious to those who know my family) the truth is most days i don't feel strong...at all, but i guess you learn how to deal with it when there is no other way. Alisha was taken from us and Nolen was deployed, there was nothing i could do about either situation, but decide that i would keep going. My strength is not my own. I have a strong faith that i can get through anything with the help of our savior. I am scared for change and don't deal with it well, so leaving CA for the un-known will be difficult. I have yet to figure out how my "career" will work but I'm excited to go if it means being with the man i love, and becoming a family with him. There isn't anyone id rather do that with than Nolen Ryan Alatorre. I'm proud of him and although military life so far hasn't been easy i couldn't love it more. I respect and admire those who leave their families to defend our country, to allow us to live in a place where we can worship as we please and receive an education! I admire those wives and families of our soldiers who make the sacrifices also, and i couldn't be more proud to be apart of that life.


oh and did i mention....
NOT MUCH LONGER TILL I HAVE MY BABY HOME!!! WAHOOO!!!

WISDOM TEETH...YAY

yesterday i had the joy of spending a couple of hours in the dentist's office, something everyone is jealous of, i know. my appt was at 11 and i didnt get called back until noon, usually this would give me anxiety and upset me, but for some reason i didnt mind because my anxiety came from somewhere else haha. i was a nervous wreck! My dad was the one who took me because he was my "driver". At one point he turned to me, patted my knee and said "its not that bad, just relax" for anyone who really knows me, that is not possible. When i reminded him of this all he said was, "yeah, true" hahaha oh my poor dad. He was great though! Once i was finally called back my dad followed me for support (yes because i wanted im to) until they had to kick him out. You know our last conversation?? While in the back he actually attempted to calm me down yet again with telling me that when he got his out it wasnt a big deal. He said that not many actually die during the procedure and very few come out with permanent damage, and then the doctor said, "ok Mr Johnson we will see you in about 45 min" my dad turned to me and said "Good luck" oh geeze, thanks dad! I may be exaggerating a little bit, its possible he wasnt that dramatic but he did mention death hahaha. Oh my dad.

I dont remember anything about the procedure....obviously, except the IV going in, which semi made me sick! I dont not do any shot related thing very well. The last thing i remember was asking if dizziness was normal haha. The next thing i knew my dad was calling my name. He asked how i was feeling, i was confused about how i got my sweatshirt on since they had asked me to remove it. My dad started to laugh and like a fool i giggled to. I guess the drugs hadnt worn off yet haha, by the time i got home i looked like an even bigger fool because i was crying, although telling you this is humiliating i was told is totally normal behavior.

My mouth hasnt been bleeding a ton and the pain isnt unbearable, swelling?? so far not toooooo badly, its the meds that are getting to me. I had to lay down for 8 straight hours because because of the dizziness and nausea the medicine produced. I got up occasionally but would have to lay right back down. My family (especially my parents) were great nurses. They gave me a bell to ring when for when i needed something, Elizabeth and my mom would bring my juice and food (yes i was able to eat cottage cheese and rice about 3 hours after getting home) but my favorite favor was Amanda writing the 2 emails that i needed to send out. hahaha she signed me on and i would tell her what to write. My family was great, so far im healing fine, but again the feelings of vomiting are still there and are actually the reason i am writing this blog at 4 am....yay for medicine!!

I wish i had Nolen here, but my dad is a great substitute when it comes to sympathy and giving comfort!! Its not my husband but its the next best thing to perfect.

My Good Deed

Jerica is out of school for Spring Break and Tuesdays happen to be my day off so yesterday we were able to spend the day together and i had a blast. We went to Barnes and Noble (just to look) then to Jamba Juice and to Target. When we walked up to Target, with Jamba Juice in hand, we saw a homeless man in a wheelchair sitting out in the front of the store. My heart sank but i avoided eye contact with him. As we walked through the door we had a feeling of unspoken compassion for what we saw. We didnt go to Target for anything, just for fun. We walked up and down the isles and finally came to the food section. I grabbed and bag of Gold Fish and said told Jerica it was for the man outside, she said, "i'll grab the water". We spent a total of $2.50 on him. Its not a big deal but he was sooo grateful and appreciated our simple selfless gesture. What a great day! I got to spend it with my sister and do an act of service. I love my family sooo much! They are huge examples to me, from my dad all the way down to Elizabeth, they all are and im so glad that they are mine.

Relieved

Since me and Nolen have gotten married i have been worried about my CA cosmetology license since we will be moving to WA once he comes back from his deployment. It has actually been a huge stress, i have searched and searched and have found so many different answers to the questions i have. I finally looked to the military for help and was told that if i worked at the PX then my CA license would be good enough, however, they would take 50% of my earnings and i would be taxed on my half! So basically i would be working for nothing. I immedietly ran to my dad who always knows how to make me feel better (running to Nolen isnt really an option right now) and he was able to calm me down and help me see that for the time it wouldnt be bad, at least i would have a job and i, still semi upset, agreed. Once Nolen called me i told him what i had found out and about how stressful it was. Without asking him to, he went straight to the internet to do some research for me. He found a number to the WA cosmetology department. I was able to call them today and was told that as long as i can prove that i took and passed both a practical and written exam in CA i could recieve a WA license without having to re-examine. I was thrilled. It seems to easy because i have been searching and searching for an answer but i will trust that this is accurate. I have been working with Stephanie Wilde who is a fantastic stylist and who i have learned so much from. It was breaking me to think that once i moved to WA i would be doing military cuts without making much money. I love both my dad and my husband! They are THE most important guys in my life. They know how to handle my stress levels well. haha i guess moving to WA isnt looking soo bad anymore.

getting to it!

Tuesdays are my days off, usually i will wake up later, louge around in my sweats and avoid doing anything, however last nght i decide that today i would be productive! So far i have been. I woke up at 5:30am (ON MY DAY OFF) to go work out. [I want to really get into shap because Nolen tells me how often he goes to the gym and how much time he spends there, so i thought, 'hmmm, maybe i should be doing something too' so i did! I joined CURVES for women and so far i love it.] When my alarm went off at 5:30 am i thought that i would be able to go back to sleep after coming home from the gym, but after looking at my long list of to-dos ive decided that is no longer possible. There is so much that i have to do, oh the joys of being an adult. So...wish me luck in being able to get everything done that i need to!!

What i've got to look forward to...

So...today was fun, i got to practice being a mother AND a wife! On Mondays and Wednesdays i am a nanny for a 3 year old, we were trying to build a train track today which was very difficult to put together. The stupid thing wouldnt work and so the words "what the heck?" came out of my mouth. Immediatly Daniel (the little boy) said "yeah what the heck?" My head shot up and i said "Daniel, we dont say that" "but Lauren you do!" what a classic response. Before i could apologize to him and tell him what i said wasnt nice i first had to stop laughing. I love this little boy so much! he is so fun and i have watched him since he was about 6 months old so he is extra special to me. He made me realize how impressionable and delicate he is. And then when i got home i asked my mom what she had planned for dinner, she asked if i would make it, apparently mom is on a diet and each sister is taking a day to cook dinner. I went to the kitchen and cooked spaghetti and meatballs for 6...however when it was done, i was the only one that came to the table to eat. (everyone was still busy i guess)

Anyway today made me realize how quickly i will have to step up into these 2 roles because Nolen will be home in hopefully 4 months.

Deployment and Leave (R&R)

Nolen was deployed on September 30 2009. Such an emotional rollercoaster it has been, holy cow. Our first year of marriage and its spent apart. Even though we knew this was what we were getting into, I don’t think there was anything that could have prepared me for it!! WOW!! I think I’ve been pretty good about sending him boxes and letters, I’ve probably averaged one a month, which I don’t think is bad but I’m not the one away from home, he hasn’t complained though and when he does want something he just tells me. And...he actually sends me cards, boxes and i've even gottend flowers and then a surprise V-Day gift, i have such a great husband.

He came home for his R&R January 21-Feburary 6th. It was fun because Jan 21 was when I graduated from the GWC cosmetology program. I graduated at 10:30am and he flew in at 12:30pm to John Wayne. So much excitement for one day…after I clocked out we headed to the airport and then went to BJ’s to celebrate the days events. We hung out and visited his and my families before retiring for the night. The 2 weeks I had him was like heaven. We went to Disneyland, Las Vegas, the movies, shopping, a picnic…it was so much fun! It was what normal couples might take for granted, but not us. It was hard sending him back, but it made it easier knowing we were half way through. His deployment has been tough but looking back I guess it wasn’t all bad, we’ve almost made it through.


Cosmso Grad-1600hrs FINALLY!



Seeing Nolen for the first time in about 4 months






Disneyland



DCA



Picnic at Mile Sqaure Park

SURPRISE!!

SURPRISED is a good way to describe the way most were feeling on August 8, 2009. Why?!? It happens to be the day that Nolen and I announced we were getting married. When?!? That night let me tell you, haha more than most didn’t even know we were talking let alone dating. Although many are interested in our wedding day, some still haven’t heard our story, so here it is…the details can be boring and long so ill make it simple!
February 1999 We met (some time during that year we were each others first kiss), we went to middle school together but lost touch in high school. On May 15 2009 Nolen found me and befriended me on facebook and we started to catch up via facebook and then eventually on the phone. Our phone conversations could last through the night, some 4 hrs others were 6 hrs, we had so much to say to one another I guess. He told me of how he joined the military and that in September 2009 he was being deployed to Iraq. He was in WA, stationed at Fort Lewis and was coming home on leave August 1-10th 2009. He made me promise him a date when he was home. I told him I wasn’t interested in dating and I only wanted to be friends, but I would agree to ONE date, he said ok. But somewhere down the road (within about 2 months) that changed. We fell in love and were talking about getting married during his leave. We did however acknowledge the fact that our relationship had grown over the phone and that it was possible when he was home and in person we would not feel the same way about one another. But when August 1, 2009 came that wasn’t the case. I loved him, I loved him. We went ring shopping (still no one knew how serious we were) but couldn’t agree on one. We did find a cheap fake one that we both liked and so he secretly bought it…proposed…and as a joke we went to his dads house and “announced our engagement” (this was after he was home for a few days). By Friday August 7th rumor was that we were either secretly married or engaged. By then we were really neither. We had gone to visit his mother in Covina for the day and she showed her support in our “marriage” so we decided why not…if we know we love each other then this would be the perfect time as any to get married. (don’t worry, we made mental lists of the pros and cons about tieing the knot before he was deployed) SATURDAY AUGUST 8 2009 around 10 am we sat down with my parents and told them the news. They had some questions but were very supportive. We had a wedding to plan and only 9 hours to plan it. Everyone had jobs, mine and Nolens-the marriage license, aunt karens and aunt Getta-food and hotel, dad and sisters-clean up the house, mom and aunt Leasa-the details. Everything went smoothly! We got the license no problem, the place was set and so was the bishop, the food was ordered and the house was clean. My mom went with me and Nolen to Kohls to get something to wear and buy wedding bands. I called my friend Steph to do my hair (which she was able to thank goodness) and we were all set to go J On August 8 2009 Nolen Ryan Alatorre and Lauren Michelle Johnson were married at the Long Beach Institute by Bishop Glen Farnsworth. It was an intimate wedding with close friends and family. After the ceremony and some pictures we went back to my house for food. My aunts had booked us a hotel room for 2 nights at the Island hotel at Fashion Island. Some girls dream of a fairy tale wedding and might think that our quick small wedding was missing out on that opportunity, but it was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. After all, the purpose of getting married is to make the commitment to your significant other isn’t it?!?! And isn’t that what we did?!?! I love Nolen more than anything and still have the temple to look forward to! However, unlike most brides at the end of the honeymoon I had to say good bye to my hubby. He was returning back to WA to prepare for deployment the next month.

On August 28-30 2009 I was able to go to WA to visit. And then again one last time September 18-20 2009. We had a blast. We went to the Puyallup Fair with another soldier in Nolen’s unit and his wife and had so much fun. Going back home was the hardest thing knowing I would not be able to see Nolen for about 6 months.

2nd visit to WA, i wsa able to try on Nolen's gear

Me and Nolen at the Puyallup fair, WA

Here we go….

Hey it’s never too late for anything right?!? So…I thought that it is better now than never to start a blog. I’m not at all suggesting that our lives are fun and entertaining. I can’t guarantee that posts will be often but I thought it could be more like an online journal if nothing else. So, here we go…