Dans Gratias > Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago but It wouldn’t be “Krista like” if I had written on-time!!!

I was lucky enough to have Ry here for Thanksgiving and have the opportunity to introduce him to the last of my family (he has literally met every single member now) which really isn’t saying much considering the difference in size between the Davis/Curran clan and the Hoffmann/Ortega/Wells/Bridges… you get the point. Anywho, it tickles me that he is so loved by all and this holiday season I have a lot to be thankful for. So much has happened in 2010 and for the first time in my life there isn’t a thing I would change or take back.

**In January, my sister Brittany brought my beautiful niece Kyndal into the world. This has definitely brought me closer to the Ortega side of my family, especially my sisters.

 **In February, we started the first major offensives in Marjah, Afghanistan. This has completely changed the face of OEF and has now claimed the highest amount of causalities in the Marine Corps since our February invasion in 2001. I didn’t imagine then, that it would mean much to me now.

**In early summer I was blessed with meeting my wonderful Mr. Davis. I didn’t know it right then, but this man would become my best friend and the absolute love of my life!

 

      Ryan:  You are everything in a person that I could ever aspire to be. You have a heart of gold,  wisdom willing to be shared for miles, and a smile that makes all the bad stuff go away. Everyday I’m excited to wake up and see what life has in store for us, good or bad it’s you and me against the world.

**In June, my youngest cousin, Jamie graduated high school. This just made me feel old...

 **Also in June, I got Alexis, or Lexi. For those of you who don’t know me well, this is my 2006 black Mustang. Love is not the correct word to describe my feeling about this car, she is quite the beauty and the culmination of my first major financial investment.

 **In August, the untimely passing of a friend’s mother moved something in me to attend a Sunday service with Ryan. He had been asking me to go for weeks but again, for those who know me well, I was a firm atheist before Ryan (and before this particular service, for that matter). I was shaken to uncontrollable tears during worship and continued to cry during the message. I realized that I needed faith in my life and knowing how important Ryan’s is to him made attending that much easier. Now, I attend Heritage Christian Fellowship every Sunday, know Pastor Roger personally, and continue to volunteer within the church. I look forward to learning what differences I can make and to further explore and grow my Christianity.

**Towards the end of Summer I was able to pull myself away from work for a trip to Vegas with Ryan before I started my fall semester of school. This was our first vacation together and we defiantly made some incredible memories. My favorites are tied with the impromptu dinner in the “Eiffel Tower” and dancing on Freemont Street to The Doors.

 **In October, Ryan and I did the Family Assistance Ministries annual 5K walk. This was the first charity walk I had ever participated in and we were able to raise $120 for this wonderful organization.

**In early November, once again Ry and I put on our running shoes. This time we did 6 miles (Ry w/ a 50 lbs pack!) for the Pregnancy Resource Center.  Ryan raised $100 for this cause. 

 **Also in November, we went to the 2010 Marine Corps Ball. (Previously posted about)

 **At the end of November, I made the move away from Costa Mesa, where I grew up. This is by far the biggest decision I've made, as it’s the first time I have lived away from my sister. I would be absolutely lying if I said I wasn’t happy with the choice, or my beautiful condo, but I miss being so close to her. It has truly made me appreciate the times I do get with her. 

**Ry and I spent Thanksgiving split between some of his family in Escondido and my family in Oceanside. Luckily they were really close in distance and both families understood our early dash and our late arrival. We celebrated what God has given us and felt loved by all. 

**In early December, I threw a surprise party for Ryan’s big 3-0 (previously posted about).

**About 2 weeks ago we volunteered at Heritage to help pack over 115,000 meals for Haiti. Honestly, I really wasn’t looking forward to the event; as it was during the week and I had to go straight from work. I cannot tell you how glad I am that we went! The work was so easy and when all was said and done, I genuinely felt like I contributed to something that was needed.

So now, I sit here typing this from my couch in front of my ginormous TV, in my own place. Ryan is home in Ohio for Christmas so I am alone until next week. I miss him terribly and am a little jealous that he gets snow instead of rain, but I’m also grateful that it’s not a deployment keeping him away. I look forward to 2011 and all the new beginnings in store. 

Merry Christmas to you, and keep in mind that the gifts are not what this holiday is about, enjoy your family and be grateful for your blessings.

Love Always,

Krista

P.S. - Papa, Come Home Quick!

I’ll Be Home For Christmas

I’ve lived 2,200 miles from my family for two and a half years now, and I miss them.  My longing for then is not debilitating, as homesickness is for some, but it is present in my day to day life and reminds me to cherish the opportunities I have been given.  Most of all I miss my niece and my nephew.  They are so young and are changing in so many fantastic ways.  I am so excited to see them at the holidays, but also so very sad.  I can see how much they’ve grown and I then realize how much of their lives I have missed.  I take a deep breath, pick them up and hug them, and soak up each second I have with them.  I love going home for Christmas.

 Christmas with the Davis family is a thing of Christmas carols and holiday television specials.  Decorations and caroling beginning the weekend after Thanksgiving and continuing through New Year’s, Christmas has always been THE time of year in my life.  For the first fifteen or so years of my life Christmas was always the same, regardless of where we lived, and we lived countless places! 

Family from abroad would all converge upon the old family estate in Delaware, Ohio on Christmas Eve.  The sooner you could arrive, the better.  The kids would go out and play in the snow, often trekking over near Uncle Chuck’s house to go sledding.  If an adventurous adult or two would allow themselves to be coaxed, perhaps the sleds could get pulled behind an ATV or a snowmobile.  Oh!  Snowmobiles!  When I was very young, they were an integral part of the snowy season, and specifically the afternoon fun on that special day of gathering.  The adults would all stay in the chalet and set put the potluck buffet dinner that would satisfy the appetites of the forty or so of us.  They would talk and laugh, catching up on the life that had transpired while they were away form their siblings.  Some would shoot pool, some play table tennis, and others would sit at the piano playing and singing carols of old and carols of new. 

 

Like I said, a scene you only here about in Christmas carols and see on Saturday television specials.

As the afternoon drew to a close, the kids would come in to get warm.  The children would integrate themselves into the merriment of the adults, ultimately usurping the billiards table and tennis table from their elders … but not the piano.  Aunt Sherrie, Dad, Aunt Leza and several of the older cousins would still be playing and singing, providing the perfect atmosphere and enhancing the overall mood of the evening.  The kids who weren’t distracted by games and singing were scurrying around the Christmas Tree attempting to locate the gifts they would receive as a result of the family gift exchange; Grandma or Grandpa Davis ever shooing the snooping youth away.

 

     

Eventually the family would gather for evening prayer.  Holding hands, uniting every member, a prayer of thanks and of blessing would be said over the evening.  Dinner would then commence, and I need not explain what that circus was like.  Just picture a Christmas comedy staring Steve Martin and mass of overly energetic tykes, got it, good.

After dinner the entirety of the family would squeeze into the living room area.  A Christmas prayer would be said, some scripture would be read (usually from the book of Luke) and then the First Gift would be unwrapped.  The youngest member of the family would choose a small unimpressive box wrapped in simple brown paper and would open it before the loving gaze of the family.  In the box was a small male baby doll, wrapped in swaddling cloth.  T was pronounce that just in the same manner Christ came to humanity, unassuming and honest.  He came to us to teach us and lead us, to sacrifice for us and to save us.  So, as God gave us the amazing gift of His Son, so we remember that gift with this gesture.  It was always a very reverent, loving, warm and joyful moment.

 

The distribution of the gifts would then take place, the children receiving theirs first.  The family would watch as each child opened their packages and would encourage with smiles and laughter and congratulations.  Eventually the kids would be distracted with their toys and whatnot, and the adults would take time to exchange gifts and their love.

At the conclusion fo the evening my father would pack our gifts, bags, my mother, my brother and I into our minivan for the trek to Cincinnati.  We would arrive late in Cincinnati, at the home of my mother’s sister, and my brother and I would quietly join our cousins in the basement for a few hours of sleep before Christmas morning arrived.

We would wake up and race upstairs to find my uncle drinking some coffee, my aunt still in her warm bathrobe, my parents and my maternal grandparents sitting around the table conversing and enjoying each others company.  We would eat breakfast and then exchange gifts.  Christmas day was spent playing games, tormenting the younger siblings, performing improvisational plays for our parents, and then ultimately would culminate with a wonderful Christmas dinner … during which Grandma Curran would have a glass of wine, which always seemed to delight the kids to watch.  The following day we would make the trek back to our home, wherever that was at the time.

This is how I will always remember Christmas.  These days the families are more spread out, we gather in alternating locations, and sometimes we don’t make it to Cincinnati.  Regardless of the changes, I will always hold onto the magic of the holiday routine, it was a joyous part of my childhood.  I will always wait until after Thanksgiving to do anything relating to Christmas.  I will always have carols on the radio, often singing along.  I will always long for snow and sledding.  I will always grow teary eyed, happy and warm when I think of the Christmases past . . . and I will strive to give my children something similar to cling to with childish wonderment, even into their latter years of adulthood.  This is Christmas to me.

So, when I hear Linda Ronstadt belting out the lyrics to “I’ll be home for Christmas”, I can’t help but to smile and feel warmth in my heart.

SA&LC,

Ryan

Fun in the California Sun

Here we are, born to be kings, we’re the princes of the universe …. Oh wait, that’s not right, those are the lyrics to a Queen song!

So … here we are, it’s December and it’s raining.  “So what”, you say, “it’s California”.  Well, I beg to differ.  In the movies, which seems to be from where the general populous obtains its information about existence in California, the rain is always light, the temperature warm and the sun is always shining.  This, as with many things in Hollywood, is a lie!

The sun disappeared three days ago behind a cadre of clouds.  Those clouds stealthily moved into position one night and began dropping half-cups of water at a time, continuously, for three days now.  Not cute little rain drops, that would be movie-esque, no, these are large cold wet drops.  Each individual drop possessing the force of a small Midwestern storm front and capable of soaking an entire man with just one drop!

So it has been cold and windy and wet for several days, and I am reminded of home.  Although December, the leaves of the trees act more like September.  I’m used to watching the leaves turn from green to orange, from orange to red, and finally from red to brown and then to the ground.  Southern California, having its own particular weather, maintains its own peculiar environmental calendar.  Instead of a colorful September, la Madre Naturaleza has seen fit to save the color change until the few weeks right before I return to Ohio for the holiday.  I thank her for that, as I feel I am getting a condensed seasonal experience, encompassing some of my favorite times of the year.

 

 

Point being, even thought it’s cold and wet … I’m a happy camper. 

SA&LC,

Ryan

30 is 30 . . . Not the End of the World!

I turned thirty this year.  I know, so very very old!  I grew up having a concept of thirtieth birthdays being a very important event, full of parties and humor and love … which is why I was somewhat depressed as my birthday approached. 

 

I wasn’t depressed because I was getting older, no, that doesn’t bother me at all.  I was sad because my birthday is something that I’ve never really made a big deal of, which means it usually slides by uncelebrated.  The lack of celebration doesn’t trouble me either, the problem was that a precedent had been set, a precedent that would most likely exclude a thirtieth birthday party from taking place.  As I said before, thirtieth birthdays have always been an important, however, mine was scheduled to pass by unnoticed and uncelebrated.  That saddened me.

My birthday came and went, very few people said anything, most didn’t even realize that it was my birthday.  I went to work and came home as usual.  End of story.

A week later I woke up and met with my friend Eric for breakfast and shopping with his kids.  His wife Kelly and my Krista were having a girls morning, so it was perfect timing for Eric and I to get away for a bit.  He bought me a belated birthday breakfast, which I was very appreciative of.  We strolled around the mall with his kids and then headed back, the Lattea family had a Christmas party to attend.  I called Krista and took her Starbucks order and headed home.

I walked through the door and was startled to see friends and family standing in the living room, decoration hung and cheer of “Happy Birthday” billowing forth!  I was so surprised, so excited, so happy.  Krista had been working for weeks, months even, to orchestrate a party for me.  I saw her beaming face and I almost cried (sappy, I know).  My birthday was wonderful.

 

What have I learned from all of this?  I have learned that special days in one’s life need no occasion to be special, as long as friends and family are joyful gathered, then any day is special.  However, if you’re going to have a special day, singular unto itself, let Krista plan your party!

  I love my family and friends for their dedication and support.  I love Krista for going out on a limb and doing something for me that hasn’t been done since I was sixteen.  I love her for her understanding of who I am and her willingness to demonstrate her own love for me.

This was one of my best birthdays ever!

SA&LC,

Ryan

235th Marine Corps Birthday

This year was by far the most fun I’ve had at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in all the years I’ve been a proud member of the Corps.  The food was good, the guest speaker was colorful and humorous, the music was well done and the venue wasn’t too bad.  All in all, it was a delightful time.  It did, however, have a few off key notes.

What I detest, and what really brings my evening down, are the following things:

1)       When Marines become so inebriated, in public and in uniform, that they cannot control their faculties.  It is shameful and embarrassing.  Behavior such as that casts a dark shadow on the Corps.  I think it is generally accepted that Marines are a rowdy bunch, but there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed.  Some Marines, regardless of age and/or rank, are so immature that they have no comprehension of where that line lays.  It’s a very sad commentary on them.

2)       Marines who speak poorly of our traditions, i.e. – the Birthday Ball.  Usually these are junior personnel who have no concept of tradition and/or legacy, but it still trouble me.  Have they no sense of the great thing they are a part of?  The wear the title of ‘Marine’, American’s finest, but the whine and gripe like little children.  They speak poorly of things they do not understand and scoff at the sentiment the senior personnel display.  Be ye warned, if you are one of these Marines … keep away from me.  Put up, shut up, or get out … but stop bringing down the Marine Corps because you are sad and pathetic.

Aside from those two things … I thoroughly enjoyed myself! 

Krista looked absolutely beautiful in, what I would describe as, a sophisticated jazz singer style evening gown with hints of modern seduction.  The black gown was form-fitting but allowed her to dance.  The fabric praised her silhouette and the diamond-like rhinestones sparkled brilliantly, drawing the eye to places it ‘should’ take notice of … but perhaps not linger to be caught.  Her hair was pulled back and slightly to the side, her curls cascading down onto her shoulder.  Black flowers and feathers tucked into her hair were unique and elegant.  Watching her move was like watching richly flavored cigar smoke wind its way about a dimly lit dance hall of the 1920’s:  You didn’t know where she came from, but she was so smooth, enticing, inviting and so irresistible that you had to watch and figure out how you could be a part.  She was stunning.  

 

The evening went as many Marine Corps Balls do, full of pomp and circumstance, but it was the moments that she and I shared on the dance floor that I most appreciated.  The way she responded to my lead, the way she inspired my body to compliment her steps, they way we locked our gaze … it’s our time.

In addition to the festivities of the Birthday we ventured from the venue in Primm, NV east to Las Vegas and enjoyed strolling around the city.  We ate at the Bellagio and toured the shops in both Miracle Mile and the newer City Center complex.  We took pictures of anything and everything that caught our eye.  We weren’t able to see any shows this time, but we enjoyed the opportunity to visit that wonderful town.

SA&LC,

Ryan

2010 Marine Corps Ball

Hotel: $80.00
Tickets: $90.00
Dress: $180.00

A night of tradition and dancing with you: PRICELESS

SA&LC,

Krista

A Reluctant Veteran

Yet another Marine Corps birthday has arrived, 235 this year, and another Veterans' Day too.  When I look back at the last ten years, split between reserve and active time, it’s difficult for me to fathom the legacy that I am now a part of.  Volunteers have been filling the ranks for more years than this nation has been in existence.  Men and women have put their lives on the line time and again for each other, their families, and their country … regardless of how self-absorbed, oblivious and opinionated its citizens may be.

I heard an officer recently discussing the status of the nation and its armed conflicts abroad.  He was discussing the attitudes of the modern America citizen and he declared: “The nation may not be at war, but the Marines are.”  The more I ponder that statement the more I agree with him.  Very few people in this country are humble and selfless enough to comprehend the fact that sometimes action must be taken.  Disagreement is welcomed in this free land, but when your obstinacy and ego become divisive to the very fabric of the nation … then you need to shut the hell up or join the ranks and make a change.

Long passed are the days when a President could challenge this country: “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”.  The citizenry of this nation are so caught up in what they ‘deserve’, what infinitesimal ‘civil right’ has been violated and who they can sue for compensation, and how they can better their situation without working for it that it seems no one is willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good.

What’s even harder to deal with is that President Kennedy went on to challenge the other nations of this world: “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”  Between the squabbling and inaction, it seems no nation will do what needs to be done.  This is a time when America needs to be the decisive leader amongst her peers, but America’s leadership is petty, career-minded, and continually embarrassing her own military personnel – the ones responsible to do the hard deeds that need be done.  America has been crippled by those who were supposed to strengthen her.  She can no longer stand as she needs to, as this world needs her to.

So, it’s with a heavy heart that I celebrate this Veterans’ Day, a day to honor the men and women who have come before.  I feel as though the majority of leadership in this country, and the majority of the citizenry, is not worthy to share a nation with those who act as military member and civil servants (Police, EMS, Fire … not counsel members and other such haughty folk, actual heroes) .  There are those who love and support us, no matter what, and we the servants of Lady Liberty cannot thank them enough.  As for the rest of this nation … Your existence has become disgusting and pathetic, so get your act together, volunteer, participate, relocate, or shut up. 

Semper Fi, VANSO, & SAFA.

~ Ryan