Catch up time

Things have been going good here the past few weeks. Kyle got his orders and he will be heading to Jacksonville Florida on June 2nd. The plan is for me to go to Arizona while he is in Jacksonville. I thought I would leave right after Kyle left, but as of right now that isn't going to happen. Our dear friends, the Byshenks, are going to let me stay at their place until I am able to get to Arizona. So my AZ friends that are waiting for me to come, I'm coming. Slowly but surely I'm coming to AZ. :)

Random picture of us :)

A couple of weekends ago I was able to go with the Christensens to the Gulf Breeze Zoo near Pensacola. It is a smaller zoo, but it was still tons of fun. I actually liked it a lot because I was able to be closer to the animals and see them better. It was so cool!!! Oh and guess what! There were kangaroos!!! My favorite!! :) It was beautiful weather and over all an awesome time :)

So remember our puppy Zoey?? Well... Kyle and I both thought that she was fixed when we got her. Apparently that is false and so this week she has been wearing diapers. I got them from the pet store and they even have a little hole for the tail. She looks so adorable but she HATES wearing them, and I don't blame her.

Ok the top picture obviously isn't one of her diaper. I just wanted to put it up because I hadn't put a picture of her up yet I don't think.
Our dear friend Angel was able to come visit for five days! It was a lot of fun having him here to chill with us. :)

So for those of you who have never heard of XBOX Kinect let me tell ya about it. Pretty much there is a sensor and it tracks your body movement without a controller. So pretty much it's like the XBOX version of the Wii. Is that a terrible description? Well anyways ya kinda get the point hopefully. Recently Kyle and I got the Kinect Sports game and it is SOOOOO fun. I am not a video game person, but I could play with the Kinect forever! Ok maybe not forever but it's tons of fun. So in the sports game there are bowling, soccer, table tennis, track and field, boxing, and beach volleyball. Needless to say I am not exactly up to par with Kyle's skills on any of the games.... except one. That's right... I DOMINATE boxing. Sorry if that sounds all high and mighty, but I am just excited that I am actually decent at a video game. I'm kinda proud of myself a little bit. It's weird. I go crazy when I box in this game. I dominated Angel and then Kyle didn't want to fight against me. He did... and got beat. Then we went to the Christensens house and I played Kyle and Angel again. Beat. I fought Bryce. Beat. Then they all three tag teamed between the knock outs to fight me. Beat. Kyle wanted to play me again. Beat. Whoa right?! Ya I wasn't expecting that either. Ok I am done talking about it...... but isn't that cool!? Ok fine I'm done. :)

So I will end with some more good news. Kyle is the top Marine in his class! Yay!! He has the highest grade and has been doing awesome in school :) Because he has been doing so well he is going to be getting promoted on June 2nd (the day of his graduation and the day he moves). I am so proud of him and how well he is doing. :)

Meema

Because Mother's Day is this weekend I thought I would dedicate a post to my dearest Meema. What do people see when they see my Meema... a little, dark haired, perfect postured, energetic woman. Let me tell you a bit about her, and I will tell you what I see.

Those of you who know my mother you know that she is a race horse. She is constantly doing something. She works at every school in Winslow, AZ. She teaches elementary school music, is the director of the junior high and high school choirs, directs the high school plays, and fits in anything she possibly can before she goes to bed. When she goes to the store, there are a ton of students that wave and say "Hi Mrs. Ricks!!!" It's absolutely adorable! :) She was my teacher from 6th to 12th grade and I loved every minute of it.



Since birth I've heard TONS of people tell me that I look like my Mom. I just got used to everyone mentioning it growing up. I have realized that Meema and I have more similarities than just physical traits. Just to name a few...
We both cry. I think that all the emotion that was supposed to be shared between me and my siiiister was put ALL on me. This is definitely from my Meema. Both of us just have soft spots and can cry. She makes me cry and I make her cry (well sometimes).
We love to run. I love running with Meema. :) It's the best.
We love to sing. No I didn't get my Meema's beautiful singing voice, but I can keep a tune.


Meema is extremely supportive. When I ran cross country and track for Mesa Community College she would give me words of advice. They were inspirational text messages. That may sound funny, but I would read them to my teammates and it would help them as well. She would spend so much time thinking about what to say to me, and it felt good knowing that I was in her thoughts. Those text messages are what got me through a lot of my races. Many times I would cry reading them. Knowing that my Meema was cheering me on, even if she wasn't their physically, was the greatest feeling in the world. I will always thank her for that.

My Meema is the greatest listener. I think that anyone who knows her can vouch for me on that. There were times growing up that I wanted to leave after church was over, and there was Meema, just standing there (with perfect posture) listening to someone talk to her. Meema didn't say a word, she just listened. We would get phone calls a lot of people wanting to talk to her, or for her to just listen to them. Living at home I don't think that I really appreciated that trait so much. Since I've left home, I admire Meema for that so much more. She doesn't mind taking time out of her busy day to talk to me. :)

Meema loves her job. If anyone doesn't get enough credit for what she does, it's Meema. That may sound ridiculous to some people, but I believe it whole heartedly. She practically lives at the schools. You think I'm joking. Nope, definitely not joking. Practically 24 hours a day my Mom is doing something for her classes: recording music, reading scripts, play practices, and preparing lessons.
I could talk about my Meema all day, but I will just keep it to a little post. :) When people meet my Meema, they see a little, dark haired, perfect postured, energetic woman. When I look at my Meema I see the strongest person I know. I hope one day to be like her. Thank you Meema for everything. I love you! Happy Mother's Day.
Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. :)

Twister!!!

During our Young Women activity last week, we were able to play a few games while some girls were getting interviews. We played Twister and I was the spinner. Then the girls decided that THEY would spin and I would have to sit in any way they told me too. So yes, I was playing Twister by myself. It started off fine (how hard could it get right?). Well it was fine until the girls decided they werent' going to use the spinner anymore. They just picked a hand and told me which dot to put it on. "Sister Blackburn, put your right hand on THAT far red dot over there." My body is not very limber, so I could only turn and twist so many ways, but the girls had fun. :) Ok Ok it was kind of fun for me too. ;) Since I take pictures of the girls and their activities, they decided to take pictures of me too. Oh dear. I guess I can call myself a "Twister Master" now right?? :)

Here I Go!

Hey everyone! I have finally stepped into the blogging world. Ok... I mean my family has a blog that I would post on every once in a while (it has been a VERY LONG time since I have posted... sorry family), but this is different. :) It's my own blog! Impressed? You should be. I have always had this view that people just start blogging after they get married. I don't know why, but they do. Since I've gotten married I thought maybe I should take my turn with blogging. I am not the best writer in the world, so having my own blog with MY sentences being written is a bit nerve wracking for me. That's why I haven't really started til, well, just now. But, I'm coming out of my shell and hoping that this is all it's cut out to be. Everyone has been telling me that I should start blogging so that they can kind of keep tabs on me. I mean, I use Facebook to keep in touch with people. Does that count for anything? Ok fine sorry I even brought it up. :) It may take me a little while to get used to this, but just be patient with me and we'll see how this goes. :)

So way back in January I asked some people what I should call the name of the blog. I got some pretty good responses. I decided to stick to "The Blackburn Bunch". I know that right now it's only Kyle and I in our family. How much is a bunch anyway? More than two? Well, whatever, it works. :) Sooner or later it will turn into a "bunch".

I guess I should do a bit of introducing The Blackburn Bunch now right?? Sorry for those of you that already know us, but here ya go...

Kyle and I were married December 28, 2010, in Mesa, Arizona. So yes, we are newlyweds... ish. I've always been told that after your first year you aren't technically newlyweds anymore, so i'm sticking to that. We are both from Arizona and we love that place. Sooner or later we'll live there again. :)

Kyle is in the Marines and we are currently in Pensacola, Florida. He has been in for almost a year. His job is AS (Aviation Support), so he is in classes working on getting into the fleet in a few months.
We have a little beagle puppy named Zoey, and she is a little tyrant sometimes. She absolutely loves Kyle, and he loves her right back. :) Ok, Zoey loves me too...but not as much as she loves Kyle :)

We have met a lot of awesome people since we've been here. There are a few couples that we hang out with all of the time. They are in our ward in church and they are so fun to be around. I'm sure you'll be hearing more about them during the rest of our stay in Pensacola. :)

I love to exercise. I haven't done as good as I could since I've been here, but I'm trying to do better. I go on walks, and do zumba (sooooo fun for those of you who haven't tried it), and run on a trail on base. Since we are Arizona folk, the Florida weather has been something to get used to. HUMIDITY! YUCK! Whoo. I feel greasy all of the time... it's gross. But the beaches are beautiful and the ocean is awesome, so that's a plus. I suppose it evens out a bit because of that :)

I am the 1st counselor in the Young Women's Presidency for church, so I help with the teenage girls. It is SO much fun for me, and I am having a blast. They are all so fantastic. :)

Well I can't really think of anything else to say at the moment, but you'll definitely be hearing from me again soon.
PS Happy belated Easter!! :)