Joy runs deeper than despair.

(Corrie Ten Boom)

The quote has nothing to do with my post really, but I always have trouble thinking of names for my blogs, so I'm thinking about just using a cool quote to start every one of them off. We'll see how long that sticks.

There are two things that I want to talk about in this post. Firstly, facing my fears. Fears of driving. Once, long long ago, I was a young, independent college girl who took care of my direct needs all by myself. I worked, went to school, and stayed with my parents as often as possible, and I DROVE myself everywhere. Then, I got married and moved to San Diego with me loverly Hubbers. Hubbers has had his truck since 2007 I believe, and it's kind of his baby. That doesn't bother me at all. But as time went on that kind of hindered my confidence on the road. I went so long without driving that when I had to start taking Hubbers to base when he went out to sea, I had to go about an hour early- to be sure I was the only care on the interstate. When we drove home for the holidays, I thought I'd have an actual panic attack in El Paso. When Hubbers drives, sometimes I spend the whole ride gripping the "oh shit' bars and closing my eyes. It's that bad.
But, this morning, I had to go to El Cajon to pick something up. We live in La Mesa, and to get to El Cajon, you pretty much hop on I-8 and take it all the way there. All interstate. The interstate that scares the crap out of me. But it had to be done, and let me tell you, I feel like I have been scared for no reason at all. It was a peice of cake. Maybe it's Hubbers' driving that scares me haha. The feeling I got when I made it to my destination was so much stronger than I expected. I had this wave of satisfaction. I finally feel like I'm in control again- I'm literally in the drivers seat now. I have no problem sharing that seat with my husband, but to be able to take it on myself is something I didn't know I was missing. My confidence level shot up in that half hour. Yay me!!

Secondly, I want to mention what it is I had to go pick up. My prince, my Hubbers, got me a new wedding ring set. I love my old one, of course. It's the one he put on my finger the day we said "I do". But one diamond has already fallen out. And the beast from our past (the woman we lived with when we got married, mother in the family he lived with for  years) is the one that actually picked it out. This new set is so special because Hubbers went to finish some paper work, while I stayed home waiting to sell our old couch- and he came home with the ring. I love that he still does things like that. He handed me be Kay's bag, so casually, which was almost sad because I was hoping he'd have a romantic gesture in mind. But then, the box was empty, and he came up behind me, slipping the ring on my finger.
Last Saturday, he came home early in the morning from duty and told me to get ready to go to the zoo. I know he wasn't excited about the trip but he knew I wanted to go before deployment, and he made it happen. That's not the best part. When I told him first we'd have to get online and see what time the zoo opened, and how much my ticket would be (he gets in free, that lucky man), he already knew. I know it's silly that that's what made my day. But he spent the night before looking it up at work, planning our day so that he could come home and surprise me. Things like that make me so happy. I told him that- that that's what was so important, because it's lovely to know that he still thinks of me even when he's not actually with me. It's a comforting thought before this long seperation from eachother.

Anyways, here are some pictures from the zoo. Only a few of the many I took.

I know the picture above looks like a shitty, random picture, but it's actually amazing, because the panda was nursing as we walked through the exhibit!!

And of course, the ring!