Take me to the coast, I need a break.

If you would have told me a year ago that Dillon and I were going to begin the hardest year of our marriage, I would have laughed at you. I would have thought that our first year was the hardest. Or the year we had Opal and spent 10 months living on opposite ends of the country. But no, I wouldn't have thought that this past year would be the hardest. Man, oh man, was it the hardest.... and it is still going!

We decided that Dillon attending school would be the best decision, and it still is. But with the way companies hire and distribute hours to employees, you just don't seem to get more than 20 hours ANYWHERE. Dillon has juggled working 2 different jobs at all times, but its just getting so hard. He is never home and never gets to relax. I got 2 jobs, but Oliver will not take anything but breastmilk, and even if I pump, he won't drink it that way. It has been horrible for us with me being home, child care is ridiculous even when I did work, and it seemed like I wasn't bringing home very much after all of those expenses.

To make matters worse, our part time job that we love (and both work for) took all of our work off of the calendar for the rest of the year until Thanksgiving. Because of this, we had to break our lease, and move out of our home immediately in hopes that it gets rented fast so we don't have to pay rent next month. Seriously the worst news ever, and we're back living at my parents' home. We're starting to feel defeated and like life is just so against us.

I just didn't think it would be so hard to survive when we separated from the Marine Corps. Really.

The only real good news is that Dillon was asked to fill in a position at the base about an hour away from us and because he will be actively drilling now I will be getting a HUGE discount on my education that I am starting this month! I'm looking forward to that and continuing my photography. I had to take a break this past month due to how strict our budget was. I couldn't even afford the gas to go to locations or advertise.

So because of this, we decided that we needed a break from this stressful life and headed to the beach this past Sunday. It was so refreshing! We seriously needed that get away. We stopped at Casa De Fruita and rode the rides and walked around. Grabbed a deli sandwich and then headed to Monterey! We couldn't find parking at the aquarium so we just found an empty beach and built sandcastles and explored for a while. Afterwards the kids fell asleep and we enjoyed a quiet drive home and each other's company.

I love the Ocean. I already can't wait to go back and just enjoy that crisp air and the sound of the waves. We will make sure not to go  on a holiday or even a weekend for that matter. We really wanted to use our year pass again.

It was the kids' first time being to the beach and getting to play near the ocean and touch/ taste the sand. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Here are some more photos from the trip, just click "read more"