Home Is Where The Navy Ships Us

A Decade

2011-09-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

8:46 am - September 11, 2001

A decade has passed since nearly 3,000 people were killed in New York, Washington DC and Shanksville, PA in the most deadly attack on American soil in modern history.

I can't believe that it's been this long. It feels like yesterday.

Our wounds may not be as fresh as they were that day, no longer gaping and bloody. Instead, time has helped heal us to a place where we can move forward. We will all, however, carry that scar. Forever.

God Bless those dealing with their losses still today and God Bless America.

I hate Mondays

2011-09-06T13:51:00.000-04:00

This is too funny as it's Navy related... Look at POOKIE! He's wearing a dixie cup!

I also hate Tuesdays that follow holidays that fall on Mondays.

Now, you DO get two Saturdays with these Monday Federal holidays (which is awesome) but then you get a Monday that feels like a Sunday that we I ultimately waste with too many naps, delayed dinner (hello 9pm) and heaps and heaps of laundry. Aaaaaannd then my crappy "laundry overdose/too many naps" hangover carries all the way into the Tuesday that now feels like a shit-tastic Monday.

Which is today.

Blaming my sour mood on the days of the week might just be a little unfair. I mean, technically, I don't work, so it doesn't really matter what day of the week it is. However, my husband does work and his schedule/job kinda tends to rub off on me as I'm usually the one who's affected by the aftermath of whatever happened at work. Which is probably true for most spouses who come home and take out their day on their other spouse. I'm not complaining, as I understand that part of my wifely duties are to be debriefed on the Navy business of the day, listen and provide comfort and solidarity for what is not always the best of news.

The Navy rules our life and has been throwing these rather large ~~pieces of shit~~ obstacles our way lately. Every day seems to bring a little more stress and takes away a little bit of our sanity. Truthfully, it's nothing that we can't overcome or deal with (yet) but it's starting to take it's toll on us.

Life felt easier when I could blame it all on Monday.

So to make myself feel better, I'll just blame it all on Tuesday.

Over It

2011-09-05T15:47:00.000-04:00

Dear Heat and Humidity,

We talked the other day about you not coming back for the remainder of this year. I know you raised some good points about it being "only early September" and all, and that you really felt like your job here in Virginia Beach wasn't done, but this letter is to inform you otherwise.

On behalf of most of the residents here (I can't speak for all of us, because it's a military town and some people who happen to reside here are actually from places like Texas and California and actually enjoy you), we'd really appreciate it if you'd pack your belongings and haul ass outta here. We're done. Autumn is only 18 days away, and frankly, it would be awkward if you were still around when she arrives.

There was a period of time in the not-so-distant past where I was able to open the windows and not sweat like Shaq at the foul line. We could sleep with just a fan in the window bringing in the cool, dare I say crisp, un-damp air and actually SLEEP without waking up swimming in the sweat of our own asses. Best of all, I was able to turn off the A/C therefore saving myself lots and lots of cold, hard Benjamin's.

So, in short: Get the fuck out. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

kaythanksloveyoubye,

Noelle

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

2011-09-02T14:16:00.000-04:00

Or at least I hope some of you are still reading my blog...

Although I have sucked in the blog department the past few months (and by "few" I mean, most of 2011), I've really been itching to get back online and write. I've come across several topics and events in the recent past that I deemed "blog worthy", but as of right this second, of course, I can't recall any of them. The anecdotes that I can remember are now super old news (ie. Bin Laden's death, extreme heat of summer, Justin Beiber*)

So, that said, I'm really starting this thing again, like, really. Consider this my "8-Months-thru-the-Year-resolution". My goal is to write (and publish) at least once a week. I've been reading a whole bunch this summer (my goal is to read at least 30 books this year, and I'm 19 down!) and though some of the novels I'm reading are brilliantly written, some of them really aren't that "oh-my-god-I-could-never-write-this-awesome-ever". Truth is, although I'm not a fiction writer, I feel my writing style is as good, if not better than some of these published authors.

It is my new dream (ambition?) to write a novel (or memoirs, or weekly/monthly newspaper/magazine column, etc). I want to be published.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "Yo, if you can't keep up with this blog on a weekly basis, what makes you think you'll be able to pull off being a published writer, dude?"

First, thanks for sugar coating that for me. Secondly, I thrive with a deadline. Being left to my own literary devices, I'm not always providing my best or my most timely work, but being PAID to write and having to submit by press time, would surely motivate me.

Right, so there ya go. Post #1 of the "8-months-thru-the-Year-resolution" is done.

See you next week; or sometime before.

And you can quote me on that.

*I really have nothing to say about Justin Beiber. In fact I'll never have anything to say about Justin Beiber, like, ever. I was using him as an example of things that are old news... and things that no one wants to hear about, like, ever. HEY-O!*

I suck.

2011-06-17T23:21:00.000-04:00

So, I've been totally slacking in the blog department of my life... I'm working on sucking less.

I'll be back here soon when I have something worthwhile to chat about or something that I think y'all might actually care to read...

You can keep checking here, I might surprise you.

PSA: Put Brain in Gear Before Engaging Mouth

2011-05-05T14:08:00.000-04:00

This entry might seem like I'm writing from a cryptic place (maybe I am, maybe I'm not, heh.) but I'm writing it more as a "Public Service Announcment" for all my dear readers.

I'd like to think that the majority of the people I am friends/aquaintences with are genuinely polite, good people. Sure we all have our faults/problems and we all have opinions on everything. With the invention of these social media sites, we all can read what each other is thinking and doing 24/7/365.

That said, how many of you actually think about what you post? And by "think", I mean really think about how your words/actions may affect another human being that you might care about.

Yes, it's your right to do whatever the hell it is you want to do. Yes, it's your right to say whatever you feel like saying. By no means am I trying to stifle your "creativity" or your "First Amendment Rights". I'm just trying to bring light to the fact that once you press the "Post" or "Publish" or "Comment" button, you've put it out there. Once it's up and read by others, it's something you can't ever take back.

With all of this social media and instant communication gratification, many of us ~~say~~ type things that we wouldn't necessarily talk about face-to-face with three-dimensional people; there's a sense of anninominty. I think that's made us all a little bit more insensitive, disconnected and unaware of the impact of our statments on the world.

Lots of your friends/family/aquaintences are going through many challenges/issues/problems in their own lives. Some things they got themselves into, others that just happened outside of their control. You may not be aware of what's going on. It's probably not possible to know what every single one of us is going through at any particular moment. During regular human socialization and interaction, we've been taught the simple cues of the human response and given the chance, in person, you'd be able to pick up on someone's discomfort/anger/reaction to your statments. However, the good ol' interweb isn't that kind of a place and it's impossible to see someone's "at home" reaction to your thoughts.

My point is this: Think before you click. If you can stand behind what you write with 100% conviction and confidence, then by all means, say what you wanna say.

But, if it isn't something you'd say to a room filled with your "facebook friends" in the flesh, then maybe you think twice about posting that particular thing.

It might save you a friend.

A Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T14:38:00.001-04:00

Clearly I'm too ~~lazy~~ ~~busy~~ occupied with other things than to remember to write here every time I have a witty thought (seeing as this is my only post in April, *sigh*), therefore it's obvious that I could never be Queen.

If you're one of those people who is tired of hearing about the Royal Nuptials, then stop reading today's post now. 'Cause with the current state of this country (and really the entire world), I really enjoyed the distraction of savoring a moment in history that was steeped in opulence and ancient tradition, aaaaaaaand I'm gonna write about it.

I was up before the sun, propped up in our bed with just the glow of the TV to illuminate my husband getting ready for another day in the Navy. It was an odd sight for him at 0430, as I've usually just passed out around when he leaves for work and therefore am floating around in my first cycle of REM and hardly acknowledge him saying goodbye every day. But for some reason, (I blame a weird mixture of adrenaline, excitement and some good ol' green-eyed jealousy) I was totally awake and totally engrossed in the coverage.

It. Was. Beautiful. And nothing short of perfection. I mean, I wasn't there or anything, but from what I've seen and read, it went off without a hitch and everyone looked and acted as happy as (big-toothed British) clams.

"Noelle, since when are you so obsessed with the Royal Family?" That is a good question, and I'd have to say that it's been a secret guilty pleasure of mine for a majority of my life. Charles and Diana were married a good four months before I was born so I didn't watch that (obviously), but I am roughly the same age as Prince William (and Catherine) and I've grown up in the same time frames. Whenever I saw him on TV or read about him in some way or another, he was the same age and doing some of the same "life" things as myself. Instant connection. And I've had a part of me that wished I'd somehow magically arrive in London and meet the Prince accidentally and become his bride. (Thanks Disney movies!)

I remember watching the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and impossibly imagining what it must be like to lose a mother, and already feeling a kinship to William, I felt his pain, his sorrow and watched him handle the horror with grace; a life-long interest was formed. So naturally, I couldn't miss out on his special day.

I'm impressed with his breaking with tradition and marrying a "commoner". Catherine has quite the long road ahead of her, but I can't imagine that it's going to be anything that she cannot handle. I thought her choice of dress/veil for the day was very classic and very flattering. People (gossip rags) assumed and were disappointed when she didn't wear something more ~~whore-ish~~ daring, but it's not every day that you are the Bride walking down the aisle in Westminster Abbey in front of the Queen of England herself. She was beautiful, respectful and still very much in-style.

I'm glad I was able to watch the whole event in it's entirety. I'm glad that I got to witness a bit of history and it's not an event I'll soon forget.

William and Catherine are going to make some pretty babies.

And I'm now obsessed with ~~hats~~ "facinators".

Out Like a What-Now?

2011-03-30T16:23:00.000-04:00

*Disclaimer - If you follow my links in today's post, you may learn something and/or laugh. You have been warned*

How is it possible for a month to both draaaaaagg and fly by?

I was just complaining about how this March seemed to feel about two months long. Then, as we finally approach the end of it, I'm don't quite remember what all those days contained; it now feels like they went by in a quick blur.

March is one of those transitional months when we travel from the stormy, chilly and sometimes downright cold morning and evenings (In like a lion) to somewhat more calm, springtime temperatures (out like a lamb) . After we roll the clocks back (and loose that precious hour) we awake again, in the darkness waiting for the sun, who comes up late and stays up longer. We eat dinner with the sun shining and the dining room lights off. The trees start to send out some leaf buds (cherry blossoms!) and random pieces of grass grow tall and green.

We started to prepare our outdoor living space for the coming summer. On a random 75 degree day, we leveled out our tiny yard and planted some grass and purchased a brand new grill! Since it's just the two of us we decided to get an LP grill. I'm a firm believer that food cooked over charcoal tastes WORLDS better than gas, but with all the work and time charcoal takes, I doubt we'd ever use it to cook our quick, measly meats for two people. It was warm the day we (FINALLY) finished putting it together and after having to return the first scary (and now we know it was DEFECTIVE, which is scarier) propane tank, we were "cooking with gas" as they say. We enjoyed some awesome Bubba burgers (they're shaped like Texas!) on the deck outside, savoring the fresh, crisp evening air!

[Side note: if you have a vehicle big enough and can purchase your own grill pre-assembled, DO IT. No matter how awesome those burgers tasted, it was not, I repeat, NOT worth the literal blood, sweat and tears that I shed putting this together. Not to mention the metal shard splinters, they were my favorite]

I've had it in my mind to tackle the front "yard" of our house for a while now. Last summer the ideas came to me, but it was 105 degrees and let's be honest, I don't function outside above 83 degrees. So I waited until Spring! I had to wait until it got a bit warmer and the ground thawed out before I start to disassemble the horrid rock garden the previous owners installed. I don't know what made them think that the six uber-ugly short shrubs they planted would be a beautiful addition to the pile of rocks and mulch they deemed "easy to care for". And by "easy to care for" I mean that the kids next door pick up said rocks and when they aren't hurling them at each other, they're running through them. So, I'm going to rip all those horrid plant-things out, rake up all these annoying pebbles and rocks, install a ~~sharp~~ little garden fence and plant some pretty flowers. I was planning on doing that this week while the ~~fucking annoying~~ darling gang of neighborhood kids were still in school so I didn't have to suffer through the incessant questions ("What are you doing? Why are you doing that? Can I help? My mom said I could help. What's this? Can I pet your dog?") and so I didn't have to keep watching over my shoulder in order to have enough time to dodge a bicycle or basketball.

Regardless, it's POURING, and the rain is expected to stick around for the week with a possible thunderstorm here and there, and it's chilly. No, we aren't getting the snow that some of you Yankees back home are, but this precipitation is still annoying, especially since our grass hasn't fully taken yet and our backyard is 72.4% mud.

Have I mentioned that we have a cream-colored dog and a cream-colored carpet?

CORRECTION: We DID have a cream-colored dog and we DID have a cream-colored carpet.

So, thanks March... feel free to take all this chilly, wet, muddiness with you when you finally exit tomorrow.

Lamb, my ass.

I have a problem...

2011-03-24T16:27:00.000-04:00

They say that the first step in overcoming a challenge in your life is admitting you have a problem. Okay, I did that. But what if I have a problem *COUGH*obsession*COUGH*COUGH* that I don't want to overcome?

"What is this issue you're dealing with?", you may be asking yourself. Well, I'm going to admit here... to all of you, faithful readers... Again.

I am obsessed with Jimmy Fallon. Still.

There, I said it. Wow, do I feel better.(okay, not really).

This is probably not a shock to most of you, if you know me well enough (or have read my blog for a bit). My night-owl-ness and love for all things "late-nite" lead me to Mr. Fallon many moons ago and has only gotten stronger as the years have gone on.

I loved him as a regular on Saturday Night Live, I've seen almost every movie he's been in (Netflix, Holla!) and I've watched 97% of the 414 episodes of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (whoever invented the DVR is a SAINT!) [and yes that episode number is accurate through to tonight's new episode]. I've laughed so hard, I've cried (and maybe pee'd a little). I've stuck by him on nights that weren't so hilarious and through some yawn-worthy guests and really, really awful (maybe just by my standards) musical guest acts.

I've even gone so far as to join Twitter so I could follow Jimmy and submit Tweets to his weekly "Late Night Hashtag" segment. I managed to get one of my tweets read by Jimmy on his show back in September! I made him giggle! You can find my previous post detailing this event HERE! I think that the clip of him reading it is no longer available online. But if you want to come over to my house, we can watch it here. I have it on the DVR. Hopefully, I'll manage to keep it on there for eternity.

My husband is as supportive as a husband can be about my Fallon-Fanatic-ness. He doesn't give me any grief about filling the upstairs DVR with hours and hours of LNJF episodes. He doesn't mind going from store to store to find the issue of Rolling Stone with JF on the cover. And to top it off, a few days ago, he came home with a pint of Ben and Jerry's for me! Now normally, he would have brought home my favorite, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, but he had found the brand-new-just-released-on-the-show pint of Late Night Snack, a flavor "inspired by LNJF". WAH!?

Vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and chunks of fudge covered potato chips. It was really ~~SALTY~~ interesting, probably wouldn't purchase it again (I'll stick to good ol' ChocFdgBrw), but I love my husband for supporting this junkie's Fallon habit.

Anyway, I think my infatuation exists for many reasons. Okay the obvious being, he's pretty to look at. Duh.

2. He's HI-larious. Not many people can make me laugh as hard as he does. He "keeps it real" with smart, current jokes but also does things that are just silly and he has no shame in acting like the kid he is at heart.

And C, he's genuinely a super nice guy. Every interview he's given, every appearance he's done, every person who has written about him (whether they think he's funny or not) has said that he's the nicest, happiest guy they'd ever met. He's an eternal optimist and has a love for life that I envy and would love to have.

Mystery obsession solved.

And so you all have time to plan (haha) all I want for my upcoming 30th Birthday is to meet Jimmy Fallon and see his show live back home in NYC. That would be AWESOME.

So, yeah. I don't know why I felt the need to let you all in on my not-so-little secret obsession today, but there it is.

I'll close this little window to my soul now. It's getting a lil' drafty in here...

Spring Cleaning!

2011-03-22T16:34:00.000-04:00

This is a term that I do not actually put into practice. Thanks to OCD, I clean all the time. Every day. And most weeks there is some "deep cleaning" where curtains and/or rugs and/or closets and/or rooms and/or dogs/cats get stripped and washed thoroughly. It's not a seasonal thing for me, it's an all-the-time-all-year kind of thing.

All that aside, today's post isn't about cleaning in the physical sense [we all know you didn't come to check out this blog today because you wanted to know my tricks on folding a fitted sheet or how to keep a toilet clean 24/7/365], it's more about clearing the cobwebs of life out of your mind, shedding your tough skin of acceptance for other people's bad behavior and to stop doing things that don't make you happy so you can start making changes towards the positive.

Whew! That sounds like a tall order, I know. I'm struggling with it myself these days.

I'm in the middle of making a pro-active list of things that aren't making me happy or hindering my advance in the quest for eternal organization/cleanliness/health. Written on the other side of that list is the way to resolve these issues and what steps have to be taken in order to "clear out" the path to success.

All of this might sound like it came out of some kind of cliche self-help book. I can assure you that it hasn't, but I've definitely read enough of that psycho-therapy babble to write volumes myself. I'm just trying to actually put what I've read into practice.

Basically, it comes down to this: "If you don't like it, change it." So to that I say: "I'm trying." Which always brings me back to another favorite Yoda quote: "Do or do not. There is no 'try'." Amen, little green Jedi man, Amen.

And what a better time to start "doing" than Spring, the time of rebirth and regrowth!

And cleaning... can't forget the cleaning.

Happy Four-Leaf Clover Day!

2011-03-18T12:44:00.006-04:00

Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!!

Being a 1/4 Irish myself, I enjoy this holiday. I used to enjoy it for the beer, (green beer) and walking around NYC people-watching and gaping at all the d.r.u.n.k.s. But now that (most) of my crazy drunken stooper days are behind me, I'm finding the more tame way to celebrate.

Hubby was home early, so I made St. Paddy's brunch: green pancakes and bacon (not green bacon, cause...ew). I've done it for the past few years and Daryl thinks they're cool, and hopefully one day our kids will think it's cool too. Daryl was nice enough to go all around town to find a McDonald's that still had the makings for a Shamrock Shake for me. I've never had one, and I can't say I've even ever heard of it before this year. Although these Southerners and Wikipedia, say different. I tried it, it was... minty. Can't say I'd send him all around town for another one. I wasn't really impressed. I appoligse to all you hardcore "S'rock Shake" fans, please don't come to my house to beat me up in your Green-sugar-fit-of-rage.

Meh... it wasn't worth the calories

Daryl and I both wore green on our monthly trip to the vet with Bentley (Side note, Mr. Bentley is now 41 pounds!). However, I didn't see a lot of people wearing green at all down here. I don't think there is a very large Irish population here in VA Beach. That, or people here tend to focus on doing their jobs and not the color of their clothes in conjunction with the holidays. Bah Humbug.

Anyway, I guess that's it for this particular post; just acknowledging that my little bloggy is still here. I have a bunch of topics that I've started writing and a lot of posts written that I have left to edit... I'll get there eventually. I promise.

Enjoy a glass of beer while you wait.

"Ooh Pooh."

2011-02-28T17:20:00.001-05:00

, says Eeyore... and says me today.

I've got that gloomy, frown-y, black-cloud-above-me kind of feeling today.

I hesitate to use the word "depressed", because I really don't think that I am. Despite all the crap there is in the world and how much worse-off other people are, I think I'm pretty damn fortunate and blessed in many ways.

But I do think I've got a bad case of cabin fever and homesickness for my friends and family "back home". Maybe it's this yo-yo weather.

Frankly, I think we're all allowed a few days of the year when we're not seeping happiness from every pore, regardless of how great our lives are (is it so bad that I have more than "a few"??)

Some days you just feel down; a little less like Tigger and a little more like "Poo" (pun intended).

A little off the top...

2011-02-25T15:37:00.000-05:00

... or in my case, a crap-load off the bottom.

What is it about a haircut that just changes everything?

My whole life has been spent growing my hair really long for some occasion (prom, someones wedding, my own wedding) and then chopping it off days after that event.

This time, although my hair was super long, I didn't feel the urge to keep it that way, but I DID feel the urge to cut it (or I was going to rip it out). I was just really, really tired of all the shampoo and conditioner I went through in a month (talk about a money pit). That combined with the tangles I had to tear through on a daily basis were just making me flat out angry (Ladies, I know you can sympathize), and my poor hair dryer had heaps of insults thrown at it when after 20 minutes of standing with my head between my legs, my hair STILL wasn't dry. Also, I think long-haired women were the motivation behind the invention of Drain-O (maybe combined with really hairy men too, like Robin Williams hairy). I might actually hold a Guinness World Record for clogging a shower drain in a matter of seconds. It's nasty.

Seriously though, it was getting a little out of control. Finally, I just bit the bullet, called my hair lady and almost ran to the salon.

Now as someone who has a pretty severe case of OCD, I really do have the never-ending compulsion to control my environment. I do this with obsessive cleaning and organizing (yes, I did lint-roll the cat yesterday, so what?) all hours of the day and night. Kudos to my husband for dealing with all this with grace and for not flat-out laughing at me (well, MOST of the time) for all my "quirkiness" (Is that a word?).

All that aside, I really DID leave the control of my head of hair in the hands of Tricia (the hair lady). I walked in, sat down and said, "Do whatever's gonna look good on me, but make it short. Not G.I. Jane short, but shorter than this". After some standard stylist/client chit-chat (*yawn*), a mound of hair and an hour and a half later, I walked out of the salon with a much lighter head (and heart) and a new outlook on the world.

It's amazing how a haircut can do all that.

(And for those of you looking for a photograph of said haircut (which in and of itself isn't earth-shattering) check Facebook in a few days. I'll eventually get around to having Daryl take one)

Proud!

2011-02-21T13:55:00.000-05:00

Friday, the 18th of February, 2011, marked the eight year anniversary of Daryl entering the Navy. That's a pretty big accomplishment, as not everyone makes it that long, and some don't even want to.

I couldn't be prouder of Daryl and what he does. Although the Navy provides many benefits for us and our tiny family, I wouldn't make him continue in a career he hated. Luckily for us, meteorology is something he loves and he can't see himself doing that anywhere else than the military. In the past year, Daryl has not only advanced to Second Class, he's also attained his Enlisted Aviation Warfare Specialist pin and showed off his skills to all the officers aboard the USS Iwo Jima last summer.

Please join me in celebrating Daryl's continued success and achievements. This is quite a milestone and the beginning of the next chapter, the ninth year of his Navy career.

Hooya!

High on Grass

2011-02-18T12:48:00.000-05:00

No, not that kind of grass, dummy. This kind:

I'm having a very good day. I can't pin-point exactly what started the good mood, perhaps a few extra hours of sleep or getting out of the bed on the proverbial "right side". Whatever it is, I'm trying to make it last as long as possible.

Maybe it's the weather. It is absolutely beautiful here today. I know what you're thinking, "Thought you were a WINTER LOVER, Noelle." Yes that is quite true, but as far as VA goes, our winter and chances for anymore snow are pretty much 'ovah'. I love it when it's snowing but not when it's just bitter cold with harsh wind.

It's been above average in the temperature department here (like 77 degrees) for the past few days with "abundant sunshine", and I can say that I am enjoying it. Perhaps it's also the added benefit of being able to sit in my own backyard and soak up as much Vitamin D as I want to in peace. The sunshine has dried up all of the mud in the yard and I have aired out my house since the windows can be open for hours at a time.

It's starting to feel like spring, and I like it! The ground that was wet and soupy for much of the winter is starting to shoot up little green sprigs of grass. There were robins searching the grass for bugs this morning and there are birds singing all over! I can't remember the sound of birds ever making me so happy ever before. Even the occasional squawk from an omnipresent seagull seems to annoy me less today.

If it is in fact starting to turn to spring, I better suck it all in now. I know that although it's the season of rebirth and regrowth, it's not going to last long. Soon I'll be complaining about how HOT it is, how miserable we are, and how butt sweat is truly a sign that Satan does exist.

Barely Legal

2011-02-15T13:39:00.000-05:00

This week, our itty-bitty tiny puppy, Bentley, will be four months old! I can't believe how time has just flown by and how GIANT he's gotten. Like a newborn baby, young puppies have to stay away from strange dogs until they are vaccinated against, well, everything. As of his vet visit this morning, he's up-to-date on all shots he needs to be introduced into the doggy world, especially: The Dog Park! There are two huge dog parks in VA Beach that we'd like to take him to. Our yard is pretty tiny and there isn't a leash long enough to give him the really exhausting exercise he needs, so we're all really looking forward to taking him to a place where he can run free of the leash for a while.

We're going to have to wait a few more weeks before he can go there, apparently the first Rabies vaccine a pup gets is only fully active about 21 days after it's given. The things these first-time puppy parents learn (can't wait to see what it's like when we become first-time human baby parents).

Mr. Bentley is "of age" and today he got his Virginia Beach Dog License! He's officially a resident of this city (which is more than I can say for Willow, or Daryl for that matter). Here are a few pictures of our no-so-little pup!

And our latest favorite picture:

I can't resist that face, no matter how hard I try!

Happy Hearts Day!!!

2011-02-15T13:31:00.001-05:00

I've always loved Valentine's Day. How could you not love a holiday filled with cards and flowers and CHOCOLATE! Even when I was single (many moons ago), there was still a spot in my heart for the day.

I've always enjoyed decorating and sending out Valentines cards (let's be honest, I enjoy doing that for ALL holidays). Recently I've had a flashback to elementary school when we'd make a Valentine mailbox or decorate a small paper bag and my classmates would go around the room and deliver those corny cardboard cards to each and everyone. These were happy memories for me, and I wonder if this is even something kids are still allowed to do in school, or if it will still be allowed when my kids get to be that age.

Regardless, Valentine's Day 2011 was a great success. My husband is the best when it comes to holidays and special occasions. I never have to worry if he'll remember. And it's not about how much he spends or what the objects are (although they're always great), it's the fact that he knows me so well and always picks the most perfect things that I will enjoy and are totally "me". This year was no exception. He knows I'm trying hard to eat better, so he got me one of those Edible Arrangements filled with all kinds of fruit and a smidgen of chocolate dipped strawberries, BEAUTIFUL roses (Willow finds them particularly delicious), a softy-soft bear and because I've been recently talking about balloons, a perfect heart-shaped balloon. He really is the best.

We went to dinner last night as well. While we were waiting for our table, a man came up to us and introduced himself as a Pastor at a local church. He told us that we were such a "blissful, good-looking" couple and that we should be proud of ourselves. That made us both feel good. No matter where we go, people talk to us about random things! I think I could fill a book with the randomness comments we get! After a very, very filling dinner, we decided to treat ourselves to dessert. The waitress explained that the kitchen was a little backed up (understandably so, it was PACKED in there) and that our dessert would be delayed. We didn't mind, we were enjoying our evening. It eventually did come and tried to eat all of it, but couldn't. It was just tooo much. We totally overdid it. When the bill came, the waitress apologized again for the delay on the dessert (we REALLY didn't care) but she took it off the bill for our "trouble". Woohoo! Free dessert! Made it taste even better!

We don't have any kids to spoil, so our pets get all of our attention and love. I know they're animals and can't feel "special" like children, but I like to make holidays special for them too. Willow and Bentley both got "Tines Tines" [Valentines] treats. They were both were happy and got to enjoy the evening with their mommy and daddy. They are too cute and are getting along better than I thought they would.

So, YAY for Hearts Day! Glad my sailor was home to spend the day with us!

Hope all of you had a day filled with love!!!

Ice Ice Baby!

2011-02-15T12:42:00.001-05:00

My husband is what can only be described as a sports fanatic. It doesn't matter what season it is, he's watching some kind of sport. Not only is he watching it, he knows ALL there is to know about it. It's really quite amazing the amount of knowledge he has about everything sports-related. If there was a "PH.d of Sports", he'd have one.

Well, football just ended (for the Giants, it ended a while ago), and it's not yet time for Yankees baseball, so he's watching his hockey. He's an Islanders fan, but they don't seem to be doing so well this season.

Now, I'm not into sports as much as Daryl is (I don't know anyone who is MORE into sports than he is), but I do enjoy watching the weekly football games, and the daily baseball games on television. If given the chance, I prefer to watch them live, but we can't get home to go to a Giants or Yankee game too often, so that's left to TV, but we try to find the next best thing here in VA. In the summer we go to a few Norfolk Tides games. They're they AAA farm team for the Baltimore Orioles. They put on a good game, and if we can manage it, we try to see them play the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (the AAA farm team of, you guessed it, our NYY). There's no real football close to here (we'll just have to wait until our kids become high school/college football stars) but there is hockey.

The Norfolk Admirals are the minor league hockey team in the area, an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning. This year, they're actually GOOD! Last year, they were ranked last in their division, but not this year! We really do enjoy going to see the Admirals live and in person. Up until last year, I had never been to a hockey game, but now that I've been a few times, I'm totally hooked (but dude, it's cold in there)! This combined with my devout passion for the Yankees, has my husband thrilled. Here are a few pictures from our 2nd row seats of our most recent game on Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch (sounds like a bad cereal, doesn't it?)!

Both the Admirals games and the Tides game tickets are pretty inexpensive, especially if you have a military ID, a decent discount is given. They both also do a Military Appreciation Night where tickets are discounted even more. If you live in the area, I highly recommend attending some of the games of these local sports teams, you won't regret it!

Okay January...

2011-01-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

Move along!

From Homecoming in mid-November to New Years, time flew by! Every time I turned around, it was time to go somewhere else. I always had a huge list of things to do/buy/make/clean/pack. But since New Years, January has draaaaaaaaaged. I cannot wait for this month to end.

Now, I despised the 105* weather we had in August. I am much more of a Winter Girl. I love snow. There is nothing like the complete, serene silence that happens only after a blanket of the white stuff has fallen, covering everything. I love snuggling under a blanket in front of the fire, and my hubby and I don't mind shovelling. I think I miss that the most about New York, the fact that it feel and acts like winter up there(Although, I know they have had their fill of snow this year, and they aren't done yet).

All that said, if it's not going to snow here in VA, then I'd really rather it be clear and in the low 60's. I hate cold rain. I'd much prefer a chilly rain during the summer with a big thunderstorm, but in the winter, when everything is dead and brown, rain is just depressing.

I think my feelings about the weather have changed due to the recent acquisition of a CREAM colored puppy. He's adorable as hell and he's pretty much house trained, but with his teeny puppy bladder, he's gotta go out. A lot. And because of the rain we keep having and the fact that it's not freezing anymore, our yard is one big mud hole. Bentley, of course, could care less. He loves outside, mud or no mud. I however, am sick and tired of having to wipe down a muddy puppy every hour. In that respect (and many others that I can't think of at this exact moment), cats are SO much easier (that's right, Willow. Mommy said it, don't tell your little brother).

So, I must now leave you, dear reader, to attend to Mr. Bentley who's gotta go out again. If I could ask you to think of me in the next 5 minutes or so; picture me attempting to wrestle him to the ground with his big green towel before he tracks his huge muddy paw prints along my CREAM colored carpet. Ugh.

And then, pray that February hurries it's ass up.

Our Year in Review: 2010

2011-01-22T19:05:00.001-05:00

I sit here, attempting to recapture the memories of yet another year gone by, and I don't know if it's my age (hah) or something else, but I'm finding it more difficult to remember that far back. Despite what feels like a "senior moment", some events do stand out when I think back on "Oh-Ten".

I can't pin-point the exact number of days, but I do know that for a majority of the year, my husband was on a boat in the middle of some ocean (I think some of the Iwo wives said our men were home for something like 57 days from Jan '10 to Nov '10).

We made the most of the time we did have together during our first year of marriage. We met up with each other when the ship came to NYC for Fleet Week in May. We finally made it to the new Yankee Stadium and enjoyed a few beers in an Irish pub downtown.

Us in the NYY Dugout, sitting where the Yankees sit!

In June, Daryl advanced to a new rank of Second Class Petty Officer and although I wasn't able to watch him get frocked on board, I was of course, thrilled with his success.

Daryl and some shipmates making rank on the Iwo Jima

Later that month, we decided to no longer pay rent and pad someone else's pocket, and we purchased a house! We found our townhouse, in great condition, with a need for only a few cosmetic details and room for our little family. We hired movers to do the big, heavy furniture and we did the rest ourselves and were finally done with apartment living!

Our New House!

Willow LOVES her new house (especially the stairs) and spends her days sleeping in her room in her sunny spot and flying up and down the staircase.

A Puss on her stairs!

And then the Navy took my husband out to sea on our very first deployment as a married couple. It was difficult. It wasn't fun. But overall, I'm proud of us for dealing with it as well as we did. Of course being left in our newly purchased home with ALL of the cleaning/unpacking/painting to do alone, was quite overwhelming and stressful. Being away from my husband for that length of time was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and for the first few weeks, I was miserable. I continued to have my bad days, days where getting out of bed or going about the daily mundane tasks just seemed too much. Thankfully though, we both got into our routines and made it all work out. (Not without some literal blood, sweat and tears on my part).

Much of that deployed summer was spent trying to integrate myself in with the ladies of the FRG and filling at least a few nights a week with something to do or some where to go with other human beings. Without those ladies, I wouldn't have made it thru. I probably would have run home to my mom's house in NY and stayed there with my head in the sand until my husband returned. I'm glad I didn't do that. I'm all the stronger for it. I even ran for the position of secretary of the FRG and got it. I did go home to NY to spend some time with with best friends and family in order to keep my mind occupied.

Finally it was time for homecoming! What a beautiful and special time for Daryl and I. I can't exactly say that homecoming made the entire deployment worth it, but it was amazing (you can scroll down for that post).

My sailor is HOME!

Since Daryl's been home, the rest of the year FLEW by! I cannot believe how quickly it went!

Thanksgiving and my birthday were a blur. As was our first anniversary! We went out for dinner, ate a bite of our top tier of our cake and drank some of our wedding day champagne.

Happy One Year!!!

A few days after our anniversary, we gave our 1st Anniversary gift to each other: a puppy!

We had promised each other that once we got a house with a yard, we'd get a dog. We decided that instead of spending money on crap we don't really need, we'd let our little fur-family grow with a baby dog.

My parents got a Goldendoodle about a year ago and we just fell in love with him. They are almost completely shed-free and have a different kind of fur that's more like hair (that's the poodle part) so I wasn't allergic to him. Their personalities are fun loving, smart and gentle. We knew this was the type of dog for us. We had to wait for a new litter to be born, but finally they came. We picked a little blond boy and once he was old enough, he took a ride on a big plane, and finally arrived home with us. Bentley was quite the handful at first, but thru time and training, he's become a sweet, true member of our family.

Our little Bentley Boy's First Picture!

Bentley enjoyed his very first Christmas and his first interaction with a pack of new dogs! He LOVED playing with Casey, Chance, Buddy, Pepper and Sadie! We all thought that he'd cause a bit of a problem with all of the dogs, being the new little guy and all, but it was one of the most underwhelming experiences ever. None of the dogs seemed to really mind. Thank goodness, because they're going to be seeing each other alot.
Willow however, hates Bentley. She drew blood from him on Day #1, but it's improved 10-fold since then. They give each other a wide berth, but both of them realize the other isn't going anywhere and have learned to co-exist.

We rang in the New Year of 2011 with our little fur-family and Daryl's dad and step-mom. It was quiet, but filled with food, booze and relaxation.

We hope that your 2011 was ushered in with happiness and joy, and here's to another eventful year!

Stay Tuned...

2011-01-08T13:46:00.000-05:00

... our "Year in Review" blog will be posted very soon!

Christmas Parties!

2010-12-20T11:45:00.000-05:00

Right after my birthday, Daryl's two commands: the USS Iwo Jima and SGOT (now the Fleet Weather Center) both held their annual Christmas parties. This is the first Christmas that we were able to attend these functions together as husband and wife!

We had an awesome time at the Iwo party, held at the Norfolk Waterside Marriot Hotel. We even got a hotel room so we didn't have to worry about getting home after a "few" drinks. Check out the awesome cake and ice sculpture:

It's all CAKE!

It was over 5 feet long, and a pretty exact replica of the ship!

The theme of the Iwo's party was "Red Carpet" and the guests could vote for "Best Dressed Gentleman", "Best Dressed Lady" and "Best Dressed Couple". All the nominees walked the red carpet in the center of the dance floor. Daryl and I had cleaned up pretty well that evening and we wore complementing colors. All of my fellow Iwo Jima FRG ladies voted Daryl and I "Best Dressed Couple" and we WON! Check out our fancy plaque!

Yes, even my nails matched my dress and D's shirt and tie! Fancy!

The evening ended with the two of us and a few other FRG couples closing the party down at midnight. We headed up to our room and promptly passed out. Daryl treated me to breakfast-in-bed from room service the next morning, which tasted delicious, but I was waaaaaay too hung over to appreciate it!

The Fleet Weather Center party was a let-down after the Iwo party. It was at a much smaller place with a much smaller, less rowdy (*ahem* nerdy *ahem*) Weather crowd. We ate our meals, listened to the chaplain and the CO and then raced to the car and headed home to our warm couch in front of the fireplace!

Up to speed...

2010-12-17T18:23:00.000-05:00

When last I posted, I was a smidgen under the weather. And by "smidgen" I mean, I felt worse than I have felt since last year at this time when I had a 3-month case of bronchitis. I'm not sure why, but I've been sick more times this year than ever before. It's annoying. And since I'm allergic to decongestants, I pretty much have to wait it out. As I write this, my nose is again, running, and last night I had a fantastic 101.1 degree fever. Seems as though I cannot win.

Anyway, it's been a while and figured I'd bring you up to speed on our little life since Turkey Day.

For my birthday, my hubby took me out to Crackle Barrel (at my request) for dinner. There's just something about their food that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Reminds of me eating at my mom's house. I love that place and the food was delicious. After dinner we took a little Christmas shopping trip to the mall, and then he took me to the Cheesecake Factory for some birthday dessert! I got a slice of the Reese's Chocolate Cheesecake Pie and a hot chocolate! I managed to go 29 years without being sung to in a restaurant by servers, but that ended when a bunch of waiters sang to me. It was actually quite nice as it was the birthday song (in perfect harmony) and not something retarded with lots of clapping and inane rhyming.

My birthday cheesecake!

On top of all that, Daryl bought me the most perfect watch! It's so sparkly!

All in all, a great 29th birthday. Probably the last birthday I'll be happy about celebrating because I'm dreading turning 30, panicking really. But I guess I have 364 days to prepare for my "Thrisis".

Death Warmed Over

2010-12-04T22:49:00.000-05:00

Ugh! I feel horrible! I'm not sure why, but I keep getting sick! I (usually) eat quite well, I sleep alright (just do it at different hours than most people [I think I'm on China time]) and I'm finally on all the right medicine/vitamins. I just don't understand it.

So, fair readers, I will return to my blogging when I can stand to sit in front of this computer without sneezing/coughing my fool head off. I hope that this is soon.

I do miss you though... I haven't forgotten about you and I hope you're reading some of my older posts to keep you entertained in the meantime.

*ACHOOOoooooo!!!* *Hack Hack Hack* Ugh....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings today!

Here's a random list of what I'm thankful for:

* Having my husband home for the holidays!

* Getting to spend Turkey Day with my family back home and getting to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in the same state!

* Helping my mom cook Thanksgiving dinner for the first time!

* The wonderful group of friends and family that I have that kept me supported throughout the deployment and always.

* A beautiful house with all of the things I need/want in it, even though "things" aren't important, they are nice to have.

* A healthy, happy kitty (and a puppy on the horizon)!

* My husband's steady paying job, without it I'm not sure where we'd be.

* And I'm thankful that I have 99% of our Christmas shopping DONE already!

Enjoy your turkey and stuffing!

Dropin' Anchor!

2010-11-18T01:12:00.001-05:00

As I write this, I shed some tears of happiness and pride.

After a very long and stressful four months, my husband is coming home.

I almost can't believe it. It seems like only yesterday that I was dropping him off at the pier in the dark on a humid pre-dawn July morning. It seems like only yesterday that I spent 3 whole days in my pajamas on the couch and in our bed sobbing randomly and feeling sorry for myself.

Thankfully, deployment and time moved forward and so did I. I realized that these months were going to go by whether I spent my time sleeping or doing something with my life. So I chose to "suck it up" and get on with it and get out of the house. I decided to try out an FRG meeting and I'm SO glad I did.

It was there that I met some of the strongest, most beautiful women in my life. There is no way in the world I would have made it through this without these girls.

Ladies, this post is for you.

I can't describe how proud I am of all of you. I'm thankful that we had each other to lean on, to cry with and to laugh with. Not only did you girls make me feel like I belonged, you made me feel like I was finally "home".

Thank you for the movie dates, the bowling, the photo shoots, the concerts, the endless dinners and the immeasurable amount of laughter.

I'm lucky to have you in my life and I hope that our husbands get along, cause I don't see us breaking up our band of "Wild Wives of the USS Iwo Jima" any time soon.

Enjoy your homecomings, girls. We've earned it.

To All Who Serve*

2010-11-11T14:45:00.003-05:00

I do not know this woman. I did not take this picture. However, I feel this photograph accurately demonstrates what today is all about.

Today is Veterans Day. Originally created to celebrate the end of the "War to End All Wars", it's now a holiday to celebrate and honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Every web page I've visited in the past 24 hours has something about Veterans Day. The newspapers have a front page dedicated to it. Schools/Banks/Post Offices/Libraries are closed. On Facebook almost everyone I know has some sort of "status" that mentions the holiday. I was touched by the overwhelming outpouring of support for our service members, past and present. But then I got to thinking........

Where are these people the other 364 days of the year?

Supporting our armed forces shouldn't be something "cool to do" just because everyone else is doing it. It shouldn't be restricted to ONLY one day a year. These men and women need our UNFAILING support every single minute of every single day. They are the reason that we can live the way that we do, enjoy the things that we have and not live in fear of losing all of it to an enemy.

It makes me blindingly angry when someone, especially a celebrity, casually throws out a superficial, "I Support Our Troops". Really? Do you? HOW? Do you visit them on a USO tour in some foreign country or aboard a ship? Do you visit any of our Wounded Warriors in VA hospitals around the country? Have you walked the paths of Arlington National Cemetery? Have you spoken to the spouses and children of the service members who paid the ultimate price for you to continue to have your Maserati and 12 bedroom house? I didn't think so.

My point today is that anyone can SAY they support the military. Anyone can wear an American flag pin or hang a flag on the front of the house. Anyone can change their status to say something amazingly patriotic. It's a nice thing to say, but you had better have the proof to back those words up, otherwise they're just that, words.

It's how you support the strongest military in the world from the greatest country in the world on the other days of the year that really matters. Perhaps we should check in with these "supporters" on a random day, say March 16th, and see what they're doing to support the armed forces then. I bet we'd catch them off guard and they will have forgotten about how patriotic they claim to be.

"If you don't stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in front of them."

"Freedom Isn't Free."

"Home of the Free, Because of the Brave."

*These statements are, of course, not directed to anyone who actually DOES go out of their way to do whatever they are able in support of our military. My fellow Military wives and their families are a group of people who have dedicated and sacrificed their lives daily to the cause, and I salute you!*

"It's the end of an era!"

2010-11-09T15:55:00.000-05:00

BUT

In order to save myself some money and some unneeded stress and paperwork, I have just officially become a resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Yuck.

My NYS driver's license expires on my birthday (which is in exactly 21 days). I could have paid the $85 for a renewal license but I'd also have to go to a certified optometrist and have a full exam done (at least $100) and mail in the results of my vision test. I obviously can't run up to NY and have it done at the DMV for free.

Now all you military spouses should know that there is a law called the Military Spouses Residency Relief Act which makes it legal for you to continue to hold a driver's license in your "home" state and not have to change it for every duty station you and your service member reside in. It also applies to income tax and a whole bunch of other fun stuff. It's an awesome law, and had it not been for the almost $200 I needed to shell out, I would have been more than happy to legally keep my NYS license. Sadly, I had to give it up.

You might be asking yourself, "Noelle, what is the big deal about becoming a Virginian?" I don't really have a really logical reason, it's more of an emotional one. As much as I love the food, the music and the warmer hospitality of life below the Mason-Dixon Line, I'm a New Yorker at heart and having to give up my state-of-residence for the very first time feels like I'm giving up yet another piece of myself because of the military. Although, we've moved several times already because of Uncle Sam, today's change seems unfair to me.

And maybe it's the "End of Deployment Blues" but I'm homesick. I miss my family, my friends and NY pizza and bagels. I felt like my pink and beige floppy NYS license, with my mom's address on it, somehow made me feel like this life in Virginia was temporary; like the license was my ability to always "go home". Giving it up makes me feel alone and exposed without my "security blanket".

Of course, I know that none of this is realistic (or even sane, really), but I just didn't see this set of emotions coming. Who would? It's a piece of "Government Issued Documentation" not something that defines who I am as an individual.

That said, I will always be a New Yorker. No amount of duty stations, drivers licenses, voter/car registrations or utility bills will ever change that.

Freedom Isn't Free

2010-11-07T20:55:00.000-05:00

I've resisted the urge to write about my political views in this here blog. I'm a Republican and quite conservative and while I am mature enough to realize that there are other opinions than my own, some people I am friends and acquaintances with, are not. Therefore, I usually just stay away from any topics that might create dissonance.

However, in regards to a recent happening in the news, I feel the need to break my silence.

There are rights and privileges that one can only get here in the United States of America. You have the right to practice whatever religion you want. You have the right to love whomever you want. You have the right to go and come as you please. You have the right to speak your mind. You have the right to carry a gun. There are many, many others. While I might disagree with what religion/partner/words you choose, that doesn't make me right, or vice versa.

Recently there have been members of a church who think it's "their right" to protest at military funerals with signs and torn up flags, disgraceful language and other vicious things. While free speech and protests may be their right, I think they are forgetting that the people they are protesting against are the very people who are defending their right to be obnoxious.

Being married to the military, I've come across a lot of people who are fans of the armed forces and some people who are adamantly against it. There have been several times when I've gone on base both in Mississippi and here in Virginia, where there have been a group of military protesters right outside the gate. While I am disgusted and repulsed by these people, I manage a chuckle and realize that it's because of my husband and the U.S. Military, that they get to do that.

All that said, I'm 100% against protesting of any kind at a funeral. That is a time that is difficult enough as it is without the addition of salt to the fresh emotional wound. Where is that family's right to grieve; their right to privacy?

I am glad to say that there are many in this country who agree with me; but agreeing with me and doing something about it, are two very different things.

My hat goes off to the residents of Weston, Missouri. When Fred Phelps of the Westboro Church decided that his "congregation" was going to protest the funeral of a fallen soldier, the entire town got together and created a human shield to protect his widow, his children and his family from seeing and hearing the protesters (Please watch the video below from CNN).

Apparently, the members of this church were too chicken to follow through with their plan to protest and as soon as they saw the huge group of patriotic Americans waiting for them, they left.

Here's my challenge for the rest of America. If you hear that this "church" is going to protest a military funeral in your area, gather the biggest group of people you can to respectfully block their protest. Post it on Facebook/Twitter, email out a message to everyone you know. If every one of their protests was foiled due to good ol' American pride, like this one, I'm pretty sure they'd quit showing up entirely.

Everyone on this planet deserves to be buried and morned in peace.

ESPECIALLY those who have died to protect those precious freedoms.

Honoring the "Promise"

2010-11-02T19:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome to November. I wish I was as excited about this month's arrival as I was a few short days ago.

As I'm sure you've all heard by now, thanks to ~~Tropical Storm~~ ~~Hurricane~~ Tropical Storm Tomas, Haiti is bracing for some more severe weather. With the earthquake that happened almost 10 months ago and the recent outbreak of cholera, I doubt they can stand much more. Of course, my heart goes out to those people there. I cannot imagine how hard life must be for them. And although I'm sympathetic for them, I'm also sad for myself.

My husband's ship has been all over the news (literally on every channel I've watched) today. I've switched off the TV because I'm just tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

The USS Iwo Jima has been released of it's current deployment assignment and turned around towards the nation of Haiti. They're going to be the first responders to the environmental disaster that is almost certainly going to befall Haiti and its inhabitants. I couldn't be more proud of my husband, the ship and her crew. I understand the mission, I understand the purpose there, and I realize the need for them there is greater than their need to head home. I also understand that this was the "promise" part of the deployment mission's title, "Continuing Promise 2010".

All that said, should our (now rapidly approaching) Homecoming date be pushed back, I know a whole mess-'o'-people, both home and aboard, that will be sad to be missing the upcoming events/holidays with their loved ones.

So, if you've got an extra second (and maybe an extra prayer lying around) could you use it to will Tomas away from Haiti?

If the storm spares them, we all win.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T17:13:00.000-04:00

This is my 2010 Halloween Carved Pumpkin

Hope you all get to enjoy this fun day with your families and/or little ones!

I have fond memories of my childhood Halloweens. Mom hated when we couldn't decide what we wanted to "be". She made SOOO many costumes for my brother and I. I don't think we bought costumes until we were much older. But we were damn cute kids! She made me almost every Disney Princess that existed. We lived in a really big development in Tucson, Arizona where there were literally hundreds of trick-or-treaters. I remember it being pretty awesome. Mom wasn't crazy about us carving pumpkins,(they would rot really quickly in the Oct. AZ sun) but we were allowed to decorate them with markers and such. We were satisfied with that.

My mother is probably the reason why I LOVE to decorate for almost every holiday. She always made a big deal out of the holidays and always made it feel special and something to look forward to. I think decorating my own home brings me back to that happy childhood. I think I also do it in order to give my husband the kind of childhood he deserved, but didn't get.

I look forward to having our own kids someday and being able to share the fun of Halloween with them! Hopefully, I'll have as much patience as my mom did.

Meer's Free Advertising...

2010-10-30T18:34:00.003-04:00

... Our Slogan is: "You get what you pay for!"

My intention with this blog is to express some personal thoughts that I find amusing in our everyday military-based life and keep my friends and family all over the world abreast on our happenings wherever we happen to be at the moment.

However, today I'd like to use it to promote a product that may have just given more satisfaction than any other item money can buy.

The Taco Bell XXL Chalupa.

For the love of everything holy, it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. From the first bite to the last I experienced only what I can describe as pure euphoria and I was literally sad to finish it. I have to say that it wasn't as beautiful to look at as the commercials would have you believe (but really, what is), but if you can get past that, you're in for a really awesome experience in your mouth ("that's what she said"). Totally worth the 8,323,091 calories that I am sure it has to be. I don't even care.

Go get one. Seriously. Run. I'm not sure how long they're going to be around. I hope it's forever. I'm sure though, that my bathroom would disagree.

Oh, and if we could all keep it a secret from my husband that I'm cheating on him with Faux-Mexican food, I'd reeeeeeally appreciate it.

Heat Wave!

2010-10-27T16:07:00.000-04:00

It's autumn. But you wouldn't be able to tell if you were standing outside my house (or inside for that matter). Four days before Halloween and I've resisted the urge to turn the A/C back on... that is until yesterday.

It's currently 87 degrees and humid. Ugh! The smell and feel of the air outside had memories of Mississippi rushing back to me. I hated it there because it felt like this all the way through ~~Thanksgiving~~ Christmas. It's hard to get into the holiday spirit with weather like this. (P.S. Only 58 days 'til Christmas)

I'm sure there's a complicated meteorological explanation for the heat. I'm sure my husband could use ALL of the phone card minutes to tell me the reason... however, I don't care. I just know that it's too hot, and my mood is suffering. I enjoyed our last electric bill which was HALF of what it normally is because the A/C was off. This little bout of "Indian Summer" (can we call it this still? Or is it something politically correct now like, "Native American Temporary Temperature Increase"?) has me missing upstate NY more than ever.

I should be putting a log in the fireplace, a sweater on my back and my flip flops in the closet! However, I'm doing NONE of these things. I'm glad I didn't carve my pumpkin yet, as it would have surely rotted outside by now.

Willow has abandoned her little blanket and winter nest she makes every year and has returned to her summer routine of laying sprawled out on the cooler kitchen floor in a some-what un-lady-like fashion. If it gets any hotter, I might join her, and it won't be pretty.

Major Life Change

2010-10-24T15:07:00.000-04:00

Today is a big day.

After 28 years (and 11 months) I have changed my opinion on one of the most controversial topics in our 21st century society:

Pulp vs. No Pulp in orange juice.

Most recently, I was a member of the "No Pulp" camp. I can compare my feelings to those of Joey from FRIENDS, "I don't like to chew my juice". I don't, and couldn't understand that there were people out there who did. However, being sick at my parent's house this past week left me with little choice on the "pulpiness" (new word) of the available orange juice and I was forced to drink the juice with "Lots 'o' Pulp". I have to confess, I didn't hate it.

After making the 9.5 hour trek back to VA (I HAVE to find a new route home), I stopped at the Wawa for some orange juice and milk, as I hadn't been home in a week and was planning on being sick in bed, with no motivation for showering (let alone shopping) the next day. I came away with No Pulp orange juice.

That evening I sat down with a large glass of the smooth, opaque liquid. I took a sip... and realized then, that I, in fact, MISSED the pulp! What has HAPPENED to me?!

I will akin this phenomenon to that of my mother's theory, "You'll like it when you're older". Among many other things, the woman is right about this. If I hated it in my early childhood or late teens, I like it now. I've noticed this with a few things: broccoli, onions, mushrooms, coffee, wine, laundry, cleaning... and now pulp-y orange juice.

It's just a sign that I am one step closer to becoming my mother... (INSERT SCARY MUSIC HERE)

If my next post is titled, "Quarter-Life-Crisis-at-28.9-years-old", y'all will know why....

Starve a cold, feed a fever...

2010-10-21T16:41:00.000-04:00

(I do not think I have "Swine Flu")

Well, what if you've got both a cold and a fever, and perhaps a touch of the flu? What do you do then? Do you eat or starve? After searching the internet for the answer, WebMD gave me "Good news, starving is never the answer". SCORE!

I feel like crap. Utter and complete crap. I know I've left my poor little blog post-less for a few days, but there was just no way that I was going to be able to sit up long enough to type without falling asleep or snotting all over the computer. Today, I'm willing to take that chance.

Before I got sick, I had a great time in New York! I forgot how downright cold autumn can be up there. I was hoping for the crispness that I don't remember Virginia Beach getting last year. Well I got my crispness and some downright frosty mornings! (I think the cold contributed to the flu). I then went to a baby shower for an old friend and hung out with my best friends and their babies! I don't even know if I can call them babies anymore, they're like little men now! And too cute to boot! They each modeled their Halloween costumes, since we won't be around to see them next week and that was probably the cutest thing I've seen in a while! I've always wanted a baby monkey and an Ewok for nephews! One of the little ones had an ear infection and a cold, which he so nicely gave to his mommy and she so nicely gave to me (it seems wrong to be mad at the little one for getting me sick, so we'll blame his mom, Love you Jess!).

My cold managed to keep itself in check while I gave a lecture to some students at my old high school about the military and how they can help support it. I forgot how huge that building is! I was the first class to graduate from there and not all of it was done yet. Well, it is all down now, and it's super 21st century High School. I don't know if I like it. Regardless, the children (who were all at least 11 years younger than me, hello quarter-life crisis #2!!) were all very attentive and had some great questions. I think my adrenaline really kept the cold at bay, because as soon as I got back to my parents house, I started to feel miserable once again.

I wasn't doing any of the healthy people any good there, so I decided to suck it up and drive home to VA. I managed pretty well, regardless of the fact that it took 9.5 hours to get here. My home, on the couch is where I sit now. Snotty, coughy, uncomfortable and fevery. Unable to take any medicine until nighttime, (thanks random drug allergies!) I'll try to keep it together with orange juice and vitamin C tablets and I'll probably whip up some soup and crackers for dinner.

Unless someone wants to enter my hermetically sealed bubble in a HAZMAT suit and bring me food...

Again, it's times like this where I wish my hubby was home to help me out, but I'm glad he's not here to catch it. The two of us sick at the same time is what the movie "OUTBREAK" was based on, I'm almost certain...

In memoriam...

2010-10-12T17:47:00.000-04:00

It was on this day, October 12th, in the year 2000, that a suicide boat loaded with explosives rammed into the side of the USS Cole as she was refueling in Aden, Yemen. The blast killed 17 Norfolk-based sailors and injured many more.

This was pre-9/11. I can't remember exactly what I was doing that day. I can't remember being scared of terrorists before 9/11, but clearly me (and my country) should have been. Maybe I was too young, too immature. Maybe I was too self-absorbed. Maybe I was too busy trying to be "just like everyone else". Well, that period of my life is over.

I'm more educated now than I ever was before. I pay attention to current events. While I may not watch the news every night (those with a deployed spouse know why I don't), I do read papers and try to keep up with the world from my safe little couch. But then again, how safe is it?

Although I've been pinned as an "excessive worrier" and perhaps a little paranoid about silly things, when it comes to my husband, my home and my country, I don't think I am being paranoid; I'm being realistic. We live in a very scary time. Past events have shown that you don't need to be on the front lines of combat to be "in danger". Life is very, very fragile, and can be destroyed or drastically changed in an instant. Perhaps this revelation in my life has occurred since getting married to a service member and becoming engrossed in all things NAVY. Maybe it's just because I grew up and realized how not-in-control, this world and it's people, have become.

My heart bleeds for the families of those lost on the USS Cole, those lost in combat overseas and those who fell in the Twin Towers. I sometimes lay awake, feeling sad, knowing there are thousands of other women, just like me, laying awake too, hoping for a word from their husbands to let them know they're safe. I feel selfish for crying about my husband being away for such a "short" period of time... but then I get sucked back into reality, where nothing in life is "for sure" and that it's okay for me to cry.

My mind wanders in and out of a dream-like state... a uniformed figure walks through...he bows down... a flag-draped casket... dogtags... boots... I sit up, startled with my mind racing... What were the last words those sailor's wives said to their husbands on October 11, 2000?

What were the last words you spoke to your loved ones today? And, if you knew it would be the last time you spoke to them, would you change your words?

Something that struck me...

2010-10-10T18:41:00.001-04:00

I was going to post this earlier today, but I got side tracked with my rant on literacy and the written word. Now that I've gotten my thoughts about that topic out of my system, I'll get back to the inspiration behind that post...

I read something in the newspaper today that really struck a cord with me. We all have our own struggles and obstacles in life. Some of us are blessed with less of these challenges than some, while others are always digging out from under a new pile of issues and problems. What one would consider a major setback and life change, other's deal with much worse on a daily basis.

Recently, I've come across two stories that have changed how I look at my own life and my own problems. They humbled me (and for me, humility is sometimes hard to swallow). Sure, life is irritating at times and flat-out hard at others. I now compare my little issues with the "real" problems of others and realize that I don't have it all that bad.... but one day, should it be "hard", I know this quote will be sure to help give me the strength to "power through"

It's not an earth-shattering piece of literature. It's not eloquent with fluffy, syrupy words. It's four "everyday" words strung together by a General of the US Army. Read the words and sense the gravity they hold for each of us.

"'Hard' is not 'impossible'."

Bookworms: America's Next Extinct Animal

2010-10-10T18:23:00.000-04:00

I've been struggling the past few days for material to write about. I've been suffering from a severe bout of writer's block. Combine that with the brain fog I've got and you have blank posts for the past few days. Stick with me as I work my way through some "blank days".

I spent this Sunday afternoon, reading my paper and enjoying a cup of coffee. Yes, I was reading an actual "paper" newspaper.

As much as we've gained with technology, there is something about the tangibility of the written word. I find the invention of the Kindle, Nook and eReader, etc. very scary and somewhat sad, though I understand it was only a matter of time. As much as I am intrigued by this invention, I cannot give up books. There's nothing like the feel, the smell, the weight of a brand new book! If I had millions of dollars, I'd buy books (and chocolate). But mostly books. Of course, I understand that new technology has provided opportunities to share thoughts, ideas and stories with a larger, world-wide reader base who may not otherwise have had said information. I'm just sad to see libraries and book/newspaper publishers shrivel up due to lack of interest/business. I'm sad that there are kids who have no idea how to use a library; who have probably never been assigned a project requiring the cutting out of newspaper articles. I'm still stunned at the amount of baby toys that have to "do something". What happened to good ol' kids books, board games, blocks, dolls, cars, coloring books/crayons?

That said, I do realize that without some of these recent innovations, I would not be writing here on the Internet today. I wouldn't be able to share my thoughts and ideas about life with any of you. Not sure if that qualifies me as a hypocrite... but I stand by my book convictions.

Oprah has done her share for literacy, creating adult readers obsessed with her book club recommendations. I caught a recent show of hers and her guest was J.K. Rowling. Ms. Rowling has done wonders for youth literacy as well. Her Harry Potter books single-handedly brought the magic of reading to a whole generation of kids and Harry's popularity has soared. Doesn't this show the world that kids are looking for literary characters to fill a hole in them that only a book can fill? I'm guessing that you can download whatever you book you want to these digital things (what happens if the batteries die/if there's a download file error/you drop it/get it wet?), but I know there is something lost, irretrievable, when a book is "digitized". Something I cannot put my finger on...

So I'll end my post with this. When was the last time you read a newspaper? A magazine? A book? When was the last time you lost track of time, sunk for hours in a world created by an author? Do you remember hiding under the covers with a flashlight reading? When was the last time you got excited over the written word? When was the last time you read to your kids? It's never too late to save the endangered bookworms!

Okay, my rant is over.... as you were.

Brain Fart

2010-10-07T22:49:00.001-04:00

So I skipped a post yesterday due to the fact that I'm a retard and didn't really eat all day. By the time it came to be "post time"... I was pretty woozy and cranky and the last thing I wanted to do was stare at a computer.

I was thinking of a way to make up for the lack of post... and I got nothing today. I think my brain has gone on vacation and didn't let the rest of my body know. I cannot remember a time in my life where I have forgotten more things, forget what I'm trying to say, or completely fall off the train of "thought". Today's prime example would be the garbage can.

Every week, I have a mini panic attack about remembering to put out the cans. The recycle bin goes out every other week, and that's a really crappy schedule to try and remember. The cans have to go out the night before, so they are out there when the guys come at 7 AM. I leave notes everywhere to remind me of this, even go as far as to write out the whole garbage schedule on the calender. I was impressed with myself as I've not ever forgotten to put it out. I reminded myself numerous times today, before I left this afternoon, to bring in the cans. I wrote a note "BRING IN CANS". I get in the car today... put it in reverse... and "BAM"... guess I forgot to bring in the cans.

I'm gonna go ahead and compare this lack of brain power, with what all of my girlfriends have described as "pregnancy brain". Apparently as the fetus grows inside of you, it feels like it feeds off of your brain and you forget everything and have zero short term memory. Now, clearly, my husband has been gone for more than 3 months, so that can't be the reason behind my "retardedness"... so what IS it??

I'm thinkin' it's a combination of the plethora of medications I take in a day and lack of sleep. I need to fix this... and soon... before I forget the oven is on and burn the house down or forget to buy milk. Again... for the 3rd time this week...

In other news, the neighbor kids are decent human beings who actually helped me move the can after I hit it, and didn't laugh at me nearly as hard as I deserved. So "thanks" neighbor kids!

Only Chocolate will do!

2010-10-06T00:03:00.001-04:00

Today is one of those days...

I'm not going to turn this blog into a "woe-is-me" fest, but I will have to acknowledge my foul mood of the day. I cannot pin-point exactly what triggered it, but it's just one of those days where I have had enough of "it" (not sure what IT is... but I AM sure I'm done with it) and I just want to sit in the dark and eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ice Cream, an entire pan of brownies, a 16oz bottle of chocolate syrup and a bushel of the most delicious fried onion rings. I think it is a blessing from Heaven that I have NONE of these things in my current possession; because if I did, I'd have devoured them all... and that would just be u.g.l.y.

I've actually done pretty well with the not "eating my feelings" while Daryl's been gone. And that's HUGE for me. In fact, I've LOST pounds. But the downside is that I've probably deprived myself of alot of things that I normally have. Deprivation is never good and now my body (more likely my mind) is rebelling and craving the "crap".

So I turn to you, fair blog, to rid me of my mood and look for the cathartic typing as a way to distract myself from the refrigerator which is, no doubt, screaming my name. There's still a few more hours of "awake time" for me to get through. Hopefully, I gain enough self control by the end of this post to eat an apple instead of (...INSERT MOST UNHEALTHY THING IN FRIDGE I MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT...).

If I do not rein in these feelings of chocolate obsession, I'll be able to be reached in the nearest Food Lion store. I'll be the one in the Mickey Mouse pajamas with a cart full of crap.

God, I hope people think I'm just high...

Danke! Merci! Mahalo! Gracias!

2010-10-05T00:43:00.001-04:00

THANK YOU!

I want to take a brief moment to express my sincerest gratitude to all of you readers! Because of you and your interest in our little Navy life, the "stats" page on the blog has been going crazy! Since I began posting (in mid-2008) to today, the content has been read on this blog over 1,080 times! Over 200 times in the past WEEK!!! Thank you for clicking in, caring enough to keep coming back, and for reading through the new stuff! And most of all thank you for your encouraging, supportive and motivating feedback.

You have all helped strengthen my (recent) decision to pursue writing more seriously, and hopefully (one day), professionally. I've been casually writing for a while now; only recently have I decided to publish it for others to read.

Now I've just got to figure out how to get someone to pay me to do it.

Only 81 days until...

2010-10-04T00:46:00.000-04:00

Christmas. Yeah, I said it. It's coming verrrrry soon...

It was a rainy, chilly, windy day in Virginia Beach. It's days like today that make one realize that the oppressive heat of summer is (finally) over and gone, that autumn has officially arrived and winter is only around the corner.

Right now I'm snuggled on the couch under a blanket, with a purring kitty laying on my feet. My tummy is full of hot, homemade cheddar-tomato soup and a delicious tuna-melt. I sip my hot chocolate as I breathe in the intoxicating aroma of the Spiced Pumpkin candle glowing across the room. My eyes linger on the fireplace, wishing I had the motivation to do all it takes to light it. Alas, I exhale with a new-found inner peace as I turn the pages of my brand new book, fingering the crisp, white pages. The radio is loud enough for me to recognize the melody of my most recent favorite song, but not too loud to be a distraction. The swishing of the laundry in the washing machine and the rain running down the gutter are the only other audible noises. I inhale again.

Is this what contentment feels like? I have to ask, because I'm afraid I've never experienced it before, at least not in my adult life.

Like I've said before, only one more thing could make this evening utter perfection. He'll be here soon.

He'll be here sooner than Christmas will be.

"Are you SERIOUS?!"

2010-10-02T15:50:00.001-04:00

Exactly two years ago today, Daryl and I enjoyed a small family dinner at his father's house. I noticed that Daryl didn't eat as much as he usually does and he was looking rather pale. I just figured that the 3 hours spent in traffic that afternoon and maybe the chilly, New York October air had finally gotten to him... didn't think much more about it.

After the meal, dessert was brought out, and the cake was placed in front of me. I didn't think anything was unusual, until I read what the cake said....

It was an ice cream cake, but I wanted to save it forever...

Daryl, now totally flushed red in the face, had gotten down on one knee next to me and held up the most beautiful engagement ring I have ever seen. After a bunch of exhaling on my part, tears from both of us and me yelling "Are You SERIOUS?!" a few dozen times, I of course, said "Yes!".

The first picture of the future "Mr. and Mrs."

Here I sit, reflecting on this and it seems like forever ago. Daryl was still stationed in Pearl Harbor. I was living in upstate New York. Since that day, we've moved three times, had a little "secret" courthouse wedding, had our perfectly beautiful New York wedding, bought two new cars, a houseful of "grown up" furniture and have purchased a home of our own.

This is our first deployment; and although we've spent more of our relationship apart (in different parts of the world) than together, this separation has been a true eye-opener. Every day I've crossed off the calendar makes me realize why I chose this man, this life. I do not know where I'd be if it weren't for Daryl sweeping me off of my feet. I cannot picture myself or my life in any other way... or any other place...

And frankly, I don't want to.

Enjoying the last NY sunset together before my new fiance returned to Pearl Harbor.

I lost the key to "Happiness". But, I just found it. It was under the couch...

2010-10-01T18:48:00.000-04:00

Happiness- (noun) is a state of mind or a feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy.

I think I'm finally happy. I say "think" because this is a relatively new feeling to me, and I don't want to scare it away with an arrogant statement like "I'm FINALLY *bleepin* happy".

You may ask how happiness is possible with a currently deployed spouse that I've spent less than 60 days with in 2010. Well, here is my best attempt on explaining why (brace yourselves for a long post. If you're in a hurry, just read the lines in bold):

* I have the kind of friends girls have in movies. I just spent over an hour and a half talking to my bestest friend in the whole wide world on the phone. We've been friends for 14 years, since I was a freshman in high school. We've been (what seems like worlds) apart most of the past 11 years. We've been through sweet sixteens, marching band, drama club, graduations, every holiday, concerts, 21st birthdays, college, dating, bad boyfriends, wicked drunk nights, countless laughs, apartments/houses, weddings and now she's one of the best moms I've known. No matter what, no matter how far away, how late at night/early in the morning, thru the phone or email, she's always, always been there for me. I've made some bad choices in this life of mine. I've had my share of sketchy times and she's never wavered with her support. She knows everything there is to know about me, and probably knows me better than I know myself. I can tell her anything, the good, the bad and the flat out ugly, disgusting and personal. We can not speak for days, weeks, months at a time (though this is quite rare) and pick up exactly where we left off. I can't put a value on this friendship of ours because she's so much more than a "friend". We've been together longer than many couples and I see our relationship comparable to that of a marriage. I know that she'll be there for me until death do us part. And she knows that if the situation should arise where my husband is unable to attend the birth of our future babies, she'll be the one to cut the cord.

* My family is the best support system in the world. I'm not sure who or what my parents thought I'd grow up into. I'm not sure who or what they thought I'd end up married to. But I do know now that they are both 110% happy with the choice of husband I've made and proud of their daughter. I cannot describe the feelings of love and undying devotion I have to both them. They've sacrificed alot in order to make the lives of my brother and I richer. They gave Daryl and I our beautiful, fairy tale wedding. I know that I can come to them with anything and never be judged. I shed some tears as I write this as I consider my childhood one of the best anyone could have had. Sure there were rough and meager times, but overall, I can only remember being a happy child. For that, I will be eternally grateful. If I manage to be a fraction of the parents that they've been, I'll be happy. My brother has also grown into a man I am proud to know. He doesn't know how funny I think he actually is. My fondest memory of him is when he made me laugh in the hospital after my horrible experience with an almost fully ruptured appendix. He was the only thing that made me smile during that dark time, and made the days brighter during my recovery. I'm proud of what he's done, and continues to do, with his life

* The Iwo Jima FRG ladies that have kept me from losing my mind completely. Having people to talk to who are dealing with the exact same situation has been beyond comforting. I feel less alone and it is because of this group of fabulous women that I began to dig out the "old" me from under the pile of "just a Navy wife" stuff that's been piled upon me for the past 2 years. You are all awesome women and I have the utmost respect and admiration for all of you.

* I'm healthier than I've ever been. Despite all of the prescriptions I've been on in the past 2 years; the thousands of pills I've swallowed, the countless doctors appointments and gallons of blood and other bodily fluids taken from me, I finally have a harness on my health. I have my good days and bad days of course, but the sense of peace knowing that I'm in the good (although sometimes complicated) hands of Tricare is a load off my mind and I think has directly improved my overall health and outlook on life.

* I'm financially stable and beyond blessed. In this current economic environment, I'm lucky to be married to someone who has a consistent paycheck. He's worked his ass off to get to this point in his career, and we never take it for granted. He's been in the Navy almost 8 years now, and he's come a looooong way since bootcamp. I'm fortunate to be able to have the bills paid and not have to work to make every end meet. Never in my life have I had some of the luxuries he's provided me with. I drive a safe new car. I live in a house we OWN in a safe neighborhood. I have heat, air conditioning. I have the computer and the television; the Internet, cable and electricity to run them. I have food on the table and in the cabinets and refrigerator. I have a cat who is spoiled out of her rotten mind. And we're fortunate enough to have a little left over each month to do and have the "special" things. Never before have I been so well taken care of.

* I'm laughing again. I think I forgot how to, for a while. As most of you know, I have OCD. Not the "turn off the light 2641 times or someone will die" kind of OCD, but the list-making, control crazy, organizational clean freak kind of OCD. I can't even write some of the more... "interesting" things that I have to do in a day (if you knew, I'm sure most of you would disown me). I was very scared at the beginning of this deployment. I had to give up complete and total control of most aspects of my life because of the Navy. To someone with OCD, this is a very unsettling experience. I don't know when he's gonna be able to call, or email or the specifics of where he is or what he's doing. I don't know where on this planet we'll be in 3 years. I don't know if he'll be here for the birth of our future children. I've just very recently made peace with this lack of control in these areas of my life. Maybe I've transferred these feelings to another aspect of life, but either way, it's helped make me a better person who is able to again see the humor in every day things and realize just how fragile and limited our one trip around the sun is.

* I'm married to the most amazing man in the world. Yeah, maybe this should have been #1, but I saved the best for last. Just when I think I'm as proud of him as a human being can be, I manage to dig deeper and find more and more pride inside for him. Not everyone can do what he's done with his life, especially with the cards he was dealt in his childhood. He's gentle and kind and sweet. He's thoughtful and puts myself and others (even most of his less than fantastic shipmates) before himself. He puts his love of country and his service before everything. Not many people in this country can say that. My happiness is always on the top of his list and if there is a person/place/thing that I desire, he'll give up something of his own in order to obtain that for me. He's smart, funny and free-spirited. He's disorganized and occasionally messy- the perfect compliment to my OCD. He's loved me from the other side of the world and from the other side of the couch. We've spent more time apart than we have together. The saying, "He's married to the Navy and I'm just the mistress" rings truer than I thought it would. But at the end of the day, we wouldn't have it any other way.

If you've actually read through this entire thing, give yourself a "gold star". To many this may be babble and just words on a page, but to me, it's the concrete evidence that I finally deserve the wonderful things and the amazing people in my life; but to remember that it's the intangible things that mean the most to me.

I have finally gotten to a place of patience and appreciation. I truly am blessed.

I'm happy.

I made Jimmy Fallon giggle!!!!!

2010-09-30T17:41:00.000-04:00

Maybe you're tired of hearing about this. But I'm not. And it's my blog so I'll write what I want. :0)

As most of my regular readers (both here and on facebook) know, I'm a big fan of late night television (see post below for the reason why). Craig Ferguson, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon are all on my list of "Famous People I'd Like to Meet". Out of those three, Jimmy Fallon's probably #1.

I'm getting older every day and there are some things that today's youth does that I just can't get into. I text, I do the facebookie thing and I "blog" (yes, that's a verb now people). I tried the Twitter thing, just to see what it was all about... and I failed miserably at it. I'm just not that interesting I guess. None of my close friends are on there so I didn't post anything. I just used it to cyber stalk celebrities, you know, like a normal 28-year-old Adult.

I let the account lie dormant (and by "let it", I mean "totally forgot about it") until Jimmy started playing a game called "Late Night Hashtags". Basically, once a week, he asks a question on Twitter and you post back to him including his original hashtag in your answer. Dumb. But hilarious. So, I usually 'tweet' back to him, knowing that he'll at least read a few of these things with his writers.

Well last night, my 'tweet' got picked out of the thousands of submissions and he read it on the air! On National Television! It was totally weird and totally cool all at the same time (insert 80's valley-girl hair-flip here). It was very surreal to hear my screenname and see my picture on the TV screen and my words come out of Jimmy Fallon's mouth. The video clip is below. My 'tweet' is about 3 minutes in. I'm @EllieMeer talking about #worstjobieverhad which was working in NYC for a Broadway costume designer and taking care of his 35-pound cat! Enjoy and let me know what you think!!!!

Whooooot! Whoooooo! Whoooot! (that's the sound owl's make, right??)

2010-09-30T17:08:00.000-04:00

Since as early as I can remember, I have been a night owl.

Even when I was a wee elementary school girl, falling asleep at night was difficult. I felt like I would miss something. I would much rather take a nap (or two) during the day and stay up all night. Now, to this day, I cannot get up early to save my life. If I need to be up at say, 5 AM for some reason... I'd rather take a nap during the day before and stay up all the way thru the night and continue my day from there. I think it must be hereditary, because my mother and father are the same way: stay up all night, sleep til noon the next day. I never saw anything wrong with that. However, my friends from "morning families" didn't get why people would be pissed off if the phone rang in my house before noon. They didn't understand why I couldn't be driven anywhere before the coming of the afternoon. It was something I adjusted to.

Well, some things change, and some things stay the same. I still hate getting up in the morning. My hubby has to be up before dawn every day. Some days I hear him, most days I don't. He's good at getting dressed in the dark, or in the walk-in closet. Then again, it's a uniform, he doesn't have many opportunities to "not match". Camouflage is funny like that...

Regardless, since this deployment has started, I'm an even bigger (?) night owl than I was before. I hate going to sleep in that huge empty bed. Living in our new house alone has been a challenge in itself. Learning what sounds are normal; the house settling, the A/C tuning on or off, etc. When you're alone during a deployment, I think there's a phenomenon that occurs. I like to call it "Super Senses". All of a sudden, as soon as you drop them off at the pier, they kick in. You can hear things you've never heard before ("That was a burglar outside breathing, I know it"). You see things you've never seen before ("That spot over there isn't cat food like I thought it was. It's a brown recluse spider, I know it"). You smell things you've never smelled before ("I know we have an electric stove and no gas lines coming into the house at all, but I smell gas or carbon monoxide, I know it"). You feel things touch you while you're asleep, scared to open your eyes because you can swear it felt like your husbands hand and you know that's impossible. Taste might be the only sense that gets diminished during a deployment. No matter what you eat, it always tastes the same. Or maybe that's just me... (if you heat the same crap night after night, it, of course, will taste the same).

Now don't get me wrong. There is something about being up before dawn, just as the sky starts to brighten with the first light of the day, that's magical. Being the only car on the road, or human on the beach at this time is truly a spectacular thing. I just don't wanna do it every day. Or even once a week. Ah... who am I kidding? It's probably only happened a dozen times in my whole 28 years of life. That's right, in over 10,000 mornings in my life, and I've only seen a dozen sunrises. Depressing? Maybe. But I've seen almost every midnight, and maybe I've seen more of those than anyone I know.

"Don't eat that!"

2010-09-28T15:58:00.001-04:00

I wonder just how many times in a day I actually say that. At least 5... maybe more.

I'm not sure how many of you, faithful readers, have kids or pets, but if you do, I imagine you're also uttering this statement more than once a day.

We have one (1) teenie kitty who is now five (5) years old and weighs about eight (8) pounds; our fur-baby, Willow-Pecan Binghamshire the IV Font-Me.er. Here is a picture of her:

The amount of non-edible crap this cat consumes on a daily basis is insane. Paper, fuzz, string, dryer lint... I just can't keep up with her. Now, knock on wood, she's never been really sick and she always eats her own food, but DAMN, there must be alot of room in that little tummy for all the rest of the stuff she eats. I'm convinced that 5 of her 8 pounds are things I've thought I've lost in the past 5 years. This is why when you visit our home, you will see not one plant in the house. It's just not a luxury we as Willow Parents get to have. She's even got a little notch cut out of her little right ear because she attempted to eat a cactus... and it bit her back. There are little bite marks out of my wicker baskets, there are edges missing from the carpet in the entry way and god-forbid I hang window-clings up for the different holidays. I imagine the interior of her digestive track is coated in "Valentines-St.Patty's-Easter-4th of July-Halloween-Thanksgiving-Christmas" colors and glitter.

We have to hide our toothbrushes and toothpaste because she's a crazy "Mint-a-holic" and goes ape for the smell. I used to keep gum in my purse in the front pocket. She tore a huge hole in my beautiful lilac purse trying to get it out... and then proceeded to eat half of the package of gum. Thank goodness it came out her other end whole, I don't think I could have handled a bubble-butt situation.

I'd love to go into more detail of the other stupid stuff she'll eat, but I can hear the distinctive ringing of Ms. Willow's little kitten collar bell jingling against the toilet, which can only mean that she's again, licking the decorative soaps...

I'll be back.... really this time...

2010-09-23T17:53:00.000-04:00

So I think the last two posts will bring everyone up to speed on what's been going on in our part of the country this past year.

After the reorganization and redecorating of the blog, I will now make posting here a regular habit. Even if I have nothing exciting to talk about, I will try to include you, fair reader, in our happy, little military life.

Thanks for sticking around for my hiatus and stay tuned... I'll be back soon.

For real this time.

I mean it.

"When we last left our hero... " Part II

2010-09-23T17:51:00.000-04:00

We had a little New Year's Eve party in our apartment with a few friends and family and shortly after that, Daryl began what the Navy calls "work ups" aboard the USS Iwo Jima. Basically, the ship and her crew have to qualify and prove that they are sea- and battle-ready before they can go on a deployment. We all knew that one was coming. Much of February, March, April and May were filled with the same work ups. A week out to sea here, a few days home there, a month out, a week home... It was a trying time for us both, but it had us somewhat prepared for what was to come. I was able to visit the ship while it was docked in NYC for Fleet Week 2009 in May. Daryl took leave when the ship pulled in, so we spent a week going to two Yankee games and visiting friends and family. We had a little celebration for his birthday while he was in NY, but he ended up being stuck onboard in the middle of the Atlantic on the day of.

Daryl has orders to be on sea duty here in Virginia for another 2 years, so instead of throwing our money away at rent each month, we decided that as two married adults dancing around the edge of their 30's, that we should buy a house. With the VA loan and the current interest rates, the homebuyer's tax credit and other incentives, now was the perfect time to buy. So as of June 28th, 2010, we became homeowners! What a proud moment for us both. We went through the entire process together and never asked anybody for help in any way, for that we are very satisfied with ourselves and our ability to manage our money and time and make responsible, realistic decisions.

Sadly, a few days after moving all of the furniture and boxes over to the new house, Daryl deployed. I was left to paint, unpack and learn to live on my own (See my facebook for pictures of the finished product). Since being aboard the Iwo, Daryl has advanced and he's now a Petty Officer Second Class Aerographer's Mate with over 7 years under his belt. I couldn't be more proud of this man I married and how dedicated he's become to his career since we've been together. It brings tears to my eyes to know how happy he is with his life and career.

The ship is currently deployed to South and Central America as part of the military's Operation Continuing Promise 2010. He's been gone for 2 and a half months now and barring any unforeseen circumstances, they should be home for Thanksgiving.

I miss him more than I thought I could.

"When we last left our hero...."

2010-09-23T17:35:00.001-04:00

It has been a loooooooong time since I've posted anything on our little bloggie thingie here... And for some reason, today just felt right to do a little cleaning up and redecorating here. I really do intend to get back on this thing on a more regular basis. In the meantime... let's do a little rewind on what's happened since July 2009.

(Big announcer voice: "When we last left our hero....")

We got orders to PCS (military re-assignment for all my civilian peeps) from Biloxi, Mississippi to Norfolk, Virginia. This was the billet we were hoping for, so we were very happy. Anywhere in this country would have been better than Biloxi... We drove our two cars across half of the country, where my car decided it didn't want to go anymore. After spending the night in a (scary) hotel in Lithonia, Georgia, the mechanic informed me that the timing belt had snapped in my car and punctured a hole in a piston. In layman's terms: "Gonna cost $5000.00 and a week to fix". Without the luxury of time (Daryl's orders had a specific "report on" date and who has an "extra" $5K?) We called up a U-Haul place, rented a truck, left it completely empty, rented a car trailer to hook to the empty truck and we proceeded to Virginia. After arriving here and staying in a hotel for almost a week, we were able to rent a beautiful apartment. It was probably one of the nicest places I've ever lived (see a post dated July 2009 for pictures).
After getting all settled there, the holidays all seemed to come and go. Mind you, we were planning a NY wedding from VA so things were a little hairy at times. But on December 12, 2009, Daryl and I got married and the day was as close to perfect as it could have been (besides the fact that there was a huge accident on the highway that we were on, and me, the blushing OCD bride that I was, was 45 minutes late to my own wedding). We had a lovely honeymoon at the Shades of Green Disney World Resort (to my military readers: GO THERE, it's awesome). We had a very exciting, relaxing and warm honeymoon in the middle of December. We got to miss alot of snow and ice back in NY.

(Scroll up for Part II)

After These Messages From Our Sponsor...

2010-03-18T18:59:00.003-04:00

We're still here! We're still planning on using this thing when there are interesting things to fill people in about. We're dealing with a bit of a situation right now, but as soon as we're ready to do some postin, you'll be the first to know!

I also wanted to get rid of that Santa picture, he was really starting to freak me out!

We'll be back...

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T12:42:00.003-05:00

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our wedding day absolutely perfect in every way!! Pictures to come soooooooon!

We hope everyone's Christmas is Merry and that 2010 is a happy and healthy year for us all!

Love,
Noelle and Daryl!

Here Comes The Bride!!!

2009-12-07T00:33:00.002-05:00

It's that time! We're down to 5 days until our big day! FIVE!!! We're going to be busy travelling, tieing up loose ends and GETTING MARRIED!! Then we're off on our honeymoon, and before you know it, Christmas is here!

We'll be away from this blog for a bit longer. We promise to pick it up full-blast in January 2010!

To those who read this back at home, we'll see you in less than a week! And if we don't see you on our special day, we'll catch up with you soon!

Yay! :0)

Can you hear me now?? How 'bout now?? Now??

2009-11-20T22:25:00.004-05:00

Testing.... Testing... Is this thing ON??

We were having some trouble with our blog a few weeks ago, and after checking in every other day or so and trying to post something and not being able to... I lost interest in fighting with it, and kinda let the blog die...

BUT we're back and better than ever (if it doesn't break again). Things have been CRAAAAZY while we're planning this wedding from hundreds of miles away, but all the blood, sweat, and tears (I literally shed ALL three) were worth it and we're mere DAYS away from the happy occasion and we're ready! Sure there is the matter of the 2,349,832 details left to actually DO and not just talk about, but they'll fall into place themselves... right? RIGHT!?!?!

Daryl is busy at work getting qualified for... something... (I should probably pay better attention to him when he talks about work, huh?) He'll be shipping out in January. But for now, our little military life is pretty normal (FINALLY!! Thank God!) here in VA. We like where we live, I feel safe and comfortable. Our apartment ROCKS and Willow really seems to enjoy herself running from room to room able to get up to a very scary speed for such a teeny kitty!

Can't believe the holidays are upon us as well. I didn't even notice with all the wedding stuff we were getting done. Wasn't it just Fourth of July?? Where does the time go??

That said, hope all of y'all are happy and well wherever in the world you may be.

Please Stand By...

2009-09-15T01:55:00.002-04:00

We are experiencing some technical difficulties with our photo uploading abilities. Please keep checking back here for new updates soon!!

FINALLY Arrived to our New Home!

2009-07-26T01:26:00.004-04:00

As I am sure you all heard, our PCS (Permanent Change of Duty Station) move was HEINOUS!! We have put all of that behind us now, and have found a BEAUTIFUL place to spend the next year (or maybe more) of our new lives together here in Virginia Beach, and we purchased a brand new car!!! (Please see my facebook in order to see pictures of both!)

So far, we LOVE it here and we're adjusting quite well. Daryl is all settled in his new command at Naval Station Norfolk. We're awaiting his ship assignment, hoping he won't be sent out to sea during our wedding weekend (keep those fingers crossed!). I'm trying to find some work in the area. There are a few theatres here, and ALOT of retail, so hopefully I'll find something to help make ends meet.
Other than that, there's not a whole bunch to report. We're still trying to get the house in order enough for our first overnight visitors. We'll let you know when we're ready for you!

And "Aweigh" We Go!

2009-07-13T01:49:00.006-04:00

So things are crazy here at the Font/Me.er household as we are desperately trying to get organized for our next (huge) step: our move to Norfolk!

Now, don't get us wrong, we are both beyond tickled that we're leaving this shithole that is Mississippi and heading to the largest naval station in the world... but it takes alot of hard work and alot ALOT ALOT of paperwork in order to make it all happen. Such is the life of a military family and we better get used to it! However, it will be nice to be in one place for awhile. They say it's for three years... so fingers crossed that it is!

So in conclusion, please bear with us if we're less than timely with phone/email/facebook responses in the coming weeks. We'll be sure to let you all know when we've arrived and found a new home!

At this point in the move we are inspired by the last verse of the Navy's song "Anchors Aweigh":

Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores,We sail at break of day, of day.
Through our last night on shore,Drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more.
Here's wishing you a happy voyage home!

Damn, we could use a drink! :0)

Please wish us a happy voyage to our new home!

We Got Orders!!!

2009-06-06T00:05:00.004-04:00

The Navy has put a hold on all "routine PCS moves" (permanent change of station). They had a higher rate of retention this year than they thought, and instead of kicking out people for no reason, they decided to keep everyone where they were until the new fiscal year started (October). We had gotten that news, and after a few pitched fits (by me) we had made our peace with it. It sucked, but we were going to deal.

Well someone must have heard my prayers (God, mostly, cause I don't think Obama really cares) because Daryl got a call on Wednesday that we're moving! Apparently, keeping the AG's (Aerographer's Mates) here at Keesler after graduation created a huge, noticeable and critical hole in the Navy itself and this rate (type of Navy job) has been pushed to move ahead of schedule!! SOOO... WE'RE MOVING!!! In JULY!!! It's official, we got the orders on paper today, signed by the Rear Admiral and everything. We're going to Norfolk, VA!!! Naval Station Norfolk is the largest navy base in the world! This was our first choice and we're super excited about being closer to home and starting our "real" life together in our first real apartment! Daryl is assigned to sea duty, so he'll be assigned to a ship for his three year duty in VA. This means that he'll have to deploy for weeks/months at a time whenever the ship goes out... which is something that I'll have to learn to deal with. But this is his life, his job, and his dream and I fully support him! So if you're reading this, please stand by to be my support system if and when he goes out to sea. I know I can count on you all!

So as I write this, moving day is fast approaching! As is our wedding! In that vein, I'll be traveling up to New York next week to do some wedding gown shopping and vendor meetings, go to a baby shower, and meet my new "nephew"! I'll also be picking up some of my boxes that have all kinds of household goods that we'll need for our new apartment! It's going to be a very busy month, but it's all for a GREAT reason with a very happy, unexpected ending!! YAY!

Hurricane Season 2009

2009-06-02T05:01:00.004-04:00

Despite the fact that my husband-to-be is an Aerographer's Mate (the US Navy's meteorological and oceanographic experts), I'm totally freaked out about the hurricane season (needless to say, he's not.) Everywhere around here are the lasting impressions from Katrina which was almost four years ago. It's scary to think that it could all happen again.

The Hurricane Hunters (who are stationed here at Keesler and have an awesome website) fly out almost every day now that the official start of the hurricane season has arrived. I take some comfort in that we'll probably be the first few to know about an emerging storm. Just from day to day observation they are predicting 9-14 severe tropical storms and 4-7 hurricanes.

In order to get everyone up to speed, Daryl was required to attend a Hurricane Preparedness Briefing. He came home with maps and shelter info and lists of what to take with you when you evacuate. If evacuation of the Mississippi coast is ordered, which they say will probably happen at least once, the Navy gives us a certain nautical mile radius of how far we need to be away from Keesler and for how long. And if evacuating for a hurricane is going to be anything like being locked down for the tornadoes we've had, I'm not looking forward to it (there were FOUR waterspouts sited just offshore just the other day!)

So here's to an uneventful Hurricane Season of 2009. May it be gentle and boring and spare our little temporary home. And may we leave this shit hole with everything we came with in one piece in October.

200 Days

2009-05-26T05:09:00.006-04:00

There are 200 days until our wedding.

SOO much to do and a hair more than 6 months to do it in.

I'm too busy to write anything more than that these days.

Please excuse me as I have a panic attack.

Taylor Swift!

2009-05-09T00:51:00.010-04:00

For Valentine's Day, my wonderful fiance purchased tickets to the Taylor Swift concert on May 2nd down the street at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. We figured that we should take advantage of all the concerts and events that come down here. It. Was. Awesome! She had a band called "Gloriana" open for her, they were not so good. Then there was Kelly Pickler; she was cute and played alot of songs which were pretty cool. Then Taylor finally came on and she played straight thru until 11:30! She puts on an awesome show! She came out into the crowd a few times and really tried to involve everyone and give them their money's worth. We left totally freakin DEAF. If you don't know who Taylor is, look her up, cause she's awesome, and like 19. Her audience is primarily women and younger girls... and Daryl did feel a smidgen uncomfortable while we were waiting for some souvenirs. He waited on the wall out of the crowd of girls "before he got accused of touching someone with his pee-pee" :0) He's a good guy, and I'm totally thankful that he went thru all that to make me happy. Daryl apologizes in advance for the quality of some of these photographs... (I was too busy enjoying myself to take pictures, but I tried to pick the good ones...)

Ship Island

2009-05-08T23:27:00.007-04:00

Yes, it's been a while since we've written. We haven't forgotten about our little blog here! We're just running out of interesting things to report!

We just found out that thru some kind of financial oversight on the Navy's part, we (along with 13,999 other sailors and their families) are stuck where we are until October. Here is the article for your perusal, if you're interested NAVY TIMES ARTICLE

I've been working at the Airman and Family Readiness Center here on base, and so far I've really enjoyed most of what I do there. I just helped put on my first on-base event and got congratulated and thanked by the Colonel and his wife. Colonel Valle told me that I "made my fiance, the Air Force and the Navy very proud." It was really one of the coolest things that's happened to me!

Daryl is still busy busting his buns at school. When he's not studying or taking tests, he's running 5Ks and coming home all stinky! If all goes as planned, he'll graduate on July 16th!

Summer has come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and shit, it's hot and HUMID. I can't express the humidity here. As soon as you leave the a/c of any building and enter it, it's like immediately breathing thru a warm, wet blanket (not so good for us asthma sufferers).

We decided to take advantage of living on the Gulf Coast and we took a trip out to Ship Island, and besides the Fire Ant bites, had a great time! The island is only accessible by boat (hence the humorous picture of the NO PARKING sign). We even saw wild Atlantic bottle nose dolphins swimming beside the boat (I don't have any picture of them, cause well, it's hard to catch them when they come up for air)! Alot of history out there at Fort Massachusetts (WWI history) and apparently it suffered very little damage by Hurricane Katrina. There's not alot out on the island, but the Fort, the sand and sun and waves. And, I, Noelle, swam in the ocean for the very first time in my entire life. If you didn't already know, I have a fear of things (specifically fish) touching me while I'm swimming. I don't swim in lakes/rivers if I can help it and have never been swimming in the ocean. Daryl was very proud of me (and the lack of little girl squealing he was expecting from me). I'm proud of me too. It was a pretty awesome (and tiring) day. We managed to NOT get sunburnt!! YAY! However, I did bring half the beach back in my bathing suit. It's 2009, shouldn't we have invented something to prevent that by now?!?!?! I'm just sayin...

April Showers...

2009-04-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

April started with an Air Show on base: Thunder on the Bay. It wasn't the Blue Angels, but it was something to do, and it turned out to be pretty cool. We got to sit in the front row on the flight line (military speak for Runway). We did get some sun (OWIE!!) but we've now learned the true value of sunscreen. Since we live across the street from the base, we got to see the show twice... and boy were our windows rattling for two whole days. Nothing like watching a set of planes break the sound barrier from your porch. The Budweiser Clydesdales made an appearance with their dalmatian! Too cute! I'm trying to convince Daryl that we need to buy a Clydesdale and name him Clyde. I haven't gotten very far... Anyway, here are a few pictures of the Air Show:

We had our own cute little Easter together complete with dyed eggs, ham, deviled eggs and Easter Baskets! Wished we could have been home with everyone, here's hoping for next year!

Shortly after Easter on April 16, 2009, Jess, my best friend in the whole world gave birth to a beautiful bouncin baby boy! Zachary Moore Payette is my new "nephew" and he's SUPER CUTE! I cannot WAIT to meet him. I'm so excited for Jess and Matt and I'm shocked that we're old enough to have babies... where did all the time go??!!??

"Let's Go Fly a Kite!"

2009-03-24T17:08:00.005-04:00

I have never flown a kite. Until now. Daryl and I found ourselves looking for more things to do here and after seeing a few people para boarding on the beach, we were inspired to purchase a kite (that and because I couldn't stop singing the damn song {click title to hear it}). It was a pretty windy day and a storm was rolling in off the Gulf, so we didn't get to fly it for long, and the gusts were strong and tended to push the kite down more than lift it up. But here are a few pictures of our little $10.00 Wal-Mart kite:

And after we flew a kite, we headed to the Mississippi Coast Coliseum to see Jeff Dunham (the tickets were my birthday present)! It was a hilarious good time and we enjoyed it alot (despite having to park a half mile from the doors). Daryl took some shots during the show. I recommend going to see him if you get the chance.

We Want YOU!

2009-02-26T17:35:00.005-05:00

I have always said that I should have been alive in the 1940's. There's just something about that era that calls to me that I can totally connect with. I think that if I was alive back then, I would have joined the war effort and perhaps have enlisted as a Navy Nurse... who knows...

I have been thinking about this alot, trying to compare what life must have been like back then to what it is now. There's no doubt that we're going through some difficult times, and although some like to forget, we are a nation at war. Yes, it's a war offshore, but one never can tell when the day will come when it penetrates our shores. What was it like to live in during the Great Depression? What was it like to live through WWII? I'm scared to realize that we're probably closer to experiencing both of those types of situations sooner rather than later.

In thinking about all of this, I realized that being engaged to someone in the military and the everyday life on base IS pretty much like living in the 1940's. Here is a list of just how similar it is and why I am loving the military lifestyle:

-Sir and Ma'am: No matter who is talking to who, these words are said DAILY. Numerous times. When you come one base, the guards greet you, "How are you doing, Ma'am" "Have a good day, Sir".

-Housing on Base: So there is no picket fence, but the neighborhood of military housing is pretty much a scene out of "Leave It To Beaver". Almost every house has a flag out front, the grass is cut, most decorate for the holidays and everything is NEAT and CLEAN. This is because there are rules you must follow to live there, and the overwhelming fact that an inspection of a service member's "quarters" is always possible.

- People hold doors: Men, women, senior citizens, even children do this. Out of respect, because although someone may not be in uniform, you have no idea what rank they are and you wouldn't want to accidentally disrespect a CO (Commanding Officer). It's so nice to be respected like a fellow human being on base.

- Uncover Inside: When you enter a building of any kind, the hat (known as a Cover) is removed. If you stand near the door of any building on base, you'll watch these people do this automatically. It's rather fascinating.

-Obeying the law: The speed limit on base is 25 mph (10mph when passing marching troops). And everyone does it. No one drives above it. Yes, there are MPs (military police) everywhere, which helps enforce the very few who think they can't get caught, but it's amazing to see people obeying traffic laws. No cell phones are allowed to be used while driving on any military installation, including hands free devices. People stop completely at stop lights/signs and they stop completely before making right turns on red. People are courteous with letting people in and out of side streets and parking lots. And if there is a person in the cross walk, the law is that all traffic must stop. And they do.

- 1700 hours: Colors. At 5PM (0500 hours) on the Air Force Base and at official sunset on the Navy Base, everything stops. Everything. People stop running on the track. All cars stop where they are and are put in park. Everyone turns to the nearest American flag, (those in uniform salute) and you stand completely still and listen to the National Anthem. It's something to see when the world stops and everyone takes a minute out of their day to appreciate their service and the sacrifice of fellow service members. They also play Reveille at sunrise. It's kind of cool to wake up to. And if you listen very intently at 0500 hours, you can hear the units marching in formation singing their cadences.

-Doctors: the military doctors wear their uniforms. Here on the Air Force Base, they wear their BDUs (battle dress uniform). Most of the people who work there (in the military they are known as Corpsmen) are also in uniform. Only civilian employees wear scrubs. Something to get used to.

-Planes: Now, if you live near a commercial airport, you may think you understand what I'm talking about here. However, this week the Air Force is preparing for an airshow (Thunder on the Bay) and there are SO many planes flying here, it's unbelievable! There are all different kinds including a bunch of planes restored from WWII. So I'll be sitting her online, and a WWII Pacific Prowler flies over head, it's totally breathtaking.

It's pretty amazing to be living this military life. Yes, it is really hard sometimes, when you realize that alot of the freedoms that you're fighting to defend are freedoms that are in the control of Uncle Sam. We can't go where we want, exactly when we want all the time. We don't get to choose what city we live in or how long we live there. Leave time has to be earned (and must be approved) and raises are only given based on years in service and advancement in rank (which is harder to achieve than you may think). And even though I myself am not enlisted, I now understand what they mean when they say "She who stands behind her sailor also serves". This isn't an easy life as a "Navy Wife", but you know what...
I really can't see my life any other way.

Laissez les bons Temps Rouler

2009-02-22T13:42:00.009-05:00

Let The Good Times Roll! - It's Mardi Gras season down here on the Gulf Coast, and boy is it a massive deal!! Parades every night, traffic as these parads close down streets. Floats, beads and craziness EVERYWHERE! Not to mention everything is purple green and gold! Everything is closed on Tuesday 2/24 (minus the military installations/operations of course). Banks are closed, businesses are closed and a variety of other random places are closed too. (Click on the title above for a link to all things Mardi Gras).

As we mentioned before, they have stores that are WalMart in size, dedicated solely to Mardi Gras Supplies. Daryl and I had to visit one. Beads, Hats, Masks and Decorations... Here is the randomness and hilarity that ensued:

How DO I manage him every day... I just don't know...

Biloxi Blues

2009-02-15T04:26:00.017-05:00

We are both TIRED of this place! The weather has been so BLAH for the past few days. Rain and fog and humidity. Can't wait for summertime when the tourist season starts and there are actually cool things to do! Apparently there's a shrimp boat you can go on, a deep sea fishing excursion, horseback riding, jet-skis, and an air show all coming up in the spring/summer.

In the meantime, in an effort to prevent jumping off the IP (the tallest building in all of Mississippi) we've been researching things to do. We decided to take a trip to New Orleans (only about an hour and 20 minutes away) and take in a day at the zoo and the aquarium. I was in New Orleans a few years ago, before Katrina (remember that trip Mary and Sara?? OMG) I remembered alot of the places we went and things we did (all of my pictures are in albums back in NY - this was prior to my moving into the digital age). However, this time the landscape and the roads there were just heartbreaking. Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of this city and it's outlying areas. We couldn't bring ourselves to photograph the devastation. It's just too depressing. If you want to see it, book a trip. I promise you that photographs are NOTHING compared to the the impact of witnessing the damage in person.

Despite all that, it was a LOVELY day with BEAUTIFUL weather so being outside was really nice. Mardi Gras season is here and it is a HUGE deal all along the Gulf Coast. There are stores DEDICATED to just Mardi Gras supplies and they are open all year. Many people have decorated and most of them decorated more for this holiday than Christmas. In fact, it's an official holiday down here and on Feb. 24th everything is closed. After the zoo and aquarium, we did a little more walking down in the French Quarter and visited Jackson Square. Beautiful now that it's been renovated, again. Below are some pictures of our trip!

Bridge over Lake Pontchartrain - Being rebuilt 10 feet higher than the last bridge:

What used to be Six Flags New Orleans: Louisiana moving truck:
Downtown N.O.L.A.:
The ill-famed Super Dome:
Beautiful Jackson Square:
Streetcar in the Garden District:

House decorated for Mardi Gras, with left over beads hanging from the trees:

Fountains at the Audubon Zoo:

These elephants were so cute! The male would take water from his pond in his trunk and spray himself and than his wife with it! Then she's get herself all dirty again. They nuzzled like an old married couple. It was too adorable. (Despite the massive erection he got... dude, it was nasty)

White Bengal Tigers!

Leopards, so pretty: Camels chewing their fence... also with erections.... sheesh!

Goats in their bowls:A swamp beaver (for Dad :0)

Louisiana Swamp Gators:The Louisiana Swam Monster! AAHh:
Me, enjoying the huge tortoises:The fiance being a dork:Us at the Zoo:

Aquarium!In case you were unsure:Swimming with the fishes:Dori from "Finding Nemo":

Us at the Aquarium:

And this is our favorite picture from the day. This orangutan went into the water willingly, but looked totally grossed out. Daryl put a voice to this poor primate that went something like this, "Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew." It was HILARIOUS. We laughed about him all day, and days after. (The monkies previous to this exhibit were also showing us their erections... but they were far too vulgar to photograph... we do have some class :0)

Happy Hearts Day!

2009-02-15T04:11:00.001-05:00

Hope you all had a fantastic Valentine's Day! And if you're in a relationship, I hope you took the time to show your loved one how much they do mean to you. And if you're not... I hope that this cupid stayed FAAAAAAR away from you.... god knows where his arrows have been. :0)

Bueller... Bueller... Bueller...

2009-01-29T03:48:00.002-05:00

In case you were wondering... yes, we are both still alive :0)

Things here are uneventful at best. Daryl is busy at school. I'm told he's past the hardest part of the program, and that it's "pretty much down hill from here". Hopefully, this is true. As for me, I'm trying to busy myself with looking for a job (unsurprisingly unsuccessful) and planning the wedding (SUPER successful!). And Willow is busy being a beasty-beast and running circles around our teeny place.

So, yeah... that's it from here.... What's up with you????

Happy (Belated) New Year!!!

2009-01-11T21:04:00.008-05:00

It's been a while since we "blogged", so we'll try to fill in any holes with this post...

Our Christmas was pretty low-key. Daryl didn't have to work or go to watch, which was nice. We had each other which was really awesome, but we felt like being around other people, so we went to Christmas Eve Mass at a nearby Lutheran Church. It was nice to be out and about and dressed up. And watching the children in front of us try to scald each other with hot candle wax, made the outing worth it. Here are some pictures of our (tiny) apartment all decorated for Christmas:

Our Tree:

Our front door:

The Kitchen:

Our Bathroom:Our Bed:

Outside:

Daryl and I were able to return to New York for a few (very short) days, and got to spend some much needed time with friends and family. We had mini-Christmases at every stop we made. Of course, we have no pictures of this, as we were too caught up with trying to enjoy every minute.

We brought in 2009 surrounded by my best friends. In a whirlwind visit we saw everyone {I managed to drop our brand-new-got-it-for-Christmas-not-12-hours-ago Garmin down a Long Island Sewer... OMG} Our visit wasn't nearly long enough. Alas, we had to return to Mississippi. We drove back so that we could bring my car down and Willow, my kitty! I have never seen a more well behaved cat in a car. She enjoyed her ride and spent most of it on Daryl's lap... whether he was driving or not and occasionally visited my lap.

On the way back, we stopped at Daryl's brother, Bryan's house. I hadn't met him or his family before, but they were lovely. Especially Daryl's niece, Kaylee. What a cutie! We have fun drawing cats and writing letters. Again, our visit was short since Daryl had to report back into work on Sunday evening. We encountered some pretty nasty rain in Alabama, but made it home; a pretty uneventful ride overall.

On Monday, I had to go back to the doctor. I had blood drawn the morning we left for New York (two of my favorite things in one day: needles and flying ... UGH!). I got the results while we were home. Apparently I have some type of thyroid disease. I now have to take a pill for the rest of my life. I know it could be worse, and I'm glad that I finally have a reason for the crappy way I've been feeling for sooooo long.

Anyway, that's all from here. We're back with Willow in our place in Hillbilly Hell waiting for our time here to be over.

We love and miss you all. Can't wait to see you again!

THE END

Flock of Seagulls

2008-12-18T04:13:00.008-05:00

Humidity is high here in the South. Therefore, if you have items such as bread a few days too long, it's garbage. Well, in these hard times, I have a difficult time throwing things away if someone/thing can get use out of it. Since we live on the beach, I decided we'd feed the bread to the birds. At our first stop on the beach, no birds... but I thought this was pretty:

We ventured further down towards the lighthouse and there they were, birds sleepily sitting and walking about the sand. That is... until I showed up with BREAD BAGS. I might as well have been wearing a meat suit in a bear cage. As the following pictures will show, I was ATTACKED by a flock of seagulls. I couldn't get the bread out of the bag fast enough... I couldn't throw it fast enough. At times I felt wings ON MY NECK, beaks taking the bread OUT OF MY HANDS... all the time screaming my fool head off.

{At this time I'd like to interject that Mr. Daryl was across the beach safely taking pictures of the ordeal. Thanks for protecting me from the big bunch of birds, FIANCE!}

Feel free to enjoy these pictures at my expense: After I ran out of bread (approximately 2.35 minutes) I started to walk towards Daryl (who was practically in the car at this point). As I would walk, the seagulls would walk behind me, following me like little sheep... until I stopped walking.

I swear they also stopped and looked away from me and pretended to make casual conversation with each other... "We're not following you... Lovely day we're having... Did you see the Giants game?" I'd start walking again, and so did they. I stopped, they stopped. Straight out of a freaky movie. Thank you Mr. Hitchcock.

From now on, I will be throwing the stale bread away. Even though it's Mississippi, I'm FAR less afraid of the garbage man than I am of "THE BIRDS" (click it... you know you wanna).

I will end this blog with some pretty sunset pictures from the Gulf of Mexico in December:

The Halo Effect

2008-12-10T16:00:00.002-05:00

When Daryl was in Hawaii he'd keep an eye on any severe weather happening in New York for me. Every time any inclimate weather was on it's way to me, we'd spend time looking at radar online and listening to weather reports. Ever since I was little, I'd get excited about big storms. However, despite all the watches and warnings from the NWS, nothing ever transpired out of them. There were reports of damages and record amounts of precip/wind... but never where I was. If I was in Goshen, Long Island got hit worse. If I was on Long Island, Goshen got it bad. We started to joke about my "halo" and how bad weather always seemed to go around my location or dissipate before it got to me. Now it's starting to freak us both out.

Last night, there were huge storms straight on their way to Biloxi. The whole Gulf Coast and Alabama were gonna get it bad. After the severe thunderstorm watches, they issued a Tornado watch that lasted until 8 AM this morning. TV shows were being interrupted, red words scrolled below mentioning the counties they were sure it was going to hit. Right before we went to bed, the rain started. The wind began to blow a little harder and Daryl fell asleep (the man can sleep any time, anywhere). There are sirens that ring if a tornado or hurricane is about to hit. I was afraid I wouldn't hear them so I made sure I stayed awake. I watched the news and the weather channel, listening to the rain.... it stopped. The wind stopped. It was over... a little rain and a gust of wind for 15 minutes. Daryl gets up at 5AM to get ready for work, asks how big the storm was, I tell him to look out the window, he sees dry pavement and turns to me and says "Looks like your Halo is still intact."

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not wishing for a scary storm where we have to drive on base and take cover in the shelter there (the government doesn't like to take risks with their property... i.e. Service Members). I'm just wondering how long my halo will hold out. Hopefully long enough to get us thru our time in Mississippi. We are in Hurricane Alley (although we're not here during official hurricane season) and apparently the thunderstorms can get pretty severe. I suppose only time will tell how long the "Halo Effect" will last. In the meantime, I'm thankful for it.

2008-12-01T16:19:00.001-05:00

Thank you to everyone for all of the Birthday wishes and cards! MISS YOU ALL LOTS!!!

Happy Turkey Day!

2008-11-29T16:44:00.002-05:00

Hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving! We had an... interesting one. It's true that there is no place like home.
And with that said, I'm having a bit of homesickness. There's nothing really holiday-ish or Christmas-sy about Mississippi. It's hard to shop for a Christmas tree when it's 70 degrees outside. Christmas lights in palm trees and on mobile FEMA trailers don't compare to the Currier and Ives scenes from NY. And I know I should be more thankful for my health and that Daryl and I are finally together in one place for more than 15 days at a time (and didn't get trampled to death at WalMart)... and I am, I'm just trying to adjust to this new life at a difficult time of the year when it's all about family.

Rock On

2008-11-25T16:22:00.009-05:00

In order to try and keep life interesting down here, we're determined to visit a majority of the attractions listed on our "Calendar of Events" sheet that the Air Force provides. We chose to visit the World's Largest Rocking Chair, The Magnolia State Rocker. It was quite large, and is registered as such by the Guinness Book of World Records. We put Daryl in this picture for scaling purposes, he's 6'2":

On our way home, we had to stop at the Navy Construction Battalion and Seabee Base so Daryl could get some Navy stuff done that he can't do on the Air Force base. It's a pretty big base. (Side note: apparently my maternal grandfather was an Atlantic Seabee... who knew?) The on-base housing for military families looks really cute. They each have their own little back yard and most of them are 2 stories. Some houses already had their Christmas lights up. It's like going back in time to 1950 (with people in uniform marching and running around all the time).
Gas is also SUPER cheap here now too.And our trip wouldn't be complete without a "You Might Be A Redneck..." Mississippi example.

"You might be a redneck, if you transport a mattress on the top of the car, totally alone, using only your non-steering left hand to hold it on at 45 miles an hour":

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

And because Daryl likes to keep things interesting as well, on Monday morning at 0530 we took a trip to the emergency room. As we take the hike up the steps of the hospital you can hear all these classes of A-schoolers (guys fresh out of boot camp) marching to class. The cadences coming from all sides of the base. The military is awake and already in full swing at this time in the morning (who knew?) Anyway, after X-rays, a CT scan, some blood work, a few IV bags and 5 hours of our lives, he's fine. Let me just say, despite the fact that we were there because Daryl was sick, I have never had a more pleasurable experience in a hospital than I did at Keesler Medical Center. Once you get over seeing people (doctors and nurses) only in fatigues (no scrubs at all), it's like the perfect ER. Super clean, super organized and super quick. Everyone is really nice and efficient and they make you feel like you're the only people that they're taking care of. Oh, and it was free. Gotta love the military...

In Memory

2008-11-20T16:13:00.004-05:00

I'm using this blog as an outlet for my personal thoughts as well as to keep in touch with you.

Today's post deals with the former.

I just got word that Heather Weeks passed away on November 14th. Heather was a dancer/actress/entertainer who was 24 years old. We worked together at Cortland Repertory Theatre for one season, and yet her face and personality have always been burnt into my mind. You know when you meet someone in the business whether they're gonna "make it" in the business. There was no doubt that Heather was one that was going to claw her way to the top. She deserved it.

Below is a short obituary posted by her family on the Hope For Heather website:

Heather Marie Weeks passed today at 3:46 PM in Mt. Sinai Hospital in NY City following a short hospitalization due to complications from chemo therapy. She went into a deep sleep at 9:40PM of the previous evening and did not regain consciousness. At her side was her Mother, Frieda Weeks; Father, Gary Weeks; Soul mate, Jesse Irwin; and Jesse's mother Janice Irwin.The official cause of death was a blood clot in her brain stem. "She looked beautiful and finally at peace as she slipped away" sobbed her mother. Heather is survived by those mentioned above plus brother Nathan Weeks.

This was definitely a reality check for me. And I'm trying to sift thru the myriad of feelings I have. These days no one is a stranger to the "C" word, but you don't hear of it in someone so young and healthy (She was a dancer for cryin' out loud).

I can't seem to pinpoint the different emotions coursing thru me at this exact second. I just know I had to share these outpourings with someone. Thanks for listening.

Top 5

2008-11-19T14:32:00.002-05:00

This is a list of the top 5 things I hate about Mississippi.

5. Scary Creepy Redneck "Folk" - When it comes to food shopping we are limited to three choices: Winn-Dixie, the Base Commissary, or Walmart. You haven't shopped Walmart, until you've shopped a MISSISSIPPI Walmart. OMG. The people that populate this part of the world are... interesting. Okay, they're not people I'd like to meet in the parking lot after dark. We see alot of doctors offices, Payday loan/check cashing places, fast food and veterinarians. However, there are no dentist offices. I swear. None. I do not wonder why.

4. Humidity - There is a phenomenon here that at first I didn't understand. I call it the "Sweaters and Flip Flops Feenomenon" (I use the "F" there for dramatic effect). During this time of the year, it's warm-ish. We have a sea breeze all day every day which is something to get used to. After dark it gets chilly and this past week, it's been down right cold out there. People seem to put on sweaters and hats and scarves (it's not THAT cold!) and yet, they wear flip flops. Now, I guess I've noticed this for two reasons: Flip Flops aren't really worn in New York past October, so it looks somewhat out of place... AND, if you remember my above "Thing I hate About Mississippi" think about what these people's FEET look like. I'll end with that.

3. Hoes - And not the garden variety. Think of the 13-18 year-olds you see. They are dressed in not the most tasteful of fashion and perhaps are a little slutty. Well picture them... same clothes, same make up... just 50 pounds heavier. I no longer doubt Mississippi's ranking as the most obese state in the Union. Kinda makes me wanna vomit. Also, since there is a large military presence here, and not so many bars since Katrina destroyed alot of the old ones, most of the guys hang out at a handful of bars. The hoes know this, and they are like vultures! At the bar the other night, Daryl went to the bathroom and I was able to observe the hoe vultures at work. If one guys is alone and he looks the least bit like a sailor/airman/marine they are ON him in no time. They have no respect for themselves, and no shame.

2. Lack of Animals - I've seen a few sea birds (seagulls, herons, sand pipers) and one crab. In the tree by the kitchen window there's a few birds (I dunno what they are) and a handful of horny squirrels (I swear they chase each other and are humping ALL DAY). That's it. Not another animal. I'm lying, we saw a stray cat by Taco Bell (I just remembered that Daryl was laughing at me for talking to it). Other than that, there isn't alot of wildlife seaside. It's very woodsy above Interstate 10. However, Daryl's classmates and superiors don't recommend going above I-10 due to the fact that we may never return - (insert scary banjo music HERE).

And finally....... the number one thing I hate about Mississippi -

THE BUGS!!!!!!!
I really wish that someone would have told me about the bugs. But nooooooo. No website anywhere tells you about the BUGS! When I first got here, on the screen outside of the door was the biggest, greenest grasshopper I've ever seen. I swear I could have put a saddle on it. Then my first night here was ended quickly as I discovered a waterbug (read: ROACH) on the living room carpet!! It was the biggest, reddest roach I've ever seen. I swear I could have put a saddle on it. I scared it into the laundry closet, and pushed a towel under the door so he couldn't get back out. We bought spray and traps... turns out he was the only one around and was too big for the trap (ew). He came back out the next night and I sprayed the crap out of him until he was dead. I took pictures of it with my cell phone so the sleeping Daryl would believe that I killed it. Thankfully we haven't found any more bugs INSIDE. But outside there are bees, wasps, and the other day while we were walking on base, I managed to get bitten by the smallest, reddest ant I've ever seen. I swear I could have put a saddle on it... (wait, that's not right...). I was wearing flip flops (if you can't beat them, join them right?) and the little eff-er bit me! After the swelling went down and the redness lightened, the blister exploded and all was well in the world of my little left ring toe once again.

So yeah... Mississippi. The Magnolia State. No one tells ya about the hicks, the humidity, the hoes, the lack of wildlife, and lastly the bugs.

Let's change it to Mississippi - The "You Could Put A Saddle On It State". Or "Beware of the Bite" State. But I think if we did that... the bugs would feel left out. :0)

And We've Been Calling Them "Bumps" All This Time...

2008-11-19T14:15:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that in my last post, I forgot to include my favorite picture of the Alabama trip!

Now, Daryl and I already stick out in many ways down here, apparently we have accents (?) and we dress a little... more organized (?). But nothing made ME stick out more than when in the parking lot of the museum, I started laughing uncontrollably and whipped out my camera. Daryl was walking away from me at this point since I couldn't stop laughing long enough to explain my behavior. Looking back at it now, I'm not sure why it struck me as hysterical at that moment, but it's still pretty damn amusing...

The Confederacy is Alive and Well

2008-11-17T21:20:00.018-05:00

Last weekend we were continuing our exploring. We were looking for an interesting place to eat and after following Highway 90 for a while, we decided to go the extra 30 miles and ended up in Mobile, Alabama... "just to see".

Well... we "saw"... The Confederacy is alive and well. Almost everywhere there is an American flag hanging, a Confederate flag is flying next to it. Also, more mobile home parks than should be allowed in one state. Their city center has a few big buildings. Notice that they are mostly hollow on top for the last few stories...

Nothing like New York, but they do have lots of bridges and tunnels because of all the water ways that are down here. However, no tolls. I don't know how they can manage it and NY can't have a highway without a toll. Here's a picture of the tunnel to Mobile. I held my breath thru the whole thing. Daryl said I couldn't do it, so I proved him wrong :0)Once in Mobile, we found a bunch of billboards advertising the USS Alabama Museum... so we decided to go there. Being active military, we didn't have to pay for parking or for Daryl's ticket, and we got a discount on my ticket, which was pretty cool. After getting our tickets we followed our tour guide sheets and headed on the ship. It was pretty interesting. Daryl educated me on the differences between this old, decommissioned ship and the ships he's been on that are still in the US fleet. That boy knows alot... you just gotta tap him at the right time and the information flows from him. After the ship, we proceeded to the aircraft hangar and the to the USS Drum, which is a submarine. Really cool. Don't know how those guys live on these things... can we say "claustrophobia"??? These are a few pictures from the museum.

My baby in the Brig:

How you sleep on a ship:

Big Plane with Mobile, AL in the background:

Daryl on the deck of the Alabama:The ship's ribbon rack and attack records:

The USS Alabama:

Inside the Submarine: Inside the hangar: The Veterans Memorial:

It was an unexpected trip, but it was a nice one that turned out to be really interesting.

Sun, Sand, and Slots!!!

2008-11-14T23:04:00.010-05:00

We decided to get out and learn the area down here and see what's around. Obviously the beach is a big deal around here. From what we've heard, swimming doesn't sound like a good idea. When the 20 foot Katrina waters receded, they took cars, buildings, cement and other items back into the surf. And the heavy stuff just sank right off the coast... don't think we'll be swimming any time soon. Good thing our apartment has a pool! Yay!

Anyway... Biloxi is known for its casinos and there are ALOT of them. We have yet to be inside any of them, but took some cool pictures of their outsides. They are all a max of 5 minutes down our street... it's awesome!

The Beau Rivage during the day:
The Beau Rivage at night:

Hard Rock Casino during the day:
Hard Rock Casino at night:

There are a bunch of other ones... Imperial Palace, Treasure Bay, Grand Casino, Boomtown and Hollywood. We'll let you know how we do when we take some pennies over to each of them. They all have major concerts (we're also down the street from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Colliseum) so we'll hopefully make it to some of those as well.

The license plates in Mississippi are actually kind of pretty.

The lighthouse in the center is in Biloxi and it's cute and it's a working lighthouse... so we took a picture of it.

It's not NY... but it's not half bad.

Howdy Y'all!

2008-11-14T21:18:00.017-05:00

So here we are... all settled in our new apartment in Biloxi, Mississippi!! Despite my sketchy flight down here, everything is really nice. Our apartment is a small place in the Oak Shores development. I can see the Gulf of Mexico from our kitchen window and the SAND is at the other end of the parking lot! We're the end unit upstairs and we don't have many neighbors. This is a hot spot for snowbirds so it's going to fill up for the winter, but for now it's pretty quiet.

Well, not REALLY quiet. We're RIGHT next door to Keesler Air Force Base, where Daryl is doing his training. It makes for a quick commute for him, but with the constant planes flying over (either JUST taking off or getting ready to land) 50 times a day, the noise was noticeable for the first few days. I'm getting used to it, Daryl doesn't seem to notice it. Here are a few pictures of the planes flying over our house and some stuff on base.

The Gates (pretty sure I'm not supposed to be taking pictures on base... but nobody stopped me so whatev):
50 Flags... one for each state (duh):

All those huge planes all in a row:They are very proud of their DUI board (yeah... 7 days... good job guys):
This was how much gas cost us on base on the 9th... it's now $1.93!!Yeah, thought they were going to crash into the house...
And here's the other noisy thing that goes RIGHT by the base... the train. Whistles... All day, every day.
And finally we'll end this post with one of my favorite pictures that I've taken here in Mississippi so far. Hurricane Katrina did a number on this place, and every day we find a new piece of land or parts of the beach or road that's still being repaired or rebuilt. The roads suck more in some places than others, but we really can't help but feel sorry for the people who lost everything in the storm. It's rained a few times, but when the clouds come in and the waves start pounding the eroded beach, it gets eerily quiet here. I think this picture captures that feeling.

More pictures to come soon!