Saltwater Trip *Updated*

Austin and his fellow ensigns are in Norfolk this week calling this ship home:

 

This is the USS Ashland and is currently anchored at Little Creek Amphibious Base. Austin's entire class at Supply School headed up to take residence on this luxury liner while they tour other types of ships and typical supply operations to prepare them for embarking on their careers.

 

I heard from him last night and it seems that he is having a great time seeing all of the ships and his rack (bed) is not too bad...he even has waterfront property! (There is a leak dripping into a bucket less than 6 inches from his head)

 

In all seriousness he does seem to be learning quite a lot. They will be heading back here on Friday and since his 85 person class could not ascertain military transport on a plane back to Athens, they will be on a Greyhound. 

 

Welcome to the Navy! :)

 

*Update*

Greyhound it is! They are on their way and are anticipating a 10 hour trip. 

Additions to the Blogroll...

Two friends that I have meaning to add for a while are now added to the Blogroll!

Check them out here and here.

Also, I have added a new feature - "Blog Favorites" which are blogs from people that I do not know, but stalk nonetheless.

Enjoy!

Is that...snow?

I apologize for the lack of blog posts recently, but we didn't have internet {or water, or electricity}for a few days after record snowfalls here in Georgia.

I, for one, didn't even know that there was a possibility of snow this past weekend, let alone the amounts that we received. Sunday morning a friend called me and let me know that is was sleeting and that she had slipped off the road. {She and her car are fine}

A little while later, as Austin and I were hanging out on the couch and watching TV we noticed our satellite signal going out, and looked outside to see this:

 

 {Well, this will never last, we thought}

 

{Let's just clean off the satellite and head back inside}

But, a little while later...it was still coming down!

{around 1pm}

and later there was this around 3pm:

and this:

 

and this, around 4pm:

 

After this it got too dark to take any good pictures, but all in all we got about 6 inches of snow. 6 inches!!! The snow would have been enough trouble for the city to take care of in a place where we barely ever see it, but it was also the really heavy packing sort of snow. This snow, combined with our long time drought {which made the trees brittle} and the recent rainfalls {which made the ground soft} made for trees coming down all over the city.

Which led to wires down.

Which led to power outages. And cable outages.

And in our neighborhood, a tree went down whose roots were conveniently wrapped around our water pipes.

Good times.

In any case, we made the best of it. Austin and I and a few of our friends ventured out {thank goodness for four wheel drive} and headed to one of the only places with power in town. Moe's. We had some burritos, drinks and a few laughs, and by the time we headed back to our apartment the power was back! So was our TV since we have satellite {but still no water}. We settled in for some Rock Band, card games and snacks and had a great Blizzard Party...and stayed up late since we had all received word that both UGA and the Navy Supply Corps School would be closed on Monday. Everyone loves a snow day!

Weekend Project

A few weeks ago I went stir crazy and convinced Austin to help me rearrange our living room furniture. This is not such a new concept for me, since my father always said my mother rearranged furniture during every month with an "R" in it (think about it -- that's a lot), but for Austin it was like pulling teeth.

I love the arrangement so much more than what we had before, but since then it has always kind of bugged me that we had nothing above the television. I hate blank walls. Living on base (where you cannot paint) is going to be one of the worst parts of military wife-ing for me. So, this weekend we undertook a project.

Even though it is not technically my last name yet, here is the final project:

Closeup:

 

We had the mats cut at Hobby Lobby, and bought the frames there as well at 50% off. I downloaded the photos online, so this was a pretty cost effective project in sort of the same vein as the popular found alphabet type projects, but more vibrant, in my opinion (and again cost effective...read: cheap).

We also started our collection of prints from all of the places we have lived with a print I picked up in Madison this summer representing the famous Terrace Chairs at UW.

We love it! What do you think? 

'Weekend' Trip

...I use the term "weekend" loosely as really it was a Thursday - Friday trip.

To where, you ask?

To see little Miss Emma Grace!

I had been dying to drive up and see the whole Rolland family, and finally had the opportunity this past week. Diana is one of my nearest and dearest friends, so to be so close and have the opportunity to meet this new part of her life was a must. (And, might I also say that I hate that we are moving further away just as Emma has entered the world!)

I arrived on Thursday evening to their lovely home where, despite Diana claiming otherwise, everything was as spic and span as it normally is, despite having a 5 week old in residence. I was amazed, but shouldn't have been, clearly, since Diana is a homemaker extraordinaire.

Emma is so beautiful and sweet! She loves sleeping on people's chests and snuggled up in what is referred to as her "butterball" stance on my chest to sleep a few times while I was there. It will melt your heart.

It was really great just to see this new family and how they are all shining in their new roles. I love spending time with such loving and down to earth people. I stayed until Saturday morning and then headed back to good old Athens so that both my little family and theirs could still get some weekend tasks accomplished (more on that later).

And now for some shots of the cutie pie in her - and mom's - new favorite thing; her swing.

 

  

{isn't she precious?!} 

This just made my day

Just Because...

I did this on my facebook, so I thought I would trow it up here too. It is just 25 random things about me.

After all that thought, it shouldn't go to waste!

1. My middle name is Rae, which I used to hate when I was little, (mostly because of the rise in fame of Billy Ray Cyrus) but now I love and will pass on to a daughter if I ever have one.

2. I traveled for my national sorority and since being in grad school have not been able to be involved with my national organization. I miss it every day.

3. One of my biggest pet peeves in life is when people cannot format outlines correctly, especially in Word or some other computer program that makes it for you.

4. My favorite punctuation mark, yes I have one, is the semi-colon. I use it at least once in every paper I write. I also believe that commas can be used as a form of artistic expression in writing, per my professors in college. Sometimes my graduate school professors disagree.

5. I secretly want to disregard all of my education and be a stay at home wife who gets to snuggle with her dog and a good book every day…for at least a few years.

6. I love cooking and think I am pretty darn good at it.

7. I would still consider going to law school at some point in my life.

8. My best friend Corey and I have thought about starting no less than 50 businesses in the duration of our friendship.

9. I really love dirty martinis, with extra olives.

10. I own an electric typewriter and do any creative writing on it. The rhythm of the keys keeps me in a groove.

11. As much as I love weddings, I secretly enjoy helping others plan theirs more than planning my own. It is super fun to play with other people’s money.

12. I want four kids. You may think that is crazy. I do not.

13. I have issues with quitting. Even at a minute level. If I start watching a horrible movie on TV, or even start reading a book I don’t like very much, I will still finish watching or reading.

14. I love cupcakes. A lot. In my opinion, they are the best dessert.

15. I watch at least three channels of TV at the same time. It drives Austin insane.

16. I dream of writing the next great American novel…on a typewriter.

17. I want to live abroad before I have children for selfish reasons, and after I have children so that I can raise them to be global citizens.

18. I will spend down to the last dime I have on an awesome pair of shoes…but now that I am also responsible for the spending of someone else’s money I sometimes feel bad about it.

19. Even though Austin is going into one of the safest places in the military, I worry about his safety almost every day.

20. When I go to visit my parents, I feel more relaxed and secure than any other place in the world, even though I never lived there.

21. I do not have a passport.

22. I am one of the biggest procrastinators I know – other top ranking putter-offers include my father, sister and brother. My mom hates it.

23. I have been pretty lackadaisical about actually booking a church to get married in. I have a dress, bridesmaids, reception venue, décor, etc. but no church…yet.

24. People on Bluetooths or on speaker phone in public annoy me.

25. I have only taken a handful of legitimate vacations in my life, (maybe two, maybe) a ratio which I will begin improving as soon as I have the means to do so.

Maybe studying does work...

...because

I passed Comps!

Thank you all so much for all of your support!

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted!

This photo is again merited:

 

{Yes Kat, I did post it again. You passed too, be exuberant enough to overlook this and still be my friend.}

Addition to the Blogroll!

Hilarity from a fellow CSAAer

Babies, babies, babies {Update 1.26.09}

There has been so much awesome news coming our way about the progeny of our friends!

First, little Miss Emma arrived on January 20th! We have yet to see a picture...camera phones could help this situation people...I kid! I kid! I am sure they have many more important things to worry about :)

I am sure that she is just as beautiful as her gorgeous mommy.

Second, Dan and Lisa found out the sex of their twins! I am not going to reveal it here, as they may want to do that themselves {though it is killing the small "get the scoop" journalist part of me. very small ;)} Weare so excited for you both!!!!!

Lately it has seemed as though everyone we know is having some sort of baby news. The amount of sorority sisters that are pregnant or are new mommies is amazing to me! I love buying all the cute stuff for other people, but when and if we move back to Norfolk {the chances of that are pretty good} I will stick to bottled water thankyouverymuch ;)

If we do end up back in Hampton Roads, feel free to call if you need a sitter <3

Update: For pictures of baby Emma click here, and click here for the big reveal of the Maz twins!