May 2010

I am surprised that I haven't posted anything this month, but on the other hand our day-to-day routines aren't really "blog" worthy and we aren't really exciting people to be completely honest. There have been a few "big" things happen this month that I want to mention and write about though. Just sort of summarize.....
First of all, Alex left on the 10th for sea trials, or work-ups, or whatever you call them and had to be gone almost the rest of the month. This was pretty hard on both of us and it is really making us think about making the military a career. I know it is kind of pathetic because it wasn't even a full three weeks and there are a lot of families who do it for a year or more at a time. They say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it also hurts a lot. I guess we will have to see how it plays out this summer as he has to be gone more and maybe we can grow more accustomed to it, but it really was an eye-opener for us. He came home for a night on the 28th and had to go back again on the 29th, but having him home even just that one night brought the smiles back into my heart. It was wonderful just have him dreaming his dreams right next to me. I really did miss my friend but he won't have to be gone again for that long til July, thank goodness!!!
So moving on to one exciting thing that happened this month was my birthday!! (unfortunately Alex had to miss that) I am now 24 years young!! When I have sat back and looked at how my life has played out so far, there are some things that I had wanted to accomplish by now, like having my nursing degree finished, or having a couple kiddos. But even with that, I can look at my life now and say that I am TRULY and completely happy with my life and the direction that I am heading. I haven't always been able to say that, but I can say it now. I hope that the next year of my life continues in growth and love and I can look back at 25 and say the same thing. I am blessed.
A couple other things that have broken up our day-to-day routines are that my sister and my niece and nephew have come to visit and has ended up staying for a couple of weeks. Being able to spend time with my niece and nephew has been a joy. But it has had it's challenges since I received all of my stuff that was sitting in storage in Alabama for two years. So I have two houses in one at this point. It has been kind of a stress to have such clutter in my house, but it's unavoidable right now. We plan to sell 90% of it and use the money to help fix up the house. Once all this stuff gets out of here, I will be breathing easier again.
Well, that about sums it up for the month of May. I guess we will see you in June!! Happy Memorial day everyone!!

USS Enterprise

Today Alex was able to take me to work and show me around. I was so excited to go and see the aircraft carrier. I mean how many people get to actually visit the USS Enterprise, the oldest ship in the Navy fleet? I learned a lot about how it all works and it was neat to see my husband's home away from home. He actually got to show me his "rack" (aka-his bed) and his storage space. It was a little claustrophobic down there, but I didn't get to stay long and I didn't really want to because that is where all the guys get changed and stuff (my poor virgin eyes lol)
After he showed me where he sleeps, I got to see where he eats, the Galley, as it's called. They were in the middle of serving lunch, so it was busy down there. It amazes me that so many people live on that ship! I couldn't actually go see where Alex works because it's a restricted area. But the rest that he showed me I got some pictures of!


This is retired plane that sits on the flight deck, I guess as sort of a mascot. It's name is Big Rob.

This was painted on the side by the flight deck. I have no idea what blast props or rotors are, but BEWARE!

This is the flight deck elevator. It takes the planes from the hangar bay up to the flight deck.

Some more art on the side up on the flight deck.

Alex got me a better view of the flight deck. I don't know if you can see it but there are some cables running horizontally that catch the planes when they land.

This is the end of the flight deck and I loved how they had a flag out there flying.

I was standing on a step looking over the flight deck, and I just had to snap a shot of this good lookin' sailor!

This is one of the look-outs. When the ship is out to sea sailors stand here and, well, look-out. It was a pretty amazing view!

This is the front and I don't think you can see it in this picture, but there are lines running vertically down the flight deck that are catapults that shoot the planes off the boat.

"Uhhhh.....boat rope?" If anyone watches Friends as much as we do, you will know EXACTLY what this references!

In this picture we are now under the flight deck. Those are the life rafts and they expand to hold about 18 people...but they better not ever have to be used!!

This is one of the only weapons on the ship. I can't remember what Alex called it. I guess he can remind me later.

This must be just for looks cause if you go overboard on this monster ship, I really don't think that lil' preserver is going to do much.

This is called a bulls eye. If you know how to crack the code then it tells you where you are on the ship. Alex obviously could tell me exactly what it all means together, but I would just have to be lost if I was left to my own devices.

This is something set up for the Officers, which my Alex is not. He is an ordinary enlisted fella.

Some one offered to take a picture of us and this is what we got. PDA is not allowed in uniform, so he couldn't even put his arm around me. And I don't know if you can tell, but Alex doesn't really like to smile in pictures.

Some emblems, I guess I could call them, that were hanging up in the hangar bay. I guess I forgot to upload the picture I took of the entire length of the hangar bay but it's roughly 900 ft long and can hold about 50 planes at a time. The Enterprise can actually hold 80-85 planes between the flight deck and the hangar bay. Oh, and the flight deck is roughly 1100 ft long.

I took this one on our way out to the car. It's so big, I couldn't get the whole thing in the picture! I wish I could have taken more pictures of what I saw like the Galley, his rack, and maybe a couple sets of stairs. I know it sounds weird to take pictures of stairs but there were s0o0o many of them and so0o0o steep! I got out of breath when were were trying to get above the flight deck to look out and Alex thought that was kinda funny.

It was an interesting day and now when he's away from weeks at a time I will be able to picture exactly what he's doing. I plan on going to see it again and maybe get some more pictures....anything to spend time with my best friend!!

Our Easter Treat

So Alex had to work on Easter, but we got to spend the day before together. We went to see Clash of the Titans 3D and then came home and made dinner together. When we were at the store getting some stuff for dinner and I suggested that we get something to make a little Easter treat. So we ended up with some strawberry shortcake!! It was so delicious and I can only take credit for the idea because Alex put everything together while I was cooking dinner. Here are a few pics of us enjoying our desert!

I LOVE this picture. Alex is scowling at me because I made him stop eating to take a picture! :)

His very last bite! I forgot to grab the camera to get a before shot, but that last bite still looks yummy!

We were laughing so hard when were trying to take this picture. I hadn't realized that my shirt was actually cut too low and the other pictures we had taken before this were not G-rated. So I was trying to lean over enough to stop that problem. Lessons learned: Strawberry short cake is good and low cut cami's are bad!! Happy Easter everyone!!

Here's our Sunshine....

Alex and I don't have any kiddos yet, but we do have babies!!! Sunshine is our lazy, fat cat. He loves to sit in Alex's computer chair and he doesn't like to leave. As you can tell..... Alex is now sitting on him, and he still won't leave.

That cat has no fear!!!

Here is our Sunshine in his favorite spot!!!

The Wizard of Oz

Alex and I went to see another Broadway show this week. As you can probably tell by now, it was the Wizard of Oz. I took this first picture with my phone of the stage before the show started. I thought that if I used the phone instead of a camera I wouldn't have to worry about someone coming to take it away.

Alex and I tried over and over again to get a good pic of us at the show! First we tried with his phone and it was really blurry. Then we tried with mine and it had a blinding flash! So this was a our best one before we gave up. We were sitting in the dress circle right in the middle which are way better than balcony seats. Alex liked this show a lot better than CATS, but Wicked is still his favorite to date. We look forward to seeing many more!! Maybe one day we will venture up to New York and see one on Broadway!!!

Almost Heaven

Alex and I took a trip to Weston and had a great time! It was the nice little get-a-way we needed. And we got to see family that I hadn't seen in almost a year! I just wish I could have taken more pictures. My camera died and I had forgotten the cord to charge it. That always seems to happen to me! But here are a few of what we did get....
Here is my Great, Great Aunt Betty and I. I think this the first time we have taken a picture together. She doesn't look too bad for being over 80, huh? And she absolutely LOVED Alex! When I said something like "You just gotta love Alex" she said "oh, yes! And if I were younger!...." It just cracked me up!

This is my ADORABLE nephew! Last time I saw him, he was a newborn. Now he is turning a year old on the 14th! He is such a smiley, content baby. Right now he is opening the present that we got him.

This is the only picture we got with Ally smiling!!! She didn't really like her picture being taken, but I get this one. Alex found some one else to pet him to sleep! And every time we tried to talk to either of them, Ally would say "Shhhhhh!" Just way too cute!

Here is another one of Ally with Bridgette. They really liked playing together. She would tell Bridgette "come here goggy!" She couldn't say dog that well, but I was really surprised at her verbal skills! It just showed me how much I had missed not seeing her for a year!

Me and Grant. Not a very good pic of us, but the flash kept blinding him so we gave up. I just wanted to take him home with me!

This is our baby! She did so well on the trip. Especially when it came to meeting Heidi. Heidi is the other dog in the pic and is a VERY loyal dog to my grandparents. They weren't sure what to think of each other at first, but I think in the end, they were able to be friends!

Taking a walk with the dogs. My Papaw with Heidi and Alex with Bridgette. They did really good on the walk, and my Papaw knows s0o0o0 much about this little town!

The dogs did really well walking together. And look at all the snow!! My grandparents said it was a lot worse and a lot of it had already melted. There were icicles on the sides of houses that stretched almost the entire length of the house! That weather is definitely not something I miss about Weston. I wish we could have spent a little more time there, but being a military family, vacations are usually short. But hopefully it won't be as long before we see them again. Oh! and on a little side note, on the 6th of March, while we were in Weston, Alex and were married for six months! Woohoo!!

New Work Schedule

So I just need to vent for a little bit. They have changed Alex's schedule at work again, and it is the worst it has ever been!!! Well, the worst it has been since we have been together. He has duty for two days in a row (which means he has to stay overnight on the boat for both days) and then he gets one days off. Then he gets up and does it all over again. And on his day off, they might not let him come home til noon. So that means that he only gets to be home two nights a week and not even a full 24 hours in most cases. We are both VERY unhappy with this change. Alex hates his work and hates not being able to sleep in his bed every night. And I HATE being alone for that long. On my days off when he's not here it gets so boring and lonely. On top of all that, when he is home at night he is exhausted. All he wants to do is lay in bed and relax. I totally understand this, but it does no good for me when I have cabin fever from staying home alone! Alex and I both agreed that I need to get a good hobby, but there is nothing we can do about his unhappiness at work. Hopefully this schedule won't last long and we keep telling eachother that absence makes the heart grow fonder. I don't know what I am gonna do when he goes on deployment! I guess we will just have to take it one day at a time......