Photos from One Crazy Summer and Hawaii

We are all settled in Hawaii and I had time to upload some pictures. Here are links to the albums.


One Crazy Summer Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150346202837114.375497.797762113&l=45f16138e2&type=1

Hawaii Photos:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150346223507114.375498.797762113&l=d976a1812d&type=1

It really was great to see so many of you this summer!

One Crazy Summer

The summer of 2011 will surely go down as a crazy one in the memory books! It all started this spring when we received Ben's orders to be stationed in Pearl Harbor for shore duty starting in August. Then we got the call that thankfully our house in GA had been rented. However, that meant we needed to vacate the house and quick. Since Ben was heading out to sea in early June the girls and I thought we would take the opportunity to visit friends and family across this beautiful country of ours.

So things seemed to be shaping up for a "smooth move" and then right before Ben left we found out he would be staying on board longer than we thought and that meant the girls and I would be going on ahead to Hawaii without him. So that meant a little extra paperwork before he left. After he left we spent a few days in sunny Florida seeing friends at the beach and our family in Orlando. Then I had the movers all lined up, but when I called to confirm they didn't have us on the schedule. So they told me they would be there on Wednesday, but then didn't show up. Regardless our house was packed up and on the way to Hawaii by mid-June. Thankfully Michelle, my mom, my fabulous neighbors, and several other friends were there to help!

From Georgia we headed to South Carolina for a few days of rest at the lake! It is one of my favorite places on earth. We got to see more family and friends in Charleston. I also managed to sell the van while we were there. I met the guy at Chick-fil-a, followed him home to show his wife the car, made it to the bank five minutes before closing, and he dropped us off at dinner. Crazy I know.

After a few days of R & R we loaded up the car and headed for Atlanta where I dropped mom and the girls off at the airport. I continued on with the critters for another two and a half days. I was able to see a few friends in KC that I haven't seen in years. I also saw some beautiful countryside along the way.

Once arriving in Denver we got right to work getting Mom's house ready to sell and had a huge garage sale. I have also been able to reconnect with lots of friends here and spent some time with family.

The girls and I didn't feel like we had seen enough of the country so we packed up and headed to Salt Lake City to visit with friends, ride the zip line in Park City, and play some Euchre! Then we headed out to LA to ship the car off to HI. Luckily we have a friend there too! He helped us drop off the car and showed us around Paramount Studios.

Once back in Denver we had a visit from Ben's Grandma and a friend from SC. We were able to play tourist in Denver and really have been able to enjoy our time! Looking back over the pictures I realized we saw friends in seven different states, swam in the Atlantic, two different lakes, and an indoor water park, saw the St. Louis arch, went to a game at Coors Field, watched fireworks on the 4th, went to Casa Bonita, drove Trail Ridge Road twice, hiked in the Rockies, rode a zip line in Park City, an alpine slide in Morrison, had a couple birthday parties, checked out a butterfly pavilion, walked the Pearl Street Mall, went to the Denver Zoo, stood on the mile high step, eaten at lots of yummy restaurants, and finished a ridiculously hard puzzle. Oh and did I mention that I drove over 3,800 miles!!!

Thank you Mom for letting us stay all summer and thank you to all the friends that made time for us! It has been one to remember! Now off to Hawaii! Hope to see you all there!

Crete July 2010

This post has been a long time coming! Last summer Ben was able to make one of his few port calls since joining the Navy over 9 years ago. Lucky for us it was in beautiful Crete, Greece during the summer. The weather was perfect and the sunsets were amazing! Did I mention that my wonderful mother came and stayed with the girls? Thanks again Mom!

We stayed at this wonderful little hotel called the Porto del Colombo. It was very European! The walk up the three flights of stairs sure burned off all those extra calories.
So here is the short version of our trip:

Day 1 - Flew in at 6:30 p.m. and had a crazy drive with the girls trying to navigate through town. Managed after about four hours (should have taken 30 minutes...maybe) to find the hotel and then had dinner at the funny guy restaurant.

Day 2 - Met our guide to get on the Greek Navy base, watched the boat come in, managed to get on base then waited the better part of the day for the gangway. Drove straight to the hotel on the crazy roads and impressed the guys! Unfortunately, we didn't do as well parking and managed to get two parking tickets. They just keep giving them to you until you move your car.

Day 3 - Explored the town, shopped, went to the open air market, and had dinner overlooking the harbor.

Day 4 - Explored some more, found the gyro shop, had a crazy dinner with Nate, Ingrid, Kathy, and Mike. Did I mention that they bribe you with free wine to eat at their restaurant and then serve a free shot of Raki or Ouzo after each meal? ugh.
Day 5 - Recovered from day 4 dinner and ate bland food. Found the town beach and ate at an outdoor restaurant on the beach with the live Greek music, and watched the sunset.

Day 6 - Drove to the beach through the mountains and Ingrid almost puked. Due to the winding roads I'm sure and not my driving. Exfoliated at the very windy, yet beautiful beach. Accidentally forced a restaurant to open early. Had dinner at a small place in the back streets with the best meat balls we found.
Day 7 - Looked for a cave and found a great restaurant instead. Went on some crazy fast go carts. Walked to the lighthouse and went on a sunset cruise. Had dinner at an outdoor restaurant that was in the middle of buildings with an open roof with Nate and Ingrid.
Day 8 - Last minute souvenir shopping and checking out antique shops. Looked in a neat church with a tall tower. Had my last dinner with Ben at a restaurant on the hill. Watched the sunset and had a crazy drive to the base in the dark. Which I am proud to say I made it both ways without getting lost.

Day 9 - Dropped off the rest of the guys and watched the boat leave from the mountain side. Had a fun last dinner with the girls.To see all the Crete photos (even if you aren't on facebook) visit this link: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.417086662113.202712.797762113&l=eb93fbcc41

Orders: The Plan

So I realize I hardly ever post and I'm not sure if anyone is even still bothering to check this, but since Ben has started blogging about his car rebuild (http://thisoldcub.blogspot.com/) I have been getting the itch. So I guess I will start with an update about our orders.

Ben's next duty station will be Pearl Harbor, Hawaii!!!! Yippee!!! We are so excited! Unfortunately, we have a deployment to get through first. The movers are coming mid-June to pack everything up, then we are headed to Charleston, SC for a few days. After that the girls and I will be spending the summer with my mom in Colorado. We are also hoping for a trip to SLC, but will see how I feel about being in the car after the drive to CO! We will head over to Hawaii sometime in August or September. Hope to see everyone along the way or you can visit us after we move!

You can reach us on my cell, email, or facebook until we get settled. If you don't have any of that contact info just post a comment on the blog. Happy summer!

Some people suck, some are AWESOME!!

So we finally got out squatters out of our house in Charleston this weekend. They were messy, didn't take care of anything, never told me the air conditioner leaked into the bathroom, and broke our lawn mower...not sure how that happened being as they never used it. Anyway, I went to Charleston on Friday and met with a property manager, got some quotes to paint and fix things and it should be good to go in about 10 days. It could have been worse and at least we had nice weather!

Just as I was hating the human population a very sweet lady from the property management company stopped by and eased some fears about what needed replaced and how to get mildew out of a shower. And she is coordinating all of the repairs! Then on Saturday my two wonderful friends showed up with lunch, pine straw, and more cleaning supplies! Now you know they are good friends if they are willing to clean with you! Especially this house! Now Mary did draw the line at one of the toilets and she will be happy to know I replaced the seat. Then my wonderful husband showed up and dusted and cleaned and did yard work. The next day our neighbors came over with a lawn mower, edger, blower and even provided the manpower!! Not to mention my fantastic mother who had a terrible cold and stayed home with the girls all weekend and made sure they had a happy Halloween.

Thank you so much everyone! I couldn't have done it alone!!!

Fire Ants

I realize I haven't posted in a while, but at 5:00 this morning I was inspired! So let's back up a little bit and tell you that Saturday morning I was pulling weeds and happened upon some angry fire ants. By the time I realized what was happening I had six bites on my foot and ankle. Ouch!

This was a good experience to have because this happens to the kids on occasion and I give them itch cream and keep on them not to scratch. Little did I know that those things make you want to scratch the skin right off your body! So this takes us back to this morning when I woke up at 5:00 with a crazy itchy foot!

What I have learned about ant bites is that it itches more when it is hot and humid, that leaving air conditioning makes the itching start all over again, and that prescription strength itch cream will help. This was all good for me to learn since Morgan seems to find every ant hill possible. But it also gives me some empathy for the kids when it does happen.

If you have any cures please share!

Christmas Cards

Someone asked me once why I send Christmas cards with all the work and expense why bother, right? Well I love everything about doing the cards. I love looking back over the year for the perfect photo or taking one special during the year. I love that the girls will look back over those photos someday, as I look back on the one's my mom did for us, and see how much we have changed and how many different places we have lived. I love looking at all the fun card designs on Shutterfly (I must have really liked last year's because this one is nearly identical). I even like figuring out what to say on the card so I don't have to hand write everything. I love the time we spend together as a family getting the cards ready to go in the mail (isn't it fun to get mail that isn't a bill or low interest rate notice??).

But the thing I love the most is thinking of each person on my Christmas card list and thinking about how they have touched my life. I get to replay memories from how I know each person whether we worked together and at which company, if we met playing tennis, spent crazy nights at the bar, had water fights in high school, or shared just a short time during one of our Navy moves. Even if I only contact you this one time each year please know it is my way of letting you know that you are special to me.

Another reason to love living in GA

One of the best things about living in coastal areas is having impromptu trips to the beach. Today I took dinner to a friend in Fernandina so we made the extra trek to the beach. It was a little cloudy and threatening rain, but that didn't stop us from playing chase the sea gulls, freeze tag, and looking for shells. I usually love to go to the ocean when Ben is gone because it makes me feel just a bit closer to him.

Here are a couple photos from our adventure. And I should note that we all managed to stay dry!

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So back in about 6th or 7th grade there was a bake sale at school. A friend and I decided to make chocolate chip cookies. There was some sort of mix up with the baking soda and baking powder and we had these horrible rock cookies that never spread out. Ever since I have struggled to make a decent chocolate chip cookie and ever since discovering Schwan's frozen chocolate chip cookie dough there really is no need to make this type of cookie from scratch.

Now I should point out that I absolutely LOVE to bake and cookies especially. There isn't anything more relaxing than baking a batch of cookies from scratch.

Today I decided to use a bag mix to make some chocolate chip cookies thinking there was no way I could mess these up right??? Wrong! Again I have little lump cookies that didn't spread. I'm sure it is because my butter was too cold, but hey it's getting late and after melting the first stick I wasn't willing to risk going for softer. However, these cookies taste better than the middle school batch so someone will be forced to eat them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Everyone has been doing thankful posts on fb and it got me to thinking about what I'm thankful for...

• I'm thankful I have Ben to love me even though I can't have him close all the time.
• My crazy girls. They really make me laugh and remind me how special life is.
• My mom (who else can you call 10 times while preparing for turkey day and she is still happy you called) and the rest of my family I can't wait to see at Christmas!
• That my renters are almost living up to their name.
• So thankful I have wonderful friends to share the holiday with.
• To the Navy for taking us to so many places to meet so many wonderful people that I treasure.

I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! Please enjoy your families and be happy they are there to make you crazy :o)

Why I should write things down

So last night as I was laying in bed trying to drift off to sleep at a somewhat decent hour I came up with a great idea for a blog post on...something, I think it was about family and thinking about the future. Anyway when that one comes back to my brain I will post about it. In the mean time I will try to post on a few things I have been putting off while I was trying to soak in as much of Ben as I could while he was still around. We were really busy with the girls this summer so I will post some fun pictures soon.

Hope everyone is well...and hug your family or dog or friend it makes you feel good.

KBSWOC Cookbook

In case you were wondering why I haven't been posting...I have been completely consumed with a new volunteer project. I took on being the chair of the Kings Bay Submarine Officers' Wives' Club Ways and Means Committee this year. And I am having a blast!

I remember when I worked in corporate America there were always volunteer opportunities available to me so I didn't have to put forth a lot of effort to help out. Then when I wasn't working I didn't make the effort and didn't realize how much of an impact helping others can have on your level of happiness.

So the committee and I have put together a bunch of donation drives, fundraisers, and service projects to keep us involved in our community over the next year. 100% of the proceeds raised throughout the year will be distributed to local non-profit organizations through the KBSOWC Community Grants Program in May. The application deadline is April 1, 2010 please visit kingsbaysowc.com for more information on the program or an application.

We came up with this great idea of putting together a cookbook for a fundraiser. So over the past month we have compiled, edited, sorted, proofed, proofed, and proofed 300 wonderful recipes. Meanwhile, one of our members painted a gorgeous cover for us.

In case you are wondering the cookbooks will be available in November and cost $20 +$3.95 shipping if you live out of state. The cookbook is 7 x 9 inches, bound with a 3 ring binder, and a beautiful full color cover. Please let me know if you are interested in purchasing one so we are sure to order enough :o)

And here is a recent photo of Ben the girls...Morgan's hair is finally growing out.

Things I loved about today

Cuddling with my girls first thing in the morning and listening to them tell each other about their dreams.

Spending time with a good friend.

Being present for the first time a boy told Morgan he loved her...and all she had to say was "WHAT???"

Being productive.

Having dinner with the family at Chick-fil-a and watching the girls discuss whether they want ice cream cones or cups through the glass.

Playing wii with my most favorite person in the whole world...even though he beat me, again!

Okay, Okay!

It is so wonderful to know that you all are actually reading my blog. I am so sorry to be behind. We are headed to Sea World this weekend, but I promise when I get back I will post about Morgan's birthday, recent visitors and whatever else has been keeping me from blogging.

Overheard: Growing up

Me: Someday you will be able to trim your own nails.
Nora: When I get big?
Me: Yeah, but you should enjoy being a girl.
Her: Why? Because when I grow up I'm going to be a boy?

Super Cute Burgers

My very sweet and cute neighbor Brittney made these yummy treats on the 4th of July and I thought it was too cute not to share. I'm not sure how anyone with a newborn in the house has the time or energy for this sort of thing, but they looked and tasted great!

For full directions visit http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2009/06/fast-food-fun.html

Family Time

Ben recently returned from sea and had some much needed time off. We did lots of sight seeing around town and headed to Atlanta for a family vacation. I have always wanted to go to the World of Coke Museum and Ben wanted to go to a baseball game so off we went. We didn't make it to the game, but the Coke Museum did not disappoint.

The girls loved the aquarium and while they visited the gift shop I was able to tour the special Titanic exhibit. Upon entering the exhibit they give you a boarding pass with a name on it and tell you to check at the end to see if "you" lived. This really affected me as I was watching kids run around joking about how they died. But those were real people with real families that froze to death for no reason. I just felt like they deserved more respect than that.

We also toured the CNN Center, visited the Underground, & the Zoo. It was a very busy couple of days, but very fun!

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Visti from the Mayo's

One of the nice things about Navy life is meeting wonderful people along the way. One of the first couples we met was Jeremy and Katie Mayo. They had their first baby just before leaving Charleston and moving to the West coast. Ben met up with them once out there, but I hadn't seen them for years. They were on their way to FL last month and paid us a visit. It was so great to catch up with them and spend some time with their adorable kiddos! We hit the pool and the zoo while they were here.

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Paradise 2009

My cousin Todd seems to be missing my blog so here are some photos from our trip to Paradise. You loyal blog readers will remember that last year we were lucky enough to be invited along to Paradise last minute by my friend Mary, but this year we planned it while our husbands were off fighting the war (yes, we feel mildly guilty about this). I was worried that last year we hyped the trip up too much and maybe it wasn't as wonderful as we remembered and going again would in some way taint the memory, but I am happy to report that it was just as fabulous this year!!!

Thank you Mary and Hannah for sharing Paradise with us again this year, we had a great time!

Funniest Commercial EVER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOBdTP9ZB-I