A New Day... Another Week

It has been a week since BW left. It sucked... but I am doing okay. I am back into a routine with work and making sure my weekends and days off stay busy. Had lots of fun this past weekend in Jacksonville on the beach and just relaxing and catching up on some much need rest. Working this week and looking forward to this weekend when I will be spending time with lots of the girls from the wives' club. Should be lots of fun... usually is =)

Still thinking of him and missing him.

Lots.

But, am doing okay...

And loving the anticipation for when he will

COME HOME

that is already building up.

Lots! =)

I love you, Skeeter.
I am so proud of you.

Fly Safe

Brian left yesterday.

Kinda

The squadron is in San Diego

The Carrier will pull out tomorrow

They will do some last minute qualifications

Back in San Diego for a couple days

Then

They will be underway.

The countdown starts.

I miss you, babe.

But I am so proud of you.

I know time will fly...

I am ready for it to get going though =(

All my love <3

It's the Little Things...

Sometimes it catches me off guard

How much I miss my mom.

I mean, its not like I don't think about her

Daily

And still wish she was with me...

But sometimes it just hits me

When I want to call and tell her

The littlest, silliest things.

Like this morning...

So, I will just remember

And know that she would have laughed along with me

And wish (again) that

I could make that one call that

I just can't.

I Love you, Momma

Final Countdown

With the big D-day looming ahead of us... BW and I have continued to keep all non-working days/hours packed full of fun activities and great times together. Which leads to why it has been so long since I have posted anything (that and I just got my computer back this past weekend so I need to work on getting some photos uploaded).
I will try to give a quick run-down of our latest adventures in Bluffton since we came home from our vacation...

• we both worked 3 days/nights the week after we got back... I guess it was nice to "ease" back into the regular schedule (for BW anyway)
• Farewell party for one of the guys' in the squadron at our community center. It was super fun to be together again with our squadron "family" and especially for me to see all the girls again! With the boys home we all go our separate ways and as much as I love having him home, I do miss the girl time we have when they are gone. We will miss the couple who is moving on, but wish them lots of luck and happiness! We had a blast that night at their party.
• Fourth of July... celebrated at another couple's community center with the squadron "Bluffton" friends as well as other friends. Boys and fireworks... wow, probably a bad combo! But, we had a great time, and no one was burnt!
• Lots of time spent in the sun either at our lazy river.. ahh, my favorite place!!! Or at Hilton Head Beach. Sushi dinner, pretty much a weekend tradition! We both had 5 days off over the holiday weekend so it was fun to spend it together.
• Again, back to work for the week
• Friday night we had dinner (sushi, of course) and went out in Hilton Head with a couple of the guys from the squadron
• Saturday test drove a couple cars -- BW is actually looking at maybe laying the Tahoe to rest... man I wish he would!! That evening we went to the local seafood store and bought some shrimp and craw fish to take home for dinner. WOW! I have a new favorite!!! This was my first experience with craw fish (BW had had them in New Orleans one time before) and I L.O.V.E. them!!! Plus, it is always so much fun to have the guys come over and cook up some seafood and sit out on the patio and enjoy the weather and food. We went that night and saw the 80s cover band that the boys' are in love with, always a good time.
• Sunday was a nice relaxing day... some time at the lazy river, an afternoon nap for me =) a bike ride with BW, Layla and I (which, just FYI means I pedaled my little heart out and BW just sat on his bike holding Layla's leash as she runs). Dinner with BW and the roommate... overall a great day!
• and now it is back to work again

We have been able to re-organize some things at the house to help with putting away more of my things. And we are now looking forward to another weekend (maybe even to include... more craw fish and sushi =) yum!) at the end of this long work week to spend together.. I know there are probably 150,387 things that will need to be done to "get ready" but I am looking forward to just being together. Everything else will fall into place.... which means, I will take care of it later =)

Our emotions are both running a little crazy... stress not only from the big day looming over us, but we both have stress from work things as well. We are adjusting... and doing the best that, I think, can be expected. I will try to get some pictures uploaded... we will see if I can find that kind of time =) Have a great week!

Home Again

Wow! What a great time we had on vacation. 10 whole days of time for BW and I to spend together was amazing... more than any other time in our relationship... although by the end it was nice to have other friends around for each of us to talk to =) So, a quick run-down of our time...

Carnival Cruise

Jacksonville, FL to The Bahamas (Nassau and Freeport)

We had a blast on the cruise! We had both been on cruises before with friends, obviously mine just a few weeks ago =) So it was nice to go with just the two of us. The sun was shining and it was warm every day, except for a short afternoon shower in Nassau it was all sun! We spent lots of time by the pool, made a couple new friends who were at our dinner table (aka the kids' table), wandered around The Bahamas visiting The Atlantis, snorkeling, shopping in the straw markets, seeing the beaches and crystal clear water... wow, it was fabulous. And the time off to just be together and relax without distractions like places to go, people to see and CELL PHONES was just what we needed. I cannot wait to go on another cruise =) ... and with him!

Phoenix, Arizona

Visiting his family

The day after we came home from the cruise we flew out bright and early* to Phoenix/Scottsdale to visit with BW's family and friends. We spent a few shorts days (only 2 nights) in AZ so it was quick. Tuesday we spent visiting with his mom and that evening she made a wonderful dinner of steaks (for BW), salmon, king crab legs and tater tots (also for BW). YUM!! That night we spent the evening with a friend from TX who now lives there and one of BW's childhood friends, lots of fun. Wednesday we went over to hang out with BW's dad and spent some time enjoying the heat at the pool. That evening we all went up to Desert Mountain and looked at million-dollar houses, I picked out one or two =) Then we had dinner at Apache, also very yummy. Another night spent with the guys from the night before, this time it was "Wii Wednesday" at the bar so we played some Wii games for awhile... not BW's favorite thing =) Thursday morning we were able to go see his sister's new house and visit with her before heading to the airport to fly to San Diego! Quick trip, yes, but it was nice for him to get to visit with his family before deployment.

*I don't do mornings... and a 730a flight means getting up at 515a... not a fan*

San Diego, California

Rob & Siouxsie's Wedding

We spent the weekend back in beautiful San Diego, CA with lots of friends we had not seen in over a year or more. The weather was gorgeous when we arrived and it was like "coming home" (I know I have said that before, but it still was!) and we were both so happy to be back. We checked into our hotel, made a few phone calls to start rallying the troops and then headed to our favorite sushi restaurant in PB and had dinner. Amazing. After dinner we met up with a couple of my girls and then all headed downtown to meet up with the friends in town for the wedding. What a crazy fun night... It is always so much fun to see old friends, and I love seeing BW with his old friends and having so much fun. Friday we spent some time at the pool, ate some In-N-Out, a CA must! And then went to see the soon-to-be newlyweds' new house and just relax a little with them. Friday evening we met up with Doug & Michelle who had just arrived in town and the four of us enjoyed a beautiful southern California sunset from the ocean-view seating at George's in La Jolla. The food was fabulous and the time together always enjoyable. That night we met up again with friends in PB for a little while before heading home. Saturday we all hung out at the pool again for the day before the wedding, which was very nice on the first hole of the golf course. The reception was fun with all the gang together again and we hung out late into the night. Sunday it was up and out to get to the airport for our full day of travel back home, including a 3-hr layover in Houston... as much as we love Texas I think we both could have done without that. Oh well, it was nice to have that time alone together again before heading back to real life.

Now we are both back to work, finishing our work week with me at work tonight actually, and will both be off all weekend. We have lots going on this weekend (not that that is unusual I guess) with a Farewell for one of the fun couples in the squadron =( Thursday night and then a huge 4th of July / Going Away Bash on Saturday. BW and I are both off work Thurs through Mon so that should be nice and hopefully we will be able to get some things done around the house as well that need to be done within the next few short weeks...

Happy 4th of July!

By the way... my computer is still lost in the land of FedEx (not my favorite company right now, but that is another story... ahem) so I am unable to upload all the wonderful pictures I have from these 10 days and share some favorites with you. My hope is to at least get them uploaded to BW's computer this weekend and then share them from there until my computer finds its way back home to me...