7 Quick Takes: Easter Trip Photo Dump

Our trip back to my home state of Georgia, told mostly in pictures.

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A total trooper on her first plane ride!

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Enjoying the company of flowers, friends, and family.

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A baptism. (Full immersion, baby!)

A confirmation.

And a really long and beautiful Easter Vigil.

It started at 8pm. 3 hours and 5 minutes later, it's time for the reception!

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Easter morning.

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Easter Sunday down in West Point, GA (on the Alabama border).

Cousins!

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Can't forget the kibbeh. (It's an Easter tradition!)

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The best photo of me EVER.

And a 19-year-old 3-legged cat.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

What I Miss

I'm really bad with goodbyes.  They don't really affect me too much, and I hate when people get all weepy about me leaving.  I usually see the adventure ahead of me more than the place that I might miss later.  Our most recent goodbye was rushed, but that was fine with me.  Why drag it out?

I was recently trying to think about things I'm starting to miss from the past two years down in Pensacola.  So far, it's a short list.  When thinking about that, I also started reflecting on things I actually do miss from previous homes.  I have much more clarity for those things since the dust has settled and I have those way behind me.  I thought I'd share those lists with you today.  (I'm not going to say I miss certain people or friends on any of these.  Obviously it's a given, but people are also mobile.  Most of the friends from each of these places don't live there any more anyway.)

Lawrenceville, GA (home)

• Is it bad that I can't think of anything?  Maybe that's a blessing.

Athens, GA (college)

• Free or cheap entry into a lot of great sporting events, including football and gymnastics
• Free city and campus bus system with my student ID
• Myers Quad
• Tons of stuff to do

Jacksonville, FL (AmeriCorps year)

• Main Library
• My bike (which was stolen on my last night living there)
• Ultimate frisbee pickup game on Sundays

Hampton Roads, VA

• Sacred Heart Church
• Walkable Ghent neighborhood
• Imperio Inca restaurant
• Norfolk Botanical Gardens
• Croatan beach and watching the surfers

Pensacola, FL

• St. Paul Parish
• Brie dip from Hopjacks
• Teaching Budget for Baby class
• Naval Hospital Pensacola and free healthcare
• Central Time Zone
• (To be determined with time and comparison!)

The Pensacola list was actually longer than I expected (sure as heck beat out Jax). My hometown, however . . . ouch. Sorry, Lawrenceville!

7 Quick Takes (Empire State of the South Edition)

— 1 —

We're in Georgia this weekend!  We really have no reason to keep hanging around in Florida, and to be honest, I was getting kind of homesick and bored.  I also wanted to meet my friend's little girl that was born in June, so here we are!  It's just for the weekend, but I'm also attending my 10-year high school reunion.  It's being held at the tavern in the town square.  No, I'm not from Stars Hollow, I promise.  But we do have a pretty nice gazebo . . .

— 2 —

My sister will probably be annoyed to hear this, but I have an awesome Mary Kay consultant.  My sister used to sell Mary Kay back when I completely refused to wear make-up.  So my friend Jiza became my MK consultant during my time in Virginia, which coincided with me deciding to become a bit more "put together" (shall we say).  She's another Navy nuke wife, and she does free shipping and handling, so it's been easy to keep buying from her even though we are now many states apart.  She has amazing customer service, too.  My order actually got kinda screwed up (not in a big way or anything), and she threw in all these other fun goodies for me, including a full-sized lip gloss!  You should check out her Mary Kay shop, since she is currently doing an inventory 50% off right now before she moves to Japan!  Oh, she also has a cute little blog.

— 3 —

Speaking of fun products and good people, have you entered my Lilla Rose giveaway yet?  It closes tomorrow at midnight, so you might wanna get on that now.

— 4 —

We have achieved full swaddle wean!  Yes, we are the crazies who had a baby still swaddled at 7 months old.  (She was in the larger-sized velcro SwaddleMe.)  Last week she hit a turning point.  I think it definitely happened because she could roll both ways now.  Even though she had always been a big hater of tummy time, she now rolls over and sleeps on her stomach.  She finally gets to wear footie pajamas now, too!  In the swaddle we just used a onesie so she wouldn't get too hot.

We had to add the bumpers in due to a variety of factors that were waking her up.
She can roll, so I'm not too worried.

 — 5 —

I went to a big seasonal consignment sale last week and got some amazing deals!  This is the same one I went to last year, so I knew it would be successful.  Here's the haul I got for just under $100.  The dress on the right still had the tags on it and will be baby's Christmas dress!  I also got her a Halloween costume :)

I got that ride-on toy in the back right for FIVE dollars!  She already loves just sitting on it.

— 6 —

As for being back in Georgia, I got to see my niece again last night.  She'll be 2 in December (sorry, I stop counting months around 18).  Her hair has been growing, and this child has a pretty crazy mullet now!  My sister tried putting her hair in a ponytail, and it was adorable for a minute . . . until my niece yanked it out.  Oh well, long live the mullet.

 — 7 —

This made me laugh:

For more Quick Takes, check out Conversion Diary.

The Olympics!

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the Olympics starting tonight?

I have a long history of love for the Olympic games, starting precisely 20 years ago.  It was then that I cheered on my favorite gymnasts Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes at the Barcelona games.  I was 8 years old and living in Atlanta then, which had already gotten the bid for the 1996 games.  My mom bought me a little t-shirt with the Olympic rings on it that I wore proudly.  I may even still own that shirt.

And, oh, the 1996 games.  It still amazes me that I just lived in the right place at the right time.  Instead of taking a vacation that summer, we went to the Games!  My 12th birthday was the beginning of that summer, and I asked my mom to decorate my cake with the Olympic rings.  I got her to copy them perfectly, too--every over and under of interlocking was meticulously inspected by me to make sure they were right.  She even made black icing for that one ring, which is a feat in and of itself.  I can now spot phony rings from a mile away.

My mom also found us a way to volunteer our way into those games, due to our Girl Scout connection.  I got to volunteer at tennis, archery, and cycling.  The events we went to with tickets were gymnastics, women's basketball, the gold medal baseball game (RIP, Olympic baseball), and equestrian.  Some of my family from Florida came into town to join in the fun as well.  I remember getting up bright and early one morning and heading downtown to watch the men's marathoners run by, too!

Atlanta's mascot Izzy still remains my favorite!

Then after those Olympics were over, we went to the Paralympics!  Table tennis, volleyball, and have you ever seen someone swim with no legs?  I have, and they were way faster than I am.  I think the best part about the Paralympics was that we got to attend the closing ceremony.  I have very fond memories of the summer of 1996.

A phoenix named Blaze was the mascot of the 1996 Paralympics.
Perfect fit for both Atlanta and the paralympic athletes.

As for now, I had to explain to B how much I love the Olympics.  You would think he might have known that already, but in actuality, he was deployed during the last two Olympics.  That means the Games helped me cope with the crazy Navy lifestyle.  The Beijing ones fell right around the halfway mark of his first deployment, and the 2010 Winter Olympics started the day he left.  I went over to a friend's house to watch the opening ceremonies and was so caught up in the Games for a bit that I forgot to be sad about his leaving until two weeks later.  (Yeah, that is how to kick a deployment's butt!)

In case you were wondering about those funky London mascots . . .

So, what about you?  Are you excited for the Olympics or just indifferent?  My only bummer is that I won't be able to watch the Opening Ceremony tonight, as I was invited for a fun night out with friends (and no baby!) to see my friend perform in a musical.  I guess I'll catch it later, but starting tomorrow, my bum will be glued to the couch soaking in all of the amazing achievements of the best athletes in the world!

Some Life Updates

I figured it's about time to just let y'all know what's going on around here.

Last week, we celebrated a lot!

First, B's 29th birthday was on the 8th.

Those are birthday brownies from a box.  I'm not super-mom over here.

Then on Thursday evening, we drove back to my hometown in Georgia.  That means that Cora gets to cross another state off her list!  Friday was spent sinking a bunch of money into repairing my car (new alternator and water pump, ugh), and then on Saturday we had not one, but TWO big celebrations of faith.

My nephew/godson received his First Communion:

That's him kneeling in the first row.  I got a video of the whole thing even though I wasn't supposed to :)

And then that same afternoon, my precious baby girl was baptized!

She's wearing the gown that both my sister and I were baptized in!

We did two cakes, one from Publix for my nephew, and I decorated the one for Cora.  It's not awesome, but I think I did an okay job.

The more important part is that it was YUMMY and got gobbled up very quickly!

B had his D.C. trip early this week, so Cora and I dropped him off at the airport on Monday morning, and went on an adventure!  I did this last year on the same weekend after my niece's baptism and regretted going to somewhere a bunch of field trip students were.  So this year I steered clear of touristy places and a friend joined Cora and me for our first IKEA trip.

I wish I lived near one so I could just go there for breakfast all the time!

I got a handful of toys and toy storage and picture frames, and it was great!  This is totally my type of store.

After that side trip, I had to drive back to Pensacola on my own with baby.  It really wasn't so bad.  She's gotten a lot more efficient at nursing, so we just took our time and didn't do bottles since I would have had to pump if we did.  We only made two stops, so it worked out just fine!

Other than our travels, the big deal in our household right now is B's job hunt.  He signed up with another headhunting agency, which I think has had someone call him almost every day.  He's going to a big job conference in Baltimore next week, where he'll be interviewing with a handful of companies he matches.  If you're the prayin' kind, please add him to your list next Tuesday!  It absolutely freaks me out that wherever we end up moving to in just a few short months could be our FOREVER home.  I want him to have a good job and all, but I guess my role as wife and mom is to make sure we end up somewhere that has a good environment for families and preferably good schools.

And just because she's stinkin' cute, here's a recent picture of Cora:

Georgia shower recap

Well, I've officially been back from Georgia since Tuesday night, but I have been soooo exhausted all week!

I'm glad I went for as long as I did, but it seems the recovery is taking as long as the trip itself.  Driving the 6 hours by myself while 7 months pregnant really wasn't too difficult.  I had to force myself to walk around more at the stops, but that was about it.

Saturday was the shower.  My MIL and her sister (B's aunt) actually drove down from Indiana to attend!  That was so cool of them.  You can totally tell it's the first grandbaby for my MIL.

My sister totally listened to my wishes ("demands" as she probably would say), and this was the cake she got Publix to make:

Woohoo, not a cake wreck!  Check it against my previous post to see how they did!

Speaking of my sister, she called my new shape "disgusting" because I haven't blown up and it just looks like I have a basketball stuffed under my shirt.  I've been thin my whole life, so she took full advantage of this rare opportunity to refer to me as "Fatso."  Gotta love sisters!

This was me modeling and twirling for everyone to cut the ribbon to estimate the size of my belly.

Most people's guesses were WAYYYY too big, but one person did actually under-estimate!  That was pretty nice.

And here's a decent belly shot of me turned sideways with my mom and sis:

I got, um, A LOT of gifts.  See the massive pile on the right there.

It was actually a bit overwhelming, but Baby W and I are very thankful!

 And I guess people figured out the giraffe and jungle theme pretty easily!  We got some adorable stuff:

I actually got 2 of those stuffed giraffes I'm holding.  I think I might just keep both :)

It was great being able to see everyone at the shower.  I won't be back in Georgia until after this little one is born (which is weird to think about), so it was nice to be able to catch up with everyone sans nursing/burping/diapering/etc.

After the shower ended, I ran downstairs to watch my Georgia Bulldogs beat their big rival!  Yes, we are Gator Haters in our family!  UGA doesn't win the game against Florida often, so it was beautiful.

I actually was able to stay in Georgia through Halloween and go trick-or-treating with my niece and nephew.  I decided to sport a costume using mostly borrowed items:

I guess I'm Super-Mommy (Under Construction).  The tool belt and nail apron (the green thing) are my own.  Oh, and that ridiculous shirt that B gave me.  That's my mom's flannel shirt and my nephew's construction helmet from his dress-up stuff.  He also brought me some of his Handy Manny tools (they all talk), so I threw them in there.  Then we just grabbed a bunch of stuff that was sitting in my niece's pack-n-play at my parents' house (the links, the turtle, random bottles from my sister, etc.).  The Huggies were a free sample I got in the mail--too small for my niece now, so I guess I'll hang onto them!  Yep, that was my $0-budget Halloween costume!

After trick-or-treating, my mom loaded everything into my tiny car, including some rather large hand-me-downs from my sister.  That was insane!  Mom likes a good challenge.  Everything fit though, and I only had a bit of trouble seeing out my rear window.  B helped me unload and we just spent Friday night tidying up our office/baby's room, moving things from one closet to another, and figuring out how to put together the hand-me-down swing.  When we were having trouble figuring out the swing, I said to B, "You do realize that trying to figure out these kids' toys will be a constant for the next 10 years or so, right?"  I think we have officially opened this new chapter of married life.

 

wordless wednesday: what's on parade?

In many places I've lived, some type of creature has been "on parade" around town.

Bulldogs in Athens, GA

Jaguars in Jacksonville, FL

Mermaids in Norfolk, VA

Pelicans in Pensacola, FL

Does your town have a signature creature?

music monday: my first taste of radio

On this installment of Music Monday, I am sharing the very first song I ever heard on the radio.  Yes, I remember it.  My parents are not very musical, so most car rides were accompanied with talk radio (especially Braves games) or our kiddie cassettes (Games for the Road or Cow Christmas, anyone?  anyone??).  Occasionally, my dad would bust out his Beach Boys or Gregorian chant tapes.  So other than what I was singing in church choir, that was all the music I really knew.

However, one day when I was probably in second grade, I saw an ad on television for a radio station.  I can recall a man who called himself Rhubarb* and some kids about my age jumping up and down with fake sacks of money promoting this radio station's weekly giveaway.  I was instantly transfixed and also determined to win.  [Actually, this whole experience may have been the initial catalyst that drove me to a degree in Advertising, but that's neither here nor there.]  That night, I tuned the clock radio in my bedroom to Atlanta's own Y106.7, having no idea what was in store (but secretly hoping to win a sack of money).

*Note: I had no idea what rhubarb was at the time.  Terrible Southerner, raised by Yanks.

I can't really say I immediately fell in love with the first thing I heard.  It was actually a medley of various people singing along to "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus.  Apparently this song was such a huge hit that kids younger than me were singing along to it, but I had never heard it at all before that night.  Well, you can bet that I've never forgotten it, nor the DJ named Rhubarb Jones.  I was a very faithful country music fan all the way until middle school, and I even got my family to listen to it in the car.  My sister probably became an even bigger fan than I was.

I wouldn't exactly call myself a country music fan any more (sis is though!), but I still love hearing many of those songs from my youth.  Here, I give you the one that started it all:

And, for the record, I never did win that sack of money.

open mouth, insert foot

Remember this post from a few weeks back?  The one about how I never believed my hometown would ever see snow on Christmas?  And that I would "seriously crap my pants" if it happened?

Well, if you hadn't been paying attention to the news lately, here's my self-shot 1-minute video to fill you in on the phenomenon that hadn't happened since 1882:

p.s. it doesn't officially take an inch to make it a white Christmas, I have since found out.

After experiencing it, well I wasn't all that impressed.  I mean, it's just snow.  I didn't find any "magic" in it.  It just complicated things since people freaked out about driving (meaning we had to move dinner up to early afternoon).  And nobody showed up for mass the next morning, even though there was nothing on the roads.  I still don't wanna sing a song about it or close my eyes and wish upon a star for it to happen again.  But, if anything, it gave me some small talk with my in-laws.  Whoopy doo.

However, I will note that I did not seriously or even un-seriously "crap my pants" as I claimed. Since I knew you were wondering.

millie fillie

Time for my sometimes-weekly Q&A!  B doesn't quite understand why we like to answer questions, so I just told him it was a "girl thing."

Head over to Wife of a Sailor and play along!

1. What are some things on your bucket list? (from New Girl on Post)
Well, I have my 101 list here, which has pretty much everything.  Almost everything--I left one biggie off the list.  One of my life dreams is to be a contestant on a game show.  I didn't put it on the list because I didn't think it was feasible in the next few years. 

2. How long have you been a MilSpouse and where have you been stationed so far? (from Raising Roscoe)
 I've been a milspouse for 1 year, 1 week, and 5 days (according to the ticker at the bottom of my page).  He's been stationed a few extra places before I really entered the picture, but thanks to the Navy I've lived in "Hampton Roads" (I use that term because while I was there I lived in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, AND Norfolk), Virginia, and now we're in Pensacola, Florida.

3. What is a list of songs that sums up your life so far? (from Confessions of a Sailor’s Wife)
The only one I can think of right now is "Lucky" by Jason Mraz/Colbie Caillat

4. What is your favorite kind of pizza?
I like to keep it simple.  Cheese, tomatoes, some basil, possibly throw some spinach on there. 

5. What are three good things in your life right now?

My life is good, my husband comes home every day at the same time, Mom is coming to visit next week for a day.  Boring boring boring, so I'm gonna give you three things that made me happy this week instead:

• Atlanta's own T.I. talked a man down from jumping off an Atlanta building.  He didn't make my peach-state celeb list due to his drug charges and my aversion to rap music, but I thought this was pretty cool.
• Chi chi chi!  Le le le!  The fact that they had it better down there than B ever had on the submarine is funny to me.  And the miner with both the wife and the mistress is still kinda cracking me up.  Maybe that's mean.  Actually that is mean because I know I'd be ticked if I was the wife.
•  I made doughnut muffins again, and they're still as good as ever!

top 10: peach state celebs

Time for another Top 10 Tuesday!  Feel free to join in the fun and link up by clicking this button right here.

Today's list is celebrating my home state of Georgia.  I present with you my Top 10 Fave Celebs from Georgia!  (The "Still Currently Alive" edition)

10.  The B-52s - from Athens (the BEST college town in the world)  I LOVE their quirky music and fun dance-able songs.  And the hair, gotta love the hair.
9.  Julia Roberts - from Smyrna (suburb NW of Atlanta).  How can you not love the original Pretty Woman?
8. OutKast - based in East Point (south Atlanta).  Six Grammy Awards and the reason I sing about being "so Fresh and so clean" when I get out of the shower
7.  Jeff Foxworthy - from Hapeville (Atlanta's southside, near East Point), and attended Georgia Tech.  I grew up on "You might be a redneck" jokes.  I don't think I am one though.
6.  Alton Brown - current Marietta (another ATL suburb!) resident and holds a degree in Drama from UGA.  I love his "Good Eats" show; it takes quite the talent to make the science of eating entertaining!

5.  Ty Pennington - from Marietta.  Hottest carpenter on television, hands down . . . and I may get the chance to meet him in a few weeks as I will be volunteering on the build for Extreme Makeover: Home Edition when it comes to Pensacola!
4. Herschel Walker - from Wrightsville (somewhere kinda in the middle?).  Heisman Trophy winner who helped my beloved Georgia Bulldogs win a national championship (over B's Notre Dame) in 1980, then went on to a pretty decent pro career.
3.  Ryan Seacrest - from Dunwoody (used to be part of Atlanta, became its own city in 2008), attended the same UGA Journalism School that I did (but he left before the degree to make it big).  Say what you want about his hair or sexuality, but this guy is one of the hardest-working in Hollywood.
2. Teresa Edwards - from Cairo (in the SW corner of the state, and locals pronounce it KAY-roh).  One of the best female basketball players of all time; she attended my beloved UGA (where her #5 is now retired) and played in FIVE Olympics!
1.  S. Truett Cathy - from Eatonton (sorta between Atlanta and Augusta).  Founder of Chick-Fil-A, my first job and still one of my favorite places to eat!  And I actually LOVE that they're closed on Sundays; it takes quite a bit of character to stick to your Christian values like that while simultaneously embracing the capitalistic "American Dream."

Some Honorable mentions:  Butch Walker, Trisha Yearwood, and Paula Deen

Who's your favorite Georgia celeb?