We are moving to...

The phone call finally came. Matt was reclined in the dentist chair when the phone rang. Luckily, he made it outside to get the GREAT news. We are moving to SAN DIEGO! Matt will be flying the MH-60R Seahawk. I don’t know much about this helicopter, but I’ll have plenty of time to learn. I just know that it was Matt’s first choice and our first choice in location. We feel extremely luckily, because this is not always the case. The stars just aligned.

 

We will be moving in two weeks and over the next couple of days we will be celebrating Matt’s winging with family and friends. I will make sure to take lots of pictures of the festivities. Until then, here are some pictures of our future home:)

 

San Diego Zoo (picture taken from Beach Haven Inn)

Petco Park, Home of the Padres (pictures taken from Baseballparks.com)

Historic Gaslamp Districts (picture taken from WildNatureImages.com

One of the many San Diego beaches (picture taken from San Diego Traveller)

Dude Activities

My husband is really a "guys guy". He loves greasy large portioned food, sports, beer, and time with his dude friends. In the past I will ask him if I can hang out with the guys since they're my friends too and he'll reply with a "dudes, dudes, dudes" chant as if that's a complete sentence that I'm supposed to understand.

Unlike the stereotypical man profile, Nick loves to cook and asks for more kitchen appliances than me and he's also semi into fashion and shopping. Still with that being said...he'd rather eat a meatball sub (his favorite food) than risotto and would rather see the phillies play than go shopping for new jeans. Personally I think he's a wonderful balance :)

So when it comes to his birthday, which was last week, I usually try to steer towards sports and his favorite man foods. This year I tapped a little into each of his interests. We went to a restaurant...well I would call it more of a "joint" called 99 Miles to Philly in the East Village. It has philly-style cheesesteaks and pays homage to all things Philadelphia with old sports photos, memorabilia, tastykakes, and they really make the cheesesteak right. They have Amoroso's rolls shipped up from Philly, which according to Nick make the cheesesteak authentic. They ask you if you want American cheese, provolone, or whiz (cheese whiz) and if you want "wit or witout" which means with onions or without onions. So I ordered mine: "One wiz witout"

It's a science people.

Then we shared delicious waffle fries and had some beers at a bar near our apartment with some friends! YES WE HAVE FRIENDS! :D finally.

I got Nick some Phillies pilsner glasses (sports/beer), PF Flyers (fashion), and tickets to the NY Rangers - Philadelphia Flyers hockey game at Madison Square Garden this past sunday (sports). Flyers won 4-2! So there you have it - that's how I attempt to give my husband a great birthday. The only thing missing in my opinion is a birthday cake with candles...he doesn't like cake (crazy!)...so I bought him some sugar cookies from Carlos' Bakery (the Cake Boss bakery) stuck a candle in the middle of a pile of cookies and sang for him...haha. I like traditions so it had to be done.

Love from the city!

99 Miles to Philly


happy bday guy who cut his thumb chopping onions this week...ouch!


flyers vs. rangers


madison square garden


pretty good seats, got them from a guy on craigslist!




the garden..."worlds most famous arena" might be a bit much...what about the Colosseum??

Where in the world...

Remember that television show that was popular in the 90s, Carmen San Diego. When we heard that theme song, Chris and I would run to the television - similar to Ralphie in A Christmas Story when he heard Little Orphan Annie on the radio - words could not express the excitement. Trying to solve the mystery was one of the great highlights of the day (another one of our favorites was Ghostwriter, does anyone remember that one?!).  Well, I have been singing the Carmen San Diego tune in my head for the past week. Ever since we have turned in our wish list, my personal theme song has been “Where in the world is the Navy sending us” (sung, of course, with hints of terror and excitement).

 

Any day now, Matt will get a phone call. The person on the other line will tell us where we will spend the next three years of our lives. One month from now we will be living somewhere else, but we have no idea where it will be. Sure, we have tried to figure out the system and predict where we will be headed – the class last week all went to Jacksonville, well that guy wants East Coast, we heard there were international spots – but in reality we know that it is a crap shoot. There is absolutely no way of knowing what is going on in the minds of the selection officers.

So we wait, and wait, and wait. We wait until for that inevitable phone call that will change our lives forever.

 

Military life is anything but boring:)

 

Here is how we are occupying our time...

Frisbee time

She's good at catch, not so good at release

What better way to pass the time than with growlers from Pensacola Brewery.

Matt got a Kindle for his birthday! I'm still old school.

I look calm, but looks can be deceiving.

Cheers to having no idea what tomorrow will bring!

Super (bowl) weekend

I had to do it. But really, it was a super weekend. After a relaxing Friday night, I got together with the girls on Saturday and went to the first inaugural Milton roller derby game (or tournament or match, still not sure of the specifics). It was exactly as you would expect – ridiculous (ly awesome)!  Instead of trying to impress you with my newly acquired roller derby knowledge, here is a link to the history/rules/etc.

 

To be honest, I left the derby and still had no idea how points were scored or the difference between a jammer or a blocker. Mostly I enjoyed seeing the pushing, shoving, and attempts to maintain balance while flying around the rink on eight wheels. 

 

One thing that I did learn was to steer clear of the suicide section. Yep, there is a suicide section and it is exactly as it sounds. The Milton roller rink does not have sidewalls, so the crowd creates the barrier. Meaning that there was nothing to stop a barreling girl when she slams into the ground on two roller skates. It was recommended that no children sit in the front row, which I think was probably a good thing. Needless to say, I need to brush up on the sport before the next derby. I am now moving Whip It to the top of my Netflix queue.

 

To cap off the weekend, we had friends over to celebrate the Superbowl. Even though Leslie and my beloved Philadelphia Eagles were not in the game, I figured we still should celebrate over drinks and wings with friends! It was so much fun that it was worth having to chug endless amounts of caffeine on Monday morning.

 

On a side note, maybe Leslie should try roller derby as a way to relieve stress. It seems liked a good way to burn off a little steam. Thoughts…

 

Emerald Coast Rollers

The girls

Superbowl Sangria

Home-made wings, way better than store-bought wings

The celebration continues...

Two is good, but three is better.

Balancing Act

Life is a balancing act...that much I have learned in the past 2 months. I don't even have kids and I feel overwhelmed sometimes...I can't even imagine how to balance that. Some people look like they can do it all...spend time with friends, cook, take time to be creative, work out, excel at their career. All I can say is do these people sleep??

I'm not a type A, never have been...never will, but I'm type A about certain parts of my life and that includes my job, a clean house, and good relationships. Honestly right now I am finding it pretty hard to get caught up with work and learn a new job while making sure to prioritize family and friends. Not to mention hobbies...what's "exercise" again? I know it's about making your priorities but sometimes everything seems important. I am trying to carve out time to catch up with family and girlfriends...pay attention to my husband in our free time while still being a good employee. Now I understand why there is so much talk about the pressure of being "superwomen"....it's true!

I know that if my job was less stressful or I wasn't new to it that I wouldn't feel this way. So at least I know it's temporary. The new york area also breeds a mentality of work work work...people are hustling and bustling to and from work...long hours...trying to be 1 step above or ahead everyone else. I love the drive and ambition, but ever wonder what's the point?! I keep telling myself that the point is to make $$ to enable us to do enjoyable things in life and then eventually enjoy retirement!

Through my deep breaths, headaches, to-do lists, and a few tears...I remember I'm lucky to have a wonderful support system around me. Personally and professionally. I'm also lucky enough that my career allows me to drink on the job and that always helps the day end well ;) hahaha.

This is honestly what's been going on with my life recently...so interesting or not...it's my blog for the week. All I can say, is these pictures help me remember what life is all about...plus talking to Casey is always the best, she never fails to come through and even sends me articles like this.

family and my ridiculously cute niece, caroline...who's new found laugh almost made me pee my pants laughing over skype this weekend. she's the happiest baby I've ever met!



sweet and incredibly supportive hubby and cuddly soft dog who's affection is always welcome (although him being on the couch is no longer welcome!)


girlfriends, champagne, and celebrations...Allison and Barbara celebrating Allison's engagement in NYC (they came up from DC for the night)!!


i like my job. i like my job. repeat...

Finito

Done. Finished. Through. Completed.

 

Matt had his last flight for flight school on Monday evening. Words cannot express how excited we are that he is finished. He missed the next winging class by one day, so he will now get his coveted “Wings of Gold” on Friday, February 25^th.

 

I have put in my three weeks notice at work and we have started planning a celebration cruise. Secretly, I have also started (who am I kidding, I have been looking since we moved here) at the places that we can be assigned to next. The options are San Diego, Jacksonsville, Norfolk, Hawaii, Japan, or Guam. We will find out in two weeks where they are sending us next. Until then, let the celebration continue…

 

A celebratory drink. To be fair, he didn't know it looked that girly when he ordered.

Cheers to us!

Reason #37 why I love living by the beach.

Football Fever

Living in the South during football season is quite the experience. In the past two years we have lived in Texas and Florida during the fall season. It is a little like living in a Friday Night Lights episode (speaking of which, I really need to catch up on this show!) Luckily, Matt and I are huge football fans so this works out well for us. However, we are not Texas, Florida, Auburn, Alabama, or FSU fans, so that is a little unfortunate. When we lived a little farther up north, I felt like the majority of people got excited for NFL games. In the South, it is all about college ball. 

 

This past weekend we joined the troops in celebrating college football and traveled up to Mobile, Alabama with our good friends, Sam and Russ, for the Senior Bowl. Seniors from college teams all across the country come to Alabama to showcase their talent. There are recruiters from every NFL team watching the game and the practices leading up to the game. Therefore, we knew it wasn’t going to be a “Pro Bowl” type game.

 

Early Saturday, we got decked out in our Hokie gear (to support the one Hokie in the game, Rashad Carmichael, only to find out once we were there that he did not attend the game – awesome), loaded up the car with beer, snacks, and corn hole, and hit the road. Unlike Leslie, we have had perfect weather here in Florida (I swear, I’m not rubbing it in;)). On Saturday it was sunny and in the 70s – perfect tailgating weather. They advertise “world class tailgating” at the Senior Bowl and, although I’m not sure I agree with the “world class” tagline, it certainly was a good time. Here are some pictures to prove itJ

 

World class tailgating

Wouldn't be a tailgate without Virginia Tech corn hole

Note to self: If you forget a bottle opener, the side of the chair will suffice.

Pretending we are at Lane Stadium eating a turkey leg

North vs. South

One stop shop. Combination bike shop, Mexican food, and Sushi restaurant. For real.

We heart Mobile.