NEWS FLASH...I am an Aunt! Caroline has arrived!

I think being an Aunt is going to be my favorite new role...mostly because my niece is the sweetest little cupcake and the most special tiny peanut out there.

While I was in Richmond on Sept. 18th visiting friends, I got a call from my brother, Andy that Shannon had had a little girl! I was really really surprised because Shannon wasn't due for another 6 weeks...also a little worried to make sure everything was ok, but mostly ecstatic to hear the news!

As the day went on we heard updates on how mom and the baby were doing and everything continued to sound positive. She was a little thing coming in at 4lbs 6oz! The next day we heard her name...Caroline Elizabeth Smith...so pretty.

Shannon stayed in the hospital till the following Wednesday while Caroline was in the special care nursery for about a week and a half. She was very pink and healthy while gaining weight steadily and feeding like a champ!

The week in between when she was born and when we headed to Boston..i was dying of anticipation to meet her. We headed up on Friday night...baby gifts in hand and got to spend a lot of time in the hospital visiting with Caroline and her new parents on Saturday afternoon and then again briefly on Sunday. She was soooo tiny and asleep, but we got to see her get fed and burp and hold her for the first time!

Last week I got to snuggle with her after she had come home and she is doing great!! getting bigger and bigger...smiling a little and has started to open her eyes and look up me :) She is sooo little and snuggly - i love holding her! i think she likes her aunt leslie because every time i gave her a little kiss on her sweet cheek she smiled! She also stopped fussing when i held her and rocked her a little...then I gave her a high five when the eagles scored and told her we would go shopping together one day. So I'm pretty sure I'm her favorite aunt...even if I'm her only aunt, haha.

Mom and Dad Smith are doing great and getting the hang of changing diapers, feeding, burping and doing all things baby. Now she's over 5lbs and getting cuter by the day...can't wait till we get to see her again!

Our Visit in the Hospital





Now that she's home...up to date pics Shannon has sent us during the week.
With socks on!


Smiling


wide awake!

Girl Time

One of the hardest parts of moving away from Northern Virginia was leaving my girlfriends. I have the most amazing group of friends (case in point, Leslie, my blog buddy, isn’t she awesome!) In Arlington I always had a friend who was willing to have a girls’ night filled with rom com’s and red wine or get dressed up for a night out on the town (or just another trip to Clarendon Ballroom.) Although living with Matt and Karl is great, they do not have the same appreciation for my Thursday night tv/wine sessions (Project Runway, Grey’s, Private Practice, Real Housewives, Always Sunny - my DVR cannot possibly keep up…) Sometimes you just need a girlfriend and, lucky for me, the past couple of weeks I have been able to have some much needed girl time!

Three weeks ago, Tina came down for a visit. I absolutely loved having her here. Her arrival coincided with the season premiere of all of our favorites shows that we were used to watching together in our little Birchwood apartment. Now instead of BBMing about them (BBM example: What do you think of Heidi’s shag bangs?), we could critique everything from my couch. It was perfect! We spent time at the beach, the bars, and had some Blackwater Bistro pizza! I hated to see her go, but I get to see her in another week, so everything worked outJ

In addition to my fabulous visit, I have also made a great group of friends here in Milton. Ask anyone in the military and they will tell you that one of the best things about being in the service (or married to someone in the service) is meeting new friends. I especially enjoy my military spouses because they understand what it is like to be away from family, to change jobs every six months, and to deal with the sometimes-ridiculousness of the military life. They understand that sometimes you just need a break from it all! And that is exactly what we did this past Saturday night. Four other wives and I booked a hotel room at Pensacola Beach’s newest hotel, Margaritaville! We dressed up, went to a nice dinner, visited the Landshark bar, and spent the rest of the night bonding over drinks in the hotel room. It was a perfect girls’ night from the multiple outfit choices to the risqué dinner conversation that had people staring;) Even though all of us will be leaving here in the next couple of months, it is possible that we could end up in the same area. I sure hope so, because we already have plans to go to Vegas when the boys deployJ

Spending this past Saturday night with the girls made me realize how much I missed my girls’ only nights. Luckily I do not have to wait long until another one because this weekend I am headed to NYC to spend the entire weekend with Leslie and Tina!

PS – Matt and Karl do their best to be my substitute ‘girl’ friends. Karl watches Glee with me and, sometimes, Matt will even judge a Project Runway outfit. Thanks, guys!

At Peg Leg Pete's drinking Bushwacker's

Group shot

Pensacola Seafood Festival

Girls' Night at Margaritaville!

Pre-dinner

I had lobster mac and cheese - LOBSTER MAC AND CHEESE!

Jimmy Buffet's Landshark bar - complete with hammocks and beach bonfires

The view from our hotel room - sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I live here!

Home Sweet Home

Since we have been here for a couple of months, I thought that it would be nice to give you a little tour of our house. Even though we don’t know how long we will be here, I still think that it is important to make our house feel like a home. We can’t paint the walls, hang too many pictures, or plant any flowers, but it is amazing what some indoor plants and candles will do for a house. Enjoy the tour…

Welcome to our Hokie house!

Come on in...

Study table - previously known as our kitchen table - you will usually find Matt on one side and Karl on the other with books spread allllll over

Notice the 70s style fake fire - we thought it was appropriate since it has dropped below 80 degrees

My island

Mave aka man cave

Come visit and you will stay in this room

Our room - notice Sadie's Hokie bed

Oh how I love our double sinks

Walk through closets - I couldn't take a picture of Matt's side;)

My favorite big girl purchase

Hope you enjoyed the tour - now I am going to go enjoy a glass of wine on our little porch:)

Just another Florida weekend

Weekends are precious here in Florida (as I’m sure they are everywhere else), but I especially love them because for two nights Matt does not need to be studying. Friday and Saturday nights are ours! No aviation manual, no emergency procedures, and no Whiting Field. This weekend was especially fun because we got to celebrate my birthday and spend a lot of time with friends.

We celebrated my birthday on Friday night with dinner at Fish House. If you are ever in the Pensacola area, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. It is amazing. It is my type of place – Christmas lights, water views, outside bar, live music, amazing food. Their specialty is Grits a Ya Ya – shrimp served over smoked Gouda cheese grits smothered with wonderfulness. This is the first time that I have had grits and, let me say, it will not be the last! There is nothing like fantastic food and wine to make for a perfect birthday celebration.

We woke up early early early on Saturday morning to do a Marine Corps Aviation 5k. I signed up with a couple of friends and at the last minute (6:30 a.m.) convinced Matt to do the race with me. We finished before it got too hot, thank god! We were proud to represent Navy with all those Marines;)

After hours of napping and football, we headed over to Rick and Sara's place for smoked pork butt (I just like saying it – I know – I’m five) and a bonfire. They had been smoking the pork for hours and it was amazing. At times like this, I love being in the South! We then walked down the street to a backyard bonfire and spent the next couple of hours hanging out around the fire. It didn’t quite feel like a crisp Fall night, but there were a couple of cool breezes around midnight and plenty of Octoberfest!

Sunday morning was spent in the search of a perfect bagel. We have tried and tried and have not been able to get a good bagel (or Chinese food) in either Texas or Florida. This weekend we tried out Bagelheads and even though it was good, it was pretty expensive. So the search continues. Boy do we miss Brooklyn Bagel! We then headed to the Dog Beach for awhile with Sadie and met some new friends. That is one thing that I love about the military; everyone is so friendly! We met another couple and within an hour we had exchanged numbers, became Facebook friends, and talked about plans to hang out next.

It was such a fun weekend here in Florida. And even though it is only Tuesday, I’m already counting the days until this coming weekend. It is going to be a special one because Tina is coming!!!

Until then, love from Florida!

The Fish House

Only picture we got of ourselves before the camera died - perfect timing

GO NAVY!

It doesn't matter how fast you go, just that you go...

You know that you are in the South when...

The Marines had to run in formation - pretty cool

There is just something about fire...

And it only took a couple of beers before he was convinced to try this one.

Oh the places you'll go....with Sam Adams!

Sometimes my job causes me to travel to new and interesting places! I've been to The Bahamas, Annapolis, Ocean City MD, Atlantic City NJ, West Virginia, all over VA, and DC, and of course Boston.

Now my newest position is causing me to travel in the Northeast a little more. In the 8 months I've been here, I've been all over NYC, Hoboken and northern NJ, the Hudson Valley and Westchester County (suburbs of NYC), Brooklyn, Coney Island, and most recently Saratoga Springs, NY!

I headed to Saratoga Springs for our 2010 division meeting and loved it! Such a nice charming town. It's big draw is the 40 days during the summer when the horse racetrack is open which luckily is when we were visiting. We headed to the races one afternoon and had a blast...even though I lost $30 in betting. Horse betting is so complicated...there are so many combinations and ways to bet. The town of saratoga springs also had lots of little bars and restaurants and lots of live music, very cute!

Here are a few pics....if you're looking for a weekend getaway and a bed and breakfast, Saratoga Springs would be a great pick!

Old Fashion Racetrack


Smiling before losing $30


Hello #5! maybe I'll bet on you...


The Saratoga Racetrack


Let's go #5, #7, #3 AND #9!!


Next week...I'm headed to Vermont!

a regular post?

I believe Casey is going to be making the book recommendation blog a regular post so I thought I'd add a regular post as well.

What would you like to hear about in a bi weekly post:

-fun new york activities
-new beer reviews
-new york restaurant reviews

Let be honest, when you come to new york city you want to do some fun new things and want to eat some great food! You could use these reviews for your next visit....or maybe you just want some reviews on new brews out there?!

Answer by taking this anonymous survey Click here to take survey

Go Hokies!!!

Doesn’t it feel just like Christmas Eve! It is that perfect time when the unknown is so exciting; anything can happen. The Hokies are making their 2010 debut tonight against Boise State. In the land of the Gators, Seminoles, and Crimson Tide, Matt, Sadie, and I will be rocking our orange and maroon tonight. We are headed down the street to our fellow Hokie’s house to watch the game over hamburgers, hot dogs, and beer (not too much for Matt who has a 6:00 a.m. brief tomorrow morning – tell me again why they decided to schedule this game for a work night!) While we wish we were celebrating at FedEx field with the rest of our Hokies, we will be cheering every down here in Florida, just as Leslie and Nick will be doing in New York!

GO HOKIES!!!!!!!

Ahhh, the good ole days of cheering on VT at Bailey's. I think I'll have the chicken tenders...

Our Hokie dog is ready for gametime!