rock city lights

So one of the things I wanted to do when I was home was go to Rock City and see the Christmas lights. And Emily’s family goes every year, so I asked if I could tag along, and my sister wanted to tag along as well. So here are pictures…

Syd, Kynlee and Me

Kynlee insisted on walking, she was so cute :)

Emily and Me – she’s my bestie

Syd and Me in front of the Gingerbread House

Kynlee, Emily and Me

Syd and Me, she’s going to be 12 in Feb, and I just can’t get over how grown up she looks…

This picture is a lot nicer than some of the ones I have with her from my last visit, she was not a fan of me in March, but this trip, she adored me, melted my heart….I miss that girl

They really should put a step behind there for that top slot, LOL

Vacay, thus far

I have an album on facebook called “Christmas in Dixie” – thought that was fitting since I’m in the south ;)

Here are some things I’ve done so far!

Dinner at the Atlanta Country Club with my Grandfather and Aunt and Uncle.

Decorating the tree with my brother and sister

I’ve eaten at Chick-Fil-A twice so far, and I’ve spent lots of time with Kynlee!

Baby sitting Kynlee, going to make cookies later!

Decorating the tree with Emily’s family, it was quite eventful, the tree fell on Becky, her sister!

Also got to spend some time with the LT’s family, this is his little cousin!

Christmas Vacay

I’m leaving Hawaii and coming to Ga/Tn next week, will be there until the end of Dec. I’m super duper excited. I can’t wait to see friends and family. I hate that the Lt won’t be able to join me, but soon he’ll be home, soon!!!

I am going to have to work on Christmas cards soon. So if you want one, email me :) I’ll put this out on FB too so, I have most of the family’s addresses, but if you want one and are a friend, let me know.

Holidays

The Holiday season is fast approaching, and it will be our 1st Christmas apart…I’m going to go to the mainland for a couple weeks.

I’m not looking forward to much this Christmas, but spending it with family and good friends that I haven’t seen in a while will be nice, but not spending it with the LT won’t be fun either…

But once we get past the Holidays, we are just THAT much closer to his home coming. Which I am so looking forward too.

Care Packages & Bin Laden

So I took 5 boxes to the post office for the LT Saturday. It was the first care package I’ve sent him. We’re already into the 2nd month of the deployment, and he had things he needed. A whole list of things, and it took 5 flat rate boxes to send everything, and I even kept some things behind for other care packages. I should have taken pictures of my back seat. I not only had 4 boxes for the LT, but 1 box for my very best friend, and another box for my friend’s husband. Then when I was inside the post office I made 2 more boxes, 1 for the LT and another for another friend (that was more of an envelope though.)
Most of ya’ll know about Usama Bin Laden and that he was killed, which is good. One less bad guy. What people don’t seem to understand is that just because Bin Laden is gone, doesn’t mean the war is over. And the guys aren’t coming home early. People and their ignorance just kills me. Like why would they come home early just because 1 of the bad guys was dead? They didn’t come home when Saddam Hussein was captured and then killed, so how would this be any different. Bin Laden and Hussein were just part of the problem over there. So pulling troops out now, would be a mistake, in my uneducated opinion. I’m not scholar or political figure, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but that guys over there now are still in danger, and they still have a mission to accomplish.
Anyways, not much going on here on the home front. I’ve just been super busy. We found out his tentative R&R dates, but of course I can’t say. We are looking forward to the time together, and are planning to take a little time and go to another island. I can’t wait to hug and kiss him. I miss him so much!

Our Trip, a review of where we ate...

Most of ya'll know that we had a list of restaurants we wanted to eat at while on the mainland, and we got to almost all of them. I wish I had taken pictures at every single one, but I didn't, I did get some, but those will wait, they're on my phone, and I don't know where my cord is....

So here is a run down on where we ate -
Atlanta - Chick-Fil-A (twice), Vortex, The Varsity, Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory (yes, we have one in Hawaii though), Kilwin's (Ice Cream and Chocolate shop), Ben & Jerry's
Dahlonega - Chick-Fil-A (twice), Piazza's (Italian), Red Robin, Robyn's Nest, Dipper Dan, The LT's Grandmother's (twice), Papa N's homemade pizza, Captian D's. Taco Bell
Chattanooga - Formosa (Chinese), Logan's, Big River Grill, Panera, Zaxby's, Cracker Barrel, Famous Daves (for dessert), Amigo's (Mexican), Sarku Japan (in the mall), Applebee's,
Dallas/Fort Worth - TGI Fridays
Los Angeles - Chili's

I'm sure there are places I forgot, but that is about what we ate....

Deployment Leave, yuck

So we leave tonight for the mainland, we're going to visit family for 2 weeks. It brings me great sadness because it means that the LT will be leaving soon. We know the time frame, but for the safety of him and the others, we're not allowed to tell. Just know that it's not as far away as it once was. And I also have decided that I'm not going to say when he's gone until I know he's safely there. It's just better that way. I've posted the OPSEC rules and guidelines before, so it should be something people are aware of. I can't tell you where exactly he'll be, and I can't tell you what he's doing exactly (not just for safety, but because I honestly have NO idea, ha) and I can't tell you when he'll be home, you will know when he's home when I say, hey, he's home. There will be no countdown, because it wouldn't be safe, and at this moment in time we have no idea when that will be. I don't know when he'll be home on R&R and I don't know when he'll be coming home for good. But as soon as I have eyes on, you will know. It is going to be a long 12 months, but we've prepared for this, the LT has trained hard, and knows what he's suppose to do. I have every faith that he will come home safely. I think it's best to have that mindset, or else you'll drive yourself crazy. I'm ready for this, I've trained in my own way, the last stretch of training when the LT was gone there was a 2 week period where we had no contact, and that helped me a lot. I realized I could do a lot of things on my own, and that not hearing from him wouldn't be the end of the world. In the military you have the saying "no news is good news" and I just kept that in mind the whole time. By the end of the 2 weeks I was a pro! And I think that will suit me well when he's gone, because there is no way to know if  I'll get to talk to him every day, and for some people that might be a little too much, but for me, going through the 2 weeks with no contact helped me prepare for the unknowns in contact.

I get a little annoyed at people who complain about deployments and training where they're separated. This lifestyle isn't for everyone, and I know that. And I try to remind myself that when I get annoyed. But my whole thing about that is, you signed up for it, and you knew it was bound to happen, so put your big girl panties on and deal with it. Yeah, being away from your loved one SUCKS, but you have to be strong for them. They need to know that you are going to be okay, so they can keep their mind on the mission at hand, and that in turn keeps them safe. So remember that when you start to feel sorry for yourself when your loved one is deployed, or at training, or just away. You might just surprise yourself ;)

Our Trip Home

We fly out tonight for the mainland, and will be there from March 6th to March 19th, staying in Atlanta for 2 nights, then we will be in Dahlonega March 8th to March 13th, then Chattanooga March 13th to March 17th and then back to Atlanta until we leave on March 19. If you want to see us, please let us know which date works best for you when we are in your town, we will do the very best we can to see everyone! Obviously family comes before friends, but we are going to try and visit everyone we can!

Hubby's Home

He's been home a week now. YAY! And Valentine's Day is right around the corner. I'd tell ya'll what we got each other, but I'd rather not. I'm actually thinking about shutting down this site. It's hard to keep up with, and I have another one. I had to lock up Facebook pretty tight because of some drama, and I don't want that drama to leak over to here. So, that's pretty much all that is going on. We are going to be getting enough money from taxes to come home. We will be spending equal amounts of time in each of our home towns, with a few nights in Atlanta. And I'll say it now, and won't say it again. If you don't like the dates or amount of time we're spending in one place, you can go ahead and get right over it because the dates are non-negotiable and in order to spend time with everyone, and have equal time with everyone that is just how our time is being divided. I'm sure someone is bound to get their panties in a wad, but frankly I don't give a damn. We don't HAVE to go home, we could easily stay here, or for even cheaper go somewhere else. I'd rather spend that time with the hubby and not deal with anyone's bullshit, as it marks the end of his time here, and means he'll be deploying soon afterward. And it is some times cheaper to fly HERE than it to leave here. I mean, we have bills too...I don't know how people expect us to pay all our bills, food, gas, and then spend a shit ton on airline tickets to come home. It's humanly impossible. And people just don't seem to understand that. Anyways, that's all for now. Like I said, we'll be home for a couple weeks, but our time is already set for where we will be and when, so nobody can ask for more time, or for us to change the dates. We won't do it. And I will tell you right now, that if anyone tries to make a big deal about this, or throws a fit I will go off. Like I said, we don't HAVE to go home. But we are, and we have made plans to see everyone while there.

Our New Book - sorry photo heavy...

So, I entered my other blog at shutterfly.com to try and get 50 free holiday cards, and I got them, so I ordered the 50 free cards, all you had to do was pay shipping and handling, not a bad deal. Well, the other day I got an email about a free photo book. I've been wanting one for a while. So I decided to do one of our first year in Hawaii. I thought I'd share it with ya'll. I'll also share my holiday card as well, since I'd been meaning to do that...

Here is the card, we did it kind of late, and so I decided to do a New Years card...it says "Tis the Season: May your New Year be filled with love and happiness! Love, Steven & Amanda"

the picture is outside our home, taken by our wonderful neighbor, Bobbi!

Onto the photo book...

here is the cover

Hawaii - Our First Year 2009-2010

Title Page

Hawaii - Our First Year 2009-2010

Hail & Farewell - Our first get together with the LT's battalion

Heli Tour

There are so many pretty flowers in Hawaii!

Casino Night

Visit to the Blow Hole

Steven is the King of the World, being silly as always!

Playing with the camera and the view of the shore at Blow Hole

Sight Seeing - Pearl Harbor and USS Missori

Pearl Harbor

Josh, Steven's best friend, came to visit

Beach visit

We've seen many beautiful rainbows since we moved here, and see more and more every day

Maui Trip July 2010

Road to Hana

There were lots of beautiful waterfalls along the Road to Hana

We saw a horse and some very pretty flowers along the Road to Hana as well.

Christmas 2010 and The Saint Barbara's Day Ball

not sure why it's sideways, but I can't figure out how to turn it, it isn't like that in the file folder...weird...

Saint Barbara's Day Ball - last page

Back Cover

I can't wait to show Steven when he gets home!! I love it!! I'm also working on a photo collage to go on our wall with the lovely canvas I bought...which I should show ya'll, because I don't think I have unveiled it on here....

my friend Katie made it - you can get her contact info from here(it's her blog)

My plan for hanging it is to put it with pictures of us from his graduation, commissioning, promotion, along with his oath of office!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary!!!

Today is our 1 year anniversary and it is hard to believe, but it's here, and we're super excited! We have a very low key day planned, we debated over what to do for our anniversary a lot and decided to just stick at home and pass candy out. I'm going to make sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, fried chicken, pop corn shirmp and biscuits.  I'm going to make lemon poppyseed muffins for breakfast, and we'll see what we do for lunch. We are picking up our cake at noon, and I just can't wait to see how it looks and taste it!! It is going to be great!!

Now for the rest of the pictures!!