Struggles and Joys

Well, it's almost that time again. It's been posted on the ship's Facebook page so apparently it's safe to post anywhere -- the ship is leaving September 7th. We will be on our own for 6+ months. I know I will be struggling through this time. It was so nice to have Robert home, even to just have someone to talk to and see what I go through. He helped out a lot around the house too. I'm just so thankful to have such wonderful parents who are planning to visit a couple times while he's gone.

As for the joy? Well, you're looking at it!

My beautiful son is becoming more contented with each passing day. He's now okay with sitting by himself for a few minutes at a time - which makes it a whole lot easier to do things like sweep the garage, pull stuff out of the oven, and cut up food!

Another Boring Update

Wow, is this all I can come up with lately? ... I hope things pick up soon around here or you might get bored of me and never come back again! "Gasp"

So Robert FINALLY got me the schedule yesterday for next year. The dates are tentative though, but it's looking like he should definitely be here for the baby's birth! YEA!!! And also, that it's going to pretty much be the way it was before the shipyard - gone a lot. So besides the Bible Study (which I believe is starting in February), I'm going to have to come up with something to do while he's away, because right now, I get bored when he's gone for just one night!

Veteran's Day

Today is the day we remember to say thank you to all of our past and present military men and women. Sometimes, it's easy to forget this any other time of the year. It's good to have a day that reminds us.

There are plenty of restaurants and stores giving free meals or discounts to active duty and veterans today. There are quite a few listed here. But there's definitely more available. Call around if there's something specific you're looking for!

To all the men and women who have served their country honorably, I thank you for your time, talent, and especially your sacrifice.

Navy	Army	Marines	Coast Guard	Air Force

And a special Thank You to:

Eric B.	U.S. Army
Dawn B.	U.S. Army
Jeremy D.	U.S. Marines
Ben A.	U.S. Navy, Retired
Matt D.	U.S. Army
Jason R.	U.S. Army
Colin K.	U.S. Army
William R.	U.S. Army
James S. Jr.	Merchant Marines, WWII
Daniel O'K.	U.S. Air Force, WWII
my husband Robert	U.S. Navy, Active Duty

I Remember

Do you remember where you were on this day eight years ago?

I do. I was sitting in my high school classroom taking a sociology course from the local community college. I will never forget the shock I felt or how scared I was of what would happen next. I will never forget how angry I was that my college professor was the only teacher that day (all the rest were high school classes) that allowed us to watch the news. I didn't get to see the Pentagon crash or the Pennsylvania crash. I remember one girl was hysterical because she had family that worked in the WTC.

I remember how it united Americans together. And people weren't afraid or ashamed to put "God Bless America" on their business signs. I will remember how it's now been tearing us apart. The signs are gone. People want the troops out of the Middle East.

We all want the troops home, but they're fighting an important mission. I remember why we still have men and women fighting and dying over in Iraq. - We don't want this to happen again.

I will always remember.

C-School Update

Robert's not leaving yet. Somebody screwed up so they're scheduling him for the October class (hopefully ...). The October class was the original plan, but then he received an email saying a flight was scheduled for the August class so we thought he was going then. Nope, they were just trying to make us scramble to get ready.

Well, I'm glad he'll be here for a little while longer, but either way he'll still be gone for two months.

Scrapbooking - Professional Photos

I've been working on the scrapbooks .... achieving more goals!

I finished three pages today - one of Robert's first duty station and two of his professional photos. I have to come up with something to go on the backside of the page though ... so I'm working on ideas for that. I thought about doing a page with his writings.

Scrapbooking - A-School & Family Day

I finished six pages in the Navy scrapbook today - two from Robert's A-school and four from Family Day 2009. This accomplished two goals on my list! ... I'm getting there.

Marriage Workshop

Robert and I went to a free marriage workshop today. It was offered by the chaplain on Robert's ship. The workshop was 8 hours (with a 90 minute lunch) and topics covered included the 5 Love Languages, conflict management, effective communication, and commitment.

We had a great time and learned a lot of tools to improve our marriage like proper listening techniques, and ground rules for arguments. We also learned warning signs of conflict management, rules for quality conversations, what our love languages are, hidden issues of arguments, and two dimensions of commitment.

We also received 4 books (at no charge) from the chaplain - The Five Love Languages, Love Talk, Love Talk Workbook for Men, Love Talk Workbook for Women. I'm hoping that we keep this going - reading the books, going over all the handouts, etc.

The Navy also offers CREDO weekend retreats for couples -- like a 2 day marriage workshop -- all expenses paid. A neighbor of mine went to one earlier this year and talked it up to me. I definitely encourage anyone with the opportunity to attend one.

We went out to eat on our way back since the workshop was 2 hours away so I didn't make the spinach & artichoke dip ... hopefully soon!

Remember the Fallen

Take a moment today to pray for all the men and women who have died to keep us free. Also remember to thank the veterans and those still serving for their sacrifice.

To all the members of the military (past and present): Thank you, for everything you've done for your country.

Navy	Army	Marines	Coast Guard	Air Force

Knots, Knots, and More Knots

Yesterday was pretty busy. I ended up doing three full loads of laundry. Also, we finally fixed the nightstand that got broken by the movers. I still get irritated whenever I look at my furniture (2 bookcases, file cabinet, nightstand, sofa table). I am so turned off now by paying for movers because of all the damage that was done this past time. Whenever we have to move again - Robert better be here! Because I'm not paying anyone to damage my furniture again!

As you can see by my book list, I'm learning to tie knots. Robert called me his "little boatswains mate"! I just think it's fun and interesting. And some of the knots are really beautiful. A crown knot is the one I learned on the ship - I found that in the book I bought over the weekend.

Crown Knot (the one I learned on the ship)


Good Luck Knot (I think it should be called a Double Crown)


Simple Chain Knot


Braid Knot


Chinese Button Knot (says it can be used in place of a button on clothing)


Fireman's Chair Knot (one loop goes behind the armpits and the other one at the knees - used to lower people down from buildings)

Pictures - as promised

Just a note - my mom took all the pictures and there's no pictures of the air show (because she wanted to stay in the hangar bay to keep warm - it was pretty windy on the flight deck).

This is only a fraction of the 1500 people that signed up to be here!!


An RHIB used by boatswains mates for hull maintenance


Just a display of "fire power"


My mom had a thing for taking pictures of the ladder wells.


One BIG door!


A nice picture of the 3 of us


Just a display - I'm not sure if it's still used.


The island!!


It's a long way down - you can't even see the bottom in this picture.


Each link weighs over 300 pounds!


A beautiful mural on the floor in the foc'sle. I wish the picture turned out better!


Taken off the fan tail - the water is so aerated, you can't stay afloat!


Our view from the fantail. If you look REALLY close, you can see the mountains!


A better view of the mountains


One final shot - of us!

Family Day 2009

Well - today was the LONGEST day ever! We were on the ship at 4 a.m. this morning and did not actually touch the pier until about 5 p.m. I was up at 2 o'clock in the morning and was the only one who didn't get to "nap" on the ship - in the library.

There was tons of food - breakfast and lunch. We got a free t-shirt and I learned how to make this cool knot (I don't know the name of it though). I saw the forecastle (or foc'sle), the fan tail, flight deck, and library, plus the ward room - because Robert had to stand a 3 hour watch there in the morning.

It was amazing though, especially the air show. They were doing a touch and go performance and fly-bys. They are so loud! Everyone on the flight deck was required to wear ear plugs. It "shakes" you from the force when the planes are near the ship.

I will post some pictures as soon as I can!

No News ...

I was reminded of a very important Navy lesson this weekend - so I had to go back and edit some of my posts.

I had to wake up at 6 a.m. to take Robert to work today. It's days like these that I wish we had two cars - but I know we don't need it and it would cost us too much. It's actually nice out today though. The sun is out and it's supposed to be 65 degrees for the high. You could see the sunrise through the mountains this morning! It was gorgeous. I love being here because when the sky is clear, you really get to see God's beautiful landscape.

I get a day off from chores today because I had to do laundry last night for Robert. It's not that exciting because now I'll probably be bored!

Just starting out ...

I've never done this before so it might be a rough start. :-)

Today Robert's on duty - which means he has to stay on the ship overnight and do whatever work needs to be done (which is sometimes nothing) - so I'm all alone at home. I wanted some mac and cheese, so I tried adding Campbell's Cheddar Cheese soup to the noodles but it was bland. So I threw in a handful of shredded cheddar and it still wasn't that great.

I've been surfing the web all day long. I made an Alphabet chart with upper and lower case letters and pictures. I've been really interested in homeschooling things lately. So this was just one of many pre-planning things I've accomplished.

We're over budget on almost everything this month but somehow we're still $200 under the paycheck - figure that one out! lol And somehow my checking account balance on my budget is like $50 off (lower gladly, but still off). I don't know how that happens either because I only round up to the nearest dollar with expenses and down to the nearest dollar with income.

I love budgeting. I can't believe I finally found my calling. It's so great. And the more I get into it, the more I'm trying to find ways to save money! I have our monthly budget done all the way out to December 2012! I have 11 funds in my Freedom Account (only 4 of which have balances above $0 right now). BTW - a Freedom Account is a savings account to free you from living paycheck to paycheck. We are fully funded for all our insurance premiums for the year and for our deductibles. My current funds are: car insurance, renter's insurance, Robert's uniforms, insurance deductibles, moving expenses, contingency fund, car, house, paycheck (used when they screw it up), Christmas & gifts, and vacations. A contingency fund is used when you find yourself without a paycheck (fired, laid-off, switching jobs, etc).

We plan to pay cash for our next vehicle and pay at least 20% (hopefully more) down when we buy our first home. We will also be debt free by the end of the year! We're really excited about that (me mostly)!!