thirty six days ago

I realized today that I had been negligent in posting some pics I think loyal readers would be interested in seeing.

Scott deployed on the 21 of February. I had already dropped him off the night before, and so the morning of the deployment, my parents and I headed out to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to watch the ship pass by on it's way out to the ocean.

You'll notice in the pictures that the ship is escorted out by helicopter and the Coast Guard. It's pretty amazing to see the carrier in motion.


It goes without saying (and yet, I'm saying it anyway) that it's even MORE amazing to see it come home again.

I'll post more pics on our Flickr page.

on another night apart

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings ~

march.

It's official. March is my least favorite month. It has always been a strong possibility for me. It's this big month of "nothing" stuck between my birthday and continuous spring weather. And it's got that extra day, just to drag it out a liiiiiiiittle bit longer. It's a tease, with a hint of warmer days tossed in between snow and gray skies. It's inconsistent. It holds up April, and the promise of the warmth of days to come.

And this year in particular, it seems to be hanging on just a bit too long.

I know that many people, such as my own mom, herald March as a the gateway to spring. They rejoice in the change in the air, the melted snow, the wind that dries everything up. I have tried to jump aboard this train, to embrace March like a long lost friend, not eyeball it distrustfully. But the minute I turn my back to it, it pulls one over on me, and hands me dingy skies and flurries, which put me straight into a "End Of Winter Funk". And my days of giving it one last chance are over. This year, at least.

So, I, for one, will be more than happy to see April come swinging on in!

crafting

While waiting to get Grace, I keep busy by preparing for Grace. Sometimes it's buying a shirt at Old Navy...on clearance, no less! (It's so cute...it's green and white striped, and it says "Daddy's Little Skipper" with an anchor behind the words!) More often than not, I like to try my hand at making the cute, little decorative items that I see around in cute shops and boutiques. I was able to squeeze out quite a few awesome (if I do say so myself!) Christmas gifts that way this past year.

So lately, I've been seeing all sorts of cute toddler hair barrettes around, and I thought...Hey. I can do that. Also, trendy though it may be, I love the colorful letters that people are putting up in their children's rooms. Rather than pay for one that I thought was 'pretty cute', I decided to try my hand at creating one of those, too.

So off to the local craft stores I did go (I am so happy to be home again with you, Hobby Lobby!) and I loaded up on supplies. Here's a sample of what I was able to create:



The barrettes were so fun, I made a handful! Grace will be quite decked out...I only hope she's a child who tolerates that kind of thing. If not...look out, they'll be coming your way as gifts! (Or maybe I could sell them...hmmm...)

The letter was quite cute, I thought. I'm deciding between adding ribbon to hang it from, or just using hooks on the back, and letting it stand on it's own. Either way, I thought it was so fun and cheerful! I ended up making one for my friend's daughter's birthday later this month.

I'll upload my other pics on Flickr...feel free to check them out!

And hey...until I go pick up Grace, I've got time on my hands, so go ahead and place your orders...

:-)

spring!

Nobody can argue the weather these past couple days. It's been absolutely gorgeous! That's the thing about a Minnesota spring...it doesn't creep up on you, like in Virginia. It arrives, singing and dancing and calling everyone out to play!

So in that vein, Mom and I have been getting the dogs out for good walks. We like to take them to a trail near the house where, when it's not too populated, we can let the dogs off leash so they can run and run and run! Which they love to do, especially Jack!! Dixie's slowing down a bit nowdays, but Jacky is just like she was at that age...it's like looking into the past.




I snapped some pics for Scott to view on the ship, and I'll post on our Flickr page.

Happy Spring!

ps-

-check out a few new pics on our Flickr page.

paperwork monster

Here's a brief run down on where we're currently at with the adoption:

We had some more paperwork pop up in the past few weeks. It's on it's way to getting to completed, but we have no set time for when it will be finished. It was also unanticipated, but our team, such as it is, is really pulling for it to get completed asap.

Sorry there's not much more to report!

snafus

This past weekend was the first port call for Scott's ship. Unfortunately, due to some rough seas, he was unable to get off at all, which meant that we never were able to communicate beyond email. Which was disappointing on so many levels, the least of which being that we didn't get to try out our brand new web cams. Bummer.

So he'll soon be sailing off again towards parts unknown (well, unclarified, for security reasons.) And in the meantime, we're hoping for that elusive window when the phones on the ship actually are functioning, and he can call.

I'm just taking things one day at a time. The adoption is still wrapped up in paperwork, so I'm getting pretty good at cooling my heels. I've had some nice distractions in the meantime, some good family time. On Friday, my SIL and niece and nephew drove down from Rosemount to visit, which was so awesome! We went to the House of Bounce (a building with blow up toys to bounce/slide/play on) and then dinner. It was a blast! On Saturday, I had a fabulous birthday party to attend: one on my other nieces turned 6! I had the chance to catch up with all the kids, and most of my in-laws...although, I still feel like it wasn't enough time. I guess I'm used to living in that mode, the "never-enough-time" mode. But since I'm sure I'll be here for awhile, I supose that'll eventually pass.

So, deployment #2 continues. Hopefully, as spring approaches, things will maybe pick up in pace. The end of winter always seems too long to me. (And it doesn't help that I'm reading temperatures of 70+ in Virginia Beach right now!)

once upon a time...

...there lived a girl and a guy in a far away land called Virginia. They were madly in love, and built a beautiful life together as husband and wife. However, the guy's job often took him away from home, and the girl was left feeling lonely and sad.

One day, the guy's job was taking him away for about 6 months, and the girl was so blue about his leaving that she decided to go live with her mom and dad while the guy was away. She knew she'd have a lot to distract her in her home land of Minnesota until her husband came home again to her.

So her mom and dad drove down to get her, and they all said good bye to her husband together. The girl cried many tears when the guy left. Soon, however, the girl's mom and dad helped pack her and her dogs up, and they all headed back to Minnesota.

It was a long trip, and they had several obstacles to overcome, such as a car breaking down, and bad weather blocking their path. They were able to finally make it to Minnesota, however, and everyone was safe and happy to be back.

Now the girl lives in the upper room of her mom and dad's house, with her dogs. She emails her husband a lot, but it's not the same as hearing his voice, or feeling his arms around her, so she is still sad sometimes.

She hopes that her time in Minnesota will be filled with good distractions, such as bingo and days with her nieces and nephews, and movies, and that soon, she'll be back in Virginia, with her husband by her side...