L.I.N.K.S.

I just spent the last two days attending a L.I.N.K.S class. The class is put on by volunteer Marine spouses for new Marine spouses. The classes introduce you to the history of the Corps, the ends and outs of the base, the low down on military moves, military pay and entitlements, deployment information, and the career of their Marine spouse. Although I am a veteran spouse to the Corp, it was a great refresher and really motivated me to keep persuing my passion of working with military families to make their lives easier. I believe it all starts with education and that is exactly what this program does.

I have signed up to volunteer as one of the mentors/presenters and will go through the mentor training in September. And the best part is at all the events they provide FREE childcare! Jack loved playing with all the other kids and was the best baby! He certainly got his need for a lot of social interaction from his dad.

Guess What?? I was the participant in the class who has been married the longest! I had no idea five years and eight months of marriage could gain me so much senority and make me feel SO OLD! I am just glad to she the youngans get the information now at the beginning of their marriage!

A Hint Of Fall

It has been raining pretty good here the past two days. I guess all the heavy rain knocked a few leaves out of the tree and we got a sneak peak of some of the colors we will get to enjoy this fall. Jackson wasn't really sure what he thought about the leaves, hence the serious face.

Thankfully, it has cooled of tremendously and we are finally enjoying the outdoors. On Sunday we went to the park on base and let Jackson swing until his hearts content and we didn't even break a sweat!

From what I hear the fall is the most enjoyable and beautiful time of year around these parts. So come visit we would love to have you!

Couch Potatoes

Jackson is going through the oh so fun stage of teething. So consequently, before I descovered baby motrin, he was up most of the night Wednesday night (of course the night Dan had to stay in the barracks). So Jack and I were couch potatoes most of the day. The surprise of all surprise came at 1:30pm when Dan walked in the door early from work. So he joined us couch potatoes. I could not resist taking this picture. Jackson is already learning the importance of the remote.

Settling In...well sorta

I have been here now for three whole weeks! I am still among boxes in some rooms and have started to ask myself, " am I ever going to feel settled in?"

I do have to admit this has been one of the harder transitions for me. Moving so far away from what I know, the heat, the HUMIDITY, and the strange folk of Stafford have been huge adjustments. I am also getting settled into the idea of being a full-time mommy. As many of you know I started my internship when Jackson was 6 weeks old so Dan and I shared the childcare responsibilities, but out here I will not be working so it is me and Jackson from 4:30am til 7:30pm. Jackson is a dream and I could not ask for an easier baby, however, I look forward to the time when he can talk back and I can actually understand what he is saying. Maybe then I will feel like I have had some form of conversation through out the day.

I have been so blessed to have Melanie and Holly here with me. We have taken several trips to Woodbridge and Fredericksburg, those are the two shopping Meccas of this area. Melanie came over last night because the guys had to stay in the barracks for night fire. We ordered pizza and watch a dozen episodes of Sexy and the City. It is great to have a close friend here already. It has certainly made the transition much easier.

I hope to get the house in order soon and take some pictures to post so you can see where we will be calling home for the next 6-10 months.

That is all for now...I am off to install the baby gates. Jack has now learned how to roll himself across the room...so I must keep him from rolling himself down the stairs.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub New Toys in My Tub!

Mommy got me some new cups for my bath tub! I had so much fun last night playing with them! I am finally settling into a routine here and enjoy my outings with mommy and her friends. Daddy works late, but we all eat at the table together then daddy gives me a bath! I love my time on the weekends with him! That's all for now, just wanted to show you the pictures of my cool new bath toys.

Marine Corp Museum

Today we visited the Marine Corps Museum. What an amazing place! Just the building itself is a sight to see. We spent nearly three hours there and could spend an entire day more just reading and looking at all the artifacts. We were able to see the 1st flag that was raise on Iwo Jima. The second flag (the one in the famous picture) was removed not to long ago because it was beginning to sag and tear from being displayed vertically. There was a section dedicated to the "Frozen Chosen" where they made the temperature in the exhibit as cold as the temperature would have been during that campaign. The time line in itself was amazing, again something you can spend an entire day reading. The Semper Fidelis Memorial park was beautiful and we were able to walk through and read the countless names memorialized in the bricks along the path. I am sure we will make another trip in the future and spend more time reading the details and learning more about the Marine Corps history. If you are in the area it is a must see. Enjoy the pictures!

The Last Month In Review...

So a lot has happened in the past month. For those of you that want the quick and dirty here you go: Dan left for VA, sold the house, moved to Colorado Springs with mom and dad, brother got married, made the week long trek to VA, household goods delivered, upacked, mom left :(

For those of you who relish the details here is the summary for you. By the way, if you are reading this and there are not any pictures check back later I am experiencing a little technical difficulties.

On July 12, I signed the papers that sealed the deal with the new buyers of our home. Jack must have been really sad about leaving becasue he screamed his head off for several hours after the closing preventing me from getting anything done. My mom came to my rescue with a little touch of whisky, for Jackson's teeth, not me...although I could have used a stiff drink :) Expereinced mom tricks are priceless in those moments. We did the final cleaning, loaded the two cars, and said our goodbyes to our first home. Of course I balled my eyes out! We put a lot of work into the home and created many happy memories...probably our fondest was little Jackson :) For those of you who were unable to visit here is a little photo tour.

After the sad goodbye I headed down to Colorado Springs to spend the remainder of my time in Colorado with family there. During our week and a half back home I took Jackson for round #2 of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, a must see if you are ever in the area! Jackson was not sure what to think of the Giraffes and didn't want to have anything to do with feeding them, unless it meant putting the "giraffe cookie" in his mouth.

Jackson was in for another animal feeding adventure in the "Budgy Buddies" area. Basically it is a room filled with finches, parakeets, cockatels, and other various "tame" birds. It didn't take long for Jackson to find a friend. We were in there for no more than a minute and a HUGE cockateel lands on his shoulder. I thought for sure he would freak out, I sure would have, but he just looked around and looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. What an adventure!

Jackson also had many swinging adventures with Grammy. Jackson absolutely loves to swing and Grammy (Dan's mom) has great parks within walking distance of her house. So we adventured over to her house in the evenings for a swinging good time!

The next big adventure was Adam and Kristy's wedding. It was an absolutely gorgeous ceremony and fun reception. One of the best, most memorable weddings I have attended.

Isn't Kristy BEAUTIFUL! Who is that handsome guy? Is that my brother?

Two of the greatest uncles Jackson could ever ask for!

Jackson and Uncle Arin spent some good quality time together.

Kristy has a large family so I figured while they were taking pictures I would snap a few of my own of Jackson.

Jackson sure loves his Nana Teter

Jackson thoroughly enjoyed all of the attention, but in the end crashed!

Two days after the wedding mom and I set out on our big long adventure across the country. The first night we stayed in Wichita in this saloon themed hotel, it was advertized as a Sleep Inn no mention of the western theme. But really at 11:00pm when we rolled in we didn't care where it was as long as it had a bed to sleep in.

The next night we stayed in Little Rock with my college roommate Kelly. It is always fun to catch up with friends.

The next morning we went to Memphis and had breakfast with my other college roommate Candice. The restaurant was featured in Rachel Ray's "$40 a day" show. And let me tell you it was one of the best breakfasts I have ever had.

After breakfast we made our way to Nashville where we stopped and stayed with my Uncle Clay & Aunt Kim (My dad's younger brother). It was so nice to relax and enjoy their good southern hospitality. We visited and caught up and got a great night's sleep. The following morning we headed out to VA. We had planned to stop for the night in Roanoke, but realized 30 minutes on the other side of it we must have passed it. So we stopped for a little dinner and headed on into Stafford. Dan and Brody were there to greet us. I took a quick tour of the house, unloaded the car, blew up the air mattresses, and crashed! The following morning Dan, Jack, and I loaded in the car and went to the family mixer picnic for Dan's TBS unit. It was wonderful to meet some of the other wives and of course catch up with my good friend Melanie (who is expecting a baby!). Mom and I spent the next several days until our household good arrived organizing what we brough with us and coming up with creative ways to cook without any pots or pans. We went out and bought a new grill which helped. The morning of the move in arrived and we had some of the best movers I have had thus far. They spoke little english, but were extremely careful with our stuff and took direction very well. Holly and Melanie (two girls I knew from CU) came over and helped unpack the kitchen and living area while mom and I got Jackson's room all set up. What a blessing to have such good friends and a mom here to help!

My birthday was on Saturday so mom watched Jackson and we went out to dinner and a movie with Richard and Melanie Sala. We used the same realtor in Denver to sell our houses and he sent us a gift certificate to a Japanese Steakhouse. It was great!

Mom left on Sunday. We thought we were going to miss her train into DC, but fortunately for us it was running a little behind. Mom braved the train and the Metro system and arrived safely back to Colorado. She is missed dearly here especially the pot of coffee that was waiting for me in the morning.

This week has been a little odd being here all alone with Jack for the past two days. I have kept myself busy making baby food. So far I have made carrots, nectarines, yellow squash, butternut squash, and applesauce. There is nothing better than making his food, giving it to him, and them listen to him beg for more. Success! The only one he isn't sure about is the yellow squash, but we will give it some time and maybe a little butter and it should be fine.

Now that you have spent forever reading this update, I promise to make the future posts more timely and less wordy!