Our Fall Staycation

We thought about going away for the long weekend but, since it’s Favorite Man’s last weekend in NY for a year, Favorite Girl wanted to spend it here at the house. And so we’re having a great “staycation.”

I’ve especially enjoyed sleeping in until 8 each morning. Normally I get up at 5:15 am. Yesterday at church, the priest called up all deploying Soldiers so they could get a special blessing and scapular. No not spatula but scapular. It was sad to see the 13 Soldiers standing there but that’s one thing about Fort Drum ~ there’s always Soldiers deploying or coming home.

Even though it’s back to work and school tomorrow, we’re enjoying the beauty of these fall days.

Saturday Night Lights

It’s fall and we’re enjoying a football game under the lights.

Gotta love the fall colors, crisp air, hot chocolate while watching the football games and chatting with friends. One of the moms said “She doesn’t do hats” and I had to reply with “I don’t do cold.”   I have no pride when it comes to staying warm!!

Happy Fall to all of you!

Fitness Goal

One of the best things to do during a deployment is to stay busy with activities, volunteering, work, etc. I like setting goals which makes me feel productive while Favorite Man is away. My number one goal for this deployment is to get FIT!

Since I started working nearly a year ago, I feel very out of shape. My goal is to be fit but not to lose weight. In fact, I’d love to bulk up a bit.

I had four days off this weekend and decided to hit the track with Favorite Man. He provided much needed fitness tips. The biggest challenge will be making the time for exercise in between time with Favorite Girl, work and housework.

Wish me luck. I can use all the encouragement I can get…

Deployment Ceremony Photos

Here are a few photos from the Deployment Ceremony:

Regional Cheer Competition

Favorite Girl participated in her second regional Cheer Competition and for the second year in a row, the team placed within the top three and will be heading to the State Competition later this month. Her team got 1st place this year and also were awarded the “Spirit Trophy” ~ they wore orange ribbons in their hair in support of a team member who is battling cancer and was unable to cheer at the competition but she did come to watch her teammates.

Unfortunately, Favorite Man will be gone by then so, like last year, he’ll miss all the excitement of hundreds of screaming 9-14 year old cheerleaders. Reminds me to get the ear plugs ready for the event

Deployment Ceremony

The 2BCT Deployment Ceremony was blessed with near perfect North country Weather. The ceremony is conducted so the units who are deploying can “case” their colors (unit flags) and then they “uncase” the colors when they arrive in-country. It marks the official start of a deployment. It was heartwarming to see the  huge crowd of Family members in attendance.  Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers during the year long separation.

For a glimpse of the ceremony, click on http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/61509512.html

Note: Favorite Man is at about the -13 (the end of the clip).

39 and several months

Happy Birthday to Favorite Man! It was actually last Wednesday but we’ve been celebrating it all week. We didn’t have time to bake a cake on Wednesday (that was run to the ER night) so he got his cake on Friday, we went out for a birhtday lunch on Saturday and since I had to order his birthday gift we’ll still be celebrating next week. Talk about milking it…

Since he’ll be away for his birthday next year, it’s just as well he’s getting to celebrate it multiple days this year.

Smuggled Lava?

A Big Island legend is if you take lava off the island, you’ll have bad luck until you return it. There used to be a display at the Volcanoes National Park Center where the letters and the returned lava were displayed on a board. These people wrote letters begging the park rangers to return the lava so the bad luck would go away. I’m not an overly superstitious person BUT I’ve never been tempted to take lava off the island.

Favorite Man, on the other hand, always teases me that he’s going to sneak some lava back.

Since we’ve been back from Hawaii, we’ve had a strange week. On Wednesday, I overslept AND had set the alarm incorrectly so poor FG missed her bus, then my mom’s dog died, and Favorite Girl had to go to the emergency room to have x-rays taken after a cheerleading accident. There were other things happening which were just “off”.

I finally called FM on Friday from work, when yet another thing went wrong, and asked “This is serious, are you sure you didn’t bring any lava back?”

He promised me he didn’t but did mention the women in front of him getting on the plane had a big chunk of lava. Maybe the legend has changed and now it’s good luck to take lava

Labor Day 2009

For me, Labor Day has always been a fun day off ~ the last long weekend before school starts. But this year, I’ve been reflecting a little more on this Labor Day and how thankful I am to have a great job in this crazy economy.

It isn’t easy keeping up with a “career” as I follow Favorite Man around the world in this ever changing Army lifestyle. Everytime we move, I give up my job and wait to see what’s available at the new post. I lucked out once again when I landed a GREAT job here that’s not only challenging but it pays enough to keep us traveling.  An added bonus, my boss is wonderful and the people I work with are nice.

Happy Labor Day to all and I hope you love what you’re doing ~ if not, I hope you find your dream job soon! Keep looking, it’s out there.

Home Again

We’re back in New York. As much as I love to travel, it always feels so good to be back in my own home. And one day, that home will be on the beach!

Even though we had a great flight without delays, I don’t do well on “red-eye” flights and this one was no exception. Thankfully, we’ve got tomorrow off and can recover.

Don’t know if I mentioned that my mom made the trip to Hawaii with us. Favorite Man has always been her favorite but even more so now ~ not only was he OK with his mother in law traveling with us but he gave her his upgrade miles so she could sit in First Class and have the extra leg room. That’s why I married the man ~ he’s a great guy!!

We like to list our top favorite things about our vacation and here’s a compilation of our combined top five things we enjoyed during our visit:
1) Horseback Riding in the South Kohala Mountains
2) Snorkeling at the following beaches: Puako, Hapuna, Lapakahi
3) Helicopter Ride over Hilo and the lava flow
4) The Eisenhower House at Kilauea Military Camp
5) THE FOOD ~ we ate a lot!

There’s so much to do on the Big Island so we’ve made a list of what we want to do the NEXT time we visit. Yes, we’re already planning a return visit:
1) Green Sand Beach
2) Black Sand Beach
3) Waipio Valley
4) We’ll stay at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel or in a rental villa. It’s nice to have access to a kitchen
5) Play a round of golf at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel