Our Last Day

Thursday, all of our worldly possessions were packed up by strangers. Friday morning our stuff was put into crates for shipping. And tomorrow we are headed out of Maine for good.

We have lived in Maine almost a year to the day exactly. And I must say, I have loved every second of it. Well, maybe not on the super snowy days but it was good practice for Alaska. ha ha! I enjoyed all the state parks, the beaches (aka rocky coastlines), lighthouses, fresh seafood and all the old New England homes. If you ever get a chance to come to Maine you should. It is a gorgeous place! You will not be disappointed.

I was able to find a good job with great co-workers. Who knew an Army wife could get along so well in the Navy world? I have made many good friends here who I will miss. I had a lot of fun with Becca, Catherine and her two little boys, Jase & Chipper. I will miss you guys!

Tomorrow we head off on the first leg of our journey seeing family and friends and the beginning of another great adventure!

Moving Update

Sorry I haven't been posting much. Things are a little nuts right now! We are preparing for the packers who will arrive Thursday. It doesn't seem like there is a lot to do but somehow there is a lot to do!

The movers will be here the day after that, Friday if you weren't really paying attention. There was a giant moving truck with ALASKA written on the side and a big mural outside of our house this morning. I almost freaked out! I thought they were here for us days early. Don't you think it is a little weird that the truck was outside of our house? I couldn't believe it said Alaska Moving Co. I knocked on the window, woke him up (oops!) and asked him if he was here for us. Nope, he was moving house 138. Crisis averted!

Our last day in Maine will be April 1st (pretty sure!) and then we will be off to visit friends and family in Bradford, Port Allegany and Oswayo! Hang in there with me over the next couple of weeks. I will try to check in periodically. I won't be able to post pics of our trip until we get settled in AK. We don't have a laptop. I love my desktop! But I will try to post pics from the visits at home.

Keep us in your prayers!

I love these girls!

Aaron and I flew to Columbus, OH last weekend to visit friends and family. Aaron went to visit his brother, Ryan, who lives in Columbus. He mom was there visiting too. I went to meet up with my gal pals in Cincinnati. It has been over a year and a half since I had seen the wonderful girlfriends I made while stationed at Fort Drum. I know you have heard me make mention of them a time or two.

This group of friends is very dear to me. We all met while our husbands were serving in 3-71 CAV at Fort Drum. We all survived a 16 month deployment together! And we were there for Briana to help her survive her second deployment with Ryan, Aaron's brother.

We hadn't seen each other in over a year and a half and we are scattered everywhere (GA, OH, NC and soon to be AK). There have been many texts, calls and e-mails since we parted ways but nothing compares to being together. A few months ago it was decided that we didn't want to let another year go by not seeing each other, so the reunion trip was planned. Fran was the gracious host this year. We hope to be able to rotate places to see each other throughout our life time.

I love these girls! We have been through a lot to together and the bond we share is amazing. The awesome thing about the group is that we are all pretty different. I guess that is why we have so much fun together. We had a blast talking, eating, getting makeovers, touring the city and of course shopping! Once we were all together it was almost like no time had past since we had last seen each other.

Here are some pics from the trip:

Me, Erin, Briana, Karen and Fran on top of the tallest building in Cincinnati. And if I could remember what it was called I would tell you! Even though the day was gloomy it was a beautiful way to few the city. It was awesome to be up so high. Although, not all the girls agreed. We were proud of Karen though, she went up there with us and even peeked her head over the side a bit.

Yep, those are roller skates you see! None of us had been skating in years and it sounded like a blast. I am glad we did it because it was a lot of fun! It was harder than I remembered. I have gotten pretty good at ice skating but 4 wheels on each foot was a chore for me. You can't move as easily as you can on a blade. However, I am glad to report that I only fell once and that's because I was trying something stupid.

We also had fun playing in Erin's Mary Kay samples. She did a mini show for us and was so convincing she even made some money off of us. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be. For those of you that know me, you know make-up and I are not really friends. There are too many options and it is confusing! But it was cool trying random colors of stuff you wouldn't think of buying.

I can't wait until the next time we will all be together again! Thanks girls for such a great time!

Ode to my Babe

I know it is St. Patrick's Day and not Valentine's Day but I heard this song the other day and fell in love with it! I think the video is pretty cool too.

Alaska Bound

Aaron finally got our orders and it is official (as official as anything can be in the Army), we are moving to Anchorage, Alaska! Aaron has to report by May 1st, so the next few weeks are going to be completely crazy!

Somewhere around the first week in April we are heading home to PA to spend some time with friends and family before we start to make our cross country trek. I am hoping it will be a fun adventure seeing the United States on a road trip. We could have flown but we are taking the Harley and some much needed household goods because it takes awhile to get your stuff moved when you are moving base somewhere outside of the continental United States.

Plus, we didn't feel right about making Boone fly. He has never done it and I think he would be terrified. Plus, how do we know how he would be treated? Does he get potty breaks? Water? It would have been a really long time for him to be in such a crazy environment.

We are really excited about our new adventure and before you ask yes, we will probably be up there awhile. So if anyone wants to vacation in Alaska, you now have a great excuse!

Keep us in your prayers and I will keep you posted!

To Maine or Bust

This past weekend my friend Elizabeth braved the winter weather here in Maine to come and visit me. She has been living in Charlotte, NC for the past few years so she isn't used to the snowy madness that is ME. She hasn't turned too spoiled though, she was excited to be in the cold and snow.

Anyway, she made the weekend trip up here to see me and I was so excited! We spent most of the time sight seeing. I took her to all my favorite spots! I realized this weekend that even though we have only been here 1 year, I have a lot of favorite spots here in ME! She probably got annoyed at how many I times I said 'Isn't that beautiful?'. But that is the only way to describe the coast around here.

We had a great time traveling around, taking pics, eating and catching up. But as usual time flew by too fast! Thanks Geibs for coming so far to see me! Love you!

Us at Five Islands

Happy Birthday Dad!

It was nearly impossible to find a picture of my dad and I when I was searching for a picture to put up here. All most all of the pictures of us growing up didn't have my dad in them. Whether it was because he hated being in pictures so he stayed behind the camera or he just love taking the pictures, he was always behind the viewfinder.

I find myself being the same way. I hate having my picture taken and I truly love taking the pictures. I guess that is another thing I got from my dad.

Dad, you are in trouble the next time we are home. I am going to go all kinds of picture taking crazy on you! I hope you have a great birthday!

New Specs

What do you think? (No judgments on my hair. :o) I just got done cleaning the bathroom.) Hopefully by the end of the year, I will be smiling with my mouth open. I can't wait to get these braces off!

Good Night!

Since, I will probably never be up early enough to get a picture of the sunrise, I hope a sunset will do. It was my first attempt at timing a photograph. I had a different picture in my head as to how this would turn out. Hopefully next time I will not be a few minutes late!

Note to self: Next time you want to make it to the Portland Headlight for a sunset shot, don't get distracted in the Home Goods store!

One can hope right!?

Aaron, Boone and I went for a walk on Saturday afternoon. Among a lot of snow, we found this robin. I hope this means that spring is coming soon but I don't think I will hold my breath!

**UPDATE: I wrote this yesterday but made it so it would post today. I think the robin is lost because already today we have gotten 8-10 inches of snow. And we are supposed to get up to 12!
I guess seeing the robin won't be a stroke of luck after all.**

Happy Birthday Karen! (aka DB)

Can't wait to see you and the rest of the girls in 2 weeks!