Finally Some Sunshine!

We had a few visitors this week! Grandma Seeley (Steph's Mom), Steph (my mother-in-law) and Myles (my brother-in-law) made a quick trip up to Maine. They picked the two days this week that it wasn't supposed to rain so it turned out to be a beautiful time for them to be here.

I drove them around to see the sights, had a lobster feast, and took them to L.L. Bean. They enjoyed the lighthouses, lobster and Grandma got a smoking deal at the L.L. Bean outlet on a winter coat. The trip was a success!

Steph, Myles and Grandma in front of the Port Head Light lighthouse. I have shown you pictures of this lighthouse before so it may look familiar. This is the first time I got a picture of it in the sunshine.

Them in front of another lighthouse that is right off to the left of the Port Land Head light. You get two lighthouses in one visit.

A random picture I took that I will really like when I adjust the brightness.

I took this picture because it looked like the clouds were going to come down and kiss the ocean. I just thought it was cool!

Aaron and I had a great time with them here. See you all at Thanksgiving! Thanks for making the trip to Maine!

Oops!

I accidentally left out the names of two very important people in my Family & Fun post. (They were in the group photo.) So here is to Saige and Sydney...you two get your very own post!

Here they are after being attacked by the sprinkler.

Sorry girls!

Happy 1st Anniversary Matt & Allison!

Home Cooking

This weekend instead of going to a restaurant/wharf and getting a lobster, Aaron decided to try and cook one at home. They are really easy to purchase around here. They have them at any grocery store, Wal-Mart, campers on the side of the road, etc... And no I am not kidding about that last part!

Aaron getting ready to cook his lobster.

Cooked to perfection!

The end result.

I am not a huge lobster fan so Aaron made me some haddock but he said the lobster was delicious! It was nice to pay half price for a lobster meal. And the best part was that it was super easy! Now that he has the cooking part down, it will be a fun meal to cook for future visitors.

*Yes, actual animals were harmed in the making of this meal. Tasty, tasty, animals!*

Happy Birthday Ryan!

I had so much fun that trip! You and Elizabeth are the best!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

What?!?

Sometimes, I just don’t understand people. Actually, a lot of time I don’t understand people. And I learned something today that disturbed me and validated my confusion.

I don’t know much about the Navy. I actually think I could tell you everything I know in under a minute. It’s not that I don’t care to know, well, I guess I really don’t care to know. I have a hard enough time with Army stuff. But there is one big difference I have found. When I come through the Naval Air Station gate they salute me and in the Army they never did. I must say, I love the Army for not doing it. It makes me feel uncomfortable and weird.

Every morning, I call dispatch and request a fund escort so I can go around to the safes and retrieve the money. I have gotten to know the police that escort me around and they are all very nice. They probably think I am a pain because I ask them a lot of questions. Well, the other today I asked about the whole saluting thing. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: “Why are they saluting me? I don’t like it.”

Police: “They are saluting the sticker.”

Me: “I’m sorry…WHAT?!”

Police: “They are saluting your sticker.”

Now, for those of you not in the military let me explain the way the stickers work. In order to enter into a military base you must have a Dept. of Defense sticker. It shows you registered your car and are not a threat (I don’t know how they figure that but oh well). Enlisted get a red sticker with the base name and officers get a blue sticker on their car. All of our vehicles have a blue sticker.

I proceeded to tell my friend how dumb I thought that was and he explained the situation. Apparently, some officer’s wife complained one day that her car wasn’t being saluted so there was an e-mail sent around the fix the problem. And the gate guards were instructed to start saluting all officer vehicles.

Does anyone else think this is one of the most egotistical/moronic things you have ever heard? I don’t know who this lady was but apparently she thinks she is much more important than she is.
Aaron is in the military, I am not. I am a military wife but that is it. I didn’t put in all the man hours and hard work that went into becoming an officer. I haven’t put up with all the stress and responsibility that comes with being a leader. I haven’t earned the right or the respect that comes with being saluted.

I have come across a lot of great military wives! A LOT! But I have also come across quite a few who wear their husbands rank like their own. I have seen them strut around and talk down to those lower in rank. I am NOT one of these people and I never want to be one of these people. I think sometimes people get crazy when it comes to rank. But one thing I do know is that saluting wives is not right. OK, I know they said they were saluting the sticker but it seemed to me this lady wanted to be saluted herself. Don't you think?

I don’t want to be saluted….ever. I find it a little disrespectful to the soldiers who have earned that right. I don’t know what is wrong with people. I find it hard to swallow that someone could be that selfish. Aaron has his career and I will support him until the day he dies. And I have mine and I know he supports me. He would never walk into my cube and demand something just because I am the central cashier (I know how dumb that sounds but you get my point!).

I guess, I will chalk this experience up to one more thing that I don’t understand about people.

Wordless Wednesday

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Opinion...

I have been playing around with the idea of a new template. I think I still want green just not so much of it. What do you think of the new template? Or do you like the old green one better?

Thoughts?
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See what happens when my husband is traveling! I am bored so I find things to fiddle with! I changed it again. I think I will see how I like it. I have lots of pics to choose from so maybe I will change it monthly, just to keep things fresh!

Family & Fun

This past weekend I hopped a flight to Maryland to reunite with family. Most of you know that I have two moms. There is my mom who raised me, Marysue and then my biological mom, Terry. It hasn't always been easy but we have all worked together to build a relationship together. And now we all have a lot of fun with one another.

Our weekend was filled with food, four wheelers, cows, laughter, crying, pillow fights and did I mention food? I think I gained 10 pounds!

Here are some pictures:

Jessica, Alicia, Mom, Nickie and I.

My sisters and I.

Alicia is the one I owe my life too! She donated a kidney to me in August of '06. I am pleased to say we are both doing great!

Mom with my two nieces, Sydney (Nickie's daughter) and Jasmine (Jessica's daughter).

Madison (Alicia's boyfriend's little girl) Syd, and Jasmine enjoying the tour of the cow farm we took on Saturday. The calf in the picture was just born the night before. Although the cows were cute, the girls enjoyed the barn kittens the most. It was a miracle we made it out with none hidden in their shirts!

Alicia and Steve.

We had two great picnics while we were there. The first one was at Steve's house in the country. He has a beautiful old farm house. Here he is trying to teach Syd how to ride a little four wheeler. We all had a blast riding four wheelers all day. Don't worry we got adult size machines to ride! The night was topped off with a dip in the creek (for some) and a giant fire to cook s'mores.

At the picnic on Saturday along with a lot of other great food there were MD crabs! Yummy! I love old bay crabs. I know they don't look good but the meat inside is delicious!

The whole side of the family at the bbq at Aunt Donna and Uncle Rob's house. (L to R : Aunt Donna, Alicia, Steve, Morgan, Uncle Rob, Candace, Joe, Jessica, Jasmine, Nickie, Madison, Mom, Me, Aunt Sharon and Roger.)

It was a really great weekend. Some of my family I hadn't seen since Grammy died. And that was four years ago. The best part about seeing them, is that even though we haven't seen each other for years, we picked right up where we left off the last time. We have a fun time laughing and teasing each other.

I am looking forward to the next reunion. Hopefully we won't have to wait years to see each other again!

Wordless Wednesday

I love her!

Thursday, I am traveling to MD to enjoy a weekend with my sisters (Nickie, Alicia & Jessica) my nieces and other members of our family. We all haven't been together at the same time since Jasmine and Sydney were born. They are looking forward to playing with each other just like we are all excited to see each other again.

I mentioned to my niece, Sydney (7 yrs. old), in June sometime that she better start counting down the days to July 18th. I hadn't mentioned it to her since and thought she had forgotten, until I received this drawing in the mail.

(Front of card)(Inside of card)

I love Syd's homemade cards! There is no card Hallmark could sell that could top her creations.

I love the smell of books!

I am officially a card carrying member of the Curtis Memorial Library here in Brunswick. Frannie will be so pleased! I used to go to the library a lot when I was little. My mom worked at a library in Bradford, PA. While my mom worked there someone dropped a black and white kitten down the night book return. The powers at be decided to keep the cat and name him Dr. Seuss. That cat lived there for 14 years before he passed away. Sorry, I get sidetracked easily…

Anyway, when I walked into the library today I was so excited! I dare say I was like a kid in a candy store! I love to read! So being surrounded by books was very cool! Walking around in awe of everything, all I kept thinking was “how come it has been so long since I have been in a library!?” I couldn’t even think of a decent answer. There are libraries in every town. They are more than accessible and they are free, except of course when you have a fine for being tardy with your returns. I guess I tend to run into Borders when I feel like reading a book where I pay full price. Dumb! I know.

The Curtis Memorial Library is beautiful. The library was founded in 1883 but everything inside was new and high tech. I remember library cards being thick pieces of cardstock. Today, I got a card that I can hang from my car keys! I couldn’t believe all the stuff they have in libraries nowadays. It was two stories of madness. There are rooms for everything: reading room, technology room, morning room, etc… As near as I could tell the morning room is for those who need drinks, snacks or need to talk. There is a station for coffee, mochas, tea, cappuccinos, basically any kind of ‘chino’ you could want to drink.

After exploring all floors, I headed right for the front desk, proudly proclaiming my interest in a library card. When asking the questions needed to obtain a card the librarian acted as though it was the 50^th time she had completed a card application today. And while I am sure that is true, she clearly did not notice the excitement in my eyes or feel the significance of the moment. Today is the day I renew my love of the library!

With card in hand, I headed over to the library catalog they have on-line. I had made a list of some books I have wanted to read before I left the house. I didn’t dare show up with nothing in hand. I would be that person asking questions like “Do you remember the author with flowers on the covers of his books?” I am sure that is every librarian’s nightmare.

I found a few books on-line that peaked my interest and some others I found just snooping around. After about an hour in the library I walked away with 3 books. I picked one non-fiction book and 2 books on digital photography.

I don’t know long it has been since you have visit your local library but I challenge you to go! Take a trip there even if you don’t plan on getting a library card. I guarantee the place will suck you in! How can it not!? It is a place filled with history, imagination, mystery and wonder!

Wordless Wednesday

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Answer to Pray

We finally got a decision today from our car insurance company! We have been waiting on a decision since the accident occurred on Jan. 10th. We were rear-ended in KY eight days after we purchased our trailblazer. Nice way to start off the year huh?!

Well, after 7 months of calling back and forth to USAA about what the heck was going on, I was informed that we weren't at fault (something we already knew!) and that we would be getting our deductible back soon (woo hoo!).

Since it was the first accident that either Aaron or I had been in where the person responsible tried to take the shady way out and blame us, we didn't know what to expect. I am happy we 'won' and that Aaron's record will remain clean. But I am annoyed that it took the insurance company 7 months to figure it out. I guess I just thought since the girl that hit us had the same insurance we did, it wouldn't be such a hassle. Boy was I wrong.

I know, I know, I should stop gripping and be happy things turned out in our favor. Trust me, I have already thanked God for answer to pray!

Our 4th of July...

Our 4th of July was a pretty lazy day! We had a great time taking Boone swimming at Wolf's Neck State Park and hiking the trails there. We love going to state parks so much we bought a year pass. It will allow us to get into any Maine State park. There are a lot of parks here we are looking forward to exploring.

At night we headed over to Bath, ME where we watched the traditional 4th of July fireworks. This was the first year Aaron and I watched the fireworks over water. It was a beautiful display!

A view of the water from a trail.

Aaron trying to find a good place for Boone.

Boone loves the water! It was his first time in salt water. I don't think he liked the taste at all.

Boone had a blast. He was getting so tired but he didn't want to quit. Aaron had to make him get out of the water.

In Bath, waiting for the fireworks to begin.

I forgot my tri-pod, so my pictures didn't turn out great but it was still cool.

Here I got a good reflection off of the water. There were a lot of boats on the water watching the display. It looked like the fireworks were falling right on them. I am sure it was a cool spot to see them.

We also attended the Bath Heritage Days festival before the fireworks. We were able to get a fried dough and french fries to kick off our firework celebration. Those of you who know me, know that made my whole day!

I hope you all had as relaxing of a July 4th as we did!

Happy 4th of July!

A Mini Vacation

This past weekend was filled with rocks, lobster, rain, yurts and fish. Let me sort this all out for you... Ryan, Aaron's brother was on a break from grad school at Notre Dame, so he came up for a visit. We decided to take him to a few places we had already been. We figured if we had been there and liked it, chances are visitors will like them too!

Saturday, we headed down to Cape Elizabeth, ME. One of Ryan's only requests was that he wanted to see the ocean. I know he has seen both the Atlantic and the Pacific, so I figured he just wanted to see it from Maine's point of view. The day was rainy and cold but we made the most of it. We all had fun climbing over the rocks and watching the waves.

The brothers trying not to get splashed.

Since we were down there we headed over to the Portland Head Light in Fort Williams Park. This is by far the most beautiful lighthouse I have seen yet. Aaron and I were there another time but none of my photos came out.

If you look close you can see an other lighthouse off in the distance to the left.

Saturday for diner, we went to the Five Islands Lobster Co. You have heard me talk about this place in previous posts. I am telling you it is such a great place! I am sure we will take lots of our visitors there. If it weren't for Sara we never would have found it. I am even telling locals about it!

Ryan and his first fresh lobster.

Sunday we packed and got ready to head up to Great Pond, ME. We stopped in Bangor on the way for a side adventure. (See previous post.)

Great Pond is a camping area owned by the Navy. There are cabins, yurts, and campsites to chose from for your camping adventure. We choose a yurt. It is a good mix of a tent and a cabin!

Our yurt included a gas grill, refrigerator, microwave, TV, VCR, electricity, bunk beds, a futon, chairs and a dining room table! Ok, so that isn't really roughing it but we loved it! It was much better than a tent. It rained all through the night most nights we were there and we never felt a drop. The only thing missing was plumbing and that was only a few yards away!

Here is the inside of the yurt. Most of it anyway. Click on picture enlarge it. You can really see the seams on this photo. Sorry!

The ceiling of the yurt had lots of natural light.

We were only there for three days and for the most part we were fishing and eating. We rented a boat from the campground and were able to keep it near our yurt for easy access. It made it nice to be able to go whenever we wanted.

Aaron caught a small mouth bass and a snapping turtle. Ryan caught a pickerel. And if you were wondering, yes they wore these hats everywhere!

I caught a bunch of blue gills. I love using a bobber and a worm mostly because I am lazy. But it can be fun catching the little ones too!

All of us around the fire the last night there. Where we of course made s'mores! Yum!

We made it home Tuesday night safe and sound. We were all really tired from our mini vacation. Isn't that funny how that happens!? It was probably the most relaxed we had all been in weeks but yet it still tuckered us out. Oh well, it was more than worth it! Hopefully Ryan had a good time and left with a good feel for Maine.

Not a Stalker...

We just got back today from a few days of r & r. We were lucky to have Aaron's brother, Ryan, up for a visit, so we had lots of things planned. I will write about them soon but for now I will share with you pictures from Stephen King's house in Bangor, ME. He was born in Portland, ME and moved to Bangor with his wife in the 80's.

From what I understand it is one house of a few homes he owns. I believe this is a summer house. We stopped at a local store for directions to it and the lady looked at me funny. I am sure there are many people who stop and ask the same questions. I tried to not look like a stalker, but who knows, I probably made it worse! She was nice enough to tell us but wasn't real happy about it.

Me standing out in the pouring rain in front his house looking every part the stalker. My cousin, Christine, is a HUGE horror movie/book freak. And she loves Stephen King. I took these pics for you Chris!

I took a close-up of the gate in front of his house. Don't you just love the bats?!

I will post more about Ryan's visit and our camping/fishing adventures tomorrow. I need a nap!