Our version of rock climbing...

Today, Aaron and I went on a little adventure to Cape Elizabeth, ME. I was in search of some lighthouses. So we started at Two Lights State Park. We followed the signs to see the lighthouses. And while we found one, it was really disappointing. It wasn't that great and you couldn't get near the place. There were 'No Trespassing' signs everywhere. So we called that a wash and headed to the park area. And it was better than I thought it was going to be!

We found a great spot over looking the ocean to have our picnic.

After the picnic we headed down the coast climbing on rocks all the way. This is what the coast looked like both ways.

I figured out how to use my tri-pod!

We had a ton of fun climbing on the rocks.

This was not a good angle for a picture. Somehow I made my 6'2 husband look like a midget!

There were lots of waving crashing. I caught this splash at a good time.

This wave almost got me.

Aaron trying not to get splashed.

Too late! ha ha!

After the state park we drove to Freeport, ME (which was on the way home). Aaron needed some hiking shoes and Freeport is known for having over 170 retail stores and outlets. We only went there to check out the L.L. Bean and The North Face outlets, but it made me excited to go back someday and wander around. The great thing about Freeport is that it is only about 10 miles away! Anyway, Aaron was able to get his shoes 50% off at The North Face outlet! We were both excited about the great deal.

To end the day we ate at the Big Top Deli. It was a great recommendation from my new friend Sara! I will blog about her soon. I hope you all had a great Saturday filled with fun and laughter just like us!

Yeah for flip flops!

Things that happened today that let me know spring is here:

* Kids riding their bikes in shorts and t-shirts.

* Hearing wind chimes while walking past a house down the street.

* A bug of some kind buzzing past my head.

* People standing outside their homes talking to neighbors.

* College kids (Bowdoin College is little over a mile away. And I drive by it a lot!) sitting and relaxing in every grassy area on campus.

* People lined up at the ice cream car in the center of town.

* Most cars I passed driving to Wal-Mart had their windows down.

* The landscaping crew was up bright and early this morning working on our lawns.

* I busted out my flip flops!!

Today was a great day! I didn't do anything exciting. I didn't go anywhere exciting. I just took a deep breath, took in the day and enjoyed the sunshine. I even enjoyed all the little kids outback (There is a playground right out back of our house.) laughing and carrying on loudly.

These are all good signs of a great spring/summer to come!

Happy Birthday Mandy!

(Nate, Mandy and I at a friend's wedding.)

Happy Birthday to a great friend and college roommate!

More fun with pictures!

I was sick of looking at job websites, so I decided to play around with a few photos today. Once again I am using Sydney (one if my nieces) as my subject. She is one of my favorites! I must admit though I only took the first picture. My sister, Nickie, took the second picture.

Original

I cropped, rotated, and altered the saturation and temperature of the photo. Kind of creepy isn't it?

OriginalI cropped, zoomed, softened and applied a Sepa tone to this photo. She seems to be really concentrating on those bubbles!

I don't really like the squareness of the second photo. I should have rounded it. But other than that I think they both turned out pretty neat.

First Attempt

Aaron has asked me quite a few times (in the past) if I would consider cutting his hair. He gets frustrated that when he has time to go to a barber shop, it's closed. And he hates paying a lot for a hair cut that is so simple. He asked me again yesterday as we were looking for a barber and I finally said I would try.

I'm not a barber! I have never even cut bangs on a women before. I don't know what made me say yes. So there we were a little awhile later looking at clippers at Target. I started to panic a little. What if I mess up? What if I cut him? He had answers for all my worries. Mostly he kept saying "I will just shave my head if it doesn't work". And to be perfectly honest, I didn't want him to shave his head. I like what little hair he has!

Yesterday night was my first attempt at playing barber. Aaron had cut a lot of hair in Afghanistan, so he was great at showing me where to cut, how to hold the clippers, and what size guard to use. After about 1 hour and 1/2, I was finally done. Now, I know that is an excessive amount of time but I went really slow and had a few panic attacks along the way.

Aaron in the middle of the hair cutting process. I couldn't resist!

It turned out pretty well. Aaron was really supportive and he didn't end up shaving his head. I did really well on the front and sides. But shaving and blending the back of his head will take some practice. Hopefully sooner than later I will master the high skin fade!

Fan-atical!

The weather is warming up here in Brunswick and the town is buzzing! Just a few weeks ago there was no one on the streets. Now people are opening their windows,coming out of their homes, taking walks, and visiting the little shops.

I am liking Brunswick more and more everyday. The first 'my favorite' spot I have found is the Androscoggin Bike and Pedestrian Path. Boone and I have been there quite a few times. It is nice to have some place to walk where you only have to worry about being run over by bicyclers. I had to learn the rules of the path the hard way. :o)

Here are a few other things I have learned:

1. People around here love their state! They all talk about Maine like they work at a travel agency. They seem to like when you to ask questions and are even more excited to answer. Everyone we have met so far has so much enthusiasm for this area. It seems contagious!

2. They love their Whoopies. They are on sale everywhere you look. We haven't tried one yet but we plan on doing so soon. There is a man who sits in his car everyday selling homemade ones down by where Aaron works. Our family has been making something like these desserts for years. But the Maine ones we have seen are super sized! I hope they live up to the hype.

3. They are fanatical about their Red Sox. You can see the emblem everywhere you turn. I don't even think it is just that they are fanatical about the Red Sox but they are fanatical about being Red Sox fans. I am sure they are the same way about The Patriots but we will have to wait for football season to find out.

I can't wait until Aaron and I really start to explore this place. We already have so many ideas of places we want to go and things we want to see. I will keep you posted!

Bullwinkle?

This is the best sign I have seen in Maine so far!

Potpourri

For any of you who watch Jeopardy the title of this post makes sense. But for those of you who do not, be prepared for a posting filled with random things...

We are doing great in Maine. The rain is melting the snow and (hopefully) helping the grass to pop through soon. I can't wait until May/June when all seasonal people come back to their homes. Aaron and I went for a drive the other day and found lots of fun places to shop/eat that are opening in a month or so when the summer rush of tourists hit.

One of the many things that stood out for me on our ride was this sight:


Instead of campers or rusty old cars sitting in people's driveways, they all have boats and traps just waiting for the beginning of the season. I don't know if they were crab traps or lobster traps but they were everywhere. There were huge stacks just sitting around randomly. I didn't get a picture of it but I also saw people digging for clams where the water was low. It was pretty neat to see. Although, I don't think I would have known what they were doing without watching Dirty Jobs on Discovery. It certainly didn't look like a fun job to me!

We also saw many cute houses like this one waiting for their owners to return for the summer season.


There are also a lot places for sale on the water. And if Aaron and I were millionaires I am sure we would try to purchase one. It is beautiful around the water.

See anything funny about this speed limit sign? We couldn't figure out why some of the signs had been stamped with lobsters. After thinking about it we decided maybe it was a Maine gang marking their territory. Ha ha! Just kidding of course!

Lastly, on our ride around we ran into this little fellow in Wiscasset, ME. He stood outside of a restaurant. But I was too busy laughing to get the name of it.


Other random things....

We bought our first washer and dryer the other day. We have been fortunate up until now that we have lived in places where they were provided. This home did have the hook ups needed so we headed to Lowe's where we got a great deal. You thought I was excited about new dishes? (See previous posts) Well, I was really excited about having my own washer/dryer. But I am sure the novelty will wear off soon. I think Lowe's has become our new favorite place because we have been there a dozen times since we arrived in Brunswick. And we went this morning to pick up Aaron's birthday present. It is over a month early but we thought having a BBQ early in the spring would be great. Plus, who are we to pass up a great deal!?

Everyone keeps saying 'Welcome Aboard' to me and it is making me nuts. I am not a Navy wife! I don't know why I care. Or why I feel the need to defend the Army but all I want to shout to these people is 'I don't want on your ship!'

Some of you know about the problem I had with my last doctor. For those of you I spared with my complaining here is a quick recap. I went to a kidney doctor in Louisville on Jan. 8th. For the last 3 months, up until we moved, I had been calling the office trying to get the doctor to call me back. I had asked some questions during the visit. He promised to find out the answers and call me. Well after 5 attempts and 5 ladies telling they would give him my message I gave up. I figured that I was moving anyway and hopefully would find a more competent doctor to help me. The phone rang last night at 8:30 and it was Dr. Lee. The jerk who can't return phone calls. Can you believe that? And all he says is 'Your message was left with someone else. You were looking for info about...' huh?! What about the other 4 messages I left!? I couldn't believe this guy. I told him after 5 attempts to talk to a doctor I paid to answer my questions, I had moved on to find a doctor who cared about their patients. And his reply 'I understand. Good luck to you.' After all that I don't even get an apology? I just don't understand people sometimes. I guess he doesn't care because he knows he will get more patients to replace me. JERK.

I know I shouldn't let people get to me. We live in a beautiful place. Aaron doesn't have to deploy anytime soon. And spring is around the corner. I am grateful! Really I am!

Easter Weekend

We stopped at home for about two days on the way to Maine. It was hectic! But we did get to see everyone. Here are a few photos from our Easter weekend.

Aaron's great Aunt Elaine, Grandpa Pearsall, and great Uncle Bud.

Aaron's Mom and Dad (Steph & Clint)

Myles and Trevor. Aren't they funny!?

Us with Sydney at my Mom's house.

Nickie, Syd, me and my Mom.

Sydney will take a serious picture as long as you promise to take a silly one with her.

Here we are looking for Easter eggs my mom set out for her. Don't worry the Easter bunny did come in the morning!

Aaron picking up Syd and threatening to throw her in the stream behind my Mom's house. She loves her Uncle Aaron but she wasn't happy about that!

I forgot to take the camera to my Dad's house. Sorry Dad! I hope everyone has a great Easter with their families!

Settling in...

Aaron and I are finally settling into our new home. There are only about 2 boxes left. Of course they are filled with my crap but I plan on getting to them soon.

The first week has gone well. The snow has stopped although it is still quite chilly. We have had the handy man in already to fix a few things and the furniture cleaners are coming tomorrow. They need to clean up a spot left by the movers. I like that we get to have our couch cleaned but don't have to pay the bill. I guess the movers should use cleaner blankets to wrap people's stuff in. Here is a picture of the outside of a house I got from the Navy housing site. I haven't gotten a good pic of ours yet. But it is on the way, I promise. I will post it along with pictures of the inside when everything is hung up.

Here was the sight out our bedroom window the day the movers came to unload our stuff.

Looks like we are not in Kentucky anymore, Toto!

We have found our way around the area quite easily. Everything seems to be close by which I really like and my initial panic about no Target has been subdued. I found one in Cook's Corner down in Brunswick! We have tried a few local restaurants. The first one was Somethings Fishy. As you can tell by the name it was a seafood place. The place no only had good seafood but it also had a mom and pop feel to it, which Aaron and I always enjoy. The second place we tried was Fat Boy Drive-In. It doesn't really look like a place you would want to stop and eat at but the place was packed! So Aaron and I decided to go back another day and check it out. It was delicious! And I am sure it will become a favorite spot of ours. The Wal-Mart and Lowes here all have been built to look like cottages on the outside. They look almost too nice to go into! I guess that is New England for you.

As far as the Navy post, there isn't much to it. I was a little disappointed! I have to keep reminding myself that it is a Naval Air Station and not a port. Even though it is the Navy I haven't seen a ship yet. They have their version of the PX, they call it the NEX. And the do have a Commissary so I am excited about that. Although, it isn't located on post. It is actually in the next town over. The best thing about this is that it is located right next to where Aaron will be working. That way he can run over after work so I don't have too! Nice huh?!

Well I guess that is it for now. I think we are really going to like it here. Now it is up to the Army how long we get to stay and enjoy it!