On the Road Again...

Its been yet another busy week for us. Christmas was GREAT since all of our family was in town (both sides); we enjoyed getting to spend time with all of them on the day our Savior was born. Then on Saturday we hoped in the car and drove down to Southport, NC for the wedding of one of Garin's good friends from college, Peter C. Hoffman. The wedding was on Sunday and was beautiful. The only hitch happened before the wedding when a cat decided that he/she wanted to attend the wedding too and Garin had to chase it up the aisle until he caught up with it at the front of the church...I sure wish I had gotten a picture of that one...it was HILARIOUS! After the wedding we hung out with Aaron and Kristin Byrum for one LAST time (until they come see us in March ;). On Monday we got up early and headed to Emerald Isle to pick up most of our stuff that has been stored there for the past couple of months. The morning started off with some pretty hard rain but it tapered off by the time we started to move things into the truck (I'll have to praise God for that one because we were praying that He'd let it stop for us to get our stuff packed up!). Oh and on the way to Pete's wedding the power steering in my car decided it wanted to go out. So while we were packing the truck, my car had the power steering pump replaced (not a cheap fix!!!). Ugh. Oh well, its all fixed now. So then after my car was finally fixed we headed back to Charlotte and got here at 11 last night. Whew, what a whirlwind weekend. Today will consist of packing up all the stuff from our house here and giving the house a good scrub down. Oh what a fun day...

Sorry there are no pictures, I have some but just haven't had a chance to download them! Have a great day ya'll!

We found a house!!

This past week Garin and I took a "short" road trip down to Pensacola to check out houses for us to rent while we are down there. We looked at about 20 houses and toured about 10 in 1.5 days. It was a whirlwind! Nonetheless, we did find one that we are are super excited about.

The great part is that it is a BRAND NEW house! We kind of "happened" upon it. There was this neighborhood in a location that we were interested in that had a lot of houses up for sale. Since the market isn't that great right now I had this bright idea that they might be willing to rent us one of the houses since they couldn't sale them right now. Well my idea wasn't that great because they said they weren't willing to rent them, but the sales agent did know of an older lady that had recently bought one of the houses for an investment property and was wanting to rent it out. He gave us her number and let us in to see the house and we were hooked.

We are pretty pumped about getting to live in a rental house where no one else has grunged it up (all the other rental properties we looked at were pretty run down from all the wear and tear). My favorite part is the master closet...it is HUGE!!! It could seriously be a small bedroom. All my clothes will finally fit in the SAME closet...and Garin can fit his in there too :)

We also have a spare bedroom so start making your plans to come visit!!!

The Front

Half of the Back

The Living Room

The Kitchen

The view from the back porch...not so pretty...they've stopped construction until the economy gets a little better.

UNCC's newest MBA graduate

That's right...today I FINALLY graduated with my MBA degree from UNC-Charlotte (yes, I'm probably one of the youngest looking MBA graduates ever...I was just looking through the pictures and thinking about how teenagerish I look...one day I'll grow up!). After 2.5 years of homework, reading, and writing papers, I'm not sure how I'm gonna handle my freedom. Whew, I can't believe it is over...sometimes it seems like it was yesterday when I started and then other days it seems like I've been doing this for the past 10 years. Either way, I'm glad its over. Now I'm just trying to figure out what degree I want to go after next ;) hehe.

Thanks to Garin for all of his understanding and love through this whole ordeal. He had to spend a couple evenings alone each week throughout the years and had to deal with a stressed, crazed, anal retentive wife. Thanks for your patience and support sweetie!

New England Road Trip

While we were up in Connecticut waiting for Garin to graduate, we took a road trip up to Newport, Rhode Island and out to Cape Cod, Mass. We really enjoyed Rhode Island, the coast is BEAUTIFUL and there were soooo many mansions with breathtaking views. I think we missed all the charm of Cape Cod, because we pretty much just saw a bunch of trees as we drove through the middle of the peninsula. The one beach we did visit was very pretty and Provincetown was very...unique....

Newport, RI coast (Garin had to get a closer look...the water was REALLY blue)

This is one of the mansions on the coast. This one is called "The Breakers" and was built by the same guy that built The Biltmore House in Asheville, NC.

Cape Cod Lighthouse

Provincetown, Mass (on the tip of Cape Cod)

Christmas decoration in Provincetown? (I think those are lobster cages)

Just a cool picture of buoys

17 weeks down, NO MORE TO GO!!!!!!!!!! Its OVER!

(He got a sword...and he knows how to use it!)

Well we are FINALLY home and I FINALLY have my baby back with me again :) I really can't believe it is FINALLY over! Four months down!!! Thanks to everyone for their prayers and support through this crazy time in our lives. Hopefully we won't have to be a part for this long ever again! (But it IS the military so you never know!).

Well I just wanted to take a moment and brag about my husband, I'm so proud of him!! He graduated #2 out of a class of 86 and was elected to the position of Honorary Executive Commanding Officer of his company. He also was awarded the Commandant's Leadership Award at graduation (the commandant is the head of the coast guard). He did an OUTSTANDING job and I'm so proud of him and so proud to be his wife :) (okay, I'm done with the bragging now :)

The night before his graduation we got to go to a ball to celebrate their accomplishments. We had to sit at this table and talk to some Captains and Commanders for dinner, but then we had a blast dancing the night away (okay, well I had a blast dancing...Garin did his share of dancing as well, I was very proud of him!).

This is a picture of all the wives (and one mom) I talked with on a forum while the boys were away. I had a blast hanging out with them while I was up there. Such fun people! Fortunately 4 of them will be coming to Florida with us for flight school!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya Tomorrow; You're Only a Day Away....

Tomorrow I fly up to see Garin for the LAST time. That's right, when I come back this next time I will be bringing him with me. I can hardly wait! I can't believe these FOUR MONTHS are finally OVER! God is SOOOOOOOOOO Good!!! I'll be up there a week before we get to come home (he graduates on Dec. 3rd), but I'll try to post some pictures or updates while I am there.

Have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving everyone!!! We have SOOOOO much to be thankful for!

4 DAYS LEFT!!

That's right, four more days until I get to see my hubby again FOR GOOD! I will be flying up there on Wednesday, so I get to spend Thanksgiving with him! He will have off Wednesday night and the entire weekend and wont have to go back until Monday morning! That following Tuesday we will go to a BALL :) and then he will graduated on Wednesday December 3rd.

Thursday was my last day at work. It was a sad but good day. I sure will miss that place and mostly the fantastic people that I got to meet there. I was truly blessed to have a chance to be a part of their lives and to have them a part of mine. After 3.5 years, I guess it is time to move on. What will I do, you ask?! Well, I don't quite have a plan yet, I'll let you know ;)

4 days, only 4 more days. I can hardly believe this is almost over....

Garin and I this past weekend when I went to visit :)

One Fine Weekend!!

Well, I sure am a softy. This past weekend Garin got the entire weekend off for liberty. Soooo, on Thursday night i booked a flight up to see him :) (again, I totally recommend Priceline...they hooked me up with a GREAT deal once again!). So my flight left at 6AM (the things I do for love!) and I got there around mid morning. After killing some time at the mall, I drove down to New London to pick up my Prince. At 6PM he came running out to the car and we fled the compound and headed back to Hartford for the weekend.

It was an awesome weekend! On Saturday night we went on a date and saw the movie "Fireproof." I totally recommend it to all you married folk out there and even those that are not married! Great movie!!

On Sunday we got to go worship together and spend the afternoon together before I had to take him back to the compound. It was an amazing weekend and I'm so glad that I got the chance to go see him, it was so worth it!!!

Guess what?! Now only 8 more days until I leave to go again up there to get him FOR GOOD!!!! Oh I cannot wait.

This is my last week of work. Its hard to fathom. I've been working there for the past 3 years so its gonna be weird for it finally be over. Its gonna be a busy last week though!

Okay well that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting news soon :) Have a great day!

13 weeks down, 1 month to go!

Well, just to keep with tradition, I thought I'd write a new post to update the countdown. It really is only 3 weeks (that's 21 days!!) until I fly up to see Garin for Thanksgiving!!! I can hardly wait. It almost seems like these last weeks are going to drag by. I think before I was just trying not to think about it, but now its hard not to think about it and the anticipation is slowing the days down!

Well Garin is doing well. No big or interesting news to report. Well, this might be interesting, we think our report date will be January 5th, so that means we get to spend Christmas here in the Carolinas before we head down to Pcola.

As for me, I'm still trying to finish up this last little bit of school. After next week I will only have one paper and then my two finals left. Then I'm done...DONE FOR GOOD!!!! (well until I decide on the next degree I want to get) WAHOOO! (I'm really not sure what I'm going to do with myself!).

Hope everyone else is doing well!! Have a great day!

One Fine Day!!

Guess what?! I got to see Garin this past weekend! I got a super great last minute deal through priceline (I totally recommend them now!) and so I left Saturday morning to fly up to Hartford, CT. Saturday night I met up with one of the girls that lives up there whose husband is in Garin's class and who will also be going to flight school.

Garin was supposed to get Liberty on Sunday morning at 8AM...but they didn't end up granting them liberty until 10:30...grr!!! So once they let him go we drove back to Hartford and spent the day hanging out. We went downtown for lunch but realized that NOTHING was open (it was a Sunday, so I guess that was why?). We finally found a Ruby Tuesdays in the burbs and ate there. Garin spent most of the afternoon napping and I enjoyed watching a movie in the room. In the evening we headed back to New London and had a date at the Outback there before I had to drop him back off at 9PM.

It was a dream day! Of course I wish that it could have lasted longer and that I could see him more, but I think it was exactly what we needed at this point in the process. Only 30 more days to go...I think we might be able to survive this now!! :)

FLIGHT SCHOOL Here We Come!!!!

Well our suspicions were confirmed tonight. Garin has been accepted into Flight School!!! So the next year or so of our life will be lived out in Pensacola, Fl.

I am SOOOO proud of that boy (excuse me, man). For those of you that know our story, this has been a dream of Garin's for the past 4 years and something that he has been persistently striving towards with many obstacles and roadblocks in his path. I am so proud of how hard he has worked for this and how persistent he has been in fulfilling his goals. Its downright inspirational. He makes me an extremely proud wife :)

Above all, we want to PRAISE GOD for the blessing He has given us (at least we think it is a blessing ;) We know it is by His grace that we are able to celebrate this accomplishment. We have a peace that we are FINALLY doing this in HIS timing and in His will. Thank you God for pouring out your blessing on us and answering our prayers abundantly more than we could ask or imagine. We give HIM all the glory!

And yes, my new banner picture is Pensacola Beach...white sand, turquoise water, an average temp of 77 degrees....I think I'll be able to handle it for a 18 months ;)

11 weeks down, 6 more to go...

Well at least time keeps on ticking. It seems like I just posted last weeks tally yesterday! Again, since I'm going up a week early, I only have 5 more weeks to go. That is only 35 days!!! For some reason, 35 days doesn't seem so bad. I'm hoping to get to go up to see him this weekend, so that will help shave some time off!

Well guess what today is?! Today is Billet day. Yep, TONIGHT we will find out where we will be spending our next few years!! I can't believe the day is here. I'm really not that anxious about it. We have been praying a lot and have turned it over to the Lord, so we trust that wherever we end up is His plan for us (but we're hoping flight school is in His plan!).

As for me, more of the same. Well I did have a soccer tournament this past weekend. I played with some girls that were WAY better than me...I felt so amateur! We did end up winning the tournament, but it wasn't due to much of my contribution. We played 4 games and my body was hating me, but I'm surviving! I guess it was good for me...

I'll post tonight or tomorrow with our next destination!!! Stay tuned (as if anybody even reads this anymore?!).

10 weeks down, 7 more to go....

Well, the tally still seems pretty big, but since I'm going up a week early, we only have 42 days left! That's still a lot, but its getting more and more manageable. I'm also hoping to get up there to see him over the next couple of weekends...but he and his company have to be good so they can earn a full weekend of liberty!

Also, we only have ONE MORE WEEK until we find out where we will be going. Here's to hoping for Pensacola!

This past Friday, the Officer Candidates earned their senior status. This means they are now able to use their cell phones again (whew! I like that privilege), they are now able to wear their trops instead of ODUs (that probably doesn't make sense to anyone unless you are military...but basically they get to dress nicer), and they got other various privileges like being able to go to bed early and getting to run during lunch (not sure how this is a privilege, but Garin was pretty excited about it??!).

So again, not a very exciting update...but it is what it is. I continue to find some way to stay extremely busy even though I only work 3 days a week...I just don't get it, where does my time go to?!

9 weeks down, 8 more to go!!!

Yay, so last week actually marked the halfway mark for us since I'm planning on going up a week early...so we really only have 7 more weeks to go...that's only 49 days! Oh man, that actually seems somewhat manageable!

Well the news is pretty much the same as usual. However, we did find out that Garin's hard work has been paying off and he is doing EXTREMELY well in his class standing. I'm so proud :) He had a flight interview last week and he seemed to think that it went well (he got some feedback from it and it appeared that they thought he did well too).

Today we turn in our "dream sheet" for where we'd like to go. This is what ours looks like:
1) Flight School - Pensacola, FL
2) Charleston, SC
3) Atlantic Beach, NC
4) Hampton Roads, VA
5) Baltimore, MD
6) Jacksonville, FL
7) Any sector on the Atlantic

We find out in two weeks (Oct 22nd) where we will be going! Please continue to pray that God's will be done! We are excited!

Garin also got to use his cell phone over this past weekend (so they could call home and discuss their dreamsheets with spouses). It was GREAT! We got to talk for more than 5 mins at a time and I felt like we were dating again ;) hehe. However, they had to turn their phones back in yesterday (since the lists were due today). We are hoping they will get the privilege back very soon!

Well that's all I got. Nothing really new for me. Still working and doing school and attempting to live life. Hope all is well for everyone else! Peace!

Wolfpack Family of the Year

Way back when I was a freshmen and my sister was a senior we wrote an essay describing why our family should be the Wolfpack family of the year....well we won. At the time we were honored at a parents and family day dinner and then got to go out on the field before the 4th quarter to receive our award. It was a pretty cool experience! WELL, they decided to have a celebration celebrating 10 years of the Wolfpack Family of the Year award so we got to go back to join in the celebration.

On Friday night we went to a dinner on campus (not at the dining hall, silly!) where Mary Winn and I gave a short speech (actually MW wrote an AWESOME poem that she read!). See picture below...we sure were missing my mom and Garin!!!

On Saturday we spent the day in Benson, NC at the Mule Days celebration (big ol' hillbilly fest...it was great!) and then we came back and got to go to a Parent's and Family tailgate and then got 'treated' to tickets to the game (they weren't that great though...we were wishing we hadn't sold our season tickets for the game!).

So about the game...oh my is about all I have to say. Not only were we not playing well but a little before half-time it started raining...then it started pouring! We didn't want to leave since we had driven up there for the game, but then again the thought of sitting in driving rain watching your team play like crap was not appealing either. So we finally left at half time to go back to the hotel. Oh well, we tried to be good fans...our team and the weather just weren't cooperating!

He's BAAACCCKK!

Yay, so Garin is finally back from his cruise on the Eagle. He had a good time and a good experience, but I think he is thankful to be on dry land again!

Thanks for all of your prayers while he was at sea!

On Monday the "shopping list" comes out with the possible jobs and locations. Pray for us as we decide how God would have us fill out our dreamsheet. We are confident that He will place us where He wants us. Just pray for our wisdom to listen and follow Him.

Okay well...7 weeks down now and only 10 more to go!! YAY!

NC State 30, ECU 24

Well to break the monotony of just talking about Garin and the Coast Guard, I thought I'd post something a little different. This past weekend my sister and I made the drive up to Raleigh to watch our alma mater, NC State, take on East Carolina University. The game was starting to look pretty rough, but after a couple of great plays by our defense, the Wolfpack brought the ball back down the field for a touchdown to tie the game with a minute thirty left in the game. Then in overtime we forced a fumble and then were able to convert to a touchdown in the next play. It was a GOOD game. The other great part was that I got to see my great friend Lauren Gainor who now lives in Denver, CO at half-time. I meant to get a picture, but I totally forgot :( Oh well. It was a good day :)

Also, I got an email from Garin this week while he was out on the Eagle. He is surviving, so that is good. He said he felt sick the first day but since then has acquired a pair of "sea legs." Hopefully they will be back on land by Friday so I can hear more about his adventures at sea.

6 weeks down, 11 more to go....

http://www.zachwiest.com/

This is a link to another guys blog. He is currently in Garin's OCS class. Thought some of you might like getting a first hand impression of what life is like in OCS. Enjoy!

P.S. I still haven't heard from him, so its looking like no Port Calls :( Keep praying for him, I have no idea where they are...just somewhere out in the Atlantic. What is cool is that I can pray to the One who knows exactly where he is and is ABLE to watch out for him for me :)

Going through the Panama Canal

This is a picture of the CG Eagle going through a lock on the Panama Canal. They have these cool webcams set up at different points along the canal so I was able to watch as the boat went through...technology is a cool thing!! I told Garin I would be watching and to wave as he went by...guess he didn't listen, I don't see anyone waving ;)

The Eagle...not a fun cruise

Yep, this is the boat that Garin will be spending the next two weeks on. Yesterday he flew down to Panama to catch up with the Coast Guard Cutter "The Eagle." They will be bringing this boat through the Panama Canal (that's today) up through the Caribbean all the way back to Connecticut. He'll get to climb all the mast and will learn all kinds of "sea" things like how to use a sextant and using the stars to navigate. Pretty cool. Garin was excited...although I think he is a little nervous about the sea sickness aspect. I think they are mostly looking forward to a break from the norm. I won't get to hear from him for the next two weeks, but I'm excited that when he gets back it will mark the HALF WAY point!!! YAY!!

5 Weeks down, 12 more to go...

Well the weeks are starting to actually add up now. 5 weeks, actually makes it sound like we are getting somewhere. Its that "12 more to go" part that gets me down...can't think about that part.

Well this week didn't bring too much new news, other than we have email privileges now...that has been really helpful. Garin continues to do well in the academic department (he is currently #2 in the class for test averages after 2 tests) and the physical department, its just that demerit department that is getting him right now. He did say today that he is getting better though...I continue to pray that he'd pay attention to detail and fly under the radar!! He still makes me a super proud wife!

In about two weeks we will receive the "shopping list" for billets. This is when he gets to fill out what he wants to do and where he wants to go. So please be praying for that whole process. Flight school is still our number one choice but pray for guidance as we select Plan B, C, D, and E!

We have E-MAIL!!

Where's Garin? Can you spot him?!

Good news!! We have email now. Even though he can only get 12 emails a day (which actually is a lot I guess) and he doesn't really have time to read and respond to them...it makes me feel good to know that I can write him and get a more immediate response than when writing a letter. If you are interested in sending him an email, let me know and I'll pass his email along.

1 month down, 3 more to go....

Well we have finally made it to the quarter mark. Whew, gotta celebrate every little victory! There is still a long way to go, but at least one month is down. Once again, I don't have a lot of new news. I'm still getting to hear from Garin about every other day, which is nice, but things are pretty much the same. He is now done with this duties as the Company XO, which is a relief to him I think. He says that his favorite parts so far are the survival swimming classes (surprise, surprise) and the cutter simulator, which is like one of those rides at an amusement park that lets you "feel" what it is like to ride or drive a large cutter (boat).

Everything there seems to be about putting you in high stress situations and then keying in on the details. Its all about attention to details...which I guess makes sense. These guys are going to one day be in charge of some major operations where lives are at stake, I guess its important that they are able to handle the stress while not neglecting the small details. Nevertheless, it still makes me mad when I hear about the things they get in trouble for. I just got a call from him earlier today and he said that he got 10 more march tours (each marching tour is 30 mins long and they must do it beside the barracks during their "free" time, which there is not a lot of), so that is 5 hours of marching! Poor thing! He said that his offense was that one of the drawers in their room was not aligned (not sure what that means, but sounds pretty minor to me), so he and his roommate were all given marching tours. I don't know how he handles it...I'd flip out! I'm so glad he is a man of great patience!

As for me, nothing too new to post. Life continues to go on as routinely as possible (that's the way I like it). I'm anxiously waiting to find out where Garin's port calls will be when he goes on his Eagle cruise, so that I can hopefully get there to see him! So, maybe I have some exciting trips on the horizon.

Thanks for reading and sorry for posting the mundane (and no pictures). Hopefully some excitement will occur soon (the good kind of excitement)!

3 weeks down, 14 more to go...

Well I don't really have any super interesting news to report. I've been getting to talk to Garin briefly about every other day. Its been a rough week. They are in that stage where they do nothing right and get punished for everything. It has to be frustrating and demoralizing, but I'm trusting that those CG peeps know how far they can push and need to push them to get them to the end result. I'm sure he'll look back on it and be glad for the experience...its just pretty tough to withstand the current fire. So, please be praying for him!

As for me, I've been doing pretty well under the circumstances. I'm trying to take it one day at a time. So far no major breakdowns. God has been so faithful to supply me with the everything I need. So what have I been doing?! Well, I'm now working three days a week for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities (my old job). I am absolutely LOVING the schedule...I get enough hours to make some money and fulfill that career hunger in me, yet enough time off to enjoy some of the finer things in life...like having a life! I have also started my LAST semester of grad school!! I just have these last two classes to finish before I will have my MBA (2.5 years in the making)! In the past I have taken the classes in a traditional classroom through UNCC, but since I wasn't sure where I'd be this fall, I signed up to take my last two classes from ECU's online program (but my degree will come from UNCC...that seems to always be a question). I'm not to sure how I feel about this online stuff...I definitely like the classroom better...but the flexibilty has been really nice! So, other than school and work, I've been enjoying church activities, hanging out with my family and friends, and making slow progress on our wedding scrapbook! If I just had Garin home with me life would be close to perfect :).

2 weeks down, 15 more to go...

Well I we have officially made it through 2 weeks of Garin being at OCS. I've actually gotten a couple of SHORT phone calls from him. They are super short and its hard to hear him on the phone but it is great to get to hear his voice and hear what he is doing. It sounds like he is doing pretty well. After the first round of physical testing (push-ups, sit-ups, 1.5 mile run, and 12 min swim) he was #4 in his class of 93 candidates. I thought that was pretty darn good...can you tell I'm a proud wife? :) He is also serving as the Company XPO for the next two weeks...I'm not EXACTLY sure what that means, but from what I gather he is basically in charge of all the guys (and gals) and must make sure everyone is doing what they should be doing. Its great that he is getting to show his leadership skills, but it also brings on a lot of added stress and more yelling. I'm sure he is doing a great job though...he's the man (well, in my bias eyes). He's also training to be a lifeguard for the pool there...not sure what all that entails, but that's my little fishy (he's more like a big fishy).

If you get a chance, please pray for him. The mental stress is pretty intense (EVERYTHING is evaluated) and he's not getting any substantial time in the Word. Just pray that God would supply him with the energy, wisdom, patience, and forbearance that he needs. And also pray that he will find spiritual encouragement in the midst of the chaos and that God will strengthen his faith and witness while he is there. That's all I'm asking :) Thanks to everyone for all of your support!

Boston

Now to finally finish up our vacation!! On to Boston!

So after we left New York City we drove up to Boston to explore for the day. Erin, who used to live in Boston, told us exactly what to do so we were able to see most of the city in one day. We parked outside of the city and then road the subway into downtown. Once downtown we picked up the Freedom Trail and followed it around the city to various historic sites.

This is the Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was first read from the balcony.

This is the steeple to the Old North Church, where lanterns were hung to alert Paul Revere as to if the Red Coats were coming by land or by water. Pretty cool!

This the USS Constitution, aka "Old Ironsides" from the War of 1812. Its still in active service for the Navy today.

And of course, we can't go anywhere without checking out the local Coast Guard Station, so here are some boats moored up at the Boston CG station. They were A LOT bigger than Garin's boats at Emerald Isle!!

We both really enjoyed Boston. I hope to be able to go back sometime and spend some more time there! We spent the night in Boston and then got up the next day and headed down to New London, CT. That afternoon we took a tour of the US Coast Guard Academy and explored the little town. The next day we hung out together in the morning and then prepared for me to leave on the train that afternoon. It was a tough day.

So that's our vacation. I hope you enjoyed it :)

The Cruise

So we left for our cruise on Thursday out of NYC harbor. It was really cool to see the city from the water as we pulled away. I was really impressed with New Yorker's ability to create "normal" life in a big city...check out the driving range below that is part of a pier on the Hudson River...how cool is that?!

Our cruise was on the Carnival Victory. It was a HUGE ship, so Garin tells me...I've never been on one to compare it to. It had 13 decks complete with everything you could ever imagine on a ship. The first day we were out to sea for the entire day and then the second day we arrived at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Saint John wasn't the most exciting place to visit. The only cool thing is that it sits on the Bay of Fundy which has some of the largest tide differentials in the world(like 20 feet!). This large change in tides actually causes a pretty neat phenomenon with the Saint John river called the "Reversing Falls." Its tough to explain so check out this website: http://www.new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/reversingfalls/reversing.html. We went there when it was almost high tide, so there wasn't a whole lot of excitement going on.

After we visited the falls we took a hike around Saint John. It is some historical city for Canada I think...but it wasn't exactly the most exciting place to just walk around...pretty, but nothing different or really cool. As you can see below, our cruise ship was about as big as the city...maybe that is trick photography, but it really wasn't that large of a city.


After our awesome day at Saint John (we got back on the boat at 2:30 and never left again even though the boat didn't embark until 8 that night...that's how exciting it was) the next day was another fun day at sea as we headed back to New York. Since you're on a boat and can't really do anything they have all kinds of activities you can participated in. Garin agreed to go to a dance class with me...we learned a sixties dance. It wasn't exactly what we were expecting (we thought it would be couples dancing) but it was fun nonetheless. Garin was a good sport and I was proud of him.
After our super fun day at the sea the next day we arrived in New York again (it was only a 4 day cruise) where we navigated our way back to Erin and Wayne's to pick up our car and head for another adventure in Boston.

Vacation!! Finally...

Yay, so I finally have internet at my house and I'm officially back in action :). So time to post some vacation pics!

To start off with we drove from Charlotte up to Jersey City, NJ (across the Hudson from NYC) and stayed with our friends Wayne and Erin Burton (they used to be in our Sunday School class before they moved there). I LOVED their flat and was pretty impressed with Jersey City!

The Burton's adorable building...they live on the first floor (but not the basement).

We spent the night with them on Wednesday and then took a trip into New York City to eat lunch with Wayne (who's office is a block away from Time's Square...how cool is that?!) and catch our cruise ship. Driving in NYC is an adventure, I must give major props to Erin's mad driving skillz!

Garin and Wayne at lunch.
Erin and me at lunch!

Much thanks to the Burtons for letting us stay with them, taking care of our car while were gone, and helping us traverse the "Big City!"

Picture Him There

Just found this picture and thought some of the curious might enjoy seeing where Garin will be spending his next four months. This is the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT. The big pirate looking boat at the bottom of the screen is called the "Eagle" and Garin will get to spend 2 weeks on this beauty as part of his training. He got sea sick on our massive cruise ship...I have a feeling he is going to be doped up on some Dramamine for those two weeks!

No Internet!

I don't have internet right now (they won't come and hook up until next Friday). So right now I'm making runs to Panera and the Library to check email and such. So I don't really have time to post all of the pictures from our vacation. So I'll just post one of my favorites and then I'll have to tell the story of our trip in another post.

I did get to talk to Garin Thursday morning before he left to report. He seemed to be ready to get it over with. I'm ready for it to be over with too!! We had a good fair well. It was like in one of those old movies. I got in the train and we waved to each other as the train pulled away. Tearful moment. The last two days have been okay. Thanks for all of your prayers that I know are providing me with the peace that surpasses my understanding.

We are unsure of what the communication will be like. I have heard that he will probably get a short phone call next weekend. That's not too bad compared to boot camp! I'll keep ya posted!

Sorry for the drought of Updates!

We just got back from our cruise and I will be dropping Garin off at OCS in two days :( I'll be updating with pictures from our cruise and other super interesting information when I get back in town. Pray for us...its gonna be a rough week (make that a rough next 4 months!). Thanks!

3 Wonderful Years

Today is our 3rd year anniversary. It kind of stinks because I'm spending it alone since Garin has to work :( I planning on making dinner and taking over to the station tonight though! (Don't worry, Garin and I do plan on celebrating our anniversary...we are taking a cruise before Garin heads off to OCS) Its funny how when I think back about our wedding it seems like it was just yesterday, but when I think about our relationship I feel like we've been together forever because Garin is such an intricate part of my life. I love you sweetie!