Happy Pi Day

I think not!

Holiday Thoughts

So Valentine's Day has come and gone.  The hubby and I don't really 'celebrate' this particular holiday.  Too much importance has been placed on this fictitious holiday, so we just don't do it.   We don't really need one day to prove how much we love each other.  However, we do love baseball.  And the day before Valentine's Day is the day that pitcher's and catcher's report for spring training.

My heart fills with joy!  Finally I don't have to hear about football!  That's a sport I could care less about, but is all that ever seems to be reported about.  So let's leave it be until after the world series, please.  But that is a rant for another time though.

Hello baseball season!  I can't wait to enjoy you.  The smell of fresh cut grass, the feel of the sun on your face and a cold beer in hand.  Ah bliss!

A New Year

Here's hoping for a good year!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas and Thanksgiving too.  But there's just something about Halloween that makes me happy.  Admittedly I am a bit of a horror nut.  

I love the crispness in the air.  Just everything.  I know not very eloquently put, but deal with it.

Normally the hubby and I carve pumpkins while eating cheap pizza and watching "It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brow".  But not this year.  For some reason I just didn't feel like getting the pumpkins for our local pumpkin place.  Which is kind of sad, because this is our last year in this house. 

That's right my friends, we will be moving before the next Halloween.  Such is navy life.

However, we will be in our driveway this evening to pass out full size candy bars.  That's right we do it up right at our house.  Gotta set high expectations for next years tenants.  Our fire pit will be blazing.  Our next door neighbor will be with us, as well as a number of other people.  We'll be grilling and chilling with friends.

A great night for it.

Now instead of typing away on my post I better make sure everything is ready.

Drive safely out there as the little goblins and ghouls go from house to house!

Christmas Wishes

Even my animals understand that on Christmas everyone should get along.

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Darby, Pumpkin & Kyla

Veterans Day

Just a heartfelt thank you to all the veterans out there.

You are appreciated!

Trick Or Treat!

Pirate Ship Jack-O-Lantern

Posh Kitty Jack-O-Lantern

Most people know that Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday!

If you didn't know before, you know now.

Every year, when home, the hubby and I carve pumpkins while watching 'It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown'.  Normally we would eat cheap pizza as well, but we're on a diet so that was kept out of this year's festivities.

As he does every year, the hubby carved a pirate ship.  He got a number of compliments this year from adults as well as children.  I did the cute little kitty this year.

Fear the Darbysarus!

I don't want to look at the camera!

Now I normally make fun of people who dress their dogs, but now that I have a small dog myself I just couldn't help myself.

I really got a chuckle out of this costume.  Darby is in NO way mean or aggressive, so turning her into this fearsome creature was quite funny.  She doesn't sit well for taking photos, but this time I think she was mortified.  I will have to do a photo shoot with her again soon.

When my friends came over to trick or treat their son thought she was so cute and wanted a photo op.  Who was I to deny?

All smiles!

Don't they look a bit evil?

And as with every year since my buddy and her little one started trick or treating, they came to me for the photo op.  He's a ninja and the closest I can think to describe her costume is a modern geisha.

She's the cool kinda mommy who will put on a costume to go along with her kid's costume.  Cool mommy points there!

We gave out full size candy bars this year.  We had on hand a little over 90 pieces of candy.  At the end of the night we had about 20.  Close to 65 trick or treaters this year.  Lighter than last year, but still pretty good!

Halloween Bash!

The phantom greeter

The masquerade centerpiece

My friend Angie has a Halloween party every year.  Every year has a theme.  Last year was come as someone or something dead and was a hoot!  This year was masquerade.

Had I known it was more geared towards Phantom of the Opera (my favorite!) I would have chosen a different costume.  Oh well!

Upon arrival you noticed the phantom at the door.  And of course I could not pass up on the photo of the lovely center piece.  There was trivia posted all over the house that you had to answer in order to play the game.  There are always prizes!

Our hostess

Stacey looking sexy!

As you can tell our hostess was lovely.  As always!

I do apologize for the quality of the photos, but all I had on me was my phone camera and the lighting was more for ambiance than for photo ops. LOL

And I had to get one of my buddy, Stacey, she just adorable.

Honestly these photos don't do them justice.    And I do have to admit that I was suffering from some major costume envy!

Sponge Bob and Tavern Wench

I must say that I was really glad that I wasn't the only person who wasn't exactly sure what the costume of choice was.  Many people were in gowns and masks, but there were a number of people like me who just wore a costume.

I was really lucky this year too! Although my dear hubby was unable to go with me, my buddy Deborah drove.  Which meant I could try all the drinks that were offered.  And I did!!!  In fact I went back and 'retried' two that I wasn't so sure about.  LOL

A pirate and his queen

There was video trivia at the end of the night.

I had to duel this vicious pirate (lol) but came out victorious in the end. What can I say? I'm a geek about horror movies. Although the newer ones were harder for me because I don't get to watch them as often. *sigh*  Luckily for me he was gracious about my win.

It was such a hoot!

A group of gals from SOS

I had to get a photo of this group.  Everyone in this group is a member of SOS.  That's the Surface Officer Spouse group.

It was so much fun to get to catch up with each other and dress up for fun instead of formal or semi-formal.

Angry bird and pig

I just had to get this last photo. It was quite clever on the parents part. Mom and Dad wore jeans, green long sleeve shirt, painted their faces green and had a pig snout. The little one wore all red and had a angry bird mask on a stick.

I thought it was very well done.

The party was a blast! Sadly this is the last one because, as is the case in the Navy, Angie will be moving.

Thanks for all the fun Angie!

And the better quality photos?  Well Angie took those.  Thanks for that too!

A Mother's Day Wish

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all the mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day. I don't care if you are a mom by birth, adoption, marriage or if your 'children' have fur or feathers. Know you are appreciated.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

12 Days Of Christmas

So my sweetie really likes getting photos via email. But there are only so many pictures you can take of your animals and yourself. I don't do many of myself, because I REALLY don't like having my picture taken. But about 12 days ago someone mentioned to me that the 12 days of Christmas were coming up and that she normally sent her husband photos for each day. So I decided to put my own unique spin on things. I realize I'm a day early, but my sweetie is nearly a day ahead, so he needed to get these photos in time.

So I've posted the pictures and will say what I emailed him. Then I'll give a short explanation. Enjoy!

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Pumpkin by the Charlie Brown Tree.

I didn't put up the tree this year, so my buddy got me a Charlie Brown Tree. My sweetie wanted a photo and just as I was taking this photo my orange kitty decided he wanted to be in this photo op. Who was I to disagree?

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Two Blonde Buddies.

I thought this would add a bit of whimsy.

This is a photo of my buddy, Greta, and I. Luckily we were at our favorite coffee shop and the owner was kind enough to take this picture (with my phone no less). I just love how it looks like we're being towered over. It was so much fun! And those who know me, know I HATE having my photo taken. We almost look like we just got caught doing something bad.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Three Awesome Pens.

I was truly in a bind of what to do for this one. Then I remembered that I have three pens that my friends have made for us. One I had made for Jim a year or so ago for Christmas and the other two are mine. So why not?

They do mean something to us. Well they do to me anyway.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Four Mobile Phones.

Luckily I was in my favorite coffee shop (yes again) and was able to borrow three other phones in order to get this done. We had joked that it would have been really funny if all four went off at the same time. Of course, the title would have been totally different if that had happened.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Five Loving Rings.

Each one of these five rings means something special to me.

The class ring is Jim's. I wore it through a large chunk of our high school lives. There's my engagement and wedding ring. I would hope you would understand the importance of those. The other two rings? One was a gift when my sweetie got back from his first deployment and the other a gift for Christmas (I think).

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... One New Truck Battery.

I know! I know! There aren't six of these.

What was I thinking?

Well to be honest, I couldn't really think of anything really cool. However, I did by this on the sixth day so it has to count.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Seven Sea Gulls Standing.

Something about sea gulls just tickles us to no end. We either giggle like children, all because of the movie 'Finding Nemo' or we get sentimental. Somewhere it's written, where I have no idea, that seagulls are the souls of sailors who have passed on.

I know! Two sides of the coin. But we always watch seagulls when we see them.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Eight Flowers Blooming.

So the eighth day is actually my birthday. My darling hubby sent me flowers (and a teddy bear and chocolates) for my birthday and I just had to take this photo, because he did send it to me on the eighth day. I know there are more than eight, but pick out your favorites and know those are the ones. I'm not gonna argue!

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Nine Kitty Whiskers, Still Attached to the Pretty Kitty.

This one happened completely by chance!

I was trying to figure out what to do for this one when I glanced to my left and saw my little girl kitty, Kyla, sitting there staring at me. Kyla is my hubby's favorite and I thought this a perfect chance to get her photo. I mean I had used Pumpkin. It's only fair to use her as well.

I know there are more than nine whiskers, but just count the more prominent ones. Once you get to nine stop. Come on humor me.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Ten Toasty Toesies.

So these toe socks were given to me and I thought this would be funny for the tenth day. And it's very Christmasy.

I have learned something from this.

One, toe socks feel funky. And two? I really don't like them.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Eleven Lights a Twinkling.

This is the hubby and mine's favorite thing to do during the holidays. We will drive to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens and view their holiday lights. One of our favorites is the Starry Night section. You feel like you've left the world behind and are drifting in space.

You don't have to keep counting after eleven. Really, you don't.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me... Twelve Christmas Roses Unfurling.

So I just got these roses today.

A Christmas gift from my sweetie.

So I thought it quite appropriate to use this for my final day of Christmas.

I hope everyone enjoyed my rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas as much as I enjoyed making it up.

Merry Christmas!

Traditions...Of A Sort

It doesn't always happen, but when my hubby is unable to be with me on my birthday my buddy and her hubby like to do something for me on my birthday. Sadly this year was one of those times, but Steve had duty on my actual birthday. So they did it a day later. What we do is get special coffees and then go to check out Christmas lights. After that we tend to go out to dinner.

So I was picked up and we got coffees from Java Cup Cafe. From there we headed out to Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Every year they do a light display for the holidays. It isn't just Christmas, they have all the seasons on display. Normally this is something my hubby and I go drive through every year, but as stated before he's not here to do this. Side note? Greta HATES nutcrackers, so I took this as a joke. We were making jokes about this one the entire drive up to the opening.

There's an 'Under The Sea' section. So I had to grab this one of the Norfolk Mermaid. I did get a new perspective this year. I've never seen Christmas lights through the eyes of a child. Well that and I normally ride up front. lol Sometimes, with the 'help' of a child, you see things you never saw before.

Of course, as a Navy Wife, I HAD to get a picture of Santa flying off the aircraft carrier. This is a staple in the light display. And I'm always proud to see it.

One of my husband and mine's absolutely favorite parts of the light display is the starry nights. They've added something new this year. You enter into a 'meteor shower'. Which is really cool and totally new! I do hope they do it again next year so the hubby and I can go view this.

One of my favorite parts is when you come over the bridge and look out into the lights. It almost feels like you're suspended in space. Really cool. Luckily my buddy, Greta, took these for me. I couldn't really get a good shot from the back seat.

The spiderweb used to be in with the fall decorations, but now it's at the end. And now the spiders move more. Really neat.

After this we had dinner and then went to one more lights display. All in all it was a very good night. Thanks Greta, Steve and Monster!

Christmas Cards

So today I went out with my friends to get some pictures for their Christmas cards. I really enjoy taking people's pictures and rarely get to do it.

So we went to the zoo in our area, because Monster loves the zoo.

I think the statue of the elephant in front of the zoo is awesome! It's made up of butterflies. Hopefully you can tell by looking at the picture. It's hard to tell from further away.

What's really neat, in my humble opinion, is that the butterfly on the trunk is made up of an elephant. So I titled the photos butterfly elephant for the first photo and elephant butterfly for the first.

I think it makes sense.

Don't you?


Our first stop was the turtle statue. This is something Monster's been playing on since he was knee high to a grasshopper, so I thought it quite fitting. Imagine my sheer delight when Daddy climbed on behind his son. It was like the inner child had just emerged. And I was so NOT missing that opportunity.

Of course it didn't take much convincing for Mommy to join them. I think this is just an adorable photo.

I can almost see the statue coming to life and plodding along with the trio on his back.

Our next stop? Why to view the most dangerous animal.

What is it you ask?

HUMANS!

Yet another cute photo of some of my favorite people.

And I couldn't end this without another photo of Monster. I told him that all monsters should be in cages, because they're scary. He thinks I'm nuts. He's probably right!

All in all it was a nice time. We didn't stay terribly long as it was chilly. But that was a good thing. It meant there weren't lots of people there to get in the way of our pictures.

Halloween Giggles

So Halloween is really a big deal to the hubby and I. We really love it! We decorate and carve pumpkins and enjoy all the trick or treaters.

However, I just couldn't get into the holiday this year. Possibly because the hubby couldn't be with me that day. Don't get me wrong. I still love seeing the trick or treaters. And all the scary movies.


But I didn't carve the pumpkin or decorate the house. I just couldn't get into the spirit of the holiday. It's sad, but true.

However, I did spot these cuties at Target on Halloween day. And something about them just made me giggle. How can you not smile when you see these?


I mean honestly how can you not smile at a pumpkin, candy corn, skeleton, convict,mummy or Frankenstein and witch piggy bank? You'd have to be a little bit dead inside to not at least grin.

Didn't it at least make you chuckle? Just a bit?