Swim Call 2008!

Thank you to all the ladies that posted this so I could see it! It was so funny watching this and even seeing Justin a few times (pause at 36 seconds)! Once again man I miss that kid! Justin is in black shorts...as were many of the guys, but I paused it and sure enough it was him!

For those who do not live in the submarine world this is what we call a swim call. Its when the sub stops in the middle of the ocean (nothing around) and all of the men get to jump off and swim for a bit. They haven't really been done much since 9/11 but are slowly starting to come back to some of the boats. They are also called "Steel beach days". My husband said it was the best underway yet.

Enjoy! The worlds most expensive slip-n-slide (Quote from Erica).

How cool!!!

This is a movie coming out that part of was shot on the boat Justin is on. I'm surprised they didn't change the boats name or anything. I'm excited.

Don't trip.....

I feel like all I have been doing is running the past few weeks. I have had so many meetings and when I'm not at a meeting I'm hanging out with someone, which is great! I have a meeting everyday for the next three days and while its great to keep me busy I get so tired! Landon fell asleep at 8:00 tonight which is not normal for him (most kids yes but not mine). So I know hes tired to. I have been getting e-mails from Justin on a regular basis and I love it, hes so busy and he misses us so much. I think sometimes his subject lines get to me more then the e-mails themselves. Yesterdays e-mail subject was "Life is good but better with you"...*sigh* I miss that kid.

I hope that I can keep up this pace and not feel overwhelmed. Its bound to happen at some point I just hope its a few months from now and not a few days.

Rain and Submarines

Samantha came over for dinner tonight and it was so great to be able to sit and chit-chat with someone for a while. She showed me all of these great places to find sub things. So after she left I was looking at one of the art sites and found this!!!!! I felt like it fit me so perfect! I will have it in a few days and the lady who made it is even putting the Alex's hull number on it for me! Its a one of a kind! I love it!

It rings!

I ran down the stairs so fast this morning I think I forgot to breath. I was dead asleep when I heard the phone downstairs ringing and I had no idea how many rings had already gone by before I woke up. I don't know how many steps I missed or once again if I even took a breath, but I got to the phone in time to hear the sweet sound that I miss so much "Good morning Baaaaby!". I melted.

Justin is doing great. He is enjoying his time in port and is looking forward to the next one. He has picked up a few things for Landon and I and is really excited about them. He’s having a little bit of a hard time with some of the guys he works with and I hate knowing that. I think its just different people working in a harsh environment. He will be fine, I just have to keep telling myself that. Justin is excited to get his mail drop (I told him I put new pictures in it and he was sooooo excited!). He told me that he loved his calendar so much that he carries it in his pocket everyday. It makes me feel so good knowing he loves the things I do for him.

Listening to him talk to his son on the phone gets me every time. They talk about everything in what seems like 2 minutes flat. Justin ask Landon if he is taking care of his mom and being a good boy, to which Landon replies "uhh huh". I miss seeing them together and I know it kills Justin to not be here when Landon is learning new things and growing up so quickly.

Blueberries for breakfast!

So today Landon and I made blueberry pancakes and blueberry syrup! It was so fun! He helped me make them and ate way more then I did. After breakfast it poured down rain, we made a pit of tea, turned off all of the lights (and the TV) and made puppets. It was so much fun having a quiet yet very exciting morning. I love that kid and I hope he grows to love the rain just as I do.

The final product!

The syrup!

He was sooooo excited!

My plate. It was sooo good!

Puppet making

Here are the pictures from our puppet making adventure. It was so nice to turn off all of the lights and sit in silence (besides the rain and thunder). Landon made a frog and I made a bird then we did a puppet show...sorry no pictures aloud in the theater!

RAIN!!!!!!!!!

The sweet smell of rain is in the air! Oh how I have missed the rain I swear we haven't gotten any since before Justin left. So in one day I get my two favorite things, I get to talk to my husband and it rains! Not only that but today I had a "Care package Party" and I got to meet some really great wives from the boat. We all hung out and talked for a few hours and put together boxes to mail to our men.

Talking to Justin made me feel so much more confident about doing all of this alone. I cried when he told me how proud he was of me and cried even harder when he told me that he knew I could do this and that everything would be fine. I miss him. I miss everything about him. I miss having my best friend constantly by my side and it hurts, but just like he said I CAN do this.

Blueberry picking!

Today Landon and I went blueberry picking with my friend Samantha and the two little girls that she babysits. It was so much fun! Landon had so much fun that at the end when it was time to go home he cried. He said he wanted to stay and pick them all. I will be posting pictures tomorrow of us eating our blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup! Enjoy the pictures!


Watching the truck pull in to pick us up.



They were so cute! It was friends at first sight.

She hated me......


He was so proud of his bucket.

Everyone picking away.



Sam and Regan.

The loot!

Mail drop

Knowing that someone is going to hand deliver something to my husband for me (and the rest of the wives from the boat) makes me so happy. I wrote him 3 letters, printed off 4 new pictures and sent candy...oh and Landon and I took a white pillow case and drew on it with fabric markers! I know Justin will love all of it so much. Justin's birthday is next month and I'm so sad that I won't be able to spend it with him. Here is a picture I had taken yesterday to send to Justin. I'm wearing my Eagles sweatshirt he got me for Christmas this last year.

Empty or Full?

Here is a blog I wrote else where and here are the responses. Its not about anyone in general but just about life. I don't know where in my life it clicked in my head that something good comes from everything. Feel free to give your feelings on the subject.

*ME*
I seem to think of myself as a happy person. As happy as one can be while being married and raising a child on their own. I like to think of the glass half full and I am noticing that most people view it as half empty.

*EVERYONE ELSE*
from my experience as once being a "glass half empty" kinda guy, i found that i had lacked an open mind to what i really have. i learned lessons the last few years of my life that have made me open my eyes as to whats really going on and to be grateful for what i do have and strive to obtain what i want to have in my life.i would say that a majority of people just..need a wake up call to slap them back into reality. and if they fail to even at least accept and note the good things in their life, they are just being stubborn..

Some people just don't know how to compare. To keep with the analogy, they haven't seen a truly empty glass.

People tend to see less of things when they always want more, instead of being able to appreciate the things the already have.(And, by doing this they tend to lose it all...because they could never truly appreciate the good they already had in their lives.)So i guess it really come down to Greed and a lack of Love and appreciation for ones life.???The human being, is the most complex of all creatures.

Wow!

Read this song! You can find it on youtube. Its unreal! I love it...but it makes me cry everytime I hear it.

Oh, the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss
It's better my darling, I promise you this
The next time I hold you, I'm not letting go
Will you wait for me darling, I need to know

Well, you know I'm a sailor and tomorrow we sail
It's a hard way of living but I know it well
And if I surrender my life to the sea
You can marry another it's alright with me

Though we won't be together again 'til the spring
Just imagine the treasures I'll bring

Come lay with me, stay with me, soon I'll be gone
I will remember you all winter long
And when I return to the one that I miss
Oh, the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss
The sweeter the kiss

When the mornings are warm and the valleys are green
I'll come back from wherever I've been

Oh, the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss
It's better my darling, I promise you this
the next time I hold you, I'm not letting go
I will give up the ocean forever, I know
Forever I know

Oh, the longer the waiting, the sweeter the kiss
It's better my darling, I promise you this
the next time I hold you, I'm not letting go
I will give up the ocean forever, I know
Forever, I know





Yeah are you crying?

I heart him!

So I got an e-mail from my wonderful husband this morning! YAY! The subject was "I feel dumb". I guess he made a folder for my e-mails to go into and forgot about it so he never checked it, so they were piling up on there. He went on to say how much he loved all of the e-mails I have sent him and he loves that I wrote him a letter for each week, he says it gives him something short-term to look forward to. I also made him a calendar with a different picture for each month and all of the dates he needs to know written down on it. He loved it! It makes me so happy to know that I make him as happy as he makes me! I love him and miss him so much.

Little sad today.....

I got my first e-mail from Justin today. It should have been amazing and should have made my day better, and in a way it did. But in his e-mail he was worried because he hasn't heard from me yet....uhhhh I have sent an e-mail everyday since he left. I know he must be freaked! I hope he gets my e-mails soon or that this one was sent a few days ago and just now got to me. I miss him so much and I know he wants to hear from me. *sigh*.

I love him!

Today I got a package in the mail! It was a big, brown cardboard box. Inside to my delight was a bright green Vera Bradley box! Now as most of you know I am OBSESSED with Vera Bradley. I think I have 7 of the same purse in different colors. My husband knows me sometimes I seem to forget that. He knew exactly which new pattern I would love but not pick out for myself. Inside the box I saw a little white envelope, written in the card were the words "Missing you like crazy". As you can imagine I bawled like a baby. I love him. Not because he buys me gifts but because even when he is under the ocean he still knows exactly how to brighten my day. I know for a fact and without a doubt that I married the right man.

Justin has gifts for Landon for every month that he will be gone, and since I got my first gift today I thought it would be right to give Landon his. He loves Play Mobile so Justin got him a little Penguin set to go with his zoo and I even put water in it for him (you can give the penguins a bath). He loved it! He has been playing with it all day! Here are some pictures of our new gifts!

Landon loving his new toy.

Cute isn't it!

Giving the penguin a bath.

My new purse! YAY!

A little fuzzy...but the card that made me cry.

Care Package Party EDIT

So I think I am going to start getting Justin first care package ready sometime next week. Does anyone want to come hang out and put them together with me? I have a lot of the boxes that we need to use and I'm all up for sharing. Let me know if you want to do it. I was thinking maybe we could all have one thing that we contribute to the other boxes (something little like hand sanitiser or crossword puzzles) just to get some different things in there. Anyway just let me know I have a few wives who want to do it with me so the more the merrier! Oh and let me know when would work best for you. We can always make it into a potluck.


EDIT- I got the boxes from the post office, oline for free. They are the flat rate military ones. I got quite a few of them so you don't need to bring your own box.

Bring on the rain

Justin is gone and will be for a while. I already miss him like crazy. He did so many great things for us before he left. He ready stories to Landon on the Video camera and did hi, hello messages for every 2 weeks. He got Landon and I both a gift for every month that he will be gone, he also did a kiss jar that is full of Hersey kisses and Landon gets to take one out every day until they are gone because that means daddy is home! I love my husband and I am so glad that I have him. Here are some of the pictures I took before he left.

Justin gave Landon his old boat hat.

They were talking in bed and fell asleep. This was the night before Justin left.

Giving Landon kisses. Justin was getting ready to head down to the boat for the last time. It was a hard morning.

They had a picnic on the Pier a few hours before they were going to pull out. It was so great to spend another hour with him.

Its love!

I love them so very much!

He didn't want to let go.

The Tug hooking up to the boat.

Detaching from the pier.

Landon watching his daddy's boat.

We were so close! I felt like I could touch it!



Tried to spit my gum into the bucket, it hit the rim. bounced off and stuck to the rock. Bummer.

When he found out the boat was gone this is the face I got.

Dino place

So yesterday the boys and I went to the Dinosaur Crossing. It was about a mile and a half of walking trails where every once in a while you would see life size Dino's! I think we saw 30 in total. Landon was so excited to be there he ran ahead most of the time. A few of the dinosaurs were HUGE!!!! Here are some pictures from our day.

He is so stinkin cute! I love that kid!

He was smiling all day! I'm so glad we got to go before Justin left.



I think this was the best picture I got of the whole day!











He cracks me up! I told him I wanted to take a picture so he went over and did this.



Me and Landon.

Landon was trying to stop them from fighting.







I love them!

He has this fake camera that he packs around everywhere, he thought he forgot it and started to cry in the car. Thankfully I remembered that it was in my trunk! Here he is snapping "pictures" of the dinosaurs.



Some of them were a little creepy.



That's my husband for you.



Hahaha I love his face!



Look at how big that thing is!



Standing under it.







The "what am I" box.

Inside the "what am I" box.











Every hour, on the hour the volcano erupts. We were able to see it right as we were leaving. It rumbled and steam came out of it. We had such a great day.