The next morning I woke up early to pick up Adam from base- he had been on duty for three days straight due to Hurricane Earl (which turned out to be no more than a light drizzle- Earl managed to cancel school though- Wahoo!). After I picked Adam up we swung back home to change and wake up Hilary and Ralph. Amazingly, Ralph was already out of bed ready for the days activities- Hilary, not so much.

The beach where the kayak tour took place was beautiful and we actually visited it again the next day. You park on a residential side street and then walk a block or two to a tunnel of foliage that leads to the beach:

We got on the actual beach around 9:10 A.M. and immediately noticed a pod of dolphins out in the water. They were a lot bigger than any of us expected. Besides the dolphins- there were pelicans, hermit crabs, butterflies- it was kick ass.

One of the best parts of the kayak trip was trying to make it out into the ocean from the beach. While Hurricane Earl was gentle on land it shook up the sea nicely. The surf was pretty big and getting through the waves crashing on the beach was an event. Adam and I were the only ones who made it through on the first try :)

While we waited for everyone else to get off the beach we sat out in the ocean and watched the dolphins play and hunt around us. What we didn’t notice was the current pushing us pretty far from where we were supposed to stay which meant A LOT of kayaking back to that spot. Ralph and Hilary eventually made it out- Ralph kayaked like a pro and the guides taught him how to surf in the kayak. Adam, Hilary, and myself were all pretty tired after the first hour. During hour 2 a dolphin came within a foot or two of Hilary’s kayak (I’m sure it was amazing). Oh yeah, and I got sea sick. The water was choppy and I felt my head spinning. The guide told me to get in the water to settle the liquid in my ears- not gonna lie- I was totally freaked out a shark was going to get me that far out. Obviously I survived.

A little while later I got seasick again and hopped into the water knocking Adam off the kayak with me. This time sitting in the water didn’t help and I threw up. At that point, I had pretty much had enough. Luckily, it was time to head in. Heading in I was sick as a dog- we were pummeled by a wave and the kayak went over top of me and cracked me in the head pretty good. If I wouldn’t have been sick I would have enjoyed riding the waves to the shore, but I felt green on the inside. Hilary and Ralph also wiped out- Ralph’s wipe out was the guide’s favorite of the day. He came in quickly and flipped.

After our brush with death we piled back into the car and headed back home for showers and dry clothes. We were all starving so we headed out to No Frill Grill to have a HUGE lunch. At some point Ralph suggested we go to the Aquarium and we did. Saw sharks, a stink ray tried to eat Hilary when she pet it, and got to enjoy several different kind of aquatic life forms. We then had a drink at George’s and returned home exhausted from a full day of activities and not much sleep the night before.

Oh, and Ralph and Adam got their fix:

Until then- here are a few of our moving in and getting set up photos.

This is our new couch. Reese will be replacing our old, stained, dilapidated couch love seat. We’re super excited- this is our first “big purchase.” When we were in college all our furniture was from walmart of furniture clearance centers. To furnish our first place cost approximated $2500 dollars. It’s a lot of money but that purchased: bed, mattress, dresser, couch, tv stand, dishes, silverware, plates, linens, towels, rugs, cutlery, pans, pots, cups… you get the idea. We were young people building a home from scratch.

Meet Portica:

Portica isn’t replacing anyone, but she’s beautiful. Our first “bed” was a walmart platform I bought for 79.95 +shipping. It was broken within six months. We used it until we moved out of the old Detroit apartment. For  two years we were sleeping on our mattress and box spring. Classy. Since June (when the movers came to take our stuff) I’ve been on an air mattress. The air mattress is where I’ll stay until August.

These were two of our “splurges.” Adam and I sat down and discussed a budget to furnish our new place. After deciding we wanted quality over quantity I started shopping. I quickly realized quality is expensive. We decided to invest in a good bed and sectional.  I can see this sectional staying with us for 20+ years as well as the bed. I consider them investments.

I’m currently hunting for a coffee table on craigslist and am relying on west elm for carpets, window hardware, and dining chairs. We’re spending more than we would like  we would like to spend zero, but as my dad once brilliantly stated, “your home should be comfortable.” And he’s as cheap as they come.
I’ll be posting photos when the items arrive. Don’t start holding your breath- they won’t be arriving until late September/Early October.

Caught eating at IHOP (and it was his idea)

Adam’s been fairly sentimental this past week with good reason. We’ve had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G week! A few highlights:

We packed up the pimp palace and the movers took all of our crap:

Larry got a bath…

Adam’s Dad had a birthday (and I baked a cake!):

Ralphie turned 21 and we celebrated at Emil’s/ Deckers (Dad also won $140 bucks!):

Mom and Dad took us out to Adair Bar (and Emil’s! God bless em’):

Honorable mentions:

Adam’s parents threw him a small party on memorial day weekend where we were able to say goodbye to everyone, our last meal at Sakana was fanFREAKINtastic!, Adam and Ralph played hours of star wars, I trained Barbara and Rob to take my place at the dealership, Dad made the most delicious skilled ever with a creme fraiche sauce, did battle with USAA over our mortgage (review to come) and we got to say goodbye to Gramps (he even bought us dinner!).

The reality of moving has yet to set in (though Adam shed a few tears today)- I’m sure it will tomorrow when we take off. We’re going to miss everyone and are  looking forward to frequent visits (I believe BOH has already booked a flight)

Until we have internet at the new place- peace out!

Adam still flew home with me from graduation on Saturday night. After our flight arrived, Mom and Dad took us to Brengman’s for a celebratory dinner.  Adam also got to see the kittens.. we both read somewhere cats only have a two week memory span- I disagree. I’m fairly certain they all remembered him. While Adam was home they caught “gifts” to present to him: 2 mice and a live bird (which we were able to catch and release). I think the cats were under the impression Adam was too skinny and were trying to help him out. Roxanne was especially happy to see her Dad.

On Sunday night I drove Adam back to the airport and he departed for  Norfolk/VA Beach. It was hard to say goodbye- but we’re getting used to frequent separations. Adam reported to housing which was a sort of hotel on base and began school early Monday morning.  He sent me this photo of the beach via cell phone:

I like to think while he was down there he slowly fell in love with the area. We started talking about staying in the area for two tours of duty (about four years) in lieu of one. This led to  buying a place, originally in Norfolk, but then  in the VA Beach area. We ended up with a great condo and can’t wait to move  June 3rd. Adam’s ship is currently deployed, as soon as Adam reports for duty we expect for him to fly our to meet the McFaul (secretly I’m hoping he can stay in port until it arrives!!!)

Adam finishes CSCS school sometime next week and will be flying home for two days before returning to Newport, RI for SWOS. After SWOS he’s coming home, packing up the car with Larry, Mea, and Roxanne and leaving for our new home in Virginia Beach. Until then, posting will probably be a  light. After we get settled the blog will be updated with home improvement projects, recipes, and other curiosities- We’re so excited to begin this next chapter!

Adam graduated on April 16th, 2010. Leading up to graduation there are several festivities:

- PIR (Pass in Review)

- Hi Mom’s

Most people arrive to Newport on the Wednesday before graduation as Wednesday evening the officer candidates are sometimes granted a few hours of liberty to spend with their families. I was bummed when I found this out since I booked my flight to arrive on Thursday afternoon. It worked in our favor though, Adam’s class was not granted liberty.

Thursday after noon  I landed at Providence air port at 2:30. I had about an hour wait until Adam arrived. At some point the day before graduation (Thursday), usually in the afternoon, there is something called Pass in Review. Pass in Review is where the graduating class hands over control to the class before them. They also show off their newly acquired drill skillz. It’s a pretty quick ceremony, most of the time under and hour. I missed PIR.. my husband tends to live in a bubble under a rock and is the last to know everything.

Around 3:30 Adam and his parents arrived at the airport. It was pretty exciting to see him for the first time in his dress blues looking very handsome and fancy. Unfortunately, we were pretty rushed at this point. The Hi Mom’s was at 5:30 and the drive from Providence airport to Newport is 20-30 minutes..  Once we picked up our rental (a leathered up version of our Ford Focus) we headed  to the hotel.

Adam showing me his cool new military issue glasses while picking up the rental

I packed the GPS but still managed to get lost a few times on our way to Newport. It wasn’t necessarily the GPS- we hadn’t seen each other in four months. It was a rush.

The Bridge of Freedom- you have to cross the bridge to get in and out of Newport.

Prior to my visit a lot of people talked about the best place to book a hotel in Newport and many stayed at the Navy lodge or Best Western. By the time I got around to choosing a hotel all those options were booked solid. I did a little internet work and found the Econo Lodge. The Econo lodge was a half mile further from base than the Best Western- but was clean and had the great rates (39.99/night). I highly recommend staying here, we were the only people in the hotel.

After checking into our room we  changed for the Hi Mom’s. Adam ended up calling a friend who was also still at his hotel- we decided if he was taking his time getting to the Hi Mom’s we should too. The Hi Mom’s is sort of a meet and greet at the  officers club. It usually begins at 5:30 and ends at 8:30- it gives family members an opportunity to meet the DI’s and OCS administration. The event is planned by the OC’s and is appetizers or a sit down dinner. Our OC’s planned appetizers and a cash bar to keep costs down. We ended up missing both.

Planning my ensemble for the Hi Mom’s was a bit perplexing. There’s very little information about this online and very few photos of the event. My suggestion: dinner party attire. I.E. a little black dress (or some equivalent)  for women and a dark suit and tie for men.

I was really excited to see the Officer’s club. My father was a Marine Sargent and always talked about how wonderful they were back in the day. On the outside it was nothing special, just a brick building with the word’s “Officers’ Club”

On the inside.. it was quite amazing. White marble everywhere, chandeliers, fancy fancy:

The above photos don’t do it justice. At 6:30 we arrived- Adam hung up his hat:

and we entered the main room  looking for Adam’s family who had arrived earlier. Half way through the room I heard “We’ve got to go..” and watched Adam bolt out of the room. I quickly followed him  inquiring what was wrong.. the look on his face had disaster written all over it. In typical Adam fashion he forgot to pin anchors on his uniform which is a big no-no. We had to drive to his hatch located a few blocks away where he found his anchors. We officially entered the Hi mom’s again around 7:30. By this point appetizers had been passed and people were moving on to dessert. My father in law ordered us drinks and Adam introduced everyone to his DI’s.

We both agreed this was the perfect time for us to arrive.. we missed a lot of boring stuff and by the time we got there everyone was pretty loose. We left the event around 8:30 and had dinner at Applebees (Adam’s choice! An odd choice- he hates chain restaurants). After dinner we returned to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Usually before graduation  there is a 1.5 mile victory run that begins at 5 a.m. Adam’s victory run was canceled due to the weather meaning he got to sleep in until 6:30 Friday morning. I met his parents in the lobby of hotel around 7:30 and we headed over to base for graduation. People always ask what to wear to graduation. You see everything from  suits and dresses to jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t attend church, but “church attire” is what I would deem appropriate. I wore a gauzy white dress, gray sweater, and some black leggings because it was cold and wet that day. Graduation started at 8:30 and went until 10. It was short and sweet- exactly how I like it. After graduation Adam had to check out of his hatch and report to SWOS. He got back to the hotel around noon and that was the end of graduation festivities. Overall, it was a great experience and I’m glad we decided I should attend. At first, I wasn’t thrilled about paying for airfare- but OCS is definitely an experience. Plus, when Adam got his papers he was the only person not placed in OHARP for two weeks- instead he would be attending a follow on school before SWOS. The three days we spent together were short, but amazing.