Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Dining Out

This past week(end) was very busy for Jared. He was involved in Running of the Bulls at work where he and all the other JOs (junior officers) were allowed to play pranks on the 0-4s (we want to be them). This meant going in late to the squadron or going in early to get some pranks set up. Jared is very proud of his 500 crickets in someone's desk prank. At the end of the week, Friday, we attended a squadron picnic at Rosario Beach (see pictures from previous post of location). Jared and our friend Rachel Fitzgerald rocked socks on the cornbag toss and beat everyone they played against. I met some other wives I was facebook friends with, but had never met in person. I had a lot of fun talking with the other wives and just hanging out in the nice sun. Saturday, Jared and I headed to an annual event in OH called Holland Happenings. This is a festival to celebrate the dutch heritage of the area. We watched the very long parade with the Serow's and then headed to check out the street vendors. There were wooden clogs and hippy hats and gyros and lumpia - very dutch, eh? That night was Dining Out. This is a formal event where there is dinner and dancing. VP-40 combines Dining In (wives not allowed) and Dining Out (wives allowed) which made for a very looonnngggg night. I enjoyed a few moments, but most others I was completely lost as to what the joke was. That is what happens when you are the new guy. This week is also going to be a very busy one for us as well. We have 2 parties to attend and a Change of Command. Along with his events of the week, Jared also is packing up, heading to a brief for the wives, and trying to spend as much time together as possible. We have a lot on our plates right now... soon it will only be one plate left.

Here are some awesome pictures from Dining Out. Of course Jared and I took our normal arm-out pictures, but we also managed to squeeze in a few of our friends. See we aren't self-centered!















Dave and his lovely date Lee. This is Brutus' dad. Yep, that Brutus. Gotta love him though, he is just too cute... Brutus, not Dave :) Dave is lovely as well, just don't ask me about Dave and the baseball game. Simmmmerrrr dowwwwnnnnow.









Dan and Heather Summers. She was my facebook friend first and then we met in person. Very nice!











Bryce and Rachel Fitzgerald. Our sponsor "mom and dad" as I like to refer to them.












Our friends LtCmdr Serow and Lisa :) We want to be them when we grow up and move through the ranks of the Navy. We want to be 0-4s. This is the Lisa whose house I am ALWAYS over.... if you can't find me, I'm playing with the kids at Lisa's.














Myself and Jared, of course. This time my arm is out and I am taking the picture.












Myself and Jared close to the end of the night. Taken by lovely Rachel Fitzgerald. The door was open behind me so it was cold, hence why I have my coat on.










Lisa and myself. Please excuse my hair. It didn't do what I wanted it to do, so I said to hell with it. At least I tried.

















Of course I am looking normal in the picture. What happened to Jared I don't really know. This is what he does when he is taking pictures sometimes. He makes crazy faces when I am being serious and looking cute. Silly Jared. I have to say though, this is one of my favorites :)



Wednesday, April 22, 2009

WOOP WOOP! Pictures of the House!!

Hello All!!

Today I am not feeling well, sore throat, and I decided I am going to be productive! Yay for me. Jared and I have been busy, well relatively busy since we moved here. Jared has early flights, late sims, pranks to pull because he is one of the new guys... normal stuff. I have been keeping busy by going back to volunteer at the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society on Friday's, trekking up hills with my awesome friend Lisa, hanging out at Lisa's house, and making friends with the other wives. I am very sorry for being so slow and not posting pictures sooner. I just took them today, so sorry for not taking them sooner either. We have had GORGEOUS weather with just entices me to go outside and play :)

Welcome to our home. Let me take you on a tour of our house and the places around us - Deception Pass, Cap Sante, and Rosario Beach.

The front of our house. If you look closely at the fence you may be able to see wooden cross bars. Jared installed a gate in the front of our fence so we can get the lawnmower to the front yard without walking around the sidewalk. Way to go Jared!

When you walk in the front door, directly to your right is our living room. Notice our awesome recliner from Lisa! Jared and I fight over who sits in it... we are super thankful to Lisa for letting us have it. As you can also see, Izzy's chair has returned to our living room. She really enjoys sitting up in her chair and looking out the window.

Continuing on our tour... the kitchen is the next room on the right when you walk straight through the door. The kitchen is open to the dining area and the living room - which is my reading room. Notice the NON-scratch and dent right refrigerator door :)

Directly across from the kitchen are the sliding glass doors to our side yard. We don't have a backyard because our garage is at the back of our house. Think LONG, not wide. Jared and I like to sit on the patio (it is small, but it works) or hang in the portable hammock when it is nice outside. We also like the fact that our grill is very close to the kitchen now instead of down the hall and out the garage.

Stepping back in the sliding doors, you can see our dining area and the living room. We have managed to hang up our pictures... this was a long process because 1. I didn't want to put holes in our new walls and 2. I just hate actually doing it and 3. We ALWAYS argued about what to put where. Jared and I finally managed to work together and get everything put up :) :)

The far door you see directly on the back wall leads to the garage. The door on the right wall in the back is the bathroom downstairs. If you ever come visit let me warn you now, go upstairs! You can hear EVERYTHING in that bathroom. :)

Up the stairs we go! At the top of the stairs is the first bedroom. We have made this into our office and the walk-in closet is the hunting/dress closet. See the pictures? Yay for us.

Walking further down is the guestroom. Only a bed in there, so nothing really worth taking a picture of. Then comes the guest bathroom with a curved shower rod. I call this the beige bathroom because, well... everything is beige. Lovely. At the end of the hall we have the linen cloest and the washer/dryer closet. Once again, nothing really to look at. :)

The master bedroom fits our furniture exactly. On the back wall where we have our bed and nightstands we have about 2 inches to spare on either side. Talk about perfect! This is the wonderful fan that Jared and his dad installed for me when Jared's parents came to visit us. What a FABULOUS!! job they did.

This is our master walk-in closet. It is full, as you probably noticed already. I wanted to show you this because of Jared's sweatershirt he got at a truckstop along our roadtrip. See the blue and black and gray striped thing hanging on the left side... yep, that's it. $5. Really. He HAD to buy this because he said he has always wanted one. I hate it. It is ugly. It is one of those Mexican sweatshirts made in Mexico out of something, I don't even know what. When Jared puts the hood on (it is way too small for his head) he looks like and elf. The next picture is the AWESOME shower door Jared and his dad installed for me. It works wonderfully and keeps the water off the floor, which is why I wanted a door. Woo Hoo for Handy Manny!

Going back downstairs and heading out the back door to the garage. This is it. Motorcycle safely out of the elements and workshop to the right. And finally, this is our "backyard."


I apologize for the messiness of the rooms. I decided I would take and post pictures today, not clean the house :) Maybe another day... maybe not!

Now on to awesome scenery pictures!
Leading out of Oak Harbor going to Anacortes you must take Deception Pass Bridge. It is the only way on and off the island from the north side. It has spectacular views and the structure of the bridge isn't so bad to look at either.


Right after Deception Pass bridge there is a pull off for Rosario Beach. This is a neat place. There are structures to grill and have a cookout, places to camp, trails to walk, a dock to pull up to, and an actual beach... or as "beachy" as the Pacific Northwest can get.


Continuing north to Anacortes there is an awesome lookout spot called Cap Sante. You can see out over Anacortes, the refinery, and on a clear day see Mount Baker.