I was excited that Brian and I were going to get to spend Valentine's Day dinner together this year for the first time in 5 years....I need to remember more often that we are in the Marine Corps now. :-/
He received an email that said that EVERYONE would be spending the night in the barracks Tuesday night and no one was leaving. Yay.... So we decided that we would do Valentine's Day on Monday night instead....We now need to move to Plan C seeing as how I overlooked the fact that Monday night I had a class on etiquette and protocol in the military.
So Sunday night we celebrated Valentine's Day. I made chicken & rice for dinner and brownie trifles for dessert. We ate in between Brian's study session and online class/test taking. I bought him the first season of The Office. He told me I wasn't getting my present until Tuesday.
Monday night I went to my class (that ran late) and came home to a note card on the front porch that said to ring the doorbell before opening the door. When I did that, he opened the door and handed me a card that gave me rules to my scavenger hunt. I had clues that were like a Wheel of Fortune puzzle (I love Wheel of Fortune!). I didn't have a wheel to spin so if I couldn't figure out the clue without any letters, a consonant cost one kiss and a vowel cost two kisses. So I went all over the house finding clues and two Tootsie Rolls with each one. (I love Tootsie Rolls!) The end of the scavenger hunt had my Brian Bear dressed in Woodlands with boots and kevlar (Brian Bear had never switched from the Navy uniform to Marine Corps...oops), a box of chocolates & Valentine's colored M&Ms. My husband is so sweet! I loved my scavenger hunt!
I got up early with him on Tuesday to say good-bye to him since I wasn't going to see him for a week and a half. He texted me later that day to say I shouldn't hold my breath, but there was a slight chance he could come home for a bit but he would have a curfew. Given it's the military, I didn't hold my breath or get excited. But he called me around 6 PM saying he was coming home for an hour-ish. YAY! I made Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta for dinner and then he had to go back. But I am thankful I got to spend that hour with him!
Friday, February 17, 2012
Dinner at the General's house
On February 8th, the General and his wife had a spouse appreciation dinner for the Golf Company spouses. It was really nice!
We were all supposed to meet at the O Club before hand to ride a bus to their house due to limited parking. Well, we met at the O Club, but there wasn't a bus. I don't know what happened to it. So they needed volunteers to drive people to the house. My car holds 5 others besides me, so I volunteered. Now nothing super exciting happens when I am driving by myself, but when others are in the car, something seems to always happen. So I crossed my fingers that nothing would happen and followed the rest of the caravan to the house. Luckily nothing happened on the way there. Phew!
Once we were there we handed someone our coats and went through a small receiving line and then got in line to get a drink. Mrs. Mills (The General's wife) talked to us as we were in line about where we were going next. My answer was easy: We have no idea yet. Since Brian is staying here for IOC we will find out around the end of April instead of 2 weeks ago like everyone else. It's ok though. I'm used to the waiting game and plans changing by now. We mingled for a bit and then we were told dinner was served. I had been freaking out the whole day because I was afraid of the dinner. The only thing I really knew about fancy dinners was with silverware, you start from the outside and work your way in.... and I learned this from Pretty Woman. Yay me! So when we started for the dining room, I silently sighed in relief that it was a buffet dinner of Mexican food. Everything was delicious! Then for dessert we had a piece of chocolate torte and chocolate & banana empanadas. Also very tasty! This experience was a great opportunity. I really enjoyed it!
When we left, we grabbed our coats off a rack, received a etiquette book and piled back into the car. There really wasn't a caravan back so I wasn't sure which way to go at the first fork in the road. Luckily I had good guessing skills and picked the right fork and got back to the main road. Then there was the traffic circle. Traffic circles in the dark and in the rain were not my thing that night. You would think with the words "traffic CIRCLE" it would have been easy. But the lanes kept changing from you can only go straight to go straight or turn left to go straight or turn right. I rarely drive over there. I conquered the traffic circle though and made it safely back to the O Club to drop off my passengers at their cars.
Then came the thank you note writing part. I looked up in that book we got on how to write a thank you. I've written them to friends and family before but never to a General's wife. The book was freaking me out again. It said I needed either an embossed or monogrammed thank you card! What?!?! I buy my thank you cards at Walmart in packs... Luckily for me, January told me that the book was written in like the 50s and embossed and monogrammed thank yous were not necessary. Thank you, January! I finally wrote it and sent it.
The stressing is over!...For this event at least.....
We were all supposed to meet at the O Club before hand to ride a bus to their house due to limited parking. Well, we met at the O Club, but there wasn't a bus. I don't know what happened to it. So they needed volunteers to drive people to the house. My car holds 5 others besides me, so I volunteered. Now nothing super exciting happens when I am driving by myself, but when others are in the car, something seems to always happen. So I crossed my fingers that nothing would happen and followed the rest of the caravan to the house. Luckily nothing happened on the way there. Phew!
Once we were there we handed someone our coats and went through a small receiving line and then got in line to get a drink. Mrs. Mills (The General's wife) talked to us as we were in line about where we were going next. My answer was easy: We have no idea yet. Since Brian is staying here for IOC we will find out around the end of April instead of 2 weeks ago like everyone else. It's ok though. I'm used to the waiting game and plans changing by now. We mingled for a bit and then we were told dinner was served. I had been freaking out the whole day because I was afraid of the dinner. The only thing I really knew about fancy dinners was with silverware, you start from the outside and work your way in.... and I learned this from Pretty Woman. Yay me! So when we started for the dining room, I silently sighed in relief that it was a buffet dinner of Mexican food. Everything was delicious! Then for dessert we had a piece of chocolate torte and chocolate & banana empanadas. Also very tasty! This experience was a great opportunity. I really enjoyed it!
When we left, we grabbed our coats off a rack, received a etiquette book and piled back into the car. There really wasn't a caravan back so I wasn't sure which way to go at the first fork in the road. Luckily I had good guessing skills and picked the right fork and got back to the main road. Then there was the traffic circle. Traffic circles in the dark and in the rain were not my thing that night. You would think with the words "traffic CIRCLE" it would have been easy. But the lanes kept changing from you can only go straight to go straight or turn left to go straight or turn right. I rarely drive over there. I conquered the traffic circle though and made it safely back to the O Club to drop off my passengers at their cars.
Then came the thank you note writing part. I looked up in that book we got on how to write a thank you. I've written them to friends and family before but never to a General's wife. The book was freaking me out again. It said I needed either an embossed or monogrammed thank you card! What?!?! I buy my thank you cards at Walmart in packs... Luckily for me, January told me that the book was written in like the 50s and embossed and monogrammed thank yous were not necessary. Thank you, January! I finally wrote it and sent it.
The stressing is over!...For this event at least.....
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Our life the last 3 months...
So I suck at this whole blogging thing. I should've known from not really being able to keep a journal/diary going for long before I got bored and never wrote in it again. It doesn't help that life is kind of boring right now. But I'll update the last three months and promise to try and be better at the updating the blog thing.
November 5th was the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Richmond, VA. And before you ask, NO, we were not at the same one as Justin Timberlake. He was there the next weekend. (That's pretty much all my sister cared about. When I said no she lost interest and got off the phone.) We had a good time. I met a lot of the guys from Brian's platoon at TBS. There were over 1000 people there, if I remember correctly. All the prior enlisted guys said it was not like a normal Marine Corps Ball; there are usually A LOT less people and things move smoother. Brian didn't want to dance, so I ended up boogying on the dance floor with some girls I know. We ended up driving the hour or so drive home because I/we are cheap and didn't want to spring for the hotel room. I can't wait until the next one to see what it's like since this one wasn't like others.
Brian's parents came out for Thanksgiving. It was good to see familiar faces. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. We had a smoked turkey, homemade noodles, homemade rolls, broccoli & rice, mashed potatoes & gravy, cheesy corn, stuffing, & cheesy potatoes. It turned out pretty good, in my opinion. :-)
I re-taught myself to crochet. I find it relaxing. I can make hats, headbands, earwarmer headbands, flowers and granny squares so far. I've sold a few hats. I'm thinking about opening an Etsy shop and selling things and maybe taking custom orders. I'll have to read more into it first before that happens.
Brian and I were lucky enough to go back to Missouri for Christmas. We were there for almost two weeks. I was so excited to see my family again! I miss them like crazy! It was a great time to catch up with friends too! I can't wait to go back!
At the end of January we found out Brian's MOS (military occupational specialty). He got his first choice......INFANTRY! He was so excited! He kinda jumped around like a little kid when he got home. It was cute. So he graduates TBS (The Basic School) on March 7th and then we get to stay here until the end of June when he'll be done with IOC (Infantry Officer's Course). He is supposed to start IOC around April 2nd. Everyone that isn't going to IOC or Comms school found out where they will be stationed next after their next school. We don't get to find out until the end of April/beginning of May most likely. So as anything with the military, more waiting.
I think that is all of the exciting stuff in the last few months.
November 5th was the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in Richmond, VA. And before you ask, NO, we were not at the same one as Justin Timberlake. He was there the next weekend. (That's pretty much all my sister cared about. When I said no she lost interest and got off the phone.) We had a good time. I met a lot of the guys from Brian's platoon at TBS. There were over 1000 people there, if I remember correctly. All the prior enlisted guys said it was not like a normal Marine Corps Ball; there are usually A LOT less people and things move smoother. Brian didn't want to dance, so I ended up boogying on the dance floor with some girls I know. We ended up driving the hour or so drive home because I/we are cheap and didn't want to spring for the hotel room. I can't wait until the next one to see what it's like since this one wasn't like others.
Brian's parents came out for Thanksgiving. It was good to see familiar faces. I cooked Thanksgiving dinner. We had a smoked turkey, homemade noodles, homemade rolls, broccoli & rice, mashed potatoes & gravy, cheesy corn, stuffing, & cheesy potatoes. It turned out pretty good, in my opinion. :-)
I re-taught myself to crochet. I find it relaxing. I can make hats, headbands, earwarmer headbands, flowers and granny squares so far. I've sold a few hats. I'm thinking about opening an Etsy shop and selling things and maybe taking custom orders. I'll have to read more into it first before that happens.
Brian and I were lucky enough to go back to Missouri for Christmas. We were there for almost two weeks. I was so excited to see my family again! I miss them like crazy! It was a great time to catch up with friends too! I can't wait to go back!
At the end of January we found out Brian's MOS (military occupational specialty). He got his first choice......INFANTRY! He was so excited! He kinda jumped around like a little kid when he got home. It was cute. So he graduates TBS (The Basic School) on March 7th and then we get to stay here until the end of June when he'll be done with IOC (Infantry Officer's Course). He is supposed to start IOC around April 2nd. Everyone that isn't going to IOC or Comms school found out where they will be stationed next after their next school. We don't get to find out until the end of April/beginning of May most likely. So as anything with the military, more waiting.
I think that is all of the exciting stuff in the last few months.
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