Summertime

Luckily for me, I've actually been busy this summer. I am babysitting for a family of 3, Monday-Friday, and boy do they keep me busy. I mainly watch the 4 year old boy and we've done a lot of exploring! We go to state parks, bike rides, nature walks, and we even hit up the kiddie dinosaur park! They are currently on vacation for a week which means that I get a week off! I wish Jimmy was home so we could enjoy a little more time together. His early departure really upset me and I feel like he's gone all the time. I did the math and realized that in the past 14 months or so...we've only been together for about 4 1/2 of them. Neither one of us had any clue how often this boat goes out to sea when we moved here. I've come to the realization that this is going to be our life for the next four years. Alas I can't imagine my life without him so I'm going to have to just deal with it. I'm not going to pretend that I like it though. I've learned that I need to start doing things to make myself happy and not to rely on Jimmy to do that. School starts in a couple of weeks and I'm really wanting to study/work in France next summer. Jimmy will be gone and I really miss the foreign lifestyle so hopefully we can make that happen. Other than that wedding plans are still going on. I've been working on a few things with that and will have to start crunching some stuff out since we will be Mr. and Mrs. in 3 months. I'm really excited to meet the rest of his family and for the festivities that weekend. I'm also looking forward to the birth of my best friend, and MOH's, son in November. It's a very exciting time for a lot of people right now and I'm glad to be a part of things.

I'll be glad when Jimmy gets home and we can spend some quality time together. We're hoping to get away for a weekend to Maine. I haven't been there since I was little and would love some romantic one on one (sans Floyd and Layla and the Navy) time with my man.

Is it time for them to come home yet??

I feel like I don't update often, but honestly I don't live a very exciting life right now. I think I'm slowly starting to get over the novelty of blog writing. Typical Stephanie...gets really excited about something but loses interest easily. Jimmy has been gone for 3 weeks now and this underway has probably been the worst for us. He had some time off in FL last week and we talked on the phone FOREVER. Seriously, I don't think we ever talked like that when we were dating. We both kicked ourselves for me not flying down to see him. He had all this time off...but of course I got a bunch of teaching days and I'm trying to not spend money between now and the wedding. We have so much going on and money will start flying out of our wallet soon enough. So for now I will have to be content with emails until he comes home. Then it's back to readjusting and the laundry list of things we need to do. I can't wait til this stupid wedding is over and everything with the house is in its place so when he comes home, he's not busy fixing stuff, or we're not busy doing wedding crap. We have our pre cana (pre marital counseling) with a couple from the local Catholic church during July. I guess we sit with them and talk all about our relationship. Haaaa...Jimmy is going to love this. Neither one of us are too keen with chatting about our feelings and problems with strangers, but from what I've heard from everyone who has done it, it's very helpful. So yes, wedding crap aplenty when Jimmy comes home.

As for me, I've been keeping busy working and puttering around the house. I went to Six Flags with some of my friends and had an awesome time. I've also spent some time with my neighbor. She's 38 and lives next door and has a dog as well. We took the dogs on a long walk behind the schools and got sushi one night. It's nice to know that I can count on someone so close in case I need anything. Like today, when Floyd's 100 foot leash snapped and he took off. I had flashbacks of my birthday...searching frantically in the rain...to find him 4 hours later. Her and I headed in opposite directions on the street...and as I came back, ready to get in the car and start the search, there comes my filthy, muddy puppy from the backyard...comes right up to me and lets me put the leash on him. I sure hope he does this from now on. I think since I walk him so much he kinda knows where his home is. Talk about a heart attack though...sheesh.

I'm signing off for the night..busy day buying groceries and baby things! Victoria is pretty sure it's a boy. I'm so excited :) I get to see her and some other lovely bridesmaids this weekend since I'm escaping to NY. Hopefully I'll have some pics too!

Update

So things have been better in the West/Peterson household. Jimmy left a little while ago to go on yet another underway. Whoever said this gets easier with time lies...because it sucks....still. We had such a fantastic time together while he was home. He took a 4 day weekend so we could get some stuff done around the house and just "be" together. We even got to go see a concert! Coldplay, on the lawn, under the stars...I couldn't have asked for a more perfect evening. Of course just when things are going perfectly, God likes to chuck a wrench in there. Jimmy's grandmother passed away and I had to let him know via a Red Cross message. It's times like these that I wish he wasn't in the Navy because he really should be with his family right now. On top of that we're dealing with the rumor mill that comes with being in the military. Rumors in general are never fun to deal with in a relationship...but it's even worse when you can't talk to your significant other right away to fix things. Luckily, we were able to talk briefly when he called home and things are on their way to being resolved. Relationships aren't easy but the Navy definitely makes it more difficult. We'll push on through it though.

Other than that I've been trying to keep myself busy by catching up with friends, doing things around the house, and attempting to exercise. I realized that my wedding is in 5 months and I really need to get a move on. I'm hoping to have some sort of result, even if it's only toning my "lunch lady" arms lol. I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and staying positive :)

Spring Days and Nights

I've been keeping myself relatively busy while Jimmy has been gone on this underway. My parents came up this past weekend and I had a Lia Sophia party. It was the first time that I had guests over to my house so I had to make sure that things were put together. I tore apart most of the boxes in the basement, set up a t.v. viewing area down there, painted and put together the guest room, and cleaned the crap out of the upstairs. I had a great turnout at my party and would like to thank everyone who came! I even mowed the lawn all by myself...and I like it! (I think I do a better job than Jimmy...shh...don't tell) I've had time to go out with friends and want to start planning an actual housewarming party sometime this summer. We have a fire pit out back so I thought it would be fun to have a bbq/bonfire/drinking beer kind of party. I'm not very good at formalized things and this fits Jimmy and I so much better. Now to find a time when he'll be home...

Ooooo Pretty Blog!!

So I went over to Kim's house tonight to get my box for May. Every month has a theme and we do a military wife swap where we send said box to a different person. It's kind of like a present every month! Well Kim had me and it was cooking/baking. I got a cookbook holder so I'm not constantly thumbing through pages while cooking, a HOT apron (I've always wanted one...my inner housewife calls to me), a new cookbook, and little mini herbs in pots!! I'm so excited to cook with my apron on :) So Kim made me dinner and then she put together my new layout on my blog. Seriously...I wish I was that creative. It's fantastic!! So thank you Kim!

On an even better note this underway has been going pretty well. I went and played rock band over at Josh and Eric's apartment (former sailors from the Alex). I had a blast drinking and basically peeing myself because the two of them are hilarious. I started painting the guest room today and hope to finish it tomorrow. It's a super pale blue and will hopefully fit my Cape Cod beach theme.

On the most super note ever I got my acceptance package for Grad School!!!! I'm sooo psyched! I will be attending Central Connecticut State University in the Fall and getting my master's and certification in TESOL. For those that don't know TESOL stands for teaching english to speakers of other languages. Basically all the Asians that come from China to work in the casino need their kids to learn English, so I'd be working in the public schools to teach them English. I'm hoping this certification will get me in to the public school system and I could teach French as well. So yes, while I miss my Jimmy, things have been ok on the home front :)

Peace out Sailor

So I guess it's safe to say that the boys have gone underway again. This past week has been absolutely miserable for Jimmy. He stayed at work on Monday til 5:00 am on Tuesday, came home and I dropped him off at work at 9:00am, he had duty that day, was supposed to leave on Wednesday but something broke, I get a call at 10:00pm to come and get him because the higher ups finally decided to let the boys leave, then I dropped him off at 7:30 this morning and they finally left. Why did he have to be there you ask? Not entirely sure since when he would call me he'd usually say that he was doing nothing but still had to stay. This makes both of us livid. I am fine that he has to go on underways and on 6 month deployments. I understand it. What I don't understand is why they insist on keeping the men til all hours in the night when they are home in port. For Christ's sake, they work their asses off and are away from their families ALL THE TIME. Let them come home and spend time with the people they love once in a while. Fucking ridiculous...

In true "day of Jimmy leaving" fashion....something bad happens. This time, as I'm getting ready to spread the last of the mulch down, my screen door falls off and pulls most of the door frame with it. Fantastic. After crying and kicking things for a minute I call my dad and he tells me what to do. I go to Home Depot (I swear, I am there at minimum 3 times a week) and get some deck screws. I manage to screw the frame in, and put that big ass door back on, all by myself. So screw you screen door!! 

Other than that I am planning on getting as much stuff unpacked, put together, painted, etc around the house before Jimmy gets back. My parents are coming up next weekend so I have to set up the guest room. I'm also having a Lia Sophia (jewelry) party next Saturday night at 6 if anyone would like to come :) So far it's just me and my mom.

To my fellow Alex ladies, hang in there, and damn the man, not your husband.

Update

So I know I'm lazy and I apologize for not updating more often, but I've been busy. The past couple of weeks have consisted of unpacking and doing yard work. I have found that I enjoy being outside and digging up dirt. The previous owners of our house loved plants and even had a garden area set off in the back. It took me two days but I cleared it and started planting. So far I only have lettuce and carrots but plan to add more lettuce and some zucchini. I have also planted rosemary, lavender, basil, chives and parsley along the back row. I have pansies around my mailbox and marigolds around my garden. The weather this past weekend has been fantastic! I went up to NY for my friends Meaghan and Rich's wedding. I've known Rich since I was 12 and Meaghan since I was 15. It's so nice when two of your closest friends marry each other. It took them 6 years to actually get together and I was very honored to be part of their special day. We had so much fun at the wedding and I woke up with a HORRIBLE hangover yesterday...just in time to meet with my florist and priest!! YAY! I got all of our flowers picked out and am currently picking out readings for our wedding. Our priest, though 80 years old, is very personable and down to earth. I started mailing out our save the dates and am finding that trying to get addresses out of a man is near impossible (Karyn, I'll be emailing you soon). All in all it's been a nice couple of weeks and we're getting ready for Jimmy to be leaving again soon. It feels like he got back yesterday and I'm not ready to be without him yet :(

Pics from top left to bottom:

1. Jimmy trying to figure out why our brand new lawnmower doesn't want to work anymore...after over an hour of trying we took it back and got one that does work!

2. My vegetable and herb garden

3. Jimmy and I at the wedding...towards the end....I am very intoxicated...note the dumb smile

4. Meaghan and Rich exchanging vows!

5. Me, Kaela, and Tiffany celebrating in the limo :)