Our Condo

I have a hard time trying to type under pictures so I'll just explain the condo here. The place is 1550 sq. ft., 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 car garage, 3 floors. 1st floor is the garage, mud room, entry way, coat closet, 2nd floor is the kitchen, living room/dining room, guest bathroom, pantry, fireplace and patio. The kitchen has corian countertops, all stainless steel appliances, hard wood cabinets and a wine cooler (I don't know yet what we are going to use that for!). Upstairs is the laundry facilities, master bedroom, master bathroom and guest bedroom. The tub in the bathroom is jetted! Oh and the master bedroom has vaulted ceilings. I cant wait to move in! Only 2 weeks till we leave Maryland, 3 1/2 weeks till we arrive in ALASKA!

Our Condo

Life

So I guess maybe I should talk about what's going on in Devin and my lives cause its not all glitz and glam all the time. Well first of all, Devin is doing SUPER well in his training. He is #1 in his class right now with only 2 weeks to go. I have high hopes for him that he will be a distinguished honor grad. He has worked hit butt off here and I think he will benefit from it. I am looking forward to his graduation so we can finally get to Alaska. I am so excited and I have a list of about 100 things that I cant wait to do when we get there.

Now to the kinda crummy part. On the 11th I got really sick and had to go to the hospital, thats nothing new to me because something is always going on with my health. It was the same routine as always, blood work and pain meds. I asked for more extensive stuff cause I knew something was wrong so I was referred out to another doctor and to radiology. Anyways, I went to the doctor and I finally have a diagnosis. I was so happy but at the same time it was a little sad because its not going to result in a fun road for the next 20 years. Devin was in the field so I wasn't able to talk things over with him first. The doctor and I decided that I should have surgery as soon as possible. So I'm having surgery Wednesday, Im scared but glad that I can maybe find some resolve to problems I have been continually having.

While Devin was in the field I have a friend that put a post on facebook saying that she has a condo that she needs to rent out and it seemed pretty urgent so I asked her about it. Come to find out, she is moving out right as we are moving to Anchorage, I called the on post housing office and they are full right now and for Devins rank they fill up fast so we talked to the owner and we are going to rent it. The owner is in the military as well so Devin talked to him a little bit about the situation on post since his unit is in Afghanistan right now. The captain told Devin that he will probably be sent over when he arrives into Anchorage. Now I'm going through an internal battle wondering if I should live closer to my family in Wasilla because I know I'm going to have some rough days or if I just want to be a big girl and tough it out on my own. I still haven't decided because nothing is set in stone yet with Devin.

He called the post today and spoke with 2 people who both told him he would be sent over but still nothing is for sure because of timing. We are just planning that it will happen. I think it will be a great opportunity for Devin. I know that he is extremely intelligent and very well trained so I don't have any doubts that he will succeed overseas. Also it wont be a full deployment so that is a plus. I am hoping though that things go smoothly with our transition to Anchorage, a new ward, a new house, new job, and my health. Deep down I know things will be ok. So now its off to the next couple weeks of surgery, Devin's training graduation and the big road trip from Maryland to Alaska!

Baltimore with Friends!

My First Oyster!

We have friends again! Brent and Meredith moved to the area and I have been pretty excited about it because it gets kind of boring without hanging out with friends. I had on my calendar a Red Sox vs. Orioles game so that was the start of the plans and then I just kinda did a little looking online at stuff to do in the area and put together a day of fun. I had a blast! (I hope everyone else did) We went to this fun little part of town called the Hampdens and walked down a street of little shops. I love little shops. I didn't get to buy anything cool but thats probably a good thing cause I become a little impulsive when I'm excited. We had some delicious pastries at this place called Puff Pastry (at least I think that was the name!). We went to the inner harbor and did the dragon paddle boat thing and then we ate at the scrumptious McCormick and Schmick. It was nothing but delicious. I had my first oyster and I was pleasantly surprised, it was so yummy. I stuck with what I know and ordered Alaska King Crab, Devin got Salmon with a ginger rhubarb glaze and I have to admit, it was the tastiest topping for salmon. I have had salmon in so many ways but this was a first and it was GOOD. Then it was off to the game. The Red Sox kicked butt, it was a great game. Lots of action. It was a good day spent with friends.

Slip and Slide

I have officially become an insomniac, I cant get to sleep before 3 AM and this has been going on for about a month now. Its pretty awful but when I cant sleep my brain is on overload and sometimes I think of things that just make me laugh my butt off. So the other night this was the case and I wanted to make sure I had the memory written down because it was SOOO funny.

Summer semester 2005 I lived in a house in Rexburg, I had some BORING roommates (besides Steph). It was a hot day and I thought it would be so much fun to build a slip and slide in the front yard. I went to wal mart and bought a painters tarp and then went back and set it up. Meanwhile Steph and I coated ourselves with crisco butter and were all ready to go. When we went outside it was a little windy and the tarp was blowing around so the water wasn't staying on. I immediately thought that it needed stakes. We didn't have any so I figured butter knives would do, we could stab them in at an angle and it would hold just fine. So I proceeded to "stake" the tarp down.

Then it was time to test it out. I went flying down and it was SOO much fun, then Steph went and launched down into the street. Then I went again and I launched right into the stakes and I felt my stomach getting sliced open, the first thing I thought was CRAP my swimsuit got sliced off and Im going to stand up exposed. By this time we had a crowd so I was terrified to stand up. I checked myself and my clothes seemed intact so I just grabbed myself and ran in the house to look at the damage. I had sliced a good 6 inch cut into my abdomen. It hurt but man was that funny! The slip and slide was a hit, it was sooo much fun and it worked really well minus the butter knives.

Phillies

This guy was a crack up, he had this eagle thing that he kept making the head move but the guy never smiled or anything. It was really funny to watch him.

So pretty much we LOVE the Phillies, the games are great, they have won all of the games we have been too, and they are just so fun to watch play. The feeling in the stadium is awesome, everyone has such Phillies pride so the excitement is great.

Labor Day Weekend- Maryland State Fair

The weekend of Labor Day was my birthday weekend and after New York I didn't want to end my enjoyment. I went to bed that night thinking about the Alaska State Fair and how I was SOOO bummed I missed it because I love the fair in Alaska. Then I thought its Labor Day weekend and there are usually fairs around that time so I got online and sure enough the next day was closing day of the Maryland State Fair so I asked Devin if he would care to go and he was excited.

We got there mid morning and I thumbed through the program to find that they had live births in the livestock center and that is totally my thing so I was ecstatic. Devin saw that they had cows you could milk and I have honestly never seen him so excited to do something before. He said that he doesn't ask to do much but he HAD to milk a cow. Devin got in free with military ID and I thought hey you cant beat that so entrance was cheap.

We went to the livestock center and sure enough a calf had been born an hour or so before we got there and then there were piglets in 4 pens with 2 pigs in labor. I made Devin sit and watch for a while but I think he was grossed out cause they had a video camera all up in the pigs business so we went to the cow milking area and he stood in line. He was in line for a good 5 minutes when he realized that the line was full of little children and he was the only adult jumping for joy so he quickly decided that maybe wasn't for him. Then it was off for some good ol fair food. I had my first lamb gyro and it was AMAZING! We had peach sundaes and Devin ate a philly cheesesteak and we had cheese fries. LOTS of calories but tasty lunch.

We watched a cookware show, Devin is always fascinated by the amazing cookware. We walked around for a while and then went back to the livestock center. The pig had already given birth at this time but now there was a cow giving birth. I got to a spot where I had a good view and we watched the whole thing. I was pretty mad at how they did it though. They wrapped chains around the little guys hooves and shoved their arms up the mom and then yanked and pulled, it looked awful. They got him out and he was so cute. After all of that we went to some other exhibits, watched a chain saw wood carving thing and then it was time to head back to post. All in all a fun day at the fair.

New York/Birthday

I was so excited to go to New York for my birthday that I couldn’t sleep the night before. I fell asleep around 3:30-4:00 am and we were supposed to wake up at 4:30, I hit snooze cause I was so tired when my alarm went off. We had to get gas before we left so I was feeling a huge urge to speed and get there. During the drive the GPS was taking me all sorts of places, I was confused and I had backup with mapquest directions but Devin didn’t know where we were on the directions and so he told me just to follow the GPS. I ended up driving through Princeton and Staten Island which was WAY wrong according to the other directions but I was very cranky so I just got frustrated and did what the GPS told me to do.

We started off at Baked, I have been wanting to go to this place ever since one of our friends made THE BEST cake I have ever had. It was situated somewhat inside of a ghetto and it was a little uncomfortable parking our car on the sidewalk unattended. When we walked in I just wanted to take my time and look at all of the goodies and enjoy the aroma, I was a little disappointed to find that they didn’t have very much out. I wanted to try their quiche but it looked burnt. The cake slice that I got was pretty good, not near as good as Meredith’s. I got this apricot bar with rosemary and the rosemary was a little overwhelming. Anyways, the good that came out of it is Devin bought me a cookbook, I had planned on getting it on amazon for 16.00 but he wanted to pay full price plus some I guess! It was very nice of him.

The next destination was Central Park. Again, the GPS took us all sorts of weird ways but we found the place where we were planning on parking. We got there before 10 so we only had to pay $12 the whole day, that is a steal! Because of the lack of sleep I was exhausted before I even got out of the car. The walk was uphill to central park and then the route I chose was not as short as I had thought. We went to the reservoir and it was beautiful. I could have stayed there and looked at the scenery for hours. We got a little mixed up with the trails because there were SO many and that put us out of the way from where I had wanted to go. We found Alice and Wonderland but I was not about to walk the extra mile to find Balto, as much as I had wanted a picture of Balto, I can always come back another time!

After Central Park we shot over to Madison Avenue to check out some designer shops and that was really fun but it made me feel extremely poor. I wanted to touch everything but I ended up only going into a couple of the shops. My favorites were Dior, Chanel, and Ralph Lauren. Michael Kors had some gorgeous bags but everything was SO overpriced. Devin got hungry during all of the walking and he got a hot dog but it just made him more hungry so we found this little Italian place called Il Restauranti, it was really scrumptious, Devin got the best dish. It was some noodle thing with cream and it was AMAZING. We shot over to walk by the trump tower and to go to Kate’s Paperie. The paper store was really nice, I bought some cards and paper but not much cause it was pretty expensive for paper! When I was walking around the store I kept thinking about Artco in Rexburg, I love Artco, its so cheap and they have some good stuff if you look. One small piece of paper was $1.60- 2.80, it was CRAZY. After the paper store I wanted to go to Times Square and do some shopping at Macys and then go to 7^th avenue/fashion avenue. We went to Macys looked at a whole bunch of stuff we couldn’t buy and then it seemed like it was time to go, it’s a little depressing going to a place where people spend lots of money and knowing you cant really buy anything. When we were heading to the subway H&M caught my eye so we stopped in. I found some really cute things but only walked out with a really cute gray sweater. Then we went back to the car and made our journey back to Aberdeen. The best part was the GPS took Devin right into the heart of NYC and he was in bumper to bumper for over an hour, the taxis kept veering all over and got close to our car a few times. At one point we were at a light that lasted 1 minute so we were there a LONG time since the traffic was so bad, plus the roads were merging after the light too. During the stop and go I decided to jump out and get us some hot dogs on the street. They were so small I could have gotten 3 for each of us but I didn’t want to look like a fool for a second time since we were in the middle lane and all. We finally got into New Jersey, filled up the car and were on our way. I fell asleep and then when I woke up Devin said HEY! I think I know why the GPS has been being weird…. When I took you to the airport I changed the GPS settings to avoid toll roads. All the main roads around here are toll roads for pete’s sake. So that explained a lot, didn’t make me the happiest but we changed it and it was smooth sailing to Aberdeen.

The most BEAUTIFUL designer shoes!

We were driving toward the Met-Life center and we drove through the building, it was pretty cool!

My delicious hot dog off the street.

My slice of cake from Baked and my Whoopie pie.

DC United vs. Seattle Sounders

Devin had a Gettysburg trip to go on with his class and he had a 20 minute brief, he was gone all day and didn’t get back until 6:30 PM at night, the game was in DC and started at 7:30. Well, we got there at 7:45 but the tolls took our money and we didn’t have the 15$ to pay for parking outside of the ghetto. We drove to tons of ATMs and they were all broken, we went to a store that the worker said they do cash back but when we got to the front of the 10 minute line we bought a baseball and they said sorry no cash back. So we finally found an ATM way later, Devin was pretty scared getting out of the car in the crummy neighborhood but we finally had the money in hand and then went to park, by this time the game was so far in that parking was free. We parked and ran to the game, it was half time. The game was at 0-0 which was good because the 2^nd half was GREAT. I love Keller, he is so fun to watch. Seattle ended up winning 2-1 and the goal made by DC United was LAME, Keller’s teammates totally screwed him over, they botched the whole thing for him. The goalie on DC’s side got red carded and thrown out of the game, it was very entertaining. The field is horrible though, so old and rugged. Salt Lakes field is gold plated in comparison.

Liberty Bell/Philly Mint

Devin got done one day at 11am so I said lets get ready and go to Philly, we had wanted to see the mint while we were here. We drove there and found parking then found out 1 quarter only put 8 minutes in so we had to find an ATM then get quarters, it took forever, we got to the mint and then they said no cameras were allowed and they had to go in the car, WHAT A PAIN. We finally got in and it was pretty disappointing. Too much to read, not a whole lot to see and a gift shop full of cool things that we just had to have! So we spent more than we wanted to all in one store. We spent a bunch at the liberty bell store and then we spent a ton more at this place called naked chocolate and then we bought sugar waffles which were nasty. Mine was all doughy and nasty. We did buy some cool souvenirs and Philly is a cool city to drive around in.

Utah Trip/Sealing/Family

Utah was a very unexpected trip. I wasn’t going to go until my husband convinced me that I would regret missing the opportunity to see my brother get sealed. I think that he was right because I had a great time and it was so nice to be in the temple with family. I flew in on Thursday Aug. 27^th, my dad picked me up at the airport and whisked me to the zoo where the rest of the family was. I got to see my cousin again which is always exciting. I can’t stand being away from him for too long. We have SO much fun together. The twins always have the funniest things to say and I love hanging out with them. This time Jeremiah came up to me and asked me if I brought them anything. It was pretty funny cause I usually have something to give each of them. This time the only thing I had for all of them to share was zebra striped gum. Not too exciting I know! Hyrum is getting huge, every time I see him he is so much bigger than the last time. His hair is adorable, big blonde curly locks. So cute! After the zoo I got settled in my hotel room and then headed to the mall with Tyler, Andrew, Brenda, Destiny, and Abby.

Destiny’s birthday was the 28^th (the same as Devin’s) so Brenda was taking her on a shopping spree and to get her nails done for the first time. She was SO cute at all the stores; she acted like she didn’t know what to do because this was so out of the ordinary for her. I found some stuff at forever 21 and Hollister. Abby was as cute as ever, she was so quiet the whole time just chilling in her little stroller and Brenda wanted to run into Hello Kitty to grab her something and I asked her if she thought maybe Abby would want to go in, she didn’t think Abby would care too much but I pushed the stroller in and Abby pretty much jumped out of the thing, she was SOOO excited to see Hello Kitty stuff everywhere. She had to pee the whole time too but I don’t think you could have gotten her out of there to go to the bathroom. Cutest little girl!

My dad called a little later with news about a dinner and everyone was invited, he was a little frantic cause it was in 30 minutes and in a different part of town. We hopped outside to the curb and waited for the ride. I saw my mom and Ken at the dinner, the food was good, I was VERY stressed out and made myself pretty sick but it went away after we left the restaurant. I hung out with Tyler that night, we went to the pool and hot tub to talk. It was so nice to just talk. The trip was a little much for me since I haven’t been around a lot of people in a while I was a little unsure of how to handle everything. There was so much going on all at one. Friday I asked for a muscle relaxer just to help me chill a little. I got a little bit more than I bargained for. I was a staggering idiot all day. I couldn’t barely stay standing. I looked ridiculous. The sealing was great, I thought Emi looked adorable when she walked in to the sealing room and Brandon was beaming. I’m sure this has been long awaited for the two of them. Afterwards there were a few pictures taken and I almost fell into the fountain a couple times and I almost drug in Emi’s little sister at one point too. I hung out with my mom and Ken until the barbeque at their hotel. The barbeque was very yummy, I don’t really remember too much, I think that is another thing the pill did is it gave me amnesia! Brandon went nuts with the kids, I do remember that. Oh and the CAKE, The cake was amazing, I could have eaten 10 slices if it wasn’t so filling.

I wanted to go to Cabela’s after so I could get Devin a birthday present and so I could find my long lost worm tool. It was a struggle to get there since I passed out in the room for a couple hours and then the fact that I didn’t have a car came into play but my dad was nice enough to let me borrow his. I found some good stuff at Cabela’s but no worm tool. We had some dinner at the hotel, Emi and Brandon came over to visit, I grabbed ice cream with Tyler, more visiting and then bed time. Saturday I had breakfast with Rachel and Mark. I couldn’t stop talking, thinking about it now, everyone was done eating and I still had food left cause I couldn’t shut up. Maybe its cause this was the last time I thought I would see them for a while I don’t know. We are going on a cruise at one point though so I do have that to look forward too. I packed my stuff when I got back and it didn’t fit so well so I had to open up the present Rachel gave me which was SO much fun, I loved everything in the box, especially the chocolate cheesecake and the silly string. We had some fun in the room with the silly string, it was EVERYWHERE. It made such a mess but it was fun. The twins got my dad with it at one point as well, that was pretty funny. It was time for me to get to the airport but we all couldn’t stop talking, it’s so fun to have family together. I barely made it to my flight, my dad had to help me out cause I was like a lost dog with a 100 lb bag (not really but seemed like it) he made sure I made it to security and then I was on my way back to the dreaded hotel room! I didn’t really want to come back to be honest. I had so much fun in Utah.

For Devin’s birthday he went out to a Japanese place with some of his classmates, he loved it so we went when I got back. It was really tasty, the show was short but I caught the shrimp in my mouth, I was afraid of missing and getting it all over my face.

Another DC trip

I bought us tickets to go to DC United vs. LA Galaxy a while back and it finally came time to go to the game. I made us plans to go early and see the last of DC that I had wanted to see. We went to the Museum of National History and the Air and Space Museum. The museum of national history was great, the crowds weren’t too bad and there was so much to see. I really liked it. As for the Air and Space Museum, I was disappointed, crowds stunk and it seemed less exciting than it was when I was 14. We went to this place called Fire and Sage for dinner and that was another disappointment. I got the house favorite of Bacon wrapped Scallops with Cheese Grits and yuck, the scallops were NASTY. The grits were good but I can make those at home. My meal was $28 and I hated it. Devin got a salad and it was amazing. I was jealous. I had pictures but they were on my phone and my phone died so they are gone. The restaurant was super fancy, it was very modern and crisp. Devin loved the knives, they were pretty neat, so was the seats and the color scheme. By the time we got to the soccer game I had a migraine and was ready to go home. Nobody scored, Beckham played like crap so we were pretty bummed.

Rachel/Zoo/Beach

Rachel came into town and it was SOOO nice seeing familiar faces. We had dinner at her house on Sunday 8/16 and man Devin couldn’t get enough of the whole thing, the dogs, the fat cat, the food, the family, a real house. I didn’t think he would ever want to leave. It was pretty cute though; he made best friends with one of the dogs. I enjoyed being able to talk to friends. Mark mentioned hunting at one point and I seriously cannot stop thinking about hunting. I have picked out my new hunting rifle and now I just need to get to Alaska. On Monday we went to the national zoo in DC, I parked at Rachel’s house and we rode metro in. Mark got sick on the way there and had a some projectile puke on metro, it was a little bit of a surprise but he is such a good sicky, he wanted food after and we all felt horrible for him but he seemed fine. If it was me I would be whiny and probably want to go home. The zoo was pretty cool, I loved that it was free and that they had Pandas. I love Pandas.

On Wednesday it was my last chance to see Rach so I was going to wake up early and head to the beach to meet up with her and her fam. Well I woke up early and Devin said that his class should get done around 10- 10:30 and then we could leave for the beach. Needless to say we didn’t get out of here until after noon. I was VERY annoyed because she had to leave the beach at 3 and it was supposed to take a couple hours to get there. We ended up seeing them for a full 20 minutes oooh yeah!!! I was pretty bummed but it was ok cause I still had Utah. We hung out at the beach and went to the different little shops. We got TCBY (my favorite) and did mini golf where I whopped Devin’s hiney! We tried Five Guys for the first time and it was pretty tasty. We bought salt water taffy and at the same shop we found zebra stripes gum. That used to be my favorite when I was little so I had to buy some. I popped a piece in my mouth and within 2 minutes the flavor was all gone. It was a good little treat to give to the kids in Utah. On the way back we stopped at a street market and bought some butternut squash, it turned out really good in the toaster oven.

Brooks and Dunn

Im going to be playing catch up for a couple days probably cause there has been SOOO much going on. Also I stink at this blogging business, I struggle with every picture and every post. Oh well! Around the middle of August Brooks and Dunn had a concert here on post and I had been wanting to go but Devin didn’t want to pay for tickets so we ended up sitting on some lawn outside of the concert and listened to the music. It was somewhat annoying because the opening guy Pat Green was a moron and he kept saying stupid stuff and it was dragging on. The concert was supposed to start at 7 but we sat there until 9 and FINALLY Brooks and Dunn came on. Some of the songs were good but most were new and then they had this stupid backdrop of half naked chicks dancing in the background. Totally unnecessary but whatever. We left after maybe and hour of listening to them. I was a little disappointed so maybe it was a good thing we didn’t pay for tickets. On the drive back to "the room" we listened to them out the windows and that was just fine for me!

Wildlife

Aberdeen Proving Ground is loaded with animals and I love it. We try to go fishing a few times a week since its cheap and local and we are always taking pictures of the deer. They are everywhere. It has been fun watching them because you can see their antlers growing as the weeks go on and they are shedding their velvet now. Sometimes it gets hard when we see a gigantic buck, I get the hunters itch. And this might sound sick but I start craving meat. So far we have caught lots of perch, a couple striped bass, a blue crab, and a catfish.

Combatives Tournament/Baltimore Inner Harbor/Aquarium

Devin had to work at a combatives tournament on a Saturday and I was invited to go along. I didn’t know what was in store but it was pretty fun. I didn’t want to sit in the VIP section and stick out like a sore thumb cause we were there early and I would have been the first to sit down so I chose to sit with a bunch of AIT kids that were in there civilians. That was a bad choice of seats cause they were punks and it was nauseating. The tournament started and I couldn’t see a whole lot but by far my favorite was the girls fights. The first girls that sparred were little and the crowd was screaming for this little short white girl. When they started the fight the white girl took off like a deranged animal and lunged at the black girl, grabbed her by her top and threw her on the ground. It was pretty entertaining. The white girl lost in the end and I thought that made it even better. Devin ended up getting to skip out on PT for a whole week because he did so well working at the tournament. I was happy cause he is so loud at 5:30 in the morning and this meant a week of good sleep.

The same day as the tournament we wanted to go out but somewhere close so we headed to Baltimore to check out the national aquarium. We got cheap tickets through MWR on post. When we got there we realized Saturday was probably the worst day to go, there were people everywhere and lines going all over. It took a while to get in and by then my feet hurt cause for some stupid reason I chose to wear heels. The lines inside were ridiculous; you had to fight your way through crowds to see anything. We saw the sharks and the stingrays but then it was time to find our way out. The way the aquarium is set up though you have to follow the crowd and you cant really just leave so we followed the crowd to the top then made our way down. By then my feet were about to fall off so we found some ice cream and flip flops at a local mall. Devin had been eying the paddleboats, I thought they would be too expensive but they were ridiculously cheap. It was pretty fun, the sun was beating down on us which I wasn’t the biggest fan of because I don’t have sunglasses but it was still fun. We had some good ol cheesecake factory after and then headed home.