Breakfast with Santa!

The Boat is still Afloat!

Because Tony had a formal on Saturday night, he couldn’t come up to Rhode Island to visit, so me and James had to go check on the boat. I was like, what are we supposed to check for, and Tony said to make sure the lines were tight and that it was still floating. Umm….if it hadn’t been floating, I’m not sure what we would have done, but thankfully it was. I fell in love with another sailboat right near Tony’s, and I decided that was the one he really should have bought. (Though it’s probably like, 5 times as much as his…at least!) So, after we determined that his boat was in fact still afloat, we drove to Connecticut to bring him some ice cream and to hang out for a few minutes.

Another fun weekend in New England!

I love New England! I think that if James and I had more money, I would have moved up there just so I could enjoy a beautiful area while I vigorously worked on my Masters degree. It would have been a nice retreat, and I could have spent moments here and there with James, whenever he had a free moment or two. Thankfully, I have been able to visit him a few times, and I have absolutely loved it. This past visit included the best clam chowder ever at a cute little restaurant in Downtown Newport, and a beautiful sunset along Ocean Drive! I had some time to myself, and I visited an old windmill, which was so peaceful and beautiful, despite the cold weather. We were also able to visit our second Vanderbilt mansion, The Marble House, being the 39th birthday present of Mrs. Alva Vanderbilt. It was interesting, as the tour was self paced using head sets, which was a little bit too impersonal for me, but at least I learned something this time. Mrs. Alva even had her own tea house built in the backyard. The Marble House was definitely my favorite of the two, and I am excited to visit one more on my next journey to Rhode Island! The class of 03-08 had a class get together, so I was able to meet James’ entire class, which was nice. I was the only guest there, which was a little awkward at first, but it ended up being nice. Although, I almost had to take out his Chief for ragging on Virginia Tech when I was not in the mood to hear it, and talking about how wonderful Miami is, even though he didn’t even go there. Clearly, I was not amused. But, it was fun nonetheless. The night before, we had enjoyed a nice dinner with about half of his class at a Brewery near the base. The guy’s favorite drink was Blueberry beer, which I thought was disgusting and had blueberries floating throughout it.

Star Fish

These star fish were underneath Tony's boat when we were checking to "make sure it was still floating." I was so excited!! It made me want to go to an aquarium to play with them!

Exemplary Department Award

Every year, Virginia Tech presents a department on campus with an Exemplary Department award, which is a great honor to have bestowed upon any department. This year, University Studies/University Academic Advising Center (www.uaac.vt.edu) was the proud recipient of the award, which included a $10,000 prize we can use to better the department. This year there were three awards, and we were recognized at a reception at the Skelton Inn and Conference Center. University Studies is for freshman and sophomore students who don’t have a major, and they are either undecided about what they want to major in, know what they want to major in but still have unmet requirements to fulfill, or for students who are in between majors. Because we are not degree granting, we do not get much recognition, nor do we have any alumni to support our office, so this award is a really big deal. The reception was very nice, and we had fun mingling amongst ourselves and amongst the other departments present. And, I met someone from Waco! I felt a little odd interrupting a conversation, which I later found out was between a Provost and a Dean and his wife, which is kind of a big deal, but how often do you hear someone mention Waco in Virginia? The Dean definitely agreed with us that we might the right decision moving back to Virginia, but I think his wife might have been a bit offended, as she was from Waco. I blamed it on the wine! Congrats US! Check out this article for more: Exemplary Department

Christmas at the Breakers!

This is us inside the Great Hall of the Breakers. The room is massive, and it is the only room inside the house that you are allowed to take pictures in.

Congrats Ensigns!

On November 30th, I watched a group of OCS candidates graduate from OCS, including Ensign Walsh, a friend from college, and Ensign Becker, whose family has been very supportive for me and James throughout OCS. I had the pleasure of finally meeting both Becker’s family and Walsh’s family, and I am very happy for the opportunity!! (Thanks for all of your encouragement and support!!) During graduation, I also was able to “meet” some of the drill instructors, and they scare me just by being around them and taking their picture! I can’t imagine having them yelling at me for everything. These guys went through so much to get to where they are, and I am so proud of them! Although it seems like forever since they’ve been gone, the time has also gone by fairly fast in a weird way, as life just keeps trucking along. I am very happy to have been able to visit Rhode Island while James was gone, and we had a blast when I came up there for graduation. I will say that I miss some good ole southern hospitality when we are in New England, and I am always happy to return, though I would be happier if James were returning with me. But, only a few more weeks and James will be a commissioned officer! James and I were finally able to watch a football game together, and we watched the Hokies in a sweet win over Boston College. I got all Tech’d out while James stayed in his uniform, but it was still super exciting. YAY ACC 2007 CHAMPIONS!!! Orange Bowl here we come! We also visited the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the Breakers, an enormous mansion overlooking the cliffs of Newport. It was pretty, but none of the workers were nice, and I didn’t learn anything on the tour, as it was self guided, and they hardly gave you any information in the guide. I’m still glad we went though, as it was quite an incredible house.