I love FALL!

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love watching the leaves change, feeling the air turn crisp, and ordering pumpkin spiced lattes at Starbucks. Unfortunately, San Diego doesn’t get that fall feeling, though I do feel the San Diego fall in the air. Last year, I couldn’t tell the difference, but I’ve been here long enough to feel the difference this year. It’s subtle…but there. To enjoy fall, James and I drove to the beautiful mountains of Julian, where us Southern Californians drive to experience fall. At only an hour away, Julian gives you the crisper fall air, slight leave changes, amazing apple pies, and a cute small town feel. Every year they host the Apple Festival, where you can pick your own apples, enjoy homemade cider, apple wine, apple butter, and apple pies. My personal favorite was the pumpkin apple pie. That piece of pie alone was worth the drive! We actually made two trips to experience fall, one that included some wine tasting and enjoying the cute old mining town of Julian, and one that included apple picking and the pumpkin patch. It was a bad year for apples in southern California, so there wasn’t much picking to be done. It was still beautiful though, and we enjoyed walking through the orchards. We spotted a pumpkin patch on the drive in, so we left the orchard and went to pick out our pumpkins. It was also a bad year for pumpkins, but we were able to find a few cute ones for the apartment. At the pumpkin patch, James and I reminisced about the pumpkin patch in Christiansburg. It really is a hard one to beat, with the beautiful mountains surrounding the farm, the tractors to climb on, the rolling hills of pumpkins, the petting zoo, and of course the home made cider and kettle corn. I could almost taste the homemade cider and feel the crisp air on my cheeks. I miss Blacksburg in the Fall! Check out our new site: http://wanderinghokies.com/

The Sail Around South America

James has begun to chronicle the story of his trip around South America...and you can find that on our new website at: www.wanderinghokies.com Also, you will be able to see all of his pictures from the trip on our flickr site. All you have to do is click on our flickr stream on the left page of the new site, and it will take you to see all of our pictures.

Enjoy! Let us know what you think of the new page!

Drum Roll.....

www.wanderinghokies.com Check out our new site and let us know what you think! It is clearly a work in progress, but we didn't want people to think we were done blogging. Stories from South America will be coming soon, so get excited! :)

Life Changes

You may have noticed that we haven't really been updating the blog that much recently. Our lives have been changing so much that we thought it was time for a blog change. Keep checking this site, as we will unveil the new blog very soon!

Only one more week!

April Showers bring May Flowers….and Wine Weekends!

There is nothing quite as sweet as enjoying amazing wine with amazing friends! In April, after visiting Blacksburg for the memorials, I hit the road with two great friends to enjoy the North Carolina vines and hospitality, on our third annual girls wine weekend. Hitting the third is a big deal, and I feel like we are official now! In 2007, we embarked on our first trip to the Yadkin Valley in North Carolina, one of America’s fastest growing wine industries. It was a great way to get my mind off of James being in OCS, and me being in Blacksburg by myself. Then in 2008, we spent an awesome weekend in the heart of Virginia, living up Thomas Jefferson’s alcoholic dreams in the Charlottesville area. Without TJ, where would this country be? And because we had only been able to visit a handful of wineries in 2007, we decided to go back to the Yadkin valley in 2009. After all, it’s going to take us quite some time to visit all of the wineries in North Carolina. Map of NC Wineries I think we have about 76 more to go, but we’ve already visited 11 or 12! I like going to wineries, because each one is very unique and has its own story. We like to mainly visit the smaller, family run wineries, as their wines tend to be very interesting, the people tend to be friendly, and you learn so much. The larger wineries are fun because they are always really nice, but in terms of what you get for what you pay, you are paying for the expensive environment, not the wine or the friendliness of the staff. And I feel like I never learn anything at the big expensive wineries. I’m going to start with my absolute favorite winery of the trip…Hutton Winery. It was actually the second winery we visited, but we had to take a break afterwards, since Heidi, the owner, was a VERY generous pourer! It is a brand new winery, and she was so excited that we were there. If you are anywhere near this little place, please go and visit it! They are so sweet, and we really want them to stay open! Usually at a tasting, you get a small sip of wine, but with Heidi, we had half a glass of wine for each tasting. You can imagine what that did to us, and resulted in us playing on a tractor for a while until we were ready to get some lunch. Stony Knoll was also a cute family winery, but we didn’t spend much time there, as they were planning for a 50th anniversary party later that night. Flint Hill was adorable, and I wish we had been able to spend more time there. It was in a beautifully restored Farm House, and had a restaurant that looked fabulous. Unfortunately, we had just eaten lunch when we got there, but the food looked amazing. It was also family run, and we spent some time enjoying the rocking chairs on the front porch. And RagApple Lassie… where do I even begin? We visited Rag Apple Lassie on our first wine trip, and we loved it enough that we had to make a second trip to it. They have the most uniquely shaped wine bottles, and great wines. Their theme is cows, so everything has a cow printed on it, and we are always reminded that southern girls wear pearls. We tried to make a fifth winery that Saturday, but we got there right as it was closing. Wineries tend to close pretty early, somewhere between 5 to 6. But we weren’t too discouraged, as we found an awesome BBQ place, which I had been craving since moving to the west coast! I love pulled pork BBQ, especially Carolina BBQ. I still say that the best BBQ I’ve ever had was in Chapel Hill my junior year. Those were the best sweet potato fries I had ever had! After an awesome pulled pork dinner, we went back to the hotel an enjoyed some homemade wine from Stanburn Vineyards. It never fails that no matter how much awesome wine we’ve tasted that day, the wine made by Tab’s husband and father-in-law always surpasses the best that we tried. And Tab should be getting paid for the awesome mixes she makes with the wine! Fabulous! The next day, we toured Mt. Airy, NC, the birthplace of Tabatha, and the home of Andy Griffith. It’s a beautiful little community, with an old fashioned downtown, complete with the Old North State Winery and Opie’s Candy Shop. Opie is James’ Tuba nickname, so it was a must stop for us! And the Old North State Winery was actually one of my favorite stops, as it was in a restored main street building, which the pourer told us is haunted. I always love hearing people’s first hand accounts of a building being haunted. North Carolina grows a great deal of Muscadine grapes, the grapes used by Welch’s for their white grape juice. It’s very sweet, and the Old North State Winery had a very good Muscadine wine that would be perfect for a warm summer day picnic. If I hadn’t been flying, I would have bought a whole case of it. Darn those checked baggage fees! Our wine racks at home were getting pretty low, too, and I usually use these wine trips to restock. It was getting late, and I had to catch a flight, but we were still able to fit one more winery in on the way to the airport. Childress was our glamorous winery of the trip. They are always fun to visit, and great for first time winery visitors. The vineyards were beautiful, and the winery lavish, but we didn’t get to try very many wines, but had to pay a lot to taste the wines we were offered. If I had known that I was going to miss my connection in Chicago, I would have stayed longer in North Carolina, but off to the airport we went. My flight was delayed leaving, causing me to miss my flight by about five minutes in Chicago. I ran all the way there, only to find out that it was the last flight to San Diego, and they couldn’t get me out until the next day. It was my first experience sleeping in an airport, but thankfully Chicago had a huge USO, and I was given a cot to sleep on. I still didn’t get much sleep, since I was in front of a large screen tv, and I felt like everyone was watching me, even if they weren’t. I am definitely looking forward to our fourth annual wine trip, place to be determined, year 2010!

April 16th, 2009 - we still remember

It’s been almost two and a half years since the shootings, yet it still feels like yesterday that our lives were changed forever. Being so far away from anyone who understood about everything we’d gone through, I needed to be back in Blacksburg for the anniversary this year. It was such a refreshing trip, and exactly what I needed since James had just left, and I was about to be alone for a very long time. It’s hard being so far away from a place that is so important to you, especially a place as special as Blacksburg. Though we may not be there often, Blacksburg is definitely where our hearts are! I was so very thankful that Tab and David picked me up at midnight in North Carolina, and drove the two hours back to Blacksburg! We stayed at their friends football condo, and after four hours of sleep, woke up to run 3.2 miles for our beloved 32, especially for Stack. It’s funny how every time I’m in Blacksburg, I feel like I never left. Sure, there are always some new buildings, and I have an apartment 3,000 miles away, but I always run into people I know, and I just feel an overwhelming sense of well being. I ran into so many people that morning, and did the run with my co-workers. We were in the very back of the race, due to our lack of sleep, and we ended up walking most of the way. We started lined up by Squires, then went under Torg bridge, past the chapel, past Burruss and the memorial, and half way around the drill field. Then we looped up in front of hillcrest and by the duck pond, then back to the drill field, which we looped three times. I definitely miss running in Blacksburg, especially on the Huckleberry. My mind was so clear after a few hours out on the trail, and it was clear again after just a few hours in the Burg. I spent the day visiting friends who are still at Tech, visited professors, and wandered around campus taking pictures and enjoying the peace. I didn’t really plan for my trip to Blacksburg. I just kind of bought a plane ticket and flew there. I didn’t even have a place to stay or anything, but I wasn’t worried. Things in Blacksburg just seem to work out, and I ended up staying with Jen for the night. Before I crashed at Jens, I reunited with two of my favorite people, Laura and Stacey, and had dinner at Sharkey’s, a place we visited often in undergrad. It was just a great reminder of our time in college, sharing stories and memories of trips, football games, and of course, Sharkey’s. I think my favorite story is always the one when we missed the West Virginia game because we had to go on a band tour in Northern Virginia. Amazing memories and amazing friends! After dinner, Jen and I went to the vigil. It was weird this year, and as we sat there, it just felt really different than it did last year. This year, half of the students weren’t even here when everything happened, and you could just tell that as time moves on, so does how we feel about it. It was great having Jen there with me to help with the range of emotions I felt. I can’t quite describe what Blacksburg does to me, but it moves me on the inside. It did before the shootings, and now, even more so. We still remember...and we still believe. The countdown to Blacksburg has begun…only 27 more days!

The Bottom of the World

And finally on his way back home to me! :)

March - the first month!

Only one more month until James is home! I can’t believe that we have gotten through the last five months….and are less than 30 days away from seeing each other. For those of you who are on Facebook, you know that James has had some incredible experiences in south America so far, including white water rafting in Brazil, food poisoning in Brazil, and watching an Orca eat a seal. I can’t imagine how cool that must have been! And he has promised to bring me home lots of wine from Chile, so I am definitely looking forward to that. I think the months have gone by so quickly because I had the opportunity to visit James four times. I figured I might as well take advantage of him being on American soil! In March, I flew down to see James while he was still living in his two bedroom apartment that was twice as big as our apartment here! That first trip to Mississippi really made me realize that I’m a southern girl. While I absolutely love southern California, it is not the south, and I want to be a southern belle, not a bikini blonde in SoCal. (Where I come from….it’s corn bread and chicken!) But, I’m definitely enjoying Cali! I mean, what’s not to love about a beautiful place, perfect weather, and more things to do than I have time for! Now If only I had a husband to enjoy it with! James’ apartment in Mississippi was really adorable. When I got there, he was staying in a hotel still, and I was there for less than 5 minutes when we packed to check out. I’m positive that it was full of mold, since I couldn’t breathe the moment we walked in! And it’s my second time making James check out of a hotel I wouldn’t stay in, so I think he’s getting used to it. I realized I’m actually pretty picky about where I sleep…if I can’t breathe, I can’t stay! And the apartment was so much better, although hard for James because he didn’t have a car. Thankfully, there were lots of guys from the ship who lived there, and he could catch rides to work until he moved onto the ship. At first I was devastated about the apartment, because it made it seem like we were really living away from each other. And either way we were, but while he was living in the hotel it seemed less permanent. But an apartment? That was pretty permanent. But when I showed up and saw where he had been staying for a week, I knew the apartment was a must! Even though James had only been gone for a week at this point, it seemed like forever since we had seen each other, and it was such a refreshing weekend. I am seriously not good at this whole being alone Navy wife type of life. James and I do love to experience places and travel, and we have enjoyed so many places we otherwise might not have ever visited, like Rhode Island and Mississippi, so I am thankful for that. And who knew that Mississippi has beautiful beaches? It was quite eye opening to me, and made me realize how judgmental I can be. I guess I just didn’t associate southern Mississippi with resort casinos and miles of beautiful gulf coast beaches. It is sad to see the amount of devastation that Hurricane Katrina caused almost four years ago. Four years have passed, and there are still buildings shattered, hundreds of empty foundations, closed restaurants and businesses, and empty fishing boats washed up on the shore. It’s eerie and makes me sad that so many people’s lives changed so abruptly. It reminded me about the importance of giving to those who have lost all that they have, for the Lord has blessed us so that we may give to others. I am desperately wanting to find an opportunity for another relief trip, as an entire year has gone by since I have done anything. Working makes it so difficult, but it is not an excuse to not volunteer and help others. I just need to find an opportunity out here. Despite all of the devastation though, life is coming back to the Gulf Coast. A few Casino’s have come back, and thanks to the help of the Smithsonian, the Jefferson Davis Presidential Home, Beauvoir, has been restored. It was severely damaged by the storm, as it sits right on the gulf coast, but they have been able to secure funding to preserve American history. In fact, they had just received restored paintings that same week we were there. I think my favorite part was sitting on the balcony rocking in awesome rocking chairs overlooking the gulf. They had amazing plaques on them reading: “For your rocking pleasure.” I definitely think that James and I are going to be old one day sitting in rocking chairs overlooking the water (or mountains) just enjoying every day. If it weren’t for real life like bills and work, we could be enjoying that right now! The funny thing about the Beauvoir is that we didn’t even know it was there. James and I have become non-planners, which is so unlike us. But since we’ve gotten married, we’ve just kind of enjoyed ourselves and stumbled upon places and opportunities. We were just driving and taking in the scenery when we saw the sign for the Jefferson Davis home, and we thought…why not? We also watched a speed boat race on the beach, drove for miles to find amazing seafood, and made late night Wal*Mart runs for Blue Bell ice cream. All it took was one trip to the gulf, and I was hooked. There was no way I wasn’t coming back to visit! And I did…in June and July!

My adorable little AJ

I haven't posted many pictures of AJ recently, so here are some new ones! :) Right after his haircut that made me think he isn't a full poodle... We're having him DNA tested when James gets back! I can't believe we've had him for almost three years now! Three years and three states...he's been around the block a few times! :)

Scruffy and Salty

Oh the life of a sailor. After a few weeks at sea, and paying for a no shave chit, James and some of his guys paid to not shave for a few weeks. Unfortunately, their no shave chits are up, and it’s back to the blade. I believe they have to shave before they pull into port, at an undisclosed date in the near future. So, here are some pics of James and his guys, scruffy and salty. James is probably the saltiest junior officer thanks to the Tarawa.

Crossing the Caribbean

Picture of James ship...the LHD 8 on it's way home. Crossing the Caribbean Sea

Tennis Ball Free!

AJ is Tennis Ball Free! Now he's just enjoying his summer camping out in his living room tent.

Passing the Time

James has been gone since March, and although it feels like it has been forever on the one hand, it has also gone by really quickly. In just two short months, James will be home, and we will be able to enjoy another football season together! After all, all relationship years should be measured in whether or not you spent the football season together. Football seasons 02-06…spent together. Football season 07…not spent together. Football season 08…partially spent together. Football season 09…fingers crossed that most of it will be spent together! To pass the time, I have been doing a lot of two things: traveling and reading. Two of my biggest passions! After finishing my thesis, I have finally had the chance to read for pleasure! For the first time since the summer of 2002, I have spent hours reading for fun. College and graduate school definitely take time away from pleasure reading, which is quite ironic. In the upcoming weeks, I will post what I’ve been reading, along with very short reviews, in case anyone is looking for something new and exciting to read. My to read list had gotten quite long after 7 years, and I am only just beginning to scratch the surface of it! Thanks to my two amazing friends, Laura and Rachel, I have been able to travel quite a bit over the last few months. In fact, I have been flying somewhere just about once a month since James left. In March, I flew to Mississippi to visit James, in April I flew to North Carolina/Virginia for the two year memorial service and for my annual ladies wine trip. Then in May I flew to Virginia Beach to attend my graduation. James and I were actually able to meet in North Carolina and fly into Norfolk together, which was such a blessing. And finally, in June and July, I flew to Alabama/Mississippi to spend some time with James in Mississippi and Florida. I am going to spend the next few weeks catching you up on my travels as well, because I don’t think I have really written about any of the trips in detail. It has been great to travel so much, and I couldn’t have done it without Laura and Rachel! They have graciously picked me up at 4:00 in the morning for my early flights, stayed up late as I got stuck in airports waiting to find out when I was getting in, and let AJ out while I was away. Laura even cleaned my apartment and baked me cookies! Rachel and Laura both spent hours playing with AJ and making him feel like he was loved, despite their super busy schedules. They are such amazing friends, and there is no way I could have gotten through these last few months without them!

Gator debuts with young crew

“We’ve been at Wal-Mart so much they probably think we were working there,” Guy said. “That was the No. 1 hangout for USS Makin Island.”

Navy Times Article on the Makin Island

Big ship sailing

"If you noticed an enormous Naval ship on the horizon while watching the air show at Pensacola Beach this weekend, you weren't the only one.

The USS Makin Island, a brand new Navy amphibious assault ship, sailed off the Pensacola coast Saturday on its way from Pascagoula, Miss., to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Makin Island (LHD-8) was built in Pascagoula, Miss., and completed its acceptance trials this spring.

The 844-foot Wasp-class amphibious assault ship is one of the largest Naval ships in the world, second only to aircraft carriers in size, said Alan Baribeau, a Navy spokesman.

"These ships are specifically designed to remain offshore near troubled areas of the world, ready to send forces ashore quickly via helicopters, tilt rotor aircraft and land craft air cushion hovercraft," Baribeau said.

The USS Makin Island is the last of eight Wasp-class amphibious assault ships ordered by the U.S. Navy.

After leaving the Gulf of Mexico, the ship will sail through the Atlantic Ocean, around South America, and through the Pacific Ocean to San Diego, where it will be commissioned in October." This article appeared in the Pensacola Paper on July 12th. Link to article I found it because the captain posted it on Facebook. Yes, in this digital age, the Captain keeps a Facebook page that keeps us all updated throughout the deployment.

AJ and his Ball

About three months ago, I was looking into the Pet Health Care plan that my work offers. It makes sense, since vet bills can get so high, and you never know what’s going to happen to our little bundles of fur. But, it was a little bit more than I wanted to pay, and didn’t cover as much as I wanted it to, so I decided it would be wise to wait. Oh the irony. On Monday night, AJ decided to eat a tennis ball. The entire thing! I was sitting at the computer writing James, and assumed AJ was in the living room sleeping, since it was almost midnight. AJ likes to go to bed early, while I like to stay up late. When we first adopted AJ in Texas, he would always go to bed at 10. We’d be in the dining room or the living room, and AJ would jump down, and walk down the hall and hop in bed. It used to make me laugh so hard! You could hear his little tags jingle down the hall (and it was long because we had a three bedroom) and then silence before the plop. But Monday night, AJ decided to be rebellious. He’s always chewed up his toys, and has sometimes eaten small pieces of them, but he’s never devoured an entire toy. By the time I found him, there were just a few tiny pieces left that he was trying to gulp down. I’m pretty sure that tennis fuzz and rubber could not possibly taste good, but apparently it was the thing to do. I did some googling, and realized that rubber can clog the intestines of dogs, at best, and at worst, can sit in their stomach. Everything said he needed to go to the vet immediately so they could induce vomiting. I called the emergency vet, and the vet said that if he chewed it up into small enough pieces, then he was probably fine until the morning. (It was after midnight after all…and emergency vets are soooo much more expensive than the regular ones.) So I waited until the morning, but didn’t get any sleep because if he started throwing up, I was supposed to take him in right away. I called AJ’s regular vet first thing in the morning, and they said to bring him in right away. He saw a new vet, and she was amazing! She loves poodles, which is always a plus, and AJ didn’t even try to bite her. They took some x-rays, and thankfully, AJ chewed the ball up into tiny pieces so it should all come out naturally. If he hadn’t chewed it into such small pieces, they would have had to have induced vomiting, taken a long thing down his throat and pulled pieces out, or opened him up with surgery to take the pieces out. Eating rubber is not fun and games! So, as you can see, there are pieces of a ball throughout AJ’s insides. Thankfully, they have started to come out. I’ve never been so excited to pick up his poop before! She said that AJ seems to have a great deal of pent up energy that needs to be expressed, which is why he is patient enough to chew balls into tiny pieces. Most dogs she sees eat toys whole or in large pieces, and they have to go in to get them out. She suggested that we do agility training with him, because he is smart and has a lot of energy. How funny would it be if we trained AJ to do show dog stuff? I don’t think he is socialized enough to do it, but it does look like it could be fun. And she also recommended moving AJ to a sweet potato and pinto bean diet?? Weird, but surprisingly not weird after a few minutes of google searching. So maybe we will turn AJ more into a California dog by giving him a specialized healthy diet and taking him to intense gyms. Praise the Lord that AJ is okay! I don’t know what I would do without him out here by myself. And for a few hundred dollars, we got some awesome pictures of his insides.

Anchors Away!

After four months of being apart, James is finally on his way back home to San Diego! The USS Makin Island took to sea for the first time on Friday, July 10th, 2009. Her first voyage! There is something about the sea that draws James and I to it, and there is no wonder he joined the Navy over any of the other branches. As much as I don’t like it at times, it means we will always live next to the sea, which I love! When he returns in September, we are going to take sailing classes, as San Diego is the perfect place to learn to sail. The weather is good all year, so it won’t matter that it is the fall and winter when we begin our classes. The ship will be going all the way around South America, so James will have the opportunity to visit some awesome places like Brazil and Peru. I wish I could go with him, but have requested coffee, jewelry, and paintings to get me by. He’s such an awesome husband! It seems with each passing year that James and I are becoming a bit more connected to the Caribbean and Latin America. Just a little over a year ago, I was in the Dominican Republic, and I have been itching to go back ever since. I might have to make it in my plans for next summer, as I can’t imagine another year going by without doing some kind of volunteer work there. And James spent last summer in Panama. (He hasn’t spent a summer in San Diego yet!) If it wasn’t for the Navy, James and I would probably join the Peace Corps. It has been a dream of mine since I was little, and we actually went and talked to a Peace Corps recruiter right before we were married about opportunities for married couples. (I can’t believe that was over three years ago!) There are actually quite a bit of opportunities for married people in the Peace Corps, but once you have served in the military or have been married to someone serving in the military, you are disqualified! I hope this policy changes, because I would still love to see that in our future!

Back to the Makin Island. I do not know who took these pictures, but all of the rights are theirs. I thank them for the photographs, since I could not be there to watch the beginning of their voyage, and James sent them to me in a PowerPoint presentation. He is the master of PowerPoint’s now. It should be noted that when the captain asked for recommendations on songs to play as they were pulling away from the pier, James requested “I’m on a Boat.” He then proceeded to play it for the captain who had never heard it. (The edited version…of course!) I think it’s a good thing for James that he isn’t planning on doing this forever! It was denied, but I’m sure his division sincerely appreciated his efforts for them! It makes me laugh! Some awesome seafaring quotes to quench your thirst for the sea.

All of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean, and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea whether it is to sail or to watch it we are going back from whence we came.
~John F. Kennedy

My soul is full of longing
For the secret of the Sea,
And the heart of the great ocean
Sends a thrilling pulse through me.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Yeah, never thought I'd be on a boat
It's a big blue watery road (yeah)
Poseidon!! Look at me, oh (all hands on deck)
~T-Pain

The MVs honor Stack - 2 years later

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over two years since April 16th, 2007. It is also still hard to believe that it happened, and that our lives have continued despite such a tragic and horrific day. In spite of all of our sadness and hurt, so much good has been done in the name of all 32 Hokies, but especially in Stack’s name. This past weekend, the MV’s dedicated a home they built in Blacksburg in honor of him, for a local family with great need. Check out the story here: Stack's House It is amazing the love and drive that has led the MV’s to dedicate countless hours and thousands of dollars to remember a friend, and to honor the impact he had on all of our lives. Check out pictures of the building process: Construction Photos I am so proud of the MV’s, and so thankful to be a part of such an amazing organization.

A tradition of Excellence

Then, now, and always. Oh how good it is to be in the ACC! I spent a wonderful June afternoon enjoying the great company of my fellow ACC San Diego alumni at the fourth annual San Diego ACC Pig Pickin, featuring North Carolina pulled pork BBQ and the best hush puppies I have ever had. There is something special about enjoying fried food in healthy San Diego, where fried rarely appears on menus. I didn’t realize how many ACC alumni are living in San Diego, but there are a few thousand of us. Boston College and the University of Miami both boast over 800 alumni in the area, and the other alumni sites don’t list numbers, but I am always seeing cars with alumni stickers from those 12 fine universities. By the time I got to the picnic, the Hokie tables were full, but I was invited to sit with the University of Miami, which is quite fitting since we both joined the ACC the same year. Virginia Tech and the U have a special relationship, and Miami is near and dear to mine and James’ heart, as we have made many road trips to the U. The Miami alumni were very welcoming, and invited me and James to Canes (the SD bar where they watch their games) for the VT Miami game this year. They promised to be kind, and I promised to return the favor of kindness. I think we might take them up on it, as their bar is right on the beach, and has plenty of seating, where as Bubs is a few blocks from the water and you have to stand for the entire game. There was a golf tournament before the picnic, and we had a Hokie team in it. As they started to announce the winners, one of the Hokie team members became belligerent, saying the scores were rigged, and we should have gotten 5th place. It was hilarious, as he was going on and on about how Duke and UNC rigged the tournament and how just because we didn’t go to a preppy school didn’t mean we should be left of the rankings if there was a tie. The funniest part is that they had a girl on their team, and hadn’t figured out the handicap correctly, and came in first place! So…this year’s San Diego ACC golf championship goes to the Virginia Tech Hokies! :) Being around so many East Coast natives reminded me how much I miss that side of the country, but I know eventually we will return to cold winters, colorful falls, belligerent drunken football fans, and those beautiful mountains. Only 75 days until football!! Let the countdown begin! (This picture is from my Senior year, during Superman. It is now hanging in Dave's Office!)

“I have… I will… I will!”

Three years ago Angela and I got married on a beautiful summer day. Little did we know what the next few years would entail, but we confidently entered life together. Since then, we have lived apart nearly a third of the time, moved more than I care to remember, dropped out of school, graduated from school, and lived on a boat. Above you see the residences we have had since we wed, but not all of those were together! The point is we have had a busy three years, and can hardly believe it has gone by so fast. We have met many new people in all corners of the country. Though apart often, I am truly blessed with such a great wifey!

Everyday Conversation

Yesterday I was sitting on a rooftop patio at SDSU, where I retreat on my lunch breaks to do some reading and get a few minutes of sun and peace each day. It’s like an oasis, compared to the dark, cold, windowless office I occupy more than 40 hours a week. While I was sitting there yesterday, I got a chill and realized it wasn’t sunny. An older gentleman walked by me and asked me if it was supposed to rain. What an odd question, I thought! Someone in San Diego just asked me about the weather…for the first time in 11 months. I told him I hadn’t checked the weather, but it certainly looked and felt like rain. And then it occurred to me that I haven’t checked the weather more than 4 times since we’ve moved out here. And every time I have checked the weather, it’s because I was traveling somewhere and I needed to know what the weather was like on the other side of the country. But yesterday, I should have checked, because it rained for 3 minutes and there was thunder! I didn’t hear it, but it was all the talk in the office today. For the most part, every day here is about the same. It’s overcast in the morning, with a sea mist engulfing you. By 10:30, the mist has lifted and the sun is shining brightly. By noon, it’s nice and warm, and it stays warm until about 4:00, and then it starts to cool off, getting chilly in the evening. And that happens every single day…winter, spring, summer, fall.