A day in Wilmington

Hello All,

Today we took Den's parents to Wilmington for the third time on their trip. Honestly there is nothing to do in Jacksonville, so this is the highlight of their entertainment. Today Dennis took his dad on the Battleship of North Carolina (A very boring tour, but the men enjoy it.) Roe and I went to an outdoor shopping center. It would have been nice if it was summer, but it was 40 degrees today so a little bit cold. I hate having to walk outside to each shop. I wish all shopping malls were indoors.

The main reason we went to Wilmington was for the food. We went to dinner at our favorite Asian restaurant called Indochine. Amazing food, probably my favorite Asian restaurant. I ordered dumplings. and had rice on the side. I loved the ginger soy sauce they give you for the dumplings, it tastes good on everything.

Tomorrow Den's parents are staying with us until Tuesday. They decided to tack on a couple more days to their trip. It will be exciting to have them over, we're usually by ourselves so this will be new. We only have a little bed though so his dad will have to sleep on the couch. Just a couple nights though, so that's not to bad. It beats paying for hotels. I can't wait till we have a house and we can actually have company stay over all the time.

Off to bed, I'm so tired from all that spending. ;)

It's been forever!

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since I've last wrote. I was in New York for four days and now Den's parents are visiting so I've been pretty busy. I promise you I'll post tons of photos from New York in about a week. Right now there just seems to be no time. I can't wait to share with you our trip to New York. We had a blast and our pictures turned out great. :)

Yesterday was an exciting day too. We drove down to Wilmington to take Den's parents to the aquarium from Valentines day. I love aquariums so much, I have to say my favorite one is Shedds in Chicago, then Monterey Bay (California), and this one (Fort Fisher in North Carolina)

After the Aquarium we had tickets to an event called the Taste of Wilmington. It's where 15 restaurants let you sample some of their food. Sounds fun right? You wouldn't believe how full we were! I had to walk tilted forward because my stomach was so heavy! In the beginning you think, this sample is so small how am I going to get filled up?!? Believe you do! My favorite place was the first restaurant (Elijah's) They sampled Clam chowder, and their world famous crab dip. Both were fantastic, the most amazing clam chowder I have ever tasted. The best part about this event is that we've found so many new restaurants that we would like to try. I grabbed a menu from each place and am excited to try them on date nights. :) Wilmington is about an hour away from us, but there is nothing to do in Jacksonville so we tend to spend most our time down there.

Hopefully I will write to you soon. :)

Valentines Day

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Before I forget, look at the Chocolate festival post I added a picture of Dennis at the demonstration. You would think I've been very busy, but actually I've been sitting around the house. I haven't been lazy or anything, I just have been spending a lot of time with Dennis lately. It's so good to have him home.

Sunday was Valentines day. We had so much fun. That morning Dennis made me a Valentines breakfast. He told me I could pick whatever I wanted to eat. I chose his scrambled eggs since they're so good. He also made me skillet potatoes. Here's a picture.

For lunch I decided to get a little taste of home, so I made Dennis hot dogs Chicago style. :)

Then for dinner we drove down to Wilmington for a Valentines dinner. We decided to treat ourselves since we haven't had a Valentines day together for a long time. We reserved a table at the Fort Fisher Aquarium. This event was an exclusive event where only 26 couples could get a table. It was after hours at the Aquarium, so each couple had their own private tour of the fish. Dennis reserved a table in front of the jelly fish for us. My opinion is that we had the best table in the house. Our room was called the Open Oceans Gallery, from where we sat I could see the Jelly fish behind Dennis, our table was in front of a big fish tank, behind me was the Octopus tank, and several more fish tanks around us. It was amazing! Also the presentation of everything was nice. They had a cute table for two set up with a rose and candle in the middle, a DJ for dancing. 4 course meal starting with a cheese and fruit plate, followed by a cesar salad. For the main course, I had chicken and Dennis had beef. We shared a cake for dessert. Here are some pictures from the event.

feeling puzzled...

I haven't wrote in a couple days because i've been sitting around the house all week. We decided to stay in the apartment a lot since Dennis hasn't really had a lazy day in 6 months. It's been pretty fun.

We did however make it down to Wilmington on Thursday. It was fun, we drove down for lunch and to do some shopping at the mall. The mall in Jacksonville is kind of terrible. This mall is bigger and has a lot more choices. Dennis needed to buy a couple dress shirts for New York and a scarf. Would you believe this weather? New York is supposed to be freezing during our trip and it snowed today in North Carolina. Not just a little snow, snowman kind of snow.

Also Den's sister (Melissa) gave him a 2000 piece Times Square puzzle for Christmas. So we've been working on that while we've been stuck in the house. We've got all but one piece done on the edges and are slowly working on the inside. We spent all day yesterday on it, and decided on ordering a pizza for dinner. I have to say Domino's did fulfil their promise on the new recipe. It was fantastic! The alfredo pizza is the best.

I'll try to write tomorrow about Valentines day if I have time. :)

Lazy day....

I'm not going to have that much to write today. I just wanted to talk about the wonderful dinner Dennis made for me. I started hearing some clatter in the kitchen and had to go investigate. That's when Dennis told me he wanted to make me dinner. I have to say, I'm loving having him home. I offered to set the table, but he told me to relax. After smelling the wonderful aroma from the kitchen it was finally time to taste test. He had wine filled in the glasses, a candle lit, and the table set. It was so cute to see him waiting for me to take my first bite. It was so amazing. He made me Spaghetti Carbonara, cheese toast, and corn. The spaghetti was the star of the show, it had bits of eggs, pancetta, garlic, and olive oil.

While we were eating I asked Dennis different questions about cooking. We cook very differently, I measure everything out and rely on cookbooks. Dennis on the other hand has the amazing gift of throwing things together and its wonderful. I really wish I could cook like that. I would love to take a pinch of oregano, and pair it up with a perfect complement and you'll get the perfect recipe. Maybe in time, and some training I'll get there.

until next time.....

Chocolate Festival.

On Sunday Dennis and I drove down to Morehead City, NC for a Chocolate Festival. I made reservations at a local restaurant for brunch, with award winning bread pudding. The place was so cute. It reminded me of a bed and breakfast. The brunch was really great! We had eggs, salad, breakfast sandwiches, chicken, rice, and of course bread pudding. When we left we were completely stuffed.

No one tells you at a chocolate festival that you're going to have to eat a lot of chocolate. We were so stuffed from the brunch that it was really hard to sample products. The festival was really nice, there were a lot of vendors, and it reminded me of a farmers market. Each vendor had free samples of products to try. I tried to cram them into every inch of free space in my tummy. One of my favorite new things that I tried was a potato chip dipped in chocolate. It should be a sin because it's so good. Also we bought different dip mixes, butterscotch covered peanuts, and chocolate dipped pretzels.

My favorite part of the festival was the demonstration. There was a lady demonstrated how to make crepes suzette. She asked for a volunteer, so immediately I rose my hand. Dennis gave me a look and said "You're really wanting to do this?" So guess what, she must of heard him because she chose him. hahaha It was so funny, he was cracking jokes the whole time he was up there. He even mentioned me as a great cook. :) I had a blast watching him up there, and told him for now on he has to make me crepes for breakfast.

For Dinner we invited Justin, his mom, and Grandma over for dinner. I made pork chops in an apricot sauce, brussel sprouts, green beans, and rice. It was a great dinner! We also cut up cheeses and served them with wine, nuts, and dried fruits before dinner. We love to host dinners for people, and I can't tell you how much I missed it. It was great cooking a big meal again. I'm so happy to have Dennis back and getting back into the swing of things. :)

a little girls dream is coming true!

I finally got back to sleep last night, and thankfully Dennis let me sleep in this morning. :) I made him my best batch of french toast this morning. I was so amazed, I'm usually not good at making breakfast. I think I might still make some bad batches just so Dennis will make breakfast more often...lol ;) He still wins for the better breakfasts.

We had a very busy day today! We went into town and did some shopping. Afterwards met up with our friend Justin and his family. Dennis and Justin work together and went to Iraq together. He's a good friend of ours, and when his family comes out we try to get together with them all the time. It's fun getting to hang out with them. We went to lunch together at one of our favorite local places. It's called the Kettle Diner. Today was their 50's day and all the workers were dressed up in poodle skirts. It was cute.

When we got home Dennis and I watched the Tudors. It's one of our favorite shows. We've watched every season together. This is the third season and it's getting intense. Anne Boleyn has already been murdered and King Henry is on his third wife. I'm looking forward to the season, you learn a lot from this show too. I have to say I'm very impressed with shows like this. They really pack a lot of history in them. I was in awe of the series Rome too for the same reason.

Dennis has been planning a mini vacation in Raleigh for his block leave (vacation time after Iraq) he's been keeping every bit of it a surprise for me. Today he asked me if he could tell me the details. Since it's coming up I told him he could tell me. Boy was I surprised, it turns out were only going to Raleigh to get on a plane for New York! I've always wanted to go to New York since I was a little girl. I'm so amazed that we're going. We will see the Statue of Liberty, Empire State building, ground zero, we're going to watch an Opera, and go to a dessert place called Serendipity. I'm so excited! He kept one event a secret for me because we are celebrating our anniversary that day and it's a surprise. I love him so much, I'm shocked he could keep this a secret so long. I'm so happy. :)

Talk to you later! :)

Trouble sleeping.

I am having the hardest time sleeping! This all started Wednesday night. That was the night before Dennis came home. I had to be up at 2:30 am, so my bright idea was to take a Advil PM to help me sleep at 5:00 pm. What ended up happening was I slept till 8:00 pm and got no other sleep the whole night. Then When I picked up Dennis at 6:00 in the morning we napped all day long. I've been screwed up ever since! Friday night we went to bed at 9:00 and now it's 2:07 in the morning and I'm wide awake. I hope this gets fixed soon. I hate being tired all day.

Yesterday was a crazy day. I got an unexpected call from my old job, Navy Federal Credit Union. They wanted to interview me for a position. I haven't taken an actual interview in a long time and I'm kind of nervous about this one. Everything was on the spot and I had no time to prepare. We could really use the money though, so I'm hoping I get it. I went to the interview and it was 2 hours long, longest interview I've ever been in.

Afterwards Dennis and I went on a date. We went wine tasting at a local place in our town. I found this really great sweet wine, would you believe they were out of the one I liked. How aggravating, why would you have a wine to taste if you couldn't sell it? It tasted like mango's. We ended up buying a different kind from the same maker, this one should taste like pear and apricots. Then we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The food was good and it was nice to get out of the house. I wasn't in a cooking mood.

Once we got home we were both really tired and called it a night early. Hopefully soon we'll get that sleep schedule back in order. I think Dennis is still screwed up with the time zone. Once that gets fixed he should be doing better and we can stay up later. :)

Dennis is home!

After a long time of patiently waiting, Dennis finally made it home. :) The second I saw him we hugged, kissed, and told each other "Never again!" I think we've both realized that deployments suck. Don't get me wrong, I'm so proud of him, and love that he did this for his country. We're just ready to be together now. We've tackled two deployments and now we're waiting for the end of his enlistment. We have 7 months, it seems like it will go by in a flash.

I had a lot of fun this morning. I woke up at 2:30 am to a phone call from Dennis. He called to tell me the plane landed. After that I started getting ready and made it to the battalion by 4:30. The boys were late leaving the airport so instead of an arrival at 5:00 am like it was supposed to be, they came at 6:00. When we got home, Dennis wanted to make me breakfast. I was so happy about that because he makes the best breakfast ever! He made scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, and toast. It was pretty tasty. We also celebrated Christmas today. After Dennis opened all his presents we slept, all day long. LOL I finally woke up at 2:00 pm because I'm afraid I wont sleep tonight, Dennis is still sleeping from jet lag.

I better get going in case he wakes up.

Girls night out!

Today has been such a wonderful day. It all started at 2:00 am. Dennis gave me his last phone call in Iraq. How exciting is that? I've been having trouble sleeping since i've been alone so I was already up when he called. We talked for a long time, pretty much about how excited we are to see each other. He's pretty talented on the phone because the second I got off I felt peaceful and ready to sleep.

Then around 2:00 pm my friend Anna came over for a visit. We drove down to Wilmington and went shopping. The drive to Wilmington is great because it's an hour long so we spent most of it talking about our husbands. After shopping Anna got a mani/pedi, I was around for connversation. :) I was going to get one too, but my nails look terrible so I decided not to. It was still fun to get out of the house and talk to someone. We also went to a wonderful Italian restaurant. I can't pronounce the name, and theres no way I would be able to spell it. It's amazing though. I got penne in Vodka sauce, it's to die for. The bread is really good too.

I am so ready for Dennis to get here. Everything is cleaned up and put away. All I have left to do is hang pictures tomorrow. I am planning on getting up super early tomorrow so I'm really sleepy that night. I want to go to bed EARLY. I can't tell you how amazing it's going to be to have my husband back. We've been waiting so long for this very moment. The fact that he wont be leaving again is a plus too. :)

Off to hang some pictures. :)

You can do it.....

So I am sitting in my second bedroom literally staring at my elliptical machine. A machine that I used to love to get on. Now I am afraid of it! It's been packed away for 6 months, I am afraid I've lost everything. I have been telling myself all week that I would get on it and still I just sit here. I'm actually in my work out clothes now, and still nothing. So, I've decided that I'm not going to let 6 months stand in my way. I have to get back into that healthy spirit that I had. I already mastered the eating portion, but the working out is an important step too. If I plan on having any kids in the future I have to be healthy. I don't want to deprive my children of fun because Mommy cant get up. lol I have to say a couple years ago I was that lazy.

So today I hung out with Becca all day. She made me grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, a childhood favorite. I must really miss my childhood because my favorite foods are grilled cheese and tomato soup, and mac and cheese with cut up hot dogs in it. lol I guess I'm a kid at heart. We also did some shopping in town. It was so nice to get out of the apartment and hang out with a friend. Sometimes I get cabin fever in here.

Well I better go climb that mountain. The best part of working out is that you always get an award at the end. There hasn't been a time that I've worked out where I haven't felt amazing afterwards. I know that it sucks when you do it, but the end result is amazing. So wish me luck everyone. I'm going to need it. ;)