Deployment Line...

It's that time again and though it is never looked forward to; it is something most military families go through (some longer than others). Today was deployment day...the day Brandon leaves our home and will stay overseas for a few months. I was actually quite proud of myself because I was able to hold it together, this time, except for misty eyes as we exchanged our "I love yous" and "goodbyes". I got to stay and waved with my fellow spouses (which Brandon said he saw-he could pick me out because of the color of my top) as the plane took our husbands and wives to their homes for the next several months. So to our family and friends, please keep Brandon and his fellow squadron brothers and sisters in your prayers.

The Reindeer Effect...

If you woke up this morning and thought you heard the sound of many feet pounding the pavement and saw antlers upon antlers running down East Bay Street; you may have thought you were witnessing a stampede! Rather, it is what we'll call the Reindeer Effect. Today was Charleston's 5k Reindeer Run. And yet again, Brandon and Michelle took part in a race downtown. Brandon sported a Santa hat, which he said actually helped keep his ears warm and the sweat out of his eyes, while Michelle donned a girly set of antlers that she kept on for most of the race.

The race the began at 9 this morning and for Brandon it ended in 25 minutes, 15 seconds; for Michelle it commenced in 39 minutes (that's an improvement of one minute from last Thursday)! Afterwards we hung around with our friends, Tony, Michelle, Michelle, Ryan and Dave and enjoyed our free beer (hey, it was 5pm somewhere)!

Happy Birthday, Sophia...

Last night our dear friends Anne Marie and Gene, got to meet their newborn baby girl. Her name is Sophia Ella, she weighed in at a little over six pounds, and she is beautiful. Of course we're a little biased as she's our God-Daughter. Mommy and baby are doing great and daddy was so proud of both his girls.

Brandon and I got the text around 5 PM that Anne Marie was in labor. After that, as Brandon put it, we were in "go-mode". We grabbed a quick bite to eat and packed our bags in case we needed to spend the night. Then around 7 PM we got another text that Anne Marie was going in for a C-Section and the baby would be born in 45 minutes. Now, since we live an hour and fifteen minutes from the hospital; we threw our bags in the car and hauled our rear ends west!

By the time we arrived, Sophia had been born and Anne Marie was being stitched and cleaned up. Sophia was welcomed into the world with both grandmas, a grandpa, an aunt, and her God-parents waiting to see her...to say she already has an entourage is an understatement!

So, to sweet Sophia, (as the Italians say) welcome to the light.

Turkey Troting and Eating...

Brandon and Michelle began Thanksgiving day at 7:45, as we made our way to downtown Charleston to participate in the 31st Annual 5K Turkey Day Run, lovingly called the Turkey Trot. (Michelle has been training for the past several weeks to get in shape but also to run in the event.)

At 9 o'clock the gun was fired and Brandon, Michelle and their two friends Michelle and "Howdy" began the Turkey Trot! Brandon was a trouper and held back to Michelle's pace (13 minute miles) which we were able to keep for the majority of the race. We finished the 3.1 miles in 40 minutes, a best for Michelle! And decided not to feel guilty about eating a little extra stuffing and cobbler later that day!

Once home and cleaned up, we feasted on sticky buns while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Later on, Michelle completed the Thanksgiving feast, which turned out rather well and really yummy, too. After dinner the two trekked to some friend's home where we enjoyed the cobbler, some cake and pie, and the company while playing games.

Thanksgiving '08 was a fun time and Brandon and Michelle decided to make a tradition of the Turkey Trot and of course the eating afterward!

Around the World in 14 Days...

A couple weeks ago Brandon departed on a 14 day trip around the world! Sounds like the plot of a book? Maybe, except this is his real-life adventure:

9 November 2008: Today we arrived in Korea after flying from Japan. Too bad I didn’t have more time on the ground to meet up with Wes, Dana and Wyatt (our friends from Wright-Patterson). Korea was cool and the hotel we stayed in was nice. Not only was it close to the gate but it was close to the good shopping. After we landed we ate some local Korean food the first night then went to sleep because it was too late to shop. The next day we woke up and went straight to the Royal Bag shop and put some bag tags on order. I bought Michelle 4 of them. Two have Clemson paws on them and were orange with purple lettering and the other two were purple with daisies on them. Really girly like she asked. I bought 3 that were blue with a white LA, my name and a picture of the C-17 on it. They were really cool looking and they were only 3 dollars each. Everything is so cheap here. I was also able to buy some Christmas gifts for family.

After that, we found a place that sold souvenirs. I ended up buying a set of chop sticks and spoon sets. Each is silver and looks like fancy silverware we buy here only it had 10 chopsticks and 10 spoons. They have a really cool crane and bamboo design on them. My best find though, was a brown leather jacket I got for a really great price, much less than I would pay in the states! After a good night sleep, tomorrow we head to Guam.

10 November 2008: Arrived in Guam from Korea, kind of a long flight. Nice, tropical place. My crew and I stayed downtown from the base. It felt like I was on an island in the Bahamas. Nice blue water, warm and humid. We stayed in the hotel the whole time. Because there wasn’t really much to do we went to the bar outside where we got some food and drinks. After we ate we walked down to the water and I waded in to my waist. It was warm as predicted, very nice! There was a lot of seaweed but it was different than the seaweed in California. It was mushy and looked like a blob. After the walk down to the beach we headed in to the inside bar and enjoyed ourselves some more. The next morning I woke up after the nice sleep and headed out to Manila Philippines, Chang Mai Thailand, then crew rest in Hanoi Vietnam.

13 November 2008: Today I am in Hanoi, Vietnam where US Pilots were tortured during the Vietnam War. What an experience. I took a tour of the prison of which, only 2/3rds remain. A new modern hotel is now located on top of where the rest of the compound was. It was interesting because all the informational placards were written from their perspective. So it showed pictures of the POW's playing cards, chess, volleyball, and having a good time. We all know that wasn't how it was. But history is written from different perspectives all the time. After the tour we went walking around the city. What a mess! There were mopeds everywhere as well as other "interesting" things. In fact if you want to cross the street just step out into traffic, the moped drivers time their approach to you and once you start don't change the pace of your walk. They are timing their speed with where you will be when they get there. Crazy yet amazing. The smog is pretty bad here, it was really hazy coming from Thailand yesterday. And today I can only see like 4 miles from the hotel room. I bought some really cool rice bowls with a coordinating plate under it. The cool part was the hole that is built into the side as a resting place for your chop sticks. It will work great with the chop sticks I bought in Korea two nights ago. Off to the Jakarta Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then to spend the night in Bangkok Thailand.

14 November 2008: Stopped though Jakarta Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on the way here to Thailand. It was crazy, flying in to Malaysia and Thailand there were balloons everywhere. We first noticed them when we were at 30,000 feet and a balloon screamed by us about a thousand feet below and a few hundred feet away. There were hundreds of them everywhere and we had to dodge them getting into both Malaysia and Thailand. One even landed on the runway. After we landed I reported it to the tower. The balloon was the size of the truck.

Bangkok was not what I expected. Not as dirty as Vietnam but the streets were crazier than in New York. We stayed at a really nice place down town. They drive on the left side of the road and their steering wheel was on the right side of the car. Backwards...awesome. Thank God I didn’t have to cross a street while walking around. We checked in to our hotel, which was really nice. Everyone put their hands together as if praying and nodded to welcome you. They brought a cranberry drink for us while we checked in. I ended up on the 56th floor and had an amazing view of the city.

The hotel had a Vegas type of feel to it. There were good looking people walking around and everything was lavish. The rooms were really nice. There was a his and hers toiletry kit. The bed was super comfortable. Paul, Emily, Dennison, and I caught a cab to the Hard Rock Café. On the menu was chicken knuckles…? Uhh, didn’t order that one. Had the burger and we all ordered a tall 4 liter beer thing that had a tap at the bottom. It was the local beer called Singah. Before we left I hit up the store and bought Michelle a T-Shirt. Then we hailed a cab who tried to set a price in Vot (their local currency). I haggled him down to use the meter instead of a fixed price. He asked for 300 Vot when it cost us 75 to get there. He finally agreed to use the meter. What a scammer. Slept really good to get ready for the fight out to Phnom Penh Cambodia then crew rest in New Delhi India.

15 November 2008: We started out having to fly south around India to avoid a tropical storm on it’s east coast. It took 7 hours to get there instead of 5. Oh well. After we arrived we drove to our hotel in New Dehli. Everything is in retro 70’s and it looks like it hasn’t been cleaned or updated since then. The bed was comfortable though. Good thing too because I only had 3.5 hrs of sleep before 6 of us got up to take a 4 hr bus ride to the Taj Mahal.

The ride there was really interesting. It was not how I pictured New Dehli, India. The place is absolutely disgusting. Strong language, I know, but used on purpose. We departed at 5:30 a.m. and drove on the dilapidated roads. It was bumpy all the way there. And the drivers are crazy. Even worse than in Vietnam. Our driver practically never laid off his horn. It was going nonstop for all 9 hrs of the trip, to and from. The roads have painted lines in them but apparently they are a suggestion only, because no one paid attention to them. We nearly hit 20 other cars, people, and cows on the trip. There was trash everywhere, lame dogs running around and cows ruled the road. They are sacred here in India so no one really bothers them. They walk and eat what they want. They are in everyone’s way, and can create quite the traffic jam. People were bathing in stagnant streams, and people begging at your window every time you stopped in traffic. At one stop there were guys with monkeys on a leash and rushed the van wanting money from me because I took pictures.

We saw camels pulling huge bushels of wheat down the road and mopeds with 5 people on them. Nuts! So eventually the 4 hr trip lead us to the Taj Mahal. We ended up stopping about a quarter mile away and the tour guide told us we had to board another bus, this one was eco friendly. An electric bus took us to the entrance. It was awesome! The Taj Mahal looks so much bigger in real life. It took 22 years to build and it’s really a mausoleum for a dead queen and king not a place of worship. The whole thing is built out of Indian marble, with precious and semi precious gems implanted in it. There were also passages from the Koran written around the openings of the doors. Really, really impressive. The tour guide was awesome, he took cool photos of us during the tour. After about an hour we had seen the whole thing and headed back home. On the way back we stopped off and learned how they imbed the gems into the marble. It takes about 8 months to do the design on the top of a coffee table size slab. Went back to the hotel, had dinner in the hotel restaurant and went to bed.

Brandon ended up getting home November 21st around 9pm. His stories are amazing and he had a great time, but I'm glad to have him home!

From the City of Angels to the Holy City...

The last week of October Brandon's parents came to visit! As they had vacationed here before we decided to show them areas around the Holy City that maybe they had missed or hadn't yet seen. Brandon and his dad, Joe went to the USS Yorktown. And enjoyed climbing and exploring the docked submarine and the jets on board. While the boys played in Patriots Point, Patty and Michelle shopped in and ogled at the stores off King Street and the Market.

A couple days later, we drove to Savannah, Georgia. With a pit-stop at a cider stand off the highway. Once there, we enjoyed a trolley tour and walking around the various squares and River Street. The weather couldn't have been better; cool enough to remind us it was fall but warm enough to be comfortable.

For our anniversary, Patty an Joe bought us an outdoor fire pit, which we christened by making s'mores! Their last day here the four of us went on an informational and fun carriage tour. Our guide and horse had great personalities. In the end I'd say the trip and company couldn't have been better!

5 Years and Counting...

Yesterday was Brandon and my 5th year anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years in some respects and seems like it's been longer in others. What can I say it's been a great ride so far. To celebrate we spent the day together watching movies and ended it at a great restaurant called Circa 1886.

Circa 1886 is a 4-star establishment in downtown Charleston. It is attached to an inn called Wentworth Mansion which is located about a block from historic King Street. The restaurant was lovely and was the epitome of sophistication and class but still had a relaxed air to it.

To start we sat at the quaint bar that was along-side a fire place, and began our night with cocktails. The bartender was very accommodating when he looked up how to make a caiparinah (a Brazilian mojito, minus the mint) for me. Once our table was ready we were seated in one of 3 dining rooms. It was very quiet except for the murmur of our fellow diners.

We decided on the 5-course tasting menu and thouroughly enjoyed every course. Brandon's favorite were the scallops with risotto and pureed peas; my favorite was a potato tart with ham. But all the courses were fantastic. The night ended around 3 hours later with a warm, mocha cake and cherry ice cream. What a memorable night and what a treat to experience a multi course meal. We even got to meet the chef when he asked how we enjoyed our dinner.

North Carolina to Maryland Tour

North Carolina: Mark & Marie's Wedding: We had a great time meeting the extended families of Mark and Marie. TS Hanna went through Goldboro the night before the wedding and left the area without power. The ceremony was candle and window lit; very romantic. All power came back on before the reception and lots of fun was had.

Maryland: with Michelle's family: We spent a week with Michelle's folks and ejoyed all the great sites we saw as well as being together at home. Check out some of our pictues!

Annapolis/The Naval Academy: The tomb is where Admiral John Paul Jones is burried under the chapel at the Naval Academy.

Mount Vernon:

Williamsburg, VA

Ft. McHenry/Baltimore: