2009 in photos ... part 2

The follow-up to my 2009 in photos ... part 1 post.

On July 17, The Sailor and I saw each other for the first time in eight weeks when he graduated Navy Boot Camp.


Isn't he handsome??


My best friend had her baby boy around July 1 ... he's about 4 weeks old here.


Went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire and saw Tartanic.


Went downtown for my birthday for dinner, a free dance show and fireworks. Me and my cuz:


I adopted a cat from my friend. Her name is Olive.



We went to some wineries in Michigan for my cousin's now-wife's bachelorette party.


I participated in my third Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.


I was Velma Kelly / Mrs White for Halloween.


J saved the unicorn [kite]. (At Goodenow Grove on the last random warm November day)


My cousin got married.


Me and my cuz [groom's sister]


I "sang" the Do-It-Yourself Messiah for the 7th time.


And we had a very snuggie Christmas.

2009 in photos ... part 1

This year has been a pretty eventful one in my life.

The Sailor and I rang in the new year at a party with our friends:


My brother married his gal in May, and they had a lovely reception in their backyard:




My sisters-in-law and I bonded by doing a Pin Ups Photoshoot. A behind-the-scenes look:


In June, I participated in Relay For Life. I was my event's Chair. I got to speak in front of 700 people during the opening ceremony, and I didn't choke! Here I am with my very pregnant best friend, who was on my team:


Performed the 1812 Overture - with live cannons! - before the 4th of July fireworks with my community band:



Well this gets us through early July ... what else did my year hold?

happy veterans day

In honor of Veterans Day, I'd like to honor my favorite sailor:



This photo cracks me up because that's so them. All of them. Individually and collectively.

Halloween

So I decided not to be Sailor Sweetie for Halloween. I wanted to wear a wig. So I was Velma Kelly, or some sort of classy 1920s jazzy flapper.



Anywho, I went to my lovely friend Teresa & Donovan's house for a Halloween party. We compared cameras.



And then Teresa and Donovan decided to take us into their basement .... to show us the "secret room" in the back of the basement, which turned out to be .... a racquetball court. I lucked out and snapped this photo:

a quarter of the way through it

I realized today the Sailor will probably be in Florida for a total of 13 weeks, and we're only about 3.5 weeks in. Oh man. 9.5 weeks to go. This is going to take awhile.

The long haul

I miss Rob. We don't know when he'll be home for good. It's looking like early to mid-December ... but it just depends on when he can get a spot to start the classes he needs, so for now it's just day by day. He has to take three sessions - the first one is one week, the second one is two days and the third one is eight weeks. But as each session ends, you have to wait for a spot in the next session to open up. So once he starts the third session, we'll have a better idea of when he'll be done. And HOME!!! Hopefully home for awhile.

Also, if he wants to come home for Thanksgiving, we have to pay that. The military only pays to fly him there for training and fly him home when he's done. And I assume to fly him home for Christmas, since that is mandatory that he comes home. But coming home for Thanksgiving would be his decision, and thus, on his dime. Hmm. This changes some things.

Boot camp was tough because we could only talk on the phone once every couple of weeks, and through letters. But it was only 8.5 weeks. This might shape up to be 10+ weeks apart. At least we can talk on the phone and text each other. I still miss him tons though.

post-husband time

once again, it is the day after a weekend with The Sailor, and I'm feeling the post-husband blues. because of the holiday, he got to come home for four full days - Thursday night to Monday night. it was sooo nice to spend so much time with him, but I miss him being around 24/7! unfortunately (well, fortunately really) he'll be done with his classes at Great Lakes this week, and then it's off to his next station. which is much much much father away - so no Husband Weekends. but, the sooner he goes to the next station, the sooner he can be done with training, and be home again. of course, it might also mean the sooner he goes on deployment. ahh, the joys of the navy life.

Video from The Sailor's Navy Boot Camp Graduation / Pass-in-Review

Navy Pass in Review, July 17, 2009

Divisions marching in ... all 13 divisions made up of 971 sailors




Honor Grads being honored (including my sailor!)




Robert Gates, US Secretary of Defense, was the speaker




My Sailor receiving his Honor Grad certificate

Bristol Renaissance Faire

I went to the Renaissance Faire this past Sunday with some friends. The weather was truly Chicago that day. Started off hot and humid in the low 90s. Eventually clouded up, rained, cleared up, and was around 75 degrees and very pleasant. But then I drove home (about 70 miles south) and it was still in the mid-80s and incredibly humid.

Fire whip!


The reason we went on the hottest day of the summer was to see the drums and bagpipe band, Tartanic



Tartanic


Paula's friend Raychel brought her hoop


Faeries/nymphs/sprites/not sure. They only interact with children.




Like I said, the weather was interesting




the sun came out before the rain stopped


Death came calling ... but he just needed a place to sit and stay dry


Hooping during the drum jam


One last shot before getting into my car


You can see all the photos in my Flickr set.

liberty

I visited Rob last weekend. Eventually he will get weekend liberty and can come home from Friday to Sunday, but for now, he gets daytime liberty, so last weekend and this weekend I'm up there.

Anyway, last Sunday, after checking out of my hotel, and doing some shopping/browsing, we had some time to kill before dinner, so we went to the Waukegan Harbor. I don't know what this is, but I had to take a picture of Rob in front of it:

someone new to keep me company

I adopted by BFF's cat today. Right now her name is Chewy. Not sure if I'm going to rename her.

More photos from The Sailor's liberty time

Today Rob and I were able to spend some time with our families at Rob's sisters house. It was nice to do something not at a hotel or restaurant.

With my family


With his family


Just us

Navy Boot Camp Graduation / Pass-in-Review at Great Lakes Naval Base

The Sailor's Pass In Review was yesterday!

Here come the divisions


I brought a camera with a better lens


Special Guest Speaker: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Kind of a Big Deal.


My Sailor introduced as the honor grad of his division


So happy to finally see him!!


Skee ball


In his "peanut butters." And he's rocking the BCGs because his normal glasses need to be replaced. Yes, he is really tall. 6'4. I'm 5'7.

11 hours!

Tomorrow is the big day!!! Oh man, I am SO excited. Rob called me earlier to let me know he passed Battle Stations, and to chat, and we had a nice 20 minute conversation and I did not want to hang up when the time came. But I will see him soon.

So after work, I finished packing, and when I was ready to load up my car a huge thunderstorm rolled through. I was already running later than I wanted, so I just ran out to my car anyway. I had to trek around a HUGE puddle in our parking lot (the sewer drain was overflowing). And of course I got soaked. And like 5 minutes later the rain let up. Oh well. Now I'm in my hotel 4 miles from base ..... so close.

so close!!

I get to see Rob in 5 days!!! I can't believe it. It's been 53 days since I've seen him (I have a countdown on my Google homepage). Oh man I am SO EXCITED!

Do you think he'll be a sport and recreate this photo with me at some point this weekend?



Because if we did, I would totally frame a big print of it and display it proudly in our home. Seriously, how cute would that be??