Karen's Weekend

A couple of months ago one of my good friends, Karen, got engaged!  Karen and her fiance, Trevor, will be getting married in November 2010 and she asked all of us (Me, Nicky and Diana) to be in her wedding.  She lives on the west coast and doesn't make it over this way too often.  So, we (Nicky, Diana and myself) wanted to take advantage of her visit.  We decided to meet up in Raleigh for a dinner celebrating Karen and Trevor's engagement.  None of us had met Trevor yet, so this was the perfect opportunity to grill meet him.  Here are a few pictures from our dinner:

Karen and Trevor

Nicky, Diana, Karen and I

The boys (Danny, Steven, Trevor and Rob)

About halfway through dinner, one of our old friends from high school met up with us:

Jason and his women

After dinner we went back to Diana's house and played Rock Band.  Here's a picture of the "Navy Band" (Did I mention Karen and Trevor are BOTH in the Navy?!):

It was a short visit, but we had such a good time!  I love these ladies!  I can't wait to see them all again!

Merry Christmas!

We promise to be grown ups next year and send out Christmas cards!  I was going to do it this year, I even had a great idea for the cards, but things got busy and time just wouldn't stand still.  I promise, next year we will actually make and send out Christmas cards.  Merry Christmas!

P.S.: We'll be home next week!

Congratulations Rob!

Congratulations to my wonderful husband!

For the second year in a row he won the 'Junior Officer Award for Excellence in Shiphandling'.  Here is the Naval message announcing Rob's award:

GENTEXT/REMARKS/
1. IAW REFS A AND B, THE WINNER OF THE 2009 COMMANDER CARRIER STRIKE
GROUP TWELVE (CCSG12) JUNIOR OFFICER AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN
SHIPHANDLING IS LTJG ROBERT CLARKSON, 1110, ELECTRICAL OFFICER, USS SAN
JACINTO (CG 56).
2. CANDIDATES WEATHERED A COMPREHENSIVE RULES OF THE ROAD EXAM AND LIVE
TRAINER PERIOD WITH CCSG12 STAFF. THE FOLLOWING EVOLUTIONS WERE
CONDUCTED:
A. U/W FROM PIER
B. MOOR TO PIER
C. UNREP APPROACH, ALONGSIDE, AND BREAKAWAY
D. MAN OVERBOARD RECOVERY
3. LTJG CLARKSON SCORED 4.4 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5.0 FOR THE EVENTS LISTED
IN REF B. DISPLAYING EXPERT SHIPHANDLING SKILL OF A SIMULATED CRUISER,
LTJG CLARKSON PROVED TO BE PARTICULARLY ADEPT AT PIERSIDE WORK; HE
EXPERTLY EXECUTED UNREP AND MAN OVERBOARD EVOLUTIONS, DISPLAYING SOLID
CONCEPTION OF MENTAL ARITHMETIC FOR THE OOD. LTJG CLARKSON ALSO PROVED
HIMSELF TO BE A METHODICAL AND PRUDENT MARINER WITH SOLID COMMAND
PRESENCE AND CALM DECISION MAKING PRACTICES, THUS EARNING HIM THE HONOR
OF THE 2009 CCSG12 SHIPHANDLER OF THE YEAR AWARD.// BT
#0026

I am very proud of him!

Thanksgiving

This year Rob and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving with just the two of us.  Okay, three if you count Annabelle.  It was a very nice and relaxing day!  We had a small chicken (instead of turkey), mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn pie and an apple pie for dessert.  Yes, I know, there was nothing green on the menu, but that was fine by us!  I meant to take more pictures of our actual meal, but I forgot.  Here are a few of the pictures I did take:

The chicken BEFORE it went in the oven

The chicken AFTER it came out of the oven

Apple Pie

We also put up our Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving Day.  I was so excited!  We bought everything the day after Christmas last year, and everything was half off!

Allergies

Annabelle has allergies.  We first figured it out because she was always licking her paws.  The Vet in Florida had us try benadryl, but that didn't work.  We were told if the licking got worse, we might have to have her tested to see specifically what her allergies were.  Once we moved here, we started working with the Vet to figure out what she was allergic to.  I suggested the allergy tests, but I was told it was "very expensive".  The Vet wanted to try switching her food to a special blend for allergies.  The bag was only 12 pounds and we were going through it in two weeks, and it was $50 a bag!  We were also supposed to not feed her ANY treats, only the dog food.  After 3 months, the licking didn't stop.  We put her back on her old food.  Next we tried allergy pills (not benadryl) at $60 a refill.  That didn't work either.  Then a couple of weeks ago, I came home to this:

I don't know if you can tell, but Annabelle had licked her feet so much, that the fur was missing.  We had it!  I didn't care how much the allergy test cost, I just wanted to find out what was wrong with her!  I knew that she was uncomfortable and I wanted her to have some relief.  We made the appointment.  And it wasn't as expensive as we were led to believe.  We've spent more on food and allergy pills than we did on the test.

We got the results back a few weeks ago.   Annabelle is allergic to dust mites!  They suggested allergy shots for our baby.  And we have to give them to her!  Ahhh!!!  Right now, she's going to have to have the shots every 4 days.  Eventually, we can give her a shot once a month.

We are trying to eliminate the dust mites (yeah, good luck to us) as best we can.  We are in the process of replacing all her toys and we have ordered a new micro-fiber bed for her.  I'm just so happy that we finally know what is wrong with her.  And hopefully she will start having some sort of relief within the next few months.

If I had to do it all over again, I would've just gotten her tested for allergies.  I'm not sure if the Vet was really trying to save us money, or get as much money as she could from us.  We definitely ended up spending more, trying to go at this blindly.  

Christmas Party

Last night we attended Rob's ship's Christmas Party.  I know what you are thinking.  "Christmas Party BEFORE Thanksgiving??"  It felt a little odd to be having a Christmas Party so early, but we had a lot of fun!  We even won a few prizes.

Kevin and Brittany

Tom Petty and Kevin

November Nor'easter

This week has been so crazy!  First, Rob came home from an underway a whole week early!  Annabelle and I were so very happy to see him.  Then, I didn't have to go into work on Thursday or Friday.  Normally, that would be a good thing, but this particular time it wasn't.  It started raining on Wednesday morning and did not stop until Saturday!  The downtown area where I work was completely flooded.  We were told not to even try to come in on Thursday.  Winds were 50 mph.  I thought we left weather like that behind in Florida!  Friday wasn't much better.  The downtown area was still flooded, cars were underwater, the building where I worked did not have power.  We lost power a few times here on Thursday, but it didn't stay out for long, thank goodness!  We did loose internet on Friday.  You really don't realize how much you use something until you don't have it.  I was lost without the internet!  Luckily, it came back on Saturday.  Here is a picture of what the downtown area looked like (I did not take this picture):

Lucky for us, our neighborhood did not flood.  And we didn't have much storm damage.  Just a lot of leaves and branches down.  We did have one tree limb on our roof.  We thought it was a small limb and we thought we could just pull it right off.  We were wrong!  It was a much larger branch than we originally thought.  A chainsaw was needed to get it down.   Here are a few pictures of the debris at our house:

Today was a much better day than the last 4.  It was absolutely beautiful out!  We were able to clean up the yard and get Annabelle out for some much needed exercise.  I'm done with the rain!  It wouldn't hurt my feelings if it didn't rain for the rest of the year!

Stink Eye

A couple of weeks ago, Annabelle fell asleep in a really cute position.  I tried to snap a picture of her, but I ended up waking her up.  I think this picture is funny because it looks like she's giving me the stink eye!  Don't mess with Annabelle and her naps!

Family Day Cruise

A couple of weeks ago, Rob's ship had a family day cruise.  Friends and family members over the age of 9 were allowed to ride the ship from Yorktown, VA back to Norfolk, VA.  It was about a 4 hour ride.  It was really neat for me to see what goes on during their underways.  Unfortunately, it was a rainy, windy day, so we didn't spend a whole of time outside.  I spent most of the time on the bridge.  Here are a few pictures from that day:

LTJG Clarkson

This coming Friday (technically it was supposed to be Monday, but who's counting???), Rob was supposed to be promoted to LTJG.  Well, they surprised him tonight and promoted him at an event for the wardroom.  

Notice everyone is in civilian clothes?  Normally, at a promotion ceremony everyone would be in uniform.  The event was after hours, and not on the ship.  And, like I said, a surprise to Rob, so no uniform!

I can't believe it's been two years since Rob was commissioned.  Time sure does fly!  Congratulations, Rob!

Our Nation's Capital

This weekend Rob and I took a spur of the moment trip to Washington DC.  Okay, I say "spur of the moment", but actually we planned it the previous week.  Hey, that's spur of the moment for me!  I booked a hotel 5 blocks from the White House with access to the Metro in the basement.  We both requested Friday off from work.  I set up a 'babysitter' for Annabelle, and that was the extent of our planning.  I had never been to DC (other than passing through) and Rob had been once when he was younger.

There's so much to do that we couldn't fit it all in on our weekend trip.  Try as we might, it just wouldn't work.  Friday I wanted to walk everywhere, because I wanted to see the city and get my bearings.  Boy was I regretting that by the end of the night!  The first day we went to the White House (just for viewing not a tour), the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Holocaust Museum.  Phew, I'm tired just typing it all!

The second day, we decided to take the Metro (DC's subway system) everywhere.  Luckily, I had a 'World Traveler' with me, and he knew exactly how to read the maps.  Saturday we went to the Capitol Building (went on a quick tour), the Supreme Court (closed), the National Archives, Arlington National Cemetery and a Ghost Walk.

DC is such a beautiful city!  I say that now, because I do not have to deal with the traffic.  I'm sure I'd be singing a different tune if I did.  I already can't wait to go back!  I'm definitely going to listen to Rob next time though.  We will take the Metro EVERY day we are there.   My feet are still hurting.

Labor Day Weekend

This weekend Rob, Annabelle and I drove to Holly Springs, NC to visit my friend, Diana, and her family.  Diana was my Matron of Honor in our wedding last year.

Holly Springs is about 15 miles from Raleigh and only a 3.5 hour drive for us.  We arrived in NC slightly before 7:00 PM Friday night.  Danny (Diana’s husband) grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for all of us.  We were greeted with good food and big hugs from Diana and Danny’s two children, Kaitlyn and Connor.  

They also have a 5 month old cockapoo (half cocker spaniel, half poodle), Colt.  Colt was just a little “smitten” with Annabelle, if you get my drift.   Annabelle was very subdued this weekend.  She was the calm one!  Both Rob and I were surprised over that one.  After dinner, we walked the dogs around the neighborhood.

The next day we all went to the NC History Museum.  There were some very interesting exhibits on Pirates, Sports and the Military.  The one I remember the most was the Military exhibit.  Not because Rob is in the military, but because of the volunteer at the end of the exhibit.  The volunteer had various WWII memorabilia spread out on a table right outside of the Military exhibit.  He stopped Connor to show him the various items on the table.  Connor is somewhat shy, so it took a little while for the volunteer to engage him.  My husband was immediately intrigued though.  Rob is very interested in WWII history.  Rob listened intently as the man spoke.  And I saw awe on Rob’s face when the volunteer brought out two cylinders filled with sand marked ‘Utah’ and ‘Omaha’.  The sand was from the beaches the US invaded on D-Day.   Here are a few pictures from the museum trip.

Later that night, Danny’s friend, Jason, and his wife, April, met the grown ups out for dinner.  After dinner we went to Rum Runners.  Rum Runners is a dueling piano bar in Raleigh.  It was a lot of fun singing and dancing along with the entertainers. 

Sunday, Rob played Rock Band with Connor most of the day.  Later that day, Danny grilled steaks.  It was definitely our kind of meal!  Rob, Annabelle and I left around 6:00 PM Sunday evening.  Rob had to work a couple of hours Monday. 

We had a wonderful time hanging out in Holly Springs.  Thanks so much for a fun time.  We love you guys!