Girls Weekend

My Mom came to visit last week for a few days. Yippee! We had a lot of fun together. There is something special about hanging out with your Mom. It never gets old :0)



Mom brought her two little rug rats, Charlie and Cosmo along for the ride too. Their Aunt Alison took them to the dog park for the first time! I've gotta spoil my nephews. They were very well behaved though.



We also had a special treat that weekend. My lifetime childhood friend, Cara and her mom Jeanette came to visit too. It was ages since I've seen Cara, so there was a lot to catch up on, and I think we did a pretty good job of it.

We went to the winery, Beachaven, which is right up the street from my townhouse. It's within walking distance, which is good to know ;)



We enjoyed our wine to the fullest!



We had a wonderful time, Ladies! Thanks for coming to see me!

Steve Update

I want to thank everyone for their support about my blog. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and like my friend Sonya said, it's very therapeutic. It's crazy how much time you can spend on perfecting your blog. I will allot myself an hour to work on it, and by the time I notice the clock three hours have passed. At least it's keeping me busy :)

Steve is doing pretty good. Week one is behind him. He is in Baghdad, Iraq at the Victory Base. It's supposedly one of the biggest military bases over there. So, according to him, "It ain't that bad".

We're very lucky to get the chance to talk to each other every night. He typically calls between five and six o'clock. It's the high light of my day. :)

He's been working long hours, seven days a week. He pretty much works, sleeps, eats and works out. It's a little bit like Ground Hog day over there for him. Somewhere in between all that he has had the chance to read. Right now he is reading the book, A Course Called Ireland by Tom Coyne. The book is based on a true story about the author's journey to the Republic and Northern Ireland to play golf. However, he did it the old fashion way without the use of any transportation. His experience led him to 36 courses, 648 holes, and over 2,000,000 yards. I only hope Steve doesn't get any great ideas ;)

The weather has been in the 80's during the day, and 50's at night. It's pretty sunny, except from the occasional dust storm.

He's been lucky to have a room to himself. I've asked Steve to take some pictures of his room and other interesting things that could give us a sense of what it's like to be over there. Hopefully I will have those up soon!

That's about all for now. I will keep you updated on any more news.

I do have his address, but do not want to post it on here. If you would like to have it, just let me know!

Love to all,
Alison

Some last shots...

Steve's family and mine came in town to say their goodbyes to Steve. We had a wonderful weekend together, as we always do. I wish that everyone was visiting under different circumstances, but we have Steve's return to look forward to.



Here are some pictures taken a couple weeks before Steve left. It's a little sad to look at them now, but it's nice to remember that fun weekend!





I'm looking forward to the weekend at the cabin in Gatlinburg when Steve gets back. The Barnett's and the Crowe's know how to have a good time when we get together.

Welcome!

Hello to those of you who are reading this!

I decided to create a blog while Steve is deployed to Iraq for these seven months. It seemed like a good way for family and friends to keep in touch while Steve is gone. Plus I thought Steve might enjoy reading about the everyday experiences of what we have all been up to. I know he will get a kick out of the experiences that I will have these next seven months. If you know me, then you know that with my crazy animals and sometimes Blonde moments, there will be a few laughs along the way!

So, that's what this blog is all about. Keeping friends and family up to date on Steve, and keeping Steve current on how we are all doing.

Well, I will start with me. Steve left on Tuesday....boo.....I'm hangin in there though. I don't think it has sunk in yet that he is not just gone for the weekend. I'm keeping busy though. Steve said he wanted me to be able to do more pull ups that him when he gets back, so yesterday I spent a couple hours at the gym. Needless to say, I don't think this will happen, as I can barely do one. I remember in middle school when I actually held the record (for girls, of course) for pull ups. Of course that was back when I only weighed like 60 pounds or something. I just had a flash back of my nickname in middle school....Branch...oh yes! I was skinny, skinny, skinny and flat, flat, flat. The name Branch was not far fetch at all.

My Mom is coming today, along with her two little babies, who by the way aren't housebroken yet. However, my Mom is always resourceful. She decided to make diapers for her little fury angels. So, now Charlie and Cosmo are running around with diapers.....how embarrassing for these two. Hopefully they will be trained to lift their legs outside, instead of on my Dad's briefcase.

Today starts March Madness. It's crazy that I know this. You can thank my husband for that. Two things I thought I would never know...when March Madness starts, and how to clean a dog's anal glands.

This was the second year that Virginia Tech didn't make it to the dance. Steve wasn't too happy about that one, as he threw his water bottle at the TV. At least my team, Sharon and Dad's teams made it! Go Bucs and Terps! I hope he will be able to watch some of the games over in dust land. If you know Steve, then you know his obsession for sports, which by the way is indeed an obsession. If you've ever watched Steve watch a VT game then you know what I mean. The man is addicted, which is why I know that today starts March Madness.

Well, that's about all for now. I hope you have enjoyed reading this first blog.