personal

…a Facebook post from one of my fellow military wife neighbors that suddenly warmed me up. Her husband Steve was injured in Afghanistan last year. His leg injury stubbornly refused to heal. Finally, this fall, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and is currently undergoing chemo treatments. They are a beautiful, young, upbeat couple of just a few years, and they’ve already been through so much together. We can all learn a great deal from an experience (and subsequent attitude) like theirs!

P.S. Sorry for the crappy blurring job – I was in a rush 🙂

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November Strikes

I feel ridiculous complaining about temperatures in the sixties (just bear with me please), but ever since Sandy swept through, I canNOT get warm unless I’m in a steaming hot shower or buried under a heap of blankets!! Lows in the 30s, highs in the low 60s, with no end in sight… I’m all wrapped up in my warmest clothes, ate and drank a hot breakfast, but I’m still all hunched up. Of course, it’s way too early to turn on the heat, so I’m just gonna suck it up as long as I can.

Really though, this is such a stark contrast to last fall/winter here in NC, which was incredibly mild and beautiful. I swear it didn’t get this “chilly” until January. Sigh. I want my moderate beach climate back! I guess we’ll see what happens after this front runs through? I sure hope it’s not here to stay.

In other news, yesterday was my last shift EVER at the pharmacy. I was feeling a little sad at first. After all, they’ve been very flexible with me, and everyone is so nice and overwhelmed… until I got paged while peeing. Seriously, I’m so excited to return to a work environment where I won’t feel guilty for all hell breaking loose because I took a quick bathroom break after several hours of holding it.

Today I go in to the Chamber for some more training. One of their biggest events of the year also happens to be tonight, so I’ll be staying late to participate and observe their Annual Coasta Roasta Oyster Roast! All you can eat shrimp and oysters, open bar, and live music on the river. I have a feeling I’m going to like this job 🙂

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Yesterday Was a Great Day…

… The weather was fab. I ate a healthy breakfast and felt amazing. Chuck came home at noon. I GOT A JOB… yessss!

So finally, after a whole year of retail pharmacy and temp jobs, I got a full-time, salaried  offer at the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce, managing events and member services. My bank account and resume are not doomed after all. I am so relieved!!!

Plus, I’ll now have something to keep me occupied while Chuck is gone. Deployment should go at least somewhat easier for me then!

Anyway. SOOOO happy!! 😀

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Applying for jobs would be a lot less time consuming and exhausting if I didn’t have to rewrite my resume for every online app’s format in ADDITION to uploading my actual resume. Why can’t that be enough? Adding all these entries over and over is just silly. Can’t they read? What’s the point? It’s redundant. Whatever happened to the days of a resume and cover letter? 

I’m about to give up on this damn thing. I’ve spent over an hour on it. I don’t even want this job and probably won’t get it anyway. But GAHHH I canNOT work at CVS for the next whole year. Unfortunately that’s settling a little too low for me… the 9 non-stop hours on my feet getting yelled at by customers and pharmacists for $8.50 per hour is not my cup of tea.

Sigh. Just a moment of frustration, folks. I’m grateful I held onto the pharmacy gig in case nothing else came through for me. But I hope the temp agency finds me something to hold me over till we get out of here… or else I might go a little crazy 🙂

On Sunday night in Savannah, Chuck and I met a darling older couple who shared a cab with us from dinner at Elizabeth’s. We ran into them again later when we got cocktails at 700 Drayton – finding them quietly enjoying each other’s company by the hotel pool.

They were celebrating her 60-something birthday. He was from Montreal, she was from Mobile, Alabama. They had been married 37 years – he proposed at Mardi Gras after dating for only 6 weeks. She was slightly tipsy…cute, blonde, and chatty, dipping her feet in the pool, telling us about how she “got him good” at his surprise birthday party a few weeks earlier… and he was suavely leaning back in his lounge chair, smiling and sipping a martini very similar to the one Chuck held in his hand. I realize there’s always more than what meets the eye, but they were exactly what I want to be in 37 years…

I have a habit of asking happy older couples we meet what their secret is to a lasting and loving marriage. I always get the same cliched answers, about never going to bed mad, keeping things sexy, not rushing kids, and (from and for the guys) just let the woman win every argument…lol.

But I think what I’ve learned just from watching them, is that the most important thing is to have FUN together. This couple was in their 60’s, had been married for decades, and were still laughing together, adventuring together, surprising each other. They admitted to trials and tribulations, arguments and tension, but there in the Savannah twilight by the pool, they were nothing short of happy.

Maybe that’s the key to every relationship though, romantic or otherwise. Respect each other, yes…but mostly, just laugh together.

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Good Times in Savannah

Chuck and I celebrated our first/second anniversary in Savannah, Georgia this past weekend. I think it exceeded both of our expectations! I’m not exactly sure what I did expect – but it was better 🙂

Top 10 Highlights were:

1) The beautiful Olde Savannah Inn in which we stayed. We had an eccentric Boston inn keeper who made the experience particularly interesting. I think she really liked us in the end… “Oh my goodness, you went from Seventeen Magazine to Lauren Bacall overnight!” Why thank you!!

2) The Crystal Beer Parlor’s grilled ham n’ cheddar sandwich (the bison burger was good too!) We were a tad overdressed (Savannah is a very casual/hipster town), but it was funny being dolled up next to a guy wearing ankle socks with his sandals.

3) The fact that you can walk everywhere and there are about 39384783 darling little parks where you can take a break and learn some history. Downtown is remarkably well-preserved! Beautiful, mostly original homes dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

4) The fact that Chuck and I were so sad we didn’t encounter ANYONE with Southern accents, we started speaking in them ourselves all Saturday evening and assumed alternate identities (we may have been a bit tipsy… my name was Tabitha… I was very convincing.)

5) The open container law… speaking of tipsy 🙂 It was pretty cool to take my cup of cider out on the street while we walked along the river.

6) The trendy Bohemian Hotel Rooftop Bar – awesome city views!

7) Decadent organic breakfasts at the Inn

8) City Market… so much art and local culture! River Street shops were pretty cute too. We visited a Honey Bee shop and did some honey-tasting… who knew there was such variety in honey!

9) Moonlight Carriage Ride through the Historic District and Victorian District. Very romantic (complete with a glass of wine to take with us) and an awesome tour guide who gave us all the historic/cultural trivia you could ask for (I’m a total sucker for history and trivia!) And… I must watch “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”

10) Finally (and probably most importantly), our dinner at Elizabeth’s on 37th, a gorgeous old Southern mansion. OMG. Words cannot describe how amazing this experience was. Chuck and I both agreed it is the best restaurant we’ve ever been to. We were served by the owner himself, who told us that the owner of Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs had dined there the night before. Seriously, I can’t even bring myself to post the pictures I took, because they don’t do it nearly enough justice. We had scallops in truffle oil, fresh biscuits, filet, flounder, organic fresh salad, chocolate pecan pie…ahhh I’m drooling just thinking about it! To quote Chuck: “There is a line where great food actually becomes art. I think this is it!”

Anyways. The only “negative” was the Ghosts and Graveyards Trolley Tour. I’m a little spoiled by Colonial Williamsburg tours, but this was pretty bad. Overly dramatic, without even a hint of authenticity. Maybe it was the fact that it was on a trolley, with a clearly unemployed actor doing the honors with over-the-top flair. But, it was free (part of our package)… so who cares 🙂 I am sad I didn’t come away with one decent Savannah ghost story to share though!

Overall, it was a simply lovely weekend 🙂

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Two years ago today, I married the love of my life in a quiet family ceremony on a Friday afternoon. He left that Monday and I went back to life as normal…

… One year ago today, my returned war hero husband and I celebrated the beginning of our actual life together with a big crazy fun wedding 🙂 While I still don’t know whether to call this my first or my second wedding anniversary, I can say for sure that married life is wonderful and I am one happy girl!

We had the most wonderful time this weekend in Savannah, which I will post about soon. In the meantime, here’s to many more anniversaries with my Chuckles!

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Busy, Busy!

I’ve had so much I’ve wanted to write about this week too. My thoughts on the presidential debates… my end at the Chamber, and the frenzy of returning full force to the pharmacy… Our anniversary trip to SAVANNAH this weekend…!

Guess I will just have to catch up on things some time next week! Sleepy time now. Hitting the road in the morning 🙂

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I just love the way Annie chirps goodnight before curling up in her usual spot right at my side, purring softly all the while. It’s so calming… So therapeutic. Great way to end a long day.

So, I’ve got a snuggly kitty on one side – cuddly hubby on the other. I’m one lucky girl! But I will say that Annie’s noises are nicer… 😉

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Instagram

I discovered that if I add hash tags to my photos (legitimate ones that people would actually search for), my pictures get a LOT more exposure. It’s kind of exciting! Especially since Instagram is a good bit more anonymous than Facebook. It’s also a little sketchy, though. I tagged one photo with “girl friends” and another with “feet” and “pedicure”, and as it turns out – Instagram has weirdos. They need to update the app so we are able to delete comments… or is that already possible and I’m just missing it?

Anyway… I use hash tags all the time here on Tumblr, but it doesn’t seem to work for me quite like it did for Instagram. Maybe it’s better that way 🙂 Sometimes it’s better to lay low, but it’s also nice to have a random audience that enjoys what you have to share. So long as they’re nice! And totally not sketchy… ha!