New York City, Center of the Universe...

Hooray! I didn't forget to post this week! I would like to think that since this is only a Wednesday through Monday blog, it will be much shorter than the others, but I doubt it! I did have a great week! Wednesday was a lot of fun. Work and school were pretty much business as usual. I got to run at the gym, but no Zumba or PiYo this week. Instead, it was the March Follies at Jowonio. Basically, this is a show that we put on each year with the kids. Each classroom picks their own song and does some kind of little performance. The show is at the high school across the street (Nottingham, my Dad went there!!), so we get to get right up on stage. The kids and the families love it! It is always super cute! We sang and danced to a song called "Drivin' in my Car"


Jed was the lucky one to be walking in with me when I spotted the sign!


There we are on stage! You gotta love the shades :-)


Everybody was Kung Foo Fighting! (Jungle Room)


I like to Move It, Move It! (Earth Room)

It was a great night. The kids had a blast! One little boy came out with his family and it was only his fourth day with us in the Dragonfly Room! Thursday was a normal day. I spent a lot of time getting work done and getting ready for the weekend. On Friday, I left from school and hit the road on to New York City. My sorority big sister has gotten the most incredible job! She will be working for the Girl Scouts of America in Italy (and some neighboring regions) running Girl Scout Troops for American children that are displaced because their parents are in the US Military! Doesn't that sound amazing?! Taryn, my big sis, is going to be perfect for the job! I can't wait to visit her!


Taryn and Me waiting in the subway


We made it on!

On Friday, night once I got to Brooklyn, where another friend lives, Alison, we headed right into the city. It took my about two extra hours for arrival because the traffic was insane! Yes- I drove in NYC, right down Canal Street! It was crazy. We headed over to a restaurant called Parilla. It happens to be the restaurant that was opened by the first winner of Top Chef and it is Taryn's favorite place to eat. The food was pretty delicious, but the dessert was the real winner! Alison and I had delicious doughnuts with yummy filling and a coconut refresher, Taryn had a passion fruit tres leches (cake), and Anne had popcorn sherbet!! It tasted completely like popcorn and I could barely move passed it! You would have been surprised! We had a great time. They even held my suitcase at the desk while we ate!




YUM!


Anne's and Taryn's delights

After dinner we travelled through the city to our hotel and spent the night laughing and catching up. I can't believe how long it has been since I have seen these girls! There was quite a bit of silliness going on! Gotta love that!




Alison, James and Me all in Love :-)

On Saturday morning, we slept in for a little bit, but there was too much fun to be had! We ate lunch in the city at Connolly's and then walked around the city. We took Alison to work. She is a concierge and she is amazing! We watched her do her thing for a bit. She was working at the Hilton in Times Square, which is pretty impressive!


Friends in the lobby before Alison started working.

Anne, Taryn, and I continued our city adventures. The first place we stoped was a frozen yogurt shop called Pink Berry and it was delicious! There are only a couple locations and they are in NYC and San Diego (woohoo, San Diego here I come!!). I had a smoothie with original flavor yogurt with fresh (not frozen) strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries! It was heaven on Earth. Taryn had the original flavor with raspberries and fruity pebbles and Anne had pomegranate flavor with fruity pebbles! All were delish!


Be jealous ;-)

After the yummies we headed down to Canal Street and got some fake designer goods off the street! It was super fun, my first time talking the price down! I was completely scared, but I used my best work, "I only have $10" hehe. It worked!


Anne got the Coach purse and I got the wallet!!

We ate dinner at a great little place called the Film Center Cafe. It was very good and shockingly cheap, particularly for NYC! The three of us ate until we were completely full for a group total of $35! How is that for good?!? Alison found the place for us. After a long day of walking and fun we headed back to Alison's in Brooklyn for bed. It was easy to fall right to sleep!

Sunday morning we got up in the morning so that I could head back to Syracuse. After my lovely trip in, I knew that I wanted a good amount of time to get out! It was so hard to say goodbye. We had such a great time all weekend! The hardest part was that Taryn is going to be off and over the ocean. She is going to be so great though. I am so proud of her and excited for her! I know they are going to be begging her to stay when her time is up!


Sad faces! Don't go!!


Just fun.


America's Best Top Model pose

I hit the open road and actually made pretty good time on the was home. It is much easier to get out of NYC than it is to get in! I am proud of myself for making it through my first and last driving experience in the city! It is certainly a magical kind of place!




This trip was a really great way to help me through another goodbye. I love that I have been able to talk to James so much on this deployment! It has been a huge blessing to be able to hear his voice with so many stressful beginnings and endings going on in my life! On Thursday, I was headed into a meeting when he called. I never do tell him if I need to be somewhere because I know he would never let me stay on the phone! I talked to him until he had to go and I was extensively late for my meeting, lol! He headed back out to the deep blue sea, so I am back to the same a schedule as before. I think my teachers are probably glad that I am not jumping up frantically and running out of the room anymore (for now)! :-)

I hope that something special happens for each of you this week. As for me, I will be getting a lot of work done and gearing up for my next fun adventure! Remember a dirty face is a sign of a good day...


So, have a GOOD day!

Be safe Sailor and hurry home! I love you.

always,
Jamie

The Story of my Life...

So, I would love to be able to say that Monday was a crazy day and I was terribly busy and ended up forgetting to do my blog, but the story goes a little more like this, I was watching TV and I forgot to write my blog, lol. I realized this morning that I didn't do it last night! Oops. So here I am on Tuesday checking in.

Last Tuesday was a regular Tuesday. Teaching was fine, thankfully nothing too out of the ordinary happened and then my Sign Language class was good, too. We had a presentation, which went well, and then we learned about our next project. I am super excited about the final assignment. We have to tell a children's story entirely in Sign Language. My story is The Three Little Bears and it is going to be so much fun! I am going to tell the story at school once I learn it, and I think the kids are going to love it! After all the work for the day was done... it was St. Patrick's Day!! Woohoo. We headed over to Coppertop to see my cousin Jack and his kids do some great performing and to eat some good food. It was a great time!


Roomies in green!


How about delicious!!


Mother and daughter!


Some more mother and daughter! I love family time!


Precious!


Just a hint of green for St. Pat :-)


They are just amazing! So much fun.


The whole crew.

Tuesday was a lot of fun. Wednesday at Jowonio was business as usual. The curveball came in the fact that I had to teach at SU. I can safely say that I do not see being a college professor as part of my future! It went pretty well though. There are some really good students in the class, but there are some people in the class that I do not understand. I can't complain too much though. I have had a lot of great experiences here in Syracuse, and teaching college students is definitely one of them. The best part of Wednesday was discovering PiYo. PiYo is pretty much a combination of pilates and yoga and it is amazing! It is both relaxing and intense at the same time, if that is possible. I am super excited about keeping it up every week! I had Zumba, too, so it was an evening of great exercise!

Thursday was a normal day, other than the pain of the backlash of PiYo and Zumba combined. I took James' car in to get it checked out, so that it will be in top shape when he gets home. It went well. The people at my new car place are great. They are really nice guys and helpful, too. It took a while, but I used that time to read articles that I really needed to read. James was very happy that the noise wasn't too expensive to fix! Friday was a pretty regular day, too. Kasey and I went to Zumba and she so enjoyed my spirit for PiYo that she got me my very own pink yoga mat! SOO exciting!! On Saturday morning, I was able to get Kasey out of bed early and she accompanied me to the Saturday morning PiYo class. It was great. I really do love it! Saturday and Sunday were days of paperwork! I did tons or research and writing and accomplished some great stuff. I managed a first draft of my thesis lit. review (21 pages) and I finished the first draft of my report for Jowonio. I have to say that it was an impressive weekend for work!

I guess that the best parts of my week were the multiple times that I have gotten to talk to James. He is so far away, but sometimes he feel so close! I miss him so much. I know it has been a tease that I have gotten to talk to him every day that he doesn't have duty for over a week! Hearing his voice makes me feel so safe and melts away all my stresses. We have had time to talk about the wedding more and that has been great! I cannot wait to marry that boy! He is my perfect match, undoubtably! He send his love to everyone every time we get ready to get off the phone. I know he misses all of his family and friends a lot. Once he heads back out, I know he would love to get emails from people other than me, so let me know if you want his address.

For now, I think I am signing off. Tomorrow is the March Follies (a song and dance show with all the Jowonio kids). Our dance is so flippin' cute! I hope that I am able to get some pictures or maybe some video!

I hope that Wednesday brings lots of smiles and happiness to you all! I miss you and I am looking forward to another week.

Be safe sailor of mine and please hurry home to me!

always,
Jamie

PS I just got my spring break plane tickets and I am headed with extreme pleasure to Houston and Charlotte!! Woot woot!! I can't wait to see my sister and my friends!

“Above All, Be True to Yourself, and if You Cannot Put Your Heart in it, Take Yourself Out of it”

It is always a happy kind of a Monday when I get off the phone with my Meja! I made it through the week with ease, but it was a crazy fun kind of weekend and I need another day or two to recover! This past week was my Spring Break from SU, so I didn't have to go to class, just work at Jowonio. Tuesday was normal. Nothing too exciting happened at work. It was nice to not have to go to class on Tuesday night. Instead of going to class, Kasey and I went out with a guy that she dated and she is forging a friendship with now. We went to Outback, which was delicious! It was the first time that I met the fella, he was pretty nice for a friend. It was an interesting kind of meal, but we made it through :-) ...even Kasey. On Wednesday, I got my hair cut and done up so that I could look extra nice for the events of the weekend. Kasey and I went to Zumba, you know that is always fun. On Thursday, after work, I did all my packing and getting ready to go to Nashville for the weekend. I had to make multiple lists to make sure that I brought everything that I needed. I tried to get to bed early on Thursday, but, you know me, I get addicted to details. Eventually, I made it to bed.

The big fun really started on Friday. I had a normal day at work and then met Kasey back at home. My flight left Syracuse at 3:10, so we pretty much headed straight to the airport. I left Kasey home for a quiet weekend without me...


New hair cut is looking pretty good!

Once I got to Nashville, after two and a half hours worth of delays, Melissa's mom had me completely hooked up! She went to the Dominican Republic for a while and left her car at this place called Flight Park. Well, when I got there, she had it set up so that I could just pick up the car. When I got to the Flight Park they even had the car running with the heat on! It was great! And what a fun little car it was to drive.


Sweet. I was particularly impressed when my buns started getting toasty halfway down route 40!

I stayed with Melissa's family. They had everything set up for me, which was super sweet! I am sure that is was the room always looks like, but I pretended that it was my own little suite!


Don't judge me! :-)


Does it get any better?

So, I went straight to bed once I enjoyed the scenery. I was very excited to get a text message from one of the other wives from the Albuquerque early Saturday morning saying that the sub pulled into another port. I was excited that I was going to be seeing James' family and that I would soon get to talk to him, too. It was an extra bonus! I headed over to James' Mom's house and with completely perfect timing, James called from Bahrain about five minutes after I got there! It was perfect. James was able to talk to pretty much the entire family. He even got to talk to Justin and give him a little pep-talk before the fight on Saturday night. It was so wonderful to be with his family. They are such fun people! It was hard to be at his house without him. I miss him, so much. It takes everything I have to keep it together sometimes. He is my rock, and sometimes I am just mush without him. After a while, Justin headed over to get ready for the big fight (woo) and I headed to meet Alfred to get over to the Limelite. The fight was Amazing! I can't say enough about Justin. He worked so hard, he put his heart into every move. I was so impressed.


This is my "Now, Justin, be nice" face. That was intentional use of the Peace and Love t-shirt.


Adoring fans!!


Even more Justin fans!


This is ALL business.


After round 1 Justin still looked good. Ready to bring the heat.


I can't say the same for this guy!


Round 2: Classic picture. I love it.


Show no mercy.


And that is a WIN!

Justin's was, by far, the most exciting fight that we saw all night! He used so many technical skills and maneuvers. When the ref called it and he jumped to his feet, our extire section did the same. We were screaming and totally going crazy. It was so much fun. There was so much adrenaline and excitement. I will definitely be back to see Justin kick some more butt!

To Justin: I would have paid double what I paid to be the farthest travelling fan and watch you up there doing what you do! From where I was sitting, I could see every mile that you ran in training, every weight you lifted, every minute that you spent in the gym. Your passion was so present and was beaming off of you. You should be so tremendously proud of yourself. I know you are. I am, too. Keep practicing, keep your dedication and your heart. And, while you're at it, keep going to school, too. Thanks for the invitation! You can count on my return!

As for Saturday night, I headed back to Melissa's family home. I would have loved to stay with James' family for longer, even for the night, but I couldn't do it. It was so hard to be without him out there. It made it even harder that I know how much James wishes that he could have been there, too, for Justin. He is everything to me. I wouldn't want to lose my cool with the family because I know how much they miss him, too, and how hard it must be for them as well. I try to keep the emotional parts to myself. So, that is what I did.

I had to get up early on Sunday morning anyway to get back home. The flights ended up being fine this time. I didn't have to wait around for multiple delays which was nice. I got flagged down a couple of times by people interested in my Navy sweatshirt. I love it when people tell me about their history with the military and I am able to thank them for their service, while they are telling me to thank James. One guy was actually at the commissioning of James' sub, how cool is that?! I saw this one girl walking by at one point. She was about my age and she was wearing a Navy issued sweatshirt as well. This may seem a little far-fetched, but we made eye-contact for a minute and I really felt like we had an honest and sincere connection... it was kind of like a feeling of saying to each other "Me, too." I am getting a little teary again thinking about it. We really did seem to have some kind of unspoken... something. I felt it.

Once I got back home, it was over to Aunt Christa's for St. Patrick's Day dinner with family. That always brightens me up. I got to talk about the wedding and I even got to find out that a few more people are for sure going to be coming to the wedding! I am so excited. It is going to be such an amazing event full of good food and drinks and lots of people that James and I really love!! Before heading home to start catching up on my sleep, Kasey and I got some new fish since our other ones all bit the bullet. Look how cute!!


The fish are cute, too :-) hehe

All in all, I had an incredible time with my wonderful new family! I simply cannot wait to get back to Nashville again.

Today, I got to talk to James again. I miss him so much and hearing his voice makes me feel so much closer to him. We have spent a lot of our relationship on the phone, so in the time that I get to talk to him, I get to feel like we aren't thousands of miles away from each other. I get to pretend that I could hop in my car and go see him if I wanted to. I take that time in as deeply as I can and I use it to hold me up when I get really low. I love all the people that make me smile each day. He is one of them, and there is a likelihood that you, who are reading this, are one of those people, too.

Have the most wonderful week that you can. Smile a little extra this week, just for the fun of it. Hug people who aren't expecting it, that always works for me.

Be safe, My Sailor, hurry home to me. I love you.

always,
Jamie

Driving in my Car, Driving Far, I'm a Movie Star...

I thought that this week went by quickly, but it seems like it has been forever since last Monday! I remember sitting in my Monday meeting last week with Emily (who doesn't normally attend our meetings). She suddenly noticed that I was engaged and yelled out "Oh my God, is that new (meaning the ring)? It is absolutely gorgeous! Who exactly are you marrying an Esquire? A Kennedy? So beautiful!" Hehe. It was pretty funny. James did do quite the nice job picking out this ring!! I can't wait to show his family this up-coming weekend!


Nothing terribly exciting happened during the bulk of this week. On Tuesday, school got a little crazy, but that seems to be the new norm for Tuesdays. I got a 97 on my Sign Language mid-term. That was good news. And, on Tuesday night, there was an additional Zumba class! That was great news! Fun exercise is the best! Wednesday was pretty funny because we read this book The Paper Bag Princess. In the story, there is a dragon that burned down the princesses house and stole her prince and she had to save him. Well, when she got there, the prince was being a snob and looked at her all dirty and said, "Look at you, you are all dirty. You smell like ash". A child of three or four should not find the humor in the phrase "you smell like ash" that I find, but this one little girl took a huge gasp and looked at me and said "She can't talk like that in school" about Tina, the teacher that was reading the book! I thought I might pee my pants! I wish that Bill Cosby would have been there with his Kids Say the Darndest Things... or at least Funniest Home Videos! Wednesday finished normally with Zumba and a little bonus, I got an email from Stan the Man (a friend of James' that I happen to love). The email was great. He told me of his escapades of drinking in Greece and how he gave up drinking for a few minutes, until the hangover went away, and started planning what he would drink next! He is a hoot!

The real fun started on Friday afternoon. Kasey and I had to go get James' car from CT! Claire and Brad had been taking care of it for us for the last couple of weeks! Some time after I got out of work, Kasey and I hit the open road for a five-hour trip!


Ready to rock. She is the best!

We got in to town a little bit later than I had planned to, but that is okay because it ended up that a few people were able to get to together for some dinner. Claire even found us a place where we could not eat meat since it was a Friday in Lent. I wish that everyone could have made it out, but it was a quick visit. I hope to get back to the area for a full weekend! James and I had some of the greatest times with some great people over there! I miss them all!!


I share your enthusiasm PJ!

It seemed like just as we got there, Kasey and I were pulling out! We got up pretty early on Saturday morning to head back to Syracuse! Kasey did me the great favor of driving James' car back while I drove my car. It was quite the successful trip.


Thanks a million Claire and Brad! (Even through all the snow! You two saved the day!)


Is Kasey getting regular gas? She wouldn't!


Thank God! James would not have been pleased :-)

We didn't have a single problem on our way home... other than my bladder :-) We made a couple stops for gas and food and the potty. We rushed home because we wanted to make it to Aunt Therese's Pampered Chef Party! We made it in time and it turns out that they have some great stuff for the kitchen. I even got a few things for James and my future home!


The hostess. She made a yummy pizza as a sample.


Aunt Therese and me. Did you know that for 24 years I thought her name was Aunt TheresA! I can't believe it!


For those of you who have seen Aunt Therese's house, can you believe the new stairs!! I LOVE it. There is a new bedroom upstairs and everything! It's great.

Sunday was pretty much a normal Sunday. I went to church, to the gym, and to Sunday Supper at Aunt Christa's. I did not want to get up this morning! I have to say that the current time change was not my favorite! I am tired already and it is only 8pm! Yikes.

Going to CT this weekend was so much fun, but it was certainly hard to go out there without James. I was glad that Kasey was able to drive James' car back because I think that would have been really hard for me. I have been peeking out at his car every chance that I have gotten since we got it back here. I miss him so much. I know that having his car here is one step closer to our living together, so I have that to lift my spirits. Every time that I hear from him I get a little brighter, but I know a piece of my heart will be missing until I have him home again.

I wish you all the brightest blessings for a great week!

Be safe Sweet Sailor and hurry home!

always,
Jamie