"Love is an irresistable desire to be irresistably desired" -Robert Frost

Let us see. This has been quite the interesting week here in Syracuse! It started on Tuesday when both Jed and Andrea (two of the five teachers in my classroom) were out and we had two subs that were not exactly up to par related to the children. It was my day to lead, so I had to coordinate everything. I made it through the day and so did all the kids, so I can't complain too much. It turned out all right because Kasey did this very dangerous thing... she introduced me to the Vanilla Frosty from Wendy's!! Now, when I originally heard about the Vanilla Frosty, I was not interested! Oh, how wrong I was! It is totally delicious! I would happily suggest that you try it! Also, in good news, I emailed the professor that I work with to see if I could leave class early in case James called on Wednesday. Much to my very excited surprise, she told me that she wouldn't need me in class and I could just head home and wait for James' call after work! How sweet is that?! I was very touched by the gesture!

On Wednesday morning, I went to school with my phone by my side... actually, I can't lie, my phone didn't leave my side from the time I knew James might be on land. Anyway, towards the end of the day my phone started vibrating in my pocket and I looked at it and saw that it was a strange 990 number. I jumped right up and looked at Tina (who knew that I was waiting, everyone did) and I was like "Oow can I take this?!" Tina, of course, said to get it and as I tried not to hurt myself getting out of the room, she kept yelling "Answer it, answer it." I was just trying to get away from the kids first, lol. When I came back into the room to tell them that I was going to head out, it was the best to see how excited all the other teachers were (Tina, Andrea, and Jed). They had the biggests smiles and were so happy that I was talking to James. They were even yelling "Hi, James" into the phone! They have never even met him and it was like it was their own family! It was really sweet. James and I got to talk for a really long time. It was so great. I miss him so much. Hearing his voice made me feel so good. I wish that I could explain it, but I guess you would really have to be me to get it, I think. The way he talks to me makes me feel like I am the only person in the world. I know that he misses me, but when he says that he misses me, I completely melt... there is nothing like being loved by him. Anyway, I digress, I am sure what you really want to know is what he is up to. He sounded really good. He sounded tired, but good. He had to work while he was there, but he got some free time and did get to tour around Greece and eat some Greek food. The main place he was telling me about was this place called Knossos. From what I found online, it is an incredible place to see in person and very historic. Here are some pictures...


He was in Crete.







It looks really cool in the pictures. I am glad that he got to have some time to explore. Getting to talk to him filled my heart up. I love him and having that boost made the days a little lighter. My Wednesday didn't end there though. It was Ash Wednesday, so I went to church and then flew over to Zumba. Kasey and I had our weekly Mexican (for whatever reason, we have had Mexican food for the last three or four Wed.s... who knows?!?). The end of my evening was getting my plane ticket to head over to Nashville to see Justin's fight. Justin is James' younger brother. He is very much into MMA fighting. This will be his first real amateur fight!

Now, I knew that Justin was going to be excited about my coming to the fight to represent James and myself, but the extent of his excitement was a bit of a shock to me! It did make me even more excited though. I think that it's going to be a lot of fun! I know it will. You will see pictures of that in a couple weeks... look forward to it!!

I don't have much to report on Thursday, but I do need to take a moment to appreciate the small things in life. I was headed into Heids hot dog place and there was this kids and, what looked to be, his Grandma up ahead of me. He was probably about 13 years-old and he had blue hair. However, he preciously held the door open for his Grandma and then spotted me and waited until I got across the parking lot and he held the door for me, too. It was extra sweet for a kid with blue hair! He had to wait a good 20 seconds for me to get to the door. Sweet kid.

Friday, Kasey and I headed over to The Clam Bar for the first Friday of Lent, no meat Fridays. It was quite delicious. I had already given up chocolate the day James left, so I added candy on to that and will be busy praying and thinking about James when I feel the desire for chocolate or candy. Anyways, the food was super good and I had some pretty good company, too. Gotta love that Roomie!






That was on the ceiling... someone forgot to tell him the no meat rule :-)

Later, Kasey and I headed to the Palace Theater and saw Milk. We figured after all the awards that it won, it might be worth it. Plus the Palace is much cheaper than the regular theater, so it was worth it. The movie was really good. If you are going to see it, you might want to bring tissues. It was super sad, but it really made a statement. I liked it a lot.



You will be super surprised to know that the rest of my weekend was pretty uneventful. I spent some time doing homework because I am going to be really busy for the rest of... March, pretty much. I am excited about the stuff coming up, but it was very nice to just hang out. I went to Max's on Sunday and had Sunday family dinner at Aunt Christa's. That about covers it. I am a pretty busy kind of lady, I guess. I can't complain.

I can't believe that it is Monday already. This week went by pretty quickly, and I think that was due to the bonus phone calls that I got this week! I hope that each of you reading this has an absolutely wonderful week! One of these weekends I am going to have to take some time to sleep :-)

I love you Sweet Sailor, Be safe and Please Hurry Home!

always,
Jamie

All is Well that Ends Well... I think.

Welcome to Monday once again. I have to say that this was quite the interesting week for me for many reasons! I did have the week off from school (the school where I teach, not the school where I am a student). It was nice to sleep in a bit for sure. I was supposed to be defending my Master's Thesis Proposal on Tuesday to get it approved to start working on it, but my meeting time got changed for the third time! This was so stressful because I really need to get started if I want to be done in time to graduate in May! Since my plans changed, I spent the day with Max instead. He is such a sweet kid. He always makes me smile when I am feeling a little down. And I got another email from James, which is always nice. He sounds like he is doing well and going through the typical routines of a deployment.

Wednesday wasn't really very interesting. I went to school at SU the same as I usually do and then I went to Zumba Wednesday night. My travel time was when things got a little interesting. It was snowing pretty bad (well, not more than usual, but that is bad to me) and I was being extra careful. Even though I was being extra careful though, as I was turning into my neighborhood, I slid right across the road and almost into the ditch! That was super scary. The same thing happed about 30 seconds later turning onto my own little road... this time being even MORE careful. I already knew something was up with my car because of a vibration I was getting, so I was going to bring it in Thursday anyway.

Thursday rolled around and I got up early for my Master's Thesis Proposal defense. I was shockingly nervous even though I knew the material with no problem. I took a few pictures to commemorate the moment...


Dressed in my "Big Girl" clothes :-)


Kasey had some good wishes ready for me on my bathroom mirror!!

After a some discussion and a few edits, I am APPROVED! I was very excited about that considering the possible changes that my advisors were talking about could have extended my project by eight or nine months! That would have been bad. Instead, they have me covered to do just what I wanted and still have the ability to get it done by May!

Next, I moved on to the car place that has always treated me very well. They looked at my car (for free, which was super nice) and informed me... to my dismay... that I had serious brake problems! For those of you who know a thing or two about cars, calipers are supposed to move, one of mine was so bad off that it didn't even move at all! The estimate that they gave me was enough to make me fall out of my chair. My Dad thought it was a little crazy, too, so he suggested I call a friend of his. I did and I am glad because he helped me out a lot. He sent me to another shop where his step-son-in-law worked. They were great. I only went there after calling Toyota because my Dad's friend thought it was crazy that a caliper would be bad so quickly (less than 3 years). Toyota was so rude and wouldn't even take me car in to be looked at for another week (plus I would have had to pay when I got there for the check-up)! They wanted me to drive my car like that?!? Are they crazy?!? Their main office will be getting a letter from me! Anyway, I digress, so the place I ended up going was called Cole Muffler. They cut the price from the original place by $200. I don't even think they made much of a profit through this deal at all! But they saw that I was distressed (and sincere, not seeking a deal) and really went to the grind for me. It was so great!!


Does he look broken? :-(


Good people. End of story.

They took my car right away and said they would have the part by Friday (the next day) to fix the car right up. Customer service at it's finest! Kasey was very pleased as well and on the way to drop the car off on Friday she stopped and got a Box of Joe and some yummy donuts from Dunkin Donuts to give to the guys. They were very greatful! She even took me out to breakfast to lift my spirits!


I was not as happy as I looked in this picture... actually, I probably was, but I was about to be much poorer than usual!

By early Friday afternoon, I was able to go get my car back! I could tell the difference just backing out of my parking space! It was a good thing that I got it fixed, too, because we had quite the collection of snow on Friday and a little Saturday and even more today! In the condition my car was in before they took care of me, I would have been in big trouble!


Friday, immediately after pulling into my parking space! That is some deep snow! Glad that Jesus (my car is Hispanic) was in tip-top shape!

This has been one of those times where it's hard to bare not having James to turn to. He always makes me feel like I can face anything and that everything is always okay. He just makes me feel good even when things aren't so good, and I miss having that close at hand!

In tremendous news, James pulled into port on Sunday and I got to talk to him for a little bit. He is currently in Crete, Greece. I have a little more information that you can ask me for, but I don't really want to post it, just in case. He was tired when I talked to him, just getting off of work, but he sounded good and it was incredible to hear his voice. I almost instantly broke into tears, I miss him so much. He had the day off today and was supposed to go out and tour the city. They had planned going to the ruins and seeing some other sites! I am so glad that they have the free time to relax and enjoy! I am sure that it has to be really helpful to them. I will keep you posted if I get any more information about his trip!

I guess that pretty much wraps up this week. Today was my first day back to school teaching! I missed my kids, so it was fun to be back. I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are, and if it's not, I hope that you are shining!

Have a very blessed and beautiful week! It's the last week in February! I can hardly believe it!!

James, sweet boy, be safe and please hurry on home to us!

all my love
always,
Jamie

Vulnerability

I am so blessed in this life. I never stop smiling in amazement with the happiness that is brought to me each day! I am so thankful. Last week, I forgot that I was going to give everyone a little update on the letters that went onto the sub with James. I haven't heard anything from him about the letters, but I am so excited about the idea. For anyone who doesn't know, I asked that James' close friends and family write letters to him and send them to me. I took the letters and sealed them up and put dates throughout the deployment. I told James that all the letters were different little things from me, so he is now discovering that the letters are from friends and family and not just me! I ended up having enough letters to date one for every Monday that he is out there... hence the Monday blogs :-)!! I have the details of when he will get everyone's letters, so I will let you know the Monday that he is scheduled to read your letter as we go along!

This has been such a fun and busy week! On Tuesday, I had my sign language class and we learned a ton of signs associated with Engagement and Marriage. I learned the words for husband and wife and bride and groom. It was really fun. My professor knows that I am engaged and knows that James is away and always has something to say about it. He is so funny. I love thinking and talking about James... Kasey knows all about that. He makes my day regularly.

On Thursday, I went out to Dunkin Donuts with a friend, Anna, who had her own fabulous news to share! It isn't my place to share the news, but big Congratulations to you girl!! We were talking about the wedding plans and everything, apparently very loudly. This very precious man came over to us and asked if I was getting married. He then went into his wallet and pulled out a business card for Absolute Prestige Limousine and said that he had the best cars around and that he would give me a good deal if I came by. Ha. It was so funny.

Friday was a super busy day. After work, Kasey and I went and looked at wedding dresses and bridesmaid dress, it was so much fun! I haven't asked anyone to be a bridesmaid yet, but I already know what I want the dresses to look like, so I wanted to check them out. After we looked at the dresses, we went to get a snack because the only dinner reservations that we could get were for 9pm! We took Aunt Christa to the airport and then went over to get dressed and then we headed to ICHIBAN a delicious Japanese Steakhouse. We had the best time! We sat with some great people, which always makes it a lot more fun. I couldn't pick which pictures I liked best, so you can feel like you were actually there...


Kasey and I were having a hysterical time trying to get a good picture of the two of us.


One of my favorite parts of dinner.


I was super stoked about the budda cup!! It was perfect and I got to take it home! Kasey got one, too!


Kasey had to use the training wheels for her chopsticks :-)


This was my most delicious food! I couldn't stop eating it!


We had a wonderful Valentine's date!

So, Saturday was Valentine's Day! I was feeling a little sad about it, missing James, but I knew that Kasey would make me smile, and I was right. She made me smile many times all day. It started out nicely because Andrea from work got me a gift and told me to open it up when I was alone and feeling sappy. She said it would make me smile and it did. It was a beautiful plate that she decorated. It said congratulations and the date that James and I got engaged.


I am surrounded by amazing people!

Kasey and I spent the morning, first sleeping in, and then making a delicious breakfast! What can I say? The girl knows me. Food makes me happy. We had French toast, bacon, eggs, hash brown, and orange juice. It was a breakfast that James will certainly be jealous of. He loves breakfast, it's his favorite meal!


Yum.

Then later, Kasey and I went and got our nails done. James left me some money to keep just in case I needed it. I decided that Valentine's depression was a situation where I needed it, so sweet James treated me to my manicure. I actually got Gel UV something nails as a trial to see if I am going to have real or fake nails at the wedding. I have to say these nails and pretty cool and hassle-free. I don't have to worry about messing them up! It is kind of great!


Kasey and My beautiful nails!

Well, my day continued. I got home and checked my email to find a Valentine's email from James!! It was incredible. I got a great rush hearing from him. He said that he is doing well. He said it has been really busy, but he is finally getting some time to himself. Have I mentioned how much I miss him?! Man, I do! After hanging out with Kasey, I headed over to see Max. He is one of my little sweeties. I play with him and his sister Claire once a week or so. It was very sweet. Claire had set up a little romantic dinner with wine glasses and everything! She even served Max and I our food after taking our order. So, Max was my hot Valentine's date this year (after Kasey, of course!). We had a great time.





Finally, the week didn't end there. On Sunday, I went to church and then the gym. I came home and got ready to go out to dinner one more time. We have lots of great family friends in town that I do NOT get to see enough. We went out to a little pizza place nearby and had a great time catching up. This was another time that I got to talk a lot about James and wedding. It was nice to see how everyone else was doing, too. It was just what the doctor ordered for the end of a great week!!



I discovered something this week. I like to be happy... Well, I didn't actually discover that, I already knew that... I like to smile and I like to laugh, I like to be happy. So, I am. The thing that I discovered is that there are some times where I feel more vulnerable to the pain. There is the truth of where James is and what he is doing... I miss him so much. It is so hard to keep it together when I am in certain situations and I am starting to see that it is okay if I can't. Sometimes crying just happens. Sometimes I am in bed or in my car all by myself, but honestly, sometimes I am in church not so much by myself. There is an expression "Have you ever loved somebody so much it hurts?" This seems like a bad kind of love, but it is really not. I know exactly what it is like to love somebody so much it hurts. And it is the most amazing and exhilarating love that you could possibly imagine.

Kasey, I can't thank you enough for the action-packed weekend that we had. I had a wonderful time. You make hard a little bit easier. I wish each of you a blessed and beautiful week to come! I will see you back here next week.

Be so safe my Sweet Sweet Sailor. Please hurry home to me.

always,
Jamie

Just another manic Monday...

Here it is, Monday already. I got another email from James, so I know that he is doing well, but he didn't really have anything new to report. He sends his love. I have had a normal kind of week, very busy and full of missing James in my free time. It took me until Sunday to finally catch up with my sleep (yes, I slept until 11am and then took a nap from noon until 2pm).

On Tuesday, I was the only person in my Sign Language class that did my presentation without making any mistakes! And this was extra important because the teacher gave us our critiques verbally right there in front of everyone!! Yikes! The only semi-mistake I made was adding an extra word that I didn't need. I was so nervous, but very proud when I finished! I practiced with James and his friends all week! I even taught the boys a few things!!


Brad signing "dance".

Wednesday night was Zumba night with Kasey and that is always fun! Then, Thursday was pretty good, too. I made a super delicious jumbalaya that I think that even James' family would have been proud of! I pretty much added a little bit of this and a little bit of that until it looked yummy, and it was! I can't wait to make it for James!



So, Friday, Kasey and I met Erika at the movies to see He's Just Not that into You. We got to the mall early and the line was across the entire hallway! It was crazy. Even after we waited in line, our movie time was Sold Out! It was so sad!!


Kasey and Erika did not commit to the sad face idea :-(

We still hung out a little bit and then Erika had to hit the road. Kasey and I stayed around and went to the later movie because I had been waiting to see this and Kasey is totally committed to keeping me busy to spite my depression. It worked, too! We finally got in...


Would you like some of our gigantaur popcorn?

And we absolutely loved the movie!!


It was so amazingly cute. All the actors were really good and funny. It is a really good date movie because even the guys in the theater were laughing. It is leaning towards being a chick movie, but it might be a Valentine's hit because ladies will totally love and appreciate it, while at the same time the guys won't have too much of a gag-reflex (although there are a few super cheesey lines :-) I will definitely be forcing James to enjoy it with me!!

And, lastly, before I end this really long glorious thing, I have to give a shout out to my precious and wonderful friend Kasey (and her fiance Robbie). They are getting married in September and I am so honored to be a part of their wedding! Kasey just told me that our dresses came in and she will be sending mine over to me! I am so excited. I can't wait to get this party started! She is going to be an amazingly gorgeous bride (give me about seven and a half months and you will see for yourself!!)!



Well, that wraps up this week for me. I will never stop being amazed at how blessed my life is. I miss James much more than my heart can handle some nights, but I always wake up smiling, knowing he is mine.

I wish everyone who reads this a wonder-filled and happy week! I will be here again this time next week!

Be safe, my Sweet Sailor, and hurry home!

always,
Jamie

Surprise!

I heard from James!!! It must be a miracle of God! He didn't have anything to report this soon, lol, he just wanted to check in since he could and he had a free minute. He did say to thank Claire and Brad again for the hospitality and the fun during the time we were in CT. You two are the best! We love you!!



Brad, Claire, James, Jamie

And so it begins...

Most of you probably know that James left for his deployment. We spent the last five days together and had the most incredible time! We really didn't do a whole lot to report, but we were together. We laughed and smiled tons and James even managaed a bit of time off. After this deployment his boat is being restationed, so there was a lot of work to be done before he left, and that is pretty much what we did. We cleaned and packed and did paperwork. We celebrated the amazing people that we have gotten so close to over the two years that James has been stationed in Groton. It felt like the group was "breaking up". Some people went on the deployment, some people are out completely, and some people have since changed boats and won't be moving with us. I can't believe that James and I are finally at the point where we are going to live together. We have to get through this (and we will) and then TOGETHER. Finally. I have spent a lot of the last 24 hours looking at my engagement ring and smiling knowing that I have hit the jackpot with this man. I am going to love him with all of my heart for the rest of my life. I am so blessed. I already miss him tremendously... even when I didn't get to see him because of the distance, hearing his voice was (and is) always the most relaxing and simply happy part of my day. He is my everything and I hope that you will send out your prayers to take care of him and his friends.


Classic!

I am very excited about starting this blog. I plan to update around once per week. But, if something interesting comes up or if I hear from James, I will update immediately, so that everyone knows what is up. The other bonus is that when James comes home he will be able to get online and read this and know what kinds of shenanigans I got into while he was gone and he will be able to see more pictures and so on. Plus, if people leave comments, he will be able to read them, too. All around, this seemed like a perfect way to channel information and keep a record of everything.

James Robert Pennington is my absolute hero. He is driven and dedicated, he is smart and has the most insane and hilarious sense of humor. He can make me smile without saying a word, without even being in the same country. He would do anything for me and I would do anything for him. I love him with all of my heart and soul and certainly have a missing piece without him.

Be safe, Baby, and hurry home.

Love always,
Me


They will always be roomies to me!