Goodbye, Old Friend

Today I say goodbye to an old friend. A friend who served me well and got me through good times and bad. She saw so many chapters of my life and helped shape who I am today. Since I was 17, she has given me an invaluable gift: Freedom.

Who is this friend, you may ask? A 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 in Stellar Blue Pearl with a gold package, which I lovingly refer to as The Runner. 

Here are a few photos of The Runner over the years....

Oklahoma snow during my Freshman year of College

Hanging out with my cousins, Donovan and Drew, Summer 2002

I did it! I graduated! Now to add an OU Alumni tag holder to The Runner!

The Runner has done a LOT of traveling. She's seen the Las Vegas Strip, the Colorado Rockies, Bourbon Street in New Orleans and everywhere in between. I sometimes wonder if she couldn't navigate I-35 on her own and I could just take a nap in the backseat....

One of many road trips. This pic was taken in Austin after driving down from Norman.

Winter weather: not The Runner's favorite, but she' performs well in it.

My inability to sit upright in my wedding dress meant I got the backseat to myself!

There's been some impostors over the years...

A purple "Surf" in Japan

Spotted in Baton Rouge before an LSU game. A very appropriate vehicle for an LSU fan.
(You know it's not mine because it doesn't have the silver tire flares!)

It's transported us to countless races. This is Sarah, Ellie and I before the Mission 10K, April 2011.

The Runner was broken into back in May of 2011. They stole my GPS and all my CDs. The joke was on them as half the CDs were one's I'd burned (no value) and the other half were from 2003 or earlier. 

In 2012 she sported an OU Texas plate! Oh, the irony!

So today, after over 12 years and 162,000 miles together, she'll be traded in for a new vehicle (more to come on that!). Who knows what will come of her. I do hope that she winds up with another adventurous girl so that The Runner can give her the same gift she gave me.

Freedom.

The 2012 Military Spouse Career Summit

The day after the Texas Conference for Women, I hopped on a plane bound for Washington, DC. I was headed to the National Military Spouse Network's Military Spouse Career Summit. I was very excited to meet with other military spouses who were interested in staying in the workforce despite PCSes and deployments. I was eager to here what the speakers had to share with us. Big thanks to Alaina Fitzner at Dwelling Moments Photography for sharing her beautiful professional photos with the attendees!

Shortly after I got in to DC, I attended the networking event that kicked off the Summit. I met some other military spouses and it was great to hear what others were doing. There was also a panel of spouses who shared their stories, which was very inspiring.

A Social Media Manager, Attorney, and retired Colonel.

The keynote speaker was Craig Newmark of Craigslist. It was interesting to hear how Craigslist got started. He basically started out emailing his friends a list of events around the San Francisco area. As it turns out, Craig does a lot of philanthropy work and there's a special place in his heart for military families. We were grateful for his support and making himself available to us.

Craig Newmark tells us what he's doing for military families and asks for our help.

After Craig's talk, we split up to go to our chosen breakout sessions. I attended "Goal Setting with the Military Spouse Coach" which was led by Krista Wells, the Military Spouse Coach. She gave some great goal-setting tips. My favorite was "write down your goal every day." Writing down the same goal each day keeps it at the front of your mind, helping you make decisions and take actions to help you reach your goal!

Krista Wells, the Military Spouse Coach, gives tips on goal setting.

Our lunch keynote speaker was Dr. Janet Breslin-Smith. She talked about how she was a professor at the National War College when she met her husband and how they dealt with PCSes throughout their marriage. One message that resonated with me is that we, as humans, have longer lives and we have more time to do what we want. Also, we don't have to do it all perfectly all the time. :)

Dr. Breslin-Smith talks about her experience as a college professor and a military spouse.

The Summit was very tech-friendly and I took lots of pictures and tweeted a lot throughout the day.

Alaina caught me snapping a pic!

It was a really great group and I made some awesome contacts while I was there. I can't wait to get more involved with this group of spouses and attend future conferences!

Attendees and speakers of the 2012 Military Spouse Career Summit.

Boomer Sooner Homecoming!

Way back in the spring, it was looking like we weren't going to be in Texas past Summer of 2013. Not knowing where we might land, I figured 2012 was really my last chance to go to an OU football game from within driving distance. (Turns out I was right!) So I told Mike I would be planning an OU football weekend. If he wanted to plan a trip to see the LSU Tigers play, I'd be on board completely, but I wanted to see the Sooners play on Owen Field this year!

Shortly after making this declaration, a friend mentioned on Facebook that he was selling two tickets to EVERY HOME GAME this season. I was ecstatic. I went to the OU Football schedule and strategically chose the OU/KU game on October 20th. It was Homecoming, 3 days after my birthday and since I'm from Kansas I have a special place in my heart for KU (even when OU is crushing them!). It was the obvious choice. So I mailed a check and a few days later, these bad boys were in our mailbox!

Hello, Beautiful!

We got in on the Friday night before the game on Saturday. Mike and I love a little pasta shop on Campus Corner called Victoria's. They have homemade pasta and their food is amazing. It's exactly what you'd expect from a small pasta shop in a college town: limited seating on a Friday night, grungy hipster servers, and amazing food!

We sat above the kitchen so we could watch them prepare our meals!

I decided there should be a birthday celebration at The Mont, a local establishment specializing in Swirls (frozen mix of margarita and sangria) and awarding drunk co-eds with t-shirts on their birthday! My t-shirts were a little worse for the wear (one survived the Warrior Dash and the other had holes in it) so I figured it was time for a new one. I was so happy to see so many friends including folks from my sorority, my meteorology class and work!

This year's shirts were kind of cute!

On Saturday, Mike and I got up and did a circuit workout at the hotel. We stayed at the National Center for Employee Development (NCED) where they train postal workers. It's really nice and has a lot of amenities since federal employees go there for weeks at a time for training. Mike and I also took in some ping pong and a game of horse in the gym!

LSU was playing Texas A&M that day so Mike and I caught the last part of the game at Louie's. It was an exciting game that ended up in a creative last effort by the Aggies, but the Tigers won in the end so Mike was happy.

Mike was really into the game!

Just as we were leaving Louie's to meet up with a friend for some tailgating, we came across the homecoming parade! We got to see the Sooner Schooner, the cheerleaders and the Pride of Oklahoma!

From there we met up with my friend, Chris, with whom I used to work at Weathernews. He and his friends shared with us some of their fajitas, beer and cookies! We were very grateful! We even met a nice couple from Kansas. He was a grad student at OU so he wore an OU shirt. She wore a KU shirt! Soon, it was time to go to our seats and get ready for the pre-game entertainment!

Chris and I

Our seats were in the south end zone. It was a gorgeous day for football in Oklahoma!!

IIIIIIIT'S FOOTBALL TIME in OKLAHOMA!!!

What a good LSU guy to wear an OU shirt for his wifey!

During halftime, I was able to meet up with my college roommate and her husband. They just had twins this year, so it was great to catch up and see what's going on in their lives. They live in Tulsa and we hadn't seen them since our wedding! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. :(

The game was a bit of a blowout, as expected. The final score was 52-7, OU, but Mike and I left at the beginning of the 4th quarter to walk back to the car.

On our way back to Texas on Sunday, we made arrangements to meet Mike's Aunt Marcia, Uncle Earl and grandmother in Gainesville, TX for lunch. We had a great time catching up with them and were very glad we could stop and see them. Even though we live in the same state, we're still almost 6 hours away!

We had such a great weekend! Mike even asked if we could go to all the games! Ha! 15 hours of driving round trip probably isn't something either of us is up to, but I'd like to make this an annual thing for sure, perhaps switching between LSU and OU games so the Tigers get some Holtz Love, too!

I think I'll go to Boston...

So life changing things have happened over the past few months. I haven't written about it for several reasons, none of which include "I was busy" because I just wasn't.

Over the summer, Mike found out he will be deployed for six months starting in early 2013. We've done this once before, five years ago when we were living in Oklahoma and had been dating less than a year. It was hard, but ultimately showed each of us that we were ready to commit to one another. We know the routine: I can get a pass to see him off at the gate at the airport (as well as greet him at the gate when he returns), large flat rate boxes from the post office are $2 less for APO/FPO addresses, and he's got a code for free 15 min phone calls.

Another interesting bit of information we got over the summer was that the pool of funds to pay for my employment have dried up and, to make a long, complicated story short, my contract will be ending shortly after Mike deploys.


Many of you know that we'll be moving to Boston next year. Mike was offered a job at Hascom AFB. This is a really great opportunity for him so he accepted and his "Report No Later Than" date is next October. So obviously that is very far away, but Mike and I are planners who thrive on change so we immediately started researching neighborhoods, walk scores, grocery stores, public transportation, etc.

So with all this new information, we've been strategizing the best way to move to Boston. I've been looking at jobs, but it's just too early to start applying. The Air Force won't move us to Boston without orders which will come in June of 2013 at the earliest. We'd like to get the house on the market soon while Mike's here to fix odds and ends and just in case it sits unsold for months. However, we put in an offer for this house before a sign went up in the yard, so I'm thinking it'll go pretty quickly!

Last week we took a quick trip to Boston to visit friends and check out the city as neither of us had been there.

Mike's friend Jen and her hubby, Mike, were our hosts for the weekend. We attended their wedding in Albuquerque last April. They live in a cute little apartment in the Fenway area and yes, it's right next to Fenway where the Red Sox play!

On Saturday, Jen drove us around a few different neighborhoods to get a feel for each one. I knew there were a lot of universities in Boston, but the sheer number of students is mind boggling. It's like living in one huge, urban college town!

On Sunday, we took a Duck Tour around the city. We had a funny driver named "Airtime" (he was a motorcycle stuntman, too, I guess). It was a great way to see the city and learn a bit of history.

Jen, Mike and Mike waiting to board the Duck!

These folks were dressed up as Revolutionary War soldiers and
I believe they would tell people about Boston history

I got to drive the Duck on the water!

On Monday, Mike and I had planned to go on a long run, but we opted to walk around some of the neighborhoods near Jen and Mike's place. We learned an awful lot about the area just be wandering around for three hours!

It was a quick trip, but now we can at least say we've been there and explored the city a bit! I do feel more confident when looking for a place to live, now!

2nd Anniversary Trip: San Francisco!

So, I made a commitment to myself (and Mike) that we would go on a trip every Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Last year we went to New York City. When we were returning from our trip last year, we talked about some possibilities for this year's trip. Neither of us had been to San Fancisco, but we were both interested in going. Well, that was easy!

On Friday, we left early in the morning on a direct flight (and tiny plane)! We got into SFO at about 9:30am and took a taxi to our hotel. We couldn't check in for another 5 hours, so we had the hotel store our luggage and we hit the road.

First stop was Union Square...

Then Chinatown...

After some yummy Thai food for lunch, we headed up to Fisherman's Wharf to see the sea lions at Pier 39...

We visited Ghiradelli Square and each got a free piece of chocolate!

Then we started the long walk back to the hotel. Oh the hills...

On the way back, we did stop at the "crookedest road in the word" aka Lombard St...

By the time we got back to the hotel, we'd seen most of the sights in San Francisco! After a quick nap, we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and then walked around some more, but stayed closer to home!

On Saturday morning, we rented a couple bikes and hit the road. We had tickets to an Alcatraz tour at 2:50pm so the plan was to ride our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and around a couple little towns on the other side and then catch a ferry back to San Francisco in time to get some lunch and go on our tour.

We started with breakfast at the Famer's Market at the Ferry Building.

Then we were off on our cycling adventure!

On our way to cross the bridge

We're halfway across!

We stopped at Sycamore Park in Mill Valley to check out the tallest redwoods (in the world?)

On the way to meet our 12:45 ferry, we realized we were cutting it pretty close. The further we biked, the more we realized we weren't going to make it. We still kept up the pace, just in case the ferry left a bit late. 

Well, it did leave a bit late, but not late enough! We missed the boat and we would be missing our Alcatraz tour, as well. At least we had a good story and logged 26 miles on our bikes!! We had lunch (with ice cream!) and caught the 3pm ferry back to San Francisco. That night we had Chinese food and caught a movie: Men in Black III!

On Sunday, we didn't really have any specific plans, but we made our way to the Fisherman's Wharf area since the Golden Gate Bridge would be celebrating it's 75th anniversary that night and there were plenty of goings on in that area. Mike contacted his friend, Hicham, with whom he was in ROTC at LSU. We had lunch with him at a great seafood restaurant. After lunch, Mike's other friend, Leo, and his wife met up with us. We all made plans to meet up later for the fireworks that night.

From there, Mike and I set off to see Alamo Square (no joke!) and the Golden Gate Park. Alamo Square is a nice park where you can see the Painted Ladies, a group of Victorian style row houses. If you've ever seen the intro to Full House, you're familiar with them.

After literally miles of walking through Golden Gate Park, we made our way to the Cliff House restaurant for dinner. It was quite busy, but we took a table in the bar area and enjoyed a burger and drinks. We got there at sunset and got some gorgeous views!

That night we met back up with Hicham and Leo to watch the fireworks.

On Monday, our last full day in the area, we went on a Winery Tour in Napa. They picked us up at the Ferry Building and we drove about an hour and a half to Napa where we visited 4 wineries. We got to taste several wines at each. 

It was a beautiful day, and much warmer there than in San Francisco. The way home was very quiet...

That night, we met up with Mike's friend Jesus and his wife, Kate, at the Stinking Rose. They moved to Oakland last year and hadn't had a chance to visit the Stinking Rose yet. 

It was great to catch up with them. The food was delicious, even the garlic ice cream!

Our flight didn't leave until the afternoon on Tuesday, so we decided to catch the cable car. Long lines and pricey tickets led us to just take a picture and check out the Urban Outfitters store nearby!

We had an uneventful flight home. It was another direct flight. We even got home in time to go grocery shopping, do laundry and cook dinner! What a wonderful anniversary vacation! Now we need to figure out where to go next year!

New Mexico Continued: Do you know the way to Santa Fe?

Ok, so that's really the only Santa Fe related quote I know...

Mike has another LSU friend, Jack, who currently lives in Santa Fe with his wife, Amy. We went to their wedding in New Orleans in 2010. Absolutely beautiful! They let us know that we were always welcome to visit them in Santa Fe, which sounded amazing! So, the day after Jen and Mike's wedding in Albuquerque, Mike and I headed north to Santa Fe. The terrain in that part of the country is so different from what I'm used to.

Since Jack was at work (he's an ER doc!), Amy met us at a local "greasy spoon" type restaurant and I got to enjoy Green Chile Enchiladas! (About 90% of my meals included green chiles on this trip...as they should.) After that, Amy led us back to their lovely home in the mountains. Almost every room had skylights so there was a lot of beautiful natural light in their house. It had several levels since it was built on the side of a mountain. My favorite part was the unique guest bathroom.

The mountain is IN the shower!! How cool is that?

Then we drove back to town to check out the art scene along Canyon Road.

Mike and I relaxing on some surprisingly comfortable "rock chairs."

Amy and I with the dancing sheep!

When we got back home, we convinced Amy to break out her violin and play us a couple songs. Mike was extremely interested and Amy generously showed him how to play it. Because Mike is naturally musically talented, he started playing recognizable tunes right away!

When Jack got home form work, we drove up the mountain to see the sunset. There was snow along the side of the road and it was very chilly when we got out of the car!

We had sushi for dinner (including a roll with green chiles, of course!) and then came back to play a round of Scrabble. Amy is very good at Scrabble and neither Mike nor I are wordsmiths, to say the least, but we held our own! I was sure Jack was going to come up with some crazy medical words for lots of points, but he didn't!

Amy won!

The next morning, Jack, Mike and I went for a hike along the trail across the street from Jack and Amy's home (Yeah, they have a hiking trail across the street from their house! How awesome is that?!)

Gorgeous day for a hike!

Mike and I shared Jack's hiking poles

When we returned, it was almost time for us to head back to Albuquerque to catch our flight. We cleaned up and the four of us went to have lunch at Le Pod, a food truck which serves French street food like crepes and frog dogs (hot dogs in a baguette). 

It got a lot colder by lunchtime so we had our frog dogs in the car!

After lunch we loaded up the rental car and drove back to Albuquerque to catch our flight home. We had a really great trip and big thanks to Jack and Amy for hosting us! We're glad we got to visit you guys in Santa Fe before you move to Louisiana!