Snow Fall?!

*this morning at about 7:30am*

*the start of the snow*

*and 30 minutes later!!*


Yup, that is Jacksonville, North Carolina! Only 15 miles from the coast...covered in 2-3 inches of snow! I never in my wildest dreams imagined I'd see snow like this while I lived here. It looks like a winter wonderland. The entire town shutdown from the snow. A local girl I met at work, who has lived here her whole life, once told me she can count on two hands how many times she's seen snow here. I think this is one of the top ones with the most accumulation! She actually called me yesterday all excited about the snow. We worked together many days in a row during the slowest hours of the day, during those slow days we chatted about lots of things. One of them was winter in the north compared to winter in the south. So every time it snows here I get a text or a call, haha!

It snowed all day yesterday from about noon until ten or eleven last night. Tony didn't have to go on base for formation yesterday and today he has a 'delay' until noon. Schools closed, activities canceled. Its a good thing, temps dropped into the 20s last night. I can see the parking lot from my window and it looks like its a sheet of ice. But the sun is out and expected to shine all day, so it should melt quickly.

*voila! my white winter!*

If I hadn't seen it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it!

weekend

*on our walk*

North Carolina has impressed me this week with its cold temperatures! We had lows between 10-15 and highs from 25-30, with windchills in the teens. Impressive! Although back home during these days of these temperatures, it was the single digits and below zero for the highs =P

*frozen fountain, guess they didn't get the memo it was going to be cold!*

*looks like I'm holding the foutain like a platter ;)*

So this weekend Tony has a leave block for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We had thought it would just be like another weekend but they changed things of course. So we are just here in NC instead of anywhere else. Oh well, we will be moving home for good the beginning of April!


Friday we just hung around relaxing. Yesterday we went on a walk to a nearby park, probably a half a mile away from our apartment. It was cold, but beautiful. After our walk we went to Starbucks for some overpriced coffee! hehe. I had a White Chocolate Mocha and Tony got a Vanilla Bean Frap. Its a cold drink but his favorite nonetheless! I haven't had Starbucks since I was at Pitt, so it was a nice treat. Then later in the evening three of his buddies from work came over and we played some video games and stuff.

Today is the big Steelers game against the Ravens! So in about 6 hours we will be sitting on the couch cheering on the boys, Terrible Towels in hand! I so wish we could be up home for this. My Godmother and her husband have the best Steelers parties that are almost as exciting as being at the game. Next year! =)

A Nice Day Out :)

Tony and I went out to a movie today. We haven't been to a movie since we saw the Dark Knight back in like June! We saw Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. It was pretty good! And since we went to a 4:15 showing, it was nice and quiet in the theatre! Which is always great.

*us in the theatre when we were still the only ones*

Then we went to the mall and I spent my gift card for Bath and Body Works. I got Coconut and Lime body butter, some lotion for my hands, scrub for feet, and a little hand sanitizer! It was a nice treat!

*my awesome new lotions! =D*

Black Ice in Coastal Carolina!

Last night it got rather cold here. I believe the lows were said to get to 30 or colder. To me, that is nothing! But to the residents of coastal North Carolina, its a deep freeze! I watched with one eye open as Tony piled on the layers today for work. And he got annoyed trying to get his cammie top pulled over all the layers. I just giggled to myself because I know how irritating that is when your sleeves get all bunched up under your top layer. I dug out some hand and foot warmers I had stashed away. Today it is in the 30s and sunny. But I knew he would be cold standing outside all day at the shooting range.

Yesterday it rained all day. It was a steady cold rain with a high of about 45. Tony came home soaked from head to foot. His boots are still wet today! When the temperatures dropped below freezing last night, all that water from yesterday's rain had no where to go but freeze. I hadn't thought of it this morning, or else I would have warned Tony to be safe. Tony came in all frantic because his truck was iced over. He took some hot water with him (no idea what for) and went back out to the truck to leave for work. About 10 minutes later, I get a call. I answer and Tony replies, "I had my first experience with black ice!" He said that he was on a bridge doing the speed limit when suddenly his truck started to pull to the right toward the edge of the bridge. Then it caught pavement again and he was fine. He said he was both scared and excited to experience ice for the first time. I then asked him to text me when he got to the range so I know he made it safely!

I hadn't thought of it much but up home, they would have salted over night and in the morning because experience tells us that rain all day and below freezing temps over night would lead to ice in the AM before the roads had much of a chance to heat up from the sun and traffic. How interesting to see the difference of winter in the South versus the North!

*Not sure where this is...its beautiful! But not something I'd like to drive on!*

Really Muddy Equines!

These are some fun pictures of Fanny and Dale enjoying a rare winter thaw up home over Christmas time.

You can't tell in these pictures, but Fanny looks the best she has in the last two years. Because now she has round the clock care, someone always checking in on her, a nice low-key and quiet life. Not to mention never an empty water bucket and the right amounts of hay for the cold winter. Hay is an insulator and when given the right amount for their weight, horses can withstand much colder temperatures than us humans. She was perky and playful this day. Each visit home she looks fuller and happier! Who knows what the spring and summer will bring for her! I've been thinking about the possibility of taking her to a show this summer if she is up for it. And maybe even little Dale if I can get rid of his big belly. We shall see. In the meantime, I am just so happy about how good Fanny looks and how well she is settling in her new home.

Resolutions

Normally I don't really make a New Year's resolution. But I did this year. Maybe its because I have way too much time on my hands to think, or maybe its because I feel older and care about things I didn't before? Whatever the reason, here are a few of my resolutions:


1. Stop Biting My Nails - I've been biting my nails for as long as I can remember. The only time I can stop is when I have on fake nails. But then, once they come off, my nails are so brittle they break within hours. If I try to keep them painted and think about other things, I should be able to stop! I'll need a lot of good luck wishes with this, its my toughest!


2. Eat Healthy - I usually do eat healthy, but I will try to keep away from fast food and junk foods even more than I do already!


3. Keep Fit - Usually horse back riding and barn chores are what kept my muscle tone. But since I haven't been able to do these things, I've lost my more defined muscle tone. So until I'm back up around my equines, I'll make a resolution to exercise around 4 days a week. Either in the gym, playing soccer, or my WiiFit game.


4. Be More Patient - Oh yes, another tough one!! I am such an impatient person. Not so much about little things like a line in the bank or bad traffic. Although those things bother me, my biggest patience problem is for things in the long run. I get impatient about future careers, buying a home, or any other large life events. I like to know what is happening and when. And since these things cannot be planned out like I prefer, I have to learn to just be more patient. Wish me luck with that!


5. Keep Reading - In the past, I have neglected my love for reading. It was mostly due to the fact I was in college and they gave us enough reading for a year to squeeze into several weeks. I could hardly get my assigned reading finished, let alone any personal reading. Now that I have had so much more free time, I have gotten back to reading. I forgot how much I enjoyed it! So I will make a resolution to keep making the time even after I move back to Pittsburgh and start my first real job in the real world.



And so there they are, my five resolutions. I was going to put "find a job" on there, but that's something I will be doing regardless of whether its a resolution or not! Its not an option, its a must! Good luck to all the other resolution makers out there!

Oh My its 2009!

Jeeshe! Its already been a while since I last posted a blog....the holiday season has come and gone.

Thanksgiving break felt like a blink of the eye. Tony and I packed up our kitties in my car and drove up the day before Thanksgiving (no thanks to the Marines, I would have left the day before that!) Traffic was horrible. Then my muffler blew a hole out a few hours into the trip. This caused a fight between Tony and I, I think the bad traffic was mostly to blame for our crankiness. Thankfully, it was not a very costly repair and my little car passed inspection.

Christmas break was a few hours longer than Thanksgiving. We drove up in the truck Christmas Eve with our kittens packed up in the backseat like usual. The drive was a breath of fresh air for once. Traffic was reasonable and nothing major happened to slow us down. We made great time and go home around 7 in the evening. Christmas was wonderful. I had bargain shopped for most of my gifts and put a lot of thought into each present I chose, since I couldn't break the bank buying gifts, I wanted to pick ones that had meaning. I felt like a kid again, excited on Christmas morning...but more for my family to all open their gifts. I got so many wonderful things from Tony and my family. And this was a special Christmas, it was our first as husband and wife.

Even our kittens had some presents to open. And they actually sat there bright eyed as I opened toys and treats for my little guys. It was so nice to be home with my family, a few inches of snow would have made it story-book style.

I did find myself a little melancholy missing my grandparents. My grandpa was suddenly taken by a massive heart attack early December 2005 and my grandma joined him after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease early November 2007. I never realized how much of an impact they had on the holidays for me until after they were both gone. Christmas Eve was almost always spent with this set of grandparents. Almost every Christmas Eve we would go to Mass then come back and exchange gifts. Christmas Day was almost always spent in our PJs, just the nuclear family opening and playing with gifts all day. And the following day, known as Boxing Day in England, was spent with my dad's parents. This year, my Christmas Eve grandparents were not here with us and my Boxing Day grandparents had gone to Oregon to spend the holiday with my dad's brother. If I had known that Christmas 2004 would have been the last one with my mom's parents, I would have tried to cherish every little detail and stashed it away forever. I hope they knew how much time with them really meant to me. I guess its all just part of growing up, grandparents don't live forever. But I sure did miss them this year...

And its already 2009. New Year's Eve was spent just Tony and I here at the apartment. The two leave blocks were only separated by about 36 hours, yes it is stupid they wouldn't just connect them and give the guys a break. So we decided to save the long drive and miles on the truck since nothing major was happening for the celebration back home anyway. I barely stayed awake for the ball drop.

This is a big year. This is the year where Tony's End of Active Service (EAS) with the USMC finally arrives. This means come May 15, 2009 that Tony is free to move back to PA with me and pursue his dream of becoming a part of the State Police. Its such an exciting time for him. But deep down inside I have a tiny voice saying not to get too comfortable because when Tony signed a contract with the Marine Corps, he signed an eight year contract. I'm sure many who are not familiar with military service might be shocked by this fact. But it is true. The first four years are active, living on or around base: PTing, deployments, long days, the whole works. The second four are inactive. This means that if there is a need for Marines, he has a slight chance of being recalled. Rumors fly around the base saying that only certain ranks get called, certain jobs, heck even so much as to say certain sections of the alphabet. Its just a part of life I guess. Although I am hopeful we won't be called back. I guess there are also ways to prove you cannot financially support your family with military pay. So we'll keep our fingers crossed!