Christmas things

I’m a little scared to say it, but….

I have a new baby.

A happy one.

One who only cries when he wants his diaper changed, fed, or his beauty rest.

Today, I’m thankful for modern medicine!

And time to peruse Amazon.com. I just keep finding so many things I want! But I promise I’m only shopping for others, though 😉

Still, I’ve got my eye on these things:

Nikon COOLPIX L120 (so that I can take more pictures of my sweet boy!)

Sewing Machine (Does that come with someone who knows how to use it? )

and the Kindle Fire (because it seems like the affordable, awesome alternative to the iPad2.)

Why is everything I want expensive? I might just treat myself after Christmas to one of these items with the birthday money or Christmas money I have left over after I purchase gifts for everyone else. We’ll see. For now, though…I’ll just visit them online every now and again.

This weekend was nice. On Saturday J, K and I went to the local parade for a few minutes. It was sprinkling so we didn’t stay long because I was worried about Baby K’s little ears. I didn’t want him to catch a cold (even though those two things aren’t really linked. lol). Still, we saw enough to get into the Christmas spirit! Then yesterday I went to a presentation of the Living Christmas Tree at a friend’s church. It was awesome! I spent much of the service intrigued by ‘how they got the lights to do that!’ It doesn’t take much to impress me. Anyway, the Christmas music put me in the mood and I wanted to hop in the car and drive to Tennessee right then and there, but we still have a few weeks left before that can happen.

Who else is pumped about Jesus’s birthday??

Travelin’ Thru GA, Ramblin’ Across the Land

Today has been a good day. I’m slightly overwhelmed with school work and trying to prepare for the upcoming PCS, but I just knew churning out a few words on my blog would temporarily fix my ailments. Besides, I know you’re all just dying to know why and how I went camping in Georgia in May.

I was supposed to head “home” last weekend, but Doc said ‘no way Jose’ in different words so we made plans to spend some time outdoors with my dear ole dad. His bluegrass band was attending a festival in Cochran, Georgia, not too far from our house. After relaxing for a while on Friday afternoon, we packed up the car and headed that way with plans to sleep under the stars.

We waited until evening, though because this pregnant gal gets incredibly hot.

Temperatures for the weekend were lower-to mid nineties.

Thee above do not mix.

Still, we had a good time. I enjoyed falling asleep in the back of the truck (on an air mattress, of course) while listening to the sounds of my childhood. Growing up, Dad was constantly taking us to festivals to hear him (and many others) play. The notes, the instruments, the voices,  the old songs I knew so well lulled me off to sleep that night. And you know what?

I slept pretty great! The mosquitos were a real downer, though. I’m covered in bug bites now that aren’t so attractive and quite itchy. I will not complain, though because I remember the insane swarms of mosquitos that plagued Alaska in the summer months. Those were, by far, the worst I’ve ever seen.

It felt good to get back outside. I have missed camping while being preggo. It’s not for the faint of heart, though– Be sure to take lots of water. Also, you’ll want to bring along some of your favorite men to hang with. I enjoyed visiting with Dad and spending quality time with the Cap’n. I just don’t do it enough.

Dad in Do-Rag

“Willie Bob’s”- Only in the South

Roughin’ It- Kinda.

Crazy Fun

This weekend was crazy, fun. I told you Captain J and I had made lots of plans, recall? Well, most of those plans happened and then some. If I were to describe each event in this one itsy bitsy blog post then, well, you’d stop reading. I mean, YEAH, it was loads of fun, but nobody likes an uber long post. Am I right? Or maybe this is an excuse to not write much right now as it is almost midnight. I’ll ponder that as I type and get back to you.

Where to start? How bout in the middle (because those are the pictures I have uploaded to my computer!)?

Captain J and I attended a wine tasting with a few spectacular friends. We were invited along by Sgt Major so and so who was attending. We heard “wine” and “riverboat” and thought, why not?! Let me start off by saying, I’m glad we went. I really am, but…

Fairbanks isn’t the place to experience the whole wine tasting on a fabulous boat scenario. If this tells you anything about it, it only set us back forty bucks…TOTAL! The wine was great, but then again we aren’t exactly wine-oes. Our house wine is Oak Leaf from Walmart…I mean, c’mon. The riverboat was named the Tanana Chief and it sat quietly beside a large highway bridge- ALL NIGHT. Yes, the boat never actually moved while we were galavanting around pretending to be classy enough to know good wine when we smell/taste it. The water in the Chena River isn’t up far enough to justify trying to take a boat that size down it so we just stayed put in one spot. That was all fine and dandy, I suppose. I’m not sure what we were expecting anyway- Fairbanks isn’t known for its boats. 

Anyway, the drinks were flowin’ and our wine list was being peppered with guys with mohawks (the wine rocked!), turtles (the wine made you want to hide in your shell), dead guys (terrible wine), and straight-faced smilies (the wine was mediocre) when the staff announced that it was time to eat. We ventured downstairs to find out that it was Taco Night on the ole Tanana Chief. Who ever heard of tacos and wine? Good grief. Oh well, it gave us a good laugh. Also, our totally legit rating scale left us chortling, too so we left the riverboat and headed over to another favorite stomping ground: The Pump House to continue our good time.

And continue our good time, we did! I can’t really explain to you how the rest of the night went down. It was one of those nights that I want to preserve in my mind yet nothing special really happened. It was just a bunch of friends hangin’ out at our favorite locations around town. It was good interesting conversation. It was laughter. It was a farewell of sorts. It was a random dance party at the close of a Greek restaurant. It was an impromptu karaoke tribute to Journey. It was old school jams and rap sessions. It was totally random…just how I like life to be.

Did you catch that farewell part? Unfortunately for me, I’m having to say goodbye to another friend as her hubby is headed off to MCCC in another state. I first mentioned her here and since then we’ve made several fun memories. I hate to see her go! That’s the way it is in the military, though. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

From the Pump House we went to Bobby’s, a nice Greek restaurant in town. We closed down the place! This light thing here in AK is pretty awesome really deceiving. We had no idea that it was nearing two a.m. as we switched the radio to Pandora and revisited some old music favorites. By the end of the night, we had sparked a random dance party in the middle of a restaurant that no one dances at yet everyone who was there participated in. It was a good time. I actually got part of one old school jam on video as we all tried to sing along but I don’t think you want to see us attempt Salt-N- Pepa’s “Shoop”.

 All-in-all, Friday was a fun day, but I left out parts that I’ll be sure to update you on soon. For example, I may or may not have caught something on our fishing trip earlier that day. You’ll just have to wait and see. The rest of the weekend did not disappoint, either. More to come! I’ve just decided that sleep actually does sound pretty good so I’m off to dreamland. Ta-ta!