April Brings Friends & Family

Norfolk has been a great move for me but I still miss all the friends I made in Savannah. Luckily I got some time of in April to visit the great state of Georgia.

First, I stopped in Macon to visit with Jenny and Bret and spend some time with Emily. She is growing up so fast!
After that I headed to Savannah to catch up with friends and co-workers. I was able to squeeze in lots of visits and time with everyone. God has definitely blessed me with lots of people who love and care about me.

Also in April, my Mom and Granny came for a visit. I showed them around the city and even got a chance to show off some of my cooking skills. Now for some reason I did not get any actual pictures of my visitors but I did get some great shots of our trips. Both Granny and Mom love flowers and gardening so we went to the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. I had just gotten a new app on my phone -- Hipstamatic -- and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to test it. Take a look at the beautiful results.




We also took a ride on the Victory Rover -- which gives you a chance to see Portsmouth and Norfolk from the water. The tour ends at Naval Station Norfolk where we got to see several ships including the USS Cole (which was bombed in 2000) and the USS New York (part of this ship is made from metal recovered from the twin towers).
My favorite was the USS George H.W. Bush. Everyday we write about different deployments, homecomings, and missions involving the ships so it was nice to see a lot of them in person.

All in all I have to say it was a great month!

It's a Wonderful Journey to a Wildcat Victory

In March I traveled up the Eastern Shore for a historic basketball game. Kentucky was playing Ohio State in the Sweet 16 so a co-worker and I decided to make the trip to Jersey. But before we get to the wonderful moment and highlight of the trip, I want to share with you some of the wonderful things we saw along the way.

Join me on this road trip...


First we left Hampton Roads and headed toward the Eastern Shore. Andrew, my co-worker, took this photo as we started across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It takes about 30minutes to get across the whole thing! Check out all the container ships!

Once we traveled into the Eastern Shore we saw the strangest sign. I don't even know what to write about it.One of the most exciting parts of the journey for me was traveling through Delaware. My sister and I have this friendly competition about how many states we've each been to. The rule is you must actually step on the ground in the state and airports don't count. So how many chances does one get for Delaware? Yes Jenny, I filled up and ate food so it counts. :)

We finally made our way to Newark, after driving through a scary part of town, and it was time for COLLEGE BASKETBALL! This isn't the best shot of me but it shows the most important fact - I WAS THERE!
The first game was UNC and Marquette. After that boring game it was time for the main event - Kentucky versus Ohio State. I feel at this point it's important to point out that Andrew is an avid Ohio State fan. We were crazy to think this would be a peaceful night!

Below are some shots from the game - note the close score in the last one!


The whole game was back and forth like with a close score and it came down to a couple of baskets at the end. I don't know how but I was able to grab my camera and record the end.
Where the video picks up Kentucky is up by 3. Enjoy!




After the emotions of the game it was time to drive to my cousin's house in Jersey for the night. Jeff and his family were so gracious to open their home to the weary basketball fans. After the crazy maze out of Newark, I was terrified, we finally made it to where Jeff lives. Believe it or not there was snow waiting for us!

Finally it was time to head back to Hampton Roads and across the Bridge Tunnel. The last photo I leave you with is what the Garmin showed us as we crossed back into Virginia Beach. It doesn't show the low battery sign, so little did we know but the Garmin fuse was about to go out. Thankfully the Lord got us back home before the Garmin gave out.
What a great trip!