The Oyster...

Have you heard this poem before?

"The Oyster" (Anonymous) "There once was an oyster whose story I tell, Who found that some sand had got into his shell. It was only a grain, but it gave him great pain For oysters have feelings although they're so plain. Now, did he berate the harsh workings of fate that brought him to such a deplorable state? Did he curse at the government, cry for election, And claim that the sea should have given him protection? No- he said to himself as he lay on a shell, Since I cannot remove it I shall try to improve it. Now the years have rolled around, as the years always do. And he came to his ultimate destiny: stew. And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so Was a beautiful pearl all richly aglow. Now the tale has a moral, for isn't it grand What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand? What couldn't we do if we'd only begin with some of the things that get under our skin."



~Trav forwards to me here at home the weekly messages sent out by the Chaplain on base. They are always uplifting, thought provoking and inspirational. I love reading them and they help remind me where I need to be in life.

I rather enjoyed this one and thought I would post it here for anyone who reads my blog to feel just as inspired.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Easter...

The kids both made the Easter Bunny a card on Saturday night. Travis of course asked a million questions and expected a long, detailed letter from the Easter Bunny. Luckily the furry guy took the time to cover some of the details Travis inquired about in a letter.


What a gorgeous day Easter Sunday turned out to be! It was the warmest day of the year so far. We topped out at 70 degrees which to us felt like summer. The kids woke up to easter baskets and an egg hunt. After successfully completing the first hunt, I think we rehid the eggs about 10 more time. I was officially over plastic eggs by the end of the day, but Taylor couldn't get enough.



Taylor took the egg hunting very seriously. I think she would have battled her brother to the death for one of the eggs.


With the sun shining we took the kids on a bike ride down to a park a couple miles from our house. We were there long enough to successfully all get sunburns. Bringing sunscreen or hats wasn't even on my radar. It hasn't been warm enough to wear shorts or go without a jacket since last September. How was I to think we would need UV protection.



The boys had a swing jump competition! Both claim to have won.



We came back home to prepare Cheesecake and Lobster Dinner. It was delicious and I'm pretty sure we all went to bed exhausted.

Spring Blooms....

The trees, bushes and bulbs are waking up and coming alive, especially this past week. Daffodils are everywhere just in time for Easter.

I always think of my mom and my Mema so much during Spring. They love flowers and blooms. I think I get my appreciation for their beauty from spending many a days talking about and looking at flowers with them.

My Mema would have loved the Purple Hyacinths in my yard this year. She loved all flowers the bloomed purple. Luckily I have them to look at and think of her.

Enjoy!!!




~This flowering bush is called Forsynthia. Eventually the bush will turn green but its always one of the first things to bloom out here.


~I acutally don't know what this flowering tree is. I tried to look it up online but to no avail. If anyone know please tell me!




~Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul. ~The Koran

An anniversary at Fenway....

Trav and I don't usually celebrate our anniversary in a big way. Having kids and a lack of babysitters makes it just easier to say I love and and that be that. This year though, we were lucky enough to get our hands on some Red Sox tickets and our friend watched the kids all day so we could go.

For those that don't know, Red Sox tickets are not easy to get. The people of New England are fanatical about their Red Sox and most often the games are sold out or the price of the tickets are so high its not even feasible to go. I'm talking at least $100 per ticket, and that isn't even close to the field. The airstation has season tickets and does a drawing each year to see who will be the lucky recipients of two tickets for the home games. Trav drew tickets on our anniversary and so there we were heading up to the game. We even got a killer deal only have to pay $100 for both tickets. How could be not!!

It was a great day. I had never been to Fenway so I was pretty excited. Fenway was on my "New England Bucket List" so I was glad to be checking that box. it was cold but by the 5th inning the sun came out and it was awesome. The Sox won on the game and we took part in a Fenway tradition of singing "Sweet Caroline" in the 8th inning. That was a highlight for me.

When we leave here we will miss watching Red Sox games on TV. Of course we get every game on TV and pretty much everywhere you go people are wearing gear or talking about the Red Sox. Did I mention they are fanatical up here. I have never lived anywhere that the people are so crazy about their sports teams. I think their order of priorities go something like this....God, Red Sox/Patriots, Family and then on down the line.

What a great way to spend a great day with my most favorite person on earth.


~The backside of the Green Monster. This is where all the action outside the stadium happens.

~The backside of the scoreboard.

~Tribute to Ted Williams.

~Inside Fenway

~Trav next to Pesky Poll...The right field foul poll. You can sign your name or leave a message on the poll.

~The Green Monster

~Scoreboard on the Green Monster reflecting the date....04/17/2011 Our Anniversary!!

~Travi's favorite player...Big Papi, David Ortiz.

~The field in play!

~Trav and I


Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever. ~Author Unknown

11 years

So, on this day 11 years ago I got hitched. That wasn't the beginning of the store though. You see, I have known Travis since I was 14 years old. The first time I was introduced to him I was a Freshman. I had a pretty real school girl crush on him. He of course had a girlfriend. Over our high school years we pretty much did that on again, off again thing. He was your typical Varsity Football player who was voted "Class Heartthrob", successfully procured himself a spot on the Homecoming and Prom Courts and had his fair share of lady friends. In the summer of 1995 he headed off to college and I would not see him again for about 3 1/2 years.

Then one day (1998) while we were both living in San Diego it just so happened that we were put on the same beach at the same time. Fast forward many years and here we are!

Now of course there is a lot to fill in there. We dated, moved it together, Trav joined the CG and then after bootcamp rather then travel around as just his girlfriend he decided to let me tag along as his better half.

I have never regretted one second. We have had a great time over these last 11 years. We managed to secure a happy life, two great, beautiful kids and one hell of an adventure. My husband has helped me check living in to very different places off my bucket list...Alaska and New England. Next summer we will make our 5th military move and once again adjust our lives to something new.

Travis really is my truest and best friend. We still laugh and enjoy one another and have discovered that a simple life is the life we want to lead. We had grown as people, and I must say are both very different then we were 11 years ago, but we have grown together as well. That has given us great success. In a time where marriages dissolve and love fizzles away, I am very happy to know that I really did make the right choice. Travis really is may soul mate.

I tell him all the time that fate knew 19 years ago that we were meant to be, it was just he and I that didn't have it figured out yet. I love you babe...Happy Anniversary!!

~This first picture is of our original ceremony when we were married on April 17th, 2000. We had a church wedding will all our families 10 months later. Trav was fresh out of bootcamp and about to ship out to his first unit.


~This picture is of Trav and I in high school. I was 15 at the time and my high school best friend Talia purchased him in an auction to be my slave for the day. I had the worst crush on him...I pretty much fell into the "Pathetic" category. I think Talia can attest to that even to this day! He had to wear that sign around all day long and carry my books to class, take me to lunch and pretty much follow me around.

Pussy Willows...

I walk the kids up the street to the bus stop every day. Its the same route, 5 days a week. I have walked up to the bus stop probably 400 times in the almost 3 years we have lived here. Today though, I noticed something new.

Pussy Willows....

I think they are just beautiful!

I couldn't help myself, I had to take some pictures.






Before Edit

After Edit



There are willow pussies clad in furry goods, And a robin singing In the maple woods. There's a springing crocus, and budding larch, Who'd ever think the Springtime Came along in with such a march. ~Author Unknown

Rock Climbing...

We watched a dog for a friends of ours from the Airstation. In return he gave us a gift certificate for rock climbing at a place in New Bedford, Ma called Carabiner.

~If you don't know what a Carabiner is...refer to the above picture. Its the bright red clasp. If you didn't know what a carabiner was until this blog post...you need to get outside more and take an adventure!!~

We had never rock climbed before. We were all pretty excited to see what this place was all about. When we walked in the doors I was surprised at the scale of the place. We were give climbing shoes and harness. As part of the certificate we were given 1 hour of Belay assistance.

Belay is basically having a person tend your line to that you can make a safe ascent.

It was an absolute blast. The kids loved it! Taylor loved it! I wasn't sure if she would or not but to my total surprised she was extremely eager and excelled.


She showed no fear.




Of course with Travi, we were basically trying to contain his eagerness to climb.



As well Trav and I had a great time. Its always great to try something new and I realized once again that I have a serious lack of upper body strength. My arms were killing me! I am also slightly afraid of heights but I just tried not to look down and I was pretty happy with how I did for my first time. Trav of course did awesome! Not surprised that he ended up hanging upside down and was successful at Bouldering too.

We hope to go back again soon for some more fun!

**I apologize for the poor quality of these photos, the lighting in the facility was not condusive for good photography.