La casa de Brianna

In the difficult move to FL one interesting aspect is I get to live by myself when i'm not on duty or underway. I decided that I didn't need anything special and the closer to base the better (I get to sleep in). I've been working a lot lately so its a bit of a mess. But as mom could tell you, that is to be expected that my space has to have a touch of chaos at all times. :]

This is the view from my front door. Its a studio apartment so no bedrooms.. I still feel like I'm living in a hotel.. kinda odd but its nice at the same time. My bed is what they call a Murphy bed. It folds up into the wall.. Its actually pretty cool. It saved me from having to buy a futon or a bed or having me make a decision on either or. I still got room for a table and a couch. I def need something else in here. Just not quite sure what yet.

I have an attic! The stairs fall right between my sink and shower. Although I needed a pep talk in order to go up there.. I have faced my imagination demons and can now go up there.. 

This is my sink. There ain't a whole lot goin on in here.. I got the bare necessities - the coffee maker, a microwave, and the fridge. Pots and pans will come later so I can make brownies.. I think that is how the order of my house will come together, by what I want to make or do. Shoot.. it's my way!

This is one of the oldest, smallest ovens I've ever seen. hahah.. and since its an older apartment complex I have cochroaches hiding underneath... gross. Another bullet on my to-do list.

This is my storage space as of right now. The closet with shelves, the built-in entertainment center (where my laptop is is also where the wire for cable is) and a closet behind the closet doors.

I feel bad for my hubby. During my late night WalMart expeditions the first couple of days I was here I didn't really have a plan of what exactly I wanted.. just what I needed. So set with my list I just bought things I needed with whatever colors or designs I wanted, with complete disregard to my husband's taste. I have a lot of purple and animal print. I love teasing Steve about animal print. For some reason when he sees animal print his first thought is an obese female in skintight zebra pants (or something along those lines) - makes me chuckle, makes him gag. I'd say its a win win!

Now for this last picture is an item that ended up on my list that I did not ever think is something that most people would have on the basic "starter package for living alone"... This is my stool. I use it frequently. It lives in my kitchen where its never too far away from me. 

That is it for now. I have a lot to catch up on it will all come in time. 

"To get something you have never had, you must do something you have never done."

Babysitting Rae

Steve and I made our way over to MD from Fri night to Sat night. I really wanted to go to the aquarium so we decided to take Rae so Jam and Icie could go to the temple or sleep or do whatever. We decided to go to the DC aquarium since there is so much to see and do in the area.

Our adventure begins with the drive. Raeford was sleeping in the back. Steve and I were chit chatting and drinking our red bulls and gatorade, so needless to say we had to pee. Steve is a special man.. when he has to pee really bad he gets mad. So he starts getting all sassy, "meh, this traffic sucks. I don't wanna be here anymore. Blah Blah Blah." He's like fixing to explode from his bladder at this point. But luckily for him there was an empty bottle. haha. But he's worried that he's gonna overfill it. He has me chug the rest of the gatorade so he's got backup, never mind the fact that I gotta go too.. But there is a lot of people in DC and sitting in a car while driving is hard to get the angle right in order to fill the bottle. He's still getting all snippy and freaking out. Finally we just pull off into a private parking lot and he goes to town making his own special "gatorade". I venture off into the parking lot to find a pee spot. I find one amongst the trees. As i'm watering the flowers I can't help to think how bad ass i am.. Who do you know that has peed outside in the middle of DC? HA!

We finally find a parking spot, right in the middle of the Washington Monument and the White House. Rae is all ready to get goin and be outside. The aquarium was really tiny! But Rae really like the alligators. That boy has a ton of energy! You put him down and off he goes. He runs like a little drunken sailor, all hobbly and wobbly.

After that we walked around the gardens and the area. It was really nice outside so we didn't stay inside much.

Oh! In order to get the top down in the car we had to buckle the stroller in next to Rae. heehee

Dinner without Icie or Jam and with Rae was ... different. Lol. Rae was hyper! He was bouncing all around and head butting me. Steve showed him it was cool to knock over stuff at the table and Rae proceeded to make a mess. Thanks Steve. But I learned that Rae likes wild cherry pepsi and chocolate shake. 

While waiting for Jam and Icie to get back we went to the park that's right next to their house. We climbed the jungle gym and played on the slides. Steve and Rae have about the same amount of coordination on the slide. We helped Rae climb up the slide and they both fell off the lip of the slide. I laughed and laughed.

Jam and Icie looked very relaxed when we got back. The only time Rae was upset was when we were playing with rocks and he fell on his face, just a minor scratch. Luckily little boys just need a hug and a distraction to get over stuff. Icie said that this is the longest time she's ever been away from Rae. Wow. I think more days like this are in order.

Not much Labor in Labor day.

This past labor day I had the fortune of being able to visit my bro and his family. I always enjoy my time wit them. They joke about whether i visit cuz they are that cool or cuz I like hanging with my nephew. Either way it's a good time for everyone.

The first night we had a relaxing time with a picnic in the park. We busted out the sidewalk chalk afterwards and went to town! Rae Rae is getting so smart! He's still a little babe in my eyes.. I can't believe he's gonna be a big brother soon.

The next activity on the list was peach picking! We went out to a local farm and picked peaches, almost 40 lbs worth! Part of the deal for getting so many peaches was that Jam would make me peach cobbler. It was very tasty.

I don't think my beau who had come with had done anything like that before, so it was a real fun experience for me and him.

After the peaches we went to the raspberry field. hhmmm yum!! Rae was so cute. Jam had him bondaged up in the sling and he would lean over to Icie's bucket and grab some berries.

I really liked being out in the farm area. It was very quiet and happy.

 We stopped out at a flea market on a random afternoon. It was very heavily mexican influenced. I thought this boot was funny.

Rae playing next to a cannon!

On Labor day we traveled to Manassas which is the place of the battle of the first Civil War. They had a one mile "cell phone" tour of the area. The cell phone thing was a good idea but kinda lame. It was better just to read the stands. I can't believe how pretty it is out here though.. It sure ain't no dry CO.

Icie found some fake mustaches for us. I love the mustache on her belly.

The Incline

I love the outdoors. I like the smell, the sounds, everything. During my vacation to CO I got to hike the incline a couple times with my puppy and brothers and my friend. It was a lot of fun. I'd forgotten how grueling it was, and then I remembered how much I like my oxygen. I think we stopped more just to regain breath then for sore muscles.

I miss that climb though. During the old summer months we would go, a bunch of co-workers from the pool, once a week. I was thinking I was hot stuff trekking up the steps until Dadda and I went and he beat me on the stairs portion, yupp.. made me feel like a fat kid. :]

There is something magic about being outside though.. I love being deep in the mountains with crappy cell service, no lights and nobody else around. Hmm.. the fresh air on my booty cheeks when camping, I don't think there is much that can compare.

Red Bull, Sleep Deprivation and Crabs

This week I start midnight school. School starts at 2330 and gets over when we are done, up to 07. This will be my first 'working' nights experience. We thought that if we were to start staying up all night and sleeping during the day it would be a little easier once we were back in class.. so far its not true.

Red bull has been a staple since arriving in the lovely VA beach. Drinking caffeine at midnight is an odd feeling but its gotta get done. I'm so used to being up with the sun. But it does do a number on my nerves. I been a bit jittery as of late.

Last night two of my classmates and i were trying to fight the urge to sleep so we decided to walk to the beach. We have a private part of the beach just for military. Its freakin fantastic. We were already getting sleepy high, you know that you are soo tired everything is funny.We get down to the soft sand and it's completely dark. Hearing those waves crash and hit and seeing the dark starry sky just makes me happy. Out of nowhere my buddy says that he thought he saw a crab so he busts out his phone and we are completely surrounded by crabs.. soo many crabs from little babies to big old grumpy grandpas. They freaked me out soo bad. It was out of a horror flick. Our eyes starting playing tricks. With so many little crabs, crabites if you will, it seemed like the ground was moving. I thought we were going to step on them or that the big crabs would group together and pinch off my toes.

Thank goodness for sidewalks and street lights.

bloggity blog

I finally broke- I've been enjoying my family's blogs that i guess i oughta give them something to read and laugh at as well. I kinda don't know how to start or what to say but i'm thinking it'll get easier as time goes on.

I guess thats just the way life is. A lot of things begin awkward and full of the unknown. I think that one of the best feelings in the world is getting past the difficult newness until it becomes easy as pie. Its nice to look back at the past and think about how crazy and wild things used to be and marvel at how happy you are now, and how much you've learned.