"Framily" time

* I started this at Starbucks where I had WiFi on my laptop...but my laptop's battery drained. Thus I have all the places where I was gonna put pics in. I finished this on my phone so all the pics are at the bottom. Enjoy!

For the first time since being in the Navy I finally got the chance to not have to share my time with Myra. Not that I don't mind it, but it's hard to squeeze in the appropriate Squid time with family and friends. She flew out with Bruiser and spent 10 days with me. We both agree looking back that it made us miss each other more. I believe because it was how it used to me, just me and her being rowdy. We are both planning on her moving out to FL when I get back from deployment. That'll be really exciting!! I have missed them both so very dearly, seeing my puppy nearly put tears into my eyes!!

(pic of all 3 of us)

A bonus of my bff being here is she agrees to adventure time. We decided to go to an arboretum one day. We found some funny named plants. It was nice to just walk around and talk about nothing and everything all at the same time.

(pic of farkleberry)

 It's funny how life is sometimes. A couple years ago all I dreamed of doing was working out and getting paid to do so. My was wanting to join the military. The joke is that we switched lives. LoL.

(cups in shirt)

About an hour away is a town called St Augustine. It has a lot of fun things to do there, a big tourist spot. They have Ripley's Believe it or Not and a bunch of museums. I plan on taking the 'rents when they come out. We had to plan for an activity that we could bring the little boy along with. We decided to go to the Fountain of Youth. My has better pics since I was on doggie detail but I scored some good ones.

(pic of me and Bruise on dock)

 They had  a planterium that I thought was wicked awesome. I had never been to one before. Part of the program was they made the globe ceiling like we were in the center of the earth looking out to Florida and followed the Spanish's path to St Augustine. I don't think Bruiser liked the dark room, but he sure was happy to be out of the heat!

(pic of me and my on dock)

 After that we went to another little building on the grounds and they had a short program about the Earth being 2D.  They had workers who dressed up in the old era clothing and talked about how they would make boats and their houses and things like that. The park was pretty big and had cannons that would shoot off. We were walking towards the dock and Bruise got a wild hair and just started playing and almost skipping through the grass. So of course we ran around like wild children trying to tire him out.

(pic of My in tree)

 They also had funny named animals so I just took pics I thought were funny.

 (pic of titmouse)

Before their arrival My and I had decided on some of the things we would do while she was here. The important things, celebrate Christmas, recelebrate birthdays, and go to the beach.

Christmas in Aug was a brilliant idea. We didn't really have any "Christmas" decorations so we just decorated everything, including ourselves, in red and green. We got a paper palm tree and some chem lights and taped them to the wall for our tree, angel on top and everything.

(pic of the red & green)

 Since My 's family is Jewish she's been coming to the Graff home for the holidays. However our tradition is once Mom and Dad were asleep, we'd finish wrapping the presents and drink cider and watch some of the Christmas classics. Since I'm a chatterbox we would always end up talking about our lives and the things that were important to us. Part of the Graff tradition is to bake yum yums. So that's what we did. We baked cookies (from scratch no less!) while Year Without a Santa Clause was blaring in the living room.

(pic of My licking spoon)

We ended up singing Christmas carols at the top of our lungs and playing cards. I had a friend come over and it turned into the 4 of us, roommate included, two-stepping in the living room. It was a lot of fun. I'm thinking that I might have Momma save me Christmas in a box for when I get back from deployment. That way she can get all the decorations for super cheap. :] I think for all the holidays that I end up working or that don't go my way I might just re-celebrate them. Why not!?!!

Myra's do-again bday was that she wanted a girly day. We went out and got our hair done and pedicures!

(pic of haircuts)

For my out of date birthday I wanted to get tattooed. This tattoo has a story to it. Myra's mother is hippie, a 100% down to Earth hippie. Although some of the stories she's shared with us I never wanted to hear there is one that has stuck with Myra and me. She talked about 'waterbed parties'. You show up with your date, a couple of couples jump into bed and you just do what you do and you leave with your date. There was no jealousy, no awkwardness, just free love. That's the phrase that stuck, free love. I wasn't about to seek out a waterbed or give the milk away for free. What it turned into meaning for us was to not be angry towards people. That people suck at we all make mistakes. That because you got burned by someone doesn't make that person a mortal enemy. You put a band aid on and you move on with your life. Its not always a bad thing to jump, sure you might belly flop (cough cough my marriage haha) but the lesson you learn from your flop was worth it. We used to give ourselves sharpie tattoos of free love. And since Myra knows some Hebrew she used to write hers always in Hebrew. Hence the reason why we have free love in Hebrew.

(pic of tattoo)

Beach day!!!

(pic of 3 at beach)

Since being stationed near the ocean I have put on my bucket list that one day Bruiser would get some sand between his paws. Bruiser was so funny. He didn't really like the sand all that much. I laid out a towel for him and he didn't leave it for the first bit. Luckily it was kinda an overcast day so he wasn't dying of heat.
(pic of Bruise on towel)
We sat for a long time just listening to the waves and just being still. The water has always had a calming affect on us. We finally got up and carried Bruise into the sea. We didn't get really deep because I had on a tube top and I didn't want him spazzing out and stripping me. Haha. But when we put him in the shallow part he froze. It was the funniest thing. As me and My were busting a gut he finally got the picture and walked out, then took off towards the city. I think he got used to it the more we were there. Plus his drama was rewarded with lunch meat. We walked along side the beach and made him step in puddles. Oh! And all the ladies love him. We had a couple of ladies come up to love on him.  As we were leaving we decided to drag Bruise to the water again. This time we were gonna put him in a little deeper to see if he'd swim at all. As the wave was rolling in he got the picture and paddled as much as his inch and a half legs would let him and he made it out. Myra grabbed him and sat in the water with him for a bit. He actually turned in the water and started walking back in towards her. We were surprised.

(pic of my bruise)

We took a Sunday cruise. So we got lost on purpose. With the radio blasted and my Garmin locked and ready to go we had not a care in the world. We started flipping a coin to figure out which way to turn. We saw some cool things. First, the sign in front of the Baptist church.

(pic of sign)

This made us laugh hysterically. Probably more then we should've.. but there was also copious amounts of RedBull pulsing through our veins. We took turns taking pictures next to it. As I step away from the sign a devil plant grabbed ahold of my calve and ripped it up. I was so upset and it stung! I kept telling My she had to go on without me because i was injured....soooo dramatic! LoL.

Next we found this wacky giant golf ball thing. No idea what it's purpose was or why it was there. There was no golf course around. Just super random.
 (pic of My kicking)

One of the best things about the visit was that I finally felt like I had a home here in FL. So far I'd really just felt like I was going to the apartment to sleep, shower and store my stuff. She made it come alive and put good memories into it. One thing we ended up doing a lot was after dark going to the swimming pool and swimming around like crazy kids. We decided it's never a good idea if you want to take a former lifeguard on a romantic date involving water. Spitting and snot is just what is taught...not very charming... we found it hilarious!

It was really really hard to see them go. Before she had even gotten through security I was boobing. My emotional state was so low to the point I got lost in the airport parking. Poor Momma and my frantic crying call. LoL. I took it pretty hard that she had to go back to CO but I wouldn't change it for the world.