Friday, December 30, 2005

A Wedding: Military Style

Mike's fellow Marine Officer, 2nd Lt. Dan Evans, invited Mike to be part of his wedding in Forth Worth Dec. 30. It was a full military wedding where all the groomsmen were in dress blues. They also performed the sword arch, of which unfortunately I didn't get a picture.

I always like to see Mike in this uniform. He looks so handsome, especially with the white gloves and cover (hat).

Monday, December 26, 2005

Ahhh.... Warmth!!!

The day after Christmas, Mike and I started on the second leg of our holiday break -- a long drive to Tyler, Texas. Twelve hours later, we arrived at Mike's parents' ranch. We were thrilled to step out into sunny 75 degrees in late December! It was beautiful. We spent time relaxing with Mike's mom and dad, two of his brothers (CJ and Bill) and my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Amber. CJ, Amber, Mike and I went golfing one afternoon. Well, Mike and CJ golfed anyway. Amber and I spent the time catching up. CJ and Amber will be getting married in a couple weeks on Jan. 14.


Mike and CJ playing at Garden Valley Golf Course.


Amber and me.

On another beautiful afternoon, Mike and CJ went to fly the plane they bought a few years ago. They couldn't have asked for a better day for a joyride in the sky.


Mike and CJ with their 1941 Interstate Cadet.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Christmas in Kentucky!

Dec. 17... We packed up two weeks worth of clothes and a ton of Christmas gifts and headed out the door at 7 a.m. for a much anticipated holiday break. The drive to Kentucky wasn't too bad. We didn't hit much traffic and we arrived at my mom and dad's around 4 p.m. We even arrived in time to watch the Cats play in the second half of the Kentucky/Louisville game. Mom had just prepared some fresh homemade fudge and chocolate chip cookies. Needless to say I was more interested in the fudge than the game! Brian and Carrie came over that night and we all ate a delicious dinner together. It was so nice to be home with my family.

Dec. 20... Mike and I traveled to Lexington to meet with some friends we hadn't seen in a long while. Mike dropped me off at Carabbas as I had dinner plans with some friends that I used to work with at Lexmark. Mike met up with some college buddies close by. Afterward, we stopped by Meredith and Chad's house, friends from EKU.

Julane (middle) and Debbie (right) were two of my closest friends at Lexmark. They were two big reasons I loved my job SO much. I hated leaving! They are still very dear to me and we try to get together as often as possible.

Meredith (right) and Maggie (left) were ADPi's with me at Eastern. We've had so many great times together, both during school and in the years since we left. They are both wonderful friends. Love you guys!

Dec. 23... Mike and I went out to eat with our friends Lyndsay and Pat, and then we all went to a Christmas party at another friend's house. We saw several buddies from high school that we hadn't seen in years. It was great to hear what new things were going on in their lives.

Lyndsay was my very first friend. We met at a baseball park when we were four years old. She has been such a blessing in my life - a constant and unconditional source of friendship for all these years. I love you, Lynds! It was so good to see you.

Dec. 24... We spent Christmas Eve at my Grandmother's house as my family does every year. There are many new faces there as everyone keeps having more and more babies! They are all adorable. Unfortunately, Brian's wife, Carrie, was sick so they weren't able to make it. We fixed a plate of food and took it over to them.

Dec. 25... A very merry Christmas was had by the Carnes family! Mike and I were given some really great gifts and we were happy to see that everyone loved the gifts we gave as well. Oh, and Mike shocked me with some beautiful diamond stud earrings!!! Thanks, honey!

Thursday, December 15, 2005

One Fine [Field] Day

Today is the fourth day Mike has been in the field (which means outside all day and all night in the freezing cold, running around with guns). While the guys were gone, my friends and I had our own field experience, albeit a much more fun one. We like to do theme nights. This time it was "G.I. Jayne Night" at Carolyn's. We all dressed up in our husbands cammies, played games, drank out of plastic canteens and decorated some truly original Christmas cookies. We had a ton of fun! Spending time with them made Mike's absence a million times easier to bear.

Trying to pose in time for the camera's self timer. From left, me, Sommer, Marge and Carolyn.

It's still very cold here and snow is falling again today. I know Mike will be glad to get back home to thaw out. I'm looking forward to his return this afternoon!

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

It's Snowing!

It's a winter wonderland here in Stafford. Temps dipped and the snow came on Monday. Mike is out in it right now in fact, running some sort of hour-long obstacle course through the woods in 20-something degrees. Sounds really fun. Wish I was out there. Ha, ha. It's really cold, but I'm enjoying wearing my heavy winter coats, scarves and gloves again. It felt like summer year-round last year when we lived in Texas. My friend Carolyn from California is having a ball in the snow, as she's never seen it before. She just got her first ice-scraper this week. Welcome to freezing, Stewi!

This was taken at Mike's company event for the lieutenants and their wives yesterday. It was more like social hour for my three friends and me. From left: Sommer, Carolyn, me and Marge.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

New Links

I've just added a couple new links to my blog here on the left sidebar.

The first is a link to my new online digital portfolio. This will come in handy as I continue to look for more freelance design work. It's a small compilation of some of my more recent work, but I intend to add some of the older stuff, too. Check it out if you have time. And feel free to share the link with others who may need a graphic designer!

The second link is Mike's platoon's blog. It has a few pictures of what they do every day. We are behind in updating it, but we'll be adding a lot more photos soon. I also designed their "Fox, 1st Platoon" thing. It's a little too edgy for my taste, but they like it, being big bad Marines and all. :)