Monday, March 29, 2010

Day 3 - Videos

Good Morning


Day 3 - Just starting off



OOps!


Not in Kansas any more...


Here come the Rockies


The Rockies


Ninja Deer

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Road Trip Day 3 - Flat praries and big mountains

So, today started off right! Nothing better than a bored police officer to put a dent in the morning haze. Don't worry we just got a warning. Apparently in Kansas you have to stay on the right side of the road unless you are passing someone. This is due to the fact that Kansas takes a large amount of pride in their left lanes. I think i saw diamond studs on the left at one point. They just wanna make sure that John Wayne has enough room on the road.

We managed to make record quick stop shortly before Denver. But it kinda turned into a record long one cause we went to a restaurant that made us back track and then it was a very slow place - good food though.... dirt parking lot. I kinda wanted to don a straw hat and some overalls. I do miss those so much. I was playing with Ducky's hands while admiring her and this lady asked if i was proposing to her. Good thing i wasn't. That would have put a serious crimp in my style.

At some point after Topeka we realized we had run out of waffle houses, we miss them. They haz tasty, cheesey eggs for super cheap. They will be missed. Here's one to you, Waffle House! - C'est la vi!

Road Kill Today: 9
Total: 66

Notable Quotables:

"I think that was a bunny.... 'was'... Now its just fuzz."

"This chair is the shit, it even makes dinosaur noises."

Pictures from today: (right click and choose 'open in new tab/window)

Roadtrip Day 3


Several videos from today, but they are still uploading. We'll post them in the morning.

Pics and Vids!

As promised! Pictures and Videos. Videos are posted below. And after that is a link to the album that we will be dumping all of our pictures into. Enjoy!


DAY ONE

First... Lost in GA


Lost in Nashville...


DAY TWO

Good Morning...


Scaryville.... the video doesn't quite show the full scaryness that was this little town we got lost in. See the pics for more. (You'll know them when you see them)



Here is the link to the pictures so far...
Road Trip Yo

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Day 2 - We like Kentucky. And Kansas is not bad. Everything else? Boring.

Our day started out with the Free breakfast that we couldn't partake in because it consisted of toast, muffins, bagels, or cereal. None of which poor Monkey can have. So, to Waffle house we went.

Oh I forgot to mention an observation from yesterday: Fireworks seem to be a big deal in Tennessee. There were huge fireworks stores every where, one of which boasted impressive neon signage that lit up the whole highway.

Any way, back to today. We like Kentucky. It was pretty and there were lots of cows and horses. Then things got really really boring until Kansas. It was ok.
We hit our first rain today. It got pretty heavy for a while, but at least it washed all the bugs off the windshield. It was also very windy today.

After dinner we decided to go for another hour or so then find a motel. Well, little did we know that at that point there would be no more hotels for the next 90 miles. So we drove, on one verrrrry loooonnnggggg dark straight road for another hour or so until we found a sign for lodging. We pull off to see what we could find and all there was was a very dodgy looking gas station. We decided it would be best to just get back on the highway. 20 minutes later... civilization! I can't tell you how relieved i was to hear the GPS say "You have arrived at your destination." ...Once it finally found a hotel that was in front of us rather than back where we came from.

Tomorrow's first goal is Denver. In the morning we will decide if we'll go north or south from there.


Road Kill count: (Quite impressive today) 42
Total: 57

Notable quotables:
Monkey - "You can nap if you want to sweety"...
Ducky- No, I don't want to miss out on Arkansas... there's cows here!"


I know we promised you pics and videos but the internet at the hotel is super duper slow. It's all uploading while we speak but won't be done for a while so check back soon. Hopefully we'll finish in the morning before everyone on the west coast is up and you'll find them in the next blog post already.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Day 1 - from Waffle House to Hard Rock

Well, we got a bit of a late start this morning. Seems the hotel didn't set the clocks forward and we didn't realize it until after the alarm went off this morning. Then everything just took longer than expected. 'Specially waffle house, of which there are many. So many in fact that it became a game. When ever we saw a waffle house sign we hit the roof and say "waffle house!" The winner gets a smooch. :)
Our first big stop was in Atlanta where we had lunch at, where else, another Waffle House. It was super tastey. The bathrooms were super nasty. This also seems to be a theme.
Then we drove for another butt-numbing 200 miles or so to Nashville and had dinner at the Hard Rock cafe. From there we drove a little bit out of town and got a motel.
First stop tomorrow, St. Lois.

And on a side note, the car that we rented ended up being a Jeep Commander, which gets a whopping 18MPG. Good thing the Navy is paying for our gas.

Also, as a feature to our blog we will be adding "Road Kill Count", and "Notable Quotables"

Todays Road kill count: 15

Notable Quotables:

"Nissan Murano? It's manly enough...I like it. But then again - I gush over kittens." ~Monkey

Ducky- "Did you just man-grunt at little pee pee car?" Monkey- "I can't believe i did that involuntarily."


Enjoy a selection of pics below. (Click to enlarge) We'll post the rest of the pics along with a little video tomorrow.
10 hours of driving down. Eating at the hard rock cafe in nashville tennessee! We'll find a place just outside the city and call it a night. Check back soon for all the days adventures with pics and video.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Off I go!

So, im about to take my computer down! off we go for a wonderful adventure. only wonderful cause i got my Ducky though! I excited!!!

Road trip tunes?

Ok, i'm taking suggestions for road trip tunes. Leave suggestions in the comments!



Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Get ready, cause here we come!!!

Friday is the official kickoff of the West Coast Monkey Road Trip!!!
My goal is to post pics and (hopefully) video each night so everyone can follow us on our journey.

Follow the blog (see the button in the bottom left) so you don't miss a thing. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

This is what happens when your husband leaves for too long...


...you up and join the circus! Ok, so not really. :) Here's what I was doing in that funky make up from the previous post.
I had the opportunity over the weekend to play dress up and do an awesome fun photo shoot with the the very talented Sabrina Cayne. Thank you Collette for sending me her way.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS FROM THE SHOOT

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Just some pics

I had my photo shoot today for the harlequin doll and kept the make up on for the rest of the day. It was really fun!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Texas vs. Oregon - a no brainer

{Texas rant removed by administrator... sorry}

Anyways my advancement exam was quite difficult. Apparently its less important to know how a system functions than it is to know exactly what modes a single switch on one piece of equipment can operate in. Nobody in my class felt to great about it, had we been out to sea once, we would have been much more prepared because so many of the questions were related to things that we have not learned in our previous 1.5 years in school because they are more "boater-life' oriented.

Results will be out in the Navy Times in a couple months. We will see if i made it.

Anyways - packing for the move, hopefully getting a car - pretty excited about it!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Petty Monkey

Today he took a big long test to earn his E4 rank (err, rating?... i get confused). That means he would be a petty officer. It also means that he would get to change from stripes:












To a chevron:

(except that instead of anchors I believe he has the insignia for ET which is a helium atom.)












He doesn't know how he did yet. All he knows is that it was "HARD!". And that he had to share a test with another guy because they ordered the wrong tests for the ET's. Go Navy!
Monkey has promised to share more later.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

A travelin' Monkey

You may have noticed that the timer jumped back a few days. Not to worry, it's for a good reason! See, he has the option to do a Dity move. Basically (Do it Yourself). The great thing about this is that:
A. He'll end up with more time home and more leave which will probably come in handy later on down the road.
B. He'll end up with a little cash in his pocket since they pay him $200 a day for the 13 days they assume it would take one person. We're going to try and do it in 4 or 5. So whatever doesn't get spent goes in his pocket. He can put that towards a car so he can come down on the weekends.
C. Monkey + Ducky + road trip = Woot!

Hopefully i can get the time off of Salsa Con Coco. We have a qualifying competition coming up so I might not be able to miss two days of practice. But we'll see. Either way it looks like this is the best option so if i don't go, he'll fly someone out to help him.

Will keep you all posted. Nothing is set in stone yet. It never is. :) Semper Gumby!

UPDATE: Looks like I will be able to go! So road trip it is! We just have to put together the last minute details and we're good! Saweet!

Monday, March 15, 2010

Pineapple:1 , Monkey: 0

Apparently if one eats too much pineapple, their tongue will swell up and bleed. (eww)

Today, Monkey found that out the hard way.

Click here to see why.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Lova my RunninDucky

I was perusing Ducky's facebook pictures. I have such a beautiful beautiful wife whom i love very very much! Im so excited that i will be home in a couple weeks! I get to cuddle her! Also i get to be in town for her birthday (99% likely). Very excited!

In other news... i ran a lot today, like 13 miles total. I feel pretty good about it. I wanna make it a goal to do that AT LEAST every other day. More if possible, but it kinda hurts so... Technically i did a bit more than that. The Nike+ program doesn't seem to be able to keep track of my stride properly. But then again it could be that i don't run consistently so my muscles are stretching. Im hoping that over the course of time it will attune to my stride.

I joined the State vs. State challenge and also a challenge that Ducky made for her and I. She is beating me at the moment. I will count her 6 miles that didn't get logged, but I'm gonna try and give her a run for her money! ...or her Monkey... hehehe whichever.

I never though i would use an ipod for several reasons, but this Nike+ thing was just too cool to miss out on.

Also I got Ducky a pretty cool birthday gift that i think she will really enjoy. Only thing is that its gonna take 6-weeks for it to get here - i didn't think it would take anywhere near that. Darnit!

Anyhoozle! ... back to life at hand!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Monkey's Special Day!

Today is Monkey's Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONKEY!!!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

It just dawned on me...

I've been so tied up with when i get to see him again that I completely spaced on the fact that not only is it just over two weeks until I get to see him again, but it's just over two weeks until I get to see him EVERY WEEKEND!!! (ok, minus the teensy detail of deployments. But,) Holy cow! I can't even describe how exciting that is. That's nearly life changing for us! Bahh!!!

Ok, that is all... i just got really really excited for a second and had to vent!

Carry on.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The sweet things that Monkey says.

Ok, we've been having a really bad case of the 'love you - miss yous' lately. Like, all sorts of ushy gushy mushiness with plenty of smiling sighs. And this morning I got a text that takes the cake! It totally made my day and i wanted to share.

It said:

"You are the caramel to my apple, the jalapeno to my cheddary Cheetos! That irresistible deliciousness that makes everything worth while."

:D It was both witty and sweet and made me smile. And and maybe a little bit hungry. I mean, this guy LOVES his Cheetos, so... you know this is comes from the heart.

I LOVE YOU MONKEY!!!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Look to the left

Take a little looksie to the left.
<--------------

I've added a count down timer! It's still approximate. We don't yet know when he is coming home exactly but it's nice to watch the numbers get smaller.


Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Henry M. Jackson!

Yesh! just to add to Ducky's post... I finally got my new orders today. I spun around in my chair very excitedly when i got them. It feels super nice to know for sure now.

I really don't know much about this boat yet, I'm hoping that my division is as cool as the Alaska's Nav division is, because I was very much looking forward to working with them. A lot of them are a little pissed at me, i think they were excited to have me on as well since i had been pretty pro-active. But its alright i still got plenty o' boot left to kick ass with - after all... i have a size 14 foot.

Been getting some weird looks the past few days, with the lack of hair - its quite amusing to myself even. getting used to it though. Trying to see how many people notice the lone hair right in the middle of my head that is about 1/4 inch long. Its a little mini-alfalfa!

I just finished doing the majority of my final qualifications for PooW (Petty-officer of the Watch). Had to check out with a somewhat difficult chief. Not a bad thing really, he just really drove me to know everything, which is better in the end... even though i will only be here for another 5ish weeks.

Anyways, Ducky or I will update when we get more news about my arrival, at this point its about hammering out the details with the movers and PSD and what-not. I cannot promise that i will have extra time at home, there is still too much to be figured out before then, it looks like it - but i do not want to get anyone's hopes up (including my own).

Anyhoozle Updates as we get them!

Hair as it grows.

also, Wild Turkey is perhaps the most delicious form of alcohol ever invented. Its like the Patron of burbon!

He's on a [new] boat!


I received a call at 6am this morning from a very excited Monkey. He finally got his new orders for Bangor! USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) , Gold Crew.


Apparently though, it is the oldest boat in the boomer fleet. Hrmm... maybe that means it will be in dry dock a lot? eh? ;)

He reports to his boat in the third week of April, and since he will be graduating in the first week sometime we may have him at home a little extra time. Hooray! :)

There are still details we haven't figured out yet, like when exactly he'll be home, etc. But I'll let you all know as soon as we know.