Nicole Dianne: R and R

Showing posts with label R and R. Show all posts

R&R part five: Tattoo and a Recap

If I don't document the details, I know I'd be upset down the road, so for memory's sake here's the final details of Mr's R&R trip!

Mr has wanted a half sleeve ever since I can remember. The idea of it made me nervous for a long time, but after seeing the excitement in his eyes every time he talked about it, the excitement began rolling off to me. Once we decided that the half sleeve was absolutely happening, the debate between color vs black and grey began. Mr wanted color..I wanted black and grey..in the end, his long time dream of a half sleeve, color tattoo became a reality.

And the final result!

The rose is for his wifey and the ship is for the sake of Art. He couldn't be happier with the outcome and I think he looks mega sexy ;)

Our final date was spent at the movies, seeing Friends With Benefits. It took a little convincing for Mr to watch a movie with J.Timberlake as the main man, but he ended up liking the movie a lot! Then we met up to have a drink with his buddies so he could show off the new ink. By this point, we both realized our time was dwindling but kept our spirits up so we could enjoy our final day together. We relaxed all morning and afternoon, listening to Pandora and eventually turned on Tangled. YES, Mr watched J.Timberlake and Tangled within a matter of days. He's wonderful! For dinner we made homemade pizza and danced around the kitchen while listening to music. Couldn't have been any more perfect!

Having Mr home was something I had anticipated more than anything all year (obviously). But it was better than I could have ever planned for. We got a small taste of married life and it made both of us even more excited for his permanent return. Although R&R was everything we had hoped, it was still bittersweet. Getting that small taste of married life and then letting it go, so soon, was harder than either of us had prepared for. Believe it or not, the send off for R&R was 10x harder than the initial deployment goodbye.

Mr went back to Iraq nearly two weeks ago, but he'll be home again soon. I started my new job three days after he left and my senior year of college a week after. We've adjusted back to our terrible Skype connection and opposite schedules/time zones. Our lives fell back into old routines just as we knew they would, but every time I think of the special two weeks we spent together I feel blessed to have Mr in my life.

R&R part four: Open House

Oh hey, remember when I was recapping R&R like twelve years ago? Let's continue..
Mr and I got home from Santa Cruz and spent the rest of his time here with friends and family. The night we got home was spent with my best friend and her hubby before he left for more Coast Guard training. We played Mexican train and drank $1 bottles of champagne out of $1 wine glasses..we like to keep things classy.

Friday night Mr and I went to a baseball game. My friend is the MC and was able to hook us up with a pair of free tickets. Awesome right? :) Our team lost but we drank $9 beers and had lots of fun!

After the game we got some fro-yo mmmm...

On Saturday we had an open house where everyone could come see Mr and hang out! We had a pretty good turn out and everyone seemed to have a good time.

the ping pong hats were absolutely necessary

yumminess..

Mr and I had a child...

or maybe I just wanted to steal this one. Not only is this baby girl the cutest thing you've ever seen..but look at Mr Tenderness himself? sigh..

The rest of the night was spent drinking with our buddies..(Has there been one post with out alcohol in it yet? The man has been deprived of any fun for months, so please don't think we're outrageous).

Our bearded friend, Brad and my lovely lady friend Krista..we're friends in real life.. not just on blogs ;)

The open house was a success and at one point in the night there may or may not have been a group of grown adults playing ring-around-the-rosie for thirty minutes. Oh the power of a cute three-year old..

Come back for more tomorrow! There's tattoos involved.. oooh the suspense!

R&R part three: Santa Cruz

If you're late to the party catch up on part one and part two. We're onto one of the best parts of R&R, Santa Cruz. Mr's one request was a mini vaca, so I honored his wishes and booked us a beach house in my favorite place. I think it's Mr's favorite place now too, or it will be once he's been married to me long enough :)

We started off our trip with a walk down to Pleasure Pizza. The best pizza in town and an absolute must eat. I want this in my belly...right now.

We finished off our night with some grocery shopping and hot tubbing. I saw the most amazing shooting star while we were in the spa. It literally looked like fire falling from the sky.

The next day we woke up and decided to go for a walk down Pac Ave. Followed by an evening beach trip.

Day three was our favorite day. We started out with a walk down to East Cliff to watch the surfers and drink some coffee.

The lady at this doughnut place was outrageous. She was so excited to have customers and skipped around all over her store. I've never met someone SO enthusiastic about terrible doughnuts and watered down coffee. She was certainly a lady to remember!

After our doughnut shop experience we found our spot on East Cliff and watched surfers for about an hour and a half. There was a father teaching his daughter how to surf and that kept us entertained for almost the entire hour. She was adorable.

We had to wait around until about 1 everyday for the clouds to burn off so we could go to the beach. So after watching the surfers we took a little walk down E. Cliff and found our dream home. This backs up to the beach and is perfect in just about every way!

For some reason, unknown to me, I stopped taking pictures after our walk. What the crap? I dont even know. We finished off our trip with a TERRIBLE dinner on the Wharf followed by Mr getting pooed on by a seagull.

MR: *wipes face and sweater* Do I have poo on my face?
MRS: *sees brown liquid smeared down side of MR's face and droplets on sweater* Yes babe..you do *giggles*
MR: you're kidding me!

GRODY to the max. But absolutely hilarious. (Looking back you're giggling right Mr?)

We decided that after all our Wharf misfortune we might have better luck at the Boardwalk only to wait in line for the Big Dipper 45 minutes and have it close down. Sad day. But not really because it was still our best day. Although our dinner was awful, Mr had poo face and our favorite ride was closed..we were able to joke and laugh about our unfortunate events. We had romantic walks along the Wharf and Boardwalk and made some fabulous memories!

OH..and we woke up to this every morning. Beautimous.

R&R part two: Back to normal

All right so, we leave the airport quickly. Sure planes are cool and everything..I mean they practically fly themselves (friends with benefits anyone? ;)) But we didn't feel like sticking around. There was 9 months of catching up to be had.

I expected there to be a short period of reacquainting with each other after being apart so long. Some awkward conversations, weird interaction..you know, things that all us military wives are warned about. Well we kicked that rumor aside the minute our car doors closed. My favorite conversation:

MR: You'll be proud of me
MRS: What for?
MR: I brought crafts
MRS: What kind?
MR: You'll just have to wait and see!

Crafts? I mean really! A man after my own heart. I scored, I know. We maid 550 cord bracelets. There was carving with a knife and using a lighter involved. Crafty, yet still manly.

Our first stop was Chipotle, naturally. The man hadn't had it in 9 months, nor had he eaten in a few plus hours so food was crucial. It's important to note that Mr is not bald ;).

So we brought our Chipotle home and yada yada bowchickabowwow (sorry mom and mil). Then Mr slept for about 6 hours. After he woke up there was important business to take care of. His first manly duty after arriving home, besides being sexy of course.

GRODY. Spiders aren't welcome anywhere near my living quarters. Mr's are great for disposing of them.

The next day it was obviously time for a sushi date. What better way to share your love than over raw fish, right? Just kidding..I don't eat anything raw! But here we are for date #1..which was followed by a visit to his friend's work..a cute local coffee shop.

I wont recap every night..that's what journaling is for. But I'll hit on most nights. Night two was full of beer and BJ's..Brewery that is ;)...you had to expect some crude humor after 9 months apart. I'm sexually deprived for your freedom. You're welcome.

Anyway, we had some beer and food with my family then went to a funny movie.

My living room looked like this for a few days.

But I liked it because it meant my lover was home.

Ending with a cliche phrase leaves you with warm fuzzies doesn't it?

R&R part one: Homecoming

Well it's been a little while. The last two weeks have been fully consumed with loving every bit of Mr and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect R&R. We vacationed, relaxed, hung out with friends and had mini adventures that I'll share throughout the next week. We're doing this in parts because there's so much to remember that I want to be sure I document it all!

It's only appropriate that we start with Homecoming day. Up there with the excitement of my wedding day. No joke. Mr and I hadn't seen each other since Christmas, so we were well overdue. We took R&R late in the game so there was an initial 9 month separation from each other. Grody, I know. But so worth it in the end. I suggest a late R&R to anyone and everyone! Though pushing through those 9 months apart was the hardest thing we've ever done, he'll be back home before we know it and saying goodbye was that much easier this time around.

The morning of his arrival I felt nervous, sick, anxious, excited, overwhelmed..you name it, I felt it. I wondered if he would look different, sound different, feel different. Would we be able to have a normal conversation and interact like we were married? The nerves ate away at me. I asked a friend of mine to drive out to the airport and capture the big moment. She helped calm my nerves once I got to the airport. I arrived about 45 minutes early..just to be safe. Didn't want to miss the moment he walked down those stairs :)

About 5 minutes earlier than scheduled, I saw his plane pull up to the terminal.
Nerves at an all time high

About 6 or 7 minutes passed and I positioned myself at the bottom of terminal B's stairs. There was another family welcoming home their hero with me. It just so happened to be someone I grew up with, small world. My heart was thudding up and down, waiting to see the boots move slowly into view on the escalator. Then some lady yelled, "There's uniforms!" I knew it meant my lover was home.

I watched for a minute as he scanned the crowd for a short blonde dressed up on a Wednesday afternoon. I caught his eye and it was nothing but smiles from there.

We hugged and kissed...a lot

I felt relieved. He was here...safe.

I don't think we stopped looking at each other all day. It was perfect. And I mean perfect, quite literally. Not that cliche, "perfect day" but the real thing. We waited a long time for that embrace and it came exactly when it needed to. Our minds had been mentally checked out of deployment and ready for some relaxation in each others arms.

He was home, where he belonged.

(okay I guess we'll stop gazing at each other and smile for the camera ;))

Stay tuned all week for the adventures we had during R&R!

Hello August

I've been waiting impatiently for you since November.

It seems as though I've neglected this little corner of my world lately. I suppose I'm mentally checking out of many things with preparations to see my lover. Yes, he will be here shortly. OPSEC ruins countdowns and that sort of thing so I'll keep the deets on the down low. But my absence has been a mixture of R&R prep..finding a job..and less internet time. You can call me Barista, thanks Jesus for the short job hunt! Enjoying the real world truly is a lovely thing. But to contradict my new found love for reality, I got a Pinterest account..my internet intake may be drastically increasing again..I guess it'll just get me through the last leg of deployment :) Can't be too harmless, right?

R&R check list:
~~finish summer school~~
~~get hair highlighted~~
~~find new bathing suit~~
~~finish editing all shoots~~
~~do all laundry~~
clean house
get Mr's favorite groceries
pedicure

*almost there and feeling accomplished!