Ashlee Comes for a Visit

After spending most of the summer in Australia and Korea, my sister decided to grace California with her presence. Since I hadn't seen her since June, I was overjoyed! A day in Santa Cruz, a day in Monterey, a lazy day at home and a wicked 24 hours in San Francisco later, she was flying back to Portland. Sad, I know, but we had a fantastic time.

We discovered that both Ash and Steve close their eyes when smiling for pictures. Don't believe me? It's true.
Steve also opens his mouth, apparently...I have the coolest family ever!

Steve is in finals week, but thankfully only has one exam and one final paper, so it's not too stressful. Well, let's be honest. It's not stressful for me at all. He seems a bit nervous, though. Hopefully everything will go well and he'll pass with flying colors. After his last exam, we will be heading south to visit his relatives (most of whom I've never met). Should be a fun trip!

I, in the meantime, have put aside new novels in exchange for old favorites, including (but not limited to) Wicked and Anne Bishop. If you haven't read Wicked, I highly recommend it. Even more so, I recommend the musical. Gregory Maguire is, without a doubt, brilliant. His novels are fantastic. If you haven't already done so, read his most popular book, Wicked. And see the musical. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, as I was saying before I had to sing the praises of both Wicked and Maguire, I haven't read anything new lately. I've just been enjoying the books I own, many for the fourth or fifth time. There are so many books I want to read, but often I find myself reaching for a well-worn spine over a crisp new one. Ashlee is of the opposite approach; she never reads books more than once. Her list is longer than mine, but I know more details about many of the books, so I say we're tied.

Already I miss her, and she's only been gone for a few days. She's an amazing sister, and an even more wonderful friend. I'm lucky to be in her life.

Food!

Recent Accomplishments of Food Adventures:

Today, I purchased 10 avocados for $5. Sure, they're a bit small, but they were only 50 cents each! There is nothing better than deliciously cheap avocados. Thank you Monterey!

It's not soup weather, but I wanted to make soup anyway. I opted for a recipe I found online for an Olive Garden look-alike. (Taste-alike?) Their Zuppa Toscana has potato, kale, sausage and bacon in a light cream broth. I couldn't find kale at the market, so I grabbed some green swiss chard instead. The recipe produced a result remarkably similar to the Olive Garden original, and it's definitely one I'll make this winter.

Perhaps my most notable accomplishment was the garlic ice cream. Don't knock it 'till you try it! It turned out remarkably well, though the recipe called for a bit too much garlic in my opinion. The only problem is that garlic ice cream isn't something you can just eat a bowl of; it's best in small scoops with a cookie or cone to make it more of a dessert. I thought I had some Nilla Wafers on hand, but apparently someone ate them (ahem, Steve!), so I came up with Plan B. I pulled the first recipe I could find on the internet for homemade ice cream cones and whipped them up. While they didn't hold a shape at all (it was more like a sweet crepe), they were delicious with our ice cream! Definitely a dessert to remember.

Steve had a rough test today, so I decided to make him his favorite treat: chocolate chip cookies. Relatively simple, sure, but my cookies are uncharacteristically soft and delicious. I'm currently resisting the urge to help myself to a few, but Steve has already given in to temptation.

With all the yummy food in the house, it's surprising I haven't gained more weight. Must be all those walks with Kenai. :-)

Happy Tuesday!

Recent Pics

Teaching Kenai to jump on command. He's so cute!

Yeah, we let him chase birds. We find it entertaining.

Loving being so close to the beach!

Enjoying the Garlic Festival!

A Birthday, An Accident, A Drive, Golfing, Another Drive, Another Drive and Happy Birthday Nathan!

Oh golly. So much to catch up on! My birthday was back in June, and we celebrated with a fantastic week at my godmother's house in Lincoln City. Family and friends came out for the weekend, which was full of presents, crab, lots of other food and crunkness. So fun! It was also the last time I got to see my sister, Ashlee, before she headed to Australia for work over the summer. I miss her!

Steve and I began the drive from Oregon to Monterey around the second week of June on a Friday. I drove the Lexus, he drove the STi. About 20 minutes into our drive, we were on the freeway and Steve was rear-ended. Fantastic. I watched him get hit in my rear view mirror. Talk about frustrating. (This happened on our move from Connecticut to New York, too. Maybe Steve shouldn't be allowed to drive during our moves...) Luckily, we were able to grab Baruka (my subie, not the STi) the next day and drive south. Upon arriving in Monterey, we started immediately looking for a place to live. We found two places that were ok, but were hoping for something better, and we found it! We are now living in a 4 bedroom house about 5 minutes from Steve's school (Naval Postgraduate School), which is such a better commute than what either of us had in Washington! Love it.

Alisha and Josh Weiss (two FABULOUS friends from WA) came down for a visit and to go to the US Open. It was held at Pebble Beach this year, just south of Monterey. I had no idea golf was so much fun! Alisha and Josh stayed for a few days; so much fun having them here! The day they left, we picked up a rental car and drove straight back up to Oregon to pick up the STi. Funnily enough, we picked it up on Steve's actual birthday. Haha, love it! We stayed for a couple of days to see family and celebrate Steve's birthday again with a lovely dinner out, then headed back to Monterey in the STi with the pup. Kenai, by the way, is loving all this beach time. He chases birds like nobody's business.

Steve is a bit over halfway done with his first term of school, and I'm enjoying the unemployed life. I cook and bake a lot (we have an apple tree in our backyard!), and we are both enjoying seeing each other every single day. It's different, this shore tour life, and I think I can get used to it. We went to the Garlic Festival in July and had a blast. Battlestar Galactica kept us entertained for a while; we watched the entire series. Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica. :-) Overall, we are still getting used to Monterey and having to pay tax. We found an amazing deli the other day and look forward to discovering more favorite haunts. Yay for shore tour!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN VOELKER!

April and May in Summary

My original goal of posting twice a month has not been met, obviously. New goal: no more "in summary" posts!

Steve went out to sea in April on the Alabama, which turned out to be a blessing because he missed a lot of really stressful (read: overtime) work on the Nevada. I whiled away the hours reading several books and getting our house ready to be packed up for the big move to California. Plus, I got to spend tons of time with the amazing wardroom wives of the Nevada; thank goodness for them, or I'd have never gotten through that last patrol!

The movers came in early May, and suddenly I was furniture-less. So I slept on the air mattress for a few days (lots of friends invited me to stay with them, but I was only staying in WA for a few days before heading south to see the family), then drove to Oregon to see lots of old friends and visit my parents. I think I spent a little over a week in Oregon; it's a trip I'll never forget.

I then returned to our empty house to clean and await Steve's return; he came back mid-May. I went to the airline counter the morning his flight was scheduled to arrive and asked if I could meet him at the gate, since he's returning military. They said yes (they do this often, so spouses, be sure to ask if you ever have the opportunity to pick up your hubby at the airport!) and I breezed through security on my way to the gate. When I arrived, I nearly cried. It was the same gate I'd been at in October 2007, when I said good bye to Steve for his first full patrol on the Pennsylvania. True story. My last memory of that gate is seeing the back of my husband's head as he walked away for three months. It has now been replaced with the memory of him walking towards me at the end of his final patrol as a JO. It was like a movie, coming full circle like that.

Steve has been home a couple of weeks now, and we spent some time in the Kitsap area, saying goodbye to best friends (sorry, saying "see you later" to best friends, because there's no way I'll be able to go the rest of my life without seeing them again) and tying up some loose ends, Navy-wise. Port Angeles is gorgeous; so is Port Townsend. If you have the chance to visit Hurricane Ridge, do it. I fell in love, and it wasn't even a nice day. After spending a little time with Steve's family, we have finally moved out of Washington and are preparing for a fun week in Lincoln City. We have a few more weeks before we have to be in Monterey, and I'm loving every moment of this fabulous vacation!

March in Summary

Looking back, I can't remember why we were so insanely busy last month, but I know there are reasons I didn't find time to post anything. No idea what they were. Strange.

I do remember doing a play reading at the Jewel Box Theater in Poulsbo. We had three rehearsals (all in one week) followed by a one night only performance. Extremely fun! Six actors, six one-act plays, no costumes or set, minimal props, and a whole lot of laughter. All the scripts were written by David Ives. I love comedies.

The highlight of the month, for me, was definitely March 31, because it was my last day of work. Woo hoo! I gave my notice back in February, when we found out that we'd be transferring to Monterey CA for Steve to go to Naval Postgraduate School. The last few weeks of work were fun; lots of people came to say goodbye, and I realized just how many people I'm going to miss from this job. It's the longest I've held a position since college, and I've really enjoyed working with some amazing people. That being said, I love being unemployed!

For Steve, I think the highlight of the month has got to be his surprise 30th birthday party. Yup, that's right, he got a surprise party. And he was shocked. Perfect! So many of our friends and family were able to join us (although, stupid shift work on the boat limited the number of men who were able to come) and we partied all afternoon. I hired Mike's Amazing Cakes to make him a cake in the shape of an STi, because it's the car at the top of his wish list right now. Oh, no, wait, it's not on his wish list anymore, because I bought it for him! Didn't you know I'm in competition for a wife of the year award? He was more than surprised by that, because I've been telling him he can't have one. The look on his face made it all worth it.

Right! That's why I was so busy. That party and the car. Well. March was definitely a good month for us. The STi drives like a dream! Man I love that car.

Take Me All the Way to the Hebrides!

A few months ago, the time came for me to audition for a play. I've done theater in the past, and my current goal is to do one or two shows a year; last year I sadly fell short, so I decided to start this year off right. I was cast in a show called Scotland Road, and performances are every weekend in February at the Jewel Box Theater in Poulsbo, WA. I completely love this show; I get to speak in a Welsh accent, I get to shock the audience more than once, and I get to sing in a corset. Ok, that last part really sucks, actually. Singing in a corset is hard! Still. I love it. I love being on stage, I love taking on a new persona. I'm so much happier when I'm doing a show (exhausted, but happier), and I love expressing myself in this art form. I'm not a good crafter, I'm terrible at drawing and painting, I could never write a novel. Acting, however, I can do.

Everyone needs an outlet. Jobs are stressful. Heck, LIFE is stressful! Acting is my outlet. It calms me, gives me peace, makes the rest of the crap worth it. I'm grateful I have the opportunity to enjoy my passion. Here's hoping that once this show closes, I'll find another cast and crew to open their arms to me. Until then, I'll welcome my racing heart and embrace each moment onstage.

For more about the show, visit jewelboxpoulsbo.org and read our review at http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/feb/06/local-theater-scotland-road-is-a-buoying-yarn/ It's a good 'un!