White Birthday and Valentine's Day!

We were blessed with about a foot of snow the day before my 25th birthday and it stayed with us through Valentine's Day! I was thrilled since I'm heading out to a tropical climate soon, to be able to experience this record making snow fall before I depart! Here's a few pictures...enjoy!

Experienced a little bit of damage, but nothing too serious...it was oh so beautiful!

Props to my bro for making snow ice cream....YUMMM!

We also got into the Valentine's spirit by making these fabulous treats! The recipe is simple: Chocolate candy hearts on top of mini pretzels. Heat your oven to 350 and pop them in for just a bit. Mine only took 2 minutes. You don't want them to melt too much...just enough to stick to the pretzel. Add sprinkles or whatever you wish...Enjoy!

The largest snow flakes I've EVER seen!

Room with a View

Robert sent this picture today of our new place! He did a great panoramic shot for me...love him :D So very excited to see our new apartment in person and start decorating my little heart out...yeah!

Delinquent Blogger!

I'm so bad at this! Granted, I have been fairly busy lately and getting ready for lots of life changes (ie: moving to Japan)...oh well. Something about tonight inspired to me to get back in the saddle, mainly inability to sleep/trying to stay awake to talk to the husband.

Robert's in Okinawa! Instead of thinking how much I miss him when he's away, I try to focus on the positive and tonight a list came flooding to my brain....

This picture is exhibit A! A friend (who's met robert twice...maybe) asked me the other day if this was our new car? I love that my husband could totally pull off that car, in fact he would love it! The best part was that in meeting him twice she got that same vibe.

Recently had a friend say to me, "Your husband would go out of his way to help a complete stranger, wouldn't he?!" The answer....yes he would! He's "Mr. Helpful" don't know what I would do without him around the house (that's not true, I would be doing more laundry and more dishes....haha!)

Finally, (I'm making this a short list so people don't vomit all over their keyboards and so I don't completely embarrass my husband) I love my husband because his first Sunday in Japan he decided he'd get up a go to church. Doesn't seem like such a big deal until you hear the full story. He has no driver's license yet (takes awhile to get approved through the Marine Corps when you're overseas) and there's no public transportation that could get him there besides a cab, so that's precisely what he did. Got up early on Sunday, called a cab and went to sign out (being his first week on the base he was still having to sign in and out every time he left). Turns out the church he chose to attend had recently changed locations, so when the cabby looked up the church on his GPS, he was headed in the wrong direction. Arriving at a building that was not Koza Baptist Church, Robert called the church office. Praise the Lord someone answered on a Sunday morning and was able to communicate to the cab driver how to get to the current location. Robert, being a Marine, was of course running early so he ended up making it to church just in time. In the end he paid $60 round trip for the cab ride and saw a little bit of Okinawa country side. When he got back to base after church he walked in and the Marine at the sign in said, "Hey there Sgt. White" Robert was shocked that he remembered his name and he replied, "You got a good memory there (insert rank)" and (this is my favorite part) the Marine told him, "No sir, you're just the only guy I know who's ever signed out to go to church." That is why I LOVE my husband, thank you God for blessing me with such an amazing man! :D

Update through Pictures

Thanksgiving was amazing! My friend Allie and I prepared our first turkey together and we had a blast making all the other fixins. My parents came in to join us and so did many other friends. I'm so thankful for friends and family.








Sam & Dulcy (Robert's parents) came in for Robert's promotion to Sgt. It was a complete surprise. They met us at our favorite restaurant in town and Robert was beside himself. He couldn't believe they were there. I'm honestly shocked that I did not spill the beans before they arrived, but somehow I kept the cat in the bag! We also had a very early Christmas, as we were packing for Japan this past week and had to get all the large objects packed. Thanks so much to Robert's fam, it was a great couple of days!




Robert's promotion went very smoothly. I was a bit nervous because I was pinning him (I removed his former Cpl Chevrons and replaced them with his new Sgt Chevrons). What an honor! The Commanding Officer was teasing me that I could put them on upside down or sideways if I wanted, but I got it just right. After the ceremony we finally went to Sgt White's BBQ. It was definitely worth the wait, you must try it if you're ever in Beaufort, SC.







This was taken on our second trip to Sgt White's BBQ. We went on Friday because we needed some comfort food after working ourselves to death this week. We are officially packed (our three shipments are on their way to Japan and storage...where ever that might be) and moved out of our rent house...thank you Jesus! Thanks to great friends who are so helpful and generous...what would we do without you?!



Tomorrow morning we're off to DC and NY to celebrate Robert's birthday and our last big trip before we head out of country for three years. Make sure and watch David Letterman on Dec 16 (Robert's Bday) because we won tickets!!! Lots more pictures to come after this week :D

Oh Deer

This is what I saw out my kitchen window this afternoon. I had gone to the cupboard for an afternoon snack and when I shut the door I saw something move in the backyard, I looked up and they were staring at me...haha! Luckily, I had time to snag a pic before they ran away..I will definitely miss this part of SC!

So much to blog, so little time

No, you are not mistaken that is Mrs. Obama and Dr. Biden! I had the privilege to attend the Blue Star Familiy/ServiceNation event in Washington D.C. on Veterans Day. Michelle Obama, Jill Biden and Alma Powell joined us as we honored families of troops and sent letters of encouragement and thanks boxes provided by Target's generous donations. Read more about this amazing event on Blue Star Families Website.



My friend Tavia and I attended the event together. We are the CoDirectors of Blue Star Families Beaufort, SC. We had a great time getting to meet the other BSF volunteers. We navigated the DC metro like old pros. We managed to arrive on time and with all our luggage...thank the LORD!



This is an example of the cards that were sent to military families saying thank you for their sacrifice. That's our mission with Blue Star Families. We empower and encourage the families. There are so many support systems in place for troops, but families often fall through the cracks. If you would like to write to these amazing families please go the BSF website to learn how. You can make a difference in the life of a military spouse, child, parent or veteran.



On Saturday we attended our second Marine Corps Ball as a married couple....awww! We drove out to the Hilton Head Marriot for the ball. It was a great night of dinner and dancing with great friends. It's so much fun to all dressed up and go out with my handsome Marine.

The best news of all is that Robert is being promoted to Sgt on December 1! We are beyond excited and so thankful that it's happening at such a great time (before the move to Okinawa). This means that we will finally be able to eat at Sgt White's BBQ. It's been a running joke that Robert won't eat there as a Cpl and out of respect our friends have not eaten there either....haha! Can't wait to get a taste of this bbq, hope it's worth the wait :D

Happy Halloween!

Jinkies! We had a great Halloween. Robert had a dinner he was voluntold to go to out on Callawassie Island Country Club. The base sent two representatives to the dinner and Robert was selected. Luckily, he had a great time. I was partying at my friend Tavia's house with a princess and her dragon, a pea-in-a-pod, mjr cutie the police woman and her terrorist husband, and finally my not-so-shaggy, Shaggy! We had a number of trick-or-treaters and I think only one stolen purple pumpkin bucket with lots of candy. Enjoy the rest of the photos!