Naval Academy Reunion Weekend in Annapolis

It's already been five years since Billy graduated from the Naval Academy, so we were headed to Annapolis this past weekend for his reunion!

I also had the bonus of being able to spend some time with my parents since we flew into BWI and they were nice enough to pick us up from the airport. I am really close to my parents, so it was great to be able to see them and have a few hours to hang out on each end of our trip.

We flew in late on Thursday night before heading out to Annapolis on Friday morning. It was freakishly hot this weekend, so we enjoyed walking around in the sun while I asked Billy a million questions about his time at school. I got to see the giant dining hall where the entire brigade eats at once right as they were setting up for lunch. It's pretty incredible to see the logistics that go into something that sounds as simple as getting sandwiches, chips, and Gatorade for everyone.

Next, we watched Noon Meal Formation (along with a TON of other people...there were a bunch of reunions in town!) before heading out to lunch with Billy's roommate from school and his wife. They are both Marines and are both getting out at the beginning of the year, so they are really excited to start a "normal" life together! They've been through deployments and being on opposite sides of the world from each other, so they're looking forward to settling down.

I complain about not feeling settled and moving around and being apart from Billy, but talking to them really put it in perspective that we are really lucky to never have to worry about being continents apart from each other or that someone awful could happen to the other while they're just doing their job.

We got to hang out with them a lot this weekend, which was especially great for Billy since he hasn't seen most of his classmates for years. Friday night was the reception, where I got to connect more faces with stories I'd heard! 

Saturday was the Air Force game, which nearly got canceled because of the government shutdown, despite the fact that it doesn't even require any government funding. The only bummer was that Air Force couldn't fly any of the cadets out to spectate, which was too bad since it's a huge tradition and gives everyone something to look forward to.

Fantastic football advice from a former Navy coach...

March on before the game. All the Midshipmen!

All smiles after a Navy win!

Like I mentioned before it was CRAZY hot this weekend, so we were happy Navy won after cooking in the sun for several hours. Was definitely not expecting to be that sweaty in October!

After the game, we got take out and headed over to one of Billy's teammates house, where I had fun talking to the fellow girlfriends in town for the reunion while Billy and his friends could talk about Navy things. It was fun to get some girl time in so Billy could enjoy catching up with all the guys.

It was an awesome weekend all in all. The only way to make it better was if I'd had time to go to the barn of course haha! Annapolis is beautiful and there is never a dull moment on the campus:

Oh, just where we parked our car.

Billy drove these at school!

Yep, just a casual helicopter landing and then taking off from the intramural field. All in a normal day at USNA!

Beginning to Settle In

The most exciting news of the week (besides the fact that my Chronicle of the Horse subscription has finally switched over to Denver) is that Billy's furniture is here!! This is big news for obvious reasons, but especially because it means we are no longer sleeping on an aero bed. THANK.GOD. This was the third week we'd spent on the aerobed, which I think is about two weeks and 6 days longer than you should ever sleep on one. My physical (and mental) health have been steadily deteriorating thanks to several sleepless nights this week.

A real bed!! Ignore the moving box.

Not only do we have a real bed, we have a dresser (no more clothes in piles on the floor!) a couch, and dishes (we have been working with two plates and two bowls for the last two weeks)! Our apartment is now somewhere between being homey and having moving boxes EVERYWHERE. Most of the boxes are at least empty now!

Yes, that is a bean-bag chair. With a footstool.

No shortage of boxes in the kitchen!

It's a huge relief to finally have almost everything...although we still need to find a kitchen table. We went on the hunt at IKEA last weekend (the great test of every relationship) and instead came home with a lamp. But the important part is that we didn't want to murder each other by the end of our trip. If you ever want to see an enormous amount of white people looking either hopelessly lost or furious with one another, go to an IKEA on a Saturday. We managed to go the wrong way and ended up missing the entire furniture portion of IKEA, so we actually made two laps around the entire store. Fantastic!

Anyways, Billy is in his second week of school now. He's found it to be a very intense program, but also highly valuable. I've met most of his classmates now and they're all super nice and much less nerdy than you would expect from a computer programming class.

Speaking of his great classmates, Billy and one of his classmates found a stray dog while on a coffee break this week (I heard Billy was quite heroic, tackling the dog before she could run into traffic!). Naturally, I was pulled in once they had to figure out what to do with the dog they found. 

Zoe! She is happily back with her owner now.

 
I hung out with her until Animal Control picked her up and then threw myself into putting her all over the Internet since she clearly belonged to someone. I ended up finding her owner on Craig's List and he picked her up the next morning! A happy ending that inspired me to apply to volunteer with the Denver Animal Shelter because their Animal Control Officers are AMAZING. The officer that picked the dog up from me actually called me to tell me the dog went home with its owner. How awesome is that?! 

In addition to trying to find some volunteer opportunities, I've been looking for a barn so I can get back in the saddle. Working at home means I have to work a little harder to start building a community here (and to remember to change out of my pajamas at some point during the day).

We've been busy (as always!) since we've gotten here, but we're loving Denver so far. There's always something to do here and now that it's stopped raining (which reminds me, I forgot to mention that we were very fortunate to not have ANY flooding in Denver!) we're enjoying the fall weather and happy to be feeling more moved in.
 


 

We are officially Denver residents!

Byron and Hansel and the Kansas sunset

We're in Denver! We have an apartment! We love it! Wait, there's so much to catch up on.

We got almost all the way through Kansas before calling it quits on day one of driving. Everyone talked a lot of crap about driving through Kansas, but I actually loved it! The first part is through big rolling hills and there's horses and farms everywhere (I now realize that "horses and farms" aren't nearly as big of a selling point to other people). It also helped that the sun was setting, which made everything look even more beautiful. I loved Kansas! Don't judge me.

We stopped for the night in Wakeeney and set out early the next morning to get through the last four hours of driving.

It is VERY windy in Kansas.

 We didn't see much of Wakeeney besides this sign since we stayed approximately 20 yards from the interstate. Billy dutifully drove the last part of Kansas, which is where it actually does get horrifically boring and flat. I was pretty surprised that after crossing into Colorado, this didn't change. We didn't even see mountains until we were driving into downtown Denver!

I was envisioning more mountains, less dead grass.

 It was also really cloudy, as you can see, so unfortunately I couldn't get any cool pictures of the Rockies as we drove in. Honestly, we could only see their outline it was so hazy outside. We didn't even see them until a few days later, when I screeched "OH MY GOD MOUNTAINS!!" while driving around looking at apartments. Confession: I definitely envisioned them still being snow-capped. In August.

Despite not being picturesquely covered in snow (there will be plenty of that to come, I'm sure), the Rockies did not disappoint, and neither did Denver.

We were staying with (read: sleeping on an aerobed in the living room) of one of Billy's future classmates, Simon. We didn't know anything about him besides that he was probably not a serial killer since he'd gotten into gSchool, but we were thrilled to find out that Simon is awesome! He and his roommate, Michael, were amazing hosts and we were SO lucky to get to stay with them. Without even knowing us, they welcomed us into their house, introduced us to their friends, and told us to stay as long as we needed and eat whatever we want! We could not have asked for a better introduction to Denver.

Simon and Michael's awesome house!

 As you can see, Simon and Michael live in a really cool, big old house. There are a lot of them in the neighborhood we were looking in, but we ultimately settled on a more up-to-date apartment (we really wanted A/C and a dishwasher). The week of apartment searching was exhausting emotionally and physically, but after four days of blood, sweat, and tears (predominately the last two-Denver's having a heat wave and the rental market is BRUTAL) we found the perfect place!

We loved staying with Simon and Michael, but we are even more in love with our new apartment! The furniture may actually be here soon, but even with just what we had in the car, it feels a lot like home already! 

 We toasted our first night with the wine we got in Indianapolis and settled into our aerobed, now in a different living room. But at least the living room is ours!

Having Furniture is Overrated

With ten days to go before Billy starts school, we are finally getting back on the road tomorrow. Let me clarify that this is not because our furniture arrived. Because it hasn't. The moving company has informed us that they "have no idea" when our furniture will be here. Fantastic!

Coordinating with the second moving company to get the furniture from Indianapolis to Denver has now become even more of a nightmare. We've got to find a place to live, so we're leaving the furniture in Billy's dad's capable hands. Hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle for him. Moving is an adventure! At least everything fit in the car!

Regardless of the hot mess that is our moving experience, we've had a lot of fun enjoying Indy. Billy had some time to play tennis with Mia during the weekend (we got here last Thursday). After Mia wore Billy out, they picked me up so we could go downtown. Mia came up with the idea to climb to the top of the Soldiers & Sailors memorial, which is approximately 300 stairs.

 

View of Memorial Circle from the top!

Afterwards, we stumbled upon the most excellent FroYo place on the planet, Pearings. It was so amazing I may never be satisfied by another FroYo experience ever. We continued on to the Arts Garden, which is a big glass overpass (not really the right word, it's very pretty!) over Washington Street that's inside the Circle Center mall. It doesn't have a ton of arts or garden, but it was still really pretty! It obviously hosts some sort of live music, since there was a stage and tons of lights.

We walked around the mall for a while, stopping into the toy store to goof off for a while. Mia and I found these awesome mustaches:

Sunday night we went out for dinner and drinks with Chris and Emily (we missed you, Atman!) which was a blast. We always have a good time with them. They're looking for a house and talking about school districts for future kids, which was so exciting!

End of the night selfie

By the end of this week, we were starting to freak out a little bit about the furniture. Fortunately, we could push back the pick-up date with the second set of movers, and eventually we had stressed ourselves out enough that we gave up and went wine tasting. Billy planned an awesome date night for us at the Easley Winery, followed by dinner downtown and catching the Indians minor league baseball game! We met up with Billy's dad at the game and we all had a great time!

Billy diligently rated all of our wines

We decided to go with a bottle of the state grape of Indiana-the Tramainette!

 

We also got to watch Mia's tennis match yesterday, which I'm so glad we were here for! It's been so much fun getting to know her better and spend more time with her. I wanted our furniture to get here already, but I was more happy that we got to spend extra time with Mia and also got to see her play! Unfortunately I'm an idiot and didn't take any pictures. FAIL.

Now, it's time to pack up again and hit the road to Denver! Don't worry, we have an aero-bed!

On the road again...

After a brief 14 hour day of driving, we have arrived in Indianapolis-our first stop on our route west.

We spent the morning jamming everything we own into Billy's car (and by that I mean I brought everything to the car and watched Billy strategically pack). After sneaking in a few more pairs of shoes (ok that was just me) and giving my parents and the dogs LOTS of hugs, we were off to Indy.

We stopped at my favorite Sheetz in Morgantown for gas on our way up, and lo and behold, we saw the Google Streeview car! Unfortunately, we won't be appearing on Google Streetview in Morgantown anytime soon since it was just stopped to get gas. There's always something interesting in Morgantown!

We stopped for dinner in Columbus at my cousin Karen and her boyfriend Jason's house, which was a welcome break after driving all day and suffering through lunch at McDonald's. We have officially visited the entire Lewis family (Karen is Sarah's sister/Aunt Sue and Uncle Randy's daughter), which has been really fun! 

Karen and Jason have a great apartment and we had a blast swapping funny stories and catching up. I almost snorted ice cream out of my nose at one point we were laughing so hard. They are both architects, so their apartment was expertly put together and we also really enjoyed getting to see their new office project that Jason has been working diligently on! He had a photo montage of what the building looked like originally, all the improvement they've been doing on it, as well as drawings for what they plan to do. They're both really talented, so it's cool to get to see what their next project is!

Jamie gets a cameo. Gus the cat not pictured.

 After dinner, we pressed onward to Indianapolis, finally pulling in at around midnight. Billy drove the entire way (he's super-human when it comes to driving) and was exhausted by the time we got in. Since it was so late, we'd have to wait until the morning to see his dad and step-mom (and until the afternoon to see Mia), so we quietly dragged our stuff upstairs and went straight to bed.

Now, we're waiting in Indy for Billy's furniture to (hopefully) arrive! The last time we talked to the moving company, they informed us "there's no guarantees in moving." Wee!

Until then, we started off our time here with a rousing slam dunk contest. Videos for your entertainment:

The Big Move West...finally revealed! We're going to Denver!!

That's right, we're headed to Denver next! Not on vacation, not for a horse show, but to actually settle in one spot for a while! 

Remember when Billy went to that Tech Stars conference? He met the co-founder of Galvanize, a company that serves as an umbrella organization for a bunch of start-up companies in Denver. One of these start-ups is called gSchool. gSchool is a coding (as in computer programming, website building) school that was created to provide students with a high-caliber, immersive education in coding that spans 6 months.

If you're wondering, "Why coding school?", the answer is simple. The number one frustration Billy and Tony have had while working on Military Traveler, especially with the recent website launch, is knowing nothing about coding. Having not only a basic knowledge, but an in-depth knowledge with great training, will make their daily lives MUCH easier. I'm really excited for Billy and he is too. It's an amazing opportunity, plus it's in a really cool city!

We're really looking forward to getting to Denver...emphasis on being excited to actually be there. Right now, we're attempting to coordinate our cross-country move, but all of Billy's furniture from his apartment in DC is tied up in military storage. I'd always heard horror stories involving depending on the goverment to move you, but now I'm living it. It's really not that bad, but it is a logistical nightmare since the stuff is en route to Indianapolis and can't be changed. So, we have to wait in Indy to see when it arrives (sometime between now and the 28th of August) and gSchool starts September 9th! Yikes. Not very much time, but we'll figure it out...we always do :)

Plus, if we can live in a hotel room together for five weeks without killing each other, I think we can get through anything!

"Horses Haunt My Life" ...and other signs that Billy is getting sick of being at the horse show

Billy has dutifully followed me to Vermont and we had a great time, but I could tell that being completely immersed in horse show life was beginning to wear on him when he uttered the phrase that spawned the title of this blog. It was towards the end of our time in Vermont, and as we pulled into the hotel parking lot after a long day at the show (Billy came to work with me sometimes to get out of the hotel room), we were greeted by a massive horse trailer.

"Horses haunt my life," Billy groaned. At this point, I understood. As much as I love have an unhealthy obsession with horses, I know he can only handle so much horse stuff. The hotel room was littered with horse magazines I'd brought back from work. A dry erase board full of horse show "to do" lists for work was in front of our (only) window. He went to the show with me to get out of the hotel room, but was then completely immersed in the horse show for the entire day, only to return to a hotel full of more horse people! Oh, and then there's me blabbering on about horse things all day to top it off. It's enough to make anyone crazy!

Needless to say, it was exciting to get rolling on our trip home. I have family in New England, so we decided to take a few side trips to get in some family time (especially before our Big Move...more details on that next blog!). Our first stop was Boston. My cousin and her family live south of the city in Norwood and our friends Pat and Katie from DC also conveniently just moved to Cambridge!

We left Vermont Monday morning and set out for Massachusetts. The drive was remote, but beautiful, and we were excited to see Pat and Katie. Pat and Billy worked at the Pentagon together and he and Katie had just gotten back from a month long trip to Europe to celebrate Pat getting out of the Navy, so it was perfect timing to visit them and see their new place in Boston. 

They have a GORGEOUS house in Cambridge and gave us a great walking tour of Boston. We walked around the Public Garden, Beacon Hill, Newbury Street (where all the shopping is), and the Commons. We also saw plenty of the city as we drove around, including Harvard and Harvard Square (very cool neighborhood!). It was great to catch up with them and hear about their European adventures, plus Billy and I totally fell in love with Boston.

All four of us at the Garden (Pat is growing a "I just got out of the Navy beard')

 We said goodbye to Pat and Katie and set out for Norwood around dinner time. The rush hour traffic was not as bad as I feared, but we did have a slow drive around the city! My cousin, Sarah, and her husband, Bob, met and got married in Boston and now have an adorable 4 year old, Jack! We saw them last year on our family vacation, but it had been a long time and I was thrilled to get to see them again!

Billy and I were really looking forward to not being in a hotel room and having a normal meal at home, and of course Bob and Sarah did not disappoint. They are the best hosts!! Dinner was awesome and Sarah made a bunch of yummy desserts that we stuffed ourselves with! Jack also gave us a fantastic rendition of "If You're Happy and You Know It." He is a riot and it was so much fun playing with him and getting to spend time with everyone.

Unfortunately, Bob had to go to work Tuesday but Sarah had the day off. Billy actually accompanied Sarah to 5:45 am spin class, which I will forever be impressed by! Sarah and Bob both get to the gym about 5 times a week, even with a toddler! They have quite a system worked out and I definitely admire their commitment (to being good parents too, not just working out haha!). 

Sarah, Billy, Jack, and I all piled in the car to go to Gillette Stadium for lunch, where there is also a huge shopping center called Patriot Place. It was very cool to see the stadium, plus I've never seen one with so much development around it! There's a ton of shopping and restaurants in this huge complex next to the stadium, including Toby Keith's restaurant where we went to lunch-I highly recommend it! Especially their kid's meal corn dogs, I may have stolen some of Jack's...

When we got back, Billy was wiped out from spinning, so he took a nap while I played Play-Doh with Jack. The smell of Play-Doh is intoxicating and brought back lots of childhood memories, although as Sarah pointed out, I realize now why our parents never wanted to bring it out--it gets EVERYWHERE.

Jack was extremely camera shy, but I did manage to sneak this one of him sucking down some applesauce in the car on the way to lunch. He's getting so big!! 

 
We tore ourselves away from Boston later that afternoon to get on the way to Newtown, Connecticut, where my Aunt Sue and Uncle Randy live. Since we had just seen them in Manchester a few weeks ago, it was fun to be able to have another visit! There wasn't too much catching up to do so it was nice to just enjoy hanging out with family. We had a blast, especially the next morning when they took us out on their usual morning walk around one of the parks nearby. It was perfect weather and great to get out, but I was especially happy to see my Uncle Randy power walking along! He recently got his second knee replacement, and has been in so much pain for so many years that it was great to finally see him completely comfortable and out and about!

We got back from our walk Wednesday morning to finish the last leg of our trip home. Since we were out of fun places to stop, we powered through the Jersey turnpike, 95, and DC traffic to finally get back to Ogden Road! 

Now we're busy getting ready for our next adventure....out west! I've gone on long enough so I'll save the details for tomorrow :)