"Ciao Tella!"

Happy Father's Day!!!

I can't remember the last time I was home for Father's Day but I am so blessed and thankful that I was with my parents to celebrate it this year. Unfortunately my sister and my mom had to work all day, so Neil stepped in to take Haley's place as the honorary child. It was a very pretty day out so we took a drive up to Atlantic Ave in Delray Beach and had lunch at Doc's, an adorable little burger shack and one of my dad's favorite restaurants. My dad ordered a philly cheese steak which he enjoyed thoroughly while I had a lamb gyro that rocked my world! Naturally, Neil settled for a boring hamburger but apparently it was very good too. We finished off our meal with a delicious ice cream cone, though I had a little trouble eating mine...

Discussing the Heat game (which the Heat one, btw!!)

A chocolate-dipped vanilla cone...next time I'm getting it double-dipped!!

as you can see, I was having a little trouble...

I'm a daddy's girl...Always have been, always will.

I just wanted to take the time to thank my dad for being the best father a little girl could ask for. He was tough on me when I was younger and pushed me to do well and try new things but I'm so grateful that he did because it shaped me into the accomplished woman I am today. And even though we butt heads often, I love him more than anything and am so thankful to have him in my life. I love you daddy :)

xoxo

Sail Away

After graduation I was given 30 days of leave (or vacation) before I have to report to my new ship in Mayport, FL. Neil and I decided to go on a little 4 day cruise during that time to spend some quality time together before we are separated. It turned out to be a great, relaxing trip and I didn't realize just how much I need that rest until I was falling asleep at 9 p.m every night...I'm a party-pooper, i know. Anyways, The cruise stopped in Nassau, Bahamas, Cococay, and Key West.

The first day was Nassau Bahamas. Unfortunately, It was a little cloudy that day, as you can see:

Nassau, Bahamas

Just chillen in King Neptune's chair, nbd.

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enjoying the local food and beer. We tried CONCH!! and it was delicious

Some weird kind of rice

The view of Atlantis from our ship

The next port we pulled in to was Cococay, Bahamas which is a privately owned island by Royal Caribbean. It was very cute and Neil and I decided to go on a kayaking tour. We saw the coolest wildlife including lots of conch, stingrays, a shark, a starfish bigger than my head, a baby starfish that fit in my palm, and a sea cucumber. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on the kayak so I didn't get any pictures of all the critters :/

conch!

a little friend that I found on the way to lunch

It took me about 5 minutes to figure out how to get into this thing without falling over....

our ship

The Last day we stopped in Key West, FL. I wasn't sure it would be too fun because I'm from Florida and I've already been to Key West...However, the ship docked in a place that I have never been to and it was beautiful! The architecture was very colorful and quaint and the town seemed as if it was almost separate from the rest of FL. Neil and I just did some shopping at the local stores (including Lilly Pulitzer where I bought a new pair of adorable shorts!) and had a yummy lunch at the HardRock. It was a perfect day :)

with my new Lilly market bag!

sipping on my delicious pomegranate martini at the HardRock

Neil made a new friend....

The excursions were all very fun and we finished each exhausting day with a romantic dinner at our table for six haha. All in all, the food was delicious, the beaches were beautiful, and the company was the best part :)

lookin cute as usual :)

Double-fisting the free booze

love him <3

Graduation Parties

Because my graduation, or at least all the festivities associated with it, last about a week long, families of the the graduates rent houses in the area and invite their guests to stay with them. In my case, I had 15 family members come to see my graduate. Luckily the house we rented was massive so it wasn't difficult finding places for them to stay. I was so happy that they could come to because all of them live in other states and I rarely get to see them. It was such a fun week filled with good food, good conversation, and lots of love. We had two parties during the week: a luau and a western themed dinner. It was fun because everyone got dressed up for the respective theme and took tons of awkward family photos. The food was also ridiculously yummy. For the luau we had a whole roasted pig which we turned into pulled pork, one of my favorite meals. We also had Napa cabbage salad, potato salad, chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels and my Aunt Kay's famous pineapple upside-down cake! Needless to say, I gained about 5 pounds during commissioning week but it was well worth it.

my tiny Aunt Kay sandwiched between me and Haley

The roast pig...i promise it tasted good!

My God mother, Aunt Julie <3

Did i mention that we made "drunken gummies"? They were a total flop but people decided to eat them anyways....gross!

Neilly.

I wasn't lying about the awkward family photo...My Aunt Kay made us do it!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, my Godfather...

mommy and haley

Playing beer-pong with Neil's twin sister, Rita!

The awesome sign my sister painted for the Luau!!!

After the Luau we had the Western Dinner. It was on Memorial Day and was really more of a relaxed BBQ but we did dress up as best we could. Lucky everyone thought to bring cowboy boots and bandanas!

My crazy Uncle Brock

My mommy and Daddy <3

My Aunt Joan and Uncle Dennis being adorable as usual

Murica!

I love them all :)

Graduation week was fun but the best part by far was being able to see my family again. I hate living so far away and only being able to see them every few years. I will always cherish the memories I made that week and look forward to many more in the future. I had a fun and crazy family and I love them all so much..I wouldn't trade them for the world!!!

The whole wacky gang :)

xoxo

Graduation! May 29, 2012

This week I graduated from college...it's so weird to say out loud and it's still hard for me to fully grasp what that means. The last four years weren't easy and I often got frustrated being told how to live my life everyday. But now that's over and things are changing!! Yes, I will still be in the military for the next five years, but now I will be living on my own, in my brand new apartment, cooking my own meals, and driving myself to work. It's really nice knowing that I have that kind of freedom now. I will admit though that graduating was also fairly bittersweet...I'm so used to living just a few feet away from all my best friends and now I'll have to plan a weekend trip if I want to see them. I don't really plan on keeping in touch with everyone I hung out with at school...just a few select people that I'd like to keep in my life. So now I'm on my own, ready to be treated like the adult that I am. Wish me luck!

Just fooling around after the parade.

This funny parade outfit that I'm wearing is in fact as uncomfortable as it looks. Our "parades" are really only hour long torture sessions where we stand on the parade field for about an hour in the blazing hot sun and flail our swords and rifles around while people watch. It's not too interesting if you ask me but the civilians seem to love it. Did I mention that I passed out at the last one? I must have locked my knees and diverted blood flow away from my brain because before I knew what hit me I was on the ground struggling to get up. I did get up, however, which is a pretty big fete if you ask me because most people have to be dragged off the field! I was OK at this particular parade, but unfortunately, 26 of my classmates were not as lucky.