Friends To Framily

I've said before that one of the greatest, if not the greatest, aspect of military life are the friendships you make along the way. These people become your "ride or die" (that's still what the cool kids are saying now, right?), and nobody will understand the unique challenges military couples face quite like your fellow spouses. 

Because most of us don't have the luxury of living close to our families, our friends become our "framily". I knew I had a great support system here, but I was quickly reminded just how great this past Friday. Story time!

Thursday, Parker flew a routine mission to the boat and was supposed to be home that evening. At about 7:30 PM, I got a call from the officer on duty that Parker's plane was stuck on the boat for maintenance, and he would not be coming home until Saturday. These things happen and are normally no big deal. However, I was scheduled to have eye surgery on Friday morning to correct a problem I've had since I was little. It is a quick procedure, but I do have to go under general anesthesia for it. With Parker on the boat, there was nobody to take me to the hospital or, more importantly, watch Preston while I was having the surgery. 

I am usually a fairly calm person, but I panicked. It was too late in the day to call in and cancel the surgery, but I had no idea what to do. Yall, within 10 minutes, I had a friend to take me to the hospital and another friend to stay with Preston while I was gone. I asked them both at the eleventh hour to wake up at 5 AM the next day and spend 9 hours with me, and neither hesitated. They had nothing to gain, but they were there for me when I needed them, and I was again reminded how great it is to have "framily" in the military life. 

I had surgery on Friday, and all went well. I was able to take care of Preston Friday evening and Saturday, and thankfully Parker got home Saturday evening and has been able to help ever since. I am still recovering, but there is no way I could have done it without the help of these two friends. 

Military life can be hard and will have its share of negatives, but the people you encounter along the way will be unlike any other. So thankful for my framily and the way they loved on my son and me throughout this whole ordeal. 

Baby Shower #2

I had my second and final baby shower just before Christmas on December 18th! It was thrown by my sweet Virginia friends, and I was so excited! I really appreciated them throwing it before Parker got back, and it ended up being the most beautiful 65-and-sunny day. My friends kept joking that it was the perfect day to throw me a party because they know how much I love weather where you can wear shorts. They know me so well! 

The amount of effort they put into every little detail touched my heart and made me realize how truly blessed I am to have such a wonderful support system on the East coast. I love our city and I love our squadron for giving me these sweet friends. 

Baby Phelps was so spoiled and loved on! He received so many cute little outfits, books that I can't wait to read him, and lots of necessities for those first few months of life. I so want to show all of the adorable decorations, but they have his name written all over them. Since we aren't ready to share that yet, I'll stick to the pictures I can post! ;)

Here's a group shot! So many bare legs on December 18th... best weather! Of course, it was freezing the next day. 

The food spread was on point! Baby and I ate our little hearts out and didn't regret it one bit. 

This girl makes the best Italian Wedding Cake. She also happens to have a heart of gold and be one of my absolute favorite people. Love her!

This was one of my first friends in Virginia and also one of my favorite people! She is the other mama of the group, and I've loved watching her babies grow up. We are excited for playdates when my little guy arrives!

Time for gifts! Baby Phelps is going to be the smartest little man with all of his books. I can't wait to read them to him! The rocking chair is set up and the books are on the shelf... all we need is him!

I'm so thankful for friends that have become family. I felt so blessed getting showered with love for our little guy. He is one lucky little boy to have people who love him both near and far. 

Virginia Is For Lovers

When you enter the state of Virginia, you are greeted by a giant sign that reads "Virginia is for lovers". I suppose it's the state's slogan. When we first moved to Virginia, I was open in saying I wasn't necessarily the biggest fan. It was cold, it was different... it wasn't home. Fast forward 2 years, and I couldn't love the place more. It really has become home, and even though we would love to end up in the South again one day, Virginia will always be home to me. I am thankful we don't have any impending moves because I am just not ready to say goodbye to the lovers state!

I have spent a large chunk of the Fall in Texas, but this past week, I came back to Virginia to spend some time with friends. It was just the best and much needed! I was with my friends every day and rarely spent any time at home. It was a week so full of love and just really has me counting my blessings. The military isn't always the easiest lifestyle, but it sure has produced some of the sweetest friendships. 

The first part of the week was spent prepping for a baby shower my friends and I threw for our friend Ali. I helped with food and the crafting/DIY portion, and my friend Karly and I stayed up until midnight the night before crafting for the event and loving every minute of it. Here are the hosts with the mama to be!

Fun fact about Ali and those sweet babies (she is pregnant with twins!) she is carrying: they are due on the exact same date as my baby. Neither of us had an easy road to parenthood, and the three babies in this picture were so wanted and so prayed for. Getting to walk through every step of pregnancy together has been such a joy!

I had a dinner with some fellow deployment warriors to celebrate hitting a deployment milestone, and our sweet husbands sent flowers for the event. Parker made sure my bouquet included lilies because he knows stargazer lilies are my favorite flower. He told the flower shop to add stargazer lilies but that if that wasn't possible, regular lilies were great. The bouquet was full of beautiful lilies that made me smile from ear to ear. It's the little things, yall.

I ended the week with a little girls night. Good old conversation, yummy food, and lots of laughs. Very thankful for them!

A few of the husbands met at the same restaurant and had guys night on the other side of the restaurant. It was funny seeing them every time Ali and I had to get up to go to the bathroom, which was quite frequently because #pregnancy. 

There were so many wonderful little moments that I didn't take the time to photograph, but overall it was just the best week. Friends make life better, and they sure do help deployment go by faster!

Thoughts On Attending A Bachelorette Party In Your Late 20s

This past weekend, my friends and I threw a bachelorette party for a sweet bride to be! We planned for weeks, coordinated outfits, and went on and on about how much fun it would be. And it totally lived up to every expectation! It's been a few years since I attended a bachelorette party, so I thought it would be fun to share a few thoughts on the night as told by someone in their late 20s. 

Side note, why can't I still be in my early 20s?! Insert crying emoji here. 

Mexican theme. Always go with the Mexican theme. Guacamole, mustaches, guacamole, pinatas, and guacamole. Enough said. But did I mention the guacamole?

Instead of alcohol, you are drinking all the water. You know what those beverages do to you and you aren't allowed to sleep all day the next day because you actually have to adult. 

The pre-party goes until 11 PM, and then you will transport to the bars. Must prepare mentally. You do not get to go to bed at 11. I repeat, you do not get to go to bed at 11. 

Going to the bars in a group of all girls vice going with your husband/boyfriend/whatever is a very different experience. 

The bars play a disappointingly low number of Taylor Swift songs. Prepare yourself for the struggle. 

Why can't it be cool to wear sneakers to a dance club? Dancing until 2 AM in sky high heels is for the birds!

When you finally get home around 3 AM from an epic night of dancing the night away, you will be faced with the grueling choice of sleep versus food. You choose food. Obviously. 

You remember that your husband and pup have been asleep for hours and sincerely hope said husband remembered to feed them both dinner. 

You've had your food and are ready for bed! It's 4:30 AM. You set the alarm for 8:30 AM, because remember what we discussed at the beginning? You actually have to adult tomorrow. 

8:30 AM, how on earth did you get here so quickly? You may be sleep deprived and completely delirious, but you are so thankful for girlfriends. A girl needs girlfriends. Boom. End of story.

Friendsgiving 2015

Well, since we are a full week into December, there's no time like the present to recap Thanksgiving, right? Thanksgiving was a little different this year. A few weeks prior, we found out that Parker's squadron wasn't going to let us take leave. Through our years in the Navy, this would be our first Thanksgiving apart from family. We were initially pretty bummed, but there was nothing that we could do, so it was time to figure out how to still make the most of the holiday. 

We realized that we had several friends who also didn't get to go home. We love hosting, so the idea of Friendsgiving was born! A couple of our friends had family members that were able to come, so 10 of us all gathered around the table and had a wonderful day!

I busted out the fine china and made little pine cone place settings for everyone. Our table by no means seats 10 comfortable, but we all squeezed in! A crowded table with copious amounts of food... ahh Thanksgiving. 

We did a Thanksgiving pot luck, and everyone brought the dishes that were special to them. I really loved that! I did the stuffing, deluxe mac & cheese, Kentucky Spoonbread, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Most everything could be made the day before, so it was totally manageable. I got nostalgic making the crust for the pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving morning. I knew my family was 1400 miles away doing the exact same thing. :)

After we ate until we couldn't eat anymore (Is there any other way to do Thanksgiving?), we retreated to the living room for some board games and good ol' fashioned conversation. Lots of laughs with wonderful people!

Friendsgiving 2015 was one for the books! A part of me has always wanted to do Thanksgiving with our military friends, and I am really glad we got the chance to this year. Your military friends become like a family. You can't choose them, so you just have to hope you get stuck with some good ones. We have been really blessed with our Navy family, and I am so thankful to get to do life with them!