2015 Year In Review

I'm not sure if these "year in review" posts are fun to read, but they sure are nice to have to look back on! Plus, they only happen once a year, so surely they don't feel overdone. Okay, I'm not sure why I felt that intro was necessary, but let's get right down to it and recap 2015!

I am going to apologize in advance for the length of this post. You won't hurt my feelings one bit if you want to skip to the end for the punchline.

Well, the first thing I remember about January 2015 is our heater going out. Our first Virginia winter rocked our little world, and going without heat for 4 days was plain awful. Four little bodies stayed snuggled in the bed!

On a happier note, January was also the month we visited the Virginia Beach Military Aviation Museum. Planes on planes on planes made for one happy husband!

I turned 26 in February, meaning I am officially closer to 30 than 20. The jury is still out on how I feel about this little fact, but the celebrating was fun!

We attended the 1940's Valentine's Day hangar dance at the aviation museum, which was a definite highlight. We had so much fun getting into the theme, wearing red lipstick for the first time (me), and dusting off the old, never worn bomber jacket (him). 

I flew home to the motherland (aka Texas) to celebrate my birthday late with my family. A twin must celebrate her birthday with her twin. It's just the rule. 

Parker and I had a day date in March exploring the USS Wisconsin and the city of Norfolk. We always have to tour the battleship in the city we live, so it was time to check Wisconsin off the list. It was cold that day, but I was so over long pants, so I remember suffering in silence at my own stupidity of wearing shorts. 

2015 was spent loving the every day moments, which largely meant cuddling our two furbabies. We knew Darla would go home to her mama soon, but she and Jenny brought us so much joy day in and day out!

I went on my first business trip of the year to the always exciting Las Vegas. It was my first time in sin city, and I learned that people like to enjoy their alcoholic beverages around the clock, slot machines are not self explanatory, and there is a Panda Express on every corner. 

In April, we found out we would be staying in Virginia another 3 years! Initially, I really wanted to be in San Diego next. I won't lie about that. However, we have really grown to love Virginia and are quite glad we stayed. I can't imagine either of us fitting into a squadron better. 

We rounded out April with a short trip to Louisville to visit Parker's parents! That was a fun trip to a cool city with special people. 

We headed back to the motherland over Memorial Day weekend for the wedding of the year! My little sis from Delta Gamma married the love of her life, and we had the best time celebrating them! Parker also decided good pictures were overrated on this trip, so that was fun too. 

Our biggest event of the year happened in June when we became homeowners! Buying a house equals getting a mortgage equals officially adult status, right?

Parker joined the 26 club in June, and 26 never looked so good. Since I am 4 months older, I like to give him a lot of life advice and prep him on what to expect in the next year of life. 

We hosted Parker's grandparents in our brand new home just a couple of weeks after moving in. We love having visitors and basically beg family and friends to come stay with us.

And to round out the busiest month of the year (June), we celebrated four years of marriage. Being married to this guy is so fun. 

In July, Darla's mama came home from deployment to pick up her baby. This was so bittersweet for us. I was so happy for Tiffany to be reunited with her baby, but Darla became the fourth member of our family, and saying goodbye to her was killer. We still miss her very much!

July also brought Jenny's fifth birthday! How is our pup already 5? Jenny, please stay with us forever. We love her so.

My parents became our second visitors of the year when they came to stay with us this summer! We loved having them with us and didn't want them to leave!

Parker let me tag along this summer to a flight, and we snapped this beauty. Maybe the coolest picture we have ever taken as a couple.

We celebrated our anniversary a month late with a little sailing trip! We always try to do an experience for our anniversary, and sailing was the perfect choice!

My little sister was our next visitor, and to say we had a blast is an understatement. We toured Williamsburg and just had the best time with her. Our four days with her were easily four of my favorite days of 2015!

Parker's parents rounded out our visitors for the year! We absolutely loved hosting them and showing them our new home!

Parker had to work the NAS Oceana Airshow this year, so we made a day out of it and ended up having a great time! He gave tours of the C-2, and I sold squadron merchandise.

At the end of September, my work sent me to San Diego. I have never been more excited for a work trip in my short little life. Some of my best friends are in San Diego, and I got to see our Darla girl again. It. was. phenomenal. Reunions are the best, and I'm thankful to the Navy for giving me these fine friends.

The annual Hawkeye Greyhound Ball was in October, and it was our 9th ball to attend together. 9th! We are getting a tab bit old. The dinner portion was great, and the after party was probably the most fun one we have ever been to.

And then, the most magical weekend of the year happened. My twin sister and I received Taylor Swift tickets for our birthday back in February, and it was finally concert time! We are big TSwift fans and basically stood the whole time in awe as she gave the concert of the year. Goodness, so good.

We threw a big Halloween party, which was our first party in our new home. Everyone had a great time, and Parker only complained minimally about having to dress up as Mickey Mouse.

We went to Nashville with my twin and her husband and met Parker's family as well for the Texas A&M vs Vanderbilt game. We took a Segway tour of Nashville, ate all the food, and watched our Aggies pull out a 25-0 victory over Vanderbilt.

This was our first year not being able to go home for Thanksgiving, so we decided to host Friendsgiving and have our other "homeless" friends over to celebrate together. We missed our families, but celebrating with our friends was awesome. Since we didn't travel, we had the full long weekend to spend together and decorate the house for Christmas. We loved it!

Before heading to Texas for Christmas, we attended Parker's squadron Christmas party. Good friends, overuse of photobooth, a little dancing, and an iPad prize from the raffle. It was a successful party!

So that is 2015 in a nutshell! I will say that even though I have highlighted all of the wonderful moments, the year didn't come without its share of trials. Not a day went by this year that I did not think of that baby we lost at the end of 2014. Not a day went by that I didn't miss her and fiercely wish she were here with me. So many tears were shed, and arguments were had. Losing a child will really test your marriage, but I am grateful to say that it has made us stronger.

There were wonderful moments and sad moments, and the sad moments were way more frequent than they had been the years prior. I will say this though: it was still a wonderful year. I don't believe in saying "it was a bad year". There may have been bad moments, but there were so many more good moments. Don't let the bad moments overtake you. Get through them, and relish in the good that is to come.

I am excited to say goodbye to 2015 and see what 2016 has in store. I have no doubt that 2016 will bring its own share of hardship, but I know there will be so many more smiles and laughs, and that is what I am looking forward to!

Happy New Year, everyone! See you next year!

Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?

It's crazy that today marks 14 years since 9/11. That day is easily the most horrific day that I have been alive for. 

Those lyrics "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning That September Day?" always give me the chills. For many, 9/11/01 was the worst day of their lives. They lost husbands, wives, sons, daughters, and the list goes on and on. I cannot even imagine.

I still remember that day vividly. I was in Mrs. Miller's 7th grade reading class. I was a 7th grader, so I was old enough to realize what was going on but too young to really understand the ramifications. Mrs. Miller turned the television on, and we all watched in silence as the second plane crashed into the twin towers. A girl named Lauren made a joke and said "Oh my gosh, my uncle lives in New York!". A couple of seconds later, she added "Oh my gosh, so does my aunt!". Everyone giggled softly, me included. I now realize how annoying it is that she was making light of the situation, but she was in 7th grade. Again, we didn't really understand.

The look on Mrs. Miller's face told me it was serious. I remember seeing her at her desk, mouth dropped open and eyes glued to the television. When I got home from school that day, my dad was there. They had all been released from work early. I think we stayed at school the rest of the day, but I honestly don't remember that part. I just remember sitting in Mrs. Miller's class watching history unfold on that screen. 

image via

There are no words to describe what America went through that day, so I'm not even going to try. All gave some, and some gave all. Today I am thankful for the first responders. There has been a lot of negative publicity about police officers lately, and I'm not here to start a debate, but the cops, firefighters, and military that responded that day and every day since did so selflessly.

So that's where I was: Mrs. Miller's 7th grade reading class. Where were you 14 years ago today?

Throwback... Tuesday?

The theme for today's post is "Show who you were in high school". I thought this sounded really fun. I wasn't the popular girl by any means, but I quite enjoyed high school. I had my own little niche and absolutely loved my home town. I went to the same high school as my mom and grandfather (a couple of renovations later), and because I had attended school in the same town since 3rd grade, I felt like I knew everyone. 

In honor of this Throwback Tuesday (that just became a thing), here is what high school looked like for me, in bullet form for simplicity's sake. 

• I attended Midlothian High School and was class of 2007. Go panthers!
• My high school did not do a homecoming dance, which I didn't realize was weird.
• My best friend in high school was also named Chelsea. She played tennis with me and was my doubles partner senior year. They called us Chelsea squared, and high school would have basically stunk without her. 

• I played tennis all four years, which I always say is what made my high school experience. 
• My best friend (Chelsea) dated my now brother in law, Logan. They dated throughout high school, but he and my twin got together in college and are now married.
• My biggest regret in high school is switching places with my twin sister at her track meet. Many may find this ironic since I have proudly shared this tale with the world. Yes, it made for a really funny story, but since we unknowingly broke UIL rules, the athletic department had to punish us and made us sit out at our next respective meets. For me, this was my senior district tournament. Chelsea and I (we played doubles) had a really good shot at going to state, and I took that from her. 
• My twin sister was the slightly cooler one in high school. She's probably always been the slightly cooler one, actually. 

• I took mostly AP classes, and my close friends were all really smart. 
• I had one boyfriend in high school, and we dated for about a minute. And by a minute, I mean we dated for like a month and a half. The next time I really liked I guy would be my freshman year of college, and that guy is now my husband.
• The Office was a big deal when I was in high school, and Chelsea and I once put our tennis coach's name plate in Jello as an idea we got from the show. Classic. My tennis coach was easily one of my favorite parts of high school.

• My twin sister and I lived with our grandparents the last couple of months of senior year. My dad's work moved him to Houston, and they graciously let Danielle and I finish our school year out before moving us too.
• While living with my grandparents, we each gained a solid 5-10 pounds. That's probably the chubbiest I have ever been. Sports were over and my Nana made us all of this delicious food... what are twins to do?! My Nana likes to give me a hard time because I gained that 5-10 pounds all in my face... sad but true! As soon as we graduated and moved, we lost the extra poundage.

Ahh, high school. So many memories. I know everyone is always so excited to graduate and get the heck out of their hometowns, but I would go back in a heartbeat. Those were the days!

One Year Ago Today...

...life changed forever. August 11, 2014 was the day we found out we were pregnant with our first baby! If you've read this blog for any length of time, you know we lost our first baby girl to a chromosomal defect called triploidy. We made it through almost half the pregnancy before God decided to bring her home early.

It's crazy to think it's been a year since this whole journey started. Honestly, today does not make me sad. Sure I would love to be staring at sweet chubby cheeks and kicking legs as I think back on this day a year ago, but just the memory of how that day went down is enough to make me smile. 

In the spirit of feeling nostalgic, I thought I would share how I remember that day and our honest reactions to that positive pee stick. 

We had only been living in Virginia a little over a month, and Parker was busy with furniture projects. He had just built our new coffee table (I think...he built a lot during that time frame, so it could have been a different piece of furniture that day) and was painting it while I worked in my office. I was always late but had taken a negative pregnancy test just 4 days before, so I wasn't thinking much of it. 

The fumes from the paint were really strong, and I was worried they might harm the baby if there actually was a baby, so I decided to take another test on a whim. I took the test, left it on the counter, and walked back into my office to check a couple of emails. When I walked back in, clear as day, a big 'ole plus sign was staring straight at me. What?! 

I grabbed the test, ran to Parker, handed it to him, and started crying. Even when you are trying to get pregnant, nothing can prepare you for the sheer shock and awe of seeing a positive test. Parker laughed, we hugged, and it's all kind of a blur from there. We went to the back of the house to get away from the paint fumes and just couldn't believe it. We took a walk after I was having a hard time sitting still, and pretty much every conversation from there on out was about this exciting/terrifying/shocking/amazing news we had just found out. 

A year ago today was the first day of the new normal. Life hasn't been the same since and never will be, but I am so grateful a year ago today was not just another Monday. As crazy as it sounds, there are couples out there who would love to have gone on the journey we did. We got to be pregnant and create a life, and it's something I don't take for granted. This past year has been the hardest yet most rewarding year of my life, and I wouldn't take back a single day. August 11th, 2014 will always be one of the happiest days of our lives!

Favorite Dad Memory

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NauticaforDad #CollectiveBias
It's hard to pick a favorite memory when it comes to my dad because he's always been my anchor in this life. He's the first man I ever loved and has always put us kids first in everything he does. He's also pretty darn hysterical, so laughs are never in short supply when he's around. With Father's Day coming up, I thought I would share my favorite memory with my favorite dad. In a sea of so many great memories, this one will always stand out...
Our father/daughter dance at my wedding. 

While we were planning the wedding, I asked my dad to pick the song that we would dance to. I knew it would be way more special if he picked it than if I did, and I couldn't wait to hear what he chose. A few weeks later, he sent me the song he had chosen for us. My Little Girl by Tim McGraw. I was obsessed. I just love that song and four years later still get chills when I hear it and think of that special day.

I can't imagine how hard it would be to give your daughter away to be married. For 22 years, he led me, protected me, and loved me unconditionally, and now he was entrusting another man to do the same. Dad was always supportive of my relationship with Parker and thinks the world of his son-in-law, but I don't know if that makes giving your baby away any easier.

Before the song ended, my dad looked at me and said "You ready?". I nodded as I fought back tears, and he walked over to Parker, shook his hand, and let us finish out the dance. As you can see in the picture below, I was in tears (ugly crying face, party of one). I just love my dad. No matter how old I get or how many years I am married and living away from home, I'll always be his little girl. 

I was walking through Macy's the other day while I was waiting for my car to get an oil change (grown up problems) and came across this Nautica Voyage Gift Set. Since Dad has always been my anchor in life, I couldn't think of a more suitable gift. 

I've always had an obsession with anchors and anything nautical. I was a Delta Gamma in college and now am married to the Navy, so the anchor just fits (hence the blog name). The Nautica Voyage Gift Set screamed clear, confident, and inspired, which I think perfectly describes my dad. Not to mention, the set smells amazing! So clean and masculine. 

Here's where I found it at Macy's:

We are excited to host my parents in our new home in a couple of weeks, and this set will be waiting for my Dad when he arrives! Dad, thanks for being the dream dad and my real life hero. You are loved!


Nautica for Dad