June is Crazy!

June has been and will always be a CRAZY month!

I went on a cruise to Bermuda for a week, which was amazing! The island was SO beautiful. If it wasn't so expensive to live there, I'd want to move like NOW. I just posted the pictures on facebook. For those of you not on facebook, if you want to see them just comment to this post and I can e-mail them to you :) Here's my favorite picture from the trip.



In June we celebrate my birthday (16th), our anniversary (21st), and Nate's birthday (yesterday the 29th)! All of the celebrations were wonderful and we appreciate all the cards and messages we received! I so nice to feel loved :)

In other news, we bought a new computer for Nate's anniversary/birthday gift. He's pretty excited to not have to deal with the old computer anymore. I'm glad to help prevent an ulcer :) Nate's sister, Tricia, is in town for a few weeks so we spent last Saturday at Six Flags with his family! And on Monday Nate got to shoot "big" guns and throw a hand grenade! I'm a little jealous I couldn't participate :)

Currently we're looking forward to celebrating the 4th with family and having 4 days off! In a row. Nate couldn't be more excited. Enjoy Independence Day and thank the Lord (and a Marine) for our freedom! We'll catch ya'll in July!

2 Years!

It's funny how different people look at things. Some people can't believe it's already been two years since our wedding. Some people feel like it's been ages. To some we're still perceived as newlyweds, but to others it's like we've always been married.

I find myself somewhere in the middle of the extremes, but either way two years ago today I married my best friend. Our marriage is a blessing and a joy far beyond what I deserve. It's been a wonderful two years.

Thanks to all of you who shared that day with us. Especially thanks to those who continue to pray for us and build us up as a couple. Our marriage wouldn't be the same without you.

I love you, Nathan James!

My turn...

So, this is my first post...Jaime's done so well so far, I hope I don't ruin it! Haha.
Here's the low down for the past week or so. I have been going to the rifle and pistol ranges every for about 2 weeks now, and for the most part it's fun. I'm being paid to hike around with at least 40 pounds of gear on and shoot guns all day. Now mind you, they're long days. I normally get up around 0330 for mandatory breakfast (mando chow). Then we step off from the barracks around 0550 and start shooting at the range about 0730. Then I'll normally get home sometime after 1900, but the latest it's been is 2100. Needless to say, I'm a little tired.

There are three levels of shooting badges in the Marine Corps; Marksman, Sharpshooter, and Expert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marksmanship_Badge_(United_States)#United_States_Marine_Corps The link will take you to wikipedia where you can find a photo of both of the badges I earned. I qualified as a sharpshooter on the rifle and on the pistol. "Every Marine a rifleman"; but not every Marine an expert rifleman. Lol.

So for the past week, Jaime has been on a cruise with her sister, Brittany. That's right, your read correctly, a cruise. To where you ask? To Bermuda! While I suffer out in the sun all day. How dare she...am I laying it on a little too thick? In all seriousness though, I'm excited to see her photos and to hear all about it. I'm sure she'll update you all on how it was. She comes home tomorrow, yay! I've missed her; however, all the Marines at work think it was kind of rude of her to leave me and go to Bermuda while I was busting my butt on the ranges all week. Whatever, she deserves it. She's a great lady! Alright, I need to get back to cleaning the house up before she comes back. I hope this post has enlightened you a little as to what I'm going through at TBS and I hope to be able to take the time to write some more. Thanks for tuning in!

Delta Company Newletter

 
Here's the link to the first issues of the Delta Co. newsletter. Enjoy!
 

Memorial Day Weekend

Having a spouse in the military has its advantages, like 4-day holidays and free tickets to Busch Gardens. This Memorial Day we took advantage of both!

Nate started out the holiday Thursday in a TBS formation where they remembered and honored the officers who'd gone through TBS and moved on to paid the ultimate sacrifice. I know he felt privileged to be a part of it.

Friday we kicked off our 4 days off at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. It looked like rain all morning, but it turned out to be the perfect day for an amusement park and it wasn't all that crowded since schools aren't out yet and it was a Friday. It was a wonderful day of fun together! Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

Bald eagle sanctuary - these birds can't fly so Busch Gardens gives them a home.

My face after watching a Bald Eagle walk...it's very similar to the vultures in The Jungle Book. I just thought they'd be more graceful.

Us enjoying our day at the park.

A 12-week old fox. SO cute!

The insane roller coaster that Nate rode. For 250-feet you're looking straight down at the ground.

After our lovely day at the park we met my parents at Cozy Acres Campground in Powhatan, Va. for the remainder of the weekend. It was a great time of rest and relaxation. There were 4 couples on the trip, of which we were by far the youngest. We had a great time in fellowship, reading, eating, walking (so we didn't feel so bad about eating more!), and just enjoying one another. Sunday we enjoyed sitting in a gazebo after breakfast having church - you're going to have church on vacation if you go with the pastor :) My parents pastor shared a passage that had struck him that morning out of Romans 8 and we all sat around discussing it for a while. Then, we took turns praying for each couple as a group. It was so intimate and refreshing. A nice break from the usual big church experience.

We packed up and came home yesterday to spend the afternoon relaxing before the LONG, EXHAUSTING 2.5 weeks at the range that begun today. We were so blessed to have this time and enjoyed every minute of it!

In honor of Memorial Day, we'd like to say Thank You to those who have died protecting our country, to those who are willing to today, and to their families. We'd also like to say thank you for all of your support as we begin our career in the military. It's an honor and a privilege to serve you. We hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day!