Army Marriage-What a ride!

I think the title says it all…over the weekend Chris and I attended a married couples reunion retreat in Myrtle Beach sponsored by the Army. The retreat was focused on bringing couples who had been separated by deployment together for some relaxation and inspiration to build a “forever love”, as the Chaplin called it. It happened to be “Bike Week” at the beach so there were lots of motorcycles and bikers around, it also lead to the theme for the retreat. We checked into our ocean view hotel room on Friday around 6pm, went to dinner and then attended the welcome session for the retreat. After that, we were free to enjoy the evening as we pleased so Chris and I took a walk on the beach and listened the sound of the ocean.

On Saturday, we had a morning of sessions focusing on love and respect, followed by a BBQ on the beach and then were free for the rest of the day. Chris and I packed our beach bag and spent the afternoon lying in the sun, walking on the beach and playing Frisbee. We even ventured into the ocean to do a little wave riding and splashed around a bit. It was awesome to just hang out together in such a beautiful setting and enjoy each other’s company. Chris and I both sunscreened up before going to the beach but we didn’t do a very good job of making sure his fair skin was covered completely and he ended up with splotchy sunburns on his arms, chest and neck. After getting cleaned up a bit, we ventured out to the outlet mall and both ended up with a pair of shoes…the Puma store got us! Chris got a pair of golf shoes which I’m sure he will put to good use as he’s been golfing quite a bit lately and I got a cute pair of run-around shoes. After doing our part to stimulate the economy, we went to Melting Pot for dinner. For those of you not familiar with Melting Pot, it’s a fondue restaurant where you cook the food at your table. The booths are cozy and private, perfect for a romantic dinner for two. We ordered the Signature Dinner which included a Gouda cheese course with vegetables and bread, salad and a coq au vin (chicken and wine) broth to cook our meat course in. We both really enjoyed the dinner and we had a great waiter who walked us through the courses.


Sunday started with breakfast and catching up with a couple that we met on our Pre-Cana Course that we took before the wedding, then a worship service and wedding vowel renewal ceremony. That was the end of the retreat part of the weekend so Chris and I packed up the car and decided to spend a couple more hours on the beach before the 2 ½ hour ride home. Overall, we really appreciated the retreat and the time we spent at Myrtle Beach.

At the Melting Pot...you can tell we've both been in the sun!

At the Beach

At the hotel

Hair Cuts!

Today after work I received my first North Carolina hair cut. My last cut was in Ohio in Februrary before I moved so it was defiantely time for a trim! Due to Tim and Danielle's wedding in November, I'm attempting to grow out my hair so I can wear it up if I want...but I'm a fan of short hair so we will see. At the recommendation of a friend at work, I went to Megan at Tangles and she did a great job! This hair cut was a "test" of sorts, I had to make sure she could do a good cut before I get into highlighting and all that other stuff. She listened to me, knew exactly what I wanted to do and was able to make the growing out process look cute.

As for Chris, he gets his hair cut pretty much every single week to keep it at the required airborne length...which is short!

Test Driving some of the Wedding Gifts

Over the weekend Chris and I got adventurous and tried out some of the wedding gifts that we haven’t gotten a chance to use yet. Now, if you are thinking how could they possibly not used all the wedding gifts after 1 ½ years being married, what’s up? We decided that we wouldn’t use any of the wedding gifts until Chris came home from Iraq so everything would be new for both of us when we moved in together…well that took 15 months to happen so in the last three months we’ve been happily using most of the gifts.

On Saturday night we had some friends over to use to deep fryer and the ice cream maker. The weather was beautiful here so we “borrowed” a picnic table from another part of the apartment complex so we could relax outside. Luckily, we had a friend who was able to help Chris carry it over here because that thing was too heavy for me! Chris’ uncle John sent chicken wings from his bar down when Chris came home, thanks John! We wanted to share them with friends so we fried them up along with French fries, cheese sticks, onion rings and cauliflower. Chris was in charge of manning the deep fryer and he did a great job! He tossed the wings in three different sauces (traditional hot sauce, mustard and teriyaki) after cooking them and they turned out great. I believe the mustard sauce was the crowd favorite but I stuck with the traditional because I don’t like mustard.

We also decided to get out the ice cream maker that attaches to my KitchenAid Mixer. To make ice cream, we put a special mixing bowl into the freezer for 15 hours and then made the ice cream mixture (and cooked it, no raw eggs here). We put the mixture in the ice cream maker for about 30 minutes and it came out great! We did a traditional vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberry topping. Everyone enjoyed the food and we enjoyed having friends over for great fun and conversation.

On Monday we broke out another wedding gift, the crockpot. Chris decided that he wanted a roast so I put it in the crockpot with some onions, garlic, celery and carrots Monday before work and let it cook until I got home at 5:30. The roast was plenty done and a little bit dry so I made gravy for it and the mashed potatoes. It was nice to have relatively little to do to prepare dinner instead of working on everything when I get home and I think Chris enjoyed it.

Sewing Projects

About a month ago, I worked on a baby blanket for my friend Abby who is expecting her first baby, Molly Jane, in June. Her baby shower on May 3rd was hosted in Georgia, where Abby and her husband Ed are currently stationed so I mailed the gift to them. Abby has now opened the gift and I’m happy to say that she liked it! When I asked Abby how she was decorating the nursery she said lots of colors and animals but NOT all pink so that is what I tried to do for her! I wanted to add some feminine touches so I added some bows and flowers but kept it pretty simple. (Don’t worry; I made sure everything was secure for the baby!) I hope that Abby and Molly find this quilt to be a source of comfort as they get settled into their new home in Colorado! Here are so photos of the quilt:

View of the whole quilt

Close up of the fabircs and some of the details

I used the different stitch options on the machine to write out Molly's name on the back of the quilt.

Here it is but I couldn't get a very clear photo.

I’ve also been busy working on curtains for the apartment. JoAnn Fabrics was having 50% off home interior fabrics so I stocked up. I had Chris hang the curtain rods a couple of weeks ago to motivate me to finish the curtains and get everything into shape before we start getting guests this summer.

Dinning Room

Dining Room

I used 1 1/2 inch grosgrain ribbon for the tabs at the top

Dinning Room

Guest Bedroom

I still need to work on curtains for the living room and pillows to match but overall, things are really coming together here.

Girls Weekend in DC

On Saturday morning (around 5am), I left for a girls weekend in Washington DC with Kelly and Cari while Chris stayed in NC working on a little project of his own (more about that later). It only took me 4 ½ hours to make the trip to Tysons Corner where our hotel was located so I was there by 9:30am. Kelly and I had requested an early check in and surprisingly our room was ready for us! We had breakfast at the hotel and then took the Metro into the heart of DC to the National Mall (think US Capitol Building, Washington Monument and the Smithsonian, not shopping). When we got off the Metro it was hot, really hot so we took advantage of the free AC in some of the 17 buildings of the Smithsonian! We were able to enjoy the Hope Diamond and plenty of art (both contemporary and traditional). My favorite stop was to see the giant Alexander Calder mobile in the lobby of the I. M. Pei building. I’m always amazed at the balance of his work as it seems to be free floating and light while made of brightly painted metal.

After Kelly and I had enough of the art and the heat, we boarded the Metro to U Street, a historical neighborhood that is being revived with lots of unique shopping and restaurants. While there, we stopped for made from scratch cupcakes at Cake Love Bakery and walked around the neighborhood enjoying the vibe and great architectural details in the row houses. I brought two cupcakes home for Chris to enjoy as his trip treat (I always buy him a little gift when I go out of town).

We returned to our hotel shortly after Cari arrived from Japan so the first thing we did was run to her room for hugs, after all we hadn’t seen her in almost a year! Then we caught up, showered and all three of us went out to dinner at Brio Italian Restaurant in the mall. I had a delicious shrimp risotto and we planned our excursion for the next day, shopping! After dinner, we went back to the hotel and talked until we could barely stay awake which was around midnight…remember Kelly and I had been up since 4am and Cari just completed a trans-Atlantic flight.

On Sunday, we met for breakfast and Kelly and I packed our bags then we hit the mall. Cari doesn’t get many opportunities to shop in Japan because she lives on a relatively small Navy Base so we caught her up on all of the newest trends and our favorite new products. Kelly and I were completely surprised to find a LUSH store in the Tysons Corner Mall. LUSH is an all-natural beauty product company that we fell in love with in London a couple of years ago and they are now branching out to the USA. Their signature product is a “bath bomb” which is the size of a tennis ball and completely dissolves in the bath to make a soothing soak. In true Sonya style, I bought three pairs of shoes on the trip….mainly for work! After a very productive afternoon of shopping, we grabbed a late lunch at a Thai restaurant and then parted our separate ways, Cari to a work conference at the hotel, Kelly home to Pittsburgh and I returned to NC. The trip home went pretty fast, I spent most of the time on the phone catching up with my friend Jen (who will be down to visit this summer) and then hit a massive rain storm about an hour from home but I got home safe and sound by 9pm.

The weekend reminded me how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends that will always be there for me, even if we only see each other every couple of months or years! I truly enjoyed spending time with Cari and Kelly and can’t wait to do so again….next summer in Italy!

And if you’ve been wondering what project Chris worked on while I was gone…he bought a 2008 Fat Bob Harley Davidson motorcycle in Pearl Blue. It is currently being customized at the factory and he is looking forward to riding it in a month or so when it is completed. He had the camera for the weekened for motorcylce comparison so photos will be added when I get copies from Kelly.

Best Husband Ever, Period.

I just wanted to take a minute to brag about the amazing guy that I am married to. Today while I was at work he cleaned the bathroom (including the shower and the toilet), went grocery shopping and was thoughtful enough to get things that weren’t on the list that I enjoy (like grapes), dusted the apartment and disinfected all my kitchen sponges (yes, I’m a freak about this) . All this on his day off…after he had a parachute jump to say Airborne certified yesterday! I am so lucky to have him and very appreciative that I get to spend my next 50+ years with him!

The New Job

I’m sure that many of you have heard that for the last week or so I’ve been gainfully employed again, much to my relief. I was getting bored hanging around all day while Chris was at work! I looked for a job before Chris and I went to Ohio for vacation but I didn’t really find much that suited my skills or interests. Well, all that changed three weeks later when we returned back to NC and I had two job offers and was working a week later! I’ve now been employed for a week as an Inside Sales Representative (and a little HR) for a company that sells cabinets for homes (kitchen, bath, laundry room, home office). The company is family owned and has great values so I’m sure that I’ll fit right in. I’m replacing a woman who is moving out of state to be with her father who is sick, she didn’t want to leave the job but of course family comes first! Everyone that I’ve met and worked with so far has been really accommodating to me and I look forward to learning more about the cabinet industry. After all, I’ve always loved houses and what is inside them! The drawback is it really makes me want to have a place of our own but I keep reminding myself that Chris and I aren’t ready for that step yet. Last week I spent three days in the office learning the ropes and Monday and Tuesday I was out in Wilmington and Myrtle Beach meeting my soon-to-be clients. It was great to be able to put faces to the names that I’ve heard so much about it the very short time I’ve been with the company (and we were able to stay in the family condo directly on the beach in Myrtle Beach….it was awesome!). I’ve also given a couple of interviews because we are looking to fill a position and I’ve learned that I really like that side of the job as well, even though it is completely new to me. I’ll be shadowing the woman I’m replacing until May first and then I’m on my own.