Catching up...the wedding!

Philip refereeing Andy & Ashley's wedding!

For the fifth weekend in a row, last weekend I got X-rayed by TSA and boarded an aircraft for locations beyond the TX state line.  This time it was a quick trip one state over, but I knew I had to be there.  My Godson, Andy, asked me to be present at his wedding to Ashley at my mom and dad's house.  How could I say "no"?!

This is a second marriage for both of them so the setting was much more relaxed and very much non-traditional.  Well, for south Louisiana, maybe not so non-traditional!  Andy and Ashley both love the Saints so they had sport-themed nuptials.  Although Andy's brother Philip did hold the whistle in his mouth during the ceremony, there were no flags on the play and the Justice of the Peace pulled off the union without delay :-)

Ashley, Andy and Bryley.

The wedding was small and limited to close friends and family, but the small size kept it meaningful and joyous.  Ashley's daughter Bryley dressed up like a cheerleader and wore herself out running around and celebrating.  As usual, my mom put in a ton of time and love to make sure everything was just right from the yard to the food.  She always downplays her role in these events, but Mom puts her heart and soul into accommodating her children and grandchildren.  As always, the decorations were great, the food delicious and her yard looked amazing.  I don't know how she does it!!

It was great getting to meet Ashley's family and getting to know the important people in her life.  I'm looking forward to many more celebrations that bring the two families together.

The groom's family.

I was only in Louisiana for about 24 hours, but each trip home is worth every minute I get to spend with my family.  I hope that Andy and  Ashley have many years of happiness together and that they tackle life's challenges together as a team.  Yes, that pun was intended!



Food and photography

Workshop location:  Dream Big beach house.

After only two full days in San Antonio, I got back on an airplane and headed east once again.  This time, I flew out to the Florida/Alabama Gulf Coast for a food photography workshop.  Don’t roll your eyes; you know your mouth waters whenever you see a great food picture in a magazine or online!  It may sound a bit geeky to some of you, but with as much as I enjoy food and telling stories, it was a natural progression.  I’ve always loved photography, and now that I’m shooting with a sophisticated camera again, I really wanted to learn how to produce photos that capture the way my mind experiences culinary adventures. 

Helene demonstrating styling and shooting!

During my convalescence from hip surgery about a year and a half ago, I had purchased a book titled Plate to Pixel by Helene Dujardin.  She is a professional food photographer who also maintains a cool foodblog.  As I followed her blog, I discovered that she taught food photography workshops several times a year.  Since I was right there in North Carolina, I signed up for one she was putting on in Charleston, SC.  Unfortunately, I ended up deploying the same weekend as the workshop, but Helene was kind enough to give me a rain check for the workshop this weekend. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This dessert tasted way better than it looks in my pic :-(

So, after more than a year of waiting for professional guidance, I finally participated in her workshop, which was conducted at a beach house on Gulf Shores, AL.  The seminar was co-taught with another professional food photographer/blogger named Clare Barboza.  Whereas Helene is a pastry chef turned food photographer, Clare’s background in art brings out more of the backstory of food instead of recipes.  Although their approaches to food and bringing its story to life are different, both seem to arrive with very similar accounts and philosophies.  The dynamic duo of these two talented women, coupled with the equally gifted culinary assistants of Laura and Libby, produced an informative and fun educational experience embedded in four days of great food and company! 

Antipasta shooting assignment.

There were a dozen attendees whose backgrounds included professional, as well as para-professional, photographers and bloggers,  restaurant owners, chefs and hobbiest.  Even with so much variation in experiences, Helene and Clare were able to address each of our talent levels and facilitate the transition of each individual into his/her next level of mastery.  They accomplished this through assisted assignments.  Having just gone through training on how to be an effective instructor, I appreciated the thoughtfulness and structure of the exercises.  The first two were on our own after a didactic overview of lighting, depth of field, composition and styling.  I struggled with the dessert assignment but seemed to find some vision for the anti pasta shoot.  Although the amount of food manhandling that occurred while we positioned the food for each shoot dissuaded group consumption most of the time, I was relieved to find that their food styling techniques weren’t overly artificial.  I’ve read accounts of photographed foods being primped with hairspray, paint, fake parts and other non edible means which strikes me as dishonest.  I'm inevitably disappointed when food I buy or am served in a restaurant doesn’t look like its advertisement pictures.  Instead of food trying to look like its marketing pictures, I prefer for my pictures to be a real, albeit somewhat refined, representation of the food it depicts; Helene and Clare showed me the way!  Of course, I’m not trying to make a living off my photos or the foods in them, so I have the luxury of my altruistic view! 

Bread company assignment.

After the individual assignments, we were paired with another attendee for the next two shoots.  For the first, I was the photographer and my partner, Sharon, was the food stylist.  Our guidance was “product shoot, bread company, rustic French kitchen.” 

 

Not contemporary, but it is light and airy!

For the second shoot, I was the stylist and Sharon was the photographer.  Our direction was “editorial spread, healthy eating, light airy and contemporary.”  Although I struggled as a stylist, Sharon and I collaborated to a successful final product.  Both she and I tend to gravitate towards rustic more than contemporary, so we shot a few in that style as well, as depicted in the accompanying photo. 

Ugly can challenge....budget Italian wedding soup.

The final photo shoot of the workshop was the “ugly can challenge.”  We had to each choose one of over a dozen budget, canned soups lined up on the counter and present a photo that could be used by the manufacturer in a marketing ad.  My challenge was a can of Italian wedding soup.  I’ll let you decide if I met the challenge or not…. 

Gulf Shores, AL beach.

Overall, I spent a satisfying four days on the Gulf Coast.  The weather was cooperative, the company animated, the instruction exemplary, and the food decadent.  Even though I don’t earn an income off my culinary reproductions, I felt like my time was well-spent and my experience-repertoire enhanced by the trip J    

 

Just to prove that I'm not alone in my food and photography fascination, here are links to the websites of other participants...

Nancy, Janice, Paola, Jerry, Gale, Marilyn, and Tiffany.  Enjoy!

 

 

East Coast

Karla & Jim on USS Wasp

Both professional and personal commitments took me out east for the last week.  I flew out to VA for a conference that I've attended annually for the last several years.  This year, the location changed from Las Vegas to Norfolk, and the purpose went from being critical to the performance of my job to being a self-funded continuing education opportunity.  I have earned and maintained several certifications over time that enable me to stay informed, current and connected in the overlapping fields of nutrition and human performance.  Maintaining certifications in these two fields however, is both time-consuming and expensive.  So although the conference wasn't at a resort in Vegas this year, the fact that it was in Norfolk persuaded me that it was worth the effort since I could combine it with a visit to Jim & Karla's!

I arrived the weekend prior to the conference to spend some quality time with Jim & Karla.  Jim had duty on the ship one day, so Karla and I brought him lunch to eat with him on the USS Wasp.  After lunch, he gave us a tour and explained his role onboard.  Having been an aviation sailor, and a land-based one at that, I had never been on an active Navy ship.  I found the environment and facilities fascinating, but I'm still thankful that my brown shoe Navy service didn't include ship time.  Don't get me wrong, I love the water and have no problem living in austere environments, but I don't think having such little personal space for such long periods of time would be that much fun.

Karen, Robyn and Jon.

The conference itself was informative and nostalgic.  Although my new position still involves performance, the focus and environment is quite different.  It was great to catch up with numerous colleagues and friends from my time with the THOR3 program as well as from the US Olympic Committee.  It really is amazing how small and intertwined the human performance community is.  The presentations and interactions rekindled a spark in me for educating and facilitating passion for performance in others.  The combination of quality time spent with Jim and Karla, Rob & Barb and a satisfying conference certainly made the time, effort and money invested worthwhile.

Jess and Dano.

The cherry on top of this great week was that it coincided with Jess's baby shower.  Yes, I know what you're thinking...Karen...baby shower?!  I'll admit I do have a bit of an aversion to showers of any type, but I knew that with Christi hosting, there was no way the shower would be traditional.  I was not disappointed!  I drove a rental car from Norfolk to Fayetteville where I got to hang out with Christi the night before the shower.  Although the weekend was filled with the all-day BBQ/shower at Jess and Dano's, I still managed to catch up with my Airborne buddy, Bridget, and her husband Will.  It never ceases to amaze me how flexible my military friends are.  After finding out at 9:00 pm that I was in town for such a short period of time, she invited me over for breakfast with her and Will at 9:00 am the next morning.  Now that's a good friend!  It was a short visit, but enough time for us to get caught up.

Christi, Jess and Karen

As for the shower, you know it's not going to be a traditional party of games and etiquette when a keg of beer and wine table is involved!  Similar to Whit and Kathie's baby shower years ago, it was an outdoor event for both adults and kids celebrating the impending arrival of another Ranger into this world.  With the distinguished careers and characters of both Jess and Dano, we will now forever refer to them as hero-makers :-)

It seems that every important event I wanted to attend in 2013 is inconveniently bunched into April and May.  I tried to triage them and figure out if there were any I could cut out to facilitate an easier transition into my new job.  Ultimately, I decided that they all bring value to my life, either professionally or personally (and in some cases both), so I will continue to juggle them with my new responsibilities and make it work.  The type A personality in me is cringing, but the little bubble on my interior level is floating with glee that I'm participating in these events that help bring balance to my life.

CDR Robinson.... Honor and Respect

Family entrance.  Photo by Maile Geis.

Where do I even start with this story? 

Perhaps at the beginning.  1994.  AT2 Daigle lived in one of the nicest apartment buildings in Fuenta Bravia, a little town just out the back gate of NAS Rota, Spain.  I was an E-5 in the Navy drawing flight pay, and due to frequent deployments involving flights over Bosnia, collecting hazardous duty pay and tax-free status.  Because of all this "extra" income, I was able to afford an expensive, sweet apartment right on the beach.  Most of the other occupants of the building were either summering Spaniards or Navy officers.

Whit receiving Seebee plague.  Photo by Maile Geis.

Enter one of the apartment complex tenants:   LT Whit Robinson.  From the moment we met, we were like brother and sister.  For those of you who think men and women can't possibly be "just friends", I have proof of several such relationships in my life.  I truly feel sorry for you if you've never had a platonic best friend of the opposite sex, because my relationships with Jim, Rob, Dave, Whit and a few others, are some of the most rewarding relationships of my life.  Because of Whit, I became not just a better NCO (non-commissioned officer) but a better person in general.  So many philosophical talks, adventures and shenanigans... 

And so, 19 years later, I found myself flying out to San Diego to attend his military retirement.  Because I'm in a training course that allows absolutely NO absences, I informed Whit a few weeks ago that I would not be able to attend. The universe conspired however, and I was able to miss a day of training to fly out West for the big event.  Kathie and I kept it a secret and surprised the crap out of him!

Whit presenting flag to Kathie.  Photo by Maile Geis

 Rewind to May of 2001.  I was a civilian and graduating with my undergraduate from LSU.  Second to enlisting in the Navy, earning a college degree was one of the most significant events in my life.  It was at this momentous occasion, surrounded by the best of friends and family, Whit brought a date; the love of his life.  And so it was, at my undergraduate graduation, I met Kathie.  I don't think Whit could've ever envisioned the friendship that Kathie and I would forge over the years.  We instantly hit it off, and from that day forward, have relentlessly ganged up on Whit!

As relayed by one of the guest speakers at Whit's retirement ceremony, Kathy has saved Whit from many a falling anvil (think of Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoon).  Kathie has been the perfect anchor to Whit's magnificently creative brain.  I can't imagine a better pairing.



Post ceremony flash mob!  Photo by Maile Geis

One of the things I love about the military, and particularly about the Navy, are the customs and traditions that ground us to a profession of arms.  I have known many people who just like to fade away once their 20+ years of military service is complete.  But to them, I counter that fading away is disrespecting the Service.  The coming together for a retirement is really a show of respect to the military and all those who have come before you.  Yes, it gives a sense of closure and "moving on" for the family, but ultimately, participating in the pomp and circumstance is a show of respect and a display of honor to the profession of selfless service.  I am not melodramatic.  I do not use the phrase "selfless service" flippantly.  Whit and Kathie both sacrificed during Whit's military service, particularly during his year in Afghanistan.  The dangers were very real; the sacrifices made for each other during that time were as real as it gets. 

Whit and Karen, numerous years and ranks later!  Photo by Maile Geis.

 CDR King, LCDR Bartlett and CAPT Medved captured the essence of Whit through their guest speeches.  With what I guestimate was 100+ people in attendance at the ceremony, it was so cool to hear different sections chuckle while different stories were told by the guest speakers.  Each one, in turn, successfully relayed the shenanigans, and leadership, of Whit during different times in his career.  Whit was a significant factor to me going to college.  Not only did he encourage my pursuit of education, he was the one with whom I raised my right hand so he could commission me into the US Army.  Oh, and did I mention there was a flash mob at the end of the ceremony to the song "Do the Hustle"!!!  

And so it was that I found myself in full ASUs (Army Service Uniform) on a chilly San Diego day, choking back tears as the US flag was respectfully passed from one Naval Officer to another, under music and oratory, to the awaiting hands of Whit; which he promptly transferred to the hands of the mother of his children. 

Anticipating Texas....Photo by Maile Geis.

Once the official duties were done, we retreated to Whit & Kathie's party yard for the after-hours party!  Whit's post-retirement job will bring him and the family to Houston, TX!!  Finally, we'll all live in the same state again!  Great food, adult beverages, and eclectic company provided for a memorable evening of celebrating Whit into the civilian world. 

Whit showing us construction site.

Before the weekend would end, we persuaded Whit to take a few of us on a tour of the Camp Pendelton Hospital Replacement Project.  Whit has been heading up this $450 million project for the last 3 years.  Impressive just doesn't capture the scope.  An impeccable safety record, fiscally responsible and ahead of schedule, this project is an appropriate ending to Whit's stellar career.

So with great joy and respect, I wish Whit, Kathie, Cal and Naomi a successful transition into the civilian sector and the next chapter in their lives.  I have no doubt they'll be just as successful in their new adventures as they have been in the past!

Congratulations Whit & Kathie! 

Oh, and kudos to Maile Geis for the great pictures of the day!  Please visit her website at www.mailegeisphotography.com to see her impressive portfolio of subjects in the San Diego area.

 

Quality Sister-time!

Solar-powered.  If the sun is up, shining and heating up the day, then my sister and I are up, shining and heating up the day!  Once darkness falls, or the temperature drops however, so do we.  Monica and I share a lot of characteristics, the most significant of which is that we both love the heat, and despise the cold, in a way that we are unable to articulate.  Temperatures below 70 degrees is meant to be spent inside fantasizing about what we will do once the mercury rises!

Fortunately, when Monica arrived in San Antonio on Friday afternoon, the city was in the mid-80s and beckoning us to outdoor dining and drinking.  We started a progressive dinner of fish tacos and margaritas at Rosario's, followed by dessert and drinks back on the Riverwalk.  Great company, food, drinks and stories left us with our faces hurting from laughing so hard!

Though Saturday morning greeted us with chilly temperatures and overcast skies, we were undaunted on our quest to visit the Riverwalk again for photo ops and a visit to the Farmer's Market.  The Farmer's Market is located at The Pearl Brewery, which originally opened in 1883 on the site now just known as the "Pearl" along the San Antonio River.  Although Pabst took over the brewery in 1985, it shut down operations at the Pearl in 2001.  Twelve years later, the site is a hip area of stores, restaurants and tenant buildings.  Its diverse list of tenants include the Culinary Institute of America, the Aveda Institute, the Boiler House and Green restaurants as well as a bunch of eclectic shops. 

There is a B-Cycle bicycle rental station where you can rent bicycles for a few hours or the whole day on which to explore the Riverwalk and Pearl area.  With so much to see and do, we started off at the Farmer's Market and worked our way down to the fish art exhibit under the overpass.  The fish were damaged in a violent wind-storm that passed through San Antonio last month, but the original artist came out and fixed them last week.  The Riverwalk really is a beautiful path to stroll, run or ride a bike.

Spring is definitely in the air as evidenced by all the ducklings!  We stumbled upon this momma with about eight little ducklings soaking up the sun.  It took all morning, but the sun finally burned through the overcast clouds hanging in the sky.  After a little pastry snack at the Culinary Institute of America's cafe, we pointed the car northeast and headed towards winery country. 

It really is amazing how much the landscape changes and unfolds as you drive north from San Antonio into hill country.  Although I didn't see fields of bluebonnets like I had hoped, there were several small patches along the way that made a beautiful showing.  We followed the rolling hills past Canyon Lake to visit Duchman and Driftwood Wineries.  We enjoyed lunch at the Italian restaurant and beautiful Italian landscaping on the grounds of Duchman more than we enjoyed the wines, so we moved on to Driftwood for the remainder of the afternoon.

As you can see from the great view in this pic, the Driftwood Estate Winery tasting room overlooks the vineyards and neighboring farms, including a herd of goats that provided hours of entertainment as they moved from one end of a field to the other.  After a few glasses of wine, the social structure and leadership of a goat herd can take on the qualities of a sitcom!  I do have to confess conjuring up images of last weekend's cabrito burger as I watched them :-)  We enjoyed the wine and scenery for much of the afternoon in the company of lots of other folks doing the same.  Next time I know to bring a blanket and picnic lunch for the outing.

Sunday morning greeted us with temps in the 40s and a wind that made it feel in the 30s.  I know I'm getting no sympathy from my friends up North and to the East, but after the 90 degree Saturday spent soaking up sun in flip flops, it felt absolutely arctic here!  Propelled by grumbling stomachs and desire to experience a new restaurant in San Antonio, Monica and I braved the cold and made our way back to the San Antonio River for brunch at Guenther House.  Listed on the Registrar of Historic Places, Carl Hilmar Guenther, the founder of Pioneer Flour Mills, built this landmark home in 1859.  It's been beautifully maintained and the restaurant associated with it routinely shows up in any "best breakfast in San Antonio" list.  Although the wait was a bit excessive (due to seating mix-ups as much as capacity), when we finally got breakfast, it satisfied our taste buds and appetites.  What did we have for breakfast at the restaurant of a flour mill?  Why, big, fat, fluffy biscuits, that's what we had!  I've only had decent biscuits and gravy once or twice in my life, but this place certainly did it up right. 

Unfortunately, Monica's weekend with me came to an end as I dropped her off at the airport after breakfast.  Hopefully it was just the first of many visits to San Antonio for her (hint, hint!).  Oh, and the pic of me waiting for our table at the Guenther House is for my Dad, he wanted to see my new cowboy boots :-)

Savor the day everyone!! 

Leisurely TX weekend

No, I did not deface the cactus, it was already like that!

Periodically, both enlisted and officers go through professional development courses throughout their careers.  On Friday, I "graduated" from a nine week company grade officer leadership course.  Fortunately for me, this course was here at Fort Sam Houston, so I didn't have to live in temporary lodging while attending.  Although not particularly arduous, I had to substitute a good portion of my recreational reading with required reading for the program.  So, to celebrate the return of leisure reading of my choice, a friend and I headed to the hill country for a little exploring.

Yesterday was a beautiful 80 degree, cloudless sky event.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for the 6 mile hike through Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera County. There weren't many flowers blooming yet, but the stark scenery was still beautiful and inviting.  Although we hiked the limestone trail at a leisurely pace, we still worked up an appetite and thirst for our next stop- Mac & Ernie's Roadside Eatery.  This little kitchen shack located on FM470 has been featured on The Food Network and the Travel Channel. 

Guy Fieri ate here (and apparently left a sign- see pic) for his show Diner's, Drive-Ins and Dives as did Andrew Zimmern for Bizarre Foods. I'll admit that goat isn't a meat you regularly find on American menus, but to this Cajun girl, the Cabrito burger I ate there didn't seem very bizarre at all.  In fact, it was quite tasty and provided the perfect accompaniment to my Shiner Bock brew.

Mac & Ernie's had a great local feel to it.  The lime green table tops, lemon yellow 1950s style dining chairs and order ticket conveyor belt, featuring a yellow goat dropping the order ticket off to the cooks, just made the whole place feel fun.  The fact that the food and service was great was just lagniappe!

As we continued down 470, we spied some interesting sites along the road.  We did a double-take and actually turned the car around to go back and take a picture of this scarecrow maw and paw farmer hay bale holder.  Teamwork! 

The other interesting site was a couple of different locations where coyotes hung from fence posts along the road.  We wondered what they meant.  Was there a competition amongst ranchers for who could kill the most coyotes?  Was this a way for the county to keep track of the coyote population and kills?  The all-knowing Google revealed that ranchers kill the predators after they've attacked their livestock and then hang them upside down on fence posts in the area as a deterrent.  Apparently, other coyotes come and sniff the carcasses and realize that this may not be the best place for them to seek their next meals.  Whether it works or not, I'm not sure, but the suspended, decaying carcasses certainly make for interesting road side sites.

 

The final stop of the day was wine tasting at the Bending Branch Winery.  We couldn't have asked for a better setting to imbibe some great local spirits.  We sampled wines under shade trees on an outside deck while being serenaded by a local musician playing acoustic guitar.  The breeze and warmth made the whole experience feel absolutely decadent.  Of the whites and reds we sampled, my favorites were the Vermentino (white grapes of Mediterranean origin) and the Tempranillo (a red reminiscent of my favorite Spanish Riojas).    As daylight drew down, we pointed the car towards San Antonio feeling satisfied with the physically active, yet gastronomically rewarding day.

 

 

 

  

   

It's taken a couple of months, but San Antonio is feeling like home already.  Everything is within convenient distance from my house- supermarket, gym, work, runs, riding, etc.  I think that the required reading of TX civil war battles for the career course I'm in right now combined with the overall satisfaction I feel for my current environment is endearing me to the Lone Star state.  For those of you who relocate regularly, I'm sure you can appreciate how slowly the acclimation process can be.  My previous strategy of getting out and playing tourist in my new locale has helped me to adjust even quicker than usual.

In deference to the age-old tactic of going to the high ground to get a feel for new terrain, I went to the top of the 750 foot Tower of the Americas.  From the Chart House Bar, we sipped wine and enjoyed the view of the Alamo City below us against the backdrop of the restaurant one floor below us rotating ever so slowly.  You can see some of the great vintage photos of the city displayed on the restaurant walls reflected in the windows in this pic.  If you go there, the tower of lump crab meat, mango and avocado appetizer is delicious!

Starting with Mission San Antonio de Valero (AKA the Alamo), the largest concentration of Catholic missions in North America is strung along the San Antonio River.  Built around the 1700s, these compounds served to further the Spanish empire as well as to "civilize" and convert American Indians.  The combination of encroaching nomadic tribes from the north and European diseases introduced by the Spanish caused the local Coahuiltecans to be relatively willing recruits for the missionaries.  In exchange for labor and conversion to Catholicism, Indians received food and refuge within the missions run by the Franciscan friars.  I'm piecemealing my tour of the missions over different visits.  Around the holidays, I explored the downtown Riverwalk area with a friend and saw the Alamo lit up at night.  This weekend, we explored Mission Concepcion and Mission San Jose during a bike ride along the San Antonio River.   

Other than the 6 hour wait at the Department of Public Safety to obtain a TX driver's license, most of my indoctrination to Texas life has been quite enjoyable.  I bought my first pair of cowboy boots and a belt complete with a bling buckle from the quintessential Western clothing store Cavender's.  In response to several requests for pictures of said boots, you'll just have to wait for another post :-)

The next highly Texan event was the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo last weekend.  A friend scored VIP tickets 6 rows up from the dirt arena so my first rodeo experience was up close and personal to the action!  Although bull-riding, calf-roping and barrel racing were entertaining, I thought that the 4 and 5 year old mutton-busters took the show.  The crowd went crazy as most of the child riders rose from the dirt with hands held up triumphantly after holding on to their sheep for as long as possible.

The rodeo experience ended with a 1.5 hour Toby Keith concert.  Whether you like country music or not, there's no denying that this singer and songwriter genuinely appreciates men and women serving the U.S.  San Antonio showed its appreciation for his decade of commitment to service members through USO tours and awareness by breaking the all-time rodeo attendance record for his concert.  His cowboy themed songs like "Beer for my horses," "Should've been a cowboy" and "I love this bar" inspired the buckle wearing crowed.  But it was "Courtesy of the red, white and blue" and "American Soldier" that brought the patriotic crowd to its feet.  He had special seating ringing the stage right on the dirt floor brought in for area Wounded Warriors and even brought them all up on stage for the last couple of songs.  It was a great concert and fun weekend.

I'm making no promises, but I'll try to be more diligent with my postings for those of you who continue to tune in!
 

2013

 
 

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and was surrounded by people whose company you truly enjoy and presence you genuinely cherish.  The holidays that fall on the calendar between late November and early January mean many different things to different people, but for me it’s all about re-connecting with family; reliving old family traditions and creating new ones for the next generation.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was Christmas Eve at Aunt Ruth and Pyran Wayne’s house.  There was just something magical about this much-anticipated event on December 24^th every year.  From as far back as my memory can reach all the way up to coming home on leave from the Navy, we’d get all dressed up, load up the car and make our way towards a gathering of family and food.  In the midst of all this visiting and gift-giving, we’d always take a moment to separate Christmas from my sister’s birthday since a December 24^th birthdate has a way of getting lost in the shuffle.  Time, relocations, schedules and just life in general ended the tradition somewhere along the line, but this year saw a return to the magical Christmas Eve at Aunt Ruth and Pyran Wayne’s house!!  All of the kids are grown now, but gathering family with food and sharing stories and laughter still felt the same.  So many great memories from the past and now being made again!

 

 

 

Mid-November, I made the trip west to check into my new command and set up a household in San Antonio.  With the help of colleagues and friends from work (as well as a nice cop who pulled me over for running a stop sign), it didn’t take me long to find a place to rent in a great location.  My mom came out and helped me unpack my household goods and find a place for them in my new home.  It was a busy and tiring week, but we both enjoyed the quality time together.  Although my mom has only made a couple of moves in her lifetime, she definitely has a knack for establishing a household!  After the boxes were unpacked and things put away, we drove back to Louisiana in time for the Christmas holidays. 

 

 

 

With such an intense and rewarding tour in NC from which to launch, I feel potential all around me in this new location and opportunity.  So, with the flip of a page on the calendar, a fresh year is spread out before me.  My wish for all of you is the same as it is for me- that all obstacles will be viewed as welcomed challenges and that each day ends with the feeling that your presence in it mattered.  Here’s to a fun and prosperous 2013!