Nautical napkins 'n' plates

The girls and I ran over to the local party favors store and they had these too-cute napkins and plates in (what else?!?) NAUTICAL prints :)

Sailin' fun scrapbook stickers

This past weekend I went to the local craft supplies store in search of miscellaneous items and I stopped in the scrap-booking isle to see what they had. I'm not a scrap-booker myself but I do enjoy adorning my letters to my deployed honey with navy and nautical themed stickers...and that's exactly what I found!

And, or course, I had my camera with me in the store so I took some pics and wanted to share. (sorry if some of them aren't totally clear)

Hubby's home away from home...

While my husband is on deployment, he's spending his six months on the USS Abraham Lincoln. This aircraft carrier is home to thousands of sailors and is truly a city in and of itself. I've included some amazing photos, all courtesy of Navy.mil

I'm a proud wife and a proud citizen of the United States...so I just had to share :)

And he's off...

The past month has been amazing. In August, my sailor came home from across the country to pack up our Scion xB (a.k.a the box or toaster) and travel up the West Coast to our duty station (new place of residence for up to 4 years) in Everett, WA. We explored the area and enjoyed doing everyday things TOGETHER; menial tasks such as grocery shopping and haircuts have been done solo for six months so we've developed an appreciation for one another's company.
Anyway, not two days after we arrived, we received orders that my hubby would be leaving again within two weeks. With that in mind, we made the most of it with plenty of sightseeing, picture taking, hand holding, huggling (hugging+snuggling combo word) and sushi (our favorite!) We hoped that our efforts would prepare us for what was to come: his first deployment.

After little - and mostly restless - sleep the night before his departure, we awoke at 4:40am, gathered the few remaining items, hustled out the door and headed to the Naval base. We said our goodbyes with tear-filled eyes, all while trying to keep our public displays of affection professional in the eyes of the military...all I can say is, this whole deployment stuff is TOUGH!
So it goes. Let the next six months begin. And end. Quickly!