The Sunday before last, November 23, I was able to attend Jeremy’s frocking ceremony at his command.  He got promoted today from Petty Officer Second Class to Petty Officer First Class.  That means he went up one pay grade, from E-5 to E-6. In the Navy every March and September sailors take advancement exams.  Out [...]

Jeremy and I went to two parties today.  First we went to his command’s party at his Master Chief’s house.  We ate turkey and talked and those who wanted to played Guitar Hero (I think that’s what it’s called–where each person plays a different instrument in the band going off of the prompts on screen [...]

Today I was presented with my first ever Letter of Commendation (LOC)! It was to commemmorate that I was selected as the third quarter’s Junior Sailor of the Quarter.  I received the LOC and a nice plaque.  My OIC (Officer in Charge) told me it was to go on my “I Love Me Wall” and [...]

Mom’s been visiting me. She got here on the 14th and she goes back soon.  I’m sorry about that; this visit has seemed so short.  But I’ve really enjoyed having her here. Jeremy and I have taken her around to see various places.  We took her to see several historical sites: a couple of old, [...]

(Again, hover over the picture to view the caption.  Click to make bigger.) It was actually cold getting off the plane in Alaska.  We were wearing sweatshirts, but after living in hot Bahrain we didn’t have much in the way of jackets (and no coats at all), and we didn’t bring any anyway.  But it [...]

The biggest blessing I’ve had this week is that Jeremy got to come home and stay for a whole week!  He’s almost done “playing Navy”, that is, being on a ship, at least for a little while.  It’s been so good to have him home. It’s amazing how my stress levels have been lower this [...]

Today is my youngest nephew’s birthday. He is four years old today. He is my brother’s son. His mom regularly writes a blog called “Where the Wild Things Are.” There’s a link to it in my sidebar. I’m sure she will be posting birthday greetings. You can also see pictures of “his cuteness” there. I’m [...]

If you haven’t read the post directly preceding this one, read that first.  This is a continuation. Jeremy emailed me some pictures.  He said to mention he’s been stationed on the USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81).  It is the only ship in the US Navy to have a British officer permanently stationed aboard.  He [...]

I am pleased to announce that Jeremy is now Surface Warfare qualified.  Yay, Jeremy!  (Insert huge round of applause here.) You may remember from my earlier post about it that he had a whole series of things he had to do to get this qualification: He had to complete some books And then take a [...]

Today is going to be a little update on what I’ve been up to lately. Saturday I went to the BSPCA or the Bahrain Animal Shelter.  No, I was not looking for a pet, although I wanted to take a bunch of them home with me.  I went with a friend to volunteer there.  The [...]