Five on Friday Love

I accidentally took a two and a half week blogging vacation along with my real vacation. Sorry yall. I have been meaning to put up pictures of London and Amsterdam but when we came back it hit me hard. Jet lag that is. It took me a number of days to get back on schedule, and when you throw in unpacking, decorating and filling painting orders along the way! It was a lot to catch up on. But now it is finally time to catch up on all the fun stuff that has been going on recently.


{One}
   The most exciting thing that happened this month was our honeymoon! I loved every, single minute of it. I definitely want to live in either London or Amsterdam one day. England was everything I thought it would be. The history, the landmarks, the museums. Oh I loved it so much more then I ever thought possible.

Amsterdam was a surprise from Hubby. We were only supposed to go to London but he wanted to make the trip extra special. I did not mind one bit :) Neither of us had been to the Netherlands before so we had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be utterly blissful. Gorgeous architecture. Delicious food. Fantastic drinks. And the friendliest people I have ever met in my life! 

I'll share more photos and highlights soon! But in all seriousness- Can I go back yet? 

{Two}

   Unpacking. We still have a few boxes in the garage to go through but all of the boxes that were in the house are officially gone. I have been filling my days this week with shopping and decorating all of our rooms with all of our goodies. So far Hubby's man cave is the only room that is the closest to being finished. I still have a few trips to Target until everything will be done. Target might as well set up a bed for me because it is my second home now. Sorry Honey. 

I'll take this bed, with a big, cozy duvet please!

{Three}

   And speaking of Target...

 I found out today that the only Starbucks in town is in the only Target in town. It looks like all of my Starbucks runs from now on will be a little more expensive then usual. Why hello Dollar section by the front doors. lol. 

{Four}

   It was a little bit chilly earlier this week so I hadn't been able to start gardening. I have been impatiently waiting for today to start my flower bed in the front yard. Today was a day of weed pulling and tilling up old soil. That poor little patch of ground was so neglected but now it is ready for some flowers. No more dandelions, crab grass and dead flowers of yester year. I cannot wait until Saturday when I start planting everything. I even found some Japanese Snowballs that were starting to bud already, so hopefully those will bloom just in time for summer to start. 

    

Gorgeous 

{Five}

   House Of Cards. If you have never seen this show. Go online, get Netflix and proceed to marathon watch. We just marathoned the second season Monday & Tuesday and...Oh My G...it was fantastic, gripping, sexy, everything you want in a political thriller. I want another season. Now! Right now! Season 3 now!

Wanna share your top five of the week too? Link up with Darci, Christina, April, and Natasha every Friday!

   

But I don't wanna go home.

I really, really did not want to come home. But alas Hubby and I are back from our greatest trip so far. You see, after nearly 4 years of marriage we finally had the chance to take our honeymoon! And where do the history buff and the museum queen take their honeymoon? London, England and Amsterdam of course!

It was amazing. A little rainy, a little grey but all gorgeous. We are not "lay on the beach for a week" type of honeymooners. We came to that conclusion a long time ago. Plus you've seen pictures of him: Hubby would fry to a crisp if I left him in the sun for seven days. 

Right now we are in Houston working our way back to Pensacola and I definitely have the post vacation blues. I keep on glancing at the flight boards and eyeing the flights to Heathrow and Schiphol. I wanna go back already. 

But now it is time to head clear across Bush airport to our final flight back to the real world. I will do a complete photo update on our time overseas when I get back to my precious pup and computer in FL. But I will leave y'all with one photo from our trip.

                                 

Gorgeous. 

We are in!

We got all of our household goods yesterday and it has been a tornado of cardboard and packing paper ever since. Besides finding new places for old things in our house, it has been nice to slow down a little and really absorb everything that has happened recently. 

This past week has been a complete blur! When we were packing up the Norfolk house I was feeling fantastic about the move. Everything was going really smooth, even the movers that came to pack and take away all of our stuff were excellent. But the moment we were taking our last walk around the house I suddenly felt this heaviness in my chest. I was sad. It kind of took me by surprise but I was deeply saddened; not just to move but to leave the home we had made, the friends we love as well as the town we had began our married life in. Norfolk will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Moving is without a doubt one of the hardest parts of this lifestyle. I came to the conclusion a few years ago that in the outside world, it takes about a year to get comfortable in a new city, another year to make friends and another year to really cultivate your relationships. But for us military folk that is just in time to pick up and move again. We have to speed up the process and find our footing a lot sooner then the average person. While it may seem like a sad lifestyle it actually is quite the opposite. In these past 3 years I have made some great friends that I know I will have for years to come, I got to experience a new state and city that I never would have lived in otherwise and finally I got to know myself better too. When you only have a few years in a place, you have to knock down your guard walls and really put yourself out there sometimes. When Hubby was working or deployed and I didn't know anyone yet, I forced myself to get out of the house and go to a dinner with other wives or a meeting or squadron party. I worked some odd jobs, took some interesting classes and even cooked meals for people that I didn't really know yet. How else are you going to meet people?

With one more move under our belt, it is time to start the three year cycle all over again. But the beauty of the Navy is that it is a small, small world. We already know a good group of people that moved down here before us and we get to catch up with all of them! 

So wish us luck on our newest adventure. The Emerald Coast: We are here!