joys (aka deliriums) of moving

ah the moving preparations..... the house is a crazy mess. still no orders. but we had an "awesome" yard sale on saturday.... only lost $13. to explain, the ad in the paper cost $26 & we made a whopping $13, so.... oh well. not entirely a bust, we had lots of laughs & allowed boredom to influence our already silly tendencies.....

waiting.......

trying to fit into the bottom of our tv hutch.....

so after moving the majority of all our sale items back inside, we hung out until it was time to party halloween style...... jen had us all over to her house & then we went to the coast to toast.

the artist & the grafitti

me and adam ant (mr. todd eric allen, my boss)

jen & amanda messin

passport success

so i didn't want to leave anyone (the 2 of you who have read my posts) in suspense regarding my passport situation....... i just got back from base & i have BOTH my civi passport & my no-fee passport! yay! now if only we had orders.

graduation

yay! jeff graduated today! we've had an awesome weekend, went to see where the wild things are, saw built to spill in concert, went to 18th street lounge, ate tapas, bought some furniture at ikea, rode the dc metro, dodged the rain...... we had fun!
his graduation ceremony was great, they showed a slideshow of all the students photos, cool stuff! jeff is done with outprocessing, BUT, HE STILL DOESN'T HAVE ORDERS!!!! i can't believe it! how are we gonna ship our car, get tmo to schedule packing..... ugh.
well, we're gonna be heading back to florida later this week to pack, visit family, etc. we have our tickets booked to get back up here in hopes that by that time, we'll have orders & can get on a plane for guam, with or without our stuff......

here are some photos of our visit..... with our sweet nephews, who will be even bigger, cuter terrors the next time we see them! love them!!

jeff after his last formation at det 2

where the wild things are (aka nephew one)

with little baby nephew & his momma

driving back from a wine tasting out in the VA country - loved the cold, wet, foggy fall weather, very different from guam

someone pinch me

TODAY! today i'm going to see jeff! we have the weekend together & then next week we'll be making our way back home..... TOGETHER! i get my husband back, after 9 months apart!
on another note, i'm really enjoying the freezing, wet weather of the north (northern south, so i can't complain too much, but it's not florida) getting a good taste of the season before moving to a seasonless island...... but honestly, i haven't seen fall in 6 years, the trees are incredible, the crisp air, i love it! well, i've survived without seasons for this long, what's 2 more years? taking it in while i can..... going to put on a sweater & my rain boots!!!

sad farewells

yesterday was my last day at work. "work". how lucky i've been. i am so blessed to have such incredible people in my life. these past 5 years have been incredible & i'm gonna miss my 2nd home so much.

my middle schoolers threw me a party on thurs, complete with a beautiful cupcake cake, thoughtful gifts & letters. one of my students made me a pillow & the students all signed it & then after i had opened the gift, they all passed around the pillow to hug it ...... "now ms. amy whenever you hug this pillow, it's like you're getting a hug from each one of us." wow. pushing back the tears now.

then during company class, todd finished early & they broke out the sparkling grape juice & we shared a toast to new beginnings..... i hate that it has to end.

yesterday, we had a little party where all the students signed a t-shirt for me & we watched videos & played ddr. i love my students! they are a very very special bunch.

so now, i have my t-shirt, my cards, my flowers, my pictures, but the best gift of all is the past 5 years. the bond i have with these students, the teachers, all of NFB! i will miss them so very much, but i have so many memories and maybe one day i'll be back.......

rubies

had so much fun this past saturday! the ballet had a fundraiser at a jewelry store, "wine & rubies".... in celebration of our 40th year! & guess who got to model the most beautiful jewels? of course, yours personally & my two sidekicks. jen had on a necklace that cost over 100,000! amanda's necklace was 80,000, mine was cheap compared..... only 22,000! but i had 80,000 worth of diamonds in my ears! it was AWESOME! but so hard to part with the jewelry at the end of the night! here are the highlights.....

posing it up

diva who?

kimalee & i

do we have to?

in case you can't see..... it says $80,000

the goods.......

my good friend & old roomie on SYTYCD

to quote

”No, I can't explain the dance to you;

if I could tell you what it meant,

there would be no point in dancing it.”

- Isadora Duncan

3 years and 7 months ago

a blast from the past......

engagement photos 06, a year after we met

we met in march 05 & talked marriage in may

got engaged in august & then married the following july

what the f tuesdays

ok, not that today was bad, but difficult. i won't go into detail, but the reality of this move is sinking in. we have the date, approximately....... i never commit to anything anymore, you never know- with the military. i used to be so definite, now i'm much more the "as of now" type of girl.

ugh, i'm facing it all now...... or it's making itself more clear..........

only 3 days to visit with my mom & sister before i move across the world for 2 years. flowers from one of my 4th graders today & a card she wrote (beautifully) that made me cry. got teary when i was teaching my 8th graders.... i thought back to when they were in 3rd grade & how they've grown over the years. thinking about starting a family when we get to guam, not being ready.... tuesday talks. watching rehearsal for snow scene in nutcracker, not being able to perform. ugh.

well, the positive, is that i'm searching for the positive, i want to find the good that is here. there is abundant positivity, & i know it & i'm excited about this move, but it's alot. no matter what life brings, there is always worth & there is always value & i'm gonna keep bringing that up, because it's so easy to complain & it's so easy to feel put off or that things are unfair or "if only"......... well, this is it........ & i like "it", i'm not trying to be all rosey colored glasses. but damn, "it's" good. there is so much that's good. but IT is hard. & THAT is good. if it was easy would anyone value "IT"?

thank goodness tuesday is over. only 2 more until i get to be face to face with the ONE. MY ONE. i only have about a week & a half until i stop working regularly. yay & ouch. i feel a bit more ouch right now.

i hate spaghetti fan club

so my friend pam is in town!!!! she's here teaching & setting choreography for a studio in town. she was with us last season & now she's up in jersey dancing for new jersey ballet! we all miss her so so much! it's so great she's down here & that i'm able to see her before i leave the states.

she reminds me that even when distance separates, close friends are always close. even when you don't get to speak with them all the time, whenever you do get to be with them, it's like nothing has changed. a dancer's life is rarely stable, often traveling from job to job, living wherever the job is (even if it's jersey! oh burn!- love you pam!) & it's great because you're able to make new friends and collect different experiences, but often (as my 400+ friends on FB can attest to) you have to move on or leave some of your closest friends behind. but yay for FB & yay for blogs! & yay for guest gigs! & the dance world is so small, we're all connected & running into each other & people who know the same people, etc......

so i'm going to enjoy this weekend & remind myself that moving on does not have to mean separation or the end of friendships.

love you pam!

pam, jerod, amanda & jen

amanda, pam, jennyjones, me & j-rod

quick beach trip, waiting on pam to finish at the studio

then we got a little silly.....

yes j-rod is wearing overalls....

success???

ok, so i can officially check off civilian passport from the list..... received it in the mail this week. yay! BUT..... had to turn it in with another application to get my no-fee passport- so i don't have it in my possession & the no-fee could take 4-6 weeks to process, so boo....... BUT it all should be sent off to processing this week. so yay again. another big yay is that i got my dental & medical clearance paperwork filled out & am sending that back to my baby so he can turn it in! yay!

keeping fingers crossed about the passport(S) making it back on time! it will happen, it will happen.......

back to hot flat florida

i had such an awesome time in virginia, i usually always do. i really love the mountains & how green & lush everything is there. i got off the plane this morning in florida in my va gear- jeans, boots, long sleeves, hoodie & about had a heat stroke. & then almost fell asleep driving a straight flat line home from the airport. florida is boring. unless you're on the beach.

i got in alot of quaint, hilly, foresty, historic virginia-ness this weekend. which is always appreciated.

the weekend with the dancers was awesome! we had a blast! such a great group.... hard working, funny, smart.... i'm so pleased with all that we accomplished in such a short time. the piece turned out perfectly!

lexington is beautiful, i stayed at this awesome inn.... family run, fantastic restaurant & walking distance to everything. the campus is beautiful & i even walked down to vmi- virginia military institute. i miss having friendly walking areas..... hard to find around here.

here are some pics & a link to the dance......

http://www.youtube.com/user/frostargrow

VMI

Washington & Lee University

Lexington, VA

the inn where i stayed

driving back in VA