Thou Shalt Grow

Things are not the same

2012-02-25T18:01:00.001-05:00

I just attempted to "hop" up on to my kitchen counter top in order to reach something in the top cabinet. Note to self - when you've put on 30 lbs due to a baby growing inside of you, "hopping" up on to counters doesn't happen as gracefully as it once did. At least you can laugh with your Mom and note that you need to start lifting weights.

YOU put a 30 lb backpack on and try hopping up on your counters - it's not easy, my friends.

Tagged!

2012-01-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

Megan tagged me in a fun post

Eleven Fun Facts About Me:

1. I've lived in three different countries, USA, Japan & Italy

2. I have a sexy husband who is a Marine currently serving overseas
3. We're expecting our first baby in April and couldn't be happier :) 4. I have a crazy/odd dog Samson who keeps me company while Steve is gone.
5. I have a tattoo and I want another one

6. My parents were both born in the West (mountain people) but I'm a total beach girl.
7. I love watching the Olympics and the US Open
8. I went to college in central Florida and drove from Northern Virginia to Lakeland 16 times, 11 of which were by myself.
9. I love sleep, I really love to sleep in. I'm sleeping as much as possible because in 3 months I won't have that luxury.
10. I like to research. If I'm with friends and we don't know the answer to something, I'll pull my phone out and google it.
11. This one is random, we own a timeshare in Florida :)

Megan's questions for me:

1. Where were you born? New Bern, North Carolina. I lived there six months before moving but somehow ended up in the same area to have my first child?!
2. What the best meal you've ever made? hmmm I make an awesome flank steak and grilled asparagus. I can't wait to start cooking again when Steve comes home!
3. Where did you honeymoon? Poconos PA.
4. If you were a Disney princess who would you be? Jasmine, I don't look a thing like her but I would love to lounge around in silk pants and have a tiger as a pet!
5. What is your favorite blog to follow? Link to it. The Pioneer Woman but also all my dear friend's blogs :)
6. Pick a fav: Thai Food or Mexican Food? I love me some Pad Thai but I would choose Mexican!
7. What's more embarrassing to have happen: walk around with toilet paper stuck to your shoe (or coming out of your shirt in my case!!!) or fly down? Walking around with TP but both are embarrassing.
8. How old were you when you got your first cell phone? hmm 16 I think, whenever I started to drive.
9. What is your drink of choice at Starbucks? Tall Carmel Macchiato or in the summer an Tall Upside Down Iced Carmel Macchiato! I now want starbucks, thanks!
10. Favorite song on the radio right now? I Love You Like a Love Song by Selena Gomez
11. What is keeping you from selling your house and moving next door to me for life??? Right now the military and the fact that Steve can't stand DC traffic, sorry girl!

Cutest butt on the block

2012-01-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

I know every Mom believes their child is the cutest but the cutest butt award will go my son when he is wearing these!

Bumgenius 4.0

We've decided to use cloth diapers and the first ones came today. I was so excited to open the package! Some people may think we're crazy for using cloth but after a lot of research it works for us :)

Joys of Pregnancy

2012-01-11T15:20:00.000-05:00

25 weeks :)

I learned yesterday that sometimes there is no dignity when you're pregnant.

Samson and I went on a walk in the morning. It's good for me and good for him, win-win situation. While preforming one of the less glamours parts of responsible dog ownership - clean up after them - I gagged. I immediately thought "oh no!". One of the many "blessings" of this pregnancy is that I now have very sensitive gag reflex. I tried to get away from the offensive smell and get some fresh air in hopes of stopping the inevitable...

I threw up.

Twice.

On the side of our walking path while cars drove by.

No dignity.

I'm choosing to see the humor in this situation and laugh at myself but seriously when Steve comes home he is on dog clean up duty!

Our little man's name!

2012-01-07T19:53:00.000-05:00

We started the name game as soon as we found out we were pregnant. We were so sure little one was a girl that we always said "well if she is a he then his name will be ___". Fast forward to finding out we were wrong and little one was indeed a BOY, Steve immediately said we had to re-evaluate all the names :) After much discussion we finally came back to our originally pick. We love it.

Josiah Robert Haack

His first name Josiah, means "The Lord Saves". Steve has always loved this name since he read about Josiah in the bible. We love the meaning.

His middle name Robert, means "Bright Fame". This was almost a no-brainer. It is Steve middle name, Steve's dad's middle name and grandfather's name. Then on my side it is my dad's middle name and my grandfather's name.

Denver Treasures

2012-01-04T23:09:00.001-05:00

I just came back from eleven days in Parker Colorado (right outside of Denver).

It was awesome, a white Christmas!

My family descended upon my generous aunt & uncle's home to celebrate Christmas together. Colorado was much cheaper than trying to fly into South Dakota. Unfortunately I don't have a family photo. With my siblings different schedules we trickled in from Milwaukee, North Carolina, Waco Texas and Seattle! We had one day that all of us (minus Steve) were together. It was a blessing to spend time with everyone.

Red Rock

23 Weeks! Baby boy is growing :)

Downtown Denver

I choose to stay an extra few days after my brothers & sister-in-law left so that my Mom and I could have fun baby shopping! This little man was completely blessed by his Bebe (my mom's grandmother nickname)!

She got to feel him kick on New Years. I can't wait until Steve can feel him move.

Eleven days together and we somehow waited until the last minute san makeup to take a picture.

Because I live in a place where the biggest stores are target or walmart, I wanted to take full advantage of being in the big city.

The fabric for little man's nursery!

I came home with an extra suitcase for all the wonderful baby clothes and goodies my mom bought :) Denver consignment shops rock!

I love baby shoes!

The cutest hat

The best bargain...this stroller!

Uppababy Vista

After I spent months of researching online and an afternoon of putting my hands on different strollers, I found one on craiglist! It was an amazing deal. I can't wait to put a baby in that adorable bassinet! The stroller did not fit into my suitcase but will be coming out east with my Mom in a few weeks.

An unexpected package

2011-12-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

While baking cookies and listening to Christmas music. I got a knock on the door. A package!

My mom sent me a box of sweet baby boy clothes!

They are so little

It says "I love to jump around" which is true I feel this boy move a lot!

It also included a little something for me...

HAHA

Even Samson got a little something ;)

Samson was very happy with his gift from Grandma

My favorite thing in the box was baby boy's FIRST book!!! Books are HUGE in my family. In my mother's house in Northern Virginia (before she sold it this fall) there where book shelves in every room. She instilled a love for reading in all her children and that is something I want pass along to this little one. One of the ways she did this was by reading aloud to us, she would even do all the little voices. Growing up all the kids would fold the laundry and she would read. If we stopped folding she would stop reading! I'm so doing that with my kids :)

Thanks Momma! And yes we need to come up with a good grandma name for you!

It's a...

2011-12-14T18:26:00.000-05:00

We found out together over Skype. Our firstborn will be a boy :) I had sent Steve a package with a yellow & red envelope that a friend had placed "it's a boy" or "it's a girl" cards I had made. The tech who preformed the anatomy scan wrote does the results and put the picture "of the goods" in a separate envelope. I SO wanted to look at the screen during that part of the ultrasound! But I was good and looked away. I rushed back from the appointment to my friend's house (who conveniently lives directly behind me), she read the results and told me to open the YELLOW envelope! Thankfully Skype was working and we had a clear connection so that Steve could open the yellow envelope and I opened the picture. We were both a little shocked. Since finding out we were pregnant we both thought this baby was a girl. Steve could not stop grinning when we found out. We're both so excited and blessed to be having a healthy baby boy! Bring on all things BOY!

Our healthy little boy! He weighed 14 oz!

December?!

2011-12-05T17:59:00.000-05:00

Good grief its been a whole month since I've posted! November flew by but I'm fine with that. It just means I'm closer to Steve coming home! The end of November marked the halfway point in this deployment. Woohoo!!!!

I flew to San Diego to visit my dear friend! It was a wonderful trip. We just hung out for 5 days, it was glorious :) We talked babies, nursery themes, sewing, deployments, life. I took my camera but only ended up with pictures of my fun/crazy "nephew" Nate.

Eating a snack in the car...some of the food ended up in his mouth ;)

Taking his yellow dog for a walk.

I couldn't visit Cali without Jamba Juice!

After returning from San Diego I headed up to Virginia to spend Thanksgiving with my dear friends in Norfolk.

The bump is growing! 18 weeks 1 day on Thanksgiving Day :)

Homemade pumpkins pies!

After Thanksgiving dinner we ended up at Kristen's childhood friends for a bonfire!

December means time to decorate! I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to decorate this year. It's not as fun to decorate without Steve but I'm glad I got it all out.

Our little tree and Nativity

Green!

All my glass ornaments, hopefully they will survive a toddler!

North Carolina hasn't figured out that it is December. This morning it was in the high 60's! I was able to rake the whole yard, it was my workout for the day :)

If you made it to the end of this long post here is some exciting news!! Our anatomy scan is next Monday. We should find out if baby Haack is a boy or girl!!!!!

New Best Friend

2011-11-03T16:23:00.000-04:00

via

Since becoming pregnant I've developed some taste sensitivity. Most tap water now taste gross! I have a Brita filter at home but now I have one where ever I go! No more yucky tap water making me queasy :)

Good Mom

2011-11-02T17:52:00.000-04:00

I try to be a good "mom" to Samson. Today I spent a lot of time running errands and saw this cute chew toy in Target. It wasn't that expensive so I thought what the heck and bought it.

Well....less than 2 hours after it entering the house this is what happens.

Why do I even try.

Kitchen Painted

2011-10-17T15:19:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday I painted the kitchen :) It took two trips to Home Depot after forgetting the fabric sample the first time (see the letter to baby).

I also hung up my mail holder/cork board combo with the old frame turned white board.

A good walk

2011-10-15T14:46:00.000-04:00

I'm trying to take Samson on a long walk every other day. We're both happier when he get exercise and it's good for me & baby. So a win-win situation. Today we discovered a nature trail close to the house!

So pretty

Beautiful day by the water

Samson checking things out

The true sign of a good walk is a tired dog :)

Letter to the Baby

2011-10-08T12:55:00.001-04:00

Dear Baby,

Daddy & I are so excited about your arrival in 6 months. We love you so much already. But Mommy would really appreciated it if you did not render her brain so useless. She can't remember anything and she needs to be able to function again.

Much Love,
Mommy

11 Weeks

2011-10-05T13:58:00.000-04:00

When we found out we were pregnant I quickly googled for a list of corresponding fruit to baby size. I like being able to visualize the growth. From the get-go when the baby was the size of a poppy seed (4 weeks) I looked forward to week 11 because the baby would be the size of a lime! I love limes :)

via

Only 3 weeks until the first trimester is over! I'm feeling pretty good right now, some days are better than others. For the most part my energy is starting to come back. I'm busy researching nursery decor and fun baby things. Life is good.

Newest addition!

2011-09-30T10:07:00.000-04:00

We're having a BABY!! Most of the people reading this blog already know but I had to post about this wonderful blessing. This little jelly bean probably contributed to the lack of post in September as most of it was spent sleeping and dealing with other 1st trimester funk. I'm looking forward to more energy as the 2nd trimester approaches :)

Ultrasound at 9 weeks!

After the first appointment and ultrasound we started sharing the good news with family and friends. People's excitement and joy for our announcement has been wonderful. This little one is already loved by so many!

I'm still figuring out the best way to take pictures of myself. I might need to get a trip pod.

5 weeks!

Our other "children" aren't sharing in the excitement. The cat doesn't care and Samson doesn't understand why I can't play all the time :)

Today

2011-09-21T14:22:00.000-04:00

is this handsome man's 28th birthday!

I'm blessed :)

I've been very quiet in the blog world this September.

I have a confession.

Every blog has been proof read by my awesome husband. Writing is hard for me (it's odd that I even want to blog) and its always been a challenge. But I married a communications major/gifted writer and it's wonderful having him read post to catch all my spelling & grammatical errors. Steve isn't able to proof read my post anymore. One of the downsides of him being gone and busy doing military stuff. So for now you'll just have to forgive all the errors I don't catch :)

Another reason for the quiet, September has been a low key month. I'm starting to make new friends and slowly getting into a routine. One my big accomplishments this month was a curtain for the kitchen.

It looks simple but it took me almost two days!

I made box pleats for the first time.

Hurricane Irene

2011-09-02T12:17:00.000-04:00

The power cut out Friday night. Saturday was spend on the couch with Samson listening to the wind and looking out the window at all the trees swaying. The power didn't return until Sunday evening. The only damage done to the house was one window lost its screen. Unfortunately everything in my freezer and fridge had to be thrown away :(

Playing solitaire by candlelight

The huge branch that missed both my neighbor's house and my garage

All the debris.

The yard was full of pine cones.

South Dakota Adventure

2011-08-26T13:37:00.000-04:00

With Steve safely off and getting settled over "there" I headed west. My mother bought a cabin last year and this was the first trip the family had planned. Steve was suppose to come but the military had other plans.

My mother took this photo, she is awesome!

We bought gun! It was fun shooing from the porch.

Even Mom took a turn

Birch trees are so cool!

Sylvan Lake my Dad grew up going to this lake.

The family after hiking up the hill behind the cabin.

It was a great trip. I got back just in time for Hurricane Irene. Awesome. I've done all I can to prep and praying there won't be too much damage.

Crazy Week

2011-08-10T15:20:00.000-04:00

Lots of things have been happening in the Haack house. Steve's deployment date got moved up which caused our "plan A" to get thrown out the window and "plan B" to go into effect. We purchased last minute tickets (thankfully they were a good deal!) and flew to Chicago last Saturday. We came home last night.

In Chicago I finally got to meet my nephew Brody!

Steve with some of his cousins.

Brody is 3 months old and already 16.5lbs!

Uncle Steve with Brody durning his first swim.

We're now home tying up lose ends like...

Finalizing the sale of Steve's car. Completed this morning.

Finishing my "honey do list" before he is gone for the next 7 months. Christmas lights up in our screened in porch!

Packing.

Stimulating the economy with a new laptop!

Good thing I love him...

2011-07-27T16:46:00.001-04:00

Oh so innocent looking.

We consider Samson our first child. We love him dearly and he brings lots of entertainment and joy to our lives. It's a very good thing that we feel this way because this week he has done this...

The corner of our brand new comforter.

The hem of my wedding dress!

He has now been banned from our bedroom & closet when we are not home to supervise him. He isn't always destructive (thank goodness!) but this week he made up for it.

PS - the reason the wedding dress was so accessible was because after two years I still haven't had it dry cleaned or preserved so I brought it out of the bag, one to see if it still fits (tight but it zipped!) and two to remind me to find a dry cleaner. It was out of the bag all of one afternoon before he found it :(

Good times

2011-07-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

Last week my mom came down for a visit! We had a wonderful time. It was so fun showing her the new house and getting her advice about decorating :) My parents lived in Jacksonville 30 years ago when my dad was stationed at MCAS New River (next door to Camp Lejeune). We found the house they lived in and brought me (and two older brothers) home to from the hospital! Of course I forgot to bring the camera. We also drove down and wandered around Wilmington - such a cute downtown area!

Flowers my mom bought for my garden... pictures of the garden soon.

I love her :)

I'm going to miss having her live on the east coast! South Dakota & Texas are very far away.

Look Mom I can sew!

2011-07-20T18:33:00.000-04:00

Our bedroom is close to being done. There are still a few pictures to hang but the bed is finished. I actually made the beige pillow covers! My first sewing project.

Lawn Care

2011-07-19T22:00:00.001-04:00

When we moved into our house the lawn was very brown. North Carolina had been experiencing a very dry spell and our grass was fried. We went out and bought a hose and sprinkler.

We wanted green grass.

This morning Steve woke up and realized he left the sprinkler on all night.

This is want happens when a lawn gets water all night long.

Half green half brown :)

Summertime and the livin's easy

2011-07-12T17:37:00.002-04:00

Things to do around Jacksonville are kinda limited. Especially when I don't know that many people. My activities include shopping, working out, and going to the beach or pool.

I like the first option but there is only so much shopping a girl can do in one pay period, purchases need to be spread out, money doesn't grow on trees in these parts :)

Option two is a good one, I'm working out an hour and a half three times a week with a group class. Group classes are great because I'm not fond of trying to figure out machines surrounded by very in-shape (serious) Marines.

I've also become a beach/pool bum :) The beach is 20 minutes away and the pool is less than 5. So far I've gone twice this week and plan on continuing that trend.

Onslow Beach

My current pool-side reading. So far a good read.

via

I do plan on going back to my volunteer work with NMCRS office here on base and finishing my accreditation. I'm just waiting until after Steve deploys at the end of the summer to start back up. Until then we're just enjoying summer and the time (about 6+ weeks) we have left together :)

Art

2011-07-08T17:43:00.002-04:00

Inspiration

readymade.com

Result

canvas, masking tape, and left over paint from the living-room.

Can you tell I like green :)

Ready for guests :)

2011-07-05T20:37:00.001-04:00

I have one room in the house complete.

The guest bathroom. haha

Everything is out of boxes but not quite settled. The living room is in the middle of transition. When we left Norfolk we left our old couches and bought a new sofa and love-seat once we got to North Carolina. One thing we didn't think about was that most places would have to order them. We searched all over and found them! Then we were told it would take two-four weeks :( So we are couch-less and all we have is one cushy chair to sit on.

I can't wait until they arrive next week!

Yesturday

2011-07-05T17:48:00.003-04:00

Happy 4th of July!

We watched the fireworks show on Camp Lejeune, it was awesome :)

Celebrating

2011-07-02T22:32:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is our 2-year anniversary! Last year we visited a winery and this year we decided to visit another winery (a tradition in the making). After a little research I found a winery about an hour from the house. Duplin winery is located in Rose Hill and it turns out to be the largest winery in the south. I pictured a quaint winery surrounded by vineyards and was instead greeted by a store with a huge tasting room on a road in rural nowhere. We had a good laugh about our expectations when visiting a winery :)

Steve was sweet and called ahead to ask about flowers, the receptionist said there was a rose bush out front and she would pull something together. You can't beat Southern hospitality :)

My beautiful flowers from the store's garden :)

Yay for two years! I love this man.

When we drove into Rose Hill we were greeted by this sign.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen Rose Hill is the home of the world's largest frying pan!

We had to check it out.

It holds 200 gallons of oil and can fry some ridiculous number like 394 chickens at one time.

Only in North Carolina

A dilemma

2011-07-01T16:57:00.002-04:00

When I was learning to drive, I was told to go the speed limit. Especially when driving on a military base! Military police are everywhere and getting a speeding ticket on base has more than just monetary consequences ie do it enough and your base driving privileges are suspended.

Well I've now been driving for almost ten years (crazy) and I'm not always great at the whole speed limit thing (*cough* lead foot). Here is my dilemma.

I now live on a military base.

And the speed limit on the ~~quickest~~ most direct way to my home from the gate is...

via

It is only 3.8 miles from gate to house and it feels like a very long trip. Because 2.2 miles of that is a very straight road that is 25 mph. I feel like I'm crawling. Cruise control has become my new best friend, my foot just doesn't feel comfortable at the angle required to go that slow.

Oh and military police don't follow the whole 7 mph over cushion.

Seriously they are everywhere.

PS - Steve read this and thought I was creatively telling him I got a speeding ticket. So far I have a clean slate :)

New home, new name?

2011-06-27T20:01:00.002-04:00

The movers have come and gone. There are no boxes left unpacked in the house! Steve was given the week off to get things in order and finish his check in process. That meant that he was motived to get the house done. It was great! We painted and organized. I haven't taken pictures yet, they will be coming soon.

Our blog name was found (a late night after whiskey sours) on the city seal of Norfolk and since we no longer live in Norfolk I was torn if we should keep the name. I researched for a city seal of Jacksonville, North Carolina...nothing interesting (surprise!) and then I looked at Camp Lejeune no inspiration there. So the blog name will remain the same. But here is the emblem of our new home.

A wedding!

2011-06-16T10:44:00.003-04:00

I'm writing this from my screened in porch in North Carolina!!! Yes, we have officially moved :) The movers are coming today but before the chaos ensues I wanted to share pictures of last weekend. My "cousin" Mike got married! He isn't really my cousin but our families are so close we are family. Uncle Rick (Mike's dad) introduced and married Steve and I :)

While Steve headed to Camp Lejeune to check in and start work, I headed to the Delaware beach! Mike's family lived in Delaware and his bride (highschool sweethearts) is from the same town. I drove in on Wednesday before to stay with the family in this beautiful house.

It was an awesome house!

It was a great wedding. There where a few hiccups, like the bridal party showing up late because the limo couldn't find the house or the Church ac not working and the groom almost passing out during the ceremony but it made memories. We danced the night away (in ac at the reception venue), the bride and groom didn't leave until 12am!

The vows, before the best man threw Mike a towel to help cool off.

The yummy cake.

Welcome to the Family Stephanie :)

Mike proposed to Steph in Philadelphia, this is the skyline that one of the bridesmaids painted! They had all the guest sign and it will hang in their home. Such a cool idea!!

2011-06-03T06:29:00.006-04:00

We've started saying our goodbyes to our amazing friends here in Norfolk :( The reality that we're not going to see these friends on a regular basis or live within walking distance anymore hasn't quite sunk in. I'm sure while unpacking in North Carolina it will hit me and I'll start crying.

But right now I will share a reality that is close approaching, pictures of our next home! Steve has officially moved down to Camp Lejeune and I will be following in a few weeks once we get the keys.

We're very excited to have a garage!

I want to go back....

2011-06-02T13:09:00.006-04:00

to this beach!

Steve and I went on our first cruise. We loved it, Steve said it was so great because "we're going somewhere but have nowhere to go." He also said it was the most relaxing vacation he'd ever been on. I brought a few books to read but never picked one up, laying in the sun by the ocean was all I needed. We went for 7 nights and had three ports of call.

Grand Turk Island part of the 40 islands that make up Turks & Caicos

Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas

Freeport, Bahamas

Half Moon from the ship!

Classic dish, conch fritters. They were yummy :)

Grand Turk

We rented bikes on Grand Turk.

Our stateroom. I love the sign on the beach towels.

Now that you've seen the size of stateroom, know that we worked out in that small space everyday! Steve and I are almost done with our Insanity 60 day work out program and Steve insisted we continue it durning the cruise. I revolted one day but did work out the other five days. I'll be blogging about our results next week.

Dinner one of the elegant nights

Yes, Steve is wearing sandals. I love him

It wouldn't be a cruise without crazy towel animals!

25 & Moving

2011-05-18T17:34:00.004-04:00

I turned 25 last Friday (the 13th). It was a good day, we drove up to Northern Virginia for the weekend. My brother's Scott and Paul, who both live out of state, flew home for my mom's farewell party on Saturday. Her house is now on the market! Thursday night Steve took me to Skinny Dip (a great frozen yogurt place) and gave me a sweet card filled with 25 reasons he loves me :) I also got a sweet new Coach purse! I'm totally spoiled.

Monday morning the packers came. They were in the house at 9am and done by 1pm. I'm still laughing that the estimate was two days to pack and they were done in 4 hours. Tuesday, they came and took all the boxes and furniture away. It was fun watching them navigate the truck in our neighborhood.

Our things filled the back to the side door.

Today we found out amazing news. We got a house on base! We were originally told that we wouldn't be considered on the waiting list until Steve checked in on the 1st of June. But when we called to talk with the gal we had been working with, she said to fax over his detach orders so they could give us a house! God is so good. I must confess I was really worried/stressing over our housing situations up until about 2 months ago. God reminded me that he was in control and He gave me peace about the situations. Now to have a house assigned to us two weeks before we thought we would even be put on the waiting list is amazing!

Our house will look something like this! We pick up our keys on June 20th!

Samson

2011-05-08T18:02:00.002-04:00

Our wonderful dog is not a water dog. He looks like we're slowly killing him every time he gets a bath. So when we go to the beach he runs away from the waves. But Samson still loves the beach because there is sand, glorious sand, to roll in.

Camping!

2011-05-07T21:58:00.005-04:00

Our friend Kristin turned 25 this week :) To celebrate a group of us went camping at First Landing State Park. We had awesome weather.

Steve setting up the site.

The birthday girl with her pop-up tent.

Throw it out and poof, a tent!

We had a camp fire and stayed up until 2am.

Saturday we went to the beach.

Samson wasn't a fan of the water.

My boys.

Random - We camped in First Landing State Park one week after moving to Norfolk. We are now one week away from packing up for North Carolina.

As a side note one year ago on May 5th a little 6.8 lbs puppy arrived and stole our hearts :)

He is SOO cute!

May, already?

2011-05-01T22:47:00.003-04:00

How is it May already? Time is flying! Here is a little break down of what May will look like for us.

In...

* 12 days I turn 25 (very weird).

* 15 days the movers come and pack for two days.

* 17 days the movers take all our stuff.

* 17 days Steve officially detaches from his command in Norfolk.

* 17 days Steve leaves to visit our new nephew in Illinois.

* 20 days Steve returns from his trip to Illinois.

* 21 days we leave for our Bahamas cruise!!

* 28 days we return and Steve spends his last few days in Norfolk.

* 31 days Steve officially checks into his new command at Camp Lejeune.

* 31 days we find out what our wait time for base housing will be.

May is a month of transitions.

We have a nephew :)

2011-04-29T21:32:00.002-04:00

At 9:46 am Brody Brennan Kelly arrived! We are now an uncle & aunt thanks to Steve's sister Stacy & Brother-in-law Brennan.

Brody is a big boy at 9lbs 8 oz!

Easter!

2011-04-23T21:04:00.003-04:00

Steve and I are spending the Easter weekend in Norfolk. We had a potluck with our community group before going to a Good Friday service. I made a simple chicken dish and this! I give you, Candid Easter Popcorn or what I like to call Easter Crack :) I found the recipe here and couldn't resist making it.

(not a great picture)

On Saturday we dyed eggs with Kristen and her family :)

Dye!

Success!

Coupons

2011-04-08T13:35:00.004-04:00

Okay, so coupons are a great idea but I'm really bad at utilizing them. I want to use them more but it's hard when most coupons available are for things I don't buy or want in my house. I would love coupons that were "buy one Kale bunch and get the 2nd one Free", that would be my type of coupon :)

Last week I gave coupons another shot so I went online and searched for coupons for products I actually buy. Not very many but a few good deals, I even "liked" a facebook page to get a coupon for balance bars :) I went to the commissary the next day and realized I had my list but no coupons! Frustrated with myself I continued shopping without them but thinking I would just use them the next trip. I got home and put the coupons in my grocery notebook. This morning I decided to do a quick grocery run (just in case the government shuts down and the commissary closes!). I drove to the commissary and discovered that I had forgotten the notebook with my list AND the coupons!! I don't know what is going on but it's been really difficult to use those coupons!

A post of pictures.

2011-04-04T16:22:00.005-04:00

Steve and I flew to San Diego last Monday. He had a conference and I got to tag along :)

We arrive in time to see sunset over Coronado Beach.

I love this man.

Our ride for the week - a Dodge Avenger. It's a "petite" muscle car :)

I was able to lay out in the sun!

One of the many good places we ate.

I got to spend lots of quality time with this beautiful friend!

And I fell in love with this handsome guy. I didn't want to leave!

I'm going to brag a little

2011-03-22T19:09:00.002-04:00

My hunny is a runner. This Sunday Steve ran the Shamrock Half Marathon in 1:29:35. That is 6.51 minute mile!

Yuengling was the sponsor, there was beer waiting at the finish line :)

Root Beer Floats

2011-03-08T18:15:00.004-05:00

My Dad's favorite desert was an A&W Root Beer float. As a family we would do root beer floats for his birthday. Even though he is no longer with us we have continued the tradition.

In honor of what would have been my Dad's 58th birthday.

Happy Birthday Daddy :)

Camp Lejeune

2011-03-05T12:53:00.003-05:00

You know you're on a military base when there are signs like this.

Steve and I drove down to Camp Lejeune for the day (7hrs round trip). We registered the pets with the base vet and had a meeting with housing. Because of the registration both pets came with, Cirrus was in the back and Samson was in the front, they survived and didn't kill each other :)

Very excited to be living close to this!!

A thing of beauty :)

2011-03-03T17:42:00.002-05:00

A box of chocolate dipped (with sprinkles) Krispy Kreme donuts where just delivered to my door. Supporting Inter Varsity and Krispy Kreme = win-win!

They won't last long.

Cat and Dog

2011-02-27T21:54:00.002-05:00

Can they be friends?

The jury is still out :)

The Haack household recently added a cat to the mix! Cirrus has been living at my mom's house but the craziness up there caused her to come to live with us. Steve and I joke that this "hospice" for Cirrus...she turns 16 in June (that is 84 in human years!).

This handsome fellow turned ONE today!!

So little!

All grown up :)

Taking advantage of the weather :)

2011-02-19T16:49:00.003-05:00

We had snow on the ground 10 days ago and it is now 67 degrees and sunny! When Steve came home early from work on Friday we wanted to get out and enjoy it. We packed up the bikes and headed over to Back Bay Wild Life Refuge and False Cape State Park. Once we got there we discovered that the only trail (open during the winter) into the State park was closed :( We made the best of it and biked up into Sandbridge, which is a little beach town 9 miles north of the North Carolina border. We took a public access and parked the bikes in the dunes and walk on the beach for a bit. It was gorgeous! The water was freezing but beautiful.

All packed up.

I loved that it was so deserted!

My cute husband.

This morning we drove up to Williamsburg Winery. It's on the list of places to visit before we move. A tour and wine tasting was a great way to spend the afternoon. Steve and I are not wine connoisseurs but it was fun to taste new wines. We brought home a couple bottles :)

The sun was wonderful.

Snow Day!

2011-02-11T12:46:00.002-05:00

It stayed around for half the day but it was beautiful while it lasted :)

Being sick sucks!

2011-02-02T10:14:00.005-05:00

Three Sundays ago (Jan 16th) I woke up with a cough which led to a fever, aches, sore throat, sinus congestion, fluid in my left ear, and now an ear infection! This is the third week of not feeling normal. Fortunately the fever only lasted a week and the cough is finally starting to go away. I'm still dealing with fluid in my ear (I'm now on antibiotics) which makes everything sound muffled. This is making me SO grateful for my otherwise normal hearing! I went to the Dr's last Thursday and all he told me to do was plug my nose and sip water...like 75 times to make the fluid drain. Seriously, his professional opinion was to go home and sip water. It didn't work. I'm going to wait till I'm done with the antibiotics before I go back if I still can't hear normally.

On a brighter note, Steve and I bought a new dining room set and re-arranged our house to accommodate the new table :) We've been talking about replacing our small thrift store table and chairs for a while and we finally found a deal we couldn't pass up.

It's weird to think that our future children will grow up eating at this table!

I'm now a brunette!

My mother came down for my cousin's baby shower and we dyed our hair :) I've wanted to do something different and she needed to touch up. Funny story - half way through my hair my mom put the bottle down and accidentally grabbed her bottle (Champagne Blonde) and put a huge squirt of bleach in my hair! She quickly wiped it out but we were nervous for a while waiting for the color to set :)

A Christmas Gift

2011-01-15T16:46:00.005-05:00

For Christmas my father-in-law gave me a Kitchenaid!

It's green apple :)

I put one on our wedding registry but it was never purchased. When Steve and I stood in Bed Bath Beyond deciding how to use our wedding giftcards, he was shocked that I wanted to spend $$$ on a mixer. So when I opened this beauty on Christmas morning I was delighted :)

Since we had Christmas in Chicago I waited until we returned to my mom's house in Northern Virginia to start putting this machine through its paces. I was crushed when I turned it on and it sounded weird (like something was lose). I packed it up and waited until we returned to Norfolk to call Kitchenaid, (by this time it didn't work when turned on); they were happy to send me a new one. YAY for Customer Service. I thought my troubles were over. The new one came so I took it out and plugged it in-no weird noise! I then started to make cookie dough (basic, what this thing is made to do), the butter made the top part jump up and down and it sounded like it was about to die trying to go through butter-room temperature butter! I stood in my kitchen disgusted/disappointed with what was suppose to be an "amazing"mixer, so I called Kitchenaid Customer Service again. Once I explained the situation and that this was my second mixer (and the old one was still in my kitchen waiting to be dropped off at FedEx) Kim asked me to get a dime and screwdriver. Odd but I went with it. I put the dime in the mixer and turned it on. Nothing happened, so Kim had me adjust a screw on the mixer and try again... the dime slowly moved around the bottom of the bowl. It turns out that the mixer was never adjusted in factory (like it should have been!). I made cookies this weekend....cold butter, no problem.

I just made home made fresh whip cream for my hot chocolate....I'm loving this thing!

Happy New Year!!

2011-01-01T13:08:00.002-05:00

We ushered in the New Year in Manassas, Virginia.

Classic family photo.

Our dear friends Kristen & Tyler came up from Norfolk to celebrate New Years with us!

Happy 2011!

End of an era

2010-12-18T20:45:00.003-05:00

The time has come to replace my 1992 Toyota Paseo. We've talked about it for a while and did lots of research. Yesterday we picked up our new Kia Forte. I went from a red two-door coup to a red four-door hatchback:) Oh, and 19 years newer!

In college this baby got nicknamed pocket car...everyone joked I parked and put it my pocket because it was so tiny! Good memories in this car :)

It was a good car for 6 years. It made 12 of the 16 trips to Florida (890 miles per trip) during college.

My (our) new baby! It had a whopping 17 miles on it when we picked it up.

It was not bought because it matches my coat it just worked that way.

Lion King!

2010-12-11T10:55:00.002-05:00

Last night we had a date night to the Lion King!!

All ready to go out :)

It was amazing!

Wii

2010-12-08T22:41:00.002-05:00

We bought a Wii after having so much fun with my mom's over Thanksgiving. An online Black Friday deal made it hard to resist.

It's addicting :)

Last Wedding of 2010

2010-12-06T13:53:00.004-05:00

We've traveled a lot for weddings this year - northern Virginia (twice), western Virginia, Michigan, and Florida. Our 6th and final wedding of 2010 was held close to home in Norfolk. We met Wendy last year when we moved to Norfolk; she is the young adults pastor at our church. Wendy and Mike started dating less than a year ago and it's been wonderful to see their relationship grow! We were so excited to celebrate the start of their new adventure together.

During the ceremony.

With the new Mr. & Mrs. Michael King!

Our great friends Tyler & Kristen.

My hot date :)

Is tomorrow really December?!

2010-11-30T20:28:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the 1st of December and it was 71 degrees today! Besides the weather not fitting the season I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that Christmas is three weeks away. Thanksgiving was spent up in Northern Virginia with my mom. I brought the camera and forgot to take pictures of the family. But I did take pictures of what we did after Thanksgiving. My brother Drew is driving out to South Dakota to my mom's new house. So we packed all weekend and bowled on the Wii :)

The furniture

Half of the boxes

After a long day of packing

Back in Norfolk...our Christmas Tree :)

Samson is not sure what to think about the tree

Catching Up

2010-11-24T11:23:00.004-05:00

It's almost been a month since I've blogged :( Here is recap of the last month.

Oct 15th - We found out that Steve did not get accepted to the Foreign Area Officer program and we would not be moving to California like we'd been hoping (planning). I cried in the dentist office that same morning because of the stress/disappointment! We talked about getting out of the Marine Corps and teaching overseas.

Oct 17th - Steve went to Quantico, VA, for a conference that lasted all week. I worked everyday and spent the evenings researching schools and how to live in countries ranging from Hungary to Hong Kong. I also had a mild identity crisis thinking about leaving the military and a life style I've always known. I cried a lot.

Oct 22nd - Steve came home late Friday night and we spent the weekend celebrating a dear friend's birthday.

Oct 25th - We found out that Steve's grandfather passed away at the age of 86. Two hours later Steve got in the car and drove to Reston, VA, for yet another weeklong conference. I tried to study for my final Personal Finance exam.

Oct 27th - We bought a plan ticket for me to fly to Chicago for the weekend. Steve was already headed to Chicago the following week for another conference and was able to move his flight up to Friday night.

Oct 28th - Steve returned to Norfolk and prepared to leave the following day to Chicago. I failed my final exam by 6 points, I cried. My Mom drove down to visit.

Oct 29th - Woke up early and cooked chili for an office pot luck. Spent the afternoon with my mom. We drove Steve to the airport.

Oct 30th - I woke up at 345am and my mom drove me to the airport for my flight to Chicago. It was a full day. We ended the time watching Steve's high school football team play in the first playoff game. I was up 23 hours that day.

Oct 31st - Steve's family spent the day together and looking at old photographs. We passed out candy to neighborhood kids.

Nov 1st - The first calm day in a while. We spent the day helping Steve's dad around the house.

Nov 2nd - I flew back to Norfolk in time to vote! Steve stayed in Chicago for the conference. I worked the rest of the week and finally started to have peace about not knowing what we were going to do.

Nov 6th - Steve came home :) We finally really got to talk about everything that had been going on. Steve mentioned the possibility of moving to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and staying in the Marine Corps for a couple more years.

Nov 8th - I drove to Manassas, VA, for the day to spend time with my wonderful friend Amanda Amador.

Nov 19th - My friend Kristen and I hosted a bachelorette party for our friend Wendy who is getting married December 4th!

Nov 22nd - Steve spoke with his monitor. Sometime this summer we will be moving to North Carolina! Steve's sister called us and told us good news....we're going to be an aunt and uncle!!!!

As I write this Steve is walking in the door so we can drive up to Manassas for Thanksgiving!!! I cannot believe that tomorrow is Thanksgiving...the month has flown by.

Day for the dogs

2010-10-24T22:11:00.010-04:00

Saturday we spent time with our dear friend Brooke to celebrated her 30th birthday! Brian (Brooke's husband) had found out about the SPCA Dog Walk and had been planning on taking her there for the festivities. Brooke loves dogs but where they currently live they can't have one so Brian asked if Brooke could "borrow" Samson for the Dog Walk part of the day. Samson was happy to oblige.

We love this couple! Such amazing friends, they have truly blessed our lives.

He got a bandanna! Supporting the local SPCA :)

Brooke loves dogs but she adores Dachshunds.

There was a Dachshund Rescue at the event...Brooke was in heaven :)

Saturday afternoon, Steve and I went with our other good friends (Emily & Derek Sorenson) over to the dog beach on Fort Monroe.

He is so little!

Did you know..

2010-10-18T19:26:00.004-04:00

that if you microwave an egg to long it will explode! Steve is out of town for the week so I was making hard boiled eggs for dinner, but because my electric stove top takes forever to boil water I thought I would just pop them in the microwave. Bad idea. Evidently four minutes is just a little to long, my microwave exploded and this was the mess I found.

I'd already removed the pyrex dish that held the water and eggs.

My attempt at a quick meal turned into a 20 minute cleaning session devoted to my microwave :(

Columbus Day Weekend

2010-10-13T15:41:00.004-04:00

Steve's mom, Chris, came out for Columbus Day weekend. We hit up the Williamsburg Outlets on Saturday, that place was hopping! Columbus Day sales had the masses shopping and there were some great deals! Sunday evening we enjoyed pumpkin carving and chili with our community group. Monday we headed back to Williamsburg and wandered around the free parts of the colonial downtown. We had lunch at the Cheese Shoppe (great sandwiches!) before dropping Chris off at the airport.

The weather was fabulous! Low 80's in October :)

Waiting for the chili to warm up.

All the pumpkins!

With "our" pumpkin....He did all the work while I took pictures.

Two Dogs...

2010-10-10T13:03:00.004-04:00

We had our friends' (Derek and Emily Sorensen) dog Pacino over the weekend. After two dogs in our apartment Steve and I have decided one dog is enough for us! But overall it was a good couple days.

Pacino & Samson

Emily and I joked this was like letting our "children" have a sleepover.

My husband loves to

2010-10-05T16:28:00.005-04:00

Golf :)

For that reason, on his 27th birthday Steve got a new golf bag and a driver. We celebrated on the actual day with a oatmeal cream pie from the USO in the Dover terminal while we waited for our flight to Spain. But the driver arrived on Saturday and off to the driving range we went!

I married a sexy golfer :)

See the yellow blur?

I golf occasionally but Saturday I was the photographer.

The sun was shining and my ring was sparkling so I played with the macro setting on my camera :)

The new driver (it's the big yellow one)

Our Spanish Adventure!

2010-10-04T13:26:00.010-04:00

Two weeks ago Steve and I packed our bags, dropped off Samson with friends, and drove to Dover Delaware hoping to catch a flight to Spain! 17 hours later we were flying across the Atlantic :) This idea/trip had been in the works ever since I found out we were moving to Norfolk and we would have access to military space available (which is free!) to different locations in Europe. My first hope was Greece but Spain was much easier to get to.

It was an awesome trip!

We rented a car and drove around southern Spain. I did the driving because I was the most comfortable with driving manual and by comfortable I mean I had a knot in my stomach every time I turned the car on. Thank you mom for teaching me, just in case I needed it! Steve had never driven manual before and my teaching skills were lacking during our 15 minute crash course so I was stuck in the driver's seat.

Here is a tip about driving manual, downshift when approaching a hill....yeah I didn't know that one and luckily we made it over the first mountain before being able to google "how to drive a manual uphill."

Our faithful Chevrolet Aveo, it screamed tourist/America because we didn't see another Chevy our whole trip.

Our guide, Rick Steve's Spain 2010.

Our adventure took us to Rota, Sevilla, Cordoba, Malaga, Granada, Ronda and back to Rota.

In the Plaza De Espana in Sevilla.

We saw lots of Cathedrals...this one is in Sevilla and is the 3rd largest in Europe.

Southern Spain is filled with moorish architecture, I loved all the details.

The Roman Bridge behind us in Cordoba.

The Alhambra in Granada.

Steve letting me know he was done having his picture taken :)

Ronda...we stayed here the shortest and liked it the most.

One day I want to live on the side of a cliff.

It was a great adventure, can't wait for the next one!

Life & Death

2010-09-21T05:33:00.003-04:00

Four years ago my Dad entered into his Heavenly Father's presence. Even though I wish he was still with us, I know he is in a better place, the BEST place. Even as I was remembering my dad I received amazing news my beautiful friend Rebekah was in labor! I spent the day praying for the Butterfields and excited about when their precious baby boy was going to make his entrance. What a way for God to redeem the day!

She became a momma to Nathan Scott a little after midnight September 21st!

I'm a daddy's girl.

Michigan

2010-09-15T18:51:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Steve and I headed north to the great state of Michigan, in particular, its "west coast." I didn't even know that Michigan had a "west coast" until I saw signs when we arrived in Grand Rapids airport heralding "Welcome to Michigan's West Coast." Steve's good friend Brian Holda got married in the city of Holland, which is also home to Steve's alma mater, Hope College. We decided to make a long weekend of the trip since Steve hasn't been back since he graduated!

With the happy couple, Brian & Shana!

Welkom to Holland...going back to its Dutch roots :)

Hope's Chapel

Incredible stained glass. Hope is 144 years old!

Downtown Holland

Lake Michigan...the water is so clear

September in Michigan is really pretty

Hope alumni, good Michigan friends!

Most boats have interesting names

2010-09-09T17:46:00.003-04:00

This one is docked across the inlet from our neighborhood. It's a favorite :)

Labor Day 2010

2010-09-08T22:29:00.005-04:00

We went away for Labor Day and escaped "hurricane" Earl, by the time Earl hit land it was just a little rain. We drove out to Floyd County, the middle of no where south/west Virginia. It was the same retreat we went on last year. This time the McClure family has settled into a lodge on 33 acres. It was gorgeous! Part of my family came down and joined us, it was wonderful to spend time with them. I got to say goodbye to my baby brother before he drives of into the sunset (aka moves to Seattle). We finally bought a new camera!! So the rest of this post will be pictures :)

This is how Samson travels....knocked out in the back.

Lots and lots of corn-hole (or bags if you're from Michigan) was played.

The biker of the family :) Crazy boy is driving his motorcycle across country! I'm going to have fun following his adventures on his blog.

The lodge with projection screen for movie night.

Floyd Friday Night Jamboree.

I love him :)

No I'm not pregnant, it's just a loose shirt.

Checking out the hand made pottery.

Sunday we played mini golf and Steve hit a few at the batting cages.

Next up we're heading to Holland, Michigan for a wedding :)

Because I can't post two videos at a time

2010-08-19T15:00:00.002-04:00

We're not sure what prompted his urge to get under the rug but it hasn't happened since.

Play Time

2010-08-19T14:35:00.003-04:00

Samson is a pretty mellow dog around strangers but around us it's a different story. He entertains us :)

Samson playing with Steve

Back to School

2010-08-18T11:29:00.006-04:00

In June I was accepted to FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship for the Accredited Financial Counselor® Program (wow that's a mouth full). FINRA is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States and it sponsors around 250 military spouses each year to go through a program offered by the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE). This program costs $850 and I get to take it for free! It took until mid July to finalize everything and for them to determine my required practicum hours. With my background and experience I only have to complete 400 hours! Which is a lot but it's also the minimum required hours. They can require up to 1,000 hours. The program is made up of two courses: Personal Finance & Financial Counseling Debt Management. I started my first webinar course last night! Preparing for the class I felt like I was back in school reading finance textbooks :)

Another blessing with this whole program is that I can work on my practicum hours through the Navy Marine Corps Relief Society. I don't think I've ever mentioned this on the blog before but I've been volunteering twice a week at the NMCRS Norfolk office since November 2009. NMCRS is a non-profit organization that offers financial (through interest free loans & grants), educational and other assistance to eligible service members of the Navy and Marine Corps. It's an amazing organization and is staffed primarily by volunteers! Moving to Norfolk last July I thought I had it all figured out - I would take a few months to enjoy married life and then go back to work for Edward Jones part time. I had worked for Edward Jones up in Northern Virginia and had already found several offices that wanted me to work for them. I kept pushing it off and finally realized although I was good at the job, I wasn't passionate about it. Sometime in August I attended a Officer's Wives Meet & Greet and there was a small table about the NMCRS. Finally in October I got my butt in gear and started training to become a caseworker. It's been awesome! As a caseworker I interview Sailors & Marines seeking financial assistance. I can say I love my job :) There are definitely times where it can be frustrating but it's also very satisfying when I know that I've helped someone.

Alright I'm off to clean my house and start reading for my next class!

Cupcakes in DC

2010-08-09T22:16:00.010-04:00

This past weekend Steve and I drove to Northern Virginia to celebrate Paul's 20th birthday. It's still weird to think that my "little" brother is no longer a teenager. He is growing up so fast, he owns a motorcycle!?! and is moving to Seattle in September?!? When did he become an adult?In typical fashion I forgot to take pictures of Paul's birthday.

Saturday Steve & I were able to spend time with friends in DC and attend National Community Church's evening service. One highlight of the day was picking up cupcakes from Georgetown Cupcake! Georgetown Cupcake is from the TLC show DC Cupcake and its website is designed to make you drool. I pre-ordered and was able to skip the very long line of hungry people waiting for cupcakes.

Yes, this is the line to order a cupcake!

Chocolate2, Key Lime, Mint Cookie & Creme

Classic Red Velvet, Salted Carmel & Peanut Butter and Chocolate Swirl (amazing!!)

They were all so wonderful, so rich! We did share with the birthday boy :)

PS - please do not judge me because I took pictures of cupcakes but forgot to get the camera out and document my brother's birthday. Thank you.

A few pictures

2010-07-31T10:41:00.002-04:00

My mom came down for a visit a few weekends ago, and brought her nice camera :) Every Sunday night this summer the Bay View Pavilion has a live band play; we go and watch all the old couples waltz/swing/jitterbug the night away. During intermission we took a walk on the beach.

Our little family

I love living by water!

Samson enjoying the sand

No More Glasses :)

2010-07-28T12:35:00.005-04:00

Steve had LASIK yesterday morning (courtesy of the Marine Corps). It is incredible that the whole procedure took less than 5 minutes. His recovery is going well. He wears sunglasses around everywhere and at night he wears a protective eye guard...it looks like he is ready to play racquetball when he goes to bed :) I will post a picture later...if he lets me!

He will no longer need these!

A wedding in Florida

2010-07-27T21:32:00.001-04:00

Last Thursday I flew down to Florida for my dear friend Tina's wedding. It was HOT the day of the wedding-100% humidity! It reminded me why I enjoyed going to school in Florida (Aug-May) and being able to leave for the summer. I helped as ceremony coordinator. It was fun but tiring :)

I came down the day of the Bachelorette party. I can't post those photos :)

Lots of goodies for the bride :)

Day of the wedding, I drove Tina to her make-up appointment.

Tina was a gorgeous bride!!

The happy couple :) The cake was so yummy!!

Five things for Friday

2010-07-16T23:32:00.005-04:00

1. Hot yoga class at noon.

2. Steve came home with FREE tickets to John Mayer concert on Sunday. Thank you USMC.

3. Inception was a crazy movie...see it.

4. It was 90 degrees at 11pm driving back from the movie. It's HOT in Norfolk.

5. On Samson's walk after the movie he found a rat, ewww for Norfolk's sewer rats.

Spirit of Norfolk

2010-07-10T17:16:00.005-04:00

We've been milking our one year anniversary for all it's worth. Last night we celebrated by going on the Spirit of Norfolk dinner cruise. It was a fun evening filled with at times corny energy (the DJ had a silver sequin vest) but we still enjoyed ourselves. We expected to see other couples and families celebrating anniversaries, birthdays, and such. However, we thought it was odd when the DJ announced 4 separate families all having reunions aboard the ship that very night. Altogether, the Nesbit's, Ray's, Johnson's, and Parker's comprised well over half the passengers aboard.

Norfolk has what I would call a "baby" skyline :)

Floyd, Virginia, and the AT

2010-07-09T09:50:00.007-04:00

We had a great visit with our dear friends the McClures in Floyd, Va. They have a retreat center on 35 acres near the Blue Ridge Parkway. We stayed up late, slept in, and relaxed - a perfect vacation. On the 4th of July we all packed up and drove to Philpott Lake, where we had a picnic and swam. No fireworks on the 4th but the night before Steve and I experienced small town fireworks at the local high school complete with homemade ice cream and baked goods for sale.

The camera was hit or miss but Steve did get a picture of me teaching Samson to swim...he is not a natural but we're trying.

Tuesday afternoon we loaded up and headed north of Roanoke, Virginia, to the trailhead of Dragon's Tooth. Its a 2.5 mile hike up and the last part is on the Appalachian Trail. The summit is a rock formation with amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I wish the camera worked :( The last leg of the hike is basically on your hands and feet up rocks. We had to do a relay with the dog - Steve would climb up, I would pass him Samson, and so forth. Our little 14lb puppy was a natural hiker...he loved all the new smells, bugs, jumping up the smaller rocks and the dirt - oh how he loved the dirt! Several times during the hike our little black dog was very brown from dust. We spent the night on the top and cooked ramen over our little camp stove. We're looking forward to our next camping trip :)

Again, cooperating for only one picture then dying again.

My little munchkin enjoying the shade at the winery :)

ONE year and 5 days :)

2010-07-08T16:34:00.006-04:00

One year and 5 days ago I married the love of my life. This past year has been wonderful, full adventures and challenges. I am so blessed. Steve and I drove out to the Blue Ridge Parkway to enjoy wine tasting and lunch at Chateau Morrisette. It was a gorgeous day, the vineyard is dog friendly so Samson got to sit at the bar while we tasted wine! We spent the afternoon relaxing in the shade and remembering the past year. The winery started our 5 day trip to visit dear friends in Floyd Va and then camping on the Appalachian Trail.

I love him :)

July 3rd, 2009

Since we were going to be traveling on our anniversary we decided to have our wedding cake friday night. Why/How did it become a tradition to keep the top tier of your wedding cake and eat it on your 1st anniversary!? I have no idea (should google it but oh well) but the cake has been taking up freezer space for a whole year.

After being taken out of two zip lock bags

layers upon layers of foil then more layers of plastic wrap

Viola....cake! Tasted pretty good but we will not be keeping for year two :)

Note: I wish I could post more pictures but after walking out of the winery (needing some fresh air) and thinking I should take more pictures this place is beautiful....the only camera with us decided it had had enough and stopped working. Today we went to Best Buy to contemplate a new "toy" :)

A Samson update

2010-06-29T14:48:00.005-04:00

Our puppy is getting so big (relatively speaking). At Samson's last vet visit he weighed in at 13.3 lbs :) which feels like he's huge considering he was 6.8lbs when he first arrived! He is now 4 months old and I couldn't imagine our lives without him. The puppy stage is quickly fading and he now has an adult coat and will start losing his puppy teeth. Steve and I have had so much fun with this guy.

Such a pretty boy

Samson is a little camera shy

It hasn't been all fun and games...Samson's first victim

Bunny has been there since the beginning...but now he is missing most of the stuffing from his head. I tried sewing up the eyes but that didn't last very long

Bunny has since been taken away and is in retirement

A Weekend of Weddings :)

2010-06-21T11:31:00.009-04:00

Steve and I had a full weekend. This weekend has been on our calendar for a while now; two wonderful couples tied the knot! The first wedding was in Lynchburg, Virginia. Steve and I drove in Saturday morning for the 4pm wedding.

Samson's first road trip (and sticking his tongue out)

Josiah & Carly McClure ~ June 19th 2010

With the happy couple! Steve has know the McClure family for 5 years and we were so excited to be apart of the celebration :)

After spending the night in Lynchburg, we woke up early and drove to Manassas, Virginia, for the second wedding (Note: If you're ever in Lynchburg don't stay at the Travel Lodge...trust me...yuck!). We spent the afternoon with my mom. She finally got to meet her grandpuppy. Samson spent the afternoon pestering his much older "sister" Tabitha (my family's 13 year old dog). Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures :(

Matt & Heather Fischer!! June 20th 2010

The beautiful couple, Heather was STUNNING!

I have known Heather and Matt for several years through church. It was a joy to see them start the next adventure in their life together!

My beautiful mother

My handsome husband...in 2 1/2 weeks we'll be married a year!

It was a great weekend, filled with love, celebration and wedding cake! Sadly we had to drive back to Norfolk following Matt & Heather's reception...we didn't get in until 230am! But all the driving a lack of sleep was worth it :)

June Update

2010-06-21T10:51:00.007-04:00

Its been a while since I've blogged :( June has been good and busy. Steve's mother visited us over Memorial Day weekend and it was wonderful showing her around Norfolk and meeting the new grandpuppy. We visited Jamestown, Williamsburg & Yorktown, ALL in one day! I was also able to have a small reunion with two college roommates in Charlotte NC, it was a wonderful trip. I'm horrible about taking pictures so I have nothing to show you from these trips :) Steve and I were also able to fit in two concerts, Brad Paisley H2O Tour and The Country Throwdown feat. Montgomery Gentry!

Samson was not going to be allowed on the furniture...

2010-05-12T15:55:00.003-04:00

hmm that rule didn't last very long. His favorite past time is taking a nap on the couch or chair with momma :)

Cream couch + black dog = this might be a bad idea

Such a momma's boy :)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T12:52:00.003-04:00

You are an inspiration and a blessing in my life! I love you :)

The Haack family has expanded!

2010-05-05T21:52:00.003-04:00

I posted under a similar title a while back but it was about goldfish that sadly didn't make it very long. THIS post is about something furry and cute. Introducing Samson!

Steve and I started this process more than 6 weeks ago. We decided that we wanted to add a dog to our family. We searched every SPCA in the Hampton Roads area. We both really wanted to adopt and give a stray dog a new lease on life. Sadly we couldn't find a match. So we started looking into purebreds and found the Shiba Inu. Funny little dogs with BIG personalities. The Shiba is one of the oldest Japanese breeds and its name means Brushwood (Shiba) Dog (Inu). Finding the breed led to a breeder and then pictures of babies. Samson stole our heart from the beginning. Steve tells everyone we're doing a trial run before kids :)

First picture at 3 1/2 weeks old

Second picture at 6 1/2 weeks

Gettings settled in and bonding with daddy

Smile for the camera!

New Haircut :)

2010-04-19T15:30:00.005-04:00

Friday I walked into a Supercut (I know! but the stylist was recommended by someone with great hair) and 17 dollars later walked out 6 inches lighter :) The plan is to go even shorter in about a month!

I can now do my hair in about 15 minutes...I love it!!

Serve the City Norfolk

2010-04-18T11:26:00.004-04:00

Yesterday our church partnered with churches from all over the community and we went out and did service projects all over town. Steve and I worked with part of our small group on a community garden that was placed in the playground of a local school. The 3rd grade class is going to take care of it. Here are a few pictures of our day :)

The kids were so excited about the garden

Amy, Kristen and I

From this picture you can see that my hair is a little shorter...I cut 6 inches off on friday :)

Mr. & Mrs. Amador

2010-04-09T09:00:00.007-04:00

Introducing Mr. & Mrs. Amador!!

My dear friend Amanda got married the passed Sunday! I drove up to Manassas wednesday night to start the wedding festivities off right with her Bachelorette Party.

The rehearsal on Saturday

I forgot to give Steve our camera and it spent the evening in my purse in the bridal room. I was able to take some pictures from friends facebook accounts :)

Our gorgeous bouquets

One of the two pictures I actually took before the wedding

Bek and I

Some of the girls during the dinner

The love of my life :)

Easter Weekend

2010-04-07T10:19:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I got to share White Sulpher Springs with Steve. WSS is filled with childhood memories of when my family would go there when we were in transit moving with the military. I was on support staff twice in high school and my family spent the first Christmas there after my dad passed away. I was so excited for Steve to experience it. We had decided some time last fall to go on the Resurrection Weekend Retreat and part of my family joined us.

Easter morning after a beautiful sunrise service.

Located in very rural Mann's Choice, PA. We got some hiking in.

WSS has an old bowling alley where you set up your own pins.

Sarah, a friend from our OCF group in Norfolk was able to come with us.

Some extra chain

2010-03-31T14:14:00.002-04:00

And the porch swing is now at a reasonable height :)

Swing into Spring

2010-03-29T21:04:00.004-04:00

With the wonderful weather we've been enjoying this past week, Steve and I went on a hunt to find a porch swing. Both Home-Depot and Lowes told us it was to early in the season for them to be in the stores. So after a little online search, Wal-Mart turned up with a swing that could be shipped to the store. It arrived today!

Opening and assembling...I have a handy husband

Almost done...we were happily surprised with how nice our Wal-mart swing turned out

We finished and realized the chain was just a little short :)

It looks just a little funny on the porch...hopefully the neighborhoods won't mind until we get a longer chain tomorrow.

Whirlwind Weekend

2010-03-19T11:41:00.005-04:00

Last weekend involved a lot of driving. Driving to Manassas to go over wedding details with Amanda and taste test wonderful food for her wedding in less than a month!! I cannot wait to EAT at her wedding :) Driving out to Warrenton to prep with girls for Amanda's bridal shower.

Five of the eight wonderful bridesmaids

I love this girl! I have been so blessed to have her part of my life.

Continuing with the driving theme...Driving from Warrenton (with Steve who picked me up) to Canaan Valley in West Virginia for a weekend ski retreat. After my attempt at snowboarding, I discovered I'm a born skier, its in my blood (my mother grew up on skis) and I took to short skis or snow blades like a duck to water. Sadly I have no pictures to prove it.

Steve with the guys

Our first ski trip together!

Then monday driving back from West Virginia to Warrenton where my car was parked and finally driving back to Norfolk. Even though it involved a lot of driving it was worth it.

Introducing Capt. Haack!

2010-03-17T19:46:00.003-04:00

March started off with Steve's promotion to Captain!

A very proud wife pinning on Steve's Captain bars

California Sun = Happiness

2010-02-24T18:56:00.009-05:00

Its been almost 2 weeks since our trip to San Diego here are ten things to recap our trip.

1. NEVER fly Delta

2. I learned I can talk my way onto a flight as its boarding

3. San Diego is a lot hillier than I thought

4. It does feel like southern California will fall into the Pacific

5. The Pacific is just cooler than the Atlantic

6. Having friends to visit in fun places is wonderful

7. Finding out that above friends are pregnant even better!

8. San Diego has lots of wonderful/delicious places to eat and by eating out all week I gained 2lbs :(

9. I could totally live in California

10. I love my husband (okay I didn't find that out in San Diego but its always a good thing)

What to do on a snow day....

2010-01-30T13:09:00.005-05:00

The past week the weather channels have been saying that we could be getting up to 8 inches of snow this weekend. I was in disbelief and stated several times that I would believe it when I saw it. I was awakened this morning at 740am by Steve telling there was snow outside, and I told him if he was tricking me out of the warm bed he would be in big trouble if there was not snow on the ground. I looked out the window and was greeted with a winter wonderland! On a normal Saturday morning I wouldn't get out of bed until at least 10am (okay maybe even later), but this morning the snow was like caffeine. I could not fall back to sleep. I had to go outside and experience my favorite part of snow...the stillness and quiet of it falling to the ground :) Because of this burst of energy I have sorted a huge box of old college papers and notes, organized our small album collection and photos, and vacuumed the house all before 11am!

Our first snow in Norfolk :)

A Cup of Tea

2010-01-05T15:01:00.009-05:00

This Christmas my mother gave me a beautiful (single) tea cup. I was a little confused, until my sister(in-law) Lindsay opened her gift of a tea cup and my mother produced a third matching cup. She explained that we each had matching cups and whenever we had tea/coffee we could think of each other :)

Us on New Year's Eve...I am blessed with a wonderful mother and sister

My cup filled with Tazo Passion Tea

Happy New Year's

2009-12-31T17:28:00.004-05:00

New Year's Eve has always been a big holiday for my family. We have always had a party to ring in the New Year. Steve and I became "official" on New Year's Eve two years ago, so it's special for us now too. We have celebrated this holiday together three times in our two years, once dating, once engaged and now married :)

Ringing in 2008!

Looking forward to what 2010 has in store!

Disney World

2009-12-30T10:52:00.008-05:00

It's almost the New Year and I haven't blogged about our Disney trip or Christmas :(

Our trip to Orlando, Florida, was wonderful. I strongly recommend people go before children. I have never seen so many tired parents in one place. Also go the week before Christmas, school isn't out and the crowds are not overwhelming.

Part of what made our trip so affordable was we stayed at a time share resort. We had to do a "90 minute" presentation (which is never 90 minutes!) in exchange for a free 3 night 4 day stay. Before the presentation we talked and agreed we were not going to buy a time share. Well after the whole thing was said and done what did we buy....a time share! I never thought I would be a person to own one but never say never. I was skeptical in the beginning (Steve was excited) but I'm warming to the thought of having the ability to vacation around the world.

Another wonderful part of our trip was seeing so many of my college friends. Having attended college in Florida (and living in Virginia) it has made seeing people difficult. I was able to catch up with several old roommates, professors, co-workers, and show Steve around my old campus and Lakeland.

Holiday Craziness :)

2009-12-10T14:28:00.006-05:00

Wow its been almost a month since the last post, bad on my part because as a house wife I should have time...right? Thanksgiving has come and gone, we had a wonderful (cold) trip to Chicago. Steve played in the annual football game, which as been going on since the 6th grade! We spent a day in downtown, it was a glorious day and it was wonderful wandering around the city.

After our return to warm Norfolk the Christmas decorations went up :) Our first married Christmas, it was fun to decorate my own house! Steve is not big into decorations but says everything looks great.

Our next adventure is Disney World, we leave for a week on Sunday!!!

Happy Belated Birthday!

2009-11-12T14:53:00.006-05:00

On November 10th the Marine Corps celebrated 234 years! Oorah! To celebrate this illustrious day the Marine Corps has a Ball. Birthday Balls are held all over the world. Last weekend we attended the Marine Force Command's Birthday Ball in Virginia Beach. It was held in three of Virginia Beach Convention Center's huge ballrooms, there had to be around 1,000 people there. This was my first year to attend and it was a blast.

Birthday Cake

Our loot from the evening....mugs with Eagle, Globe & Anchor