A Bumpy But Beautiful Ride

Hello all,
 Since I had such a "Debby Downer" post yesterday I wanted to share good news today! First, thank you to everyone who has sent in their support, that alone is more uplifting than can be imagined.
Last night I had my pity party, and it was DELICIOUS! I enjoyed a fabulous pumpkin beer and a piece of tiramisu after the baby's bedtime by myself on the couch while watching trash tv! What a perfect pity party evening. I decided that I would wake up to tackle the world today and that I did!
We started our morning at Portsmouth Naval Hospital for my breast ultrasound. Let me just start by saying, I'm not Portsmouth's biggest fan but their mammography department has it together! I called yesterday and got an appointment today. I went in and was seeing my ultrasound and a doctor telling me what was going on at my appointment time! So, here are the results.... Good news!!!! The lumps are just hills in the dense breast tissue, no tumors or masses to be concerned about! I've never been so excited to say I'm lumpy!
And just like bad things, good things happen in 3's if you look for them! Today Emily and I were finally, 6 weeks in the making, cleared for our overseas medical screenings! What a weight off of our shoulders. And finally, we received emails that our Visa paperwork is being processed by the UK Embassy and should, fingers crossed, be completed in 8 business days!
Hopefully those near and dear to me know that for the most part I can pull it together and see the good in the day to day, yesterday was not the norm. I appreciate the open floor for my pity party and am thankful that I have so much good in my life that I can pull myself out from the shadows! Love to all!

Traveling Through Life

It has been awhile since I have blogged and it's because life has thrown my family and I a few curve balls lately. We are still swinging at those curve balls but I thought this might be a good way to work through some of the items that are floating through my head right now and to keep those near and dear to us involved. Orginally this blog was started to document our travel experiences after our upcoming move to England....Now it may be more of the more abstract "traveling" through the day to day and our more traditional traveling as well.
Our first major curve ball happened on July 11th. Em and I had traveled to Panama City, FL to spend a long weekend with the hubs who was there for training. That evening, minutes after I had laid Em to sleep, I received a phone call that I wish for no one to ever receive. My sister called me hysterically telling me the heartbreaking news that my 20 year old baby brother had committed suicide.

 There was an indescribable feeling that washed over me, part disbelief, part shock, part pure sickness and what has always been my personal coping mechanism, the feeling that I needed to get home and fix everything/take care of everyone...That is in fact my job as being the oldest sibling. After the worst day of travel we have ever had, we made it home and began to deal with the "business" aspect that follows an unexpected death. I personally take so much comfort in having a list of things to do, which we had and I was able to rely on the strength of my lists to keep me moving minute to minute, hour to hour and day to day. After the funeral, our family had to head back to VA because Nick needed to get back to work.
Being home was my second curve ball. It's very difficult to be home where everything is normal and to walk around feeling so broken. I found myself being upset with friends that were going on about their normal lives and so upset over things that seemed so mundane to me. Nick was back at work and I was back to taking care of Em all day. It's hard to grieve and take care of a high speed toddler at the same time. Again, there is some comfort in being busy but it is also so difficult to give up your needs to care for others.

Then there is the move and the millions and trillions of appointments and papers that need to be taken care of. I literally spend hours a day driving from base to base or doctor to doctor to complete the all important to do list. We had to sell our RV, 2 cars, lots of belongs, schedule movers and shippers, and complete the overseas medical screenings.The entire family had to have dental checks through the navy, including Em with her 6 teeth, and physicals, immunizations, etc.
As I went to my final appointment for our medical clearances, I was thrown my next curve ball. I was getting  a normal annual exam when the doctor noticed lumps in the lymph nodes area of my left breast. I am scheduled for an ultra sound to check out exactly what is happening but in the mean time I am lost. The waiting and thinking about the possibilities is exhausting and terrifying. I do not know that I have the strength to deal with one more item on my already emotionally full plate.

With all the curve balls I am trying to stay positive and to "hide my crazy" but I can't help but wonder why is all of this happening right now? What have I done to deserve all of this? And why can't someone just cut me a break! As for now, I shall wait and continue to keep my to do list full and play peek a boo with my precious angel.

Wardrobe Woes in a Wet Wonderland

The main intention of starting this blog was to chronicle our family's upcoming international move. We received orders to RAF Coningsby in England. My husband will be doing an "exchange tour" with the Royal Airforce and will be learning to fly their fighter jet the Typhoon and will then be an instructor teaching their incoming students. We are thrilled to take our little family across the pond for the next 3 years! Although we are thrilled, I am starting to get nervous about all the changes. I am a type A person to the t so I am thinking about EVERYTHING that needs to be done before the move and everything that will be different over there, cars, electrical outlets, terminology, etc. Since I can't do anything about that just yet, I have decidedto focus on what I can....Clothes! Right now in Va it's HOT and HUMID. I am loving buying and wearing cute summer dresses, shorts and cute summery tops but I know everything I buy this summer will likely sit in my closet for the next 3 years except for the occasional vacation, hello French Riviera! That being said, I have spent WAY too long on Pinterest searching for Fall/Winter outfits trying to convince myself my closet will be happy in England! Here are some of my favorite picks so far... All of the fashionistas out there, what do you think will be the hot items of the fall? I would love to hear your thoughts!


WITH A BLACK BOOT

Oh Manny!

Hello all! How has everyone's week been? We have been busy here but I wouldn't have it any other way! We went camping last weekend in our "vintage" RV, that we lovingly named Manny after the previous owner. Manny is an older RV who isn't the prettiest to look at but we love him like family! We love being able to load up and just go...definitely our style! AND having the RV is much easier with an infant! Manny had some paint issues so we had a friend paint murals on it to give it some character and make it a little more aesthetically pleasing! We love it and it is a wonderful conversation starter! My husband is a Naval Academy grad and F 18 pilot which is where the theme for the paint came from.

More to come about previous and upcoming adventures!

The Beginning

Welcome! I am so excited to begin this blog and to share our adventures with you! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Kaitlin and I am a proud Navy wife and mother of a beautiful daughter. For those of you who are Navy wives you will understand how this can become a defining title, and I would not change that. I am a small town girl from Oklahoma and never could have imagined my life taking the twists and turns it has, mostly due to the Navy. I married the Mr. almost 3 years ago.

We welcomed our little girl, Emily, 10 months ago and are loving every second watching her grow. The Mr. was on deployment when she was born so below are pictures of them meeting when she was 2.5 months old. 

 We have been living in Virginia Beach for the last 3 years and are enjoying it. The Mr. did back to back deployments so this is his first summer home in years! We are loving traveling in our "vintage" RV, that we named Manny, (more to come on that) and just spending time together as a family.

Well that is all for today, check back for more updates and adventures!