Mississippi Girl

It's been a while since I posted on here, so I wanted to give an update as to what's been going on in our lives the past year.  David was away for my 23rd birthday last year so family came to visit me on Friday, November 10, 2012.  We celebrated my birthday at the Hard Rock Casino buffet and had a great time! For Thanksgiving, I went home for the part of the week that we were off school to spend time with my family.  Although David was underway, I got to receive a phone call from him, which was such a special treat! He came home early December so we got to spend Christmas in Knoxville and Marietta.  We surprised his Dad and the rest of his dad's side of the family for Christmas in Knoxville.  Then we spent a few days with my family in Marietta for the rest of our time off.  In January, we celebrated David's birthday with a homemade meal and a visit to the Infinity Science Center at John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.  It was a lot of fun! 

In the spring, we went backpacking on the Tuxachanie Trail and we took sailing lessons and were able to rent out the Hobie Wave and Hobie Bravo catamarans at Keesler Air Force Base to go sailing.  We have been sailing many times since then and we really enjoy it! I finished up my first year of teaching on May 24, 2013.  It was a very successful year and I am really looking forward to another year teaching Kindergarten starting in the fall.  My sister Mary graduated from high school on May 25, 2013 and I was able to drive home just in time to attend her graduation from KMHS and her graduation party that Sunday.  After that weekend, I came back to Ocean Springs to close up my classroom and then I was able to spend almost two weeks with my family after that.  We went to get my grandmother's house ready to sell in Hilton Head, SC for about a week, but otherwise I just spent time with family in Marietta.  I returned to Ocean Springs in mid June right before David came home, and we celebrated our one year anniversary at the Beau Rivage right after that.  We stayed one night there and got to have lunch at the Terrace Cafe, we hung out at the resort-style pool overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, went to dinner at the Italian restaurant Stalla, and we danced at the night club that Friday night.  The next morning we had a champagne brunch buffet and then spent some time on the beach.  It was like a mini honeymoon and such a nice way to celebrate our anniversary.  

This past weekend, my family came to visit and we had a great time! They arrive on Thursday and just left this afternoon.  We went to the pool, visited David on the boat while he had duty, walked around downtown Ocean Springs and got gelato and pastries at French Kiss Pastries, and we went had fun hanging out playing Wii Sports, watching movies, and playing Settlers of Catan.  We also went to eat out at Bay View Gourmet restaurant for brunch before picking Sean up from the Gulfport airport and going sailing at Keesler AFB.  We got ice cream at Quake's Ice Creamery afterwards and we went to dinner at Phoenicia Gourmet Restaurant later that night.  This morning, we went to church at St. Michael in Biloxi, went to Half Shell Oyster House, and rested before dropping Mom, Dad, Sean, and Mary off at the airport.  We had an amazing time this weekend and we are looking forward to seeing them again!