Long Weekend in Boone: July 2008

Two months to go until Erik returns from deployment, so I drive up to the Boone, NC area to spend a long weekend at my aunt and uncle's house on Sugar Mountain. My parents meet us, and we all have a wonderful, relaxing time in the mountains. Below are some photos from a drive along the Blue Ridge.

My parents and I relaxing on the back deck of my aunt and uncle's house. It is so quiet in the mountains...just the kind of vacation that I stressed military wife needs!

My Aunt Terri and I taking a walk around her Sugar Mountain neighborhood.

The Airforce Wife's Trip to Albuquerque: June 2008

While Erik was deployed for 6 months this past year, I realized the only way I would survive was to always have something to look forward to each month. To mark the halfway point of his deployment, I took a trip out to ABQ to spend a few days with Erik's family. It was wonderful being bathed in so much love and support!

No trip to ABQ is complete without a trip up to the Sandia Mountains via the tramway. You get an amazing view of the city.

During my trip to Albuquerque, I went with my parents-in-law and niece-in-law south of the city to the Acoma Pueblo. This reservation includes a tall mesa, on the top of which the original village was built. A tribal elder hosted a wonderful walking tour of the mesa town. Many of the older tribe members still live on the top of the mesa, despite the lack of running water and electricity.

The above image is a traditional Acoma stove. Below are great views from the top of the mesa.

After taking the tour of the Acoma Pueblo, the guide told us we had two ways to get back down from the mesa: a bus or the steps. The steps had been cut into the side of the rock by the Native Americans and were the only way for the villagers to descend to ground level for hundreds of years. So as not to look like a chicken in front of my in-laws, I cheerfully agreed to climb down the side of the rock. As you can see from the photos below, the descent was not as simple as I thought. I made sure my father-in-law was ready to catch me at any time.

To clarify: I am NOT afraid of heights! I actually love heights. I'm just quite clumsy and have some depth-perception problems that make climbing down from the heights a bit sketchy!

My Nephew Rowan!

My mom and I with my baby nephew, Rowan. I was able to meet him for the first time in May, when Kenny and Cris visited my parents in Virginia. I love being an Aunt (or "Tita" in Tagolog) and have already found myself in Babies R Us on more than one occasion!

My brother and I with Baby Rowan.

Proud Tita Wendy!

Photos from our Trip to Aruba Last November

Unfortunately, I did not take as many pictures as I should have. But here's what I've got...

Our little ocean resort on the Dutch island.

Snorkeling near shore.

Erik and I dining at an oceanside restaurant with Mom and Dad.

Sunset on the beach.

The funnest part of our Aruba trip was the 4-wheel drive, off-road safari tour around the island. Mom actually was one of the drivers! She did an awesome job and handled her vehicle much better than the others.

Mud puddles and trenches were not avoided on our safari tour. We had mud spewing up to the doors in some places of the trip.

Good thing neither of us get motion sickness!

Erik keeping watch on the two ladies in the front of the vehicle!

A little hideaway on the opposite end of the island.

Mom hanging out at one of the stops during our off-road trip around the island.

Hans and Elena's Wedding in Albuquerque last August

Erik and I at Hans' wedding reception.

Erik at our table, next to his brother.

A view from our table at the Tanaon. That's Erik at the far end, then Hans, Elena, Elena's sister, and Elena's cousin.

Another view of our table.

Our New House in South Carolina

This is our new house! It's a Cape Code style, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, former model home that is approximately 2 years old. There are two large front rooms for formal living and dining areas, making the house about 2000 sqft. You'll have to excuse the brown grass...this photo was taken after the first frost of autumn, and all grasses in the Charleston area have officially gone dormant until next spring.

Here's another view of the house from the driveway side. The house next door is still a model home, so being a corner house next to a model, we have zero direct neighbors at this point!

Now a closer look at the driveway side, with the two-car garage connected to the house by a nice little deck. The window overlooking the deck is one of the main windows to the first floor master bedroom. Behind the house are certified wetlands, so there will never be anyone building behind us. I plan to post some more photos of the interior as soon as I feel that everything has found its place.

Our Honeymoon in Ruidoso, NM