Kyle honored as the Jacksonville Jaguars Hometown Hero!

Well, football season is in full swing and that means Kyle will be home so soon!!

I got an email last Wednesday from the Director of Marketing for the Jags asking if I could attend Saturday's game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. He explained to me that Kyle would be honored as the "Hometown Hero" and asked me to let him know how many tickets I needed. Well, of course, I immediately started emailing, texting and calling family. Next thing I knew, I had 15 people who wanted to come!

I tried to keep the event as much of a surprise as possible! Kyle's parents, grandma, my mom and I had field passes and shortly after kickoff we were escorted on. We were right in the endzone and got to see the Jags score a touchdown and a field goal too! Then, we were escorted onto the field and we directed our attention to the jumbotron for this....

We all were instantly in tears and although I had skyped with Kyle all through the week because they were in port, I couldn't hold the emotions in. The rest of our family was in the stands and got lots of photos and videos. The iPhone videos were super challenging to hear as there were so many fans clapping. When Kyle's family and I walked off the field, we got a standing ovation. It was a once in a lifetime experience for sure!

Have a great Labor Day Weekend and Go Gators!! :)

Blog Hiatus

I completely embarrassed to say that I haven't written a post in almost a year! Wow, that is definitely a testament to how fast this year has flown by!

To get you back up to date on our lives! :)

1. Kyle and I spent 3 weeks in October in Newport, Rhode Island for SWO School. We had a great time and Kyle's schedule was awesome. He was able to come home to the hotel during lunch and got out every day before 3pm! That was a first! We were able to visit Boston and NYC over the weekends and we had so much fun! 
   
2. Kyle was home all of December and we were able to attend many holiday parties and celebrate Christmas and New Year with our families and friends. 

3.We knew 2013 would be a so-so year as Kyle would be deployed for 6 months of it, but nevertheless, we tried to make the most of our time! 

4. Kyle had workups during January and missed his 27th birthday once again! (He hasn't been home for a birthday in 3 years!) But of course, we celebrated before he left and made the best of it!

5. In February, Kyle and the Sammy B. made a trip to Mobile, Alabama to get their underway hours and to also have a good time at Mardi Gras! I was fortunate enough to be able to make it out to Mobile and celebrate the weekend with him. The Navy League in Mobile treated us like royalty and our schedule was jam-packed with elegant balls every evening! It was definitely a trip I will never forget!

4. March started out great with a 5 day cruise with Kyle to the Bahamas and Caribbean, but then he went underway for 3 weeks. Not to fret, I had a 1st birthday party to plan for my nephew so I stayed busy with that. We celebrated on March 30th and also were able to be together in Miami for Easter. 

5.Ahh, April the dreaded month of deployment, not to mention Kyle was underway for 3 weeks the 2 weeks before deployment. We tried to spend as much time together as possible and I even won us free tickets to the Carrie Underwood concert! I explained to the radio station how Kyle would be deploying a few days after the concert and it would be a great surprise! Well, they called me and were honored to give me the tickets. Saying goodbye was different this time because we were established in Jacksonville and I tried to treat it like any other day (I was going to work after seeing the ship off) 

6. May and June came and went... QUICKLY! And I was sooo happy! We celebrated Memorial Day at our timeshare in Orlando and we took Robby to Disney for the first time! So much fun. Before Kyle left he was dead set on me coming to visit in one of the ports. I never thought it would happen, but it did! 

7. At the end of June, my mom and ventured to Italy, yes Italy, to meet up with Kyle! We were so fortunate to spend 5 fabulous days in PARADISE! We visited Sorrento, Positano, Gaeta, Sperlonga, to name a few! We even got to attend a reception with the Admiral of 6th fleet! Such an honor! My mom and I continued on to Rome for a few days before coming back stateside. So, it was the best trip of my life, but so hard to come back to reality!! 

8.It is now AUGUST! Yay! And we are very excited about some new changes coming our way! Due to a few different factors, I can't make the announcement yet! But, I hope to blog about the "secret" as many other blogs have helped me thus far in planning. 

That brings us back up to date! Today, I am headed to the ship's Halfway Picnic. I took on the role of treasurer for our Family Support Group, which has been fun getting to know the families and planning events as well.

Until next time!