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!

Sweet Summertime

Well, this year's summer is shortly coming to an end with Labor Day upon us!! We have been so busy this summer and I cannot believe how the time has FLOWN by!

In June, Allison celebrated her 24th birthday! The Chance's came into town and we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Jacksonville, Marker 32. This restaurant is owned by the Groshells who also own Palm Valley Fish Camp and North Beach Fish Camp! So yummy. Fresh, local ingredients and the menu is always different, but they always have a few staples like the Fried Green Tomatoes! :)

Allison also stayed busy with planning a wedding in 18 days that was moved from October 6 to June 30! She spent lots of time in Orlando and was able to visit with her mom who just bought a new house! Kyle was also out to sea during this time and when he returned, he was granted a few days of leave for 4th of July so we headed up to North Carolina for a few days! It was absolutely heavenly and the weather was wonderful! We were able to meet up with Ashley, Bob and Baby Robby in Black Mountain one day! We had some great meals and we were able to just kick back and relax! We even tubed down a river one day!

July was another busy month as Kyle is currently in a training/evaluating cycle and it seems like he is always working! :( Sometimes, I look up and I don't understand how we get to the middle of the month so quickly!

In August, we went down to Miami to attend Robby's Baptism. Kyle and I are the godparents and we really enjoyed being a part of this experience. Robby is truly an angel!

Now, tomorrow is September and we look forward to football season and enjoying fall! Kyle will go out to sea for a bit this month and Allison will be traveling with her family! In October, we head to Rhode Island for 3 weeks while Kyle completes training for Surface Warfare! We also look forward to having the Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville!

Lots of love, Go Gators and Happy Fall! :)

Updates!

To say we have been busy at the Chance household is an understatement! We are at a point in our lives where on the weekends if we aren't doing yard work or home improvements, we are probably at a friend's wedding! It has just been crazy busy, but we wouldn't have it any other way!

Our first big piece of news is that we welcomed our nephew on April 1. Robert Henry Hux Thornburg is the most precious thing ever and we love him to pieces! He was absolutely perfect and is such a good boy! Allison got to spend the first week of his life with him in Miami and it was heavenly! She goes down next week to visit and she can't wait!

The next day, April 2, Kyle and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary! Although we were in different cities, memories of the day still played through our heads! We will never forget that day! Allison had planned to re-create our wedding dinner as well have an anniversary cake from the bakery that made our cake, but all of that fell through when we got the call that Ashley's water had broke the morning of April 1!

The past two weekends we attended weddings of our friends. One in Tampa and one in Jacksonville! Congrats to Ali & Eric Wilbur and Katie & Daxx Terry! We had such a great time!

Have a great weekend! 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Today is a special day for Kyle and I as we met on the 13th of February just 4 years ago! Kyle and his fraternity hosted a Valentine's Day Party at their "Penthouse" apartment. Their fraternity was "on probation" that year and unable to host socials, so the guys decided to have an unofficial party at their apartment. What a fun night! I will never forget it!

Well, what can I say... We have been busy over here! Kyle went out to sea for a couple of weeks to fill in for another ship to do training exercises and I stayed busy with work in Orlando and in Jacksonville. For those of you who don't know, I have started my own event planning company, Chance Events! You can like our facebook page and also visit our blog, chancevents.blogspot.com! I am also working part time in events department at a country club here in Jacksonville! Between work and yoga, I am a busy girl! Oh and I am finally able to be a wife to my husband! I have enjoyed cooking some yummy meals and being able to actually share them with someone!!

Kyle celebrated his 26th birthday on the 23rd of January and we headed to Tampa that weekend for Gasparilla! Gasparilla is the celebration of Jose Gaspar. It is quite a fun time! We were able to visit friends in Tampa and that is always fun!

This past weekend we made the trek to Miami! I must say, the drive wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! Kyle refused to let me drive but gave in and let me drive for a little bit on the way back. It definitely helped to pass the time! We had a great time in Miami! My sister and her husband just purchased a new house and we got to see it for the first time! It is a great house! We also celebrated their new baby, who will arrive in April, with a shower! We had a great time celebrating Baby T!

Yesterday Kyle and I celebrated Valentine's a little early since he had duty tonight! We went to one of my favorite places, The Melting Pot! It was delicious! But, we couldn't even move after we ate!

I hope you have a great Valentine's Day! :)

Happy Birthday Macey Jane!

Our precious girl turned "2" on January 2nd! We celebrated her birthday the following daybecause Kyle was on duty! I made her a little cake and she loved it!

Her yummy "Peanut Butter Delight Cake"! Click the link for the recipe.

MJ lovin' her daddy!

What can I say? She loved it! :)

Have a great weekend!

What a Year!

Well, much has happened since I last wrote! I stayed incredibly busy with work through the months of October-December! As this year closes out, I am confident that 2012 will be a GREAT year for us! Kyle and I were only "together" about 2 1/2 months this year! So, we are looking forward to spending much more time together now that he is back! We have some fun things that we would like to do this year and we are welcoming our nephew into our family in April. We cannot wait!

We moved into our first home in Jacksonville!(Well, I should said I moved in, with lots of help from family!)

Kyle returned from his 6 month to deployment on December 14! It truly was a fabulous day!! I can't even describe the emotions that day! Truly unbelievable!

Kyle was on leave for 2 weeks and we were able to visit Tampa for a friend's wedding as well as celebrate the Christmas holiday with our families.

In Tampa, at Josh + Tori's Wedding

Santa Macey Jane

Our house with Christmas lights! My favorite!

Our tree with lots of presents!

We wish you a Happy New Year from our home to yours!

xoxoxo-

Allison