Haha tell the navy to send my husband to where you are and I will open up a practice for you! ;) German Sheperds... aww! I love them, they're such good dogs I think! How old are they? I'm glad the hungry monkey worked out :) I am soooooooo excited for you to get to see him graduate! I remember how exciting my husband's was, I was lucky enough to have that week off work before going back to school and I spent the whole week before graduation up there so I got to see a LOT of my husband. Is your son headed right to Intel school after this? That's great that his birthday is on Hi Mom's- much better than having it during the rest of OCS!! How special that you will see him for his birthday :). I have to say, my husband and I have yet to spend either of our birthdays together (three years going strong, haha) thanks to navy schedules so I feel that's a big blessing!

Funny enough, several of my friends off here and I discussed doing a handbook for OCS/life post OCS since our husbands all went into different fields- just never got around to it though!

Spring break turned out well- I am back to school though and missing my husband! (although I am glad to be back with my "furchildren" aka my cats and horse). We actually stopped in NYC for the night on our way back down to Virginia, we did all the fun touristy things and saw some friends I haven't seen in a long time so it was great! I'm exhausted though so I am glad to not be working any hospital shifts this week- I will be catching up on my sleep! (Good thing my cats take a lot of naps ;) )

Sorry it's taken me so long to write back! The internet here is AWFUL. Haha, I don't sleep much which leaves time for being busy busy :) My husband is the same way, he hates to spend money, I had to urge him to even buy the OCS pictures! I asked around and I think "The Hungry Monkey" is open for breakfast/lunch, so depending on when you called, that might have explained it.l Also, some places here are only open during sailing season- aka the only time that Newport is busy! It snowed here today... so having a barbecue might be a little hard!   There is a place just outside of base called Ninety Nine- have you ever been to one? It's similar to Applebee's. We also ate at this great Italian place called Sardella's the other night which had very reasonable prices- my husband and I had dinner and dessert there for $22. The Red Parrot would be good for a group too- they have sandwiches and burgers for under $10 as well! If your son is really set on cooking out and the weather cooperates, Fort Adams State Park isn't far and they have picnic facilities :). That's about a 20 minute drive from the base.

And Thank you!! I LOVED our photographer, he was so great. Lots of fun to work with and didn't bankrupt us!! I was so pleased with how the pictures turned out. And our honeymoon was FABULOUS. We stayed in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic at a place called the Zoetry Agua Punta Cana. It was a beautiful all inclusive resort. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I wish I could go back!!

Hope this helps! And I hope you will enjoy your visit up here- it's really pretty up here and commissioning is something you will never forget!!

Oh no! I hope you are feeling better!!! Eye surgery is no fun! I absolutely can! I actually am up in newport right now for my spring break! My husband is at advanced ship handling and tactics school here right now so I came up to visit him! How big of a group will you have? It is the off season for newport right now- it's very much a sailing town- so you shouldn't have too much of a trouble finding a seat places, although with the graduating class it may get a bit crowded! The Red Parrot is really good- that's where we went- they had a nice mix of both seafood and non-seafood (my in laws love seafood, my husband and I do not!). We've also eaten at the Newport Blues cafe which was a little pricey but they had a private room in the back where a big group of us were able to go the weekend before graduation during the busy time of year and get seated quickly! We just ate at Red Brick Alley pub last night- the food was SO good and they take reservations (I am not sure if the Red Parrot does or not). They had a good mix of sandwiches if you're like me and don't eat much along with complete dinners that come with so much food that even the hungry hungry sailors I had with me couldn't finish them! The Black Pearl is another local favorite- very good food! It is also on the water so it has a nice view. All of them are pretty close to one another downtown (within walking distance) so what I would recommend is trying to make a reservation at one or if you'd rather you can park anywhere downtown and walk around, see the town (Newport is really lovely) and see how busy each place is! If you have time to actually see some of the sights, I'd suggest doing a Newport mansion tour! You can get military discount tickets at The Breakers in town. The cliff walk is also really a gorgeous place to see some beautiful scenery. If you have any children in your group, there's a children's museum that is supposed to be pretty good! Hope this helps!

Sorry it's taken me forever to write back! I'm in the middle of midterms which is keeping me busy! I think that's what makes us work together so well- we both are really passionate about what we do- I know it's one of my favorite things about him and him of me. We have a lot of fun teaching each other about our careers! (I am like a never ending question machine, I'm constantly asking him questions and he's starting to get like that about my work too, haha!) Haha and yes I can just imagine the OCS candidates shoveling the snow... I hope they didn't have to!! My husband was there from May to September of 2009 and so he didn't have to deal with the snow- just the opposite, they had a lot of heat exhausation. I don't suppose there's every really a good season to be at OCS, either's it's cold or too hot or rainy!  I did send news articles! My husband loved them. It reminded him there was a real world! It's not really any different than sending a letter! I was just careful not to print anything that included pictures! I would also put encouraging quotes in there, and sometimes little jokes. Anything to keep his spirits up :)  Did you guys get hit by the bad snow/ice storm that just came through? We got loads of ice here!

Haha! Lots of people tell us that- I tell them we'll be a power couple once I actually get out of school and start contributing ;). Usually when he's gone to sea, I get at least an email every day, and then a phone call every couple of days, depending on how the satellites are working.  It depends on how much computer and phone access each person has, and the ship- my husband is on a smaller ship with less phone lines but he owns them haha so he can usually get to one every couple of days- phone calls are limited to fifteen minutes each. And yes Miami is beautiful- especially in the fall! I miss it!! And I lived in Manhattan for three summers (Dad spent a few years working half in NYC and half in Ohio- he's a banker) so I understand the cost of living!! I do miss Manhattan- I love the busy city life- but there's not much work for naval officers there ;). I cannot wait to be done and to move back with my husband- but I also know better than to wish time away. I just feel fortunate that I have something that I love to keep me busy while he's at sea- I know far too many wives who sit at home day in and day out while their husbands are gone and I can't imagine it's much fun!

 

Thank you again!!! We got married in Cleveland! Both of our families are from there so while neither of us have lived there in about five years, we got married there. It was so wonderful because we had it the week before Christmas and a lot of our friends were able to come because of school breaks/time off work, etc. Yes I am a buckeye!!! Hubby and I both went to Miami U in southwestern Ohio for undergraduate- how we met. Columbus is very different than anywhere else I've ever lived- it is an interesting combination of city and country! I've been here almost two years now and am still adjusting to it, haha.  There are a lot of great restaurants here and things to do though! I graduate in 2013- I have til June to finish my academic work. Then I do six months of practicing surgery starting in September, and then I work as a doctor at the hospital here for a year, and then in March of 2013 (assuming I pass my boards!) I get to go out on my own :). Hubby is a surface warfare officer... which means he does a little bit of everything, haha! One of the big things is he gets to command the ship underway. He's just about to get qualified meaning the Captain trusts him to be the officer of the deck and take control of the ship while at sea- I'm so proud of him! I think that's his favorite thing to do. Right now his main job on board is that he's the Communications Officer- it keeps him pretty busy and he has a bunch of colateral duties that go with it. He runs the radio room for the ship and is in charge of the internet/phone lines. He's on a small ship and just loves it- they're all very close on board. I love it too because the wives are also very close, so of my friends who's husbands are on bigger ships have never even met their Captain's wife whereas ours emails me at least once a week to see how things are going. She's very sweet!

Yes that was the right link!! And thank you so much!! We were engaged for over a year and a half so I spent a longgg time planning. Whew am I glad it was over! We had a nice relaxing honeymoon for me to unwind at after, haha :) Intelligence was my husband's second choice- it's a great community to get into- you must be so proud of your son :)  That is how Tim is- he's never dreamed of anything but being a naval officer and the navy has been so wonderful to us over the last couple of years that I'm so glad he stuck with it. It's a hard life but a good life. I don't live with my hubby as I'm finishing school to be a veterinarian (there's not any vet schools near naval bases and it doesn't transfer well!) but when he's not at sea I see him once or twice a month :). Does your son know when he will graduate? I will actually be up at the Newport base in either February or March for a week- my husband will be at a school there and I have some time to take off of school so I'm going to go up for a visit! :)

I am glad it helped!! I know when my husband rolled, it was so scary- I didn't know what to expect! I wasn't a part of this site yet but was on another forum and it helped so much. It's been nearly two years since my husband left for OCS and it still feels like it was yesterday! What type of officer is your son going to be? My husband is a SWO and he just loves it (seriously, all I hear about all the time is how awesome SWO's are. :) )