Our Halloween Night

{Goodbye October!}

I can't believe October has already come and gone. It seems like the month literally flew by! It's been a bittersweet month for me, because for some reason Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. As a child I couldn't wait to get dressed up in the fabulous costumes my mother would make my sisters and I. Some of my fondest memories are of those Halloween nights. 

Not much has changed since then, except now that I'm an adult I pass out the candy instead of trick or treating but I still love to get dressed up. Usually I go all out and spend between $50-$80 on a costume and accessories since there was always a party to go to back home or something spooky to do. This year I intended on being a little more frugal and opted to not buy a costume. That was until Halloween came and I all of a sudden had the urge to dress up. {Great idea waiting til the last minute, don't ya think?}

So after work I rushed over to Wal-Mart and found some adorable kitty ears, glow bracelets and some candy for the trick or treaters. I was so proud of myself for only spending $12! For the rest of my costume I wore a black skirt, tights and a long sleeve black tee. I did my makeup to match my ears and voila. This kitty was ready to play! ;)

After I was dressed and ready I headed over to my deployment buddy Brittany's house. {Yes we are both Britt's so don't mess with us! haha} We made dinner, handed out candy and watched spooky shows like "Ghost Adventurers," all night. It was low key and relaxing and I loved seeing all the kids in their costumes! Even though I'm no where near ready for kids it made me look forward to having them in the future. 

Here is a photo of Britt and I dressed up...I was a naughty kitty and she was a sophisticated kitty! 

Brittany even got her dogs dressed up, {much to their dismay} and it was the cutest thing. Lady Puggle was a naughty pumpkin and Roland was a naughty hot dog. :0) Aren't they cute? 

We also had a Halloween gift exchange at work and I got my coworker these awesome goodies. I was so happy that she loved everything! ♥

All in all this has been such a wonderful past few days! My hubby was sweet enough to send me flowers on Sunday since he wasn't able to be home to spend Halloween with me. It really touched my heart that he bothered to do something sweet like that, he knows how much I love Halloween and I couldn't stop smiling all weekend!

I hope everyone else had a Happy & Safe Halloween! Now we're headed straight for November and I am so glad the Holidays will be here soon because that means we are getting closer and closer to the end of this deployment!!! I can't wait until next year to finally have my hubby home safe and sound. ♥ Here's hoping these next few months fly by!

Moving forward

Today I started my first day of physical therapy and I absolutely loved it! I have to go two to three times per week but I am hoping with time and the exercises I'm doing my hand will hopefully get back to full strength.

In other news, I'm excited for fall to be arriving in Virginia, especially since the weather has finally started to change. It rained almost the entire month of September and was so humid it was unbearable! I'm so thankful for some cooler weather!

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go see "What's your number?" with Anna Faris and Chris Evans and I absolutely adored it! You all know how much I love Mr. Evans and he was looking extra handsome in this film. ;)

 If you haven't yet, you NEED to go see it! It's a perfect date movie or great for a girl's night out.
Anyway I'm off to run a few errands and enjoy the rest of my day off. I hope you all have a lovely Tuesday! ♥

Things I love about Virginia...

As a California girl moving to Virginia has been a big change for me. When we received our orders here I was bummed we didn't get the chance to move somewhere a little more glamorous like San Diego or Hawaii, but I was also very excited to get the chance to experience living on the East Coast. From what I had heard back home, its like a whole other world out here. And boy was that the truth! A lot of things are different here than on the West Coast and it definitely took some getting used to.

For one thing the "freeways" here aren't called "freeways." They are called "highways," and the speed limit is only 55 mph!! Good grief its sooo slow! Not to mention all the one way streets out here...and those stupid service roads...they are such a nuisance...I absolutely hate that about Virginia! I also don't like the humidity out here during the summer, it makes you feel so gross no matter how many times you shower. The moment you step outside you start melting into a hot sweaty mess! I could probably go on and on and list a bunch of other things about va that I don't like but instead I want to share some things I have grown to love.

  1). I absolutely love living right near the beach...I grew up in SoCal but we always lived more inland and were about an hour from the beach...Not too far away, but not close enough to go everyday during summer. When I arrived here in July, hitting the beach was one of the first things I wanted to do. My besty and I had a great time soaking up the sun and even rode a buggy along the boardwalk. That buggy was an epic fail, but we laughed our butts off during the whole ride and made a lot of great memories. Thats when I officially fell in love!♥ There are so many great restaurants and cute little shops along the boardwalk, not to mention a ton of places to go out and have some fun at night.

 2). I love that there are seasons here...don't get me wrong, I'll always be a California girl but I remember living there nearly all my life and longing for something other than sunshine and sweltering heat or an occasional rain storm. I wanted the real deal...orange, yellow and bright red leaves falling from the trees in the fall...a white Christmas, and a spring that actually felt like Spring...instead of just skipping straight to summer like in Cali.

I really loved experiencing how beautiful all the trees looked during autumn and this year I had my first "White Christmas," since I was a little girl and my family lived in Tennessee.

It was gorgeous and will be something I'll remember forever.♥

3). I Love that there are so many amazing historical places in Virginia. If you haven't discovered this about me yet, I am an avid History lover. Call me a nerd, but I've always been fascinated by history and culture, especially here in America. When my besty came down in August we made it a point to visit Cape Henry and climb the lighthouse there. It blows my mind to think that only a few miles from where we live is where the first settlers landed in America! :)

Here I am in front of one of the lighthouses at Cape Henry...we didn't climb the black and white one, but it was pretty to look at! :) Here is the one we climbed all the way to the top!

Once we made it we were hot, sweaty and downright exhausted...it was sooo hot in there! But the view was amazing and it was definitely worth it.

4). I love the food! In case I don't talk about food enough on my blog, I love to eat! Eating good food is one of my favorite past times and  I love having the opportunity to try all the new restaurants and sea food Virginia has to offer. One of my favorite foods that I've discovered while living in Virginia is "fried pickles." You may have heard Snooki talking about how eating fried pickles "was a life changing experience," but she was NOT joking. Fried pickles are so delicious it should be a crime!!!

I personally love the fried pickle spears, but they also come in pickle chips like the ones pictured below. They are both amazing dipped in some ranch dressing or spicy cajun sauce.

5).And last but definitely not least...I love the friends I have made here and I love living in a military area. You meet people from all walks of life and it has made me realize that no matter where you come from you can always have something in common. :) I love the fact that my friends here are always there for me when I'm down or need help and that they understand what I'm going through as a military spouse. Its so nice to have people who know what its like and the challenges we face on a daily basis. I cant tell you how many people have already offered to help us move and have just been kind to us in general. It really brings a smile to my face.

So here's to spending the next 2 & 1/2 years here in Virginia Beach...I'm sure by then I'll find even more things I love about living here. ♥