I love Libraries!

As a rule I only check out library books if I am desperate to read a particular book because I am a germaphobe.

But just recently I discovered a whole new way to check out books.  I can check out ebooks and side load them to my nook.  At first I thought it was going to be difficult and a pain in the but its SO SIMPLE! 

I have found 2 libraries, the Alachua County Library which is in my home town and the Jacksonville Public Library, that allow you to apply for an ecard online so I have been checking them out as fast as I can read them. 

As soon as we have a house up in Virginia Beach I will go the the library up there and get a library card so I can check ebooks out from their library because they seem to have a larger selection of ebooks. 

I am still in love with my Nook. 

1 month till moving day!

So we are just one month till moving day or the day we become temporarily homeless.   Sounds fun right?

The first time we were homeless what about 7 months after we got married and moved from Beaufort,Sc to Twentynine Palms, Ca.  Lets just say that it was a very stressful time for me and leave it at that.

The move back to Beaufort want as bad because we had the address to our new house before the movers even loaded our household goods onto the truck.  This time we will not be able to just walk in and take keys to base housing so we will have to live in a motel for a few days while we look for a house. 

My wonderful dad will once again be helping us with the move as he has done for all past moves.  It really helps to have an extra adult when there are small children involved.  He will be able to sit in at the hotel or in the van while we house hunt and this way he will drive Clay's truck so he can ride with us in the van to help change movies and pass out snacks and drinks along the way. 

I am getting excited to live somewhere new. I am really looking forward to checking out their local library and getting a card as soon as we get an address so that I can check out Ebooks from their site.

I am still not sure about this whole Marine on a Naval base thing but I am sure we will figure it out fast enough.

Orders

We finally know where we will be moving.  Clay got orders to Virginia Beach, Va.  Its a Marine reserve unit on a Naval base so this should be interesting.  We move mid Feb and for the first time in 6 years I get to live in a real city.  I am really looking forward to having most major stores in the same town. I am also glad we are breaking the pattern and going somewhere other than Twentynine Palms, Ca.

Now to figure out where we will live.  We should find out sometime around the middle of January if we will be able to get base housing as soon as we get there or if we need to start looking out in town.

Nook

Last Thursday we went to Best Buy where Clay bought me a Nook (the closest Barns and Noble is on Hilton Head Island about an hour away).  I had been reading books from my mom's account on my Ipod but that is small and hard to hold for long periods and if you accidentally turn or tilt it the page flips and often changes pages in order to accommodate the writing. 


I got the 3g nook and love it.  You can have up to 6 nooks on the same account so I am still using my mom's account.  You can have multiple credit cards on an account so we can both buy books and share them.  Even Clay can read them from his ipod (he doesnt read enough to justify spending the money on his own) when we run across one we think he may like. 

There are literally hundreds of thousands of free books to read AND they have what is called Free Friday where they offer a book for free that is sometimes a new release.

It is easy to tote around, I dont have to worry about the kids playing with it and loosing my page (As they do often with paper books), it takes up less room and is a little more earth friendly.

I am in love.

He is HOME!

We picked Clay up at the Savannah Airport Wednesday.  The kids are so happy to have him home.  His flight was supposed to get in at 6:30 so we went down there early, really early for a couple of reasons.  I wanted to go a little early so that we didn't get stuck in rush hour traffic on I95 and the kids had a Dr. appointment at 1pm here in Beaufort so after that we went to Biglots for a couple of items and at that point is was a little after 2.  The kids needed naps but I didn't want to go home and only to turn around and leave about an hour later so we just headed down to Savannah where I found a shady spot not to far from the airport and parked.  I took my Ipod so I could read a book on the nook app (more to come on the nook) and figured the kids could just sleep.  Well David woke up just after I pulled into a parking spot and rolled the windows down and he couldn't sit still so he woke Amelia up.  I sat there for as long as I could but the kids were getting antsy and wanted out of their seats so I moved over to Sams club and wandered up and down every single isle as slowly as I could.  By the time I got to the check outs it was 4:50 so I figured that by the time I got out of the store and everyone loaded up in the van it would be a little after 5 (and it was) and we would just go park in the airport parking garage and go in to wait.  Well once we got to the parking garage I decided to just give the kids the new books I bought at Sams and open the windows and doors to read for a little while.  Not long after parking I heard some people walking and talking and then heard abrupt stops and the s word come from about 2 cars back so then heard the foot steps start slowly towards the van and saw two security guards who must have thought that someone had just left kids strapped into their seats with the doors open.

At about 5:50 we went inside and I got the kids a muffin to split and a bottle of water from Starbucks then 6found a table to sprawl out at.  At about 6:15 the arrival board said that Clays flight had been delayed so we continued to hang out till his flight arrived at 6:55.  I have a short video of the kids seeing daddy again after 6 1/2 weeks that if  I can figure out how to load I will post.

So proud of my big boy

I am so proud of David.  Both of his teachers were very impressed with him today when he asked if he could write his name all by himself instead of having them help him.  He is the first kid in his class to ask to do it alone.
 

I think he did a great job.

A day to never forget.

Today marks the 9 year anniversary of 9/11.  That horrible, tragic day when so many were lost.   It was a day of sadness and a day to pull together as Americans and remember that we are all in this life together and have to help each other through the good and the bad.


Please remember to take a moment out of your busy life to remember those lost and to pray for those who lost a loved one or who were injured.    And remember that our freedom isn't free or cheap and that there are brave men and women who put their lives on the line each and every day to insure that something like this doesn't happen again.  Remember to say thank you to police officers, EMT's, firefighters and Military members for all that they do.  And don't forget the silent ranks,  the wives, husbands, children and parents who support these brave men and women.  As a military wife I sometimes don't know how to accept the thank you of supporting my husband because I don't often think of it that way but it is nice to know that people appreciate what he does.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
     of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
     one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.