Cliffs of the Neuse State Park

Camping is the greatest thing ever! We finally got to go this summer with a slight break in the insanely ridiculous heat and the annoying nightly occurring rain storms that we always have in this blasted place. We camped at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park in Seven Springs, NC it was so much fun, even though we were only able to stay one night.
Right off the bat we had a minor set back... Sean burnt the heck out of our tin foil dinners and we didn't have anything extra packed for dinner so we had to drive into town to get something to make. We were laughing our heads off when we unwrapped these things:

We tried eating the unburnt parts for about 2 seconds before driving to the store for hot dogs.

The chili dogs were delicious and the s'mores for dessert were amazing as well.

In the morning we made what I call "mess" I think the more known term is "mountain man breakfast". It was sausage, eggs, hashbrowns and cheese in the dutch oven, and it was good! After breakfast we hiked one of the trails that led to the river and walked along the cliffs. The park also had a swimming area roped off in the lake with a diving board out in the middle, we were dang hot and it looked awesome but it was closed for the day and they charge 5 bucks a person to swim there, which was lame. 

Here our some more pictures from the trip:

This is the swimming area

Our camp site

a giant caterpillar

End of the trail

Sneads Ferry Shrimp Festival

That's right folks! We went to a shrimp festival! There was a parade (which we missed... sad, I know!) music, dancing, fair booths, food, and shrimp de-heading competitions! There was even girls competing to be crowned "Miss Shrimp"... basically it was everything amazing and fun that you would expect when attending a shrimp festival... we set our "festival fun bar" pretty high, and this one didn't disappoint! It was seriously hotter than you-know-what on Saturday and we were sweating like nobody's business but we still managed to have a good time.

 

This crazy contraption was making homemade ice cream, which we bought and enjoyed.

Pulling heads off shrimp...

Gone again.

Sean gets home tomorrow! 

Oh, you didn't know he was gone again? Get used to it... 

He will be spending a lot more time away than at home in the next year. 

I've done my fair share of complaining about how I hate when he is gone and I'm sad he will miss so much next year while he is deployed and how this whole military set up is just not fair. (and I am not promising that I won't say those things ever again...)  But there are a lot of blessings to be counted for the Boggs family too. 

Like how the government pays for our rent and for our groceries, plus our medical insurance is completely free.
and
We are so glad we got to spend the first 2 and half years of our marriage in an awesome city, with perfect weather where Sean got to come home every night and had weekends and holidays off. And By the time our baby is born we will have had 4 years (3 of them married.) all to ourselves, which we wouldn't trade for anything.

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!! 

Yay, for Grandparents!

Our little boy got a huge package from his Grandma and Grandpa Boggs. What a lucky little guy, he isn't even born yet and he is already getting mail! 

I was more than happy to open it for him since he is obviously unable to at the moment. It was fun getting everything out... he got so much stuff! I didn't think I would ever get to the bottom of the box! 

They even threw some things in for Mom and Dad too so we wouldn't feel left out.

I love everything! I can't wait for Sean to see it all too. 

on behalf of all three of us, THANKS guys! We love you!! 

The box... with addresses removed. Take that creepy people!

The goods!!

Sweet haul huh? Looks like we are now officially in the market for a dresser for the little guy.

 As always, click to enlarge... if you would prefer a closer look.

personalizing an apartment

We picked up some curtains for the living room today... I like them a lot! It's a great feeling to know that people can't look into our windows if we don't want them to. And they help make this little apartment seem more home-like which doesn't hurt either.  

and, of course, we have some before and after shots of the process so you can get the full experience of the transformation.

boring before:

ooh, aww after:

We just found out...

It's a Boy!!!

We are so excited!

He yawned during the ultrasound! 

Crazy Canucks

Sean made it back from the nice neighbor country to our north. He was gone for WAY too long in my personal opinion. I think he had a pretty good time though. They took a ship up there, so he got his first "out to sea" experience since joining the Navy. I still don't really understand the purpose of the trip being so long (I don't think anyone does.) They went because they were invited by the Canadian Navy for there birthday celebration, there was one day that they did a ship parade type thing so the public could see naval ships from the different countries that were there... but that was one day and they were gone for 16 days. The rest of the time was spent site-seeing in Halifax, Canada (the city that hosted the event.) Here are just some of the pictures from his trip:

waiting to board the ship

This is the ship they rode on

These small boats shuttled them out to the ship

These are the sweet beds they got to sleep on

 

He stored his stuff underneath his bed

This is a picture from an old fort that they use like a museum now. There were guys there dressed up in old uniforms... the Canadians used to wear skirts to war... haha!

This is a British ship. The U.S. had the biggest ship in the parade by far.

one of Canada's ships

This is the port with all the ships, the U.S. ship is the one straight back farthest away in the picture

A sunrise picture over the ocean on the 4th of July

America the Beautiful

Happy Independence Day!

 I thought it would be fitting to use this awesome picture Sean took of the flag on top of the ship he is currently on.

Sean is still on his way back from Canada, so I'll be spending this 4th of July by myself. It makes me even more grateful for this country and all of the freedoms that we enjoy... I feel safe here knowing that this is a blessed land and it's also protected by brave men and women who sacrifice a lot for all of us.

May God continue to bless this great nation.