Friday Letters

Dear John: No, this is not one of "those" Dear John letters. I love you so much and I am so proud of everything you've accomplished in the past few months. You are my best friend in the entire world. I can't imagine anyone more perfect for me.

Dear Friday: If I didn't work on the weekends, I would be a lot more excited to see you but it's just another day. Sorry to steal your thunder.

Dear Momma: Thank you for always being there for me, especially when I'm a crying mess. We don't always agree but you always support me. I love you.

Dear Bristol: Could you be any cuter? I just want to kiss you and hug you all day long. I can't believe you'll be 1 in 11 days!

Dear Liz: You've been my best friend for 4 years now. I miss you so much and I wish we still lived in our little cottage(minus a few others) so we could cuddle and watch Say Yes to the Dress. I also miss July. (I'll leave it at that.) Long's dates were also a staple in our daily activities. We've been through so much together and I can't thank you enough for always being there for me.

Dear Work: I loathe you.

Hope y'all have a great Friday!



WILW

Sorry for the 2nd post but I didn't want to make a novel this Wednesday :]



Here are some things I'm loving today :]

As stated in my previous post, getting to see my amazing boyfriend in 15 days! Connecticut, here I come!

I LOVE this wrapping! So simple & so cute!

This maxi is to. die. for. I want it. Now.

This LOVE ring from Tiffany's is gorgeous. I love all the rose gold lately.

These bracelets are so cute. I could use them in every color.

Why didn't I think of this sooner? Wrap cinnamon sticks around an unscented candle and the heat from the candle gives off the cinnamon smell! I always think cinnamon candles are way too strong so this is perfect.

Possibly one of the cutest shadow boxes I've seen.

I love everything about this bedroom. I love that the back wall is wood and the rustic feel with the burlap.

Hope you enjoyed :]

"I am a United States Sailor."

Hey y'all! I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday so far! I'm also doing WILW :]

Warning: If you follow me on Instagram, I'm sorry for the repetitive posts. I have a lot of pictures from John's graduation to share.

Let's skip back to Friday around 8:30am. I'm in Great Lakes, sitting in the bleachers, waiting on John's graduation to start. It starts with the band and a few announcements. I took a few pictures and waited on them to march in, all 817 Sailors. I wanted to video them marching in and my camera gave me a message saying that my memory was full. That was impossible. I deleted about 100 pictures a couple of months ago. I opened the battery/memory card holder and my memory card was missing. When John went into boot camp, I took it out to make pictures at Walgreens so I could send him some. It was sitting in my wallet in the hotel room. I could've cried right then and there and had to resort to my poor little iPhone to document such a special day. I love that I was able to get these pictures and I brought my actual camera with memory card to the airport to get 2 pictures before he left. Give the iPhone some credit. Instagram saved a lot of these pictures.

The Chicago skyline :]

We drove to base before going to the hotel on Thursday. This is as close as we could get to him.

His division is the middle one. He's on the third row from the left, last one.

We went with his dad and dad's girlfriend to eat after graduation. I was surprised how patient he was with pictures, even though it doesn't look like it haha

Excuse my flat hair. The humidity was insane. And my eyes are light sensitive and swollen from crying. Should've grabbed the sunglasses.

His dog tags :] He said I can have them when I go to visit him. Apparently he's allergic to nickel & they make him break out. Who knew?

In the hotel..I actually like the "high and tight" haircut.

His official pictures..this is before he got his Marksman ribbon that is in the pictures in his dress whites.

4am at Chicago O'Hare. This is just a tiny group out of the hundreds trying to get their boarding passes and check their bags.

Right before he got on the plane. I held out crying until he left. I get to see him in 15 days!!!!!



i'm so excited..and i just can't hide it.

I'm skipping WILW this week simply because I can't concentrate on anything but John!!!!

I'm leaving at 5:00 tomorrow morning to go see him FINALLY! 9 weeks is just too long. I'll be posting a Weekend Recap filled with pictures of me & my boo thang. I know y'all are excited haha

Have an amazing rest of the week :]



It's official! I'm a Navy girlfriend :]

I know I said I would post as soon as I got the call but I was so overwhelmed that it never even crossed my mind. I got to talk to John for 27 minutes :] He always asks me what I'm doing and wants to talk about me but I want to talk about him. Yesterday he was completely different. I could barely get a word in during all his chatter. He was completely exhausted after being up since 2am Wednesday morning. He said Battlestations was fun but tiring, which I expected. I knew he would like the hands on stuff a lot more than learning in a classroom. That's how he's always been.

They got to go to the NEX and get candy and a drink so naturally, he chose sour gummy octopuses and an energy drink.

I told him how Bristol whines whenever I ask her where Daddy is. I told him I've been using the iPad I got him and that I was going to have a hard time giving it back and he said, "No. It's mines." I guess I'll be giving it up haha

Well I guess that's all for now. I'm so proud of him I could scream! I wish my parents understood what an accomplishment this is but oh well. Maybe one day they'll be supportive.

Have a great weekend everyone!

(I like this because it said "when you're 15" which is when I met John :] )

Today

Today is a wonderful/hectic/amazing/emotional day. Today John is calling me with his "I'm a Sailor" call. This means he is officially a Sailor in the United States Navy and no longer a recruit. I feel like I may throw up. I have a terrible migraine. I haven't taken my eyes off my phone for a minute.

Nobody knows what time they all get to call. It's just sometime today. I guess it's just getting us prepared for the military motto "Hurry Up & Wait". It's also possible that he could get stuck standing watch and not get to make a phone call. Way to make us all go crazy, Navy!

I am so beyond proud of him for everything he's accomplished so far! He was determined to be a Sailor and today, his dream will come true.

I'll be posting as soon as I get the call! Hopefully he'll have his orders and can let me know where he's going to A-School & how long he'll be there. I'll be praying for myself today, that I can keep my sanity. He thinks it's funny when I freak out when he calls. He'll definitely get some good laughs today :]

WILW

I need this outfit. In my closet. Now.

My sweet friend Kelly is always on the lookout for anchors and she sent me a picture of this iPhone case from Etsy! As soon as I get my 4S, I'm buying this!

I love the idea of the chalkboard paint and putting sayings on them :]

This rocking chair is possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen. Room for 2 little ones plus you!

Kelly also sent me a picture of this tattoo. I want it. I don't know where yet(maybe my wrist) but I want it.

I found all 4 of these dresses at Petco yesterday. I want to get ALL of them for Bristol!

I hope y'all are having a fabulous Wednesday!

Prayers for John as he goes through Battlestations(his final test) tonight! Here's a video of what he'll be doing.

Windy City..Here I Come

Hi everyone! I'm getting super excited as we are in single digits now until John's graduation! I know I sound like a broken record with this continuous countdown but this boy is my life. 9 DAYS :]

Anyways, I won't go on about all the drama that surrounds this trip(not with him, but his parents). I wanted to ask any of you that have been to Chicago recently for some ideas on fun things to do! He said he wants to go to a nice restaurant in the city so I definitely need ideas there, since I haven't been since I was 11. I really want to go to a Cubs game(they're playing the Red Sox..ahh!) but his mom already shut that down. I know he's not going to want to go shopping, which is what she wants to do so any ideas would be helpful :]

I'm not trying to put together an itinerary or anything but I know he'll ask me for options so I need to be prepared for that!

I hope y'all are having terrific Tuesdays!

^^^^where I'll be in 9 days!

New Look, New Name

No, you're not going crazy. It's still me, Samantha! I just thought I needed to make the blog more related to my life as far as the name & theme. I am most definitely a southern belle but there weren't many posts that related to that. I didn't make this a full-on military blog because that's not all my life is about, it's just a big part. I hope y'all like the changes :]