Wordless Wednesday – December 11, 2013

Wordless Wednesday – December 4, 2013

Kaito from Vocaloid Cosplay Photoshoot

On Sunday, my husband and I picked up our good friend Diego for a fun cosplay photoshoot on the beach in Gulf Breeze, Florida.

Diego is a cosplay buddy from California (in fact, the last time I saw this guy, he was cosplaying as Hugh Maes from Fullmetal Alchemist at Ani-Me Con in Fresno, California), but as luck would have it, he moved here to Pensacola, Florida to attend Pensacola’s Christian College around the same month we moved here!

I’ve been itching to do a cosplay shoot with Diego for ages now, and I never fathomed we would eventually get around to it… on the Gulf of Mexico. Haha! Life sure is a twisty, turny, never-know-whats-coming-next thrill ride, isn’t it?

Anyhoo, check out the shots we got of Diego’s Kaito cosplay from Vocaloid. He made it from scratch with his mum. Whatcha think? ^_^

Anna + Cameron – Engagement Photos at Barrancas Beach

When Jonathan was in boot camp, he told me his best friend was a guy named “Mason”, and that I should look him up on Facebook and add his fiance Anna as a friend. So I did!

Mason is also going to Pensacola A School with Jonathan, so it’s been awesome already having a friend in the area before we had even moved here! Mason has been a great friend to our little family – he’s helped us move into our new place, he’s watched our house and babysat out cats, and has been an all around fun hang out buddy. Over the past few months, Jonathan and I have been super impatient to meet Anna.

Anna (who is also in the Navy) just graduated boot camp shortly after Mason and Jonathan did, and now that she’s all settled at her A School in San Antonio and acquired leave to come visit Pensacola, I’ve demanded they let me do their engagement photos.

So they let me! Today was our first day meeting Anna, and it was awesome finally getting to know her after all of the lovesick pining Mason has been doing these past months. “Anna this, Anna that, I miss Anna, waa waa waa!!” < —- (that’s how Cameron sounds)

So here are a couple of the photos we took of Anna and Cameron at Barrancas Beach at NAS Pensacola. Yes, that beach is on the Navy base. I still maintain this base is less a military training facility and more a luxury beach bum resort. But I digress. Check out the lovely awesomeness that is Anna and Cameron:

Sarah Palin Book Tour in Pensacola, Florida

Guess who has two thumbs and got Sarah Palin’s autograph… IN PERSON?!?! Yeeeeah, that’s right. THIS GIRL!

The gorgeous Governor of Alaska was in Pensacola, Florida yesterday on her book tour for her newest work, “Good Tidings and Great Joy: Protecting the Heart of Christmas”. I finished reading it just in time for the autograph signing event. I don’t think you guys understand the importance of that. One of my biggest, biggest and I mean BIGGEST pet peeves is getting into the Christmas spirit before Thanksgiving. DON’T YOU ENCROACH ON MY FALL TIME SANTA.

So reading a book that is just chock full of warm and fuzzies for the holidays shows just how much I adore Sarah Palin.

My husband had duty on the base and it looked like he wasn’t going to be able to make it.. buuuut! He asked for permission to ditch out long enough to get the book signed, and against all odds the big wigs on the base said okay! So I picked him up from work at the very last minute, we ran to Books a Million, and we joined the 1000+ people crowding the building to meet the lovely lady herself (along with her family – Todd, Piper and Bristol).

I’m told she signed 894 books last night! And we’re but one itty bitty stop on her massive tour. Poor lady better have a hot bath and a masseuse on hand, amiright?!

So. There we were, a young mother, a young man in military uniform and a tiny newborn baby in a tiny little sailor suit, mingling among a crowd of what I’m willing to bet were 99.9% Christian conservatives. Jonathan was stopped and thanked for his service countless times. And the reaction to a Navy man with a tiny baby in his arms? PRICELESS. It was like a constant surround sound track of oooohhhs and ahhhhhs and “how old?” and “whats her name?” and “she’s so precious!”

They made us leave our phones and cameras outside of the autograph area, but Palin had her own photography crew there taking pictures. When Jonathan approached the table with tiny Tessa in tow, we just KNEW we’d be seeing that image again soon. And lo and behold, the very next morning, what do we find on Sarah Palin’s personal Facebook page:

Awwww yeah. That’s my sexy family. I am such a proud mommy and wife. I wasn’t in the picture because they were pushing us along single file and after my book was signed, they ushered me away. I turned around to see Jonathan chatting it up with Palin. I tried to walk back to the table but the Books a Million gal stopped me like I was some crazed wacko trying to go back to lick the pretty lady. (In her defense, the thought had crossed my mind. I’VE GOT SUCH A CRUSH ON HER!)

Anyhoo, I’ll follow up with a book review soon enough. MERRY CHRISTMAS YA’LL!!

Hiking Along the Gulf Islands National Seashore

When Jonathan and I had just met, the one event that launched us from “just friends” to “future mother / father of my baby” was a three day, 22 mile backpacking trip along the High Sierra Trail in the Sequoia National Forest in California. We went into those woods all prettied up, looking our best, full of energy and secretly crushing on one another, and came out rugged, dirty, exhausted and madly in love.

I love hiking. And backbacking. And camping. So so so much. So does my handsome husband. It’s one of our many “things” we share, made even more special by our earliest memories forged together – trudging mile after excruciating mile over rocks, rivers and meadows, savoring campfire coffee while laying out under breathtaking starry night skies, talking about God and grace and cosplay and fantasy novels and everything in between. Sparks flew as we chopped firewood, dried out socks, purified alpine spring waters to fill our canteens, tended to blisters and hoisted 80 pound packs in the towering trees so the bears couldn’t reach them. We fell in love with our hiking boots on.

So now that baby Tessa is here with us, and I’m finally feeling up to being active again, I’ve decided to hike on one new hiking trail (or two) every week. I am a sucker for National Parks, and since we’re an easy 30 minute drive from the Gulf Islands National Shoreline, I’m making it a fun challenge to hike as much of the 80 miles of Florida District trails as I can while we’re stationed here in Pensacola.

I so want my little girl growing up feeling at ease and a fondness for nature and the outdoors. I don’t want her to be a stranger to the beauty of God’s creation, from the macro to the micro. And I figure, she’s never too young to start, eh? Wrapped up snug and warm on my chest with our ring sling, my baby girl has seen more of the world than most two month olds! It’s a habit I don’t want to break.

I started this little challenge just four weeks ago, and have had the joy of hiking with my tiny baby girl on the Trench Trail, the Woodland Nature Trail, the Brackenridge Trail and the Fishing Trail. That’s 5.9 miles down! Can I get a w00t w00t?!

These trails are far different from the giant redwood, majestic sequoia, waterfall lined, mountain vista views I’m used to. While part of me longs for the crisp alpine air of the John Muir meadows, I must say I am quickly growing fond of these new sights and smells on my outdoor treks.

The air is humid and salty, with the sound of ocean waves mingling with the sounds of tropic insects and palms fronds swaying in the gentle breezes. Exotic seashell fragments and stark white sands line the trails underfoot. Spanish moss and tropic vines hang from oak and hickory trees overhead, and every once in a while you can catch glimpses of brightly colored lizards and vibrant green tree frogs in the foliage. Everything is so tropic here (it is a stones throw from the Caribbean, after all) that I often find myself exclaiming asinine geeky things like, “That tree with the mushrooms on it looks like something out of Ferngully!” or “The moon over the waters looks like Pirates of the Caribbean!” or, most often, “OMG, this looks just like Jurassic Park. I keep expecting a dilophosaurus to jump out and spit at me!”

This park is chock full of history and mystery – more than 80 percent of the park is submerged lands teeming with marine life. It’s America’s largest National Seashore and one of the oldest “discovered” portions of America.

Europeans first visited the northern Gulf of Mexico in the early 1500s. Spain, in 1559, established a settlement in Florida on Pensacola Bay, but the place was abandoned soon afterward. Spaniards revived the settlement in 1698, surrendered it to the French in 1719, regained it by treaty in 1722, ceded it to the English in 1763, and repossessed it by force in 1781. The park is cluttered with historic forts, buildings, relics, and historic points of interest. I mean, how could it not be?!

The Gulf Islands are vibrant and fascinating in a very energetic way… far from the serenity and absorbing nature of the Sequoias. They’re two different beasts, and each appeals to my sense of adventure. (Though in my heart of hearts, I am a mountain girl through and through.)

I’m excited for the many more miles to hike before the Navy whisks us away to who-knows-where. And I’ll keep posting our adventures here on my blog. But in the meantime, here are some snapshots of the trails we’ve trekked thus far:

The Woodland Nature Trail by Fort Barrancas:

The Trench Trail by Fort Barrancas:

The Brackenridge Trail by Naval Live Oaks:

The Fishing Trail by Naval Live Oaks:

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Cosplay Photoshoot

I took to the beach with some new friends from the Pensacola Costumers Guild for a mini cosplay photoshoot this morning!

The beach we were at was called Chicken Bone Beach in Gulf Breeze, here in Pensacola. It was freezing cold, there were jellyfish EVERYWHERE and I stepped on a bunch of evil devil stickers that I STILL have in my feet. (First I mash my finger with a screwdriver, then this? I’m a rugged man-woman… lady. Or something.)

Anyway, we had a lot of fun taking pictures of their characters from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Aren’t these gals LOVELY?!?!

By the way, I just learned that the name Chicken Bone Beach is derived from the practice of Pensacola’s black peoples inability to pick up their chicken, but instead leave the bones spread around the sand in a most ignominious tomb. However, prior to knowing this interesting and highly racist factoid, I had the song Chicken Bone from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack stuck in my head. Still do, as a matter of fact.

Dreamin’, dreamin’, dreamin’ of the chicken bone…. happy, happy, happy with the chicken bone….

Pumpkin Patch at Holland Farms

Since this was baby girls first Halloween, I wanted to make sure the traditional picking out of pumpkins was a special one. Yes, yes, I know that she is but a wee thing, and won’t be picking out her own pumpkin and blah blah blah… BUT! It’s oh so important to start family traditions out right. And this is a family tradition we want to stick. Not to mention, my beautiful best friend Shauna was visiting us from California and just picking up pumpkins to carve from the grocery store just wouldn’t do. So!

I did some rummaging around the ol’ Google machine for some local pumpkin patches. Apparently, Pensacola’s idea of a patch of pumpkins consists of carting a bunch of tiny gourds to a church parking lot and charging ungodly amounts of cash for them. (Who has two thumbs, was raised in an agricultural community and has been spoiled for fresh produce and country hijinks? THIS GIRL!)

After asking among the Emerald Coast Crunchy Moms on Facebook, I finally found Holland Farms in Milton, Florida. This place is a peanut farm that has a genuine pick your pumpkin from the patch field. Here’s our visit in photos!

First, this is my best friend Shauna! We worked together at Disneyland, were roommates, and we were the maid of honors at each others weddings! She’s amazing and filled with happiness and pixie dust. While I was unable to convince her to move out to Pensacola with me, I was somehow able to persuade her to come and visit for a week!

I’ve been to plenty of farms in my day, being raised in the Central Valley of California and all. That’s pretty much cow and crop country. But I’ve never been to a southern farm. Or a peanut farm. So a southern peanut farm was quite the treat. The laid back, down home, leisurely quality of the place was relaxing and fun. We took some cutesy photos on the front porch rocking chairs before embarking on our journey. See? I am particularly smitten with the photos of my handsome husband and beautiful baby girl.

Once we paid for our wrist bands, (which covered the hayride to the pumpkin patch, one pumpkin per person, a corn maze and access to tons of other things that would have been awesome were we all five – corn kernel playpen, miniature zip line, swings, petting zoo, etc.) they handed us a cup of boiled peanuts and sent us on our way. Now, I’ve never had boiled peanuts before. And we spent a good 15 minutes or so eating our cups of mushy legumes and trying to decide if they were delicious or disgusting. After finishing off the lot of them, we still don’t know.

Since we were at a peanut farm handing out bucket loads of boiled peanuts to visitors, the ground looked like this:

After munching our peanuts, we boarded the tractor pulled hayride and took a really fun 10 minute trip through sunflower fields, corn fields, wooded areas, and peanut farmland. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the southern countryside was gorgeous!

Baby girl fell asleep on the hayride. That bumpy road must’ve felt sooooo good!

Finally, we arrived at the pumpkin patch! I was kind of hoping that I could go all barbaric Christmas tree farm on these gourds, and pick the healthy, living, vine-attached pumpkin I wanted and then chop it off myself. But they had already cut the ripe ones from the vine, so it was essentially the same as the church pumpkin patches back in Pensacola, only minus the parking lot in the middle of the city. Regardless, it was a heck of a lot more fun and scenic! Anyhoo, one of my pumpkins is pictured below. I’ll give you a million dollars if you guess which one.

These are the pumpkins that Shauna and Jonathan picked!

After picking our pumpkins, we headed back to the farm on the hayride. Baby girl fell asleep on the return trip too.

When we got back to the farm, we decided to run through the corn maze really quickly. It was small, but I still somehow managed to get lost / turned around. Shauna got nervous but kept her bearings. Jonathan was a rugged outdoorsman and fearlessly led us through the tiny maze and back to civilization.

And that was our trip to the pumpkin patch at Holland Farms in Milton, Florida! Happy Halloween ya’ll!

Gallery Night in Downtown Pensacola

Jonathan and I took Tessa to the local Gallery Night at Downtown Pensacola… lots of live music, local art and al fresco dining by local businesses. I was amazed at how hoppin’ this place was. It was much more bustling than the Los Angeles Art Walk, and there was the added bonus of not having to worry about half dressed drunks peeing on the sidewalks.

I much preferred this cleaner, family friendly version, strolling along the brick sidewalks of Downtown Pensacola, with the festive, block-party atmosphere. This is gonna be our regular monthly thing as long as we’re here. I really need to stop falling in love with Pensacola. This spring, and Jonathan’s final orders, are only a couple months away. (Eeeep!)

FANdom Anime Con in Pensacola

It felt SO GOOD to be back into the nerdy scene with my handsome husband, and this time we had our little nerdling in tow! This was Tessa’s very first convention, and we dressed her in her pink Superman onesie that one of our Ani-Jam overlords back home bought for her baby shower. Jonathan and I threw together some Closet Cosplays (cosplays we could just pull out of our regular wardrobe), and went as Spike and Dark Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Since Dark Willow wears black pants, black top and a dark denim jacket, and her only iconic feature is black veins on her face, I doubted anyone would recognize me. So I was very surprised when not only did people recognize my character, but one gal had even dressed as Dark Willow the day before! Cra-za-zee! We spent today doing a photoshoot of our Buffy cosplays, so I’ll be posting those once I’m done touching them up.

Anyhoo, at the risk of sounding like a convention snob, Jonathan and I were not terribly impressed with this anime con – it was extremely small (the smallest con we’ve ever been to) and there really wasn’t much to do outside of hanging out with friends – and having just moved to the area, those weren’t exactly in abundance for us. The Pensacola Costume Guild were kind enough to let us troll their booth and let me get my photography jollies out and snap some pictures of their shenanigans, but I think knowing dozens upon dozens of people at mega cons back in California has spoiled us.

Regardless, we had a really fun time. We met some new people, bought some fun shwag, and got to spend a fun outing with our daughter. Here are some photos from the convention!