The State Of The Lizzie Address

My life is about to change. A lot.

I'm getting married and moving away. I'm leaving my job, my apartment, my family and my friends and marrying a man in the Navy. Yup, life is about to change.

So, I've decided to start a blog. I think keeping an online, public diary will help get me through these changes, stay in touch with friends, and share some of the experiences I'm bound to have with Greg as we adjust to married life and I adjust to my new life as a Navy wife!

The good news in all of this is that I have Greg. He makes me happier than I ever dreamed I could be. We're heading out together as partners on a big adventure- one that I never could have imagined 5 years ago. We are deeply in love and both know that we are lucky to have found each other.

With Greg at USNA Commissioning. May, 2006

Sometimes life can almost seem like a fairy tale: my white knight has appeared- he is handsome, brave, and as honorable a man as you'll ever meet. And dropping everything to follow your one true love is certainly a romantic notion. But it's sometimes a bit scary.

Greg is training to be an officer on a submarine. He'll be away on deployments for long periods at a time, and I won't hear from him daily or know where he is most of the time. This won't start for over a year, but it's something I'm preparing for.

But we're also preparing for adventures! After we marry, we'll live in Ballston Spa, NY for 6 months, Groton, CT for about 3 more, and then we'll be off to the west coast. Our current top choice is to be stationed in San Diego, CA. This, however, is a bit unrealistic. San Diego only has a few submarines, and therefore only a very few slots for officers. So maybe Pearl Harbor, HI. Or if not Pearl, then maybe near Seattle, WA. Who knows! This decision won't be made for a while- it depends on Greg's class rank coming out of Nuclear Power School in March.

In the mean time, though, we're planning a wedding and spending as much time together as we can. Greg is currently on Temporary Assigned Duty at the USNA Sailing Center. Translation: he gets to spend his summer coaching and sailing around the east coast. Tough duty, huh?! :-) He just finished his training block (read: cruise) this week, and now has most of August off. Hooray- lots of time together!

(Note- I may mock Greg's assignment this summer, but he actually has had a lot of responsibility, it hasn't been all fun and games. Or picnics and rum cocktails. Just mostly.)

So, it looks like August will be my favorite month this year. Next weekend we are going to Greg's family's summer house on Martha's Vineyard. The house belonged to Granny T-Bird, Greg's great-grandmother, who sounds like she was a really cool old lady. The house, named Mytoi, is basically a Japanese cottage, complete with rice paper windows. The view from the back of the house is stunning. The peaks of a rooftop and an osprey nest stand are the only man-made things to be seen. Other than that, there is only a beautiful marsh with a winding creek between the porch and a pond. It is serenity defined.

The view from the back porch at Mytoi

During the day, kayakers like to come up the stream that goes through the back yard. This can be interesting when you're in the shower- it has full length clear glass windows that face this view! Greg and his friends call it the "porn shower!"

Across the street is Granny T-Bird's garden; now a public park. I have loved Monet since I was 9 years old, and when Greg took me to the garden last summer and showed me the Japanese footbridge over the waterlilies, I just melted. I think it is the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. It reminds me of the mood set in the Glen on the Hamilton campus- nature allowed to flourish on its own with only a slight nudge in the right direction.

The Japanese footbridge over the pond in the Mytoi gardens

The Japanese footbridge in Claude Monet's garden in Giverny

A series of bridges in the Root Glen at Hamilton College

When we get back from Mytoi, we'll have a week apart before heading to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with Greg's friends from Branford (now my friends, too!) A week on the beach is something I've been looking forward to for a while! I'll add more about the N.C. trip later.

(Some of) The Branford Gang, as seen on New Year's Eve

So that's where my life is right now. I'm working hard, planning a wedding (and even though I didn't really mention it in this post, I'm guessing that wedding plans will be a frequent topic!), and I'm enjoying any time that I get to spend with Greg. All in all, my life is good these days. Actually, it's great.

So, in conclusion, the state of the Lizzie is happy. That is all.