Off to the Cape!

This weekend we decided to drive up to Cape Cod. The weather is FINALLY beginning to warm up and we thought it would be a great day to do some sightseeing. We loved Cape Cod! We drove up to the very tip and walked around a town called Provincetown. Provincetown is a bit of a different place. It has, shall we say, an eclectic group of residents. There was always something interesting going on! It was such a cool place, tons of restaurants and fun shops to go in. We were talking about how much fun it would be to round up our friends and families and rent a house up there for a week. Any takers?

Walking along the beach in Provincetown

Darn seasonal hours! We really wanted to buy a kite :(

Graduation

Todd graduated his first class of Ensigns! I'm so proud of him and I'm sure the newly minted Ensigns are very happy to be done with OCS. This Thursday was the 'Hi Moms' where all the officer candidates families got to meet and greet with their class teams. The class teams consist of an Officer, a chief and a drill instructor. Once the class is announced they all say a few words about their class. Todd gave a great speech and in OCS tradition took that opportunity to harass the class one last time before saluting them after graduation. :) He made them do a ton of push ups, something that their parents all enjoyed immensely. The next day was graduation which is quite a bit different then the graduation ceremonies on MCRD. Todd's class consisted of only 28 candidates (only 16 originally started 12 weeks ago) so the graduation is on a much smaller scale. Todd had a full page in the program, with a picture and paragraph of his accomplishments. His only role during the graduation was to dismiss them at the end. It was very cool. After that was done the class team stands together and each Ensign individually walks up, is saluted and gives their team each a silver dollar.

On a side note, I have to say that there are some fun perks of being a drill instructors wife. I don't think I ever felt so popular! At the 'Hi Moms' Todd's candidiates were constantly greeting me everywhere I went. At graduation, every candidate that I walked past greeted me and made sure I was going in the right direction. Once at the graduation I had a front row seat in the VIP area that had a 'reserved for Mrs. Coyer' sign on it. Um...ya, I could totally get used to this!

JP and Todd at 'hi moms'

Todd being announced as the class drill instructor. They then read what he's accomplished in his military career.
Sorry so blurry. Having the candidates do push ups
The Coyers ;)
Me, Gysgt Center and Jennifer. Sandra is the only female DI in OCS, she's pretty awesome.


Walking to dismiss his class

Taking class pictures

My DI at work

Navy OCS: "Navy Owned, Marine Trained"- Sign posted outside OCS Building

Happy St. Patty's Day!

We love St. Patricks day! I will even go as far as ranking it in my top 5 of all holidays. Whats not to love? Everyone, Irish or otherwise all come out to celebrate, we gorge ourselves in corned beef and cabbage and there is the always fun task of turning everything you can think of green; beer, mash potatoes, cookies, nails, hair etc. When Todd and I first got here one of the first things we learned about lil ol' Newport is that they have a big ol' Irish population and that St. Patty's day is a huge celebration! Never been known to shy away from any sort of celebration/party, Todd and I wasted no time putting on everything that we could find green , met up with our equally obnoxious green friends and had a great day! There was a parade followed by hundreds of people celebrating in the streets. This place just gets better and better!

Shan, Jennifer and Beth just before leaving for the parade

Todd and Shan + green whistles = good time

Jennifer with one of the clowns during the parade

The group

Moving on up...part deux

Thats right folks, the Coy-ay's are continuing to build our empire. Our newest purchase...a new SUV!! YEA! We just bought a 2008 4x4 Nissan Xterra! It is gorgous and by far the cutest SUV on the road in my unbaised opinion. We are so excited now to finally have a vehicle that (a.) has 4 doors, and (b.) can comfortably fit more than 2 people. We can't wait to take it off-roading and camping this summer!

SIDE NOTE: For those that were worried, the Civic is still alive and well. It's fate was in question there for a while but in the end we decided to keep it and is now transporting Todd to work. The Camero will now be on display in our garage and will be available for sunday drives during the summer if anyone is interested.

I'm tough.

The Tranbargers go east coastin'

We adore our families so we were SO excited when my parents came to visit us this week. We really hope that this will be the start of a ton of visitors coming out our way ::hint hint:: We had a great time showing them our new home. Of course in typical Tranbarger fashion, my dad didn't waste anytime relaxing on our couch while offering 'suggestions' on how we could improve a few things around the house (always keeping us on our toes, dad!) and mom with her magical talents somehow made our place feel even more cozy and comfortable with her cooking and organizing, a talent I really hope is somewhere in my DNA. We ate, drank and viewed the sights till there were no more sights in Newport to see. It was very sad to say goodbye but we hope they will be back soon!

Cute parents on the Cliff walk

Sunset in Newport

Of course we had to check out a few battleships...these are the Tranbargers!

Mom and myself walking around town

New Bedford, MA, outside the whaling museum

Fort Taber, caught in a freak storm, I love that Todd is behind us trying to look into the fort, he could care less about the rain:)

The fam with the Sauls.

Moving on up!

The other day, Todd and I sat down at our dining room table, the same table I'm pretty sure I had in college, for dinner. As we looked around at all the boxes that held our beautiful wedding china and crystal we had an epiphany...we are no longer struggling young adults. With this realization firmly in our minds we scampered off and bought a new dining set. Three short but anxious weeks later it arrived. We spent the entire night setting it up and placing our GORGEOUS china and crystal (thank you everyone again!) in the china cabinet. When we were done, as we stood back to admire our new dining room , Todd hugged me and said "Sweetie, I think we've arrived". :) Would anyone like to come over for dinner?

Pre-makeover, notice our wedding gifts still tucked away in boxes :(

Post makeover

All our beautiful wedding gifts