Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. I love everything about it. Turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes, pies...I'll take it all. It is by far my favorite meal and today I found out that my husband has a very special talent. I had no idea that when we got married that I had unknowingly committed my life to the best turkey roaster ever! Who knew?!?

Since Rhode Island insists on being so far from our families, we decided to scoop up our east coast family and host Thanksgiving at our house...we do have that fabulous dining table after all. Dividing up Thanksgiving prep, I tasked my sweet husband with the big job of cooking the turkey. Like any project you give to Todd, he took his turkey duty very seriously. This morning he got up at 4am ::yikes:: to throw our 14 pound turkey in a 8 hour bath of salt and vegetable stock. Then he stuffed the cavity with onions and apples for flavor and roasted it to perfection. It was the most moist turkey I have ever had. He timed it perfectly and had it ready, carved and on our table at exactly the right time. My husband is so dreamy. ::stares lovingly at hubs::

Even though we couldn't be with our families this year we still had a great day with great food and great friends. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

4am...yikes!

Taking a salt bath

Dedicated Hubs

Our festive table

Yum!

The crew

mmm...pie

Freezing in little Rhody!

Its cold. I mean really cold. 6 weeks ago we were dying of humidity and now we can see our breath in our living room. What happened? Gah! This morning it was 20 degrees outside and that did not include the wind chill! Gah! We are talking some serious cold.

We've also noticed that cold weather does not travel alone. It brings along a very special friend, static electricity. This has turned our loving home into a static mine field where we have become balls of electricity who mortally wound each other if we make contact. Gah!

Though we are only a week in (and probably have 6 months left), this is what we have learned so far:

1. Touching inside the our house is very dangerous.

2. Weight loss and weight management in winter is near impossible. Stuffing your face with casseroles, stews and soups are the only ways to stay warm.

3. Working a mile from your home almost always guarantees that your car's heater will finally kick on the minute you drive into your work's parking lot. brrrrrrrr. and...

4. Wind chill is not your friend.

As a California girl, I am totally unprepared. I happily drop kicked my gloves last May and now have no idea where they are. ::smacks head::. Apparently I didn't realize we had to do this every year...oops!

Wow that went fast...

Once upon a time (five years ago) in a land far far away (Irvine, Ca) a young redhead, fresh off her Australian adventures, decided to go out for a night on the town with her best friend, Nicole. Thinking that this was just a typical Friday night of drinks and dancing she didn't think much when a handsome young Marine struck up a conversation and made her laugh. Though she wasn't looking for love she could not deny that she and this marine got along 'like a house on fire' and gave him her phone number. The next morning he called and has called her everyday since...

Though we have replaced our dating anniversary with our wedding anniversary, 5 years is a fun milestone so I just couldn't resist posting a couple pictures. So in honor of 5 years of happiness (minus a couple deployments ::yuck:: )I would like to present Todd and Shannon: the early years...

Our first New Years 2003-2004

My cute Sergeant 2004- do we look any different?

Happy Veteran's Day!

Happy Veteran's day to my sweet husband, my fabulous Dad and my fabulous father-in-law. Today we honor you and everyone who has fought to keep our country safe. Thank you for your service and sacrifice.

My Hero in Iraq :)

My hero (my dad) in Vietnam.

I wish I had a picture of my father in law. :(

The Marine Corps Ball

If you have ever met a Marine, you will have probably noticed that they are incredibly organized, well-trained, respectful, honorable and above all loyal. They take incredible pride in what they do and will do everything in their power to protect each other and our country.

If you have ever had the privilege of going to a Marine Corps Ball you will have also noticed that Marines, when not protecting our country, can seriously party. I don’t know what it is but dress blues + other marines + music + drinks = pure Marine chaos. Enlisted or Officer it doesn't matter…they are all crazy. It is so much fun!

This year our ball was held at the Hyatt in Newport and the Coyers along with 20 of our closest friends decided to go in style and rent a limo. Our friends are so fun!

My favorite part about the ball is that I get to re-live all my favorite memories of getting ready for a big dance. Today I got up early, ran off to get my nails done, then off to the salon to get my hair done all the while gossiping to my stylist about how I landed the cutest date…ahh memories. We had a great night and in typical prom, excuse me, ball fashion we ended the night at the local IHOP….ahh memories.

Hi there!

In the limo on our way to the ball

The Ladies.

Master Guns and all the Navy OCS Drill Instructors. Seriously aren't the Marine blues the most handsome uniform?

The group!

Todd, PJ, Richard and Master Guns

Marty, Master Guns and JP

Gunny and Mrs. :)

Ooh-rah!

Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween! Muhahahaha! Tonight we had our annual pumpkin carving contest (I'm pretty sure I won, don't tell Todd) and we decorated our porch in hopes of attracting some trick or treaters! Last year we had a disappointing turn out (we had one) but we have seen some kids in our neighborhood so we have tons of candy ready to go! Hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and spooky night! ::cues the scary music::

Pumpkin carving contestant #1

Pumpkin carving contestant #2

Our masterpieces. Can you guess who did what?

Muhahahaha!

Honorable mention: We also would like to shout out to our fabulous sis-n-law, Sandra. Happy Birthday Sunshine! Hope you have a wonderful day!

Greetings from Vermont!

Since you can never celebrate your first year of being happily married enough, Todd and I decided it was time for a romantic weekend getaway. With the fall foliage in full effect we thought it would be nice to drive up to Stowe, Vermont for a little sightseeing and relaxation.

Stowe is a resort town in northern Vermont that is very popular in the winter for skiing as well as popular for its wineries, cheese, cider and the Ben and Jerry's ice cream factory. We stayed in a gorgeous boutique hotel called The Green Mountain Inn where we had a beautiful luxury room complete with a fireplace! It was fabulous. We spent the whole weekend eating ice cream, cheese and cider and just enjoying the scenery. I would definitely recommend this place and we can't wait to go back.

Heading out to breakfast

Todd outside our hotel

The rest of the hotel is behind me

Is 9:30am too early for ice cream?

Waiting in the gift shop for the tour to begin

Hands down the best part of the tour...the sample room

Today the sample was strawberry cheesecake...it was delish

Yum!

Because we can't take enough pictures of ourselves. ;)

hello, cheese factory...I was a big fan of this place.

Toddi testing out some apple cider

The front of our hotel...it had just started to rain

Picture of the fabulous fireplace in our room. Note the cameo of cute hubs foot. ;)

Chilling under a covered bridge

Heading home, so sad :( The trees were gorgeous though.

Shameless plug of Coyer coolness #1 - On Friday evening once we were checked in and settled, we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at the restaurant in our hotel. As we were being seated myself, who apparently has no awareness of her surroundings, gently brushed into a couple on their way out of the restaurant. Mumbling I'm sorry but never looking up, I didn't think much of it until we sat down. Immediately Todd said: 'Did you know we just walked by Tyra Banks?'

'Seriously?' I said and then noticed that the restaurant was packed with flushed teenage girls all looking like they had seen a ghost. Tyra and her basketball boyfriend (don't know his name) were totally dining in our hotel!

So there you have it folks....the Coyer's totally vacation with celebrities...::crosses arms and smiles smugly:: :)