Hey There

John's asleep now, it's about 10 pm here. Going to bed at 10:00 has only ever worked for me when I was adjusting to this time zone. Unfortunately I'm back to having sleep problems, but fortunately it's not too too terrible for me to go to bed at 11:00pm, so that's really nice.

He's been working at lot. Happily, he was given Monday off but the rest of the days he's been told to come in an hour or more early so he's waking up tomorrow at 4:30 instead of the normal 6 or 6:30. I don't know for sure. Fun.

Lately I've been researching jobs and wedding receptions. I've found places I really like so tomorrow I'm waking up early (early for me/my family ~8am) in order to call three sites to check their availability and get more information, as well as ask my Officiant (Rev. Dr. Bob Zanicky!) some questions about his availability, AND to call Navy Federal to get my online account started since it won't let me on. Gotta love being 6 hrs behind everyone... Hopefully it all goes well and some of these places are available during one of the weekends I want to do it. Both fortunately and unfortunately, John was told that those weeks were perfect for us and he'd be likely to get a longer leave than originally expected (maybe a whole week!). It's unfortunate in the case where if everything is booked during that time span, I can't completely switch the dates. I really hope we can get this figured out and settled soon. I feel like it'll be smooth sailing after this. Especially since it's looking like the reception/ceremony will be 80% of the budget, so I can't afford to bother with much else! Haha. That was my attempt at humor but I think it came out as more of a pity party. It's not that we don't have a good budget, I wouldn't want to spend more, it's that reception sites are RIDICULOUS when it comes to cost. Boo. I'm sure it's all logical and thought out, but I don't like it, haha.

Alright onto a totally different topic. We bought the greatest cookware sets. Two pots, roasting pan, griddle pan, 3 skillets and a giant pan all with interlocking lids from Ameriware. They're not Teflon. They're titanium ceramic and The. Best. Pans. EVER. They seriously do not stick. You don't have to worry about metal utensils scraping on them and giving you cancer. They may hurt it a little, but you're safe. But above all they clean off in minutes. RICE doesn't stick to it, and I didn't even stir it like I always want to (in order to prevent stick). You can cook chicken without oils or butter. These are AMAZING. I've even used them in the oven, because they said I could and I'm often without things. I've been using the Roaster as a casserole dish, and it works out. I swear, every day after dinner I just praise the pans in my head. It's rather pathetic, but they were worth every penny (and I'm not telling you how many pennies they cost). I love these pans. If only they made bakeware... I could definitely use a 9x13 pan made with this stuff, haha. I have two of those, but not made out of this! LOVE it. They make me so happy. Seriously though, RICE doesn't even stick.

And they have a lifetime warranty. Take that!

OH! And Molly F. (a Navy-Sub wife from a different boat) took me out to breakfast the other day with another wife named Tessa. Both very nice. Well Molly let me borrow her loaf pan so I was able to make the Spiced Pumpkin Bread with White Chocolate Chips! I was so excited, it's delicious! I love pumpkin

Goodnight!
-Mer