Washington DC with the Family

With graduation being on a Friday, and our families here through the weekend, we took advantage of our time and headed to Washington DC to do some sight-setting.

Nick's family was split half and half on those that had been to DC.  My family, with the exception of my sister, hadn't ever been.  (It really stunk that Dad wasn't able to come because he would have loved DC...although he would have needed MUCH more than 2 days).

Saturday we ventured to DC in the late morning.  We started at the Holocaust Museum (what a depressing way to start the day, right?)  It's a very emotional museum.  (Ben wasn't able to do it.  Not too far in, he said he couldn't stand the sight of it all or reading how poorly they were treated and he quickly walked all floors to reach the end and wait for us.)

After the Holocaust Museum we ventured over to The White House.  This was my first time there!  (My first trip to DC was in January 2002 and no one was allowed anywhere close to it.  So we viewed it from verrrrrrrry far away.  My other trips to DC with Nick we just never made it there.  It was neat to see this building that I've seen so many times on the News and in movies.  It was kind of crazy to think I was standing, not that far, from the President of the United States' house!

My family in front of the White House

Mom in the back of the White House

Then we ventured off to the Natural Museum of History.  We didn't spend too long in there but Ben reallllly wanted to see the dinosaurs . . . of course.  After that, we went to the American History Museum and we spent quite a bit of time in there.

Dumbo, Ben's childhood favorite

Afterwards, we were starving so we asked a guy about a place to eat. He made it seem as if it were close.  It most definitely was not.  We walked sooooo far.  And through not very good areas.  When we arrived, it was closed for a special event.  Fantastic!  We continued to walk but were only finding really expensive places.  We finally came across a place but we had to wait FOREVER for tables. It's a seat yourself kind of place.  And we ended up having to sit at two separate tables but it was okay.  And then because we're all party animals (okay not true, but we do like to drink) about half of us were pretty drunk by the time we left and headed back to the metro.

It was a fun adventure but boy was I glad to be home and off my feet!

The next day, Nick's family decided to skip Day 2-Memorial Day of DC.  So Nick and my family headed back.  We hit up the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, and the Korean War Memorial. 
While we were at the Washington Monument, we got to witness what is said to be a rare sight.  We saw Marine One land on the lawn of the White House, then take off, and fly right overhead!!!

Marine One landing

Marine One has taken off

Marine One flying overhead

Our Future Home!

To see all of the pictures from DC, click HERE.

Nick's USNA Graduation & Commissioning

United States Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning 

Class of Two Thousand Eleven

May 27, 2011

Today was one of the best days in my life thus far.  Nick graduated from the United States Naval Academy and commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy.  He is now Ensign Nicholas Oberkrom.


[For my non-military family/friends:  I did NOT know this until Nick informed me, four-ish years ago, when he was he going to the Naval Academy, that there were differences in people in the military.  In each branch, there are enlisted service members and there are officers.  To become an officer, you must go through ROTC at a college, get a college degree and then go through an Officer Candidate School (OCS) or go to a service Academy (Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, WestPoint, Citadel, etc.)  There are a few other ways within each branch, such as STA-21 in the Navy (which Nick had intended to do if he was not accepted into the Academy.)]


The day started very early.  Nick dressed in his uniform, with midshipman insignia, for the last time.  I hugged and kissed Nick as midshipman for the last time and off he went.  

After much waiting (in the extreme heat) the midshipman started processing in. Nick is in 1st Company so it was easy to find him.  Watching him walk down the stairs and onto the field filled me with such pride.  It's something I could not explain but it brought me to tears (the first of many that day.)

Shortly after, the Glee Club beautifully sang the National Anthem.  And I cried again. [I cry almost every time I hear the National Anthem now.  I've always had respect for the song and the flag.  And it's always made my eyes a little watery.  But ever since being with Nick, it holds a different meaning for me.  It reminds me of those who have lost their lives.  It reminds me of those away from loved ones, fighting for me and my family.  It reminds me of those families without their father, mother, wife, husband, sister, brother, etc.  It makes me proud to be an American and live in this country.  Makes me proud to be marrying a military man. And it severely irritates me when people talk during the National Anthem and do not give it or those serving (or those who have served) the respect it deserves.]


Soon, the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, gave an amazing speech.  His last commencement speech seeing as he is retiring. He is a great speaker and a great man who has done amazing things for our country.  There were parts of his speech that really got to me.  (To see some highlights of his speech, click HERE to see one of my posts that has some excerpts from it.)  He talked about how these men and women stepped up and freely chose to serve their country during one of the riskest times of the war.  Heck, they in general joined during a time of war which speaks enough for them.  Today made things a little more real for me.  It really had me thinking about the life Nick would be living.  The life I would be living.  That every single day, Nick would be putting his life on the line.  No, he wouldn't be in a war zone every day.  But he would be training every day.  Accidents do happen on a daily basis.  Everyday he leaves the house, no matter where he's going, I will worry.  I will pray he walks back through our door every night.  I'm so proud of him for choosing a career that puts him at risk every day, for the lives and freedom of millions of people he hasn't met and will never meet.  You can't get any more selfless.  


Soon after the speech, the Marines took their Oath of Office. Then came those Navy men and women.  Nick, and his classmates, stood up, raised their right hand, and took the Oath of Office.  Again, I was brought to tears.  Here was my Fiance giving his life over to our government, promising to protect and serve our great nation.  

Here is the Oath of Office: 

I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

It was after this oath, that Nick officially became an officer in the United States Navy . . . and in that moment I have never been more proud of him.  All of his hard work, long nights, and many sacrifices, had finally paid off.  


Then it was time to get that diploma!  It was so great to see Julius, Rob, Dave, Matt, and all other midshipman I have had the pleasure of knowing walk across that stage.  The greatest joy was obviously watching Nick walk across that stage.  After he shook hands with Robert Gates, the Secretary of the Navy, and the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, he proudly held his diploma up and we all cheered so loudly for him.

The best part of the ceremony was the cover toss (cover = hat).  It was such an awesome sight to see all those covers flying in the air.  It's a moment they've all been awaiting as well.  

After the ceremony, we all met at the back of the stadium.  Nick's aunt and uncle changed his midshipman shoulder boards to his officer shoulder boards (a task I will get the honor of doing the rest of our lives).  Then I got to place his new officer's cover on his head.  It was an awesome moment!  

Now that he was an officer, he had his first salute.  [It is tradition to have someone be your first salute and present them with a silver dollar.  As an officer, they, for lack of better word, outrank any enlisted service member.  And within the military, you must salute anyone higher than you (Nick salutes all officers higher ranking than him).]  Nick chose his best friend from high school, Jason.  Jason took leave to come to Nick's Graduation/Commissioning to be Nick's first salute.  Afterwards, Nick presented him with a silver dollar with the year 2006 on it . . . the year the two of them enlisted.

Immediately following all of this was Nick's graduation party, hosted by his sponsors, in their neighborhood with an AMAZING view!  It was a lot of fun and he had a lot of people come by.  I'm happy both of our families were there as well.

To see all the pictures from Nick's Graduation and Commissioning, click HERE
To see all the pictures from Nick's graduation party, click HERE and find the pictures about midway through the photo album

Commissioning Week

I know it's been a LONG time since I've blogged.  Understandably.  But now I'm back.  Well, I'm actually still incredibly busy but I'm taking the time to do some updates before I get too far behind.

I'm also back-dating this post because I'm OCD and I need things in chronological order.

I arrived in Annapolis on May 20th, exactly one week before actual Commissioning Day.

The week leading up was full of hanging out with Nick's friends and attending various military functions.

On Sunday, May 22, 2011, I attended the Superintendent's Reception with Nick and his amazing sponsor parents, Lisa and Kel.  This event is also most commonly known as the 'Garden Party'.  This reception was for 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Naval Academy.  It consisted of mingling with Nick's company mates, meeting some of his superiors that I've heard him talk so much about, and most importantly, meeting the host of the party, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Michael H. Miller and his wife.

The next day, Monday May 23, 2011 was the Color Parade in the morning.  Nick's company, 1st Company, was Color Company first semester and therefore they had a key role in this parade.  It's really not worth explaining, it's something you'd just have to see.  But it meant I got VIP seats with Miss Meg (because Matt's company was Color Company second semester) and Nick's company was front and center.

 After the parade we watched Herndon.  This was my first time ever seeing it and quite frankly, it wasn't exciting.  After a few minutes I was ready to go.  (Herndon is a giant monument that they cover in lard and the plebes have to climb it to retrieve a plebe summer cover (hat) and replace with a midshipman's cover).
That evening, was Julius' graduation party and it was a blast.  Many people came out and it was good to meet so many people from Nick's company as well as hanging out with my favorite boys, 'The Crew'.  And Julius' family, well they are just great people!  Very fun folk!  And after the party, we hit up downtown Annapolis.

The next few days were spent with our families (who had also come into town) and we took a few different tours of the yard.  ("the yard" is what they call the "campus" of the Naval Academy.)  We also watched the United States Marine Corps Silent Drill performance which was pretty neat. If you've seen the movie "A Few Good Men", it's like the very beginning of the movie.  Drill is the serious of moves and positions the Marines do, in complete unison, without someone calling out the commands.  They are very talented and it's really a remarkable thing to witness.

One night, Nick's family and my mother and sister attended the Graduation Ball.  I didn't really care to go, I'm not much for dancing.  But I needed an excuse to wear my Ring Dance dress again so we decided to go!  Mom and Leah had to run to the mall just hours before the dance and find something but they looked pretty darn spiffy!  And beautiful!  We ended having a good time and I was able to see a few "USNA Girlfriends" while there (even though we aren't "girlfriends" anymore.)

Our week ended with Dave and Rob's graduation party which was also great because I absolutely love Rob's family.  Mr & Mrs Burdon are some of the nicest people I've ever met.

So that was about 6 days in a very short blog post....well short for ME.  It was a very condensed version with 1000 less photos.  Yes, I have about 1000 photos from May 20 to May 26.  You should all be very proud of me for narrowing it down and not making this post very detailed.  That's very unlikely.  But don't worry, the photos are on Facebook.  Check them out HERE and some more of them HERE.

Sibling Weekend

This was the last one...well the last one with me as a Dickens.

This was my last weekend before the big wedding.  The next two weekends I will be in Annapolis and then it's WEDDING WEEKEND.

Things have been very stressful.  I've started to get very emotional lately.  I hate thinking about leaving my family and friends behind.  I've been crying more often...mainly at night in my bed, while driving, or in the shower....so essentially all the times I'm alone. 

So anyway, with how emotional and stressed I've been with everything I need to do from now until we move, I wanted a relaxing weekend.  So I decided one last weekend with my siblings was just what I needed!

On Friday, Little Leah and I went to Columbia.  We of course had to go to Wal-Mart and had fun there as always =)  We spent the rest of the night just sitting around talking and laughing.  Saturday we headed to my other "brother" 's daughter's musical "Seussical".  It was so cute and she did so well!  She has a beautiful voice!  Afterwards we grabbed lunch, then went back to hang out at the house.  That night, we went to Trops....mmmmmm I miss Trops (for all you non-Columbians, it's Tropical Liquors and it's alcoholic slushies...the best EVER!)  My brother's work friends that we hear so much about joined us and it was nice to finally meet them and another good friend, Amber and her boy came! We ended the night at Jazz, a Louisiana style restaurant and then headed home where another friend of my brothers came over and we all hung out some more.  Sunday was more just hanging out before heading home for more wedding tasks!

It was a great weekend... very much so what I needed.  I love my siblings to death.  They are truly my best friends and I have so much fun with them. I am going to miss them so much....so much so that it hurts just thinking about it.  BUT I know I am so blessed.  I am blessed to have such wonderful siblings....blood and non-blood.  Ben and Leah are the best siblings I could ever ask for.  We've always been VERY close and as the years pass, we only become closer.  They have been there for me through soooo much.  Through things no siblings should have to go through.  They've seen me in a state no sibling should have to see another.  I hate that they've had to go through that.  I hate that my siblings have those memories of me.  BUT I'm happy that BECAUSE OF THEM, I'm still here to give them many more happy memories.  I'm so blessed to have siblings that love me beyond unconditionally.  Blessed to have siblings I can laugh hours straight with.  Blessed to have siblings I can tell anything too...whether it's confiding in them or giving them some TMI (my signature trait lol).  Blessed to have siblings that support me in EVERTHING...even a relationship that will move me far, far away from them.  Blessed to have siblings who love Nick as a brother.  I'm BEYOND blessed.

I don't fear our closeness changing.  If anything, I think this distance is going to make us much closer.  I know I'm going to call them all the time.  I'll probably talk to my brother more when I move than I do now.  (He lives two hours away so I only see him every few weeks.)  I talk to my sister all the time now because we live in the same house but I know we'll be calling each other all the time. 

I'm not worried about losing what we have.  My sadness stems from not physically seeing them.  Not being able to celebrate every holiday (the big ones or small ones), not here for every birthday, not here for anything my family gets together for.  We get together a lot and I know I'll miss a lot of them.  I just wish I could find that money tree so I could fly them out to me and I could home as often as I want.  

I think back to when I moved home from college.  My brother came over to my apartment to take some things I didn't want anymore.  We stood outside talking for a long time...prolonging the goodbye.  He finally said, "Well I need to get home."  Then he said, "It's going to be so weird...not having you here.  Not hanging out all the time.  Not having you just 10 minutes away.  I don't like this."  I agreed.  But we hugged, said I love you, and parted.  I went inside and cried.  Hard.  Very, very hard.  Uncontrollable sobbing.  For a long two hours.  And I was only moving two hours away. 

I don't want to say goodbye.  I know I have to.  But I don't want to go through that again...but this time with my ENTIRE family.  And all my friends.  Oh boy am I going to be a mess.

But I don't want to focus on that.  I don't want to really think about that sadness until the day of goodbyes has come.  For now, I'm focusing on how much fun I had this weekend and how blessed I am.  Not only for Ben and Leah, but for Randy and Josh as well.  So I'm ending this on that positive note.  The positive note of having the most amazing siblings a girl could ask for.