Rhode Island stuff

Nothing in particular has happened since I posted last. It feels like I posted two weeks ago; in fact, it was what, Sunday?

When I'm watching Sweet Home Alabama, I can't help but think every time in that wedding scene when it rains, Oh my gosh, all that silk...

I need to tell all y'all about the stuff I did when we were up in Rhode Island! You know I arrived very late Thursday night, so everyone else got up in the wee small hours of the morning to watch Andrew do his morning run, PT and chow hall stuff. I stayed in bed. We all got ready (my dress was SO great) and headed over to a big gym-thing where the ceremony was to be held. As we waited for the ceremony to begin, Dad and I discussed weather questions I'd written down in my Weather Channel waterproof notebook when I was flying Thursday.

The ceremony was nice. It was very formal, and there was this one awkward moment where a mean man from the North yelled at a lady, but it was nice other than that. We took a bunch of pictures afterward, then headed into town for a beautiful lunch with the whole crew (Mom and Dad, Andrew and Page, Page's mom, Page's aunt, and me). There's a place called The Black Pearl that has fantastic clam chowder (my favorite) and scallops that are TO DIE FOR. These babies were served with bacon and mushrooms in a cream-based sauce...ohhhhh they were so good. I'm a sucker for scallops in the first place, but THESE. WERE. AMAZING.

Afternoon time was taken up by napping like dead people. I remember lying down on my back and thinking, I'll just lie here on my back, and hopefully I won't turn too much and mess up my makeup (which looked great despite my lack of confidence in my skills). Well, let's just say that my makeup didn't have a single smudge. I slept the whole two or three hours completely without moving.

Evening was taken up by a bit of a chat outside before moving along to another incredible dinner. Y'all. This was one of the best meals of my life. Let me tell you about it.

We went to this place called Pier something, like Pier 22 or 22 Pier or something like that. They had bread and real butter (always makes me a happy girl), and I ordered a salad to go along with my meal. The salad was a gorgeous bed of baby spinach dotted with red onion, bacon and boiled egg, tossed with a tangy vinaigrette. I only ate half in preparation for the rest of the meal, plus I was already kind of still stuffed from lunch. And then, speaking of stuffed--

--they brought out my SPECTACULAR meal, which was a 2-lb lobster stuffed with scallops, shrimp, and lobster along with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and herbs. OOOOO MMMMM GGGGGG. I swear I was in heaven from bite number one. Not only was it totally loaded with stuff that I love (I've been going through seafood withdrawal), but there was loooads OF it!! I for sure didn't finish, and Mom and Dad divvied up the claw meat and tail, giving Andrew good chunks as well (he was pretty satisfied with his filet mignon, though, believe it or not). I had a vanilla bean-infused creme brulee to top it all off, though, topping off isn't quite what it was. It was more like packing it all in.

We tried to walk around for a little while after that, but I think our poor bellies were so distended that we didn't want to do much else than go to bed. Next morning, we checked out of the hotel and went to the Nex (Navy Exchange, maybe? It's like a WalMart) to get some gear. I bought a tee shirt and sweatshirt, though I completely intended to buy nothing when I went in. I'm excited to wear my stuff in the middle of Armyville, though--it will be lots of fun.

After that we just went to the airport and hung out until the others' flight left. Andrew, Page and Dad all flew out an hour before Mom and I did, so we stayed with them for a good while. As a nice change of events from my previous travel woes, Mom and I were upgraded to first class for FREE for our flight to Charlotte. Apparently it's because Dad flies so much. I told Mom that, next time Dad goes out of town, she needs to thank him instead of being sad. All that extra seat room was nice. And I even got to sit next to an empty seat on my connecting flight from Charlotte, so I barely knew what to do with all the extra space.

That's pretty much it as far as the trip goes. It was a great time, and I enjoyed seeing everyone. I'm super proud of my brother for going through all the junk in order to reach his goal. Though, I'm not gonna lie, I never doubted that he would. He's incredibly driven and determined, more than most anyone I've met.

Congratulations, Andrew!