My Brother

This weekend I went to visit my "little," (he is huge!) brother in Newport News, Virginia. He is a 2nd Lieutenant and currently in transportation school at Ft. Eustis. Growing up, I never imagined that we would both end up serving in the Army, but I couldn't be more proud that our lives ended up coming together in this way.


We decided to take brother-sister pictures in uniform and frame the best shots for Mom's Christmas present. It was a fun adventure. Although we spent hours in the waiting room listening to dozens of toddlers bawl when asked to sit on Santa's lap, it was a good chance for us to visit and catch up. The funniest moment was when the photographer tried to put us into this intimate gazing pose and we were like.... "umm.... we are brother and sister, this is awkward." She definitely thought we were a couple, guess she didn't know enough about Army ranks to realize why that would have been a no-go, haha. 

So I'm crossing my fingers that mom doesn't stumble across the blog before Christmas... I don't think she will, but if you are reading this mom... act surprised anyway!

My brother is my best friend and and living far apart is always tough. We had a great visit- here we are enjoying some margaritas! 

We ended up driving across the famous Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, which was expansive and beautiful. 

It was nice to see a little bit of Virginia's Eastern Shore, and I had a great crab sandwich on the other side of the bridge before we drove back. 

In other news, the Unit held its annual Holiday Party. It was really fun and there was so much good food! 

Here is a picture of some of the ladies in the band all dressed up and enjoying the event. 

My culinary contribution was a dual offering of Sweet Potato Casserole. The one on the left is my Grandma's version with Marshmallow topping, and the right is my Mom's with pecan and brown sugar topping. Both seemed to go over well! 

So I'm in Chicago right now and tomorrow is our big performance at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Convention. Chicago is FREEZING cold and snowing but I'm totally stoked about our concerts tomorrow and exploring the exhibits.