Andrea and Blake's Big Day!!!

I mentioned in previous posts that after the honeymoon I came back to Nashville for Andrea's bachelorette on Saturday (and Taylor stayed in Knoxville for the Georgia game). The following weekend was her wedding, she is now Mrs. Andrea Lambert!! I have included some pictures from her bachelorette and of course the beautiful wedding!!


Those who may not know Andrea...she was in an accident 2 weeks before the wedding on 65 on her way to work one morning. She totalled her car and broke two bones in her foot and hurt her wrist. She was still on a crutch for her bachelorette, but luckily got off the crutch on Thursday before the wedding...but you're looking at her beautiful, black, wedding boot!!! She was such a trooper, she never complained ONCE about it, and you never even noticed it under her gorgeous dress!!

Before we headed up to Nashville for the Bachelorette night!

Jenna Eganey, Ashey, Whitney (Blake's sister), and Melissa Cartwright in the hotel room before heading down to Broadway!

Brianne had the idea for everyone to wear flowers in their hair for the bachelorette night, it turned out really cute. Here is Brianne (our Canadian friend!!!!) and Andrea and I at the hotel.

Jenna, Brianne, Andrea, Whitney, and I all at Decades on Broadway. We were dancing queens!!!

And now onto the wedding at Carnton Plantation in Franklin.

Here's a picture with the 'rents!

Me with the beautiful bride!!! She should have been in a magazine!!! Andrea had an awesome photographer with some really awesome pictures...if you're bored or at all interested you should check out their website and look at Andrea's pictures...I don't think they're all up yet, but they will be soon. www.grayphotograph.com

A little CHS reunion!!! Class of 2002, Brianne, me, Ashley, Alan, Melis, Mary Beth, and Rachel!

Seester, Seester!!

All the bridesmaids. Brianne, Ashley, Whitney, me, and Jenna!! It was such a gorgeous wedding and a really fun night. The next day Andrea left for Jamaica, Brianne left to go back to Canada, and I left to move to Italy!!!

More on Italy in the next post!

Ciao!

Better Late Than Never!!!

Ahhh...and on to the honeymoon! I wasn't sure this was ever going to happen...but alas, it did! We really had an awesome time. And even Taylor enjoyed it much more than he expected. He's not a big beach person (don't ask how I married someone who doesn't LOVE the beach...it's sacrilegious in our family!!!) But he's not, and still had a great time. It was difficult not to when you stay in a perfect Paradise for 5 days.

We went to the Dominican Republic on the Sunday after the Auburn game bright and early! We flew out at 7am and went up to Philly and then had a connecting flight to Punta Cana, DR. Needless to say I brought my pillow and slept the whole flight, so it was quite short for me, but I think it was only about 4 hours anyway.

The DR is an island that is shared with Haiti and is a Spanish speaking country. Driving from the airport to the resort showed it is quite a poor country with very little development. You would never know that from looking at the resort because, like its name, it was pretty much paradise!

Here is the beach. They had these cabana type huts up all over with bed-like chairs under them that were SO comfortable.

Everything was outdoors and this was the lobby area with all the restaurants. It was lit up beautifully at night. This was after one of our dinners.

The lobby area when you first walk into the resort. Do you see the ocean all the way through the columns?

The lunch area was open to the beach...it was a beautiful view for all of the meals. It looked kind of like a fake back drop!!

Going to dinner at Gabi Beach restaurant in the resort.

Loving the teeth. It's a struggle to get them to show in pictures...but every once in awhile they show up! This was after dinner one night, right in front of our room.

Beautiful beach!

On the boat to go snorkeling one morning! There were tons of fish out there, lots of pretty colors. I'm such a baby though and I can really only snorkel for about 30 minutes before the waves make me a little sea sick! It happened to me down in Cozumel when I went with my family too! Boats don't bother me though...hmmm. Taylor went diving one morning, but I'm not certified so I chose to sleep in and go to the beach! I went one morning and got a massage...I wish I had taken pictures of the spa because it was so neat and gorgeous!!

This was part of the big pool that circled the place. Inside these columns were jets like a hot tub, without hot water. And behind the columns you can see a hut, that was the swim up bar.

This is one of the restaurants in the resort. It was Passion...they each were themed. This was the romantic restaurant, but there was a Mediterranean style, a Japanese one and about two others that aren't coming to me right now!

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Anyway, it was so nice to have nothing to do and just hang out together for a few days by ourselves. Can we have another honeymoon after year 2?

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And a funny little story that happened to us...As I mentioned above, the Dominican Republic is a Spanish speaking country and it uses Peso for their currency. I guess our brains checked out in the US when we left for vacation, but we both forgot toothpaste and Taylor needed higher SPF sunscreen then what I brought. So our first day we made a stop at the resort's little gift store before we went to the beach. We looked at prices and the toothpaste was 282 and the sunscreen was 645...that was a bit expensive, but we expected that, and we really needed it. Sadly, we didn't take into consideration that the prices were in Pesos...not dollars. So when the cashier gave us the amount in US Dollars...TWENTY SIX DOLLARS!!!! Yes, we paid $26.00 for a tube of toothpaste and a small bottle of Banana Boat sunscreen! Rookie mistake, my friends! OUCH.

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And not to be out done...we got some lunch at the Punta Cana airport while we were waiting for our flight home. There was a Wendy's there and we paid $23 for 2 meals. It's such a monopoly...there was only one other restaurant there. I guarantee those workers aren't getting $5 an hour yet the Wendy's cheeseburger cost $8.00...I'm not EVEN kidding. I mean I know airport food is expensive...but that was ridiculous! It's a good thing everything else on the trip was included...we would have gone hungry for the last 3 days at that rate!

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And on a nice note on the way home we got upgraded to 1st class because the flight attendant asked if anyone was on their honeymoon! She then congratulated us and asked when we got married..."Oh, a little over a year ago..." Hmmm... As Taylor was explaining he mentioned the military part and she said, "Oh, well I would have moved you up anyway just for being military!!"

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So now back to reality. Well, sorta. I have one more update to do...but it's not going to be put up until tomorrow because I have been blogging for about 3 hours now. It sure takes awhile to update you on my life. I guess if I kept up better...it wouldn't take so long!

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Peace.

Once I had a girl on Rocky Top...

ROCKY TOP YOU'LL ALWAYS BE HOME SWEET HOME TO ME. GOOD OLE' ROCKY TOP...ROCKY TOP TENNESSEE!!!

So these are pictures from the UT/Auburn game that Taylor and I went to...I tell you, because I feel the need to be honest. But can we just pretend it was the Georgia game I went to? The outcome of Georgia was SO much better! Taylor actually went to the Georgia game and said it was an AWESOME day in Neyland...little jealous...yes, I am.

Anyway...brand new jumbo tron...it's a beautiful thing. I'm not sure how you spell that...I know that's how you say it...tron just doesn't look correct.

Have you seen a prettier sight? I don't think so!!!

Umm the game definitely has not yet started. You can only imagine how he gets when the team takes the field! :)

MB and Weston came down for the game too!!! LOVE, love, love them...and a little tailgating with them!

The hubby was out doing me in the TN pants. Girls just can't get away with doing tacky on Gameday and still look cute! He was awfully proud of those pants and I have to say...I liked them quite a bit. He was telling me about his Gameday pants he ordered for a few weeks before he even left Korea!

And not to be outdone...Thomas showed up with equally tacky Gameday pants on Saturday. Does the competition ever end...I highly doubt it!! But I love this picture of the brothers!!

And the picture in front of The Rock...

It was an awesome weekend despite the final score of the game. The other rough part of the weekend was getting home at 1:30am and waking up at 4:30am to catch a 7am flight out for our honeymoon...but that's in the next post!

GO BIG ORANGE!!!

I can't think of a title...

So I have lots of updates to give because I've been so slack lately!!! I'll try to keep it abbreviated...the family all came in town to visit before I left for Italy. Here are a few pictures from our night on Broadway in Downtown Nashville...

And they were WONDERING why people wanted to take pictures of them!! Just another day in the life of a Brombolich!

All the girls at The Stage in Nashville...we had to include the big guitar...that I had NEVER noticed 'til Aunt Joyce pointed it out when we were there!

The whole family at Robert's Bar on Broadway. It was a pretty lame place...but the only one that didn't card and so Kelly could get in with us!! What kind of family are we?? I'm not really sure...it was a school night and we had our little one in a BAR!! No, it was just for a bit and then she went home with my parents to do homework and go to bed!

And here is my superstar sister playing volleyball. She is an outside hitter. I think Taylor is jealous that she could out jump him :)

AIR KELLY!!! (Corny? Okay...maybe a little, but I'm still real proud and impressed with her skills!!!)

While the family was in town the movers came to pick up all my stuff! I was a nervous wreck the day they were coming. They called me at 730 to let me know they were on their way shortly. So I woke the whole house up since people were sleeping in all rooms where things were being picked up. Of course they showed up 3 hours later...I mean that's about par for the course...I'm not sure why I expected them to be on time! But thankfully I got everything picked up and I've been living out of my suitcase(s) for about 2 weeks since. It's nice that I don't have to worry about anything...all I have to do is fit everything I can into my bags...at this point, what doesn't fit, doesn't go!

Alright...I have another post momentarily because I want to include more pictures...and it's just easier to separate them into different posts!

We..Are..Fam-il-Y...(you should sing that title)

Hello again! Just checking in to give an update on life and things.

During my last post I was so frustrated with military stuff that I completely forgot to mention about Andrea's shower! One of my best friends is getting married on October 17th. So her sister, Ashley, and I, gave her a lingerie shower last Saturday. It was mostly all of our girlfriends plus their mom and mine, wine, and food, how could it not be fun??? Andrea had to guess who each gift was from, based on our style of lingerie/pajamas we chose to give her! She did a much better job than I expected! She got all kinds of pretty stuff and needless to say, Blake, (her fiance) was real excited about this shower!! :) We had the shower on Saturday night, so it was more of a party and we ended the night with trip to the Hollywood Disco...also affectionately referred to as the "Dirty Disco"!! It is a bar in Nashville with a light up dance floor and mirrors all over the walls...need I say more? While we might not have fully fit in...we had SUCH a fun night, dancing like we owned the place!!!

On another happy note my grandma had plans to visit us for a week (starting next Saturday) to finish off her 3 week trip up to St. Louis and Branson, MO visiting family and friends. My cousin Megan, who is living in Philadelphia right now, promised to come visit before I left for Italy, so she decided to fly in while Mama (our grandma) was here so she could see her too. Well once Aunt Joyce (in St. Louis) found out that Mama AND Megan were going to be in Nashville with us...she decided she should come down as well!!! And once Aunt Janet (in Florida) found out that now Aunt Joyce was going too...she had better book a flight to Nashville for the weekend! So now both of my mom's sisters, my grandma, and my cousin will ALL be in town over the weekend for a few days!! My mom says "No one wants to be left out of a family gathering because they're the one who gets talked about!!" No, actually, the real reason is no one in the family ever likes to miss a party!! We're dusting off the tables and getting our dancing shoes ready!!!

So while everyone is real excited about our little reunion coming up...what they might not realize yet is we're kinda short on beds!! (Ooops!) I have confirmed that movers are coming on Monday (yes, while the whole family is here-there's military impeccable timing for you!!) to pick up all my stuff to be shipped to Italy. That includes the double bed that is usually in the front bedroom! I'm sure we'll manage...

Anyway...right now I am a little overwhelmed with the organizing process that goes along with the packing. I am currently trying to separate things that are staying here, things being sent in unaccompanied baggage, things being sent with household goods, and things going in my suitcase on the plane.

PLAIN ENGLISH:
Household Goods- this will take approximately 3 months to arrive in Italy. This will include our furniture, dishes, lots of clothes, etc.

Unaccompanied Baggage- this should arrive within a few weeks in Italy (I don't really know how long...but quicker than our household goods) I am only allowed 350 pounds of this. It will include mostly clothes, probably some pots and pans, and other various necessities.

Obviously what is left then goes with me on the plane in my suitcase! So I am pretty much going to be living out of what is left to go in the suitcase for about a month until we actually leave in October because everything else will be picked up on Monday!

Since we won't get our furniture or most of our stuff for a few months, I am concerned with packing essential things like sheets, a blanket, some pots and pans and things like that in our unaccompanied baggage. But Taylor and I really don't see eye to eye on these things. I just asked him tonight on Skype...

Katie: What are we going to sleep on?

Taylor: We'll figure that out

Taylor: Stop trying to plan everything down to the detail

Taylor: It'll all be good

And THAT my friends, is why he is in the military and I am NOT! I mean, among various other reasons, obviously! I feel the need to plan all of these things out so we're not buying extra stuff once we get there and make it much more detailed and precise and plan for all circumstances. When really...it's impossible to plan for something that you know NOTHING about! I need to accept that, but my personality makes it VERY hard for me to accept that. This is my struggle!

Phew...in other life organizational news...

1) My Visa came in today! I am now legally allowed to live in Italy for 365 days. I have to renew it each year.

2) My car title came back yesterday. My car is now in my new name and without my dad as a co-signer. That was needed in order to ship it overseas.

3) Our flights are booked. We are now leaving on the 18th (the day after Andrea's wedding...that's gonna be a FUN flight!) Taylor is leaving out of Knoxville and I am leaving out of Nashville. We are meeting in Baltimore for our flight over to Italy.

That is about it for now...although I do have to mention that there is another important event going on October 17th along with Andrea's wedding. My roomie and one of my best friends from camp is ALSO getting married the same day! Miss Clarissa Jane and Jason are getting married at camp in Missouri. I have mentioned it in a previous camp post...but my crazy friends (both Andrea and Clarissa...who have never met each other) got engaged on the same day a year ago and picked the same day for their wedding!!! I told them both they had ALL year to have their wedding and they planned it on the SAME day, and a day that I almost missed for Italy! We had to change our dates around a bit!!! But I am very happy for both of them and only wish I could be in two places at once.

Anyway...goodnight for now. Oh, and GO BIG ORANGE! I was very proud of the Vols this weekend...they put up a good fight against Florida's "number 1 ranked team" who, as Urban Meyer announced, was "sick" with swine flu...riiiiiiight.

Military, blah, blah, blah...

If I may, I'm going to vent for a bit...and hopefully you will be able to follow my train of thought and the illogical regulations of the Air Force. Yes, it's a military rant...shocking, huh? I mean, I haven't had much experience with the military...only 1 year...yet I have A LOT to say about it.

So, first of all...we got our official orders. Woo hooo! What that means is all of our paperwork went through and we finally have it in writing which then allows me to apply for my Visa, schedule the packers to move us, schedule flights, etc. Lots of important things. Along with all those important things comes lots of headaches.

Example A:

Taylor's "Home of Record" is Knoxville, TN. Therefore, he must fly in and out of Knoxville for all military related flights. He will be flying into Knoxville on Wed. September 30 (coming home from Korea), just so we can drive to Nashville on Thursday for Kelly's Senior Night and my grandma in town...just to drive BACK to Knoxville on Friday for the UT game that weekend.

When we leave for Italy...he has to leave out of Knoxville. I will probably leave out of Nashville and meet him in Baltimore. We are supposed to be leaving Oct. 19th...when he just checked they had me leaving on the 18th and him leaving on the 19th!

Example B:

Taylor's "home" base where he is stationed is Pope AFB in NC. He is in Korea on a short tour (pretty much like a deployment)...I know...I don't think a year is "short" either...but that's beside the point. Anyway, when we move to Italy it is called a PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Therefore his new "home" base will be Aviano since we will be there for 3 years.

So...after we got married he was in town for 2 weeks and then left for Korea. We did not have the Air Force officially move me to Nashville (i.e. have them pack my stuff and move me to Nashville) to live with my parents. Obviously we didn't need them to do that, bc I was not currently living there at the time and I had no stuff there. So as far as they are concerned, I am still living in NC at Pope. But it was a big technicality that Taylor overlooked and we may be paying for big time now. Since, according to Air Force records, I am still in the Pope area, they will not pay to pick up my stuff in Nashville to ship it over to Aviano. They will come and pack it and they will ship it over there, but we will be responsible for the difference it will cost between shipping from NC and shipping from TN. What that will be...who knows? Taylor is trying to figure it all out. Maybe we will take my stuff ourselves (actually myself) to North Carolina (or even more confusing, I know, but to South Carolina where it will actually be shipped out of...thankfully where Thomas, Taylor's twin, is stationed). BLAAAH...so many minute details...as if moving overseas isn't enough to deal with!

AAAND...if you're still with me, what makes it even crazier is this. We are in this situation because of written regulations (I can't think of the word Taylor used to describe them) and that's just the way it is. Buut, if you look at it logically we have actually saved the Air Force money with the whole situation.

1) We didn't use them to "move me" to Nashville...Air Force would have paid for that.

2) We have been getting a housing allowance for me because I am a dependant that was not allowed to go to Korea, therefore they are responsible for ensuring I still have housing in the States (regardless of where I end up living). There is a set housing allowance for different cities in the US based on cost of living. The set amount we would receive in Nashville is a couple hundred more a month than the allowance for Pope AFB in NC. Well we are getting the Pope amount because technically I'm still there. So they've probably saved a couple thousand on the housing allowance.

And now we have to PAY the difference to move! But if we had just had them "officially move" me to Nashville a year ago...they would have paid for EVERYTHING...plus we would have a few extra thousand dollars from housing allowance. Taylor didn't realize that small decision a year ago was going to turn into such a huge deal...and a huge pain in the butt. And ALL of this is new to me...they could tell me I have to paint my house purple before they will pick up my stuff, and at this point...I'd believe it!!

I'm not sure if it makes sense to everyone and I've now rambled for quite awhile. As Taylor would say, "Does this train of thought have a caboose?" Yes, I'm done.

Go Big Orange...

1. I received my passport on Tuesday...I forgot to update. Everything is in order.

2. We are expecting orders sometime this week. Once that happens I will apply for a Visa, and packers will be coming soon to get my stuff to ship.

3. Life has been pretty calm/boring. I don't know how people live without jobs...don't get me wrong...I could fully live working part time for the rest of my life...but I have to do something! I'm feeling pretty worthless right now. As I'm writing this I haven't changed out of my pajamas and it's 10:45pm.

4. How 'bout them VOLS??? That was an awesome and much needed performance from them today, I like it! I only wish I could have witnessed it first hand!