Welcome to the Sunshine State!

After a rather dreary week in Montgomery, Daniel and I braved the 'blizzard' that descended upon Alabama to drive down to Pensacola for the long weekend and some time with friends from our pre-Air Force life. Though the roads were really just wet (It never got below freezing!) and visibility was about as clear as you can get, Alabama drivers were pretty distraught at the white stuff falling from the sky. On our drive down, we saw lots of tire tracks where people had pulled over because they were too scared to drive in snow. These tracks were often paired with snowmen since Alabamans don't get much snow and it might be their only chance at making one!

Once we arrived in Pensacola, we called up our Pittsburgh friends, Mike & Emily, who are based at the Pensacola Naval Air Station where Mike will train as a pilot. We grabbed a bite to eat at the Ruby Tuesday which was walking distance from our hotel and caught up with our fellow newlyweds. (See a couple of their wedding pictures in a December post.) It was so good to see them!

Mike and Em at the beach...

Saturday was a great day of yummy food and good friends. After breakfast and a swim at the hotel, Dan and I met Mike and Emily at Mellow Mushroom where we enjoyed delicious pizza before a little bit of window shopping at a nearby mall and a trip to the beach. Apparently the sand at Pensacola is special and finer than most other beaches. It was a bit chilly and very windy, but it was a great walk and a first for both Daniel and I- our first trip to the Gulf!

Daniel and the Gulf of Mexico

After some Catchphrase, yummy stirfry a la Emily and watching the Olympics back at the Rueda house, we called it a night and headed back to our extremely comfortable king sized bed- a definite upgrade from our full sized bed back at Maxwell!

My beautiful flowers from my Valentine

Sunday was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple and it was wonderful. We went to lunch at Olive Garden, which was the place to be and thus, very crowded. Our waitress was so sweet and kept apologizing for the long wait. Once our meals finally did come out, my grilled chicken put up a fight in coming off the skewer and the waitress ended up flinging a couple of the pieces onto the floor. After many more apologies, she sent it back to the kitchen because it was burnt and the manager came out to let us know that the meal was taken care of by the restaurant. After eating our fill, we headed back to the hotel for some Olympics and relaxation before evening mass with Em and Mike. We said our good-byes after church and went our separate ways to enjoy dinner as couples. Overall, it was a great day and a very memorable Valentine's Day.

We celebrated Presidents' Day with some friends from Notre Dame. Through the wonders of Facebook, I got in touch with Megan and Nathan who are based at Eglin AFB about an hour and a half from Pensacola. They happened to be in town meeting some family for dinner and we were able to get together for lunch. We had a lot to celebrate since Megan and Nathan recently found out that they are expecting a little one! Nathan says it's what all the cool Catholic married couples are doing. :-) It was a wonderful way to finish our weekend in Pensacola and having the chance to visit our friends all over the country is just one of the many reasons Air Force life is so special.