Virginia Trip

Well, as I read from other posts, it was my duty to show everyone the pictures from the Virginia trip. Unfortunatly, I didn't take nearly as many as I wanted to, but we were so busy there wasn't much time! So here are some pictures. I hope you all enjoy them as much as I do! I had a fantastic time and can't wait to go there again!

DDG-94 the Nitze

Because I have nothing better to do at work (haha) I thought I would post a photo of the Nitze DDG-94. It's a guided missile destroyer commissioned in March 2005. Very cool--it was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Nate, we are so proud of you but we aren't fooling ourselves either. We know that any destroyer that carries guided and tomahawk missiles can take you into harm's way. Our thoughts and prayers are with you ALWAYS!

Cindy--I'll be calling you over the weekend. Sometimes words just don't do.

By the way, this photo was taken in the port of Malta.......

news from the warfront

well i just got a email. it said that i will be going to norfolk onboard DDG-94 the Nitze. if i actually get those orders, i will be going to another school for a more advanced 5 inch gun........ Just figured You all would like to know

It's all coming together! :)

Hey all! As was mentioned in a previous post, I had a lovely visit last weekend with some ladies from the north. Mom said Jenn might share some photos, but I guess I'll go first. :)

We found Kyle's tuxedo- perfect with pretty pink vest and tie. He will look just divine. (wink wink)

The worst fake baby belly ever. Haha. :)

Pretty MOH and BMs. Wedding talk for maid of honor and bridemaids. Haha. :)

I miss everyone and I hope you all are doing fabulously! XOXO, Christie

Grampa's Party

On Saturday, We had a party to celebrate Grampa Bud's 80th birthday. It was a surprise party that we managed to keep a surprise, although Ruth told there was a surprise. (She said "I had to tell him, it was going to burst my belly." Luckily, she stopped short of the "what", and I gave him a coffee pot on Thursday to throw him off.) :) So the surprise was kept up until the guys forgot to shut the hallway door and Bud saw one of Darrell's cousins when he hung up his coat.

This is the cake I had made by my old co-worker Jelly. She used a picture of Bud, and except for the fact that the glasses are dark, it is the spitting image of him in drawn form. The cake was moist, but it was not butter cream frosting. Many people asked about how I got it, and I was glad to tell them.

Then, after we had eaten, we all got a surprise: Darrell's brother Mike from Missouri came. The last time he was here was when Ruth died in 1993. He vowed to never come back to CT again. This chance to honor his Dad didn't even give him a second thought. He came home, and a storm in Detroit allowed him and Terry to add an extra day. It has been nice for the kids to get to know the other side of their family. Aunt Terry and I have been discussing a road trip to see them.

There were family, friends, and more family at the gathering. I was so glad to have Mom, and Scott, come to lend a hand. I barely had a chance to sit for a bite to eat and chat, but I enjoyed knowing they were there. We had about 50 people in all. There were at least 10 no shows, which DJ said was good because the room limit was 57 seated. There was a two man band, which I enjoyed very much. I had my toes tapping the whole time they played. I wished we had moved tables, because I would likely have danced a bit. :)
Best of all, we were able to honor this gentleman. He has given so much to the CT Nuts. He is our confidant, hero, and an all around good guy.

Far Away

What a great weekend! A road trip to Virginia with Beth, Sam and Jenn to see Christie and Karen. We had quite an adventure on Friday with the winter storm that hit New York and Pennsylvania but no worries! We had no trouble getting where we wanted to go. We just had to take it a bit slower than usual!

Friday night we had a chance to see Christie's actual wedding dress. It's going to be beautiful!! Sorry--no photos allowed!

Then, off to David's Bridal where Sam and Jenn tried on bridesmaids dresses. Photos are allowed of the experience--Jenn will post them later.

Finally, we went down to Fredericksburg to UMW to see Karen in her play. The play, "Far Away" was really deep and REALLY strange. Karen's made a terrific prisoner in her first and only college main stage performance. I am endlessly fascinated with her "theater world". Her next role is Sebastian in "The Tempest" for the black box theater (the smaller stage at school) What a treat to see her in action. She also made a mean Eclair Cake for post-theater dessert. Yummy!

The only downside was to come home and find out that spring hasn't "sprung" yet. Hey, a girl can dream!

So...

Well we were looking through some old family photos last night.

I didn't know we had as many as we do.

Anyhoo... this was one that mom said to scan and post.

Jenn and I circa easter 1990.

PICS OF THE ECLIPSE!

Anyways. I figured I'd let you know about our eclipse adventure. I was really the only one watching it after 9 cause Ruth went to bed. This was until 9:45 ish when Brian joined me outside to watch. then about 10:00 Mom joined us to watch the final moments of the eclipse.

I kinda messed up uploading the pics but if you look at them and read, you'll get it.

ENJOY!!

this was about 9:45. almost there.
This is The Eclipse. 10:00 exactly.

the camera isn't great but it wasn't really quite like this.

you could still tell where the moon was.

anyways. it's in the middle.

This was the first picture I took of it. about 7:30.
This was a few minutes later.
about 8:30 ish... not the best but you can kinda see where it was starting in the lower left..
9:00 This is a better pic of it.
This was 9:45. about 3/4 of the way there.

HAPPY ECLIPSE!

yeah tonights the eclipse. I'm watching it off and on...
Ruth joined me for a while.

fun stuff.

Pics will be posted probably tomorrow....

and the dog's Driving all of us FREAKING INSANE!!!!!

I hate the moon sometimes...


anyways..

quite the opposite feelings for you guys!

Talk to you soon!

my newspaper photo

PACIFIC OCEAN – Gunner’s Mate 3rd Class Nathan Phillips scrubs down the 5-inch gun during a freshwater washdown aboard guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56). McCain, part of Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, is underway on a scheduled deployment. US Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Byron C. Linder

Mystery solved:

We have always wondered what Brian does when he is all alone,

and know we know!

He isn't just playing with video games!

He's having a fun time!

I'm a Star!

Well, not exactly, but tonight I appeared in my first (and only) main-stage production at Mary Washington. It is called Far Away and is by Caryl Churchill. It's really weird and I don't really get it, but it's exciting to finally be on the main-stage. Some of you will be seeing me next week and I'm psyched. And it's really short, which is a plus. I get to wear two really cool hats, and move furniture on and off stage. It's been a fun process and I'm glad I got a chance to do it. Next I am going to audition for The Tempest, which of course is a Shakespeare play, and is happening in our smaller studio which is completely run by students. I'll probably get cast because the director asked me to audition, which usually means she has a certain part for me. But we'll see. It will be a big time commitment, which worries me but I want to do one last thing before I graduate, so I'll have to deal with the stress and everything that comes with it.
Well, I love you all and I can't wait to see those of you who are coming down next weekend. I'm especially interested to see your new tat, jenn!

Heyyyy

Well, those first few pictures are of the tattoo I got today. It's a salvador Dali piece, the pictures are pretty crappy, but it's a crinkle hand holding an egg with a flower coming out of the egg. It isn't completed yet. But it's well on it's way. I get huge discounts at the tattoo parlor I go to, because I know the artists. The other picutres are of the table for dinner tonight (Valentines Day). I made chili and "crispy ice cream pie" it was DELICIOUS! mmm.... so yeah. That is my update. Hope everyone has a fantastic Valentines Day! OH, and, what is the weather going to be in Virginia next weekend? Keep me updated!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

I can't believe I am the first to send out my love to all my family! I hope everyone does something they enjoy with someone they love. I love you and send hugs to all!

From Nate:

In case you were not lucky enough to receive these photos:

By special request...

Well Aunt Beth said we haven't posted in awhile so i figured I'd do so...
I don't have much to say. I applied to Unity, and am waiting for the rest of my recomendations to be finished so that i may send them in and get a response. keep your fingers crossed...
I went to the doctor's yesterday because my shoulder has been in alot of pain for the past few weeks. They say i have i think it was Bursitis. rare for someone my age. It's caused by improper heavy lifting above the head. it kinda makes sense. between toolbox's and vices in shop and log and railroad ties while fishing with Will, i've done alot of heavy lifting in the past couple of months...

well i don't really know what to say. still no job... i'm really not liking it....

Erin's good. 3 months on Friday. fun stuff....


well I hope to see you all soon.

WHERE IS THE PHILLIPS FAMILY?

We haven't seen a post in ages! Cabin Fever set in? What's going on in CT? and Japan?

New Job! Again...

Well, I had my interview yesterday and have accepted the Production Planners job at LSI. The 22 years I worked there before was always in production and Bucky was always my manager (who I love and respect). This time I will be in the office with a new manager. I had never met the guy who will be my supervisor and he seemed really nice, the manager of the dept, Gary Osgood, is someone I knew the 22 years prior and we have always gotten along well. Anyway, if I pass my physical (Jim has his doubts, LOL) and the drug screen then I will start on Monday. I will continue to work at Granite Northland part time if Doreen will have me and see how the next few months go. Actually, I got a call today to do a listing for a mobile home in Plainfield. A little out of my area of knowledge but the owner is buying a home in Canaan with his brother (i am their buyers agent) so he needs to sell his mobile home.

the worst 24 hours of my life

so last monday i had a huge scare. this is very graffic and in depth just so you know. i started to bleed sunday night but it wasnt really bad so mom told me not to worry. well monday morning i was in pain so i went to work and hour late. at my 9:30 break i went to the bathroom and it was alittle darker red and there were a couple blood clots. so i called moms work in a panic but she was on the other line with the doctors so i couldnt talk to her. so i started to panic even more and went to go find my lead person (denise) but she wasnt where she usually was so i asked another person if they knew where she was and she said no so i started crying and told her i was bleeding so she ran around and paged denise while i was waiting with two other people then she finally found denise and they came over. mom called and said that she was on her way to bring me to the doctors so denise waited with me and mom called debbie so she could go and see how i was doing so she waited with me to. i was so scared!!! we went to the doctors and she tryed to hear the heartbeat but couldnt find it because im to early so she sent me up for a 1:30 apointment to get an altrasound done. so at 1:30 we went and i had jenn and mom in the waiting room with me but i went in myself. the lady showed me on the big screen my baby and it was moving all around and she showed me the flicker for the heartbeat and i got a picture of it. i was so happy. i almost cryed when i saw it moving about. i went out and got mom and jenn and in the hall way i showed them the pics. i could see mom tearing up. it was the most amazing thing. i never knew how happy i really was to have this baby untill that happened then i knew that i would do anything for it!! i am so excited to become a mother i know that there will struggles but i also know that it will be worth every minute!!! i will post the pictures another time or maybe mom or jenn will but you guys will see them!! love you guys!!!!

Proud as Peacocks!

Jenn with her award

Jenn and Linda

Jenn and RB

I hope I'm not stealing Jenns thunder, she may have wanted to post this herself....but last night she was awarded 2007 Volunteer of the Year by Robert Bryant and Linda Addante who are the directors of Second Growth. They are also the leaders of the Making Change group that both Jenn and Sam attend. She was recognized because of her time, honesty, "keeping it real" at meeting and reaching out to other young women who are stuggling with addiction. She was awarded the plaque that you see in the pictures but because my camera is crap, it's impossible to make out the words. Maybe she can post what it says. All the members of the board were present at the ceremony as well as other panel members. Needless to say Jim and I are VERY proud of Jenn!

(sorry about the 1st picture being sideways, I'm not talented enough to move it)

The Blizzard of '78

How did thirty years pass since this memorable day? Grama, do you remember? Aunt Beth? Aunt Cindy? Aunt Chelle?

On February 6, 1978, we got almost three feet of snow in one day in Ashaway. Providence got 54 inches! The snow came down so fast that road crews couldn't keep up and a state of emergency was declared. People were stranded everywhere because they couldn't get home. This photo was taken on I95--see how the cars are buried??

We lived on Crandall Lane in Ashaway. I don't remember too much about the storm except that the radio actually used the emergency broadcast system. The National Guard was used to help clear roads and keep people safe following the storm. And, when we walked to Kenyon's store for supplies, we walked on sidewalks that towered above the road--even above the mailboxes.

For us "flatlander" kids who thought a few inches was a big storm, this "storm of the century" was one to remember.

Thinking about change.....

Well, I've been in Real Estate for over a year now. Although I have enjoyed it and done well, I am considering a position back with LSI. they have a production planner position job open which I have applied for. I have an interview at 2:00 on Monday. I am a little excited and a little scared but will see what they have to say and what I can offer them. I am getting alot of pressure to stay here at the office full time but I can't say right now that that is what I am going to do. So I'm going to my interview Monday then see how things go from there. This came on suddenly a week ago Sunday when I saw the ad in the paper for the LSI job. I've spread my wings and maybe now it's time for me to go home....a weekly check and benefits is sounding better and better every day!