The Steinmetz Girls Visit New England!

In the fall of 2008, I met this girl named Autumn. A few months prior, I had just met Brandon and we began dating. The Marine Corps Ball was coming up, and Brandon and his friends thought it would be a good idea if the wives and girlfriends met before the actual ball. We went bowling with a few couples and it was there that I was introduced to Autumn, wife of Gary, Brandon's co-worker. I didn't know then, but Autumn would eventually become one of my best friends and a part of my family. Autumn and I slowly became friends and built a strong bond while her husband and Brandon were deployed in 2009. While we both were living in San Diego, Autumn and I had lots of adventures, lunch dates,  short trips and good conversations. She also gave birth to a beautiful girl, Milla. I don't think I ever went more than 2 weeks without seeing her...until the dreaded day came when her husband received orders to Florida and they moved across the country in January of 2012. Living in San Diego my whole life, most of my friends were still there and I never had to deal with a best friend (besides my sisters) moving away. I guess it's one of the downsides to military life, making new friends just to have them move away. It really sucks. While it definitely takes more effort maintaining long distance friendships, I think we have done a good job of keeping up with each others lives, although nothing compares to being with each other in real life.

I would search for flights to Florida in hopes of vising Autumn, but as we all know, life is busy and before I knew it, we were moving across the country ourselves in October of 2012. Autumn started talking about coming to visit me and asked me dates that were good for her to visit. I couldn't believe it when she booked her tickets and we had dates of her visit! I was so ecstatic! I would cry would I thought about seeing her and Milla...it had been way too long.

The day finally came, and Autumn and Milla arrived safe and sound in New England. Milla had gotten so big. Last time I saw her, she was a little over 1 year old, and now, she is a steadily walking, talking 2 and a half year old. We spent nearly a week together visiting, eating, adventuring, relaxing, and of course, taking a trip to the emergency room! Ah! My cat, Tina, who has PTSD, swiped Milla's face, scratching her cheek, slicing open her nose and left a cut on her upper lip. We went to the emergency room because some of the cuts looked really deep. Poor little Milla got three stitches in her nose. She is such a trooper!

Here's what we did besides going to the emergency room:

We visited the Berkshire Museum! (It was free for military families!)

We played at the park. 

We went to the Dr. Seuss Sculpture museum. 

We went out to dinner with Brandon.

We went to Natural Bridge State Park.

We planted flowers.

And Brawley and Milla were the best of friends.

It was so nice to have them visit! It better not be another 1.5 years before I see them again!