Midshipmen No More
Welcome back y'all! It seems like ages since my last blog post, but I'm attempting to make a comeback. We'll see how long it lasts. ;-) I love blogging, but sometimes life is more important and it's better to enjoy things and take them as they come...without writing everything down! But there will be many life updates to come in the next few months, so I feel like keeping up with SSG will prove to be worthwhile!
There could be a million and one things I could write about for the first post back, but I found it only fitting to talk about a major life event for our family: Johnny's college graduation from the United States Naval Academy. If only you knew his excitement...well really our entire family's excitement for him. Four grueling years at the most depressing happiest place on earth were coming to a close. It was crazy to think that just four short years ago we were dropping him off for plebe summer. Boy how the times have changed! Here is a picture from the day we dropped him off for I-day:
Herndon:
Herndon is a tradition at the end of every Plebe year. There is a big statue on campus that they cover in lard. Yes, I said lard. They then put a Plebe cover on the top of the statue. The plebes then have to climb up the lard covered statue and remove the plebe cover and replace it with the Midshipmen cover. This marks the end of their first year at the Academy. It is quite the sight to see! It was a fun day when I went to attend because Johnny and I had a special friend in town. Our high school teacher from Italy, Joy Bork, was in D.C. for a conference and came up to Annapolis to watch the shenanigans with me. We had a blast watching the excitement!
Johnny turns 21!
Navy plays VMI:
It's only every few years that Navy ends up playing VMI, but it was a funny coincidence because one of our good family friends, Matt (Christy's brother) goes to VMI. So he came up and we were "frenemies" for the weekend. It was so much fun to see him and root for our favorite team! Johnny also showed us his room and his closet (crazy organization rules) and we got a little glimpse into his every day life.
He even has to fold his socks a certain way!
He starts the growing of the beard!
Johnny gets bored at the Academy:
You can only imagine howexciting unexciting the Naval Academy must be with all of their rules and regulations. With all of the rules about what they are allowed to do during free-time I would frequently get pictures of Johnny and his friends doing crazy/ridiculous things to keep themselves busy or entertained. They dressed up, made hilarious videos, made bets with each other, and just all around made the best of situations where they weren't allowed to leave the yard. These are just a few of the funny pictures:
Graduation Week:
We are nearing the end of our journey through the Naval Academy. After a grueling four years these boys deserved a great Graduation. And a great Graduation it was! USNA does Graduation right...with an entire week of festivities! There are parades, picnics, balls, air shows, and finally the actual ceremony. Our parents rented a house near Annapolis with access to a golf course, tennis courts, a little beach, and great running trails. Needless to say, we had an amazing week and it was so much fun to be reunited with family and friends.
Here we are all dressed up for the company picnic. We got to go over to Superintendent's house and enjoy light snacks and visit with Johnny's friends.
It's a tradition for the graduates to throw up their covers and all of the kids (and adults, hehe) will run over and grab them. Johnny's high school friend, Kevin, was able to join us for the graduation as well. We were all able to grab a cover...even Mimi!
Nowmickuzzell Reunion:
The Nowell's and Kuzmick's (Jimmy's family) have been friends since we all lived in Naples, Italy together for high school. We have several pictures of all of us, but we always get a group kids picture when we are together. The first picture is of all of us when we came to visit our boys after they finished plebe summer. The second is all of us together four years later at Graduation weekend with a few other family friends. Boy have we all grown up!
Our Graduate:
He is going SWO (surface warfare officer) and is going to JAPAN!
Needless to say, we are all so proud and excited for Johnny. It has been so much fun to see him grow up at the Naval Academy and become the wonderful young man he is today. I can't wait to see the amazing things God does in his life after graduation and see the way he serves the United States Navy. Our country is blessed and lucky to have a young officer as great as Johnny serving our nation! I am one proud big sister.
Congrats baby brother, love you!
Stay tuned for many more updates and exciting stories,
Southern Saving Grace
Admiral Fowler (superintendent) with our Naval Academy Boys: Jimmy, Johnny, and Tyler. They all went to high school together in Italy and then all ended up at the Academy. The Lord couldn't have orchestrated their friendship in a better way. I think they would all 3 say they are very thankful that they had each other during their 4 years at the Naval Academy. So let's look at a few memories from those four years....
They had to shave their heads for I-day. It was such an exciting, but depressing day at the same time! They knew there would be fun times to come, but Plebe summer and the entire year in general is pretty miserable. Lots of yelling/punishing character building and learning what it means to be a Naval Academy Midshipmen.
Let me rewind a little bit though. As many of you know, my Dad is in the Navy. He also graduated from the Naval Academy. Many may think that Dad was grooming Johnny and Stephen to be Naval Academy graduates. However, that is not the case! While we love the Navy, Navy football, Bill the goat, all things Blue & Gold, and beating Army...my parents never wanted Johnny to feel pressured to attend the Naval Academy or be in the Navy. But on his own, he decided at a young age that he wanted to pursue this dream. So of course we have several pictures growing up of all us adorned in Navy apparel.
Johnny's desire to attend the Naval Academy was a driver growing up in his academic life, fitness/sports life, and encouraged him to become a well-rounded student. He ended up being a perfect fit for the Academy (unlike me haha!) and was able to get in. It is extremely difficult applying to the Academy from the D.C. area as well with the number of military families, but Johnny was able to do it! We were so proud of him and knew he would do great there. And of course he excelled tremendously at the Academy, being 2nd in his company ranking (19th company) and finishing in the top 150 students academically. You bet your bottom dollar we were proud at graduation.
Now, on with the reminiscing of his four years....There are SO many memories I could share and write about, but these are just some of my favorites.
Herndon:
Herndon is a tradition at the end of every Plebe year. There is a big statue on campus that they cover in lard. Yes, I said lard. They then put a Plebe cover on the top of the statue. The plebes then have to climb up the lard covered statue and remove the plebe cover and replace it with the Midshipmen cover. This marks the end of their first year at the Academy. It is quite the sight to see! It was a fun day when I went to attend because Johnny and I had a special friend in town. Our high school teacher from Italy, Joy Bork, was in D.C. for a conference and came up to Annapolis to watch the shenanigans with me. We had a blast watching the excitement!
Katy Perry Concert:
During Johnny's 2nd year at the Academy, Katy Perry came for a concert. He invited me and my best friend (and family friend), Christy, to attend the concert with him and his friends. Of course we weren't going to turn that down! The concert was so much fun. Katy Perry was hilarious if you've ever seen her in concert. She asked a midshipmen to come up on stage with her and she had him dip her and kiss her...she is crazy! We were all shocked, but the midshipmen were yelling so loud for the lucky guy. At this point Johnny wasn't really allowed to leave the "yard" aka campus very much, so I always had to go to him. I didn't mind though because he would soon make it up with several trips to JMU to visit me!
Visits to JMU:
Ahhh the infamous trips to JMU. Johnny, Jimmy, and Tyler would frequently come to JMU on any free weekends they had. It worked out great because another one of their friends from high school in Naples, Italy, Marki, ended up going to JMU and being in Zeta so they had more friends than just me to visit too! We would go to football games, hang out with my Zeta friends, and go to all of my Harrisonburg favorites (hiking, local restaurants, JMU sights).
When the boys would visit they would typically sleep on some of my couches, but one night I came home to them all snuggled in my bed! I thought it was so cute/hilarious at the same time and had to snap a picture. Hopefully they don't kill me for this, but how often do you see 3 college boys snuggled up together...haha!
Johnny and Tyler meet the Duke Dog!
Johnny was excited to attend a football game not in uniform!
He had his first beer at our favorite restaurant, McGarvey's!
We saw Third Eye Blind for Johnny's birthday and my bestie, Lisa, was able to make it. Johnny and Lisa became great friends after visiting back and forth all 4 years. Love both of them! :)
Going out in D.C. with my Academy boys:
Once all the boys turned 21 we were able to go out in D.C. for lots of fun times! Jimmy's parents also lived in McLean while the boys were at the academy too, so I would come up to visit and stay with them. We were so thankful to have them close by. I can't tell you how many times Mrs. Kuzmick fed the three of them and took care of me when I was in town. She is such a great momma!
Johnny gets knee surgery:
Unfortunately, Johnny tore a ligament in his knee and had to have knee surgery. He was pretty bummed about it at first, but when they went in they found out he had a hole in his knee! It was a huge blessing in disguise that he had the original surgery because they may have never found the hole. Crazy story, but he is obviously fine now. Couldn't let him get by without an embarrassing hospital picture though. ;-)
Navy plays VMI:
It's only every few years that Navy ends up playing VMI, but it was a funny coincidence because one of our good family friends, Matt (Christy's brother) goes to VMI. So he came up and we were "frenemies" for the weekend. It was so much fun to see him and root for our favorite team! Johnny also showed us his room and his closet (crazy organization rules) and we got a little glimpse into his every day life.
Johnny's bunk!
19th companies motto is, "Free 19!"
Of course we went to our favorite restaurant, McGarvey's!
Johnny goes to Singapore:
Johnny's firstie year (senior year) he had the chance to study abroad in Singapore for the Fall. He had a great experience and was able to have some really interesting experiences while there. Mom and I took him to the Polo outlet to outfit him before he left. We had a blast playing fashion consultant! He also didn't have to abide to USNA "hair rules", so he was able to grow a beard while there...I despised the beard very much so! Here are the fun pictures:
Helping him pick out new clothes!
We had to skype to talk...we kept up pretty regularly though!
His finals were so hard because in Singapore they only have 2 tests in every class...he had to study extra hard because he didn't have any other grades! Luckily he's one smart cookie. :)
Yes, Johnny, that beard is hideous.
In preparation for his return to the Academy he had to shave off his facial hair. But he decided to shave off chunks at a time. I lost the picture of him with mutton chops, but still had this one. He also named his beard....Oh, Johnny.
You can only imagine how
Swim cap or hoodie? Who knows...
A fine Naval officer, he is.
We are nearing the end of our journey through the Naval Academy. After a grueling four years these boys deserved a great Graduation. And a great Graduation it was! USNA does Graduation right...with an entire week of festivities! There are parades, picnics, balls, air shows, and finally the actual ceremony. Our parents rented a house near Annapolis with access to a golf course, tennis courts, a little beach, and great running trails. Needless to say, we had an amazing week and it was so much fun to be reunited with family and friends.
After their parade, Johnny got thrown into the Severn by some of his plebes. This is a fun tradition that they do every year! He forgot he was wearing plaid boxers though...haha!
We went to see Herndon and cheer on the plebes!
This is Dad and I dressed up for the Graduation Ball!
Here I am with my favorite Naval Academy boys at the Ball. I watched them grow up into fine young men and am so proud of them. They will make wonderful Naval officers!
Family at Graduation :)
Nowmickuzzell Reunion:
The Nowell's and Kuzmick's (Jimmy's family) have been friends since we all lived in Naples, Italy together for high school. We have several pictures of all of us, but we always get a group kids picture when we are together. The first picture is of all of us when we came to visit our boys after they finished plebe summer. The second is all of us together four years later at Graduation weekend with a few other family friends. Boy have we all grown up!
We love our Nowmickuzzell's!
Johnny in Uniform
Lookin' classy in his whites
Needless to say, we are all so proud and excited for Johnny. It has been so much fun to see him grow up at the Naval Academy and become the wonderful young man he is today. I can't wait to see the amazing things God does in his life after graduation and see the way he serves the United States Navy. Our country is blessed and lucky to have a young officer as great as Johnny serving our nation! I am one proud big sister.
Congrats baby brother, love you!
Stay tuned for many more updates and exciting stories,
Southern Saving Grace
Comments
Post a Comment