Wordless Wednesday - Bellevue Baptist

Talent Show!

CJ was a good friend tonight in coming out to the Arlington Middle School Talent Show to support his buddy Sean.  That's Sean in the middle with the kilt.  He was awesome with the bagpipes tonight.  How many 13 year olds do you know that can play the bagpipes?

Sean and CJ

I hate to admit it, but I was groaning a little as I'm rushing home from work to take CJ to the Talent Show this evening.  I didn't know about the event until today.  I was thinking about all the work that I needed to finish up and how I really didn't have time to do this.  Blah, blah, blah.  What an idiot I am for even thinking that way.  Navy Personnel Command is like a treadmill.  There's always work and it's always gonna keep going.  It never stops.  But these teenage years are gonna zoom by like the blink of an eye.  Parents need to remind themselves to relish their time with their kids.  Me included.  You see, during the Talent Show two years ago at the Busan Foreign School, I was a grump-butt and didn't go.  Well, I went, but I didn't go inside for some no good reason.  Dumb Chris.

I think CJ was glad that we got to do this together tonight.  One of my favorite things these days is just chatting w/ Ceej at night before he goes to bed.  No particular topic.  Just whatever is on our minds.  Inevitably, we end up laughing about something.  It wasn't that long ago where instead of laughing, I'd find something to nitpick on or to get mad about.  Who wants that kind of talk?  So anyway, you have to take advantage of the fun stuff.  And tonight was one of those times.

The Talent Show reminded me of a couple of things.  Adele is still popular, playing a guitar is still cool, and youth is still king.  The reality is, not everyone on that stage can be a superstar.  But you can go out there and give it your all - whether it's shuffling around a deck of cards for some magic tricks, tap dancing your little heart out in your leotards, or making beautiful sounds spill out of a bagpipe.  It's all good.  Some of those kids were terrified on that stage.  But they got out there.  AND THEY DID IT.  They deserved every single clap and woot-woot from the crowd.  It was heartwarming to hear the positive audience response for every act, no matter if a falsetto note was a little off the mark, a piano stroke off timing, a magic trick inadvertently revealed, or a microphone left in the off position.

I couldn't help but sway to the music and smile at the brashness of it all.  How many times has fear stopped us from saying something to the boss or maybe asking a question in a public forum?  How many times do we hold our tongues anytime there's a crowd?  Maybe we don't even answer the phone because we aren't ready to talk to the person on the other end of the caller ID?  No such timidness from the kids of Arlington Middle School.  Bravery and brashness is what I saw on that stage tonight.  And I loved it.

We had dueling violinists, tap dancers, a magician, guitarists, pianists, and of course some impressive vocalists.  We even had an original number from a New Orleans Saints fan crooning on her favorite football player - the not-so-heralded number 16, wide receiver Lance Moore.  Lance would've been proud.  And what a nice treat for me for the final act.  It was one of my favorite songs, Randy Travis' "I Told You So."  Really good stuff.

So I take back my previous statement.  They were all superstars tonight.  And to think that I almost didn't come.  Dumb Chris.

Yeah, it did bring back some memories from my own Talent Show many moons ago.  That's when the Fil-Am Rockers brought down the house at Kellam High School in Virginia Beach with an awesome breakdancing performance to the song, "Breaker's Revenge."

2011 Year in Review - Part II

Whoops.  Forgot to post this one before I went on travel.  So here's the other half of 2011:

Jena got to hang out with the Honky Tonk Cruzers in Tennessee after a fun vacation week in Miami.  Of course we got our fishing on at nearby Garner Lake.  She crushed me.  She was catching bass, catfish, crappie, and blue gill.  I was catching a cold.  I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Seeing her so giddy over her fishing bounty made it a highly successful day on the lake for the both of us.    

In July, I took a work trip along with some of the other detailers and placement officers from Navy Personnel Command to the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  You might have heard about JSOC in the news after the OBL mission went down.  They are one of the commands that I place for.  My brother Lee is stationed at Fort Bragg so we got to catch up a bit.  The bonus was doing some indoor skydiving with the JSOC folks.  Very cool.

For CJ's 13th birthday, he jokingly asked for a 5 pound gummy bear, a kazoo, and a shark with a laser attached to his head.  So what did we get him?  A 5 pound gummy bear, a kazoo, and a shark with a laser attached to his head.  Mission accomplished.  Due to the summer heat, the gummy bear arrived in the mail as a large gelatinous mass.  Not good.  The kazoo was a big hit.  He's belting out "Rolling in the Deep" and "Edge of Glory" like there's no tomorrow.  And here he is with the shark.  I made the laser myself.

So glad the family got to attend my good friend Hoss' retirement ceremony in Meridian, Mississippi. Hoss and I were roommates during our Department Head tour with the VS-30 Diamondcutters.  The second set of wings under Hoss' ribbons are from his time in England flying Harriers.

More travel in July.  This is the US Northern Command Headquarters in Colorado Springs.  They are one of 10 Combatant Commands (COCOMs) that I place for.  I'm the Placement Officer for all of the COCOMs, which means I provide them with their Navy officers.  There is one less COCOM now that Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) has disestablished.  Now I know why everyone wants orders to NORTHCOM.  It's gorgeous up there.  NORTHCOM was established after the 9/11 attacks.

Speaking of JFCOM, I had another trip to Norfolk, Virginia to work the many disestablishment details.  The disestablishment kept me busy for several months.  Nice to have that behind me.  Got to see some good friends in my old stomping grounds in Virginia.  This is me, Lani, and Ruben at the Goo Goo Dolls Concert in Portsmouth.  A good friend of mine was nice enough to get us tickets.  Always nice catching up with friends.

Speaking of catching up, Jake and Hannah had a ball spending time together during the Allen's trip to Memphis.  These two were besties from their Korea days.  The thoughts of being close to the Allens for our next tour is pretty exciting.

More travel.  This time to Stuttgart, Germany for some business with European Command and Africa Command.  Awesome place.  I really enjoyed running through their nature trails.  They've got them all over the place.  I got to take in a nice wine festival during my trip.  Every time I push someone's orders to Stuttgart, I know that I'm making dreams come true.

Things are bigger in Texas, except for the Alamo.  It was much smaller than I thought.  The trip to San Antonio was to visit the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center at Lackland Air Force Base.  The JIOWC is a part of Strategic Command.

In September, I was part of the Seaman to Admiral 21 Selection Board held in Pensacola, Florida.  This board picks the best and brightest enlisted sailors to go through this special program to eventually get commissioned as Navy officers.  I got to catch up with Katrina and her boyfriend Tom.  I will be eternally grateful to Katrina for introducing me to Carol.

October was a big month for the Cruz household.  CJ got baptized!  Love this picture.

San Diego for Fall Break!  This is one of many pictures of the Pose from 2011.

An Alabama Thanksgiving.  The girls decided against doing the Pose.

In December, we did a quick weekend trip to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville.  Gotta do it if you get the opportunity.  They do military specials every now and then so check those out.  Although we didn't see the Rockettes, we did get to catch a live show with Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, and the Madagascar Penguins.

And to round out the year, we had the Cruz Christmas Palooza in Memphis.  Lots of laughs, food, and toilet paper.  Here we are hovering over the newest Cruz - Sammy!

Chilling with their newest cousin.

It was great having Mom visit all the way from the Philippines.  Too bad Dad couldn't make it.

Graceland!

New Year's Eve 70's Party to roll in 2012!

And there we go.  So like a good Navy family, we're prepping for the next set of orders and the new duty station.  More on that later.  Hope you all have a great 2012!

2011 Year in Review - Part I

Ringing in 2011 with our awesome Coltwood neighbors.  That's Amy, Lori, Carol and Stephanie.  I felt like I was back in Korea when they broke out the karaoke machine.

My brother Lee's graduation and commissioning ceremony in January at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  There was enough flair up in that piece for a dozen Bennigan's restaurants.  Lee is now with the 82nd Airborne.

Unfortunately, it was time to put the old Acura out to pasture.  Carol finally got a new ride in Feb.  This is Big Blue.  If the big smile in the front seat is any indication, Jake approves of the new purchase.  We are officially a Mazda family.  If you're shopping for a new car, USAA buying services is a great source to save some bucks.  At a minimum, it gives you some serious leverage.

In February, Carol's brother James hosted his annual bonfire at his place in Alabama.  Bonfire, fish fry and smores makes for a nice weekend.  The white pieces of paper are pictures of Justin Bieber drawn by CJ and his cousins.  They are not fans of the Bieb.

For Spring Break in March, we drove to Virginia to visit Alan, Danita, Joel and Jena.  Who doesn't like Krispy Kreme donuts?

In April, we were back in Alabama for the Burgers and Bluegrass fundraiser at the Spirit of Hope Youth Ranch.  Carol's cousin Leenie runs Spirit of Hope.  Check out this link to learn more about this awesome organization:  http://www.sohyr.org/

The family got to spend our first Easter in Alabama.  The boys got to participate in one of the biggest family events of the year in Alabama - the Easter Egg Hunt.  Big and little kids are tumbling over themselves at the start line to get to the prized money eggs.

One of our favorite things about Memphis is our church - Bellevue Baptist.  CJ and Jake both enjoy the Sunday School and youth programs.  Pastor Steve Gaines is amazing and tells it like it is.  Here's one of the murals near Jake's Sunday School class.

 Spring means it's baseball season.  Play ball!  I got to coach Jake and the rest of the Reds.

A couple of us in Millington flew down to Pensacola in a T-39 to conduct some detailing business and attend the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CONA) events.  Many thanks to Q and VT-10!

Carol and I were living on a prayer while rocking out at the Bon Jovi concert at the FEDEX Forum in May.  I gotta say, it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to.  Made for some interesting people watching too.  We saw an older lady that didn't notice the expiration date on her tube top.  There were young ladies with their 80's hair so big they needed turn signals.  Of course the mullet was out in full force.  I still cranked out my physical fitness test the next morning.

Saying farewell to Team Walker.  That's Lynn, Ann, Carol, Amy and Michele.

CJ put on a heck of a campaign and was elected Vice President of the Student Council at Arlington Middle School. Here's the poster that was banned by the school administration.  Always the rebel.

Block party in our neighborhood.

Supporting the local AAA baseball team, the Memphis Redbirds.  Try the BBQ nachos.

Here's our crew at work.  That's Megan on the left, the best lawyer in the US Navy, Shrek who drives submarines and Pam, a helicopter pilot.  Our job - making dreams come true.

My good friend Deke came down for a weekend in Memphis.  Got some business done and snuck in the Gibson Guitar 5K run downtown.  The weather didn't cooperate very well though.  The rain started pouring at the start of the run and didn't let up for quite a while.  It turned into one of the biggest wet t-shirt contests I've ever been to.

Tubing and having a blast on the waverunners at Leenie's lakehouse at Lake Martin in Alabama. 

In June, we got to visit Jason, Kristi, Aidan and Olivia in Ormond Beach, Florida.  As you can see, CJ enjoys being the center of attention. 

We headed south to Miami for the Cruz family summer vacation.  Lots of eating, laughing, beaching, fishing, shopping and zaboomafoo-ing.

Angela and Carol soaking up the sun at the lake for Cousin's Day.

An Alabama 4th of July!

To be continued...

Wordless Wednesday - Gargoyle

Roll Tide!

I felt confident that Alabama would get the win last night because I found it hard to believe any team could beat Nick Saban twice in one year.  The sheer magnitude of the butt-whooping doled out by the Crimson Tide was surprising though.  I almost felt bad for Les Miles.  Almost.  So that's three National titles for ol' Nick.  Awesome.

The Legend - Coach Paul William "Bear" Bryant in his trademark houndstooth fedora.  He's had his fair share of National titles too.

And so in honor of the big Alabama win, I present a small collection of houndstooth pictures.  There are plenty of Alabama fans in Tennessee.  This fan couple was in front of the Graceland mansion.  She's got on a stylish houndstooth winter jacket and he's got the more informal Alabama hoody with houndstooth liner.  That's my brother Beanie's hand on the right.  He's quite the prognosticator.  With his fingers, he's holding up the number of points he thought LSU would score in the big game.  He was exactly right.

I was gonna post the link that accompanied this gem of a picture but it was kind of mean-spirited so I decided to leave it out.  Although we may have our own opinions of proper maternity wear, you have to love this couple's spirit.  Oh please help that baby.

So as a Miami Dolphins fan, I've forgiven Nick Saban for ditching the team a few years back. As a Crimson Tide fan, I hope he keeps bringing more of the same.  Roll Tide!