So last Wednesday we flew in to Rhode Island and got to see Mark for a few hours. He picked us up from the airport and we went out to dinner and it was just wonderful to be with him! Of course he looked very handsome in his dress blues too, which he had to wear since he was off base.
Thursday morning me and Evelyn just chilled at the hotel until after lunch when we went up to the base to go to the "Pass and Review" of Mark's class. It was in the tradition of when battalions would pass before their commander or captain or whoever and be inspected before they went off to battle. So that's kinda what they did here. It was also where they were relieved of their duties as Officer Candidates at OCS. Which meant that Mark was free until he had to report to the base on Friday for graduation, which meant he got to spend the entire rest of the day with me! :) We walked around the base for a bit and finished up some paper work that Mark had to do.
In the late afternoon we went up to the Officer's Club for something they call "Hi Mom", which is basically just a meet and greet thing for the family and friends and the Candidate officers. They had food and a band and it was all really really nice and very yummy! By this time Mark's parents had gotten there so it was nice to see them again. We hadn't seen them since the end of December. Anyway, not too much else to say about the Hi Mom, we just sat and talked and ate.
Friday morning was the graduation so we went out to breakfast and headed over to the base for that. Mark was chosen as the guy to ring the bell during the opening part of the ceremony but I forgot what all that was for, I think it was to announce the coming of the captain/chief officer/etc. but I'm not too sure on that. My memory is a bit wacky and Mark isn't here at the moment for me to ask :)
(Mark by the bell)
(Again by the bell)
(I ALMOST got his first salute! I was just a second too quick!)
(More saluting)
(And almost there....)Anywho...after that there were some speakers, which luckily kept it short and sweet cuz then there were 83 Candidate Officers who had to go up to the stage, give their first salute to their Class Team (the Marine and Chief Petty Officer who were in charge of them for drills and classes and such), then go salute the guest speaker and get their "diploma" and then go salute another guy who was part of their class team but I forgot his title...So yeah, it took a looong time to get everyone through but luckily this was all in the morning so we had the entire rest of the day to ourselves cuz Mark was DONE! It was very very very exciting to be there with him for this and to get to bring him home with me when it was over! :)
(Mark and his company, his class was split into two companies, the Gulf company and Hotel company, Mark was in Hotel.)
(Mark and his parents)
(Mark, Evelyn, and me! She was a bit tired by this time so she wouldn't cooperate for a pic)
(Me and Mark!)
(Mark and his Chief Petty Officer and the Marine guy who was in charge of them. The lady was nicknamed red light, green light cuz she could change her entire attitude that quick. Oh, I didn't mention this before but everyone in the company had nicknames which they put on their shirts they got. Mark's was Silent Service cuz he's so quiet...my favorite though he told me about was a guy nicknamed Banana Sparkles. One of the Officers or somebody was making fun of the guys shoes which were apparently bright yellow and so he called him Banana Sparkles and it stuck, I'm glad Mark got a somewhat decent name! :) So we got done with graduation and left the base and went to the hotel to rest a bit before going out to a late lunch. We went over to downtown Newport and ate at this tavern/restaurant place that the hotel desk recommended and boy was it yummy! Then we walked around a bit (not too long though cuz Newport is WINDY!!!) and then went back to the hotel and watched some basketball. So overall we didn't really do too much but that was alright with me cuz I still got to spend it all with Mark :) If we had spent more time there we probably would have went over to Boston to do stuff but we didn't so we'll have to do that another time. We all left Saturday to fly home (which overall Evelyn was an excellent flyer! I was pretty worried about her but she was so great!) and that's pretty much the sum of my trip out there! I'll just leave you with some pics of Evelyn cuz you know I took a bunch! She's just tooooo cute!
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