Spring Break Road Trip

I'm headed to the midwest as they call it, to Illinois to visit one of my most dearest best friends Crystal and her fam. I'm making the long 12 hour, 915 mile drive through 6 states, all on my own. We met while they were in Hawaii, we both worked at the CDC on post. I had been there about a month before we figured out that we literally lived right behind each other, our fences backed up to each other. From that moment on we were inseparable, always over at each others house. We did everything together dinner, taking walks, shopping, hanging out, exploring the island. She was my go to girl, many holidays and celebrations were shared between our families. Adam (C's hubby) and the hubbs were really close and did a lot together, they were always BSing and cracking jokes over a beer. The were both there the night that the hubbs deployed for the 2nd time. Then 8 days later they PCSed to their new duty station, it was by far one of the hardest weeks ever, I remember it like it was just last week. But some how I managed and pulled through thanks to my FABULOUS SPOUSE. I really don't know were I would be today with out her. Since then so much has changed for Crystal and her fam. They've gotten out of the Army and moved back to their home town. Adam has landed a awesome job a John Deer which is allowing Crystal to be a stay at home mommy to their sweet baby (3 yr old) Chy Bug. They have settled in well and enjoying civilian life again. 

It's been a year and nine months since they left Hawaii and we've seen each other so this is a very long over due trip.  I love that the school I work at follows the public school schedule, we are closed with public school is closed. As soon as I started on full time back in January I decided for spring break I was going to go to Illinois for the week. We didn't have any other big plans, it was the perfect time because the hubbs would be done with school and working, so I'd just be at home by myself. When I passed the idea off to Crystal of course she was totally for it and just so happens that their older two girls would be on spring break as well so I would finally get to meet them. (they have a different momma) 

My plan was to get up bright and early this morning around 7 or 8am and leave but I didn't get home last night from babysitting till after midnight so I slept in a bit. I loaded up the car, cleaned up from the last and took the pups on a walk. As I was loading the car the pups were whining and pacing the floors like crazy. I decided I'd take them on a walk and when I looked outside it had started to rain. I felt bad because I knew it would be another good 10 days before they went on a walk, so I sucked it up and put on the hubbs rain coat and took them for a walk. I enjoy walking them so it was a nice way to start my morning rain and all. 

I got on the road just before 10am and was on my way. To save time and avoid stops I stocked up on snacks for the trip. My goal was to only stop for gas and if there was any MAJOR MUST SEE spots. I just wanted to get there and not waste any time. I figured on my way back I'll be able to stop and sight see a bit more if I want. 

The drive wasn't that bad at all, I was able to chat with some family and friends catching up for lost time. The drive all the way up to Tennessee I did this past December when I went to visit a friend it was nice but from the Nashville / Knoxville spit I hadn't seen before. It was simply beautiful driving through the mountains and tunnels, I made my way though Tennessee then Kentucky in to Indiana finally making my way across the Illinois border. Its definitely something I want to do with the hubbs sometime when we get a chance and stop at some of the popular sights. I was able to snap a few pictures here and there while driving, don't worry I was extra careful and didn't speed the whole way only half the time lol. 

Heading out of South Carolina the rain finally cleared away and the sun was coming out. 

Driving along the I-40 through Clyde, North Carolina I absolutely hate this stretch of the highway. Its so wind and scary. 

The Tennessee mountains in the side mirror was a beautiful view as a drive through. 

More Tennessee mountains, a bit cloudy but thankfully it didn't last long at all. 

Getting semi closer to my final destination, I kept Crystal posted with picture texts through out my drive. 

Crossing the Indiana border, the bridges here were really pretty.  

Enjoying the beautiful sunset as I drive through Indiana shortly before getting to Illinois. 

This trip has made many first for me, first time in Kentucky, Indiana & Illinois and I have to say all three states were beautiful. Well at least the areas I drove through were. 

I got to Crystals right about 10:30pm which was 2 & 1/2 hours earlier then my GPS said. No traffic, No stops and a little over the speed limit here and there lol. I was one happy girl to finally be in the same place with her again. We spent the next 2-3 hours up chatting and catching up. I was half asleep on the couch when a horrible storm came through bring pea size hail. I started to freak out this could not be happening, I made it here in one piece with nothing happened to the car and then hours after I arrive its going to have hail damage. NO!!!!!!! I jumped up off the couch, some how I was wide awake and told Crystal I just had to take the car up to the gas station to protect it from the hail. Even though it was 5 -10 minutes away and could possibly get more damage by doing that then it siting there I just had to. I knew the hubbs would freak and I would never hear the end of it, even though it wasn't my fault. Everyone reassured me that it WOULD be ok and it wasn't coming down big enough or even hard enough to cause any damage. I crossed my fingers in hope they were right and made my way back inside. With in 10 minutes the hail had stopped and it was just a hard rain. Thank goodness, that was seriously the last thing I needed. 

I am so excited to be spending the whole week here with all the girls, we've got lots planned but a lot of down time as well to relax and hang out with the kiddos at home. 

Stay tuned for loads of fun filled adventures!!!!!!!

~DAY 170~

Donuts & Sweet Tea :)

Its almost here......Spring Break that is, which only means one thing for this girl VACATION!!!!!!! Yup that's right I'm packing up and heading out for 10 days!!! Just me and myself the hubbs has to work so he will be staying behind. Before I leave though I've been working hard to get the house picked up, every last bit of laundry done and put away. As well as premaking some dinners for the hubbs to have when he comes home from work. The ladies I work with were giving me a hard time because I was doing this and saying I'm spoiling him. Ok so be it I don't care the man needs to eat right and he's going to be working long crazy retarded hours so what's he gonna do. Last night after I got home from the art auction I stayed up late making enchiladas and single servings of chicken pot pies for him to have through out the week. I also made a batch of M&M cookies for him to munch on. I absolutely love doing stuff like this for my hubbs and I know he truly appreciates it. Call it spoiling I don't mind, I'll do it each and every day for him.

He did ask me to leave him a note taped to the counter top to remind him to feed the dogs. See he is bad about walking in the pantry and not noticing their bowl is empty. So since I can't leave a whole bag open of food for them I gladly taped a stick note the counter area with a little added love. 

On my lunch break today I decided to run across town to Dunkin Donuts and stock him up on his favorite K-cups for the Keurig. He's just been getting the regular package of Dunkin Donuts ground coffee at the commissary for the past few weeks because the D&D by our house is going under renovation. (they don't sell the k-cups at the commissary.) While I was there I noticed a advertisement on the counter for "Sweet Tea $0.99 for ANY SIZE". If you haven't noticed by now I have a slight obsession with sweet tea lol. I had no idea that they sold it either, I don't drink coffee so whenever we go I would just get a hot chocolate but in the summer time that's not going to be very refreshing. I sure was quick to add on a large sweet tea to my order and as tempting as it was to order a super yummy glazed chocolate donut with sprinkles I kindly passed. They are my all time favorite but I try to limit myself to only special occasions when the hubbs and I are out. 

My plan is to leave the coffee K-cups out on the counter when I leave tomorrow morning with a card I got him, so when he comes home that evening he will find them. I know he will be surprised, its the little things like this that I missed doing when he was deployed. 

~DAY 169~

Spring Art Auction

Our Spring Art Auction has finally come and gone thankfully. It was kinda different then I was thinking it would be but I didn't really know what to expect either. I guess it turned out all right, all the parents loved their children's art canvas's so thats good. 

It started at 5:30pm so it didn't make sense to go home and come back since I get off work at 5pm. 

Dinner was served, catered by a local joint here called Zoe's. It really pretty good I've gone there a few times with my new friend K for lunch. 

There was four sections set up of silent auction items, most of the stuff had to do with children or the local sporting teams here so I wasn't to interested. There was two paintings that I fell in love with and decided to place a bid on. I later found out that the very popular artist is a local man that goes by the Chicken Man. (he mainly paint chickens.) He makes the paintings right out of his truck and sells them on the side of the road. After hearing people talk about him tonight I put the to and to together, it clicked I knew who he was and were he parked to sell his paintings. Driving down through Five Points (a very popular area) I've seen him and always wanted to stop but was a little skeptical. However next time I'll for sure stop and check out his work.

I hadn't planed on staying long because I needed to get home and let the pups out since I didn't go home on my lunch. Well that didn't happen, after I ate and walked around a bit next thing I knew the silent auctions were ending. I wanted to find out if I won my painting and figured I'd suck it up and wait out the extra 5-10 minutes. And GUESS..... WHAT I WON!!!!!!!!! I was super excited because I won my item!!!!! I waited around a bit more to try and pay for it so I could take it home but the line to check out was just crazy long and wasn't moving. I'm super excited about it though and can't wait to hang it up in our home. Since our spring break starts tomorrow I probably wont get it till we get back but I'll for sure post a picture so you all can see it!!!! I'm sure your dying to any how right lol. 

But for now I'll leave you with a couple pictures of the Class Room Pots that were also in the silent auction. Some of them went for over $50.00 I was really surprised but hey I guess when a parent wants something they keep bidding. I placed a bid on one of the pots as well but got out bided on it and wasn't going to pay more than $25-30 for it. 

The one I wanted is the last one in the first picture below. 

Around the rim it says "Give Thanks to The Lord, For I am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made".

~DAY 168~

Life on the Trail

Well the hubbs has officially gone back to work, not just as a Infantry man either but as a Infantry Drill Sergeant. Yesterday was his quote on quote "first day on the job". He left bright and early only to return around 6am to inform me that he had some good and bad news. At this moment I was still half asleep in bed, but that quickly changes when those words were spoken. Let me tell you that's never something a Milispouse wants to here . The good news was that the company he was assigned to graduates next Thursday the 5th which is followed by a 6 week cycle break. Meaning no BCTS (basic training soldiers) for 6 weeks, normal work days, no weekends or CQ shifts and the best part is it does effect our two term here. The bad news was they were in the field for the whole week meaning be had to go as well and there would be a possibility that he would have to stay the night. I've told myself I'm going to try and make the most out of our time here. I have come to terms that its not going to be easy, the hubbs will be gone a lot, not home many weekends but that can't stop me from getting out and enjoying life in the south. Although I know I'd enjoy it a heck of a lot more if be was with me. I know its going to be hard, I won't lie to myself about that but truly I'm going to "try" not to be a negative Nancy about the situation / assignment we are in right now. After all when our time is up here I do want to be able to look back on the wonderful memories we made here. It may not be paradise but its got some charm and unlimited amounts of sweet tea so you really can't go wrong there. Back to last night, he ended up coming home around 8:30pm not to bad at all. Sadly I didn't cook dinner (not even for myself, I just had a slice of cake) so he had some left over cheese dip from a couple nights prior. Opps sorry love. I guess they ended up not needing him to stay out last night which I'm fine with. On the downside he's out there now and won't be home till late Friday night. It's only two night so really not a huge problem but I still miss him. Not to mention I was asked to babysit Friday night and then I leave first thing Saturday morning for vacay, (more on that to come) so we won't be able to spend much time together till after I get back, 7-8 days later. I know we can do this, we will get through it and come out stronger in the end. There's not a single challenge or road bump we've been faced with that we haven't over come. This is just one of many steps to help further his career in the army. This evening I was out walking the pups with a friend who is also on our unit when I got a lovely picture text from the hubbs. He was hard at work driving around in their staff duty truck.

I have no clue what he is doing let alone what in the world he was thinking but it totally made my night. He can be such a goof ball at times and so serious as well. I see he's ditched the campaign hat already. Oh the joys of life as a Drill Sergeants Wife, you know I wouldn't trade it for the world if that means being with him every day.

~DAY 167~

The Campaign and Bush Hat

Here's a little History on the "round brown" that the Drill Sergeants have to wear. 

A veteran of numerous campaigns in the field, steep in traditions, and in active service in various styles from 1850 through 1939, the campaign hat is the most appropriate symbol for a Drill Sergeant. The campaign hat appeared on the scene again in early 1964. THe present style of the campaign hat evolved from the straw or felt slough "Hardee Hat" of the 1850's through the center crease designs of the 1880's, to the present day modified "Montana Peak" which was adopted in 1911. 

In late 1971, Headquarters, Continental Army Command (CONARC) received approval from the Chief of Staff of the Army for permission to include women in the Drill Sergeant Program. In February 1972, six Woman Army Corps (WAC) Noncommissioned Officers from Fort McClellan, Alabama, were enrolled in the Drill Sergeant Program, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Upon graduation, the women were authorized to wear the female Drill Sergeant Hat. 

BG Mildred C. Bailey designed the female Drill Sergeant Hat. The design was taken from the Australian Bush Hat. The first female Drill Sergeant Hat was beige in color. The beige hat was replaced by the dark green female Drill Sergeant Hat, however the style remained unchanged. The green hat was put into use January 1983. After the green Drill Sergeant hat appeared, the beige hat was slowly phased out of the system. In 1984-85, a proposal was made for females to switch to the Drill Sergeant Hat worn by male Drill Sergeants. Female Drill Sergeants at Training and Doctrine Command posts opposed this idea. In June 1985, General John A. Wickham Jr., Army Chief of Staff, stated that female Drill Sergeants would continue to wear the original female Drill Sergeant Hat.  

~DAY 166~

Our Class Pot

At school / work we have been working on our art pieces for the Spring Art Auction we have coming up on Thursday. (more to come on that later in the week) Each child had to design a canvas, which frankly I had NOTHING to do with due to another teacher fully taking over. Don't even get me started I'm more than ready for this whole event to be done and over with. Its starting to be a bigger deal than what I think its going to come out to be. Plus I'm sure my husband would like for me to stop complaining about it at home.

Along with the canvases each classroom had a ceramic pot that we had to decorate. Every room went with a different theme that you came up with it on your own.
We had two parents come in and help with ours, its based off the book "Guess How Much I Love You". The back ground is blue for the sky, there are white clouds around the top and then green grass on the bottom. Each child make bunnies out of their finger prints around the pot, later faces were added and their names as well. I once again had NOTHING to do with this pot and frankly at this point I don't really care either way any more. I felt awful for the two parents that came in to help because they literately put each child's finger print on the pot and that was it. They weren't given the chance to do anything else to it.
I gave suggestion after suggestion for both the pot and the canvases and my ideas were completely ignored. Why am I going to continue to offer ideas and help when its ignored and not even considered. This whole process has been a nightmare from day one. The canvases are suppose to be made BY THE CHILDREN, and do you think they were NOPE. However they sure do look like it, which is really sad that a adult teacher made them and they look so awful. We are required to go to the Spring Art Auction on Thursday and as sad as it sounds I'm really not looking forward to it because I'm worried what the parents are going to say about their child's art work. Sure they might say its the cutest piece of art they've ever seen because it was made by their child BUT do you really think that's what they are going to be thinking in their head.....because I don't. Its kinda sad that the class under ours (they are younger) looks 100 times better then the ones that were made "by our kids".
I know its not the end of the world but these parents pay alot of money to bring their children to this school and they deserve nothing but what they pay for. These paintings and pots are going to be auctioned off, so they don't just get their child's art piece they have to BUY IT!!!!
Really I'm over it, I think our pot looks OK, yes just OK. It could have done with out the overly bright stickers on it and could have used a bit more of the kiddos touch and love but its a little late for that one now.
Thursday should be a interesting evening when this little shindig takes place. Oh there will also be a bake auction / sale going on at the same time. Now that I may take a look at for the hubbs to see what goodies are there.

This is the finished product on the pot. 

~DAY 165~

Going Old School

After a wonderful day in Charlotte yesterday it was time to head home. However not before stopping for a little breakfast of course. The plane was to go to IHOP again there's not one near us. The hubbs picked it because it was the place we went for our first date. So sweet of him to remember, although I think he just wanted some yummy food. 

However we missed the exit and kept going, no biggie right we will come across another one soon enough. WRONG!!!!!!!! I google mapped our location and not a single IHOP near us or in the direction we were headed. He says not to worry we will find something, "oh dear, those are never good words". He through Waffle House out there and let me tell you its not on my top list of favorite places to eat at. In fact before this trip I had only eaten at WH one other time and that to was with the hubbs. 

Ok fine what the heck Waffle House it is, in the back of my head I'm thinking this will be great to tell the spouse about. She loves WH, why I don't know but hey it will be enjoyable to tell her about it. 

The menu was old, I mean the pictures on it were so simple and the way it was put together made little to no sense at all. The meals weren't grouped together like you'd think but everything was dirt cheap. I'm talking nothing over $12 bucks that I remember. 

I'm big on hash browns love love them so I knew that was a must. I also like omelets so I figured I'd give it a try. I have to say the meal wasn't that bad at all and I ended up finishing everything. ~ok spouse go ahead and say I told you so~ Now don't get me wrong its not going to be my first choice for breakfast when and if we go out again but I guess I wont be so quick to say no next time either. 

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the place is SOOO OLD, the hubbs says that's the point. It just doesn't set well with me, appearance has a lot to do with things. 

What's your take on Waffle House, love it or hate it?????

~DAY 164~

Enjoying His 4 Day

The morning started off pretty much like our typical Saturday when the hubbs has off. A couple hours at the shooting range together. I'm still not 100% comfortable with shooting but I really enjoy going and watching the hubbs. 

It was his first time shooting the scar since he got it last weekend and he was like a kid in a candy store. Super super excited, up at 6:30am and ready to go, however the range didn't open till 8am. 

Every time he would turn around and look at me in between rounds he had the biggest smile on his face. As if he doesn't get enough of this during work when they are in the field. I know its different when he can shoot his own weapon and what not, I still just think its so cute. I'm really glad that we were able to go out today. There had been talk of major thunderstorms and when that happens they shut down the ranges. That would have been awful seeings this is his last weekend off till mid April. 

His little set up, he got the view finder for Christmas. 

I always think its funny when the guys out at the range lay down and shoot. Its like really you have to get "that" into it just to shoot, but to each there own right. The hubbs offered to show me how to use the Scar, so taking him up on that he tells me to lay down on the ground. Really are you kidding me I don't want to lay on the dirty ground. After getting the "look" from him & a "oh its ok" I gave in. I will admit it was much easier to shoot this way, being able to rest the barrel of the gun on the sand bags and not having to worry about the weight. Shhhh don't tell the hubbs I said that. 

I did some practicing with the pistols we have. I'm still learning because they make me super nervous so I only end up shooting off a couple rounds of each before I'm done.

We normally only stay out there about a hour or so but today we were there for a good 2 & 1/2 hours. Its definitely a nice stress reliever that's for sure. 

After our time at the range we headed up to Charlotte, NC for the evening. We had dinner reservations at Buca Di Peppo wish is a family style Italian resturaunte that we grew to love in Hawaii. When I found out about there being one in Charlotte we decided it would be a great way to celebrate the hubbs graduating. A few weeks prior he through the idea out there for us to stay the night. Why the heck not!! We had a fabulous time doing a bit of shopping at Ikea and the local mall before hand. It was so nice to get away and relax for a bit and not have to worry about everything else going on back home such as work, life, or even the pups. Speaking of the pups we had someone come look after them while we were gone. There was a bad thunderstorm back home while we were away and the hubbs was quite sad that we weren't home to comfort them and make sure they were ok. Myself on the other hand was enjoying the bed just the hubbs & I. The pups think they need to sleep right smack in the middle. 

Showing off my 2nd new dress that I got before dinner. I got this one as a option to wear for graduation but decided to go with the other one. I love this dress, its a wrap around and ties on the side. Its really different then anything I've worn before and the hubbs said the colors made it look hippie~ish. Oh how I love that man. :) 

We ended our evening by picking up dessert from the Cheesecake factory (another one that we don't have were we live) and taking it back to our hotel to enjoy along side a glass of wine. It was the perfect date day and night. We've decided that we are going to do this more often through out our time here. Visiting a different city each time, during cycle breaks, it will insure that we take full advantage of our time together when he is off. 

~DAY 163~

The joys of PCSing

Oh my heart aches :( 

After driving the hubbs car for ummm about two months now with expired registration, we finally got it renewed today. That only means one thing....no more Hawaii plates. I tried, I did tons of research and googling on ways to keep our Hawaii plates but unless we wanted to pay bookoos of money it just wasn't happening. 

Why you ask has his registration been expired for two months now. Well it was up in January but we kinda put it off through the first part of the month and then well he started school. Not being able to take a single day off to go get it taken care of we just had to wait. I wasn't able to go take care of it myself due to the fact that its in both of our names. Not even a POA would do, SC is crazy retarded when it comes to registering your car here. First you have to pay the taxes on the car to the state which is stupid (you don't have to do that in TX), thankfully since we are military we are exempt from having to pay the $100 + dollars that the locals have to pay. We simply pay a $25.00 fee and that's that. From here we went to the DVM were we waited a ungodly amount of time with some of the strangest people on the planet. I was stressing big time because I've heard horror stories of people having problems after problems registering. Apparently you are suppose to do it with in 45 days of moving to SC or they charge you a additional fee. Thankfully I found out about this little ordeal before hand and had a plan in place to work around hint. (there's a blank you fill in that says when did you start driving the car in SC, we just put a date with in the last month, problem fixed) I was also worried we would get a late fee for the registration being expired and us having to register it late but NOPE, only $30 bucks. So a total of $55, I can handle that any day. 

My registration on the Challenger is up in July (I think) and I plan on doing the same thing. I mean why am I going to pay to register it early when I still have time on my current registration that is just so stupid if you ask me. 

Awh its a bitter sweet day, I'm happy we finally got the registration taken care of. We can finally take the Subaru off post with out having to worry about the security check when coming on. Thank goodness for the hubbs having a 4 day this weekend after graduation. But I'm sad to see the Hawaii plates go, we are the only ones on post with them. From what I've seen of course. Not to mention I'd like to have as little attachment to SC as possible. 

The SC plates just aren't as pretty as the HI ones, not a bit of Aloha or Southern flair in them.  

!!!!!tWo YeArS tWo YeArS!!!!!

~DAY 162~

Drill SGT Graduation Day

Everything we've been through in the last nine weeks has led us to today. There has been way to many CQ shifts to counts, hours of staying up late to study. Countless amounts of tests taken, pitches made and more sleep lost than I'd like to endure. However its finally paid off because graduation day is here.

 There was 121 soldiers that started Drill School the same day as the hubbs, within in days those numbers started to drop dramatically, leaving a total of 81 soldiers to walk the stage receiving their campaign hat. When I arrived at the ceremony location I was warmly welcomed by my soon to be Drill SG dressed in his ASUs (dress blues), my my my did he look pretty fine. Ok yes I am biased because he is my hubbs. Our visit was short lived as they quickly had to get in formation to get ready for the ceremony to start. Once they opened those doors for everyone to go in it was like a mad rush of people trying to find a seat. (think of it as a black Friday shopping experience). As everyone veered to the left I made my way down the right aisle as far to the front as I could go. Finding a seat right on the end just a couple rows back from the front. Shortly after the theater started to fill up I realized that the soldiers (DS to be) would be seated in the rows RIGHT NEXT TO ME. Talk about some great photo opts, although I'm still learning my camera this did give me a little advantage. The ceremony was fairly short for everything that's was said and done. This was a extra special day for me because this was going to be the first ceremony I've ever been able to attend out of his so far career in the Army. Previous awards, promotions & reenlistment ceremonies have all been either before I moved out to Hawaii or during his two deployments. So to say I was super excited to be here today would be a understatement. As the band began to play the soldiers made their way in and to their seats. It was so still and quiet once they stopped playing you could have heard a pin drop. The National Anthem played, prayer and a few speeches later it was time for the Soldiers of Class 3-12 to receive their campaign hat.

The person announcing the names told us we were allow to go up to the front and take pictures if we wanted to but to be sure and stay clear of the aisle. I wasn't sure if I was going to at first, see I didn't want to cause any attention to myself but then I saw everyone else was so I figured the heck with it why not. Sadly do to the lighting the pictures didn't turn out the greatest, but I'm fine with that because I got to be there in person and that is a picture I will remember forever. 

I had chills running through my body as they called his name and he placed the hat on his head. I was so proud of him, all the hard work and long days had finally paid off. He was done, graduated and finished. We could finally get on with the next two years of his career and our time here at Ft. J. Although he still isn't 100% sold on being a Drill SGT I'm hoping that after he has a few cycles under his belt he will start to enjoy it a bit. Fingers crossed right.
Talk about one proud wifey here!!!!!

The Campaign hats

Marching in to the Ceremony

Prayer

Let me tell you a funny story right here~ during the dress rehearsal when the words "Let us Pray" were said & everyone bowed their heads my dearest husband was the only one still looking straight ahead. He was then told by a Drill SGT "I don't care if you are praying or not, your going to bow your head." Oh dear heavens leave it to my husband to cause a scene. Apparently everyone else though it was pretty funny though.

Walking back to his seat after receiving his Campaign hat aka Brown Round.

Graduating class 3-12 

Such a proud Wifey of my Drill SGT!!!!!

Two of the Soldiers he went through school with that he became friends with SGT J & SSG P. 

both of then stayed with us the night of graduation before they flew out the next morning. Super sweet people, SGT J. is getting stationed here but had to return to her current duty station to out process. 

I absolutely LOVE this picture of us!!!!!!

Look out people he's got our future in his hands lol :) 

Its going to be a interesting next two years on the trail. 

~DAY 161~

The fog has hit again

Headed to work this morning and the roads are super foggy. 

It hasn't been like this in a while so I was caught off guard. I was trying to get off post and traffic was backed up so much because people couldn't see but just a couple hundred yards in front of them. 

In a way its kinda pretty, like over the lake when it just sits on top of the water. Or how it covers the Golf Course as I drive to work. Thankfully it hasn't brought any bad weather, that was my first thought when I saw it was so foggy outside. 

I'm hoping that it stays pretty through the weekend, we have lots of plans and I want to be able to enjoy our last free weekend together with out the rain. 

~DAY 160~

oh the joys

The joys of working with little kids means that sometimes you will pick up their crummy germs. We had a little boy in our class yesterday come down with pink eye and long story short the mom though it was just allergies. Which it very well could have been but for this lil one it wasn't. We washed, bleached and sanitized everything down like crazy in hopes to disinfect the classroom so no one else would get it. A friend of mine got it when she lived in Hawaii and it was awful, I remember how much pain she was in, not a pretty sight. 

WELL GUESS WHAT!!!!!!! Today at work when we were out for a walk one of my co-workers brought to my attention that my left eye was blood shot red and semi swollen. I had been rubbing it all morning because it was inching but never thought twice about it. LIGHT BULB went off right then and there, hello Tiffany!!!! NO, I replied as I ran in to the bathroom to check it out. YUP, sure enough my eye was so red. I freaked I can't get pick eye not now not ever. I have a big week ahead of me plus I don't want to have to use my vacation days from work to stay home. (I'd rather save them for when I have something planned.) 

After showing a couple different staff members my eye they all agreed it looked like the start of pink eye. I was freaked, I stopped rubbing it and sucked up the itchiness. The redness started to go away which was a sign of relief but I was still worried. By noon this is what my left (infected) eye looked like. Much better than 2 hours before. 

Here is a picture of my right eye that wasn't infected at all. Thankfully, as you can see from the good eye its really not super bad, Not yet any ways. I was able to make a appointment and get in to see the doctor today. I couldn't chance it to see what would happen, not to mention I didn't want to be miserable for the next however many days it takes to run through your system. 

I'm not one to go to the doctor unless there is something really really wrong with me. The hubbs is the same way, I've been this way all my life. I hate going to the doctor, not really sure anyone loves it though. After a long hour which included waiting in the pharmacy for medicines I was diagnosed with pink eye. The doctor I saw said that I caught it early enough were it wasn't to bad and it should clear up in a matter of days. As long as I put the cream on my eye 3 times a day. I was so worried that I was going to have drops, I simply CAN'T do drops no questions there. Its horrible I remember as a kid my mom having to hold me down just to put them in my eye to help with my horrible allergies. I just knew I was going to have to have the hubbs do the same thing. What a relief though I can be a big girl and do this all on my own. :) 

I loved hated having to spend my lunch hour + some at the hospital today but in the long run I know it was worth it. If I would have waited just a single day it could have been much worse.

Comment from the hubbs~ DON'T GIVE ME PINK EYE, stay away and don't touch me with your infectiousness. Love you to babe!!! I know he means well!!!

~DAY 159~

Life!!!

My one true love!!! I don't know what I'd do with out him!!!! This is the final week of Drill School and then our life will dramatically change for the next two years. I know we can do this and we will get through it with out question but its not going to be easy. We've been through so much in the almost 6 years we have been together and this is just another adventure to write in the books!!!! 

Ever been a Drill SGTs wife or know someone that has ??? Any advice would be great!!!!! 

Hope you all have a fabulous week!!!!!!!

~DAY 158~