Life Happens....you've been warned...

....random update of life lately, it's kinda all over the place but wanted / needed to recap. 

Well....its been a bit uneventful but a bit over whelming here lately. Parts of me doesn't mind it but then other parts of me wonders how I've managed to take on so much. When in reality its not all that much at all. With work Monday-Friday and Classes 3 nights a week, my days are pretty full. When I don't have class in the evenings I generally stay late and close at work. I like having the option to stay and close if needed vs. being completely depended on. It makes for some really long day's either way I go but it beats sitting at home alone. Some nights when I don't have class or have to close I tend to find myself hanging out and chatting a bit longer at work. I don't always feel the need to rush home, I mean the pups are there but the nights are the hardest with the hubbs away and it makes for lonely evenings. In the mornings I get up work out and take the pups for their walk before going to work. Two reason: One-when I get off its already dark out so not really ideal for walking the pups. Darn you winter time change. Two-working out before work means if I wanna come home and be lazy I can. Most nights when I cook dinner I cook enough for me to have left overs for 2 maybe 3 nights. This helps my commissary budget, as well as keeps me from having to cook every night. I don't mind cooking at all, I actually love cooking. But the last thing I want to do when I get home from class at close to 9pm is to cook dinner and do dishes. So left overs are perfect for me right now. On the weekends I might cook myself a more time consuming / involved meal because I can take my time with it. 

If I typically have any running around to do or shopping I try to get it all done on Saturday mornings - mid afternoon after walking the pups. This way I have the rest of Saturday to work on my homework because lets face it these two classes have me swamped. I've been out of school for a hot minute now and trying to get back into the swing of things with classes and homework has had its challenges. I've started reading more for pleasure but this whole reading and having to write a paper on it is a totally different thing. It also give me time to do any hously duties I might need to do clean the house, straighten up. The dreaded laundry, its so easy to throw it in the wash, then dryer but I hate hate folding and putting it away. Sunday's I go to church, the early service which is at 8:30 and I'm usually home by 9:45, unless I go to Sunday School. After our morning walk around the neighborhood I'm back in my comfy clothes for the day, vegging out on the couch watching Netflix and Hulu. I'll try and make myself productive here and there but normally I have a completely lazy day. I haven't gone out and really done much lately other than a few random outings here and there. It's been crazy cold and then we will have days in the 50's, it almost reminds me so much of Texas weather. It's been quite a bit rainy here lately as well, I never knew it rained so much in TN. I'm so ready for it to warm up more. I absolutely hate hate the cold weather, that's what 3 years of living in Hawaii will do to you. 

I've slowly been knocking my To Do List down, little by little. Reminding myself everything doesn't have to be done at one time. But oh how I desperately wish it could be. I did finally get our taxes done this morning so that's taken care of. My homework assignments for this coming week are complete and just need to be typed. I'm headed to Nashville tomorrow for a birthday party for one of my kiddos and I'm planning on making a day out of it. Heading downtown right after church in the morning!! Life's been busy and chaotic but I wouldn't have it any other way. At least I'm making the most of my time through this deployment. 

Better than sulking and eating ice cream from the carton every night.

 I mean a bowl is so much more classy!!! Right!?!?!?

And because a post isn't complete with out a picture.....

I slipped on my boots and took the hubbs Glock and HK out for a little swirl last weekend to this lovely setting......

I may or may not share what went on that afternoon. I still haven't decided!!! 

SNOW DAY!!

It wasn't the first snow day of winter, but it was most definitely the first one that amounted to anything. Friday night I went to dinner with a girlfriend from work and we had a fabulous time. I knew the weather was suppose to be getting a little nasty so I was glad that our dinner date didn't last to late. As I was driving home it had already started snowing. It wasn't terribly bad but for this Texas girl, it was the most I'd ever driven in myself. (Thankfully last Jan. when we came back from NYC the hubbs drove through the awful snow storm.) I was just happy to make it home with out any issues. Surprisingly enough it wasn't to cold outside, I mean it was bearable. So I bundled up and took the pups out front to play. It was dark but with the street light in the corner of our yard there was plenty of light to see. Vs. the backyard was completely dark. The pups ran around and acted all silly trying to figure out what this cold white stuff was. They've played in snow and seen it once before when we lived in Cola. When we had a pretty good snow storm there. But it's obviously not something we have to deal with all that often. At least we haven't and I'm quite content with that. I couldn't help myself, I wrote a few little lovey notes on the hubbs truck to send to him!!! 

The next morning I woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow covering the front and back yard. Our neighborhood looked even prettier then it already did. I decided to take the pups out for their morning walk before it all melted away. I head down to the field at the bottom to let them run around and play. As we headed out the door I noticed Dingo slip on a slippery patch near the bottom of our porch steps but I didn't think anything of it. I stepped down and bam fell right on my butt, putting my wrist down to brace my fall. I was almost in tears, it hurt pretty bad. I had plans later that afternoon and I couldn't handle any bruises or pains :(. It took me a minute to gather my thoughts to check the streets and side walk to see if we could even make it down to the bottom. We took it slow and managed just fine, with only a few slippery spots here and there. It was well worth the slippery trip, the pups had so much fun running around and it was simply beautiful. 

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to live somewhere, where there was inches and inches of snow all through out the winter months. But then driving in it might be a nightmare. I'll stick with the little bit we get here and there! 

Go Commando 5k

Checking out the Start line for B's first ever race!!!

I can't believe this was my first race of 2014 and here we are nearing the end of the year. I took a couple months off from running with the move from SC to TN but I definitely have found my groove back and am loving it. A Co-worker of mine (Barbie- pictured above) has recently taken up running and she's doing great. We signed up for the Go Commando 5K Race back in August I think it was and have been training ever since. I struggled through two injury but managed to heel and recover from both before race day. The Owner of the School were we work at was also running the 5K race that morning. We saw him before hand and chatted a bit and then that was that. B and I didn't stay together, we didn't plan to either. We both run and different paces and so we knew that wasn't going to happen and we were ok with that. About 3/4 of the way through I passed Mr. H when he was going the opposite direction towards the turn around. I had quickly glanced down at my watch when he yelled "I'm gonna catch up with you". I looked up to notice it was him and said Yea Yea keep going. Sure enough I was about 1/10th's away from the finish line and I hear someone come up from behind me saying "I caught up with you." I couldn't believe that he did, I was either running slower or he picked up his pace quick. (Let's go with he picked up his pace) When we crossed the finish line I was just a few steps ahead of him, so not to bad. There was also a Half Marathon and a 10K race going on at the same time, so there was runners coming in from all three races. 

I didn't come in were I was hoping to time wise and I am completely ok with that. (I was literally a minute and a half off) I did however place 14th in my age group, 86th out of 309 females and 183rd place over all out of 482 people. So something to be proud of for me for sure.

I love the rush you get from racing I just HATE having to get up so early to be at the start line. The city we live in there's not many races that take place so you have to go to Nashville, which isn't a long drive at all, its just the getting up early part. Oh the feeling you have after you finish though is all worth it. 

There's a 5K coming up in January at the Nashville Zoo that I'm thinking of doing, looks like it should be pretty fun and best part is, it doesn't start till later in the afternoon. 

A Southern SnowDay

The Southern Snow Storm watch started Monday afternoon and it quickly turned into a warming by 2:30pm when I got back to work. By word of mouth we'd heard that several school districts had already canceled school for Tuesday. We were still sitting in limbo though waiting to see what district 1 was gonna do. The anticipation was killing everyone. 5 O'Clock rolled around and as I headed home we still hadn't heard weather or not we were canceling school for Tuesday. Watch the weather and I'll send out a text was what we heard. About 8pm that evening the call was made and school had been canceled and that  mint I got to have my very FIRST Snow Day. A Southern Snow Day at that. 

The hubbs still had to work, of course life as a Drill SGT. By 9:30-10:00am the entire posted issued a post wide shutdown. Only key essential personal was to continue with their day. I waited the morning out at home. Caught up with a few friends and did a bit of house work but I wasn't braving the roads. Around 2pm or so the hubbs was on his way home. I didn't see that one coming at all but I sure as heck wasn't complaining either. We spent the afternoon do a little randomness around town and went to lunch at Sandy's Hotdogs. I strongly dislike hotdogs but I like Sandy's for some reason. After a little sleet and a trip to the gun store we decided to call it a day and come home. We waited it out and still nothing. Weather forecast said the snow was suppose to start at 11am and here we were 6pm and they kept pushing it back. I'd given up, it wasn't gonna happen. About 8:30-9pm it STARTED there was officially snow on the ground and they had canceled school for Wednesday as well. I really didn't think it would stick or amount to anything seeings on Monday the temps got up to 67 degrees. We went to bed later that night and this is what our backyard looked like…….

….and this is what we woke up to the next morning. Hubbs still had to go to work earlier that morning, although he didn't have to be in till 7am it was still early. Because we live on post he had to go in earlier than everyone that lives off. 

I was kind enough to wake up at 6am and cook him breakfast before he left. German Sugar Pancakes courtesy of the fabulous Black Little Button they were so yummy and def. something we'd make again. 

It took the pups a few minutes to figure out the snow. Bailey realized it was cold on her little paws and didn't' wanna go out in the yard. She's so special sometimes but gosh we love her. 

I spent the morning chatting with a friend and finally got the nerve to get up and brave the cold snowy streets. No since in staying inside all day I suppose, I mean its not that often we get a Southern Snow Days. Right!! I bundled up as best I could and made out way out the door. At that point the pups didn't care about the cold, they were just happy to be outside. 

The snow covered fields and tree tops, were simply beautiful. There was still slush on the ground and parts of the streets frozen over but we managed just well. I was a bit nervous because the pups pull so hard when they go for a walk. I just knew I was going to fall right on my butt. Thankfully we managed just fine and made it up to our friend Sarah's house. 

There was one family at the dog park, I though about stopping on the way but didn't feel like fighting Bailey and another dog. 

Ft. Jackson and all its beauty. Oh I will NOT miss this place when we leave. 

We hung out and visited with Sarah and her two pups for a couple hours before heading back home. Its only about half a mile from my house to hers but when its cold outside it seem forever far away. On the way home we stopped by the soccer fields across from our neighborhood and I let them off their leash to run around a bit. They absolutely loved running around in the snow. 

These two sure do brighten my day and put a smile on my face. Even when Dingo does run straight at my and knocks me on my back in the cold snow, all while I'm trying to take a picture of him. We've been spending so much time together with out the hubbs at home, it was nice to get out of the house and run around and play with them. 

I made a few snowballs a would throw them and Dingo would try to chase after them. It was to funny because it would all fall apart mid air and he didn't understand it. I only wish the hubbs could have come out and joined in on the fun but duty calls and the PVT's need training. 

Finally heading back home after another hour of playing in the snow. These two were so tuckered out for the rest of the evening. 

Our Hawaiian pups finally got to experience their first snow day and I finally had my first Southern Snow day / School's closed for two days. It's def. been nice but next week when I actually have to work a full straight week of work, yeah that's gonna suck. I haven't worked a straight full week since before Christmas break bc of traveling / the cruise and then other holidays and now this. Its ok only one full week then a 3 day work week the following week ;) I can do it!!!!