InstaWeek

 I love checking the mail and getting letters from my little brother!!!! They always make my day. I've finally managed to get to were I don't have tears rolling down my face after I finish reading them. 

This was my view driving out to the land nav range on Monday night to see the hubbs. It seems like Range Road goes on forever!!!

~DAY 339~

Wednesday night was NIC ~ Night Infiltration Course for our Company. This is were the SIT low crawl through the dirt with live rounds being shot over their head. Little do they know the rounds are 35 feet high so even if they were to stand up and jump they wouldn't touch them. No lets see a SIT try to do that, they get their butt chewed out by a Drill SGT in a heart beat. I had the privilege of going out and taking pictures for our families. Last cycle when I went I watched from inside the tower. This cycle I was able to stand on the stairs of the tower, Its really neat to watch. The hubbs actually crawled with them. 

This was a picture I managed to get of the sunsetting that evening, it was so pretty!!!

~DAY 341~

Since the hubbs had Friday off (CQ recovery) we decided to go out for dinner. I wasn't up for cooking and felt like a much needed date night was in order!!! Mexican it was, that seems to be the trend here lately. Its oh so yummy, we just can't help ourselves. :) 

Her's (strawberry margarita) & His (mojito)

A yummy life size Sopapilla. 

~DAY 343~

Saturday morning we went to the range to do a little shooting. I even shot through 2 full magazines, shocker I know. After that we can home and took the pups up to the dog park to play for a bit. The hubbs had to be at work at noon to get ready for the evenings events. (I posted a sneak peak picture below, I'll post about it soon) With it being game day here in the South I was asked to do a all afternoon babysitting gig again. Of course I said yes since I knew I'd just be hanging out at home any how. I finished up there around around 7:00pm and headed out to meet up with the hubbs and the rest of the company at the event pictured below!!! 

~DAY 344~

Saturday was a long night for the both of us so we took full advantage of it and slept in till almost 9am. (yes that's sleeping in for us)

Some weekend mornings when we are both home we will do a big breakfast. This morning I tried my hand at homemade biscuits, they turned out really yummy!!!

We then loaded up and headed towards Myrtle Beach to do a little boot shopping. I've been putting off getting my boots for my trip and it's getting down to the wire. We knew about this little store from when we stopped coming back from our Retreat a few months back. The hubbs offered to drive back down there and well I couldn't say no. lol There is a flea market behind the store that we decided to check out while we were there. Let's just say I've officially come to the conclusion that I'm not a flea market, thrifter, goodwill shopper, reuse someone else's things kinda person. (farmers market, I can do all day long) Maybe its just that flea market or the goodwill stores we've been in to here but it creeps me out and just seems completely unsanitary. 

Any how I did pick up these beauties below while we were at the boot store. They are super cute and were a great price so a double score. Wearing boots is a popular thing here in the South. People dress them way up or go very casual. That was something I kept going back and forth on, if I was going to spend the money, I wanted to get some I'd wear often.  

While we were looking at boots, the hubbs heard a advertisement on the radio about a gun show in the area. Of course he just had to go, I teased him the whole time saying that he planned this trip around the show and that he knew all about it. He promises he didn't lol, but either way its ok, because we had a really good time together. 

~DAY 345~

First GSSF Shoot

Today was the hubbies first Glock shooting competition. He's been looking forward to it for the last couple weeks. Yesterday we spent the morning at the range so he could practice on his shooting time. It definitely paid off because he did better today then he though he would. The first two stations you just shot at cardboard targets. You get to shoot 3 full magazines loaded with 11 rounds each, per station. Both stations are timed and your also judged on were you shoot the target. He wasn't going to much for time he as he was for placement on the target but he ended up doing 11 seconds & under on both sets.

I'm such a proud wifey, I love spending any bit of time together that we can. 

The 3rd station was plates, not just your average paper plates though. There was 8 metal plates you had to hit. They didn't break they just fell right back. This was a first for the hubbs and he was a bit nervous about it. But he did great he got all of them down on the first try. Here he got 4 loaded magazines 11 rounds each and only used 8 of those 11. Pretty fancy guy if I do say so. :) 

He had so much fun and couldn't stop talking about it after wards. The next Glock shoot is in October located in Charleston, he's planning on going. I really hope I'm here so I can go with him. To treat himself of a job well done before we left he picked up 2 new magazines for his Glock. He's like a fat kid in a candy store when it comes to shooting and gun stuff. 

We had such a great day, I love getting to see him in his element having such a good time. He's keeps trying to push me over to the dark side to start shooting more but I'm not so sure on that. I guess time will tell and we will see. 

~DAY 318~

My Saturday....

.........while the hubby was at work.

 I made plans about a week & a half ago to have lunch at Schlotzsky's today. I absolutely LOVE there sandwiches, they are so yummy, fresh, hot and gooey. If you've never eaten at a Schlotzsky's you gotta try it, I promise you wont be disappointed. Just go with the Original small, because they are really big, grab yourself a bag of chips, a drink of your choice and enjoy. 

Back up a bit, I bet your wondering how & why I made plans a week ago to have lunch here. Whelp I finally scheduled a appointment to get my windows tinted on my car. The place I decided to go with was in Lexington which is about 15-20 minutes away from post. The only good thing about that was it's near Schlotzsky's. There's only a small hand full in the South so we don't get to enjoy it that much. In fact we've had it one other time since we've moved here. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity to indulge while I was over here. 

I'm quite pleased with the way the car turned out I think it looks great. It was suppose to take a hour and I think I was in and out with in like 45 minutes. Totally works for me. I've always had my window tinted, its just taken some time to get these done. I think it makes a world of a difference in the way it looks. I could tell a difference already when I got in the car, those leather seats are killer in the hot summer sun.  

Before 

After

I stopped off at our local farmers market on my way home to pick up a few things. I always enjoy going and getting a few fresh goodies to take home with me. Although I must say I liked the farmers market in Hawaii much better. The ones here have a good selection but I think the people make up a lot of the experience for me. I enjoy talking to them and here they just aren't very personable or friendly but very very pushy. I had some strange guy follow me around the market today and then out to my car as I was leaving. This same person was driving next to me as I was headed into the market. He kept trying to get me to roll my window down which I couldn't & even if I could have I wouldn't of. He turned in to the farmers market just ahead of me, same place I was going. I went straight in hopes to loose him, then I turned back around and went in a little later. Little did I know I would run in to him again. It was really weird, I don't know if he was wanting to look at the car or what but I wasn't giving him a chance. I was by myself and he was really creeping me out. 

Needless to say I don't know that I'll be making a trip back out to the market by myself anytime soon. I told the hubbs about it and he is convinced I need to get a concealed carry. I don't know that its that serious but there have been several times I haven't felt comfortable by myself out and about in our area. 

We ended the evening by going to look at TVs and then on a dinner date to LongHorn Steak House. There's nothing better than a good well done steak, side of potato's and a caesar salad with some strawberry lemonade. We decided over dinner, we aren't going to get a TV to "hold" us over till we get ours back. We are just going to do with out. We will manage, we can think of a million other things to do around the house and out side as well. It's just not worth it to spend the money on one that will later be stuck in a closet some were. Its only a couple weeks it really can't be that bad, and I can watch my shows on line if I want to. It almost makes me want to call and cancel our cable for the month since we aren't using it, but that just sounds like more trouble then its worth. 

~DAY 275~

Its a Beautiful Saturday!!!

It was a absolutely beautiful day today, which was so nice after the rainy week we've had. The hubbs and I wouldn't be enjoying this lovely day together though so it did kinda put a damper on things. The hubbs was finally taking his Concealed Carry Weapon class that he'd been putting off for forever now. The class was crazy long from 11am - 8pm. This morning I had plans to attend a Zumba class that one of my parents was hosting at her home. She was recently certified to teach zumba and hosted a class at her home for all of her friends to attend. We were her guinea pigs to get her ready for her first "real" class next week. Let me just tell you this girl is a rock star, you never would have know it was her first time teaching. (that is unless she told you) I had a blast busting my booty with about 10 other lovely Southern ladies. 

I spent the afternoon cleaning the house and getting all of our laundry folded and put away. This is all normally done on Sundays which are our more mellow days but I figured I'd knock it all out today since I was home alone and that way I didn't have to worry with it tomorrow. It was so nice out that I opened all the windows in our house and turned up the tunes. Nothing better than a little music to keep your feet moving. Be time I was done the house was sparkling and smelly pretty. The pups enjoyed the warm sunshine as well by laying out in the backyard. I think Bailey could lay out there all day long if she could. We've been watching out Sunflowers grow, I didn't think they would really make it and boy was I wrong they are almost two feet tall now. I can't wait till they start to bloom flowers, the tops are pretty right now though. 

I spent the evening with another one of my kiddos while we parents went out for a bit. Little Ms. L is such a doll and I absolutely love her. I caught myself this evening while I was playing with her thinking "wow I / we could really do this whole parent thing". It's so rewarding seeing her grow and learn different things from me as her teacher I can only imagine how it is for her mom and dad. We read a few books played with her new riding car and cuddled with her Golden (their doogie) before calling it a night aka bed time for L. When her parents came home I chatted with them for a bit before heading home myself. It was another lovely evening getting to know the G family better. I have enjoyed getting to know the parents in my class (more so the ones I babysit for) so much. Its neat to hear their story and were they came from and what they do. In the Army / Military life you see a similar pattern a lot but with these families they are all different. 

The hubbs was kind enough to wait up till I got home so we could go to bed together. 

I absolutely love that man, he's so good to me!!!!! 

~DAY 219~

Early Graduation Gift

As we are nearing the end of Drill School the hubbs got more and more excited about his Graduation gift. I'm sure by the picture you can figure out what it is. With the elections coming up he is really worried about gun prices & ammo going up. Who's to blame him though right, I mean with all the craziness we have going on already. 

I caved, I always do, I'm a sucker when it comes to him and I simply can't so NO. 

I want him to have everything he wants, ok ok with in reason of course. Living in Hawaii for so long the process to purchase a firearm was crazy retarded, so we never did. Once we returned to the Mainland he started making up for lost time. 

There has been one particulate gun he has wanted for the longest time and it just was never in the budget. 

(those things aren't cheap ya know) 

Well we made a deal, once we got our Hawaii state tax return in and he graduated from Drill School he could get the one on his top wish list. 

The FN SCAR. 

This weekend there was a gun show at the state fair ground and we decided to go. He was hoping to find good deal on one. (better than at the local shop here were he'd already found the gun)

When we were headed to the show I just happen to check our bank account on my phone for some random reason. Maybe because I hadn't in almost 5 days or so, we had both gotten paid and everything. Scrolling through the charges I saw a deposit for our......HAWAII STATE TAX RETURN. WOOP WOOP, happy dance people. Last year I filed in January and didn't get our return till July, Hawaii was broke and had no money. I was expecting the same thing this year but turns out I was wrong, thank goodness. With that being said we decided that since graduation was just a few days away, if he found a awesome deal today he could get it. 

Sadly he did not, he found the exact one he wanted but a different color. I told him if he is going to spend this amount of money on it he needs to get the one he really wants. Even if that means paying a little extra and getting it from the local store and having to wait a few more hours till they opened. 

So that we did, after running a few errands, searching for that new pair of perfect TOMS that I never found, we found ourselves at Shooter Choice. 

They had ONE left in stock, I don't think the guys working there could have gotten the weapon down fast enough for the hubbs. He was grinning from ear to ear with happiness. He was finally getting his dream gun....well dream gun of the moment. 

I have to say that this purchase was the fastest of all that we have made. Mainly because he had done so much research on it in the last however many months, that there wasn't a single unanswered question he needed to ask. 

I was reserved on spending the money, I'm a saver yall, a tightwad if you will. I do splurge every so often but I truly would rather see my love happy first. After all he has given up SO much for us and our marriage over the last 4 & 1/2 almost 5 years he deserves it. 

I think he might have been drooling over his new toy at this point!!!! 

This is the last major purchase in the gun department for a good long while. We have a few other things we are saving for that we want for our new home here in the South. Not to mention I have a big Vacay coming up in October and we have one together in December so save we must!!!!! 

I am really happy though that we were able to do this and he was finally able to get it. Its something we  have been talking about for the longest time now!!!!!

~DAY 157~

New Hobbies

DAY 86

We haven't been to the range in two weeks because it was closed for the Holidays. Needless to say the hubbs was super stoked about going today. He had everything packed up and ready the night before, almost like he was leaving on a trip, it was all sitting by the door. I had to laugh because it was so cute how excited he was. He is truly in his element when he is at the range (out of uniform) and able to fire his own weapon. 

I <3 watching him shoot!

One of his buddies from work came and joined us out at the range for a bit. I was quite parietal to his shirt, a bit of sadness was was shed as you know Hawaii has a special place in our hearts. I didn't talk to him much so I'm not sure if he was stationed there before or the story behind the shirt. But it made me happy to see a bit of Aloha in the South.

I miss Hawaii so much!

Everyone else had the same idea, lets hit up the range its been closed for two weeks for Christmas Eve & New Years Eve. I'm sure a lot of them like the hubbs was out playing with their new toys they had received for Christmas. I can't say that we have seen it this busy since we started going, thankfully there was a spot on the end for us to set up.

His spread, I have a feeling this is only the start of a large collection of guns in our future. I've really enjoyed getting to go our and shoot with him. I did some when I was younger with my dad and brother, we would go shooting at the river house. Dad has shot guns and they were a bit intimidating then but now that I'm older I'm able to handle it better.

Breaking in the new home defense weapon as he likes to call it. "You never know what could happen when I'm gone so you have to be prepared" words spoken from the hubbs.

You have to pick up your shells when you are done and put them in a collection to be disposed of properly. Unless you reuse them of course and pack your own shells. I generally will pick them up when the guy running the range calls cease fire, this also allows you to go down and adjust your target if need be. I hate waiting till the very end because then there's so many to pick up and it seems to take forever. This is what I collected between one of about 5 rounds of shooting. Thankfully the hubbs has been stock piling on ammo so we have plenty left for next weekend.

Guess who picked all these up. 

Next weekend they are finally opening the new range here on post. Its been under renovation for the last few months so we have not been to it yet, it will be interesting to see how its going to be set up. We've heard its a bit different then this one. Hopefully we are able to make it out first thing when they open at 8:00am so we are able to get some good shooting time in. I really look forward to going to the range with my love. Its a great way for us to bond and spend time together doing something different that we didn't get to do in Hawaii. Not to mention seeing him so happy about it is the icing on top of the cake for me!!!!

"The Gun List"

DAY 30

New toys are aways fun!!!

Gabe has always been in to guns, he loves going out shooting in his free time. Its different when it's not work related and he can really get in to character. While in Hawaii he wanted to purchase one so badly but the process to go through with it was completely horrid so we held off. Once he got back to Arizona over our PCS block leave he was finally able to purchase the HK hand gun that he had been wanting. That only led to a whole list of other guns that he wanted to purchase, that's all I heard about for weeks at a time. How excited he was and how he couldn't wait to get to SC because then we could go to the gun shows.
Our 2nd weekend here there was a show about 2 hours away I knew he wanted to go and we had no plans so we decided to head out. It was a first for me, I've been to several arts & craft shows so I figured it had to be similar to that. And in a way it was and in many ways it was not. There was some good people watching at these things that's for sure. We spent a couple hours there walking around, looking at everything and talking to the different vendors. We ended up not buying anything, which I felt bad about because Gabe found the gun he really wants there and with out me having a job (I didn't at the time) we just didn't think it was the right decision.
This weekend there was another show in town and it was only 20-25 minutes away so not bad at all. We got up and decided to go early so because we had plans for later that afternoon. When we arrived at the location there was already a long line of people waiting to get into the facility, it was only 8:40 & it didn't start till 9:00am. Gosh we though this is going to be a big one, and Gabe was pretty stoked to see the out come of people. Which is surprising seeings he doesn't like crowds. Once we got in we realized that it was smaller than the one before and along with a lot less space between the tables which I quickly got annoyed at because people kept just walking into you & were so rude about it. Thankfully we only stayed for about a little over a hour and then we were heading home. But not empty handed this time, the hubbs found a gun on the list (his "GUN LIST") that he wanted a kel-Tec RFB and after as much sweet talking as he could do I finally said yes. No not really, he kept telling me everything about it and how cool it was and so on and how much he wanted it so I told him to go for it. I mean really how can I say no to that sweet little Innocent face of his. It was a early Christmas gift so it worked out in the long run :)