Walk on the Wild Side!

DAY 94 

Ok so it really wasn't a wild walk but it was a lovely peaceful one together. A co-worker of mine told me about another "board walk" type of park in the area, so we decided to go check it out today. K along with a couple other people I work with kept mentioning that it was next to the old prison here in Columbia. I was confused because when we drove up I was looking for the prison and couldn't find anything. There was a small water plant to the right of us as we started down the path but it looked nothing like a prison. We made our way a little further down and there on the left hand side stood a single brick wall that looked like it had been cut in half. You could tell it had been there a while with the trees and grass grown around it. We came to the conclusion that it was referred to as the Old Prison because well it wasn't there any more, it all made sense after that. 

We had to walk across this bridge to get to the path that followed along the canal. It reminded me of Kauai and some of the bridges we drove across when we were there. Only this wasn't wide enough for a car to across and it sure as heck wasn't as pretty as Kauai. 

"The view from the inside looking out", there's a old school house building that housed some of the water pump circulation system and we were able to walk through.

I'm pretty sure this was the back wall of the old prison, or at least a part of it. From the looks of it and the way it mimicked the other single standing wall it seemed to make sense. Looks like over the last few years it was just made into a retaining wall that runs off the canal.

Enjoying our last free,
 weekend b4 drills school starts.

The Conagree river that we walked over the Christmas break ran along the left side of the path as we walked along the canal trail. I was much prettier on the river side but still a beautiful walk and we really enjoyed our time out together.

Do you remember the gum ball tree ?!?!?! Well that's what we called them growing up, we always found them around my mamaws house. They sure do hurt like crazy if you happen to step on them with no shoes. A few times when we were out at Bellows beach (in HI) I stumbled across a couple with out my shoes on and that was no bueno. Trying to skip over them on my runs has become quite the challenge that I've managed to over come.

There are some really nice parks here in the area that we have started to enjoy so thats nice. I'm hoping we are able to spend more time out here over the next two year.

Taking Control

DAY 90 

I'm taking control, its been almost a year now that I have really been working out faithfully. Devoting time, being excited about going to the gym and running has become a daily part of my life. I don't even think twice about my gym or run days. Its as if I have been doing it for years even though its only been about a year. Wednesday nights are Zumba nights with a co-worker at her church right up the highway. Thankfully its only about 5 miles from our home so that makes it nice. The zumba classes on post are Thursday nights & Saturday morning, so I haven't attended them yet. I take a spin class on Thursday nights which I don't want to give up and here the past month or so we have been going to the range on Saturday mornings. I am planing on trying out the Saturday class soon though, maybe once the hubbs starts school & he isn't here those mornings I'll go. But for now the next 3 Saturday mornings are booked.
This evening after Zumba I signed up for a 5k Memorial walk that is being held on Jan. 21 at the church were we have class. It was free & early enough to still be able to enjoy the day & do whatever else we decide to do.

The following Saturday (the 28th) T (my co-worker) & I are going to attend the 3rd annual Health Fair that is also taking place at her church. Sponsored by our Zumba instructor & founder of MBS Fitness, James himself. They are going to offer health screenings, zumba, boxing, advice on living a healthier life style and so much more. I'm really looking forward to this event and learning more ways to better my health and expand my workout routines.

The Saturday after that would be the first Saturday in February the 4th & there's ANOTHER Zumbathon going on!!!!! They are hoping to break the World Record AGAIN for the most people doing zumba. The goal is to get 2100 people or more to attend the event at the Storm Thurmond Wellness & Fitness Center. The plan is to get SC heart healthy, who doesn't want a healthy heart or want to help support people getting their life back on track. I'm really excited about this and can't wait to dance my booty off with T. I've been doing a bit of research online and there are quite a few Zumbathons coming up over the next few months that I'm thinking of attending.

The year is off to a great start and I plan to do whatever I have to do to continue it that way. This past year has really changed me & I'm more focused on my health & fitness then I have been in a while. It's awesome to be so pumped about it and wanting to continue making a change in my life. It got me through the last part of our deployment so I know that it will help get me through our time here at Jackson. If nothing else comes from being stationed here, I've become more fit, healthy and added years on to my life. (so I guess something good has come of us being stationed here.) Although I haven't yet given up hope on SC I know it just takes time to find the beauty in something, its out there we just have to dig and find it. I know we were sent here for a reason (other than because the Army said so) I'm just still trying to figure that out. 

I'm really pumped about the next 3 Saturdays, its giving me something to look forward to while the hubbs is busy with Drill School & studying. (he starts a few days into the new week)

Love vs Hate

DAY 83

I've developed a "love hate" relationship with South Carolina, some things are slowly growing on me but other things aren't.

I hate....that I haven't really made any friends here. (one from work & maybe two Milispouse's on post)
I love.....the Historical / Victorian style homes.
I hate.....that you can be in a really nice area then all of a sudden it goes ghetto.
I love.....that there is more of a variety of stores vs. what we had in Hawaii.
I hate.....that people freaking just step out in the middle of the street to cross when there's no crosswalk.
I love.....the old historical feel of Five Point shopping area & what it has to offer.
I hate....the cold weather that comes along with living here.
I love....that I've found some awesome gym classes to attend on post.
I hate....that I'm the only one my age those goes to those classes.
I love....that things are so much cheaper here....amen to the lower gas prices.
I hate....that the time changes & it gets dark earlier now.
I love....the open forest feel & being able to be outside in it right by our house while the pups enjoy running through the trees.
I hate.....that there isn't alot to do right here in the Columbia area.
I love....that there's a shooting range on post so the hubbs can easily go shooting.
I hate.....standing out.
I love....being able to drive to another state at a moments notice if we wanted to.
I hate.....that people here can be so rude.
I love....how some can be really nice.
I hate.....the time difference between here and Hawaii it totally sucks.
I love....that I have a full time job now & that the school schedule follows the public school system.
I hate....that I don't work with any Milispouse (I really enjoyed that in Hawaii)
I love....that its close to home only about 6 miles from the house.
I hate....that its not on post, I got use to a 3 minute drive to work.
I love....that the hubbs and I are getting so much time together.
I hate....that he doesn't like the unit he is assigned to and there's not much we can do about it.
I love.....that there are running courses on post with mapped out routes for you.
I hate....that the beach is a hour & half away plus its not even that pretty :(
I love....that we are so close to NYC <3 .
I hate.....that because of the time difference my tv shows come on much later.
I love.....the beauty that is around the surrounding area.
I hate...being away from my Army Hawaii Family.
I love....our beautiful home & the memories we are making here in it.

I could go on and on about what I love & hate here in South Carolina but I will spare you the pain. I keep telling myself April 2014 April 2014 we can do this we can do this, we will PCS to a fabulous place after here!!!!!!!!!!

SHE'S HERE!*!*!*!

DAY 65

The Spouse is in the South!!!!

I don't know that I've been this excited since moving to SC at all. The time had finally came to go pick up my Spouse from the airport. She was coming in for a visit for a few days before heading home to WV for Christmas and then back to HI for some much needed R&R w/ her hubbs. With my sign ready to go we loaded up the car and were on our way. Since we drove to SC we hadn't found the airport yet so we felt a bit early to allow extra time to get there.

We arrived a bit early so we went searching for coffee, the hubbs pulled a all nighter the day before so he needed some caffeine to keep him going. Going back down stairs to the baggage claim to wait we looked around checking out the airport and next thing you know I turn left, then right then LEFT again and THERE SHE WAS!!!!!!!!!!!! Her plane landed 10 minutes early and the monitor had not updated the arrival time. I was so excited, I wasn't dreaming she was really here and we were going to have the best time.

On our way home I don't know that Gabe got much of a voice in we were chatting away. We showed her around post a bit & made a stop at the PX. Home for some dinner and relaxing it was a long day for her and both Gabe & I. It was just like back in Hawaii I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, she was sitting at the bar keeping me company and we were catching up on or daily gossip. The hubbs kindly poured us a glass of our favorite wine to enjoy while hanging out. Things were as if there hadn't been a time laps of seeing each other, I guess that's how it is when you are as close as we are.

After dinner we swapped gifts between each other and from the Mistress as well. Last year this time it was The Spouse her hubbs and me now this year its Gabe instead of B. Next year for Christmas they will both be home Thank goodness. I got some of the cutest Christmas ornaments, the best part is one of them isn't christmasy at all so I can leave it out year around. And a few other super fabulous goodies which I'll save for another post.

The rest of the evening was spent just hanging out chatting and doing a bit of pinteresting. I swear that website is so addicting but I love it. So many fun ideas and recipes to try, once the holidays have passed I am going to start working on a few more.

I just want to freeze time and keep her here forever, nothing wrong with that right?!?!?! lol Its awesome having S here, I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Loads more to come highlighting our time together over the next few days so stay tuned!!!!!!!!

Highlighting the Casa

DAY 6

EyE SoRe

This would be the perfect wall for a wall hanging I purchased in Canton / 1st Monday when I was back in Texas. HOWEVER there is this horrible eye sore of a AC vent preventing me from hanging it here. I have gone through idea after idea in my head on what I could do to cover it up and it still be functional but the hubbs thinks its a bad idea to cover it. (even with a framed out piece of fabric.) any ideas. ?!?!?!?

Life in the SOUTH

The pine trees along the high way followed us for as long as I can remember on our drive. I noticed the miles coming to a end on our Navi system & I told Gabe there better be a BIG city really soon because I ain't living in the woods. Moments later we were greeted with a Welcome to Ft. Jackson sign and more TREES. We finally made our way to our new duty station all the way across the mainland in Columbia, South Carolina. This is home for the next two & half years so let the fun begin. Gabe is going to be a Drill Sgt., he isn't totally thrilled with the assignment but he is going into it with a open mind so that's good. Not to mention that this is really good for his career in the Army, so you can't complain about that. For the next 2 & 1/2 months he will just go to work as normal reporting to his new unit (which he seems happy with). January 9th he has a drill school date were he will go for 3 months a be trained on how to be a Drill Sgt. We were told that the school will be here on post but he will stay in the barracks for the 3 months. I'm really hoping that changes between now and then. After just getting off a year long deployment, then with this assignment ahead of us & the crazy schedule he will have I want every minute with him I can. So we will wait it out and see, I can only hope for the best.
We were able to get a house as soon as we officially signed out of Schofield. I have to say that was one thing I was really worried about. I didn't want to have to stay in a hotel with the dogs. They had been through so much over the last month & half I just wanted to get things back to as normal as possible & stable for them. We had a appointment with housing at 1pm the day we got here & within 45minutes after that we were handed keys to our new place. I'd be lying if i said wasn't bummed that we aren't able to get newer housing. It's quite nice, I'd say nicer than Schofield, it looks allot like Schofield housing but in a RowHome type of set up. However Gabe & I both agreed it still wasn't THAT nice were we'd want to have kids to be able to get into it. I guess we will be waiting on that next rank E7.
The house we were assigned is very similar to what we had at Schofield as far as layout. The difference is this one is more updated with carpet through out the upstairs, laminate hard wood flooring downstairs, central AC & semi smaller. There are four homes in a section A-D and we are C so in the middle (we were offered a end unit as well but for personal reasons we turned it down). As soon as we got to the house & started unloading the car we were greeted by the 3 other families that live in our section. They were very welcoming with open arms and smiles letting us know if there was anything we needed fill free to ask. I was so happy that we had great neighbors, at Schofield we kinda kept to ourselves & so did everyone else in our area no one really came out of there homes unless they were leaving.
About a year ago the Army started letting Retired Soldiers live in government housing, with that being said two of the families living in our section are retired & the other is Active Duty. It's nice having such a divers group of people living around us. It makes me that much more happier with the home we picked, I look forward to getting to know them more & hearing their stories from when they were in the Army. To give you a idea of how long ago one of the couples retired, it was the year I was born '86 & his son just retired from the Army as well with 20 something years in CRAZY!!!!
Once we got the car unloaded, showered & freshened up it was time to do a bit of shopping at the PX. But first a stop at the lending closet, which ended up being a total life saver. They have a life time supply of stock on hand to GIVE you until your HHG's get here. Out of everything we got we only have to take back the microwave, coffeemaker & vacuum. The other things like a entire set of dishes, cooking pot set, table ware, cutting board, mixing bowl, mop, broom, laundry basket, can opener & knife set we get to keep. Now we have all of these things in our HHG's so as much as a help as its going to be we don't need the extra (frankly its a very basic set of items as well not really my taste) so we plan on donating everything to the local thrift shop on post. I made out a list of everything else we needed for the house & we went to town shopping at the PX. I have to say it was pretty fun shopping around and seeing all the different things they had.
Our next stop was the Commissary we had to get some basic items to get us through the next two weeks before we plan to do a mass shopping trip. I didn't mention above about how much smaller the PX was here VS. what we are use to but OMG the Commissary just about drove us nuts. It was set up completely different than the SB Comm. it was nearly half the size & just made no sense at all. I guess it goes along with "I DON'T LIKE CHANGE" just another thing I'm gonna have to get use to.
It was a long day and a very tiring one, we drove around checking out the post a little bit & the city its self some but we mainly took the rest of the day to get settled in.

Ft. Jackson is a big change from were we came from not only the environment but the post its self. It's small like SB but more spread out and more challenging to find things. I know with time we will know it by the back of our hand like we did our last duty station but until then its still all very much a blur to me as it still is all setting in. Being on a Training base is very different in many way, I'm sure I'll blog about it here and there over our stay here so keep a eye out for that.

Follow our journey through my blog here over the next 2 & 1/2 years at Ft. Jackson, I will be posting a picture each day from something we saw, did, something new or something that happen in our life. It's our life captured by daily photographs, just another way for us to remember our time here and I hope you enjoy seeing life through my eyes (photographs) as much as I enjoy taking the pictures & living it.

DAY 1

Our First Meal in our New Home!!

To tired to cook so take out it was, yummy pizza for two please.