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Field training arrived again and man was I not excited. But it is what it is, it’s an necessary evil of Army life. So began what I thought would be 29 days apart, but it was more challenging than I expected. But there was fun thrown in!
Continue reading “The Emotional Rollercoaster of Field Training”
When we went on our trip to the Olympic National Park we stayed in Forks, WA. It’s the biggest town on the Western side of the park and if you didn’t know it is most known for (at least as of late) for being the setting of Twilight. The logging town has seen better days and it is definitely trying to capitalize on the popular books and movies.
First off let me tell you this: I don’t like Twilight. I have not read the books but I saw the first movie and it was awful. I have heard they got a bit better, from a friend who had to watch them for her job at an entertainment magazine. But I’m not sold. But alas, it’s popular. And you can’t turn a corner in or around Forks and not be reminded that it’s set there. The movies weren’t filmed in the area, but the town has identified homes as those belonging to the main characters. And you can take a picture with Bella’s car (from the book version):
It has been awhile since I shared a recipe and do I have the perfect one for fall! On Pinterest I found a baked ravioli recipe from Martha Stewart and it sounded delicious, but I wanted some meat in it. The vegetarian meal would no doubt be delicious but I decided to make some adjustments. And it was a home run.
This summer we returned to the East Coast to visit family, and some history. James and I are history buffs so when we planned this trip we added a weekend in Colonial Virginia, specifically Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown.
We spent our first day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I had never been to a Busch Gardens before and was impressed. It was clean and the rides were fun! I’m a recent convert to big roller coasters so it was a big day to go on hanging rides and multiple loops. Also – if you are military you can get free tickets (which is a HUGE savings!). But the main attraction for me was the historical sites. What can I say? I was a history major in college after all!
As I typed this on Thursday night, and edited on Saturday, we are approaching a week of government shutdown. Currently it is day 5. This all started when the House did not pass a matching spending bill as the Senate. The big stink was all about delaying the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act aka Obamacare (yes they are one in the same) and basically undo the law in general. It’s such a BIG deal to the Republicans that they refused to pass a bill without it attached. And now there appears to be far less compromise as the week goes on, and more finger pointing, on all sides.
We took a weekend getaway a few months ago now as a refresher. It was much needed to reconnect, relax, and recharge. Olympic National Park is HUGE! It’s about a million acres and with a giant glacier in the middle – you need to access the park from multiple points along the outside, which we found out when we got there (it was an impromptu trip). But we had a blast and plan on going back to do what we couldn’t fit into the weekend. What we did see: glacial lake, rainforest, and waterfalls.
At any given time I have a lot going on. Work, school, friends, family – and it takes it’s toll. It’s hard to tell you a weekend when we have no plans. One weekend I had evening plans without James on both Friday and Saturday. Add in my evening classes and my husband’s fairly regular late evenings at work + trainings that are days to weeks longs, and well, we rarely see each other, or so it feels like.
So what’s a girl to do? I want to be able to do all of these things, but I must have time for my husband, and me. As a friend told me the other day “self-care is really important.” So I try to set times that are off-limits. This is easier said then done but here are my attempts:
I have a confession to make: I am newly obsessed with making my own bread. It started last month when I caved in to years of prodding from James about it. On principal I had avoided baking bread because of the time it takes. Waiting for it to rise. And rise again. It’s a pain. I would make quick breads like banana and zucchini breads, which totally aren’t fast since they bake for A LONG TIME, but that’s besides the point, they don’t require rising, hence quick. Anyway, that is besides the point…I finally decided to face my fear.
I first made this french bread recipe from Our Best Bites. It was simple and ended up delicious. It was a basic bread, James said it could be a tad saltier. But all in all it was good. We used it for sandwiches, toast, and garlic bread. I enjoyed it…and forgot to take a photo.
But then I made my all-time favorite bread, and one that I have trouble finding a good one at all times of the year in Washington (except Trader Joe’s): Challah. The Jewish egg bread is SO GOOD. Seriously beyond versatile. You can make sandwiches, french toast, etc, etc, etc. It’s the best bread ever. I scoured the web over and over to find the perfect recipe. After looking at a lot, I settled on making some edits to a chocolate chip challah that I made (well helped make) with one of my best friends Anna a few years ago.
It turned out great! I will probably never buy challah again. For reals. Just look at how pretty it is! (And giant.)
http://instagram.com/p/bM67O-o6Cd/ Continue reading “Baking Bread: Challah”
I have a blog post in the works that discusses my disdain for baking bread and my recent conversion to loving it, but I made these pretzel bites for a birthday party this past weekend and had to blog about them ASAP.
The party was German themed and my mind immediately went to pretzels. I remember seeing a few pins on Pinterest so started there for inspiration. I decided to use a recipe from Our Best Bites, a blog that I love and have had great luck with their recipes in the past. Here’s a sneak peek at the final result:
It is FTX (field training) season meaning that units are gone for days or weeks at a time. Our time came last week and honestly I took it harder than I thought I would. James was only gone for a week but the day before he left and the first day he was gone were hard for me. Who would have thought?
I wasn’t expecting to be upset because well, I got through 8 months of deployment. 8 months of being apart, of dealing with everything on my own, etc. So a week? No problem. Until I realized the morning before he left that I wouldn’t really see him – between work and my night class that day meant when I got home we’d go right to bed. And in the morning he’d wake up at the crack of dawn to go for the week.
I know, I sound a bit dramatic. And that’s not my favorite thing to do, but anytime apart can be hard. I missed the little things, like: watching Parks & Rec after dinner (we’re almost caught up with the current season), laughing together, cooking up something delicious, and just hanging out. I also realized that I needed to deal with the lawn. Aka learning to use our lawn mower.
But it’s work so what can I do? Nothing. Continue moving forward with life. Continue reading “Oh Field Training”