Goodbye, Butter Bar ...

...Hello, Silver Bar? Cam was officially promoted to 1st Lieutenant today with a little ceremony at the Battery Office. Cam's promotion comes after his time in service reached a year and a half following Commissioning at OCS. The ceremony was very brief and included the Executive Officer reading the Orders, a small speech by the Commander of the Battery, me "pinning" his new rank to his chest, and the Commander pining the new rank to his beret. Following another small speech by Cam, we all chowed down on some yummy Costco croissant sandwiches and cookies (my last-minute splurge purchase). No more Butter Bars in this house!

"Pinning" on the new Velcro rank

Making sure there's a good photo!

New beret ranks

Presidential Certificate Presentation

Swing, Batter, Batter, Swing!

A few months ago, Cam was invited to join his battery's softball team and compete in the Ft. Bliss Softball Tournament throughout the summer. He has been spending several nights a week swinging some wood/aluminum and playing in the dirt against other Army teams.

The A-4 THAAD Battery guys have been doing pretty well each week and have only been blown-out (i.e. mercy rule was in effect) once. Most recently, Cam has been behind the plate playing Catcher. He has the cleat bruises on his knee to prove his competitiveness - heaven forbid anyone tries to slide home, because there will be a former offensive lineman blocking the plate! He's also been improving his batting average and has driven in several runs in the last few games.

I recently drug my bum out to some of the games and enjoyed cheering on our team, while chatting with some wives of the other teams.

Here are a few shots of the guys in action:

A-4 warms up before the game
Cam (2nd from the right in the background) is behind the guy in white shirt and shorts

Playing Catcher

Line Drive!

Dash for 2nd

The next game will be a Saturday tournament against some local employees of Wells Fargo. Let's hope our guys can put on a good show against the civilians!

Busy Bees!

We've been a couple of busy bees these last few weeks ... and thus haven't been able to post in a while. Here's a little update on what we've been up to:

Work has been keeping Cam VERY busy between different training courses, prepping ranges, making inventories, and all the usual paperwork that comes with being a platoon leader. After work, he's been diligently prepping and finishing painting our master bedroom and bath. Here's an "in-process" shot:
We'll post some "after" shots once all the clean-up and proper "pretty" staging is done!

While I don't have a job to keep me busy, I find my days filled with dog walking/entertaining, household chores, errands and various activities on Post that I'm involved in. Plus, I always have time to spare for a coffee get-together with girlfriends! I've also been working away at diminishing my fabric stash before Baby Billy Bob arrives. I know once he/she is here, I won't have time to do as much quilting, so in order to build up my Project Linus stash (so that I have things do donate after his/her entrance) AND clean out the craft closet, I'm sewing my fingers to the bone. I've managed to finish 3 quilts (the Mystery Quilt was started waaaay back in March) in the last 2 weeks and have another on the sewing machine awaiting binding.

A mystery quilt done with the Ft. Bliss Blissful Stitchers. It's a little "scrappy" for my taste, but hopefully some lil' kid will love it!

A panel that I just added the black and blue borders and a backing to. I also tried my hand at a little more free-motion quilting on this one.

A panel of four Suzy Zoo prints that I just added the red and yellow borders and a backing to. I quilted the inner and outer square of the red border and did a little more free-motion quilting over the Suzy design.

Athena's also been a busy little dog, trying to be underfoot no matter what we are doing. She's tolerating her mange treatment and the spot seems to be improving. We have to take her back to the vet in a week to get another skin scraping to test for mite production. Keep your fingers crossed that she gets a clean bill of health!

Sleeping in

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

This afternoon I was invited to the 11th ADA Brigade Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Cam had nominated me for an award (much to my chagrin) a few months ago and then forced me to add up all the hours I had spent on Project Linus activities. After trying to remember how many quilts I'd made, estimating the number of hours each took to make and adding in all the extra activities I do for the group (blanket pick-ups, kit cutting, sorting/inspecting/organizing), I came up with a grand total of 215 hours. A piddly amount compared to many of the other ladies in our Brigade, but I sucked it up and went to the luncheon anyway.

I joined about 150 other ladies from the Brigade in a yummy catered lunch (with a chocolate fountain and ice sculpture!) and in saluting several outstanding soldiers and wives in their volunteerism. We all received an awesome gift bag filled with all kinds of spa stuff, a certificate and a brigade pin as a "Thank You" from the Brigade. I even got a giant bear hug from the Brigade Commander! Thank goodness I wasn't his wife who received a big dip and huge smackaroo from him when her name was called!

I really enjoy what I do to help the local chapter of Project Linus and in turn, to help children of El Paso. I also like having an outlet for new quilts/blankets that I make so that I don't have to overwhelm my family and friends with them. So, while I don't do this for the recognition or for any kind of payment, the Luncheon was a fun way to be proud of my work. Thank you, Cam, for "forcing" me into this.

"Loot" from the Luncheon
(L to R) Flowers, Tote Bag w/ TONS of spa stuff, Brigade Pin, Certificate, and Fancy Pen Holder.

Close-Up of Certificate

Close-Up of Brigade Pin

Close-Up of Fancy Pen Holder.

11th ADA Brigade - Spring Gala

Last night, Cam and I attended the 2010 11th ADA Brigade Welcome Home Gala, our first formal event with his new Brigade. It was held at a very swanky hotel downtown (which isn't so swanky to drive through ... yikes!) in its ballroom with HUGE crystal chandeliers. The ADA colors (red and yellow) were the decorating scheme which made for a very bright and festive atmosphere. We had a lot of fun and got to see several of Cam's new co-workers and former classmates all dressed up and looking snazzy!

Prior to the Gala, I spent the day with Charla Welch trying to get our nails done (too bad the place we had an appointment was closed), having a long leisurely lunch, accessory shopping and finally getting our "hairs did" together by our favorite stylist, John. In the end, we were two gorgeous gals that just needed our dresses!

We ended up carpooling together with our next-door neighbors, Sgt. Wengler and his wife, Heather. Heather had such a good night that she even came home with the Wii door price! Unfortunately, the price for a ride to and from home did not equal the Wii in her mind! :D

Here are some pictures from our super fun evening:

All spiffed up and ready to go!
(Prom-style photo! He-he!)

2LT Smith and 2LT Welch showing off their required red socks

With our good friends, Jason and Charla

Next-door neighbors and carpool buddies for the evening, Darrell and Heather

Aren't we gorgeous?!?

Bataan Memorial Death March 2010

The Bataan Memorial Death March is an annual event held at the White Sands Missile Range, NM to commemorate the 60-mile forced march of American and Filipino prisoners of war by the Japanese in 1942. At least 6,000 of these men died or were killed on the march. The Memorial March is a 26.2 mile course that traverses paved roads, sandy paths and desert terrain over hills and valleys.

The 2010 march drew 5,704 civilian and military participants from all 50 states, at least 4 of the armed services, and 5 countries, including more than two dozen Wounded Warriors (amputees from Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam.) There were several categories to choose from, but Cam and his friend, Jason, chose the Military Individual Heavy category. This meant they were required to be in full service uniform (ACUs) and carry a 35lb rucksack (not including their own water supply.) Cam and Jason trained together several weekends a month by rucking trails around town and tackling the Transmountain Pass.

The day began at 2:45AM and saw all four of us (Cam, me, Jason, and Jason's wife, Charla) at the Missile Range in time for the Marchers continental breakfast at 4:30AM. It was a brisk 24 degrees and breakfast was scarffed down in the truck with heaters at full blast! After a pretty painful Opening Ceremony (still @ 24 degrees), the sun began to rise, the boys grabbed their rucks and headed off into the desert.

For the next 9 hours, Charla and I entertained ourselves by: warming up with a lovely breakfast, gabbing non-stop in the truck, napping in the truck, and when it finally warmed up, talking a walking tour of the White Sands Missile Range. (We decided that if the boys do this next year, we'll see them off and then come home and wait it out!)

After a grueling day, Cam and Jason crossed the Finish Line together with an approximate time of 8hr 33mins. Their rucks were immediately weighed and found to be 55lb (Cam) and 50lbs (Jason). While these measurements did include their remaining water, both boys decided that they hedged their bets a little TOO much!

Following a quick bite on post, we headed home to long, hot showers, dinner, and finally collapsing in bed. Cam was a little sore, but his well-worn-in boots prevented any serious foot injuries. He was glad that he participated and happy he trained for it, through he swears that this was a ONCE IN A LIFETIME activity (at least the Heavy category)!

Freezing at the Opening Ceremony

Gearing Up

Start of the March

How Charla and I spent most of 9 hours

FINISH LINE!!!

Weighing Cam's Ruck = 55lbs (20lbs over required limit)

Lunch/Dinner after the March

Road Trip to OK

This past weekend, I made the 9+ hour drive from El Paso to Lawton, OK to visit Cam. He's halfway through BOLC II training (Officers' Basic Training) at Ft. Sill and needed to get away for a while. We decided that we would head the 90 miles north to Oklahoma City for the weekend.

On my long drive, I noted a few interesting things...

1)El Paso and the surrounding areas are desolate and not very beautiful. However, drive 45 minutes to the east and you begin to see trees, crops, pecan fields, and green grass! I'm glad to know that all of west Texas is not as bad as El Paso. In fact, much of west Texas reminded me of eastern Washington minus the irrigation sprinklers and BIG rolling hills (Texas has very small hills - that are called mountains.)

2)Driving Habits: I now know why El Paso drivers are sooooooooooo terrible! It's the bad influence of the Mexican drivers! I passed 5 cars with Mexican plates on my drive ... all of them going AT LEAST 15 miles under the speed limit and in the left lane! Argh!

3)Mother Nature in Action: As I was driving along, I noticed some type of bird of prey swoop down along side the road and take off again with a snake in it's clutches. As it flew over the car, the snake was writhing around. Very cool to see in person!

4)More Local Wildlife: The only armadillo I saw was some road kill, but I'm going to count it as seeing a real-life armadillo.

5) Nerd Alert: How big of nerd am I that I was excited to see the fields and fields of oil rigs and was seriously tempted to stop at the Petroleum Museum in Odessa, TX and the meteor crater outside of Abilene, TX???

And now some photos of the drive:

I was most excited to see that in parts of Texas, the speed limit is 80 mph. Now, if only Washington would do this on many of its eastern highways! (I-90, Hwy 26, Hwy 395 ... to name a few!)

In the town of Anson, the highway curves around the city hall, planted right in the middle of town.

Do you think that Pecos Bill and his tornado are near by?

Nerd shot, but I had to as the car rolling over the 3000 mile point.

Long Time, No Blog...

Shame on me!!! It's been far TOO long since I've updated this blog and I have no real excuse for not doing so. It's not like I've been overly busy these last few weeks...

Cam has been away at Ft. Sill, OK for the last 2 1/2 weeks, participating in BOLC II (Basic Officers' Learning Course - AKA Officers' Basic Training). So far he's VERY unimpressed with Ft. Sill and Lawton, OK area and said, "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Ft. Bliss and El Paso!" (Guess the grass isn't always greener, huh?)

Compounding this new-found "homesickness", he's rather frustrated with the BOLC II training as it's all a repeat of stuff he did in Basic Training and OCS. It's mainly geared toward those soldiers coming out of ROTC and the Academy programs (who don't have to attend Basic Training OR OCS). He's also frustrated that he is one of the last classes that must complete this training as the Army is doing away with the course next year.

On a happier note, I'm going to OK to visit Cam this upcoming weekend! We've got a full schedule of things to do and see while we visit Oklahoma City and I'll post pictures as soon as I'm back. I've never been to OK, so I'm also excited to get it crossed off my list of visited states!

As for me, I've been keeping myself busy in El Paso by searching for a new job (STILL!). However, I'm finding that I like the freedom and free time I have as a housewife! I've almost completed my next Project Linus quilt and am eager to start on the next! I've also found that there are several activities that I would like to participate in, including a weekly Army wives Bible study on base and a "Sit & Sew" group that meets at a local fabric store! Plus, if I continue my daily work-out routine, I just might find that I have NO TIME whatsoever to waste on a job! Ha!

My make-shift sewing table in the middle of the living room

Boy Project Linus Quilt - Stage#1

Oh, what a boring life we lead...

It's been a while since we've posted anything, but we have returned (after several requests for a blog post and several assurances that we've done nothing noteworthy for the last few weeks)! However, be prepared to be put to sleep!

First, we've finally managed to get all of the boxes we had delivered unpacked, sorted, put away and/or repacked! We spent all day yesterday breaking down boxes, throwing away a GIGANTIC mountain of packing paper, and finally are able to use our main bathroom. The only other major hurdle we're faced with is going through the 3 boxes of paperwork from our filing cabinet. There will be "a whole lotta *shreddin* going on" since we don't think we'll be needing our 10-year old electric bills from Pullman any more!

Work has been going well for Cam. He's been loaned out to a different Major. Major D is in the process of overhauling the Air Defense Artillery training and Cam's been assigned various tasks to support that. Cam's also had the opportunity to do some simulator training on various weapons systems, including: M2 .50 cal, MK 19 grenade launcher, M240B machine gun, and M4 rifle. Cam leaves for BOLC II training (AKA Officers' Basic Training) on July 4 and will be at Ft. Sill, OK for 6 weeks.

On the Mr. Fix-It front, Cam spent most of Friday afternoon dismantling the large TV cabinet. In its original state, it was far too heavy to lift into the back of the truck in order to deliver it to the recycle place. With all the extra wood and speakers removed, it's far easier to handle.

BEFORE

DURING: Cam dismantling the old TV

AFTER#1

AFTER#2

Finally, I had a TOTAL GIRL MOMENT on Friday morning. While preparing to take a shower after Cam had left for work (no clothes on or contacts in), I pulled back the shower curtain to find the biggest cockroach I've seen yet! After screaming my head off, I decided to take matters into my own hands and squished the sucker with a nice pointy stiletto. I then used the skills gained from years of watching CSI:, Forensic Files, etc. to document the crime scene. Eek! That sucker was HUGE! Cam claims that the roach he stepped on a few weeks ago (in the middle of the night, in his bare feet), was AT LEAST the size of this one. Since I've heard that, I haven't once gotten up at night to do anything!

In the Land of Boxes, Part Duex

It's been 2 1/2 looooooong weeks living in our new apartment without the majority of our household goods. We've survived using paper plates and frozen "ready to saute" dinners, camp chairs in the living room and sleeping on an air mattress. But Tuesday morning, that all changed! We FINALLY got some of our household goods delivered.

The plan was to only request delivery of about 1/2 of the stuff we had moved down here since: 1)the apartment we moved into is WAAAAAY smaller than our house in Bremerton and 2)because we will be moving into a house in a few months anyway. (That way, the Army pays for storage as opposed to us! Ha!) Well, when the movers showed up Tuesday morning, the truck only had about 1/2 of what we had requested. Turns out, the Army Travel Office did not fax the warehouse all of the item lists that Cam submitted.

So, the mover guys had to go back to the warehouse, search through a packed Indiana Jones-style wooden crate of the stuff we wanted to remain in storage, and deliver another load to us that night. Unfortunately, they still didn't find about 5 items we had originally requested (including a card table & chairs that we are going to use in the dining area AND our computer tower) so they'll have do to another search and delivery. Argh! At least we got an actual bed to sleep on last night and a couch to veg in front of the tube!

So, we've been slowly unpacking all of our stuff and discovering that we have far too many belongings. Therefore, Goodwill is going to get a handsome delivery of items that we haven't used and/or don't have room for. Maybe with all the moves we will be doing in the Army, we'll be able to keep a lid on our "Pack Rat" genes?

The perfect place for empty boxes: the main bathroom shower!

The giant disaster left in the kitchen after all the boxes were unpacked.
(Cam threatened to call in Niecy Nash from "Clean House" to help...)

The "new" tv stand
(Anyone want a 35-inch for FREE?)

Do you see the first thing unpacked in the office?
(Thanks again for Clyde, Tim!)