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!)

A New-To-Us Car

After weeks spent touring ALL the local car dealerships in El Paso, we finally found a practically new car that will become the commuter car for one of us. We got a GREAT deal on a dark blue 2009 Chevy Malibu with only 1000 miles on it. The original owner had a case of "Buyer's Remorse" and traded in his practically new car on a used Mercedes. The Mercedes dealership was going to wholesale the Malibu out to one of the local Chevy dealers and we snatched it up @ wholesale price instead. Go Bargain Shoppers!

The shopping process was pretty painful. Cam spent evenings and weekends combing the internet for available cars that met our criteria (low miles, four-doors, cheap). Ironically, most of the used sedans in the area that were even options for us were gold in color (must have been a popular color a few years ago in the desert.) Obviously we had to walk away from those cars because we would have never heard the end of it from our Husky friends if we owned a gold car AND a purple truck!

Our cool new ride

Cam speeding along

Thunderstorms, Camp Chairs and Missiles! Oh My!

It's been a wild and wacky couple of weeks for us as we settle into life in the desert. First, we've FINALLY found and "moved into" an apartment on the west side of town. It will serve as our base for the next few months as we go on the house-hunt. Unfortunately, it's going to be another week and a half before any of the stuff the Army moved for us gets delivered to our apartment. Until then, we're "camping" with sleeping bags, an air mattress, plastic dishes and reclining camp chairs! Here are couple of pictures of our redneck set-up ... until all our furniture is delivered.

Check out our AWESOME TV base!

Hanging out in our new camp chairs

We also got to experience our first couple of thunderstorms, complete with big lightning strikes, really loud thunder and hail the size of Atomic Fireballs. Thankfully, there has been no flash-flooding yet, but we must be close to the 8 inches of average rainfall for the area! However, rain here is nothing like we're used to. It rains for about 5 minutes and then it's gorgeous and sunny!

Finally, the first week we were here, Cam was invited out to the missile range to watch a small demonstration of Patriot Missiles. Check out the video below that Cam shot and produced (with theme music and everything!) First, there's a shot of the Patriot Missile launching platform truck, the first missile shot, the second missile shot, and (if you look closely) the small puff of smoke showing that the target was hit.

"Down in the west Texas town of El Paso ..."

... We DID NOT fall in love with a Mexican girl, like the old Marty Robbins song. In fact, after our first full 24 hours here, we hardly fell even in "slightly like" with El Paso. It definitely a change of pace from the Pacific Northwest, with desert landscape and temperatures reaching the high 80s! At least it's a "dry" heat...

The area does have some interesting topography. As you can see in the photo below, the Franklin Mountains sit right in the middle of the landscape and city. El Paso has grown on the east and west sides and meet around the southern edge of the hills.

Another "interesting" feature of the area: Juárez, Mexico is thisssssss close. As you drive through on Interstate-10, the city of El Paso is on the north side of the freeway and Juárez is directly south. El Paso and Juárez comprise one of the largest binational metropolitan areas in the world with a combined population of 2.5 million people. This little tidbit, however, does not entice us to cross over the border into one of the hotbeds of the Mexican drug wars. In fact, all military personnel are forbidden from visiting the city.

We are still in the process of getting all of the Army paperwork in order and trying to find a place to live. We are currently holed up in the Ft. Bliss Inn (converted barracks) and are frantically searching for an apartment or duplex around town. Thankfully, the inn has air conditioning which will come in handy when the temperatures spike in the 100s later this week. Good thing I packed some 1000 spf sunscreen (O.K. only 75 spf) to protect our lily-white Washington skin.