Crafts GALORE!

It's been a while since I posted any "craft" updates ... and I've certainly been busy! I try to remind Cam that if I stay busy, I'll stay out of trouble and out of the bars. Ha!

I've continued making quilts for the El Paso Project Linus group and have decided to become more involved with the group starting in January. I'll be leading the team that gathers donated blankets from various drop-off locations around the city.

I joined a sewing group recently and learned how to make a purse during my first meeting. Based on that experience, I designed and made a birthday present bag for the 4-year-old daughter of a friend of ours.

Because he thinks his Uncle Cam is "cool", our nephew decided he wanted to be an Army man for Halloween. While perusing the Clothing & Sales store on post, we ran across kid-sized ACUs and decided they would be perfect for him. To make them more authentic, I sewed on the name patch, US Army patch, and flag patch before sending the set north.

Finally, it hasn't been all sewing-type crafts for me. I recently took a beading class and learned how to make my own jewelry from store-bought beads. While I haven't finished anything yet (and therefore have no pictures to share), I am looking forward to expanding this new skill!

Baby quilt made from a Project Linus kit

Shiver me timbers! A cute flannel quilt

Arrrrr, Matey! Fabric detail

The sewing group's project purse

Addisyn's bag (w/ a little bling!)

Cute bug & flower lining of Addi's bag

Andrew's ACUs

World's Fastest 10K

Cam participated in the World's Fastest 10K race yesterday (10/11/09). The race is a nearly all downhill run down the side of the Franklin Mountains (the mountain range that runs through the middle of El Paso, TX) and used by many "professional" runners to improve on their personal best time! The road course starts at an elevation of 5,200 feet (the summit of a pass over the mountain) and finishes at 3,800 feet.

Like last time, we met up with a couple of friends prior to the race. Charla ran the 2 mile fun run and Jason (a lifelong cross-country/track runner) used the 10K as a warm-up for the Albuquerque Marathon taking place next weekend. Cam and Jason were even joined by their Battalion XO, Major McCoy in the race. Approximately 175 people ran and Cam finished 12th in his age category with a time of 49 minutes 28 seconds. He even beat his goal time of 50 minutes!

After the race, despite tight muscles, Charla and Jason joined us for a yummy brunch at our favorite local greasy spoon! We all are looking forward to the next few races coming up, including a costume race for Halloween, a race at a local winery (with free booze at the finish line!) in November and a Jingle Bell run in December.

Cam before the start of the race

Cam coming into land at the finish line (note his race #)

Crossing the finish line with a time of 45:28

The runners (L to R): Major McCoy, Cam, Jason, Charla

Long time, no post...

Wow! It's been a long time since I've looked at our blog! Good thing I decided to put fingers to keyboard to update you on what's been happening in the World o' Smith. Unfortunately, we have been leading a terribly unexciting life in El Paso for the last few weeks!

Cam has been staying VERY busy with BOLC III (Basic Officers Leadership Course) training. So far, the 2nd Lieutenants have been trained on basic leadership skills and various Army forms and paperwork. They have had several tests on the material and Cam has been averaging in the high 90%'s. If he maintains this average through the next 2 1/2 months, he may have a shot at an Honor Grad spot during his December graduation. Next week, the 2nd Lieutenants begin Patriot missiles training.

Part of the recent BOLC III training included a field trip to the Islamic Cultural Center of El Paso and El Paso Holocaust Museum. Spouses were invited along and so my friend, Charla, and I joined the class. While Cam and I didn't learn much about Islam at the Islamic Center (as we both have studied the religion a far amount), we did learn a few things about mosques. The most interesting tidbit: all mosques contain a large dome over the prayer room in order to enhance the acoustics of the room. It's a similar concept as the designs of many of the old cathedrals in Europe.

After a quick lunch, the group headed to the El Paso Holocaust Museum, one of only four stand alone museums dedicated to the subject in the US. The docent giving the tour herded us through the exhibits rather quickly and did not give us enough time to read all the information at each stop. Therefore, the four of us (Jason, Charla, Cam and I) decided to revisit the museum the following weekend. Again, we did not learn anything new at the museum, but it was an interesting place to visit. (FYI - Cam was a History major; emphasis on WWII and I learned many things via osmosis from him. Either that or it's due to the constant exposure to the Hitler ... I mean, History Channel!).

While Cam's been slaving away at school, I've been staying busy playing housewife. I've made several new quilts and other sewing projects and will post pictures in a new post soon! I've also joined the Ft. Bliss Officer Spouses' Club and have been making new friends and trying new activities. I'm also making time to reconnect with several old "new" Army wife friends, now that everyone is back in town.

Finally, this past week we celebrated our third wedding anniversary! Due to Cam's large quantity of homework that week, we were only able to celebrate with a very yummy home-cooked steak dinner and cheesecake. Never fear! We are headed to San Antonio to watch our beloved Cougs take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Alamodome at the end of the month to celebrate our anniversary and 30th birthdays! Not exactly the traditional leather/glass/crystal gift, but perfect for us!

We will have several new posts coming over the next few days. These will include the craft update I mentioned above as well as a post regarding Cam's latest road race! Stay tuned...

Run, Cam! Run!

Cam participated in the 16th Annual German American Night Run 8K last night at Ft. Bliss. The event was hosted by the post's MWR and the German Air Force Defense Center in honor of Oktoberfest! (The German Air Force has been a fixture for many years at Ft. Bliss training with the US Army on missile systems.) Prior to the race, we met up with some of Cam's fellow 2nd Lieutenants and our friends, Jason and Charla.

The 5 mile race course was around the streets on post and therefore, was a pretty flat run. For his first race, Cam felt he did relatively well and managed to maintain his goal average-mile pace. We are looking forward to many more races in the months to come, including a 10K in October and a possible half-marathon in March!

After the race, we pigged out on German brats, beers and goodies with our friends before heading home to watch the DVR'd Coug versus Hawaii game. On second thought, we should have stayed at the park and rocked out with the German Air Force band ...

Some of the gang that ran (L-to-R: Charla, 2LT Jason, 2LT Cam, 2LT Dan)

We were serenaded by the German Air Force band with German and English covers of music ranging from Billy Ray Cyrus to AC/DC!

Cam finished with a time of 46:45

Obvious Dinner Choice: Brats w/ Sauerkraut

German goodies provided by the German Wives' Bake Sale (YUM!)

Home, home on the Range!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with our friends, Charla and Jason, out at the Ft. Bliss Rod & Gun Club. We took our full arsenal out and Jason and Charla brought their 30-06 rifle along too!

After prepping the targets we found and scavenged from the range, we were ready for fun! Cam was finally able to zero his AR-15 properly, shoot his new PPK and Tauras .357, and try out Jason's 30-06. Jason tried his best to bruise his shoulder with his rifle after Charla destroyed the milk jug on her first shot. Charla has now added a 9mm to her Christmas wish list. And Kristy had fun using the .357 and decided that the PPK is the perfect "purse gun"!

All in all, we enjoyed flexing our 2nd Amendment rights and were only a little disappointed that we were unable to kill "Achilles, the Wonder Duck" (scavenged from the range) despite repeated attacks from the 30-06, AR-15 and shot gun!

The boys prepping the targets

Cam and his "new" PPK

Jason and his 30-06

Kristy with the .357

Charla and her destroyed milk jug

Achilles, the Wonder Duck, survived our onslaught!