Trip to Texas

Mr. L, Bo, and I made the trip down to Houston to visit Mr. L's family. It was a long drive. Really long. Crazy long. Did I mention it was long? It was 16 hours long to be exact. I didn't take many pictures because we were mainly just lazy and spending lots of family time but I did capture Bo's funny positions in the car :)

The Royal Gorge Bridge

Mr. L's best man Jeff, his wife Ashley, and their daughter Alexis, and I all took a trip to the Royal Gorge Bridge. The bridge itself is 2100 feet x 18 feet wide and as you can see on some of the photos, the part you walk on is made of wood!! It was built in 1929 and it's breathtaking! You can find more fun stats about it here: http://www.royalgorgebridge.com/FactSheet.aspx.

This is sort of backwards because this shot is us at the bottom of the canyon :)
Amazing! None of my pictures really do it justice or really show just how deep the gorge was.
View from the cable tram that goes across the gorge.
Explanation. They have this attraction called the skycoaster, which cranks you back and lets you fly out over the gorge superman style. After Jeff and Mr. L tried it, I decided to go too. These photos are of Mr. L and Jeff "flying" out over the gorge. Let me just tell you it was a huge rush!
This is the best shot of looking down into the gorge... it's one of those places you don't lean too far over the edge!
Crazy!
Of course, had to pose with the Virginia sign ;)
The little box on the upper left is the tram you can ride across the gorge. Pretty crazy and a long, long, long way down!
Jeff, Ashley, and Alexis!
Amazing views. It was so beautiful and so quiet you just had to stand there and take it all in.
From about half way across the bridge.
All of us!

Homecoming

Waiting for him to walk through the doors
Finally!
On the way down the escalator...
Bliss.


Heading out

Love him.

Yay for new Friends!

So one day I walked up to Mrs. H and I said "We should be friends." I feel like with military spouses you just have to do that sometimes. It's kind of like elementary school or maybe a high school dance. You know they are totally cool but you are nervous to ask for a shopping buddy or somebody to help you drive your husband's car across town (oh wait that's another story). Anyway I have been so fortunate with the friends I've made here and in the short time I've known them all, I LOVE them! I have never met a group of stronger women in my life. Ok backstory over. This is about my new friend Mrs. H.

Mrs. H, Mrs. S and I out on the town.
Love this one. :)
This is Kaia, Mrs. H's furry child. She is such a sweet dog and is one of the few dogs Bo actually will play with and not try to "hug" or kill. She is a good sport too when he does get cranky and goes kujo on her. Isn't she cute?!
BFF's. For life.
Mrs. H and Kaia at the JQ run.
"Whine" night :) Notice our bottle of Vampire wine... we could hardly contain ourselves.
On the way to the Colorado State fair for the Rodeo and fried twinkies :)

Another Recent Obsession

Me and Mrs. H (my new friend!) at the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure.
All the girls at the start of the race
Crazy right?! There were 7,000 participants. It was so fun and for such a great cause. I ran (walked) in honor of my Aunt Z and Granny.
JQ! There's a pub in town that sponsors weekly 5K runs. After 10 races you get this sweet Brooks running shirt. There are a bunch of us that go every week for the great run and of course the $2.50 beers afterwards! I started off walking a lot and am now running like a real runner! I'm so proud...
Our first JQ run. These prompted a batallion wide "Walk our Soldiers Home." We are all keeping track of our miles with the goal of reaching the amount of miles from Afghanistan back home. Cool and totally good for you!

First Anniversary!

These arrived on my doorstep! Mr. L couldn't make it home in time to celebrate with me on the actual day of our first anniversary but he's going to make up with it on this secret trip he's planned. I can't wait!

Adventures of Bo and Mommy

Bo's most favorite pastime, going for a ride in the car with his head out the window!
Lazy time.
After the incline, coming down Barr trail.
Looking handsome :)
Weekly 5K
New Halloween outfit! Totally fitting for "El Diablo!"
At the top of the Incline
Lookin' good!

Home Improvements this summer

SO what's a girl to do all summer with no husband? Renovate of course! I did all of it myself except the plumbing and the tile work. Other projects not on here were fixing up a yucky bench out back to bring some schnazz to the front patio, hanging up real curtain rods with the anchors and all (totally worth it), lots of paint touch ups and cleaning, and a failed attempt with the pressure washer. Not all that tragic, but it just wouldn't run properly. And don't forget the hours of mowing and weeding. I have one proud husband, that's for sure!

New tile! This is our master bathroom that used to be a nasty ratty CARPET! Crazy. I love the new tile. Just waiting on the last few finishing touches before it's done.
Hung shutters! Only one window had them and they were an ugly burgandy color. So with the help of a friend and a rope around my waist, I have fancy new black shutters. Totally scary but I rocked the power drill!
Of course with new shutters, you have to have a black door. After trial and error on Mrs. R's door, we found the best paint. (Don't every buy Rusoleum brand "door" paint. It's horrible.) I think it looks pretty snazzy :)
New faucets. These are in the master, and they replaced the oh so fun crystal globe builder grade faucets that were all over my house. Now we have sleek brushed nickel in every bathroom. These are just a bit fancier than the other bathrooms.
Aaah. Brushed nickel. So much better than brass! We had the yucky gold all over the place and I couldn't stand it anymore. So me and my power drill got down to business! Well, Mr. L's power drill that is.

Getting back into Blogging...

I am SO sorry it's been months since I posted. I have been here and there, all over the Caribbean, and now that Mr. L is on his way home I figured I needed to jump back in! I will pick out my favorite photos from summer for you, starting with this one...

Little Bo got pretty aggressive this summer and I finally got fed up and met with a dog trainer. We went through all the training Petsmart offers and nothing was helping. She was fantastic and told me to incorporate more structure into his day, leave safe toys in his crate, and to train him A LOT with the clicker. But with only one dog or so at a time so he's not so agitated. He's doing a lot better, but we still have a lot of work to do.

Mr. L is heading back from deployment very very soon. Obviously can't give any details because of security reasons but I will certainly post pictures when he's home :) It's been a crazy 6 months and it's hard to believe it went by so fast.

So again I'm sorry for the long absence. I promise to be better!