Real Housewives of the Army

On Tuesday I got to attend the Ft. Lewis annual spouses dinner for the 3rd year! It was not quite as crazy as previous years, but this year was still the best because the 3rd Brigade ladies brought it big-time, and won the grand prize for participation/theme! It was so much fun.

Our brigade theme was "Real Housewives of the Army," and each battalion did "Real Housewives" of a specific Army post/region of the country. My Tomahawk ladies and I were Ft. Drum/New York. The other battalions did Ft. Lewis/Pacific Northwest, Ft. Stewart/the south, Schofield/Hawaii, Ft. Carson/Colorado, and Ft. Hood/the west. Everyone went all out and we all looked fantastic. We knew we had the contest in the bag as soon as we showed up, especially after we did our skit and brigade cheer. ;-)

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1-23 Tomahawks ladies

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Me, Kacey, Keri, and Alisha--I love these girls!

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With the fabulous Kelly and Teresa

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The entire 3rd Brigade party!

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Alisha and me

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My lovely Brazilian friend Susy, who I met at church but is actually in 3rd Brigade as well.

All about food

I apologize in advance if this entry causes any mouth-watering or cravings. ;-)

On Valentine's Day we decided to stay in and have a nice dinner at home, since it was a work day for both of us and another fancy dinner out did not fit into the budget after having just celebrated my birthday. I decided to try a meal featuring scallops, since they are Andrew's favorite kind of seafood. I found a recipe that used the broiler (I have become very obsessed with using the broiler lately!) and they turned out very well! To go along with them was fettucine alfredo, garlic bread, and salad with homemade Italian dressing. Oh, and don't forget the wine--it is very important. ;-)

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For dessert we had chocolate fondue, with strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, pound cake, and bananas to dip in. But I completely forgot to snap a picture of that.

I also got the urge to practice with my sugar cookies with royal icing again, and they turned out really cute!

From Blogger Pictures

From Blogger Pictures

I regretted using that blue though--it turned out much too light. And I need to get a smaller tip for writing with.

A few days ago I noticed a dish on the cover of a Wildtree catalog that looked yummy, but there was no recipe for it, or even a description. But I still wanted it! So I decided to try to concoct something similar myself. It had chicken breast, fettucine, broccoli, and fresh tomatoes, in some kind of creamy white sauce. I needed to use up some chicken thighs though so instead of cutting up chicken breast, I popped the thighs in the oven to roast, topped with garlic and salt and pepper. Then I made a white sauce with butter, garlic, cream, salt, pepper, and a few pinches of Italian seasoning. I added some parmesan to thicken it, and then tossed it with some pasta, steamed broccoli, and fresh tomatoes and parsley. It was so good! I love creating my own concoctions. =)

Accomplishments and Lessons

I went running again this morning with my new running group, Run to Remember (picture above snagged from their site). I am excited to say that, despite fighting the onset of a chest cold, I ran 5 miles for the first time in my life! My leg muscles were hurting quite badly the last mile, but I managed to push through and finish with overall little difficulty. I still can't quite believe it! About a year ago I was claiming I couldn't run, haha. Running with this group has been so amazing. Not only does it feed my patriotism and love for the military (the group was founded in honor of the dozens of soldiers killed from one particular infantry brigade from Ft. Lewis in their last deployment to Afghanistan), but it's given me people to run with every week and keep me encouraged and on a training schedule.

On an entirely different note, I've learned a few things this week, both completely unrelated to each other.

Thing #1: Sometimes the person you would most expect to know better than to start drama can turn out to be the complete opposite. And I must say I consider that sad.

Thing #2: Accusations and/or judgments from people I'm not close to no longer bother me. A few years ago, a confrontational email from someone--anyone!-- would get my blood pressure up, tear ducts going, and my fingers flying madly across my keyboard. No rest could be had for this girl until she had fired back an immediate, long, and defensive response!! Now? I just shrug my shoulders and say, "Whatever." Life is too short to worry over judgment from people who don't know you inside and out and only see you through a computer screen.

Travel, runs, goodbyes, and more

Hmm, what to blog about?

* School is still going well. I've been making As on all my tests, and I'm looking forward to taking some more classes next quarter!

* I have my plane ticket to go visit my family in Florida next month. I'll be there for about 10 days, and I'm so excited to see my family--it's been over two years. I'm also so excited to go spend a few days with this girl:

We've been close friends ever since we were 16 and it's been forever since we've gotten to spend any quality time together! I need me some Amy time. =)


* I've been getting back into running, after being a huge slacker for quite a few months. I'm going to be running a 15k with my aunt and uncle while I'm in FL, and I have decided to do the Seattle Rock 'n Roll 1/2 marathon in June! So I have motivation as well as deadlines, which is what I always need to accomplish most things. I know I can do it, but at the same time, it is going to be a big challenge. I was running around the airfield on post (4.3 miles) this morning and thinking, "WHY does this always sound fun until I'm doing it?" Haha But running the 1/2 marathon will also be a "last hurrah" with a few of my good friends before they leave this summer.

* Speaking of friends leaving, too many of them are doing just that. The next few months are going to contain one goodbye after another. It's so sad. =( I've decided the hardest part of military life is not the deployments, as sucky as those are. It's saying goodbye to all the friends who become as close to you as family. But as the saying goes, "It's a small Army." There's always a good chance I'll run into some of them again one day at another post!

* I have a purring kitty in my lap. Does life get any better than that?