"Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second"

Saturday July 28th, 2012

After getting home at 1AM last night (the DCI competition was all the way in Murfreesburo!) Andy and I haven't been too eager to do much today.

We did try a new restaurant here in Clarksville. Well, it's not new to Clarksville, but it's new to us :)

It didn't blow our socks off but it's not a bad little place for a salad or sandwich.

We spent the rest of the day doing some reading (well trying, we both kept falling asleep) and watching more Olympics of course!

I have agreed to try to start reading a Sharpe's Rifles book.

Andy LOVES this series and about all I can get myself to read right now is the Kinsey Milhone series by Sue Grafton :)

I'm currently on 'K is for Killer' and actually trying to read the series slowly because I don't want it to end - how much nerdier can one get!?! :)

Seriously though, I am trying very hard to start reading more because I feel like for the last 10 years of my life I've been reading books/journals required for school, so it's a good thing Andy's trying to get me to branch out :)

And what's a better way to end a lazy day than with indian food from Tandoor Indian Restaurants!? :)

*** Olympics 2012***

We also saw a fair amount of the Olympics today. We watched the women's volleyball team beat Korea, men's beach volleyball team beat South Africa, a smidge or rowing and cycling.

Friday July 27th, 2012

Summer Olympics 2012 in London start TODAY!

However, Andy and I went to a Drum Core International (DCI) show tonight instead of watching the opening ceremony (but don't worry we DVRed it! :)

This is my first exposure to a drum and bugle core competition and I loved it! It was so entertaining! The years final competition is in Indianapolis and if Andy and I didn't already have plans the day it's taking place we'd be going :)

And here are some pictures of the Olympic's opening ceremony :) We watched almost all 4.5 hours of it!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2012

I got this picture from my mom today. Sammy dog is officially 50lbs! Whew she's already a big girl and she's only a few months!

Sunday July 22nd, 2012

We took Turk dog for a walk at the Clarksville Greenway. The Greenway is a rails-to-trails project and is probably the BEST place to go for a walk here in C'ville.

It's nicely paved and very well shaded...well for humans.

Turk dog didn't fair so well :) We got about 1.5 miles and he was DONE! But it still felt good to at least 'try' to get him out for some exercise :)

Saturday July 21st, 2012

Our morning started out with a nap, yes a nap. Unfortunately my body is trained to wake up no later than 7-7:30 EVERY morning :( It doesn't matter if it's a weekend or the morning after a really late night(we got home about 12:30-1AM last night!)
Sooooo today didn't start out too productive :)

Andy was able to get me to agree to a date night though :) We had dinner at one of our favs - The Blackhorse.

And then saw "Happy Days" at our local theatre, The Roxy Regional Theatre :)

Friday July 20th, 2012

The Army Ball!!

This evening I attended my first ever Army Ball with Andy :) Andy's unit organized the ball due to their upcoming deployment and will have another one next summer when they get home :)

I had no idea what to expect and I really enjoyed it! The evening started with an hour or two of socializing, greeting the squadron commander and getting pictures taken. Then the formal section of the evening began with the creation of the grog, speeches and a dinner. We sat with Ruth & Steve and Anna & Jeff - their wives are going to be my lifeline while Andy is gone this year :)

After dinner we spent a little more time socializing and I think by the end of the night I had meet every single officer in his squadron!

I will say, I learned 2 things this evening:
1) Don't underestimate the amount of alcohol a squadron of soldiers will consume
2)don't wear 3-4inch heals to a long formal event :)

Thursday July 19th, 2012

There were a lot of storms in our area the week we were on vacation and unfortunately they haven't let up! We haven't been home 2 weeks and I think we've had 3-4 storms so far!

Although I don't enjoy severe storms, the rain is very much needed. Our grass was completely dead when we got back from vacation due to all the heat we've had this summer. This is a snapshot of the temps we've had in July!

Monday July 16th - Thursday July 19th, 2012

I spent this entire week at work frantically preparing for a state audit this Friday. Being on vacation just a week ago definitely put me beind slightly and everything at work needs to be as close to perfect as possible! Negative audits can mean we lose our government funding!!

Soooo I had A LOT of this, this week!

Sunday July 15th, 2012

We decided to have a lazy Sunday morning, which we call a donie day (because it typically involves donuts ad a movie:)

This morning we got donuts from Donut Delight and watched Ice Age!

Later in the day we took Turk dog to the Heritage Bark Park.

Then went to a new antique store in town, Miss Lucille's.

Then our day ended similiarly to how it started - TV :) With 2 of our favs - Big Brother and Falling Skies!

Saturday July 14th, 2012 - Part Two

Jason came home today from his 3 month deployment!

Saturday July 14th, 2012

We went to Nashville today because the Army Ball is next weekend and I still don't have a formal dress yet! Ekks!

The day started out with a rainstorm...

Luckily it cleared up as we were in Cool Springs mall finding a dress :) And I definitely lucked out looking for a dress! We only went to 2 stores and I found dresses I liked at both stores. I ended up picking this one :)

After we found my dress we went over to the Green Hills area and had lunch at the Califoria Pizza Kitchen (CPK). I had NO idea how good it was going to be! I got the wild mushroom pizza and Andy got the mushroom, pepperoni and sausage.

After we came home we hung out with Turk dog :)...

And then had a very typically date night for us - dinner at our local indian restaurant and then a movie! Tonight we saw Abraham Licoln, Vampire Hunter.

Friday July 13th,2012

Andy and I went to dinner with a couple of friends, Ruth & Steve, at Canyon Road Steakhouse.

Friday June 29th to Sunday July 8th, 2012

Summer of 2012 Vacation

Andy and I decided to go to California for vacation this summer. This is just a short little recap of the trip!

We started our trip in Santa Clara to see his alma mater, Santa Clara University, and to visit his family that also lives in the area.

Saturday June 29th

Santa Clara University

Winchester Mystery House

"Sarah Winchester believed after her husband died that her family and her fortune were being haunted by spirits – in fact, by the spirits of American Indians, Civil War soldiers, and others killed by Winchester rifles. Supposedly the untimely deaths of her daughter and husband were caused by these spirits, and it was implied that Mrs. Winchester might be the next victim.

Mrs. Winchester was instructed by a psychic to move west and appease the spirits by building a great house for them. As long as construction of the house never ceased, Mrs. Winchester could rest assured that her life was not in danger. Building such a house was even supposed to bring her eternal life.

In 1884 she purchased an unfinished farm house just three miles west of San Jose - and over the next thirty-eight years she produced the sprawling complex we know today as the Winchester Mystery House"

Sunday July 1st

We went ziplining in the a redwood forest! I was terrified and don't have any pictures on the actual zipline but here are some pictures in the forest.

Monday July 2nd

We headed to Napa Valley on Monday and spent the day on a wine tour! We visited 4 different wineries.

We spent the rest of the vacation in San Francisco. We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Coit Tower, Beach Blanket Babylon, Fort Point and quite a bit more!

Tuesday July 3rd

Fort Baker