Saturday

It was absolutely beautiful in Colorado today. We had plans to hit the gym and then a health fair, but like everything else, plans changed.


We decided on another bike ride, heading south on the Santa Fe Trail this time. We loaded up the 3 bikes, the hitchhiker, the trailer, 5 people, and of course, Sammy the dog.


Junior was king of the hill.

The flag came into play later when we took a walk and it was his "horse". What good is a horse if you can't say "hiddyup"?


Em did not want to go at all. She had all kinds of excuses—I don't want to sweat. I don't want fresh air. I don't like to be outside. I don't like to exercise. It's too cold. The list went on and on and on and on.


We went anyway, much to her dismay.

The south part of the trail was beautiful, and a lot more of it was paved. They had a sign up that said that they want to eventually extend the trail from New Mexico to Wyoming. I'll take that trip, but without the extra 100 pounds I was packing there with Abs attached to me.


We finally reached a turning point, and headed home. Abs and I took off, with Em close behind. We got back to the park and realized that a train had parked and blocked the exit. We waited for Gunner, Sammy and Junior….and waited….and waited. Finally I started running back on the trail to find them.


There was Gunner, walking, holding Sammy's leash as he was walking, followed by Junior who was walking. Gunner was still managing to push the bike followed by the trailer. He was quite a sight, but I didn't have the heart to take a picture of him.


We took the kids home, fed them, and got them situated watching tv and Gunner took me to a mountain bike trail up the road from our house. It's going to be great once it is dry, but it was a little too wet to fly through today.


Gunner fired up the grill and we had ribs, pea/corn salad, beans, and cornbread for dinner.


We got Hurt Locker and it took less than a minute for Gunner to start pointing out inconsistencies.

This will be fun…

There are a few of my favorite (Army) things...

10.  Black Silks--perfect for keeping me warm when I go skiing next week.

9.  Army slang--hooah, roger, over, out, at ease--the list is endless, and I love them all, especially when coming out of the mouth of my handsome Soldier.

8.  DFAC--where else can you eat so inexpensively?  I remember when we got to Germany and got stuck at 21st replacement, I couldn't wait to go there three times a day.  My husband thinks I am insane.

7.  Tricare--While there are a lot of unfortunate stories out there, and they didn't cover Ab's visual therapy, they have covered everything else that we have tried, and without question.  After three kids, I had nothing but great medical treatment, and only one cost me $20, the other two were free!

6.  PT & cadence--If you don't like the sight of men running in formation and singing cadence or marching and calling cadence, then there must be something wrong with you.  Ummm....I had to ask Gunner which one was which.

5.  I'm sure there's a technical name for this shirt, but Gunner and his buddies call it the "spidey shirt".

4.  Reunions--Deployments aren't ideal, and after 4 years of them, I can assure you, that a reunion is better than anything else.  :)

3.  Full battle rattle--It may be heavy for him, it may be a little uncomfortable, but the sight of Gunner in his full battle rattle.......love it!

2.  Brown towels--You don't like them?  They are the perfect size for my hair!  I love that they aren't so heavy, so I don't feel like my neck is breaking under the weight of the towel and my soaking wet curly hair.  They dry quickly, so are great for the pool, and they fit Junior perfectly after his bath, but don't soak up all the water off of him, which is not good for his eczema.  (You want to lube him up when he is wet, to lock in the moisture)  I heart brown Army towels.

1.  The OLD Army PT shirts--I love, love, love them.  They are soft, warm, comfortable, and remind me of a time when Gunner wasn't deployed all the time.  I wear them to workout in, sleep in, hang out in.  Forget what Oprah says, these ARE the perfect tee.

Of course there are always the ideals that Gunner holds true such as pride, patriotism, honesty, integrity, brotherhood, etc., but most of all I love that he has dedicated his life to not only his family, but to ideas that most people can't even fathom.

But I really love those brown towels.

Cutting Losses

I'm the type of person that takes on a lot, and puts up with a lot.

I'm tired of doing it.

I'm simplifying.  My life.  My house.  My environment.  Everything.

I won't be investing time in any projects that are not going anywhere, friendships that are one-sided, and even cooking meals that I know my children won't eat.

I will quit worrying about everyone else and focus on what is most important.

Lack of time=lack of desire.

I will make the time for those things that are most important to me, and will without regret, release those things that I can't be bothered with or change.

I'll go to bed earlier, get up earlier, and hopefully be able to hit the 5 am spin class.

I'll purge my house of everything that doesn't make me smile or serve a purpose, regardless of who gave it to me.  (Don't worry mom, I won't get rid of anything you gave me)

I'll be prepared for this deployment.

I plan on finishing all these books I have accumulated and then passing them on.

I will laugh more, smile more, and worry less.

Remind me of all of this in a week.

Sunny Days in Colorado

They say that March is the snowiest month in Colorado.  So far this hasn't proven true, but I can't say I wouldn't mind a little snow!

I had an hour of biking on my training plan today, so we decided to make it a family outing.

That of course sounds easier than it really is.  We decided to do the Santa Fe trail, and we decided to drive to it, to alleviate the whining from a certain preteen who doesn't like to sweat.

Gunner pumped tires and loaded up the car while I prepared children and water bottles.  The five of us hopped in the car along with Sammy the dog.

We arrived at the park down the street and started to unpack everything--3 bikes, 1 bike trailer, 1 hitchhiker, 5 people and 1 furry dog.

This cute Soldier hooked everything up and didn't even flinch when I mentioned a family bike ride.

We had to stop for a potty break.

We rode 8 miles round trip.  With a view like this....

and no matter what you hear, the hitchhiker, while convenient is not easy when you are in the front!  If Abs looks anywhere but forwards, I have to fight to keep the bike up.  We fell once....in the mud....but managed to remain somewhat clean.  Abs and I had a good time, so we rode all the way home too, for a total of 10 miles.

By the time we got home, Gunner had time to air up my road bike and I hit the road for 5 miles of hills.

We ran some errands after, and stumbled on this piece of work.

Do you think they are Bronco fans?  They had Bronco seat cushions, spare tire cover, and every imaginable Bronco car accessory known to man.

Tomorrow is my day off of training, but we'll see!