Anniversary Extravaganza!!
30 March was our two year anniversary and because we didn't have the best first anniversary (IE.. Colin was in Iraq) we decided to take an extended weekend and pack it chalk full of fun. The Friday before I was able to get tickets to the NCAA sweet sixteen game between UNC and Gonzaga. We drove down after Colin got off work. When we got there we checked into our hotel, picked up our tickets and walked down to Beale street to check out the action. Woo hoo was that exciting, well only if you like the hoards of drunk basketball fans and ticket scalpers. We walked around for a little bit bought a souvenir or two and ate dinner at the Memphis Hard Rock Cafe. I'm not really sure what is so great about those places. It must be the abidance or whatever because the food really isn't all that great. Ok so we ate dinner and headed in to see the first game between the Sooners and i think it was ... heck some orange team that I cant remember how to spell their name. Anyway the Sooners won. Then the main event. UNC v. Gonzaga. I had my hopes and all that the Zags were gonna pull some sort of animal out of a hat and maybe win... but of course they did not seeing as UNC became 2009 NCAA Champions! Yes folks, the zags lost in the sweet sixteen AGAIN. But hey I like UNC so i wasn't too beat up about the loss. After the game was over despite all the urges we had to stay downtown and be the only sober folks on the block, we decided to head home (the hotel). On the way back we missed our turn and the GPS took us on an adventure. Honestly people I was scared for my life. Driving through downtown Memphis is not my favorite thing to do on a Friday night at 11pm. Despite our detour we did make it to the hotel in two pieces, two whole pieces, you know Colin and Michelle pieces and Hit the sack. The next morning we went for a run through some nice suburb and then hit the road. Which as you have already read was another experience in itself (The Semi Flipping one)
When we arrived in Nashville we checked into our hotel and let the valet take our car and we walked around downtown to see what Music Row had to offer us. Well I'm not really sure we actually made it down to music row I'm not exactly sure i even really know where that street is. But we went into this store that had a Charlie Daniels Museum in the back of it there whole ploy to get people into the store to buy things was because there was a FREE Charlie Daniels Museum but if you didn't walk through the store you would have no idea that there actually was a museum back there. When you walk by the store the out side is full of signs that say it is a museum but when you walk in you think its a trick because you cant see the back where the cool stuff is. Charlie Daniels is really big supporter of the US Military and my favorite part of the museum was seeing all the stuff he has received from the military bases he has been to, to perform for the troops. When we were done there we walked down toward the Somet Center and on our way saw some street performers putting in there piece of country music history. There were Two little girls singing with there dad that were pretty good but everyone else kinda seemed like those old washed up country folks that were never good enough to get anywhere but still think they have a chance, but hey to each his own...right? Checking the time we decided that we had just enough time to go to the Country Music Hall of Fame. That was pretty cool, the museum isn't really big but man it sure could be. They have rows upon rows of country music history packed away in rolling cabinets just waiting to be set out on the museum floor. I'm sure those cabinets are full to some cool stuff. Some of the most interesting things on the floor were things like the original blue suede shoes and Lots of stage costumes and Elvis Presley's 24k gold upholstered crushed diamond pearlescent painted car. It was pretty interesting. That man had a lot of cars... who am i kidding that man had a lot of money. The second half of the museum is an area that changes periodically to highlight one artist. When we were there it was about Hank Williams and his family. Pretty cool. After the Hall of Fame it was time to head over to the Somet Center to catch some Hockey action as the Predators took on the Kings. It was a pretty cool game. Martina McBride sang the national anthem and The Preds won in OT 4-3. After the game Martina gave a free concert outside before earth hour 09. We sat out there until the hour of darkness started and then we headed out to our hotel.
We wanted to hit the capital building on our way out of Nashville but the weather wasn't that great so we decided to save it for another time. We drove back to Clarksville switched out our bags and got back on the road. This time destination Nauvoo IL. The drive wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. 6 hours in the car after being in the car hours the day before isn't really fun. But it was all worth it when we got to Nauvoo. I have never been to any of the early church history sites outside of Utah. It is amazing how the Mormons were able to prosper and build Nauvoo into such a city. To take a swampy, wet land and make it cultivate crops and house so many of the early saints just really testifies of the work and how heavenly father provided for them and us.
Ok Colin Here, My Turn.
So Nauvoo, We went at the best time of the year. The weather was just a little cold, but not to cold. And the best thing is that we were the only ones there. It was great, Michelle had never been to Nauvoo, but i have been a few tines, and every time I had gone, there was always tons of people there. Now that is a good thing, but the problem is that it is kind of like going to Disney, The more people there the more you are herded like cattle. But because we did not go in the summer, there was no crowds to fight. we got to spend all the time at each of the sites that we wanted and we could ask the tour guides all the questions we wanted without being rushed. It was great. we went on a carriage ride were they told us about the not famous people who lived in Nauvoo. I really liked that one. We made rope and candles and bread, at the Family Life Center, We made a Horseshoe with the blacksmith, and learned how to make bricks at the brickyard. and to cap it all off, we just happen to be there the one night a year that they do a prairie grass fire demonstration, they set an acre of prairie grass on fire to show how fast it can burn. it was crazy in was so hot that the crowd had to back up because it hurt. 60 foot flames fed by a light wind. it is really cool All in all it was a really good time. Being the only people there it really felt a lot more like old Nauvoo and not like a historic site that we were visiting. Oh I cant forget "Rendezvous" It is the musical that the missionaries put on every night, it was a lot of fun to see senior missionaries try to sing and dance. it was a blast. so after the second day of Nauvoo, we headed back to Clarksville to get ready for the move.
The Parthenon (inserted by Michelle)
Did you know that Nashville is the "Athens of the South?" Well neither did I. Well in 1876 to celebrate the centennial Nashville built all these attractions for a worlds fair type celebration. There was a pyramid built, a high wire act, a restaurant and bar that depiced the levels of hell from Dante's Inferno and more. The most popular attraction at the event was the replica of the Parthenon. It is the most correct representation of what the Greek Parthenon would have looked like when it was built. It was amazing to see that the construction of the building was done to mimic all of the architechture of the original building. Inside there is a 50ft statue of Athena. the statue was sculpted by hand and put together inside added after the centennial sometime, but it is said that a similar statue was in the original Parthenon. It was interesting seeing all of the time and work that went into making this building so authentic. Over time they have had to make repairs to ensure that the building would stand over time. When it was first built it was not suppose to be a permanent attraction but because of the popularity of the building the city decided not to tear it down. Before getting on our way back home we stopped by the Capital building snapped some photos and headed back to what would be our last trip to Clarksville, because later that week we began our move to LA.
THE MOVE
So back while I was in Iraq, I received orders from the army that said when I got back I would be moving to 1-509 INF(Infantry) ABN(Airborne) Well the 509th is at Ft Polk LA. Which I had to move to. The nice thing about the army is that if you so choose you can have the army move you. That means people show up pack your stuff for you, put it on a truck for you, ship it for you, take it off the truck for you, and unpack for you. so although moving is stressful, it is a lot easier when the army does it for you. Well except that the army has a tendency to brake or lose your stuff. Anyway, so we get to LA and think that we are going to live off post, UNTIL WE SEE OFF POST. The options are slim to none off post, most of these places should be torn down, but on post housing is good for army standards. So now we live on base. My new unit is not like any other in the army, we are an OPFOR unit, that means we do not do regular army stuff, We help train units that are heading to combat, we do that by playing the OPposing FORce, or in other words the bad guys. Think of it as a really really big game of laser tag because that is what we do, we play the bad guys and run around shooting each other with laserized guns. It is a lot of fun, because we know exactly what the army teaches its units to do in every situation, so we can be ready for what they are going to do. We will take 2 or 3 guys and "kill" 30 or 40 of the Americans. we dress in Iraqi apparel and pretend we are Iraqis. It is a really nice change of pace and I get to do something different for a while.
Michelle again... SO what Colin failed to mention about the move is that after the military came and packed our things, we cleaned the apartment and when i say cleaned i mean that place was immaculate.. they basically paid us because it was so good. And darn right, it took 7 hours of cleaning to get that 500 dollar deposit back, but hey we got it back. So we finished cleaning and packed up the Jeep (by the way by this time we had sold the Talon to a friend of Colin's) with the things we couldn't have packed (lotion, cleaning supplies, etc..) and our clothing and necessitates for living without a home and we hit the road Jack... yes we hit the road and headed down to two Jackson towns... lol Jackson TN we passed right on through and Jackson Mississippi we stopped and slept for the night. The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice. It was a Drury Inn and they had a pool, fitness center and a HOT breakfast yes a hot breakfast not a continental breakfast with cereal and yogurt but eggs and sausage it was good. So we took our time and headed out on the second leg of our trip the next town was only 3 hours away so we didn't leave Jackson till about 12 which I was ok with because we were able to sleep in and I went and ran for 30 mins and Colin and I relaxed in the pool for a short time. It was nice just to kick back. Next stop was Alexandria. When we got there we checked into the hotel, unloaded our stuff and then headed off to dinner. We tried to eat at Chilli's but that was a joke. The hostess sat us in the "lounge" area and we were ignored for the first 10 mins then when the waitress came by to get our drink orders she said that she wasn't suppose to do our table because they are short staffed but she would do it anyway. So another 10 mins later we didn't have our drinks when we finally got our drinks, which was only water might I add, we tried to get the bottomless chips and salsa... well 30 mins later ... we left, no chips and salsa and just water in our bellies. I really wanted those chips... so we went to Applebees. The service there wasn't great but we did get our chips and our food too. Imagine that. When we were done we went back to the hotel and took a "nap" a 12 hour long nap. It was fun. Next day we took the 45min drive to Leesville for the very first time and definitely not the last. You see Leesville is a nice place if you consider the people as what is making it nice. The people here at Fort Polk are some of the nicest I have seen at any Army post. The people in the local area are very hospitable and have that typical southern charm with a hint of don't mess with me or ill kick your booty. So don't get on there bad side which I have seemed to have avoided thus far. But as I was saying the reason why I'm sure the drive to Alexandria wont be the last is because Leesville doesn't have any big name sit-down restaurants. Not a one. Mainly because there isn't a major interstate running close by. But the command here is trying to fix that. So we made it on base and checked into the Magnolia House the on base billeting that would become our home for the next 10 days. We were able to get on base housing fairly quickly but we didn't want to sleep on the floor when we could stay in the hotel on the army's dime. SO waited till we could have our household good shipment delivered before we moved into our apartment. Since then we have had issues with carpet and faucets and dead grass and broken household good. Oh the life of moving ALL the time. We also got a dog, a Yorkshire Terrier. Her name is Bella and she is to keep me company. Well I think she is here to annoy me until I play with her but she is a crazy puppy and hopefully she will grow out of that craziness soon. That would be most of our move in a nutshell... give or take a few items that I can't remember right now.
The Haller Sealing
About a 2 weeks after we got to Fort Polk I flew up to Spokane to be the escort for my sister when she got her endowments. My sister and her husband went to the temple on their 3 anniversary. 22 April 2009. They were able to go to the temple after a long, tough wait of becoming worthy to enter the temple. Colin was suppose to go to be Mike's (my sisters husband) escort but he was unable to because of work. Walking up to the temple it was interesting to see my sister, she looked excited and was practically skipping through the doors like a school girl on her first day of school. They had done a few alterations to the temple since I had been there last. The front entrance was larger to house more gets in the waiting room instead of outside in the cold weather. So windy went through the endowment without any problems sorry to say we couldn't say that for Mike, his escort had only been through the temple once before so it was more like the blind leading the blind. There was one time when I looked at Mike and I thought he looked like he wanted to run screaming. But when I said something to my sister she said "oh he always looks like that." After the endowment they were sealed and just before the sealing Windy leans over to Mike and says... "Ok, so this is your last chance to back out, this one is for eternity!" Mike just laughed. After they were sealed then their daughter Stephanie was brought in and she was sealed to them. Seeing her sealed to her parents was both a happy and sad moment. Happy because they were an eternal family and sad because my two other nieces were not able to be sealed to Mike and Windy because they have different fathers. Happy because I know that one day they will be sealed to them and Happy because one day my sister and I would be sealed to our parents. And sad because we haven't been sealed to them yet. But all in all it was a good experience. I hope they will go back often and learn and partake of the blessings the temple has to offer. Colin and I are going back to Spokane this week to spend some time with my family so we will have to take them to the temple again. I know that the second time is always harder than the first. But the more you go the more you learn and the more comfortable you become.
So back while I was in Iraq, I received orders from the army that said when I got back I would be moving to 1-509 INF(Infantry) ABN(Airborne) Well the 509th is at Ft Polk LA. Which I had to move to. The nice thing about the army is that if you so choose you can have the army move you. That means people show up pack your stuff for you, put it on a truck for you, ship it for you, take it off the truck for you, and unpack for you. so although moving is stressful, it is a lot easier when the army does it for you. Well except that the army has a tendency to brake or lose your stuff. Anyway, so we get to LA and think that we are going to live off post, UNTIL WE SEE OFF POST. The options are slim to none off post, most of these places should be torn down, but on post housing is good for army standards. So now we live on base. My new unit is not like any other in the army, we are an OPFOR unit, that means we do not do regular army stuff, We help train units that are heading to combat, we do that by playing the OPposing FORce, or in other words the bad guys. Think of it as a really really big game of laser tag because that is what we do, we play the bad guys and run around shooting each other with laserized guns. It is a lot of fun, because we know exactly what the army teaches its units to do in every situation, so we can be ready for what they are going to do. We will take 2 or 3 guys and "kill" 30 or 40 of the Americans. we dress in Iraqi apparel and pretend we are Iraqis. It is a really nice change of pace and I get to do something different for a while.
Michelle again... SO what Colin failed to mention about the move is that after the military came and packed our things, we cleaned the apartment and when i say cleaned i mean that place was immaculate.. they basically paid us because it was so good. And darn right, it took 7 hours of cleaning to get that 500 dollar deposit back, but hey we got it back. So we finished cleaning and packed up the Jeep (by the way by this time we had sold the Talon to a friend of Colin's) with the things we couldn't have packed (lotion, cleaning supplies, etc..) and our clothing and necessitates for living without a home and we hit the road Jack... yes we hit the road and headed down to two Jackson towns... lol Jackson TN we passed right on through and Jackson Mississippi we stopped and slept for the night. The hotel we stayed at was pretty nice. It was a Drury Inn and they had a pool, fitness center and a HOT breakfast yes a hot breakfast not a continental breakfast with cereal and yogurt but eggs and sausage it was good. So we took our time and headed out on the second leg of our trip the next town was only 3 hours away so we didn't leave Jackson till about 12 which I was ok with because we were able to sleep in and I went and ran for 30 mins and Colin and I relaxed in the pool for a short time. It was nice just to kick back. Next stop was Alexandria. When we got there we checked into the hotel, unloaded our stuff and then headed off to dinner. We tried to eat at Chilli's but that was a joke. The hostess sat us in the "lounge" area and we were ignored for the first 10 mins then when the waitress came by to get our drink orders she said that she wasn't suppose to do our table because they are short staffed but she would do it anyway. So another 10 mins later we didn't have our drinks when we finally got our drinks, which was only water might I add, we tried to get the bottomless chips and salsa... well 30 mins later ... we left, no chips and salsa and just water in our bellies. I really wanted those chips... so we went to Applebees. The service there wasn't great but we did get our chips and our food too. Imagine that. When we were done we went back to the hotel and took a "nap" a 12 hour long nap. It was fun. Next day we took the 45min drive to Leesville for the very first time and definitely not the last. You see Leesville is a nice place if you consider the people as what is making it nice. The people here at Fort Polk are some of the nicest I have seen at any Army post. The people in the local area are very hospitable and have that typical southern charm with a hint of don't mess with me or ill kick your booty. So don't get on there bad side which I have seemed to have avoided thus far. But as I was saying the reason why I'm sure the drive to Alexandria wont be the last is because Leesville doesn't have any big name sit-down restaurants. Not a one. Mainly because there isn't a major interstate running close by. But the command here is trying to fix that. So we made it on base and checked into the Magnolia House the on base billeting that would become our home for the next 10 days. We were able to get on base housing fairly quickly but we didn't want to sleep on the floor when we could stay in the hotel on the army's dime. SO waited till we could have our household good shipment delivered before we moved into our apartment. Since then we have had issues with carpet and faucets and dead grass and broken household good. Oh the life of moving ALL the time. We also got a dog, a Yorkshire Terrier. Her name is Bella and she is to keep me company. Well I think she is here to annoy me until I play with her but she is a crazy puppy and hopefully she will grow out of that craziness soon. That would be most of our move in a nutshell... give or take a few items that I can't remember right now.
The Haller Sealing
About a 2 weeks after we got to Fort Polk I flew up to Spokane to be the escort for my sister when she got her endowments. My sister and her husband went to the temple on their 3 anniversary. 22 April 2009. They were able to go to the temple after a long, tough wait of becoming worthy to enter the temple. Colin was suppose to go to be Mike's (my sisters husband) escort but he was unable to because of work. Walking up to the temple it was interesting to see my sister, she looked excited and was practically skipping through the doors like a school girl on her first day of school. They had done a few alterations to the temple since I had been there last. The front entrance was larger to house more gets in the waiting room instead of outside in the cold weather. So windy went through the endowment without any problems sorry to say we couldn't say that for Mike, his escort had only been through the temple once before so it was more like the blind leading the blind. There was one time when I looked at Mike and I thought he looked like he wanted to run screaming. But when I said something to my sister she said "oh he always looks like that." After the endowment they were sealed and just before the sealing Windy leans over to Mike and says... "Ok, so this is your last chance to back out, this one is for eternity!" Mike just laughed. After they were sealed then their daughter Stephanie was brought in and she was sealed to them. Seeing her sealed to her parents was both a happy and sad moment. Happy because they were an eternal family and sad because my two other nieces were not able to be sealed to Mike and Windy because they have different fathers. Happy because I know that one day they will be sealed to them and Happy because one day my sister and I would be sealed to our parents. And sad because we haven't been sealed to them yet. But all in all it was a good experience. I hope they will go back often and learn and partake of the blessings the temple has to offer. Colin and I are going back to Spokane this week to spend some time with my family so we will have to take them to the temple again. I know that the second time is always harder than the first. But the more you go the more you learn and the more comfortable you become.
4 comments:
Good stuff! You definitely need to blog more often, this was like a novel. LOL Love you guys!
Yay for pictures and stories! Love your cute puppy!
It's about time we hear from you! I hope you haven't forgotten about is over here! You sound like you had a good time, mostly, and that fire would have been hot to see. (get it, hot, haha)
Wow, so many great things!
I am glad your second anniversary turned out so much better than the first, with both of you being present and all ;) It sounds like you had a blast!
That's nice you are finally 'settled' somewhere. Are you hoping to be there awhile or is a move already on the horizon?
Your puppy is ADORABLE!!! I have been wanting one for forever! Stupid allergies. I can't wait until we have a yard so we can finally get us a big ol' puppy dog.
Congratulations to your sister and her family (and the rest of your family as well since this is sure to bless you all!). That is so exciting they were finally able to make it to the temple. Definitely go back with them if you can. It's daunting to go back by yourself.
It was so great to hear all about how you guys are doing! David and I miss you two and hope to hear from you soon!
Post a Comment