Basic Training Graduation/Ft. Sill

Johnny joined the Army in mid August. I knew he would at some point in time. He had been talking about wanting to join for the past three years but just never did it until recently. I was very worried when he started talking about joining. I finally came to terms with it when I realized how much he wanted to do it and how good of a career opportunity this could turn out to be. He is enlisted in the Reserves for now which really doesn't mean anything. He could still be deployed.

Last week was his Basic Training graduation. I was so proud of him! He graduated with honors and his platoon was the honor platoon for this cycle (4th Platoon Ruff Riders! WOO!). He already has two pins, one for Sharpshooter and one for Expert in Grenade. Needless to say, he really took off with this Army business. I couldn't be happier for him.

He was at Fort Sill in Oklahoma. I was able to go see him graduate and participate in family day as well as take him off base for two day passes. He showed me around the base and went shopping at the PX. I have to say, I absolutely LOVE the base. Lawton on the other hand was not someplace I'd visit again (no offense!).

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the trip!

Oklahoma is not a very exciting state. This was my view for 4.5 hours.

This was the best thing ever. Basically, it was in the morning before going to family day and I was flipping through TV channels. I stumbled upon mug shots displayed on TV so I had to stop and watch. My favorite part was the very current rap/r&b music playing in the background. I wish we had this in Missouri!

First day going on base! I was SO excited!

This was his graduating class (I always forget the proper names for everything in the Army) marching out for Family Day demonstration. It was really cute. There was a group who showed off all three uniforms, a group who demonstrated the "first day" of marching and then what they learned while there, and another group who did the same for Physical Training. After all of this I got to take him off base!!!

He was on the phone with someone in my hotel room and I snuck a quick picture. Love it!

At lunch the first day. He looks so handsome in his dress blues!!!!

GRADUATION! It was funny because they had to sit like this until they were told to move. So family members were crawling everywhere taking pictures and they had to keep looking forward. Johnny is all the way down on the other side of the second row!

OH YEAH! Honor graduate! There were more pictures but this was the best.

Being sworn in, Officially US Army Soldiers! 

We went to the museum on base right afterwards. I wanted this little guy.

I thought this was so cool.

Very cool! Too bad it was ungodly windy and cold out that day.

So official looking! 

There isn't much to do in Lawton. We found a sign on our way out of Walmart that said something about a "Holy City." We decided we needed to go find this city. On our way we found a rock formation that was similar to a very small mountain. So, we drove up it. 

So pretty! It was awesome at the top. We would have gotten a picture but I almost blew off because of the wind.

His beret kept moving around into unacceptable positions. 

Lucy, my Jeep, really enjoyed the drive up there. I think she felt like she was in her natural habitat. (Yes, I do indeed name my cars. I happen to really like Lucy from Charlie Brown.)

Those are a couple pictures from during Basic Training that I really like. 

Over all the trip to Fort Sill was a success. I discovered that I really love the base and he got to move closer to home for AIT. He's now located at Fort Leonard Wood here in Missouri! I get to go see him on Friday so we'll see what that base is like. More pictures to come!

Domesticated.

I would never claim to be a very ... er ... domesticated woman. I am too lazy to cook even though I enjoy it, I hate doing laundry so I never do it, cleaning only happens when the health department comes and tells me that my neighbors are becoming ill from the new germs I'm breeding. However, I've been on vacation since last Wednesday and suddenly became very bored today. So I decided to start scrap booking. Here are the results thus far...

*Warning* -- don't judge me, I'm a newbie.

 My tools. I had the paper but decided to go get some stickers. Lucky for me, they were 40% off at Michael's!

 I didn't have an extra $30 to spend on buying a scrap book. I decided to make the cover and back myself. I did this by gluing three thicker sheets of paper together. I guess it turned out okay. I decided to decorate the front...

 Not too thrilled with how it turned out. If I ever have extra money I'll probably splurge on an actual book.

 This is my boy! He just graduated basic (pictures from that adventure to come).

 I found some cool Army stickers. Not too thrilled with how this page turned out either.

 I think this page is okay. He got these cool little desk calendars so I decided to put one to good use.

 Map and graduation letter. Man, I'm not good at this stuff!

 Graduation program. Wow...


So scrap booking apparently takes some practice. It would also be nice if the stickers and stuff weren't so expensive. Maybe I'll get better as time progresses or maybe I'll continue to suck at it. Either way, it's our memories and they will be saved on real paper now.

(And if you have any scrap booking tips, I need them.)

I decided to organize some of my cooking utensils...

 I got those nice pots and pans last week. I was so excited to get them. I had been using the same really cheap set since 2007.

 My kitchen isn't really set up for cooking. Everything is so out of reach. I got this cute little owl at Urban Outfitters a while ago and had intended on using him as a coat hook in my office. Then I had a better idea for him...SPOON HOLDER!

 I also got some new measuring cups and spoons. I think their new location will keep me from losing them.

I framed these pictures yesterday but wanted to show them off. Hopefully I'll have something for the missing square soon!