Bittersweet day

Today was a bittersweet day for me.   I went to pick up a few remaining things in my old car and get the license plate.   I really felt like I was saying goodbye to a great friend, Tina says that I'm just a sappy old lady and too sentimental.

About 2 weeks ago the insurance company totaled out my Jetta L   A little over a month ago while driving home from work in Baltimore I hit a deer about 125 miles from home at 2am.   This deer was pretty big (10 point) and it hit so hard that the airbag went off.  The car did all the safety things that Volkswagen say it will do.   It shut off the engine, unlocked the doors, turned on the 4 way flashers, turned on the dome lights and cracked open the windows.   It is one of those things you really don’t think about all the safety features until you need them.   I was lucky and didn’t get injured in the accident, the deer wasn’t so lucky though.  

I normally don’t get to attached to things but I had really grown fond of my Jetta,  it got great fuel economy and in the 107,000 miles I put on it in 3 years I only had to replace 2 tires and a battery.   The reliability has just been great!  It is funny too when I first got it I really didn’t care for the color, and solely got it for the fuel economy.  The sales person said that after driving it a while you will really come to love it and in the end I did.

I was talking with my youngest today and we were talking about some of the interesting things that the car has seen and done.    One of her cool memories was last year for the last day of school I picked her up from school and I had brought Pat (my chicken) for meet her.   Pat road to and from that day on the emergency brake handle happy as could be.  Christa thought that it was the coolest thing too.

In my former job my Jetta was a working office.   I had a inverter wired up on the back trunk and had a laser printer in the trunk where I would print up paperwork for the aircraft that I would be handling that day.   I used to drive her out on the ramp next to the airplane on many different air force bases.   With the big trunk I carried everything I needed to be able to do my job and still have room.   I can't count how many hours I sat in it awaiting the plane to depart.  She transported many crew as well to and from the aircraft.

She was there through 2 major surgeries that I had; I still to this day remember each trip back from the hospital and home.   At that time we were living in Summerville and both trips were 12 hour rides and they were the 2 most painful drives home I have done. 

Over the last 5 months I have been traveling back and forth between Rock Hill and Baltimore and she has kept me safe when I have taken naps in rest areas in my travels as well.

So today I said goodbye to my old Jetta as the tears of sadness came out.   I wanted s something to remember her by and all the good time I had with her.   As I was leaving the wrecking yard I pried off the VW emblem off the trunk.  I hung it from the rear view mirror today of  her replacement.  I got a 2011 red Jetta with the exact same package as the last one and it too has the same diesel engine.   I am looking forward to all the new memories that this car and I will get to share.   If she is anything like the last one I am not going to be disappointed at all!

   

The passing of Henrietta

We had a sad day yesterday.   Tina got off work and came home and was tending to the babies, feeding and watering them.   They do the usual when she opens the door the all jump out and graze in the yard.   They just love it and the dogs love to play with them too.   When Tina went to put the back in their pen she noticed that she didn't see one of hers Henrietta.   The searched all over and didn’t find her, she finally looked in their roost and found her in the corner dead.  It just broke Tina's heart!   She was such a nice chicken and very affectionate.   She will be missed!   Here is a few photos of her over her fairly short life.

traveling experiences over the last few months.

Today I made it back home for my weekend around 6am this morning.   Currently this has been my crazy schedule,  I drive up on Monday morning to work and stay up there for the week and then leave to come home on Friday night after work and get home early in the am on Saturdays.   I have been doing this for a little over 2 months now, I am finally getting used to it I think.  

I have had a few interesting situation over these last few months at some hotels and though I would share a few with you.   

To try to keep cost down I started to stay at a Super 8 motel.   I started to stay there mostly because of the cost.  The rooms were sure not anything to be excited about by any means but for the most part it was quiet.   However one night I was coming back to the room on night and stand just outside next to my room was this guy with his shirt off smoking.    I went into my room and latter on that night he was outside smoking and talking on the phone and with a person that was with him and he was for sure part of the KKK.   Oh my gosh, I was freaking scared!   I was sure happy to know that they left the next day. 

My next experience was even scarier.   I saw the cute hotel that had pretty reasonable weekly rates and it looked nice from the outside so I thought I would book it for a week and try it out.  I drove up Sunday night and got in at around 2am on Monday morning and checked in.   I unpacked the car and got into the room that was marginal at best.   However the price was right though.   As I was unloading the car 2 guys walked by and I didn't think too much of it.   This room was on the bottom floor and had a window in the bathroom area with privacy glass to you couldn't see through it.   I happen to look up and I saw someone peering through the window.  That freaked me out and I turned the light out and shut the door to the bathroom.    Next thing I know someone was banging on the door and blocking the peephole.  Told them to go way, but they persistent and kept banging on the door.  I started to calling the front desk and while I was talking to the front desk clerk they started to pushed the window in trying to get in.   The front desk clerk scared them away!   I keep some tools in the car so I grabbed a hammer and knife that I slept with all week.    That night is one of the few times in my life that I can truly say I was scared.  I will never go back to that hotel for sure.

Those two bad experiences prompted me to continue to find better places to stay.  This brings me to trying Airbnb.com   My 1^st experience I really didn't know what to expect in the booking process and how things work but it was really an easy site to use.   The first home I stayed at was so cool experience.  They welcomed me in and I was made to feel so welcome there.   The first night we talked and shared life’s experiences and it was such a cool experience.  In the morning I love to have coffee and conversation before work was such a great way to start the day.   I really enjoyed that week.

The next 2 weeks I tried a different place and again I was taken aback at how welcoming my hosts were.   They made me feel so at home and like a part of the family.   This last week they made me dinner every day.  It was such a cool experience.   I will be staying a few weeks next month with them again and am so looking forward to it.   They are cool people and I am hoping that I will be able to cook them some dinners.  

What I have really learned from these experiences is that I really am more of a people person than I ever thought and that having a good conversation and learning about someone’s experiences in life is very important to me.   

Unrealistic Expectations

I was talking to a friend yesterday and he was asking me how I was doing in my new job.   I said that I was pretty discouraged in that there was so much that need to be done to make it a proper running facility.   He looked at me and asked how long have you been at this job, I was like well right around 7 weeks.   He smiled at me and said don't you think it unrealistic to think you can change it around in that time.    He was so right and I needed those few words of wisdom!  

I have to admit I also had expectations that things would just fall into place as well for our family.   They have but not in the ways I thought though.   Brenna is doing very well with her school and very happy.  Christa is doing very well in her school too.  Her school is very wonderful and she is fitting in well this year.  Tina is doing very well in her job as well.   So for the family things are fitting in to place so much better than the last few years.    My expectations of moving the family up to a new state just for my job is very realistic.   So it looks like it’s going to be commuting for a while longer for me.  

I do feel blessed that I have a job.   It’s in the aviation field, challenging and pays ok, so I can't ask for much more at this point.   

Fresh Eggs

One of our babies is laying eggs! 

When I was home on the weekend she had just started.   They are so cute and small.   We are not 100% sure which one it is but Brenna’s one is a lot smaller than the others so we think she is the one laying them.

I cooked one of the eggs over the weekend when I was home.   It was the best tasting egg I have had.  I have heard from many people that there is no comparison to store bought eggs and it is so true.     Over the weekend I had to add a nesting box for her to lay them in.    This was one of those things that I had been putting off over the last few months.      When I was building their new addition to their coop I got bit so many times on my feet by ants.   When I had moved their cage I had put it on an anthill and didn't know it until I was building.     I think I ended up with close to 20 bites on each foot.   The chickens sure love eating them though.   

Brynnes ramblings

The other day I was talking to a friend and we were talking about being open to talking with people.   I had to confess that I am really not good with being open and sharing what I think.   What I really noticed though is I am very open to sharing what I am feeling here on my blog page though.   Maybe it’s because I am not face to face.   I have always been one to keep my relationships with people at a arms length distance.  I have always been afraid that if they got to know me they would I guess not like me.  Maybe that’s why I am so guarded in sharing or talking one on one with people.   So I have decided that I am going to make an effort into changing that area in my life.

The other day I was really thinking of how I missed working my last job.   It is so interesting I remember when I first started traveling I really was apprehensive.    I was pretty sure that I was not going to like all the traveling and being away from home.   After a few months I really started to like the traveling.   As I look back on it I met the coolest people and made some of my best friends through the traveling.   I think that’s what I really miss about not working my last job.    There still is that part of me that feels lost because I still have not found a job yet.   It is funny how we define ourselves a lot by the job we work.   It is forcing me to have to redefine myself a little.   Sometimes it is hard to take a good hard honest look at ourselves.  My may not like what we see.

Our babies are getting pretty big.   The sure have not been enjoying the hot rainy weather that we have been having lately.   Tonight they were enjoying the cooler evening weather after I moved their coop to fresh grass. 

After all the rain we have had the last few days I finally was able to mow the yard that so badly needed it.  People probably think Im crazy when they drive by and see me smiling while I mow.   I really enjoy the mower and it just puts me in a happy place when I mow.

Finding the peace once again.

It has been a little bit sense my last posting.   The chickens have gotten big.   They are no longer our little babies although I still call them my babies.    I struggled to find the right design for the outside coop for them.  Because of this I procrastinated until it was time to get them outside.   I went to the hardware store and go a bunch of 2 X 4’s and chicken wire and set out to make them a new home.   I intended on building something small enough to move around easily so they could be on fresh grass every few days. However I ended up with something that we could walk in easy so the family could interact with the babies.   So it is a lot heavier than I anticipated, but it fits for everyone’s needs though.  In another few months the babies should be laying some fresh eggs for us, I can’t wait!

My baby Pat

Today I was chatting with a good friend on Facebook today and she really brought to light something I have lost sight of the last few months.   She had just recently has gone through a similar situation that I had been through.  What she reminded me was the true peace and happiness of the that situation.   It got me thinking, over the last few months I have really let life take all over that happiness and joy that I once had.   It is interesting how easy it is to be caught up in life and its problems.   I am so glad I talked with her so I could put my life back into prospective.

New mower

 On Monday the new mower that I purchases was delivered to our house.   I had been researching them for a while and finally settled on the one that I wanted and got it while it was on sale and got free delivery to top it off.   I decided to get a Sears Craftsman mower because of the price as well as the last mower I had in Summerville before we move really was very reliable.   I had it for 2 years and I only had one small part that I had to replace.

Our new yard that we have is a lot bigger than the yard we had in Summerville so I chose to step up to a 46” mower with automatic transmission and it also has the tight turning radius as well.

About 4 hours after it was delivered I couldn't resist the temptation to try it out on our lawn.   I have to admit I love it.   The way it rides and cuts and turns is so much better than my old riding mower.   

  

Just as I was almost finished the happiness came to a sudden stop.   I was down at the bottom end of the yard and it suddenly stopped moving.  As hard as I tried to get it to go forward or reverse it just wouldn't go.   I noticed that there was a small plastic fan that was laying on the ground behind the mower.   I shut the engine down and pushed it up the house.  I was mad for sure only having it a few hours and then it stop working!   I got on the internet to find a phone number to call the Sears warranty, I found that they had a online area to chat with someone.   I was shock and happy that they were able to schedule a repair person to come out the next day.   The repair person came out the next morning and took a look at it and knew exactly what had happened.   He pulled out the battery and box to expose were the fan had broken off.   The fan is supposed to help cool the transmission but more importantly it is designed to also keep the drive belt from jumping off the pulley.    He thinks that either during shipping or at the factory the belt got stuck between the pulley and the fan, he said that this was the 2^nd time is a week that they have seen this happen on our area.   He put the belt back on so that it is able to drive while the new parts are on order.   I was very happy with the service that he gave; he even walked me through some of the special futures that the sales person didn't show me.  It makes me glad that I bought it from Sears.  

Peeps in the house

We are off to a new adventure.   Yesterday we went to the local farm store and purchased 4 baby chickens.   We each picked one out that we thought was cute and brought them to their new home.

The girls and I had made a coop prior to that.  I under estimated the time it would take to make it by a few hours.   The last few days I had been researching on how to make them and what would work best for us.  With them being as young they still have about 5 weeks before we can put them outside.   Because of this I wanted to make a coop suitable for using inside but yet also work for the outside when they are old enough as well.   We went to the hardware store and gathered our supplies and set off to construct it.   The girls were big help holding the wood as I sawed it to helping hold the boards together as I nailed them.   We had purchased a roll of chicken wire and that was sure time consuming attaching to to the 2 x 4’s, but we did it!   I’m sure it was quite a sight 3 ladies jamming out to the car stereo on the back patio putting it together.   In the future we will need to make a house to attach to it for the nesting boxes.  We will have a few weeks to make that though, it will give us some time to better prepare.

Now we need to name the Girls.

Church and social justice

This last weekend Tina and I joined Holy Covenant Church in Charlotte NC.   We have truly found our church home.   What I really like about this church is that it is very biblical based and also very active in social justice issues.  I am finding that social justice issues really matter to me in life now.

Photo take by Debbie Davis

 Recently I have chosen to become involved with Scout for Equality.  I am going to be a Council Organizer.   It has been about 22 years sense I have really had much to do with the Boy Scouts.     I am hoping that Scouts for Equality and I will be able to change the anti LGBT position that the Boy Scouts of America has chosen to take.  As I have written in past posts I have pretty strong views about how the BSA can make a very positive change in a boy’s life.  All boys should have a opportunity to experience what the BSA can offer.    If you too would like to help make a change please check out Scouts for Equality.

Road Trip

We had a wonderful weekend at my 2nd Home. J   We left Rock Hill Friday morning and got up to New Hope pretty late in the evening.   Like usual pulling up the driveway was like pulling up to home.  This is the 1^st time that I have seen snow on the ground there though.   It was just a light dusting but very pretty.

Saturday was a special day for Christa because it was her birthday.  We got a wonderful salted caramel cake, it tasted so good!  

One of the other reasons was we also needed to make plans for Brenna’s wedding in December.   We are going to have all family that is coming to the wedding stay there, as well as we are going to do the wedding there too.  

On Sunday we took Brenna to Virginia Beach to spend her spring break with Monty her fiance.   We got a late start so when we finally got back to New Hope it was close to 1 am in the morning.  We were dragging Monday morning for sure.

In total we drove a little over 2000 miles this long weekend.   The only bad thing that happened this weekend was I broke off a 1/3 of my tooth.   I had been babying it until we got insurance so I could get a crown on it.   

Would you rather be right or have a relationship?

This last week has been pretty hectic.  We have been searching for a new car for Tina and out to get the best deal for the money.  We have test driven several and came close to buying on the weekend.   But the dealership and I couldn't come to an agreement on the price.  

I explored the idea of going back to school to finish my degree.   If I was to continue I would need 7 classes left to graduate.   I feel like it is a good time to finish it only because I have not found a job as of yet.   However is sure isn't a good time for it financially though.    I still have not made up my mind as of yet but today I am leaning on not continuing though.

On Sunday we went to church that we are thinking may be our new church home.   When we were in the new member’s inquiry class, the pastor made an interesting comment that really hit home for me.

She was explaining about how the UCC churches when through a time of struggle were some churches didn't want to be all inclusive like some were.   The two sides couldn't really come to term with each other.  At one of their yearly meetings one of the ministers gave a sermon entitled “Would you rather be right or have a relationship”.    

I really find this to be really true in my life.  In the past I always would rather be right and didn't care if a relationship would suffer.    But I am finding now that I am becoming more interested in a relationship then being right.    I have a few toxic relationships in my life currently and am wondering about maybe focusing in on just the relationship and not being right.   I think partially on my side of the relationship I have been not so open because I was more worried about being right on a few issues that I clearly believed to be wronged.    So I am thinking that maybe I will try a new approach to these relationships.

Couponing

Over the last month I have been perfecting my couponing skills.   I have to say that I was one of those people that made fun of the people walking around in the store with a book or file folder bulging with coupons.  

With me not working I thought maybe I could save some money and try the coupon thing out.  Going into it right off the bat I was very skeptical to say the least.  I started by clipping some coupons out of the Sunday papers.   My very 1^st shopping trip using them was really disappointing, I did save a little but it really brought my attention to the fact that I needed to really study up on the rules that the store had on the coupons.  I think that I may have saved 10% or so.    With a little reading up on how each store handles the coupons I have doing a lot better 4 weeks later.   This week I dropped our food cost to a 3^rd of what we normally spend.   What really shocked me is that what I was buying name brand products as well.  I am truly starting to be a believer in couponing!    As a beginner I still have so much to learn so I will be interested to see how much I will be able to save down the line.  

  

One step away.... Ouch

For a while I have wanted to see what was in our attic.   I have been looking at the trap door in the ceiling sense we have moved in this house.  Well the other day I decided to take a look.   I pulled one of our kitchen chairs into the hall way and reached up and unlocked the trap door.   I cautiously pulled on the chain and the trap door came down.   It hand the steps neatly folded up, I unfolded then and slowly started up to see what was up there.  I got to the top and took a quick glance hoping that I didn't see a set of eyes staring back at me. I was in luck to not see anything and proceeded up to the top.   I am not really sure what I was expecting to find, there was some old furniture and empty boxes and this huge, cheesy looking painting with a plastic frame that would fill up a wall.  With my curiosity fulfilled I decided to head back down the stairs.   I was half way down and Brenna said watch out and it was too late.   There was a missing step and I found it.  The next thing I knew I was down at the bottom of the stairs tangles up in them.   It took me a while to figure out what happened.   I was so lucky to not break my leg, it was wedged in-between 2 steps pretty good.  I ended up with some bruises to my legs and a little to my ego as well.  

I tell you this story because it reminds me of how close we are to financial ruin with not having insurance.  With the loss of my job we lost our insurance.  We have a choice to paying the COBRA payments to keep it but it is $1675 a month.   Tina just started a job and it has insurance it you can call it that.   It will cost about $650 a month and it will have a co pay of $2500 per person and a $5000 co pay for the family before it will start to pay the 80/20 benefits.

    

Tina and I would say we are like most families out there.   But there is no way we can pay 12,000 out of pocket to have insurance L   I guess we are lucky that it isn’t next year or we would be having to decide to either pay the penalty for not taking insurance or paying half of Tina’s wages into insurance with the new health care act coming into play.

I really don’t think there is a easy solution to fixing the health care system here in the U.S.  but I hope that someday our government leaders will get it figured out.

Reassurance

Reassurance is something we all need from time to time I think.  For me it seems that when there are changes in life I always feel the need for reassurance.  Some of the bigger changes in life I have been so lucky to have Tina there with me by my side.   She has been so great in giving me the reassurances that I have needed.   For over a year and half I have been carrying around this coin that Tina gave to me when I was in the hospital for a week.  

I have kept in my purse, and a lot of the time it was in the car where I could see it all the time when I was driving a lot.   Now that I’m not traveling I have been keeping it in my pocket.    I am pretty sure that Tina doesn’t know how much this little coin means to me.  When I am feeling down or needing some reassurance I pull the coin and remember the time when Tina gave it to me.    I sometimes like to look and the coin and remember where I have come from and it gives me hope to where I am going a well.

Poems of change

Tina and I went to a writing seminar by Ray McGinnis on writing through grief at Holy Covenant UCC.  We have only attended 3 services so far be we feel very at home there.  I have attended many churches but by far this is the most friendly one I have every attended.

Tina, myself and Brenna thought that it would be a cool thing to do together as well as a way to meet people at the church.  I also thought I might be able to take away some ideas to help me write a little better.

One of the exercises that we had to do was do a alphabet poem.

I found it interesting that Tina and I would have chose the same topic to write about.  
We shared  them in small groups, and one of the ladies said that what we wrote was reminded her of wedding vows for each other.

This is what we wrote:

The Alphabet of Changes

By Brynne Soukup

 A few changes I have made from

Brian to Brynne the

Changes have been hard and

Difficult

Eventually I have

Found the

Great Joy in my

Heart of who

I am now. The

Journey almost

Killed our

Long

Marriage.

Now

Our relationship though is stronger than ever!

People often

Question why Tina would stay in the

Relationship.  I know

She

Truly loves me and is dedicated to me

Until death do us part.  I

Very much

Want her to know

eXactly how much I love her the same way too!

Yesterdays love and hurt is gone, but there is future love to come!  Our lives may be

 craZy at times but we have our love to share ALWAYS.

Alphabet  Poem

By Tina Soukup

Although it’s

Been 2 years since the transition I still mourn the loss of my Brian.  We met and fell in love at

College in 1991 and then in 1992

Decided to get married.  Actually, we

Eloped.  That really blew the minds of

Family members!  I never would have

Guessed at the time that Brian was transgender.

He was always the “manly man”; hiking, fishing, working

In his uncles tire shop.  I

Just sometimes feel betrayed. I married a man.  I wanted someone to have children with and

Keep us safe.  I still love the person I married.  But the

Loss of

My husband still saddens me.   I can

Now understand and see how I missed the

Obvious signs early in our relationship.  Some

People don’t understand why I stay.  I’ve never

Questioned my love for the person inside.  I

Respect and

Stand beside my soul mate.  We have

Two beautiful daughters to show for devotion to each other.   But I don’t think I’ll ever

Understand why Brian didn’t

Voice his true feelings to me

When we got serious as a couple.  I would like to

examine those thoughts and

whY Brian didn’t feel secure enough to tell me.  It should be black and white like a

Zebra’s stripes.

Cardinals on the walk and a spiritual funk

Over the years we have lived in several cities in many different states.  In each location there is always some kind of wildlife that I that I take a liking too.   Over the last week I have really notice the Cardinals on the path that I have been walking on.   I love how their bright red sticks out in the greenness of the bushes.  I love how they are all puffed up with the cool weather.     I have been striving to take the perfect photo of one of them to do justice on how beautiful they are.    

Recently I have found myself in a spiritual funk.  I’m really not sure what has caused it as of yet.  I also don’t really know how to solve it either.   I think that one of the reasons is that we don’t have a regular church.  It may be that I have been so busy doing other things and not taking the time to worship God as I should as well.  In the end I am going to try to focus on this part of my life and get it back to the way it used to be or even better.  I guess it is like any relationship and there is ups and downs. 

Walk in the park

With the colder weather here in Rock Hill it has enabled our family to enjoy the fireplace in our house.  

The girls love to sit in front of it and basking in the heat that it gives off,  after they have their fill of the heat they love to roast marshmallows on the coals.  For me I have been able to put the old Boy Scout skills to use, the house sits on 7 acres of land that is mostly filled with trees.   I bought a bow saw and have been cutting the wood for the fireplace.  I really do enjoy the physical work out that it gives me as well. 

With us being newer to the area, I have wanted to find trails to walk on.  Yesterday we went to River Park to check it out.   It was a cool, crisp day and the sky was brilliant blue.    After the 2 inches of rain that we had the trails were a bit muddy though.   Brenna brought her camera and is really getting into taking photos.  She has a good eye for what it takes to compose a good photo.  I also brought my new camera to try to capture some photos as well.   I’m still getting the feel of it and am getting better photos with it now.  

We ended the day with making some veggie chili with cornbread for dinner.   I think it was the best chili that I have made as of yet.  For desert that night I made some smores, Tina and the girls had never had them before.   They sucked them down like crazy, but then how can you go wrong with anything that has chocolate in it J

Christa Grace

New Soccer Mom on the loose!

Life’s changes have really hit our family in the last few weeks.  Christa has started her new school and is really enjoying it.  They have no bus services though so it is requiring us to take her to and from school.   Brenna has started her college career at Winthrop as well, when looking for a place to live we had originally wanted to live close to the university so that she could just walk to school.  But unfortunately we did not and we are a ways away from the school so we have to work her into the schedule of getting to school as well.    Tina also has changes as well, she just recently got offered a new job and will be starting this week J   Congrats to her for sure, I think this will be her dream job finally.

 So my point to all this rambling is that I have gone from a being a sole income provider and traveling mom to Soccer Mom in a month’s time.  The only thing I need is a SUV or wagon, the Jetta doesn't fit in with the image though.

 It has been a huge adjustment to say the least, and I have to laugh because it is the last thing I ever expected in life.   I really do enjoy the time that I get to spend with our family though.   We are getting ready to purchase another car so maybe we should get a car so I can truly fit in as a Soccer Mom.

Time on my hands.

For Christmas Tina got me a digital camera.   When we lived in Sitka I used to take a lot of photos, for a while I sold some of my photographs to tourist to help defer the cost of my camera equipment and film supplies.   I am really new to the digital age in cameras.  I have played with some small point and shoot but I really have not used a full size digital camera though. 

I took a walk today and got to finally really start to take some photos of wildlife and just things that interested me.   What I really like about the camera is the instant gratification of seeing the photo that I just took.   I remember the days when I would take photos and then rush to the store and process them to see if I got any good shots.   Now it so cool I can just look and see, however this camera also acts different then the cameras that I used to use do I think it will take some time before I feel comfortable and used to how it reacts.

I really didn't know how much I miss taking photos; it is really very relaxing for me.  It has always been a dream that I could make a living doing photography. I know that I have the passion for it even more then working with airplanes.

Anyway here is a few photos that I took. 

New things in the New Year

This New Year so far has been full of new things for our family.

   

Christa has started a new school.   The school is newer school and has about 125 students per grade.  The smallness of the school fits great for Christa.   She is also starting a new instrument in band too.  She has chosen to try the Flute.  We went out to several music stores the other day and found the right one for her.   Like most things she is picking it up really fast, but the best part is she really enjoys learning to play it.  She hasn't put it down sense we got it J

We also stepped out of our normal box and purchased an air rifle.   We have had this rule that we would not have guns in the house sense we started having children.   Tina mentioned that she thought it would be fun to get one.  I figured we would buy a inexpensive one on the off chance the girls wouldn't like it.   Christa was pretty apprehensive at first; I showed her the basics and most importantly the safety of things.   After her 1^st few shoots she was hooked.   She loves shooting it, we put up several targets on the back yard for her to shoot.   She is really getting good; her favorite target is the cans that we hung up.    What I really like is that it’s something that the 2 of us can do and enjoy together.  It is a great way to spend time with her.

For me I decided to try something new as well.   I have been wanting to change my hair color for a long time,  so I thought I would change it for the New Year as well.