A Shoot 'Em Up Good Time

We had a family outing today. We found a range locally that holds IDPA matches 2 Saturdays out of the month, so today we participated in one. Today we participated in our first as a couple (Carl had done it one time before). IDPA is the International Defensive Pistol Association, and the matches at this particular range consist of 6 different "stages". Each stage is a run of a certain real-life scenario type situations, with different positions to shoot from at each. It's easier to understand once you see the pictures. We each shot at each stage, and there are other people in your group, so we got to watch the others go first, since we were the new kids on the block today. In the end, your score is time, and each miss or shot outside of a certain zone counts against you in seconds, adding on to your time. Whoever has the best time wins, but there is no real prize, outside of self-satisfaction, unless you are REALLY good. Everyone there is nice and everyone just wants to be better, so they are helpful and understanding. Also, there were two other women who shoot as well, so I was not alone, which was nice. : ) Anyhow, it was a good time, and the point of the whole thing is to have real people practice in somewhat real-life scenarios to prepare for it if someday you really are in it. And, it's just plain fun and great shooting practice! :) Below are a few pictures we took, but since we forgot our camera, they are from our phone, so not super quality, but pretty good for a phone.

Here Carl is showing his gun and magazines under his vest. We both wore vests, because part of being in a real-life situation is having your gun concealed on your person, and having it concealed in the match is part of the rules, to simulate this.

This was the 2nd or 3rd stage. This is from 25 yards, standing.

25 yards, kneeling.

This is one of the last stages, and it is a run where you start behind a closed door, open the door, pull out your gun and start. You then move through the door, hit a target on the run, and move to another place of cover to hit more targets. Many of the runs dealt with you on the move, and/or moving targets, while you were on the move (those were a new challenge!).

This is the last part of the above run.

Here I am taking cover behind a doorway, and attempting to shoot some "bad guys".

It looks like I'm walking here, but really I am moving fairly quickly (part of reality is not wanting to be without cover for long).

We had a good time, and are excited about again participating, becoming better shooters as we go. It's a fun challenge, and great target practice. This all reminds me, praise God for the Supreme Courts Ruling in favor of gun owners! Okay, my gun kick is done now. : )

Back Where I Come From

Being a military family, "home" is a very transient word for us. Typically when I think of home, I think of wherever my husband is, wherever the Lord and the military have landed us. Because of the fact that we know we are never anywhere for a long period of time, and we prepare months in advance for a move, it doesn't take us long to settle in wherever we go. It takes only a matter of days for me to change my mental picture of "home" when we move. Of course new friends are never replaceable and never forgotten.

Having said all this, there is always one place that is permanently and was first "home" to me, the place where I grew up, and where my family remains, on the farm in central Illinois. It is where I have my fondest memories of childhood, where my grandparents still remain, where my family is and still farms. I just returned from spending a couple of weeks up there while Carl was in school, and I again found comfort in the land I am so familiar with and love so much (along with those who reside there). : )

To those of you who are not from Illinois or other lands like it in central USA, these pictures may be somewhat of a shock...especially to my dear, dear friends who live and grew up in Washington. Yes, Illinois is one of those places that allows you to understand why we once thought the world was flat. : ) I love it. I did not put any pictures of the houses, as I feel better not doing that for safety reasons. I apologize for the poor quality of some of the images and size.

The buildings I circled here are a grain elevator and it's distance from my parents house, as we are looking at it here is approximately 3 miles. As you can imagine, it is much clearer looking at it through your own eyes. Just to give you an idea of how flat the land is, and how far you can see with the naked eye.

As it is planting season, the farmers are out in full force. Here's one of the tractors my grandpa and dad use.

We did have to retreat to the basement once when I was home, as summer storms are not uncommon there, and this year seems to be especially stormy. Here was the sky one night as the rain was moving in. Isn't God beautiful? I love to see how He displays His glory through nature, especially the sky, and there is no sky like in Illinois, my home. : )

So how did the mustache end up?

It's gone!!! Carl and I both agreed that he looked kind of scary and decided that the stache must go! ; ) He's currently in Florida, so I don't have a picture, but thought you all may like to know the end result. : )

The Great Mustache Experiment

So, since we have been moving, Carl has been on leave (vacation for those civilians out there ;)), and growing his facial hair. He has been keeping it trimmed to a nice goatee. Well, tomorrow he will go back to work for the Navy and has decided to do an experiment. He has never before had a mustache, and since they are within regulations for the Navy, has decided he'd like to try one for a bit. I took a before and after picture, so you'll have to let me know what you think. I have voted that the 'stache be gone before he returns (he's going to a school in Florida) to me. He agrees mostly with me. I feel like I warp back in time about 10 years (back when mustaches were popular) each time I look at him. Let me know what you think.

Who is this mustached man?!?

Our Life as a "Big Rig"

Here are a few images from what we fondly like to look back upon as our life as a "big rig". The truck we rented for our move out here was supposed to be 22' long. Our last move we used an 18 footer, so 22 was already quite a move up for us. Well, when we went to the rental company to pick up our rig, all they had was a 26 footer. This is a substantial difference from 22', and especially the 18' we are used to in such a sizeable vehicle. Anyone who has driven one before can appreciate the difference. Anyhow, my good husband squabbled a bit with them for giving us the wrong size truck, but they assured us that the mileage is just as good, and of course they were not charging us any extra for it. We also got a couple dozen moving blankets for free out of the deal. : ) Anyhow, we felt quite large and learned to hang with the truck drivers, as we could only stop at truck stops for gas, and food. We were hauling our car behind, so total, we were quite imposing on the road, measuring just a few feet shorter than the typical semi truck. We felt pretty cool next to all those big rigs. We once even pulled in next to them and spent the night on our bench seat, like real truckers (though I know they have much better digs than our benchseat turned bed). We were able to extend our benchseat with boxes and blankets and all in all made a pretty comfy place for sleeping. Yes, we stayed in a hotel one night as well when we visited Yellowstone (that will be another blog entry). Overall, we fared well as truckers, taking our turns wider and living with a lower speed on the open road. It is definitely an exprience we will not soon forget.

New Residents of the "Mid-South"

Well, we have arrived in TN. Our address is Memphis, but we are on the outskirts. Some of my family came down and helped us unpack some. They were a great help! Apparently TN is part of the "mid-south", so we are now official residents of the mid-south. Carl thinks we'll surely pick up a mid-south accent, but I'm skeptical. We'll have to see. It is hot here, and a bit humid, quite a change from WA, but we are enjoying it. We visited Graceland (Elvis' home) this weekend, and I'll post pictures of that later, as well as photos of our home.

We visited a new church on Sunday, and it was about a 3 on our scale of 1-5. We know we won't find another Westside, but we feel we definitely need to keep searching beyond this one, so we appreciate any prayers for that. The name of this church was Eastside, so we were kind of bummed about it not being the best, because it would have been fun to say we went to Westside, and then changed over to Eastside.

I love our new home, Carl did a great job picking it out. We miss everyone in WA, but we'll keep in touch through the great blogosphere (sp?). ; )

First Day on Blog

We created this blog since we are moving, and it's an easy way to keep in touch with friends and family. So hello friends and family! Gotta go for now, much packing yet to do.