January 13, 2014 by Stephanie

Quirks of Clarksville

I have been in Clarksville for about 8 months and there are a few quirks I have noticed about the roads here.

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1. Businesses in the area love sign spinning. Even in this cooler weather, I still see this happening. I would say that they are more than a distraction than they are an attraction for a business.

2. School Buses have pick up/drop offs on main thoroughfares. Who does this? Also I was not aware that when you are on a highway the opposite direction still has to stop for an unloading bus. I am fine stopping, but kids should not be crossing a 4-6 lane highway!

3. Hand washing cars is a mighty big thing in this area. On my way to work I see probably a dozen car washes offering the “best hand washed service” in town. From what I have seen they are fairly competitive rates with a machine wash. I feel that it rains too much here to warrant paying for a car wash. Maybe when I get a new car that will be something I am more invested in….but probably not.

4. Not only are kids walking across 4 or 6 lane highways, but people not associated with school buses just cross the street with traffic buzzing buy, and I mean not on a crosswalk or with the help of streetlights. It has been absurd to watch people just mosey on across the street like it is a sidewalk and will dart between cars like we are New York City or something. People do it in the rain, sunshine, night, day, with groups, by themselves, in suits, in pajamas…apparently it is a thing. The craziest sight is seeing people drag strollers and kids who can barely walk across the highway in full traffic! I have seen people standing in the middle turn lane for several minutes waiting for the cars (who are going around 45-50 mph) just whiz on by. Walking seems to be a way of transportation here, but they could at least find an appropriate crosswalk. Also if they are going to be doing this, they need to learn to wear reflective gear or bright clothing, maybe a PT belt. I am just saying reflective pieces of clothing are helpful for you and the drivers so we DON’T HIT YOU! (In case you were wondering, I have never hit someone, but it has come very close to this by my accord and others around me.)

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This is an example of the road where people walk across. Just imagine lots of traffic and pedestrians intermingling (and no flood).

5. One road can go by several names. It can be ridiculous trying to find a new place or give directions because one road has 4 different names. The main strip in town has the following titles: Fort Campbell Blvd, 41A, 79, Providence Blvd, and 2nd Street. Now I understand how they correlate, but when I first got here, you can see how it may be difficult to keep things straight. There also isn’t the greatest signage depicting the changing titles. And depending on who you talk to will change how they refer to it. For example, I refer to it as Ft. Campbell Blvd, and Tom calls it 41A. It can get silly…I also still haven’t found the CiCis we were looking for back in August when our family was in town.

The things I probably would never know if I didn’t commute…

Have you noticed any quirks of your town?

January 9, 2014 by Stephanie

Brother Birthday!

Today is my little brother’s 26th birthday.

While I know there were almost 3 years I survived before him, I cannot remember my life without him.

Being only three years apart, Randall was around for most of my life.

We definitely had our troubles as brother and sister. There were many years that I loathed him. Especially those days that he would steal my things or he would beat me at Chinese Checkers. I thought he was a pest for a time there. On many occasions I wondered how we were even related…

Oh yes. This is how.

I honestly didn’t find many pictures that we didn’t have a funny face. The left-hand corner is the most normal picture I could find.

Although we had our ups and downs in our relationship, we managed to be there when the other needed it. With nothing really consistent in our childhood, we were the only thing that remained constant for each other. We shuffled each week together from house to house. Rarely did we go somewhere without the other.

We have been there for every major life event. Granted I didn’t exactly see his daughter be born, and he didn’t see my first walking steps, but you get what I mean.

Our dad took us on an impromptu fishing trip. So naturally since we didn’t have swimming suits my brother and I dived in fully clothed.
This is one of my favorite childhood memories.
I think I was around 8, which would make my brother 5.

I wasn’t always the nicest sister. Once, I convinced him to give himself a swirly for a quarter, and to this day I still owe him that quarter. Somewhere I have a picture of this…

Randall wasn’t always the nicest brother. On numerous occasions we found ourselves in screaming matches with slamming door action.

Typical Glinn Grin

We managed to pull each other up and make each other smile when it counted. We were often the only kids at family and social events, so we had to find ways to entertain each other. And so maybe every day wasn’t great, but most days we fueled each other’s imagination with play school, games, and legos.

Lots of legos, crayons, and micro machines.

Randall was terrified of Batman, who is actually being played by a close family friend of ours. He cried for the longest time.
(Also check out my troll shirt!)

We would pretend that we were Michael Jordan and Muggsy Bogues for hours in the driveway. Even when we played tennis or baseball in the back field, we still were Michael and Muggsy, we felt empowered by them I guess. We accidently broke things in the house from playing too hard. Like the time we played volleyball in the house and it broke a window. Or the time that we were playing circus, and I was the ring leader standing on a flipped over trashcan, and then proceeded to fall through the wicker trashcan. We would dance for hours to Space Jam music, and secretly wish we could be part of the Mighty Ducks team. We watched countless hours of Saturday morning cartoons, which oddly enough Cowboys of Moo Mesa is one of the shows the 90s forgot. All the times that we would sneak into the loft to watch Dad’s TV long after our bedtimes. We had our own band for awhile, me on keyboard and Randall on drums. We would record ourselves on our sweet tape decks, but the recordings I really want to get my hands on are all the news reports we made.

We would play ourselves to sleep.

I was always envious of my brother. He is so smart. He always had/still has better math skills than I do. It used to frustrate me so much when I was working on my time tables quizzes, and he could run laps around me with how fast he would say them before I could even comprehend the problem. He was one of those kids that never had to study but could still ace the test.

Who doesn’t love Easter best? And aren’t his saddle shoes the cutest thing?

He was never scared to do anything. He had bravery like a superhero and had fear for nothing. (Maybe it is from all those times he ran into walls when he was in preschool.) Randall never seemed to care what people thought about him, and lived full out and full on. He could strike up a conversation so easily, and you clearly knew where you stood with him. Even though he was younger, he often stood by me so I could be stronger and less shy. Seriously, he would have to escort me to go get ketchup packets…

We were only in the same school for two school years: my fifth grade/his 2nd grade and for my senior year/his freshmen year. (Our kindergarten and first grade were in a separate building in case you were wondering.) We were in high school band together which was such a neat experience for me in my last year, but maybe not so much for him in his first. We also worked at Worlds of Fun for a couple years together, and it was the start of both of us becoming adults.

So even though a lot of things have changed over the years like our hairstyles and our names (seriously you go by Paul now?), you have always been my bubba.

He was such a cute kid! Now he has a kid of his own, and she is just as cute!

So Randall, here’s to you on your day of birth.

26 years ago, our lives changed.

For good.

(mostly…jk)

Happy Birthday Brother!

Maybe I will mail you what I owe you for the swirly…

January 8, 2014 by Stephanie

30 before 30 Update 2

Here we are for another month’s update on my 30 before 30 list. There is not much to update since we were doing holiday stuff for most of the month and were gone more than we were home for December.

1. Crochet something else besides blankets or scarves-so something that isn’t straight lines.

· This totally happened if you saw my post from earlier this week. Next stop hats!

2. Do a 30 day photography challenge

· I have plans for the timing. Now I just need to find a good challenge. Any suggestions?

3. Visit 3 cities I have never been to before

· Nothing new here.

4. Tour at least one of the distilleries in the area

· Nothing.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

· We sent all of our Christmas cards, so I happily exceeded this!

6. Become a “professional” photographer

· We are coming up with an Facebook ad for the Clarksville area for a promo in February, so hopefully that pans out. I just need to be patient and be ok with the slow start.

7. Run at least 5 races (any distance)

· I have plans in the works.

8. Go camping with Tom

· We have plans for this for next summer for our anniversary.

9. Pay for the car behind me in a drive through

· Not yet. I will be honest, I don’t seem to remember this when I am in the drive through.

10. See Tyrone Wells live again

· Nope.

11. Tour Fort Defiance here in Clarksville

· This is more of a summer thing.

12. Water ski with my dad

· Also summer.

13. Do a 5K with my mom

· We did talk about it over Christmas, but no plans yet.

14. Take a swing dance class with Tom

· I am still trying to convince Tom to do this with me. This may come near the end of the challenge.

15. Read at least one fun book a month and one professional development book every three months

· I caught up from November. I read two books over break. Blogging buddy, Ellen, and I are planning on doing a virtual professional development read. We picked a book yesterday and will be reading a chapter a week, so I may have this done this next month.

16. Take a pottery or stained glass class

· Things have been too crazy schedule wise to make this happen yet.

17. Learn how to make sushi

· Nada.

18. See both a Clemson and UCM football game live

· This will have to wait until fall.

19. Volunteer with MCFOTS and Special Olympics on a regular basis

· I am loving volunteering for MCFOTS. It is a great shelter. And it is super fun to go play and love on dogs that aren’t mine for a few hours a week. (Well most of the time, last night I was not too happy with one dog who wanted to play chase for a half hour in 20 degree weather. She just wouldn’t come back inside from playtime! Also I sliced my thumb open on a dog treat trying to coax her inside. Overall, though my shift are pleasant and tug at my heartstrings. Two of my favorites got adopted this week. (Which is good, because Tom and I almost ended up with a third boxer.) Like I said, this volunteering gig may be a bad idea.

20. Explore Land Between the Lakes

· Summer plan.

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

· Tom is off the hook on this one. My other half and best friend from college and I are going to make plans for this in Kansas City.

22. Go to at least 10 “new to me” restaurants in Clarksville.

· Since we were gone most of December, nothing happened with this one. We still have 8 to go. Any of my Clarksville friends have suggestions?

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

· We have the place picked out in our old college town. We just have to find a weekend we can do it.

24. Spend a day without electronics (phone, t.v. and computer)

· So this didn’t happen over winter break.

25. Go to the Kentucky Derby

· Ok so reality sunk in that this will not be a possibility financially. However, I do want to go see the museum. And in cahoots with my sister in law, I want to have a Derby themed birthday party on my 30th.

26. Go to non-touristy parts of Nashville

· No time this month. We did find some cool activities though that we want to do in upcoming months. Tom has a lot of ranges coming up so he will be gone a lot, so we’ll see how the plans pan out.

27.Watch at least 10 movies that I have not seen before that won Best Picture at the Oscars and at least 10 documentaries (not necessarily Oscar winning)

· I didn’t watch any of the films, but I did watch a documentary. I watched “Behind the Myth” which is about the myths behind bully breeds and the horrible laws that have ensued because of it. It was kind of heart wrenching to watch, and I may have cried. It is a little outdated, but it does a good job showing the history of the bans and the grassroots efforts that have sprung because of the stereotype and trying to debunk it.

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch.

· We did get a new sewing machine. Now I just have to figure out my first pattern.

29. Find a church home here in Clarksville

· We did find a church, but we have been the last few weeks with traveling.

30. Become a mom

· We both met with my physician before we left for the holidays. The only thing we weren’t already doing that she suggested was for me to be taking prenatal vitamins. Apparently, you should start taking these before you get pregnant as well as the duration. I had no idea. So we got those for free at the base hospital, score! I also had some blood work done this week to check my hormonal levels. We will also be meeting with a fertility specialist in the upcoming month. For some, I know this may seem like we are being really impatient considering it hasn’t been a full year since we started, but the Army is covering all of these expenses so we figured we would take advantage of it while we know we are both here for a bit. Also my physician said that even with everything perfect, there is still only a 20% chance of getting pregnant, so we want to make our odds as high as possible.

I’d say that is still pretty good progression considering what was going on this month. Hopefully January will prove to be fruitful and exciting!

Anyone want to join me on any of these excursions?

Do you have ideas on how I should accomplish any of these tasks?

January 7, 2014 by Stephanie

JollyVoxBox

I recently signed up for a review box from Influenster thanks to a blog friend Erica. A box is sent to you after doing a survey with Influenster. I was really excited to get the box for my very first product review!

These are not big boxes, but they have around 5 small items for you to review. Just the perfect size to try something new and see if want to become invested in that product.

Here is what was in the box:

Puffs Ultra Soft and Strong To Go Tissue Pack: I love these Kleenexes! These have come at the perfect time since this weather is making me a little nasally. I love these travel packs because it ensures that I have a tissue wherever I go. (I am ready to be a mom folks, been carrying the mom bag for years!)
NYC New York Color HD Color Trio Eye Shadow: This is the item I was most excited to receive. I was waiting until we got back from our vacation to go get some new eye shadow, and this is the palate I always get too. I had never tried this brand before, but I love it so far!
Rimmel London Show Off Lip Lacquer: I am not one to use lip color because I am a chapstick girl for sure. I always feel silly wearing anything else, but I am sure I can find someone to try this out since I won’t use it. It looks super fancy!
Skinny Cow Candy: I love Skinny Cow chocolates, but this is the one kind I don’t like because I am not a peanut butter fan. However, as you know Tom loves PB, so these will be gone very soon in one of his pantry raids.
Ducklings Mini Rolls: This item was fun to see as a crafter. This little roll of decorative duct tape will emerge on some craft or labels of some sort I am sure. I love the splatter paint effect.

I did receive all of these complimentary for the review, and these thoughts are my own. If you are interested in getting a box (you don’t have to be a blogger), just let me know, and I can send you an invite. They are a fun surprise!

This is my first box, but the site seems pretty fun by earning badges of things that you have reviewed and checking in your boxes. You can win prizes the more things that you check in, so there are rewards to be interactive with the site beyond just getting the box. It seems pretty self-explanatory from what I can tell so far. The only thing is that I don’t have a lot of the social media outlets like Instagram and Twitter which can earn you more points, so we’ll see how it goes without those.

January 5, 2014 by Stephanie

Holiday Stats

Glinn Photography

We just resurfaced in Ft. Campbell after 2 weeks on the road. We don’t even know what to do with ourselves.

Here is a recap on how the past two weeks of our travel went.

Basics

14 days living out of a suitcase (or two)
1 state (Missouri) 2 cities (Kansas City and Jefferson City)
2 Christmas celebrations in JC
3 Christmas celebrations in KC
Drove through the town where our undergrad is and revisited old stomping grounds
Rang in 2014
4 family birthdays

We surprised my father-in-law with a 60th birthday party.

The Dogs

Crosby got a new nickname of Hammerhead, to go along with his others of Crosbastic and Crosbilicious.
Neither dog pooped in the house while we were away. Success.
Grace lived up to her name of the Food Ninja by stealing food off the counters.
We saw Crosby in the snow for the first time (with us anyway). He is not a fan. Grace however, thinks snow is candy coming from the sky.
Crosby demolished a Kong toy in the amount of time it took us to open up Christmas presents.

The unlucky Kong and Crosby.

For Funs

We both got to visit with old friends with typical best friend behavior
- My two best gal pals and I downed Chili’s molten chocolate cake under a couple minutes. As our families watched in awe (or horror) at three grown women fighting over cake and ice cream.
- Tom played hours of video games with his bestie.
I went to my first Christmas Eve service that I can remember. Our family lit the advent candles for the service.

My in-laws at Christmas Eve service.

Tom managed to work out every day. He scared a lot of people in the gym with his ranger panties.
On a date with my sister in law, I revisited the winery where we had our wedding anniversary.
I read 2 books and watched one documentary.
The Homemade Christmas items seemed to go over well. More to come on all the crafting that occurred gearing up for the gift exchange!
I got to officially meet the Climes whose son inspired me to run my last half. They are too sweet, except the boys let me die in a nerf arrow fight.
We watched Clemson and Mizzou win their respective bowl games. It is always a good day to be a Tiger!
We gave my parents a Royals neon. So awesome!
My father-in-law works for Budweiser so sometimes we come across gems like these!
We were so excited to give this to them!
Unfortunately, the Chiefs lost by one point in their playoff game. It was a great year for them though!
We only got up before 9am one time. Tomorrow’s 5am alarm is going to be brutal.
I got my brother hooked on the show Castle.
On both the way to Missouri and the way out, we had to stop in the first 30 minutes to search for an open auto parts store in the middle of no where because Tom’s Jeep was acting up.
My dad bought our 3 year old niece a drum set. Bahaha! My poor brother.

Oh grandparents.

Tom got a new gun for his birthday.
We saw snow, ice, rain, sunshine, and temperatures ranging from 4 degrees to 65 degrees.
We told our niece Ava about the Hamburgler, and she went on to talk about the hamburger stealer bad man for the rest of the day. Whoops.
The most played song for us was Miley Cyrus “Wrecking Ball.”
I took about 1,000 photos, but there are less than 10 that I am actually in. Most of them were the family photos we took.