December 12, 2013 by Stephanie

Tis the Season

It sure doesn’t feel like Christmas around here. I believe this is for few reasons.

1. This is our first year in KY, so there is an adjustment that occurs to learning holidays in a new place.

2. It has been very rare for Tom and I to be together for the holidays. Actually there has only been one other year (out of 7) that we will be together the WHOLE time for Christmas. It just is what it is…

3. There has not been snow. Ice, yes, but “play in it and build snowman” snow, no. This was my December last year.

4. I didn’t realize how much my “inner” schedule was dictated by the residence hall schedule. I have not done a hall closing/opening since May, so it’s just been a continuous semester for me. I am used to having this huge hooplah of getting thousands of students out of my “house” and then hibernating for days. Not so much this year.

5. I haven’t bought a single Christmas present…Talk about being behind! Ugh.

6. We only have two Christmas decorations out. Growing up, my step-mom started decorating elaborate-gorgeous-magazine-like scenes once November hit, and my mom listened to Christmas music for months straight along with the Lifetime-like Christmas movies before Lifetime was a thing. So only having two things out is really sad when I start to think about it.

I talked about the wreath a few days ago, and how we didn’t want to get out all of our stuff due to traveling. I cannot wait until we are forever stationary because I am really looking forward to having roots for the holiday season.

Anyway, so we have the wreath, and one more item.

I bought these jingle bells last year when Hobby Lobby was having their Christmas blow out/whatever. I think they were like a dollar or two.

So they have been sitting in my “to make” craft box for a whole year. So I figured it was something simple to put up and provide us some holiday happiness.

Supplies Needed for Jingle Tree

jingle bells (I had 6 containers, but I only used about 4.)
cardboard tree
one big ornament
glue gun

Sorry the pictures aren’t the best quality. This was the night when we tried getting the sewing machine to work, and our first attempts at the wreath. So we were not happy craft campers. This was an attempt to save my crafting sanity with an “easy craft.”

First I sorted out the colors and figured out a “pattern” I would follow. The pattern didn’t last too long because I realized I had more green and red than the other colors. Thanks packaging guys.

I just hot glued them row by row. I put them as close together as I could.
You can see the wreath debacle over there….

You can see the cardboard still. You could add garland or tinsel in the middle, but I was too lazy/cheap to get those. And it doesn’t look bad without it. I think if I had it in a brighter room, I would think differently and would want the extra bling in the cracks.

In the wreath adventure, I had broken one of these disco balls. However, it worked out nicely that it fit perfectly on top of this tree. So I just glued it on top. Perfect topper!

So there you have it, now you have seen the two decorations in the Whitener household. Someday it will be different, but for now we are traveling holiday experiencers.

December 10, 2013 by Stephanie

Armucation: Airborne vs. Air Assault

Since I got a pretty good response on the last couple posts about my little Army knowledge, I figured I would semi-regularly write about details and tidbits about the Army. It is really educational for me too, so I hope you enjoy learning a little bit more about the Army.

There are a lot of qualifiers, training, and titles that go along with the Army. It can get confusing real quick!

Two of them are Airborne and Air Assault. These are known as qualifiers.

Fort Campbell is home of the 101st Airborne, which is one of the most famous units, most recognizably for Band of Brothers.

So most people have heard of Airborne before. If you were like me though, you may have never heard of Air Assault. One would think that it has to do with fighting in the air from plane to plane-assault in the air duh!

So here is your Armucation for the day.

Air Assault and Airborne are fairly similar. They both refer to the mode of transportation that a unit specializes in getting to their mission. And both have to do with vehicles that fly.

Airborne is when a unit jumps out of an airplane with parachutes. There is a school that you must go to at Ft. Benning, GA, to become qualified. It generally lasts for about 3 weeks. I am sure it involves some jumping in the air and what not.

Air Assault is when a unit deploys out of a helicopter. This also includes sling loads, which is basically a rope that is hooked underneath the helicopter. When Tom was deployed, this is how a lot of food, mail, supplies were delivered. The school is here at Ft. Campbell and lasts for 11 days.

both pictures via

Fast Facts:

These are an individual qualifier not an automatic right since you in stationed within the unit.
A soldier can be qualified for both, and it is not just restricted to the infantry.
From WWII there has always been an airborne unit.
The 101st Screaming Eagles is the only air assault unit in the world, but this doesn’t mean that other units aren’t air assault qualified.
There are a few Airborne units.
Everyone in the Army (or even infantry) is not qualified for either. From what I can tell, a lot of it may be due to your MOS and duty assignment and what options may be available there.
You can have gone on deployments before being “trained” for these. Tom went through the Air Assault school a month after he returned form his deployment.

There are two other “types” of transportation besides these Air Assault and Airborne.

“Light” is foot infantry meaning they come in by foot. They may use other vehicles, but they are made to do foot traffic.

“Mec” is mechanized infantry. This is when they roll in vehicles like strykers (kind of like a tank).

The mode of transportation will be picked depending on the mission and terrain they are going into. It is all situational, and the same area may call for all four depending on what is occurring at the time.

This is part of the Air Assault training. They have to rappel off the side you see but also off the other side where there is no wall. This thing is huge and kind of daunting, but I kind of want to do the jump…
Picture from http://www.campbell.army.mil/units/Sabalauski/Pages/AirAssaultSchool.aspx

It seems like I learn things about the Army every day. If there are things that you have questions about or you would love to see a post about, just let me know! I am by no means an expert at all things Army, but I love exploring new topics and sharing what I see as a military spouse.

I am starting a list of topics, so any ideas are welcome!

Hope you enjoyed today’s Armucation.

December 9, 2013 by Stephanie

30 before 30 Update

One month down since I decided to do this 30 before 30 thing.

So here is my first update. I think it has been a good start to this 18 month challenge.

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

· I have some ideas for Christmas presents, so I may have an update next month.

2. Do a 30 day photography challenge

· I need to do it in a month where we aren’t traveling a whole bunch. The hardest part is making a commitment to get the camera out ever day.

3. Visit 3 cities I have never been to before

· Well, I went to Russellville, MO for a wedding, but I am not sure it counts because we didn’t really “see” the town. But I guess I am the one in charge of this challenge so I can make my own rules.

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

· Nothing.

5. Send at least 5 snail mail a month

· I actually sent 9 letters! Also, this was a great excuse to buy new stationary.

6. Become a “professional” photographer

· This is in the works! Anybody have any photography needs? I am for hire!

One of my favorites from my most recent family sessions.

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.

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

· Nothing.

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 have no excuse for this one. I am still in a reading rut, but I did start the last in the Castle series this week, so hopefully I will catch up in December.

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

· No plans yet.

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 still waiting on some paperwork from Special Olympics. This week, I started at MCFOTS (the animal shelter we got Crosby). I love it so much! It is a good thing there is a limit on how many pets we can have on base because there were two dogs that I almost took home with me. Grace is not very happy with me doing this though. She is so mad that I have cheated on her. I will deal with her hateful stares though because this is seriously awesome!

20. Explore Land Between the Lakes

· Summer plan.

21. Ride in a hot air balloon

· This will take some work and research.Tom hates heights, so either this will take some convincing or I will need to find other people to embark on this journey with me.

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

· We have been to two: China One and King Mao. Tom and I love Chinese restaurants, and they usually are part of our weekly date nights. It was no surprise that these were our new places, however I still think our online ordering is the best out there. Any of my Clarksville friends have suggestions?

23. Stay at a bed and breakfast

· Working on it.

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

· I am thinking about doing it a day over winter break.

25. Go to the Kentucky Derby

· I would really like to do this for my 30^th birthday since it is a week before my day. This would be enough time to save money too because it is expensive!

26. Go to non-touristy parts of Nashville

· I did this weekend! My supervisor from grad school was in town! We had a mini Clemson reunion downtown with dinner.

We went to the Old Spaghetti Factory and then walked around downtown for a little bit. Tom got 2 pounds of taffy from a candy shop there, which he promptly ate half of on the way home.

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 need to do some research and make a list of the Best Picture films I would want to watch and put them on our Netflix queue. As for the documentaries, we tried watching one on Zombies. Yes, this is true, but we only made it through 10 minutes before we couldn’t take it anymore. It was so absurd.

28. Sew an item of clothing from scratch.

· We think our sewing machine is out for the count, so this may be on hold or need to be changed on whether we can get it fixed or get a new one.

29. Find a church home here in Clarksville

· I believe we may have found a church that we both like. Tom and I have different tastes in how we like to enjoy worship, so this is an adventure trying to find a good mix for both of us.

30. Become a mom

· Working on it. *wink wink*

So there you have it. Not too shabby for my first month. We’ll see what I can mark off this month. December is going to be pretty nuts since we have so many things planned for the holiday time. Wish me luck!

Anyone want to join me on any of these excursions?

December 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Holiday Decor

We have plans to be with family for a good portion of December, and Tom and I are pretty practical home decorators. Not that we don’t love the holiday spirit, but we didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time decorating when we wouldn’t be here to enjoy it. Plus we don’t have room for a tree, so we decided to keep it pretty minimal on the Christmas decorating.

So the 2 tubs of holiday decor has stayed packed away.

However, we did want some holiday spirit, and we needed a new wreath to replace our fall one.

This was quite a craft affair. It was one of those times that you can’t get your idea to pan out as you plan.

We tried putting ornaments on an old wire hanger, but we didn’t have enough. I had already spent 10 dollars on this bunch, and I didn’t want to spend anymore on another box.

Then we tried wiring it to another wreath thing I already had. We also tried hot gluing it.

Continued failure. Ugh. This has been the story of our crafting life this week. We tried getting our sewing machine to work for almost 4 hours on Friday and another hour on Saturday. We think the thing has died or the repair is going to cost more than what it is worth, which is awesome because I have used it a total of 3 times.

So admitting my defeat to the ornament wreath, I broke down and bought a 4 dollar wreath.

Final supply list:

ornaments
string of lights
wreath
picture hanging wire

We didn’t use the peacock feather ornament. That was supposed to be part of the original plan, and it just didn’t work with this one.

First, I wrapped the wreath with the lights.

I grouped 4 sets of 3 balls with the picture hanging wire. Then I just tied them on the wreath like a twist tie. Super easy!

I did a couple single ones too.

bingo, bango, bongo

This is a really easy project once we figured it out. It looks classy and simple with the same color scheme. We have several of the balls left over so I may make garland with it in the future.

It looks so great! And it is such an up-lifter coming home to this on the door.

December 6, 2013 by Stephanie

Friday Filter-Movie “Catching Fire”

Last weekend, we finally saw Catching Fire, the second in the Hunger Games series.

Poster of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

All I can see is wow.

Ok I can say a little more. This movie was phenomenal in every way. It was a great book adaptation. They hit all the major highlights without losing much of the integrity of the story. Obviously they don’t go into all the details that the book does. However, it is hard for me to realize what wasn’t said in the movie because it was knowledge I already had.

The story occurs in a dystopian future where 12 districts are at the mercy of the Capital. The Capital keeps everyone in fear and constant control. The storyline follows Katniss and Peeta as the victors of the 74th Hunger Games, which is a competition (death match) put on by the Capital with two “representatives” from each district. Peeta and Katniss have to do the “victory lap” within all the districts. All the while, they have to pretend they are in love to keep up the facade they started with the whole “berry” incident. As they are on the tour, they see glimpses of the other districts and the beginning of a revolution.

President Snow feels threatened by Katniss, and with the urging from the new game master, they made the Quarter Quell one for the history books by recalling old victors to be tributes once again.

But little does Snow know that this is the beginning of the end for him.

And that is all I am going to say about the story.

I just loved it.

It was packed with emotion and action, and snippets of humor.

My favorite characters are Haymitch and Cinna. I am also Team Peeta all the way.

I cried twice-once when they showed Rue’s family, and then when Cinna had his misfortune.

The cinematography was fantastic. I hate when they make a movie with CGI that you notice, and this was not the case with Catching Fire. Those monkeys scared the daylights out of me. I also don’t like when they are two quick with the camera action that you can’t keep up with what is going on. They did a great job keeping you focused on what you needed to and highlighting whatever emotion of the time.

The cast was phenomenal. I want Jennifer Lawrence to be in my inner circle.

It sparked more conversations about rebellion and the “end of the world” prep in our house. So it is safe to say that Tom enjoyed it too.

The genius of Suzanne Collins (author of the trilogy) was brought to life in the most fantastic way. Although, nothing in my opinion can beat actually reading the book.

I highly recommend this series to anyone!

Have you seen it? What are your thoughts? Team Peeta or Team Gale?

Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.