To honor those who have and still serve...

I received the following in an e-mail today and couldn't help but put it here....

The average age of the military man is 19 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's, but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other.

He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all.

He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away ' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking.

In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great- grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.


Prayer for our Troops:
'Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.'


Thank you for taking the time to read this

I've got a brand new tattoo!

Well Rhea and I made another road trip to Spokane last night to get me re-inked.
Rhea and I have this tradition of her joining me for my tattoos, this was the 3rd trip with
my beautiful sister to the "big" city and Tiger Tattoo.

When we got there I pulled out my HORRIBLE picture of a tattoo I got from the internet.
I thought the tattoo artist was going to kill me. He designed a beautiful tattoo though that captured exactly what I wanted and threw in his own opinions to make it better.

It ended up being much bigger than I had planned but the detail was worth it. I know that unlike my cross tattoo, which I wish I had gotten bigger, I won't be regretting the placement or size. It took about 40 minutes to complete it which was boarderlining on too on for my pain tolerance but I didn't shed any tears, ya proud? WOW were there some spots I could have screamed, nothing like a little drama, right? Ha Ha!

Okay so without further delay...here are the pictures from our adventure...


Waiting for my tattoo to be drawn up and all smiles!
I love my sister!!



While my tattoo was being drawn up Rhea was doing some
creating of her own around the matching tattoo we got back in January.
Think we're hadding 8 flowers- 4 on each side for the months between our birthdays from October to February and 8 total for the 8 months between our birthdays from February to October. We're also thinking of writing, Friend below the sign so that its easy for people to see
what the Chinese symbol stands for.


I know it looks like I'm asleep but trust me I was NO WHERE NEAR asleep!
This hurt so incredibly badly at different times and all I could do was close my
eyes and pretend to be somewhere else.

And now without out further delay.... the finished product.....

Isn't it so pretty! My Mom thinks its too big, Dad won't even look at it and Bill can't believe I got another one. So far my friends who have seen it love it and I am CRAZY about it! I love the colors, the size, the placement! AND I'm glad that its done!

New Hair!

Well I went the complete opposite direction when it comes to my hair! Above is the before picture, taken about an hour before I went in for a change. Below is the after, I love it! Gonna take some getting used to but I just love how healthy it feels and that I won't have roots showing in 2 weeks :-) You'll have to leave me some comments on what you think!

The cutest reaction was from one of my students: I walked into class and he yells from across the room "Nice dye job!" kids are so cute!






P.S. I'm gonna get inked again!!! I am so gosh darn excited. So be on the lookout some some new pictures coming soon!!

Redneck Wedding airdate

Hi All,
Okay the tentative date for the airing of the episode of My Big Redneck Wedding on CMT that I was part of will be November 22! I'll let you know when we get closer if that changes.

SO excited to see it!!

New Pictures

Hi All!
Well school has started again and I am getting settled back into the daily grind. Feels a little more hectic this year which is strange since I know what I'm doing. Maybe that's the reason, I know what to be worried about. :-)
Hope all of you out in cyber land are having a great week, CAN YOU BELIEVE ITS SEPTEMBER!!I'm shocked that fall is here, not ready for it to snow yet!

Anyway below are some pictures from the last month, enjoy :-)

My friend Carley's adorable little girl Jordan and me

taking a break at work!

It was a hard day :-)

KW and me on the beach over Labor Day!


Beautiful Tia and I taking a picture on the beach


Taking a break on the 4-wheeler at the top of the field, don't we live in a beautiful area!


Dustin and me in Allantown for Down River Days


First picture of the 3 of us!

A Salute to Bill's 21st birthday....

In honor of Bill's 21st Birthday which took place yesterday, I'm posting the evidence ;-) Here are some pictures from his 2 1/2 hour drinking fest. Now in his defense he probably would have had A LOT more fun but he was just coming off a 12 hour shift and had to be at work at 7 am the next day.... so without further waiting.... Bill's 21st birthday in pictures....


His 2nd drink, a Trash Can the 1st one was a Long Island Ice Tea



Taking a Duck Fart shot



Aw his lovely sister and his drinking coach looking on



Bill and Dustin preparing to take a Bull Blaster



Drink boys drink!

Summer so far....

I think I should start calling this blog "My life in pictures!" because let's face it its often a lot easier to post some pictures of an event than write about it. ;-) SO today features mostly pictures from the taping of My Big Redneck Wedding for CMT. No, I didn't get married but 2 of Dustin's friends did.... for CMT!! If you haven't seen the show, let me explain a little... basically rednecks from far and wide can apply to have their wedding taped for My Big Redneck wedding, the weddings range from on horseback, to demolition derby to ours which.... I guess.... had to do with the mud trucks- the bride and groom came in on jacked up Volkswagons, the bridesmaids and groomsmen were in red Dodges, the other trucks lined the wedding area...ya know the usual. ;-p It was a very interesting experience that took place on one of the first and hottest weekends of the summer and if you have ever been to the 7 mile ORV park in Spokane (yes the wedding was taped at the ORV park!) you know that the shade is VERY limited. We managed to find some for the first few hours of the day but the wedding was taped in the blazing hot sun. We're hoping that our time out there netted at least a few camera shots- Dustin ought to be on sporting his AWESOME tuxedo t-shirt and I'm sure the S-10 will make it to as it was one of the decorations for the ceremony. One of the many highlights of the day was when the rented Hummer(I think it was an H2 or H3???) got a flat tire which spinning donuts... they aren't supposed to do that but I guess going backwards and spinning on ruts isn't great for tires, of ANY vehicle. No worries though the tire was changed as the ceremony began a few feet away. ;-)

We also got to take Dustin's boat out for the 4th of July to the Columbia River- it was SO much fun! The weather was great and we camped with a very fun group of people. There is nothing like sleeping outside (or in the hull of a boat, soaking up the sunshine and playing games to recharge a person's batteries. :-) Can't wait to go again!

So on with the pictures....

Us still in the shade at 7 mile- don't you LOVE our wedding attire ;-p



My handsome man in his GREAT tuxedo t-shirt!



Getting the game plan figured out


Jeremiah's blazer parked on Dustin's S-10 tire- they were the decorations


Trying to get questions answered from the camera crew...


Dustin and Jeremiah taking control of the situation


The wedding begins... see the blue S-10- it might be famous soon ;-)


This is the picture of our group when the couple was filming the originally video to try and get CMT to accept them... all of those trucks where at the wedding- except Richard's white Toyota...



One of my many days with the 3 B's- Becca, Brooke and Bindi (Becca not pictured)