OOOOHHHHKLAHOMA!

Sing it loud Sing it Proud.
I'm back people from another successful and hard 2 and half weeks of good old fashioned Army Training!
This year's travels took me to Madison, WI, Sullivan, MO, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Dallas Texas, and back.
For obvious reasons it was SO much harder leaving this year. This was certainly the longest I had ever been away from Finn, and Nick, and it seemed to last an absurdly long time. I am so blessed to have such an amazing husband and families to help hold down the fort while I was away. I really appreciate everything you do for me and for our family.

So! To catch you all up on what I've been up to, I present to you in photos and scribe, the life of an Army Band girl in Oklahoma.

WHAT I LEARNED AT FORT SILL

1) I have never really felt "hot" before until I went there. Never dipping below 100 degrees in the week + that we were there, the temp rose to 112 degrees on our second to last day. I can only describe the heat as intense and it would be super windy, and the hot flames of this heat would lap and lick at your ankles. Not bad in a tank and skirt...but in your full uniform, boots and BLACK WOOL BERET (genius Army, really brilliant) it would create an oven like no other

2) Sweating THAT much makes your skin glow and makes you feel pretty healthy

3) The South is SLOW. I nearly died. Anywhere we went that required any customer service I almost lost it. Must be my fast paced city life getting to me after all, but DANG. Pick up the pace! 8 minutes to make me a latte!?! (I did time her) You'd get shot in Chicago. SHOT dead.

4) You can sweat EVERYWHERE from your body. Not one part is immune.

5) Running in extreme heat can and does feel super good.

6) Just salute! Saluting high ranking officers is not SCARY. Just do it and get it over with already.

7) Ultimate frisbee is pretty fun. And I'm not too bad at it.

8) 6 racoons can and DO fit in one garbage can. And the quickness in which they can scurry out would alarm you.

9) There are a lot of ways to eat cottage cheese. With peaches, pears, just regular shredded cheese, with croutons, tomatoes, garbanzo beans, etc.
Here are some pictures to show you around:
My Battle Buddies; Val and Lauren - Spend just about every waking moment with these two.

The Turd - as lovingly named by the Fort Sill Band, otherwise known as the band hall, where we rehearsed. Super hot.

The DFAC (aka Dining Hall) - where we did, and mostly didn't eat. I literally survived on cottage cheese, ice cream cones and jello. Somedays there was kidney bean salad to look forward to. As Nick so kindly pointed out, "It sounds like you're in a nursing home." I was STARVING.


And our work! Our main objective was to perform at major military ceremonies, such as retirements, graduations, honors, etc. Here are some pictures of the band in action.
The half section is a really big deal at Fort Sill, they have all of these amazing horses as part of their ceremonies.



And there was also some fun.
You have to make it fun or you would shoot yourself I think.
I will post more about the fun tomorrow night.
Highlights include:
The best BBQ I will most likely ever have, plus the chef in a recliner
Buffalo, Prairie Dogs, and Longhorns, Oh My!
Real life Donkey and Goat Soldiers
Road trip to Dallas

Glad to be back!
Missed y'all