FRG (Family Readiness Group) Coffee

Last Tuesday Ellie (Chris’ Commanding Officer’s wife) and I hosted our first Coffee event. A Coffee is an FRG Officer’s wives function that is held once a month to touch base with each other and spend time together. It is purely a social thing and though there is a little “official” business it is mainly just a chance to hang out and eat dinner together. Since our event was held in October our theme was “Fall Harvest”. Ellie made a great broccoli cheese soup, ramen noodle salad and pecan pie. I made chili, pumpkin bread, homemade whipped cream and apple pie. We had a great turn out and everyone had fun! One negative thing did happen during the event….at some point I lost my military ID so now I have to get Chris to take me on base to get another one.

The GMAT

This morning Chris and I both took the GMAT. For those who are not familiar with it, the GMAT is a test that rates business school applicants. And yes, both Chris and I are applying for graduate school to earn our Masters of Business Administration (MBA). The range of scores for the GMAT is from 200 to 800 with most people scoring 400-600. The test contains two essays, 75 minute 37 question quantitative (math) section and 75 minute 41 question verbal section. At $250 per test fee, the test isn’t something to be taken lightly! Chris has been studying for a couple of months because he is looking to attend B-School in the fall of 2009 (if everything goes according to plan). I just decided to go back to school and take the GMAT a month ago. We both have been trying to cram in as much studying as possible and you should see the state of our apartment…it needs some attention! The power going on out on Thursday night didn’t help matters but that is another blog posting! Luckily the studying paid off; my unofficial test score was 530 and Chris’s was 720! It looks like I’ll be attending ECU in January and Chris will have his pick of grad schools when he is ready to go!

Back to Ohio

Last weekend Chris, Max and I drove back to Ohio to visit Zak (Chris’ best friend) while he was home from Iraq on his 18 day leave. We left Fayetteville on Friday after work and pulled into Tim and Danielle’s at 2am. It was Max’s first long car trip and he did great! We put him in his kennel in the back seat of the Jetta and he rode home comfortably without so much as a whine. On Saturday morning we got together with some family for breakfast at First Watch (mmmm….pumpkin pancakes) and then went our separate ways. Chris and Zak went to the Shoe to watch Ohio State beat Minnesota and my mom and I went to Easton to track down the perfect lamps for her living room. Of course, there were a few other purchases as well. On Saturday night we got the chance to catch up with both of our families and hang out with some of Chris’ friends from college at Bubbys and Sonny Jacks. It’s always fun to spend time at the local watering hole with friends. On Sunday we spent more time with family, had dinner with family and checked out Kevin’s new building. Monday was GMAT studying for me while Chris went to the golf course and driving back to Columbus so we would have a shorter drive back to Fayetteville on Tuesday. Driving back to Fayetteville included a couple of stops on Tuesday, one in Athens, OH and then twice to track down the elusive Mt. Dew Slurpee that Chris was craving from Seven Eleven.

Look, the big dog is scared of the little dog!

Chris and I at Sonny Jacks

WSU Group Photo

Zak and Chris at the OSU game

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Happy Birthday Nicole! I hope you have a great B-Day and we can't wait to celebrate with you next weekend when we are in Ohio.

6 Miler

Lately the weather in North Carolina has been like Ohio autumn weather: cool nights, warm days and low humidity. We are really enjoying it and have been spending a lot of time outside. The weather has made it easy to get up and moving for my morning runs! This morning Lea, Caitlin and I did our first 6 miler and it went really well. Our official training schedule for the MB marathon doesn’t start until October but it will be Caitlin and Lea’s first marathon so we are running together now to start building a base. I haven’t been running consistently since the Columbus Marathon so I definitely need to get back into it and this weather is making it very enjoyable for me. I didn't realize how much I missed running until I started doing it again. There are certain parts that aren't as fun but I love having the time each morning to focus my day and the sense of accomplishement that comes from finishing a great run.

Family Rivalry

My alma mater, Ohio University, played Chris’ future (hopefully) university, OSU, yesterday. Here are a few photos of our family rivalry. We made a pot of chili (despite the 90 degree temp) hung out and watched the game. After a putting up a good fight, my Bobcats fell to the Buckeyes 26-14.

Chris and Max decked out in OSU.

Sonya supporting OU.

Max taking a half time nap under the table in his OSU shirt...we thought it was funny that he was sleeping on his back with paws up.

Virginia Beach Rock N Roll ½ Marathon

Chris with his 7-11 Mt. Dew Slurpee.

Two of his fav's Mt. Dew and Slurpees...doesn't get much better than this!

Bud at Mile 11

Kelly after the race...with a 2:15:55 finish time!

Chris and I waiting at the restaurant for the rest of the crew.

Chris and I drove to VA Beach to watch my friend Kelly, her sister-in-law Bud, and a friend of theirs Mark run the Rock N Roll ½ Marathon. Because of the excessive heat in NC, I chose to skip this one but was happy to be able to cheer them on! The course is flat and fast but the heat and humidity is what really gets the runners. This year the race started at 7am to combat the weather but it was still pretty hot and sticky. Great job the runners, you all did awesome! Watching the race did make me miss it and it’s safe to say that I will be running the Myrtle Beach Marathon in Feb. 2009 (training starts in Oct. if anyone wants to join me!)