First Hurst Fall Weekend

Greetings family and friends (and you people out there that I don't know but read random blogs),

Emily, Delilah, and I are celebrating our First Hurst Fall Weekend! While Emily is accustomed to decorating for the different season, I have never really celebrated a season. Sure, there are holidays and such, but I've never soaked up the joy that comes from Summer changing into Fall. So, I asked Emily if she would like to have a day/weekend dedicated to Fall. Of course she obliged. Here is what we have done so far to celebrate:

(1) We started the weekend off right with Oktoberfest in Glen Allen, Va underneath the beer tent at the Capital Ale House. I took a couple of photos with my phone that I'll try to post later. 'Twas tons-o-fun. The scene was complete with a massive crowd of jolly beer drinkers, an Oompa Band (include the little oompa kinder), beer girls wearing little and flirting lots (Em was more than over this fact), and scrumptious eats. Em and I both enjoyed fresh bratwurst served on a baguette and with German potato salad. Emily, of course, passed her serving of brown mustard to me which I then smeared all over my plate of food. I could eat German food everyday. Other menu options were Jagerschnitzel, Knackwurst, Herb Grilled Chicken, Red Cabbage, Spaetzle (C. Larson/M. Bennett/J. Ross eat your hearts out), and other amazing side dishes. Emily enjoyed a 1/2 liter (which was poured more like a 3/4 liter) of Oktoberfest beer and I had the original Paulaner (also 1/2 [3/4] liter). When around a ton of other people drinking beer from liter steins (WHICH WERE PASSED OUT FOR FREE AT THE DOOR!!!!!!) Emily and I both felt comfortable and at home. We weren't stressed out as many might be at a place like McCarthy's. P.S. - Shamrocks, you still remain near the top of our list :)

(2) After coming home from the Ale House, Emily made us some amazing ice cream sundaes. Em's was Mint Chocolate Chip I.C. with chocolate syrup. I had Butter Pecan I.C. with walnuts and chocolate syrup. Mmm. Enough said. We fell soundly asleep shortly after that and woke up at 11:30am the next day.

(3) Saturday brought with it a slow wake up, good cups of coffee and tea, shopping, cooking, decorating, football, sporcle, and general Fall-e kinds of things.

(3a) Emily and I have taken to having some coffee and tea together in the morning on weekends. It's either mint or green tea for her and Folger's instant for me. We bought some heavy whipping cream on Saturday and it goes epecially well with coffee:)

(3b) We went to many different places to do our Fall shopping: Target (a must), Michael's (surprisingly good deals there), and Wal-Mart (mainly food - should be avoided at all costs on a Saturday). We also stopped into Pier 1, Old Navy, K-Mart, and Best Buy. I'm in the market for a new computer.

(3c) After coming home with our bags of goodies, we set out to make a smorgasbord of Fall food: Punkin (as Em says it) soup, feta-stuffed chicken, and apple-struedel pie. Here is a link to her blog detailing the recipes and other fun stuff.

(3d) After gobbling up our delicious creations, we snapped a picture of our dozing Delilah, watched our two teams (Army and UK) get creamed, and decorated the house. Here are a few pictures of our creations. Most of the materials came from Michael's and Wal-Mart filled in the gaps. Just looking at this stuff makes me feel good. When I walk around the apartment I feel happy...Fall-e.

(3e) I capped the night off with a cup of Captain Morgan's Spiced Cider. However, I warmed the cider first, added some cinnamon and nutmeg, then added the rum. It was good, but a little too strong. Next time, less rum (although the buzz wasn't bad at all).

(4) So, here we are now, it's Sunday and we're just getting started. We plan on having brunch (as it has become our Sunday tradition), watching football while sipping (cider through a straw) pumpkin soup and eating chicken and dumplings, and finishing up some homework. Pernaps we'll head out for a bike ride!

Cheers! Comments are welcome!

Sleep-In Sunday

Why Sundays at the Hurst household are awesome:

(1) We sleep in until our backs hurt and we absolutely have to pee;
(2) After we stretch and get up to pee, we can go back to sleep;
(3) When we finally get up, we make mint tea and coffee;
(4) After making our choice morning beverages, we begin breakfast;
(5) We cook breakfast together;
(6) Emily lets me cook home fries and omelettes with any combination of ham/turkey/bacon/feta/cheddar;
(7) After breakfast we relax and get our dose of internet together;
(8) If we're being good Christians, we'll listen to a podcast of the most recent message or go to church;
(9) And then...NFL SUNDAY!!!! GO BENGALS!

p.s. - there are lots of ways to remove burnt plastic from a stove burner :-/

In the Field Again

Alas, I find myself in the field again. However, it's not like any other time. Right now I'm serving in a quasi PL position - supervising 14 pre-AITers as we play the role of OPFOR for the next couple of days. I've been out here since Sunday morning and it's been slow going up until last night when I received my soldiers. Now I have something to do!
Earlier today, the BN CSM came to me with a favor. He had written an important AAR that received praise, but was in the wrong format. So, while I was sitting at the computer here in the TOC, he came to me asking if I was good with computers. I said sure. He then asked my to retype his powerpoint AAR into a formal memorandum in Word. It really wasn't that hard - just took about an hour and a half.
I wrote it up and shot it back to him over email and wondered if it really helped or not. He came to me a few hours later and gave me he and the BN CDR's coin. Sweet! It's been a few years since I was given a coin. Even though it's an almost worthless peice of metal, I still felt important and appreciated when I recieved it. I guess that's what matters.

Anyhow - cheers for now.

The Virginia Holocaust Museum

More to Follow.

Standby.

Mayton Transfer Lots - Our New Apartment

More to follow.

Standby.

Emily, Delilah, and Chris Move to Petersburg, Va

More to come.

Standby...

BOLCII - Fort Sill, OK

More to come in this post.

Standby...

lazy blogger

While Em is getting ready, I figured I'd visit an old friend here in the blogspace. I hope everyone is doing well. Sorry to hear about all of the recent celebrity deaths. Em and I commemorated MJ by going to 80s night at the Dame. Amazingly cathartic. Only thing is...I've got MJ songs on the brain constantly. Ear worms...

We're headed out for some errands and necessary shopping. Swing my WM to see Dad and drop off/pick up things. He's got another kidney stone but is trying to work through without losing too much time at work. I hope the docs get him in quick to remove it.

Love to all -

Pass the Gas, Pass the Blame

So I was in spin class [yesterday] morning, working my tail off trying to keep up with the trainer without completely losing feeling in my legs, when I felt some rumbling in my guts. Shortly thereafter the inevtivable happened - a little poof of stink came out and I couldn't help but look around and make sure nobody was looking at me. What I noticed was that only one person was within 10 feet of me.

That got me thinking. If she smelled it, then she certainly knew it was me, not her. She knew that she didn't do it. She must have known it was me. Or maybe she didn't smell it.

If she did, she was kind enough not to mention it. Shoot, maybe she farted and I didn't smell it.

SO - why write about this? Well, I was wondering if any of you have had a similar experience or have been the unfortunate smeller of a worker-outer's gas passage. I certainly have. I've never called them out either, unless they were my workout partner. Even then we just chuckle and chalk it up as "workout gas."

p.s. - if you really want a laugh, hold someone's feet for about 30-50 situps. They're sure to rip one or more than a few.

10 things you may not know about me...

1. I love to rock climb.
2. I'm afraid of going too fast in a car as passenger, yet I will drive upwards of 110 mph and not realize it.
3. I will be marrying the best woman in the world in 127 days.
4. I enjoy fishing, even if I don't catch anything.
5. I can't function if my hands are too cold.
6. I am sometimes passive-aggressive.
7. I've moved more times in my life than I am years old (24).
8. Snakes scare the bejesus out of me.
9. I am horrible with money.
10. I've had 5 piercings in my life, but I don't have any now.

How about you?

Crossfit

I'm really coming to like Crossfit. I started last week. At first I only went on Tuesday and Friday - Monday and Wednesday are for cardio. Now I go Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings and do the Monday and Wednesday workouts in the evenings after doing hw and talking with Em.
At first I was nervous and thought that I wasn't strong or fit enough to hang with the other people doing it (here at school). Yet, after talking with a buddy that goes every morning (and is also on the climbing team), I thought I'd give it a shot.
It's a sort of thing where everyone check's their ego at the door. No matter that I'm not as strong as somebody or that I get tired quicker. None of that matters. All that matters is that I push myself and stay motivated to get better. I find myself working out in a very non-threatening community.
All of this working out business sprung from me being overweight when I got back from Christmas break. My being overweight wasn't because of Christmas break, with all of its many goodies, but because I generally slacked of last semester. Even then, I don't feel so bad about it.
So, here I am. You can check out the workouts if you like on the Black and Gold Crossfit Blog. They may seem daunting at first - I was indeed thoroughly daunted - but keep in mind that one can set the weight at whatever works for him/her. There are at least two girls that are in there as well throwing down every morning.
Cheers all!

Where were you?

Where were you for President Obama's Inaugural Speech?
What were you doing?
How old were you?
Who was with you?

I was in the mess hall.
I was chowing down on some corn chowder and a spicy chicken patty.
I was 24 years old.
I was with my table-mates: Neil, Brian B., Chris N., Scott W., Will Y., Michael S., Rope, Schmidt, and Curran.

Last First week of classes: done

That's right. I've officially finished my last first week of classes. This semester seems like a string of lasts. Immediately following graduation, a thread of firsts will begin: graduating from college, being commissioned, being saluted, getting married, moving my own family, going to Colorado for the first time...

I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting. It's just already turning out to be an interesting semester. Things feel different. Perhaps that's because I'm at the top of the food chain, so-to-speak, and I have more self confidence than in previous years. Maybe cause I'm getting a little bit older. I dunno. I find myself thinking about this stuff more often.

R.I.P. New Cadet Fein

Late Sunday night I found out that one of my New Cadets from Beast died over Christmas break. As I looked at the publication that outlined how we would conduct his TAPS Vigil tomorrow night, I slowly realized that a person somewhat close to me had passed on. That is the closest I've ever been to death. I wasn't sure how to react, or what to do/say. I got choked up and cried some. I got the details of his death from a close friend who knows these things then sent an email to my subordinate leaders from Beast.

We are all astonished at his death. During Beast he was such a happy-go-lucky kind of guy that was down for anything. In order to break the monotony, Cadet leadership in Beast will often have the New Cadets act out a skit or sing a song or anything that might be remotely funny (but not demeaning to a New Cadet's character). Most New Cadets welcome the opportunity to get a laugh, if only not to have to stand like a pole staring off into the distance.

In this light, I can remember watching New Cadet (NC) Fein escape a rabid, bloodthirsty rabbit that was hot on his trail as he ran back into formation. Another time, we, myself, the PSG and the SLs, found that NC Fein had a special skill: he was a moondancer. He had this crazy looking moondance that tickled everyone.

He was one of a kind and we will all miss him. I think the thing I'm learning the most is to be close to the people I'm in charge of; get to know them. I've thought about this lately as I prepare to graduate and take on a group of soldiers of my own. I know I can't save the world, but I'll try to at least look after my troops.

I Hug

This fact is most widely known to Em's faja - hereby known as Yahtzee to keep his identity undisclosed. I'd much rather give someone a hug than shake their hand, especially if they are friend/family. However, complete strangers get the hand first.

I am new to Blogger but not blogging itself. I've moved here in order to better access other blogs and post comments/questions.

So, here goes nothin'.