Born to live

I heard this lyric the other day and I had a moment where I thought about something I've heard before, in a totally different way. Not to get too philosophical, but really we should think about letting go of stress, conflict and just being alive. After all, why were we born? 

Anyway, I love having fun and doing as much as I can. I get super tired too and have veg out days but

My first Army 10 miler!

The Warranted Aggression softball team

Wine & art on a Friday night

Putting some miles on the Thruxton

Panama City Beach!!! 

I met my baby in Helen, GA to pretend we were back in Germany

The hybrid battery died in the Prius so I had to upgrade :)

I bought the Benz! I love it.

Dove grey interior...my dream

My view from the office

Lady Luck

That is what I named my new motorcycle :) I'm so excited about this purchase and can't wait to get some miles on this beast. She's a Triumph Thruxton Ace edition. Ace Café in London worked with Triumph on this bike and it is classic and gorgeous.
I'm new to this style of bike so I'm a bit shaky but will hopefully get comfortable after a few more rides. My first motorcycle was a Yamaha V-Star and you sit more upright on that bike than the Thruxton. My foot keeps searching for the shifter because it is further back now. Small changes can really throw me off.

At the dealership patiently waiting for me

All ready for the drive home

Just sitting on it. I always ride with PPE.

My V-Star back in 2007

Selection

Yesterday was the big aircraft selection day that I've been waiting for. It was an exciting day full of sweaty palms and pits. We all met in a conference room and anxiously waited for the list of available aircraft to select from. There was 1 Chinook, 5 Apaches and 25ish Blackhawks for the picking. One by one they called our names and we stood to claim our future helicopter. I love them all but decided that Blackhawks suited me best.
Now I can tell people that I'm training to be a Blackhawk pilot instead of explaining that I'm still learning on the TH-67 and don't know what I will end up flying. It feels great and I'm so excited to get on those controls and see what this beast can do.

My first time in a UH-60

A badass picture of a badass bird!

I can't wait until people are fast roping out of my aircraft! 

Second Solo

My stickbuddy and I flew our second solo flight and it was fantastic! We left Shell Army Airfield and flew to a few remote training sites, to KTOI (Troy Municipal Airport) and back. We landed for hot refuel and then were back up and terrorizing the skies. I felt like I was finally flying well and really understanding what the hell I'm doing in the cockpit. Everyday I'm so happy and grateful that I am doing this. It's incredible :)

After we landed safe and sound!

Navidad in South America

Corey and I are down to one good trip a year for a while. For Christmas we chose Ecuador and Peru. The main goal was seeing Machu Picchu, Peru but since we were going to be down there we made the most of it.
The itinerary:
Quito---> Cuenca---> Guayaquil; We picked up a rental car in Quito and drove to each destination, dropped the car of at the airport in Guayaquil and flew to Lima.
Lima---> Cusco---> Ollantaytambo---> Machu Picchu---> Lima---> America; We chose not to drive in Peru and I'm glad we didn't. Driving in Ecuador was exhausting and according to the internet, Peru is more dangerous.
I always have grand visions of a remarkable trip report that I'm going to whip up for my blog and EVERY time I just don't do it. This time is no different. Here are a bunch of pictures with captions.
*I would like to note that the photos are in chronological order. That took effort.

Corey in Quito

Another virgin forced to protect a city. This sacred vagina watches over Quito.

Between Quito and Cuenca lies Cotopaxi National Park. We drove to see the breathtaking volcano. By breathtaking I mean that you literally can't breathe. The elevation was killing me! I'm smiling from hypoxia.

Corey and the volcano

It was absolutely incredible. I wish I could capture more of its beauty.

We made it to Cuenca and loved our stay there. We were surprised with amazing buildings and the funnest Christmas Eve parade! No one parades like S. America. They love Baby Jesus.

We LOVED this rooftop. Cuenca was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

We drove to Guayaquil so Corey could go to Iguana Park. Also, we flew out of there to Lima so it worked out well.

All of the iguanas were in the trees when we arrived. You really need to watch out because not only will poop reign from the trees, the iguanas will fall out and hit people. They are not graceful descending the trees. 

They just want treats. We coaxed the reptiles from the trees with bananas. Turns out you're not supposed to feed them, but we made plenty of friends giving the bananas away so I feel like breaking the rules to be popular was okay this time.

After arriving in Lima we went straight to this tiny city named Ollantaytambo. It was incredible and very surreal. Our hotel, Picaflor Tambo, was outrageously adorable and straight out of a movie. The running water on the right is from a glacier and has been flowing for over 700 years.

The walk from our hotel to the train station.

We rode the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, rode a bus up a dangerously long and windy road, then hiked a little to discover this magnificent view. Machu Picchu was one of the first places I decided I wanted to travel to and arriving there was a wonderful feeling.

It was extremely cloudy all morning and only cleared up about 10 minutes before we left, but I didn't care at all. I enjoyed the mist and thought it added to the location.

My best picture of Machu Picchu. 

Back to Lima for a few days. We ended with a private tour and that was the best decision we could have made to see the capital. There are 10 million people in Lima. Just imagine trying to see the sights with Trip Advisor and taxis...the thought wears me out. For $25/hour we rode in a nice SUV, with a guide who spoke english, who drove well and took us to several cool places. It would have taken us days to see all of that!

How many South Americans live. 

O Redentor of the Pacific.

A beautiful Catholic church where we toured their catacombs! I saw so many skulls.

Busted! Sleepy police in Lima.

Action shot! I'm so glad we don't have to march like that.

A main square in downtown Lima. I love the extreme difference in culture here. It's very unique to see the Andean culture and the city folk mix so seamlessly.

Pugly Sweaters

I put some real effort into this year's Ugly Christmas Sweater party. I made things, I organized 3 games (with prizes) and I went to 4 stores to find my Bah Hum Pug sweater vest. This is not typical for me. I'm pretty lazy and don't volunteer for much but it worked out well this year.
All 3 games ended with something or someone broken, so you know it was a success. Caution: Large marshmallows can hurt if hit directly in the face. Also, they will break a ceiling fan light bulb.
Janna is the one who really organized this party. I merely helped with 2 things. I don't know how people do it. I can barely plan a group outing with less than 8 people. The second someone starts asking questions or complicating the plan, I'm out. I get kind of combative too.
The entire weekend was great and I am so happy with my Alabama group of friends. It's terrible living so far away from my husband, but it definitely helps to have such a great support group.

Cute girls, ugly sweaters :)

Rivals

I flew to Tucson for Thanksgiving this year and met up with my whole family. It was a perfect trip; seamless and easy. Everyone had a great time, everyone was happy and we all ate a lot of food. My bro-in-law, Dave, organized a trip to the UA vs. ASU rivalry game the day after Thanksgiving. It was awesome and like always, we sat next to some very enthusiastic fans :) My favorite! Emotions ran high that day and there were some near altercations.
The 3 days flew by but I did manage to get some nephew/niece time, In-N-Out, Lindsay time, great weather and relaxing with my baby. I'm pretty sure that this cold I have came directly from the mouths of babes, because this exact same scenario occurred 3 years ago. Totally worth it though. My immune system always seems to get dominated by little children ninja germs.

Seats in the shade thanks to Dave's research!

2 of my sweet nieces. One of them ran away for the pic.

These guys were okay with sitting still :)

The pure joy of a 3 by 3 and animal style fries.