Samantha's BCT graduation and road trip to Missouri!

So Karissa and I journeyed to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri for Samantha's BCT (basic combat training) graduation from the Army on September 8th - 11th, and yes we flew on an airplane and survived on 9/11/09! woo hoo!
Karissa did a blog but couldn't get all the pictures (hyperlink below)
http://nklemme.blogspot.com/2009/09/boot-camp-graduation.html
so here are the items she missed!

the worlds largest farmer, the worlds largest eyeball and the worlds largest mosaic cat!!! And more!

To start off, we rented a car I would now NEVER buy. Toyota Prius. It had awesome fuel economy on the 6 gallon tank, but it is noisy and you have to press too many buttons! Luckily we never locked the keys in it!









Then we went to White Castle! Neither of us had ever eaten there before! My dad says he loves it and the locals call them "rat burgers". We enjoyed ours and had extra and we couldn't find any bums or homeless people to give them to. Just as we were ready to chuck them, this lady came in and ordered coffee and two sliders and hoped it would be less than $4.00 'cuz that's all she had. Karissa and I decided to give our 2 extra burgers to this lady. She was unsure at first and I convinced her we would throw them away! So she accepted them and we got in our Prius and drove off to our 1st of many destinations!




















Yup! St Louis Arch! It is such a huge structure! We finally found a place to get us and the Arch in the picture together! Karissa is in the right doing Darleen's famous Cheerleader Jump.
Then we were off to find a Giant Farmer Fred and Clyde! OMG as you can see by the pictures, we laughed so hard! They were so funny!



















Then we were off to find a Giant Eyeball!

And as we were there we found the bonus Giant Blue mosaic Cat!
then we headed for another destination called Hot and Cold water towers. This is what we found!
There was one last thing we had to get a picture of and it is this sign posted along the freeway throught the state. It reads "HIT A WORKER $10,000 FINE. LOSE YOUR LICENSE"
must be pretty bad over there!













This was our sunrise as we drove to the airport to go home. It was amazing and this does not do it justice! The sun was so huge and red it looked like Mars!

My Army Girls

So Darleen left on Monday 9.7.09 for Fort Jackson, SC via MEPS in Salt Lake. She was there at the Radisson Hotel for an extra day and didn't ship to Ft. Jackson until 9.9.09. Luckily Box grandparents lived nearby and visited her Monday night, and Tuesday night took her to dinner. Then Wednesday she flew to Ft Jackson to begin her BCT! She arrived and is still in reception until basic training starts Monday 9.21.09. Thankfully they have had their phones and she has been able to text and call. Some girls can't keep their mouths shut so they have been doing a lot of PT.











Samantha graduated from BCT on Thursday 9.10.09 at Ft Leondard Wood, MO. Family day was on Wednesday and we got to spend the whole day with our soldiers on base. We went to the PX, all the training sites that were open and outside her barracks. She is a true Army Girl. She loves it and it shows.
At graduation they announced the oldest and the youngest soldiers. PV2 Samantha Dolbee from Nevada was the youngest graduate at the age of 17. She stays at FLW for her AIT school, and it starts Monday 9.21.09.


So today is my first evening alone! Eddie is gone to work and Darleen is away at BCT Ft. Jackson, SC. Samantha is away at AIT school Ft. Leonard Wood, MO.

This is the first time since the girls were born 17 years and 10 months ago, that I have not worked. I was laid off in June and still looking for a new job. I am not good at being a housewife yet, as I get upset that I don't have a job. I have registered for school at CSN city college, but am awaiting my transcripts to merge so I can register for mid term classes. I feel that I cannot get a new job until I complete my college degree. I have also decided to change careers and become an RN. Once I have taken all my core classes at CSN I will transfer to UNLV and then enter the nursing program. I may just get my second college degree at the same time the girls get theirs! We shall see!

My life seems to be starting over at the age of 38! I guess it's never to late!