About a week or so ago, Tommy and I went to a banquet celebrating he and his classmates graduation from a leadership course. It was the first time in a LONG TIME that we’ve been able to REALLY dress up so I was pretty excited. =) It was a good time, the people were super nice and it was a treat to see Tommy in a suit and tie – he cleans up pretty nice. =) My ankle was still a little tender from my Hueco fall THREE MONTHS AGO (ugh) so it was definitely a  feat trying to walk around in heels, but I didn’t fall down the stairs or on my face so I’d say it went pretty well!!

Whenever I skype with Holly or my mom and brother, they constantly remind me that the chair I have looks like a land shark came and attacked it. Our cats have used it as a scratching post for the last couple years and it looks horrendous. Everytime we go on a trip we come back and find little pieces of foam all over the house. I knew I needed a new one but never wanted to pull the trigger for fear that the cats would migrate to clawing something else…like my couches!! Well, the other day a HUGE package showed up on the doorstep and the first thing I said was “Dangit Grandpa! What the heck did you get Henry this time!??” This is because he has constantly outdone himself with the presents for Henry and his birthday is close at hand. Upon further inspection, I saw the words “house” and “chair” and the light went on and I asked Tommy if he got me a new chair – he just gave me a crooked smile and I knew that he had. It is gorgeous! I love it and it was the perfect present. Thank you so much Tommy and thank you also to Holly and mommy for the cool stuff and dough. Love you guys!

For the last 7 weeks, I’ve been attending a Border Patrol Citizens Academy class every Thursday night for 4 hours. One of our close friends is a BP agent and told us about this program that’s available to the public for a more in depth look into the lives and jobs of Border agents. The class was pretty small – only 12 people were selected  and most of them were family/friends of agents themselves. I thought it would be a great opportunity so I applied, and in the end I was lucky enough to be invited to attend.

Over the course of the 7 weeks, we learned SO much about the ins and outs of this organization. The job these people have is grueling, exhaustive, terrifying and more times than not, unappreciated. We ran through countless scenarios of real life situations only to end up laughing and making jokes about it because we would always mess something up. We were lucky that for us it was just a game, because in real life a mistake can cause these agents to lose their lives. We went out to checkpoints, ran around in the desert, shot guns, handcuffed people, toured the BP facility and Airforce base and in the end came away with a clearer picture of what these people do.

I have always appreciated what our Border agents do to protect our state and our country – after this class, I’m even more appreciative. It’s amazing to me what these people give up for this job – Yes, they make really good money, but they earn every damn penny of it. Not only do they suffer under the tremendous amount of stress and pressure, but their families do as well. The men and women who selflessly serve our country this way (and in any capacity for that matter) will always have my complete respect and admiration.

 

 

 

There is no way to tell you our tale without having you go blind from reading white words on a black background, so I’ll keep it as short as possible and stick to the highlights of one of our most awesome adventures ever – The Tough Mudder!

The final count for the entrants on Saturday turned out to be roughly 7,000, and there were about 500 or so in every heat. Our heat was the last to go and got off at 1pm. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise because the weather was amazing and we were actually getting HOT standing around waiting to go. We sang the national anthem and thanked the soldiers standing around us for their service. It was very moving and I teared up a couple of times.  Our good friend PJ told us he was coming to the race to take pictures but I couldn’t find him anywhere. His wife is due to give birth to their first little girl in a couple of weeks, so I wasn’t sure if she decided to come early and he had to turn around to go welcome his little sweetie. However, as we were kneeling and saying the TM pledge, I looked up and saw his familar face grinning ear to ear. It was so great to have someone there to cheer us on! We got up, yelled a couple “hoo-rahs!” and then counted down to the start. After some loud bangs, a lot of orange smoke and dust everywhere, we finally started our 12.5 mile, 32 obstacle trek through insanity.

The first obstacle was a belly crawl under barbed wire through a mud puddle. After going through, we thought, “What the heck did we get ourselves in to!?” The second obstacle of the course was the Chernobyl Jacuzzi – the ICE bath. I was sure we would be fine since we dove in ice cold water for one of our training sessions when we visited mom over Christmas. Well…I couldn’t have been more wrong. We jumped in to the ice filled water and I immediately started hyperventilating…it was the coldest freaking water ever.  I came up on the other side after going under the divider and a guy behind me pushed me up and out onto the platform. I’m so glad he did because I would have been flailing in there for a while otherwise. We both stumbled down the ladder to the ground where I slipped around in the mud like a drunk woman. PJ was laughing his ass off and snapping away on his camera. We were able to get moving again and after about 5 minutes we got a second wind and picked up our pace.

We crawled through muddy tunnels, jumped over logs, carried peices of railroad ties, walked across beams that hovered over water, climbed over 8 and 10 foot walls and ran through deep puddles of mud. At about the 10 mile marker my knees started to ache. I think it’s because our pace slowed down. The 6th to last obstacle was walking the plank – jumping from a 20 foot platform into a pool of muddy water. I hadn’t felt cold throughout the course, but after this obstacle I started feeling a little chilly. The problem was I couldn’t run fast enough to get my body temp back up and we had to wait in line at the rest of the obstacles after that. My hands started getting cold and I could feel the strength in my arms dissapearing. I made it up the half pipe with no problem but then came the monkey bars. I got through about 4 and then splashed down in the water. Tommy totally killed that obstacle and made it all the way across without batting an eye. We finally made it to the finish line, only to wait for at least 50 people to go before us. When it was finally our turn, we linked arms with some other people around us to make a group big enough to try and get through the live wires without too much pain. I yelled “1 – 2 – 3 GO!” and a group of 6 of us charged through the water. I made it about 5 feet and took a shock right to my forehead that reverberated through my jaw and made the fillings in my teeth feel like they fell out. It dropped all of us and then next thing I knew I was face down in the muddy water surrounded by people cursing and screaming. It was total chaos! I saw Tommy try to get up and make a break for the end only to be hit in the head with a shock that dropped him right back in the mud. It was actually pretty hysterical and we belly crawled under the wires to make it out to the muddy finish. A girl smiled and stretched the coveted orange bands our heads. WE DID IT!! However, I was completely delerious because I was freezing.

We went to the shower area to hose off and I could barely move. I was shaking uncontrollably and my hips were killing me. After hosing down, Tommy said he was going to get the car and I should try and go find a foil blanket to put over me and try and get warm. I went to the med tent to ask for one and a girl inside told me to come in and sit down. Then suddenly there were several people around me showering me with these blankets and shoving hot water bottles in my hands. After a couple minutes, another girl came over and took my temperature. At about that time PJ came in and asked if I was OK. I thought I was fine but after getting a temperature reading that kept fluctuating between 94.1 and 94.4 I realized I was hypothermic! After about 15 minutes, PJ said that Tommy had the car ready and he escorted me to it. We said good bye to PJ and hauled ass for the hotel. The heater was on full blast as were my seat warmers and I was starting to feel better.

When we finally got to the hotel, it took an hour and a half between the two of us to get all the mud out of places that it never should have been!!! Ha! After cleaning up, we went and got some dinner and then came back to the hotel. At about 9pm we went down and soaked in the hot tub for an hour. It was Heaven! We both slept really well that night and the following morning didn’t feel too bad. My knee was swollen and my hips were a little sore but other than that, we were good.

After getting home and reminiscing about the whole thing, we decided that we were hooked. So to Grandpa and Keto – I know we told you there was no way in hell that we would be doing another one of these things any time soon, but I think we’re obsessed. We’ve signed up for the July race in VT when we go see Holly and Scott!! Yowza! Yes we’re crazy but we really can’t wait to do it again. The most satisfying thing about this race was that we trained our butts off and it totally paid off in the end. Hopefully we can kick ass again in July!

 

In order to be recognized as a true tough mudder, you have to don the signature head band…and in order to get the head band, you have to cross the finish line… Thanks to our good buddy, PJ, we got some great pics of the race. Stay tuned!