This year we got to go up in our new 2022 Honda Odyssey, which took away all the stress of getting there. Compared to last year in our old 2002 GMC Yukon XL, where we had to draft behind a semi-truck to get there safely...
Once we got there, a friend of mine from First Flight Archery (my archery range) parked next to us, and we were able to walk in together. At the door though, we were met with the Water Bottle Nazis! They told us I had to dump out my full water bottle (they didn't know it had BodyArmor energy drinks inside) and refill it with either the gross water fountains or their WAAAYYY overpriced bottled water. My mom "went along" and "brought them back to the car," but I knew they would "just so happen" to find their way in. I mean, it's not the first time my Mom has dealt with this type of persons😉.
That said, the Water Bottle Nazis were much appreciated over Mask Nazis, which even though the location said you had to wear one, nobody there cared if you did or not. So we were able to take them off for the whole day!
After bow inspections, I found my bale and we got situated. Then we waited for the previous line to end. Once it ended, I hung my target. A nice surprise was the two other people on my bale were from First Flight, so I knew scoring would go seamlessly (except for when the computer cleared all our scores for the first 30 arrows so we had to type them in again...but no big deal).
The shoot itself went by as usual, I had a lot of fun talking with other shooters! A funny point was the stand holding our round bale was very crooked. It was so crooked that while it didn't harm our shooting, I was worried it would tip over and knock down the other 18 bales next to it😬. Thankfully a judge had power tools on hand and was able to fix it.
At the end of the day, my score for Round 1 was 263, and Round 2 was 241, for a total of 504. Not the best day score wise (though I still put up a respectable score with 3 misses in Round 2), it was the highest I ever placed in States, 6th overall! I also was 2nd in States in my team, just under 20 points behind the highest score from First Flight. And other than the misses and a few bad shots, I was staying all in the yellow...It's just when I missed, I missed BAD😜! But I did improve in some small areas, which will help in future competitions.
After the tournament, we ate at the BEST Italian restaurant ever! I had my first Calzone, and it was HUGE!!! Mom and I were able to talk about a lot of topics over dinner and on the drive home, which is always enjoyable.
No medal for the family this time...but getting closer every single time. And we had fun, which is the the whole point of doing anything...right?😉
-Jared Otto
We had friends over for lasagna and finished off the night with the traditional spicecake celebration. Here's to this year being his best year yet! LOVE YA!
This HOLYday Season we kept to our own traditions as well.
Reading a different Christmas book for all 12 days of Christmas and
...my infamous Christmas Holiday Light Drive. I spent a lot of time planning the stops this year. I chose 12 stops, mapped them all out in Goggle Maps and it assured me it would only be three hours this year (last year it was a little over four hours and that was a bit long).
Our first stop was the Wendell Lights again....
Everything was going exactly as planned we only had one stop left, the stop we always miss because the line is so long but we were determined to see the lights this year and the line didn't look tooo long....
Well... it was a trick! Once we went around the corner and were committed, we realized they had the line serpentining through the parking lot of the elementary and middle school. Once you were in the queue there was literally no way out! So in the end we saw the famous lights checked that off our list and my Three Hour Tour was lengthened to a five hour tour... oops.
We made up for it the next week though with a really groovy sparkler New Year party to ring in the New Year (a few hours early).
December was the same, they scored 185/210 respectively more than enough for their second JOAD pins.
With two pins under their belts we went ahead and got them their own gear. It's really neat having three of kids in the same sport. I love archery because it is such a peaceful sport to watch and oh it also involves numbers and I love numbers.
On our way we saw an incredible Christmas light display in the middle of no where, which was a fun treat. Chris used the opportunity to joke "That's it, let's go home".
When we got to our destination, Lance immediately sighted Grandma Elaine in the lobby, the rest of the kids piled out after him with joyous exclamations. Then we all piled into the car to go eat some dinner.I had found a place it eat in downtown called "Cantina Taco Loco", it had a little something for everyone. It was a bit small, so they took Chris' number till they had a table for a group our size. We spent the time catching up and window shopping (It's a cute downtown).
At the table Grandma interviewed the kids about all that was going on in their lives, while we enjoyed a really nice meal.
After dinner we walked around looking at lights a bit, it was a beautiful night but eventually had to head back. Everyone was sorry to part but also thankful for having the time together.
The kids had a lot of fun putting up lights this year.
On actual Thanksgiving Day Titus and Chris broke out the tiller to turn over the vegetable garden (Chris wants lots of ghost pepper next year), Lance (with the help of the neighbors) covered the bed in wood chips and then all the kids played wiffle ball in the court, while Chis and I baked pumpkin pies inside for "Thanksgiving Day Observed". It was a great day.
Sunday, was the first Sunday of Advent. We surprised the kids with a new game "Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza", a wonderful fun and slightly violent card game. I assume they like the game as they've been playing it a couple times a day ever since. I have games lined up for the remainder of Sunday Advents (7 Wonders, Tsuro, and El Dorado), as well to go along with our traditional movies of Advent.
My grain mill arrived last night so now we can officially make our bread completely from scratch, what a difference it made in the first loaf. Last night was also my last Gateway 1 class, I found a kindred spirit in Joette and I felt encouraged and empowered to keep learning more so I can take complete control of my family's health. It's truly been a week of many thanksgivings.
Back on September 14th we took a leap of faith. We believed if we removed a hallway closet, we could punch through the back of our master closet to make a passage way to the third floor stairs.
Lance had never painted his old room and since he now moved into Jared's room (the only completely decorated bedroom in the house; as it originally served as a guest room) he got out of ever having to do so. His new bed (He'd only had a mattress before) has lots of neat secret storage so he doesn't need a dresser. He added legs to his diorama so that it didn't have to take up desk space. He's very pleased with his new abode.
Amber and Titus have been sharing a room for the last four years. Needing to separate them was a big part of the push to get this project done. They both need space and frankly its just time. Titus agreed to take Lance's old room (smaller than their current room) if he could paint it any color he wanted. We agreed and he painted it all himself. I would have never chose the color but I absolutely love it because its so Titus. I also found a really cute desk for him to have in the room. He loves having all this projects on display, even if it means he can't blame the mess on his sister anymore ;-)
Our old closet area is now called "The Landing" I found a free desk that fit into the niche just perfect so for now its a work area, with storage for extra schooling materials.
The door from the master room to "The Landing" was drywalled close. This let one last issue to solve... we no longer had a master closet. During the construction we had our clothes hanging on a temporary clothing rack but that wasn't going to work long-term. After much thinking/dreaming we finally decided to remove the tub and mini-closet in the master bath and turn the area into a reach-in closet. We had never used the tub for anything but drying clothes (now that Jared's clothes were out of the linen closet I had plenty of room to do that by the washer dryer). Chris and Lance removed the cast iron tub (it was too heavy for our contractor) in fact when they did they saw it stamped at 285lbs!!! It sat in the front yard for a bit (we had ideas of spray painting it and using it for a planter) but in the end I got a scrap metal guy to remove it for free. Though the great room migration had been done for a few weeks, today Chris had the time to put in the closet organizer. Its so nice having all our clothes together again in a closet and I really like having it across from the bath sinks (the shower and toilet are in a separate room).
Side moves of the great room migration included a revamp of furniture from other parts of the house into the school room, the family room and bonus room making them all more functional and aesthetically pleasing.
My friend helped me with painting the master bath and I hope to finish painting the hallway, our room and landing over the holiday break but for now things are settled. The house is much more at peace and I'm terribly pleased with all that we accomplished.
"Warbirds over Monroe" is the Historical Airshow that comes to Monroe, NC every year. The airshow didn't happen in 2020 (for obvious reasons) but it was back this year! What made this year even more special was William, a good friend of mine, was able to come with us this year!
After getting our front row seats (advantage of coming early) we explored the different planes. IT WAS COLD!!! We all were shivering, except William who came perfectly prepared with his layers, scarf, and hat.
This year there were different planes from last time. The majority of planes were trainer versions of the Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber, and A TON of P-51 Mustangs. William and I being WW2 lovers, this was very special. One disappointment was the "Memphis Belle" B-17 Bomber was not there this year. The Bomber was too expensive to keep with the airshow, but we were glad to hear that it is safe and sound in a museum.
I was also able to purchase sketches of General Patton and Field Marshal Rommel, two of the best Field Commanders in history! It was a great find!
By that point we needed to run back to our seats, and we had root beer and food waiting for us when the airshow began!
The first planes were solo flights of the heavier planes. All of these were propeller, and the sound was deafening! Hearing all those engines with the low passes was an indescribable experience. Next was the only jet plane there, a soviet jet that was MUCH FASTER but much less exciting. There's just something about propeller planes that will always be special. While the jet engine was in the air, the WWII planes also took off. It was so much fun watching all the Mustangs flying together.
The final performance was the warbirds' strafing runs. ALL the warbirds made passes and TNT already on the ground made it look like they were dropping bombs! Finally they all grouped together for the missing man flight formation. As the crowd remained deathly silent, all the planes flew in formation, then one of them flew into the distance, commemorating all the brave airmen who didn't come home.
And then, THE WALL OF FIRE!!! Lance was prepared this time, as last time he was in the bathroom when it happened and the blast almost knocked over his porta-potty. The blast was EVEN BIGGER this year! It felt like we were having our faces burnt off!
