Almost Gypsy Soul

This probably won't be exactly what you think you are going to read. Its something that I often brush off or don't think about because, well because its depressing and scary. I'd like to think it wouldn't....couldn't ever happen to me, but let's be honest I'm not that scary, I'm not that tough and it COULD happen to me. There was an article in the newspaper last week reporting that a 14 year old girl was snatched off the street in broad daylight near my new house. She was taken into the desert, raped and left there to walk home. When she stumbled back into the residential area and found by some kids playing, they called for help. She was able to provide a pretty decent description of the man and what he was driving.....he has not been arrested to my knowledge. It got me to thinking .......that is where I live.......no more leaving the door unlocked, even for a few minutes while I run here or there. .......that is where I run.....with headphones in...

Last week was the week, I headed to hunting camp. As much as I enjoy a good week-long camping out/elk hunting trip, antelope hunting has inched higher and higher on my list of favorite gun activities. And here's why It's warm More likely to tag something Easier on the out-of-shape-factor It's warm Hunting camp includes mattresses and pillows...at my house It's warm Because I'm a procrastinator, I waited until the weekend before hunting season opened to make sure my gun was still sighted in....and it wasn't. 6 shots and I wasn't even on paper, in the next 6 I got it dialed in and my arm felt like it was going to fall off. I decided to take a break and come back the next day. We were right on track! Only to find out that it was no longer sighted in on opening day. :( It was a hunting disaster, I had a couple of shots which I proceeded to miss quite big. I was so upset with myself, thinking it was just me. We headed back to the range and sure e...

I had a little surprise on an old Letters to a Soldier blog post a few days ago, a comment from an anonymous user. Now I've had some spammy comments so I was a little unsure as to the validity of the comment, but decided to check it out.  I tracked down the FRG of this particular unit and asked about the validity of the deployment, names given, mail stop date etc. I quickly got a reply back that yes they were a real unit, those are real names and they were just deployed not too long ago. So this is the comment that I received (with a little editing) MAY I PLEASE HAVE SOMEONE SEND MY TEAM AND I SOME DUCK DYNASTY CARE PACKAGES TO AFGHANISTAN WHERE WE ARE DEPLOYED. I included there sizes just in case. I didn't tell any of these people that they would receive a care package just in case it doesn't happen. You can also find our address on face book. Now since I am currently without an adopted soldier I decided to take on this request and I'm asking you to enlis...

I knew that my remaining soldiers mail stop date was coming up soon, so his final care package was around the Fourth of July and celebrating his return to America. I wanted to think of something that I hadn't done before and finally settled on American Classics theme. All my planning was sabotaged by my inability to find Cracker Jacks in this stinkin' town. I see them all the time now.....ggggrrrrrr. American Classics or subsitutes in some cases are: Cracker Jacks Fiddle Faddle Rootbeer Beef jerky sticks Apple pie Dubble Bubble Shell peanuts Sunflower seeds Jack Daniels BBQ sauce Wrap it up with some fun flags and streamers and wa-lah a little bit of America in the Sandbox! 'MERICA! I recently recieved a FB message from him and I must say his thankfulness and sincerity brought tears to my eyes. It is such an honor to be able to support those who sacrifice so much for our freedom. Its humbling to be reminded that small acts of kindness can go s...

What better trip to revisit to than Washington D.C. to celebrate Memorial Day. Washington D.C. is rich with history and memorials remembering the fallen ones of our country. Past, p resent and future military...... THANK YOU! Happy Memorial Day! Did you thank a veteran today?

CARRY! On Monday my phone rang with an unknown number, I don't usually answer these, so I guess since I was really over the place of employment project I was working on I decided "what the hey" "Hello" "Is this Jennifer blah blah blah?" [ah, crap] (see here how I'm protecting my PII) "Yes, it is" "This is the Sheriff's Office, calling to tell you your concealed carry permit is in" "Great!, I'll be out to pick it up today!" And now, I am officially licensed to conceal carry......and put a rush on that Dirty 30 list item to find a pretty gun and a super cool shoulder sling! And yes, PII....that's what working for the federal government will do to your blog.

I  grew up in a sleepy little town where nothing overly exciting happened. We didn't lock our houses, we left the keys in the ignition and we didn't worry about it. Well things are changing. A few weeks ago, my BIL went out to leave for work. PAUSE : BIL works at the prison and is not a small guy. He is not a morning person, but has to leave for work before 5 am. As he walked out of the house, he noticed the dome light on in Sister's car. He grumbled to himself because he was going to have to listen to her about her car battery being dead. As he walked towards the car, he noticed something move inside. He opened the door and pulled a guy out, asking him what in the heck he thought he was doing? BIL patted him down and  held grand theft auto guy on the front lawn until the police came to take him into custody. Lucklily, Sister had locked to door to the house for some reason the night before....something that still wasn't a regular occurrence in our sleepy little to...