Valentine Weekend, Family Fun

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day weekend. We had a visit from George's best friend, Gordon, and his fiance, Mindy. She and I get along great together. If you've been a frequent reader, you might recall stories of shared vacations and other activities. They are our closest friends, despite distance.

Anyway, they came to visit for the weekend and we had a blast. For dinner Valentine's Day George and I made steaks, marinated for 24-hours in an AMAZING marinide, sauted green beans with garlic and onions and a cucumber and tomato salad with parmasean cheese and a basil dressing. We drank Pomegranate wine, ate by candlelight with Sinatra playing in the background. It was great! For dessert we had strawberry cheesecake.

When they arrived Saturday, they'd brought presents/ None of us had exchanged Chistmas presents, though we'd seen each other a time or two since then. We'd gotten Gordon a bottle of some Cask 16 Crown Royal No.88 and I got Mindy a cheese and wine basket with candles and glass candleholders. For her birthday (in December) I got her a beautiful jeweled 'M' charm, a velvet elephant (she collects them) and a cute book of friendship quotes.

They'd gotten us a bottle of wine that they'd made and monogrammed wine glasses. George got an Astros jersey and hat. For my birthday, Mindy had gotten me these adorable teacup notepad and 4 creme brulee dishes that I'd been wanting.

After eating and unpacking we all headed our seperate ways. The boys were going to go to the shooting range, then back to the house for some beers and catching up. Mindy and I headed out to paint pottery! Yes, this is my ew favorite activity.

Last weekend, I went with a friend Misty, who is also my Rear Detachment Commander(unit commander that stay's behind when a unit is deployed.) We painted princess plates in the MP Battalion colors (I am the 'Viper' Princess ... the unit is called the Vipers.)



I also made a cute cappuccino cup and saucer. It had to be re-fired so I'll have to post picks later ...

Anyway, Mindy and I went to paint pottery. I painted this cute teapot and she made a cute post-it note holder with flowers for her desk at work. After about 3 hours we headed home to greet the boys who'd skipped the range and went straight to the beer! After much amusement of watching the boys "be drunk" we cleaned up the mixed alcohol mess and started dinner.

After dinner we just hung out talking and Mindy and I made some progress on the wedding planning.

The next day, the boys decided to go to the shooting range and Mindy and I headed back to paint pottery. This time I painted a planter for some plants I brought back from (George's) Dad's house when we cleaned it out and she painted a teapot to put her teabags in. Cute idea, huh!?!

Well, all in all it was a great weekend. Being in Houston taking care his father gave us the chance to spend nearly everyday with them. So coming back home made the seperation that you often feel when you leave your loved ones at the start of your military life, vivid once again.

When I pick up the pieces after they are fired, I'll be sure to post pictures.

Until our next cup of tea ...