Joe Camel

I needed something to make me laugh today after a busy and almost mind-numbing day on the job. And who wouldn't laugh at this goofy looking camel?

I took this photo in early August at the Warren County Farmers Fair in Warren County, N.J. Kyle and I ventured over there for a break from our trailer park blues and got to see some farm animals, hot air balloons, and of course eat a bunch of fatty, greasy and way-too-sugary fair foods. Nothing like a fun afternoon at the fair to put a smile on your face - just ask the camel. ;-)

Me so Corny

This past weekend, Kyle and I stopped at a New Jersey farmer's market (in Sussex County) for the first time since we've been up here. Dude, I have to say, it was awesome. There was so much fruit and veggies to choose from, they all looked so fresh and so clean, clean - nothing compared to the crappy produce at the supermarket. There was even a little green house filled with mums of every color, and a little pumpkin patch!

My favorite thing at the farmer's market was the sweet corn on the cob. These were some HUGE ears of corn, too. I was worried they wouldn't even fit into the pot but they just barely plopped in there. And the taste - oh my god, the taste - it's just the right amount of crunch on the outside and the perfect mix of sweet, plumpy goodness on the inside. Just lather it up with some butter, sprinkle some salt on it - I'm starting to drool just thinking about it.

And at only 55 cents a pop, who in their right mind would resist!?

Oh, the colors!

Autumn in Georgia doesn't even come CLOSE to the wonder and beauty of fall in the north. The leaves here have been changing colors for the last few weeks, and it seems like everyday I notice quite the difference in my surroundings - more and more reds, oranges and yellows with each passing day. It makes me realize what I've been missing out on this whole time living in Georgia, where the leaves go from green to brown and it's still humid as hell in October.

And driving up through the mountains, like at the Delaware Water Gap National Park where we went today, it makes the colors come even more to life.

We did a 7.5-mile hike today around the Buttermilk Falls and Crater Lake area. Walking through the trails was like a scene in a movie - as the wind blew, it "rained" bright yellow and orange leaves. I was expecting Disney's Pocahontas to come leaping out from a tree bursting into a cheesy song. "Just around the river bend....."

But Tracy, what about the hunters out there who are also enjoying this lovely fall weather? Well, to that I say no worries- at the expense of me looking like a total dork, I wore my tacky "hunters orange" cap. But hey - it almost matched the color of the leaves!

Git 'er dun on the turret

Couldn't resist throwing in a Southern redneck phrase (thank you Larry the Cable Guy), because yeah, I got 'er dun today at work when I got to shoot a gun turret simulator at the behavioral testing lab at Picatinny Arsenal.

Obviously there was nothing coming out of the gun, but I got to shoot at moving targets projected on a screen - it was just like a video game but even more bad-ass. And I got to wear a helmet. Oh yeah.

Good thing I'm not a Soldier though, because I couldn't kill some of the targets no matter how many times I pushed the trigger.

It's pretty cool working at an armaments research and development installation, because by no means am I a weapons wiz, so everyday is a learning experience to say the least. But that's what I enjoy about Public Affairs - I can look at these stories from an outside perspective and "translate" the engineer talk into something the general public can understand and hopefully find interesting.

I never saw myself working for the Army when I was a college student at the University of West Georgia. But you know what? I'm glad I became an Army public affairs specialist. My job is to tell the Army story - and despite all the bureaucracy that naturally comes with any kind of government work, I'm still satisfied everyday as our office brings more and more stories about our Soldiers and servicemembers to the world.

I'm extremely thankful for all our troops who sacrifice their lives to protect and defend our nation - and even though my role in the Army may seem miniscule compared to those on the battlefield, I'm still proud to be a part of it. Can I get a HOOAH?!

Kyle & Crockpots = Amazing

In the midst of my weekend adventures in the Catskills, I seemed to have skipped over another important part of my weekend - a part that I am still enjoying this evening, and will likely enjoy again tomorrow. The warm, beefy goodness I am speaking of is none other than my husband's homemade vegetable beef soup, and I must say, daaaaaaaaamn it's good!

Kyle made it yesterday in the crockpot, where it simmered all day and made our apartment smell freakin' amazing. We enjoyed it with corn muffins for dinner last night, and I just finished eating round two for dinner tonight. And there's still some left for another meal! That's what I love about Crockpot dinners (and my husband) - it's a gift that keeps on giving.

Mountain Memories.....

I practically hobbled like a cripple to my computer this morning to write today's blog post. That's what happens when you carry 30 pounds on your back while hiking 17.5 miles in the mountains for two days. But I must say, though I am hurting today, the last two days of sheer awesomeness were definitely worth it.

 

In celebration of our one-year wedding anniversary, Kyle and I drove three hours north of our home in northern New Jersey to the scenic Catskill Mountains of New York, where he took me on my first ever overnight hiking trip. 

We began our hike Saturday afternoon, completing about seven miles (most of it going steadily up-hill). This stretch of trail had some amazing views of the mountains, which totally justified our brutal climb to the top.

We camped at lean-to shelter, which was nice because we didn't have to set up our tent. The downside was the hard planks of wood we slept on, which was torture on my back, but I guess you can't be too picky when you're out in the middle of nowhere.

We tried to build a camp fire, but our attempts were to no avail, as it had just rained the day before and all the wood was too wet to burn. But we cooked canned soup and ravioli on Kyle's little camping stove, and enjoyed the quiet darkness and peacefulness of the woods at night.

Sunday, after an instant oatmeal breakfast, we trudged through 10.5 miles of trail. I must say, those last two or three miles were rough. Around mile 15, I was so exhausted, I had to stop and lay down on the trail for a few minutes, while Bruno stood over me and wimpered. (Our dog was born for the trail - he hiked like a champ the entire way) But then I got back up and trudged on through - and man, it was so rewarding when we cleared the last hill and could see our car parked a few feet up the road.

I will always remember the feeling of solitude and peacefulness I get when I'm surrounded by mother nature. I'll remember the fun of eating trail mix and apples for a meal. I'll remember the quiet of the woods at night. I'll remember the pain in my hips, legs and feet when the going got tough. I'll also remember the inner feeling of accomplishment and triumph when it was all said and done.

But most importantly, I'll always remember (and continue to treasure) my amazing husband, Kyle. He is truly my best friend. Without him, I can't imagine how I could ever enjoy anything in this life as much as I do when we're together. Happy Anniversary, sweetheart, and here's to many more in our future!

Click here to see more photos from our Catskill Mountains adventure! 

Packin' for da Catskills, bi-atch!

Yeah you read it right. I'm packing for a trip to the Catskill Mountains of New York (bi-atches). Not only did I come home from work today to a beautiful boquet of flowers and a surprise dinner (which Kyle is about to start cooking now), but I also came home to that precious cardboard box marked "Cabelas" - which bestowed upon me

my new backpack I ordered last weekend.

Kyle helped me pack it all up with the essentials - sleeping bag, mess kit, extra socks and clothing, emergency kit, toilet paper (yeah, i don't want to think about having to use the bathroom in the woods but apparantly I'm gonna have to) and more. Of course he is carrying our tent and most of the other heavy stuff, but I think my pack will still weigh in at about 35 pounds or so.

So while I'm enjoying filet mingon, bacon-wrapped scallops and baked potatoes for dinner tonight, courtesy of my chef husband, I'm also getting super excited about our hiking trip tomorrow. In celebration of our one-year wedding anniversary, which is this Sunday the 19th, I'll be going on my very first overnight backpacking trip. (But it will be one of many for Kyle, who obviously has been into this kind of thing longer than I have.)

But what about the bears, Tracy? one might ask. I have to say, no worries, we went to Dick's (that's what she said) and bought a bear horn/air horn especially for those rare encounters we may have with mother nature's finest.

Oh my God....White Castle.

Perhaps it's just a northern thing, because I don't recall ever seeing or going to any White Castle restaurants in Georgia, but I had the honor, the pleasure, the indulgence of enjoying a White Castle meal for the first time in my life tonight. It was like the Harold and Kumar movie, only I wasn't coming off a wild night of shenanigans, beer and drugs. That and I'm not Indian or Asian.


The number one combo was a clear plastic sack full of edible bliss. The cute little steamed burgers, with the sauteed onions and pickles....and the hot crinkle cut fries, with an ice cold diet coke. Amazing. (I don't want to think about the calories though...)

The cashier must have known I was a White Castle virgin by my indecisive gawking at the menu. He asked Kyle and I if we've ever eaten it before. I told him I'm from Georiga, and down there we have Krystals, which is similar, but that no, I've never been in the oh mighty Castle blanca. He just looked at me with a hint of confusion and smiled.

And you know what? I smiled, too. I smiled when we took the food from the white-trash looking lady at the counter, I smiled when we got back in the car (the inside of the restaurant seemed a little to ghetto for my liking), I smiled the whole drive back home to our apartment, and I smiled the whole time in between bites as I devoured it at our kitchen table. I'm even smiling right now.

Trailer Trash and Bears

I guess you could say that Kyle and I were "trailer trash" for our first two months in the Garden State. After all, we did live in a trailer park off-post while we searched for a permanent apartment to live in. But the title of this blog post actually references another type of trailer trash - that being the literal trash in the dumpsters outside the trailer park.

And clearly, in the New Jersey skylands region, one cannot reference a garbage dumpster without mentioning bears. That's right. Bears. Black bears have populations recorded in every county in New Jersey. Especially in this area, there is somewhat of an over-population. Many times, the bears come into residential areas to scavenge for food in the trash.

There's nothing like taking the garbage out to the dump, wearing your pajama pants with somewhat of a buzz from the couple beers you had after work, and then seeing a huge black bear lingering 10 feet away in the bushes. Taking out the trash had become quite the adventure for Kyle and me.

We even managed to photograph a few of these trailer trash bears - a lasting memory of our days at the Picatinny trailer park.

A few thoughts on "Jersey Shore"

I had never bothered to watch the worthless crap of a show "Jersey Shore" until I moved to New Jersey. I was hesitant to watch it even then. Part of this is because my loyalty to MTV programming died a long time ago when I was a boy-crazy middle school girl slobbering over Carson Daily on Total Request Live.

Either way, I was flipping through the channels in our temporary living quarters up here when I came across this crap. I watched maybe 10 minutes of this garbage and couldn't stand it anymore. First of all, what's so cool about walking around like a sketchy chump wearing a wife-beater shirt? I must say I've seen several dudes out in public here sporting a wife-beater and to me, it just looks trashy and somewhat creepy. Must be a "Jersey Shore" thing. But maybe that's because real Southern boys know how to put on a collared shirt, or at least a clean t-shirt when going out in public.

Anyway, I think you get the idea of my distaste for crappy shows like Jersey Shore. And before you ask, no, I've never watched the Real Housewives of New Jersey. I just can't bring myself to it yet. I haven't succumbed to that level or boredom and/or depression yet. So then, Tracy, what kind of TV shows do you like, you may ask. Well I'll tell you, it's none of that MTV rubbish. A few of my favorite programs include The Office, Parks and Recreation, Family Guy, True Blood, MSNBC News and CNN, Hoarders (just can't resist!), anything on HGTV, and those occasional awesome days when I catch some old-school Boy Meets World or Saved by the Bell re-runs. And of course when it's football season, I'm tuned into NFL. So, take that MTV, Jersey Shore and all the other crap on television. My blog shall spite you! Brawhaha!

Jersey Bound

Some of you may wonder, how the hell did I end up in what some call the "armpit of America," also known as New Jersey. Well, that's a good question. I never envisioned myself moving to this area until a few months ago when I found out my new job would take me here. But you know what? It's turned out to be nothing like an armpit at all.

My then-fiance and I packed up our apartment and left my hometown of Carrollton, Ga., in March 2009 to move four hours south to Savannah. The move was the result of me landing a public affairs internship with the U.S. Army. You may think it's nuts, but this was the farthest I've ever lived from my mom and sisters, so it was tough adjusting to the distance at first. I worked in Savannah for a year at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - it was a great experience. I also got married that year, in the same little chapel at Bethesda, where the famous Southern belle and Food Network Star Paula Deen got married. And yes, I did eat at the Lady and Sons and loved it.

My year in Paula Deen country flew by fast. Before I knew it, I was on my way up to Fort Meade, Md., to attend two months of public affairs training from the Defense Information School, or DINFOS. That was an interesting experience - living in a dorm-room type setting and going to class everyday for eight hours. But when it was all said and done, I became what we in the Army Public Affairs community call a DINFOS-trained killer. Oh yeah...command messages, baby. Here, today.

Next I was on my way to the Pentagon - the final stage of the internship. Kyle and I had an awesome apartment in Pentagon City, only one metro-stop away from the Pentagon. I worked there for two months, and wow, I must say it was different. I definitely felt like a little fish in a freakishly-large ocean full of colonels and generals. But I survived - and finally, a year and a half after I left little old Carrollton, Ga., I graduated the intern program and went along my merry way to a promotion in.....New Jersey.

So here I am, a Georgia peach, where I live, work, and play in the Garden State. I hope this blog can give you a glimpse of what it's like up here. I can already predict some interesting stories come winter time, seeing as how I've only seen snow a handful of times in my life, most of which was just a few measley flurries.

So here's to my first effort at most would call a real blog. If anyone out there is even looking at it, hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading!