Meeting with Branch

So Quinn finally had his meeting with his branch manager (I think that's what it's called).  We had to give 6 choices for our next location.  It was tough since we had 3 for sure that we wanted to add but not 6!!  Quinn ended up throwing on a couple locations that we knew weren't a possibility, but space fillers at least.  Hopefully we'll know by the beginning of January when and where we will be heading.  There's a possibility that we'll spend an extra month or so here after the career course, but then we'll be moving along again.  It's exciting, but I'm at the point where I just want to know so I can start mentally preparing for what's to come.  I think we're going to try to rent a house next so that's exciting.  It'll take a little more effort than in the past with apartments, but we're ready to get out of apartment living (especially after being here).  Keep your fingers crossed we get one of our top 2 or 3!

Marathon

So I was able to check marathon off my bucket list.  I've wanted to do one for a while and I'm just way too lazy to train, but finally decided to do it.  I'm not working much and we don't have kids so I figured that now was the best time to do it.  It was a long 16 weeks.  Once I finished my 20 mile run I was done.  The last two weeks of training are supposed to be minimal and boy did I comply (probably more than I should have).
We headed to Savannah on Friday night to pick up my race packet.  I was so nervous just going to the expo.  Our friends were both running the half and Quinn was on baby duty.
Race day was crazy.  I tried eating something before, but couldn't force it down my throat so I gave up and hoped that carb loading the night before was enough.  The race started at 8am, but I was in such a far back heat that I didn't start until about a half hour later.  It was painful just standing there knowing that every 2 minutes a heat was heading out and I still had to wait.
I was feeling ok through mile 12 and then we split off from the half marathoners and I was having a rough time.  They kept yelling to the half marathon group "You're almost done...A little over a mile to go".  It was depressing to split off and see the 13 mile mark and know I was only half way done.
Quinn met up with me around mile 7 and then at 21.  It was nice seeing someone I knew and having them help push me a little.  There were a bunch of people with signs.  Some were funny and there were a lot of repeats, but I thought "Way to go complete stranger" was a pretty good one.
I have problems with my knee and back so I knew I was going to have trouble.  I was aiming to finish in 5 hours, but I came up a little short at 5 hours 13 minutes.  Oh well.
I'm still trying to recover.  Who knew it would be so painful to jog 26 miles...Ugh.
Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Fun Picture

I went with my friend Shannon and her little girl Tess to see Shannon's husband jump out of a plane yesterday :)  He's finishing Airborne school and it's just what they have to do.  No big deal...right?  Anyway, I ended up missing Quinn's football game, but this was a pretty fun thing to watch.  I was trying to be creative with Tess since I had my camera.  She's 10 months old and moves a ton, but I'm pretty sure she was born to be a model.  Here's one of the pictures I got yesterday.  I think it turned out pretty cute:

The Possibilities...

So we're only about a month in and I'm already anticipating Quinn's graduation from MCCC.  On the schedule that I was given at the wive's social it says we should be able to meet to discuss our new duty station in early January.  It's not as much notice as I'd like, but I've accepted that with the Army I'm not going to have months to plan and research.  We'll still have just about 2 months to figure things out if all goes well.
Quinn has given me a list of our options (he's finally giving me a say this time ;) ).  We did a quick edit to remove any that we didn't want to go.  I've heard a lot of good things about Alaska, but I can't imagine living there for 3 years.  I could do a 6 month stay or maybe even a year, but 3 isn't going to happen.  I've also put my foot down about Kansas, Korea, Louisiana, and here (Columbus).  Quinn took NC off too.  We weren't left with much after that.  As much as I'd love to try for Hawaii or Germany I just don't think the timing is right.  It would have been fun a few years ago, but there's too much going on around here to leave it all.  I'll just have to talk Quinn into taking me on a few trips :)
We are keeping both on the list even though we've been told that unless they are ranked #1 and #2 you aren't going.  It's hard to get them when they are 1 or 2 so forget it if you have them at the bottom!  For now we have Fort Stewart in Savannah at the top and Fort Drum, New York a very close second.
Stewart would be awesome because we have friends there, have visited the area, and it's in a great location to do some FL adventures or even the Caribbean.  Drum is kind of a wild card.  We've heard good things about it (except that the winters get to -35 degrees).  It's only about 6 hours from my family though and it's somewhere completely different.  We'd probably be able to see into Canada while we're going to the food store!  Maybe that's an exaggeration, but we'd be super close.  We've never visited and we don't know anyone there so it would be a challenge and a toss up.  We could totally love it or I could regret that decision every year that I'm shoveling 3 feet of snow.
Good thing we still have a couple months to figure it out because it's tough.  Of course the Army could make it easy and tell us we can't go to one so we'd be stuck with the other.  They could also tell us that we can't go to either and totally throw us for a loop.  We'll see...

Ultimate Football

Yay!  I finally have something to post :)
Quinn started his class a couple weeks ago i.e. the reason we're here in GA.  Each class is grouped into small "seminars".  To keep the guys busy and maybe to build bonding they have an ultimate football league that everyone participates in.  It's nice to be able to go to some of this stuff since I don't have a full time job.  A lot of the other wives go too because it's only a 6 month course and most people don't end up working while they're here.  Quinn got named as captain mainly because nobody else wanted the job.  I figure at some point the team will regret that decision since Quinn is super competitive and wants to win the whole thing.  For now they are all happy and enjoying it.  Their team name is "The Muppets".  I don't know why, but everyone picked their favorite muppet (or puppet) and instead of numbers they have the names on the backs of their shirts.  It's pretty funny.  The team they played today was called "Geriatrics" because their average age is 35 or something like that.  Most of the guys in the career course are mid to late 20's.
Anyway, they won their first game today and here are a few pictures I took:

New Jersey Weekend

Quinn and I headed up to New Jersey a couple weeks ago for the annual "Gallagher Family Picnic".  Quinn and I have been together for 6 1/2 years and he's never gone to the picnic so we figured since there was time available we would make the 16 hour trip up.  Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures besides the ones for a couple photo shoots I had while we were there.  We had fun though and ate too much.  We got in on Thursday night and just relaxed.  Friday I had a few things to do before a night photo shoot with my sister's friend and her family.  It went well, but we lost the light real quick so I'm hoping for a brighter second session over Christmas if we can work it out.  Saturday we headed out to the picnic but not before a 6 month old photo shoot with a family friend.  Bubba and Fergus were great at the park and were even allowed off their leashes for a while to wander around.  There wasn't a huge turnout, but we had fun.  It wouldn't be a family picnic without hamburgers, hotdogs, meatballs, sausage and peppers, and oysters (among a ton of other snacks).  Erin made a cake for us to celebrate Quinn's birthday.  He didn't care about the singing, but enjoyed the cake.
I gave Quinn the option on Sunday to go down to Atlantic City for the day/night to celebrate his birthday by losing our money at the craps table.  He decided that although he loves casinos he wanted to watch the first week of football instead.  We ended up having a second mini bbq at Allison and Dan's house and watched all the games.
Monday was his actual birthday (the big 32) and instead of making him drive almost all day we chose to stop overnight in North Carolina and do some shopping at the outlets right off I-95.  It was a nice break to our normal day long drive that starts at 4am.  We were able to wake up and head out at 8am, get in at 4pm and relax.  It was a really nice trip.
Thanksgiving will be at our house this year with a few friends and then we'll be heading to NJ for Christmas and Utah for Trudy's wedding.  The one good thing about all this driving is that Bubba has figured out the proper way to behave on a long trip and will usually stay laying down for 75% of the drive...finally.  It has been and will continue to be a busy year, but a lot of fun.

Birthday

So I just celebrated my 27th birthday on the 2nd.  Quinn and my family all went in on a new camera lens for me.  I will need to upgrade to a different camera body at some point, but I felt like it was smarter for me to get a better lens first.
Quinn and I went to hibachi for dinner and had fun.  I appreciated that he didn't let them know it was my birthday.  I get too embarrassed.  On the 3rd we decided to save some money and opted to go to Six Flags Over Georgia instead of doing a weekend away like we originally planned.  We both enjoy theme parks and rides so we figured it would be a fun thing to do.  Apparently we forgot that we've gotten old.  We made it through 2 roller coasters and needed Sprite to settle our stomachs.  I think we were able to get on 4 or 5 rides the whole time we were there.  The lines weren't crazy, but we waited at least a half hour on each ride and it really takes a lot of the day.  We still had fun but decided that we probably won't be doing that again anytime soon.
The rest of the weekend was quiet.  I guess when you get old birthdays are low key.
Next up is Quinn's birthday in September.  We'll be in NJ, but I think I'm going to have my sister make a cake for him to celebrate.  It'll be the first Gallagher Family Picnic that Quinn attends in the 6 years that we've been together.  We don't have as big of a turnout as we used to, but it's still fun to spend the day eating and drinking with people you don't see very often.  I'll make sure to get some pictures!

Meaningful Photo Shoot

So I just did a photo shoot for a family.  The dad is deploying next month and it got me thinking.  It's been just about 2 years since Quinn got back from his deployment and I think I've taken it for granted a little.  I can't imagine sending him back yet and forget about when we have kids.  This family has a 2 year old and a 6 month old.  It's crazy to think that the dad will miss a whole year.  Kids at that age grow so fast.
I'm grateful that we have at least another 9 months before we have to worry about it.
This family was a lot of fun and seem to be in good spirits even with the events that are in their near future.

Finally Getting a Little Busy

So I've been working on my photography for a little while now.  I'm no where near where I want to be or where I think I should be, but I'm still booking some sessions.  The nice thing around here is that people aren't super picky.  From what I've noticed people want cheap rather than quality.  It's been a struggle to lower prices while still feeling like it's worth it.  I'm doing my best to make the quality the best I can.  It's not a steady flow of income, but it's nice to have a little extra here and there since I haven't been able to find work.
I thought I'd attach some pictures that I've taken at some of my most recent sessions:

Pictures from Florida

Here are some pictures I took in Florida:

Isabel's 90th Birthday

I drove down from Columbus to Clearwater Beach last weekend.  It took about 7 1/2 hours, but didn't feel too bad.  My uncle's mother turned 90 and they were having a party for her.  She knew some people would be there, but wasn't aware that there was going to be 50 people flying and driving in to see her.  I left Friday morning and got to the hotel around 3pm.  My parents and sister weren't getting in until about 11pm so I had time to walk on the beach and take a nap.  Around 8pm when my family was supposed to fly out they found out that because of all the bad weather and flight crew problems they were going to be delayed.  Finally at 4am I headed to pick them up.  Of course at that point we couldn't go to sleep so my sister and I went for a run, walked on the beach (she collected shells and I took pictures), and then by 8 we got in bathing suits and headed in the water.  We figured we'd get it in while we could since Tropical Storm Debby was on her way in.
Sunday my dad and uncle picked up my younger sister from the airport and early that afternoon we went to the party.  The storm was crazy and the roads were overflowing.  Good thing I had my car, because smaller cars were having some trouble getting through.  We were drenched by the time we got to the restaurant door.
The party was a lot of fun.  Isabel was really surprised and happy to see so many people that she hadn't seen in a lot of years.  I think it had been at least 10 years since we last saw her.
The weekend was fun even with the bad weather.
Photos to come soon!

Weekend in Savannah

So we headed to Savannah this past weekend to visit with Kristin, Jamal and Caleb.  Well actually we went so I could get some family photos for them since Jamal's family was in town.  Quinn and I dropped Bubba off at a daycare/boarding place that Kristin and Jamal use and headed to our hotel.  We didn't stay in downtown Savannah because the prices were crazy and our hotel was only about 15 minutes away.  We drove up and walked around along the main strip area.  You can drink on the streets so Quinn was enjoying his beer and I went back to a place Kristin and Jamal introduced us to last time. It's called Wet Willies and they have a wall of what look like slushy machines filled with all different frozen alcohol.  This time I went with a margarita mixed with sour apple.  It was pretty good and it looked fun!  Of course we couldn't leave without going to the candy shop.  We bought way too much and of course ate it all over the rest of the weekend.
Sunday we went to a park to take pictures.  Quinn was a big help with the kids and keeping them entertained for the most part.  We had a lot of fun.

Above: Walking around

Below: My sour apple margarita

Below: Random balcony above a restaurant

 Spanish Moss

 Quinn enjoying his beer

 Candy!!

 Trying to sneak a picture of him

 Along the river

 Sunset

 One of the little fountain areas that are all over downtown

 Park- Sign said "Beware of Alligators and Snakes"

 More spanish moss at the park

 Not one of the pictures they are getting, but the group that I photographed

 Quinn in the background catching a runaway

Random tractor and field we drove past and I made Quinn stop for

Below: Flowers along the road that we stopped on for the tractor picture

 I don't like butterflies, but I figured someone might appreciate this picture