Couple's Massage

Alright, alright, I completely realize that this post is REALLY late. Chris is still gone to the field (and will be until next week), but we did manage to squeeze in a date night on his last weekend break a couple weeks ago. I don't remember whose turn it is anymore, but I took it on so he wouldn't have to worry about it. We ended up going to get a couple's massage at Touch Discount Day Spa on the East side of El Paso. We had a great deal, and a wonderful experience. It was very relaxing, and I think Chris almost fell asleep :) Afterward, we headed to Hiney's for a late lunch/early dinner, and some drinks. The massages plus the beer made us both pretty sleepy and we ended up calling it an early night. Stay posted for the next date night, likely over Memorial Day weekend.

RV Show (...The Garden....Train Show...to be continued...)

Alright, alright...I apologize for no update last weekend. To be honest there really isn't one. A late night Friday turned into all day relaxing on Saturday. We watched a couple movies. Accomplishing nothing productive on Saturday turned into cleaning all day Sunday (for me) and working on a final thesis paper all day (Chris). We grabbed a couple beers and some wings at Buffalo Wild Wings on post Satuday night, but we laid low. It actually felt really good to basically stay in bed most of Saturday!

Now for this weekend. I don't think I've ever posted immediately after a date, but there's a first time for everything. This weekend was my turn, and there just so happened to be an RV Show in town at the Convention Center. Chris and I both love the idea of camping, so we decided to go do some dreaming. Travel trailers sure have come a long way since my parents owned one. We narrowed it down to what we liked, WHEN we decide to get into the market. Being in the military makes it a little more difficult to capitalize on a pop-up or trailer. We would never be able to store it at our house, and Chris basically camps for a living right now anyways (5 week field problem, anyone?). We definitely got some really great ideas, and had a lot of fun daydreaming.

After the RV Show, walked to The Garden for lunch and a couple beers. After stuffing ourselves with some awesome food, we stumbled upon a Train Show at the Train Museum downtown on San Antonio Street. We stopped in and got a quick history lesson about Engine No. 1. They had the actual train engine in the museum, which was original to the mid- to late-1800s. It had been fully restored, and is only one of 6 left in the country (the only one west of the Mississippi). Today was awesome so far...and it's only 2:40 pm :) This will be the last date night for awhile, since Chris heads to the field for 5 weeks. He may be home for one weekend, so we may try to squeeze one in. Stay tuned!

Camping!....kind of...

So this weekend was my turn. More military "obligations" kept us out Friday night, and Saturday we had some errands to run, and hit the gym. After dinner, we were both looking forward to staying in, and we both made a little agreement to add an extra challenge to date night by trying to make them either free or low-cost (if possible). I decided that the perfect date would be to set up our tent in the backyard and "camp." We have never set up the tent together, and we were both really excited. The weather cooperated, even though I was worried about the wind. It turned out to be a beautiful night. We
got a campfire going, set up our camp chairs, the "whole nine." It was good practice for the pups too, since they've never seen the tent either. Our hope is to one day be able to camp with them, and their first attempt went pretty well. We made some drinks, and after the fire died down, we retired to the tent to watch Netflix on the laptop. Like I said, it was "kind of" camping :) We had an awesome time!

Mt. Cristo Rey

Chris took over date night this past weekend, and it turned into one of my favorite date nights yet! We hiked Mt. Cristo Rey which is just a 15 minute drive from here. Mt. Cristo Rey is technically in New Mexico, but its south side is also in Mexico. The climb is always open, but it can be very dangerous if not done in a group due to the proximity to Mexico. At the peak of the mountain is a huge 29 foot statue of Jesus on a cross. Because of the Easter weekend, Border Patrol were around the mountain monitoring the activity. The weather was beautiful, not too hot nor too cold. There was a nice breeze and the sun was out. The climb was 4.4 miles round trip and took up about an hour and 45 minutes. Along the climb, there were the stations of the cross that some people were stopping to pray at. The whole experience was meant to be spiritual, and there were off-shoots that lead to outlying grottos with statues for Our Lady of Fatima and Our Lady of Guadalupe, etc. The views were incredible the entire way up. The climb wasn't too strenuous due to the switchbacks carved in the mountain. There were all kinds of people making the climb, from children to elderly and a lot of dogs. There were spots to have picnics, remnants of old buildings, and even places that looked like Mass had taken place. It was a great workout, and a really unique perspective of El Paso and Mexico to the south. Both Chris and I were surprised that there was no border fence on the south side of the mountain, but apparently that's why the hike is so dangerous if not done during designated times, or in large groups. Overall, this was an incredible experience!

Just another normal weekend....

So this post is techincally for last weekend. We had a lot of "mandatory" Army gatherings, and Chris is working on his final thesis paper, so we didn't really have a date night (and I kind of slacked off). Thursday night we had a Hail and Farewell, Friday night we had a platoon BBQ, and Saturday afternoon we had a birthday party for Chris' company commander. Chris spent most of the balance of the weekend working on his paper, but we did manage to break away on Sunday night and drive to Chili's on the northeast side of town to watch some March Madness. The weather is finally starting to warm up (but it will be TOO warm before long), so the drive to Chili's was really nice. Chris made up for date night this weekend, and I will definitely step up my game next weekend :)

St. Patty's Day!

 So this was my week, and I kinda copped out by combining "Date Night" in with St. Patrick's Day. Shamrocks Irish Pub and Buffalo Wild Wings, on post, hosted a big street party with Irish bands, beer stands, food, etc. Chris' sister, Erin, was in town so she go to partake in the festivities. We met up with friends there and lots of green beer was had. We walked away with souvenir glasses, green beads, paper sunglasses shaped like shamrocks, and plastic pipes we took shots out of. Chris and I had some brats toward the end of the night and they were delicious! After the party started winding down, we headed back to our house and hosted our friends for an after-party. We had a bon-fire, got the hookah out, and may (or may not) have played some beer pong. It was a long, but very fun, afternoon and evening. Chris paid for it a little more on Sunday than I did, but we both had a great time.

Truth or Consequences

(Pics to come....)
This past weekend was Chris' turn, but this wasn't a surprise as it needed some planning. This past weekend, we headed up to Truth or Consequences, NM for Saturday night. It was a really nice two hour drive. Aside from the crazy name, Truth or Consequences is also known for their geothermal hot springs. The hot springs are world-renowned for the supposed healing powers. They have dozens of natural minerals, and come out of the ground at around 106 degrees. We chose a hotel that pumped the springs directly into our room, into a huge tile tub. The decor was very southwestern, very quaint and comfortable. We ended up sitting in the springs three times, but they were so hot that we only managed about 15-20 minutes each time. Once we got to our room, we soaked in the springs, then just relaxed for a couple hours. Chris worked on school and I read. The we headed out to K-Bob's Steakhouse for dinner. Apparently, this is a chain (we had never heard of it), but it was obviously a draw for the locals. Chris had a steak sandwich, I ordered a steak and we each had a couple beers. From there, we headed to Elephant Butte. We drove around a little, but never got very close to the water. We tried to find a pub at the marina, but OnStar failed us twice and by then we were ready to call it quits and head back to the room. Chris cheered me up with Sonic ice cream :) We soaked again once back in the room, then watched The Lorax on my laptop. We were asleep a little after 10.

After a full 12 hours of sleep, we woke up, soaked again, then remembered the time change which gave us another hour. We packed up our room, checked out, then headed next door to the Happy Belly Deli for breakfast. An egg and cheese bagel was complimentary with the room, but Chris sprang for a chorizo omelet that was delicious. The coffee was really good too. The deli was small, but cozy. We both loved it. Our Spartan attire was a big hit with the staff as most of them seemed to have connections in the Midwest. After breakfast, we walked down the street and found January's. January's is a multi-building antique shop on main street, and it happened to be one of the only stores open on a Sunday. We hit the jackpot though. I finally found a trunk worthy of taking home, and it was only $60! Chris also found me a sunflower tray, and I found an old rusty rake head that I hung in our kitchen for a utensil display. On the way out of town, we stopped at a Veteran's Park. It was beautiful. There was a really impressive museum with artifacts from every war all the way back to the Revolutionary War. There were also binders with the names of all of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was really moving and sobering as Chris pointed out names of guys he knew. Outside, there was a walk with markers and histories of all the major wars, and a replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. We were both really impressed with the quality of the museum and park, especially for such a small town in the middle of nowhere.

We had an awesome weekend. Neither one of us wanted to leave. It was so nice to get out of El Paso. The traffic was easier, the pace was slower, and it was much quieter. The weather cooperated, although it was a little chilly. We are already making plans to head back up there in the summer and really explore the lake, the marina, and the State Park.