My Cousin and Friend

I was so excited when my cousin called this week and we worked out a time for her to come visit! We are a year-and-a-half apart in age and have been friends since childhood. We joke that we are "cousins and friends" because 'cousins' doesn't explain our relationship well enough.

We live in different places and both lead busy lives so we don't always get to talk as much as we'd like. Fortunately, we have the kind of friendship that always feels like we just talked and are continuing an ongoing conversation.

My favorite thing about her is how we laugh when we're together. We're totally silly and laugh continuously when we're together. We have tons of those kind of 'inside jokes' that nobody finds funny but completely crack us up.

So ... when she came to visit, we made the most of it! She'd never been on an Army post so we had to show her around. My hubby was a great guide for us, explaining all the equipment and pointing out all the landmarks along the way. She toured his battalion motor pool, went to a battalion award ceremony, bought some great 1st CAV gear at the gift shop, and was able to go with us to a 1st CAV social at Legend's pub! We took her to our favorite local eateries ... Dead Fish Grill on Lake Belton and Ambrosia's Tea Room in Salado (my favorite, no my hubby's) and stayed up late laughing and watching goofy old favorite movies (seriously, The Little Mermaid!?!).

It was so much fun and I can't wait for her to visit again. We'll get to hang out again soon when I go home to see my family, but it was so very fun to have just some girl time together!

Attending a battalion award ceremony

With a Howitzer on Fort Hood

Rockin' Out on Rock Band!

Making s'mores inside ... too HOT to make a fire outside.
Can anybody hear "Trailorhood" in their head right now?

Even my Leo loves Lori!

Enjoying our in-house s'mores!

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