Jet Photos: McEntire

You may remember the Jet Photos we had taken in Arizona with the Tophats. (DTK!!!!) We missed the ones the squadron did last year, but we got to be here for them this year. I am so happy with the way the photos all turned out.

They were done by Kelly Garin Photography and I can not recommend her highly enough if you live in the Columbia area!

If I look like I am laughing so hard I could die.... It's because I am. We had SO much fun taking these.

Fly Safe,
Barb

Fini Flight: Scar + Lo

I have been working on building my portfolio a bit, so when a chance to shoot some fini flight photos for a friend came up, I jumped at the chance! For those not in the know a fini flight is a persons last flight in the squadron or air frame. They usually get duct taped up, sprayed with a fire hose and some champagne... it is definitely a sight to see.

I wanted to share some of my favorites from the set I took the other day!

Isn't she just the prettiest?! I love the happy faces, all the laughter and being able to create a visual for cherished memories!

Fly Safe,
Barb

Cola Love List: Grab A Drink

If you know us in person, you know we love trying new places, exploring and making the most of every place we live. Columbia has been no different. Whether you want to come visit the area, are moving here, or have lived here a while, this list may have some things on it you would like to check out!
Let's start with...
Drinks:
Lil Duck Kombucha: If you enjoy kombucha definitely check this place out. They have a great variety of flavors, its local, and they will fill a growler for you! Every time I am at the Soda City Farmers Market (a must do, more on that in a later blog though) I grab some... they also sell scoby if you want to start brewing your own!

Rosewood Dairy Bar: Amazing milk shakes, probably my favorite in Cola. It's old school, it's classic... it is a dairy bar from the 1940's and you really can't beat the prices or taste. The cones are out of this world too. (also the chili cheese dogs)

Grill Marks:The runner up of best milkshakes in Cola. You can get basic milkshakes, alcoholic milkshakes... and freakshakes... which are super over the top and delicious looking... they also have floats... alcoholic and non. It's a great selection and well done, but can be a pain to find parking in the vista, they have valet as an option though!

Conquest Brewing  : This brewery is gaining popularity, for good reason, in my opinion it is the best in Columbia. They have a phenomenal Coffee IPA (and I don't usually like IPAs) and a Coconut Porter that will knock your socks off (do people still say that?). They have a little tasting room, an outdoor area with picnic tables, and a small area with giant jenga and a screen where they sometimes host Game Of Thrones watch parties or Mario Kart competitions. Only bummer is they don't have a kitchen, so no food (but they have popcorn)... they have been getting food trucks over there lately though!

Crouch Distilling: Right next door to Conquest, this is the best distillery in the area. We like to do a tasting after grabbing a pint at Conquest. Phil, the owner is happy to walk you through the process of how everything is made and we always learn something new when we go visit. Recently they started offering cocktails and they have bourbon barrel roasted coffee beans for sale! Bonus points if he has the spiced rum available when you go... its the BEST.

River Rat: Everyone in Cola will point you this direction when you ask about beer... for good reason, it's good beer, good food, and a really fun environment... they even just added a rooftop bar this year! This place is definitely family and dog friendly, so if that's your jam... you will love it. They host trivia once a week, and use King Of Pops popsicles in a glass of prosecco for prosecco pops. Downside: it is very popular, and has a very small parking lot, so good luck on that end, we usually take the motorcycle.

Hunter-Gatherer: This gets an honorable mention, it is not my favorite beer but it is pretty good. This is also family friendly, they serve some food and have outdoor and indoor seating as well as a lawn. It is located in the Curtiss Wright Hangar on the runway, so you can watch some planes take off while you sip on some beer... win win.

Craft and Draft: Not a brewery, but a store/bar. They have a great selection of craft beer to buy in bottles, and a bar with some on tap. Rumor has it they even have Kombucha on tap, which makes my little heart happy, cause I love that stuff.

Grab your growlers and get to exploring the local brew scene in Cola! It's definitely a good one.

Fly Safe, Barb

Our Time in Soda City (2017):

Back with another installment of updates and what we got up to while we have been living in Cola.
This was a pretty good year (by pretty good I mean amazing) I started Wing Woman Designs and fell in love with creating things for other people to enjoy. I also climbed the incline in Manitou Springs for the first time, served on the scholarship committee for the Shaw Officers Spouse Club (now the Shaw Spouses' Club) and we went to River Rat to watch the eclipse!

The best photo backdrop.

We did a lot more hiking and exploring this year, including more time at Congaree National Park. where we spotted a couple families of wild hog, several deer, some snakes and a lot of little critters. We really like it there.

I'm sensing a theme here. 

 I took my first Fini flight photos through Wing Woman Photography, they are my favorite, I get to take photos of the jets and capture priceless moments for a family.

"Rail"

Hochi took a few trips, one of them being to Florida to shoot his first AMRAAM, then we turned right around and went back to Florida so we could check out Universal Studios. I am obsessed with Harry Potter, so we spent a LOT of time in the Harry Potter sections. I rode my first roller coaster (yes, at 26 years old) and I am not sure I would do it again. I also rode The Mummy and it traumatized me, can you believe I am married to a fighter pilot? We ate WAY too much food, drank way too much Butterbeer and of course got a giant pink donut and some Duff Beer!

peep that patch!

Look, I really love Buffalo Wings, okay?

Hochi did a lot of cool stuff this year, including getting to do a flyover for his Alma Mater USAFA. A Thankfully One Mile High Photography caught some photos of him taking off and landing at Buckley and was kind enough to send them to me. 

McEntire had an air show this year where I took some of my favorite pictures ever, most of them you can see over on Wing Woman Photography but I basically have to share this one because *heart eyes emoji*.

Easily the best thing to happen this year though? Sydney, Australia. It was amazing, and we absolutely fell in love with Australia while we were there. We visited the Opera House and took a tour, we went to the zoo and aquarium, we went to a few museums (saw some airplanes, of course), toured the Royal Botanical Gardens (and got locked in after they closed..whoops), we drank some AWFUL rum (thanks Glock, never trusting your recommendations ever again.) and went on an amazing wine tour through the hunter valley. We ate at the revolving tower for the Fourth of July, and had a donut as big as our faces for breakfast, on the last day we went to Bondi and it is just as beautiful as you would expect. We ate so much, explored so much, and can not wait to go back to Oz as soon as possible (next year!) and hit up New Zealand too!

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary by going to Asheville! We explored Biltmore, checked out Wicked Weed, and then went hiking in Dupont State Forest (which is beautiful and I highly reccomend!). We fell in love with Asheville and it always makes me feel a little better when I am homesick for Colorado.

Hochi did a flyover for the Panthers...this time instead of being on the score board he was flying the Viper. My MIL came down to watch him too, so we took her hiking through Congaree and to the Greek Festival!

Go to this, get the baklava cheese cake.

Exactly one month (to the day) after I had surgery on my knee we did a Tough Mudder Half. It was amazing and I can't wait for us to have a chance to do a full together, Hochi has already done one, so he is a great coach to get me through them. 

We finished out the year with more hiking, a trip to New York to visit Hochi's family for Thanksgiving and then Texas to spend Christmas with my family for the first time in four years... It was so great to see them all, I missed them a lot. I am not sure Hochi will want to relive the experience though, since we made him do a polar plunge with us. 

 Whew, thanks for sticking through that. I did not update at all during 2017. so there was a lot to fill in, I promise none of my other blogs will be this long! 

Fly Safe, Barb

P.s. I got my braces off at the end of June in this year, YAY!