We're going SHOOTIN'!

Wow, what a super weekend! Since I've been home, I haven't done anything quite out of the ordinary (with the exception of seeing Wicked with Lauren!!). It has mostly involved catching up with old friends, driving to Jackson, watching movies, driving to Jackson, watching movies in Jackson.. you get the picture (you could imagine how many gas stations I've visited). OH yeah, and drinking mochas and lattes. Anyways, this weekend was quite the new experience.

On Saturday, I said bye to my sister as she headed off to Vicksburg for preparation for Miss Mississippi. Afterwards, I went to a wedding in, appropriately enough, Jackson. No, that's not out of the ordinary. It was quite beautiful, and it was a wonderful reason to see many of my friends and have a good time dancing to The Devil Went Down To Georgia. Afterwards, I spent the evening with some of my closer friends, having dinner, visiting Borders, getting ice cream. No, that's not out of the ordinary, either. It was a great time, though.

After a long Saturday, I left early from Jackson to drive over to Birmingham, AL. I was visiting one of my lifelong best friends, Jenna, and her husband Casey. We had plans to go out to the gun range and get a little shooting practice in! Yes, that is out of the ordinary... well, for me, at least. After grabbing some lunch with them two and Jenna's sister and brother-in-law, we geared up (or more Casey got everything ready while we sat there and talked) and headed out! Casey gave me a brief orientation with a .22 Caliber pistol--and I paid close attention as having only shot a BB gun and some type of rifle in my entire life. When we got out there, we picked targets and boy did they have a nice plethora of choices, including Osama bin Laden and Barney. I decided to have a little fun and grabbed Barney as a target :) After sticking in some ear plugs and making sure there was a green light (learned that this means the range is "hot"), I l stepped up, loaded the gun and took aim at Barney. I shot ten times (until the gun was empty), stepped away, and checked my damage to Barney. I ended up hitting him right smack on the target! I think it has a little something to do with my loathing of Barney, but that dinosaur best look at my target and stay away from me!

Jenna and I took turns shooting the .22, and we each took one turn shooting a 9 mm. That gun was tougher to shoot with--as in I only shot 2 bullets with it and let Casey finish it off. We stayed out at the gun range for about 2 hours! Even though it was scorching hot, I had LOADS of fun!!!!!! I can't wait to do that again. I decided I might even post my Barney target on my new place to warn intruders :) After our fun time at the range, we headed back to Jenna and Casey's, and Jenna and I baked some chocolate chip cookies (brownlee/smith tradition), complete with icing and sprinkles. Needless to say, I felt like I was going to be sick after a few and regretted eating so many immediately. The hours of feeling sick were worth the few minutes of enjoyment. Here are a few pics from the day!!!

Jenna taking aim at her Barney target

Now it's my turn at Barney!

Jenna actually has a gun in her holster

Too bad for Barney