My day has been crazy busy doing the mom thing.  I love to celebrate holidays.  Actually, I love any reason to do something special for the people I love.  Not that I need one.  I have been known to throw pancake parties in the middle of the night with full on crystal goblets filled with orange juice and french toast served on my best China for no other reason than we couldn’t sleep, but still I love the formality of a day that I get to spoil those that matter to me.  Point being, I have been busy trying to make this a special day for my kiddos to include time at their school and so I have not had much time to do anything else, BUT, I did make time to go to Starbucks.

I like for my 13 year to learn the lessons of life by example, so I kept her home this morning and she ran up to our local Starbucks to grab a cup of joe with me.

This, like most pictures of me is dorky, but hey, I didn’t have time for a photo shoot.  Being subtle is very important to me, so I opened carried, wore my 2nd Amendment shirt and a necklace made from a bullet.

Once at the counter the manager came over and asked “what us fine ladies were up to”.  I responded that we were here to support our local Starbucks.  She said, “I am good with that”  “Appreciate your business” and smiled.  Excellent!

As my daughter and I waited for our order I noticed an older gentleman checking out my backside.  I was flattered for a second, but then realized it was my Glock that caught his eye.  Here was our discussion…

Him-That is a pistol on your hip.

Me- Yes, it is.

Him- Scary.

Me- It’s not scary.  I know how to use it, your safe.

Him- I bet.

He looked very uncomfortable and honestly like he was afraid.  A few minutes later he started to talk to me again.

Him- Can I ask you a question?

Me- Sure.

Him- I heard that these places are gonna allow beer and wine pretty soon, would you be allowed to bring that gun in here if they do?

Me- Yes, in Virginia I would be allowed to carry my gun into a place that serves alcohol, but that might not be the case in other states, depends on their laws.  Of course, it would be irresponsible for someone to be drunk and have a gun and I am not aware of any gun owners that would behave in such an irresponsible way.

He smiles, looks at my gun again, smiles at me, looks at my daughter, grabs his coffee and says thanks.

My son and his his wife went to a different Starbucks and that manager was not aware that anyone was boycotting or buycotting them. 

I went to 2 other locations and one also was not aware of any boycott/buycott and the other one was only aware of the buycott.  That manager had no clue that it was spurred by the anti gun people trying to strong arm them.  I am gonna call that a win for my town.

Go to Weer’d World to check out more on this subject.

In case the title wasn’t clear, I need a little help from all of you.  Everyone’s feisty and loveable Erin over at Lurking Rhythmically asked me if I knew of anyone who might be selling a 9mm Glock, either a 17, 19, or a 26.  She, like most of us is budget conscious and could use a deal. 

I didn’t know of anyone off the top of my head, so I thought I would post here and see if we could help her out.  If not a specific person, maybe there is a reputable forum or firearms trading site that she could be pointed to.

I know she would be extremely grateful for any and all assistance!!  Thanks!!!!!

Ok, real quick. I loved all the names and I can not tell you how much I appreciated everyone giving me their thoughts and input. Really, it meant a lot to me.

I wanted a name that had meaning both historically to the gun and to me personally. Several suggestions fit one or the other, but only one fit both. I had two readers suggest the name I picked. One left a comment on the blog and one sent me an email. I will send them both a box of chocolate.

The name I chose is Anastasiya. I will use the traditional Russian spelling and it means “resurrection” It is defined as “the literal coming back to life”.

I don’t think I need to say anymore.

Chris in TX email me your address to [email protected]

As I said in yesterday’s post, I went to a gun show on Saturday.   John, my man and I met up and began our pilgrimage.  We only made it about 3 tables in when I decided I would be making an impulse buy.  I have discovered that I love old guns.  I love their history, I love their feel and I love their look: the beat up, I have been used, I have a story to tell sheen. No surprise then that the Mosin Nagant would catch my eye.  Once John started to tell me about them, I was hooked.  John has a system where he likes to go up and down the aisles and take mental notes of the things that interest him and then return to the booth that had the best price.  My man and I have no system whatsoever.  We wonder aimlessly, eating beef jerky and hoping we don’t get screwed.  John’s plan seemed better, so we went along with it.  The problem being, I really could not focus.  I just kept thinking about that Mosin.  We had made good progress and learned a ton of useful info plus had purchased a flashlight, some beef jerky and ran into friends I had not seen in a while.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself, but getting quite antsy.  About half way through I exclaimed, “I want that gun”.  My man said “Go for it” and John said, then “then lets do it.”  We all high tailed it back to the booth which turned out to be perfect timing.  There were 3 in the box and within 2 seconds of us picking one up, the others had vanished.  I think it was a God thing.  Now, I really wanted to buy this gun for myself, but I had left my drivers license and Conceal Carry permit in my range bag back home(I was not carrying or driving, so no laws were broken), so that fine man of mine offered to fill out the paperwork and jump through the hoops to bring that beauty home.

The Mosin Nagant is a rather larger gun and I got a good deal of attention carrying it through the expo center.  Many a folks stopped us to chit about it or ask questions.  As we were leaving one guy said,

“That is a might large gun, for a little thing like you.” 

I said, “No, worries, I can handle it.”

His friend said, “I am not coming onto your property”.

“You can come”. “Just knock first.” I told him

“I’ll knock twice”, he whispered. 

I walked on by with a big ol” smile and a bit of a spring in my step.

I spent much of that evening caressing her and squealing like, well, a girl.  I tried to get my husband to let me sleep with it, but he said, nope.  He had done enough of that in the Corps.  Truth be told, I think I could have convinced him, but, it’s probably not a good habit to get into.

Since I am spoiled and blessed beyond belief, I did not have to wait long to shoot her.  Yesterday that man of mine and our son met John and a few of his friends at the range.  I have to mention here that this has been a very mild winter in Virginia.  No snow to speak of and pretty much the temps have been hanging out around 55-60 degrees.  However, on Sunday, we woke up to windy, bitterly cold temps of around 29   degrees.  At this point I would like to state all the training in real world conditions crap that Duke and Stephen were espousing last week…HIGHLY overrated. Don’t do it.  Stick to paper targets at indoor ranges with heaters and RSO’s that serve you steaming hot cups of coffee in between magazine changes.

I wore long john type pants under my famous black jeans, 2 pairs of socks, boots, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a hoodie and my large winter coat, plus a scarf and gloves and I was still a Popsicle.  Mostly just my hands.  The gloves were not helpful, plus to shoot I took them off.  Cold is not my friend, but it did eventual warm up to temperatures that were bearable.

 You all know how I feel about gunnie’s.  Smart, kind, generous, funny…  Well the people John brought to the range on Sunday were no exception.  I did ask if I could share pictures, but I forgot to ask if I could share names, so we will just call them Mr. & Mrs. Awesome.  There was one other gentleman there, but he did not stay long, so unfortunately, I didn’t get to know him.  Mr. Awesome had a 1911 and an AR 15 chambered in. 6.8 or 6.5 (I think, I can’t remember.  It was a new caliber for me and so much to learn) Mrs. Awesome had a 9mm S&W M&P and an AR 15 chambered in the more common .223.  Because they are awesome they let me shoot their guns. I think I was still getting ready to take the shot in these pictures, but…

My husband and son thought Mrs. Awesome’s AR was the best set up they had ever shot.  I am still getting to know guns and don’t have a feel for all the little intricacies, so I liked them both the same.  Mr. Awesome’s was heavier, but it felt more comfortable in my hand.  I believe hers was shorter(I don’t know if it was a carbine, but it was smaller in length than her husband’s) and I am tall drink of water, so that might have been why.

And, of course, we all shot the Mosin Nagant.  I was a little nervous to shoot her.  Not butterflies in my stomach nervous, just a little curious as to how it would feel.  A young kid at the gun show told me he had shot about 15 rounds out of his and woke up to a black and blue shoulder and John said the Nagant kicks about 1/3 more than the Garand, so I wondered if I would be in pain. 

I did not think the kick was a big deal at all.  This is going to come as a huge shock to everyone.  You may want to sit down for this revelation, but I discovered while I love the look of this gun, shooting it was, well, FLIPPIN AMAZING!!!  I LOVED IT!!  Oh, my, oh my, oh my, it was pure bliss.  I shot about 20 rounds yesterday and enjoyed every single one.  I did wake up this morning with some slight soreness in my left shoulder,  It feels like when I up my weights on the fly machine at the gym.  I am not black and blue which kinds of bums me out.  I was hoping to show you all how tough I am.

Although my shoulder is fine, I did take several good hunks of flesh out of my thumb working the bolt action.  I am left handed, so my left hand sits on the butt stock(not sure what it is called) , so when I pull the bold back it very nicely slides right over my thumb, taking a piece of me with it.  I am gonna have to practice and find a new way to work the action.

Mr. & Mrs. Awesome.  This is my favorite picture.

A few last notes…if you don’t understand the title of my last two posts, go here.  Also, I was informed that rifles are girls and they must be named.  I was not aware of this, but who am I to buck the system.  I am going to steal my friend Lynne’s idea and ask for help from all of you.  Please give me your suggestion for what her name should be and if I decide to use the name you suggested, I will send you this as a little thank you.

Yesterday I went to the gun show with John and my hubby.  We were on a mission for magazines for my 9mm M&P and other items I might need for an upcoming training.  Also, I had never been to a big gun show, so it was time I put a check in that box.  If you have been with me for any amount of time, then you know two things happen every time I attend a gun show.  I buy a ton of beef jerky and I have a habit of accidentally stealing things.  I have turned myself  well before the po po shows up and I always pay for said items in full.  Still, I have been trying to break this habit of mine.  I may well have succeeded, too.  Yesterday was the second gun show in a row that I did not steal a single thing.  Impressive I know.  That is the good news, but it gets better…I bought some stuff.

My Favorite Jerky

A New Shirt

A New Flashlight

Some Ammo For

1943 Mosin Nagant

*I did get to the range today and I did shoot this baby.  Met some amazing people.  I will tell you all about both tomorrow.

I have been so excited to see so many posts on training.  You might have suspected that I am a big fan of it.

Yesterday I read a post by Duke over at Down Range Report.  There is so much good information contained in that one post,  I had to read it a couple of times to fully digest it.  In the comments Stephen from Standing Outside Looking In made reference to how vital training in a real world type environment is.  I agree, of course, but I mentioned that even without intense training people can sometimes beat the bad guy.  I did very little right and I am proof that sometime luck is on your side.

Their point is that, yes, one can beat the odds from time to time and for whatever reason make it out of a hairy situation, but the more training one has the more likely they will be in control of the situation and can rely on skill over luck. That could not be more true.

I only mentioned the fact that there are times when people who have no skill or relatively little experience with a gun, have been able to thwart an attack, because I wanted those just starting out on this journey to know mindset is an important part of training. Mindset has become an obsession of mine.  No matter where anyone is on this journey, I want them to know, without a doubt, they can survive.  Gun fight, knife fight, fist fight, zombie invasion, no matter what the odds, you will survive.  Incidentally, Nancy R has a brilliant post on being on this journey. 

For the record, I know Duke and Stephen both are aware of the importance of mindset.  In fact, I learned everything I know from people like them. 

This morning I read an post by JD that lays out all of these points pretty well.  Train, train, train and train some more because you never know what might happen, but regardless, you still might need a little luck.

I get a lot of emails asking about my husband.  Some are just curious about his time as a Marine or how we met. Some are more invasive.  A few boldly ask me if he went out to kill the bad guy or why he isn’t more involved in my training.

I appreciate the emails and the questions and I realize I put myself out there and that is going to open me up to a lot of things, but what I write on this blog is not the complete picture of our lives.  My husband is a very private person.  He is a man of few words and has absolutely zero desire to be in the limelight.  Actually, until this blog, I was also very private and we are both surprised at how much I share here.  I have had more than one of my closest friends contact me and be actually concerned for my mental state because sharing so much is extremely uncharacteristic. My oldest son has said on more than one occasion, “Who are you?”  “Growing up you wouldn’t even let me tell people we know, where we live.”(I still don’t do that)  I have personal FB page that has around 40 people.  For the longest time it had 20, but I have added some of my new shooting buddies to the group.  The point being, the people on there are my actual friends(a few are new friends) that I share my life with, but outside of that, few people know much about us.  You all know way more about me than people I interact with everyday.  If you have been with me from the beginning then you know the evolution and how I became to be more open and why I have chosen to share so much here, but what I share is about my journey, not his.

Having said that, I will tell you a little bit about him.  He is smokin hot.  He has calves to die for.  I have been married to him for 22 years and he makes my knees go weak every time he walks through the door.  It’s a cliche, but it’s true. 

He is brilliant. He really is.  He is loyal.  His friends, his children and his Marines will tell you that. He is cool, calm, and collected almost all the time.  He does have a temper, I have heard.  A Marine or two has been on the wrong end of that and needless to say, he rarely has repeat offenders. He is enormously kind and intensely protective. He has saved me a million times over.  He is strong and brave.  He has an inner calm that steadies me.  I never feel more safe or nurtured than when I am with him.  He is very in tune to me.  After our daughter made the revelation that more happened that day than I had originally shared, he said he knew.  He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew there was more to the story. He never asked, not once.  He said it wasn’t important for him to know anything until I was ready.  His said his job is to protect me, care for me, to help me find my way back and he didn’t need any details to know how to that. 

We have never talked about it, but I assume after I was mugged, he had some anger and a desire to make that problem go away for me, but he never said so.  He never once lost his temper or exclaimed that he was off to find the guy and beat him to a pulp.  His focus was on me.  Revenge, there is no way that would have been healing for me. He has had the sole role of protector for 20 years and he relishes in it.  He loves to take care of me from doing everything he can to be sure no one causes me an ounce of pain(totally unrealistic which is why he helps me learn to do it for myself)  to bringing me coffee, every single morning. I imagine watching me go off on my own has been hard on him, but if it has, he has given no indication.  He has been my biggest supporter.  

He is the funniest person I know.  We have serious conversations, of course, but 99% of our time is spent laughing til we cry.  Honestly, I laugh that hard, everyday. I love my friends and I love doing things on my own, but if you asked me my favorite thing in the world to do, it would be hanging with him, regardless of what, I would rather be doing it with him.  Although, if I got to pick, we would be out shooting somewhere. Just for the record, he is a darn good shot.  I am not just braggin’ here, the dude can shoot. It’s annoying.

That is pretty much my man.
 

(This is not the most recent picture of her)

 I want to share a little more info on our Give-A-Way winner.  She is the wife of a gun blogger. Our own Groundhog, which makes our winner Mrs. Groundhog!!  Mrs. Groundhog and her main quadruped live in Texas and although he is quite the shooter, she is just starting out on her journey.  Mrs. Groundhog was never scared of guns, but she was also not comfortable around them.  Unfortunately, her family was affected by gun violence. Not the kind of gun violence where you would light a candle, but the kind that makes your blood boil and you think, I need to do something to keep this from happening, kind of gun violence.  Her sister was shot in the head.  I believe Goundhog has written about this on his site, but I am hoping Mrs. Groundhog will write a post of her own to share here.  Sometime after that incident, they began seriously exploring their self defense options and both obtained their CHL(concealed handgun license). 

In the beginning our winner accompanied her husband to the range as a way to spend time with him, but little by little she got the bug…they always do:)  Like many of us she is a little more experienced in age than in shooting.  She is 52 and yes, she knows I am telling you all that. Although, she has spent sometime shooting with her gun, she has had no formal training and hasn’t been to the range in over a year.  We are aiming to fix that, again no pun intended. She adheres to my life philosophy and she carries a big gun: a Glock 17.  For those of you who may not be familiar with this particular gun, it is a full sized(??) gun chambered in 9mm. That is her only gear, well, until now.  She has a whole heck of a lot of gear coming her way.    I have spoke with her and her husband by email and phone and they both are delightful.  This has been such a blast and getting to know her more is gonna be a treat for me. 

I know you all will be following along on her journey.  Both Groundhog and I will be posting and sharing with all of you. Lets be her biggest cheerleaders and encourage her with every step she takes!!

That Texas Lady got 20,000 blog views in a single day.  That is a lot of views for one day.  I guess people know a good thing when they see it.   To celebrate she has a little Give-A-Way.  If you live in her neck of the woods or are willing to travel, head on over to her page and check it out.

I want to clear up a few things…

First, I don’t mind at all when people share my story or posts I write.  I appreciate when people ask, but my site is public and anyone can read it, so it’s free game. 

Second, I don’t want anyone to change their post for me.  I know that occasionally I have mentioned that I read a post that was difficult for me to read, but that doesn’t mean I want it gone. My story is tough for me to tell and sometimes it is tough for me to read about, but I think it needs to be told.  The number of emails I get every single day telling me that sharing my story and my journey has been beneficial to someone is staggering, at least to me.  There are days that I get sick of sharing it and days that I think does anyone really want to read one more post about how I managed to get through the day or do they have any interest in my latest breakthrough.  The answer is yes.  This is not universally true.  All you have to do is visit a few forums to find out I annoy the heck out of some folks, but they are not the ones emailing.  The men and women emailing find some sense of comfort and strength in my story and they are why I keep sharing. I know what it is like to be lost and to have people reach out.  I know how incredible healing it is to have someone, even a person you don’t know, reach out and say your not alone and I care.  Other than my internal strength that was hiding deep inside of me, the people who cared for me, their love is what inspired me not to wallow in self pity, but instead to flourish and grow.  I mention the posts that are hard for me because I want to be authentic. The more people who share my story from their prospective, the more people who will be touched.  I don’t believe anyone is being malicious when they write about me, well not the people I write about on here anyway, and I don’t want anyone to stifle their writing to protect me.  As you all have pointed out, I am tougher than I think.  I can take it.  If you write something I think I can’t handle I will send you a little note and we can discuss it, but I don’t anticipate that ever happening.  If you come here and read something I haven’t written discussing your post about me, please do not apologize or change it.  I wouldn’t be sending people your way if I didn’t think what you wrote had merit.  However, to the men that have contacted me on different occasions to offer to change something or to offer comfort for possibly making me uncomfortable, you are true gentleman and I could not respect you more.  Thank you.

Thirdly, there is a new blogger who had decided to use A Girl and Her Gun as her blog name.  Since I had no plans of becoming a blogger, I never purchased the domain name, so she is free to do so.  I did submit paperwork to trademark, but that is a process.  Just wanted to let you know that this is my site.  I didn’t change anything, so if you happen upon another blog with my name, it isn’t me.  Of course, you all have free will to visit any blog you want, but it would kill me if you called her AGirl:) I did try to contact her just to let her know that I am here, but she never responded.  I am sure she is a lovely gal and I wish her no ill will and her blog is probably  great, but I do think it is a little rude to use a name already being used.  Not sure how anyone will know who is who on the GBBL. 

Lastly, I have been working on some very exciting things that I hope to be announcing very soon!!!!