YEAH 29!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas Vacation...part 1
Soooo, as Josh weathers (ha ha) the ice storm in Missouri, I'm up here in the beautiful flakey snow of Michigan. (Some of my best friends are flakes...ha ha ha) <-can't take credit for that one, saw it on a sign this morning next to a snowman. ha ha ha!
We've been busy packing boxes, moving car loads of boxes to the new house, and running errands for Christmas, groceries, and house stuff...all while entertaining two 1-year olds. Yup. The twins turned 1. It was a pretty fun birthday party! I'm sure Marth will have more pictures up soon. I'll make sure to give her a break from the boys/packing in order to do so.
On the crazy scale...I would say we're nearing full throttle towards getting almost TOO much done in a day. Yeah right. We'd still have a list a mile long. But, we're having lots of fun. Here's a great couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.
We've been busy packing boxes, moving car loads of boxes to the new house, and running errands for Christmas, groceries, and house stuff...all while entertaining two 1-year olds. Yup. The twins turned 1. It was a pretty fun birthday party! I'm sure Marth will have more pictures up soon. I'll make sure to give her a break from the boys/packing in order to do so.
On the crazy scale...I would say we're nearing full throttle towards getting almost TOO much done in a day. Yeah right. We'd still have a list a mile long. But, we're having lots of fun. Here's a great couple of pics for your viewing pleasure.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A Season of JOY!
WOAH. Can you tell we have a large family! Don't be fooled it's really not that many, it just looks like it cause I wrap EVERYTHING...because I like wrapping gifts. So even the itty bitty stocking stuffers found their way into a cereal or empty kleenex box...which I hope isn't too disappointing when someone finds only post-its inside. Hey, they asked for them...I just made it exciting. :) (names of presents have been changed for security reasons). That is my second favorite part of Christmas...getting together with all our family and loved ones. So much fun!!
My most favorite part of Christmas though, is setting aside time to reflect on the importance of Christ's birth. And to enjoy Him and His promises for us! What a special time of year to spend with family, realizing that because of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection, we can also be part of His family. Which is all the more special. Christmas reminds me of all that Jesus has given me. I get overwhelmed sometimes, I feel like my heart will explode it's so full! (This would not be good from a medical standpoint). Even in this last year, Christ has given me so much. I owe Him more than I could ever repay. And I love this season of hope and joy! Christ came to us!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
USPS: WE CARE
WE CARE
Dear Postal Customer:
We sincerely regret the damage to your mail during handling by the Postal Service. We hope this incident did not inconvenience you. We realize that your mail is important to you and that you have every right to expect it to be delivered in good condition.
Although every effort is made to prevent damage to the mail, occasionally this will occur because of the great volume handled and the rapid processing methods which must be employed to assure the most expedition distribution possible.
We hope you understand. We assure you that we are constantly striving to improve our processing methods in order that ever a rare occurrence may be eliminated.
Please accept our apologies.
Sincerely,
Your Postmaster.
I accept.
However, I'm almost certain that my friend Miranda was standing in the part of the pictures that was ripped off. Sorry Miranda! They didn't mean it! :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
O Christmas Tree
I wanted to share with you a story. It is a story of tradition. A story full of mystery, contagious laughter, and a large dose of adventure....
Twas the night after Thanksgiving, and all through the house, were people who hadn't ever experienced the most festive house in our area. So as tradition would have it, blindfolds were found, knots were tied, and accidents abound(ed). We squeezed into the Buick (pronounced Buck -long U...like puke), with barely spare room, sucking in our full bellies, and buckling our seat belts. (This is not working well).
Three of our company had not had the pleasure, of seeing this Christmas tradition well, ever! Once all piled in, and believe me, this was no small feat, we turned on some carols, and sang from our seat. What would've been quick travel, turned long very quick, our plans would unravel...because of a slow train.
Tried as we may, to confuse the blindfolded ones from afar, it wouldn't work for one rider, who knew every turn of the car. But at last we arrived, the festivities in our sights, we drove around the block, looking for a place...to park. DANG IT!
Those of us repeat attenders stared with awe, at the millions of lights those with blindfolds never saw (before). We exited the car, filled with anxious surprise, when all of sudden, we couldn't believe our eyes!
While only 10 o'clock, the house went dark. They had pulled the plug, only moments after we put it in park (eh?! yeah!). What to do now? We hadn't a clue! Until Evan hollered, "I'll save the day for you!"
He ran to the door, politely knocking at first. When no one came, we felt our night was cursed. Finally a head poked out of the door, we all held our breath, strained our ears, and hoped for more.
Evan prevailed! "No problem," they said. Only a few more minutes, till they went to bed. Every switch was flipped, every inflatable puffed up, music was playing, the street began to fill up. Cars driving in, from every which way, all to see this magnificent display. Nobody knowing that moments before, the yard had been dark, it was festive, no more. And nobody knew that they had Evan to thank, except those in our car, who...almost didn't see any of the lights.
Here's some pics!
And, here's our festive tree!! :)
What do you think of our tree? :) It was almost like Christmas early for us because we hadn't gotten our Christmas stuff out for two years. Every ornament was new for Josh and mostly new for me. Oh so much fun.
Twas the night after Thanksgiving, and all through the house, were people who hadn't ever experienced the most festive house in our area. So as tradition would have it, blindfolds were found, knots were tied, and accidents abound(ed). We squeezed into the Buick (pronounced Buck -long U...like puke), with barely spare room, sucking in our full bellies, and buckling our seat belts. (This is not working well).
Three of our company had not had the pleasure, of seeing this Christmas tradition well, ever! Once all piled in, and believe me, this was no small feat, we turned on some carols, and sang from our seat. What would've been quick travel, turned long very quick, our plans would unravel...because of a slow train.
Tried as we may, to confuse the blindfolded ones from afar, it wouldn't work for one rider, who knew every turn of the car. But at last we arrived, the festivities in our sights, we drove around the block, looking for a place...to park. DANG IT!
Those of us repeat attenders stared with awe, at the millions of lights those with blindfolds never saw (before). We exited the car, filled with anxious surprise, when all of sudden, we couldn't believe our eyes!
While only 10 o'clock, the house went dark. They had pulled the plug, only moments after we put it in park (eh?! yeah!). What to do now? We hadn't a clue! Until Evan hollered, "I'll save the day for you!"
He ran to the door, politely knocking at first. When no one came, we felt our night was cursed. Finally a head poked out of the door, we all held our breath, strained our ears, and hoped for more.
Evan prevailed! "No problem," they said. Only a few more minutes, till they went to bed. Every switch was flipped, every inflatable puffed up, music was playing, the street began to fill up. Cars driving in, from every which way, all to see this magnificent display. Nobody knowing that moments before, the yard had been dark, it was festive, no more. And nobody knew that they had Evan to thank, except those in our car, who...almost didn't see any of the lights.
Here's some pics!
And, here's our festive tree!! :)
What do you think of our tree? :) It was almost like Christmas early for us because we hadn't gotten our Christmas stuff out for two years. Every ornament was new for Josh and mostly new for me. Oh so much fun.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Josh's horrible moment. (additional details by Erin)
So Erin and I are driving to this building on the base in preparation for the 5K I was going to run the next day and WHAM...this cute and fuzzy bunny comes out of nowhere and happens to run into the Pontiac (Notice that in one last attempt to reduce guilt, the bunny hit the car). At this point I feel terrible, but continue on to the building to accomplish the task at hand. On the way back, Erin and I are discussing whether or not I, in fact, killed the cute and fuzzy bunny...
Yep, sure did. Well, not right away anyway. I pull off the road and get out to inspect said bunny. Not good. His (or her) (you can never tell with bunnies) eyeball is covered (gushing) in blood (there were also several deep cuts to the face, but they were too gruesome for Josh to bring himself to mention); at first I think it's dead, but suddenly it twitches, trying to fight the good fight for life. I yell for Erin to come over (she wanted me to stay away from the cute and fuzzy bunny due to airborne diseases...very wise!) (important missing fact...Josh did not heed my warning completely...he held his coat over his face to not breath in diseased bunny...and he ((after a couple reminders)) didn't touch the bunny...but he did get very close.); as she arrived, the bunny gave several valiant efforts to get up, but I had clearly broken several of its bones...crap. So, we left the bunny, assuming the worst... (after several comments by Josh including statements such as 'he's such a little fighter', 'are you sure there isn't a vet that can help him', 'I just want to pet him and tell him it'll be ok', 'I'm so sorry bunny, I didn't see you coming, you were so fast!')
I, of course, am feeling absolutely horrible about what I've just done. So, I pray about it, asking God to forgive me for running over His cute and fuzzy bunny. He did! Woot woot!
On the way to the race the next day, we drove by where I had committed a crime (hit and run, of course)...and the bunny was gone!! What?! Erin thinks someone scraped it off the ground, but I think it pulled through and is now recovering nicely in its bunny hole. At least that is what I tell myself. On a good note, the Pontiac sustained zero body damage...if only I could say that about the cute and fuzzy bunny. =) (There is no way the bunny is recovering nicely.)
Yep, sure did. Well, not right away anyway. I pull off the road and get out to inspect said bunny. Not good. His (or her) (you can never tell with bunnies) eyeball is covered (gushing) in blood (there were also several deep cuts to the face, but they were too gruesome for Josh to bring himself to mention); at first I think it's dead, but suddenly it twitches, trying to fight the good fight for life. I yell for Erin to come over (she wanted me to stay away from the cute and fuzzy bunny due to airborne diseases...very wise!) (important missing fact...Josh did not heed my warning completely...he held his coat over his face to not breath in diseased bunny...and he ((after a couple reminders)) didn't touch the bunny...but he did get very close.); as she arrived, the bunny gave several valiant efforts to get up, but I had clearly broken several of its bones...crap. So, we left the bunny, assuming the worst... (after several comments by Josh including statements such as 'he's such a little fighter', 'are you sure there isn't a vet that can help him', 'I just want to pet him and tell him it'll be ok', 'I'm so sorry bunny, I didn't see you coming, you were so fast!')
I, of course, am feeling absolutely horrible about what I've just done. So, I pray about it, asking God to forgive me for running over His cute and fuzzy bunny. He did! Woot woot!
On the way to the race the next day, we drove by where I had committed a crime (hit and run, of course)...and the bunny was gone!! What?! Erin thinks someone scraped it off the ground, but I think it pulled through and is now recovering nicely in its bunny hole. At least that is what I tell myself. On a good note, the Pontiac sustained zero body damage...if only I could say that about the cute and fuzzy bunny. =) (There is no way the bunny is recovering nicely.)
Friday, November 21, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
PickL
I don't know if I had mentioned it or not, but this base is fairly conducive to home sickness. Or to get you pumped up for a football game...depending your mood. One of the main roads on this installation is called Nebraska. We drive on it everyday a lot. It's the road to everywhere! Most of the street names are states, but Nebraska isn't hidden in some subdivision, it's right there in the open. We pass Michigan on our way home as well. So if we're talking about football, we drive by Michigan St. and kinda of laugh (maybe they'll be better next year...uhhh maybe not)...then we get to Nebraska and get really excited to watch the next game...unless it's on pay per view then we get excited to refresh ESPN Gamecast. Or stare at the ticker on the bottom of a game actually on TV. Josh and I love football. We have to be careful not to spend our entire Saturday (starting with GameDay at 9am) in the best seats in the stadium. Lets just say we haven't been too careful lately. Usually we will put some soup on the stove, I'll grab some puzzle books or laundry or something, and Josh will try to do some work at the same time (he's not so great at multi-tasking). It's one of our favorite family times. :) Anyhoo, if there isn't a game coming up that we can watch, then both Nebraska and Michigan streets remind us that we are 7ish hours away. Boo. But then we laugh when we pull onto our street because somewhere in the weather the sign changed from Pick Pl, to Pick l. We live on Pickl. Sick. I hate pickles. But hey, it's funny.
We've been trying out new churches lately and I think we've found both a church and a Sunday school and a Bible study (through the base) that we like. We got it handed to us in church on Sunday regarding the apathy among believers. Anywhere actually, but especially in the military, you are admonished not to speak your faith views. Our culture says faith is individual and private, and you believe what you believe, and I'll believe what I believe then we'll be all one big happy family, getting alone and being unified. Knowingly or not, we all as believers have bought into this in some way, shape, or form. Believers are being quiet, the church is in hiding. But- talking about Jesus at work could risk your job! Or- I just don't have the right words- I dont' know what to say. Or how about- it's just not my spiritual gift. Or- the right opportunity hasn't come up yet. Maybe waiting for just the right moment or conversation doesn't cut it with God. I had some believers tell me the other day that they don't pray for their food at restaurants any more because it's too awkward for the waiters. Are you serious? That's 'tolerance' brainwashing at it's finest. That's not even confrontational and we don't want to do it! When's the last time you said something for Jesus, in public, to a non believer...etc. Last week? Last month? I was convicted big time of that. We all know how to steer conversation towards or away from Christ. We can talk in 'safe zones' for a very long time! Here's three of the many verses we talked about Sunday morning:
Isaiah 62: 1
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
Esther 4:14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
I'm not saying be on a street corner with huge signs preaching sermons to passersby, but I am saying that we all have people we are in contact with. Our paths have crossed because of classes, children, churches, gym memberships, etc. And they are people we need to reach...for such a time as this. Don't assume someone else will do it. You don't know who they know.
One of the main points was that if we keep quiet, not making the most of every opportunity, then God's work will be done through another means. We are not stopping Him, BUT we will face the consequences of disobedience when we stand face to face with God. Just like parenting...we want to be characterized by first time obedience.
Yup, it was good for me to hear that.
We've been trying out new churches lately and I think we've found both a church and a Sunday school and a Bible study (through the base) that we like. We got it handed to us in church on Sunday regarding the apathy among believers. Anywhere actually, but especially in the military, you are admonished not to speak your faith views. Our culture says faith is individual and private, and you believe what you believe, and I'll believe what I believe then we'll be all one big happy family, getting alone and being unified. Knowingly or not, we all as believers have bought into this in some way, shape, or form. Believers are being quiet, the church is in hiding. But- talking about Jesus at work could risk your job! Or- I just don't have the right words- I dont' know what to say. Or how about- it's just not my spiritual gift. Or- the right opportunity hasn't come up yet. Maybe waiting for just the right moment or conversation doesn't cut it with God. I had some believers tell me the other day that they don't pray for their food at restaurants any more because it's too awkward for the waiters. Are you serious? That's 'tolerance' brainwashing at it's finest. That's not even confrontational and we don't want to do it! When's the last time you said something for Jesus, in public, to a non believer...etc. Last week? Last month? I was convicted big time of that. We all know how to steer conversation towards or away from Christ. We can talk in 'safe zones' for a very long time! Here's three of the many verses we talked about Sunday morning:
Isaiah 62: 1
For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
Esther 4:14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?
Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes:
I'm not saying be on a street corner with huge signs preaching sermons to passersby, but I am saying that we all have people we are in contact with. Our paths have crossed because of classes, children, churches, gym memberships, etc. And they are people we need to reach...for such a time as this. Don't assume someone else will do it. You don't know who they know.
One of the main points was that if we keep quiet, not making the most of every opportunity, then God's work will be done through another means. We are not stopping Him, BUT we will face the consequences of disobedience when we stand face to face with God. Just like parenting...we want to be characterized by first time obedience.
Yup, it was good for me to hear that.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Mystery Solved.
The last few weeks, I've been quite puzzled. Confused actually, and on a mission to solve the mystery of the horses. Let me explain. I have been seeing these huge horse trailers very regularly. They are the size of semi trailers and have low windows across each side, they look like livestock trailers only you can't see in them. Example:
So they are like the above picture because you can't see inside, but they are much bigger, with cattle truck-like windows--small and oval, only blackened out like the above picture. Actually, the windows look more like an airplane...low and in a line. So yeah. Combine these three pictures and there you go.
These horses, or cattle I suppose, are living in luxury. I would see these trucks during the day and often at night. When it's dark, it's hard to miss because they light up like a Christmas tree...or those Coke semis in the commercials. But here's my problem. You may know I grew up on a farm, and thus have a pretty decent knowledge of all things livestock. My astute attention to all things mysterious immediately brought to my attention three big issues:
#1. Where are all the animals? In my investigation of the base, I had yet to run into the place where people could board their animals. On Leavenworth there were a lot of people who had horses and boarded them on base. It was right up the road from Josh's office, and not hard to find. They had barns and corrals and horse riding trails, not to mention the poop on the roads where horses were allowed.
Which led me to issue
#2. No smells. Now if there's one thing you can recognize without fail after growing up on farm it's livestock smells. You don't mistake sewage, or a skunk, or road kill, for farm animals. My nose was missing some key information. Where in the world?! If these trailers were going by my house very regularly and turning in across the street...how come I never smelled anything?
Now, the reason I couldn't solve this mystery was because of issue
#3. Misinformation. Josh and I were driving an exploratory route of the base the other night and we happened to be following a trailer for a couple of blocks. I thought to myself, I am going to solve this horse mystery right here and now! The semi/trailer turned off into an area that I still don't know what it is...looks like part of a subdivision to me, but I haven't been up there yet, and parked on the side of the road. WHAT?! So I asked Josh, "What are those horse trailers doing parked there". And he said, "That must be where they live." Ok, that makes sense...what? I immediately assumed he meant the drivers. Turns out, Josh really wasn't listening to me and had no idea what I had asked him. He actually doesn't remember it at all. Go figure.
So, now I'm really on the lookout for the stables. They have to be somewhere, one of the drivers lives right up the road (as Josh led me to believe- inadvertently, but still), I was going to find the horses.
Finally yesterday, in my frustration, I pointed out the window at one driving by and asked Josh, "Where in the world are all the horses on this base!??! I can't figure it out!!" "Uhhh Erin, those are called Troop Movers. Soldiers are in there."
Oops. Well, excuse me, they looked like horse trailers. Not to mention that whole companies of soldiers walk past our house everyday, and they have camo-buses all over! Gotta love the bluebirds. Wow. ha ha ha. So, I guess I don't feel so bad about not making that connection, I guess you have to learn something new everyday.
So they are like the above picture because you can't see inside, but they are much bigger, with cattle truck-like windows--small and oval, only blackened out like the above picture. Actually, the windows look more like an airplane...low and in a line. So yeah. Combine these three pictures and there you go.
These horses, or cattle I suppose, are living in luxury. I would see these trucks during the day and often at night. When it's dark, it's hard to miss because they light up like a Christmas tree...or those Coke semis in the commercials. But here's my problem. You may know I grew up on a farm, and thus have a pretty decent knowledge of all things livestock. My astute attention to all things mysterious immediately brought to my attention three big issues:
#1. Where are all the animals? In my investigation of the base, I had yet to run into the place where people could board their animals. On Leavenworth there were a lot of people who had horses and boarded them on base. It was right up the road from Josh's office, and not hard to find. They had barns and corrals and horse riding trails, not to mention the poop on the roads where horses were allowed.
Which led me to issue
#2. No smells. Now if there's one thing you can recognize without fail after growing up on farm it's livestock smells. You don't mistake sewage, or a skunk, or road kill, for farm animals. My nose was missing some key information. Where in the world?! If these trailers were going by my house very regularly and turning in across the street...how come I never smelled anything?
Now, the reason I couldn't solve this mystery was because of issue
#3. Misinformation. Josh and I were driving an exploratory route of the base the other night and we happened to be following a trailer for a couple of blocks. I thought to myself, I am going to solve this horse mystery right here and now! The semi/trailer turned off into an area that I still don't know what it is...looks like part of a subdivision to me, but I haven't been up there yet, and parked on the side of the road. WHAT?! So I asked Josh, "What are those horse trailers doing parked there". And he said, "That must be where they live." Ok, that makes sense...what? I immediately assumed he meant the drivers. Turns out, Josh really wasn't listening to me and had no idea what I had asked him. He actually doesn't remember it at all. Go figure.
So, now I'm really on the lookout for the stables. They have to be somewhere, one of the drivers lives right up the road (as Josh led me to believe- inadvertently, but still), I was going to find the horses.
Finally yesterday, in my frustration, I pointed out the window at one driving by and asked Josh, "Where in the world are all the horses on this base!??! I can't figure it out!!" "Uhhh Erin, those are called Troop Movers. Soldiers are in there."
Oops. Well, excuse me, they looked like horse trailers. Not to mention that whole companies of soldiers walk past our house everyday, and they have camo-buses all over! Gotta love the bluebirds. Wow. ha ha ha. So, I guess I don't feel so bad about not making that connection, I guess you have to learn something new everyday.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Trick or Treat!
Josh and I had a very entertaining Halloween. We played two games of Scrabble and handed out candy to some very amazing visitors. Here's who came by:
By age:
0-3
A Sheep
Giraffe
a White/Green, Fuzzy boy (head to toe covered in fleece.)
and a very hungry Pumpkin
4-7
Dorothy (Josh thought she was Cinderella...but the red sparkly shoes and blue checkered dress with an apron clearly says Dorothy.)
Wonder Woman
Lizard (totally a Dinosaur but Josh says lizard. That poor boy would probably cry if he knew- he could probably tell us the exact dinosaur he was)
three Fairy's (one of which Josh said was really Cinderella, and the other one he thought was supposed to be a butterfly)
Spiderman
Superman
the Real Cinderella
8 on Up:
Venom
a Knight of the Round Table
a Jedi
Court Jester
two Soldiers
an Unknown--yeah we had no idea
Tina Turner??! Or maybe Beyonce?
a Dead Tony Hawk...we had to ask.
a Witch
the Dark Knight ((Batman))
Our favorite was the Hungry Pumpkin and the Lizard. We had a great time talking to the kids about their costumes and handing out not nearly enough candy. However, the Pumpkin could have taken much more. Oh, and I'm still undefeated in Scrabble. However, the last game was fairly close, keeps me on my toes!
By age:
0-3
A Sheep
Giraffe
a White/Green, Fuzzy boy (head to toe covered in fleece.)
and a very hungry Pumpkin
4-7
Dorothy (Josh thought she was Cinderella...but the red sparkly shoes and blue checkered dress with an apron clearly says Dorothy.)
Wonder Woman
Lizard (totally a Dinosaur but Josh says lizard. That poor boy would probably cry if he knew- he could probably tell us the exact dinosaur he was)
three Fairy's (one of which Josh said was really Cinderella, and the other one he thought was supposed to be a butterfly)
Spiderman
Superman
the Real Cinderella
8 on Up:
Venom
a Knight of the Round Table
a Jedi
Court Jester
two Soldiers
an Unknown--yeah we had no idea
Tina Turner??! Or maybe Beyonce?
a Dead Tony Hawk...we had to ask.
a Witch
the Dark Knight ((Batman))
Our favorite was the Hungry Pumpkin and the Lizard. We had a great time talking to the kids about their costumes and handing out not nearly enough candy. However, the Pumpkin could have taken much more. Oh, and I'm still undefeated in Scrabble. However, the last game was fairly close, keeps me on my toes!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Bye Bye Birdie
I just have to let you all know that the birds have left. They are finally all gone. There is silence in our backyard (except for yelling soldiers and artillery thuds). Horray!
My job search continues to heat up, and hopefully some of the applications I turned in will elicit responses in the next few days! I hope to have a job soon! :)
Sorry for the short update, but there isn't a whole lot to report yet. Except that Josh and I are growing exceedingly more excited for this Saturday's Husker game. Oh boy. !!!
My job search continues to heat up, and hopefully some of the applications I turned in will elicit responses in the next few days! I hope to have a job soon! :)
Sorry for the short update, but there isn't a whole lot to report yet. Except that Josh and I are growing exceedingly more excited for this Saturday's Husker game. Oh boy. !!!
Monday, October 27, 2008
Before and After Adventure
Today when I checked the therm in our house...52 degrees. I thought I'd better turn on the heat to save our electronics. I am just fine in 3 layers! :) But we all know I like it cold. Mainly because then I can sleep comfortably.
Josh started school today. I was going to take a picture of him this morning before he left, but it was 4:00 so no thank you. He looked like he does everyday going to work. Uni. So nothing really new. BUT Josh is the PTOIC. Physical Training Officer In Charge. Wouldn't you know my husband gets a job I'm qualified for and can't get. Geez. That's the way it works isn't it. BUT he's going to do fantastic and I'm sure they will be in better shape at the end of the class.
Hope you enjoy the pics! Tell me if you are still confused on the layout. I tried to make it clear, who knows if it worked. If you want to see the pics big and with all the descriptive captions, check out my picasa: Pick1 !
Friday, October 24, 2008
Fort Leonard Wood. Three words.
I’ve lost sight of my mission! As the heading promises, A Day in the Life of the Army, I should provide more insight than I have been! We are nearly settled in, leaving half our boxes packed and closeted; our house looks nearly occupied! We only put two things on the walls throughout the house: A clock in the living room, and the calendar in the kitchen. Bare walls…I think yuck, Josh thinks wonderful. I told him he should live in an institutional facility.
The last few days we have gotten very little accomplished in the house due to a wonderful term the Army calls “In Processing”. I was explaining to someone the other day “Out Processing”. Trying to search my mind for an example, I recalled senior year of high school. Remember when, in order to graduate, you had to go to all your teachers, and get signatures which pretty much meant that you hadn’t stolen your text book, or your gym locker was clean…etc. Well, that’s what it’s like. At Leavenworth we had to go to the medical clinic and take our names out of the system, forward our medical records....etc, we had to go to post housing and sign out (which was easy because we never lived on base there), to different departments like the sales store, AG (Adjutant General), personnel, DEERS, a billion other acronyms. Blah blah blah. Or as those in the military say, blasé blasé blasé. Say that with a straight face. Actually just listen to that with a straight face. I crack up every time, what is that! So we are cleared to PCS Leavenworth. Permanent Change of Station.
So now we’re here and have to “In Process” to all those same places only now we don’t know where they are, and we’re on a MUCH bigger base so there are forever long waits wherever we go. What makes it a little frustrating is most places we go all we need is one tiny signature…takes 5 seconds. And we have to wait in line for everyone with actual issues. I’m not against waiting my turn, but seriously. Today we went to the ID check and Josh has to simply show that he has his dog tags, get a signature, and we leave. We had to get a number….105. They were on 78. We would have waited over 3 hours. We left.
So what’s new about living here? Well, Ft. Leonard Wood is a BCT base. Basic Combat Training. AIT and ANCOC and BNCOC and OBC and CCC are also here. Those are all schools. All the Army’s Military Police, Engineers, and Chemical personnel are trained here at many different levels. Since Josh is an MP we come here for school! Get it? Well anyway, three Army branches make this base pretty busy. And there are Marines here…and Air Force, too.
You’ve all heard of the 12 o’clock whistle, or maybe a 6 o’clock whistle. We have a 1700 cannon. (5pm) And every day at retreat (when they take down the flag and the cannon goes off and the bugle plays a little tune) all soldiers in uniform or otherwise have to stop what they are doing and face the direction of the flag and salute. Well, not if you’re indoors. But if you are outside and hear it (you can’t NOT hear it), you stop your car, get out and salute, or stop whatever you’re doing and salute the direction of the flag that’s getting lowered. I forgot all about this. Mostly because we didn’t live on Leavenworth so I didn’t hear it and Josh tried not to leave work until after 5 to miss it. Ha ha ha.
So with BCT troops here comes many wonderful side effects. Our house in near a major training area and even though it’s probably a block or two off the major intersection, there is nothing in between us an the main road besides a few trees and a tennis court parking lot. So, that means whenever the soldiers leave their training area (moderately often) they march in formation yelling “singing” cadences. Now, let me tell you, this is a large amount of soldiers, it sounds like a mob or possibly a riot. And many times you can here the yelling much before they are in sight and that’s always funny too. Imagine being about 20 blocks from Memorial Stadium during a game and hearing that distant roar of voices sporadically all the time.
Today Josh came in and asked me if I heard the artillery fire. I didn’t. But I had heard it the day before. So that’s new.
I love it.
PS- I asked Martha yesterday what was larger than a flock. Because I think we have the equivalent of 5 flocks of birds living in the trees behind our house. They need to start using their inside voices. Or just hurry up and migrate. Or fly over the artillery range.
The last few days we have gotten very little accomplished in the house due to a wonderful term the Army calls “In Processing”. I was explaining to someone the other day “Out Processing”. Trying to search my mind for an example, I recalled senior year of high school. Remember when, in order to graduate, you had to go to all your teachers, and get signatures which pretty much meant that you hadn’t stolen your text book, or your gym locker was clean…etc. Well, that’s what it’s like. At Leavenworth we had to go to the medical clinic and take our names out of the system, forward our medical records....etc, we had to go to post housing and sign out (which was easy because we never lived on base there), to different departments like the sales store, AG (Adjutant General), personnel, DEERS, a billion other acronyms. Blah blah blah. Or as those in the military say, blasé blasé blasé. Say that with a straight face. Actually just listen to that with a straight face. I crack up every time, what is that! So we are cleared to PCS Leavenworth. Permanent Change of Station.
So now we’re here and have to “In Process” to all those same places only now we don’t know where they are, and we’re on a MUCH bigger base so there are forever long waits wherever we go. What makes it a little frustrating is most places we go all we need is one tiny signature…takes 5 seconds. And we have to wait in line for everyone with actual issues. I’m not against waiting my turn, but seriously. Today we went to the ID check and Josh has to simply show that he has his dog tags, get a signature, and we leave. We had to get a number….105. They were on 78. We would have waited over 3 hours. We left.
So what’s new about living here? Well, Ft. Leonard Wood is a BCT base. Basic Combat Training. AIT and ANCOC and BNCOC and OBC and CCC are also here. Those are all schools. All the Army’s Military Police, Engineers, and Chemical personnel are trained here at many different levels. Since Josh is an MP we come here for school! Get it? Well anyway, three Army branches make this base pretty busy. And there are Marines here…and Air Force, too.
You’ve all heard of the 12 o’clock whistle, or maybe a 6 o’clock whistle. We have a 1700 cannon. (5pm) And every day at retreat (when they take down the flag and the cannon goes off and the bugle plays a little tune) all soldiers in uniform or otherwise have to stop what they are doing and face the direction of the flag and salute. Well, not if you’re indoors. But if you are outside and hear it (you can’t NOT hear it), you stop your car, get out and salute, or stop whatever you’re doing and salute the direction of the flag that’s getting lowered. I forgot all about this. Mostly because we didn’t live on Leavenworth so I didn’t hear it and Josh tried not to leave work until after 5 to miss it. Ha ha ha.
So with BCT troops here comes many wonderful side effects. Our house in near a major training area and even though it’s probably a block or two off the major intersection, there is nothing in between us an the main road besides a few trees and a tennis court parking lot. So, that means whenever the soldiers leave their training area (moderately often) they march in formation yelling “singing” cadences. Now, let me tell you, this is a large amount of soldiers, it sounds like a mob or possibly a riot. And many times you can here the yelling much before they are in sight and that’s always funny too. Imagine being about 20 blocks from Memorial Stadium during a game and hearing that distant roar of voices sporadically all the time.
Today Josh came in and asked me if I heard the artillery fire. I didn’t. But I had heard it the day before. So that’s new.
I love it.
PS- I asked Martha yesterday what was larger than a flock. Because I think we have the equivalent of 5 flocks of birds living in the trees behind our house. They need to start using their inside voices. Or just hurry up and migrate. Or fly over the artillery range.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Our New House
Sooooo like it? We were warned of lead based paint and a potential mold problem. We're pumped. :) Ft. Leonard Wood, here we come! Oh. Side note about the top pic...it's a duplex, the part I've included is our half. I've been assured our neighbor does not have a snake pet. Side note about the bottom pic... Josh is standing on one half of our kitchen, the vacant space to his right--washer dryer hookups. NICE. The doorway he's in front of is the entry way from the front door. ha ha ha haTuesday, October 7, 2008
Washington DC!
Wow. This is a long one. Hope you like it!
Here's an update of our trip to DC. PS- it was awesome. So we got there Wednesday morning and figured out the railway system to get to our hotel. We went to Subway for lunch...then were going to go out and explore a bit but it started pouring down rain so we ordered pizza for supper and stayed in. Nice and relaxing, and we got to give our canks time to unswell after the flight. Thursday, our friends Catie and Matt flew in and we went to Andrews Air Force base to get groceries and try to see Air Force One. Which we might have seen but we have no idea because it doesn't say AF1 on it. Smart. Wouldn’t want someone to know where the Pres is. Then we went into DC and saw the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Mr. Sherman, the White House and a bunch of stuff then went on a moonlight tour of all the monuments and memorials. SWEET. Too bad our camera decided it would forget how to focus so we have nearly zero pics from that. The guide told us all these awesome facts about history and the different monuments. I think my favorite was the Lincoln Memorial, and the Iwo Jima Memorial. The Korean War Memorial and the FDR Memorial are pretty neat too, especially at night. Then we went home and tried not to get shot walking from the Metro (their underground train mass public transportation) to our hotel.
Friday we went into DC early and went to the Holocaust museum. It took us 4 hours and we hurried through it. It was soooo sweet. And sad. BUT really awesome. You will not believe some of the things you can see in that museum. Honestly, woah. Ever wanted to see footage of when the U.S. Military first found and shut down a concentration camp? You can watch it there. They filmed the whole thing, walking into it, first time they'd ever been inside. OR- how about wanting to see what it was like living in the Ghettos (areas of a few cities where Jews were forced to move to), yeah they have the actual street of one you can walk on. Then they had recorded stories from survivers playing constantly. If Josh was ever assigned to DC, I would work there somehow. I love WWII stuff. Then we went to the Washington Monument and some other stuff...now I can't remember. Dang it...oh yeah. We went to the Capitol and we saw when the House of Representatives passed the Bailout Plan. We weren't inside but we were right there! WOAH. Then we went to the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court and turns out, Bush had been there only a few hours before talking about the Bailout to some people. Missed him. Geez. Then we went back to the hotel, and then met Amit and Liz at this Mexican place for supper. I swear it's the closest I've been to having been in a club. BUT it wasn't Josh told me because it wasn't based on dancing. Sad. I had a swirly margarita...it was delish. Then we went back and tried not to get shot again.
Saturday we woke up early and went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ((Very awesome)) and JFK's grave. And the house where Robert E. Lee lived, thanks to our Moonlight Tour Guide, we knew exactly how Arlington National Cemetery came to be that way. Then we saw Bobby Kennedy's grave, and about 300,000 other people's. Then we went to the Lincoln Memorial then to the Vietnam Wall of Names, then we went to the new WWII memorial and that was sweet, too. I took a ton of pics for Gpa. I hope he goes to see it himself though. It’s amazing how sobering history can be…these memorials are memories of some of the saddest events in our history- it’s amazing to get a glimpse of what people were going through and how tragic these events were. We headed back a little early cause we wanted to watch the Husker game. So we went to Red Lobster and then watched us get POUNDED. Seriously how can we be so continually bad? Aren't teams supposed to make improvements week to week? I guess we made a 3 minute improvement when we scored right away. Didn't help. BUT- I am no less of a fan. :)
Sunday we woke up before the crack and went to the Pentagon (!!!) for Josh's race. The Army Ten-Miler- 26,000 runners (not all military- it’s just Army sponsored, anyone can run it, but it is mostly military). It was crazy. We got to see him once during the race, when they ran over the Memorial Bridge (I’m pretty sure that’s the right name). It was at mile 1.5 in the race and went from Arlington National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial. It was really cool because the first group of runners were amputees. The double amputees were on arm-operated cycles. There were several single leg amputees running, and several with an arm. I tell you what, I was so proud of those runners, all of them. Can you imagine what they’ve been through and they’ve not let it change their life as much as they can help it. It was amazing to see so many people serving our country in one place- and that have a commitment to fitness! We were standing on a four lane road that was packed full of runners for over 40 minutes. Then I went to watch the finish back at the Pentagon, and Catie and Matt had to leave to go home. Josh finished 857th, out of 26,000, with a time of 1 hr 9 min 26 sec, a 6:57 pace. Really great! The guy that won ran 10 miles in 48:59. Sic. He was from Brazil, there were several elite (professional) runners there. Then we went back to the hotel and Josh showered then we got back on the Metro and went to Amit's house in Baltimore. He lives in a row house above a Pie store. ha ha ha. Ate lunch, watched football, hung out, then he took us home and Josh was pooped.
Monday we went to the Library of Congress again (we went there the afternoon I forgot what we did) and then we went to the Botanical Gardens, sweet, the National Air and Space Museum, pretty cool, and then we went and watched a Supreme Court hearing. That was so awesome. We got to sit in the back row and the case was about a trial between a credit card company and a person that owed. We think. Ha. When a trial gets to that level, what they are arguing is wording in the Constitution and other documents to convince the 9 Justices that their side is correct under the constitution. Literally a 4 word phrase in one document. There isn’t evidence or witnesses. The Justices have the information on the case, then each side gets 30 minutes to prove their position under the Constitution. What makes it really interesting is that they have to have a pretty dang good reason for bringing it before a Federal Court because it’s reserved for important cases and cases that will alter define the interpretation of the Constitution. Those Justices don’t hold back either, they were grilling the lawyers. WOAH. I would have cried if they were putting me under that much pressure. In fact at one point, one of the Justices I didn’t know asked the lawyer if he had a reason to be there cause he felt like his time was being wasted. Ouch. After the hour, It was really fun. Then we went back to the hotel, got our gear, went to the port, flew home, and boy are our arms tired. Ha ha. We had such a great trip! If you made it this far in reading about it, hope you enjoyed it too! Pictures to come!
Here's an update of our trip to DC. PS- it was awesome. So we got there Wednesday morning and figured out the railway system to get to our hotel. We went to Subway for lunch...then were going to go out and explore a bit but it started pouring down rain so we ordered pizza for supper and stayed in. Nice and relaxing, and we got to give our canks time to unswell after the flight. Thursday, our friends Catie and Matt flew in and we went to Andrews Air Force base to get groceries and try to see Air Force One. Which we might have seen but we have no idea because it doesn't say AF1 on it. Smart. Wouldn’t want someone to know where the Pres is. Then we went into DC and saw the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Mr. Sherman, the White House and a bunch of stuff then went on a moonlight tour of all the monuments and memorials. SWEET. Too bad our camera decided it would forget how to focus so we have nearly zero pics from that. The guide told us all these awesome facts about history and the different monuments. I think my favorite was the Lincoln Memorial, and the Iwo Jima Memorial. The Korean War Memorial and the FDR Memorial are pretty neat too, especially at night. Then we went home and tried not to get shot walking from the Metro (their underground train mass public transportation) to our hotel.
Friday we went into DC early and went to the Holocaust museum. It took us 4 hours and we hurried through it. It was soooo sweet. And sad. BUT really awesome. You will not believe some of the things you can see in that museum. Honestly, woah. Ever wanted to see footage of when the U.S. Military first found and shut down a concentration camp? You can watch it there. They filmed the whole thing, walking into it, first time they'd ever been inside. OR- how about wanting to see what it was like living in the Ghettos (areas of a few cities where Jews were forced to move to), yeah they have the actual street of one you can walk on. Then they had recorded stories from survivers playing constantly. If Josh was ever assigned to DC, I would work there somehow. I love WWII stuff. Then we went to the Washington Monument and some other stuff...now I can't remember. Dang it...oh yeah. We went to the Capitol and we saw when the House of Representatives passed the Bailout Plan. We weren't inside but we were right there! WOAH. Then we went to the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court and turns out, Bush had been there only a few hours before talking about the Bailout to some people. Missed him. Geez. Then we went back to the hotel, and then met Amit and Liz at this Mexican place for supper. I swear it's the closest I've been to having been in a club. BUT it wasn't Josh told me because it wasn't based on dancing. Sad. I had a swirly margarita...it was delish. Then we went back and tried not to get shot again.
Saturday we woke up early and went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw Tomb of the Unknown Soldier ((Very awesome)) and JFK's grave. And the house where Robert E. Lee lived, thanks to our Moonlight Tour Guide, we knew exactly how Arlington National Cemetery came to be that way. Then we saw Bobby Kennedy's grave, and about 300,000 other people's. Then we went to the Lincoln Memorial then to the Vietnam Wall of Names, then we went to the new WWII memorial and that was sweet, too. I took a ton of pics for Gpa. I hope he goes to see it himself though. It’s amazing how sobering history can be…these memorials are memories of some of the saddest events in our history- it’s amazing to get a glimpse of what people were going through and how tragic these events were. We headed back a little early cause we wanted to watch the Husker game. So we went to Red Lobster and then watched us get POUNDED. Seriously how can we be so continually bad? Aren't teams supposed to make improvements week to week? I guess we made a 3 minute improvement when we scored right away. Didn't help. BUT- I am no less of a fan. :)
Sunday we woke up before the crack and went to the Pentagon (!!!) for Josh's race. The Army Ten-Miler- 26,000 runners (not all military- it’s just Army sponsored, anyone can run it, but it is mostly military). It was crazy. We got to see him once during the race, when they ran over the Memorial Bridge (I’m pretty sure that’s the right name). It was at mile 1.5 in the race and went from Arlington National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial. It was really cool because the first group of runners were amputees. The double amputees were on arm-operated cycles. There were several single leg amputees running, and several with an arm. I tell you what, I was so proud of those runners, all of them. Can you imagine what they’ve been through and they’ve not let it change their life as much as they can help it. It was amazing to see so many people serving our country in one place- and that have a commitment to fitness! We were standing on a four lane road that was packed full of runners for over 40 minutes. Then I went to watch the finish back at the Pentagon, and Catie and Matt had to leave to go home. Josh finished 857th, out of 26,000, with a time of 1 hr 9 min 26 sec, a 6:57 pace. Really great! The guy that won ran 10 miles in 48:59. Sic. He was from Brazil, there were several elite (professional) runners there. Then we went back to the hotel and Josh showered then we got back on the Metro and went to Amit's house in Baltimore. He lives in a row house above a Pie store. ha ha ha. Ate lunch, watched football, hung out, then he took us home and Josh was pooped.
Monday we went to the Library of Congress again (we went there the afternoon I forgot what we did) and then we went to the Botanical Gardens, sweet, the National Air and Space Museum, pretty cool, and then we went and watched a Supreme Court hearing. That was so awesome. We got to sit in the back row and the case was about a trial between a credit card company and a person that owed. We think. Ha. When a trial gets to that level, what they are arguing is wording in the Constitution and other documents to convince the 9 Justices that their side is correct under the constitution. Literally a 4 word phrase in one document. There isn’t evidence or witnesses. The Justices have the information on the case, then each side gets 30 minutes to prove their position under the Constitution. What makes it really interesting is that they have to have a pretty dang good reason for bringing it before a Federal Court because it’s reserved for important cases and cases that will alter define the interpretation of the Constitution. Those Justices don’t hold back either, they were grilling the lawyers. WOAH. I would have cried if they were putting me under that much pressure. In fact at one point, one of the Justices I didn’t know asked the lawyer if he had a reason to be there cause he felt like his time was being wasted. Ouch. After the hour, It was really fun. Then we went back to the hotel, got our gear, went to the port, flew home, and boy are our arms tired. Ha ha. We had such a great trip! If you made it this far in reading about it, hope you enjoyed it too! Pictures to come!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
El Capitan
Josh was promoted today to Captain Barricklow! :) But not before his mischevious friend was promoted first! Here's some pictures!
He said a lot of nice things about his faith and about me, I am very proud of him!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Organize...Schmorganize
Well, just finished re-filing our filing cabinets. Wow. Fun job. But it looks awesome and we cleaned out a ton of paper filled boxes!
We are really excited for our DC trip!! Coming right up! Barricklow-Tucker vacation! :)
Now I'm going to make a craft. I'll show you pictures if I can get it done.
We are really excited for our DC trip!! Coming right up! Barricklow-Tucker vacation! :)
Now I'm going to make a craft. I'll show you pictures if I can get it done.
Before
After
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
Josh and I would like to offer a loud and hardy Congratulations to my brother Cale and his fiance Megan. YUP! He's engaged!! What a guy, What a gal! We are all really excited! Aren't they cute?!!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Bon Bon
The annual Fam Bonfire was in full swing yesterday at this time. Sorry I don't have any pictures but it was great! I will hopefully get some from Megan and post them soon! Highlights include:
A strange version of softball
Lots of food
Hitting bad tomatoes with a baseball bat
Getting really dirty
Dancing
Eating a lot
Burning things
Rolling around in the cattle tank
Driving the H and the John Deere around
Hanging out with Grandpa
Eating even more
Frisbee
A mangy dog
Bugs
And good conversation!
I'm pretty sure I slept better than I have in months last night. Josh and I both were completely exhausted. Everyone brought food up to the farm. Cale and Megan brought macaroni salad and water, Evan brought buns and bananas, Kristy brought fruit salad, Dallas brought homemade salsa and chips and I think a gluten free desert but I didn't get any of that, Dad brought three grocery bags full of buns, brats, burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and condiments. Grandpa brought tomatoes, an onion, raisin cookies he made himself!!, buns, steak burgers, hot dogs, and pickles and tortilla chips. Josh and I brought puppy chow, carrots, and apples. Yeah we had a TON of food. It was really good! Hopefully pictures to come!
I've never seen so many buns in one place. ha ha ha
A strange version of softball
Lots of food
Hitting bad tomatoes with a baseball bat
Getting really dirty
Dancing
Eating a lot
Burning things
Rolling around in the cattle tank
Driving the H and the John Deere around
Hanging out with Grandpa
Eating even more
Frisbee
A mangy dog
Bugs
And good conversation!
I'm pretty sure I slept better than I have in months last night. Josh and I both were completely exhausted. Everyone brought food up to the farm. Cale and Megan brought macaroni salad and water, Evan brought buns and bananas, Kristy brought fruit salad, Dallas brought homemade salsa and chips and I think a gluten free desert but I didn't get any of that, Dad brought three grocery bags full of buns, brats, burgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and condiments. Grandpa brought tomatoes, an onion, raisin cookies he made himself!!, buns, steak burgers, hot dogs, and pickles and tortilla chips. Josh and I brought puppy chow, carrots, and apples. Yeah we had a TON of food. It was really good! Hopefully pictures to come!
I've never seen so many buns in one place. ha ha ha
Friday, September 19, 2008
Love and Perseverance
2 Thessalonians 3:5
"May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance."
Can you think of any two greater things for your heart to be full of? I know I'm not apt to have either left to my own abilities. I'm a hater and a quitter. At least when things get hard...or when I let myself have a very limited or selfish perspective. Or if I'm in a bad mood or someone has hurt my feelings. ((Side note: when looking back on your actions are you sometimes awed at how childish you can be? I know I am))
I think it's interesting that the two go together. It's not easy to love people deeply. It's not easy to see people as God does. To treat them with the extreme grace, mercy and the tenderness that He does, day after day after day. Yup. Awesome.
When we put a microscope to our own lives and magnify every little thing God has forgiven in our hearts and put up with in our lives....thoughts, actions, attitudes, JUST TODAY! How can we not return that same grace and love to those around us and to those who have committed offenses towards us.
This is my prayer for all of you!
"May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance."
Can you think of any two greater things for your heart to be full of? I know I'm not apt to have either left to my own abilities. I'm a hater and a quitter. At least when things get hard...or when I let myself have a very limited or selfish perspective. Or if I'm in a bad mood or someone has hurt my feelings. ((Side note: when looking back on your actions are you sometimes awed at how childish you can be? I know I am))
I think it's interesting that the two go together. It's not easy to love people deeply. It's not easy to see people as God does. To treat them with the extreme grace, mercy and the tenderness that He does, day after day after day. Yup. Awesome.
When we put a microscope to our own lives and magnify every little thing God has forgiven in our hearts and put up with in our lives....thoughts, actions, attitudes, JUST TODAY! How can we not return that same grace and love to those around us and to those who have committed offenses towards us.
This is my prayer for all of you!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Life on the Weekends
You know, it's very strange to have the life I have right now. Oh sure I'm busy during the day. Getting ready to move, packing, sorting, organizing, shopping, unpacking from our latest weekend adventure, it's very quiet and relaxed. I wouldn't say boring, because it's not - I don't mind quiet and being productive - but I would say it's not good. We have so much going on Fri-Sun that it's all I think about. I guess during the week I dream about what job I will have when we move (dream is a weird word for me...I guess "think" would be less emotional and strange sounding), try to plan things that are unplanable, but generally speaking, I'm hoping that those middle 4 1/2 days go faster than they have before. So we can move on to a weekend!
Speaking of.... Nate and Heather Eigsti were the highlight of our last weekend! Because Martha's strategy for listing jam packed events worked so well, I think I will follow suite.
Thursday night:
Josh works till 7ish
Eat supper
Call Marth and Ryan and see where they are on their drive
Work out
Shower
watch football
Talk to Marth intermittently till 2am to help keep her awake
with help from Cale and Evan
Friday:
7am wake up.
Pack
Clean up
Gas/Bank/Snacks
Drive to Nebraska in pouring rain. Listen to Andy Stanley!
Walmart run
Samurai Sam's for lunch with Evan and Cale and Mom and the Thomas'
Evan's dorm room fun
Dallas's work visit
Cale's house fun (beat Josh at darts)
Off to the Megrue's for an extremely yummy supper and night o' fun!
Watch football and hang out - the boys went to Walmart to get a few things and then to Dairy Queen. Meredith and I watched football and then ate the Dairy Queen. It was wonderful!
Saturday:
7:30 wake up
Eat breakfast/shower/get ready
Head to the Hohlen's to watch football and play with babies!
Cale and Megan come over
lunch (Todd's amazing grilling skills)
watch more football
Get ready for the WEDDING!
watch Wii
WEDDING! --the music was great, Heather was so beautiful, seeing them smile at each other so big was the sweetest thing
Pack up Thomas' car-packed up the twins-put air in the tires
RECEPTION! --very fun! Friends, food, dancing.... very fun
Josh got 18 text messages during the reception from a friend who was at the game. ha ha ha
Drive to Elkhorn...get there l.a.t.e because of Husker traffic
Sunday:
wake up at 7:30
hang out with babies
eat breakfast with Dad and Beth and Grandpa and Dannan and the Thomas'
kitchen turns into a dentist office
boys watch football
Steph and Briana and Deb come over to visit the boys
order pizza for lunch
leave for KC....see Thomas's tire still low, stop to check it out, go to fill it up, go to Starbucks with Marth
get to PC...go to the Rancho for supper.... watch football
get home...watch football
talk to Martha and Ryan whilest they drive home.
Go to bed
Get a call from the Thomas's that I80 is closed due to flooding
Utilize google maps to direct them a different way.
chat for a very long time **check out Marth's side of the experience on her blog
go to bed really l.a.t.e....
Josh sleeps in and goes to work late. ha ha ha
So there you have it! Then I just wait through these days in between till I get to the next weekend! It's awesome to be able to see family and friends so often. It makes me wonder what kind of adjustment it will be when we move. Don't worry, we're going to make the most of living this close these last few weeks!
It was such a wonderful weekend! Rainy weather an all...And since today is sunny- I think I'll
attempt a run. Well more than likely a wog. We'll see how that goes. (I'll let you know!)
ALSO: our milk is sour...very expired... Guess who told me to keep it so he can use it up for cereal? I think he's taking after my dad. My mission today...Operation throw away the milk so Josh doesn't make himself sick.
Ciao
:)
Speaking of.... Nate and Heather Eigsti were the highlight of our last weekend! Because Martha's strategy for listing jam packed events worked so well, I think I will follow suite.
Thursday night:
Josh works till 7ish
Eat supper
Call Marth and Ryan and see where they are on their drive
Work out
Shower
watch football
Talk to Marth intermittently till 2am to help keep her awake
with help from Cale and Evan
Friday:
7am wake up.
Pack
Clean up
Gas/Bank/Snacks
Drive to Nebraska in pouring rain. Listen to Andy Stanley!
Walmart run
Samurai Sam's for lunch with Evan and Cale and Mom and the Thomas'
Evan's dorm room fun
Dallas's work visit
Cale's house fun (beat Josh at darts)
Off to the Megrue's for an extremely yummy supper and night o' fun!
Watch football and hang out - the boys went to Walmart to get a few things and then to Dairy Queen. Meredith and I watched football and then ate the Dairy Queen. It was wonderful!
Saturday:
7:30 wake up
Eat breakfast/shower/get ready
Head to the Hohlen's to watch football and play with babies!
Cale and Megan come over
lunch (Todd's amazing grilling skills)
watch more football
Get ready for the WEDDING!
watch Wii
WEDDING! --the music was great, Heather was so beautiful, seeing them smile at each other so big was the sweetest thing
Pack up Thomas' car-packed up the twins-put air in the tires
RECEPTION! --very fun! Friends, food, dancing.... very fun
Josh got 18 text messages during the reception from a friend who was at the game. ha ha ha
Drive to Elkhorn...get there l.a.t.e because of Husker traffic
Sunday:
wake up at 7:30
hang out with babies
eat breakfast with Dad and Beth and Grandpa and Dannan and the Thomas'
kitchen turns into a dentist office
boys watch football
Steph and Briana and Deb come over to visit the boys
order pizza for lunch
leave for KC....see Thomas's tire still low, stop to check it out, go to fill it up, go to Starbucks with Marth
get to PC...go to the Rancho for supper.... watch football
get home...watch football
talk to Martha and Ryan whilest they drive home.
Go to bed
Get a call from the Thomas's that I80 is closed due to flooding
Utilize google maps to direct them a different way.
chat for a very long time **check out Marth's side of the experience on her blog
go to bed really l.a.t.e....
Josh sleeps in and goes to work late. ha ha ha
So there you have it! Then I just wait through these days in between till I get to the next weekend! It's awesome to be able to see family and friends so often. It makes me wonder what kind of adjustment it will be when we move. Don't worry, we're going to make the most of living this close these last few weeks!
It was such a wonderful weekend! Rainy weather an all...And since today is sunny- I think I'll
attempt a run. Well more than likely a wog. We'll see how that goes. (I'll let you know!)ALSO: our milk is sour...very expired... Guess who told me to keep it so he can use it up for cereal? I think he's taking after my dad. My mission today...Operation throw away the milk so Josh doesn't make himself sick.
Ciao
:)
Monday, September 8, 2008
What a Weekend.
Friday night Josh and I reestablished our BookIt dominance. Though really the fun part of the night was hanging out with Ashley and Mike. Yeah, really wish they didn't live 45-50 minutes away from us. Kansas City is too big. Josh and I are getting exceedingly bad at remembering our camera. So sorry for no pictures from our adventures, take my word on it, it was fun.
Saturday was BUSY! Josh went for a long run with a buddy in the Army. They ran 13.6 miles. They got lost, too. But they were intending to run between 12 and 15 so they were all right. It's kind of interesting thought, the pattern of male thinking sometimes...the last time Josh and Michael went running they edited their route mid-run and ended up running on Highway 92 for a couple miles. When they got back and told me about it, I appropriately 'scolded' (what a terrible word) them for running on a highway with major traffic and NO SHOULDER! Come on guys, not safe at all. So Michael's wife agreed with me and the men said they understood. So when they got lost, they ended up finding two roads they knew would take them back home...one was a gravel road that would have been about a mile longer trip back...and the other INTERSTATE 435. What did they choose... you guess. Yeah it was illegal. Josh told me what he would have told the police officer had they seen one. Yeah traffic goes 70+ on that road. Great. I wasn't there when they finished....Michael told Josh he's better not tell me. BUT he did. And I laughed/shook my head in amazement. You'd think after safely returning from Iraq I wouldn't have to wonder about his daily safety. Maybe I should have been a little more worried while he was gone!
So after that fiasco we cleaned up and went to Minsky's to watch the Huskers Game with Liz. We had a good time, and we ran into Kirk and Sarah! We've lived in the same area for 2 years and just now we run into each other. They game was alright, at least we won! We've now officially played 3 quarters of decent football (out of 8)...lets hope some magic happens soon.
Then we hopped in the car and drove up to Maryville, MO to watch our favorite Stepper dance at the Northwest Missouri State football game. That was a bunch of fun. It rained the whole time, but the game was really fun.
Sunday included a brand new event for Josh and I. Shopping. After some relaxing, a good sermon, and some football we hit the Mall. Josh raked it in. He will be looking HOT for the wedding next weekend! So that took quite a few hours but we had never gone before. It was surprisingly fun! Both of us are moderately not good with fashion so thankfully Evan and Martha were available for answering questions like "What goes with charcoal gray"...."what kind of tie do you wear with...." and "what can you wear with Navy pants"....stuff like that. Thank you guys! Then we relaxed with more football, some 3 pepper chicken, and scrabble!
And now it's Monday. :)
Saturday was BUSY! Josh went for a long run with a buddy in the Army. They ran 13.6 miles. They got lost, too. But they were intending to run between 12 and 15 so they were all right. It's kind of interesting thought, the pattern of male thinking sometimes...the last time Josh and Michael went running they edited their route mid-run and ended up running on Highway 92 for a couple miles. When they got back and told me about it, I appropriately 'scolded' (what a terrible word) them for running on a highway with major traffic and NO SHOULDER! Come on guys, not safe at all. So Michael's wife agreed with me and the men said they understood. So when they got lost, they ended up finding two roads they knew would take them back home...one was a gravel road that would have been about a mile longer trip back...and the other INTERSTATE 435. What did they choose... you guess. Yeah it was illegal. Josh told me what he would have told the police officer had they seen one. Yeah traffic goes 70+ on that road. Great. I wasn't there when they finished....Michael told Josh he's better not tell me. BUT he did. And I laughed/shook my head in amazement. You'd think after safely returning from Iraq I wouldn't have to wonder about his daily safety. Maybe I should have been a little more worried while he was gone!
So after that fiasco we cleaned up and went to Minsky's to watch the Huskers Game with Liz. We had a good time, and we ran into Kirk and Sarah! We've lived in the same area for 2 years and just now we run into each other. They game was alright, at least we won! We've now officially played 3 quarters of decent football (out of 8)...lets hope some magic happens soon.
Then we hopped in the car and drove up to Maryville, MO to watch our favorite Stepper dance at the Northwest Missouri State football game. That was a bunch of fun. It rained the whole time, but the game was really fun.
Sunday included a brand new event for Josh and I. Shopping. After some relaxing, a good sermon, and some football we hit the Mall. Josh raked it in. He will be looking HOT for the wedding next weekend! So that took quite a few hours but we had never gone before. It was surprisingly fun! Both of us are moderately not good with fashion so thankfully Evan and Martha were available for answering questions like "What goes with charcoal gray"...."what kind of tie do you wear with...." and "what can you wear with Navy pants"....stuff like that. Thank you guys! Then we relaxed with more football, some 3 pepper chicken, and scrabble!
And now it's Monday. :)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Labour Day
We had such a great time in Michigan for Labor Day. A fun crammed weekend to be sure! Josh and I decided that it was one of our most favorite trips back so far. Josh and Ryan's 10 year HS reunion was really fun and I enjoyed meeting lots of new people. Martha was already way ahead of me having lived in the area for over a year so I got introduced to other classmates by 3 people. It was really fun. Here are my favorite pictures of the weekend...you know we took way too many!
We went to get our teeth cleaned on Friday. I was spoiled and Ryan did mine. Another perfect cleaning. Seriously. My teeth feel amazing! :) The boys went with us to the office cause the ladies there love them (of course!) and this pic was taken on our way out by Marth. It feels like a beach/airport/vacation picture to me. Love it!
This picture is awesome! We went to a Michigan football watch party all sporting Husker stuff...for obvious reasons, and got a group shot. Notice Ethan can't help but cheer. Also notice that Marth and I are extra excited and attempting to pull off looking as alike as possible.
We had so much fun. We got to play Book It...the Thomas' slammed us. It wasn't even close. Lots of great conversation and of course lots of fun and goofiness.
Just want to shout out to Scipp and Nate- two weeks left!!
We went to get our teeth cleaned on Friday. I was spoiled and Ryan did mine. Another perfect cleaning. Seriously. My teeth feel amazing! :) The boys went with us to the office cause the ladies there love them (of course!) and this pic was taken on our way out by Marth. It feels like a beach/airport/vacation picture to me. Love it!
This picture is awesome! We went to a Michigan football watch party all sporting Husker stuff...for obvious reasons, and got a group shot. Notice Ethan can't help but cheer. Also notice that Marth and I are extra excited and attempting to pull off looking as alike as possible.
We had so much fun. We got to play Book It...the Thomas' slammed us. It wasn't even close. Lots of great conversation and of course lots of fun and goofiness. Just want to shout out to Scipp and Nate- two weeks left!!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Go Tigers!
Our weekend was filled with lots of fun watching the KC Royals and Detroit Tigers play. We went Friday night and Saturday night. Friday night we went with a soldier that Josh works with and his wife, and Saturday we went with Todd and Liz. Very fun, and the Tigers won both games!
Here's a fun story...so Josh and I really wanted to watch the Men's Marathon in the Olympics. But it was on Saturday night and we were going to be gone. So we dug our VCR out of storage and found which box the video tapes were in high in our closet. Then we realized we didn't have the right cables to connect the VCR to our TV and cable in order to record the show. Dang it, all that work for nothing. So then we call Todd and Liz and ask if they can tape it for us. We met them by the stadium for the game then afterwards it wasn't too late so we decided to drive 30 minutes to their house, then 60 back to ours.... so we did. We pulled out of their driveway with our wonderful tape and realized, we still don't have the means to connect the VCR to the TV to watch it. Wow. We're geniuses. BUT after a fashion we figured out how to do it. So Sunday afternoon we sit down to enjoy a good marathon and the VCR eats the tape. Josh is very quickly getting frustrated. So we wind the tape up and try again....eaten. Wind it up again. Finally we get the tape in the VCR fine, but it wont' go in far enough to shut the door behind it and it's completely stuck. Josh is about to tear the whole thing apart when finally it just needed a love tap to work properly. So we hit play and whala.....Big Ten Tonight--spotlight on Michigan football 2008. So we rewind it, only Josh wants to rewind it fast so he hits stop then rewind and that must have been some fail-safe on the VCR because it spit the tape 1/2 way out and chewed up a bunch of tape. So we are yanking on the tape to get it out and about 2 minutes later it is freed and we are careful winding tape back up again. We decided to only rewind while it's playing and when it starts showing the marathon we'll just not watch till it gets to the beginning. Well we rewind an hour and 48 minutes and its still Big Ten Tonight....then we realized Todd may have rewound it for us to the spot where it was about to start. So we fast-forwarded past Big Ten Tonight and found Oprah. She was showing people the effects of smoking on your appearance as you age. Pretty fascinating and gross at the same time. So, no marathon. About this time Josh calls Todd, who, having turned on their TV that morning, realized he didn't change the channel to NBC. We ended up finding the whole event encore on NBC.com so we got to watch all of it anyway....but it was really funny. Wow. :)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
9 days and counting...
A lot has happened in the last week! Saturday we went to Lincoln to visit lots of friends. Very fun! We saw the Megrue's for lunch and the afternoon. Then we had supper with the soon-to-be Eigsti's and saw the new Eigsti bed-and-breakfast! :) It was very fun! Sunday we went to church at Faith Bible. It was so good to be back! Casting Pearls lead music for church and that was super awesome! Evan and Kristy went with us and we met up with Beth and Dallas for dinner after church. Josh and I have been listening to sermons by Andy Stanley lately in the car. They are so good! Dad started us on him about two years ago and we really like listening to his messages. He's funny and a very entertaining ((and challenging!)) speaker. So we had some great conversation following a sermon on the way home. Then it was back to work.
Exciting news for Monday is that we got a phone call from the Arasmith's telling us what gender baby they are having! Yeah! And I walked 5 miles in 75 minutes. (and if you're asking yourself if I was sore afterwards the answer is yes--still sore). Then Josh and I played Scrabble. :)
Tuesday I went on base to work out (I can drive again!! 6 weeks is finally up!) then I ate lunch with my hard working husband and went to get groceries (I am allowed to lift over 10 lbs now!). Then I showered and I didn't have to use baby shower gel CAUSE IT'S BEEN 6 WEEKS! So yeah...all my Dr's limitations expired. I feel pretty good! Still can't run. Only because of comfort reasons, my heart would be fine. And there's absolutely no way I could do a push up. Josh and I also met up with a bunch of girls I worked with and their significant others for supper at El Maguey's. Sooo fun! I say this a lot but I love those girls. They are so great!
Today I went and got the oil changed, watched some Olympics whilest doing house stuff. Now here I am. Filling you all in on our lives! But I still have some laundry and dishes and vacuuming to do. So I must go. :)
But first- a timeline:
2 Days till we watch the Tigers play the Royals.
9 days till Michigan for Labor Day
3 1/2 weeks till Scipp's wedding
5 weeks till our fun trip to DC and Josh's 10-Miler race
7 1/2 weeks till we move! WOW.
Exciting news for Monday is that we got a phone call from the Arasmith's telling us what gender baby they are having! Yeah! And I walked 5 miles in 75 minutes. (and if you're asking yourself if I was sore afterwards the answer is yes--still sore). Then Josh and I played Scrabble. :)
Tuesday I went on base to work out (I can drive again!! 6 weeks is finally up!) then I ate lunch with my hard working husband and went to get groceries (I am allowed to lift over 10 lbs now!). Then I showered and I didn't have to use baby shower gel CAUSE IT'S BEEN 6 WEEKS! So yeah...all my Dr's limitations expired. I feel pretty good! Still can't run. Only because of comfort reasons, my heart would be fine. And there's absolutely no way I could do a push up. Josh and I also met up with a bunch of girls I worked with and their significant others for supper at El Maguey's. Sooo fun! I say this a lot but I love those girls. They are so great!
Today I went and got the oil changed, watched some Olympics whilest doing house stuff. Now here I am. Filling you all in on our lives! But I still have some laundry and dishes and vacuuming to do. So I must go. :)
But first- a timeline:
2 Days till we watch the Tigers play the Royals.
9 days till Michigan for Labor Day
3 1/2 weeks till Scipp's wedding
5 weeks till our fun trip to DC and Josh's 10-Miler race
7 1/2 weeks till we move! WOW.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Cheese Curds
Ashley and I met Holly and Miranda in Janesville Sunday afternoon. Ashley and I said goodbye to my Wisconsin family and hopped in the Sunfire for more adventures. We started the party off with some grilling and corn on the cob. I do credit this meal for being the first of my 'getting-my-appetite-back meals. Holly also made homemade guac. dip. Oh my. Delish. Holly had LifeGroup so Mir and Ashley and I hung out while she was out. We watched That Thing You Do sometime this day and has anyone noticed that "Jimmy" from that movie is a commercial now that's on all the time during the Olympics...I forget what for....maybe shampoo?Monday included lots of fun! We toured the state capitol and shopped on State St. We ate lunch 
at a place called Ians which is a pizza place that makes unique 'flavors?'/kinds of pizza. There was lasagna pizza, fettucini alfredo pizza, signature specialty mac n cheese pizza, lots of crazies. I had buffalo chicken. It was spicy and yummy. Then Monday evening we went to a place referred to by the locals as 'the Nitty'. Good stuff! Ashley and I sampled fried cheese curds there. Mmmm. The rest of the world calls them mozerella sticks (only I think they had other cheeses in the middle). Then we went to the Terrace on campus, which is a pretty awesome place on the lake. We hung out there, called Nader, and watched the sun set. Then we went to Barnes and Nobles to pick out our new books for the book club. We got some good ones! PS- if someone knows of a good book for getting cultural or historical background for New Testament times let me know....we're looking! Then we headed back to the ranch for peach smoothies and to listen to Holly's songs she's written. Good stuff!
at a place called Ians which is a pizza place that makes unique 'flavors?'/kinds of pizza. There was lasagna pizza, fettucini alfredo pizza, signature specialty mac n cheese pizza, lots of crazies. I had buffalo chicken. It was spicy and yummy. Then Monday evening we went to a place referred to by the locals as 'the Nitty'. Good stuff! Ashley and I sampled fried cheese curds there. Mmmm. The rest of the world calls them mozerella sticks (only I think they had other cheeses in the middle). Then we went to the Terrace on campus, which is a pretty awesome place on the lake. We hung out there, called Nader, and watched the sun set. Then we went to Barnes and Nobles to pick out our new books for the book club. We got some good ones! PS- if someone knows of a good book for getting cultural or historical background for New Testament times let me know....we're looking! Then we headed back to the ranch for peach smoothies and to listen to Holly's songs she's written. Good stuff!
Tuesday we relaxed in the morning, then Miranda had to leave for Milwaukee for some support
raising appointments. Ashley and I went on a super long walk- great conversation- and some great outdoor time. We both want screened in porches. Then we hit up Dairy Queen. And let me just say, I wish we were back on project cause Holly would not have messed up my Sundae. Yeah, not hard to mess up I know, but they did. What kind of Dairy Queen doesn't have Hershey's syrup? Anyhoo. Then we went to Holly's Ultimate Frisbee playoff game and that was fun. She scored the last two goals...one sliding on her knees. Wow! I had never seen it played before. Turns out, I would be really bad at that game. So I'm glad all the times I was asked to play in college I was busy. :) Ashley and I played some cards when we got home and then we stayed up late chatting.
raising appointments. Ashley and I went on a super long walk- great conversation- and some great outdoor time. We both want screened in porches. Then we hit up Dairy Queen. And let me just say, I wish we were back on project cause Holly would not have messed up my Sundae. Yeah, not hard to mess up I know, but they did. What kind of Dairy Queen doesn't have Hershey's syrup? Anyhoo. Then we went to Holly's Ultimate Frisbee playoff game and that was fun. She scored the last two goals...one sliding on her knees. Wow! I had never seen it played before. Turns out, I would be really bad at that game. So I'm glad all the times I was asked to play in college I was busy. :) Ashley and I played some cards when we got home and then we stayed up late chatting.
Wednesday Ashley and I went on another long walk. It was much cooler so we enjoyed it much more. (Just in case you were wondering, Holly had to work during the day :( but it worked out well). Then we got back, cleaned up a bit, walked to Casas del Sol to eat lunch (AMAZING), packed and showered, and then were off to the airport when Holly got home from work. More great time spend together!It was such a great trip!
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