This is part five in a series of posts that I began drafting at the beginning of this year. Each post--and the mini posts within each--contains my thoughts on the deployment process as or soon after various events occurred. For OPSEC purposes, I will not include specific dates, locations, etc. Alan has read each one and his thoughts are included at the bottom of certain posts. I hope that these posts will shed some light on our experiences; thank you for reading and God bless!

Read previous pre-deployment thoughts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4

Summer II 2013

 
He pulled out the packing list last night. We talked about our feelings regarding the separation; I told him that I thought it might be helpful for me to help him pack. And by, "help him pack," I mean that I put on his cold weather pants and zipped myself in his sleeping bag and waddled around the house in my cocoon of cozy softness. (But I also actually packed his A-bag, even though I have no idea what the "A" in "A-bag" means.)

It's weird to think that I'll have the house and he'll have a bag and a crate.

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When we lie together at night and he's asleep and he pulls me close, I try to memorize how he feels against me because I know his side of the bed will be empty soon.

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This is the second Independence Day that we've celebrated together. This is the second year that I've wanted to host a party, but totally forgot until I realize that it's already July and I am too overwhelmed to come up with a cute menu and decorations. And next year, I'll be celebrating it without my husband.

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Alan had staff duty (meaning that he works for 24 hours consecutively) yesterday. I kept thinking that this is what it's like when he's in the field (meaning that he works for a week or two or more consecutively). And then I realized that at some point in the future, I'll stop relating the late nights of working and meaningless Netflix television to the field and it'll just start being the way things are.

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Because Alan had to handle a work issue in the morning, I sat alone in church. I started thinking of how this is going to be our weekly reality pretty soon, and started crying. I'm sad about being separated, because all of the Skype chats, emails, care packages, and letters in the world can't measure up to actually being physically together.

 

miscellany monday

+ "autumn." Even though it's not technically autumn yet, Starbucks is selling pumpkin spice lattes (which makes it autumn in my book). Mornings have been cooler for the past week, so I've been able to turn off the central air and keep the windows open. I can spend my morning devotionals in a rocking chair outside or at the kitchen table with the back door open and a cup of tea. It's the little things that brighten my day.

+ bake. pray. love. The Baking Brigade distributed over 400 cookies, cupcakes, and brownies (and a loaf of banana bread and two lemon pound cakes!) in September. Some people volunteered for the first time--I love seeing new people!--and we made our rounds through two barracks buildings. I am continually blessed by this outreach.

+ five. For the first time in my life, I ran over five miles without stopping. It almost took me an hour and my knees (and calves ... and ankles) were sore by the end, but I ran five miles! Two miles is now my short/fun run and I hope that I'll be able to say that five miles is my short run within a couple of months.

+ breaking bread. Only five adults attended home life group last week so we were able to eat dinner together at the kitchen table instead of spread out in the living room! It was a nice change because the setting was friendlier. I also made a bacon cheeseburger soup for the first time. For not following the recipe, it turned out pretty well. I'm going to make a shoofly pie next week. Also, even though two of my friends are also from the slightly southern east coast (i.e. Virginia), no one has ever had Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie. I'm going to break out that recipe at some point in the future, too. And maybe make some whoopie pies.

fredericksburg tx

We celebrated the extended Labor Day weekend with a trip to Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg seems like it's in the middle of nowhere (especially when it's the closest town with an emergency vet and you're passing upward of 30 deer along the road in the middle of the night), but it's an adorable town (or maybe a city?). The main street (and some of the side streets) are mostly filled with boutiques and restaurants. Fredericksburg thrives on tourism, so there are lots of bed and breakfasts, too (we stayed at Terah's Garden). The city is also dog-friendly and it's apparently the only city in the state where it's perfectly legal to walk around with an open alcoholic beverage.

Fredericksburg is located along the wine trail in Hill Country, so we stopped by William Chris Vineyards on the way. Not only was it my first wine tasting, but it was our first as a couple.

Afterward, we grabbed lunch at Mahaley's Cafe. They serve a pretty good veggie croissant and have a nice selection of pastries. We relaxed at the b&b for a while before heading out to visit a second winery. We checked out Messina Hof, which has a nice selection.

We ate dinner at the b&b to save money and spent the evening chatting and watching the news.

We spent the following day shopping. There are a lot of home decor shops. There is also a lot of money needed to buy things in those shops. For the most part, we browsed, but we did pick up some treats at Dogologie (of all of the stores in Fredericksburg, Dogologie was the store I wanted to visit the most). We also checked out Der Kuchen Laden (it was really weird to see so much German in the middle of Texas ... it was like being back in Pennsylvania ... except people wore cowboy boots and Stetsons). Der Kuchen Laden is located in an old hospital along with Rathskeller, which is where we ate lunch.

I thought the photos and ads were misleading--I expected something semi-upscale, but it looked more like a family restaurant. The staff was friendly, however; when a toddler in our party decided to check out the fish in the nearby koi pond up close and personal, they gave us some towels to dry her off and didn't complain about the wet chair.

In all, our trip was exhausting but fun. I definitely think an extra day would have helped--we didn't even have a chance to check out the National Museum of the Pacific War, but I've decided to save that for if/when my parents visit.

the d-word: deployment thoughts [part 4]

 

This is part four in a series of posts that I began drafting at the beginning of this year. Each post--and the mini posts within each--contains my thoughts on the deployment process as or soon after various events occurred. For OPSEC purposes, I will not include specific dates, locations, etc. Alan has read each one and his thoughts are included in certain posts. I hope that these posts will shed some light on our experiences; thank you for reading and God bless!

Read previous pre-deployment thoughts: 1 // 2 // 3 

Summer I 2013

 
From Elizabeth

I resent the flak jacket--it's probably not called a flak jacket--and combat helmet setting by the front door. He took it to work with him today.

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I'm planning lots of home improvement projects while he's gone. Part of me wants to keep the house exactly as it is, but part of me wants to keep making the house homier.

One of my friends has already volunteered to help me replace the carpeting in the living room and hallway with laminate. Both of us have watched the installation process before and we've decided that that's enough experience for us to tackle the project ourselves.

I want to make a list of things to accomplish while Alan is gone.

(That list is now the deployment bucket list.)

From Alan

I am curious about how long this list will actually grow, also how much of it will be accomplished and thirdly, how I will react to the wonderful changes my loving spouse makes. I love her ideas and am excited to see them laid out.

happy blogiversary to us!

I meant to post this on the actual anniversary of starting this blog (July 21), but something happened (probably life) and I didn't, which is why I'm posting two months late. But, if we were to pretend that it is July 21, it would be a year and one month since we left my parents' driveway. So much has happened since then!

+ I started graduate school. And have since finished my first year, meaning that I am now halfway through my studies!

+ We started hosting and leading a home life group. Since we first started in September (so this month marks a year!), we've covered Resilient Warriors, Community Bible Experience, The Case for Christ, Not a Fan, and Jonah. We're currently studying Galatians.

+ Alan taught children's church and I taught the ladies' Sunday morning life group. Alan was teaching the first Sunday of the month but stopped when the schedule changed. I stepped back from facilitating this autumn because I was ridiculously burned out--after a year, I didn't feel like teaching was where God wanted me to be anymore.

+ We spent Thanksgiving with friends. It was my first Thanksgiving without my parents and sister, but it was also our first Thanksgiving as our own family.

+ Alan went to the field and we spent our first week apart. He has gone to the field twice since we've been married. It seemed like a long time at the time, but I know it was nothing compared to what we're going to face.

+ We drove to PA to visit family for Christmas.

+ The Baking Brigade was born. Since its inception, we've served hundreds of cookies, brownies, muffins, and cupcakes to soldiers.

+ I got vertigo. Not once but twice.

+ We temporarily fostered two children for a friend and I received a huge dose of humility.

+ We went to Galveston. It was my first trip to the beach in a while; it's comforting to know that a beach is just a few hours' drive away.

+ We celebrated our honeymooniversary with a Disney cruise!

+ I witnessed a birth! And now have unrealistic expectations about childbirth, although my friend says it looked easy because of the epidural.

+ We took a semi-spur-of-the-moment trip to Walt Disney World! I just realized that I never even blogged about that. I don't even know how that happened. Therefore, there will be an upcoming post about Walt Disney World.

+ Alan hit his 20-year mark of service in the Army!

+ I also realized what it means for me to be content and how to cultivate peace in my life. I try to live my life so as to take time for the little things that make me happy. That usually means reading, praying, or quilting outside with a cup of coffee in the mornings.