Ft. Hood, Texas! Here we come! (in May)

Well, it's official. We have been assigned to Ft. Hood, Texas and will be moving there in the middle of May. Let's just say I was not thrilled at the idea to begin with. It was a few days before Thanksgiving and Justin called me on the phone with the news: "Honey, I know where we are going next.....are you awake? Are you ready to hear it?" I really was not ready for what he was about to say......Ft. Hood, Texas. I immediately yelled, "Are you kidding me? Are you serious?" Yes, he was serious. Now I know in the Army you can never count on anything for sure, but I just knew in my heart we would get something from our top 5 in our Wish List. I was wrong. We got #7. Seriously? #7? That is just awful! And I honestly did not remember that we put Ft. Hood at #7, but we did, and we got it. I mean it really could have been worse.....one guy got his #18 choice....and there were only 23 choices! So yeah, we were blessed. And I am learning to accept it now. At first, I cried and cried and cried. I don't really know why. I guess it is the fear of the unknown. Justin and I have never been to Texas before. Well, we have been in the Dallas airport for a brief layover on our trip to Maui, but that doesn't count! And of course Ft. Hood is where the crazy Major shot and killed so many people just recently. And Texas is about 16-17 hours away from my family. Gee, could Texas be any worse? Those were my thoughts at first. Now, I am trying to accept it and think positively. After lots of prayer, I really think I am ok with it now. I know God must want us in Texas for some reason. And I really do know that He knows what is best. It might not be what WE wanted, but He wants us there so that is good enough for me! I know He has special plans for us, and I am just learning to be excited to find out what that is! I have an Uncle Delbert who lives a few hours away from Ft. Hood and my Dad's niece Robin is close by as well as her daughter Amber, too. I will be about 5 hours or so from Galveston, and there is a beach there! And we all know how much I love the beach. :) And Justin and I both love warm weather, so that is a plus, too. AND there is a Target and Hobby Lobby in the area, so what more could I ask for, huh? :) I know God has a plan for us. I just have to remember that and rely on Him and trust Him......Texas, here we come!

Made it to Missouri!

We are officially moved into our house (that we are renting) here in Waynesville, Missouri. It is finally starting to feel like "home." It's hard to believe we have been here for 3 weeks already. Missouri is definitely different than Georgia. We are in the middle of nowhere. We have to drive over an hour to get to a Target. That is an adjustment for me to say the least! :) I am slowly adjusting. It is hard for me each time we move, because I am a person who does NOT like change. I know you are thinking that is NOT the attitude that an Army wife should have, because we have to deal with change all the time. So I really am working on "tolerating" change. :) I really think I am doing much better with it. The first week here was hard. I missed Georgia terribly. I thought about all the things I left behind there, including my favorite place in the world - the beach. But then I stopped and realized how blessed I am right now....my husband is here with me! How great is that! Even though I might not be in a place that I love, I am with the ONE that I love. God truly humbled me. And then of course He showed off again. Go God! :) He sent me a friend. Even though I was complaining about being in this awful state (Missouri). We arrived here on a Tuesday and I met a girl named Heidi on that Sunday at chapel on post. How great that God would send me a friend! I amazed at how God truly provides, and I must remember that.

Now, I am sad that Heidi and her hubby Alec will be moving at the end of January, and we will be here until April, but I am still thankful. I am thankful that God would provide for me at all! How great is He! So I have spent the past few weeks making cards with Heidi and just running errands and talking. It has truly helped me not feel so lonely when Justin is gone during the day. And I am trying to focus on holidays coming up. Yay! I am so thankful to have my husband with me during this holiday season! We will drive to Cedar Falls, Iowa for Thanksgiving this year, just about 2 weeks away! It will be a great time at Justin's grandparents house. He has not seen them since he arrived home from Afghanistan - what a great reunion it will be. And Christmas is just around the corner. I have already started my Christmas shopping. Yay! I love buying presents for other people. So yes, I am very blessed and God truly does provide. I just have to remind myself of that from time to time. :)

Eye surgery, fun at Tybee, and travels!

Last week, Justin was fortunate enough to have laser eye surgery done, called PRK. It is similar to the LASIK eye surgery. It is truly an amazing thing. Justin can now see WITHOUT his glasses or contacts! The surgery was a pretty painful thing, though. He was given Valium and Percaset and a bunch of different eye drops to use. The funniest thing was the second night after we got into bed. We had forgotten to turn out the living room light, and Justin had already taken his Valium for bedtime. He said he would go get the light. As soon as he got up, he about fell right back down and said, "I think I better sit down. This Valium must have taken effect FAST. Whoa....I am not used to this!" Poor guy even woke up a few mornings in a lot of pain. However, he says the surgery was totally worth it....AND the Army paid for it, so it is even better. :) I truly can't imagine being able to see without my contacts or glasses. My contacts are a -7.50, so I am basically blind. I can only see blobs of color when I don't have my contacts in. It's a weird feeling. But I am thankful Justin was able to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to SEE! :)

Last night, Justin and I went out to Tybee Island 1 last time. We met my friend Merilee there along with her hubby Steven and their 3 kids: Susanna, Aiden, and Connor. They are such sweet kids! I had a lot of fun taking family pictures of them on the beach. But it was quite a painful experience, too.......literally! The sand gnats were just awful last night! They were biting us like crazy. I even have little red marks all over my arms today from the bites. I look like I have chicken pox! I hope they go away soon. They itched so bad! When we were done, we went over to eat some dinner at Spanky's. It was a great evening. I'm glad I got to hang out with Merilee 1 more time!

So now it is Thursday and I am sitting here writing while the cleaning lady is here in our house cleaning away for our move-out inspection in the morning. It is time to go. I am sad, but excited for next week in Indiana with cooler weather! It is still in the high 80's down here and humid. So I am ready for Fall weather! I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends, going to a few bonfires, going to the Creation Museum in Cinci, and even going with the nieces, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law to a pumpin patch. Yay! We'll stop by Clarksville, Tennessee tomorrow night and Saturday night so Justin can see college friends, and then we will be in Indiana from October 11-19. Then, on October 20th, we will drive to Missouri to begin our adventure there.

It's almost the weekend....have a great one everyone!

It's Hard to Say Good-bye!

We move from Georgia on October 9th....that is 1 week from today! So I am finally realizing it is really time to say good-bye to Georgia. How sad! We have been stationed down here at Ft. Stewart, Georgia since October of 2006.....wow.....3 years! We will truly miss the Savannah area. There is so much to do here. It is a classy city. :) Forsyth Park, River Street, Tybee Island, friends.....

I am trying to say good-bye to all my friends down here, but it is hard.

Rachel, her baby boy Thomas, and me

I drove up to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina for 2 days to say good-bye to my friend Rachel, whom I met at Ft. Stewart 3 years ago. She has become one of my closest, truest friends. We reminisced of how we met. God truly places people in our lives exactly when we need them. Rachel and I had both recently married (me in June of 2006 and Rachel in October 2006).....we both had just moved to Georgia.....she was from Kentucky and I was from Indiana....she was a teacher and I worked at a school.....it was meant to be from the start! We clicked instantly and now it is hard to say good-bye! When we see each other from now on, we won't just be a short drive away. Ah, but that is the way of the military....you meet great friends and then you have to leave them. I know that in my head, but it is still hard on the heart!

I had lunch a few days ago with my good friend Katie as well. This girl is so much fun! I am so happy for her as she is having a baby in December....she has wanted this for so long! But now I have to leave and won't be able to meet her baby girl Madison. Again, I am sad to go. But I will always remember the fun we had on the cruise together. Remembering 70's night on the ship will always make me smile....what a fun trip!

Oh and my friends from Button Gwinnett Elementary.....they are really such a wonderful bunch! I feel like they are family! They welcomed me so lovingly when I began working at the school in January of 2007. I will miss all of them terribly.

It is hard to say good-bye, but I will never forget this place or the people here. It has become a 2nd home to us (Indiana is our 1st home of course). And I WILL come back to visit no matter where we are stationed next. Good-bye Georgia. Good-bye Georgia friends. I love you all! :)

Something to think about

We recently had Justin's friend Mark over and his wife Dana. Mark was telling us of his message he was going to give at FCA. It really made me think. His message was about being filled with the Holy Spirit and what does that look like. He used an example of 2 girls that were running in a track meet. The race was a relay race, and let's say "Betty" was running the last leg of the race. As she received the baton and took off, another girl "Sue" came up beside her and accidentally clipped her and "Betty" fell to the ground. Most people would have continued running and finished the race. However, "Sue" (even on a different team and knowing that stopping would cost her team the race), stopped dead in her tracks and helped "Betty" up. By then, she knew she had lost the race for her team and even caused them to lose the meet. She quickly ran up to her coach who was yelling at her, "What in the world were you thinking?!?!? You lost us the race!" "Sue" didn't know what to say. She really didn't know what made her stop and help the other girl. She said it was like something else took over her body and made her stop. She couldn't control it. She was filled with the Holy Spirit and wanted to help others and do what was right even if it cost her the game. It made me ask, "Would I have stopped?" and "How do others see that I am filled with the Holy Spirit?"

Trips and Family Time!

Ok, I'm a newbie with this whole blogging thing, so it has taken me a while to do this 2nd blog of mine.....well, almost 11 weeks! I thought I had better try it again. :)

Lots has happened since Justin arrived home! He made his grand entrance back to Ft. Stewart, Georgia on July 12th. I was sooo happy to have him back in my arms again! We quickly began our adventures soon after that. On July 26th, we flew to Maui....it was truly a breathtaking paradise! We relaxed on the beach, hiked through bamboo forests to see beautiful waterfalls, enjoyed a helicopter tour of the island, went to a Luau, went parasailing, and even flew over to the island of Oahu for a day to see Pearl Harbor.

Soon after arriving home, we traveled down to Disney World with my college roomie LeAnn and her hubby Chris. We had a great time enjoying 4 of the parks there.....Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Typhoon Lagoon, and Epcot. It was extremely hot (since it was the month of August), but we truly enjoyed our time together. We ended our trip with a day on Clearwater Beach just relaxing and taking in the sand and sun. Justin and Chris even found some sand dollars out in the ocean!

After Disney, we came home and Justin's parents and sister were here in Georgia a few days later to visit us. We took them down to St. Pete Beach, Florida for 2 nights and then spent 2 more nights at our house here in Georgia. It was great to spend time with them, especially since Justin hadn't seen his family since his arrival home to the U.S.! I am truly blessed to have in-laws that I love! We had a great time with them and were sad to see them leave.

When Justin's family flew home, we also flew to Indiana the same day. We enjoyed a week in Scottsburg visiting friends and family, and we even purchased a new car....well, a new car to us. We bought a 2008 Ford Escape. We just love it! We're excited to have a small SUV with 4 wheel drive and 4 doors! So much easier to get in and out of.

We drove our new SUV back to Georgia and even brought our dog Chase with us this time.

A few days later, Justin's identical twin brother, Joel, and his wife and 3 girls came to Georgia to visit us. We had a GREAT time with them! We loved spending time with our little nieces: Faith - 4; Audra - 3; and Gabi - 1. We took them swimming in the neighborhood pool, to the beach for some fun and family picture time, and even to Ft. Stewart to show them where Uncle Justin works. They are truly little sweeties. We just love them! I even showed them how to make yummy homemade ice cream with just a zip loc baggie, a few ingredients, and some ice! :)

After all our fun, it was time for Justin to head back to work. It was a sad day, but we truly enjoyed his 4 weeks off. We are so thankful we had that time to have some fun and
re-connect. We are truly blessed and thank God for everything he has given us!

Almost Home!

Lots of changes coming our way! Justin is almost home! He left Afghanistan today and is currently in one of the other "stan" countries. :) He assures me it is a totally safe country, though. :) I am now in Georgia working on getting our house put together and all set up for his arrival. I'm thankful to have my parents here helping me. They are the best! They will help me welcome Justin home on Sunday morning. Yay! I really can't wait! It seems so unreal that he is finally come home. 15 months deployed to Afghanistan.....wow........we actually made it through! Praise God for that!

Lots of traveling coming up after Justin gets home. We go to Hawaii, Disney World, St. Pete Beach, and to Indiana. We are really excited about all our trips! Justin really needs some R & R for sure!

We will be in Georgia until October. Then, we will be moving to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri for 6 months of training for Justin in the Military Police Captain's Career Course. After that, only God knows where we will be!

Must go for now......gotta get to the store to make Justin a Welcome Home cake! :)