Leaving, on a jet plane!

PACKED!

Tonight is the start of a long trip home for "rest and recuperation" leave.  Not that I wanted to be gone on a long deployment, but once you get beyond a certain number of days, the military figures it should let you home to see your family, and I agree with that sentiment.

It was suggested by a fellow Navy person that I think of R&R just as a vacation, just like taking regular leave to go on a trip, not as "going home" because, at the end of it, I have to come back, which is basically like coming back to work.  That being said, I will try to train my mind as such, and I think Jonathan is helping me with that by planning all kinds of adventures and trips so its more like vacation than just hanging out at home (though I'd be perfectly content doing that, as well).  You'll see the results of that planning throughout the rest of the month, I am sure.

The interesting part of traveling is having to do it in uniform.  If you've ever worn a uniform in a public place, you understand the amount of stares and gaped jaws that are directed at you.  And then there is the public gratitude, which takes a lot of getting used to when my view is that what I do here is my job.  So to those people who thank service members in the airport and serve us by praying for, writing to, encouraging, and volunteering with organizations that support us, thank you so much.

Please continue to pray for us during this time, that both Jonathan and I would be able to rest and relax, that we would find rest in the Lord, that we would meditate on his word and be filled anew every day we are together.  Pray also that we would be given the strength and the grace to continue handling this length of time, to continue caring for one another even when we are having trouble ourselves.  Thank you for continuing to look out for us, family and friends, and supporting us through this deployment.  I realize it more every day, that God is good and does good.  We are so very blessed!

So I have a small confession to make, which seems appropriate for 12:15 am. Some of you may already know this about me, but I have a weakness for medium quality science fiction shows. I also enjoy fantasy stuff, like Lord of the Rings (the highest quality in the genre). Lately I've been watching the Legend of the Seeker. The premise and plot can be cheesy at times, but there are several underlying themes, some of which are almost biblical. This series is based on a book by Terry Goodkind (which I have not read, so if any purists are reading this cut me a break).

The medieval settings in which these worlds take place are typical: pastural landscapes, helpless village-folk, endless bad guys in scary uniforms (often faceless), and a few heroes who are always immensely outnumbered and unrealistically attractive. Ok, hobbits are not exactly the most attractive heroes, but stick with me. Think of Orlando Bloom and Cate Blanchett.

But one thing I really enjoy about these shows is the way in which they extrapolate intangible human problems and make them palpable. Frodo's ring overpowers him and corrupts him absolutely, in the same way that sin slowly leads to death (James 1:15). In the Seeker, the hero Richard Cypher must conquer rage, lust, and greed on a daily basis or his life and the very fate of his world are at stake! In reality these evils, these sins do have incredibly serious consequences but we often gloss over them in our skin-deep lives. Granted, a whole village of innocent people may not die because of our sin, but we do have to take it much more seriously than we usually do. Ignoring or glossing over the way sin erodes our conscience, distances us from our Creator, and harms our earthly relationships is about as useless as a rabbit thinking that sitting still is an effective ruse against my Cavalier.

Ok I'll stop pontificating with poor metaphors. More anniversary trip pictures on the way!

It's not even December.

The yearly Navy vs. Army academy football game comes the first weekend in December each year.  However, for all other days of the year, the Army and Navy co-exist on many bases and  in many countries around the world without a problem.  Usually.

I decided to pick up running while I've got the time and gym accessibility out here.  I've been practicing, and by that I mean working on my speed and distance with fairly consistent commitment.  With that, I try to jump on every 5k race they hold here.  It is NOT for the t-shirts, because as I've found out with one washing, they fall apart like stale cookies crumble.  Anyhow, I ran a 5k this last Saturday for Armed Forces Day.  Nearing the end of the race, to join with the "Armed Forces" theme, some short Army kid decided to encourage his battle buddy (the Navy's "shipmate", the Air Force's "wingman") to finish the 5k by saying loudly to him but in my general direction: "Are you gonna let a Navy female beat you?" 

What would you do?  Most Navy people asked if I ramped it up and kicked some Army black shorts; however, I made the decision not to.  Having done a long distance run the day before and considering the unforgiving Kuwaiti sun already rising to 90 degrees by 6 am, I decided my pride wasn't worth a bodily beat-down.  It is amusing, though, how a swishing ponytail will stir up pride in men who realize a girl is about to take away some small bit of their dignity, especially in front of their battle buddies.

I am so thankful to have a husband who is delightfully non-competitive, who is happier doing something with and beside me rather than speeding ahead of me, whether it be reading, playing Scrabble, or anything at all. 

Day 2: Monticello

So catch up with us on our first anniversary trip: the first night was spent in Harpers Ferry, WV. The next morning we left for Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. Our favorite part were the tiered gardens. We highly recommend visiting in the spring, summer or fall when the scenery is more alive if you will. Enjoy the pictures!
Next stop: sleepy town of Waynesboro. Not much to do there except visit a lovely bed and breakfast!

Of note and rather unfortunately, the United States and its historical societies never own the entire property, and people are picky what you take pictures of, so no indoor pictures.  Bummer, but a delightful experience and exercise in the genious of Thomas Jefferson.

Made for Each Other

It took a few glances for people to understand that I wasn't putting names on these two camels.  I thought about it, but these two weren't meant as children's toys, however silly they may look.  And now one is in DC with Jonathan, and one is here with me.  I thought long and hard whether I should put on them what our wedding rings say: "My Love" and "My Beloved" (from Song of Songs) and decided that was too much and too private for me to put on a public sheet being passed around for orders.  But that's what I really meant to say with these silly camels.

The book Jonathan and I are reading, "What did you expect?" by Paul Tripp, relates marriage to gardening, in that when you see a beautiful garden, the correct assumption is that there is a lot of hard work that goes in to making it look so vibrant.  The gardening involves both clearing the ground at the start, weeding out the harmful and ugly plants, and planting the desired plants in place of those weeds...and weeding, and watering, and planting, etc.  This is the way we're trying to view our marriage.  As easy as it may be to say "well, we're far apart so it's hard to grow close" or in other cases "well, we'll have more time when we're both done with school" or "once we're through the infant stage, we'll try harder at our romance," we honestly desire to see our marriage and love for one another grow and are trying to leave behind any excuse we'd like to (and would in many ways be justified to) make.  So please pray for us and our marriage, and we will be lifting up those marriages around us at the same time.  God is good, and he is good all the time.

Explanation: the camels are sewn from the material of the uniform that I wear to work here.  Of note, this same material may be seen on various non-US military organizations because it is the old Vietnam era style, as I have been told.  This is what the Navy gives its people when they send us to work with the Army.  Hooah.

Side note: Yes, Adeline has her own similar camel.  See the adorable Niece Adeline with her sweet baby rolls and giggly smiles where Charles and Charissa post most of their pictorial memories for all of us enjoy.

1st Day, 1st Year

So one of our thoughts behind this blog was to share our anniversary photos with everyone. In case you didn't know, we did a whirlwind tour of the Virginia and North Carolina countryside. With a few other states thrown in.

While we don't necessarily need reasoning behind a romantic getaway, our reasons for this type of trip were the following: 1) We like bed and breakfast inns, 2) there are alot of relatively local destinations that we had not visited, 3) after a cruise honeymoon, we needed something a little more low key.

Our first stop was Harpers Ferry, WV. As you can tell by the pictures, the most exciting thing in the town was our inn. Granted it was January, so nothing was open, but it's still a pretty sleepy town.

Our accommodations consisted of a remodeled first level of a barn, believe it or not. There was a little counter, a fridge, a stone-tiled bathroom, and way too many decorations. Besides the stink bugs, the B&B was quite lovely. And as you can see, they liked Coke memorabilia and silly puns.

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Example of USPS success:

A humorous card with a wonderful note from someone my grandparents know.

If you are a creative, card-making crafty sort, I want to share a good organization to get involved in.  Operation Write Home is a group that makes pretty sweet cards for soldiers to write home with, whether it is for holidays, or just to remind their families that they love them.  We (the nurses here in Kuwait) have had a ton of fun looking through these miniature pieces of art, picking out a few and sending them home.  Think about it!  Especially for those in places where they can't stop by the PX to purchase cards.