Productive

I guess that my day ended up being productive. I tackled my project for the week- my baby gift for Rebecca. I will probably head to Hobby Lobby again tomorrow to pick up some more things to modge podge because it was so much fun and now I have a ton of modge podge left over. Rebecca and I met in Oklahoma- we worked on the same floor at the hospital. We got along really well and I attribute that to her being from Alabama. We quickly bonded over the fact that we were new to the state and didn't have any friends- the best way to make a new friend. I was was even more excited when I found out that she was pregnant. Literally almost cried. Then I moved and she moved and I never got to throw her a shower... but I got invited to her shower in Alabama! So that is where I will be spending Saturday night and Sunday. I decided to get crafty for her little one Grace Anne. This is what I made:

 Yes, the birds on the G and the R are upside down....thus the reason for another trip to Hobby Lobby- might be redoing those. And then I made the sides of the G and the R the same paper as the face of the A and the side of the A the same paper as the face of the G and the R. Confusing. Here is another picture.

I loved doing this! I decided that projects like this are going to be the way to go... doing stuff for other people can definitely help with the sadness that I have recently been feeling.

Then I went to the grocery store- so I could make these awesome cookies that I found on pinterest and I got some ice cream with Fawn, Renee and Tirzah! The little was so precious. She kept me entertained the whole time.

Then came home to make these DELICIOUS cookies!

So all in all a much better day than it started out.

Flash Back.

Celine Dion.

Just listened to her A New Day Has Come song, why? I have no idea. But I loved the lyrics.

"Where it was dark, now there's light
Where there was pain, now there's joy
Where there was weakness I found my strength,
All in the eyes of a boy"

Missing my boy and so very tempted to drive down to the Ranger Training area just to see if I can see him. Probably not going to happen because I am deathly afraid of someone seeing me and yelling at me. My goal is to find something joyful in the day- not related to Ranger school.

Yesterday, I was so productive. I had made a list of all the things that I needed to accomplish on Monday...when I was being all sulky, because I do realize that being productive is how you get through your days. Well, yesterday I completed my list. So proud of myself! I even saved us some money by dropping our phone plan down and returning $50 worth of batteries. We went a little over board on the packing list for Ranger school. Batteries are very expensive. And the list said "8 packs" so we bought 8 packs of AA and AAA. That is 128 batteries! Ridiculous.


Today, not so productive. Maybe it will take a turn for the better around noon....or tomorrow. We will see.

Day Zero: Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is never easy and in past experiences I have always been an absolute disaster before hand. This time was different. I was so peaceful and calm- so was James. I made James a little present to take before he left. I wrote some Bible Verse's on note cards and then on the opposite side put a picture of us- he has one for everyday of Ranger School...he only took phase one, the ring would be way too thick if he took them all.

Here are all of the verses that I gave him, this is the order he is suppose to read them in, so I am planning on reading them with him:

2nd Timothy 1:7
Philippians 4:13
Exodus 15:2
Isaiah 40: 27-31 (3days worth)
Deuteronomy 31:6
Matthew 17:20
Isaiah 43:1-3
Psalm 22:19
Psalm 18:16-18
Isaiah 41:10
Matthew 11:28
Psalm 27:1
1 Corinthians 10:13
Deuteronomy 20:3-4
Zephaniah 3:17
Matthew 6:34
Psalm 46:1
Psalm 18:32-34
Joshua 1:9

Last- here is the ridiculous story of our morning. This would only happen to us. We had plenty of time. Woke up at 7. Planned on packing up the car at 8:45. Leave by 9. Get him there before 10. Perfect? No. We get to post and James looks at me and is like, I forgot my ID... it was 9:20. This is why I have my sign right by the door...so I don't forget my ID! We had 40 mins to get back to post and the to the Ranger Training Battalion.... not going to happen. Except we decided to speed. I was on police patrol. Let me just say, we hauled it!! It was torturous. I thought I was going to explode. James spent all of his pent up energy focusing on not killing us on the road. Literally, by the grace of God, we made it to the RTB at 10:03...right behind 4 other cars. We found out that the 10:00 report time was for HCC and that the hard time for Ranger School was 1300. Talk about taking a load off our shoulders. We still didn't waste much time, said our quick goodbyes and he was off.

It was hard to drive away from the fenced in area with barbed wire coiling around the top. This is where he will be for the remainder of the week. and then he "jumps" into Darby phase. Safe right? One of the most important keys to passing Ranger is to not get hurt/medically dropped, so of course jumping out of an airplane (for those qualified) seems like a good idea. James would be airborne qualified. So, pray he doesn't break a leg.

Yesterday.

Our last full day together. Definitely started off anxiously but we decided that we had no reason to be anxious and we needed to relax so that we could fully enjoy the day. It started early- neither one of us sleeping very well- so we had chocolate chip waffles and eggs :)

Then we started the daunting task of writing his name on EVERYTHING. We decided watching a movie would be the best way to pass the time. Ultimately it ended in me writing SIMPSON on some pieces and JMS on others. Whoops. Hopefully he won't get delirious enough that he can't remember SIMPSON and JMS. Here was all of his stuff:

Surprisingly enough, it doesn't look like it is that much in the picture. But the house was a mess. I had also personally decided that I wasn't going to do any dishes so the kitchen looked like a tornado had just gone through it. First thing I cleaned when I got home.

We watched the movie The Guardian with Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher- it was awesome!! And definitely a great motivational movie- even though it was about the Coast Guard instead of the Army, but motivational nonetheless. After the movie we did the fourth and final count for the packing list. It took a littler longer than we had expected- but everything checked, double checked, and packed. The  bags were locked and we both took a huge sigh of relief.

Next. A run. I think it was more of a mental thing for James- get outside, do something active. And my innate desire to suffocate James the closer it gets to separation time convinced me that I could go on a run as well. Please start laughing now. Lesson was learned- running inside on a treadmill is not the same as running on a trail...outside. Thankfully, James just wanted to "jog." Once we started, I realized that his jog was more of an 8 minute/mile pace and I just wasn't going to keep up. But my sweet boy, slowed down- even to a fast walk for me. We ran 1 3/4 of a mile around a beautiful lake and then I was done. I have a goal to actual do the same run when he gets back and not look/feel like I am dying. I think I can definitely accomplish that!!

Dinner. We were planning on eating dinner out, but when our packing job ran over our allotted amount of time we had to knix something. Dinner it was. Well, the process of going out to dinner. The place we were going to dinner, Woodstone, had carry-out- which suited us just fine and we came back to have a picnic on the floor! Dinner was amazing. We started with some Tuscan Hummus and freshly baked pita bread, James had steak medallions over gorgonzola/spinach fettuccine, and I a grilled chicken breast topped with goat cheese and something else- I can't remember right now.

We concluded the night snuggled up on the couch with some ice cream and a movie. It was the perfect day for us

Our Life Right Now.

Ranger School. We have spent the week buying everything "necessary" for the packing list...which is ridiculous by the way. Luckily, James and I have saved a lot of money and haven't spent nearly has much as the suggested number we were originally told. So yay!! We have checked the list 3 times ourselves, he is taking everything in today to get checked by his instructors, and then we will do a final check tomorrow and then literally lock it all away until Sunday. Homeboy is ready to go.

James has been as calm as ever this week, while I have been the anxious one. I have what I call, "anticipatory anxiety," don't know if that is a legitimate diagnosis or not, but it's true. So while my heart will definitely ache when he is gone, all of this stuff leading up to Sunday is driving me crazy. I've been trying to read and watch the news, but as the week has gone by my attention span has slowly gotten shorter. So going on walks, sewing, baking, making bread and double checking the "list" have been filling my days. Luckily, James has gotten off really early this week so we have been able to enjoy this time together going to movies, watching "How I Met Your Mother" and "Breaking Bad," shopping for Ranger stuff, and enjoying our last dinners together.

I think I am dreading it so much because I feel like it is going to be like the 10 day FTX...which was an awful 10 days. I felt like everyone was out to get me. We had the Lowe's incident, lost debit card, finding out they were going to be gone an extra night and other small and probably meaningless mole hills that I made into mountains. Maybe it will be better because I will have a longer time to get into my routine or maybe it will just be a better 62...hopefully 62... days in general. I am certainly hoping so! Either way, whether these next 62 days are awful or wonderful, I can't wait to see what God has in store. I know there is something waiting for me.



Prayer Requests:
-James doesn't hurt himself
-Strong mind... this is a mental battle
-Strong heart...this is only the beginning of the time we could be spending apart. Let our hears not grow weary.
- I can hold down the fort :) This will probably make for some fun blogs.... hopefully I won't have another week like the 10 day.

Just call me, Suzie!

This is what happens when you roll around in dirt, run in the woods, and play with guns. 

You get holes. James and I took the pants to the army alteration place to get the holes fixed and then "re-enforce" his other pants, so that other holes would not turn up in unfortunate places... Sadly, our brilliant idea to have someone else do the dirty work was shot down when the lady told us that they were all backed up and wouldn't have the pants until Friday...we need them by Wednesday. This would happen. Then the words flew out of my mouth... "I'll do it." Why would I do this? I don't sew. I have sewed on a machine once- and I barely remember it and every time Chandler and I would make pillows as a kid, I either got frustrated in the middle of the project and gave up or got the usual, "Chandler is just better at details than you." Luckily, my "don't tell me I can't do something" attitude kicked in.

The lady said that it wasn't hard and then gave me step by step instructions on how to complete the task at hand. Step one: Find a sewing machine. Thank goodness for my good friend Meredith! She actually sews. I got to help her go find fabric for her curtains one day- it was a blast! And she is really good at it- one of the best creative minds I've met! Her response was, "Wait, do you know how to sew?" She still let me borrow her sewing machine. Thankfully she pre-threaded it for me and off I went with my new project.


Next, I cut up the pieces of on old BDU.

Set up my sewing station:

And began to work on the biggest tear (shown in the very first picture):

Had a bit of a rough start...

But finally got the hang of it. Luckily James was there to tell me that I have to go at a consistent speed for the stitches to be even...

There was only one issue throughout the morning. The back stitch became REALLY loose.

Why does it look like that....I called Meredith. Thought I had fixed it with her on the phone. Wrong. Called Mom. No answer- VBS with 3 year olds, haha. And then called Amanda. Life-saver. She told me something was wrong with the tension and we spent the next 20 mins trying to figure out what was where on this sewing machine and watching youtube videos to fix it. And I did! Only had to re-thread it, but still, I was impressed.

After the minor bump in the road, everything went really smoothly! So now I am a seamstress.

A Clean House.

House...apartment. Whatever. I have come to accept that it just isn't going to be clean right now. Not with 10 days till Ranger school. Not with 10 days left to sleep in the same bed. Not with 10 days left to eat dinner together and definitely not with 10 days left to snuggle on the couch and watch Breaking Bad (our newest obsession- it's bad). Yes, that was a bit dramatic. Oh well. I know Ranger school isn't that long, and it is nothing compared to a deployment, but this whole leading up to them being gone is slightly ridiculous. The boy's end up working ridiculous hours- luckily mine can run on no sleep...so while getting up at 1:00am would be detrimental to my health (mental, that is), he is usually still kicking well into the afternoon. They also have to buy a ridiculous amount of stuff...stuff that will most likely never be used ::cough cough:: cold weather boots. So I am tasked with finding ways to keep the boots looking "new" without actually being new. That way we can return them when he gets he back! I can cheat the system.

This week is called "mini rap week". I thought it was "practice" for Ranger school. I was wrong. Apparently it is qualifying for Ranger school and if you fail then you don't go at all. Thankfully, I didn't figure that out until today, after James finished his Land Nav test. So James' week has looked like this: 

Tuesday- RPFT...I am pretty sure it stands for Ranger Physical Fitness Test. Which includes- pull ups, sit ups, push ups and a five mile run. The usual PT tests only have a 2 mile run. James said it was so hot- reminding you that it was done at 4am- that people were dropping left and right and they even had to call the ambulance for someone.

Wednesday- Land Navigation. The boys are given 8 points, a compass, and a "grid" like map. Then told to go find all the points and be back in 3 hours. James found all of his points AND came back a whole hour early!!! WooHoo!! We are really thankful that he was able to find all of the points. Honestly, God has gifted this man with the ability to find his away around with a compass and a "map". I only do directions with actual buildings and man-made points of reference. Fields, no. Tall grass with the possibility of snakes, absolutely not. Next comes the question I know everyone is asking...how do you keep people from following one another from point to point...(this would have been my tactic). Apparently there are hundreds of "points" to find and everyone gets a different set and order. Genius.

Thursday- 12 or 16 (can't remember) mile road march. So now that I know this is a legitimate task that must be completed, I am paying more attention to detail. Details such at the weight of his "ruck" aka large back pack. It is suppose to weigh 50 pounds. We do not own a scale. So James is standing in the corner lifting it up and down saying, "It feels like 50 pounds, maybe I should put more weight in it just to be sure..." Not okay. While he finishes getting everything ready for his bright and early morning, I ran out to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy a scale. Why would you want to carry 58 (my guess) pounds when you only have to carry 50? Especially when it is hot and time matters? Exactly. You don't. Thus the reasoning for my run to BBB. In reality it was probably worthless. James weighed the ruck. It weighted 56 pounds (good guess on my part). He decides that "just to be sure" he was going to add some more weight and a full camel back to make a total of 60 pounds. This is when I realized that I was looking for ways for him NOT to carry more weight so that it will be easier, and his thinking was, I should carry MORE weight to make it harder so he can practice for Ranger school. Totally different mind sets. And that is why I love him. Always wanting to be prepared.

Thursday night we are having country fried steak to celebrate. James' mom use to make this for him every year for his birthday, so I thought I would try. So I tried to cook it Monday night and then again Tuesday night when James politely reminded me that country fried steak is a celebratory dinner, so we can't have it till Thursday night. Whatever helps him get through the week! Country Fried Steak tomorrow night...too bad I don't have my camera to show my attempts.

Blessed.

Look at God's creation that we ran into one day on a kayak ride around the channels.

It is a dolphin...not a shark. But it followed us/we followed it for a long time! And it got even closer than in the video. Fawn has the better video. I was in awe.

Graduation!

June 23rd. Graduation.

Definitely made sure that I was on time to this one. Rode with Fawn to make sure that it happened. Graduation was a ton of fun. It was a little longer than the ceremony 2 days before, and I think it was more formal. All the boys walked across the stage, called their names and their next duty stations, and then the honor graduates were all recognized.

This was the conclusion to the 16 weeks. Weeks were I spent the majority of the nights sleeping in the bed alone, missing my husband, learning how to prepare enough food for this boy's metabolism that does not stop, drinking coffee, learning how to make bread and biscotti, going on walks, learning my way around post, anxiously awaiting James' arrival on Friday afternoon's/evenings and literally soaking up the weekends and the couple of weeks that James and I were side by side. I can't believe that it is actually over...

Way too long.

It has been a crazy couple of weeks. And by crazy, I mean we have not been home for 2 weeks except for one night. So I am breaking this post up. It has the possibility to be SUPER long, so I'll spare you.

June 21st. My husband, received his blue cord. He has been looking forward to this moment for years. And it has finally arrived. I was beyond proud to watch him standing at attention with the blue cord over his right arm. 

Isn't he cute?!

I was standing in the back of the room trying not to cry because Ellen and I were almost late to the ceremony. And by almost, I mean we weren't really late, but all the boys starting standing at attention about 10 minutes before hand, and Ellen and I had to walk into the room in front of everyone. Perfect. Embarrassing. Ellen literally had to tell me to pull it together before we walked in.

The ceremony was short and sweet. Everyone applauded the boys and then we were lead into the dining room were we ate and awesome meal, enjoyed a couple of drinks, and got to talk to a TON of people. The best part for me was that Ellen was able to accompany one of James' friends as his date to the ceremony. So basically, I tricked him into letting me bringing a friend!!

Here we are with some of our friends. We are both so thankful to have made such close friends during the past 16 weeks.

Here I am with Fawn, Meredith, and Laura (left to right).

And James with Joe, Daniel, Mike (Blanchard) and Mike (McGee). I call them by their first names and just realized why it can confusing. Still don't care.