pwoc

i went to my first pwoc meeting today. pwoc is protestant women of the chapel- it's a national Bible study at military installations. i wasn't really sure what i expected, but it ended up being good.

it didn't start out so hot... i called the installation chaplain's office for directions for the specific chapel it was at. i got lost (long story) and arrived to the chapel 20 minutes late... only to see a sign on the door that today's meeting got moved to another chapel- one i am familiar with and is much closer to my house. i got there 30 minutes late... but apparently all i missed were songtime and announcements.

there were probably 35 women there, of all ages. everyone was incredibly friendly... actually, people were more friendly here than at any of the churches we've visited. the very nature of a military installation-based group is that there is CONSTANT turnover- every two to three years, everyone moves. so, unlike a church that has had people who have been there for the past 40+ years, anyone who has been there longer than about 6 months is an "oldtimer"- new people are the spice of life.

of these women, the overwhelming majority of them said good-bye to their husbands (most of them for the 3rd or 4th time since 9/11) just a couple weeks ago. the 3rd infantry division (located at ft. stewart) is in the process of deploying... unlike last year, I am the one who has a husband at home while everyone else is alone. it made me very thankful that we're together, yet at the same time, the feeling that one day very soon I will again be the one dealing with stateside life alone loomed in the back of my mind.

it is great to have a group like this, though, in those times. a group that laughs at the same "you know you're a military spouse if..." jokes, that cries just as much (if not more...) than you, a group that asks not what your husband does, but if he's in the country or not (because really, that's all that matters).

have a good day, and keep the troops in your prayers...

new house pics

here they are! the house is still a work in progress (especially the wallpapered kitchen...), but it looks great already. there's also a formal dining room and spare bedroom that i didn't deem it necessary to take pictures of. (the dining room is our next project, but right now still has cardboard boxes as the decor...)

enjoy!

(sorry for the double- the pictures are represented as text in my "edit" box, so I can't figure out what to delete!)

fixing the unbroken

i'm sitting in a motel room bored out of my mind.

okokok, so that may be a slight overstatement... but just barely. jon is at drill, and i am waiting for him. i briefly considered staying home this weekend, then i remembered what it was like the time i DIDN'T go with him...

anyway, this time on my hands prompted me to make a change to my blog. i attempted doing this a few months ago, but when the template changed, it did some crazy things to the site- it was like the new one was on top of the old one. i quickly changed back to the original and took it as a sign that i shouldn't try to fix something that isn't broken.

then, i went to josh's site... and realized that blogger beta is equipped with new template options- woohoo! (what? copying him? no. not at all.)

i'm not so sure i agree with that statement anyway- "if it's not broken, don't fix it." i think that just because something is still functional, that doesn't mean it can't get better.

and... with all of these new changes in life, i suppose my blog needs a lift too. (side note- i found the camera this week, and jon found the cord- pics soon I PROMISE!!) i have realized that i am, in many ways, a completely different person than i was two years ago...

two years ago next weekend (why do i remember these things?), jon gave me a ring. i was already starting to plan a wedding, calling friends and family to let them know the news!

i view life much differently now than i did then. two years of marriage- one spent with a spouse in a war- will do that to you. i have joined a new family, gotten to know my own in a different way, met new friends, and gone through things i never imagined. i'd like to think i'm much less critical and judgemental now. i feel that i am. i realize that if i expect people to accept me for who i am, i must in turn accept them for who they are- even if it is very different from me. i have learned to be much more gracious and much less harsh. i have realized that i don't know as much as i thought i did.

i hope you enjoy the new look...

mmmmm.... pudding....

here's another of my favorite things: cook 'n serve chocolate pudding.

i hadn't had it since i was a kid, and when i was at the commissary (military grocery store) the other day, it looked darn good.

and let me tell you, it was.

jon even crushed up hershey cookies in it for me!

if you have never experienced such a delectable treat, i suggest you get on it right away!

a change and an answer

first of all, suffice it to say i'm not president bush's biggest fan right now.

now that that's out of the way...

i have, once again, changed my educational mind. after looking into the degree programs columbia offers a little more thoroughly, i discovered that the teaching minor is only available at their home campus- in missouri (i thought it seemed a little too good to be true...). without that teaching certification, i'm not all about a degree in history... so... (drum roll please)... i am doing sociology. i have always been interested in it; i was just never sure what i could do with the degree. after looking through the program, i realized that i am much more drawn to it than to history. it's in a way a ministry degree through a secular worldview. it fascinates me. i brought the idea up to jon, who got more and more excited about it the longer we talked about it.

rhonda- since you asked, the bedroom is slate blue- two adjacent walls are a darker color, and the other two a slightly lighter color. i love it. the living room has an oak chair rail- white below, and a slightly-bluer-than-sage green above. the ceilings are vaulted in there. the study has a deep chocolate brown on three of the walls and a lighter brown on the other one. that room has a huge top to bottom window that lets in a lot of light, so the dark looks really nice. :-)

did you all see that lost is going to start coming on at 10 instead of 9? boo.

i will soon post pictures... have a good weekend!

from monday night

i felt like i could vomit.

the sky was starting to darken. it had been quite sunny today after a heavy rain last night. i have had increasing feelings of emotion about this evening- anticipation mixed with fear, doubt, and excitement. i walked into the building, not quite knowing which of those feelings was the strongest.

i have taken the plunge. four years since i waved good-bye to moody bible institute, i find myself enrolled in more college classes. this time, i’m attending columbia college, and will major in history with a minor in education.

so here i sit. the professor is talking about the city of ur (sidenote, i have jon’s laptop, which happens to contain an 80-slide power point of ur- i’m looking at pictures of what she’s drawing on the white board…)

now that i’m here, i feel much better. students in front of me are furiously writing every word the professor says. the woman in front of me is working out the cramp in her hand. that i can see, i’m the only one with a laptop. nice. i’m sitting in the back corner (close to an outlet) with no one next to me. there are probably 25 students, most military. some are adorned in ACUs, others just have the distinct haircut.

it is certainly and odd feeling, going back to school. I haven’t completed an assigned reading- let alone written a paper- in years…

i have now been in class for an hour and 45 minutes- only three hours and 15 minutes left (yes, for those of you who are math-impaired- that’s FIVE hours!)

this is going to be a long night…

to everything turn, turn, turn...

sorry i disappeared. i have been living in the dark gloomy world of no-internet-at-home.

yes, we're back. we moved. to a climate that demanded i actually turned my air conditioner on in the truck in january. yes. it's wonderful. (just don't talk to me come june...)

we ended our time at grace christian academy on a tuesday, closed on our house on wednesday, and headed to michigan on thursday. i enjoyed this trip much more than thanksgiving, for we could actually spend time with people instead of on the road back-and-forth! unfortunately, i got sick the night before we went to be with my family, and didn't get feeling better until the day we left... suffice it to say i was a bit foggy the whole time.

we got back into fayetteville late on friday, packed on saturday, and loaded the truck on sunday. thankfully, rocky and carolyn were there to help... and help us unload... and help us paint...

yes, the day after we moved in, we got the bedroom and living room (complete with vaulted ceilings and a chair rail) painted. we really couldn't have done it without rocky and carolyn. their experience and willingness to help went miles in getting us moved in and feeling at home.

we've now been here for a week. i start classes tonight- eek! haven't been to school in a while... this is weird... i'm taking western civ I at a local campus (from 5:30-10:30 pm) and western civ II online. fun fun.

that's as much of an update as i can cram into this post... i promise more interesting thoughts are to come!!