August 2009 - Contentment

God has really been teaching me a lot lately.

First let me start with an update. Preparing for deployment, Aaron and I have met with several ACS staff to fill out paperwork. Questions like, "If you are killed in action, do you want a military burial, or a civilian funeral?" " Do you want to be cremated?" "Do you want to up your life insurance?" Questions that I assume to be "adult" decisions. Sometimes I don't feel 24.5 years old...My parents are supposed to talk about wills and insurances and those things. I'm a newlywed. It's scary being a military family sometimes. The interesting part to these questions being asked was the time frame in which we needed to answer them as well - aaron was given 30 minutes. We had to come up with a living will, life insurance, funeral arrangements, finances, etc. in 30 minutes. How can you characterize your life in 30 minutes? How do you put a price tag on your life insurance? I'd rather have my husband here with me for the next 60 years, than the money...

So God's been working in our lives. Aside from not being able to find a job (no openings), I have been perfecting the role of house wife. Which I must admit can be very boring at times. Other wives struggle with this as well, and it is very common in the military home. I have been doing devotions every day and trying to increase my prayer life. It has been a struggle, a constant fight, to choose to be content here. It's very exciting to live overseas, until you actually move there and live there for several months - away from your safety bubble and things that make your life more comfortable. Not to mention the cost of everything in Europe....right now the US dollar is 1$ = .60 cents Euro. So we struggle financially. Aside from this, contentment has hit me like a Hawaiian wave...God has showed me that to everything there is a season, and this part of my life is learning contentment. I know He has a plan for my life and I know why I am here. Remaining focused on that is hard too - there is a lot of drama in being an army wife. Watch the tv show and you'll understand.

God is so good though. And we have truly been blessed. I'd give anything for my husband to stay home and not deploy to somewhere that is insanely unsafe and anything goes...but I know God's got it under control and He's gonna show me how to deal and how to cope.

So that's it for August. I'm going on Thursday for my drivers test - so maybe next blog I can check that off the Bucket List.

As always folks, thanks for reading...even if it is just my humble ramblings.

July 2009

I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog...So upon reflection, I have decided to atleast update this page once a month. Maybe give a minor oversight to life in the military.

Being a housewife was always something I didn't respect as much as I should have. I always took the 'independent woman' stance on it, and believed in college and a good job. However, ever since we moved to Germany, a job has been hard to find and I have been a 'mere' housewife. Now, dont get me wrong, I miss working and financially contributing to my marriage. However, there are a few things to be said about the housewife. Keeping the house in order, the bills paid, the checkbook balanced, the dog and cat cared for, the laundry done...its actually alot of work. I try to busy my time between the FRG, volunteering, and keeping up with friends as well. Its been quite busy, and I find that although I want to be working, God has taught me contentment for now.

Sometimes I worry that my life is falling behind my peers. Like we aren't doing very well financially, or success-wise. I am proud of myself and my husband; we have accomplished so much in the minute time that we have been together and married. I have friends that have huge, lavish weddings and then return to their debt-free lives, carefree. Throughout our life experience, Aaron and I both have accrued debt and of course not to be left out, college loans. I envy the lifestyle of being carefree with finances. I wish I knew more people that have the same situation that we do.  I do dream of a lavish wedding, and actually going to a Pottery Barn catalog and ordering whatever I want, instead of settling with hand-me-downs. I cant wait for that to happen...

So these are my random thoughts for July. Maybe next month will be more hopeful.

Ramblings

Salutations to my fellow bloggers or readers!

I arrived in Germany a week ago and have learned several things in that quick amount of time.

1. the water here is super nast. my hair is already weird - we were told to wash our hair in vinegar once a week to keep it healthy...
2. german military beds suck
3. I never realized how much I appreciated carpet and more importantly, the plush pads underneath the carpeting...our floors are all cement and tile!! my arches in my feet are just aching by lunch time if Im not wearing shoes (which I hate to do)
4. I did not pack enough of my stuff - I shouldve kept alot of it

We have had several xbox 360 tournaments and gone bowling with the neighbors - we are definitly socializing well!! Our house seems to be the central hub for everyone to hang at! haha. I guess we keep them coming because I pretty much cook every night!

All in all its a major adjustment thus far. I love my stairwell-mates, and am getting on quite well with all of them. Im trying to fight jet lag and try to just stay awake as Im still exhausted by lunch time here. Our house is never clean enough either, the floors are so weird and collect dust daily. We are on the lookout for some cheap furniture as well...and are anxiously awaiting our stuff to get here on the 30th...I've been doing alot of cooking too. We have cooked for the neighbors and anyone that comes in here usually eats here. Zoey is doing well, shes become quite the sleeper....I think she may be adjusting and jet lagged as well. We are doing well though and are fully enjoying our time here with "Daddy" before he leaves TDY on the 2nd. Just a quick update

Chapter One

Upon several requests for pictures and updates on army life, I have decided to join the blogging world. I've heard it said that sometimes being a newlywed is hard, and adjusting to married life is tough but to be honest, I have yet to experience married life. Aaron and I were married on Christmas Eve at 3pm in a pathetic little ceremony in Dillsburg PA. We drove to the pastors house and once told, "you can pay me now.." by the pastor, we recited a somewhat brief form of "vows". Once it was official we drove back to Carlisle, where we ate cake and danced to our first dance as hubs and wife, and changed clothes so we could attend the christmas eve service at church. We "honeymooned" in a hotel in town, and came back to my parents house Christmas morning at 7am to open presents. We spent a week together before Aar had to report back to Ft. Lee. Once all our paperwork was in, we were told we were going to Germany. Our dates were changed several times, along with the way things worked but we muddled through and are just beginning to live out our love song; married style. I can't promise that this blog will always be exciting, but I promise to offer a candid view of military life from a wife's perspective, and to offer a random rambling every now and then. Welcome to our love story.