Thursday

Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace.

On a Walk with Zulu

I love that our apartment complex is big enough and pretty enough to enjoy puppy strolls. Usually, we walk the sidewalk loop- about 3/4 of a mile and then head to the backs of the buildings, where they mow the grass...yay! I let Zulu have more of her leash and she runs around to explore every sight and smell possible. The hills help me get a good workout too! I love getting fresh air for an hour each day and I appreciate the effort the apartment owners put into keeping the grass, trees, and plants looking so beautiful. This doesn't feel like concrete rows of buildings...instead the sights are pleasant. It feels wonderful to get out and walk the pup. Here's a little picture of our walks together.

"Hurry up, I'm waiting!!" We know she's anxious when both ears are sticking straight up.

Our apartment complex has some really neat trees and plants, filled with butterflies.

"Seriously? You're taking pictures? I want to run!"

Walking the perimeter- beautiful wooded areas.

And believe it or not, a creek runs through the complex! I would have never known if I didn't walk so much with Zulu.

I love that we have trees in our apartment complex.

Gazebo/Pool area

More plants

Front of our building

The grassy areas behind the apartments are perfect for burning off puppy energy.

Little puppy, big world.

Can you spot the puppy?

She thinks she's in charge.

Living life on the edge.

Back upstairs and back inside. 

Weekly

This week was a whirlwind...and I think that is a good thing. I had ambitious plans for the week, knowing that I would be spending the majority of it on my own. What does one do when preparing for a week alone? Well, if you're me, you go to the library (for fun, for the first time in years) and pick out some awesome books (some for learning, some for fun). You go to Walmart, and pick out simple, cheap picture frames (for projects that have been waiting for completion). You survey the fridge and cupboards (to write a list of simple meals you can make without going to the grocery store). And finally, you make a to-do list and build a "project stack" (that waits, with anticipation, on your desk).

Yes, my life is just that exciting.

I wish I could say that I got everything done that I wanted to...but I didn't. I did, however, get a lot more done than I do on a usual week...and I enjoyed every day that passed. 

One of my main goals this week was to let myself enjoy my time. I tried to make an effort to get out each day and enjoy friendship as well as alone time. I tried to let myself sit and enjoy reading without feeling guilty. I tried to let myself stretch my creative abilities. Really...it worked well. This week was the best week I've had in a long time. I'm thanking the Lord for the ability to enjoy the way that he created me as well as the simple things in life.

Monday, I remembered to take out my camera. Enjoy a few pictures of what a typical day here looks like!

Dishes...and lots of them! I prefer to spend my weekends enjoying down-time with Keagan. So Monday comes and it's catch up time!

After a dog walk, tidying up, and devotions...it's time for lunch at the desk!

Having the apartment to myself  = Project Piles!

Tackling the project list and puppy naps. :)

Wall addition #1!

Another new wall addition in progress. I've been waiting on this one for awhile!

Puppy time.

This week also included:

• Babysitting a sweet little man and a good time chatting with a friend.
• A trip to the vet with Zulu. She was so good!
• A poolside brunch with lovely military spouses that ended in sunburn (but it felt good).
• Lots of walks in the grass around our apartment complex.
• Rainy nights/days. I don't know about you, but I love sitting in silence and listening to the rain fall at night. It's magical.
• A Greek-diner experience with Keagan on Friday night. So good. And the cake I got for dessert was so huge that I snacked on it five more times after taking it home.
• A lovely day trip to Richmond to visit Kiley: exploring Carytown and eating lots of food.
• A new career goal! I should be starting online classes in just a few weeks and it feels so good! :)

Here's to a week that's hopefully just as good as the last!

Weekly

Oh dear, I am getting bad at this weekly updating thing. This week, though, I have a good excuse! I had my post all typed up and ready to go, and then wham. My laptop charger decided to short out, cause a giant spark, and scare me half to death. So, I've been waiting, laptop-less, to get my charger in the mail. Everything in that post now seems so outdated, and really, nothing out of the ordinary happened. I got sick of looking at the post, trying to decide how to spice things up, so I scratched it out and started over.

The last couple of weeks have been very, "normal"... at least in the TBS way. What once seemed unusual and hard to get used to, has now become the way of life. " The normal in our lives is, quite honestly, abnormality. Our life together is no longer the routine way that we used to live in Iowa- working during the day, supper together at 7:00, playing pool, watching The Office, going to bed, and doing whatever we pleased on the weekends. It's not Thursday suppers at Dave and Kay's with the whole family, or going to church at the same time every Sunday. Now, it's adjusting to the schedule of the Marines and making the most of every minute we get together. What does that look like? Well, in the past week (and a half, now), we have:

• Enjoyed 5 minutes together, in my car, in the parking lot on base, because Keagan's company got released late and he only had time for me to bring him supper and sleep in the barracks.
• Enjoyed a very quickly put together supper of brats, mac and cheese, and canned green beans, while watching Psych at 3 AM, because that's when Keagan got home, and he was hungry. 
• Enjoyed sitting next to each other all day on Sunday, even though Keagan was working on his orders for Field Exercises all day.
• Enjoyed meals that were made two days earlier, but due to unforeseen schedule changes, Keagan wasn't able to come home.
• Enjoyed a spontaneous hour or so walking around Fredericksburg on a Sunday.

If you see a pattern, our time together often centers around food. :) Honestly, I'm starting to not mind this "schedule" of ours so much. At first, it was really frustrating for me, being a schedule-junkie. I didn't like not knowing if Keagan would be home at 6, 7, 8, 9, or the next night. I didn't like making meals because we heard the guys would be coming home early, and then putting them in the fridge to reheat later when Keagan finally got news he could head home. At first, everything was really frustrating. Now, it's just an "oh well." The schedule does get very tiring and I don't like seeing Keagan so tired all the time, but I do like how hard he works, with minimal complaining. My respect for him has flown through the roof the past couple of months. Yes, I think we're both ready for TBS to be over and to move on to the next phase of training- one that applies more towards what Keagan will actually be doing and will hopefully be more organized, but we're trying to enjoy this part while we're here.

For me, I'm starting to come to grips with the insecurities and emotions that come with being home alone so often, without a real job or even solid plans for what's next for me. I plan to write more on this later, but I've been enjoying the little things that each day in this season of life brings. I've been learning to enjoy the power of "choosing" what to accomplish (I've never had this in my life before, at least to the same extent). I've been working on letting go of the guilt that I feel when I shouldn't. New things are in the works for me, and new things have begun. I've been able to start baby-sitting for another military spouse fairly regularly, which has been a blessing. I'm just trying to focus on the here and now and the blessings it brings.

We're working on the flexibility, adaptability, and perseverance...characteristics that the Marines are obviously trying to instill in us through how TBS is run. Welcome to the Marine Corps- Semper Gumby.

P.S. I promise to put up a post with pictures...soon.

Weekly

Another week gone by. I've decided I need to start taking more pictures of things that seem "common," but might spice up my weekly tales a bit. Afterall, black and white words really don't do Virginia justice. This last week seemed to draaaaag on and on. I spent most of the week getting back on track after vacation. Why is that always so hard? I caught up with laundry, unpacking, housework, bills, etc. and also started a new "get-out-of-the-apartment" opportunity, which was great! Keagan had a long week too- nothing big, but just a draining, long, week.

Sunday, we enjoyed a little time away from the apartment and wandered downtown Fredericksburg. I know I've mentioned it before on the blog, but it was great to go back and visit. I could seriously spend days there wandering from shop to shop and looking at all of the neat buildings.

Other than that, the week was pretty uneventful. We're shocked at how fast, yet how slow, time seems to be going. We're about 3 months in, and Keagan graduates shortly before Thanksgiving. This schedule and training are getting a little bit tiring, but we're trying to stay positive and encouraged. Virginia has been a wonderful place to spend our summer so far. I love going for daily walks with the puppy and enjoying the trees and landscape. Driving around is also fun- we really love the architecture and variety of businesses and scenery. Fall is coming soon, and I'm really looking forward to the lower temperatures, changing colors, and hopefully more exploration!

Morning Routine

Source

I'm really loving our morning routine lately. It's about the only thing in our lives right now that is consistent and I think I am savoring each and every second of it because of that fact. We may only spend 30 minutes together in the morning, but something about it is so simple, so familiar, and so treasured.

4:15-4:45 AM depending on ODT (On Deck Time), the alarm goes off. 

K heads to the bathroom to shave, H takes the puppy out to go to the bathroom.

H lets the puppy run around a bit inside as K puts on his cammies or uniform of the day and starts to gather necessary equipment.

H sets the mini skillet on the burner, turns it to 6 and lets it warm up. She has egg making and sandwich assembling down to a science.

H delivers two eggs, over very easy on two slices of toast to K. K eats as H finishes assembling the sandwiches, or leftovers, to send with K for lunch.

H and K sit on the couch together to enjoy any spare second of time they have. 

K escapes to the bedroom to build a "nest" of blankets and pillows for H to enjoy when he's gone.

H smiles because she thinks K is thoughtful and kind.

K laces his boots and tries to fend off the overly excited puppy. 

K puts on his cover and backpack and heads out the door for another long day of training.

H waves goodbye and thinks about how proud she is of K.

H puts the puppy back in her crate and says, "night, night," once again.

Puppy whines for a few moments and doesn't understand why H wants to go back to bed. It's 5 AM!

H climbs back into bed, carefully positioning pillows and blankets to block out the sun that's slowly starting to stream in the windows. It's hard to fall back asleep, sometimes.

H sleeps again until puppy wakes her up a couple hours later. Puppy's ready for another trip outside.

The rest of the morning involves H and the puppy alone at home. It varies a bit depending on the day's schedule, but usually consists of breakfast (for both of us), devotions, weather checking and blog/news browsing, a brisk half-hour puppy walk around the complex and free-running in the grass (if the puppy behaves), lots of water drinking (for both of us...Virginia is so hot and humid), tidying up the apartment for H, and puppy naps for the puppy. It's the little things.

Do you have a morning routine?

2 Weeks Plus a Couple of Days

It's pretty easy to let the days fly by lately...

Rewind a couple of weeks. Not much out of the ordinary happened in our little sliver of the world. I spent a little time with fellow military spouses making beautiful wreaths for our doors, but other than that the week was filled with decisions, scheming, texts, and conversations that finally lead to one thing. On Friday, I bought a plane ticket, and on Sunday I landed in Minnesota.

I wonder if any of you are lucky enough to have a place as near and dear to your heart as Northern Minnesota is to me. It's one of those things that I've never really been able to explain to someone outside of my family...but they all understand. Nothing beats those summer days on a dark blue lake, surrounded by bright green trees and a bright blue sky.

For almost 40 years, my grandpa has taken his kids (and eventually grandkids and great-grandkids) to Eagle Nest Lodge- a resort in Northern Minnesota on a gorgeous, clear blue lake. We have stayed in cabins for a week every summer enjoying the woods, fishing, family time, the lake, and relaxation. It's a blessing that I'll always be incredibly grateful for. There's something about that place...the anticipation that builds the closer we get to the resort, the smells, the air, the sights, the sounds, and probably the memories too. It honestly just warms me in a way I can't describe.

It's always been a constant and something to look forward to. No matter what happened during the year, we got to go Up North. Growing up, it was the place to run, explore, play, and dream. My cousins, siblings, and I stayed up late into the night, enjoying vacation, and also thinking about and planning our futures. It seems silly...but it's what we did. Our imaginations ran wild, dreams were built, and we were free. As we grew up, things changed a bit. We shifted from running around like crazy creatures on the beach and in the woods, to learning to appreciate the family time and comfort of a week without responsibility. We now knew what real-life was like, but we appreciated it, and the break that we got from it for one week every summer.



I realize that when you grow up, sometimes you have to let go of the past, but I wasn't ready for that yet. I thought that I was, but the closer it got to vacation week, the more upset I was for not planning on being there. I could have been a good "grown up" and not gone; my heart wasn't okay with that, though. I could have waited for a better week to go home, when the puppy was grown up and we had saved up a little more money, but I didn't want to turn down the opportunity. How often can I fly home and see not only my mom and dad, but also my siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and my grandpa for an entire week? Not very often. Somehow, I was lucky enough to have all the pieces fall into place. Keagan had another field week, so I wouldn't see him Sunday night- Friday night anyways. A wonderful, helpful, military spouse offered to take care of my puppy. Airport transportation was arranged. A plane ticket was bought.

I was able to show up at the resort with only a couple of people knowing I was coming. It was wonderful to surprise them, and it was beyond amazing to spend a week in my favorite place on earth catching up with my family. I tried paddle boarding for the first time, read on the beach, enjoyed cooler temperatures, played games with the crew, and let myself breathe in the familiar air. I shared a room with my cousin and sister (just like old times), sat next to my mother, laughed at my grandpa's wonderful sense of humor, and caught nothing but a clam. I got bit by horseflies and swelled up like a balloon, spent more time inside relaxing than years past, chatted with my aunts and uncles, and ate more than I could ever need. I needed that week. I only wish I could have brought Keagan, but hopefully another year.

Even with how wonderful vacation was, it felt just as good to get home to Virginia and my husband. I really like the life we've built out here, and even though vacation is nice, a week is long enough. I'm so thankful for air travel, family, memories, and magical places. And hey, i'll most likely be back next year. Growing up can wait...