Our Weekend Adventure

David and I had a great weekend.  He went off to his first day at in processing – although it got off to a rough start.  The electricity kept flipping off and on all night long (which I slept right through) however David was not so fortunate.  Once 5:30 rolled around, I was wide awake primarily from the heat, then David’s alarm clock.  The electricity was still off, so David had to get ready for his first day in the dark…no warm breakfast, water, or lights for him!

With a flashlight…

Ahh that’s better!

So now with the hubs off to work and no “real” job to do – I cooked and cleaned and then headed off to the gym J

Over the weekend we went to the Volksmarch and did the 5K and also went to the Josh Turner concert. I was a smidge disappointed with the “German Food” they supposedly were going to have…it was Bratwurst … which is arguably American at this point J So we saved our $10 on sausage and went to Chickfila instead. Guess the authentic German food will just have to wait until we (hopefully) get stationed there!

And yes, that is a kid in the ruck sack!

Between the Volksmarch and the concert, we drove around town to get our bearings and then needed to make a quick trip to the commissary (grocery store)… I just happened to find a little tack store on the way back to post…so I just HAD to go in, if for nothing else just to sniff the leather and hay J

Afterwards, we braved the Commissary together – it is ALWAYS busy and crowded … definitely NOT the Publix experience by any means. But, it is cheap and has a pretty good selection…and did I mention cheap?! I won’t brag that grilled chicken breast are only 1.70/lb pretty much all the time or that I can get a flank steak for under $5 that I would have usually paid $12 back home J You certainly have to fight for your place in there though…its like a little game of tetris.

As promised, here is a photo of Josh Turner J

And another pic of the concert...

Sunday was good – we have found a church that we are still trying to decide if it is for us…so far so good.  I just keep comparing it to back home and then I am always disappointed…I am still learning that I can’t  compare…it is what it is J

 I am still looking for a job – there are plenty of jobs in the area that would be MORE than happy to have me…at minimum wage.  Don’t.Think.So. (at least not yet!)  Or I can always commute an hour each way to work for a more comparable job to back home (there I go again with the comparisons!)  Probably the most unfortunate thing is that I had to withdraw from m very  first graduate class tonight due to not having a job yet.  Graduate School is very expensive and there really aren’t any programs out there for our rank that will assist military spouses.  We have been very blessed so far to not have any student loan debt and now is NOT the time to start acquiring that – especially in the job market here. 

All in all, we have had a pretty good weekend.  Just taking the ups and the downs, the highs and the lows – it is all a part of life J  David’s official first day with his unit is tomorrow and I will keep you posted on all the adventures to come!

Ft. Bragg - Here We Are!

So where to begin?! I will bring you all up to date on everything that has occurred since last time I updated the blog.

David graduated AG basic Officer Leadership Course:

 

David went to – and graduated –Airborne School:

I pinned David’s wings:

David dedicated his original wings to his father:

 

 

More Airborne School Photos:

Our best “army” friends moved to Hawaii:

We moved to Fayetteville (aka Fayettenam according to the locals and all the lucky souls that have escaped this dreadful place).

No…it really isn’t THAT bad (definitely not Hawaii!) but we have found that it is actually a pretty good little town now that we are here.

Our first trip to come check out the area was absolutely horrible! So horrible in fact that we contemplated on how in the world we could get new orders…anywhere except Ft. Bragg would be acceptable.  It took us a little while to get used to the idea, safety being the main reason.  It was storming the whole way back to South Carolina after our first visit.  I was driving and David was sleeping (of course!) and as I came over the hill I saw a huge rainbow.  It reminded me of the Biblical Story of the Great Flood in Genesis:

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:

9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you

10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth.

11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come:

13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,

15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.

Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

It gave me a sense of peace that everything would be OK. 

Over the course of the next week, we didn’t talk much about the orders we got to move to Ft. Bragg.  Let’s be honest, it was a sore subject!  The following weekend, David and I went to the pool to get in a little relaxation before he headed off to Airborne School. It was a beautiful sunny day – not a cloud in the sky.  The weather was perfect.  I was laying in the lounge chair soaking up the rays.  I heard David in the distance talking to some other army guys about orders and where they would be going next. Agitated, I opened my eyes…ugh, I mean could we just get away and not talk about our crappy future for five minutes I thought to myself?! Then, I saw it. A rainbow in the sky.  On a clear, sunny day – no clouds, no rain, no rain in the forecast…just a rainbow in the sky.

David left the following week for Airborne School.  The first week was OK without him.  Then, I had to say goodbye to a really good friend of mine and her husband (they are PCSing to Hawaii, remember?!) Consequently, Hawaii is known as the Rainbow State – just a little trivia for ya =) It was a tough week.  I was really looking forward to my last day at work because I would be going home for a week to see friends and family.  So the week, of course, druggggggg by…..

By this point I was feeling a little better about our future at Ft. Bragg, as dismal as it seemed.  My last week of work it rained all week long.  One morning as I was driving in, this is what I saw:

Go figure, right?!  And this was the third and final rainbow that I have seen (in person) since we have gotten our orders (some of you may remember my “three theme” a few posts ago…if not, feel free to go back and read it.)  Even more awesome than that, FaceBook Friends of mine posted pictures of rainbows after I saw the third one in person (keep in mind I had not shared all my rainbow drama with anyone except David until now.)  I thought it was neat, so I thought I would share.  J

OK, so now on with the stuff that you guys REALLY want to know about.  David and I have officially arrived at Ft. Bragg. We have a really cute house off post and just outside of Fayetteville.  It is in a pretty nice area and we are surrounded by cotton fields so it has a nice element of being back home.  David starts his in processing at the end of this week and into next week and he should start his official job towards the end of next week. 

There are LOTS of community events and activities we have planned over the next week.  There is a Volksmarch this Saturday which includes a 5K and lots of German food and festivities (it reminds me a little of the Greek Food Festival back home...its just German instead of Greek.)  Then that evening Josh Turner is putting on a free concert for the military and I am STOKED! I loveeee Josh Turner – his voice is uhhhmazing! And ladies, you KNOW what I’m talking about!

;-)  I will try to get some good pics of him to post. 

Thanks to everyone for your continued support and desire to keep in touch! It means so much!

 Ashley