While We're Waiting

The events of the first year of our marriage have been pretty crazy. From getting married to preparing for a deployment and then having that canceled (praise God!); to going through a very painful work experience and being unemployed for the past few months, to working day and night all week just to finish the updates on our house by March, and finally putting it on the market and selling so quickly (praise God, again!). And now with Aaron looking for a civilian career in Civil Engineering. Talk about life changes!! Did anyone know that selling a home is considered to be one of the top 3 most stressful events in someone's lifetime? I had NO CLUE! But now I understand why. And for us military families, the deployment of a spouse is up there, too. All in all, we have been blessed. And even if things hadn't turned out the way they did with Aaron's deployment, we would STILL be blessed and praising the Lord. And even if our plans with this move don't work out how we planned, the LORD will be praised!

I was visiting with a Young Life leader named Kevin who works out of the basement of the home we'll be crashing for the next few months until we're officially out of the military. As I was pulling clothes out of one suitcase and putting them into a smaller one in preparation for our trip to Boston this week, we were chatting about the craziness of life, but how we can see in the midst and as we look back just how God took the trust and hope we gave him and guided us each step of the way.

As I sat there looking at all I have for the next 4 months, I thought, "Lord, what am I to learn in this time?" And then Kevin said, "You know, I think sometimes God just wants us to lighten our load for awhile." I am so happy that he said that! As challenging as it will be to live out of two suitcases, I realized in that moment that I have everything I need. The Lord going before me, clothes on my back, and the love of my life, Aaron.

As I drove home, I heard this song come on the radio and I love every single lyric. My favorite part is about how even in a time of waiting, not only do we need to worship the Lord, but we need to serve him by ministering to the people of this world wherever we are at - Even in a time of transition. Becauase as Aaron and I are well aware, this transition has been and could continue to take a long time!

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience

While I’m waiting
I will serve You
While I’m waiting
I will worship
While I’m waiting
I will not faint
I’ll be running the race
Even while I wait

I’m waiting
I’m waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I’m waiting on You, Lord
Though it’s not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting
I will serve You while I’m waiting
I will worship while I’m waiting on You, Lord

Lyrics by John Waller

In the army now!

Well, not really in the army, of course. But, we did experience the most amazing army simulator at the Andrews AFB air show! We were lucky that we went on the "DoD only" day because i'm sure it wasn't nearly as crowded as Saturday and Sunday. We had a front-row view for everything! In the simulator we got to ride on real-life black hawks and convoys. They even gave us ID cards and had us "briefed" by an army sergeant on how we did. All I gotta say is that this is probably their best recruiting tool. I didn't sign up, though! I think I make a much better "supportive air force wife."

We toured through the two cargo planes we'll be flying in the next few months....a c-5 and a c-17. It's amazing how huge these planes are. I'm still trying to prepare myself for flying backwards and sideways...hmmmm....

The Thunderbirds were pretty amazing. I had to laugh a little when the kids would scream as they flew over us. They are SO LOUD! It wasn't that it was funny, I was mostly laughing at the parents as they would try to console their crying children. I mean, they know what they're about to put their kids through before it even happens! Mean parents! haha

We really enjoyed the Golden Knights. I just think these people have got to have one of the most thrilling jobs in the military. I know it isn't really fun and games when it comes down to it, but they sure put on a great show for all of us!

We got pretty sun-burned. It was cloudy most of the day, but I realized just how deceiving that is! Thankfully, my farmers tan and racoon eyes are nearly gone. It was pretty cute. We're just glad that we could go and enjoy the air show this year since Aaron is usually working at it all weekend and especially since this is our last one at Andrews. We won't miss everything, but definitely a lot of things about this place!

The Army Golden Knights

Prop-plane tricks. I honestly have no idea if this is right-side up, sideways or upside-down!

Of COURSE the Thunderbirds kinda steal the show.

Cozy-ing up in the c-17 :)

The inside of the c-5. HUGE!

Positively the most handsome man i've ever seen! I sure do love this guy.

Travelin' Fools

This is just a sneak preview to all the other pictures in this blog! Aaron and I have been happily using up his 45 days of leave and loving EVERY MINUTE! We just returned from a trip down to Savannah where I got to see one of my favorite people and college roommate from APU, Shelley. It was so much fun to see her! She took us around down town Savannah and it was adorable. Aaron loved all the spanish moss on the trees. She showed us the little upstairs apartment she used to rent from some people and I loved it because it has so much character!

After spending the night and one day in Savannah, Aaron and I were off to Charleston to see his cousin Haley and her boyfriend Bryant who attends the Citadel. They took us to an incredible true, southern-style restaurant where we got the most amazing grits and crab cakes and hush puppies that take the cake over any others that we've tried! Yum! I wish I had gotten a picture with Haley and Bryant, but somehow I forgot to do that :( We loved Charleston so much that we decided to stay for a second day. Not only is Charleston one of our new favorite places, but we stayed on Charleston Air Force Base and it was probably one of the nicest AF bases (according to Aaron.) We really enjoyed our stay, and it was close to town, 20 minutes from the beach, and 5 minutes from a really great outlet mall. Yes, Aaron let me splurge a little bit...so fun!

Honestly though, one of the best parts of our trip to Charleston was randomly running into Aaron's best friend who is a C-17 pilot stationed in California. Let me try and explain how all of this craziness unfolded! Aaron and I had just left the cutest wine bar (where I met a new furry friend! Hence the dog in the tu-tu at the top of this post. Bliss is her name and I LOVED her! She was the "mascot" at the wine bar!) and we were walking over to a hotel with a roof-top bar. All of a sudden, someone grabs Aaron from behind and says, "Give me your money!" We both jump and turn around and BOOM! There's MATT! It was the most amazing experience because Matt didn't know we would be in Charleston and we didn't know he would be either! It turns out that he and a few other pilots were spending the night re-fueling their aircraft. We joined all of them for a drink and had a great visit. He said they had never stopped in Charleston before, so it was truly meant to be. Isn't that so much fun?!? Our favorite spot in Charleston is now the Isle of Palms. It's a gorgeous beach town! Let me just admit right now that I even bought a t-shirt. I NEVER do that. I loved this place!

After spending an exra day in Charleston, we were off to Virginia Beach. We drove through Kitty Hawk, which was really fun. We had hoped to see the museum, but it was 5 p.m. when we drove though and they had just closed. So we went on our way to the beach and checked into our beach-front cabin at Fort Story, a small army base along the VA. Beach Atlantic coast. Even though we didn't love it as much as Charleston, we HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place to anyone. And we especially recommend Cape Henry Inn at Fort Story to any of our military friends (Mari :) hint hint) The boardwalk at VA. Beach was a little ghetto. Not because it's old and/or run-down, but because there are some weird-o people hangin out there. Seriously. Lets put some clothes on people!! As Aaron says, "It's just annoying to be around people who only want to draw attention to themselves." So true honey! All in all, it was a really great stay!

Finally, after two days in VA. Beach, we packed our stuff and hopped in the car to Williamsburg. I don't need to go into much detail on this one, because Jamestown and Williamsburg speak for themselves! It's amazing to walk around the oldest towns in the United States. The history just blows me away and I loved, loved, loved it!

Before we knew it, it was time to go home and 5 minutes from our house, our car started acting up. We thanked the Lord that this hadn't happened earlier in our trip when we were so far from home. I went to take the car into the shop yesterday and couldn't even get it into reverse. Nothing. Ugh! I had to call a tow truck and the mechanic thought the transmission might be shot. Thankfully, the filter just needed to be replaced and it was just that all of our trasmission fluid had spilled out causing it to not shift properly. I guess all of that driving really did it in. But it was a much easier fix than we had prepared ourselves for. We only have one car, so this would have been a huge blow. God is good and he provides. We give him thanks!

There's so much more I could blog, but i'll have to do that after our trip up to NY to see a broadway show for my birthday at the end of this month. We'll also be picking up Aaron's brother, Jesse, in Harlem to make our way up through some of the New England states. I can't wait to see Boston which is where my grandparents are from. I love traveling and these opportunities for us are not taken for granted!

We officially close on our house this Friday and then the movers come on May 20. Thanks to Joel and Maggie, our amazing "God-Parents" at our church here in Virginia who mentored us before we got married, they are providing us free housing at their gorgeous home until we move. AMEN!! We can't thank them enough and we feel so blessed.

I'll do my best to keep everyone posted on how things are going for us!

Uh oh. Public humiliation at the courthouse in Williamsburg!

I know, I look too happy!

The historic Williamsburg Capital

At lunch with Shelley in cute, cute Savannah Georgia!

Shelley's first apartment when she moved to Savannah. Isn't it amazing?!?

Sitting down to visit after running into Matt in Charleston. AMAZING!

The Gas Light wine bar, downtown Charleston

2.5 million dollar homes at the Isle of Palms. Whoa.

Beach lovin' - My man needs a tan ;)

Life is pretty rough...