I Must've Done Something Good: Part V - Where the Army Sends Us

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not so great at this blog thing.

As I sit here in the living room of my beautiful apartment, alone on a Friday night as Luke has all-night staff duty, I wonder why it's taken me so long to update.

And then I remember in the last 2 months, I've gotten married, moved, made new friends, tried to figure out what being an awesome wife to my endlessly good husband means, signed up to teach Sunday school, started a job, and got a puppy. And blogging is not on my to-do list every day. I will try to change that in the weeks to come. ;)

In this final installment of my summer series, I'm going to tell you what moving 800 miles across the county looks like:

An extended cab truck filled to the brim, both inside and out, a trailer hauling a Saturn with zero oxygen space, crates strapped on all around, a very expensive, VERY beloved Harley-Davidson motorcycle perched (at times precariously) on the back, and a conversion van with barely enough room to fit two awesome parents-in-laws in the front. Dats how we roll, people.

By the way, when we got here, we found out the Army would have paid for the biggest U-Haul we could rent. HA!.. Ha... ha. *sobbing quietly*

It was nuts. It was stressful and emotional and nerve wracking. I cried until we were out of Illinois, and went through two boxes of tissues: one for tears and one for a massive head cold that decided to plague me during probably the hardest couple of days of my life (excellent timing).

And then suddenly, it was okay. It was sometime as we were rolling through the gorgeous hills of Alabama that I reached over and took Luke's hand, and I knew it was going to be worth it. Sure, I'd never seen the house we were moving into, never visited the state that I was about to be a citizen of, and never intended on ever leaving my sweet country home prior to meeting this man. But I knew it was going to be fine. It was going to be better than fine. It was going to be great!

And great it is!

We moved into one kick-butt apartment. Seriously, I can run laps. I do, actually. It's beautiful and has such great charm.

(This is me, totes excited. "We get all this!?")

And got to decorate to my heart's content. 

(We're like...adults.)

After searching and church hopping for WEEKS within a two-state radius (no joke), Luke and I finally found a church that we love. Oh yeah, did I mention.... it's a block away? We started attending St. Maurice Catholic Church on Ft. Benning, and have't looked back. We had some misconceptions about attending a church that would obviously be so tied to the military, just because we thought it would be nice to "get away" sometimes and intermix with our civilian brethren (I joke... makes us sound like aliens. "Hello, human. Teach me your ways of not using acronyms for everything."). God had other plans, though, because after attending daily Mass one day on post, I somehow managed to walk away with a Sunday School gig for Luke and I.  We will be teaching 6th and 7th grade, focusing primarily on Theology of the Body Ah! Love. We are excited to share our passion for our faith and Christian sexuality. 

Coming here, I started out with no friends... 

("It's just me and you against the world, buddy!") 

(Yes, that's a HUGE DEAD cockroach in my house. Gross!)

And now we've met some amazing ones! We're meeting new people all the time, and just got back from a Florida vacation with some great new friends. It's very exciting, even for an introvert like me. 

(My first time in Florida! I didn't get eaten by a shark. Whoo hoo!)

Speaking of Florida, I have gotten to see some pretty cool, new, and exciting things while living in the south. Although I miss my mid-western manners* and corn fields, the south is a really unique place to live. (Besides the trees... the trees here are weird. They've got moss and pine-y things and...... never mind. Come visit and see them for yourself.) We've been all around Columbus area, Atlanta once, Destin, FL last weekend, and even threw in some pretty Alabama sunsets for good measure. 

(This is me petting a sting ray at the Atlanta Aquarium... so, so neat!!)

*Sidebar: Midwestern Friends, have you ever noticed how often we say "I'm sorry"? Apparently it's a mid-western thing that I never noticed. If I bump into you, I say, "I'm sorry." If I cut you off in the cereal aisle of the grocery store, I say, "I'm sorry." If you drop something on the floor that was 0% my fault, I say, "I'm sorry."  It's weird now to think about it. I have a friend from Oklahoma that pointed it out, and now we laugh about it every time. Sorry. 

Back to my point... 

I get to hang out with this guy ALL the time. I know, we're married, so that's like a thing now, but I'm still excited about it. 

(He is just so irresistibly good. He has an open mind and a kind heart. And he flosses every day, which I think makes him a saint.) 

After much discussion, I finally convinced Luke that we needed a companion, but not in the baby-shaped-sort just yet. So we got a sweet new puppy! Her name is Scout Francine, named after her Armor Corps roots and St. Francis of Assisi, who we believe is ever praying and interceding for us. He's also the patron saint of animals, which we're hoping will help since little, energetic Scout is quite the rascal sometimes in her puppy-ness.  She's keeping me busy, that's for sure! 

(Look at that face! How do you discipline that face?!)

And I'm sorry (ha!) but I'm going to say it. My hair in the Georgia humidity rocks. And so, I guess, I'll stay. ;) 

Army life has been a whirlwind, but it really has been nothing short of a great experience so far. People here are kind, and I am continually amazed at the genuine character and goodness of the men and women who serve our country, and their families who support them. I'm proud to count our little family among them. 

And so, the adventure continues... wherever the Army sends us next! 

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?