Torture Chair

Why am I so intimidated by hair dressers? Why do they scare me to death? I guess it's partly because I'm not a girly-girl. I don't like having my nails painted, even though I do love a good pedicure. Once I got acrylic nails so that I'd look fancy-schmancy in a friend's wedding. One broke the day of the wedding and I regretted the $40I spent to get them done. PLUS, when they all came off, my real nails were damaged beyond belief. Seriously, it took months before they were back to normal. Lesson learned. I don't ever dye my hair. Not because I'm too good for that, but because I'm too lazy to go back every 5-6 weeks to make sure it looks good all the time. I just learned how to use an eye-lash curler about 18monthsago. My friend, Corie, taught me at the same time she taught me how to create a "smoky-eye" look. Have I even tried that since she taught me? No. I look like a clown who forgot to bring a mirror to work so unless Corie is going to hop a plane and come help me with my make up, I'll be sporting the exact same color eye make-up every day, or night, regardless of the dress-upy-ness of the event. All that may explain my anxiety at the mere thought of going to a beauty salon. See, my mom always cut my hair. I was the girl with long blonde hair. (Me at 7.)

When you have long blonde hair, and are 7, you really just need the dead ends cut off once every 6 months or so. (Me at 17.)

Nothing fancy. So when I became an adult, I kept that habit... once or twice a year at the cheapest place possible. I remember when we moved to Columbia, SC I found myself in the seat at Super-Cuts. I actually liked that place because they don't wash hair there. Oh, I forgot to mention I HATE having my hair washed by someone else. It is horrible! I'd rather have a baby... being tickled is one of my all-time least favorite sensations and having the sprayer rinse water down my head is the worst. That reminds me of an episode of Veggie Tales where the worst possible punishment was to be sent to the Island of Perpetual Tickling. Yep. That's pretty much my real life worst possible punishment. So, though Super-Cuts wasn't the greatest place to get a hair cut, I liked the "no-hair-washing" part.

When we moved to Colorado I was a part of a pretty awesome unit, 4-10 CAV. One of our coffees was held at a gorgeous salon, Lotus, where we were pampered with our choice of 3 different spa mini-treatments. I got a pedi, a hand massage, and a face massage. Glorious, I tell you. During one of the drawings, I happened to win a free hair cut with one of their hair dressers, Marrivette. What was there to lose? It was going to be free... So I made my appointment for a few days later and got my hair cut. I'm sure she thought I was nuts for not wanting my hair washed, but trusted that I was telling the truth that I had just come from home and had just washed it. (It was still damp...) When I left that salon, I vowed to never have anyone else touch my hair again! She was magical! I was hooked and went back every 6-7 weeks during our time in Colorado. Before Lotus I always thought a hair cut was a hair cut. Little did I know!

And then, we got great news. We were PCSing to Germany! Awesome! But someone in the orders-making department forgot to add Marrivette to our orders and she was left behind. I had her cut my hair pretty short before we left, just to make sure it lasted as long as possible. That was November. I didn't get brave enough to go to someone else until April. I thought I'd let her tell me what would look good on me. Not a good idea. She said, "I'll give you a mommy-cut." Let's just say that didn't make me feel glamorous at all, and the fact that our family pictures were to be taken the next day didn't make matters any better. The next time I got it cut was September and this time I took with me a picture of a hair cut Marrivette had given me. The lady did okay, but I still didn't get exactly what I wanted. Partly because I always feel so intimidated to tell them to take more off or to make the slant more pronounced. I'm paying them... why do I feel like they're going to cut my ear off if I request something specific?!?

Anyway, here it is December and I needed to have it cut again. So, I did what any modern girl would do and asked around on FB. Let's just say I got very mixed responses to the person I was considering going to see. I had nothing to lose, well, other than a few inches of hair. I arrived at the salon for my appointment and guess where she took me... straight to the TORTURE CHAIR! I asked her if she could just spray it and she said no, that it was better for it to be fully wet. I actually said (because my fear was building and my filter was broken by this point), "This is why I didn't want a wash... I hate having my hair washed." She kept saying, "head down... you get wet." I didn't CARE if I got wet, I just wanted the torture to be over with! Finally she gave up and sprayed the rest of it wet. I showed her the picture and told her that I had been to 2 different ladies in Germany and neither had given me a good cut. I was pleased that when she was almost done she showed me the back and asked if I wanted her to make the slant more pronounced, which I did. She proceeded to cut more off and I think, overall, she did a good job. There are some really choppy places, things that Marrivette never would have left uncorrected. In fact, Marivette used to dry and style my hair and THEN cut on it a few more minutes, fine tuning the cut. Not so much today. Today I had to go home with wet hair and fix my it myself, even though I had paid enough for it to have included a quick run-through with a brush and blow dryer. I was kicking myself for not just asking the woman to style it enough so that I could go pick Matt up at Mainz Kastel... If I'm paying for something, why don't I feel I have the right to ask for what I want? I feel confident in stores or restaurants, but for some reason, beauty salons are my Kryptonite.

So, as I typed this I asked Matt some things (like what that stuff was that Superman can't touch or it renders him weak) and he asked what in the world I was writing about. I told him the basics and he said, "Why are you writing about your hair cut?!?" That is a good question. One I don't think I have a good answer for, as it does seem like a silly topic. But I think it's different for men, especially men in the military who have a specific hair cut FORCED UPON THEM for 20+ years of their life. For the women on their arms, however, we have to weather multiple moves across multiple continents, all the while keeping up with the current style (or for me, the style that was "in" a year or so ago because that's how long it takes me to work up the nerve to try something new...). And sitting in that spinny chair with someone you don't know holding a very sharp pair of sheers super close to your ears and eyes requires us to give over a bunch of control. Control that we, as military wives, are used to having. Being the only parent in a house for a year at a time can create some super independent women... which only makes it harder to hand that control over to someone else... especially when it comes to something as personal as hair. Overall, I think I'm one step closer to being satisfied with my hair cut. I will likely to back to the lady I saw today although I will have to gird up the courage to ask her to dry it for me. I will ALSO remember to go in with wet hair... oh how I hate that torture chair...

Remember.

Jennifer,

Remember back about 10 years when you didn't pay a bit of attention to finances? Would you call that time period a time of ignorant bliss? You didn't work hard at home economics. Specifically, you didn't budget, cook often, or even consider using coupons. Matt was making less than a first-year teacher and together you were spending quite a bit more than that every year. Life was tough, financially, but it would have been doable had you been a bit more aware of what was going on under the surface of the financial landscape; had you heard about and listened to Dave Ramsey's message.

Remember a few years ago when you noticed a small mole-hill of debt that had you slightly concerned about your financial status? Remember the moment when you realized that the debt was going to keep you from buying your dream house? Do you remember sitting outside Chick-fil-a in Shelby, devestated because you knew it wasn't going to happen. Surely you remember lying on your bed that night crying, grieving over that dream that was lost. And of course, you remember hearing the mortgage broker threatening to sue you if you didn't go through with the purchase, even though you had clearly told him you could not afford the house and hadn't signed anything legally tying you to the house. I wish I could go back to that moment and tell you to let him sue you. What would he have gotten? A mole-hill of debt that you realized, soon after moving into that dream house, was just the tip of the iceberg of debt.

Remember the moments of sheer panic that would set in when you got bills and knew you were only making the minimum payments, not making any dent in the balances? Remember the almost-physical blanket of depression you felt each time you sat in the office of that dream house? Remember counting the days till the next payday because you were barely making it two weeks between each one? Remember being so consumed with the debt that you searched scriptures to find out how to take every thought captive? You learned a great lesson during that time of desperate searching: that when your mind is being overrun with thoughts you do not appreciate, you can sing praises to Him or quote scripture... the enemy cannot be in the presence of praise and you learned how to go to battle against that enemy with the song, "I Cast All My Cares Upon You." Remember singing that song while cleaning? While mopping? While driving? While folding clothes? It was the easiest thing to recall when you needed to drive depressing feelings away. It worked.

Remember when the song "Praise You in This storm" came out? It was at this time in your life and the lyrics pierced your heart unlike any other:

I was sure by now God, You would have reached down, and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day. But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining.

Remember going through the gate at Fort Jackson when this song had just come on the radio. You were unable to stop the tears, incapable of getting out of the line, so you had no choice but to roll down the window, give the gate guard your I.D. and let him see your pain.

Remember being so dependent on Christ that your sweet husband read your mind and converted the closet into a prayer closet? Remember the hours you spent with Christ in there? He was your comfort in a time of need. He was there. You were never alone.

Remember needing rescuing? Remember the added level of fear when the Army told you that it was time to move after only being in the house 8 months? Remember leaving the house empty after having lived in it only 13 months? I wish I could have told you not to buy the house, not just because you had debt, but also because you were not going to be in Columbia long enough, anyway. Remember the house sitting empty for 6 months? Do you remember the moment you finally gave it up? You were sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot on 8th Street in Colorado. You finally said, "Okay, God. Take it. I have no idea how to do that, but if you don't, this house is going to kill us. I'm going to give it to the bank tomorrow." You had no idea what that was. What a foreclosure or short sale was. But you were desperate for it. Remember when the property manager called you the next day with renters? God stepped in and rescued you.

Remember the deployment? You needed rescuing from your own financial decisions. God gave you and Matt a chance to earn extra income in the form of a 15 month deployment. Remember the long, lonely days that you endured, encouraged by the ever-shrinking iceberg? Each day was worth it, and Matt agrees. That iceberg would have taken twice as long to thaw without that deployment.

Remember reading in Deuteronomy 8 a call to "remember what the Lord your God has done for you." It is clear that God has rescued you. It is time to remember. You need to remember THIS moment, as well. You have come so far. From a place where everything on earth was at stake, to a place where the debt is so small you can squash it in a few short months. But you have not gotten to this point alone. As a unified team, you and Matt have declared war on debt and have made a joint decision to never go back. You will soon be calling the Dave Ramsey Show to do your debt free scream and it will be a great day! But I am afraid you will forget. Forget how not paying attention to the finances got you in a mountain of debt. Forget the feeling of fear lurking in the mailbox. Forget the surrender when forclosure would have been a relief. Forget the 440+ days you spent without your husband knowing that each day was one day closer to being out of that disaster. Forget the clipping of coupons that saves you $30-40 on each grocery bill. Forget the cooking-by-the-month that has saved you THOUSANDS of dollars over the past few years. I don't want you to increase your lifestyle by much, though some is okay. I don't want you to forget the simple birthdays and Christmases which have cost you so little. Those inexpensive holidays have taught the boys many great lessons. Lessons that include the fact that Christmas is more about Jesus' willingness to come to earth to rescue us than gifts under the tree. That, though we could spend hundreds of dollars on toys and gifts for birthdays, we prefer to spend TIME celebrating each other. That we make choices with our money and we don't buy certain things, not because we can't afford them, but because we are making choices with our money that will help us win. Lessons that help the boys learn to earn money for the things they want and to not borrow money, for the borrower is slave to the lender. I don't want you to become lazy with these lessons just because the noose has been removed from your neck. If you become lazy, the boys will end up with a similar noose around their necks as adults. Remember your goal... that the boys will learn the value of a dollar (and a Euro... depending on where we're living at the time), and that they will know the meaning of working for what they need, saving for what they want, and giving generously. Remember that the lessons you're teaching them by example now are only going to get more and more important with each passing year. They will need to see the long-term benefits of saving, not just the day-to-day slow climb. Find ways to show them the fruits of your labor in ways that helps them to appreciate the hard work.

Remember hearing Dave Ramsey say, "Broke people can't help people." He's right. When you're debt free and working on your next few baby steps, remember the desire to pay for others to go through Financial Peace University. Remember that there were people you were willing to pay for their classes if they'd promise to graduate, but you were in no position to help them. Log/Stick. Drowning people aren't much use in the water. When the noose is gone and the issue doesn't feel as pressing, remember that there will be others whose noose feels uncomfortably tight. You will have the opportunity, and the ability, to help!

The remembering ensures that you won't go back. Making yourself remember the fear, pain, and shame you felt isn't to make you feel bad about getting into that situation. You were only normal. "Normal is broke," as Dave would say. But it was a miserable state to be in and if you can remember that, you will avoid that at all costs. You never want to be "normal" again.

Dave Ramsey says that it is hard to get excited about the "how" of getting out of debt until you've examined the "why." Remember the "why."

Why be debt free?

- So you can give to other people in need.

- So you never again have to worry about money (note: you got to this place LONG before you were debt free because you kept the starter emergency fund full at all times... removed stress immediately!)

- So you can always OWN what you have rather than make payments on it...

- So you can travel without guilt.

- So you can retire and have the house you really want.

- So you can leave the boys something when you die.

- So you can help the boys go to college.

So, in conclusion, remember the hard times you endured in order to get to the great times ahead, the times you mentioned in the "whys." Remember who rescued you. Remember the amazing man who walked beside you, hand-in-hand, willing to sacrifice deeply to win. (Remember the guitar he sold? And the guitars he didn't buy but really wanted to?) You've come so far. Be fully alert these last few months of being in debt, watching the finish line come more and more in focus. The count-down is on. The crowds are cheering. Hear them?!? Family and friends who have encouraged you all along. Three boys who can't wait to scream with you on-air! Those boys, along with Parker, who has no idea what debt is, will enjoy a totally different view, from a changed family tree..

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~

To any reader who might happen to be out there...

I had Matt read this in its entirety just to be sure he was okay with my transparency. These thoughts and feelings are mine, but they are very much tied to his story as well, and I didn't want to share more than he wanted me to. He didn't want me to change a thing. He liked it as it is, and was not ashamed by it at all. Neither am I, though I do feel a bit nervous posting it. You'll notice I didn't put a dollar figure on our debt. One main reason: If you have debt that is greater than what we had, you may feel it's too big a mountain and if we were this stressed over THIS number, you may feel your situation is hopeless. If you have debt and it's smaller than ours, you may feel it's small enough to ignore. I implore you to try it this way. Get out of debt. If you don't like the way it feels, you can go right back into debt in a matter of minutes. Apply for a credit card. Take out a loan. Whatever. But I bet you will like this way of living more than the other. I now look forward to pay day not because can barely make it till the next one, but because our "snowball" is so large that we make a BIG dent every 2 weeks. We're looking at being totally done with debt in March. And at that point, we get to move on to Baby Step Three. And at that point the dollar figure will not be shrinking, as it does with debt paid off. It will be growing. We'll feel like real live grown-ups, saving money! 33 years old. A bit late to be growing up, but hey, we're trying! I may sound like I am selling Dave Ramsey and his plan. That's fine. I often get accused of being a salesperson for Pampered Chef because I love the stuff so much. I'm not. Don't want to be. But when I find something that makes my life better, like a stone that makes the best pizza crust ever, or a muffin pan that makes beautiful muffins, or pots that NOTHING sticks to, I must share! And Dave Ramsey's plan has made my financial life so much better and if that plan can work for me, it can work for others... and therefore I share. If you have been doing great on your own, fantastic. You are different from most. Imagine what you could do with Dave Ramsey's plan. You could have millions in a few years. I dare you to try! If you live in Wiesbaden the chapels are going to be hosting Financial Peace University starting in January. I believe it will be free, or at least, very cheap. Let me know if you're interested. If you live in the states and want to find a local place hosting it, click here. Put in your zip and the options will come up. I dare you.

Our Own Space

We’ve been told by people who have been stationed overseas for a while that going back to America can be overwhelming. That once you live in Europe, America is just plain loud and everything’s big. I looked for this distinct difference when we moved here, to Germany. It wasn’t very noticeable, so I decided to look for it when we went back to the states for our first visit. Again, not too noticeable. Except at Chuck E Cheese’s, where everything is over-stimulating anyway. (If I had to hear the “Pizza Dough” song one more time I might have thrown dough at the speakers… the most repetitive song ever made, I assure you.) I wondered if one had to be away from America for more than 10 months for the differences to really take effect. I sort of just shrugged the idea off as something I might be able to notice when we move back in 2 years. Then we got off the plane in Ramstein… we sat down to breakfast (0600 on our bodies, 1200 lunch time here in Germany) at the PX and were enjoying our pizza and Chinese (no IHOP here). I had dismissed the concept of everything being quieter in Germany and had not given it any more thought until that moment… Even in that huge (beautiful, amazing, Air Force) PX food court, it was definitely quieter here. It was noticeable. It was quite comfortable. We knew we were home. At least home for the next 2 years. Don’t get me wrong. When we head back to the US, we will do so with great excitement and joy! We love America and miss so much about her, but I do believe God has put this “thing” in us that causes us to enjoy having “home” move around. Going back to visit our family and friends who still live in the same houses they’ve lived in for many years is nice. It roots us. It’s great to take our boys back to see these houses, the people who live in them and give them a history. (Another blog for another time, I’m sure.) But Matt and I don’t want to be in our forever-house right now. We like the adventure we’re on. We like not knowing where our next duty station is going to be. Well, we are pretty sure our next stop will be the career course at Fort Jackson, but that’s for only 6 months. The next real duty station won’t be revealed to us until we’re halfway through that course… and we like it that way. This way of life would drive most of the people we visited in NC insane, and I say that because many of them have told me that at one point or another. Sometimes I feel like I need to apologize for not being more homesick, then I remember God set this path for us and He has made us for this journey. If I were homesick I would be miserable, because that trek to visit NC is a cumbersome one. Not one I want to make more than once a year, especially with four boys. I am thankful I am so at home where we are, and thankful that Matt and I share the excitement of our life and look forward to being home. Of course, we use that word interchangeably! Going “home” before the trip meant, “going to NC to visit family and friends.” While there it meant, “going back to the place where we have set our household goods and made our own life.” When we got off the plane in Ramstein, we immediately felt at home. The base there has been a treat for us since we moved here as it is just so nice. (Air Force does everything nice.) When we stepped off the C-17 the air was just a touch cooler than brisk, and we were home! The leaves are turning much prettier colors here, as we’ve had more rain than NC, and we were home. The PX felt like home. The autobahn was FAST and we were home. We stopped at WAAF to pick up our mail, and we were home. (Going through the gate and showing our military ID assured us we were home.) We pulled up to our house and walked in the door, saw our stuff, and we were home! And then strange things started happening. Bailey and I immediately noticed that the house smelled exactly like it did when we first moved in. It literally took us back 10 months to the first few weeks we were here. The house had a distinct smell, not bad or good, just, particular. And it was cool inside, just like we like it, and just like it was when we moved in. As we moved about the house, doing the chores of unpacking, I couldn’t help but have moments that felt like we had just moved in and were unpacking for the first time. Bailey hugged the fridge. I kept repeating, “I love my house.” There’s truly NO place like home! Our space.

Additional thoughts:

While in the states I was 100% there. I loved every minute of it, so don’t take the above as a hint that I wasn’t happy there, because I was. I was reliving our childhoods as we spent time with our families. Reliving our time as newlyweds as we walked around the campus of Gardner-Webb. Reliving our time as new parents as we drove past the house we owned when we had the first three boys. Reliving our time when Matt was a youth minister as we saw the church and the people who loved us so well during our time there. Those events are what made us who we are and we are so glad for each of those periods of our lives. I’m just extremely thankful I don’t want to go back and do them again. I feel that there are some people who wish to go back and live in the past and I pray that I always love the season I’m currently in and look forward to the next season with anticipation. God has proven Himself faithful and I can trust Him with my future.

As soon as we got home last night the boys were off and looking at the new playgrounds that have been built while we were gone. They also headed down to Nathan’s house. They’ve missed their friends! They can’t wait to see Owen and Wyatt!!

Dinner last night was homemade vegetable soup that I had prepared and frozen before we left. I stuck it in the crock pot frozen and thawed it in there, and it was great to eat a home cooked meal! We only had a handful of those while on our trip and have missed the hominess of them.

At bedtime each boy had no trouble falling asleep! In fact, earlier in the day I found Carson in the bed just about to fall asleep. I had to make him get up or he was going to fall asleep way too early… poor kid. As I write, it is 0815 local time and everyone is still asleep. That means the boys have been sleeping over 12 hours. Parker slept for several hours before waking at midnight, ready for the day, as it was 0600 on his little body.

Matt and I enjoyed an episode of Chuck after the boys went to bed and it was nice to be in our own living room, our own space, resting together.

Fun places, sweet faces, amazing spaces…

Okay, I’m really having to stretch my mind to come up with titles that include the word “space” so I can tie all my NC 2010 trip blogs together! This is going to be a fast paced blog, peppered with pictures showing some of our fun times in NC. In order to see more pictures you can go to our Shutterfly page, but it'll be a while before I get them all edited and uploaded.

6 October: Ramstein waiting to get out. (I wrote about that here and here.)

7 October: Walking around Charleston Air Base waiting on Nana and Papa; our first taste of Chick-fil-a… YUM!! (I wrote about that here.)

8 October: Driving to NC; Campfire time with the family, one of my favorite pastimes!

9 October: Day with the Ramsey family. They were kind enough to come to us and we started the day at Concord Mills, lunch at Chick-fil-a, running around at a park, and ending up at Outback!!

10 October: Virginia Creeper Trail… This was so much fun! The boys were had a blast riding 17 miles down the mountain and Parker enjoyed his time in the bike trailer behind Matt’s bike.

We also enjoyed getting to spend the day with my brother’s son, Mason! HE’S SO CUTE!!

11 October: Rest day. This day was spent at Nana’s house, doing nothing much. (I wrote about that here.) I promised Parker he wouldn’t have to get in his carseat and I believe he was grateful. This day we celebrated Granny’s birthday with a spaghetti dinner and the boys sang “Zum Geburtstag” to her.

12 October: This was the day we had originally planned to go to the Great Wolf Lodge. We decided against it because we were just having enough fun at Nana’s house! We, instead, went to Chuck E Cheese’s and got to see Granny and Grandaddy one last time. I really wish we had had much more time to just sit and chat with people. Catching up with people is hard when you’re on such a short visit.
That eveningwe had a photographer come to Nana’s house and they took pictures of the family: My mom and dad, their kids and grandkids. I still haven’t seen the results and I really look forward to that!

13 October: Today was Parker’s 7 month birthday so I took his ‘recliner pics’ in mom’s office recliner. It was the closest chair in her house to what I use at home.

We headed to Matt’s mom’s work and surprised her! We waited in one of the exam rooms and her co-workers had her come in to check on a “patient.” My camera was on a strange setting and I got horrible pictures. I didn’t realize this until after the fun was over, so I’ll just do my best with what I got. That night we had dinner with Grammy, Brad and Erin. After dinner we spent some time at Grammy’s house as she lavished the boys with gifts. Parker came home with some really cute clothes!

14 October: Sybil’s dad, PawPaw, was in the hospital during our visit so we went to see him. He really enjoyed meeting Parker and seeing the boys again.
After that great visit Grammy took us all to the House of Mouse (Chuck E Cheese’s) where we got to enjoy the “Pizza Dough” song… again. That night we had Panera for dinner. We were making sure to hit our favorites while we could.

15 October: If you have a chance to go see the Billy Graham Library, take it. Expect to spend about 2 hours if you want to see everything. Absolutely beautiful place, peaceful and such a great tribute to an amazing man of God.

That evening Matt and Sybil headed to the dress rehearsal for Brad’s wedding while I stayed at the hotel a bit longer. I met my parents at the restaurant and gave them the three big boys as they were going to keep themovernight. This gave me the opportunity to enjoythe rehearsal dinner as well as the wedding with out kids, (as they also met me and got Parker from mejust before the wedding).

16 October: Without the big kids Matt and I enjoyed seeing Belmont and ate lunch with one of my friends from college, Kristin. This was the BIG DAY! Matt’s little brother’s wedding day! The reason we were in the US to begin with! I had so much fun taking pictures! The wedding was beautiful and we’ve never seen Brad happier.

After the wedding Matt and I headed to the hotel, where Nana and Papa had landed with all 4 boys. This was a sad moment as it was the last time we would see them on this trip.

17 October: We got to see Grammy one last time, before heading to Boiling Springs. We got some good pictures of her with the boys. It’s never easy saying good-bye! Fortunately, we were looking forward to seeing our friends in Forest City so that eased the sadness a bit. And, we hope Grammy will come to visit us in Germany.

Our first stop in NC was at Mitzi’s house. She and Mitchell fed our family a feast of feasts, including fried okra, which I miss dearly. They say it’s not hard to make but I’ve never mastered it! I ate seconds and wish I had had room to carry the rest home with me. Parker had his first tastes of mac and cheese, potatoes, and green beans. He LOVED it.

The boys went out with Megan (who was a BABY when we moved to FC!!!) to ride 4-wheelers. She taught Hayden how to ride the 4-wheeler that requires him to change gears! Awesome!

The next stop was at Cathy’s house. It was just what I had hoped it would be: tons of talking for the adults, lots of playing for the boys. While we missed seeing several families we would have loved to see, we understand that it’s just impossible on such a short visit.




This image was taken by Heather Ensley... I am so glad she grabbed my camera and snapped a few sunset shots off Cathy's back porch. NC really is beautiful!

The day concluded by a time around the campfire, during which I lost Parker’s paci. We spent a good bit of time looking for it by light of the 4-wheeler, never to find it. Well, we did the next day by the light of the SUN!

Our hotel room in Belmont was very small, in an effort to save money. We had 4 nights in this one and we were ready for more space so when we got to Boiling Springs for two nights we upgraded to a two-room suite. We had a huge whirlpool tub and the boys LOVED that.

Parker had been sleeping in the metal crib and hating it.

He ended up in the bed with us a lot, something I really don’t like. It makes me nervous and I keep checking to see that he’s breathing. The hotel in Boiling Springs had a real pack-n-play and he LOVED it. Slept like a log!

18 October: This was a doozy of a day! We toured GWU and reminisced… it seems like yesterday that we were in college.
They did NOT have a Chick-fil-a on campus back then!

We enjoyed lunch at Fuji Yama before hitting Wally-world, the Christian Bookstore and FCBC . This is the Veteran Memorial at FCBC put together by Alex Hutchins for his Eagle Scout project. It looks awesome!

After shopping we got to see the Martin and Murray families, meeting Eli Martin (I forgot my camera so I borrowed this picture of Eli from Pammy’s FB) and...

Keeliana Murray for the first time.

Next stop, the Franklins so Marie could babysit the big three while Matt and I got to go on a double-date with Anna and David.

We always look forward to these dates and try to fit them in every visit. They had a great new place for BBQ. If you live in NC/SC you should try Daddy Joes BBQ in Gaffney… YUM! We had the “chopped pork with rib sauce” plate. So good! Of course, no date is complete without dessert at Outback.

Yes,we had the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under!! And this was the last thing I could taste on the trip, as I woke up the next morning with a cold…

19 October: We slept pretty late and asked for an extended check out so we could enjoy the pool. Parker had his first experience in a pool and LOVED it. It didn’t hurt that the pool was quite warm and he loves water anyway. He was super cute in his bathing suit!!

Since Hayden couldn’t enjoy the pool he “swam” in the whirlpool. We ate lunch at Bojangles before starting our trek to Charleston. On the way I called and found out that there were two flights scheduled for the next day for Ramstein. Our prayers started at that point, that we would get on the first flight. We signed in to our hotel (a 4 bedroom duplex) and started washing clothes. Matt vacuumed the van out and once the boys were in bed we repacked everything, finding out that we only had to ship one box home. Not bad! We crashed at bedtime, exhausted, and I was feeling rough with my cold.

20 October: Roll call times: 14:10 and 15:10. That means that they were going to start calling names accepted for the flight at 2:10. We were great on time, having decided to get to the airport at 11:30 for check in. We pulled into the terminal at 11:35. We checked in and Matt left to take the van back to Triangle. He was fairly certain he’d be back by 12:30 as the car rental place was only 15 minutes away. At 1:00 I had still not heard from him and they had decided to start roll call an hour early. I worked hard at keeping panic at bay, faking a smile and calm voice with the boys. He had the prepaid phone AND the Nextel with him so I didn’t have an easy way to contact him. That’s when I remembered I had stuck a calling card in my pocket. I used the guest phone to call him (after having to search my Facebook messages to find the number to the prepaid phone). He had still not been PICKED UP by the cab! I was close to panic but had to fake it, still! They started Roll call and when they got to our name I had to walk up there and say, “I think we’re going to try for the next flight.” Praise God for the second fight! Oh, I was so worried! He walked in the door 5 minutes later. I went back to the desk and told them that we would try for this one afterall, and they said that when they had gone through all the CAT III’s they would go back down that list. This time, we were ready and we made the first flight! As it turned out, there were 48 seats on each flight, and only about 60 total people needing to get to Germany. The first flight filled up and those who didn’t fit got on the second. I wonder if being on that second one would have been better, more room to spread out. But it wasn’t worth thinking about. We were glad to be scheduled and checked in. Our flight was delayed two different times by an hour each time. It didn’t phase us, as we were there and going home. We pulled out games and entertained the kids as best we could. When we boarded we were happy to be sitting together for this flight. (On the flight to NC we were separated by a couple… they really should have moved down two seats so we could sit together.)

After 3 hours the plane landed in Maine to refuel before making the trip across the pond. This leg was just over 7 hours and everyone slept fairly well. Parker was up at midnight ready for fun, so I had to entertain him a bit. My cold kept me from sleeping very well, but I was headed home, so that was great! We landed and got to see the rear of the plane open up and them remove our luggage. (That small pile behind the connex was the luggage strapped together.)

As we got off the plane we noticed an amazing difference in temperature from when we boarded! We loved it! Lunch for breakfast at the PX, mail from WAAF, then home, sweet home. In the past two weeks we had slept over the ocean going both directions, in SC, and in three different places in NC. It was worth all the work and effort, seeing all the people we got to see.

Fun places, sweet faces, amazing spaces.