Dreams

We said goodbye to my new unit last week as they deployed. Now I'm the only one left to work on three big construction projects! It's really got me thinking about what I will do after I get out next year and move back to New York. Should I go to school for something practical like architecture or have fun with it and go to art or culinary school?

My heart is in art school but I don't know if I want to throw away the last five years of experience just to end up with a degree that isn't useful. I have a family and I know we need money to live. I would also like to be comfortable and not have to worry about bills all the time. I would like to be able to buy some makeup or clothes without feeling guilty about it. I want to buy a house too and have a car that has a working climate control. I don't want Ellie to have stressed out parents who worry about money.

What I really don't want is to be the person who gave up on their dreams. I always wanted to work in the art world and I still do. In a lot of ways I think it would be worse to show Ellie that it's more important to make money than it is to be happy with your job. 

The thing is, I can ponder this all day, plan it all I want and life is still going to happen in an unexpected way. "The best laid plans" as they say. I certainly didn't think I would be wearing an army uniform in my life!

I'll just have to see what happens. I plan on applying at art school and culinary school at the end if the year. 

I never take pictures in uniform and my mom is always bugging me for them. Since she got us a couple of camo onesies for Ellie I figured I owed her a few pics! 

Moving Again

The day finally came! I got orders for my next duty station! Alaska has been a interesting place to live and I'm sure I will be happy to tell people that I lived here for three years, but right now I'm over it. I think I'm really the type of person who needs to pick up and go every few years. I've done lots and lots of moving in the past, across 6 different states and Guam. The boredom, the drama at work... I get so exhausted. Even though there are rumors of deployment at my next station, which I don't want to do with a new baby, I am still optimistic that everything will work out.

I know that moving is supposed to be one of the most stressful things people go through, but I actually really love moving! Not so much moving to a different place in the same area, but moving to a different location entirely. It's exciting to go to a place I don't know and have never seen. I love to check out the different lifestyles of the people and the local cultures. I also think it's very cleansing to go through all my junk in the house and throw things away. I usually have at least three or four garbage bags full of stuff I don't need anymore and it feels good to get it out of my life.

I'm sure this move will have its ups and downs, but I'm ready for it. The next three weeks are going to be crazy. We have snow on the way, my baby shower, we find out the gender of the baby, we pack our stuff and we say goodbye.
It will be fun to celebrate Thanksgiving in an empty apartment. Maybe we can eat Chinese takeout sitting on the floor watching Netflix. I'm down!

Long Distance Date Night

I wanted to make sure I was involved in this months Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop, because I haven't in a long time. This months topic is Date Night. I thought to myself... "I don't get a date night! My husband is 4,000 miles away! Boo!"

But that's totally wrong. We actually do get date nights, but they mostly consist of watching movies on Netflix. Many times we just sit with Skype on and he plays guitar while I am busy crafting. We share YouTube videos and post silly pictures on Facebook. We text. We call. 

It gets boring after a while, not having many options for a date night. I get jealous knowing that my friends get to go out with their spouses to dinner, hiking, or to a picnic in the park. Even just going to get coffee in the morning would be a dream for us! When we ARE together we try to make every second count. 

Long distance relationships are pretty common in the military. Quite a few of the people I work with have wives or girlfriends who live in the lower 48. It's nice to know I'm not alone, but it gets difficult because there are still people who think long distance doesn't work.

Here's my advice to anyone doing it long distance: 

1. Make time for each other. Even though sitting around on Skype can be boring, you'll soon realize you're having some of the best conversations you've ever had.
2. Don't listen to other people. You'll hear that long distance doesn't work. They will say married people "should" be together. I'm guilty of letting people's opinions get to me... and you know what happens? Joe and I get into a fight. If I didn't let these opinions get to me we could be spending our time together having fun. If you have decided as a couple what the situation is and how it is going to work, you don't need any other opinion messing with your head.
3. Have a deadline. Know when you will finally be together in the same space permanently. If I told Joe that I wasn't sure about leaving the Army after my contract was up, it may have been difficult for him to see a long term relationship work. I KNOW I'm leaving and I know I'm moving to New York after that. We have our plan for the future and it helps on those days when we wake up lonely.
4. Trust each other. It's part of knowing your relationship is a good one from the beginning. If you can't trust that your partner isn't dating other people, it doesn't matter how far away or close to each other you are... it's not going to work. 

I can't wait for the day when we can fight about doing the dishes and picking dirty clothes up off the floor!

The Kindness of Strangers

I'm finally home again! I spent two terrible, mind numbing weeks in the field doing army training. I went through six books, most of which were very very bad. But my good friend loaned me a book she had read called The Kindness of Strangers. It completely inspired me and reminded me how much I love to travel. The book is a collection of short stories by traveling authors about a time when they were in a foreign country and a strangers kindness saved them. If you have ever traveled you probably know the feeling.

This book made me want to share one of my greatest accomplishments. It was six years ago now, but still one of the best moments of my life (aside from my marriage, of course!) This was the three days I spent in Egypt. I took a trip to Israel and had an amazing time, but my ultimate goal while in the area was to see the Great Sphinx of Giza. It was one of those things that seemed impossible. It was one of those places you see in Nat Geo or on the Discovery Channel, but not a place you would actually see in person.

The border.

When I crossed the border from Eilat, Israel to Taba, Egypt I had no plan. It felt unreal. I was in the desert in a Muslim country as a single woman, alone. I ended up hitchhiking with a guy named Saad, in his "taxi", all the way to Cairo.

Saad, the driver.

 
After driving through the desert on roads almost completely covered in sand, we stopped in a village. It was filled with goats, camels and naked children ran up to the car as we drove in. We cooked a chicken and chatted with a family there.

Fatima and her baby at the small village outside of Sinai.

A village we stopped at on the way to Cairo.

Each village we stopped at Saad kept the men from getting too close to me. He made sure they didn't give me bad food or spoiled meat. He was my translator and my tour guide and my bodyguard. He got us through the check points on the road. I was still cautious, knowing that being a woman who did not cover her face and wore tank tops would be perceived as promiscuous. When he said we would sleep on Mount Sinai that night I tried to think of an escape plan just in case. Would I be able to find my way to the car? Would I be able to see the road or would it be covered in sand? Would I know the way back to Israel? He could have killed me or raped me the night we slept under the stars on Mount Sinai, but he did not. He made us food and we watched shooting stars and smoked spliffs instead. 

Children in Sinai wanting to know who we were.

The day we arrived in Cairo was overwhelming. Saad left me to my own devices which turned out to be pretty dangerous. I got a ride with a man who owned a papyrus shop to Giza, where I knew I could see the pyramids. I ended up riding through the Sahara on a camel at night to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx lit up in colorful lights. Amazing. Afterwards, with the owner of the camel, I smoked hookah and ate dinner on a roof with a clear view of the pyramids. He ended up being a creep, grabbing my face to try to kiss me, so I ran out of the place into the streets filled with camels to catch a cab back to the hostel. The cab driver was convinced I carried some "American weed" which was "very good" and wanted me to share with him. Nothing but colorful characters in that city.

The Khufu Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza. The money shot. 

The next morning I hooked back up with Saad, my escort and the only person in the country I felt safe with, to go get a last look at one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

I could go on and on about those few days. I hope one day I can take my husband with me to a place he never thought he would see. I hope that if we get into trouble or get in over our heads, a stranger will help us and make the experience that much more unforgettable.

Mud Run!

Today was the annual Mud Run. It's a 5k trail run through the woods, up dirt piles and through huge pools of mud water. I was originally not going to go, but then someone got the idea to have the team dress as zombies. I was totally in! I'll take any opportunity to dress like a zombie.

All of us before the race started.

My BFF, Kyla, and her husband eating Burger King for breakfast.

Calloway, after a blood application. He kept licking the blood off his face because it tasted good (chocolate syrup was an ingredient) LOL

Sersha just poured the fake blood into his mouth and drooled it out for a realistic effect.

Some guy on post has a truck with "Zombie Outbreak Response" and "Heavy Drop" stenciled on it. I was so excited to see it in the parking lot so we could have a photo op.

The finish line!

We had a great time and got really muddy!

I've got some sneak peek photos of my brothers wedding scrapbook I put together. I already posted the album a few weeks ago, but the inside was empty. Now I've added the Instax photos from the wedding and embellished the inside. I'm only posting a few photo's because I haven't sent it out to them yet. I'm still a beginner scrapper, but I like how it turned out! I'll get that online tomorrow.

I've also got a neat little tutorial for a scrapbook technique that I'm working on.

I've been having a ton of fun with this blog so far! I should work on getting some readers ;) The idea of other people reading this makes me nervous, but whatever. I'm excited to interact with other bloggers with the same interests as me. Either way, I'm having a great time with or without readers!

xoxo

Bog of Eternal Stench

Before I get into the story that warrants the title of this post, I have to post up some off topic pictures... I went ice skating for the first time!

I fell down only twice!

I had a good time:)

But I've got a real exciting story, better than ice skating! Yesterday we went through the Gas Chamber.

It was so surreal, I got basic training flashbacks. As I filed in with everyone I was surprised at how clear the air looked. You would think that because it's filled with tear gas it would look smoky, but it doesn't. There is only a small burner on the floor that looks like a hookah, emitting CS. We're all standing in a circle and you can start to smell it. Your skin starts tingling and the guys running the thing are standing in the middle talking, telling you to do jumping jacks etc... All you can think the whole time is,

"It's ok, I'll just breathe a little bit... no, I'll take more breaths but keep them short... no, I need to take a deep breath but I'll hold it in as long as I can... no..."

ALL you can think of is HOW to breathe. Then they made us break the seal by pulling the mask partly off our face, and then made us clear it. Thats when your lungs start to sting. That's when you start to drool. At this point you have to swallow the saliva because you can't spit it in your mask and even your spit tastes like the gas. After that is the big finale: taking the mask completely off. We held them above our heads and waited for everyone in the circle to recite their last name and last four of their social. Your lungs, your eyes, your nose are all dripping with snot, tears and drool and you somehow blurt out your name in between coughs and your lungs are on FIRE. Then the door opens and everyone runs out the door. I was coughing and heaving and spitting and burping. Yuck!

My friend took a bunch of videos of everyone coming out of the chamber. I'm defiantly going to get a hold of some them and post them. Some people shoved open the door and collapsed on the ground, making awful noises. It's pretty funny to see each other looking so crazy.

That is one of the things I like about the Army. Even though mostly it sucks, it's cool to say I did stuff like this.