Hubs' first week and the zoo

We went to the zoo today. It was lots of fun though we lasted about 2 hours. We saw the elephants, the rhinoceros, the alligators and the gorillas (those were Gator's must-sees).









Here's Hubs' synopsis of his first week at Ft. Benning:

I arrived around dinner time on Monday, May 26th (Memorial Day) and got all checked into my room on post. Officers get to live in a hotel-like complex rather than the barracks. The rooms have a full sized bed, private bath, small desk built into the wall with internet access, and a small kitchenette. Tuesday was spent getting my ducks in a row (i.e., buying needed uniform items, buying groceries, prepping uniforms, etc.). That evening I decided to do laundry and ran into a group of officers from South America. You never know when Spanish will come in handy. I met the Installation Chaplain, the senior Chaplain here at Fort Benning, on Wednesday. He is a fellow Southern Baptist and seemed to be a real servant leader. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday found me shadowing the Battalion Chaplain from the 11th Engineer Battalion, a unit that builds bridges, roads, buildings, etc. Oddly enough, that guy was raised in St. Marys, GA where my submarine had been homeported from 2002-2005 and we knew some of the same people. The world is truly small. Thursday evening I was able to link up with some extended family here in Columbus for dinner and some great, non-military interaction.

Friday, though, was the day I'd really been waiting for: reporting to Airborne School. Things were a little tenuous at first because I technically was showing up without a reserved seat in the class. The Installation Chaplain had worked a super secret deal with the Command Sergeant Major of the Airborne School to let Chaplain Candidates participate. Thankfully it didn't come down to needing to drop names. Instead a far more sophisticated system of discrimination was used to decide whether the small group of folks without a seat would get to join the four to five hundred folks with seats: we were asked which state we were from. I'm serious. When asked I said "Florida, Sergeant Airborne! Go Gators!" The Sergeant in charge responded with a "Go Gators" and that was that; I was in. (See there -being a Gator is valuable no matter where you go.) We were herded like cattle from noon until around 5pm filling out documents, receiving equipment, getting divided into four platoons and then further divided into four squads per platoon. We even learned some songs. From the sea of eighteen and nineteen year olds in our squad just emerging from the bowels of basic training, I expect ministry opportunities will be plentiful.

We have the weekend off to hydrate and rest. Hydration will be a key to survival in the Georgia heat. Yesterday we had a guy face-plant due to the heat less than ten minutes into inprocessing. The first event Monday will be the Army Physical Fitness Test at 4am. Let the games begin!

I appreciate your prayers for safety, courage, and for opportunities to influence lives for Christ over the next three weeks of Airborne School.

For God and Country,
Hubs

Airborne!

In three weeks, my sweet husband will be qualified to do this. He starts tomorrow. Your prayers are appreciated!

Note:You may get a security certificate warning when you click the link. This frequently happens with military websites. I promise it's safe, just click through to the page.

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our eighth anniversary! Here's a picture of us on that fateful day...

and one of us now. Happy day!

Double - oh - seven...

Picture it: Bath time.
Me: (walking past the door)
Gator: (squatting on toilet seat poised to jump and then jumping into the bathtub)
Me: What are you doing?!?
Gator: I was doing a trick.
Me: Why?
Gator: Because I'm a secret agent. No one was supposed to see.
Me: (laughing) Except I saw it.
Gator: hee hee hee

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!


Here are my little rascals playing in our new pool and after summer haircuts:

I did it!

*Answers are in bold italics now!

This is a fun puzzle that I got via email from a friend. I have to admit that I had my Bible open to the Table of Contents while I did it, and that was my only aid. But, I figured it out within 30 minutes (I wasn't really timing myself though). I'm sure some of you people who are able to think outside of the box more easily than myself will find all of the words much faster. Regardless, it got this mommy brain working a little overtime tonight! I'll post the answers tomorrow. Here are your only clues: 13 books are from the New Testament, 17 books are from the Old Testament, and none of the books are written backwards. Ready, set, go!

There are thirty books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his johnboat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That's a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record. The local paper, the Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, the books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight. Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle of the names are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus. There really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found!

new haircut!

I just have to say that I love getting my hair cut. It is always so relaxing. I'm one of those people who almost falls asleep while the person is washing my hair. So, here are the results. I'm excited. It's shorter, lighter and thinner, which all add up to equal easy! Yay!

Before:

After:

How You Live

Awesome!