Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday, despite the fact that all three of us (Jared, Andy and I) are sick. I baked Grandma P's homemade rolls and two pies (pumpkin and apple) on Wednesday. Then Wednesday night Jared helped me to brine our lovely 12lb turkey. We loaded up the car on Thursday morning and drove down to OKC to have our big dinner with Kimberly and her parents (Tim is at SERE).

The turkey, rolls and pies were voted a huge, and delicious, success! And after taking in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, National dog show and a movie, the three of us headed back to Enid. Several football games later we called it a night and slept in (NO SHOPPING HERE!) this morning.

The plan for today is, well, nothing! Going to relax, watch football and feast on leftovers. Actually not sure which is better; Thanksgiving dinner or the leftovers the next day...

Oh, I almost forgot! I did watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Wednesday night. :)

Here's a few pictures of our little Thanksgiving!

Oh what a beautiful day!

Productive days are always the best ones. And today I feel like we really did get quite a lot accomplished.

All of my containers for the garden (well all but 3 that still have such pretty fall flowers in them!) have been emptied, rinsed and are drying in the bright autumn sunshine. I also scrubbed out "the big blue turkey bucket" after lunch so I can brine our Thanksgiving turkey tomorrow night. (YUM!) Jared got the grilled cleaned and rinsed, and it is also drying outside. So, besides tackling those last few containers next week, and taking down the equipment for our flag, the outside is ready for our move!

We also spent the morning helping, more like helping watch actually, Andy move. His entire house was packed, loaded and crated in under 3 hours! Ours takes 2 days. I'm thinking he is going to have to do some shopping to fill up his new house in Wichita next summer.

We also went to the commissary and finished the Thanksgiving shopping (along with the normal shopping) today. I even paid a few extra cents (literally) for a disposable turkey roaster. No clean up there for me! And speaking of turkey, I boiled the brine after lunch and it's got until tomorrow night to chill. (It smells so good!)

Also got the laundry finished, leftovers dealt with, and most of our Christmas shopping done today.

It's been a great day! Bring on tomorrow: Christmas music, Thanksgiving baking, and a good book!

The Cars

Another thing off the pre-move to do list. The cars! We took them both in and had the oil changed, tires rotated, an inspection done (and I got a brand, spankin' new air filter!). I am thankful no major problems were found! One more thing I don't have to worry about. Victory in the little things!

Tomorrow is the last shopping trip before Thanksgiving. I think I'm well organized and will be armed with all the essentials for turkey, gravy, pumpkin and cherry pies and Grandma P's homemade rolls. I'm getting hungry already. And actually ... I'm thinking it's high time I watched a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving!

Worry

Trying to take it one day at a time. Trying to embrace today without worrying about tomorrow. Trying to remember that I can only do so much, and the rest is going to have to take care of itself ... or better yet, that God has to take care of the rest. It is so much easier to say than do. And why? Is it just me; my need to be in control, to make everything perfect, to always have a plan A, B and Z, or is this an issue for most people? Perhaps it's just my situation; the fact that I am constantly at the mercy of the Air Force, it's needs, it's schedule, it's timeline.

Whatever it is, I look back on our time at Vance, at pilot training, and I think, you should have just slowed down and enjoyed it. Here we are, heading into a move next week and I just can not believe it. Where did the time go? As hard and long as this last year has been, in retrospect there was a lot of good in there as well and I wish I had been able to embrace the 'now' a little more, and left the 'to come' further in the future where it belonged. Although I'm excited to move on, I'm also scared. So many unknowns, and so much of them to be faced alone. Not really alone. But without Jared I can't help feeling very alone. The month of survival schools taught me that A.) I can survive on my own without Jared and B.) although I can do it, I really hate it when he's gone! How on earth am I going to handle the next four years of TDYs and deployments and living almost 3000 miles away from everyone and everything I know? Ah, but there I go again. Getting ahead of myself. Ruining today with thoughts about tomorrow.

So, I am really going to pray to be more of an 'in the moment person'. Instead of worrying about our move on the 4th, I'll plan a happy Thanksgiving. Instead of being depressed about being away from Jared from January until the end of March, I'll think about the time I have with him now, about spending Christmas with him, about time at home with family. Instead of thinking about all our wordily possessions sitting in a unknown storage unit for months, having no place to live in California, knowing no one out there, I'm just going to try and concentrate on today, now, and enjoy this moment instead of worrying about the next one. I'm going to really try.

So, the move. Already lots of things have been accomplished. The Air Force paperwork is virtually done. Jared has his out processing appointment made, and things are moving right along. My last day of work here was Friday! I've called and scheduled shut off dates for pretty much everything: electric, gas, Internet, TV, NetFlix, etc. We've set up a forwarding address for our mail. I've started the lists of things we need to keep with us the next few months. Really, although there is quite enough left to do, a lot been done already!

This week is Thanksgiving! We're having dinner at out friend's new house down in the city, but I'm still in charge of cooking a fabulous turkey, baking the pies and Grandma's homemade rolls. And of course, with Thanksgiving comes Christmas planning! Our cards are ready to be sent, and by the end of the week all the Christmas shopping should be done. All of that is quite fun, and I'm very thankful to be spending the holiday with my husband and wonderful friends.

So, we are T minus 11 days and counting for our time left in Enid. Unbelievable! Here is to living those next 11 days one day at a time.

News

The boys made the Vance AFB news! Yesterday and article about them was posted on Vance's homepage and it will be published in the base newspaper tomorrow. Here's the link (complete with pictures!) for everyone to see

http://www.vance.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123177223

So proud of those two!!

Thank You!

Two little words really don't cover it when talking about our Veterans and their families. So many have already served and sacrificed everything, so many more serve now. What they do for us and our country on a daily basis is mind boggling! Their families play a big role in what they do, providing love and support and sacrifice. I am very humbled and honored that our family are among those being honored today. I just wanted to say thank you to all those who have gone before, and for all those serving today. I can't think of a better definition for the word hero than United States Veteran.

Everyone is home

Jared arrived safely, with all luggage intact and accounted for, at the Oklahoma City airport Saturday night. As we drove into Enid a bit later his words were "I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty happy to see this place."

He fondly greeted (and I do mean said hello) his soft couch, and big screen television almost immediately. And then proceeded to eat the cupcakes, cocoa and puppy chow I had made. After being by myself and sleeping by myself for nearly a month it was strange having him home and not getting the entire bed to myself. Strange, but wonderful.

Having Jared home also meant the nightly ritual of barricading myself in the house ended.

Jared slept ... and slept until after 11am the next morning. Needless to say church went by the wayside this week. I made homemade pancakes and fried up bacon for lunch and the rest of the day was spent snuggling on the couch watching football. Dinner was Jared's favorite, Luke casserole. And then we played some games on the Wii with Abbie, Ryan, Luke and Andy.

Today should be another quiet day here. Jared had to go deal with some paperwork on base this morning and I finished the vast piles of laundry he brought home. (He had actually washed everything before he packed to come home, but informed me nothing was 'Ashley clean' and all needed re-washed. I think he meant it didn't smell like home). The only other plan we have is dinner, another Jared request, which is chicken and stuffing.

Tomorrow we are headed to the 'big city' for some shopping and fine dining. All I know is, we're both very glad SERE is over and Jared is home.

Two More Sleeps

Until Jared is home! I can not wait. (Well, I guess I'll have to, but I'm ready for it to be Saturday!)

The worst of survival is done now though. Jared is still tired and sore from the 36 hours of "resistance training", but he'll be done with everything tomorrow afternoon. He is still coughing, but says he doesn't feel that sick. I guess I'll have to wait until he's home to decide whether to send him to the doctor.

I worked this morning, (actually, I've been working quite a bit while Jared's been gone) but I'm done for the weekend now! Today and tomorrow I have lists to make (groceries and recipes), errands to run (bank, commissary, BX, etc.), laundry to do, a house to clean, food to prep and goodies to bake. Then everything will be clean and ready and cozy for Jared's return on Saturday.

He gets in around 8pm Saturday night. So that gives me some time to relax and watch football before heading to OKC to pick him up. I'm planning on a very lazy Sunday since I'm sure Jared will still be recovering from survival and the time change.

Once next weeks starts up I'm sure it'll be time to start getting in gear for our move. But at least until Monday, I'm not going to think about that! For now, I'm just looking forward to having my husband home and out of the hands of the horrible people at SERE!!

Contentment

The sermon on Sunday was not long, in fact it might be described more accurately as a devotional rather than a sermon. But more is rarely ever better, it is often just more. I was deeply moved by the words our chaplain had to share yesterday and I wanted to share some of it here on this beautiful, crisp fall morning.

An Exposition of Philippians 4:11

"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

Foreword by the publishers " 'Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward;' therefore we all need to learn the same lesson as Paul. 'I have learned,' he said 'in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content,' Philippians 4:11. Believers, especially, wish to attain to a holy equanimity in their tribulations and under the stresses caused by our increasingly secular society."

"Contentment is a flower that doth not grow in every garden; it teacheth a man how in the midst of want to abound. You would think it were excellent if I could prescribe a receipt or antidote against poverty: but behold here is that which is more excellent, for a man to want, and yet have enough, this alone contentment of spirit doth bring. Contentation is a remedy against all our trouble, an alleviation to all our burdens, it is the cure of care. Contentation, though it be not properly a grace (it is rather a disposition of mind,) yet in it there is a happy temperature and mixture of all the graces: it is a most precious compound, which is made up of faith, patience, meekness, humility, &c. which are the ingredients put into it. Now there are in species these seven rare excellencies in contentment." - The Art of Divine Contentment by Thomas Watson

Yesterday we were challenged that to be truly thankful, we must first be content. What a wonderful thought. I am going to challenge myself to find this book and read the entire sermon by Watson in the new year.

November ?!

Where has this year gone? Only two more months of it left; and only one more in Enid.

Jared got out of the field on Thursday night, quite late. He survived despite snow and rain and little food and the day of torture. He was also extremely glad it was all over and he had a bed to sleep in and real food to eat. I was extremely glad know he was done and only a phone call away again. He seems to have developed a cough though, hopefully nothing serious so he can finish out his last week. He is, obviously, not looking forward to the second round of 'resistance training' (simulated torture) this week. He is looking forward to coming home Saturday! As am I, as am I! :)

I spent my Halloween weekend productively. I carved a pumpkin and roasted the seeds. I watched my favorite Halloween movies (see previous post) and ate candy and caramel apples and cocoa. I watched college football yesterday and plan on watching NFL games today. Last night I discovered that in Enid, they actually trick or treat on Halloween! And not just in the afternoon, but in the dark! That meant they got to see my jack-o-lantern all lit up. Very cool. We had quite a lot of little costume clad kids come to the door. Fun!

I quite enjoyed the extra hour of sleep, but I know I'll be depressed later when it's dark an hour earlier. Now, it's time to head over to the base chapel for church (and to drop off the bills on the way since it's the first of the month!)