Changes
Oh my it has been quite some time since my last blog. I believe it was February something when I last updated you all. Here we go:
The biggest thing would be that Jeff is finally done with tech school! He finished in late February and was very glad to be through with Texas. He said it was far too windy. But he made some good friends while there. I had the pleasure of meeting one of his fellow airmen and his wife. Jeff and I drove down to Tampa (on my birthday I recall) and met them at the MacDill AFB. Once we all had our travel arrangements prepared, the four of us went out for lunch. I truly enjoyed spending time with these people I had never met before. I found myself reluctant to be moving in opposite directions of the country. I would've loved to continue onto a closer friendship with them.
In the following weeks, Jeff was involved in the recruiter's assistance program Monday through Friday while I worked on my last couple weeks at Publix. Why my "last" you might ask? With that said, and given that it's now almost April, it's safe to assume a lot of plans were changed in the time in between now and my last post. I had mentioned Jeff's assignment was for a station within our home state of Florida. However, Jeff was reassigned to a different location. One that does not imply tropical weather or sunny side up eggs on the sidewalk, though our new location does offer some historic value. Yes my friends, we moved to Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota! I'm not sure how to explain my first reaction to the news. I was neither disappointed nor sad. I admit I had already gotten used to the idea of living in Florida's panhandle. I had practically secured my job as a transfer to another store. So, I just cried for a couple minutes before I could clear my head. I digested everything for a couple days before deciding: this exactly what we wanted. An adventure! A change of scenery, a place to make new aquaintences and friendships, the opportunity to discover new things...
We packed up whatever necessities we would need into the trunk of one car, Honey (our dog) claimed the back seats, and after many goodbyes we headed west. The drive was long and exhausting but we made it. Along the way we visit The Gateway Arch and saw some beautiful bits of our country. Once we secured our apartment on base we basically started the whole tourist routine (minus the fanny packs and over sized sunglasses). The rest of our belongings were on a semi somewhere in the US and wouldn't arrive for another week and a half! Needless to say we had a lot of free time on our hands to do some exploring. We are located about 10-15 minutes east of Rapid City so we started there. The city is pretty diverse. It has your typical shopping areas and then many locally owned shops and places to eat. Our favorite restaurant so far would have to be Firehouse Brewing Co. in the dowtown square. They have the most amazing soup and beer bread! Makes my mouth water just writing about it. Anyway, Mount Rushmore was a must see, of course. The day we went was picturesque and Mt. Rushmore is indeed remarkable. It's such an incredible experience to simply be there and take the walk around, reading about all the history. Like I said, a must see.
After our initial weekend of exploring had given way to the work week, Jeff's first day was fast approaching. On Monday he was a little nervous but said work was surprisingly boring. He had a lot of in-processing to do before he could really get involved. And now he's well into his second week and it seems as though things are picking up. Our stuff finally arrived and I've spent my days just trying to make a house look like a home. I'll admit it's quite different from our house back in Florida (which my mom so graciously agreed to live in and take care of so we didn't have to sell it). In spite of it's differences, we're happy to be here. We've already met one of our neighbors who is such a sweetheart. She let us use their blow-up mattress while we waited on our things to arrive and has invited me to meet some new people at a Bunco game this Friday!
All in all I expect we'll enjoy the next 2 years here out yonder. I certainly miss the faces I used to see everyday. I find myself thankful for the technology of this day and age, at times, because it allows me to keep those relationships alive in a very involved way via FaceTime and Facebook. Most of all, it's simply a joy to watch my husband accomplish his goals and encourage him to "keep up the good work" so-to-speak. It's a comfort to know we're exactly where God wants us and needs us. I am constantly reminded of my independence and with that how important it is to rely on The Lord to keep us moving in His direction. It's so easy for me to be tempted into just handling everything on my own. But those of you who know me well know I usually do things the hard way. So, I'll do my best to do things His way and I have no doubt Jeff and I will have an awesome experience.
The biggest thing would be that Jeff is finally done with tech school! He finished in late February and was very glad to be through with Texas. He said it was far too windy. But he made some good friends while there. I had the pleasure of meeting one of his fellow airmen and his wife. Jeff and I drove down to Tampa (on my birthday I recall) and met them at the MacDill AFB. Once we all had our travel arrangements prepared, the four of us went out for lunch. I truly enjoyed spending time with these people I had never met before. I found myself reluctant to be moving in opposite directions of the country. I would've loved to continue onto a closer friendship with them.
In the following weeks, Jeff was involved in the recruiter's assistance program Monday through Friday while I worked on my last couple weeks at Publix. Why my "last" you might ask? With that said, and given that it's now almost April, it's safe to assume a lot of plans were changed in the time in between now and my last post. I had mentioned Jeff's assignment was for a station within our home state of Florida. However, Jeff was reassigned to a different location. One that does not imply tropical weather or sunny side up eggs on the sidewalk, though our new location does offer some historic value. Yes my friends, we moved to Ellsworth AFB in South Dakota! I'm not sure how to explain my first reaction to the news. I was neither disappointed nor sad. I admit I had already gotten used to the idea of living in Florida's panhandle. I had practically secured my job as a transfer to another store. So, I just cried for a couple minutes before I could clear my head. I digested everything for a couple days before deciding: this exactly what we wanted. An adventure! A change of scenery, a place to make new aquaintences and friendships, the opportunity to discover new things...
We packed up whatever necessities we would need into the trunk of one car, Honey (our dog) claimed the back seats, and after many goodbyes we headed west. The drive was long and exhausting but we made it. Along the way we visit The Gateway Arch and saw some beautiful bits of our country. Once we secured our apartment on base we basically started the whole tourist routine (minus the fanny packs and over sized sunglasses). The rest of our belongings were on a semi somewhere in the US and wouldn't arrive for another week and a half! Needless to say we had a lot of free time on our hands to do some exploring. We are located about 10-15 minutes east of Rapid City so we started there. The city is pretty diverse. It has your typical shopping areas and then many locally owned shops and places to eat. Our favorite restaurant so far would have to be Firehouse Brewing Co. in the dowtown square. They have the most amazing soup and beer bread! Makes my mouth water just writing about it. Anyway, Mount Rushmore was a must see, of course. The day we went was picturesque and Mt. Rushmore is indeed remarkable. It's such an incredible experience to simply be there and take the walk around, reading about all the history. Like I said, a must see.
After our initial weekend of exploring had given way to the work week, Jeff's first day was fast approaching. On Monday he was a little nervous but said work was surprisingly boring. He had a lot of in-processing to do before he could really get involved. And now he's well into his second week and it seems as though things are picking up. Our stuff finally arrived and I've spent my days just trying to make a house look like a home. I'll admit it's quite different from our house back in Florida (which my mom so graciously agreed to live in and take care of so we didn't have to sell it). In spite of it's differences, we're happy to be here. We've already met one of our neighbors who is such a sweetheart. She let us use their blow-up mattress while we waited on our things to arrive and has invited me to meet some new people at a Bunco game this Friday!
All in all I expect we'll enjoy the next 2 years here out yonder. I certainly miss the faces I used to see everyday. I find myself thankful for the technology of this day and age, at times, because it allows me to keep those relationships alive in a very involved way via FaceTime and Facebook. Most of all, it's simply a joy to watch my husband accomplish his goals and encourage him to "keep up the good work" so-to-speak. It's a comfort to know we're exactly where God wants us and needs us. I am constantly reminded of my independence and with that how important it is to rely on The Lord to keep us moving in His direction. It's so easy for me to be tempted into just handling everything on my own. But those of you who know me well know I usually do things the hard way. So, I'll do my best to do things His way and I have no doubt Jeff and I will have an awesome experience.
You are priceless !!
ReplyDeleteThanks. I happen to think the same about you. :)
ReplyDelete