Part Two: a casual break.

I'm an expert procrastinator. Clearly why I'm updating you about my summer when it's JANUARY!  Such is life. We are back in the groove of UPT and I am enjoying a lull between drop night shirt orders.   I figure now is as good a time as ever to update you on PART TWO ( of the catch up blogs).

KK and I have been married for about 10 1/2 years. Much of that time was spent working over time with stressful jobs and little to no vacation time.   This is why the time in our life after Officers training and before Pilots Training was especially glorious.

The Air Force places it members awaiting training ( unless its VERY brief) into what they ( we? people?) call "casual status". ---  "they" makes it sound official.  DISCLAIMER: I am not the authority on ANYTHING. so what I call official may or may not be accurate---    On causal status, they place the member in an entry level position around the base to 'earn their keep'  while waiting for training to start.   KK was assigned an excellent position in the med clinic working for a great DR!  As always, KK worked hard and gave 110%.   That's his jam.  Good work ethic is a very serious matter for him and a deep rooted ideal.  Even still, he was off by 5pm every day without it holding any mental space.  What an amazing thing!  He held this position for 5 or 6 months.  I can not express to you how good that time was for us.  The kids needed time with Dad. We ate dinner together every day. We  played in the kiddie pool in the front yard, hosted and attended COUNTLESS bbq's. We even bought a projector so we could host movie nights in the front yard.  We made it to church more often than not and just spent time enjoying our community.

We made time for a real vacation to the beach.  We have NEVER done that.  I lucked into a deal for an 1800 sq ft  condo penthouse in a high rise right on the beach in Florbama.  We have friends down that way ( remember my friend who I had never been face to face with but she picked me up at OTS  drove me and the kids to florida, hosted us in her house and took me to the spa?!?  ya that friend).   It was great to have friends for the kids to play with, to put my feet in the warm sand, to really take in every smile and live in each moment.  It was nothing short of magical. 

During this time, we also had a chance to get away and celebrate our TEN YEAR anniversary.  Lets pause and think about every nineteen year old you know.  How is it possible we got married when we were so young and stupid?  What a mighty thing is it to be so blessed  and fruitful in a marriage bound by such youthful souls.  Marriage is HARD y'all.  We have been through soo much. Because of such hardship and by the grace of God, we are able to stand here at pilot training in such a good place.  All that is a story for another day.  We decided to drop the kids with my sister at HER in-laws in TN  and hop a place for a few days in NYC!   I never knew just quite how much of a city girl I am until I found myself  longing to never leave New York.  The food, the bustle of the city, the music and culture.  Oh man, You just lost me to NYC day dreams.  I loved every minute of it.  We ate and walked and ate some more.  I'm forever grateful to my sister and her in-laws for loving on my babes so we can have a moment alone in the city.   The kids had it good too.  What better way to spend the week than to go to the lake house and fish with your cousins!?  My sister is one of my favorite people in the entire world. She is endlessly generous and has such a HUGE heart.  I know she didn't think twice about doubling her kids for the week.


I will always remember this time in our life fondly. This was clearly the season of favor I had prayed for, for so long.  I hope as you read between the lines you see the blessing of community we have.  Every step of our way we have had people just pour out for us.  From financial help during the time KK had still not been paid, baby sitters, dog sitters, food, clothing and everything  else imaginable.  Generosity is contagious. We are so thankful to continue to pay this forward in Christ like love to those around us.  We want to share in our blessing.  I pray that we have eyes to see needs of those around us and the strength to act swiftly when We can meet those needs.

PAUSE: Christmas Break

I interupt our regularly scheduled very behind posting for something current and still somewhat relavent in my life. You're welcome. Lower your expectations. It may never happen again... and honestly, I wrote most of this last week.  HA!  so not THAT current.

The last chapter of the book we've been reading for our bible study group was on REST.  It has had me mulling over what rest looks like to me.  It's sort of funny since most of you know I pretty much never sleep well.  I'm thinking that needs to be resolved soon.

Rest looks different for everyone. Here at UPT is no exception and Christmas break at UPT is even more interesting.  The program is intense and it is stressful for both the students and their families. We chose to stay home. We chose to host not visitors and to simply cherish the moments we have away from pilot training, formal release and endless studying. For me, rest looks a lot like work. What you may not see from the outside looking in is the mental relief. I'm not working until midnight. There is no school, meetings, agendas. As an outgoing-introvert, there is even relief in the fact that there was a mass exodus from the base for the holiday. Less people. Less  noise. Less eyes. We deep cleaned, reset, refreshed and recomposed ourselves for the long haul. UPT is not a sprint, it's a marathon. ( I lied... it's a sprinting marathon.) As a spouse with young children and a business, each and every day feels like a marathon for me too!  Every day the list of people whose needs I didn't meet feels longer. There are days where I'm short and impatient with the kids and even days where I resent the pilot training processes all together but here's the kicker.....  SOOOOOO many days we laugh, love and make memories. So many days, we do something for someone to show we love them deeply, even if it's the smallest of things.   The memories we've made here are ones that we'll remember forever along with the deeply cherished framily we've created. It's worth it. Anything worth doing is never easy. The day will come when we will shed tears for how much we miss this time and place. That is a gift. We cling to that.