Barrels and Babies

What a busy week or two! In an effort to be productive at work I decided that I needed to start going in early with the thought that I would also leave early. Not so. Haha, guess I was more productive (or something) than I planned to try to be. But it's ok because we did get a lot done. I got to do my first real FOD walk, twice. The bus that was supposed to pick us up at the other end wasn't there so that flight line is super clean now! This past week we had some Army guys jumping out of planes onto our base. I was out running one night as they were coming in and I don't know how many guys jumped but there were a LOT of C-130s and C-17s flying low and slow right over our house (we're on the end of the flight line) which was pretty cool to see. Air Power! 

I was also able to get some good rides in on my horses. Gypsy saw the vet again for her sore hock/back/ribs/hip. It turned out that there wasn't anything out of place and we decided to inject her hock. For those of you who don't know, this is a pretty common practice in performance horses that use their back-end a lot as the joint can wear out. It was injected with steroids, antibiotics and hyaluronic acid. Her joint was dry hen he stuck the needle in so good call. She already seems to be feeling better as when I turned her lose the other night she galloped off for the first time since we've been here. I also barrel raced Candela Fri night for the first time in about 2 years. She did great! She was pretty excited and our first turn was a little wide, our second turn a little tight (I hit the barrel with my leg) but the third was perfect, haha. Our time was decent all things considered. I just need to do a better job of riding her and getting her around her two blind turns, that second barrel is always a problem for us but we'll get there. The best part is that I had a good time and got to chat with some friends while I waited to run. :-)

I left bright and early Sat to drive up to Charleston to spend the weekend with Michelle and Steve and see Dylan's (my nephew) baptism. It was a good trip, complete with Brian's parents making the trip from Colorado to be there too. We got to walk around Charleston a little on Sat and they have a very pretty church with a real nice pastor. Minus the long drive I'd call it a success, just wish Brian could have made it! He's been busy studying for Biology and SOS. Two more weeks till he's home! Dylan sure is getting big though! He's now 5 months old and is very interested in the world around him. He's also teething so he has his moments, haha.

I was able to catch up with my Mom and sister on my drive home today. Then I got back and saw Cari's Facebook status picture of how she's already showing her pregnancy - crazy! Can't wait for her and Jason to get down here and visit in 3 weeks. And I can't wait for my Mom and Dad to be back from Hawaii and to hopefully see them sometime soon! I'm tired of living by myself and so far from family! Like I said, at least Brian will be home soon though!! And next weekend is the Kentucky Derby!!! I thought I'd have a party but my house isn't ready so maybe for the Preakness... No matter, I'll still make yummy food and drinks and wear a floppy hat for the occasion :-)

Time Divided

So when I said "More to come soon..." on Facebook I think I should have considered what I was up against with my time! And by that I mean the seemingly constant LACK of time. Especially now that I'm back home in sunny (read humid and HOT) Georgia and Brian is still away in Alabama at SOS. My return trip was uneventful enough but as soon as I got home that night and my headlights hit the yard I knew what I'd be doing in the morning - mowing the grass! I didn't figure it would take me the 3 1/2 hours that it did (we have a very large yard and a push mower - makes for a good workout they say...) and I acquired a very nice sunburn on my shoulders. Lesson learned, haha. I then made my trip to the barn where I discovered that my two horses had dropped a lot of weight which in horse terms is never a good thing. On the bright side, I think that I've narrowed down their weight loss to not eating due to being to hot. The struggle will be what to do as the summer heat arrives and doesn't leave :-/ For now we've had a few cool days this past week and I'm feeding them extra so they are starting to look better. I was very happy to see my kids though, missed them! Hopefully I can get them back in shape and start barrel racing within the next month :-) Oh, and then there was the snake incident... I was riding Gypsy near some water and trying to get her to circle smoothly but she wasn't cooperating (abnormal for her). It sounded like she kicked some dirt into a clump of grass near the water but as we came around the circle I heard a rustling noise again and looked over to see a big fat black snake moving towards us out of the water!!! I think that my heart stopped and I was more freaked out than Gypsy! Needless to say, we made a safe escape and did not go back over there. I am now very leery of the water and any future encounters with water moccasins as there are some many stories of how aggressive they can be. Oh, and Abby's not allowed at the barn anymore because I'm pretty sure she would be in the water and investigating those snakes. Ugh... shivers...

Work was work but I have managed to make a habit out of staying up into the wee hours of the morning to work on organizing the house. When Brian's home he makes sure I go to bed on time, which is great, but it also means that we've lived here for about 7 weeks now and still don't have everything put away. My goal is the Kentucky Derby so I can maybe invite my office people over for the race. Brian built us a nice Aspen bookshelf that is now fully loaded, as well as two bookshelves of DVDs, another smaller bookshelf of books, and still more books to put in a closet someplace. Did I mention that we have 2-3 editions of Organic Chemistry, Biology, Anatomy, Physics, Genetics, and several other science type text books? Think that has something to do with the lack of book space.... haha... nerds! But we only keep the ones that we think we might need again. I'll spare you the details of our library but if you ever need a good read for you or your kids just let us know, we're happy to share! I have also managed to get both guest beds cleared off and made up with fresh sheets so we do actually have a place for company to sleep. So really the only thing that remains is organizing stuff in closets and hanging the remaining pictures. As soon as that's done I will post some pictures (May 3rd...?!)

[Birthday Breakfast]

I can't really update you on everything without talking about this past weekend when Brian came home for a few nights for my birthday! We had a great time. I surprised him by driving to Crestview, FL on Fri to pick up Abby; she'd been with her two yellow lab cousins in Louisiana, with Bert and Cindy, while we were away. She was totally spoiled with her own pool... I made us some gluten-free Mickey Mouse waffles Sat morning with berries for topping - so yummy and fun! We took care of the kids, did a little yard work and went to the store for patio stuff. I got an outdoor rug for our deck and we rigged up some shade for Abby and filled up her kitty pool which she seems to enjoy. Then for my birthday dinner we made our own sushi for the first time. It turned out fantasticly! We had leftovers and even have some more salmon in the freezer for take-two. Other than taking some time to prepare, it was really rather easy, and I might be biased but the flavor was on par with most sushi restaurants we've been to! 

[Sushi Chef]

[The China is Finally Used for Fancy Sushi!]

Sunday was complete with a church service from livingstoneskona.com which is a church my Mom has been to and had great reviews on. I've seen a few of the sermons now and really enjoy them. They are about 45 min (better than the regular 20 min sermon you often find in church) and they really dive into the meaning of the scripture. This weeks was about love and the different types of people God asks us to love in all types of relationships - co-workers, boss, politicians, spouse, siblings, etc. The pastor talked about how it isn't our job to change people, that God is the only one that can change people so we are just supposed to love them at the stage they are at (ie us Type-As shouldn't be trying to fix people). Anyway, it was a good sermon to hear, especially considering that we didn't wake up until we were supposed to be leaving for church, oops! Brian and I were also able to have our staff meeting which has been a great addition to our married life. We try to have this meeting once a week (when we're both at home that is) to discuss anything on our to-do lists such as finances, school, house stuff, vacations, big devotional topics that need more dedicated time, issues that we might be having, weekly menu, etc. It's just a great time to have set aside with no distractions to focus on topics that need covered. Brian has found that it works really well (and well for me in turn) because he doesn't like to be randomly bombarded with some of those topics. If he has a time set aside that he knows they will be discussed than he can come mentally prepared. Like I said, it's been a great feature for us so far. Now if we could just quit dividing our time between different locations.... 

The One Constant is Change

Time comes and goes so quickly, I'm constantly reminded too appreciate each and every moment as you never know what waits for you in the next. My 5 week adventure to Idaho has come to an end - already!! As usual, the one certain thing about the military is that it will change and you will likely meet some great people along the way... and then promptly have to say good bye (that's the crappy part in case you didn't know). I had a great time here, a great class, and great instructors. I never thought that I would come to the level of understanding and appreciation for this new job in just 5 short weeks but I have. I am headed home with a much better attitude about my job awaiting me there and even a hint of excitement for the job! Yet somehow I'm sad. My bags are packed, I said bye to my classmates, and am eager to be home and see my kids. But every new good bye also reminds me of previous ones. In particular, Casie (one of my classmates) and I were swapping deployment stories tonight and I find myself missing some of my downrange friends - Josh, Magoo, Milton, Professor, Fowler, Sacco, Nikki and many others. But those were the folks I saw most on a daily basis, ran races with, had off base adventures with, disagreed with, smoked sheesha with, etc. Everything that builds a relationship that can't be duplicated. It's unique to that place and time, just like so many other things in our lives. I believe that God is always with us, always teaching us, always giving us opportunities to rely on Him no matter the time in our life. So tonight I'm feeling blessed to have had so many opportunities to experience new places, meet new people, learn new things. 

[Pre-Air Force 10K while deployed]

In these past two weeks I've got to go wine tasting in Idaho (fantastic!), accomplish an end-of-course exercise, and go to the range one more time to work with/watch the A-10 in all its glory - wow! Pretty busy and super fast (S2S - my AF peeps get it). Let me just say, the Idaho vineyards did not disappoint  We visited 4 and they all had some pretty great wine along with some great views - rolling vineyard hills with snow capped mountains in the distance. Our first stop was Bitner, followed by Koenig, Fujishin and St Chapelle. Needless to say, a good time was had and a few bottles of wine were purchased to enjoy later. 

[View from Bitner Vineyards]

This week we had our exercise and I was pleased to see that we all knew enough to complete the course which is saying something since I had a steep learning curve, haha. All in all it was really good though. The instructors here have put together a pretty balanced course that really teaches and provides opportunity for confidence building throughout. It's been so great that I'm considering moving back here to help teach sometime. But we'll see where the winds blow Brian and me, just saying, I won't complain if it's Idaho :-) We finished up with a class/instructor dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. I'm pleased to report that I had some shrimp tacos and NO cheesecake despite my cravings telling me otherwise! This is a first for me but I realized that I've been working hard to eat right and workout while I've been here, why blow it now? Tomorrow the only benefit I'd get from it would be an upset stomach and disappointment in myself at not resisting. So now I can go into my LONG travel day guilt free and stomach ache free (I hope, as it has been acting up this week, hehe). 

[On the Range with my Class]

I've had some great talks with God this week and some great reading. I can't wait to get home and discuss with Brian about how we will incorporate some of it into our lives and get his take on it. For example - love and respect. Yes, there's a book on it, but that's mostly because the whole idea of it was brought up in the Bible. That women need love and men need respect. It is clearly stated. But, my question is, what speaks the most respect to my husband so that he feels respected AND loved? And vise a versa for me... In the Amplified Bible it expands on Eph 5:33 as this - 

Let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband [the she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.] 

Furthermore, the study I'm doing says to make a list of things to do/say and to have Brian make one as well - then see where the lists merge and implement as much as possible. Wow! I mean it's not new knowledge to me but there's a lot in that verse to quantify/implement. So that is my project going home, I know that God will guide me/us in this and that we can only grow and learn to love Jesus and each other more out of it.
On that note, to bed with me! I have a plane to catch!

Fresh Air and A-10s

Over the last few days I have come up with some great things to blog about but then when it comes to sitting down at my computer to tell you all about, they seem to vanish, haha. I will attempt to remember the fun happenings that I wanted to share though. I did catch a mid-week movie, "Safe Haven," that I enjoyed. Most guys probably wouldn't like it but I did and it had a bonus, slightly unexpected ending. I also got mail from my Mom!! Some yummy mac nuts and buzz beans from Hawaii :-)

This week went by pretty fast. On Thursday my class took a trip out to the range and got to watch A-10s make some straffing runs, provide close air support, and drop some fake bombs, all pretty awesome. It was out in the middle of the Idaho BLM/grasslands/hills which was a nice break-away from the day-to-day classroom stuff we have to do. I do have a real appreciation for the JTACs on the ground calling in air support though. Depending on the situation I imagine it can be very stressful and they have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. 

A-10s with a Rainbow - They're Growing on Me

Today I went and explored some more of the local area. I swung by the Boise Creperie near my hotel by the Imax theater (excellent!) and then headed out. My friend and college roommate Amy suggested I check out the Camel Back Park - it was great! There are so many trails and hills of all different types - trees, sagebrush, running water, ponds... So nice! It was great to get some fresh air and wind and sun despite it being a little chilly. I could have easily hing out all day! I drove into the downtown area and stopped in at the "Flying M" coffee shop where you could also easily spend the better part of an afternoon. They roast their own coffee beans twice a week and have a tasty spiced chai (not to sweet). They also have some books, cards, nick-knacks, etc that are worth checking out. I wrapped up my week with a nice long Skype call to the hubby and a glass of wine from a local vineyard (wine tasting comes next weekend). 

I have felt God's presence more this week, a lot due to my daily devotions. I'm working through "Jesus Calling," which is short and sweet but exactly what I need at this time in my life. I can sit down for 5 minutes in the morning before I walk out the door to hear God's word. One particular day, 17 March, stood out to me as it talked about God's all knowingness, grace, and how He heals as his light shines into those places that no one else sees. How we are to rejoice in the One who understands us completely. As God's love fills us, it overflows so that we can love others with His love. At this point I feel that I'm still working on being filled up myself, but there are those times that I know I'm full and that the love is overflowing to others. I just need to try to seal up the cracks so that I can fill up faster, haha. As our life moves forward though into this new phase, I can already see the cracks narrowing :-)

And the biggest news to share that I've been waiting for several weeks to share - my sister Cari and her husband Jason are expecting a baby! We're all very excited for this new addition to the Comerford and extended families! This little one is going to be very lucky to have such great parents and the opportunity to experience life in so many ways that many kids don't get to; it's going to be a great adventure! We pray for their health and safety and that once the baby arrives, that we can all provide a positive, Godly influence as he/she grows up!

St. Patty's Weekend

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

I hope that you had a fantastic weekend and got to enjoy wearing some green and maybe eat/drink something Irish. My day was pretty uneventful, but that's not to say that I haven't had an enjoyable few days.

At the end of last week I got to go play "Army" for a few hours and check out some of their cool toys - tanks and artillery. Brian traveled to Baton Rogue Fri evening to visit family and drop Abby off until I get back to the South. She is apparently enjoying her vacation, complete with her own swimming pool that she won't stay out of :-)

In an ABRAMS Tank - They Put 5 Guys in Here!?!

I went on a snowboarding trip to Brundage which turned into more of a roadtrip. One of the guys in my class that I went with ended up having an accident on the first run that resulted in a trip down the road to the hospital. He ended up being fine but that took up most of the day. So while he was doing that, I decided to explore McCall, ID. It's a beautiful little town (and the drive there was great as well). It has a big lake with mountains coming out of it. Lots of little restaurants and shops to check out too. So the day was not a total loss by any means.

McCall, Idaho

I was able to wrap up my weekend with going to a nice little church this morning. It was good to go to a more traditional church and they had good music too. Got in a workout, boy it took some motivation to do that! I really just wanted to be lazy, haha. But I was glad I did, working out always gives me a more positive outlook and picks up my spirits. Brian made it safely to his home for the next 8 weeks - Alabama... and we all said "ugh!" God is good!

Direction

One of my friends mentioned in her blog the other day that God had been around in a still small voice that week as opposed to an obvious presence at other times. I've been thinking a lot about that and feel like God is almost always a still small voice around me and that I'm not very good at listening, haha. Maybe if I get better at listening I will be able to tell the difference? I do know that God has given me much to be thankful for in my life, I sometimes just feel that I'm lacking direction. However, about 2 or 3 days ago I think I finally came to a realization as to what I want to do when I get out of the Air Force in less than two years. For now, that dream I'm chasing is beginning to take form in my mind and when the time is right I'm sure I'll share it here. I am pretty excited to have an idea of my direction though and I think that's God's voice :-)

How did I get Here?

I joined Air Force ROTC in college, kind of on a whim that I would be a fighter pilot and figured that now was the only time I could do that, that my horse opportunities would still be there when I was done. All was going according to plan until I met Brian. To make a long story short, I decided that if I was a pilot and his plans went the way he wanted, that we would spend the first 5ish years of our marriage apart. So I changed career paths and decided not to fly, still potentially one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made. 

That decision has since led to 3 assignments and a deployment for me, while Brian has had 4 assignments and 3 deployments; all that in 5 1/2 years. Yeah, crazy, I know!! Most of that was different places and times, thus the days apart I mentioned in my last post. 

We are now happily, and thankfully, living together in South Georgia. The South is very different for us Colorado types but we're looking forward to exploring some of that part of the country while we're there. Maybe take in some plantations and beach time. And a bonus point, we are FINALLY within driving distance of my sister-in-law, Michelle, and her husband Steve and baby Dylan!! We've seen each other more in the last 2 months than we did in the last year and a half, haha. The other big highlight for me is that I was able to take my two horses, Candela and Gypsy, with us to Georgia. It has been quite the adjustment for them, leaving Colorado in the dead of winter and arriving in the warm South, but they are settling in. In fact, Brian has even been looking out for them while I'm up here in Boise :-) They are now both sound and almost done shedding so when I get back we will be hitting training hard and going to some barrel races; I can't wait!

Speaking of training... I've started a new training program myself - "The New Rules of Lifting for Women." I'm a little over a week into it and so far so good. The biggest challenge for me with any fitness program is eating healthy (mostly that darn yummy chocolate). This is a hurdle I'm attempting to conquer while here in Boise so I'm sure there will be more to come on that as well.

Until next time, ciao!

The barn where I keep my horses just before I left.