Field training, ranger school, and puppy foster care.

Some updates from the Ullrich household this week...

AJ just told me on Sunday that he will be in the field for three days and two nights next week. When he first got his schedule I was really excited because the week-long FTX we knew he would have wasn't until September, but I guess they have at least one additional shorter one. It's a little disappointing because I know it will be lonely at night without him, but I'm starting to consider some ideas to keep busy during the day. Who knows, I could maybe visit a smaller museum or downtown Richmond by myself for a day. I'll probably also talk to some of the wives about going out for dinner once too. So hopefully it won't be too bad. I know it's something I'll have to get used to as long as we're in the Army.

AJ is almost certain that he's not going to do pre-ranger PT anymore, which means no Ranger School. He suddenly decided this past weekend that he wasn't up for it due to the amount of time it was taking up. Doing pre-ranger PT meant he left the apartment very early and came home too tired to spend much time with me or reading Scripture. I was surprised that he suddenly made this decision all on his own, but I really appreciate his desire to put our marriage and our faith over a super cool Ranger tab on his uniform. Now he's working out with another soldier to try to bulk up a little bit. Last night he came home with the brilliant idea of bringing me along for his workouts. I said I'm really not interested in being that intense.


Apparently the thing to do here is foster a puppy. Yep, AJ and I could be puppy foster parents! AJ has some friends who are doing that right now, although I'm not sure how because taking care of a puppy is a job in itself. The local Humane Society lets you take a dog for a week at a time while it's waiting to get adopted. This helps save the dog's life and lightens the burden on the kennel. Pretty cool huh? I don't think we'll do it because that would mean a lot of work for me, but it's a neat opportunity.

Going back in time at Colonial Williamsburg.

Our big adventure this weekend was a visit to Colonial Williamsburg, a living history museum about an hour away from our home. Neither of us has really seen any historical sites that have anything to do with the American Revolution, so we were really excited to discover something new. Although the tickets are a bit pricier (thank goodness for the military discount though!) there is a LOT to do there. Honestly, we easily could have spent an entire weekend just at the museum and I sort of wish we'd had that chance. The entire place is set up to be like a colonial town with many buildings original to the property. The employees are all in costume and talk to you like they really are from the 18th century. Many of the buildings on the museum property are actually private homes, so you have the unique experience of getting to walk around the town and admire the beautiful colonial architecture from the brick sidewalks. There's a historical church that holds services every Sunday and everything. 

While there we were able to visit the apothecary (like a colonial pharmacy), the brickyard (where we learned how to make bricks!), the blacksmith, the cooper, the town powder magazine, some gardens, the coffeehouse, the governor's palace, and more. We had lunch in a restaurant that was set up just like an 18th century tavern with servers in costume and everything. The food was delicious and our server often stopped by to give us a history lesson. We learned that I would be considered a spinster at 21 if I weren't married and that kitchen fires killed more women than childbirth during that time. That's why men wanted to keep their wives "barefoot and pregnant"--if they weren't wearing shoes they'd be able to feel the heat of the fire much easier and stay away from it. We met another military couple at lunch as well. They were so friendly and interested in our story. It's really cool that we can go places and instantly have some sort of connection with people just because we're military. 

Unfortunately, the heavens opened up around 4:30, so we ended our visit a bit sooner than we had anticipated. We did have an umbrella, but it's small and the rain was coming down so hard that it didn't help that much. Nevertheless, we had a great day. We even stopped by the gift shop to pick up more than a postcard, Mom! AJ bought a little cannon for his desk one day and I picked out a little decorative dish in addition to my postcard.

For some reason the GPS wanted to take us home via the back roads, so we enjoyed a beautiful ride through the Virginia countryside while listening to another couple chapters of The Heavenly Man. It was the perfect end to our day.

On Sunday we went to church and Bible study as usual and got to know the Bible study leader and his wife a bit better. He's also a quartermaster, and his wife interprets in ASL for the Deaf man in our study. I enjoy glancing at her occasionally and seeing what words I recognize. She's really talented. She felt really sad for us when I told her we'll have to live apart for about 8 months already, but then she just shrugged and said, "It's the Army life! Even though it stinks." And it is. It's much easier for me to think about the imminent separations when I'm standing before a woman who's endured multiple deployments and will probably be going through another one. I'm so not alone here when it comes to being separated from my husband, and that has helped me so much. It makes me sad to know that I'll lose this unique support system and environment when I have to go back to Illinois, but I know that I'll gain another great one--my civilian friends and family. I only wish AJ had the same, but being with other soldiers will help I'm sure. It's hard to think about leaving next month, but when I think about what other women in my situation have done and I trust that I'll be with my husband again one day, it's not so isolating or sad.

This week's recap.

We haven't done anything too interesting this week, but I thought I'd sum up some of the highlights.


AJ's continuing with pre-ranger PT and seems to be doing really well thus far. They ruck on Fridays, and this morning he came home with a red, raw patch on his back where the ruck rubs against his skin. It looked pretty painful, and we still don't have any first aid supplies in our apartment so I couldn't help patch him up. :/ I guess I'll be making a trip to the PX for a first aid kit or some moleskin so we can prevent that in the future.


AJ's also continuing his efforts to gain weight, which means he eats pretty much nonstop. Really, he probably has to eat that much just to keep up with all the calories he burns in PT and hand-to-hand combat training. This week I've even driven to ALU to drop off more snacks for him on his lunch break. After lunch he always asks me what we have for snacks, and when I tell him he tells me he's already eaten all those things today. I'm definitely busy trying to come up with new snack options and just plain keeping food in our apartment.


It's been kind of a long week for AJ due to extra homework, hand-to-hand combat training (aka combatives), and an unexpected event on post on Wednesday night. On Wednesday we woke up late at night to someone pounding on our door and ringing our doorbell incessantly. It was pretty confusing and we couldn't think of who it would be and why. It turns out that it was AJ's class leader, who had been trying to call AJ but his phone was off (I've been telling him for a long time that he should leave his phone on at night!). The class instructor needed 100% accountability for every soldier immediately, which meant AJ had to personally locate everyone in his squad. I rode with him to a different apartment complex to check on a soldier who doesn't live where everyone else does, and we didn't get to bed again until 12:30am. AJ only got maybe 4.5 hours of sleep that night. That night we found out from the class leader that a suicide had been reported, so apparently the protocol is to locate every single soldier associated with Fort Lee to prevent any other harm. It's clear that the Army is stepping up and taking suicide very seriously, as it's a significant problem in the military. That tragedy has been weighing really heavily on my heart, even though we don't know the person who died. As someone who is not unfamiliar with suicide, I am deeply grieved for the soldier and their family. I don't understand why God continues to allow this issue to be an unusually prevalent part of my life or why he doesn't take away the pain of my personal experiences. I just know that he creates beautiful things out of very ugly tragedies.


As luck would have it, Thursday was a very, very long day. AJ left at 6am and didn't return until 9pm because he had combatives training after class. Of course that was also the one day that I didn't have plans to meet up with someone or go anywhere, so I was really lonely by the time he came home. I haven't seen him all day today either, but thankfully I was able to go out with another wife this afternoon. We had a really good time as always. I'm so thankful to have met her.


No plans for tonight, but hopefully we're going to visit Williamsburg tomorrow. I'm really excited for more sightseeing!

Exploring the local history.

On Friday I explored the closest mall with an Army wife friend of mine for a little while. Truth be told, there's not too much in that mall that interests me except for a couple decent department stores. I've heard that there's a nicer mall somewhere a little farther away, though, so perhaps someday we'll try again. Regardless, it was nice to go somewhere new for a change, and it's not like I do much shopping anyway.


At seven AJ's class leader wanted to take us out to dinner to get to know us a bit, so we went to the Italian restaurant that's very close by. It was a bit more of a business dinner than something to do just for fun, but I still enjoyed getting to know C better and it's always a treat when someone wants to buy you dinner. 


On Saturday the weather was finally decent enough for us to visit Pamplin Historical Park, a museum I had actually visited on a family vacation when I was my sister's age. I remembered loving it when I was about twelve so I was really hoping that it would be just as great the second time. And it was! Brief history lesson: Petersburg was under siege up until the end of the Civil War. The Confederate Army was focused on defending their supply lines in and around the area where we live, which was crucial to continuing the war. The Confederates constructed trenches and earthworks all around the city to keep the Union Army from capturing it. The Union Army eventually decided to try to capture Petersburg in April 1865, and they outnumbered the Confederates defending Petersburg 5 to 1. The Union soldiers charged right over the defenses the Confederates had built and chased them all around the area, eventually raising the American flag over Petersburg. General Lee surrendered at Appomatox Courthouse (very close to us) just a couple days later.


We started our visit to the museum with the inside exhibit, where you learn about different aspects of life as a Civil War soldier through headphones. At the beginning you pick a real soldier to follow throughout the exhibit, and you hear about their experiences in the war until the end, where you learn their fate. Both of our soldiers died of disease during the war. :( After you go through that exhibit you can tour the grounds, which are set up to be like they were during the war. You can visit slave quarters, a farmhouse original to the property, a reproduced Confederate winter camp, and the original earthworks where the battle took place. We also saw a rifle demonstration, where they teach you all the steps it took to fire a Civil War rifle and actually end up firing it for you.


The day was unbelievably humid and periodically rainy, but we still had a great time. AJ the soldier loved learning about the Civil War as much as I did and we got to appreciate the history that happened right where we live. 


That night we went out for sushi with J and R, which was fun as always. R and I laughed about our fears that we're going to end up running or driving into some top secret gate when we're out and about on post by ourselves. That's when J told us that the Army tries really hard to make families feel at home on post, so no one would purposely intimidate us or make us feel uncomfortable. Here's an example: Soldiers aren't allowed to run with headphones on post, but the MPs and other soldiers are very careful not to bother anyone who looks like they might be family. Post doesn't always feel very home-y to me, because it's clearly an Army base, but the more time I spend there by myself the less intimidated I am by the military. I'm learning that people in the Army actually have a lot of respect for us family members and know that without our sacrifice and support we wouldn't have the Army that we do in the U.S. I really appreciate the way the Army acknowledges and respects me as a wife. It's not always overt respect, but I can tell nonetheless.


This morning we went to church and Bible study again, which we like a lot. Our Bible study has a great mix of military and non-military, and it's funny to hear military members use the lingo accidentally or poke fun at themselves. It seems that there are Army people transitioning in and out of the group pretty often, so we're definitely not alone. Last week the JAG commander for Fort Lee was there (AJ knew him because he gave a UCMJ briefing) and today we found out that one of the leaders is a Major and a Quartermaster like AJ. He has been instrumental in making us feel at home and even suggested we have lunch with him and his wife sometime. AJ and I are by far the youngest members of the group, but we actually really appreciate learning from couples who are older and more experienced than we are. We spend so much time with people in their 20s that we think it's healthy to be in a Bible study for more middle-aged couples. People still ask us all the time if we have kids, though! I mean, I know that it's common to have children at our age in the military, but it's really strange to get asked that when we look so young and just got married!




Now we're just hanging around the apartment for a change. AJ has a group project meeting tonight, and I'd really love to just chill today for once, but I'm thinking we need to get started on our wedding album so as not to worry my mother. ;) Peace out from Petersburg.

Just a small update.

Although we haven't done anything super newsworthy yet this week, I thought I'd share a few small tidbits of news for our family members out there. :)


Yesterday I met AJ for lunch at the ALU (Army Logistics University) for the first time. It was his idea for me to come and see where he spends his time every day, and I'm really glad I went. A lot of the soldiers go home for lunch, so it gets pretty busy around there by 11:45. We decided to grab some Subway from the cafeteria and ate with a few of AJ's classmates whom I hadn't met yet. It was definitely a different environment for me--I was one of just three people in civilian clothing in the entire cafeteria and I'm definitely not used to hanging out with a bunch of men, some of whom don't seem quite as motivated to clean up their language around wives (in my experience, most of the soldiers I've met are super polite around me though). One mentioned going to Afghanistan in January; it's crazy to know that he already knows his deployment date. That made things a bit more real to me. 


I could see what AJ means about seeing so many international soldiers around; we spotted uniforms from Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, and more. After lunch he showed me the classrooms he spends time in, and when we stepped outside I got to watch as the enlisted soldiers saluted him and called him "sir". That was pretty cool. The more time I spend here, especially around the enlisted soldiers, the prouder I am to be an officer's wife.


I still spend my days cleaning up the apartment, grocery shopping, running, and crossing other things off my to-do list such as thank you notes, changing the name on my passport, brushing up on my Spanish, etc. I actually keep pretty busy all day so I'm never sitting around bored or lonely.


AJ's been learning about food service so far this week. They went on a small field trip to the field kitchens on post, where the privates are training to cook. He's been all excited and informative about food safety and nutrition since his briefing yesterday, which it seems he was fairly interested in. Each evening I hear about which instructors he liked and which ones talk too much, along with what exactly they lectured about. I'm really proud of him for how seriously he takes his training and how well he leads his squad. I don't think I should say much about what goes on in the squad, but I have been able to see much more of my husband's great heart, leadership skills, and willingness to be an advocate for people. 


Finally, AJ had pre-ranger PT for the first time this morning. He and one other soldier maxed on the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test), so technically they don't need to go to PT at all. However, they both want to challenge themselves so they go to pre-ranger PT together. This PT gets soldiers ready for Ranger School, which is pretty much just one notch below Special Forces with how intense it is. The school lasts two months, and it equips soldiers to be in the Ranger Regiment, which again is very similar to Special Forces. If AJ passes all the different tests, he'll most likely get a spot to Ranger School. Not sure yet if I really want him to go due to its intensity and the time we'd have to spend apart (it would probably use up his leave time after BOLC), but we'll see if he gets a spot and cross that bridge when we get there. I still want to support him in whatever excites him, even if it's not so fun for me at first, so we both agree that Ranger School is a possibility and that we'll pray about it before ruling it out. One of the best parts about being married is making decisions together finally.


Anyway, this form of PT was definitely the challenge he was looking for. He made it through, but he said he felt sick from exhaustion towards the end. He also woke up late and dressed in the dark, which resulted in him wearing two different shoes! Thankfully they get to wear their civvies to Ranger PT so he wasn't out of uniform or anything. Poor guy ;)

There are flying squirrels in Richmond.

The ACUs and PT uniform are all washed and we're gearing up for a new week. The guys had to go to work all day on Friday for a regimental run and training in mortuary affairs (not my favorite), so I got some things done at home before meeting up with J again for some girl time. We decided to go to Starbucks for some iced tea before heading down to the pool to enjoy it. It was the perfect treat for another sweltering sunny day. The quickest way to Starbucks was actually through Fort Lee, so I got the new experience of driving on post and using my Army ID for the first time. They want IDs for everyone in the car, not just the driver, so it felt pretty legit to be a couple of Army wives just driving through post with our shiny IDs. We waved to the ALU (Army Logistics University) where our husbands were as we drove by.


AJ and W came home from training on the early side (they carpool so J can have a car), so we texted them to meet us down by the pool. We had a short double date of just hanging out in the pool before we wives decided it was time to start dinner (they always come home so hungry!). I sent AJ down to grill our dinner of lemon chicken, which turned out delicious. Excited to pass down that great recipe to generations of Ullrichs to come. :)


On Saturday AJ went back on post to take care of some errands, and then we just kind of lounged around inside to escape the heat. At five we met up with W and J again for a Richmond Flying Squirrels minor league baseball game. It's only a 30 minute drive to Richmond, and the tickets for the front section were super cheap. As soon as we walked into the stadium a man pulled our husbands aside and asked them if they'd like to be a part of a game after the first inning. Of course my husband couldn't say no to that and W was just as excited! The point of the game was to compete in making the most baskets in a basketball hoop, and they were connected with a bungee cord so they had to pull on each other to get to their respective basketballs. W is a bit bigger than AJ, so my poor husband was struggling against his weight. But they tied, each with two baskets! J and I were laughing so hard at the sight.


The rest of the game was pretty hot, yet a lot of fun. W and J are a great couple and we're so glad they invited us along on their date night. Oh, and the Flying Squirrels won 6-1. :)


On Sunday we went to church with the same couple we celebrated Fourth of July with. AJ and I agreed right away that this is the church we want to be a part of while we're here. We felt so welcomed there--everyone was super friendly and we were taken under the wing of one man right away. I guess we're obviously not from around here. Al, the man who made it his mission to help us feel welcome, introduced us to the pastor and his wife and immediately connected us with a Bible study, which we stayed for after the service. We were immediately recognized as military by just about everyone (must be our age and the haircuts!). Another Army wife introduced herself to me right away at the Bible study; her husband is on a one-year deployment in Korea right now. The entire church is clearly Gospel-centered and extremely welcoming; you can tell they are used to people like us and care a lot about us even though they know we can't stay very long. I'm so thankful for those people.


Fun fact, courtesy of Al: Supposedly some of the wealthiest people in VA live somewhere in Petersburg. The rest of the town, he says, consists largely of places you shouldn't go at night. I guess we can understand the places you shouldn't go at night (although our apartment complex is very very nice and not one of those places) and are now curious about this fancy part of town. I'd love to hear more about what the locals think about our surroundings. I'm still of the opinion that Petersburg may have fallen on hard times, yet I'm still happy to live here and don't ever feel unsafe when I'm out as long as I don't run anywhere off the main road.




We had lunch at Panera after church, where we actually ran into the two couples we went to church with last week. Since then we've had kind of a lazy day since I was really tired for some reason. We got all four of our packages from Mom Ullrich and are especially excited for our Arby's sauce! Thanks so much!! Now to find a place to store everything...that, along with my first solo trip to the commissary, will be tomorrow's project. :)

The Fourth at Fort Lee

The holiday break is over but we're ready for the weekend to start today! We were so excited to celebrate the Fourth of July together again because we've only had one together in almost five years of dating. We really wanted to do something special for the holiday since we're so far away from family and friends. We had kind of a lazy morning before heading to Kroger to pick up some groceries for that night. Once we got home, we started putting together the deviled eggs, ham appetizers, and homemade lemonade. I was really excited to make some of the things that I knew my family would be having that same day. At 6:30 we met another couple at the gate to our apartment complex for dinner. This couple has been living here for a few months now; they decided to come to Petersburg early and found an apartment on their own. K is pregnant and due during the last week of BOLC, so things are a bit up in the air as to where they will live and how long they will stay in VA before heading to their next duty station at Fort Lewis in WA. We used the grills down by the pool to cook up some burgers and hot dogs, which we enjoyed along with the lemonade, deviled eggs, ham appetizers, and chips. It was delicious and quite a success. We really enjoyed getting to know S and K and hearing their story as a couple. 

At about nine we drove on post for the "Fourth at the Fort", sponsored by the Fort Lee MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation). The festivities had actually started at 2pm that afternoon, and the place was packed by the time we got there. There were thousands of people in and around the stadium, where a country concert was going on. We set up our beach towel (none of us has lawn chairs) in the perfect spot on a lawn and enjoyed an awesome fireworks display. It turns out that we definitely went where the locals go, which gave me a sense of pride for figuring that out. Even though it was our first holiday far away from our families, it felt great to know that we are a little family ourselves and are forging our own path here in Virginia. 


Side note: When we were on post the next morning I noticed that you would never have known how many thousands of people were there just the night before. The place was spotless. I guess that's the Army for you.

The next morning we had an appointment at the Soldier Support Center to register me for DEERS and get my military ID. I don't entirely know what all DEERS entitles me to, but it does give me healthcare and whatever other military benefits I'll get. Now that I have an Army ID I can use any gate to get on post and shop at places like the PX and the commissary. I'm super excited about the privilege of shopping on post; I keep thinking about how fortunate we are to save some money when so many people need those cheaper prices more than we do. Not sure it's worth a deployment though.

We wrapped up the day with a stop at the PX for more ACUs and a haircut as well as a stop in the commissary for a few groceries, plus a visit to the Army Women's Museum. I really enjoyed learning about the history of women in the military and gained a sense of appreciation for their contributions to our country. It was really interesting. We ended the evening with a walk around our apartment complex, which was nice, although I wish we were in a neighborhood and not so limited in that respect.

Today AJ came home for a quick breakfast, which was nice, and he might get out early this afternoon. I've skyped with a college friend and will soon be going out with another wife for the second time. Tonight hopefully we'll think of ways to beat the heat, yet still do some fun exploring. 

Back to work.

The Ullrichs are wrapping up their weekend here in Petersburg, which isn't so bad because it was definitely a good one. We went to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Museum on post after lunch on Saturday, partly because it was just something free to see and partly because it's all about AJ's job. Although I'm not really into some of the more technical military stuff, I did enjoy learning more about the history of the quartermaster corps and about what AJ will be doing for his job. Some of the highlights for me were learning about how rations have evolved over the decades, seeing what the riggers do and how the Army drops humanitarian relief and entire vehicles from planes, meeting Pipeline Pete, and finding something like the STAPLES "Easy button" that says "hooah". Adding a postcard to my collection was also pretty exciting. With all this moving around for the military my collection is definitely going to grow. :)

After the museum we checked out the commissary, where I will be doing our grocery shopping once I get my CAC card. We weren't intending to buy anything until we saw Naked Juice for $1.85 AND we don't pay tax on post! Naturally we were amazed and bought two. That place is awesome. After that we drove over to the largest PX, which for those of you who don't know is kind of like a military department store. The place was packed with enlisted soldiers in ACUs who must have just arrived for AIT. It was more than a little overwhelming being in a crowd of camouflage. You can especially spot the new enlisted soldiers because their combat boots are super clean looking, unlike AJ's. We picked up a couple things there and drove over to the other PX, where the uniform store is, so AJ could look for some new ACUs. I got a kick out of more of the street names on post--Preamble Drive, Battle Drive, Army Avenue...the Army is so gosh darn creative.


We met another couple in AJ's class for dinner at Outback that night, which was really nice. J doesn't have a car so I told her we could do some more exploring together sometime. We all have a shared love of Pixar and they're from Texas, where AJ has orders for after BOLC.


We enjoyed another nice thunderstorm when we got home that night. The storms here are frequent and come on pretty fast. On Friday night we just had very strong wind and lightning for awhile, which actually made the trees behind our apartment look very creepy. Apparently thousands of people were out of power due to the recent storms, so the cities have been setting up designated air conditioned buildings for people out of power to beat the heat. The power goes out so easily here, it's weird.


This morning we checked out a local church with two other couples. One couple has a daughter almost the same age as our niece which was really nice. We had our own little Army family row during the service. The church ended up not being for us, so we'll continue our search with another couple next week hopefully. We did go to Lone Star for lunch with our new friends, though, which was definitely a good time. After lunch we did some errands and took advantage of our apartment complex's pool, because once again, it is very hot down here. We went to dinner at some weird, fancy Arby's, which was actually super disappointing because they don't have Arby's sauce! I was really bummed about that and missing the real Arby's back home. :( Now AJ's finishing up some anti-terrorism training on his laptop and we'll just hang around until he goes to bed early for combatives training tomorrow. I think he's pretty excited for that. :)