Back in the 708.

Well, I've officially been back in Illinois for four full days now, and class started today. 

Since my return I've been focusing on adjusting to being back in my home state and to the major life changes that have taken place. I've realized that I have zero sense of a routine here. I eat meals at strange times and sometimes just sit around wondering what to do next, even though there is plenty for me to do. The biggest killer is not doing devotions at my normal time, because then I forget to make time for it. Also, AJ tries to call me on his lunch break so I try to be available for that as well. Here's a summary of some of the changes I'm working around:

-Obviously, my husband is no longer with me, and that alone is hard.

-I'm a married woman living in my childhood home, sharing a bunk bed with my 12-year-old sister. Back in Virginia, I took care of our little apartment and only had one person around to make a mess. Here, I have four people and two dogs that I have to be flexible with. My mom has graciously offered to hand over the reigns to me, but that's way too much work. ;) Still, I'm so thankful to be living with my parents during this time because I know it's an adjustment for them too.

-I'm commuting to school instead of living there, meaning my school environment has changed a lot.

-Instead of my life revolving around my husband's schedule, I'm on my own and have to create my own routine again around my school, work, and social life. 

-The Midwest is in fact pretty different from the Southeast. 

-I don't have nearly enough Army in my life. I miss the military environment and the support that comes with it. I'm so blessed with amazing family and friends here, but at Fort Lee it was nice to be around people who are in similar situations.

Initially, I felt really out of sorts just from the intensity of leaving Virginia and all that comes with it. As time goes on, though, I am feeling more comfortable and happy here in Illinois. Now that school has started I have a renewed sense of purpose, and I'm really enjoying seeing everyone. I'm content to focus on making the most of my time here, even as I eagerly anticipate being with AJ again. I am a blessed young woman and I don't ever want to forget all that I have in Illinois. :)

Dreams of being somewhat settled.

Last week we decided to find a good place for a nice summer walk, just as something interesting to do on a week night. We're still not really sure if there are any safe parks in Petersburg, so we figured a subdivision on post would be our best bet. We grabbed some iced tea from Starbucks and set off for the on post housing, excited to check it out because it could be a good option for us one day. AJ felt really weird about just parking on the street somewhere, like we didn't belong. I said that we're Army too, so of course we belong in an Army subdivision even if we don't live there. AJ replied that he felt like someone would think we were doing something suspicious. This is how the Army sometimes makes you feel--doing something everyone does in the civilian world is now somehow suspicious on post. Yep, a couple of newlywed kids out for a walk in the park--somebody call in the MPs.

As it turns out, the homes there are nicer than a lot of what we see in our area, and of course it's perfectly safe and well kept. There are little parks scattered around and everything is just so quiet and peaceful, especially because the entire subdivision is enclosed by tall Virginia trees. My only complaint was that the yards are super tiny or even nonexistent, but I suppose if you're going to get orders eventually maybe it's not worth it to keep up a yard. 

As AJ and I sat on a swing watching a group of kids play basketball, we both ended up feeling a little sad, although we didn't say anything to each other at the time. In a way, we were looking at our dream, which isn't attainable at the moment--living together in a peaceful place, eventually having a family, just being somewhat settled at all. We knew when we got married that we'd have to postpone really living like husband and wife, though, so this is not all that much of a surprise. The only thing we didn't know was how long that dream would have to be postponed due to deployment schedules and such. It's also a little ironic that we felt that way because we were completely surrounded by Army families like us who are all too familiar with the challenge of being separated. 

The longer we're in Virginia, the more we also really want a dog. I'm really excited to see my dog in Illinois again, but she's getting pretty old so I'm not sure she'll make it to the time AJ and I are settled somewhere. We're also facing the prospect of both of us living alone at different points in the next year, and so of course we each want a little company. Seeing the dogs on post had my husband telling me that he was inspired to adopt an Afghan dog while he's deployed. I thought he was joking, but he told me that soldiers have been adopting strays and keeping them on the FOB (Forward Operating Base) as pets. Apparently this has prompted the Army to put up lots of signs in Afghanistan saying "Rabies Kills". I thought that was pretty funny. Where he finds this stuff out I have no idea.

In this week's news, we are (more accurately, I am) getting ready for Mom Ullrich's arrival and my departure. I'm hoping to squeeze in a couple more hours with my Army friend tomorrow. We originally planned on yesterday being our last time to hang out, but we both couldn't say goodbye yet. It's disappointing that we probably won't see each other again except for maybe Captain's Career Course in four years, if our husbands both stay active. Before being promoted, all quartermaster captains come back to Fort Lee for TDY (temporary duty). AJ's learning about sling loads this week. I thought most of this would be old news to him because he went to Air Assault School, but apparently he forgot a lot of it. There's no PT this week because they start so early, so I've been getting up earlier to have breakfast with him. I don't mind it because we go to bed early and it's a good way to get ready for school.

This time tomorrow we should be getting ready to pick up the only family member to see our first married home! 

Shenandoah.

We decided to do something pretty big for my last weekend in Virginia, so on Friday we ate a quick early dinner and hit the road for Front Royal, Virginia to visit Shenandoah National Park. It's about a two and a half hour drive from our apartment to the park, so we had plenty of time to talk on the way there. It was a good opportunity to have some tough but needed conversations about the challenges we'll be facing over the next year. Once we got closer to the hotel I thought we needed to have the right atmosphere for driving in the mountains, so I put on our best option for bluegrass music--Nickel Creek. We listened to them right up until we got to our hotel.

On Saturday morning we stopped by Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, just to feel nostalgic about our honeymoon. After that we picked up some Subway for a picnic lunch and drove to the national park, where we got in for free thanks to AJ's active duty ID! One of the big features of the park is Skyline Drive, which is a scenic road that winds all through the mountains. It takes about three hours to drive the whole thing, and there are about 75 scenic overlooks with beautiful views of the mountains. We only drove about halfway through, but as you can see from our pictures we were not lacking for natural beauty. 


On the way through the park we stopped at a gift shop, where we picked up a postcard and AJ picked out a Sounds of Shenandoah CD. The music is really pretty and was a good alternative to Nickel Creek for our drive.

Just before lunch we finally stopped to do some hiking in search of a creek that we may or may not have found. Basically, we saw some wet rocks. It was hard work coming back up the hill, so we were really ready for lunch when we got to a picnic table.

After lunch we did a little more driving and picture taking, and AJ found us another trail that looked promising, so we tackled that as our last thing for the day. One our way down the trail a man coming up in the opposite direction warned us that there was a bear on the trail. We kept walking. Never saw the bear. The hike was longer than we thought but in the end we were rewarded with a pretty waterfall. We thought the way back uphill would be really tough, but we made it in about an hour and talked the whole way. Satisfied with our accomplishment, we drove back out of the park for a late dinner.

On Sunday we went to Luray Caverns, which is not too far from the national park. AJ had never seen a cave before, so I'm really glad we were able to do that. Touring a cave is always a cool experience, and we were surprised to find out that over 500 weddings have taken place in the cave!

We had another long drive through the Virginia countryside to get back to our apartment, but we had fun by stopping for gas at the same place we had stopped for lunch on our way here back in June. We've come a long way since then! 



Today starts the packing and dividing up our stuff so I can drive back to Illinois. Getting ready for Mom Ullrich to come visit too! So excited for that!

Rainy day fun and the goodbyes begin.

Two month anniversary flowers.

This past weekend was more laid back than the last, but nonetheless good. On Saturday we had plans to go mini golfing with another couple, but a whole lot of rain made that impossible. Instead of having some outdoor fun, we quickly decided to check out a Chinese buffet in a nearby town where we spend a lot of time. I had never been to one before so I was definitely pretty excited. As soon as we got there we saw three men in ACUs walk in, so we knew it had to be good. The Army knows how to find the best food, that's for sure. Dinner was delicious and fun. AJ of course had to go around finding the strangest food to try, which included some mussels and something else in a shell. 

After dinner we weren't really ready to end our night, so AJ and I invited our friends to our apartment to play Settlers of Catan. We didn't have any room in the marshmallow for games, so thankfully our friends helped us out. We treated them to some coffee with our fancy Keurig and set about to teaching me the game. Normally I don't have a lot of patience for strategy games, but I actually had a lot of fun. Now I know why AJ loves that game so much. We played twice and called it a night at 9:30.

Sunday was my last day at the church we go to down here. I really enjoyed the pastor's preaching and Bible study was great as always. There's a whole pew of enlisted soldiers who attend the same service we do, and AJ's goal is to get to know them once I'm gone. We know they're privates because they often come in uniform and look even younger than my little brother. Hard to believe that teenagers fight our country's wars. I still think AJ's too young as it is. Bible study ended with everyone coming around us and praying for me because they knew I was leaving. I've actually seen that done a couple times already in my short time here--this church is definitely used to military coming and going all the time, and each time they're sent off with prayer. 

Homemade Thai red curry. So tasty!

We really wanted to go swimming that afternoon, but it turns out that the pool was actually too cold for the first time ever. Go figure. So we went for a walk around the apartment complex instead, talking about things like who's probably living where and when and how we might be able to see each other for the holidays. We came to the tentative conclusion that AJ will have to spend Thanksgiving alone, but we will definitely work on getting him home for Christmas. Really, we should be buying those plane tickets now so we don't spend a fortune. I don't even want to think about how much money we're spending on plane tickets just to see each other on occasion. 

Skyped with my mom (known to AJ as "Mom 2") that night for the first time. So proud that she figured it out, although my siblings were on call to help her turn it on and off ;)

AJ came home early today, so we're hoping to leave the apartment and go on a small date after dinner. He's running right now since he's now cleared of all possible injury--today the doctor at the Army clinic said all his test results are normal. I'm thankful and glad to see him exercising again. 


Other than that, we're trying to get ready for me to leave next week--physically, emotionally, spiritually...but mostly emotionally. It's not exactly easy. But that's all I have to say about that. 

Weekend at Va Beach.

After a brief hiatus I've decided it's time to come back to this thing, especially because we actually did something interesting this past weekend. On Friday evening we celebrated two months of marriage with a Starbucks date, something we hadn't done since we've been in Virginia. We ended up talking about deployment for the vast majority of our little date, but it was still really good to leave the apartment and be intentional about talking things out together. We got home just in time to watch some of the Olympics on NBC.

On Saturday morning we packed a suitcase and drove two hours to Virginia Beach. We had originally talked about spending two nights there, but we waited until the last minute to book our hotel and lodging is pricey there anyway. Spending just Saturday night there ended up being a good decision I think. Instead of going to the public beach in the more touristy part of the city, we found a beach that is much quieter. There weren't any hotels there, just many private homes built right on the sand. It was really different seeing yards full of sand rather than grass. I can tell that we picked the beach where more of the locals go. And of course with my VA license plate we looked like locals too. We're some sneaky Illinoisans. ;)

I ended up being brave enough to get over the cold ocean, so we went swimming for a little bit until we both got tired. AJ loved riding the waves and got plenty of saltwater up his nose as a result. We spent the rest of the time relaxing because AJ is so busy during the week. I always feel guilty about taking it easy, but thankfully he helps me not to worry about it. We left at about three, which ended up being a good idea because we had both gotten slightly pink. Getting a little sunburned wasn't hard to do since AJ wears nothing but his uniform and I'm way too impatient to lay out by the pool like other women do.

We drove up to our hotel right on the beach, showered, and had dinner at a raw bar AJ found within walking distance of our hotel. He loves seafood and eats it any chance he gets, and I'm happy to indulge him. He had a bunch of steamed shrimp and crab legs, while I went with a safe crab cake sandwich. After dinner I suggested we take a walk on the boardwalk before we headed back to our hotel to work on our wedding album some more.

Sunday was pretty chill as well. I insisted we go for one last walk by the beach before we headed home. After all, who knows when we'll see the ocean again? AJ suggested we have lunch at a local barbecue place just down the road from our apartment. We each had BBQ pork and it was delicious. I hope we go back one more time. The rest of the day was just spent unpacking, doing housework, sorting Army papers, and preparing a brief for Wednesday. 

So, if I were to conduct an AAR (after action review, something the Army does after doing anything interesting) I would say we accomplished our mission for the weekend.