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. :)

First weekend in Petersburg!

The weekend is here! And it has been great so far, although very, very hot. I skipped my morning run on Friday due to the heat, which was somewhere over 105 degrees. AJ came home at his usual time on Friday and hopped in the shower right away because we had a dinner date. He met another 2nd lieutenant who's here for transportation BOLC I believe, so he's not in the same class as AJ. He had breakfast with this guy on Thursday morning, during which they discovered that they have the same amount of siblings, almost the same birthday, look similar, and love to talk--which in their minds, made them best friends. ;) The soldier just got married a month ago like us, so they immediately set up a double date for us wives to finally make some friends. It turns out they love ethnic food and sushi like we do, so we met at Elephant Thai, a restaurant right off post. Our husbands finally learned each other's first names, and we all agreed to try to remember to use first names when we're together. Of course, this is no problem for us wives. This couple is on active duty and will be stationed at Fort Hood, the other base in Texas, which is a far cry from their home in Colorado. AJ and J are so similar that it's crazy, and I really enjoyed getting to know R. We talked for a full two hours at the restaurant and then invited them to see our place and have a cup of coffee. They live in Fort Lee housing, which means that they don't have a kitchen or anything like that. They actually brought things they would need for an apartment, unlike AJ and me. I told R that she is more than welcome to come over and use our kitchen at any time, and I'm pretty sure we will be having them over for dinner quite a bit. She has made friends with another young wife who has a daughter the same age as AJ's niece, so I'm excited to get to know her too. It was such an encouragement to finally meet someone here who shares my experiences and who can share their perspective on Army life, deployment, children in the military, etc. I'm so thrilled to have a friend. We're going to church with them tomorrow, which is great because we haven't had a chance to try to find a place yet.


AJ took me for a drive on post yesterday before dinner. This was my first time at Fort Lee, and it was great to finally visualize where he goes every day. It feels a little bit like a college campus, just not quite as home-y, I guess you could say. The Army is super creative about street names too- A, B, C, and D streets, Lee street. We found the commissary and PX, which will be great for me once I get my ID. I'm looking forward to getting my paperwork done and meeting with Army Community Services to try to find a place to volunteer or something while I'm here. 


I've been learning more and more about Army culture and being an Army wife in general these days, mostly through AJ. One day he came home from a security briefing will all this new information he wanted to put to use. Obviously, security is always important for anyone to know about, especially when you're in a new area, but it's super important in the Army. He told me some crazy stories about information being leaked to terrorists just by someone doing something innocent like posting a picture on Facebook. I try to be careful about what I say on the Internet anyway, but I now that I'm affiliated with the military it's crucial. 


I'm also new to the serious hierarchy here and the strict boundary between officers and enlisted soldiers. This area is crawling with enlisted people here for AIT, which comes right after basic training. Their freedom is still very limited--they have to go places in groups and must always wear an ACU backpack, which singles them out very easily. I had no idea how much enlisted soldiers really do live in a different world, as AJ puts it. It's crazy that many of them are here straight from high school--some of those 18-year-olds are even MPs (military police) on post, which is a little weird. Officers are told not to go near them, period. As an officer, AJ has plenty of freedom here; our lives would be very different if he was enlisted.


Well, that's a lot for today. We're probably going on post to the Quartermaster Museum and Army Women's Museum today, mostly just so AJ can say he's been but also so that I can learn more about his job. We're supposed to meet up with yet another couple tonight, so that'll be fun too I'm sure. Time to start our day.

Grocery shopping adventures and meeting the squad.

Before I talk about yesterday, I'll post some pictures of my new car. Notice the Virginia plates--I'm driving disguised as a Virginian :)

Okay, on to our day real quick. I finally went for a run in the morning, which was so needed. Unfortunately, AJ came home for a quick break during that time so I didn't get to see him as much as I would have. There aren't any sidewalks around us and we're on kind of a busy road, so that's kind of a bummer. If nothing else I might just drive to the Petersburg Battlefield and run along the trails because that would be nicer. 

After AJ left I tried to figure out how to report AJ's stipend on my FAFSA, which was unsuccessful even after calling the FAFSA people. Turns out they don't know much about the military because they told me to ask the VA, which even I knew was a little ridiculous. Next I made our grocery shopping list and tried to figure out where I should go. I decided Save-a-Lot sounded like a promising name, and it's close by. Turns out, it's like an Aldi but not nearly as nice and without much variety. Still, it was cheap so I felt really good about shopping there. I doubt that's where the other officers wives go, especially because it definitely serves a different demographic, but I don't care. I went to Kroger to get the rest of our food and I was so nervous about the prices the entire time. I've never bought significant quantities of food from anywhere but Aldi, so I thought I'd for sure shock AJ with what I spent even though I just got what we really needed. In the end it was okay though.

After four trips up to the third floor with my purchases I started dinner, which was sloppy joes on Texas toast with spinach salad on the side. It was a pinterest recipe and it was delicious! AJ really liked it, which was very exciting because this was the first time I've ever made dinner for him. After dinner AJ had to give out PT belts and other equipment to his squad, so he had them come over here. I was really glad he decided to do that because I got to meet a lot of the people he spends time with. They all introduced themselves by first name, which makes perfect sense anywhere outside the Army. AJ doesn't even know their first names I'm pretty sure, so after each one left I asked my husband for their last name. We finally got to spend a little over an hour together after all that was over, which was really needed after how crazy things have been lately.

AJ had the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) this morning. He left at 3:30am and came home just as I was waking up at 7:15 to shower and tell me that he maxed yet again. Which is great because he really hasn't worked out since we got married! So proud of him, but I knew he would do it. Now he's on a breakfast date on post with his new friend, so I'm on my own again. Time to start the day.