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. 

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!