New Home...For Now...

Sunday we hit the road from Texas to Louisiana. Our destination? Fort Polk. Not by choice, but because the Army said so. So here we are for the next few months until Michael deploys and Jennifer heads back to Texas. Our goal is to make an adventure of it!

We packed up the motorcycle, the RV, and Taz and headed out with the help of Jennifer's grandparents. We were greeted in Louisiana with 105+ degree temperatures and humidity. For anyone that's done RVing they know it's NO fun to try and set up in this kind of weather. By the end of the day we were exhausted but got most everything set up.

As always it's our intent to keep this little blog updated with as much entertainment as we can provide.

:)

PROMOTION!!!

Yes...finally...after exactly 16 months of waiting...he's finally pinned on (or rather velcrod on) the rank of SFC! The ceremony was short and sweet. Approximately 10 minutes to be exact but was well worth it.

...Update...

So what the heck have we been up to??? Absolutely nothing. Well, that's not entirely true I guess.

In March Michael decided to take the plunge and re-enlist indefinitely. He's officially a "lifer" now. Some really great pictures were taken at the ceremony, however, Jennifer only took 4 of them and as you can see it's of the back of Michael. The rest of the time she was taking a small part in everything.

As a symbol of it's appreciation of Michael's voluntary re-enlistment and commitment, the Army decided to give us orders to Fort Polk, Louisiana. Yes, that's right. We believe it's also known as the "Middle-of-Nowhere" Louisiana. It's too soon to pass judgment, so we'll have to see for ourselves when we get there. Our master plan is to simply go there for a few months until Michael might deploy and then Jennifer will come back to Killeen.

We took a quick weekend trip to Fort Polk to check it out and scout out some places to live. We think we have something narrowed down. It is pretty obvious at this point why people hate it there. There's nothing. If you like that small town feel, this might even be too small. Jennifer still remains optimistic. It's a new experience and a change from the day-to-day drag of Killeen. It's also called denial.

We also just finished up another exciting weekend. We took our RV out for the first time and loved it. Jennifer's grandparents picked an awesome campground on Lake Waco and we set up for a few days. Camping in an RV is definitely something to get used to, but luckily you still get a lot of the amenities of home...so we can't complain. Michael refers to it as the world's most expensive port-a-potty.

We left Waco early Sunday and headed back to Killeen. Once we got the camper cleaned up and back in storage we hit the driving range at the local golf course. For those that don't know, Michael's newly acquired hobby is golf. Jennifer is open to give it a try, however, it's a game massive hand-eye coordination. It was a lot of fun learning the basics so I'm sure it will become a regular item for the agenda...especially when we get to Fort Polk since there isn't much else to do.

That's about it for updates. Jennifer hopes to get more frequent updates on here with the upcoming Fort Polk adventure. We plan to make our temporary stay there as much of a positive experience as possible....keep your fingers crossed for us :)

...looking back...

Did anyone else blink and feel like they missed 2009? We certainly did.

2009

It started off pretty quiet, Michael was still deployed to Afghanistan. January and February crept by for Jennifer as she awaited R&R in March. She feels like then entire two months were spent doing school work and house cleaning...fun fun fun.

The early part of March was amazing, Michael came in for R&R and the entire time was a blur. We headed down to San Antonio for a few days as a very delayed honeymoon and to celebrate Jennifer's birthday on the 4th, our 6th anniversary on the 5th, and then Michael's birthday on the 7th. The weather in San Antonio couldn't have been more perfect for the trip. We headed back home after the much needed rest to get some home improvements done before Michael had to head back. We added some railing to our front porch and did some moderate landscaping in the yard. Jennifer got the flower garden she's wanted in the front and we added a few trees between the front and back.

Shortly after Michael returned to Afghanistan he was selected for promotion to SFC (E-7). Sequence number 58 out of only 83 selected for his MOS. Woohoo! Now the waiting game begins to see when the Army will actually pick his number.

April was marked by sadness, Jennifer's grandmother passed away just before Easter. She attended the funeral and was able to meet up with some family members she hadn't seen in years.

During the craze of March and April we found out the Army was attempting to send us to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Considering we had just purchased the house in 2008 and were settling in this really wasn't a welcome move. We began our fight to stay at Fort Hood.

For Jennifer the months of May and June were spent doing school work and house cleaning yet again. Notice a pattern?

July was a busy but positive month. On the 1st Michael returned from Afghanistan after a long year of deployment! We headed down to Austin for the 4th of July for our second-annual tradition. Dinner at our favorite upscale restaurant, Trulucks, followed by watching the Austin fireworks from our hotel room. To continue with tradition we both got new vehicles and added a motorcycle to the group. Jennifer traded a clunky SUV for her fun VW R32 hatchback. Michael got away from his Ford pick-up and went with a Chevy Silverado. He was finally able to get the motorcycle he wanted and became the proud owner of a Harley-Davidson.

The next several months were spent winding down from the deployment and Michael trying to find a job on Fort Hood so we would be able to stay.

At the end of September we decided to add a furry addition to our family. We found a german shepherd puppy that needed a home and named her Harley. She's become our entertainment! Taz didn't take too long to come around to having a dog in the house. He tolerates Harley better than he's ever tolerated another cat.

Finally in October Michael was able to locate a job and our efforts to stay worked. A definite relief! However, the wait for promotion to SFC is still pending. The unofficial motto of the Army as everyone knows is "hurry up and wait". So we do.

November was a month of mixed emotion. On the 5th we headed to Fort Hood for Michael's graduation ceremony. He finished his Associates degree in 2008 but deployed before he was able to walk across the stage so this was his "delayed" recognition. The day quickly turned to tragedy as the mass shooting occurred just outside the building we were in. The ceremony proceeded as planned after the shooter was taken down but it's impossible to celebrate knowing what had just taken place outside. After the ceremony we stayed on lock down until later that night. We're thankful for our internet cellphones so we were able to let everyone know we were ok. We heard from almost every person we knew within just a few short hours by call, text, or email. It really makes us realize how lucky we are to have so many people that care.

The year winded down quietly. We enjoyed being able to spend Christmas together as it has become pretty rare that Michael's home for the holidays. We're hoping to make a habit out of it, but as always it's the Army's decision.

As for our plans for 2010 we have no clue, haven't thought that far ahead yet :)

A sad week.

Last week we posted an update shortly before heading on to Fort Hood for Michael's graduation ceremony. We had no idea of the events that were about to unfold. Anyone that watches the news of course knows what happened, we were located in the theater that was right next door to everything. It's truly a life altering experience that has made us appreciate everything we have and realize every moment is a gift. Our hearts and prayers go out to all those that were affected.
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Slight delay...

Did it take us long enough to post an update? Jennifer has sat down a few times to type up a new post, but never gets the chance to finish it. Part of the reason COULD be because she tries to get it done at work. It's the effort that counts right?

Harley update...
The month of October was full of puppy potty training and dog walking. Lots of both. Harley came to us partially trained by her breeder so that helped immensely. She was used to being outdoors all the time but has become pretty spoiled with the amenities of the inside world. Air conditioning, a comfy bed, toys, and all the ice she can eat. Yes...ice. We've created somewhat of a weird habit with her. It started with feeding her just one piece of ice for no apparent reason. She had a blast pushing it around the kitchen floor and chasing it. It's basically water, what can it hurt? After that one piece, she is now trained to come running every single time she hears the ice dispenser. She's been known to run inside from the backyard. Good hearing.

Our first vet visit with her was on October 1st, she weighed in at 40 lbs. Her second visit was October 22nd where she weighed in at 51 lbs. Our guess is she's going to be a good sized dog.

Last weekend we took her down to Georgetown and dropped her off with a professional dog trainer. She'll stay with the trainer for 30 days. At the end of the month we'll spend some time with the trainer so he can then train us...the most important part. So far we've really missed having her around. The house has become pretty quiet. Can't say that Taz appears to miss her too much, but we know deep down he does. A few days before she left he was witnessed actually rubbing up against her as he walked by. A kodak moment for sure, unfortunately we didn't have a camera on hand.

Update on Michael...
Michael is settling in to his new unit pretty well. Some days he works normal hours and some days he hardly works at all. The battalion's primary responsibility is to train reserve units as they come through on their mobilization. When there is a mobilization going on he'll work some pretty insane hours.

Earlier in October his brigade had a ball that we attended. It was really a lot of fun. We had pictures taken and we're just waiting on them to come in so they can be sent out to family and posted on here.

Later this afternoon Michael will be participating in his graduation ceremony from Central Texas College. Last year before he deployed he finished up his Associates degree. CTC offers graduation ceremonies throughout the year to give Soldiers the opportunity to walk across the stage. Since Michael deployed immediatly after finishing the degree he didn't have the chance until now. If we can get some good pictures we'll be sure and post those as well.

Update on Jennifer...
Same story, different day. Jennifer is still working on her school work. She's stuck on a business composition class. It's about as thrilling as stabbing yourself in the eye so it's taking a lot longer to complete than any of the regular classes. Once she struggles through this one she'll only have 2 more to complete the third semester. Just one semester after that and Jennifer will have her Associate's degree. She thought it would be a great idea to move straight in to working on her Bachelor's, but after 2 years of balancing life, work, and school she's not too sure. We'll have to see...

Otherwise, not much else going on with us at the moment. We're still trying to figure out what, if anything, we're doing for the holidays. At least this year Michael will be home :)

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