I am officially the wife of RANGER! woohoo! Go Jared! Go God!!! Let's start from day 1 of travel shall we?
Day 1 (Tuesday October 4th) 5:06 am- Myself, PK, and Aunt Kelsey leave for Sky Harbor National Airport.
PK in his very own seat on our flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Columbus!
9-10 am (southern time, and yes, I think the south has it's own time zone): My dad gets into Columbus, GA with all my stuff and starts dealing with all the craziness of moving. When we got into Columbus, my dad had already gotten everything moved into the house and done the move-in inspection.
Skip to Wednesday: the house begins to look home-y with a lucky couch find off craigslist. The couple who sold it to me was VERY nice and they even delivered it for us.
Late afternoon: I see Jared for the first time!!! Peter is so happy to see his daddy! My mom, step-dad, and mom n' law come into town!
Thursday: I wake up not feeling too hot, take 4 ibprofen, go grocery shopping with Kels, come home, and get ready for graduation!!!
2 pm: Jared is an Airborne Ranger! Tan is my new favorite color ;) (Not really, just excited that Jared has his tan beret! He is happy about it too)
4 pm: Jared takes me home so I can sleep, because I'm officially feeling sick.... All the family including Kelsey and Jared's "Ranger Buddy" Mike Shaw (who is like Uncle Shaw to PK now) went to Olive Garden to celebrate. I was told it was a great dinner, but I slept the whole time they were gone. Jared spends his first night at home!!!
Friday: Kelsey heads for the east coast early in the morning and Jared's 4 days off start! (and I feel worse than yesterday) We went to the hospital (don't worry, it wasn't an emergency, that is just where you go when you are on base, on a friday night). We were there for 4 plus hours (which was no big deal to Jared, he is used to waiting. He said he enjoyed it because we were just hanging out.) That part was nice, but the rising fever, freezing limbs, chattering teeth, throbbing ears, and swollen throat said "this stinks." Two shots in the BUTT later my throat hurts a little less, my bottom hurts a lot more, and we are on our way to the pharmacy for some meds. If you are wondering about the shots-the doc was going to have me on two different meds for 10 days and I opted for just the two shots. I was unaware at the time, however, that they were going to go in my rear-end. (I don't recommend it)
Saturday: My mom, Randy, and my dad all started back to Arizona in the afternoon. But before they left we enjoyed some southern bbq at Country Buffet, then everyone sang happy birthday to me and we ate cake :) I forgot to mention how many times we watched Finding Nemo at this point... so many I lost count. I guess Nemo is PK's new favorite movie!
Sunday: We hang out with Shaw and Jared's mom. We had Cici's Pizza for lunch. It is right down the road from our place, I think that will be a weak point for Jared and I later on... haha or at least for me.
Monday: Jared and Shaw spend the morning working out and doing some shopping. Then Jared, myself and Cheryl go to what ends up being a late lunch with Jared's friend O'Ryan and his fiance' Amy who I know from the RASP facebook group. It was really exciting for me to finally meet her in person because we talked a lot while the guys were training.
Tuesday: Cheryl and I take Jared to work in the morning and I take Cher to the airport. I was really emotionally torn because Jared and I are living alone for the first time in our marriage... but it is sad to think about how far I am from family now. Shaw came over for dinner and spent the night on the couch. I think this will be a common occurrence but I don't mind at all. Shaw is quickly becoming our closest friend. I can't wait till his whole family joins him. (I've met his wife Natalie and their three kids, we went to Sea World with them in San Antonio after the guys graduated medic school there. His family is equally as awesome as he is). Even if they don't come to GA, Jared and Shaw are going to the same training in NC in Feb. so we will hopefully be seeing lots of them then.
So we are finding out more and more about what the next few months will be like. Although Jared is a Ranger, he can still be dropped because he is still going through selection training (during the pre-SOCM and SOCM courses they will still be assessed constantly). The families of the graduating Rangers were "briefed" (updated/informed) after the graduation on Thursday. The instructors told us a little about what they went through during training and what is expected of them after. It seems like being a Ranger is more a lifestyle or an attitude. There are very high expectations and they are sent to do very serious things-when I think about what their job entails my heart beats fast, and my mouth gets a little dry. Good news is that they are a little spoiled. Once Jared is in Regiment (assigned to a batallian, either here at Columbus, Savannah, or Louisville Washington) there won't be 4 hours of waiting at the hospital, we will have a Primary Care Manager who will basically be our family doctor. Also, over seas they are always able to contact home by phone and internet, unless they are on a mission obviously. And deployments only go 4 to 6 months. Another negative however is that they are usually deployed every year. Their off months are spent preparing for the next deployment.
Prayer Requests:
-Shaw and his family to be reunited
-Jared and all the Rangers healing-their bodies are so beat up, especially their feet.
-Me finding ways to keep PK and myself occupied during the day and having the bravery to meet new people and become invested in their lives, even for this short time.
-PRAISE! Our washer/dryer finally comes today!!!
Here are some more pics of the house: the bedrooms are not yet ready to be viewed! lol
Skip to Wednesday: the house begins to look home-y with a lucky couch find off craigslist. The couple who sold it to me was VERY nice and they even delivered it for us.
We got a good deal on the piece above. It wasn't made to be a tv stand but it works really well!
Our couch and chaise lounge!
Late afternoon: I see Jared for the first time!!! Peter is so happy to see his daddy! My mom, step-dad, and mom n' law come into town!
Thursday: I wake up not feeling too hot, take 4 ibprofen, go grocery shopping with Kels, come home, and get ready for graduation!!!
2 pm: Jared is an Airborne Ranger! Tan is my new favorite color ;) (Not really, just excited that Jared has his tan beret! He is happy about it too)
4 pm: Jared takes me home so I can sleep, because I'm officially feeling sick.... All the family including Kelsey and Jared's "Ranger Buddy" Mike Shaw (who is like Uncle Shaw to PK now) went to Olive Garden to celebrate. I was told it was a great dinner, but I slept the whole time they were gone. Jared spends his first night at home!!!
Friday: Kelsey heads for the east coast early in the morning and Jared's 4 days off start! (and I feel worse than yesterday) We went to the hospital (don't worry, it wasn't an emergency, that is just where you go when you are on base, on a friday night). We were there for 4 plus hours (which was no big deal to Jared, he is used to waiting. He said he enjoyed it because we were just hanging out.) That part was nice, but the rising fever, freezing limbs, chattering teeth, throbbing ears, and swollen throat said "this stinks." Two shots in the BUTT later my throat hurts a little less, my bottom hurts a lot more, and we are on our way to the pharmacy for some meds. If you are wondering about the shots-the doc was going to have me on two different meds for 10 days and I opted for just the two shots. I was unaware at the time, however, that they were going to go in my rear-end. (I don't recommend it)
Saturday: My mom, Randy, and my dad all started back to Arizona in the afternoon. But before they left we enjoyed some southern bbq at Country Buffet, then everyone sang happy birthday to me and we ate cake :) I forgot to mention how many times we watched Finding Nemo at this point... so many I lost count. I guess Nemo is PK's new favorite movie!
Sunday: We hang out with Shaw and Jared's mom. We had Cici's Pizza for lunch. It is right down the road from our place, I think that will be a weak point for Jared and I later on... haha or at least for me.
Monday: Jared and Shaw spend the morning working out and doing some shopping. Then Jared, myself and Cheryl go to what ends up being a late lunch with Jared's friend O'Ryan and his fiance' Amy who I know from the RASP facebook group. It was really exciting for me to finally meet her in person because we talked a lot while the guys were training.
Tuesday: Cheryl and I take Jared to work in the morning and I take Cher to the airport. I was really emotionally torn because Jared and I are living alone for the first time in our marriage... but it is sad to think about how far I am from family now. Shaw came over for dinner and spent the night on the couch. I think this will be a common occurrence but I don't mind at all. Shaw is quickly becoming our closest friend. I can't wait till his whole family joins him. (I've met his wife Natalie and their three kids, we went to Sea World with them in San Antonio after the guys graduated medic school there. His family is equally as awesome as he is). Even if they don't come to GA, Jared and Shaw are going to the same training in NC in Feb. so we will hopefully be seeing lots of them then.
So we are finding out more and more about what the next few months will be like. Although Jared is a Ranger, he can still be dropped because he is still going through selection training (during the pre-SOCM and SOCM courses they will still be assessed constantly). The families of the graduating Rangers were "briefed" (updated/informed) after the graduation on Thursday. The instructors told us a little about what they went through during training and what is expected of them after. It seems like being a Ranger is more a lifestyle or an attitude. There are very high expectations and they are sent to do very serious things-when I think about what their job entails my heart beats fast, and my mouth gets a little dry. Good news is that they are a little spoiled. Once Jared is in Regiment (assigned to a batallian, either here at Columbus, Savannah, or Louisville Washington) there won't be 4 hours of waiting at the hospital, we will have a Primary Care Manager who will basically be our family doctor. Also, over seas they are always able to contact home by phone and internet, unless they are on a mission obviously. And deployments only go 4 to 6 months. Another negative however is that they are usually deployed every year. Their off months are spent preparing for the next deployment.
Prayer Requests:
-Shaw and his family to be reunited
-Jared and all the Rangers healing-their bodies are so beat up, especially their feet.
-Me finding ways to keep PK and myself occupied during the day and having the bravery to meet new people and become invested in their lives, even for this short time.
-PRAISE! Our washer/dryer finally comes today!!!
Here are some more pics of the house: the bedrooms are not yet ready to be viewed! lol
Dining table with odd ball chairs...
Kitchen! The big white box to the right is our electric water heater. The washer and dryer will be in the space to the right (not in the picture, but it's there)
From the kitchen window you can see our little fenced yard! Isn't it so green! It smells so good here! We havn't turned on our air or heat once! It has rained the last two days which has kept me in warmer clothes, but when we first got here I was in short and tank tops!
I just realized PK and I have been in GA a full week now. 7 whole days! I miss lots of things from home but this is going to be a great adventure. I know you all are thinking and praying for us! Thank you so much!
Love,
Still Thinking of a Catchy Call Sign
ideas: Ranger Stark
Ranger House
Woodland Circle (the historic areas around here have names, that's the one for this area).
And I had to share this pic from one of our last Sundays at Access:
awww I'm so excited for you! How fun! Glad that you are better. Love you and miss you!
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