Good Things

Well, it seems the positive attitude I've had this week is paying off with positive rewards! Jerry was scheduled to have a 24-hour guard duty this weekend, effectively eliminating our chances of seeing each other . Not only was he removed from that duty, but the nice army folks let him submit a weekend pass request, even though it was after the usual deadline. Which means, if all goes the way it should, I will be seeing my husband tomorrow night and will get to spend the weekend with him! And if that isn't a good thing, I don't know what is!

Flowers are also good. Especially in my pretty vase that my wonderful husband got me for Christmas. I'm feeling quite blessed right now.

'cause who doesn't like monkeys?!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was a bit of a downy clowny last week. I was really feeling the separation and letting it get to me in a pretty big way. My mom's suggestion to me was to buy something. She says that I work too hard and don't spend enough money on myself, which is probably true. She recommended shopping for something red. Well, I didn't go with the red thing (though I did do my shopping at Target!), but I did make a purchase that's had me smiling every day. Well, except that first day. That day my purchase made me frustrated.

I had been wandering around Target, looking for the something that would lift my spirits. I wasn't having much success in the clothing department. Not a surprise, since one of the things getting me down is my weight. So I went to the homey stuff. Really, I should've headed straight for that part of the store. I know myself well enough to know that things to make my home homier always make me a little happier.

My parents got us new bedding for Christmas, but I only have one set of sheets that match the duvet cover. Though Jerry thinks that one set of sheets is plenty, I disagree. I think there should be at least two sets for each comforter. So I set out to find something. The duvet cover is a weird color, making it difficult to find sheets that match and fit my thread count criteria (generally 400 or higher). So I started to get discouraged. And then I came across the patterened jersey sheets, I think intended for small children. They had a set with monkeys all over them. Didn't quite match color-wise, but who cares? There's monkeys on 'em! To my delight, they actually made these sheets to fit queen size beds! I grabbed a set and was on my way! When I got home, I immediately washed them, anxious to get them on my bed that night. They were all washed and smelling nice when I started to put the fitted sheet on. And let me tell you, there was zero way that the fitted sheet was intended to go on a queen size bed, despite the fact that the set was labeled as queen. I think it was a twin sheet. By now Target had closed, so there was no chance of me sleeping with my monkeys that night. And I worried that there wouldn't be any more of the queen size sheets at the store. I was a little sad.

The next day I returned to Target and exchanged my sheets. Being a smart girl, I tried the fitted sheet on before washing the sheets this time. It was the right size! The sheets went straight into the wash and then back onto the bed! Yay for monkeys jumpin on the bed! As you can see the monkey sheets are making me very happy. And Scooter likes 'em too!

Peace Begins With a Smile

There's a big ol' Baptist church on our block. In front of it is a sign that usually boasts a somewhat corny saying relating to faith (e.g. Jesus is like a Hallmark card. God cared enough to send the very best.) They usually make me roll my eyes a bit, but bring a smile to my face. The newest one says that peace begins with a smile. For some reason, that really struck me and it's something I can't shake out of my head. Yeah, it's a simple thing. But on a very basic level, it's true. From the simplest exchanges we have each day, whether with strangers, acquaintances, or old friends, approaching each other with smiles and friendliness not only makes for peaceful exchanges, but general happiness throughout the day. I guess that's something that I incorporate into my daily life for the most part, but it was a nice reminder to me. It reminded Scooter that he likes to leave his poo offering in front of the church! (Which of course I picked up!)

Yesterday I received a very thoughtful birthday card from my grandparents. Underlined was this part: "I wonder if you guess the countless times/The thought of you/Has brought us happiness?" Could they be any sweeter? Since Jerry's been gone, I've really been feeling the distance not only from him, but from my family and friends. It meant a lot to read such sweet words from people who have such an important and special place in my heart.

If you can't tell, I'm in a bit of a sentimental mood. But I'm also in a very positive mood, a drastic change from last week when all I could think of was the sadness of being separated from the man I love most. But, at least for now, I'm in a better place to see all that I have for which I'm thankful and all that I have to look forward to when Jerry and I are reunited in a few months!

Blog Envy

There is not a whole lot to say today. The next several days will be filled with LOTS of work. Too much work. I'm a little tired of work. But alas, work must happen! I will be working at both jobs today and tomorrow and an extra long shift at the Buy on Saturday. I suspect that I will be working there on Sunday as well, as I am scheduled a Sunday shift nearly every week. I'll find out for sure tonight.

Jerry and I had been making plans to see each other next weekend. But we got some disappointing news yesterday. For 24 hours of that weekend, he has guard duty, effectively eliminating our chances of seeing each other then. Which I think will push us back two more weekends. Making it four weeks between this last visit and the next. Sucks. But I guess that means one less time to have to say good-bye. And the saying good-bye is particularly hard for me.

In addition to being bummed about working and not seeing my husband, I'm also experiencing some blog envy. I was inspired to start this blog by viewing the blog of my wedding photographer, Joanna. Naturally, since she's a photographer, it's filled with beautiful photographs. As opposed to my photos, primarily taken on my phone camera. (There is one great photo, but it was taken by my wedding photographers!) Then there's my friend Koz's blog. Which makes me feel inadequate as a writer and a little creatively challenged. Blah.

Guess it's just one of those blah days!

We're In the Army Now

Yesterday, Jerry officially started his training to be a paralegal specialist. Which is what was scheduled to happen. But until he actually started, we were a bit skeptical. It turns out that his particular class is made up entirely of prior service soldiers, which is good news for us. It means that they will be able to eliminate some of the field training, which will make his training period shorter. And that translates to less time that Jerry Giant and I will spend apart as well as knowing sooner (hopefully) where Jerry's first post will be. So it's a pretty exciting time for us both, a time where we will start to get some answers to the questions about our future. We've submitted our post assignment requests, with two of the three domestic posts requested being in Texas. We are hopeful that he'll be stationed in Texas, so that we can see a lot more of Elyssa. We'll be keeping our fingers crossed! Our third choice is in Washington state, which I think would be an interesting place for us to live. If we're shipped overseas, we've requested Germany (I would really love that!), Hawaii and Alaska. Yeah, they're considered overseas. I'm hoping that we are not going to be sent to Alaska, but we had no other choice when making the requests. From what Jerry's heard from other soldiers, we may have his post assignment as soon as three weeks from now. Which would be great for my peace of mind, at least knowing where we're going and then beginning to do the work I'll need to do to start looking for employment and planning a move.

Jerry's also requested to go to jump school. To be a parachutin' paralegal :-) Ithink that's pretty cool and hope it works out for him, even though it would mean a few more weeks apart between his training and his first post assignment.

Here's a photo I took of Jerry when he came home for Christmas, wearing his costume. I mean uniform. He's very handsome, don't you think? I guess I'm a little biased!

Yesterday, I called USAA to update our insurance policy to reflect the new last name and Jerry's marital status. Because of their affiliation with the military, the very nice lady directed me to a really cool website for army spouses. It's called cinchouse.com. Already I've found some really great articles about health and fitness, as well as information on finding jobs when we move from post to post. It turns out that there are a lot of sites like this, which I think are gong to be very helpful to me as I try to navigate life as an army wife, something that is so new and so foreign to me.

That's all for now in the exciting life of GiantPantz!

Happy Birthday to Me!

On Sunday, I celebrated my33rd birthday! My husband did a lot to make it very special for me.
Not only did he spend the whole weekend with me, but gave me some pretty great (and interesting) presents. He bought me, well us, season 3 of Lost, which we began watching this weekend. He gave me an Army Wife t-shirt (toughest job in the army). He gave us each a small journal. For the next 30 days, we're each going to write something to the other person every day and then exchange journals (yeah, he's a sweetie).

As if all that weren't enough, he got me this:

Yep, it's a ridiculous knife. He thinks it's particularly hilarious because I'm so short, carrying around this massive and elaborate weapon!

Finally, he took me to get a tattoo. Well, we both got matching hearts on our wrists, the starting point for a timeline tattoo that we will both be working on over the years! We believe that we may, in fact, be the cheesiest couple ever! Not only do we now sport matching hearts, but when we hold hands the hearts touch....awwww!

In adddition to all of the presents, we did much eating and drinking (I was carded twice) with each other as well as with friends and family. And we made a trip to the movie theatre to see There Will Be Blood.

We also got to prolong Christmas a little bit this weekend. Not only did my parents send a package of presents for me, Jerry and Scooter, but Jerry's mom presented us with some personalized Christmas mugs that got here a little late. My family sent me Songs from the Street, a collection of Sesame Street songs that I had owned once before, but had been stolen from my car when I first moved to Asheville. I can't even tell you how much I love Elmo and the GooGoo Dolls singing Slide!! Scooter got a Christmas toy and some delicious cookies for which he keeps begging! And my sister gave Jerry the best gift of all...See's lollipops...he loves those things! They also sent a gift certificate for a birthday massage, something I sure can't wait to get!!

In other news, Elyssa sent us this photo to post on the blog:

Who is this grown-up and what did she do to our little Elyssa? We can't believe how fast she's growing up! She's turning into a very beautiful and smart young woman!

Happy Day!

It's only been two weeks since I last saw my Jerry Giant. But it seems like SO much longer. I can't wait to see him tonight. After a week of hard work, Jerry was let go early today and will be on the road home much sooner than we expected. I still have to work until 11:00 tonight, but there's a good chance we'll get to see each other before I head off to that job! Making it an extra happy day for me!!

In other news, Elyssa made us very proud last week by getting 100% on not one, but four World Cultures tests!! Woohoo! We're SO proud of our smarty pantz!

Marital Bliss

Well, we've managed to successfully make it through over three months of marriage! I hope that has nothing to do with the fact that we've been apart for over a month of that time!

Our wedding day was truly wonderful for both of us. It was so special for us to be surrounded by so many loved ones as we made our commitment to each other. Following the wedding, we enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon.

On November 20, Jerry reported to the army for his re-enlistment. For the first month, he was in training (WTC: Warrior Transition Course - like a refresher for soldiers with prior service) in New Mexico. He completed that successfully and was given leave for the holidays, a pleasant surprise for us both. After spending a few weeks together, Jerry left for his school (AIT) post on January 3, a short trip to Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Fortunately, because of his prior service, he has privileges, like the ability to have a car on post and to get weekend passes to leave post. Meaning that while he's at his school we'll be able to see each other on weekends fairly frequently. Once his school is completed (roughly mid-April), he will be shipped to his first real post and I'll get to join him.

To be honest, this separation has been far more difficult for me than I'd anticipated. I knew that it would be rough, but I wasn't truly prepared for the toll it would take. I am so excited for the opportunities this will bring us and can't wait to begin our adventure together. I just wish we could be together sooner! But for now, I'm happy with my daily calls from Jerry to wish me good night and the weekend visits, the next of which begins tomorrow! I'm happy that we'll be able to spend my birthday together.

I will say that every painful day apart reminds me of how much I love my husband and how happy I am to be his wifey!

(photo by Weddings by Tuesday's Frog)