No Peacetime, Only War

This past Sunday my family and I watched something that we haven’t watched since my daughter was a baby; The Academy of Country Music Awards. Back in the day the hubby and I listened to nothing but country music and since The Academy was celebrating the 50^th year anniversary we thought why not.

My Daughter Just You Wait

Okay y’all I am a Minnesota girl living in Wisconsin. I NEVER thought I would ever live in Wisconsin. Now nothing is wrong with Wisconsin. It is very similar to Minnesota except for all the cheese but overall very similar. I mean I am a Minnesota girl and growing up all I heard was the rivalry between Minnesota and Wisconsin. Well, mainly between the Vikings and the Packers.

Loving Retirement

 

The summer of 2012 my husband broke the news to me. “Babe, I think it is time to retire and I will retire next year.” I never thought I would ever hear those words. I remember when we were newly married and the hubby had only six years under his belt. Now he will be retiring? Where did the years go and do you really have to retire? Leading up to his actual retirement fear was setting in. I was fearful for most of that year. The enemy was attacking me.

Unanswered Prayers

Last night while at work my boss and I were discussing moments where we wanted certain things and prayed about those things but those certain things just did not happen. We discussed how we felt when those certain things we wanted did not happen. Many of us have experienced this. We pray asking God for something, but He does give it to us or if He does it is much later than we asked for it, or He just does not give it to us. We call those unanswered prayers.

Happy 4th of July!

A day of celebration.

A celebration of freedom.

A freedom that does not come for free.

Please have a safe holiday and please remember our military members. May you have a holiday full of blessings!

Happy 4^th of July!



Photo Credit

Retirement Weekend

No words can really express how amazing our weekend went. We had late nights, early mornings, a lot of laughter, tears, and memories. God is so good!

The weekend began on Thursday afternoon when my brother-in-law and two sister-in-laws surprised my husband. Hubby had no clue that his brother, sister, and sister-in-law were arriving for this big moment in his life and we were all in tears. Later that evening my parents, my younger brother, and my other brother and his family all arrived.

I Am Not Alone

As I sit and write this I feel overwhelmed, anxious, stressed, and all other emotions that one would feel when a large event is occurring. This week is retirement week. Yes, hubby’s retirement ceremony is this Friday. I woke up and all these emotions overtook me. I was not a pleasant person this morning. I did not like how I was acting or feeling. I was praying “Lord help me.” This is supposed to be a time of rejoicing and happy moments not anger or stress. Of course He reminds me of the many blessings He has given us these past couple of weeks and I can begin to feel a sense of peace stirring within me.

Where is our appreciation?

I have so much to share with you all but all that is on my mind is the Memorial Day parade we attended yesterday. We arrived early so we could get good seats, wore our red, white, and blue and waited for the parade. We could hear the band playing and the closer it got to us the more we became full of pride. We see the stars and stripes going by and we think of those that have laid down their lives for us. To allow us to sit here and watch a parade.

God Shed His Grace On Thee

Please click here if you missed the first part of this remarkable story of how God shed His grace upon my family.

I remember hearing my son tell his daddy "now you will have to make a sharp turn around this corner." He was telling his dad what the signs on the side of the road were saying. Something he had done the entire trip so far. I suppose it kept him from boredom during this long drive. Once we turned that corner and entered the white-out conditions, my son's voice no longer spoke. We all were silent.

So Close When It Happened

Two days ago was our one year mark from leaving Alaska and taking our cross-country trek to Wisconsin. When we left Alaska that early and cold morning we had no idea what God had planned for us during that trip or for the year. We had heard traveling during that time of year can be treacherous and sometimes dangerous. Driving was the only optional we had because from the time we found out we were moving to the day we left was only 24 days. We did not have time to get tickets for the ferry, which the husband is not to fond of. We could fly but that entailed having to pay out of pocket to ship our second vehicle. Our decision was to drive. We really enjoyed the drive up to Alaska and wanted to do the drive back to the lower 48. We had no idea we were going to face what we faced.

Wounded Warrior Project - "I'll Stand By You"

As a Veteran and a wife of an active duty Soldier I can say that the military is very important to me.  I have even more respect for those who have been injured or made the Ultimate Sacrifice.

When we were stationed at Fort Meade, MD my husband had a doctor's appointment at Walter Reed Medical Center. As I entered the hospital the feeling I had was indescribable.  During that visit I made a wrong turn and ended up in the prosthetic wing. The emotions overtook me. The tears just rolled down my cheeks. I will never forget the image I saw. That moment forever changed my life.

Many Soldiers have visible injuries but many have invisible images. Many suffer PTSD, TBI, or injuries that affect their abilities everyday but you can not see that by looking at them.  In the video one of the injured Soldiers makes a very true statement. He says "You do not have to support the war, to support the Soldiers."  Some people disrespect our military for fighting this war. I will not get into the politics of all that because honestly this is not about that. This is about bringing awareness.  Awareness for those who endured injuries while serving for OUR country and OUR freedom.  Even for those who dislike the military. The military members even fight for them.

Please take a moment to watch this powerful video. It is only a moment of your time that many military members have fought to provide you. Could you please do that for those who stood up to defend our country? 




If you are interested in learning more about these brave men and women or to make a donation please visit The Wounded Warrior Project.


**This post was not endorsed by the Wounded Warrior Project.

Oh To Be Home

As we grow older many of us cannot wait to leave home and spread our wings. The adventures we dream of as children or even teenagers are endless. We dream of traveling the world or being on our own. We dream of being any place then at home. Not everyone has these dreams but many do. Just the thought of being independent can be so exciting!

I left home when I was 18 years old. I left for the military and came back home for only a few short months before I married my hubby. I was a dreamer. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to see everything I could. I wanted to learn new cultures, meet new people, and I wanted to see what was beyond the city limits.

Married to an active-duty Soldier I did just that. I lived in different countries and states. Met new people and learned new cultures. I was away from home being independent.

Then I got older.

Now I am dreaming of going home and being closer to family. Wanting to start a tradition of spending Sunday afternoons at the parents for dinner. Nieces and nephews spending weekends at our home. Shopping with my sisters. Watching my brother at his softball games. Watching my nieces and nephews grow up. Spending 13 years away from home you come to realize how much you have missed out on.

Now that we are four hours away from home we can spend more time with family. Oh but to be even closer to home....

296. Going home this past weekend and bringing one of my nephew's home with us.

297.  Going home this past weekend and bringing one of my niece's home with us.

298.  Going home for my niece's birthday party.

299.  Seeing my sister on her birthday this past weekend.

300.  Listening to my nephew and son laughing from the other room.

301. Watching the memories being created by the four blessings in my home.

302. Quiet talks with my brother.

303. Laughing with my family.

304. A car full of laughter and kids talking during my four hour car ride home.

305. Cuddling with the hubby after returning from the weekend.

Overcoming the Obstacles And Saying Goodbye To My Baby

If you missed the previous post to After ten years of wanting, it could actually come true, please click here. 

I told the hubby that I actually had peace about the thought of buying our first home.  Of course, I, being the realistic one, told him that we had two obstacles we had to deal with prior to even taking the first step into buying.  We just signed a year lease with our housing office on base.  Hubby said that we will not have a problem getting out of the lease because the contract between the military and the housing area was up come July 1st.  I did not want to take any chances. I asked him if he could call Monday morning to verify that we could get out of our lease with no issues.  We prayed the rest of the day and when we woke up. 

Monday morning I receive a phone call from the hubby stating that we will be released from our lease with no consequences.

The second obstacle was trading in our first "mortgage" payment.  Our 2012 Nissan Armada AKA "my baby." Yes, we knew that it was an expensive vehicle and we justified having the vehicle by calling it our "mortgage payment."  We knew that in order to get a loan to purchase our home we needed to trade in my baby.  So we did.  I will not lie, I was emotional.  I loved that vehicle.  My hubby surprised me with it as a birthday gift to me.  However, I knew that it was for a good reason.  I would rather have a house that will be an investment rather than a vehicle that loses its value each day.  We prayed asking God to please allow us to receive a certain amount on it.  We knew that we would be upside down on it, but prayed that it was not a large amount.  Hubby went to the dealership, told them our situation, and we were able to work a deal that we were comfortable with.  Our mortgage payment was cut in half.  A huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders.  We were feeling very blessed.

Saying good-bye to my baby. You are missed!

The hubby then went ahead and began the pre-approval process.  After a couple of hours on the phone with our bank, we were pre-approved! We could begin the actual house hunting process.  My favorite part! I knew that it could a difficult time trying to find the right house and one that met our expectations.  We were not going to settle. We would continue to look until we found the house that God wanted us to be in. 

Our bank, which is USAA, offers a program called "Movers Advantage Program" and if we went through the program we would have an USAA certified realtor, and could possibly qualify for a rebate bonus on the completion of purchasing our home.  We were set up with our realtor, whom we absolutely LOVE, and began house hunting.

We were shocked at the time it took to go house hunting.  The area we lived in is small so we did not know what we were going to do if we did not find the house that God called us to be in. 

I would not worry.  God has blessed us this far. I knew He had something in the works for us.  It was just the matter of His timing, not ours.

After Ten Years of Wanting It Could Acutally Come True

The other day I mentioned that God has blessed us with a pretty awesome blessing in the last couple of months.  What I did not mention was what that blessing was.  For the past ten years my husband has wanted to purchase his first home.  I did not feel the time was right to buy at all during those ten years.  We did look at some homes a couple of times during those ten years but the Holy Spirit was telling me no.  I can tell you that the hubby and I had some very intense conversations about buying and not buying a house.  I have always wanted to purchase our first home but I felt God was telling me no and also we have not been somewhere long enough to buy.  The longest duty station we have been at is three years, the rest has been a little over two years.  PCSing (permanent change of station, or moving) can be stressful as it is and I did not want to throw selling a house in the mix.  That was until we moved here.

When we moved here to Wisconsin from Alaska we had no intentions of buying a home.  Hubby had mentioned a few times in Alaska that he was thinking of retiring, but we were not sure when that time was.  After a couple of months of being here, the hubs reeealllly started talking about retiring.  During those couple of months God had been working on me. 

One Sunday after church the hubby said "lets go drive around the area and see the different neighborhoods."  I agreed and while we were driving we saw a house for sale.  He mentioned how nice it would be to purchase our first home.  I agreed.  I could not believe what I just said. On top of that I felt at peace with it.  Something I have never felt when we spoke of purchasing a home. 

I could not believe what was happening.

Could I really be ready to purchase our first home?

Never Thought It Would Happen

Hubby in Afghanistan, 2011

 Yesterday I mentioned how my husband made a decision that will change our life next year. You can read that here.  The decision he has made was to retire from the Army.  My wonderful husband has been in the military for almost 22 years, 19 of those years were serving on active-duty.  This August my husband will put in his retirement paperwork and this time next year he will be considered retired.  I knew this time would occur, but I think I never thought it would happen.  To be honest, it is very scary.

My husband joined the military when he was 17 and I joined when I was 18.  We are now in our 30s.  Our entire adult life has been military.  This is all we know.  So retiring is quite frightening.  We do not know what the future holds, but God does.  We are putting our faith in Him.  We are praying and asking for guidance and wisdom. 

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

The next year will be preparing for his retirement.  Again, I never thought I would be saying that.  I knew eventually the time would come and now that the time is here, I look back in our earlier military days.  Back then I remember other members who were retiring and I would think "wow, what a lifestyle change."  I can say that the years have definitely flown by.  Our time here is done.  God has other plans for us.  I would be lying if I said I was not scared. 

In preparation for the retirement, the hubs and I sat down last night and looked at our finances.  I would like to say there is no worries there, but I cannot. We added up all of our debt and put them in order of what is being paid off.  Then, we put a goal of what we wanted paid off and when we wanted it paid off.  I am happy to say that our first item is paid off today! We then looked at what upcoming income we would be receiving and what items are about to paid off. We set some goals and a game plan.  We needed a plan of attack and we accomplished that last night.  Our big goal is to pay off 50 percent of our debt.  50 PERCENT!! Trust me when I say that is a HUGE goal.  However, we are looking into the future and that is his retirement.  He needs to retire.  His body is starting to shut down.  He is in constant pain.  It is time to hang up the boots. 

"For I know the plans I have for you, "declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13

As the days go by, our main focus is retirement.  We are focusing on lowering our debt, praying for healing for my husband, and trusting in the Lord.  We know if this is God's plan then all we can do is succeed if we follow Him.  The next year will be a difficult one but I have God by side and my husband.  Two of the most important people in my life.

 Everything will be just fine.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

One final thing, would you mind saying a prayer for my mom? She leaves on her missions trip to St. Lucia today.  All prayers are welcomed! Thank you!

Blessings to you all!

In Our New Home Without Our Furniture

This past week we introduced the blessings and of course Manning, to our new home. I am so happy to hear the blessings say how much they love their new rooms and home. I really like the home as well. The new home is much smaller than we are use to, but I have a feeling God is helping me in the area of simplicity. Most of our furniture will not fit on our main floor, so whatever does not fit will make its way to the basement. I believe that those items should then be sold, but these are pieces I would like to keep for when we purchase our first home. If then they do not fit, I will sell them, but until then, the basement is their home.

Our household items are here in town, but unfortunately cannot be delivered until the 6th. Prayerfully a cancellation will occur this week, which then will bump up our delivery date. So as of right now we are enjoying the open space of our home. Thank goodness for the Army Community Serivces! These services have a lending library that allow us to check out dishes, air mattresses, a table with chairs, and a microwave. My brother blessed us with a television that he was not using, so we are able to watch movies by hooking up the Xbox.

The past couple of days have been a real eye-opener for me. We have been out picking up items that we need for our home and I am overwhelmed by prices. Yes prices in Alaska tend to be more expensive, however, we have found some items to be cheaper. I have started my hunt for coupons and discount stores. I saw a bakery outlet and my daughter mentioned we should go in. I at first, was "eh." I just did not feel like going in, but decided "why not?" I am so thankful we did! I was able to pick up four loaves of bread for $1.80! Did I mention that it was 85cents for one loaf and it was BOGO for free? Did I also mention, the bread bought was priced at $2.85 at Wal-Mart? We also walked away with the same brand of hot dog buns for 79 cents each. I was super giddy for our purchase.

After leaving Alaska our pay has decreased tremendously and I need for the family to jump on board this new lifestyle I'm trying to incorporate. The lifestyle of less spending and living simply. My main concern is our finances. So I started a game with the family, which is to see who can find the best deal while we are out. The blessings have found this as a challenge and are eager to find the better deals and are hoping they can beat me. I am happy to say I am in the lead ;)

What do you and your children do when it comes to frugal living?

Enjoying Family And Target Shopping

We have been visiting family since the 12th of January and it has been very refreshing. The hubby has been able to catch up and reconnect with family that he has not seen in over two years. The two blessings are enjoying and loving their time home with family. I, of course, enjoy it also.

We have signed for our new house, picked up our other vehicle, and brought the vehicle we drove cross-country into the shop for some TLC. I have done a little bit, or some, okay, a lot of shopping at Target. Hey, I've been frugal while I've been there, or most of the time.

We are still waiting on our household items to arrive. A winter storm has held up our items, so hopefully early next week we will receive a delivery date!

I do have to say it is quite an adjustment moving back to the lower 48. I have forgotten how fast-paced life is here and all the choices that surround us. Yes, it's nice with all the choices, but somewhat overwhelming.

I'm sure we can handle it!

Awwww Back In The USA

Phew!

We made it back into the United States!

I have been told by a couple people that Alaska is part of the United States. Yes we lived in Alaska and it is part of the United States, but we had to drive through Canada. So I just wanted to clarify ;)

The rest of our travels since the blizzard has been good. A rock has chipped our windshield and broke our fog lights. I would take that instead of the blizzard! We are excited because as I type this we are about 8 hours from family! Hubby has not been home or seen family in over two years!

Thank you all who have prayed for our trip and our safety. God is so good!

Almost Half-Way

Wow!

What a trip!!!

Thank you all for the prayers.  We definitely felt them and they were greatly needed.  We are 1200 miles into our 3,030 mile trek.  Our first day was good, and our second day, well God was with us.  We entered a blizzard in the middle of the Rocky Mountains and literally almost drove off the cliff.  God sent us a semi and lead us out of the storm.  We referred to it as God leading Moses out of Egypt.  Once we get to our final destination of Wisconsin I will write more about the storm and our trip.

Overall, we are loving our trip and have seen much wildlife.  Our count so far is 7 moose, over 50 buffalo, a herd of caribou, a snow hare, and wild horses.  Thankfully the wildlife have been on the side of the road and close enough to take pics but far enough away to be safe.

The best part is seeing God's beauty.

Thank you for the prayers and will post in a few days.

Blessings!

No Coincidences With God

Today we have hugged and said our goodbyes to close friends.  Tonight we do the same with another family.  Tomorrow four more families.  Army life is hard when it comes to leaving our friends, especially those who are considered family.

We were to leave Tuesday of next week, but there has been a change, and we are now leaving this Sunday.  This PCS has definitely kept us on our toes.  We keep changing dates and God changes the duty station.  No matter what has been thrown at us, God keeps us moving.  He continues to show us a little of His plan each time. 

Two days ago the hubby and I were in the lobby speaking with another Christian, and we were telling him that we are feeling that missionary work is in our future.  We already have an area of ministry that we would like to work in, and we feel God placing it on both our hearts.  The gentleman went on to tell us that he knew the perfect person to contact in this area of ministry.  Later that evening I received an email with the contact information.

Some may say that was a coincidence, meeting with the gentleman in the lobby, but I say "I think not!"  God placed that gentleman in the lobby for a couple of reasons.  One was because the hubby need a piece of paper signed and the other was the contact information.  Nothing is a coincidence when it comes to God. 

Nothing is a coincidence.  This morning I opened my email and read KLove's encouraging word.  Can you guess what it was? Proverbs 3:6.  Coincidence? I think not!  He is showing us pieces of His plan. 

As long as we keep our hearts and eyes on Him, He will reveal the whole plan in His time. 

What has God shown you lately?