You win some, you loose some

Well, I have my lovely little laptop back! Meaning I'm back in Georgia/Alabama....of course this means I've affectively lost all cellphone reception and therefore we can say goodbye to my constant iphone use. *sigh*

Anyway, we got "home" at around 8:30 or so last night and I have already struggled pretty hard to have a good attitude about coming back. Having not been here long enough to give GA a concerted effort to become home, I have felt a little lost when people have mentioned "home". To be honest, its hard to make sense of that word when you're living in someone else's space. However, I was greatly convicted by my attitude about the whole thing ( i.e. my complaining) during my quiet time a few days ago when I was reminded of the verse, Luke 9:58 "Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head."

Oh burn.

I've actually used this whole little passage in Luke, about different people coming to Jesus and saying they want to follow him, but each one of them has some sort of hang up, several times to challenge people with what is holding them back from fully following Christ...and here I am being the BIGGEST offender! So, I admit to you, my dear readers, that I have a long way to go in really being truly sacrificial when it comes to my walk with God-and my first step is to stop complaining about living in the middle of no where, in a house that is not my own.

OK! Here's to 2010, right? Its gonna start great...I'm happy that our friends Wes and Tina are here visiting from Washington. Seeing Tina is truly a treat and it reminds me that, really, deep down, its PEOPLE that make up "home" for me....Tina feels like Home and so I will soak her in for at least a week. ;-)

Abigail is...the 2009 edition

As we all know, I'm a big fan of facebook/twitter status updates...because seriously, sometimes I don't have time to write a whole blog post! And it turns out that if I go back and read all my little "one liners" from the year, you do, in fact get a sense of the whole 365 days all rolled together. So, yeah, this is more for me than you...but if you wanna read one really long sentence fragment: Here's to 2009...

is back in Washington...is excited about a new weeks worth of coffee dates :-)...has made a decision. New york ( conference) here I come!...is watching snow fall and trying to keep her feet warm...is getting excited about the Nav. Conference this weekend...wants to go home...lost 345 lbs on her wii fit! These babies WORK! ....loves her Navigator girls and can't wait till Saturday...is off the chiropractor to get an attitude adjustment.....Is excited about Amy's Baby Shower tomorrow! YAAAAY!....is headed to Canada tomorrow!...Question: Can Abigail hit up every coffee shop in town in one morning? Answer: yes. Yes, she can....This new iPhone case looks like an industrial tool and weighs fifty pounds, this baby better work!!!...Is embarrased that she was caught watching Gossip Girls in the gym....hating on the dude with the lawn mower under my window!!! Doesn't he know what time it is?!?...Going to Ash and Karissa's wedding today! Yay!...Watching a woman pay with pennies in the self checkout line. 234 pennies. One. At. A. Time....Is thankful for katie who treated her to lunch and made the whole day better....QT for the morning: Jer 9:22-24....Boast in the Lord!...Books in the mail from my husband! He knows me well...Bethany and I have perfected TV show watching....Woo! Tejas here I come!...First day with roomie: me locked out. Guess the days of going to the gym without a key are over! ...Things I don't love about Washington: traffic...Back from oregon, a shower and then off to Seattle for a baseball game.. Whew!....John Connor has a serious god complex....unwinding after a great Bible Study!...Now has a tan on only the front side of her body...I'm sure this looks weird, but luckily I cannot see my own backside..I'm a fan of the box fan...So excited about Katie's shower next weekend after an afternoon of planning and scouting with Cindy!... Eating a salad and watching the West Wing...riveting, I know....Laying by the pool reading a mag... Reward for crazy morning...Unhappy? Pray, read the Word and then go get a pedicure....Yummy fresh strawberries from the Dupont WA...this town would be perfect if it only had a grocery store!...Chillin in Seattle with Bethany and Chuck....Getting ready for Mike and Katie's goodbye party ( still in denial about the goodbye part)...Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to read in the sun... Although this book cannot be read in large quantities- ugg!....Can't.stop.watching.west.wing.....I love my town... This is my kinda 4th of July parade...Someone needs to come kill this yellowjacket it's disturbing my calm.....All peopled out....now I'm ready to sit in solitude and do a QT...Last morning with the kiddos- we've been having fun!...I GET TO SEE MY HUSBAND THIS AFTERNOON!!!!!!!!!!!! (!)...Happy 2nd Anniversary to my wonderful husband!...since I doubt she's on FB right now...I'm safe in saying that I'm headed to a surprise engagement party in a matter of minutes ....Death Cab For Cutie, I give you a solid A ...Listening to Kings of Leon...my summer 09 bandthatilove.....Brett has been gone for one hour and 20 minutes. And I'm waiting to feel better.....Loving the 200 ( now 196) Otter Pops in my freezer!...Too much dark chocolate w/ sea salt, too late at night. I'm WIDE AWAKE....71 and sunny....THIS is the washington summer I signed up for....Picking Amy up at the airport in an hour! WHO'S EXCITED?!?!...hiking, kayaking and now its time for Indian food! GOOD DAY!...Lindsay is the greatest roommate in the world.... Kidney stone Abigail is not to be taken lightly...September's magazine subscriptions by the pool... It takes one hour to read each, I'm gonna be fried...I just accidently sent a stranger a note saying "Kudos on your sobriety" with their DVD they bought from me. OOPS!...who throws a good coffee? @amybushatz and @karissathomas and I-THATS WHO!....fridge smell found: a sliver opening between floor and seal=place where badness is...BUT HOW DO I GET TO IT!?!? Looking for things to stick into sliver opening to elevate the smell-any ideas?!...Likes it when all of her friends become friends with each other....Welcome baby Morris! Congrats Wright Family! ( this is such a good day)...going to bed! Had a lovely day with Mary and Mimi...I have beautiful inlaws!...Making tea and turning on the fireplace-its Bible Study time...These are the 1st three consecutive minutes that I've been in one spot since 11 hrs ago. Washington to Iowa. DONE... In bed with my hulu queue...perfect recovery from yesterday!... Had a lovely coffee morning with Cindy...Can't. Stop. Taking. Pictures. Of. Leaves....What a difference a day makes! I just got told my "house packing" got moved up a day and now I'm freaking out!..Praying for Tina! Check out my Note if you want more details!!...Wait Thirty minutes and then goodbye fancy pants apartment ( I'll miss you)!!!....Heading to Kansas: last step in the Get Husband Back Plan. Wooooooo!...my car was broken into last night in WA...thank goodness for good friends....I got him!!!!! Praise God!....Goodbye Washington! I will miss you ( the people, not the upcoming winter months. Hehe)...Been staying in 3 star hotels all week= free wifi and parking. Get to the 5 star joint= pay for EVERY LITTLE THING...Santa Fe is a really weird town. But I'm getting an 80 massage tomorrow and my first real latte in days- so who cares?!...Heading back on the road today...loved spending time with Brett's family...Woke up with a doozy of a toothache... Happy Birthday, Abigail, Happy Birthday....Personal growth is not my forte. And, once again, if you want to reach me...you can try my cell-but then you'll need to email me....Wishes she had a magic wand that made friendships happen faster.... Under the weather...not sure where that term came from, but I feel it....Resting up for our trip to TEXAS tomorrow...

Waiting

Wow, ten days gets you out of the habit of writing big time, but then once you start you can ever so slowly remember how to put sentences together...


And so here I am after only a few hours, at it again. This time I'm inspired by thoughts of the Army....well, I take that back and raise that to all the military. Because, seriously, there is nothing like being separated from your family and there is DEFINITELY nothing like being separated from your family over the holidays. I suppose in some ways I was really lucky last year because after Brett left his leaving was followed in relatively quick succession by very important events: My Birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, His Birthday...pause...Valentine's Day. So yeah, that was incredibly hard. I missed my husband for every single one of those events. But we got them over and done with and we moved on. Or I should say, I moved on...I moved on so well, aka. I dealt with my amount of sadness, loneliness, anger ( at life for dealing us such a hand etc.), fear in such quick fashion that the wounds have all but healed. I've got my husband back! And I faced my birthday and thanksgiving this year with shear thankfulness just because Brett was here and not there ...but, now, getting to my point...I forgot the feelings and emotions. And I NEVER want to forget, especially for the sake of those going through it right now.

My heart is especially with Bethany this holiday season. She is not yet an army wife, but the girl is a PRO already! She deals with Chuck being deployed and in very dangerous situations on a daily basis with an amount of grace that I can only marvel at...when she called me after Chuck was in an IED explosion she was SO INCREDIBLY calm it nearly made me calm ( haha!)...seriously the girl is relying on something higher than herself.

My heart is with Jenn, who's husband just deployed for the first time with the Army Rangers- and in the weeks after he left she's faced not only loneliness ( living in a relatively new place), but also sickness and a car accident! I don't know WHY other horrible things decide to pile on top of the already horrible things of life, but she's dealt with it well. I know she is seeking God and praying her little heart out-and knowing that's how she's dealing blesses me.

My heart is with Sarah, who's husband is in one the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan-he's already lost his battle buddy once-and he has to wait in a line for hours just to call her for a few minutes, every two weeks when he's back on the FOB. Sarah is dealing with serious health issues and a recent miscarriage all by herself, with a strength that is truly unearthly.

And last but not least, my heart is with Amy, who after six months is waiting expectantly for her husband to come home for Christmas, only to hear that it might not happen. The Army's way of changing plans on us is often heartbreaking-but probably never so much as around the holidays...times when we feel the emptiness more.

I am so grateful to know these ladies...and many more! Women who are IN the military and women who are married into it...who face emotional hardship such as these ( and far worse I'm sad to say) at times when most American's could not fathom such "injustice". I am a better person because I have experienced, along with these women, some of the "inconveniences" of life-inconveniences that are for a far greater purpose than just us and our little lives.

This Christmas I am praying for the service men and women and their families, for I am truly grateful for their sacrifices-both great and small.

For my fan

So, apparently its been ten days since my last blog, which I was told by my one fan. Or at least the one person who's made any mention that I haven't been blogging. Thanks Amy.

Anyway, I'm sure those ten days where busy doing something. I probably did some Christmas shopping and some preparations for Brett's GOLDEN BIRTHDAY celebration...

*side note* In my family golden birthday's are a big deal, and lucky for Brett he married in before he had his ( i.e. he turned 26 on the 26th of Jan. last year) however, not so lucky for him-he was in Afghanistan at the time so he asked ever so politely to postpone the celebration to this year. What "celebration" you ask? Well, basically every day until your birthday-starting at the first of the month, you get a present every single day until your birthday. Now, don't get too excited...most of the time the presents are little things, sometimes they are silly or things that you just practically need ( new underwear, anyone?) but its always fun to open presents and this way you get to open one every day! Brett's going to be spoiled in January!

So, I think I only have like 5 more presents to go...and not to brag but I think Brett's going to be excited with some of his random presents. This year I "discovered" ( I'm probably like a million years behind the hipsters who knew about this site years ago) www.etsy.com and bought quite a few presents for friends from there...AND I found the most AWESOMELY nerdy present for Brett's golden birthday ever ( I'll try to remember to post pictures when he opens it!)...and I feel so good about my purchases because you're usually supporting some starving artist out there with every purchase! ( or at least that's what I tell myself! hehe)

In other news, I'm excited about Christmas this year...its kind of a special year since its the LAST year there will not be any babies in the Abt Family Christmas! Crazy to think how things will be different next year! AND we found out yesterday that my sister is having a GIRL and YEAAAAAH! I'm so excited about her! Now that I know ( I reeeeally thought she was having a boy) I can't imagine anything different and I'm already imagining my sister and Ryan with an adorable little girlie.

In other other news I'm also excited for my friends this holiday season....I feel like its going to be an eventful year for several of them, aka. Amy's getting her husband back from Afghanistan any day now-this I'm glad about for several reasons, one her twitters are depressing ( just kidding, sorta) and also it'll help me feel LESS guilty about not being there to support her these last few weeks before he gets home. She was SO totally fabulous for me on BOTH ( R&R and redeployment) of Brett's homecomings, helping with distractions and preparations I am utterly sad that I did not get to return the favor! HOWEVER, I *am* delighted, on the other hand, that I got to introduce her to the wonderful, Tabitha, who's going down from Vancouver to visit Amy in Washington this weekend for moral support. As I always say ( or I do now), if you can't do it yourself, send one of your totally fabulous friends to do it for you...

Ah-HA!

So, wow...I should have asked you guys for recipes a long time ago...especially since it meant that I found out about SEVERAL OF YOU having SECRET BLOGS that you DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT. OK, so maybe they weren't secrets...but *i* sure didn't get the memo! So now I'm super excited and following you all on google reader, which is the greatest thing on the internet next to facebook ( which has been acting up lately, so I'm not a happy camper, and hulu.

Anyway, the recipe and food suggestions were super great and I love the internet for hooking me up with each one of you...oh, and those of you who didn't post recipes ( Amy, I do not have you chili recipe...pass that on to everyone in the comments, if you don't mind)...I'd love to have them! And I hope that others will benefit from my question too!

In other news, Brett and I got our household goods back from the army today. I haven't seen our belongings since October 29th. That's right. OCTOBER and it was sad to see them being put directly into storage. *sigh* Luckily, I have a saintly husband who went through many a box with me to find several items that I CAN NOT LIVE WITHOUT. Example: my dry erase wall calendar.
Does this not show how totally uptight I am?

I also could not live without Brett Bear. Even though I have the ACTUAL living and breathing Brett around now, its nice having the hot-water bottle version too.

Oh. And my shoes.

So, yeah, like I said, saintly husband.

Question...

Here's something I've been pondering of late ( being back in a house full of boys will do this to you)....what is your favorite go-to "feed lots of people" meal?
Something yummy, but not horribly terrible for you, or overly expensive would be good...

Let's here your thoughts in the comment box! ( I'm going to be super sad if I get no comments here..)

progress

The past few days, when thinking about blogging, I've thought "naaaaah, there's isn't much to say...", but now that I'm here I'm realizing that a lot actually happened this week! So yay for that!

Anyway, I'll try to figure out a way to start...this week we got practical things accomplished ( which you know that I LOVE. There is nothing like checking things off the to-do list to make me giggly!)-and in accordance with that, this monday Brett is getting his last two wisdom teeth taken out, and then on Tuesday our household belongings are being delivered to a storage place that we rented ( ugg, yes, these two things should NOT be happening in quick succession-but what are you gonna do?!)....I cannot WAIT to have our belongings back within grasp! While I know its going to be ridiculously difficult to FIND anything that we want among all the vaguely labeled boxes "kitchen", "books", "bedroom"....I am INTENT upon finding several things that I feel like we cannot live without for six months. Wish me luck. :-(

This week we also got started on getting involved with the navigator ministry here at Fort Benning. It is very different from Ft Lewis, in that there are 5 or six different studies going on throughout the week, focused on different groups that are working, living here at Benning. Each of the different bible studies is run by different groups of navigator laborers and they have pretty much ALL said they needed help! So we've decided to visit each one of them in the next few weeks, and pray that God shows us which one we should plug into!

The first study we went to was INCREDIBLY cool-it was reaching out to guys who are in basic training and on the night we went, for the first time, the ministry had access to a bunch of guys who were being chaptered out of the army....it was incredible to see the turn out of guys who were hungry for some comfort and some answers and it was absolutely awesome to see the few laborers ( ministry dudes) that were there, being surrounded and eagerly listened to!! I had the privilege of praying for what was going on with the other girl laborer there, and it was neat for once to not be "involved" in the traditional sense but to remember that pretty much NONE of the work that is being done is from ourselves, but from God. It was also super cool to see the group that God gave Brett that evening. He had about six or seven guys in his group and every single one of them was intent upon his every word. The little groups were all in the same room and at the end of the night, once they all started to break up and go there separate ways, Brett's group just moved in closer! It was like every time I looked over there were six little bald heads just a little bit closer to Brett's!! Needless to say, Brett was totally pumped after that, and I think we were both reminded that all the annoyance of fitting into a new place and the little worries about trying to look cool and be liked are really NOTHING in comparison to getting to share some Good News with guys who are hurting and going through a difficult time!! THIS is why we feel so passionately about ministering to the Army! There are SO many guys out there who are struggling and looking for answers, guys who need to know what real Love and Compassion is!! Ahhh! I just hope that we, in all of our failings and faults, can some how share that with some of them!

Annnyway, on Thursday Brett headed to another study, but I stayed home because, as we all know, I like to catch new sicknesses when I go to a new place...so of course I was feeling not-so-awesome, but, luckily on Friday-after having dinner with one of the guys who was on Brett's team in Afghanistan and his wife ( that was pretty cool!! Two worlds colliding!), we got to go to a Fun Night, that that particular bible study was throwing! So I ended up getting to meet a lot more of that bible study anyway! This group was much more mixed, guys and girls and reminded me a lot of the dynamic of the Ft Lewis ministry ( awww! I miss them!), and we had a super fun evening playing Catchphrase.....

So yay for making new friends and hanging out with people more! and Yay for being reminded what all this moving and this crazy army lifestyle is all about!! This week I also got to have a few one on one conversations with some girls and that encourages me, that while I do not yet know where I fit into the mix here-there are a lot of wonderful people to get to know. I just need to remember my Quiet Times from this week and the verses that I've been getting, like:

" Be strong and let your heart take courage all who wait on the Lord." Ps 31:24