Successful Pre-Mom moment

So, it turns out the consignment sale was NOT as scary as I thought it would be...I mean, I'm not gonna say it was a success but that's only because I will not fully know what success is until I have a kid and that kid does or doesn't take full advantage of the items that I bought. As Rachael pointed out, there is nothing like actual experience when it comes to parenting and I'm sad that all the books I'm reading can not give that to me. Gosh Darn it! I was hoping I was going to be a SUPER MOM from the beginning...but after standing over a large train of baby swings all looking up at me, trying hard to think if I needed one, and if so which one...it became clear that I do not know what I'm doing.

That being said, the sale was in a very large, previously empty, strip mall and therefore it was nicely spaced so that I never felt crowded or pressured about my buying. This was a huge relief because of the whole Not Knowing What I'm Doing thing that I mentioned before.

So, now I'll tell you what I bought and you can judge me in the comment section ( though I might cry, because pregnancy hormones cannot be reigned in.)


I got this for $15




I got this for $25, which was a huge score with all its gadgets and gismos...it does have a few stains on it-but nothing I can't handle.





I an activity mat for something like $6 I think...its not this one exactly, but very similar




This is the one item I am semi-regretting getting. It was really cheap, something like $5 or around there...and I was delighted by it being in its original packaging, that it was Edie Bauer and that it was travel friendly. Its called a Travel Hammock, but its basically a little rocker.



And then I got this in its original unopened packaging for $2! Score!

The Mother of All Sales

So, a friend of mine here at Fort Benning, who should be called "SUPER MOM" because she has four children under the age of five...and she still seems to be sane. Anyway, this friend told two mothers-to-be and myself that we should really get involved in this GIANT CONSIGNMENT SALE that they have every year for all things baby and child related, and if you volunteer to work a few hours at the sale then you get to go to a Pre-Sale. And therefore get first dibs on all the 'good stuff'

When I first heard about this I was in a daze. I was barely pregnant. All I wanted to do was throw up and I would pretty much do whatever people told me to do, so I signed up. Besides, it was WAAAAAY far in the future! I mean, MARCH for pity sake!
But, today is March. And today is the day of the Pre-sale.

And the closer I get to the thing the more stressed I become. I mean, standing in line with a bunch of Mothers. Waiting to RUSH into a giant room full of baby/child things ( foreign objects to me)...and then try to QUICKLY figure out what to get and what not to get...honestly. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

I hate shopping and I hate hate HATE doing scary Black Friday Type shopping, and that's exactly what this seems to be.

Anyway, the odds of me actually walking away with anything worthwhile are slim to none, but I'm doing it anyway...JUST IN CASE.
So, because I'm so stressed about it all I've decided to make a list. ( because those are very calming) A list of all the things I need to have/buy/acquire before this Sweet Potato ( that's how big Hiphopopatomus is now!!!) arrives.

My reminder of Promises

( All from Romans 8 this morning...because, in the moment of despair-when you see no light at all, no hope at all...it is these Words of Truth that Promise more.)

There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"

We are ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. FOR IN THIS HOPE WE ARE SAVED. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress?
Persecution?
Famine?
Nakedness or danger?

NO, in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through him who loved us.
For I am SURE, that neither death, nor life
nor angels
nor rulers
nor things present
nor things to come
nor powers
nor height nor depth
not ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATING
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so, when things look there bleakest and I am tempted to despair. I will instead choose to believe that the Lord WILL prevail. That Heaven will take the day.

Training in Housewifery

So, this afternoon I was doing some mindless projects ( mostly cutting out memory verse cards and coupons) and so I decided to watch a little "television" -online, of course.

I love how you can go on Hulu.com and watch all sorts of current shows, sometimes whole seasons worth without any commercials! But, today I'm having the greatest fun watching something a little more classic.
The old school television show Father Knows Best, which ran during the early 1950s. And BOY! How things have changed!!!
I absolutely love the nice wholesome values and the cute family life it portrays and I must say its a good reminder to see how far we've come in the past 50 years! So far these are the little gems I've enjoyed the most....
Scene: Teenage Daughter excited about "Girls Week".
"What's that?", her parents ask.
"Why its when girls take over government for a WHOLE WEEK! And I'm the transportation commissioner!"
Father: "I never thought I'd see the day when my daughter was any kind of commissioner!!" ( shaking his head and laughing)
Daughter: "What should I WEAR?!?!"

The rest of the episode is full of more "laughs" regarding the daughters worries about looking "pretty" for her new job and various men shaking their heads and laughing.


And now I'm on to a different episode where the mother is wearing "work" clothes ( paints, her hair up in a handkerchief) and she's trying to clean paint off her youngest daughter who's always getting into trouble. Accidently the daughter gets some paint on her mother's forehead. And right then you hear Father coming in the front door!
Teenage Daughter: "oh mother! You can't have father see you like this!!"
Younger Daughter: "You want us to let you hide in the basement while we distract him?!"


Seriously.


Anyway, if you'd like a little blast from the past check out these fabulous little episodes: here

Happily Ever...

So, if you're new to this blog or you need a refresher on things-I would highly recommend reading this post that I wrote a few weeks ago. There within I expounded up on the upcoming changes that the army was going to throw our way-and how things were not looking good.

In short, we were faced with several problems-One, that if Brett didn't take command of a company right away than it would affect any long term career goals he might have. Thus his plan of teaching at one of the schools here in Georgia wasn't such a good one anymore.
Two, that if Brett DID take command right away than it would mean we'd have to leave Georgia...meaning that he'd have to go into ranger school as SOON as he got out of the career course ( long story about why this is...just take my word for it), which lasts three months and since we can all count- that would mean he would miss the birth of our child.
Three, if Brett was take command of a company right away, it could not be guaranteed that he wouldn't be deployed again very soon.
Four, if Brett had to go to ranger school after his current course, the Army would not recognize this as my "home" and therefore I wouldn't be able to get on post housing for those three months...and since our current living situation ends in June. I would be homeless. And about to give birth. Without my husband.


Ok. So I know that all of that was as clear as mudd. But basically the bottom line was, THINGS DIDN'T LOOK GOOD FOR ABIGAIL.

But, I was very calm ( which you can read about in that above mentioned post) and I have stayed calm. I have stayed calm because I had a sense of peace about the whole thing, a peace without any understanding....God would take care of it. I just had NO IDEA HOW.

Until yesterday, yesterday Brett came home with amazing news:

He has been assigned a command ( taking care of problem #1) here at Fort Benning, something we didn't think was possible because of Army technicalities that I won't bore you with, but after Brett had explained his situation, they made an exception! ( taking care of part of problem number #2. no moving!!). The Unit that he will be taking command in will be getting back from deployment in September ( taking care of problem #3-they won't deploy again for at least a year!). And Brett feels that since they don't get back till September and usually after a deployment everyone takes block leave-it wouldn't be TOO big of a deal for him to wait and do the August Ranger school ( taking care of the other part of problem number #2!! He'd be around for the birth of the baby!). And since we'd officially be stationed at Fort Benning again, I should easily be able to get on post housing when our time here is up ( taking care of problem #4).

People. I cannot express to you enough that when I wrote that post about our problems I saw NO solution to all of them. I could absolutely NOT see a way for absolutely every one of my worries to be addressed. And yet. The Lord knew even then! He knew even before we could foresee that there WAS issues, how He was going to solve them. How everything was going to work out for good! It is TRULY amazing to me and I am SO excited about this news. I think I am actually more excited than I would have been if I had not seen the direness of our situation and so I am even grateful for those several weeks of not knowing. For now I can truly reveal in the Lord's faithfulness.

Its an Army Miracle.

Inspiration

Since becoming pregnant my feelings about food have changed drastically. My first feelings of ambivalence turned quickly to solid distain which turned into something of a multiple personality disorder and now we've settled upon something I'd like to call "Easily Swayed".

Before hormones were surging through my body, if you asked me what I wanted to eat, I'd come up with a list of meals that sounded interesting. But, as I mentioned a few days ago, now I draw a complete blank when faced with food questions. But, being a foodie at heart this is quite disturbing and so I am pretty much obsessed with food now.

This is why watching The Foodnetwork has become so interesting. It doesn't take much to influence my food mood and so I am now using this to my advantage.

Now, when faced with a grocery list that currently only has cereal and milk on it- I am turning to allrecipes.com and other recipe sites for inspiration.
Last night I made Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers and I definitely recommend it. Although, I though the Peppers were maybe a LITTLE too strong and next time I will probably cut the Balsamic Vinegar back a bit. However, the Chicken was awesome and I'll probably make that again very soon. The technique of cooking the chicken in a pan for a few minutes before putting it in the oven is SUCH an easy way to insure a super juice piece of chicken-fast and easy!


And now for my question...do you guys have any go to blogs or websites that give you foodie inspiration?! I'd love to hear about them!!

Whisperer

First of all, I do not have a dog. This should be stated up front because its key to this blog post. Its key, because I don't think my next admission would be as embarrassing if it wasn't for that fact. But, the truth is I don't have a dog, and I probably won't be getting one any time soon ( I'm getting a baby instead and I hear they are a bit time consuming too). But, these facts have not stopped me from becoming completely, totally and beyond a shadow of a doubt OBSESSED with the show The Dog Whisperer. I pretty much don't watch T.V. ( on the actual tv, that is) unless is a random rerun of Meet the Kardashians or some cooking show where people have to make something yummy out of a lime, a block of sugar cane and the hindquarter of a lamb ( its pretty much a dream come true for my pregnancy cravings).
Annnnyway, this was how life was until I discovered The Dog Whisperer and the genius of Cesar MIllan . I cannot get enough of his show. I mean, every fifteen minutes you're introduced to another biting, yapping, jumping, out of control dog and by the end of the fifteen minutes you've learned the dog was scared and unhappy or lazy or some other misunderstood personification trait and Ceasar has addressed the problem and BAM! You've got yourself a wonderful, happy dog.

Its addictive.

Anyway, after watching a ton of episodes in a short amount of time ( he's on both Discovery AND Animal Planet. excellent) I'm pretty much an expert on dogs and people.

And then I found out that Cesar's own dog, Daddy passed away this past week...and FOR SERIOUS I almost cried.

People. This is my life.

I "Roux" the day I had that idea

So, a few weeks ago Brett was perusing facebook and someone had posted pictures of some homemade etouffe they had made in honor of...something Louisiana related-it could be any number of things this time of year ;-)
Anyway, Brett was all,
"Yum! That looks good! I want some etouffe!"

And I was all,
"YAY! Finally Brett gives me some guidance when it comes to the dinner menu!"

( normally this is not an issue, but since I currently range between not having an appetite and wanting to eat mustard right out of the jar...make a grocery list/dinner menu for the week has become an excruciating task. ) and so I went about finding a good/reputable recipe for Etouffe. I finally settled upon this one and I went to the store and bought all the ingredients ( except the fish stock, which I could not find-and so instead I substituted vegetable stock and 1 Tbs of fish sauce-found in your oriental section...this worked well. )

Anyway, so yesterday at around 4:30 I decided to begin my process of making this brand new recipe-something I normal love.
I mean, I read all those reviews that said this recipe was hard because of the "roux making" but I scoffed. How hard could it be to stir nonstop for 15 minutes?!?! BIG DEAL! I can do it!!!

So, go ahead, ask me how many rouxs I had to make before I got it right?!?

THREEEE!

That's right! ARG! The first one was because the pan I was using had little bits of the teflon stuff coming off into my roux ( the dangers of not having your own kitchen and using very old pots and pans), and then after changing over to a pot, I ruined another roux because I think my arm was at a weird angle ( and already tired from having now mixed for a solid twenty minutes) and I was using too small of a spoon....third times the charm. I switched to a wisk and all was well. Roux success!!!
And after that the recipe was a breeze and super yummy ( if I do say so myself!)...

But, I'm not going to lie. I may have thrown some pots and pans around and I may have grumbled some noncoherent words under my breath. And Brett may have gotten worried and asked me to sit down more than once, and I may or may not have hated life for about forty-five minutes.

However, at the end of the day ( 6pm) we finally had dinner on the table and all was well...although I totally needed a nap at this point, and I had to watch Brett eat his second helping from a horizontal position on the couch.

Sharing the wealth

So, "the boss man", aka Chuck Wood ( you should really check out his blog posts/mini devotionals if you get the chance, you won't be sorry) sent me this little youtube video that I thought was excellent!
Check it out:

Surprise!!!

Surprise!!! We didn't get to go to Maryland.
Surprise!!! It snowed in Georgia. It snowed at our house!! It snowed everywhere ( according to facebook status updates)
Surprise!! The movie Valentine's Day was actually good and not a royal disappointment! I was actually delighted with how much I actually liked it.
Surprise!! ( not really, but I have a theme that I don't want to ruin) the restaurant Cheddar's is royally disguising...I would rather go to APPLEBEE'S.
Surprise!! I had my first real latte in almost four months, and I didn't throw up! Take that, Baby Hiphopapotmus-hope you enjoyed that little boost of decaf!
Surprise!! My sister sent me cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery for V-day, and they were as tasty as they were adorable. Seriously...I think they must use black magic to make them that good AND shippable. ( totally worth it).
Surprise!! Brett got me adorable Gilmore Girl coffee mugs for Valentine's Day....how well he knows me.
Surprise!!! We ended up going for Atlanta for the night.
Surprise!! Even though I'm four months along in this pregnancy I still get sick if I don't eat IMMEDIATELY in the morning time. Thus the dry heaving in an Atlanta parking lot.
Surprise!!! Happened upon a wonderful little joint called The Flying Biscuit....Breakfast all day, if you go to Atlanta. Eat there.
Surprise!! I'm very much considering having a natural birth. I am now prepared for all your comments to go buckwild. Go.

In short

Today's events should not have bothered me, but they DID:

1. During my OB appointment, PA in training couldnt find babies heartbeat, leaves me for twenty minutes laying on my back fretting before coming back with SOMEONE WITH SKILLS so that I could stop freaking out about my baby. 20 longest minutes EVER.

2. Sat in Hospital Lab waiting to get blood work done: watching four Lab workers play on their phones and talk to one another while only one worker works. I HAD LOW BLOOD SUGAR. I NEEDED A MUFFIN PRONTO. But no. Instead I had to wait another 20 min. before being "served".

3. Dentist appointment. Had a temporary filling put in. I have a tiny mouth. Having a MILLION HANDS in said mouth makes it ache and hurt. It took hours it seemed. My mouth currently aches.

4. Got the wrong drink from starbucks. I pouted. Brett bought me a new one. I felt guilty for pouting.

5. Its snowing everywhere. And THIS is the weekend we decide to visit the Northeast. ( I don't think its gonna happen.)

6. oh, and F.Y.I, throwing up stretches your mouth involuntarily. Even if one side of your face is in serious distress...it will still open super wide during that dreadful moment. Leaving you with more pain for later. AWESOME.
And yes. Throwing up here in week 16. ALSO AWESOME.

our two laptops.

We're trying something new tonight. Instead of covering the kitchen table with his work, Brett is currently covering the bed. I must admit I like this better, because at least now we're laying next to each other-me watching Gilmore Girls, season 4 on my laptop, him typing some sort of Army Document on his. Its all very 1950s single beds like. But at least i can look at him this way...

So did I mention how we're spending the weekend? Well, I didn't because its still undecided. Not because we didn't decide, but because the skies decided to open up and dump large amounts of snow on the Northeast. Now, we are just waiting to find out if those tickets we bought to visit Brett's dad and family up in Maryland will actually take us anywhere. Ultimately I'm praying that if the weather is terrible that they cancel the flights...that way at least we won't loose the money and can live to fly again another day. I still can't believe we haven't visited Brett's Northeasterly family since we've been married!! I'm very excited about meeting his aunt and uncles who, so far, I've only had an internet relationship with plus any stories I can muster out of Brett....that's no way to be! So hopefully the skies will close in time for a weekend whirlwind of a trip.
Seriously, who knew this year was going to be so busy?!

F.Y.I. If you want to see something funny you should seriously go watch Gilmore Girls season 4, episode 7-"The Festival of Living Art"....Suki's freakout about giving birth is fantastic.

Check it out:

Also, for your reading enjoyment, you can now read the newly formed blog of my favorite Housemate ever: Lindsay.
She has just been sent to Alaska by the army, so that should be fun to read about !!!

The Outer Circle

So, I've been living in Georgia for....about 3 months now ( that's not counting the time that we spent in Texas for the holidays). Which, in the mega scheme of things, is not a terribly long time. But it has seemed like AGES. One reason time is crawling: No matter where the move is to, one of the hardest parts of changing location is trying to rebuild the friendship base.

And while, for the most part, I think I'm making progress on this front-I was starkly reminded several times this weekend that I'm not quite in the inner circle yet. Being "left out" is one of the nastiest feelings one can feel, but when you move to a new place it is GOING to happen to you. I promise.
But, the really good thing about all this, is that its left me pondering my priorities. I don't think I told you this, but right before I left Washington-I was taken out to lunch by a girl in the ministry there and then flatly told how I had made her feel left out for a year and a half. It was an awful slap in the face and I can't even tell you how much I cried about it. But, even though I was terribly hurt by the accusation, I felt strongly, at the time, that I was not completely in the wrong. I mean, it goes both ways, right?!? I cannot be held responsible for every single person feeling like they're accepted and wanted at every single party and social engagement, right?! I mean, who made me queen of the social scene?!?

However, here I am feeling very much like she apparently did for a year or so-and I see very clearly how she felt the way she felt. When those around you are comfortable with each other, comfortable with their routines, their coffee dates, their friends, their date nights...when all of that seems relatively stable and set in stone, it can be difficult for the outsider to get up enough gumption to force themselves into the picture. And we are left fighting a inner battle where part of you feels hurt and bitter towards those people leaving you out, and the other part of you realizes that part of YOUR job is to be friendly and kind to everyone-no matter how you're treated back.

Which brings me to your homework: I need you to go read this post written by my friend Tabitha ( ignore the part where she talks about me...that's not why I'm asking you to read it-focus on the end part)


Tabitha's sentiment is that while she herself is trying to get out there and make friends, she's going to instead focus on OTHER people who might be just as lonely, or maybe lonelier than herself! I love it!

And she put so beautifully into words what I had been mulling over all weekend! I never want to forget the feelings of loneliness and outofplaceness that I have felt every time I have moved-I don't want to forget, because I want to be the champion of others who are out of place themselves. Because, such people are everywhere. They are NOT just in the military environment ( although, they abound here.), but there are people feeling wallflower-esque at every church, school, club, gym, social event, and workplace. And so, even though I feel shy and uncertain right now, I will remember the principal that my Grandmother always lived by....

My Grandmother was pretty shy, but you never would have guessed it-she always had people around her, and she was the champion of the wallflowers-Why? Because, when she showed up somewhere, feeling as insecure as ever, she'd look around the room and find the person standing by themselves, the person who looked the most uncomfortable, and she'd go talk to them. I know that's probably not a new concept, but its something I've remembered since I was small, and I have used it more times than I can count-and it ALWAYS works. You end up stop thinking about your own comfort and start worrying about someone elses!

And so...While I have not yet made it into the "inner circle" here at Fort Benning, I have come to realize that the "outer circle" is much bigger and has room for many more friends-so here I am.

slightly nauseated

So, the question is....am I nauseated because of this BABY that is growing inside me and who hasn't gotten the MEMO about me being in the "TOTALLY AWESOME" second trimester that everyone has told me was "SO GREAT"....oooooooor is the nausea from all of the UNKNOWN life-changing decisions that are coming up today?!?!

Its a toss up.


I realize its been a few days since I've last blog....annnnd really the only relatively good excuse for that, is that Brett has been using my computer's video camera to practice the presentation that he's giving today and that he's been working 24/7 on for the past...two weeks. Seriously. I mean, I've seen Brett...but talking or carrying on a normal life has been out of the question. However, I have not complained ( I promise), because he's here in the kitchen.....and the fact that he just got back from Afghanistan three months ago has not escaped my notices just yet. Nope. I still remember. And I am still utterly grateful for any time that I can see him and breath the same air.
Ok, so right. Yes. Brett's been busy with his Captain's Schooling and I've been busy staring at him while he's working and then...BAM! Saturday happened.
Saturday, Brett and I are driving down the road and he's like, " Soooo, we should decide what posts we'd like to move to in June if I end up not working here at Fort Benning, because I have to tell them what I want on Wednesday."

And in my mind I'm like, "WHAT?!?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE AREN'T GOING TO STAY HERE AT FORT BENNING?!?! WHY WOULDN'T WE?!?!"

And out loud, I was like, " Well, I guess..." and then I started listing posts in order of where I'd "want" to go according to people that we know there, established Navigator ministries that I know of, and of course, location ( i.e. Hawaii).

So, yes, I was very calm.

And I was calm all the way up until Monday, because up until Monday it was really just a backup plan. That little list that I'd rattled off in the car, it wouldn't really happen. NOoooOOOoo.....I mean, me having to move somewhere right before or right after having a BABY...and Brett probably missing that Baby's birth because he'd most likely have to go to Ranger School before taking command...oooooh, that wouldn't HAPPEN! (!!!!)

But, then, Monday happened. The day that Brett found out that if he ever wanted to teach at West Point ( which he kinda did) than he really WOULD have to take command of a company right away. As in RIGHT. AFTER. THE. CAPTAIN'S COURSE. Which ends in....ooooooh. June.

So, that brings us to yesterday. The day that I thought. Geez. Wow. Army. It really does like to surprise you and turn your little world upside down over and over again, doesn't it?! So, I started praying like crazy and that brought me to my Bible reading for the day, which started out like this:


Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain....( Ps 127)

And you know what? That was just what I needed to hear! And sure, by the end of yesterday Brett had decided that he should stay on the path that he was already on, the path he'd already semi-decided on...which is to try and get a job here at Fort Benning. And while that would still have to be decided on by the army and so forth and so on...

I just went back to that verse. Because it doesn't really MATTER what we decide or what the Army might decide....THIS HOUSE is being built by the Lord. Our LIVES are being watched over by the Lord.

And yes, I'm scared at what just might happen...I'm scared Brett might miss the birth of our child, that we'll have to move to some new state in six months, that Brett will take Command and immediately be deployed again...these are all things that scare me, and yet I KNOW....with out a SHADOW OF A DOUBT that whatever happens, it will only happen because its come through the Lord's hands first. He will have decided. He will have prepared us.

Ok...the nausea is definitely coming from this Baby. NICE.

Like pulling teeth

That particular idiom has a WHOLE NEW meaning to me now that I've had a tooth pulled from my scull. It was intense. And apparently that tooth did NOT WANT TO GO. Sure, it didn't hurt thanks to that tooth numbing needle that they injected me with first, but who really needs pain when you've got this lovely thing called "pressure"?!? If pressure means literally pulling someone up from their chair by their very tooth...well than, wow, I've never felt pressure until now....

Which, incidentally, I was reminded with perfectly clarity after reading my comments after my last post-WHY I had waited so long to have my wisdom teeth removed-thanks to my friendship with Amy and remembering how she seriously ALMOST BLEED TO DEATH after her wisdom teeth were removed, I did not relish the thought of going into the chair myself. So thanks, Amy. Thanks for being one of the reasons behind my procrastination!

But, now that it's all said in done, it really wasn't so bad...my "hole" doesn't even hurt that bad, I mean, sure, I can't open my mouth very wide, but other than that I'm pretty much back to normal. So that's done. We can check "remove one wisdom tooth" from my to do list. Now on to bigger and better things.

I have a deadline looming at work, plus two parties to throw next weekend ( a baby shower and a super bowl party)...busy, busy, busy!

The loss of wisdom

So, after much procrastination ( read: 6 years)...I am finally getting my wisdom teeth taken out. Well, I'm getting one taken out tomorrow, because it literally cant wait. That's right! I procrastinated so long that its actually risking my other teeth!! oops.
And then I'll have the other three out after I deliver a child. And after delivering a child, pulling teeth should be comparatively easy.
Anyway, I'm now celebrating the fact that I finally went to the dentist ( I hate the dentist), I'm eating sour skittles. Awesome, because there is nothing like coating your freshly cleaned teeth with an extra layer of sugar. haha!!
Seriously though, I found a really cool dentist who actually spends a lot of his time donating his dentistry services to mission organizations, traveling to third world countries to donate his skills! Pretty cool!

In other news, I just watched the video for the new ipad, I gotta admit it looks cool...but NOT cool enough to get one, the whole time I was watching the informational video I just kept thinking that with my laptop and my iphone I have all those features. It seems down right frivolous. I guess our economy isn't doing THAT badly if we can have something like this on the market.

Costco and too much fluff.

That's right, Karissa and I are braving it out in the "real world" and heading to Costco in "the big city" tomorrow. Yes, we're gonna drive two hours to get there. And yes, that's a long freakin way to go for bulk goods...but sometimes you have to take your adventures where you can get them and mine is coming in the form of a needless roadtrip ( for me, anyway...I think karissa ACTUALLY needs dog food..) trip.

On the flip side today I didn't get much further than the mail box, when I went out to post some letters...so yes. Life. It's pretty exciting.

But, luckily I do have a reason to put on non-elastic pants, today. I've got a "wives get to know you" dinner for the other Captain's wives who are currently here for the Career Course ( FYI: that's what Brett is currently doing all day, every day.), and I'm generally excited about that. I mean, I'm all about mingling and getting to know new people...its just I don't feel particularly "cute" these days. My shirts fit all weird and my pants fit all weird too. Life is not looking cute. Being pregnant is NOT cute. The worst part is that no one would possibly know that I am preggers by looking at me...they would just think I'm "fluffy around the edges" which...I AM. I TOTALLY AM.

Boo.

I wish I could just skip to being a hot mother of a three year old. ;-)
( that's the age that I predict I'll get my figure back.)

pooped

So, BOY-all those days when I didn't leave the house or talk to anyone but Brett-well, I completely made up for them today!

We currently have three guys staying in the bunk house, not to mention the guy who's staying the guest bedroom, plus we got a surprise evening with three guys who just graduated one of the schools here at Benning and had an evening pass and wanted to spend their time chilling in our living room -and this was all after I spent the day with a brand-new army wife and then rushed to the grocery store for extra food ( see above guests) and then rushed home to have a work meeting. This was followed by three conversations on Skype with great friends, followed by three conversations on ichat with three other great friends.

And now I'm POOPED.


UTTERLY POOPED.


Luckily I only felt mildly queasy while all of that was happening so YAY for Hiphopopotamus letting me GET THINGS ACCOMPLISHED for the second day in a row.
That's right, the SECOND DAY. Yesterday I had a chiropractor's appointment ( which means I had to put on real person clothes at a decent hour), a lunch date, grocery shopping and then spent the evening playing cards with the Woods. POSITIVELY A WHIRL OF ACTIVITY.
I mean, normally pick just ONE of those actions and that would be IT for a WHOLE entire DAY, but no....no, I have been doing them ONE right after the OTHER...without even taking a nap in between.

I know.

Incredible.

And now its 9:30, which means its bed time. ( we can't change EVERYTHING about me!! they call them "baby" steps for a reason) haha!

You are what you eat

So, the last week I have been experience what I would call my first cravings. I say that because up until now I have hated all foods and the thought of all foods. For me, someone who loves food, this was very distressing. So its nice to at least have my appreciation back, even if my stomach has not commiserated completely as of yet.

ANYWAY. So I will now tell you the things that I have craved and see if you can see any sort of pattern:

Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade Biscuits
Bacon, Egg, Cheese Biscuits from MacDonalds
Frozen Waffles ( i.e. Eggos)
PopTarts

So, if this list is at ALL telling, I can already foresee what type of baby I'm going to have: A Breakfast Baby.

P.S. The only things I've actually GOTTEN on my list are the cinnamon rolls ( because I was at the store when I thought of them the first time.) and PopTarts ( because the stupid ghetto store that is near us did NOT sell Frozen Waffles-which is what I wanted more than ANYTHING IN THE WORLD). It is very hard to be pregnant and live in the middle of nowhere. I feel as though I know EXACTLY how Laura Ingles felt on Little House on the Prairie. hehe

Dress for success

So, kids, I don't know if you know this-but working from home is THE BEST. I don't know what you do for a living, but you should really see if you can finagle a way to do whatever that is at home, because there is nothing like working in your PJs. But, I must tell you-be careful, otherwise you'll end up in the spot I did a few days ago:

Imagine its 11:15 in the morning and imagine that Abigail is lounging on her bed ( in her PJs) checking her emails-because that's the norm for most days ( I know, you're jealous of my life...tell me about it later). Now, imagine that she starts getting emails from the higher-ups saying they're trying to put together a video meeting so that Abigail can meet some other people that she'll be working with at "headquarters" ( that sounds fancy doesn't it?)-and even if it doesn't sound fancy, Abigail had the knowledge and knowhow to realize that MOST people who have jobs on a weekday at 11:15 are NOT wearing their PJs....But NO BIGGIE, the meeting wasn't going to be until tomorrow so she was safe!

Safe until 5 minutes later when the meeting was quickly moved to 11:30. It was now 11:25.

But, don't you worry your little head, Abigail is a smarty, she knows that her computer camera can see only "this much" of her....so she assesses the situation. She was at that moment was wearing an ( incredibly soft) t-shirt from Old Navy that had a giant ( not very classy) peace sign on it-in red, white and blue star spangled glory. This number was paired with some pink cropped paints with lace around the bottoms. But hey! No one was going to see THOSE! So, Abigail threw her hair in a pony-tail and THEN in PURE GENIUS she threw on a green scarf ( to cover up the peace sign)...and so, if she angled her computer camera just right no one would ever know that she was not meeting business casual standards....

And I really think this would have worked. I really think I would have gotten away with this plan, if there hadn't been technical difficulty....which I'll now tell you about, but first I must remind you that I actually live with my main boss...he and his wife have an apartment off of the main house, and he was the one setting up this meeting.
So when technical difficulties happened, and they couldn't support three cameras he quickly invited me over to his office to sit in front of his computer and use that camera.

And that would have been fine-but I had to walk in and sit down at the computer with people looking on. Meaning, everyone got to watch me walk in, in all my mismatched PJ glory...with an added green scarf for extra flair.

Lovely.

red robin knows

Somehow Red Robin Gourmet Burgers knew that I was feeling better and they sent me a coupon for a free appetizer in honor of my new found interest in food. How sweet of them.

Its for real

So, today I went to my first "exciting" OB appointment...But, first I would like to discuss the rain on my parade:

Stop asking me if I'm getting an ultrasound! I knooooow that most people, out in the real world, have fancy doctors where they get to see their baby every visit. But, I'm dealing with the military here! I will probably only get ONE ultrasound at around 20 weeks, and other than that I probably won't get any unless there are any problems or abnormalities. Now, it shouldn't really upset me-but I guess every time someone asks me for pictures I have to get myself back to being ok with the system I've been given. And for the most part I am ok with it! I mean, hey! This baby is gonna be free! And now days babies are EXPENSIVE. So I will count my blessings and be happy with what I get...

which is a heartbeat! YAY!

So, Hiphopopotamus, ( as he or she is currently named) is real...and the heartbeat was super easy to spot! She just dropped that little thing on my tummy and Bump-de-bump, we were in business. SUPER COOL! An super serial!
I still think I'm in a bit of shock about having a baby....nice that you have nine months to wrap your brain around it.
I think it was cool for Brett too...Poor guy, he's only been dealing with the NEGATIVE affects of pregnancy the last few months, so I think it was a nice change of pace for him to finally have something good happen! hahaha!

The nice things

Here is a not so great picture I'd like us to consider for the purpose of today's blog post....




I snapped this this morning when trying to get a good shot of Hunter ( the cat)-but this cat is hard to photograph because where ever you are, Hunter wants to be righthereontopofyou.

So, today we will look at two things about this picture that actually make me happy about living in Alabama/Georgia.
First, this cat.

This cat is my favorite kind of cat. I'm pretty sure he thinks he's a dog. For one thing he looooves people. And he wants to be with you as much as possible, so he's really good for a snuggle and some unconditional loving.
And two, if you go for a walk, and I'm not even kidding, this cat will GO WITH YOU.
And not just a short distance but a long ramble through the woods, and this cat will walk right along side you, no running off exploring, maybe just a few bounds ahead-but then he's back, waiting for you to catch up the pace.
Its pretty much the greatest.

And then there is the second thing that I'm loving about AL/GA....notice the SUN in this picture?! That's right, friends! As much as I bemoan the lack of coffee shops and the lack of my favorite restaurants or mountains and ocean ( ok, maybe I should stop now)....this place has sun...and in the winter time! How fabulous is that? AND speaking of the sun, it doesn't go down at 4 in the afternoon either! Which is also a plus.

So, there you have it. Some nice things about where I'm living.

Here are some not so interesting thoughts I'm going to share with you since I've banned myself from Twitter/Facebook and would normally do so there....

Tums taste SO much better than they use to. I mean, they are practically like candy. And BONUS they help me to not belch like a 300 pound man who's just eaten a dozen chili cheese dogs. SERIOUSLY. I have never been a burper. I mean, I couldn't burp if I tried. But, NOW, now I am a champion. I mean, WHO KNEW?! But, I'm pretty sure at this point I could win contests with my abilities.

Lost, what a great TV show! You can currently watch all 5 seasons that are out ( the 6th starts at the beginning of Feb) on Hulu...and I don't know what kind of TV you watch, but let me just say that this show is going to BLOW YOUR MIND. Every single season is going to seriously make your brain explode. Which, is actually nicer than it sounds. Anyway. I finished the 5th season this week in the most embarrassingly fast amount of time possible. Seriously. I don't think I did anything else.

Glee sound track, here's something that I will put on my list of things that are embarrassing and yet I am not really embarrassed about loving. Kinda like US Weekly. I mean, that's QUALITY journalism, people. QUALITY. Anyway, the glee sound track is delightful. It makes me smile every time I listen to it, and normally I'm not a person who "sings along"...but you cannot HELP but belt it out. And I have probably never wanted to be able to sing well until this music...*sigh* now I wish I could. I think it would be so satisfying. Case in point:

Target Practice

Remember how last year I had to buy Brett two guns while he was in Afghanistan? And remember how supportive and wonderful I was? And how I didn't complain about it at all?

Yeah. Me too.

Anyway, we now live out in the country where he can shoot his guns whenever he wants ( which there is no end to his delight)...and today he unwrapped one of his Golden Birthday Presents to find the PERFECT TARGET PRACTICE companion ever.

I got him a poster of Edward from Twilight with some insipid quote underneath. Brett was very excited.

I think its going to help relieve him of a lot of stress.

In a day

Thanks Hulu, Thanks so much for giving me ALL FIVE SEASONS of Lost at one time. I mean, honestly, I don't know what else I would have done today.

Well, I take that back, I did do ONE other thing. I went for a long walk with a new friend. This was nice on two levels. One, I talked to another person other than Brett-which is nice, just for varieties sake and two, I was scowled yesterday for not exercising. Which, COME ON! I do NOT feel like exercising right now! But, today, today when tempted by real live conversation with another girl I was willing to put my nausea aside and go for it! And it was good...and I only felt slightly sickish once in the thirty minutes. So score.

In other news, it could possibly snow here tonight. I'm not holding my breath, but its in the forecast....is it seriously cold everywhere in the USA right now? Amazing!

Oh, and thanks for all the lovely comments from all you lovely people! I really appreciate it-I knew I should have shared this sooner ;-)

The Big Reveal: Live it with me

So, I sorta kinda snapped out of it today-when I leaned over to pick up my bible off my bedside table and threw up instead. Well, not right then but I pretty much barely made it to the toilet.

And that's what you've been missing for the past month and a half.

I'm not entirely sure why I decided to keep it from my blog for so long, I mean, at first it was so I could tell our parents in more personal forms of communication other than an internet post ( I think everyone appreciated this. ha.) ....but then, once that was taken care of...along with a lot of other wonderful people who celebrated/were shocked, right along with us...I dont know. I don't know why I held back from blogging about it.

Until today. Today, I'm blogging about being pregnant/knocked up/with child/preggars/on the nest/expecting/ a bun in the oven/ riding the baby train.

Its kind of crazy that after blogging about college and about being out in the real world, getting a job, getting married, and countless other big changes I would now come to this-something that I hesitated to blog about.
When I was pondering it, I think the only other thing that I haven't blogged about in a very timely manner would have to be when I first started having feelings for Brett, but that was mostly because I knew he was reading my blog at the time and I didn't want to give anything away. So, that brings us to this little piece of news. I have been keeping this "little" secret from my blog for...oooooh....8 weeks.

That's right kids. I'm 10 weeks pregnant. Sooo mark your calendars ( in pencil) for the first week of August and get ready for some major changes in the Wilson household.


So, I kept it a secret a long time. And I was basically waiting to tell my blog that I was pregnant after I had my first ultra sound, you know...the one where they prove to you in no uncertain terms that you've got a little person in your tummy. But, that's not until next week, so why the early reveal after all this time? Well, that takes us back to me throwing up over my bible this afternoon...

You guys have been missing out. You've missed the Christmas where I spent MOST of my time not moving...and the other half of my time hunched over the toilet. You've missed my new bed time: 8pm. You've missed the New Years that Brett and I spent in bed...reading. And you've missed my discovery of peppermints as the best quick fix for nausea, and my wonderful ex-roommate/nurse Lindsay sending me contraband hospital remedies, and you've missed my darling husband being SO INCREDIBLY USEFUL and THOUGHTFUL you'd probably start calling him Prince Charming if you saw it, you've missed my new inability to do pretty much ANYTHING during a given day, and you've missed my new found hatred for having to stand up during a church service. You've missed my current love of PB&Js and how for a two week span all I wanted was apples ( I don't like apples normally)....

And to be honest, if next week, something goes horribly wrong and there is no little heart beat in my tummy I'd want to tell you about it. And I'd want you to know about this past month and a half so you'd know just what a journey this has already been...AND if next week I'm more excited about this pregnancy then I have been thus far...well, then-you'll know why!


So there you go. The big reveal. Now lets all count down the days until next Thursday together. ;-)

Up in the air

So, said goodbye to Tina and Wes today....they are headed back to Washington today. Bummer. I tried not to be super sad, but its hard! It was so lovely having them around. BUT! I've decided to be uplifting about life so I will not let it get me down!!

Like today, I went to the Columbus mall for the first time, and it was not half bad! I bought these totally fantastical yoga pants ( I don't do yoga, but I DO do elastic waist bands) that I am currently sporting in all their greatness. So that was good.

And now I'm home! And I got like FOUR emails today!! As in, real live, informational emails!! Apparently its a GOOD IDEA to take a break from facebook for a month ( which I am currently doing, except for the minor breakage of rules when I went on for FIVE MINUTES to look at pictures of my friend Katie's adorable son Morris...it was TOTALLY worth it, because he's the cutest thing.) because then it pushes people to ACTUALLY contact me. Or maybe its just because everyones feeling sorry for me here in Alabama....EITHER WAY, its a wonderful thing to receive some lovin' in the inbox!

In other news, we are in full swing on Brett's golden Birthday* and I'd say its going pretty well! I think the excitement of picking out a present from a mount of presents every day is pretty exciting in itself. And I must admit its driving ME a little crazy because I can hardly wait for him to get to some of the particularly GOOD presents I have mixed in there! Ahhh! I'm so bad at keeping secrets.


*Basically the idea is that your golden birthday is the year you turn the age of the date that you were born. i.e. Brett turned 26 on the 26th last year. Golden Birthday. Bam. However, he was in silly afghanistan and so we postpone the celebrating until this year. And by celebrating I mean, that, the year of your golden birthday you, traditionally, get a present a day-starting at the first of the month-until your birthday. That's 26 presents for Brett!! Talk about hitting the mother load!

an active member of society. again.

So, with this new year, I bring you new news regarding my life. TA-DA!

I got myself a job title! WOOO!

So, here's the story, hopefully answering all those pesky little questions like, "HOW?! Abigail HOW!?!"

As you know Brett and I are involved with the Army Navigators Ministry, which is part of this bigger thing called the Military Navigators Ministry, which is involved with this bigger thing called the Navigators Ministry. Anyways, since that's super clear, I'll continue by saying that recently the Military ministry did a little revamping and now our old leader from Washington, Andrew is heading up the Navy ministry ( this is super exciting and should make you want to join the navy. haha) and-more to the point of this story-Chuck ( who's house we're living in, remember?) who is the leader of the Army ministry ( keep up, I'm almost done), has put together this Army Leadership Team to help streamline to Army side of things. Annnnyway, one of the positions on this team is called, " Staff Services Liaison" and since we all know I have the proclivity for things like spreadsheets and email writing and phonecalls and organizational type things-Chuck offered me the position!

I am pretty honored to help out in the practical aspects of a ministry that believe in so much and I hope that I can be helpful to them.

And of course, one of the perks of this whole thing, is that now when people ask me what I DO all day, I can totally throw out my new handy dandy job title. Excellent.

Happy 2010

We give thanks to you O God,
we give thanks for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.
~ Ps 75


As I enter 2010, I can only thankfully look back upon 2009. A year that, for all intents and purposes, should have been pretty horrible and yet it was the year that brought my husband home, that taught me how to live alone ( all over again), it taught me about faith and about friendship and it taught me about heartache and disappointment, in 2009 I moved twice and I lived in three states ( barely, but still), and it was the year I saw miracles happen both big and little. Truly there are some wonderous deeds to be thankful for from 2009!

And I would be remiss if I did not thank my faithful blog readers for reading my 222 posts from this past year. ;-) Thanks for putting up with me! :-) All your comments and emails of encouragement, solidarity and even reprimand and annoyance were greatly appreciated.

So without further ado, here's to 2010!

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

Because I told you to...

Go to your nearest theatre and watch the movie Blind Side...you will be inspired and you will possibly cry ( like I did...four times.)

It will be a MUCH better and uplifting experience then watching, say, Twilight: New Moon, which was so incredibly awful that you'll have to laugh just so that you will not cry at the state of the world, a world that thinks that this is quality....Although, there is this one scene where Bella's ( whiny so-called-heroine) head gets a teeny tiny bit of blood on it, and Jacob ( the probably manic-depressive warewolf) WHIPS OFF his shirt and starts dabbing at her head.
I mean, I didn't blame him...if I had had to take steroids, and therefore put my body in serious risk, at the tender age of 16 so I could get that buff...well, I'd probably make every excuse to show it off too....
Anyway, that's what I got out of THAT movie...and the moral of the story is, go see Blind Side.

In other news, this weeks goal is to make friends. I had a very short lunch date today which was progress and I was invited to a party tomorrow night which will hopefully be more progress...wish me luck, I must be at my winning-est. hehe.

Any time...

So, I think I've "rested" enough...Feeling a bit on the bored side today. Its not that there wasn't enough to do...Brett and I worked on various to-do lists that we'd both piled up-but I think the major thing is that we've have no social circle as of yet. I don't think I've ever been so excited about a Sunday-the idea of getting to go to church where we'll get to talk to OTHER PEOPLE is mindblowing.

Also...I think my southern accent is coming back. Fabulous.

The Big Picture...

"All the end of the earth shall remember and turn the Lord,
and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.
For the kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations."
Ps 22:27-28

I'm excited about this holiday season, may we ever focus on what's truly important: His kingdom come!

Getting shinier

So, here we are. This is Georgia. A Georgia which is apparently nice and sunny most of the time, but decided to make me feel nice and at home since arriving-thus being bleak and rainy. Nice. Thanks Georgia for pulling out all the stops ;-)

Anyway, last night Brett and I were driving home from a dinner engagement and we discussed how TIRED we were! Yet once we stopped to think what had been going on in our lives the last few weeks it was concluded that we were more emotionally tired than anything. In short, new lives are tiring to get.

How's this new life going, you ask? Well, that's tough to say...I've been waiting to write this particular blog post until a time when I wouldn't burst into tears at the slightest thing and I think that'll be today! hahaha! In short, I am continually impressed that while I keep thinking that with each move it couldn't POSSIBLY be MORE SO than the LAST move ( aka. I am prepared this time), I am always surprised to find there are NEW things to get used to and new things with which to rely on the Lord for strength.

This time the major blow came about a week into our cross-country trek, when the Woods called and offered us their home to live in for 6 months. Now, I'm going to take a big deep breath and try to explain what this means:

Ok, so the Chuck and Deb Wood are a Navigator couple who are actually over the Navigator Army ministry altogether. This basically means that they travel for MOST of the year. Before they took this job, they ran the Nav ministry here at Fort Benning. In fact, it was through Chuck that Brett got involved with the Navigators back in 2004/2005. Brett actually lived with the Woods during the 18 months that he was at Fort Benning...which brings me to their house. They have a "ministry" house. Its basically a nice sized four bedroom home, but it also has an added apartment ( with a kitchen, living area etc-this is where Chuck and Deb now live when they are in Georgia between travels) and also an added meeting room and a bunk room. All of this added together and you get a house that is perfect for having guys move in and live so that they can have closer discipleship training-which is one of the key principles and main focuses of the Navigator ministry. Its also great for bible studies and ministry functions...

Annnnywho, the Woods called us up and said that starting in January there would not be anyone living in their main house-and they were wondering if we'd like to move in.

Pause for dramatic affect.

I think I've been very disappointed with everyone that I've told about this piece of news, because EVERYONE has been excited for us and said what a great idea it is...when deep down ( ok, it hasn't been deep down at all) I have been crying and moaning and complaining about this EVER SINCE THAT INITIAL invite....why the complaining? Well, because it meant putting all of our things in storage. It meant moving again in six months ( remember how much I HATE moving?), it meant sharing my first months back with my husband with more ministry demands, it meant putting on clothes when I leave my bedroom ( no roaming a house where there are other people in your PJs!), it meant living in a house where my iphone gets zero reception, it meant living a good 20 minutes from any stores or coffee shops...and countless other "inconveniences".

In short, I was faced HEADLONG with my very shallow/selfish/spoiled ( hey! Look! I'm an alliteration of character flaws!) self.

Now, I'll be honest with you...I spent a WHOLE YEAR diving head long into ministry. I was ALL about it! I was one hundred percent on board. And some little part of me thought that I DESERVED a break. That I deserved to have what *I* wanted for a change...and wow. Until this whole housing thing came up, I didn't even realize that's what I was thinking...

So yesterday I woke up to an email from my dear friend Tabitha-who laid the proverbial slap down on me ( it should be noted she did it in this oddly encouraging/ nice way that I should really try to master) basically equating me with Jonah. Ouch! She was right! And THEN to pile on the coals of Truth...I went and did my quiet time...and I JUST SO HAPPENED to be reading about Moses going to Pharaoh and asking over and over again that Pharaoh do what God was asking ( and Pharaoh kept hardening his heart) and yeah...we all know how THAT turned out. And THEN I turned over to my New Testament reading and I JUST SO HAPPENED to be reading about the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew. DOUBLE OUCH. Here I was crying over an iPhone and here was a dude turning his back on following Jesus because he couldn't seem to give up his riches.....I don't think it takes an English major to see the parallels there.

As you can see...this move has not been an easy one....and I'm going to go ahead and say THEY NEVER WILL BE. But what I WILL go ahead and say, is that if you'd like to shake up your pre-existing assumptions about yourself, your relationships and most importantly your priorities and walk with God...you should consider moving. It'll be hard, but I have great faith that at the end of this I'll be a little bit shinier ( think gold being refined illustration here).

OH and I'm keeping my phone. It gets reception pretty much everywhere but in the house, and even there I still get text messages and voicemails...so I still feel pretty in touch.

*Other business:
If you'd like the new Brett and Abigail address and the new Brett and Abigail landline phone-number you can email me or message me and I'll get that to you right away. ALSO some of you have been asking if Brett has a cell phone number. He does not. I you still have his 817 number, delete that...you'll disturb some poor old lady if you call it. He'll be getting a new number soon!

Too much personal growth

So, you may be wondering why you haven't heard from me since arriving in Georgia/Alabama...well, the reason for this is mainly because I'm being asked ( by life) to do SO MUCH personal growth right now that I literally had to take a nap because it was so tiring. And, well, personal growth is definitely something I like to talk about AFTER THE FACT so that I don't look so self-involved and lame.
This, of course, means we'll have "testimony worthy" blog posts in like a month or something after all the holiness and the growing happens-but until then I'll just have to hope that any post I do will not have the complaining and whining seeping through TOO MUCH.

Oh, and remember when I posted that little video of me talking? The one where I shared the last message that I shared at the Navs study in Washington that I did?! Well, I talked about "first weeks" in that little talk. I talked about how totally horrible and bleak everything seemed and that in times like those you have to have faith and read your bible and be reminded of His promises etc. etc.

Well, turns out I need to start preaching to myself pronto, and it also turns out that when you're in the middle of "first weeks" it is INCREDIBLY HARD to see the light.

And just so you'll know kind of the general direction from which I'm coming from...my iphone does not work on the street where we're living. ZERO COVERAGE. It works pretty much EVERYWHERE ELSE but here. It's pretty much like life slapped me in the face and then laughed at me.

In lue of a party...

So tomorrow I turn 26.

I know that I'm going to become an adult because for the first time in my whole life I did not do a count down to my birthday, and I did not tell everyone, including strangers on the street that my birthday was in *so many* days for an entire month...and I have not gone on and on about it on my blog.

Of course, as much as I would like to say that the reason for this change is that I have become super mature in the last year, this is probably not the case. Instead, I'm going to point to the incredible amount of LIFE going on around me that I do not have the time to stop and celebrate such blasé things as my birth.
*psssshhhh*

Haha! Just kidding! We're going to celebrate anyway! We're going to celebrate in newest fashion: By starting a brand new season of life and by counting the blessings of the past and present.

Tomorrow Brett and I will be crossing the border into Georgia and begin a new life there. I admit I'm scared. And I admit that I've never been more homesick than I am right now. Its on your birthday that you miss your friends the most ( and as we all know friends and family are our home). But I count my blessings too. I have Brett home from Afghanistan and I thank God every day that He got us through a year long deployment. If you believe in miracle, just know that a successful deployment is the longest drawn out miracle that you can ever witness....

And for the past four days we've spent some lovely time with Brett's family in Texas ( and a teeny tiny bit of my family scattered in for bonus)...and I am struck yet again by how blessed we are to have such supportive families. ( Oh, and a big shout out to Jillian who I am TREMENDOUSLY glad to count as part of that family now that she's finally an official Vermeulen-not to mention a fellow army wife! YAY!)

I am also glad that we got to go to my church for prayer meeting on Wednesday and thank God for those lovely saints there who prayed for us and supported us while Brett was deployed. I am glad that they are as much our family as anyone....and speaking of such "family"-I am also thankful for the beautiful last day in Washington-where we got to spend the day with Judy and with Bethany and Amy and Karissa and Ash and Lindsay and Isaac and the Strouds and the whole STS gang....it was pretty much the perfect day. Perfect.

And I am thankful for all the many wonderful wonderful friends that I carry with me wherever I go....even so far as Georgia.


So here's to the year 25. It was a doozy.

And here's to 26 no doubt it will be JUST as interesting.

Week One & Texas

So, tonight we arrived in Texas and gave our family a giant huge....how far we've come! And for Brett this was the first time seeing our families in a year and half ( seriously?!? wow!)..but before all that we had to get from the Grand Canyon to Nacogdoches....


So, there are no pictures with this post, probably because my camera got stuffed down at the bottom of a bag-and, well, bags once they are packed and unpacked every night for days and days on end-things start to oddly expand. Sufficient to say you'll have to make do with my wordy accounts of what happened next:

After the grand canyon we were off to Santa Fe ( with a stop over night in Gallup, New Mexico). Now, some of you thought we were headed to a hotsprings spa in Arizona, and well, so did we...but turns out thinking really loudly doesn't ACTUALLY get you reservations so...oopsy.

And thus we headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico instead...this is a place i have thought little about in my life and had done absolutely ZERO research on before arriving. However, this was a little pre-view lesson of:
Life Can Go On Even if Abigail Has Not Planned And Or Prepared For It. And we ended up having a lovely, albeit over-priced time...
Highlights of Santa Fe:
80 minute massages. The movie Away We Go. The mailbox that looked like R2D2. Comfy Beds. walking in the snow. Dinner at the unpretentious dinner after a pervious meal at a snobby restaurant.

After Santa Fe ( which ended up being a better stop because it was a nice distance between our pervious destination and our NEXT destination which made for more enjoyable driving days) we headed to Lubbock, TX to stay with Brett's college friend Stephani and her husband Jason and their ADORABLE 3 month old son Alexander. Seriously, had the sweetest disposition and the brightest smile...and I could have totally eaten him up-if Baby Eating wasn't so frowned upon.

And then that brings us to today! We hightailed it across Texas to arrive in Nacogdoches in time for Dinner with Brett's family and then a quickie before bed chat with my parents...

And then, then I had to write this post-because, to be honest, even though I didn't actually talk about anything life-altering in this post, I've actually had a pretty life altering week...and blogging is one of my greatest "calms". I cannot tell you how good it is to get at least a FEW ( if not the most straight forward and surface) things "on to paper" so that they will no longer plague my mind.

I am hoping that in the next few days I will be able to steal a moment away to type up the HARDCORE post and the only hint I'll give you is this over-dramatized facebook status update that I made a few days ago:

"Giving things up for Jesus stings, but it's totally worth it."

So, there you go! I'm basically giving away the surprise ending there...but believe me there is PLENTY more to that story to come!!

A Grand Maker indeed!

I think sometime God has things a little bit difficult just to remind us that He's there. If today had started out bright and sunny and perfect, I'm not so sure I would have seen His magnificence in quite the same way...
As it was, we woke up in our hotel ( that we'd arrived at late the night before) near the Grand Canyon to pouring down rain. Not the "clear weather" I'd prayed for, for our one day to see this wonder of the world!!!

But, we decided we'd go look at the "big hole in the ground" ( I just came up with that...clever, I know) anyway, since we'd come ALL THAT WAY...and surely we'd be able to see something!?! RIGHT!?!?

Well...not really.

When we arrived it was super de douper cloudy and rainy. And yet I dutifully took pictures of the canyon anyway. ( looking at them now, they are basically pictures of clouds).

Example:



But then, AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, it started to clear!!! And it was as though God just unfolded this beautiful piece of artwork that He'd created just for us!!





We then got super into it and started to think we should spend MORE time there than we'd allotted...but just as soon as we got greedy and started thinking about going back and getting more pictures...the clouds started to roll back in. Time to head back on the road!!

And just in case, I wasn't fully aware of God's providence on this whole trip so far, this is what we saw driving into New Mexico from Arizona: