A Day in the Life of an Officer's Wife: 20120728

I realize I haven't done a very good job of taking pictures since returning to El Paso. So... instead of my usual complete dependence on pictures to tell the story, I'll try to actually use my memory and let you know what we've been up to.

To start, we had SUPER great luck finding all the furniture we needed for the house just within our first days back here. I actually got most of it from the Salvation Army just off post, and just a couple things that I wanted to match from the local Walmart. A sofa from the classifieds, a complete bunk bed bedroom set from a wonderful couple on post, and a second trip back to the Salvation Army have pretty much completed our needs list. Now, just our "wants" list remains - like a glider for Patrick and two twin mattresses for our upcoming guests (I don't think they'd enjoy sleeping on just box springs!). So... our first week back flew by with all of that acquiring, cleaning, and unpacking/organizing.

The second week was a great week in that we started going to daily Mass here on post, which is always hard to start again after time away, but is always such a blessing! Also, I'm officially on the MCCW (Military Council of Catholic Women) Board now, so the kids and I have been attending meetings and doing other odds and ends related to that.

I'll fill in more now as I go -

Here are a few shots from our daily park visits. On this trip we met a very nice sister and brother, Hannah and Jacob. Both kids played with the munchkins very well.

We also found out about a great splash park on post that we were completely unaware of! (I told Joe about it, and he said "Oh Yeah! I know that place!" - well, then why didn't you tell us, Joe!?) But, it was worth the wait... we had a blast, and it was right next to a HUGE park complex with numerous different playground sets. We took a VERY late nap that day due to spending too much time there.

Oh... speaking of that, the new rule in the house is: If Therese finishes her reading lesson in the morning before Mass we can go to a park of some sort after Mass. So far we haven't missed a day! I must admit, as hard as it was to get back in to the daily Mass mode, it was much harder for Therese and I to get back in to the reading mode. I'm sort of glad that we took ALL of vacation off, but it sure made us rusty (and, therefore, cranky) concerning it when we returned!

It is popsicle season, for sure! It is actually so hot that the kids have to eat there pops outside... but they stay in the shade if possible.

We didn't ONLY find furniture at the thrift shops, though. The kids made quite the haul one day. At the first store we found a 2-sided easel that has had numerous art projects completed on it already. And, at the second store we found a case of great puzzles, which have been taken apart and put together innumerable times as well since their purchase!

Fruit is on super sale here, so I have had fun loading up on it and freezing a batch here and there for a super stock-up of smoothie ingredients ready to whip up whenever the desire hits! So far I've frozen bananas, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, peaches, and grapes! (Grapes are for snacking, not smoothies, just FYI.)

Oh... but I didn't freeze them all! Therese did have a chance to find out that she LOVES cherries! And good thing I washed this shirt quickly... this was the first time she had worn it, and I wasn't desiring a permanent cherry stain on the front!

I would be amiss to fail to mention that Joe's fellow Lieutenants from the 591st have been awesome in helping me get some of the furniture that was not delivered. At one point I gave a quick call hoping that one of them could help me get a dresser some time in the next 2-3 days, and within 2 hours two of them were at my door with the dresser! Wow! What faithful friends!

Also, a fellow Lieutenant and his wife (who also helped us pick up our sofa on a separate occasion) had us over for supper last week. It was very nice, especially since I am realizing that the one thing I do very little of during deployment is cook!, and the kids loved playing with their 9-week old Husky.

On Saturday the kids and I also attending a double birthday party for a 5 and a 1 year old at my friend, Savannah's, house. It was a blast, and it was great to get to know some of the ladies from MCCW and their spouses a bit better. There were TONS of kids there (7 of which were just in the family that the parties were for), so after clinging to my pant legs for the first 20 minutes, the kids slowly warmed up and had a good time as well.

To finish off, here are some shots from Therese' photo shoot throughout the house this morning!