Last night, Kyle came home early from work, with an assignment to pack his things for Iraq. He’s not deploying until mid-October, but they have to do several inspections before that time, so he has a three page checklist and has to stuff two duffel bags and an enormous backpack with uniforms, towels and toiletries. The clothes he took to his desert training in California had been stored in his barracks and were still unwashed as of last night, and since we don’t yet have after-hours access to the laundry facilities in our apartment complex, we had to wash all of it in our two bathtubs, hang it up, and hope it would be dry in the morning. Since Kyle has to leave for work before 5 every morning, he had to get up at 3 to see if his clothes were dry and pack them for inspection. As a result, the poor man got less than three hours of sleep last night, and we’re supposed to go on a date tonight. I’m glad we planned to stay in town this weekend because I want his attention all to myself. After all, it’s our last weekend together before I return to Macedonia.
This morning, Kyle called and asked me to pick up some bootlaces, brown army towels, and a coverall suit at the army supply store. They were very friendly, and gave me a Dr. Pepper and showed me where to find everything on my list. Then Kyle called and said he could meet me for lunch on post today, and I was just thrilled! Normally, he doesn’t get a lunch break at all, and I enviously think of all the army wives eating lunch with their husbands when mine has to keep working. We met at the food court of the PX (mall on post) and shared a Chinese lunch combo, since he eats more than I do and there’s so, so much food on those platters. We sat there, stabbing our fried, sweetened chicken and twirling our noodles with our chopsticks, just me and my Soldier, and for one hour of the day, the army couldn’t steal him from me.
We have a wonderful, God-sent apartment here. When Kyle was in California for a month after our wedding, I called several places in town, and none of them seemed willing to admit that, by law, they would have to dissolve our lease upon deployment. We happened upon this place because the GPS sent us on a weird route to Walmart, and they told us up front that they honor that deployment clause! It’s a brand new apartment complex, not even finished yet, and they just started leasing. They weren’t even listed yet! They let us have the apartment the same day we applied! What an amazing answer to prayer! We’ve got two bedrooms and two bathrooms, so we don’t have to share a bathroom OR a closet, and I’ve heard this is good for marriages. The kitchen has brand new appliances, including a dishwasher! I’ve been watching the progress of the place as workers finish the playground and plant trees, grass and bushes every day. Soon, we may even be able to use the pool!
Last week, I was really busy setting up house, buying household cleaning items, opening all our
lovely wedding gifts in the kitchen (including my fabulous, apple green Kitchenaid mixer) and deciding where everything should go. It was strange setting up house in an apartment I would only live in for three weeks. I was unpacking things that will be little used, and then repacked and stored, by Kyle, without my help. It’s a very sad thought, so I won’t continue thinking or writing about it.
This week, I attended some classes on post, meant to prepare families for deployment and military life in general. Some of them were relevant and helpful. I can see the benefits to living within a military community while one’s Soldier is deployed, but I sure wouldn’t want to give up my job in Macedonia while Kyle’s gone. I love my job too much, and I’m really glad to be returning, though I feel guilty for that. It seems contradictory to want to be in Macedonia, where Kyle isn’t, and want to be wherever Kyle is at the same time. In normal lives, such contradictions don’t exist. We have not chosen a normal path…but it’s the only one for us!
We had a lovely wedding on June 26th. Everything worked out just perfectly. Only family attended. The pastor met us at the church that evening, and we were able to set up the sound system to play the processional (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) and recessional (Hallelujah Chorus). One of my brother’s in-laws is a talented guitarist, and was able to look at a hymnal and play Fairest Lord Jesus as the hymn of worship to be sung during the ceremony. Looking back, I would have chosen something else had I not been so rushed to make a decision, but I do like that hymn, and I’m glad we were able to have participatory worship there. The pastor gave a great sermon on marriage, and said, “Love does not hold a marriage together; marriage holds love together…” or something like that. He emphasized that we couldn’t make our marriage last out of our own strength, but we had to depend on Jesus. I am so, so thankful for the things he said, though we hadn’t really discussed what would be said during the ceremony. He read the marriage passages from Ephesians and also the love chapter in 1st Corinthians. It was a good Presbyterian wedding if I’ve ever seen one, and my sweet husband is Baptist. What a good man.
Kyle and I had four days together before he had to go to California for a month. We spent two nights in the Bed and Breakfast where we had our wedding reception, and the rest of the time we stayed in a hotel. It was a very short, very relaxed honeymoon to say the least. We’ll have a better honeymoon when he gets his R & R vacation sometime during deployment. We plan to explore Europe together for two weeks!
While Kyle was gone in California, I visited Winston-Salem with my sister for two weeks, stayed with my parents some and visited my grandmother in Kentucky on a weekend. It has been a whirlwind summer, and I’d like to write more about that later.
Since Kyle got back from California, we have been able to visit his brother and brand new twin nephews, his mom, and my brother and sister-in-law. My parents came to visit us here, and that was just lovely. I love spending time with our families. We even got to go to Six Flags in Atlanta, just the two of us! We love roller coasters, but he’s a lot braver than I am! It was cloudy that day, so there weren’t huge crowds until we were ready to leave, and then the Superman ride had an hour and a half wait, so we didn’t wait. I wanted to change clothes before we went to his brother’s house for dinner, so I packed a fresh outfit for me and Kyle, but I was so worried about getting his in the car that I forgot mine, so since I was the one who insisted on going down a water slide in the kiddy park, I had to wear Kyle’s clothes for dinner! Good thing there was a belt! It was fun, though. We ate hamburgers and rocked out with the electric guitar, bass and drums in the “man cave” basement.
When Kyle and I are home, we cook and dance in the kitchen, play our guitars and eat dinner together. He is an excellent cook! It’s so much fun being married to Kyle. He’s so silly and sweet. Even with the knowledge that we are about to be separated for fourteen months, I have a sense of security in marriage that I never had before. I feel so fortunate to be married to such a wonderful man.
At the moment, I am waiting for a very sleepy man to get home from work, and staring at my scrapbooking mess strewn across the living room carpet. See, we don’t have any furniture other than an air mattress, two sets of plastic storage drawers, a folding table and three folding chairs, but that’s all we need for now to live happily ever after.
