After several years of not posting anything and many people asking when I was going to start again I have finally decided that the time has come. I know this is the only way for many people to keep up with our chaotic life........ So what is going on with us? We left Air Serv (I was unhappy about this), but it was something that was unavoidable. David was hired by Dynamic Aviation and just weeks before he was to deploy for Iraq, they lost a program and delayed his deployment for an unspecified amount of time. So from May to September of 2009 we spent our time in North Florida (now our home), enjoying all the wonderful outdoor activities it has to offer. Catching alligators, fishing and scalloping, cooking and eating fish and scallops, and swimming and biking.
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| An alligator that decided to make his home in the wrong catfish pond |
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| Hunting in OK before we left for FL |
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| David thought this gator was dead in the road on our way home from church, but he wasn't and was a much faster mover than David anticipated. After snapping several sticks with his mouth but thankfully not his hands David snatched him up and showed him off. |
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Looking back that summer was pretty fun, but at the time it was stressful for us because we were worried about not having an income. Hindsight is 20/20 and it is easy to say not to worry, but we truly worried for no reason because God was going to take care of us. He always has and I know He always will.
In the Fall of 2009 not only did David get called up to go to Iraq but I was also hired by Dynamic and deploying to Iraq as well. I was still unhappy about not working in Africa, and because of that the next 8 months and two deployments were very difficult for David and I. I slowly and steadily pushed away from God and David. It is amazing how quickly your perspective changes with the void created by pushing away those that love you. It was David and God's fault that my life was not turning out the glamorous way I had envisioned it. I read a devotion a while back about a theme in the Bible on how God leads people to the desert where they are tempted by the Devil. Jesus was lead out into the desert and was tempted (but of course resisted), the Jews were lead out into the desert and they started worshiping idols (and were left there until the people had a change in heart). Iraq was my desert both figuratively and literally, and unfortunately I was more like the Jews than Jesus. In the Spring of 2010 I started on the road back to keeping the main thing the main thing (sounds simple when you say it like that). And you know what...? The next years in Iraq were not only enjoyable but we were able to have a positive impact. I rediscovered my love for David (and his love for me) and that it doesn't matter where in the world you are, that is where you serve the Lord by serving those around you (there is always somebody in need no matter where you or they are located). That is the low down quick and dirty version of what was going on personally in our lives. I understand a lot of people would say what we were experiencing was normal for a marriage of 11 years but to us it was more than that, it was a wake up call, a slap in the face or any other cliche that symbolizes a need to change. I say all this not to be a Debbie Downer (as a friend of ours likes to say!) but because I could make our life look awesome, like we go to these cool places and do these cool things, and have everyone thinking we are saving the world and our lives are perfect..... but that would not be authentic. (my apologies for going a little deep here)
David and I came home together in May 2010, where we were immediately checked out in a new airplane. We had about two weeks off and then we went to work in Gulfport, MS. We flew surveillance flights for the oil spill, spotting the oil and guiding the spray planes, it was interesting work. And as always we met some really nice and interesting people. During the last few months we had been discussing getting a tattoo instead of a wedding ring. I wanted to get one to symbolize my lifelong commitment to David and he said he decided to go with it because he lost his wedding ring in Lake Kivu after he had his bout with malaria and lost a lot of weight (he says that sometimes jokingly but he is a softy at heart). With the help of David's Aunt Tami (and my friend) we decided to go with the phrase "Standing together". The phrase is rooted in the book of Ephesians but mainly chapter 6.
Very shortly after that we redeployed to Iraq. I failed to mention earlier exactly what we did for DA, we flew counter- IED missions. I can't say much else about the missions. David and I were blessed to have been able to work and live together in a military environment. We lived in a CHU (Containerized housing unit), on one deployment we even stayed in a wet CHU which had a shared bathroom with our crazy CHU mate, Jerry. We will never forget some of the great and interesting people we met in Iraq. Many of them became good friends. Looking back I am glad for the experience and a little regretful that we had to learn some simple lessons the hard way.
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| Our CHU on our last deployment |
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| The other half of our CHU |
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David and I just finishing the last missions
under Operation Iraqi Freedom. |
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Between deployments working together at
Wright Patterson AFB, October 2010 |
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The middle of the day on the ramp during a sandstorm,
David is flying overhead trying to land. |
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David meets the guy who invented
the first down marker (the yellow line) on TV. |
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David beating me at ping pong at the MWR...just one
of the few things to do in Iraq when not working. |
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| A beautiful night in Iraq |
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| Working out in the gym |
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| Outside of the office, not too many ladies around |
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| Outside our CHUs, you can see the dirt in the air |
In August 2011 we left Iraq for the last time (as of now). We asked
for extended leave from Dynamic and they were gracious enough to grant
it to us. We once again took advantage of all the great things
North Florida has to offer. Plus we now owned a boat, tractor, and some pink guns for me! We were able to get
in on the last days of scalloping. I killed my first deer and then my
second along with a couple of hogs. We built a barn and now own
chickens, goats, and donkeys. Some days we work hard at picking up tree
limbs and cleaning up the land and other days we play hard, and all
those days in between we are sure to rest!
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| OU beats FSU in Tallahassee! |
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| Later (that is his name), one of our donkeys with Broccoli flowers. |
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| David's New Toy |
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| The biggest fish I ever caught! |
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| Easter with Aunt Ruth, she is 98 and amazing! |
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| Moving some dirt! |
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| Mr. Speckles and his girls |
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| Babylon, Ghost, Bonita, Oreo, and Star |
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| Killing some frogs (they tasted great!) |
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| My first buck |
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| Enjoying the boat on the Dead Lakes |
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| Crooked Island Sound, a beautiful day! |
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| A buck coming into our back yard while we were working |
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| Discovering a natural spring, Devil's Hole |
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| In the deer stand waiting for me to kill a deer, (the beer is not his!) |
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| Spanish mackerel with David's cousins, Austin and Aaron |
In January we were asked to work on a short term project in Kigali, Rwanda. Needless to say we were pretty excited about getting back to Africa and also because we were going to ferry the aircraft from Virginia to Kigali and back. David and another pilot flew the plane over and then David and I, both flew the airplane back. The project itself was sort of a dud but David and I enjoyed being in Africa for a month and really enjoyed the experience of ferrying the aircraft. The ferry flight took us 9 days and over 9,000 miles, our stops were: Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Western Sahara, Portugal, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Bangor, Maine(USA!) and finally Bridgewater, Virginia(almost home, 3 legs via the airlines and we made it).
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| Our route from Kigali, Rwanda to Bridgewater, VA |
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| Putting fuel in the ferry tank, Burkina Faso |
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| There was quite the spill involved here |
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| Our hotel in Dakhla, Western Sahara |
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| Our hotel in Wick, Scottland |
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| The Blue Lagoon, Iceland |
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Enjoying the Blue Lagoon
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On approach in Narsarsuaq, Greenland
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| Not sure what was going on in this room, Iceland |
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| Greenland, it was so cold it hurt your lungs. |
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| At the market in Kigali, I love the African material! |
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| On a safari in Eastern Rwanda |
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| Our aircraft, Glenn(our mechanic), and David and I |
We returned home in Early March. We are now patiently waiting on what God has in store for our future and of course enjoying the farm and all that nature has to offer!
