Merry Christmas Around the World

We are fortunate this year to celebrate the birth of our Savior in East Tennessee. We have balanced our time between both sides of the family as we have shopped, baked, eaten, laughed, and worshipped. It has been wonderful, and we have tried to take advantage of the time as we are well aware we may not all be together next year.

    Melting Snowman Cookies (found on Pinterest)

We would like to wish a Merry Christmas and many blessings in 2012 to our friends and family around the world. To our family we do not see often, we love and miss you dearly. To our friends in harms way, we are praying for your safety. It may be difficult to get into the Christmas spirit while surrounded by camouflage and sand, but we hope you can draw near to the Father despite the circumstances.

Granny's Christmas Tree

We feel especially blessed to be in a financial position where we can give to others. Many military families are not as fortunate during the holidays. As always the more I get involved on post the more I learn about programs and organizations that assist the lower rank enlisted soldiers and families. I am amazed at the generosity of the American people. Sometimes it feels as though the citizens of our country take for granted the life our military provides. However, every time I learn of another program my faith is renewed.  Even yesterday morning Fox News was highlighting the giving efforts of Jack Daniel's "Operation Ride Home" that funded a soldier from Ft. Campbell and his family transportation home to spend the holidays with family in Massachusetts. Traveling is an expense that many cannot afford at anytime during the year. Thank you to those of you who support and financially back these programs. They mean more than you could ever know to the families who benefit from your generosity.

Mike's gifts this year have been focused around the Ranger School packing list. Our fellow infantrymen understand the extent of the items required, and if not for Christmas I'm not exactly sure how we would complete the list. (Many people think that the Army issues soldiers all the equipment needed. Though enlisted soldiers do get most of what is required, officers get very little and are expected to purchase their own.) My family has had a difficult time accepting this. They want to buy normal items, and give Mike gifts to open. Instead I have forced them to give him Visa gift cards so he can purchase things like ACUs, winter boots, and 550 cord. Also my Granny took his list to Wal-Mart and bought items like deodorant, toothpaste, foot powder and my favorite a box of trash bags. Not normal by any civilian standard Christmas gifts, but he's thrilled. I got a new sewing machine that I will showcase when I start my projects in January!! I also received a TV to hang in my kitchen!

From left: Sarah, Popaw, Mike's mom, Mike, and Mike's dad

We will be heading home next week for some rest and relaxation before the new year brings the start of my new job and the infamous Ranger school. I feel that we may be hesitant as we look to what 2012 brings. We will keep you posted all the same.

A Very Blessed Day

First, we'd just like to say.....




HAPPY BIRTHDAY NICK!!!


Over Veteran's Day weekend we received some devastating news. Our friend (from Mike's IBOLC squad), Lt. Nick Vogt, was critically wounded while serving in Afghanistan. It was a rough day to say the least. I think we were in shock. We all know the consequences of war and Nick is not the first of our friends to be injured, but we almost lost him. It hurts still to write this.

We immediately praised God for his life, and prayed that He would continue to heal Nick. We prayed for the medics, the doctors, the transport teams, his platoon and soldiers that were with him, his family, the list went on and on. We prayed for every person that would come into contact with Nick. We also began spreading the word that prayer warriors were needed.

Thank you to those of you who have prayed. I know his family, though Mike and I do not know them personally, are grateful for each of you. We are excited for his progress made thus far and are very happy for him today. What a blessing to be able to say such simple words as happy birthday!

Some of you have asked how you can send cards and words of encouragement. You can send cards and letters to his parents, and they will give them to him.

The Fisher House
Attn: Steve and Sheila Vogt
24 Stokes Rd.
Bethesda, MD 20814-5078

Also you can "like" the public Facebook page Nick Vogt Family to get updates and learn specific prayer needs.

This is a great article about Nick.

The other great news is that Mike will be attending Ranger School in January! It has taken over a year to achieve this so we are very excited.  We have exactly one month to prepare. To our family, please have lots of food ready as we need to fatten him up during Christmas.

Mike will be going with a close friend. We are glad for that and pray they will be in the same group to encourage one another along. Being together would make such a huge difference in both performance and perseverance. Also, I now have a battle buddy (wife) back home that will be going through the same experience. We are planning lots of decorating and DIY projects while the boys are away....

To Memere's house we go...

We went to Destin for Thanksgiving this year. I think when we say that, it sounds like we are going on vacation. Like we are that couple from the movie "Four Christmases" that always take a vacation and skip the holidays with family. It makes me laugh. In our reality, Mike's grandparents retired there so we are afforded the luxury of seeing the ocean every now and again. This year it was important that we make the trip(....like I would ever complain about going to Destin.)

Back in April, Mike woke me up one morning after he got in from PT. He said, "I think Pepere died last night." I sat up immediately and said, "why do you 'think' that?" He had gotten on Facebook and seen a status update posted by his aunt that basically said Pepere had passed. It was very odd to me that this is how we would find out such important information, but I guess these are the times we live in. With Twitter and Facebook, information travels fast, and unfortunately in cases such as these, there is no sensitivity where normally needed. So Mike called his father to confirm what we already knew. It was not an easy call, and later Mike's dad apologized for not calling sooner. He had to prepare himself to deliver the news, and he, like us, didn't expect it to be on Facebook. We traveled to Destin for the service. It was wonderful so see the entire family, but terrible under the circumstances. 

Colonel Clovis Proulx (Pepere) spent 30 years of service in our Army. Though stricken with Alzheimer's , he was proud for the moments when Mike graduated from college and commissioned as an officer, following in his footsteps. (On the way home from these events he kept asking why they drove so far just for lunch.) Mike wore his uniform to the funeral service for Pepere, and it made Memere cry. I believe Pepere was honored. The service was interesting... Pepere was probably cursing from Heaven. I can picture it. If you knew him, you probably can too.

In July, we all traveled to DC. Pepere found his final resting place in Arlington. It was very humbling to be in that cemetery among some of our nations bravest and best. We will be traveling to DC again soon, and I'd like to see his tomb stone. It wasn't completed when we were there. I also wish I had gotten a picture of Mike saluting. I probably should have taken the picture even though it would have been totally inappropriate. At least I would have had that moment. 

So spending Thanksgiving with Memere and the family was especially important this year. Not everyone was able to be there, but it was very nice. The weather was beautiful; I miss warmth. (Its pouring down rain and I'm freezing at the moment.)

                                         My Only Picture with Pepere. He knew me that day.

                                              Mike with Pepere and Memere after graduation.

Also during Thanksgiving week, Mike became a 1st Lieutenant! Last Friday, I attended his promotion ceremony and placed his new rank on his shoulder. This promotion is not huge (its based on time served- 18 months- rather than merit) although we will celebrate the small victories along with our friends who were all promoted as well. Congratulations to our friends around the world who have also been promoted!!!

On a side note.......I will be sending Christmas cards out this week so everyone will have our new address soon. Also, I'm collecting addresses from friend and family who have moved this year. If that is you, please email me. Thanks!

About Us

How We Met

Oh geez, this is a little embarrassing. The next few paragraphs are going to make me sound like a “mean girl.” I wasn’t I promise. I was just… oblivious.

My senior year our church youth group went on a small weekend mission trip to Eastern Kentucky. I apologize if you are from there, but in reality there are some of the most poverty stricken communities in those Appalachian hills. Being from East Tennessee, it was amazing to see what was in our own backyard. You don’t have to travel the globe to see third world living conditions.

Anyway, that was the weekend that I discovered Mike Proulx.  While collecting dirty diapers and other trash that made a front yard look and smell like a landfill, there he was heaving a nasty clogged porcelain toilet into the back of a garbage truck. Boy did he make that image look good.

It was the nastiest birthday I ever experienced, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say he caught my eye. I remember talking with one of my girlfriends about him. He must be new, but he didn’t go to my school. Who was he? Where’d he come from? Heaven right! It went something like that anyway.

Okay here is where I go a little mean girl…

I then found out that he was only a junior, yuck. And that was that. The same girl and I ran into him at the mall one time later that fall, and he followed me around. Apparently, he wanted to ask me out, but something I said shot him down.

That was it. That’s how we sort of met or whatever you would call it.

The sad thing is he wasn’t new to our youth group at all. I’m a little ashamed to say I just never really noticed him before. Looking back, I vaguely remember a youth event at his parents’ house once. I couldn’t tell you if it was a dinner, summer cookout, Christmas party….I have no clue. I clearly didn’t even know whose house I was at.

I do remember this weird kid sitting with his parents behind me in church. I think I was getting ready to start high school, but I don’t know for sure. They were obviously visiting our church, and he did not go to my school. I remember my girlfriends and I not finding him the least bit interesting. There were some real cute boys in our youth group already. He was just weird and quiet and sitting with his parents.

The next time I remember Mike was a few days after returning home from my freshman year at college. I was hanging out with my dad after work. I got a call from a Mike (how did his number get in my phone???) The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hello?

Mike: Hey its Mike Proulx (…Who??)

Me: Hi

Mike: hey do you want to play Frisbee golf?

Me: uh…

Mike: I’m trying to get a group of people together to play

Me: ok I guess

Mike: Okay we’ll be by in a minute to pick you up

Me: you know where I live?

Mike: yeah

So I went thinking some other kids from church would all be there. I hadn’t seen them in a while. It would be fun.

No one showed up.

Thanks God.

Anyway we started hanging out, and we were engaged five months later. 

Its interesting looking back how we were in the same place for so long, but God kept us apart until we were ready. I was in my small group at church learning how to pray for my future husband, and he was right behind me all along. Only God knew. God’s timing is better than our own. It would have been easier to know whom I was praying for, but it would not be the same.

If God’s timing was so crucial in bringing us together, then his timing is even more important now. 

Today we are a couple, married in 2007, living life where the Army sends us, and waiting for the rest to be revealed by God. We want to be parents. We have dreams and goals for our life together.

We are not chasing.

We are waiting patiently on the Lord.

Isaiah 40:31
 

Home is Where the Army Sends Us

Well to start off, I feel I need to catch you up on where we are and how we got here. My apologies for the length...a lot happened in the last 18 months.

Mike graduated from college and commissioned as an officer in the Army in May of 2010. One week later, we moved him to Fort Benning, GA for IBOLC (Infantry officers training - nothing like boot camp.) This is a 16 week course that is usually followed by Ranger school and, if you haven't completed it yet, Airborne school. In total, new infantry lieutenants spend about nine months, give or take a few, before continuing on to their first official duty stations.  Mike's follow on duty station was to be Fort Campbell, KY so we made a decision for me to stay in Nashville so that when he returned I could continue working at my current job. I spent several days helping him get housing on post and all the basic living supplies needed to keep him comfortable while I was away. It was difficult being separated, but we were both very busy. I traveled to see him as frequently as I could, and I tried my best to participate in the wives group from afar. It was kind of a nice, slow transition into this new life. I learned a lot, and we made friendships that will last throughout Mike's career.

                                                  Mike (far left) with his squad at IBOLC

In October of 2010, Mike graduated from IBOLC. His parents and I traveled to celebrate in his achievement. It was a wonderful weekend, and we were able to meet many of the guys that are now Mike's closest friends.

In the weeks that followed, things got complicated. Everyone else was getting ready for Ranger school, but Mike was faced with a huge hurdle. Mike was born with a VSD (basically he has a hole in his heart.) Though it could cause him some issues as he ages, until this point it had never been a big deal. Mike is very athletic and driven. If you didn't know about his heart, you would never know he had any issues at all. Well the doctors felt it would be risky sending him to Ranger school. He even received a phone call from a Reservist (two weeks a year Army) doctor stating he wasn't fit for service and should never have been allowed in the Army. This doctor started a Medical Review on Mike in November that, at worst, would medically discharge him from service.

On our way to Thanksgiving dinner Mike dropped a bomb on me. He was told that it would take nine months to a year to complete the review process. He would be stuck at Fort Benning during that time. He asked me to quite my job and move to be with him. Living apart for 2 years by choice wasn't healthy for our marriage. I agreed, but I also had other concerns. What if he was discharged and it was difficult for us to find jobs? Where would we go? The economy wasn't good, and Mike's undergrad degree required him to go on to physical therapy school before he could really get a good job. That following week I submitted my resignation. I would continue work through the first week of January, and then I would move.

In mid January, I moved to Georgia. This was my first time ever living outside of Tennessee. It was hot, and I think I have experienced the longest summer known to man (February to October.) For some reason, Fort Benning is the hottest place on earth. I like to think that God is preparing all the soldiers for desert life (although it get cold over in those mountains.) The first couple of weeks I had trouble adjusting to being a housewife. I was so bored. Then, I met some neighbors and started taking AFTB (about life on post and resources for families), FRG (family support group) and CARE team (how to help when a casualty occurs - it was tough and I can't do it so don't ask me to) classes. It was very fun learning about all these things. It helped me to understand the "Army way"of life and how I could participate and fit it. Many wives want to separate their life from the Army, but I feel like it was a life we chose together and its better to embrace it. I joined PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) and went to Bible study and fellowship every Tuesday. I also got a Kindle for Valentine's day and started reading a lot outside while the dogs played. I learned to savor staying at home.

While waiting on the Med Board, Mike was assigned as an executive officer to one of the company commanders for IBOLC. He was able to see the other side of training up officers. It was a good learning experience that we felt would benefit him when he got to his future unit. We also were able to participate in events like Hail and Farewells (parties for when soldiers leave and join a unit) and Blue Ribbon ceremonies (when infantrymen become...well infantrymen - they get to wear their blue cords.)

In February, the Army decided to stop the Medical Review. The doctor of the Medical Review Board said it was not necessary because Mike had a waiver for his heart when he contracted. He would allow Mike to continue on in his pursuits with the exception of Ranger school. Total bummer, but we accepted it (me a little easier than Mike, of course.) Mike would go to Airborne school, and then we would await orders for Fort Campbell. It was a little frustrating that I had just moved, but God has plans far greater than ours. We rolled with the flow.

In April, Mike completed Airborne school with successful landings and received proper "blood wings" as tradition dictates. I will not disclose the men that caused the blood in order to protect their jobs. Blood wings are a tradition, but are not openly allowed anymore with our politically correct society. In fact, they were shunned and forbidden at the ceremony. Mike's father traveled to the graduation. He was able to participate by presenting the actual wings to Mike because he, in a past life, is Airborne qualified. That was fun to watch, but I was mad I forgot my camera.

Over Memorial Day weekend we moved to Fort Campbell, KY. Our good friend, Joe, graciously provided a place to stay for a few weeks while we figured out where we would live. Really, I think Joe liked having dinner cooked for him and groceries in the pantry.

In June, we closed on our first home! We were so excited. We have really enjoyed having a place to call ours. Both our families have come to visit a couple of times, and it has been great having plenty of room for them.

                                            Most of our house - my phone doesn't zoom out

                                                     View from our back deck this Fall

Mike has settled into work, and we are continuing to make new friends. It took quite a bit for us to get here, but we look forward to the stay.

Welcome to Proulxville

So it seems that since entering the Army, it is difficult to keep up with friends and family with all the moving and deployments and general going about daily life. Situations and circumstances are constantly changing, and though I would love to talk to everyone individually, communicating through phone, email and Facebook can be exhausting. After enjoying reading blogs by friends literally stretched all over the globe, I have come to the conclusion that blogging is the best way to let others know the going-ons at the Proulx household. Thus here we are. Adventures in Proulxville, may it be a delightful journey.