Mountain Men

This past weekend we traveled home for a special event. On Saturday, Mike (oh yes, he came home earlier than expected from Colorado!) and our friend Joe participated in the Fifth Annual Mountain Man March in Gatlinburg, TN.

We arrived at the race site at 0800 with a good hour for the boys to prepare for the task ahead. The race is a marathon....but in true Army fashion, it's a marathon distance ruck. (civi-talk: a ruck is a march carrying a weighted ruck sack. A ruck sack is a backpack of sorts. The weight is anywhere from 30 - 80 pounds usually.) The official rules called for a ruck weight of 35lbs. That's fairly light....NBD (No Big Deal) as the boys would say.

Ready to step off

Just getting back from Colorado and Ranger school, neither Mike nor Joe had trained a bit for this race. Of course, as infantrymen they don't need to. They should always be ready to march to their objective and that's precisely what they did. They kept a good pace most of the race, but slowed in the last five miles or so. That was okay considering Joe had just busted his knee in Colorado (he's pretty certain he tore his meniscus....ouch! And he did the race anyway....double ouch!!) They stayed together and finished the race just in time for dinner.

Finished!!

Mike's parents joined us at my parents home in the middle of Pigeon Forge for a steak dinner (fish for me and my special diet.) On the way back to Knoxville that night, I drove, and the boys fell asleep. Poor Joe looked like a toddler asleep in his car seat with his head all slumped over. Needless to say they had a good day.

The annual march honors fallen soldiers and the Gold Star families. If you are not aware, a Gold Star family consists of the immediate family members of a soldier that has given the ultimate sacrifice for your and my freedom. However painful it is to lose a soldier, there is honor in becoming a Gold Star member and that should be remembered. Events such as the Mountain Man March helps us to remember those that served and died protecting our way of life. Many soldiers at the race wore flags and marched in honor of Gold Star Mothers. Some even crossed the finish line with these moms.

One by One

When we decided to find the cause for our infertility, I began doing research. Naturally, I consulted Google on the matter. I don't want Google playing God, but I'm okay with it playing M.D. It is amazing the amount of information that is available to us. As I researched technical terms I kept finding myself easily distracted by blogs. I read stories of different women and families that struggled with fertility treatments or made the decision to adopt. They were both inspiring and tear jerking.

A couple weeks before I got my diagnosis and Mike was still away at Ranger school, I read a blog that encouraged you to remember the things you do have in your life. It said that we get so focused on receiving this blessing of new life that we miss the blessings all around us. (If I can find it again I'll share the link, but I don't remember where it was at the moment.)

This had me really thinking.

God, have I missed what you were giving because I wanted something different?

I wrote Mike about it. In the letter I included an index card with a list of blessings I had right now. These items are listed below.

I am blessed:

1. to be saved by grace.
2. to walk with God and never be alone.
3. to be married to my best friend.
4. because my husband loves and cares for me.
5. with a church family that lives by scripture.
6. with a supportive and loving family.
7. with friends that walk with God and pray for each other.
8. with a beautiful home and nice furnishings.
9. with a stable and successful financial situation.
10. with two of the sweetest, cutest puppies.

This lesson is something that is still very fresh. In fact, I think it is keeping me optimistic. If at all I feel discouraged about what is going on, I go back to this index card and I'm immediately thankful and full of praise for what I have.

This can be done no matter what you are going through. If you have been praying for God to bless an area in your life, take a moment to step back and see clearly what he has given you.

Just the other night, Mike and I were having dinner on our back porch.  We had a fantastic meal. We were sitting at a nice patio table with new potted plants around us. We had a beautiful view into our woods behind our gorgeous house.  I looked at Mike and said, " look at all we have." We both agreed that we are so incredibly blessed. How could we ask for more?

From Cookouts to Trail Maps

I started out our long weekend a little early with a trip to the grocery store. I picked up a lot of healthy food choices to get a jump start on the new diet I'll have to make my life (Look for more details on that next week.) Eating healthy isn't new to us. In fact, we enjoy the way we feel when we are eating properly. But lets face it, it can be expensive, and on an Army budget shopping on post for lower prices, its harder to purchase quality, healthy options. Needless to say, we have slacked in the past year. So this time, I headed to Kroger instead of the commissary (civitalk: the grocery store on post.)

Below is a quick pic of my cart. It kind of looked like rabbit food with exception to the queso dip. That is part of one very unhealthy but totally taste bud satisfying recipe I mastered for Mike while he was gone to Ranger school, BBQ Nachos....yummy! 

So besides the nachos, I bought all fish and fresh fruits and veggies. I do have to say that it all tastes really good so I like it. The depression part of shopping is now knowing I can only purchase from two sides of the store, produce/deli and dairy/health-food/vitamins. The entire middle of the store is basically off limits. That's like 80% of the store. And I have to spend more on groceries. We can afford it, but it means I can't buy as many dresses. What's a girl to do?

On Friday, I cleaned house as fast as my back would allow me to. Oh yeah, rewind...Thursday afternoon I did tons of yard work by my self including going and buying bags of mulch. These men who worked at Lowes stood around talking while I lifted all the bags myself, drug my cart to the check out, and then loaded my car. I managed fine until I came in from planting herbs. At least the yard looks awesome.

So I cleaned all day and then prepped a bunch of food for our first cookout of the summer. Its so hot outside, I think we can officially declare it summer in April. We were very excited that our entire group of friends was all in town! The boys have been taking turns leaving for various trainings and will soon begin to leave again and deploy at different times (as alway TBD and NOT announced.) It was awesome to take advantage of good weather and bring everyone together to kick off the summer. Pictured are chicken kabobs, squash and zucchini in the top rack aluminum foil, and rosemary, lemon garlic mahi mahi. Delish!

Saturday, Mike and I mostly relaxed and enjoyed being at home together. We did go back to Lowes for one more bag of mulch (no heavy lifting for me), and then we went to use a Groupon I got for frozen yogurt. This outing was accomplished using Mike's jeep, no doors. It just makes him happy so I throw on a baseball cap and enjoy.

On Sunday, we decided to skip church (sorry) and go hiking. It is something that we love and really haven't had the time to do in the last year. We headed to Land Between the Lakes. Now being from East Tennessee, we just weren't expecting much. There aren't mountains out here you know. But it was nice. There are lots of educational things to do as well as hiking trails, backpacking, and water sports. Oh and campgrounds for you faint of heart. We would love to get some friends together and rent a boat one Saturday. We decided on a short 3 mile hike and then some sight seeing so we could figure out what to do next time we came. Plus I've been struggling with a knee injury for the past few years that always flares up if we hike more than 5 miles (pitiful, far cry from the 20+ mile days of my not so long ago youth.) Well, their maps aren't that great, and it turned into about 7 miles. But my knee was fine. Woohoo! Like I said, its kind of flat. The biggest challenge we faced that day was all ticks. We were pulling the off us left and right. Nasty little buggers. Hopefully, we are Lyme disease free. Mike met someone at Ranger school who got Lyme disease and is now allergic to beef. Mike's biggest fear.

We had a great weekend, and it was a wonderful way to welcome the very hot days of summer. Now if we could just get a little mid-week rain...