The Last Leg

It's getting close. Not close enough to clean out Jack's car or buy him a new toothbrush, but close enough to feel a sense of relief when I look at the calendar. Kind of like driving through a tunnel in a large mountain; just before you think that it will never end, the walls seems to lighten and you know that the passageway is almost visible. Just a little bit longer and the light will brighten everything.

That's where I'm at. The last two months were difficult- they seemed endless. And it didn't help that Jack's return date was pushed back by nearly a month. But soon enough the tunnel will be so white and bright that I know the last little bit will fly by. Almost there.

Ready for some updates?

First, I have to apologize for the time lapse between this post and the last. Even my friend's mom expressed her disappointment! ;) I have some very loyal readers, even if I only have like 7. And I am very excited to announce that at least two are not directly related to me... Mrs. Hall and the infamous Khalid Rumjan Jr.

As a whole, April was great. I was busy with my show, the Six Women Play Fest. I met a lot of talented actors and directors in the Colorado Springs area, and I am hoping that it will lead to some more opportunities here. It's already started to! One of the fellow actors actually asked me to be in a staged reading of her original one act play, so I am looking forward to that this summer! I also did a commercial shoot last week with one of the directors of the one acts. (It was a sweet deal- took a few hours, got my makeup done, the acting consisted of looking pleasant while using electronics, got free lunch, AND got paid! Apparently commercials are where it's at.) And of course I did a lot of substitute teaching and babysitting.

I started May with a visit to San Diego with my besties from high school. It was wonderful to feel silly and free with them and I miss them dearly!

Ready for some news?! I am going to be in a feature film. I think I posted about the auditions last December- I had gone to Cheyenne, WY for it. I didn't hear back until a month ago, when they asked me to come to their final auditions about a week ago. And then I got the part. :) Our first rehearsal is this Saturday, and I am excited to meet the rest of the cast and read through the script. The film is a quirky Christian comedy about a Bible quiz competition and my character is a high school senior named Sydney. And before everyone starts asking for their ticket to the Emmys, let's just say this is a low budget indie film and I probably won't get paid much at all, if anything. But it's more experience. And the opportunity to do something I love. And it will probably end up on Netflix at least. :) Right now my big concern is the shoot schedule- I'm so nervous that Jack's going to come home and then I'm going to have to leave him right away for the film. Being the wonderful, supportive husband that he is, he says that it will be okay if we have to be apart for a little while. But if you can offer up any prayers for the timing to work out, I would appreciate it.

Okay, so I have some seemingly insignificant but actually really good news.

I moved onto post. Despite it being ridiculously awful to move a house entirely by myself (I told Jack, "I'm never doing this again"), I LOVE LIVING HERE. I really really love it. I have already met all my neighbors. They know my name, they know Molly's name. They know that Jack's deployed. I borrowed the neighbor's vacuum the other day. I got coffee with someone I had just met. I leave my door unlocked, windows open, garage door open. Even right now, when it's dark outside, I don't feel creeped out with all of my blinds open. The duplex aspect is oddly comforting too. I love when I can hear the kids next door thumping up and down the stairs or when I go outside with Molly and talk with the kids through the fence. They love to pet Molly through the fence too! The dog park is a two minute walk down the street. Molly's puppy friends are a walk away and they play together all the time. And my friends are just a walk away too! Instead of 35-34 minutes away, the groups I'm involved with are anywhere from a walk down the street to a five minute drive. This weekend, my friend and I are hosting a BBQ for our friends with deployed husbands, and I'm excited to finally have some people over. I'm even going to host a Bible study this summer. I'm throwing around the word friend a lot, and I probably just mean acquaintances, but still. I think moving on post will help me to make many more real friends.

I do have two actual friends from Bible study who are leaving this month, and that's kind of sad. Another friend from Bible study left a few months ago. It's kind of hard to explain what military friendships are like, especially the ones I have made through Catholic Women of the Chapel. When I first came to CWOC, I was overwhelmed by the differences between me and the women I met. I was a newlywed, fresh out of college, 22, never lived on my own, didn't have any babies let alone teenagers. Some of the women were into their 40s (some even older... spouses of retired service members), and having never had a single married friend before, I honestly didn't know how to relate to them. I even remember telling Jack after the second meeting that I didn't know if I could be close friends with them because we were in such different stages of life. But now, not only was I elected Vice President for next year, but I feel such closeness with them. I have learned so much from them about being a Christian, a wife, and someday a mother. Every single woman at Bible study, no matter how well I know her, is so special to me. So when someone leaves, there's this sadness along with the calm acceptance that this is inevitable, that people are going to move in and out of your life in the army, and also this hope that maybe someday you will run into each other again. Phew. Anyway...

I guess I could stop talking about myself and move onto my husband. ;) He's doing well. He is back in Kuwait for a little while working on his Expert Infantry Badge. Apparently not that many people actually get the badge (which he says in his humility is because of stupid rules during the process), but of course he will be one of the few to get the badge. Otherwise, there is not too much going on for him. At least that he tells me! Besides just plain wanting to come home, he has been pretty positive this whole deployment. It definitely has made it easy as far as our relationship goes. Since we are both positive and supporting of one another, it just makes the whole deployed newlywed thing a piece of cake.

Since its getting close, we have a lot of fun talking about what we are going to do for block leave. We decided that we are going to go camping and explore Colorado. I still haven't been to the zoo here, or Estes Park, or Boulder for that matter. We did only have two months here- technically six and a half weeks here in Colorado-- and I haven't done a lot of exploring on my own. So I am excited. SO excited. I just realized that I actually am starting to get ready for his return. I bought a stake and tie out rope for Molly for when we go camping. It's getting real!

I'll post pictures soon. :)