The torture is almost over.

In about a month and a half I get my Airman back! Finally, after 6 months of separation and torture we will be able to be together again and really start our married lives together in our new home!

www.onlinecountdowns.com

Why I love this deployment (#2)

....because it forces me to really, really use my creative skills towards ideas like coordinating long distance movie dates to see The Dark Knight Rises "together" though we are 6,700 miles apart.

Check out that adventure on our Kidder's blog .

This is what "hope and a future" looks like: George Dennehy

Have you heard about George Dennehy? He just opened with the Goo Dolls because a video he posted of himself playing "Iris" went viral. Why? Because 18 year old George has a talent unlike any you've heard of: he plays the guitar, with his feet (and well!) because he was born without arms. He was adopted from Romania, out of a village that thought he was born cursed: but God thought otherwise.

 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/musikfest/mc-musikfest-armless-musician-denehy-20120807,0,1082936.story

I wanted to share this link with you because I blessed to know this incredible young man and his family (as well as the woman who taught him to play cello as a child). Before they lived in Virginia, they lived down the road from me and I used to baby sit for them (back when there were only 7 kids). The Dennehy's are an amazing family who have taught all of their children, disabled or not, that God has a plan and purpose for each of them and to live without limitation. George is such an awesome example of Jeremiah 29:11-For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Regardless of who you are, where you come from, or what labels may have been put on you, God can use you to his glory. 

In Georges own words (from the end of the article above) "It gives people inspiration — that there's no reason not to follow your dreams and chase after what you want," Dennehy said. "As a kid, I would wonder why God would make me like this. As I get older, I understand there is a purpose. I believe he made me this way on purpose — and for this purpose."

Why I love this deployment...

4 and a 1/2 months to go... December sometimes feel really close and sometimes it feels hopelessly far.
Some days I also think I am losing my mind. The approximate 6,700 miles between my husband and I is not all that much fun, as you may have imagined. We've always had distance in our relationship, but this is a whole new level of distance now that we are married. But, nonetheless, I am trying to stay positive (rather than like smash everything in sight out of frustration). I've been trying to think up reasons that I could possibly be thankful for this 6 month period of deployment. And here are a few (in no order but the one they come to me in):

1) here is what I know about distance. People like to say "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and I am not sure how I feel about that one. I am rather fond of my husband in all locations, and I particularly like him in the same location as me but...regardless. I do know that when we are in the same location, I so cherish my time with him. With all the varied distances we have worked with, all of them have made me unable to take him for granted. For that I am thankful. Before he left for Qatar we only had 8 days together and our "honeymoon" consisted of a LOT of military required paperwork. A lot of people have been like "oh that is so sad, you honeymooned in Washington and did paperwork...". But I love just being with JoJo, even if it means sitting in the finance office, or signing papers, or moving him out of his dorm. Time with JoJo is precious to me. For that I am very thankful.

2) Being apart for 6 months is a good way to save money and plan for starting out our new lives together. For that I am thankful. It is a little peculiar that we will not have lived with each other until about 7 months into our marriage, but we are generally pretty peculiar all around. People blessed our socks off with wedding gifts, and that money, along with a fair amount of extra coming off the deployment, has gone into savings. We are so excited to start our new home, and the money we are saving right now will be hugely helpful. God's favor is incredible!

3) As I have said, throughout our relationship JoJo and I have been apart and apartness leaves us with not much else to do "together" but TALK to each other. A lot of relationships I have observed have issues with communication. While we are no means experts at it, one of the strongest things between JoJo and I is our ability to communicate. I am very, very, very thankful for the strength in communication that long distance has taught us. Of course, communication can always be improved, but we are off to a decent start! JoJo and I both had a good laugh in one of our premarital counseling sessions (he skyped in) when the entire lesson was based on communication. One of the first questions was "how much time to the two of you spend just talking?" Uhm...all of it. We then progressed through 12 pages of questions/topics we should have been sure to discuss before marriage. And we had covered all of them. Before JoJo came into my life my longest phone conversation with any human being (girls included) was 12 minutes. But now I can talk for hours and hours with that man about anything. Prior to JoJo I also had no skype account, but now mine remains signed in at all hours *just in case* my airman calls.

4) Deployments mean you can do fun things like...learn how to make cookies that fit in pringle containers to keep them fresh and safe and then ship them half way across the world to celebrate a 23rd birthday. Care packages are a lot of fun! I love sending mail and I'm thankful I can find cute little ways to send love in a box.

5) Strength. Getting married and being separated for half a year is no easy task. There is probably a reason that must people do not do such things after their wedding. But our relationship has always be a bit unusual, but throughout it all we have seen God's faithfulness. Distance has taught us both a lot about trusting God and his plan for us. It has also built a lot of strength into our relationship, and for that I am hugely thankful. Our love is deployment strong. And our God is even stronger.

I could continue sitting here typing up reasons for gratefulness, but this post is getting a bit long. I think I may continue with this topic through the next couple months. God is faithful. 4 and a 1/2 more months. 4 and a 1/2 more months....

how many slaves work for you?

Slaves? Yes.

Maybe you don't realize (a lot of people don't) but a lot the food, clothing, toiletries, vehicles, technology, etc that we purchase here is America is made by an industry of slaves. People often don't realize what a huge injustice is being done in other parts of the world and they unknowningly support this injustice by what they purchase.

People love to shop in places where they can get a good deal, of want to buy a big name designer label...but have you ever thought about why the prices are low or where all those items come from? Some man, woman, or even child in another part of the world is being unfairly paid, or not even paid at all, so we Americans can get cheap goods. Take a look at the tag on your shirt or jeans and you might be surprised...

I try my best to buy fair trade, but it is SO hard because so many good we use are made through injustice. Buying things or from companies that are "fair trade" (meaning if they have employees in other countries they are being properly paid for their work) is a good, small way to fight injustice. Many, many companies have made an effort to ensure that their products and good are being made in a way that is just. People taking action against injustice have caused many companies (like Starbucks- their coffee is fair trade now, but wasn't a few years ago!) to rethink their products and make changes. Buying American made is also usually a good way to go. Thrifts stores are also a favorite!

For me, buying my wedding dress was a big deal. Most people immediately run to the big name stores (*cough cough David's Bridal cough cough) to buy a relatively cheap gown for their big day. But the reason that there can be a $500 gown sale is because those dresses are being mass produced in foreign countries by women who are not getting fair pay for their labor. I ended up buying my wedding dress used, from a thrift store though there were several I liked from David's. It was about 30 years old and originally almost all hand done in the USA. Knowing that someone didn't have to suffer in a sweat shop to have me look great on my wedding day ment a lot to me!

I just took a survey on a very eye opening website: http://slaveryfootprint.org/
My computer froze up when I got the step about items in my closet (no I don't own 50 pairs of jeans!), so the number I got isn't entirely accurate (48 slaves work for me, according to the survey), and I am sure no number is, but something like this can give you a pretty unsettling estimate of just what injustice you are supporting and where it is going on.

Check it out. And maybe take some time to rethink your purchasing habits.

Wedding Photos

More to come, along with a written recap of our wonderful and blessed day, but for now, some visual proof that I got myself an airman husband.

 

 *above photos thefted from my friends and family. Below photos were just a preview from our incredibly friend/wedding photography/my photography mentor Jeff Crandall and his wife Vicki.

Our wedding day was definitely worth waiting our whole lives for. It went off without a single problem and I couldn't be happier. All that chaos of planning a wedding in 70 days was well worth it (but I am glad I am only getting married once and that it will last forever, because goodgracious, there is no way I want to go through wedding planning again). God is so faithful. We are so blown away at how *perfect* it all went.

As I said, there will be more photos coming, and eventually I need to gather my thoughts and emotions and write up a recap of all that went/is going on. As of right now, my airman is about to land in the country of Qatar any minute and he will remain there for 6 months. During that time I will be home with my family, planning my big move at the end of 2012 from the east coast to the west. And sending lots and lots of care packages.

more to come on my current life soon. yup, I got married. yup, I'm a real, live military wife. yup, my husband is now deployed. but I am much to tired and emotionally drained to speak of that right now. but soon.

until then, a love otter:

http://kiddertheloveotter.blogspot.com