Beck family FAQ's

I get a lot of the same questions asked. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't bother me. Each question I ask for the bizillioneth time, is the first time that specific person has asked it (most of the time ;-)
I was thinking though, that to be more efficient, I should post some question and answers to the most FREQUENTLY asked questions for our family. PLUS, it gets another post on my small, but slowly growing blog. And THEN, I can finally tell people that it's here! YAY! So, what follows is Beck family FAQ's 2009

1. When did Paul join the army?
In March of 2009. He left for boot camp (Basic training) at Ft. Benning, GA in April and graduated in July. From there, he went straight to Ft. Houston in San Antonio, TX for AIT (advanced training). He trained as a combat medic and graduated the first week in November.

2. Where do you go next?
We are assigned to Vilseck, Germany. Paul leaves the week of Thanksgiving. Vilseck is about 30 miles west of the Czech Republic border and a couple hours north of Austria. It is a beautiful rolling hills rural farming community.

3. How long will you be there?
We are assigned to be there for 36 months. There are a lot of variables that could change that though.

4. What about Chiropractic?
Paul has put that on hold indefinitely. He still holds a valid license for the state of Idaho, and will as long as he remains active duty. We still very much believe in chiropractic. It was time for a different career path for us. (one with more stability)

5. When will you (Lydia) and the kids get to Germany?
It ALL depends on how fast the military decides to move. I'm not very optimistic about a fast process. We could be leaving as early as the first part of December, but most likely not until the end of January. (I'm assuming it may be even LONGER because no one wants to work for that week around Christmas either). We'll see.

6. Are you excited?
Very Very VEry excited! It will be a lot easier once we FINALLY get there, though! We're thrilled to give our kids the amazing adventure of experiences other cultures first hand. The school at the base we're going to teaches spanish in the school, and we will be doing all we can to learn German. I'm thrilled with the idea of having trilingual children. (I'm sure they'll catch on faster than me!)
I'm excited to get a passport for the first time. I have never left North America, and barely stepped out of the U.S. It will be amazing!

7. What do the kids think?
They are very excited as well. Understandably, a little apprehensive too. My oldest especially understands the moving around thing. He and the twins experienced two school years in a row that consisted of THREE different schools each year. They were starting to get comfortable here with friends and the school. But they are excited to get to live with Daddy.

8. Are you going to be career army?
Possibly. Paul has applied to med schools, and if he's accepted, we will be transferring over to that program and he will serve out his term as an army doctor. The moving (that comes with an army life) doesn't scare us. We moved 17 times in the first 12 years of our marriage WITHOUT the army :-) There are downsides to a military life, but there are upsides too.

9. Lydia, are you really insane?
I truly believe so sometimes. I like people to meet my parents, because it helps me make a lot more sense. Ha ha. LOVE YOU MOM & DAD!!! Seriously, they are two of the coolest people I know! We have fun and act goofy a LOT though!


********I may add more FAQ's as I think of them, but I have a lot to do today, and this should not take up my whole day. (that would be bad)*****************

Pics from Boise trip

THese pictures of my sweet in-laws making the THanksgiving feast, and Paul and his brothers. The one of just the boots I call "Following in his Brothers Shoes!" :-) There's also a picture of the boys and their adorable Grandma. We love Grandma Blomquist!
I love the uniforms. It was fun to take thousands of pictures! (Though I don't think the boys enjoyed it so much). They were kind enough to humor us, though. I'll try to post more pics from the weekend soon. So much FUN!

He's Home!

So, Paul may not be home for a LONG time (20 days), but I'll take what I can get! He arrived at the SLC airport on Tuesday, Nov. 3rd at 8:30 p.m. We checked into a hotel right before picking him up, and that's when the butterflies hit. I thought to myself "WHy in the heck am I nervous to see this man that I've been married to for almost 13 years?" It was so amazing to see the reunion of Paul and the kids. Of course, I totally forgot to get pictures of me with him that day, so the pictures I have of us are taken a few days later.
We arrived home on Wednesday afternoon and went to my parents home in Rexburg for dinner. On our drive home that night, we noticed a big yellow ribbon as we turned into our neighborhood and then yellow ribbons EVERYWHERE (in all our neighbors yards). They also had hung a huge yellow sign that said "Welcome Home Paul" and was signed by all of them. It was so touching. I LOVE our neighborhood and feel so blessed to be here, AND to have been here the whole time Paul's been gone.
We went to Meridian on Friday to go visit Paul's family. All four of the Beck brothers were there (we can't remember the last time all four were together, but think it's been a couple of years). It was wonderful to see the family (although Paul's sister got sick and wasn't able to make it :-()
My M.I.L went to so much work to prepare a wonderful meal on Saturday (our Beck THanksgiving), and the Beck boys even succeeded in doing something silly together (climbing up into a closet at the church that was six feet up. They also got to go to a hockey game together. YAY!
I can't believe we have already used up 6 of our 20 days. I LOVE having him home. The other day, my 4th child kept asking the same question over and over, and just wasn't quite understanding my response, so I got to defer her to her Dad. LOVED THAT! ;-)
We have a lot we're trying to squeeze into 2 weeks, but that's why we have calendars. I'm not sure when exactly the kids and I will get to go meet up with my sweetheart in Germany. (It all depends on our passports and orders coming through). I'm hoping by Christmas, but we'll see. (I don't count on much with the army.)
I'll be packing up all our stuff here the 2nd week in December, and we'll take it from there.
Life is good. I love my Soldier. I love having him home. I'm excited for this NEXT stage in our life.

Germany, huh?

Well, life just got a little busier as of Saturday last week.
Paul was away on his FTX (field training exercise), which means he has no communication device for 2 weeks! (yuck, I know). He left on Wednesday the 14th early early. I totally mentally prepared myself for two weeks of no Paul contact ( I can't even send him letters anymore)
Well on Saturday the 17th, he CALLED. I was a little thrown off and asked him why, and he said "Well, first of all, nothing is wrong. But did you look at our orders??? THey changed."
Well, I wasn't super shocked. In fact, I wasn't even slightly shocked. I had never fully committed mentally to the idea of Hawaii. I took steps that may have needed to be done, just in case. But, deep down, I felt that it just wasn't going to happen.
SO, back to Paul's call. So then he said "Are you ready for this? We're going to GERMANY!" I said "No WAY!" and immediately felt VERY excited. Funny enough, Germany was never one of Paul's requests BUT I felt it should have been. At least, it seemed to me that it would be a good place.
SO, Paul talked for another 3 minutes to get our SS#'s so the Army can start on our passports, and then said "I'll talk to you in a week and a half."
Now, don't get me wrong. A week and a half is NOT that long, but when you just found out that you are moving to another country and need to do a whole bunch of crap, It's a LONG TIME!
We need to sell our suburban. And get rid of EVEN more than before. I have been trying to weed down, but it is just not easy to do so. I'm going for bare essentials here. (Beds, dressers, clothing, sheet music :-), etc.)
I was excited for that entire day when I found out, and then at around 2 a.m. it hit me how much I have to do, and freaked me out a little. Okay, a LOT!
I miss Paul. Every day, every night, and every minute. I can't wait to feel his arms around me again and have him here to feel the joy of snuggling one of our kids again. They miss him so much and treat their mom better, then what she deserves. i feel so fortunate to have such forgiving children, despite my many imperfections.
But I miss Paul. I get to talk to him again in 4 days and shock the crap out of him that I actually sold his pick-up. (He wanted me to do it, but I hope I did it right)
In 10 days, the force of our family will be home. Man, I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing amazing man. And How I love to know that at the end of each day, he is thinking about me. WOW, I'm lucky.

I Love my husband!

SO, I meant to post something sooner than now. (two 1/2 months later), but I forgot how to do it. And THEN, I forgot to do it at all!

Life is good though!

Very good.

We have received orders to go to HAWAII! We will be leaving sometime in November. Our kids have never seen the ocean, and boy are they going to get a good look now! It will be quite the adventure.

Paul has been gone for 5 months now, and will be home in 39 days!!!!!!!!!!! We are soooo giddy and excited and all that good stuff!

I was fortunate enough to be able to fly down and see him over labor day weekend and spend four wonderful and glorious days together with the love of my life!

It was funny to me, that as I drove to pick him up that first morning, I was SO nervous. I kept telling myself "Why in the world am I nervous about this?!?! I have been with this amazing man for 13 years!!!!!!!!!!!" and yet, I was still nervous. Paul was too.

What an awesome thing to get to hug him after so long without him. I fully understand that many people have gone a lot longer than that without seeing their spouse. I also Know that longer separations are in our future. However, it was wonderful and exciting!

Confession: I had been waiting in the car for about 10 minutes, watching many soldiers walk by, before Paul came out. I did not recognize him at first glance. He was in uniform, just like everyone else, and has lost weight, and it only took me a second, but it was enough to make us both laugh.

He looks so great. Every day he is sending sweet text messages telling me how grateful he is for me and how much he loves me. I never knew that being around a bunch of dorky guys would bring out the romance in my husband that I never knew existed :-) ha ha

He constantly amazes me. I am so in love with my husband. This is a good thing. With every cloud always comes a silver lining also, and we are seeing those. Yes, there is still a cloud, but it's a tolerable cloud.

I'm including some fun pictures of me and my hunny from our Labor Day reunion.

I must also mention, that it is the first vacation we have EVER taken together ALONE since having kids. We have gone to a couple business meetings and family things. But we have never gotten this much alone time in a row. (and I still had to turn him back in every night to his platoon)

It's kind of sad really. But it reminded us that we should try to do this more often than once every twelve years!

Happy Independence Day!

I had a wonderful Fourth of July Celebration. We started it out by having our VERY OWN parade on our street. The kids decorated their bikes with red, white, & blue streamers and balloons. My older two boys carried the flag down the street with my oldest Daughter marching behind. *While wearing scout shirts). Then all the kids hopped on their bikes and rode up and down throwing candy while we played Lee Greenwoods "Great Defenders". Cheesy? yes. But the kids loved it and I got to avoid the crowds that are associated with the parade. I miss the days when we lived in Payette and the parade circuit went right behind our house. We had family over for a barbecue for Dinner. My parents, my sister and her hubby and his brother, my uncle Alden, and my brother from Twin Falls and his wife. It was so fun to sit around and enjoy adult conversation. We discussed political subjects, which I hadn't done for quite a while. I loved it. That night we drove to Menan, to enjoy their fireworks. I loved them. The kids "oohed and aahhed" the whole time. It just feels me with gratitude for celebrations.

This is the first time also, that I have seen the Birthday of our Country through the eyes of an army wife and it was interesting. When the military was mentioned in tributes, I now belonged to that family, and more importantly, I knew my husband was one of those they were talking about. I know of his great service first hand. We, as a family, would much rather have him here, but if he has to be gone, I can't think of any better reason. I have felt pride for the military for a long time. My Dad and Father in Law are both veterans. Two of my brother-in-laws are both members of the military. Cousins and dear close friends are in the military. I felt our roots ran deep. Now, it is obviously deeper. I am proud to be the wife of an American Soldier.
Paul is the most honest man I know. I know without a doubt that he truly loves me. His concern for me is so touching. It's funny that the times we talk, he's concerned about me dealing with everything here. Yet, I know his daily tasks are WAY more demanding. But that's the kind of guy he is. He is so much more concerned with others than with himself.
It is amazing to think that it's already been 10 weeks since he left. I miss him every day and it feels surreal at times that it's been that long. It gets me excited to know that in 3 more weeks, we'll be 1/2 way through.

I am so thankful for the freedoms of my country. I have always felt quite patriotic. Patriotic songs make me cry. I love to be in a large group singing patriotic songs and feeling the amazing spirit that settles there. I get filled with pride every time I gaze at our flag. I am so grateful to be able to live in this free and beautiful country. I have visited 25 of or 50 states so far, and have beauty of all different kinds in each one. I look forward to seeing the rest someday.
I am thankful to be married to my best friend and hero. I do have my very own knight in shining armor, only he chooses camoflage and combat boots for his uniform.
I just feel so extremely grateful and blessed. My life is good.

Here goes. . . .

SO!
I know that many many MANY of you are huge fans of blogs. (Why would you be HERE if you weren't, right?)
Well, I figured I would give it a try. I mean, in all reality, the internet is what sucks the most of my free time away and WHY NOT create something to take even MORE?!
If nothing else, I get to say whatever is on my mind and feel that it is doing more then just filling up drawers in my brains file cabinets (those REALLY need reorganizing)
Life is Good. I can't complain.