On The Edge of Adventure

As you all know, I love reading stories full of danger and adventure about ordinary people who are forced out of their comfort zones and end up doing extraordinary things. I will spend hours immersed in one of my favorite novels or in a beloved film, and have often wished that I could jump right in and join the action.

However, I've discovered something about myself this week. In terms of The Lord of the Rings characters, I am a hobbit. I love to sit around and listen to epic tales by a fire with a cup of hot cocoa. But when it comes right down to it, I enjoy being comfortable and safe, and have a deep-seated fear of anything risky or unexpected. Right now, I find myself on the edge of an adventure that I knew was coming, but am not at all ready for. I understand completely what Frodo says in the first book as the reality of what he must do to destroy the ring sinks in:

"And I suppose I must go... But I feel very small, and very uprooted, and well - desperate."

You see, I've been complaining for months about how we won't find out where we are going to be moving until December. It seems like an awfully long time to wait, and knowing what the future holds will make it easier to decide how to spend our remaining time here in Phoenix. I also have a theory that, no matter how bad something is, it is always easier to deal with when you know what to expect.

However, I'll admit that I lost my cool when we were informed late Saturday night that we would be receiving our assignment this week. Sure enough, Monday morning we were sent the list of available slots, and have been given a week to think it over. We will be meeting with James' commander and instructors on Friday night to hear more info and ask questions before making our final decision. Thankfully, our class was given several great bases to choose from so hopefully we can work it out so that everyone is happy. There are 3 in Korea, 2 in Japan, 1 in Germany, 2 in Italy, and 1 in South Carolina.

You may have noticed that 8 of the 9 possibilities are over seas. I definitely noticed that when James read the list to me, and it was at that point that the reality of what's going on finally hit me. It is extremely likely that we will be leaving the country in a few short months.

I know that this is a great opportunity to get out and see the world before we get older, have a family, and traveling will be much more difficult. But I've never even been outside of the continental U.S., and now we're going to be living in a whole different country! All sorts of scary things have been circling in my brain all week - we're going to be so far away from family and friends, in a country where we don't speak the language. James will deploy and I'll be on my own for months at a time. I don't know how easy it will be to get the medical help I need, and I always have a difficult time traveling from one US city to another so I can't even imagine flying across the ocean!! (Oh, and I have a strong aversion to sea food so living in Japan would be something of a culinary nightmare.)

James, being the rational rock of our relationship, keeps telling me to relax and trust that God will put us where we need to be. Don't get me wrong, I believe that 100%. However, I also believe that he likes to test us in order to help us grow and mature in our faith, so I have a hard time believing that this next phase of our life is going to be easy or enjoyable. More than once this week I've found myself grumbling about the Air Force and saying (as Frodo did when given his epic task to destroy the Ring) "I wish [this burden] had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened."

But then, God keeps nudging me (through the wise words of friends or through His Word) and trying to help me see the truth in what Gandalf said to Frodo in response to that little outburst.

"So do all who come to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world...besides the will of evil."

I have very little control over what our future holds, but I can control how I react to the change. We have been very blessed in that we get to choose between some of the best F-16 bases in the world, and I should be content knowing that God has a plan. All I need to do now is trust that, no matter which assignment we end up with, He will be there to take care of us. And anyway, I am finally having the opportunity to do something extraordinary, just like the characters in my books. One thing is for certain - you all will have plenty to read about in the coming years. So stay tuned, because the adventure is about to begin!

Bob and Nancy Come to Town

This past weekend James' parents came to visit. They were supposed to come out a couple of weeks ago, but graciously decided to reschedule since that was the weekend James was sick with the swine flu. We were glad that we got to actually go out and enjoy our time with them instead of lying around on the couch all weekend.

They arrived around lunch time on Friday afternoon, so I got to show them around the house and catch up. Later that afternoon James gave them an extensive tour of the base and took them out to dinner. Saturday morning I made us a big breakfast and then we headed out to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Tempe. What an experience! The plants were beautiful and we enjoyed getting to spend so much time outside without overheating! (You can see a couple of pictures below.)

Saturday night we went out to dinner at the Elephant Bar, and made it home in time to catch the end of the USC game on tv. Sunday morning we took them to church and were pleased to hear that they loved it. Sunday afternoon was pretty laid back. Most of our time was spent in good conversation. Sunday evening we went to see the new movie Amelia, which is a biopic about Amelia Earhart. I thought it was a beautiful film and would gladly go see it again (if movies weren't so darn expensive!!)

It was a quick visit - only three days. But while they were here we got to share our life with them, and even explore parts of the city that we haven't seen before. Definitely a great way to spend a weekend!

Ryan and Lacey's Wedding

This past weekend we had the opportunity to fly up to Lake Tahoe

for Ryan Worrell's wedding. Ryan is one of James' best friends.

They met while at the Academy, and went on a road trip to see a baseball game in every major league stadium before heading down and starting pilot training in Del Rio. While in Del Rio, both James and Ryan became good friends with Greg Balzhiser, who introduced Ryan to his younger sister Lacey. They started dating a few months before our wedding in 2008 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Luckily, James managed to get most of the day on Friday off so we could fly up there in time to catch the end of the rehearsal dinner. All of the wedding festivities took place at the Northstar Resort at Tahoe, which is a pretty ritzy ski resort. All of the wedding party had hotel rooms up there, and the rehearsal dinner was held at a restaurant there in the village complex. Because it's the off season, we had the entire resort to ourselves on Friday night, which was really cool.

Ryan and Lacey gave each member of the wedding party a very unique but useful gift. They are both very outdoorsy people, so they had some fleeces embroidered with a little double knot symbolizing their union. That definitely came in handy as James refused to pack a legitimate coat even though we knew it would be in the 20's and 30's there at night.

After the rehearsal dinner, we all headed up to the giant suite that Greg (who got to serve as the best man) reserved to hang out with friends as they arrived. It was great to see many of our other AF friends who went to other bases after Del Rio. We also got to meet some new people and make new friendships, which is always fun. Ryan and Lacey are such silly, fun people that it would have been really hard for someone not to enjoy the weekend. =^P

James' and my good friend Ren Cowan was commissioned to do Lacey's hair and make up, just like she did mine for my wedding, so we got to spend a good amount of time together this weekend. I also had a special treat on the morning of the wedding. Apparently their official photographer was only hired to take pictures of the ceremony and reception, so I got to be the one who took all of the pictures of Lacey and the girls getting dressed. You can check out the photography blog for all of the nice pictures of the wedding. Lacey has already looked through all of them and loves them so I think it was time well spent.

The ceremony was held on a grassy area overlooking the ice skating rink at the resort. Thankfully, it was warm in the sunshine so the ladies were able to comfortably wear dresses. It was a beautiful ceremony that was specifically designed to honor family. Lacey's father not only walked her down the aisle, but he actually officiated the ceremony. They had Ryan's father read the scripture and pray for them. Also, the first thing the bride and groom did upon reaching the altar was give a large, red rose to each other's mothers. Greg got to be the best man and support the union of his little sister and one of his best friends. Over all it was very touching. James and I were so honored that they asked us to take a part in their wedding.

After the ceremony, I stuck around with James until the pictures with the wedding party were over. We amused ourselves by taking some pictures in front of the beautiful fall foliage. It was so refreshing to see real trees and experience my favorite season - if only for 2 days. Then we rode the Gondola up the mountain to a lodge where the reception was held.

While we waited for Ryan and Lacey, I got a chance to hang out with all of the other wonderful AF spouses/fiancees. We are very blessed to be a part of such a great community of Christian couples! When the happy couple finally arrived, they did a traditional saber arch, and then proceeded inside for a delicious Italian buffet, dancing, cake and making memories! As wedding favors, they gave everyone a little packet of smores ingredients and a fleece blanket so, if you needed a break from dancing, you could head outside and sit around one of the many fire pits up there and make a tasty snack!

One of James' favorite parts of the weekend was being reunited with Luke Rogers, who was one of his closest friends at the Academy. We haven't seen him since the night before James and Ryan took off on their baseball trip, so James made sure to spend lots of quality time catching up. Hopefully it will be less than three and a half years before we see him again!

The morning after the wedding, we woke up late, had a hearty breakfast with our friends, and wandered around the village shops before driving back to the Reno airport. It was not a cheap weekend by any means, but it was 100% worth it to be there to celebrate the union of two or our favorite people.

Cold Tangerines

Lately I've been almost exclusively reading through heavy, substantive books on faith - which is great, but I've been craving something light and uplifting. So, tonight, I decided to pick up one of my favorite "feel good" books and read through it as we're traveling this weekend. It's called Cold Tangerines: Celebrating the Extraordinary Nature of Everyday Life by Shauna Niequist. James' mom Nancy gave it to me as a graduation gift. I talked about it in a blog post a few months back, in my list of great books that I highly recommend to my female friends.

You may be surprised to hear that it was Cold Tangerines that originally inspired my blog. The book is full of stories of the small ways God has revealed his love and grace throughout her life. It is difficult to read this book and not get the itch to sit down and write about your life. Her honest, positive, creative energy is quite contagious. So, I felt inspired and convicted to start documenting my life and, in the process, make myself think about how God was working in me and my marriage no matter how uneventful my days seemed.

The last time I read all the way through the book was the week after our honeymoon. We were out in Pensacola, FL for James' water survival, and I didn't have much to do during the day but sit on a park bench outside of our hotel room and read. This little orange book completely sucked me in and gave me a new perspective on marriage and how to find true joy in any circumstance (a very important lesson for any AF spouse!)

This time through, I feel like I can relate to her even more now that I've been married for a while. In each story she tells, I see a little of myself or my friends and all the things that we struggle with. I'm struck by the truth that she speaks about the way we women think and react to different things, and how we are never finished learning or growing. It's an enjoyably challenging read. :-)

Again, I was inspired to take a look back at all I've been through since saying "I do" and reflect on how God has been working in me. I went back and looked through all of my old blog posts and was surprised to see that, already, I had forgotten about some of the things James and I have done! Initially I was writing about my efforts to be a good house keeper, and learning to work as a team in our home. Now that all seems like second-nature and I'm more concerned about what we're doing outside the home (with jobs and friends and church). I spent a lot of time complaining about being bored and wishing I had something purposeful to do with my time. Now I feel like time is slipping through my fingers much too quickly and I'm not able to accomplish all that I need to do! We've experienced a lot of exciting firsts - first vacation as a family, becoming an aunt and uncle for the first time, having our first Christmas in our own home, renting a home for the first time, and buying me my first car. We've also been through some rough times with innumerable health problems and long work hours (for James) and anxiety over an uncertain future. But over all I'd say that we've had a very full and joyful life together so far and I'm really looking forward to writing about what comes next! So stay tuned for more of my musings on life's little moments... I intend to keep this up for a long time.

Anna's Engagement Shoot

One reason I was so set on staying healthy last week was that I was scheduled to take engagement photos for a friend of mine on Saturday. We already had to reschedule once due to health issues, so I was dreading having to call her and tell her that, somehow, James and I had managed to contract the swine flu and would have to push her shoot back another couple of weeks. Thankfully, I was feeling well enough on Saturday morning to keep our appointment.

Anna Crawford was a friend of mine from InterVarsity at SIUC. She was in my small group, and we also hung out on weekends sometimes. She graduated at the end of my first year out there and got a job here in Phoenix as a speech pathologist. When I moved out here in April, we made sure to go grab some coffee and catch up. I was excited to hear that she had met a guy through her small group at church and they were engaged. Not one to miss a business opportunity, I offered to take her engagement photos. She said she would love to have me do that, but wanted to wait until the fall when it got a bit cooler outside. So, after waiting 5 months, we finally got to go out and capture their romance on camera!

Saturday morning, we met up at a beautiful park in the city of Peoria (about 20 minutes north of here) and walked around for a couple of hours, taking advantage of all of the pretty scenery. I also enjoyed getting to know her fiancee Joshua a little bit and hearing about how they met. It's always exciting to hang out with other God-centered couples and hear how He brought them together in unexpected but perfect ways. :-)

You can check out the majority of their pictures on my photography blog.

http://kzwentzelphotography.blogspot.com/

Surviving Swine Flu

As some of you may have heard, James came home early from work last Tuesday after (tentatively) being diagnosed with swine flu. He had complained of a tickle in his throat the night before, but other than that seemed to be fine. I'm sure you can imagine my shock when he called around lunch time saying he had a fever, chills, sore throat and a throbbing headache. He went and saw the flight doctor, who said that he had had H1N1 (officially tested & confirmed) the week before and verified that James' symptoms were exactly the same. However, since he is a strong, healthy person, they didn't feel the need to test him in hopes of getting some of the special H1N1 medication for him. Instead, they sent him home with a couple blue face masks (one for each of us) and put him on crew rest for the rest of the week.

As soon as I heard the diagnosis, I went to work preparing for a desperate war on germs. I have a much weaker immune system than James so we wanted to do everything we could think of to protect me from this virus. I went out and bought a big tube of disinfecting wipes, his & her's bottles of hand sanitizer, an extra tube of Airborne (herbal immune system booster), and a bunch of chicken soup and an ice pack for my poor husband. I did everything I could to take care of him, but most of the time I kept my distance. I did my best not to touch anything he'd touched unless we disinfected it first, and I washed my hands constantly. Seriously - I think I went through half a bottle of liquid dial soap in less than a week. James also insisted on camping out on the couch for four days instead of sleeping in the bed next to me and breathing on me all night. I hated to banish him to the living room, but all of our germophobic measures seem to have worked because I still haven't come down with the flu!

We're hoping it will stay that way until after this weekend because we are flying out to Lake Tahoe for our good friend Ryan Worrell's wedding. He was the one who went on the baseball trip with James after they graduated from the Academy. He honored James with an invitation to be a groomsman, and was understandably worried as soon as he heard what James had. Thankfully God was faithful and protected us in our time of need. Thanks to all who prayed for us!!