Yea! Another letter! I'm so happy when I hear from Matt. It makes my whole day taste like peach cobbler!
Here is what he said:
Dear Britta
This is on the back of the BMTSC (Basic Military Training Study Guide) along with some other stuff and I liked it.
Warrior Virtues ("The Guide for the Righteous Protector" Eramus 1503)
"Make virtue the only goal of your life. Don't assume that doing good allows you to keep a few vices. Speak with yourself in this way: If I do what I am considering, would I want my family to know about it? Life can be sad, difficult and quick; make it count for something. (Since we do not know when death will come, act honorably every day.)
Well, writing here is a privilege and as you can tell its not everyday we get to write. I miss you a lot and when we had our writing privilege revoked for those first two weeks, that hurt more than all the push ups, flutter kicks, and what not we had to do. I had started a letter before we were told not to write but I shredded it up so it wouldn't be found and seen as if I was breaking the rules.
There are, or were, 56 people in our flight. We all sleep in a single dorm broken into two bays. Half of the beds are bunk-beds and the rest are singles. Four people have been recycled (3 for stupid stuff, which they were caught for and one because he got dehydrated and sick.) There are several that are head and shoulders beyond me, but I'm definitely more mature than 70% of the group and I'm doing okay physically as well. My back got rubbed raw from sit ups and cross-knee-crunches on rough black-top/concrete.
Our main MTI (SSgt. Boone) is a slightly short lady and is teamed up with a larger guy (SSgt. Horvath). Its tough sometimes going from sir to mam and back. All our clothes and stuff goes in lockers.
I n the morning we wake up to reveille, which I've really come to dislike, grab our gear and immediately head downstairs for PT. After either running for 30-35 minutes or doing a bunch of push ups, sit ups, squats, etc...we shower (10 mins per bay [~27 people] including shaving, brushing teeth...) make beds, get ready for breakfast and do our details (making the dorm look perfect). We're given about 40 minutes for all of that, sometimes we have a little longer. As far as it being weird showering with a bunch of other guys, we're in too much of a hurry to really thing about it but sometimes, yes.
Things aren't too hard, you just have to listen, pay attention and do it (Perfectly!). WE learn new stuff pretty much everyday. Sometimes its drills and others its procedures and yet others its rules and ethics.
I'm reading my scriptures when I can and I've been able to use my priesthood at church a couple times, that was really neat. One Sunday I was stuck with KP all day, that really stunk. It is hard being around all the swearing; everyone in the flight knows I don't like it and many are trying to curb their language but there is still a lot of it. Oh, church is a 30 minute march to and from the chapel and is two hours long instead of three as that is as long as any trainee gets for religious study. There are 2 other LDS members in my flight and three other married men.
I loved being able to talk to you on the phone and I can hardly wait till I get that opportunity again :) It was great being able to sing Happy Birthday to Emmaline and hear her saying "Daddy".
Well, tomorrow is Sunday, so I'll put this in the mail and start on the next letter.
Oh, as far as what we can do: The base hotel is off limits for me unless I'm invited and get a letter of permission from my section supervisor (the guy with the recycle switch/red button) so we'll see. I've heard that Sea World has a big discount for the military so that's a possibility. you will be able to come to the dorm for a little bit and see what life here was like. Bring a stroller and good walking shoes as walking will be the major transportation in some areas.
I love you!
Matthew
It sounds like he is doing really well now. Don't forget to write him if you get a chance. He loves getting letters and it makes all the guys in his group jealous.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Countdown!
We are officially halfway through this mess. In exactly 4 weeks I'll be driving to Texas to see him. In 4 weeks and one day I'll be scanning crowds trying to glimps him!
These past 4 weeks have definately been interesting. The first week was relatively easy on me. I did miss him- I just found out I was pregnant, I had hardly any information about what he was going to be doing and it was just plain stressful. But Emmaline was really the one that had the hard time. For the first week she cried at everything and wanted to be held a lot more often.
The second week was probably the hardest. I got a cold starting with a sore throat and moving to a stuffy nose that didn't ease up for two and a half weeks. Emmaline got over her crying relatively quickly but just in time for me to cry buckets at even the thought of my husband. Emmaline has gotten good at asking 'sad?' every time she sees tears. The combination of missing Matt terribly, pregnancy stress, and the cold made sleeping a nightmare. I had very vivid dreams, tossed and turned then spent the next day trying to sleep in and amongst the tears.
Week three got significantly better. Although my nose was still stuffed up and sleeping was difficult my emotions sort of evened out and I was able to function better on a daily basis.
Week four was actually really good. My cold was officially gone, I think I cried only a handful of times and not bawling but just tears. Emmaline started talking about Matt and pointing out men she thinks could be dad. I think this is a good sign of her continuing to process and I'm glad she remembers him.
This week, halfway over already, has been good. Being exhausted from the pregnancy makes it easier to sleep at night and I've been able to pretend that Matt is just getting home late and I'm going to bed before he gets home or that he had to get off to work early so I missed him getting up.
Who knows what the next 4 weeks are going to be like? Stay tuned...
These past 4 weeks have definately been interesting. The first week was relatively easy on me. I did miss him- I just found out I was pregnant, I had hardly any information about what he was going to be doing and it was just plain stressful. But Emmaline was really the one that had the hard time. For the first week she cried at everything and wanted to be held a lot more often.
The second week was probably the hardest. I got a cold starting with a sore throat and moving to a stuffy nose that didn't ease up for two and a half weeks. Emmaline got over her crying relatively quickly but just in time for me to cry buckets at even the thought of my husband. Emmaline has gotten good at asking 'sad?' every time she sees tears. The combination of missing Matt terribly, pregnancy stress, and the cold made sleeping a nightmare. I had very vivid dreams, tossed and turned then spent the next day trying to sleep in and amongst the tears.
Week three got significantly better. Although my nose was still stuffed up and sleeping was difficult my emotions sort of evened out and I was able to function better on a daily basis.
Week four was actually really good. My cold was officially gone, I think I cried only a handful of times and not bawling but just tears. Emmaline started talking about Matt and pointing out men she thinks could be dad. I think this is a good sign of her continuing to process and I'm glad she remembers him.
This week, halfway over already, has been good. Being exhausted from the pregnancy makes it easier to sleep at night and I've been able to pretend that Matt is just getting home late and I'm going to bed before he gets home or that he had to get off to work early so I missed him getting up.
Who knows what the next 4 weeks are going to be like? Stay tuned...
Friday, September 18, 2009
2nd Phone Call!
Matt called this evening, just before 7pm. I was walking home from the mail box (ours is quite a walk away) and looking at an airplane wishing he were on that an on his way home when the phone rang. It took me a moment to register that it was his number again.
The first thing he wanted to do was wish Emmaline a Happy Birthday. I put the phone on Speaker and held it up to her. He started singing and she got the biggest grin on her face.
He told me that he asked yesterday if he could call home because it was his daughter's birthday and he caught a lot of flak for it. I just thought that was very perfect of him to risk getting yelled at so he could be there for his daughter's day. He was told no right away but this morning, as they were telling the schedule they mentioned that everyone would get 15 minutes and Matt nearly jumped out of his socks!
I will try to recall everything I can but there is no guarantee its all in the right order.
Matt said he has recieved some job counseling and his top choice was helicopter maintenence. I don't remember what he said his other job choices were- I was so focused on his voice that I didn't pay enough attention! oops! He hasn't had the chance to make a wish list for our move because he is going to be assigned to his job before he can make that wish list.
I've been sending him really long letters (generally around 11 pages) and its made other guys jealous. I guess they've joshed that I write novels to him. He was so glad to get other letters from family as well, they really help his confidence.
As he mentioned in the letter I posted about, he was sick the first night and didn't sleep at all. Right now he is getting over a cold. He said its common for everyone to be sick because of the high level of stress on top of the germs that everyone brings from everywhere.
He said that during the past several weeks he has only slept through one night. He said that when he is allowed to sleep then he sleeps well but generally he is up for drills or guard stuff and such. I know when we were dating he would only get 6-7 hours of sleep a night and he somehow managed to survive (probably because he was twitterpated:) but I'm not sure how the chunked-up sleep is affecting him now. Well, he does have the cold and that probably is part of the result.
In the letter he wrote he mentioned that his group has been doing so poorly that they are threatening sending them back to 0 week. The update- he says that his group has really pulled things together the past few days. They have a reward for the group who is the best- they are the warrior team. As a reward they get an extra day pass off base. Oh how wonderful would that be?! At the begining of the week they got 0 points for messing up on an activity when they got the directions wrong and that caused problems. But! a few days ago they ended up getting 100% on a drill that actually pulled them in the lead for the warror team award! I know he still has several weeks to go but it would be so great to see him win that award!
I asked if he had any baby name ideas but he said no but he liked several of the ideas I sent him. He didn't mention any specifically. But he did say that he reads my letters then scans them and highlights what he wants to respond to. He gets about 15 minutes every night to write so he grabs my letter and responds to whatever he can in that time. Hopefully he'll respond to my name ideas in his next letter.
The frustrating thing about our phone call was that he had to call back 3 times! The first two calls- at exactly 7 minutes there was a click and he became so quiet I couldn't hear him barely at all. He was able to hang up and call back both times but I panicked thinking that he'd be told that he couldn't call back at all. Ultimately we ended up talking about 18 minutes (according to my phone clock) and they were wonderful minutes.
If I remember anything else from the phone call I'll post another blog. Yeah! Matt called!
The first thing he wanted to do was wish Emmaline a Happy Birthday. I put the phone on Speaker and held it up to her. He started singing and she got the biggest grin on her face.
He told me that he asked yesterday if he could call home because it was his daughter's birthday and he caught a lot of flak for it. I just thought that was very perfect of him to risk getting yelled at so he could be there for his daughter's day. He was told no right away but this morning, as they were telling the schedule they mentioned that everyone would get 15 minutes and Matt nearly jumped out of his socks!
I will try to recall everything I can but there is no guarantee its all in the right order.
Matt said he has recieved some job counseling and his top choice was helicopter maintenence. I don't remember what he said his other job choices were- I was so focused on his voice that I didn't pay enough attention! oops! He hasn't had the chance to make a wish list for our move because he is going to be assigned to his job before he can make that wish list.
I've been sending him really long letters (generally around 11 pages) and its made other guys jealous. I guess they've joshed that I write novels to him. He was so glad to get other letters from family as well, they really help his confidence.
As he mentioned in the letter I posted about, he was sick the first night and didn't sleep at all. Right now he is getting over a cold. He said its common for everyone to be sick because of the high level of stress on top of the germs that everyone brings from everywhere.
He said that during the past several weeks he has only slept through one night. He said that when he is allowed to sleep then he sleeps well but generally he is up for drills or guard stuff and such. I know when we were dating he would only get 6-7 hours of sleep a night and he somehow managed to survive (probably because he was twitterpated:) but I'm not sure how the chunked-up sleep is affecting him now. Well, he does have the cold and that probably is part of the result.
In the letter he wrote he mentioned that his group has been doing so poorly that they are threatening sending them back to 0 week. The update- he says that his group has really pulled things together the past few days. They have a reward for the group who is the best- they are the warrior team. As a reward they get an extra day pass off base. Oh how wonderful would that be?! At the begining of the week they got 0 points for messing up on an activity when they got the directions wrong and that caused problems. But! a few days ago they ended up getting 100% on a drill that actually pulled them in the lead for the warror team award! I know he still has several weeks to go but it would be so great to see him win that award!
I asked if he had any baby name ideas but he said no but he liked several of the ideas I sent him. He didn't mention any specifically. But he did say that he reads my letters then scans them and highlights what he wants to respond to. He gets about 15 minutes every night to write so he grabs my letter and responds to whatever he can in that time. Hopefully he'll respond to my name ideas in his next letter.
The frustrating thing about our phone call was that he had to call back 3 times! The first two calls- at exactly 7 minutes there was a click and he became so quiet I couldn't hear him barely at all. He was able to hang up and call back both times but I panicked thinking that he'd be told that he couldn't call back at all. Ultimately we ended up talking about 18 minutes (according to my phone clock) and they were wonderful minutes.
If I remember anything else from the phone call I'll post another blog. Yeah! Matt called!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The First Letter
I received the first letter from Matt today and opened it before I even left the mail box. It is only one sheet of paper so at first I was disappointed, I would have loved to have pages and pages. But I understand how busy he is and how constricted his privileges are. Here is a transcript of most of his letter:
Dear Britta
We just got the ok to write letters until lights out. That only give me a few min so please excuse my sloppy handwriting.
Yes, I'm in the 324th training squadron. And this is a rough drawing of our symbol (the Knights). As far as push-ups my first PT day, I forgot to count, but I did about 110 or so. So use that for the amount.
As soon as all family left MEPS they started getting tough on us, but it was nothing compared to what its like here. The flight I'm in (692) has some very slow learners and the MTIs are threatening to recycle the whole group back to zero week. Yikes!
Anyways, onto better news. I took a tram (like we took in Salt Lake City) to get to the airport almost immediately. On the first plane there was a baby that sounded a lot like Emmaline, that was pretty touch on me.
The rest of the trip was ok. That first night everyone was yelling at us and what I got for dinner didn't sit well with me, so the next day and that night I was shivering and constantly felt like I was going to throw up. Thankfully that went away after about 36 hours.
We had a shake down our second full day here, after we got our ABUs and put our civilian stuff away. The MTIs took the batteries out of all our phones and electrical devices before we put those away as well.
Anyways, I'll write more before I'm able to send this off, we now get ~15 minutes each night, but can't send them off until Sundays.
Then again, we didn't get to write last night so...
Matthew
So...I did edit a few things out, my prerogative :) I am assuming by Matt's comment that he has to mail letters off only on Sundays that I should be able to expect a letter every Wed or Thursday. But at the same time, I can expect that all I want and the military has the right to change anything without notice.
Don't forget to write and send Matt well wishes. Keep him in your prayers- no matter how bad the group is, I don't want him sent back to week 0! Any prayer you can send his way will help, I know it!
Dear Britta
We just got the ok to write letters until lights out. That only give me a few min so please excuse my sloppy handwriting.
Yes, I'm in the 324th training squadron. And this is a rough drawing of our symbol (the Knights). As far as push-ups my first PT day, I forgot to count, but I did about 110 or so. So use that for the amount.
As soon as all family left MEPS they started getting tough on us, but it was nothing compared to what its like here. The flight I'm in (692) has some very slow learners and the MTIs are threatening to recycle the whole group back to zero week. Yikes!
Anyways, onto better news. I took a tram (like we took in Salt Lake City) to get to the airport almost immediately. On the first plane there was a baby that sounded a lot like Emmaline, that was pretty touch on me.
The rest of the trip was ok. That first night everyone was yelling at us and what I got for dinner didn't sit well with me, so the next day and that night I was shivering and constantly felt like I was going to throw up. Thankfully that went away after about 36 hours.
We had a shake down our second full day here, after we got our ABUs and put our civilian stuff away. The MTIs took the batteries out of all our phones and electrical devices before we put those away as well.
Anyways, I'll write more before I'm able to send this off, we now get ~15 minutes each night, but can't send them off until Sundays.
Then again, we didn't get to write last night so...
Matthew
So...I did edit a few things out, my prerogative :) I am assuming by Matt's comment that he has to mail letters off only on Sundays that I should be able to expect a letter every Wed or Thursday. But at the same time, I can expect that all I want and the military has the right to change anything without notice.
Don't forget to write and send Matt well wishes. Keep him in your prayers- no matter how bad the group is, I don't want him sent back to week 0! Any prayer you can send his way will help, I know it!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Going on 3 weeks
Matt has officially been in Texas for 3 weeks now. He has only 5.5 weeks left until we get to see him again!
We still have not recieved any letters or phone calls although I keep the phone with me 24/7 and my heart beats hard every time I check the mail. Hopefully I'll hear from him soon.
It is odd how we manage to survive when it feels like its not possible to be living. My other half is a thousand miles away and yet I manage to cook, clean, go out and live without him with me. Its not fun but if I don't think about it I manage to make it to bedtime before starting to cry.
We still have not recieved any letters or phone calls although I keep the phone with me 24/7 and my heart beats hard every time I check the mail. Hopefully I'll hear from him soon.
It is odd how we manage to survive when it feels like its not possible to be living. My other half is a thousand miles away and yet I manage to cook, clean, go out and live without him with me. Its not fun but if I don't think about it I manage to make it to bedtime before starting to cry.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Not much but something...
I got a letter in the mail, at least, it was an envelope that Matt had addressed. Inside was information about lodging and transportation for when I visit at graduation. It was frustrating to see his handwriting in the first place but not actually be getting a letter.
Matt mentioned in the phone call last week that they probably couldn't write for another week so I'm starting to expect a letter soon. Part of me is expecting a one-page quick note because I don't know how much time he'll have to write but honestly, I hope I get a ten page letter chalk full of information and professions of love!
I'll post as much of his letter as I feel comfortable with when I get it. Hopefully that is soon!
Matt mentioned in the phone call last week that they probably couldn't write for another week so I'm starting to expect a letter soon. Part of me is expecting a one-page quick note because I don't know how much time he'll have to write but honestly, I hope I get a ten page letter chalk full of information and professions of love!
I'll post as much of his letter as I feel comfortable with when I get it. Hopefully that is soon!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Another Phone Call...Yea!
Matt called again tonight. I was floored! I got that email from the LDS missionaries today and wasn't expecting any sort of contact from him for another week or more. I heard the phone start ringing and my caller ID said 'Call from...210...' and I sort of froze and said 'thats him! that's matt's number!' and it took me a shaky moment to get the phone open!
When I said 'Hi' Matt said 'oh, sorry, I must have the wrong number' and I was like 'no, no, no! Matt, its me!' and we got to talk for 7 whole minutes! It was heaven. (7 minutes in heaven...hehe).
He told me that there are some guys in his flight that he is shocked hasn't gone home because they've gotten in so much trouble. And they keep getting the group in trouble- which makes me frustrated because that means that I don't get calls and letters. He said that physically he is in the middle of the group (which I expected) and that he has a few friends but he mostly just talks to whomever is around at the moment. He is doing okay and surviving. His voice sounded better this time than the last phone call- he didn't sound like people were about to eat him or something.
He does need to know who all is going to graduation. If you are wanting/planning on going but haven't voiced that to me, I need to know within a matter of a few days. Anyone is welcome to come that wants to and I'm sure Matt would appreciate seeing you there.
Oddly enough, I only cried a few happy tears at the end of this phone call. I've been so emotional all day that I'm surprised that I didn't cry buckets.
When I said 'Hi' Matt said 'oh, sorry, I must have the wrong number' and I was like 'no, no, no! Matt, its me!' and we got to talk for 7 whole minutes! It was heaven. (7 minutes in heaven...hehe).
He told me that there are some guys in his flight that he is shocked hasn't gone home because they've gotten in so much trouble. And they keep getting the group in trouble- which makes me frustrated because that means that I don't get calls and letters. He said that physically he is in the middle of the group (which I expected) and that he has a few friends but he mostly just talks to whomever is around at the moment. He is doing okay and surviving. His voice sounded better this time than the last phone call- he didn't sound like people were about to eat him or something.
He does need to know who all is going to graduation. If you are wanting/planning on going but haven't voiced that to me, I need to know within a matter of a few days. Anyone is welcome to come that wants to and I'm sure Matt would appreciate seeing you there.
Oddly enough, I only cried a few happy tears at the end of this phone call. I've been so emotional all day that I'm surprised that I didn't cry buckets.
A Picture!
I got an email today from the LDS missionaries stationed on base. They told me they got to spend some time with Matt on Sunday. They sent me his address again and I got something else wrong. So here is the correct address again. The change is PSC, not TSC:
AB Beach, Matthew A.
324 TRS / FLT 692 - Dorm B-8
PSC #3
1320 Truemper Street
Lackland AFB, TX 78236-5570
Also, they sent me a few pictures- one of the chapel, one of the bridge at the entrance of the base, and a picture of my husband smiling! I cried when I saw that picture. A lot. Its so good to see him, especially smiling, because I've been so concerned with how he is doing. A smile is a lot better than the grimace I've been picturing.
And he's still hot even without his hair! Sigh. There are still 7 weeks until I get to see him. By then, I'll be in my 2nd trimester! Wow.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
UPDATE ATTENTION
I missed a letter in Matt's new address. If you have taken down his address, please note this correction!
I originally wrote Dorm 8 but it is supposed to be Dorm B8 instead.
Hopefully you are able to make this correction before sending out letters!
I originally wrote Dorm 8 but it is supposed to be Dorm B8 instead.
Hopefully you are able to make this correction before sending out letters!
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