Billy's Taking a Little Trip

Okay, so it's more than a little trip. Billy's going to Izmir, Turkey for ONE YEAR. His report no later than date is July 31st, so he'll be leaving sometime between July 20th and the end of the month. We knew this was coming, and honestly, we're counting our blessings because he could have been sent somewhere much worse. So believe it or not, we're actually thankful that he'll be in Turkey. From the information we've gathered so far, it shouldn't be too bad. He'll be living on the economy, meaning he won't be living on a base. He'll be living in the city in one of their apartments and he'll be shopping in their stores and eating their food. He'll be totally immersed in their culture. I'm actually a little worried about the culture shock he'll be going through. The first month or so will be pretty rough for him. In fact, he's been warned to stay close to the restrooms at first because the food can be a little tough to get used to. But I'm sure that once he settles in, he'll really enjoy his time there. Of course he'll miss me and Noah, but beyond that, I think this is going to be a good assignment.

If you're curious, you can read about Izmir here, but I'll give you some basics. It is the third most populous city in Turkey with 2.5 million people. It is located on the water and there is a ton of history there. Some research indicates that there was activity in the area as early as 6500 to 4000 B.C.!

I don't know what Noah and I are going to do with ourselves. Billy will be missed more than he knows. All of us will need your prayers. It's going to be a busy year!!

Noah's 1st Haircut

Noah's hair has decided to grow like crazy in the last couple of months. He has gotten some wild curls. And you wouldn't believe how many people call him a girl just because of his curls. It doesn't matter if he's dressed like a boy from head to toe, they still think he's a girl. Why is that just because a small child has curly hair, it's automatically a girl??? Anyway, it was getting kind of long and falling into his face, so we decided it was time to get a haircut. Well, it was more like I decided and Billy reluctantly agreed with the condition that it was nothing more than a trim and the curls had to stay. We took him to a place specifically designed for children and they were wonderful with him. He wasn't exactly happy about it, but he tolerated it well for the most part. We convinced Billy to get Noah's hair trimmed in the back, but don't worry, his curls are still plentiful. In fact, we had someone comment on how cute "she" was this afternoon. When I informed the person that Noah was a he, she said she thought he was a girl because of all those curls. So anyone who was worried about us chopping off all his precious hair, it's still there and it's still gorgeous!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER (still plenty of hair and curls left)

April's 12 on the 12th - It was Easter!

1. Noah is ready for church. Doesn't he look so handsome?
2. Noah got sidewalk chalk in his Easter basket.
3. Eating some yummy banana.
4. Giving Daddy some love before church.
5. Easter eggs from the hunt.
6. Noah is looking for the eggs. He tried to keep up with the big kids for a few minutes.
7. Our beautiful Easter lilies.
8. Noah also got some plastic golf clubs in his basket.
9. The Easter bunny brought Noah a big basket and surprised me with one too.
10. We grilled out and had some BBQ. Noah's favorite dish was the baked beans.
11. Danille, Justin, and Emily brought their kids over and we had a little Easter fun!
12. Noah had a blast playing with Ashley.

Calgon, where are you?

I just have to vent in this post. Please feel free to skip. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but we've been in mandatory overtime for a few weeks now. It's not a ridiculous amount of overtime required, but it's still tough to work out a schedule between me and Billy. Plus it's just been a rough time at work lately too. So it's really been draining. Then we have a lot going on at home. Billy will be leaving for a significant amount of time soon, but I'll go into more details about that in a later post. Right now I'm really just upset about one thing.

It all started yesterday morning when I was taking Noah to day care. I rear-ended a car. Yeah, it sucks. I was at a red light, the light turned green, I let my foot off the brake, but the car in front of me didn't. I had enough time to hit the brakes and hope that I wouldn't actually touch the car, but no such luck. I bumped her. We pulled off the road and there was NO damage to either car. Noah was with me and we were both fine (in fact, he went to day care, I worked all day, and then I ran 3 miles after work). The driver of the other car didn't see any damage so we agreed that there was no need to call the cops, but we exchanged phone numbers. I should have given her a fake number. She called 4 1/2 hours later saying her back just started hurting and she had to go to the emergency room. What kind of crap is that. Seriously, bumper cars have more of an impact than we had. So now I'm having to deal with the insurance companies and claims adjustors. And I know she's trying to get something out of it because she's in the military, which means ALL of her medical bills are paid for. Am I going to get sued??? Ultimately, I know it was my fault. None of this would have happened if I had paid just a little more attention, but geez... I guess I just picked the wrong person to play bumper cars with.

Cooper River Bridge Run

If you're from South Carolina, you know what the title is about and you recognize the picture. If you're not, the Bridge Run is an annual 10k that takes place starting in Mt. Pleasant, goes over the Cooper River Bridge, and ends in downton Charleston. It's a huge event that has even had a few famous people participate. I heard Oprah did it one year. Anyway, I did it last year for the first time and LOVED it. I never thought running 6.22 miles could be so enjoyable, but it really was! So I was very excited about this year. I was ready to compete with myself and was really hoping to beat my time from last year. By the way, I completed it last year in 1:04:10, and I was very proud of that time, especially since I'd never run 6 miles straight in my life. So this year's Bridge Run was this past Saturday and the weather was perfect!!! The first year I tried to go it was cold and rainy, so the weather is always hit or miss in the beginning of April. Anyway, the weather was good, I ran almost the whole way, and I had a great time. Unfortunately, I did not beat my time from last year, but I have good reason. I guess there's always next year. My goal is to do it in less than an hour so I need all of you to remember and hold me accountable for next year's race! I'll need all the help I can get!