I had to take a blogging hiatus after being viciously attacked for my last post... and to those individuals I will only say this:
Moving on.
Our little family has some exciting/terrifying news to share. Adam has officially sworn in to the United States Army. Just writing it out makes me a little sick to my stomach. Although right now we are all acting like basket cases, we are very sure that this is the right step for our family.
Adam "claims" that he has always wanted to join the army... ;) although I haven't heard such in the last 7+ years. But when I was newly pregnant with Audrey, Adam began to look into joining the National Guard. It ended up not feeling right so we closed the subject only a month later.
And then January 1st came around. We felt really strongly like this was a really important year for us. We felt like it was our year for change. We first thought that was just maybe getting in shape, saving some money, getting a new place - but now we realize it was to prepare us for this step.
Adam's amazing Grandpa passed away on January 1st. He was a very proud Army veteran who constantly talked about his adventures in the war and service. His passing was very hard on Adam, and kind of shifted all of our goals. Adam started to tell me how his chest would always swell as Grandpa told his stories, that he had always wanted to join before he met me, that he yearned to be part of something great like this.
Now Adam is quite the dreamer... :) and often comes up with solutions for money/babies that I try to be maybe too realistic about. But for some reason, this one stuck with me. He began talking again to the National Guard. He met often with his recruiter and asked a million questions. It came to the realization that if we were going to get Adam to medical school, we either had to live with $100,000-$200,000 worth of debt or find a way to help us pay for school. Just 2014 alone we had racked up $15,000 with student loans for Adam, and we were feeling the incredible pressure on what that amount of debt would mean as a family. I began to feel very comfortable about the National Guard. He would only have to sacrifice a weekend a month, and two weeks a Summer. Plus the recruiter told me the deployment chance was slim to none. We thought long and hard and decided to start the process to see if we could even get in.
As Adam finished this hell-ish packet required and started getting all his medical records, he was constantly meeting people who had been in the Army who kept asking, "Why on Earth are you joining the National Guard and not the Army?" Not to bag on the National Guard at all! We have a little brother we love dearly who is in it, but for what we need and want (mainly help with paying for medical school), the Army has more benefits that make sense to us.
At first I down right refused! The Army would mean moving anywhere in the country or world! It would be 99.9% sure of at least one deployment if not multiple! NO NO NO NO NO. For those that know me intimately, you know that I take ZERO risks. I am a scaredy cat and often stay right within the walls of my own comfort zone. But as he began to get more information, I couldn't deny the absolute calm about it all. It surprised me, and probably Adam even more that I was for it!
Months and months later of waiting, filling and re-filling out paperwork, talking to doctors, getting medical records, and two different medical physicals - we were fed up and starting to believe that this wouldn't even be an option for us.
Then in one 24 hour period we learned that Adam had passed, his waiver had passed, and that he needed to pick a job that very day. [For those that I was texting that day... I am extremely sorry for the nightmare that I was. :)] Adam had told me all the possible jobs that he could sign up for, but oh yeah he would need to ship out either 2 or 3 weeks later. Excuse me?! We finally had settled on a job that we were sure would leave on May 18th. But as Adam went to sign up for it, he learned that he would actually leave the 11th. [Insert crazy throwing up, crying, panic.]
Adam called me probably every 10 minutes from the recruiter's office to share more bad news or to ask what I thought. Finally I couldn't take it and I told Adam we needed to say a prayer. We both said a silent prayer while on the phone, and we immediately told each other that we felt so much peace and calm. We took that as an answer and he told me he'd call back once he signed the papers.
Now the job that he was going to sign up for wasn't our ideal choice. We of course wanted something medical but nothing was available at the time and had to settle for a job that he was still interested in, but not crazy about. Well less than two minutes after hanging up from the previous call, Adam called in a panic "The recruiter just called a contact in Kentucky. They have a medic opening that ships out on the 25th, but we have to say yes or no right now!" If I ever didn't believe in God before, that moment would have changed everything. Only ten minutes before I literally had been throwing up and sobbing in the bathroom. Yet within a matter of moments, the most PERFECT job for Adam became open and it gave us a bit more time before he left. We both took it without a second thought.
Once we had a later shipping out date, I immediately felt so much peace. People kept asking me if I was doing okay and I just kept thinking "Why on Earth would anything be wrong?!"
Until it came time to officially swear in.
I was a nervous wreck and hadn't been able to see Adam since the night before. As soon as I saw him I thought we would both want to bolt, but he just kept saying "I feel fine. I'm good." While he actually swore in I almost passed out and probably dislocated Kelsy's poor hand, but I couldn't stop staring at Adam. I could go on and on about how amazing I find my husband, but that moment is indescribable. My husband is just that kind of person. He is willing to do anything for anyone, it matters so much to him that he chooses good or right, and his main goal and motivation in life is to help others.
It was quite the Fan Club there to watch this moment in his life, which I feel like further proves 1) that we have been blessed with an amazing family and 2) that Adam is such an incredible person inside and out.
Adam "claims" that he has always wanted to join the army... ;) although I haven't heard such in the last 7+ years. But when I was newly pregnant with Audrey, Adam began to look into joining the National Guard. It ended up not feeling right so we closed the subject only a month later.
And then January 1st came around. We felt really strongly like this was a really important year for us. We felt like it was our year for change. We first thought that was just maybe getting in shape, saving some money, getting a new place - but now we realize it was to prepare us for this step.
Adam's amazing Grandpa passed away on January 1st. He was a very proud Army veteran who constantly talked about his adventures in the war and service. His passing was very hard on Adam, and kind of shifted all of our goals. Adam started to tell me how his chest would always swell as Grandpa told his stories, that he had always wanted to join before he met me, that he yearned to be part of something great like this.
Now Adam is quite the dreamer... :) and often comes up with solutions for money/babies that I try to be maybe too realistic about. But for some reason, this one stuck with me. He began talking again to the National Guard. He met often with his recruiter and asked a million questions. It came to the realization that if we were going to get Adam to medical school, we either had to live with $100,000-$200,000 worth of debt or find a way to help us pay for school. Just 2014 alone we had racked up $15,000 with student loans for Adam, and we were feeling the incredible pressure on what that amount of debt would mean as a family. I began to feel very comfortable about the National Guard. He would only have to sacrifice a weekend a month, and two weeks a Summer. Plus the recruiter told me the deployment chance was slim to none. We thought long and hard and decided to start the process to see if we could even get in.
As Adam finished this hell-ish packet required and started getting all his medical records, he was constantly meeting people who had been in the Army who kept asking, "Why on Earth are you joining the National Guard and not the Army?" Not to bag on the National Guard at all! We have a little brother we love dearly who is in it, but for what we need and want (mainly help with paying for medical school), the Army has more benefits that make sense to us.
At first I down right refused! The Army would mean moving anywhere in the country or world! It would be 99.9% sure of at least one deployment if not multiple! NO NO NO NO NO. For those that know me intimately, you know that I take ZERO risks. I am a scaredy cat and often stay right within the walls of my own comfort zone. But as he began to get more information, I couldn't deny the absolute calm about it all. It surprised me, and probably Adam even more that I was for it!
Months and months later of waiting, filling and re-filling out paperwork, talking to doctors, getting medical records, and two different medical physicals - we were fed up and starting to believe that this wouldn't even be an option for us.
Then in one 24 hour period we learned that Adam had passed, his waiver had passed, and that he needed to pick a job that very day. [For those that I was texting that day... I am extremely sorry for the nightmare that I was. :)] Adam had told me all the possible jobs that he could sign up for, but oh yeah he would need to ship out either 2 or 3 weeks later. Excuse me?! We finally had settled on a job that we were sure would leave on May 18th. But as Adam went to sign up for it, he learned that he would actually leave the 11th. [Insert crazy throwing up, crying, panic.]
Adam called me probably every 10 minutes from the recruiter's office to share more bad news or to ask what I thought. Finally I couldn't take it and I told Adam we needed to say a prayer. We both said a silent prayer while on the phone, and we immediately told each other that we felt so much peace and calm. We took that as an answer and he told me he'd call back once he signed the papers.
Now the job that he was going to sign up for wasn't our ideal choice. We of course wanted something medical but nothing was available at the time and had to settle for a job that he was still interested in, but not crazy about. Well less than two minutes after hanging up from the previous call, Adam called in a panic "The recruiter just called a contact in Kentucky. They have a medic opening that ships out on the 25th, but we have to say yes or no right now!" If I ever didn't believe in God before, that moment would have changed everything. Only ten minutes before I literally had been throwing up and sobbing in the bathroom. Yet within a matter of moments, the most PERFECT job for Adam became open and it gave us a bit more time before he left. We both took it without a second thought.
Once we had a later shipping out date, I immediately felt so much peace. People kept asking me if I was doing okay and I just kept thinking "Why on Earth would anything be wrong?!"
Until it came time to officially swear in.
I was a nervous wreck and hadn't been able to see Adam since the night before. As soon as I saw him I thought we would both want to bolt, but he just kept saying "I feel fine. I'm good." While he actually swore in I almost passed out and probably dislocated Kelsy's poor hand, but I couldn't stop staring at Adam. I could go on and on about how amazing I find my husband, but that moment is indescribable. My husband is just that kind of person. He is willing to do anything for anyone, it matters so much to him that he chooses good or right, and his main goal and motivation in life is to help others.
It was quite the Fan Club there to watch this moment in his life, which I feel like further proves 1) that we have been blessed with an amazing family and 2) that Adam is such an incredible person inside and out.
[Making it official]
[Adam's parents]
[Mom & Amber]
[Kelsy, Kennedy, & Linda]
[It was SUPPOSED to only be Anna, Sarah, & Evelyn... but Kennedy and Audrey had to jump in. :) I don't know what these little girls will do without him]
[Layne & Bobbisue]
[Quite the fan club, we are so grateful for everyone sacrificing time and work to be there for him]
[MUAH]
These next six months apart are going to be very hard. But I haven't felt so clearly about something like this in a long time. I am thrilled for the adventures we will have AFTER training! :) Who knows where we will go or what will happen. But I know we are headed where we need to be, and that we have so much support on Heaven and Earth beside us.
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