22 August 2010

Picture Post!

Hello again! Sorry I am terrible about forgetting to put up pictures! Here are some from recent outings!

This is my sweet friend Hannah; she is the one I'm going to teach the ESL classes with! She speaks Spanish too as we are super excited about teaching this class together! This picture is from our scavenger hunt from our BBQ last weekend. The boys (our husbands) weren't too excited about it, but we had fun :)


Like I mentioned in the last post, we went to see the Airborne students jump! If you ever come to visit on a Monday-Wednesday (and sometimes Thursday) we'll go see them! Although when you come, I'm going to be prepared and bring snacks...we had to wait quite awhile to see them jump because of weather conditions.











Can you imagine what it feels like getting sucked out of a plane? Me neither. And that's why Dana and I have decided that at some point in our lives, we are going skydiving! Because this looked like a ton of fun!


After they land, they have to stuff their chute into their pack and then walk back to the main grouping area, near where we were watching.



Ok, total change: I knitted this entire baby hat! Ok, I know the brim is huge...it's for a child with a large forehead, ok? haha! At our weekly lunch/craft meeting, we knitted! My friend Michelle has about 10 million craft skills up her sleeve, and she has a very easy method of knitting. You do it on a circle or straight "loom" (it's plastic--don't think I'm getting too fancy!), but it is so incredibly easy! My grandmother tried to teach me, Emily, and Lindsay to knit last Christmas, and I was a complete failure. I can't wait to whip out something and show it to her! The best perk: the looms are $5 at WalMart!




And finally, to conclude. This is what our house about to become: FANTASY FOOTBALL CENTRAL. I've also been informed that while Brian is in Ranger school (all of November, most of December, and most of January), I am in charge of making sure the household keeps it's Fantasy Football reputation. I am slightly intimidated by this task, and I have a lot to learn before then...

Thankfully, I have Sports Illustrated to help me, and I believe Brian is bringing home an ESPN magazine. But even with their help, I still think I'm going to need flashcards. "Donovan McNabb!" "Eagles transfer to the...somebody's whose red and gold! No idea what position he plays! I think QB!" See? I totally can do this... (sense the sarcasm...)
Can you tell the Page household is ready for FOOTBALL SEASON to be here?! Brian for all of it, me for college football!

19 August 2010

New Responsibilities!

Hello blog world! Thought I'd give you an update on recent Benning news...Life has been a bit of a whirlwind recently! Brian and I spent the weekend relaxing, working out, and going to a BBQ that us wives threw for all of the married couples in Charlie Company on Saturday night. We had a really good time! It was nice to finally put faces with names to all of our husbands, and for our husbands to learn who our friends are...They only know them as "Oh, that's _____ wife" (last name, of course), so we thought it was time for them to meet all the girls! And we knew the prospect of food and beverages would lure them in... :) We're so sneaky!

I mentioned awhile ago that I have been applying for jobs and doing some intense job searching. Well, in one of my many Google searches this past week, I came across IFM: International Friendship Ministries. They offer Bible studies, run a cafe, and have a variety of services for interational families, such as ESL classes, women's lunches and craft hours, as well as programs for families and children. I inquired about it Sunday afternoon, and that night the director called me! Very exciting! They serve a large number of military spouses, many of whom are here for their husbands who are participating in WHINSEC (don't ask me, I can never remember what it stands for...it's waaaay too long of a name for what they do...). WHINSEC basically is a school where we (the USA) bring in Army officers from various countries to train them, build relationships, and give them continued tactical learning opportunities. They often come with their families, and IFM works to be a "home away from home" for them while they're here. The director invited me to join his wife for a "meet and greet" on Wednesday, so I went! I also brought along my friend Hannah, who also speaks Spanish! It was so exciting to be in a real home in a neighborhood--haha! Haven't had that experience in awhile! We socialized with the women and got to speak a TON of Spanish! I was nervous at first (like I always am...) but the women were so friendly and open and by the end I felt like we'd been lifelong friends! I also was introduced as...an ESL instructor! Yes, I am now employed! Hannah and I are now teaching ESL classes twice a week to these ladies--we start Sept. 2! We are still trying to decide where we'll be having classes, (either on or off post), but we're hoping to bring in even more learners! It's a volunteer position, but I am so excited about it! I feel so affirmed in my career choice/calling: I am so thrilled to get to plan lessons and give these ladies as many learning experiences as I can! Hannah is just as excited-we're going to have a blast doing this! The director and his wife are delightful...I can't wait to get to know them better! So that is "new responsibility #1".

New responsibility #2 is...my last graduate class EVER.

I cannot tell you how excited I am that this is my last class! It started last night, and it seems like it's going to be a blend of a few classes I've already had (which is awesome)...Second Language Acquisition and Spanish Linguistics--I enjoyed both of those classes, and it seems like there's going to be a lot of overlap. Everyone was so friendly to me at Auburn...now if I can just learn my way around! I know the basics, but the traffic is awful there! I'm going to have to give myself a lot of time to get there and park! The professor seems kind as well, but her accent is a little difficult to understand...going to have to stay focused for the entire class! I have never taken just one class during a fall/spring semester. The poor other students seemed so stressed yesterday-I don't envy them at all! I remember those days of feeling overwhelmed, underprepared, and thrown to the wolves...no thanks! It was last spring...with wedding planning thrown on top. I would prefer to never re-live that schooling experience!

Onto my dear husband. Brian has been in the field since early Tuesday morning and won't be back until late Friday night. They're doing "live fire exercises", which include real rounds in their guns...ah! But they get to do a lot of STX (sticks) lanes (I believe that is "squad tactics"), which puts them in simulation type drills of things they will need to know upon entering a unit as well as that can be used overseas in real combat situations. It's overcast today so I'm super thankful for that--hopefully it's making it a little cooler for them out in the woods!

The girls and I have been doing some Army-related excursions recently...Monday, we spent 4.5 hours out at Fryar Field, waiting for the Airborne students to jump. Finally, they did! I have pictures but they're not on the computer yet--I'll show you soon! It was really neat to see them jump; we know one of the students who's a cadet at MSU, but they're little tiny specks in the air, so I have no idea which one he was! We are also going to a Ranger school demonstration/graduation tomorrow morning, so that should be fun!

Well I think that's about all in Army world...for those of you who've tried to comment and can't, I don't know what the problema is! I've tried through a different account and it let me comment, and I've fixed the settings so that they're the most "open" for comments...Sorry!

11 August 2010

Braves and a Birthday!

Hello blog world! Thought I'd give you an update on recent happenings... Last week was a long one! After having a weekend away, Brian was in the field three nights in a row-needless to say, I was really ready for him to be home! Friday night we had some bad weather but then Saturday turned out beautiful! After running some mundane errands (and helping a poor dad in Target try to find school supplies for his kids...), we packed up and headed to the big ATL for a Braves game! Somehow, in all of my life, I have never been to a Braves game-or a MLB game period. It was time to change that. The Braves being one of Brian's favorite teams, he was pretty pumped too! And we went all out. I mean, all out.




We walked around a lot just passing time before the game started. We even ran into someone Brian went to high school with! Of course, I had to be in Braves spirit...Brian already had a Chipper Jones shirt, but I needed one too, of course! So I went with Prado. Why? Well, my rule-of-thumb is to always go with the Hispanic name first. And second, the Prado just happens to be one of my favorite museums in the world. Pretty perfect pick, I'd say! Too bad he was out with a finger injury...




And here we are in our official gear!

The park-it filled up! We played the SF Giants. (And won!) Brian said I was lucky. Guess that means we'll be going more often... ha!

Our very American dinner. JUMBO hot dogs (the were a foot long!), fries, and I just had to have a Coke...



Whoops-sideways. Here's Brian enjoying his very American dinner.

In our seats! Turns outs, the Braves give a military discount-so if you want to go for cheap, come with us! The tickets were almost 50% off! A little perk to him being gone all week!




See? It got pretty crowded!

I made him take a lot of these. =) I'm getting pretty good at taking self-portraits of us.



Ok so this week I also celebrated my birthday! I turned 23 yesterday-ah! And today is my Dad's birthday-Happy Birthday Dad-O! He's the big 5-0! So I decided to make my own birthday cake. I have a small obsession with petit fours, so I decided to attempt to make them out of a cookbook Stacey gave me for my KitchenAid mixer. Ok, we didn't have one of these growing up, but they make your life SO.MUCH.EASIER. It has superhuman powers when beating up not-quite-softened butter, which is amazing to watch. Yes, I am 5 years old. Anyways, I made EVERYTHING from scratch. Cake, icing, everything. The cake turned out alright, and then I went on to the icing. I had to show you...the icing recipe called for 4 CUPS of sugar. See? (sorry, it's sideways too)


After boiling that with water and a 1/4 tsp. of cream of tartar, you mix in 3 CUPS of powdered sugar! Oh my gosh I'm on sugar overload just talking about it! I used this super antique candy thermometer of my grandmother's to check the boiling icing...Mom and I thought it would be a really cute wall decoration in the kitchen since it's old, but I had to pull it down and use it--thank goodness it still actually works! This thing is probably 45 years old! Incredible. But I do have a confession to make...I still haven't tried one of my petit fours. I think I'm a little nauseous from how much sugar I used. Seriously, every time I look at them, I feel sick to my stomach. Brian, on the other hand, thinks they're delicious. What a good husband.


Thankfully, I was able to eat a little cake on my birthday because my amazing friend Dana MADE me a cookie cake! As it turns out, her family does cookie cakes for birthdays too, and she made me one! Isn't it darling? And she made her icing from scratch too! Being unemployed leads to multiple hobbies, such as aerobics and baking...they're counteractive.



Brian took me out for dinner last night to celebrate. We went to Country's Barbeque, which was a.ma.zing. My birthday dinner usually consisted of flanksteak, baked potatoes, and fruit salad, and this was a close second! We had BBQ pork and I had some of the best corn on the cob that I've ever eaten! We were stuffed.


Brian has been in and out of the field this week. They were sweet enough to not make him go in last night! Kidding--the Army doesn't care that much about my birthday. Actually, maybe they do-every time I came in the gate yesterday, the security guard wished me a happy birthday! Sweet people. No, Brian's training schedule just so happened to not have him in the field last night, which was awesome! This week he's doing MGT: Machine Gun Theory! Crazy! He learned to call for fire yesterday and Monday and today he's in the field shooting off 50 cal's and Mark 19's- and some SAWs- crazy! The range they're on is only about 1/2 mile from our house, so I can hear them...tat tat tat! Brian's sargeant said that he was a good shot on the 50 cal...so proud. Now I know he can defend himself...We (the wives) hear that once a month, they invite the spouses out to shoot the guns-we are so going! We're pretty excited about it.
Hmmm, other recent news...I've been applying for jobs and I've heard back from two and subsequently been denied by them, so that's been pretty awesome...ha! I've been doing lots of resume-tweaking and online work, so I'm still hopeful! I also start class next week...I keep forgetting that! Going to have to call my Auburn girls, since I still don't necessarily know where I'm going! Hope everyone is doing well!

08 August 2010

Pictures!

Here are the pictures from Anna and John's wedding! So much fun-I can't believe this was only a week ago!


Clay and DZ--sweaty after hours of dancing!

Warden dance party...epic times...




Anna and John!






Friends dance party...we had fun!



Sweet friends. How I miss you all!








Some of the crew!


Roomies at Tina's house, before we were attacked by a large bee...

02 August 2010

What a Weekend!

Whew! Sorry I haven't been around lately-this past weekend wore me out! I spent the rest of last week having friends over for dinner, running, and getting my butt kicked at an aerobics class at Smith Gym here on post. I told Brian about what we did and he called it a "smoke session"...meaning they wear you out! I felt pretty good that he considered my aerobics class credible enough to be deemed a 'smoke session'. My friend Dana and I think that the boys (our husbands) would get a great workout with us but we know it'll never happen...A) it's in the middle of the day, and B) Can anyone see Brian Page in an aerobics class? With fun music and a peppy teacher? Didn't think so. And he would be considerably outnumbered...there are currently no boys :)





So after my 'smoke session' on Friday I got in the car and drove 6 hours! Talk about some sore muscles afterwards! But it was completely worth it, as I ended up in Jackson, Mississippi at the end of my trek! I don't care what people say about Mississippi: I love it. Something just hits you when you cross the state line...feel like you're home! Maybe that's why Mississippi's welcome sign says this:


The sign-makers must feel it too! Anyhoo, I stayed with my old roomie Krystina and we had so much fun! We spent most of Friday night catching up on life, with her mostly telling me crazy stories about where she works! She works at an inner-city church and gets to interact with a lot of the homeless community on a daily basis-she has some great stories about learning about herself and the people who visit her everyday! Saturday Stacey and Zach got into town and Karen and Jared came over too--a roommate reunion, plus husbands! We had so much fun together, catching up, telling stories, and hearing what's new in all of our 'adult' lives....Although I still feel like we should all still be in college, living together, watching Friends, eating ice cream (except you might find Stacey eating lettuce...) and sitting on our lovely red couch!

Saturday night we headed out to have dinner at this awesome place called Sal and Mookie's. When the girls were saying it's name though, I thought it was spelled "Salimuki's", and I thought it had something to do with sushi...as we all know, not exactly my favorite! Except of course, for the fried rice :) No instead it was a New York style pizza/calzone/stromboli type place! And it was so. incredibly. delicious. I might drive 6 more hours just to eat there again! Needless to say, I was NOT hungry at the reception! We headed to the wedding and I got to see my parents and my brother who were also at the wedding, as well as the rest of our MSU friends! Such a glorious reunion. Lots of big hugs, laughs, and smiling! Not to mention dancing. We pretty much tore up the dance floor all night long, only stopping for a few water breaks! Anna was a beautiful bride and everything was gorgeous at the reception--pictures are coming, I promise! I'm usually so excited to write to you all that I don't like to waste time uploading pictures while I write-ha! Hence a second forthcoming post with pictures :) Plus I never know where to put the caption: above, or below? Above, and you get confused with what picture it goes with. Below, and you see all the picture before the caption...ah the dilemma! But thankfully for me, I don't think these wedding pictures are going to need many captions-they sort of speak for themself...

I headed back to Fort Benning Sunday...it was a long drive. Boo. You might be wondering why Brian didn't make it to the wedding with me...well, he was at the lake with our dear friends the Arants and Abernathys! We had to do a little double duty this weekend with our social schedule! He reported that they had a lot of fun; they took out the jet skis (AKA, death on water when Brian's driving...watching him usually takes about 2 years off of my life and will probably make gray hair come prematurely...), and got to catch up a lot. Hopefully we'll do it again soon and I can go with him! I love the lake: it's the easiest way to get a tan because the breeze off the boat doesn't make you hot while you're laying out. Matt always drives the boat and we boost up his ego by telling him he looks like quite the ladies man with three girls tanning on his boat!

Brian is in the field this week-should be home Thursday at 13:00! That's 1 PM. Ok, this never happens-a SUPER early release! Unfortunately I have a meeting at 3, but I'm hoping it'll be quick so I can get home and see him! Not seeing him much this weekend really made it feel like we hadn't had any time together, so I'm eager to see him! I feel bad for the guys-the past two times they've been out in the field it's rained! I mean, it probably feels pretty good but then you have to deal with wet gear and clothes for quite a few hours-no thanks. And those ACU's don't dry super fast. Brian's in leadership this week, so praying that he does well!

Some other random updates before I let you go...I've been applying for jobs, so we'll see what comes back! Just put in most of the applications last week, so it may be awhile before I hear back. I've also started running (regularly) again! My friend Dana is a great runner and she is always up for a run, which I love! I've even been able to talk through several of our runs...I can't believe it! ha :) I usually left Lydia and Gena to talk through the runs as I huffed alongside them...The reason I've kicked up the running is because I'm running the Baltimore half-marathon this October! Why the Baltimore half-marathon? Because dear best friend Katie lives there! I think Sarah and maybe Lydia are going to run it as well, so it's going to be a great reunion! I'm really excited about it. I think this is going to be great motivation to run over the years. The key: sign up for races in towns where your friends live! I'm hoping to run the St. Jude half in December too, and the only thing spurring me on is that I'm going to be able to see tons of my MSU friends who are going to run it too! I ran that one a few years ago (2009?), and loved it. It's a pretty flat course and now the course goes through the children's hospital-how awesome is that?!

Well my cleaning is calling. Had to take a break...Much love!