First Impressions of North Carolina

Maybe this will be my last "first" impression for a while! North Carolina makes state number six for us and military base number five. I feel like I'm finally getting the hang of uprooting every year, although this last time was a little harder for me. That's because we were moving with our beautiful little seven week old girl. She didn't take up much room, but she had a way of making us follow her itinerary.

Speaking of our little girl, I can hear her waking up in the next room over. I love seeing her first smiles of the day - that is one of the most exciting things for me to see! I know it is for my husband, too - coming home to someone who shows such absolute ecstasy at seeing his face! That makes two of us, of course.

After several years of training at Naval air stations, we are once again at a Marine Corps base. I continue to find humor in everyday life around a military base, but probably not like I did when we lived in Quantico (where it was all new and exciting).

Although we live off base, we are still surrounded by retired and active duty military. How can I tell? Well, if you were to visit this area and attempt to connect to a wireless network, you'd find wireless network names such as "Huey BadBoy," "SemperFightHer," and "FBI Surveillance."

Do you know what a 7 ton is? I saw one do a U-turn a few weeks ago. This is a 7 ton. The truck that I saw was pulling a trailer twice as long.






This is the intersection where I saw the U-turn. The truck took up the entire intersection, went over the sidewalk and into the grass in front of the Burger King. This is only one of the many risks that people take when they use a sidewalk near a military base.

Another risk one takes in living in a military town is particularly related to air bases. We call it "The Sound of Freedom." The first prize for noise goes to the Prowlers. I think that the Harriers get second place. In addition to these aircraft, we also have Hueys and C-130s on base.

We found some more helpful tools for our church search after this last move. One is the Nine Marks website, and the other is the Founders website. Both websites have churches listed by area that meet basic Scriptural requirements for a church. Have I ever mentioned what an absolute necessity a local church family is to my survival as a military wife? These websites are also listed under Helpful Links.

Tim should start training in November. In the meantime, we are happy to have these weeks together while we enjoy our little girl.