The Reason for This Whole Thing

I’m thinking that for my first post on the new blog I ought to address the “why.” Why in the world did I start this blog? (And for that matter, why did I go to the trouble of “prettifying” it? Yup, that’s really Spike and me—or at least our arms—on the header.)

Well, for one thing, I’m hoping that it will be a convenient and sporadically amusing way for our friends and family to find out what we’re doing. Spike is in the windy state of Oklahoma at Fort Sill for the next six months, learning how to be a captain at the Army’s Field Artillery career course. Hence, I will be dividing my time between my hometown in North Carolina and Lawton, Oklahoma. Because I have the world’s coolest boss, I’ll be telecommuting from Chateau Butters for two weeks a month. (Luckily, as a writer, I don’t technically have to be physically present to do my job—and just as importantly, Bosslady likes Spike and wants us to be happy.)

Those of you who have known me for any length of time know that I’m not such a good phone correspondent, so if my name hasn’t lit up your cell phone’s LCD screen in awhile, you could 1) call me and scold me or 2) visit this blog for stories, updates, pictures, and out-of-left-field tangents! I should probably mention that you might have to prod me for new posts from time to time. As a sad little collection of notebooks that span elementary school to college will attest, I just don’t possess the journaling gene.
Beyond keeping-in-touch purposes, though, I also get the feeling that Spike and I will appreciate looking back on this time in our lives, and I think I’ll be glad I recorded little observations and anecdotes as they happened.

For those of you who haven’t heard me tell our story, I “met” Spike in November 2009 when we were matched by e-Harmony. (Hence the admittedly cheesy name of this blog—but I have to say, I’ll always be a walking advertisement for that website!) To make a long story short (maybe I’ll post a more in-depth history at a later date), Spike was deployed in Afghanistan at the time, so we communicated via email and across-the-world phone calls until he came home at the end of January 2010. We met in person for the first time on February 6th, felt like we’d known each other for years, and have been “us” ever since.

Spike and me on our first face-to-face date in snowy Blowing Rock, NC.

If you’ll allow me a moment of smarminess, I’ll confess that I’ve met my best friend and have been blessed to fall head over heels in love with him as well. Until Spike sent me that first e-Harmony communication, I had honestly never even considered the possibility of dating or marrying a military man. Even this short of a time later, though, I can’t imagine my life any other way. Spike is the proverbial “officer and a gentleman,” and I’ll forever be grateful to the Army because I doubt our paths would have crossed had he entered the workforce as a civilian (hence the “Army” in the title of the blog).

For the next four or five years at least, Spike and I are going to be living wherever the Army sends us. At this point, he’s used to moving around. Oklahoma will be my first experience with a “military” existence, and I couldn’t be more excited. I have always loved to travel and to experience new places, and I can’t think of anyone with whom I’d rather do it. Yes, I know that being an Army girlfriend and eventually wife will bring with it its own unique set of challenges, trials, and tribulations. Most likely, I can’t even begin to conceive of just how tough some aspects of this extra-ordinary life will be from where I sit right now. But a few things are for sure: I’m counting my blessings, and I can’t wait to join my love and my hero on May 15th!