Home Improvements, Stage 4 (and final ... for a while)

Some of Cam's Block Leave was spent finishing up various Home Improvement activities around the house. Our list keeps getting longer, but we've prioritized some things that need to be done before the Big Arrival in October.

In the last two weeks, Cam has completed all of our interior painting, he hung photos and pictures, he rearranged furniture, AND he cleaned and organized the garage.

No more white walls for us! Every room in the house is now painted (except for the Laundry Room and the closets). We chose calming blue colors for our bedroom and bathroom. The blues came from a mountain painting we inherited from Cam's parents and turned out to match the mountain posters we've had since college.

We used the same two blues and decided to go with a beach theme in our bathroom and now have a calming view to look at while we soak in our big bathtub!


The last room to be painted was the Office/Craft Room/new Guest Room. We HAD to have a WSU Cougar room somewhere in the house! There are still pictures waiting to be framed and hung, but there is definitely the Wazzu theme being rocked!

Cam also worked on organizing the garage and can now park his truck back in there. He built himself a workbench for his chop-saw and circular saw without managing to damage any appendages. (Sorry, Tim!)

Needless to say, he was a very busy boy, but our house looks so much better for it! Good work, Hubby! You're the best!!!

Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon

This afternoon I was invited to the 11th ADA Brigade Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. Cam had nominated me for an award (much to my chagrin) a few months ago and then forced me to add up all the hours I had spent on Project Linus activities. After trying to remember how many quilts I'd made, estimating the number of hours each took to make and adding in all the extra activities I do for the group (blanket pick-ups, kit cutting, sorting/inspecting/organizing), I came up with a grand total of 215 hours. A piddly amount compared to many of the other ladies in our Brigade, but I sucked it up and went to the luncheon anyway.

I joined about 150 other ladies from the Brigade in a yummy catered lunch (with a chocolate fountain and ice sculpture!) and in saluting several outstanding soldiers and wives in their volunteerism. We all received an awesome gift bag filled with all kinds of spa stuff, a certificate and a brigade pin as a "Thank You" from the Brigade. I even got a giant bear hug from the Brigade Commander! Thank goodness I wasn't his wife who received a big dip and huge smackaroo from him when her name was called!

I really enjoy what I do to help the local chapter of Project Linus and in turn, to help children of El Paso. I also like having an outlet for new quilts/blankets that I make so that I don't have to overwhelm my family and friends with them. So, while I don't do this for the recognition or for any kind of payment, the Luncheon was a fun way to be proud of my work. Thank you, Cam, for "forcing" me into this.

"Loot" from the Luncheon
(L to R) Flowers, Tote Bag w/ TONS of spa stuff, Brigade Pin, Certificate, and Fancy Pen Holder.

Close-Up of Certificate

Close-Up of Brigade Pin

Close-Up of Fancy Pen Holder.

The Gratitude Campaign

I recently came across the video advertising The Gratitude Campaign and wanted to share it with all of you!

According to Scott Truitt, the founder, on his website: gratitudecampaign.org "For the past several years as I've been traveling around the country, I've been approaching Soldiers in airports and thanking them for serving for us. On several occasions I have noticed that it felt a little awkward for both of us. ... But they have always appreciated being thanked, and I have always felt better having expressed my gratitude. I started to think that it would be nice if civilians had a gesture or sign that they could use to say "thank you" quickly and easily without even having to approach. I did some research and found the sign that we are now using."

The non-verbal sign is intended to say, "Thank you from the bottom of my heart!" To make the sign, simply place your hand on your heart as though you're saying the Pledge of Allegiance; then pull your hand down and out, bending at the elbow (not the wrist), stopping for a moment at about the belly button with your hand flat, palm up, angled toward the person you're thanking.

I have attached the promotional video below (as seen in national sports arenas and local television stations around the country). If you agree with the sentiment intended, please begin using this way of communicating to any of our brave military men & women you pass!

No new news ... is good news?

Nothing too exciting has been happening in the Little World of the Smiths lately. Cam is still plugging away at Basic Training. I have been receiving letters pretty regularly, however almost everything in the letters is information we have shared in phone calls (and thus shared in my posts below). This weekend, Cam is participating in exercises (one last "camping trip") over several days and didn't expect to be able to call this afternoon. His upcoming two weeks will be the last few at Ft. Jackson and the soldiers will be cleaning up the barracks, turning in their gear and rifles and maybe get to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal this Thursday.

I'm still hanging in there here in Port Orchard. Work has been unusually busy lately which is good AND bad. Bad because people are screwing up royally and causing more work for everyone. But also good because a Busy Day means a Quick Day and allows me to rip one more day off my count-down list! 10 days until I leave for South Carolina and Cam's Basic Training Graduation!

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone! I am most thankful for my family and friends and all the love and support you have shown these last few months! I pray that God will continue to bless you with many wonderful things this holiday season!

Update from Cam #5

Unfortunately, I did not receive a phone call from Cam this past weekend. It is likely due to two reasons: either (1) someone in the squad/platoon got in trouble and lost everyone their phone privileges for the week or (2) they were out on a "camping trip" over the weekend and were unable to call. Hopefully, it is reason (2).

Thankfully, to combat my lack of contact with him, I did receive two letters in the mail from him this past week! Yeah!

The first letter brought some very welcome news. Cam said that he will be getting two weeks vacation to come home around Christmas! Hooray!!! That means I will get to see him TWICE in December, the first being a trip back to Ft. Jackson, SC the first week of December for Basic Graduation! I hope that will tide me over until I get to visit him next for Commissioning in April '09. That also means that we will be able to spend time over the holidays with our families.

The second letter contained much more info regarding what he has been up to lately. They were set to have rifle qualification on Election Day (Nov. 4th). Cam was a little concerned that he wouldn't be able to make the "Expert" qualification as he had to have his rifle replaced a couple days before the qualification try. His previous rifle was "one of the biggest piles of crap rifles [he's] ever seen" and it had started double firing during his practice. He went to the gunsmith to get a replacement part and the gunsmith told him it wasn't worth replacing the part. Thus, he ended up with a new rifle.

The platoon also had to do a 6K road march in full "battle rattle" pre-dawn one day. Cam said that while they were marching, he didn't notice the cold. However, it was a different story once they stopped marching.

For Halloween, the Drill Sergeants treated them to packages of M&Ms. Cam knew that if anyone ate them, the D.S. would make them burn off those treats, so he chose not to open his bag. Unfortunately, several others in his squad had devoured theirs and Cam was ordered him eat his own M&Ms. And, of course, everyone got to work off the treats later...

Lastly, he wanted me to extend a big thanks to those of you who sent him birthday cards! He really appreciated your thoughts and well wishes and enjoyed hearing from you all!!

Thank Goodness for GREAT Friends!

In this month dedicated to Thanksgiving, I wanted to give a big 'shout-out' thanks to all my wonderful friends who have been entertaining me while Cam was away these last two months.

Thank you to Garth and Mandy for having me over for dinner several times before you moved away. Thank you, Mandy, also for taking the time to have a 'girly' breakfast out at the Victorian Tea Room! It was delicious and my guy should definitely not be so opposed to stepping foot into the bright pink house! I look forward to seeing you both soon in your new place in the Tri-Cities!

Thank you to Heather and Jessica for a wonderful dinner out in the big city of Seattle. I hope we can arrange something again in the very near future - this time with guests who arrive on time (or close to it!) :P

Thank you, Sabrina, too for another fabulous Girls Night out on the town. Even though my triceps were killing me after our night full of darts, it was still fun to reminisce about Valhalla's 80's Night while singing along to a little of Def Leppard's finest. I hope we can get together more often!

Thank you, Ruth, Audrey and Tommy! Not only were you superb anniversary dinner guests, but you made my Halloween night that much more fun! I can't believe that my house could once again be the site of another Halloween party full of 'drunken' dancing and even a little puking! (Hope poor Tommy is feeling better!)

Thank you, Jessica and Justin, for a birthday dinner (for Cam!) that I won't soon forget! I had a nice time and hope that we can do it again soon ... except this time I'm paying!!!

Thank you to the girls at work for keeping me laughing while we slave the day away! I look forward to touring the underground of Seattle with you all very soon!

Thank you, everyone! You're friendship means the world to me and I couldn't feel more loved and supported!! Happy Thanksgiving ... in a few weeks!