Wolfpack Family of the Year

Way back when I was a freshmen and my sister was a senior we wrote an essay describing why our family should be the Wolfpack family of the year....well we won. At the time we were honored at a parents and family day dinner and then got to go out on the field before the 4th quarter to receive our award. It was a pretty cool experience! WELL, they decided to have a celebration celebrating 10 years of the Wolfpack Family of the Year award so we got to go back to join in the celebration.

On Friday night we went to a dinner on campus (not at the dining hall, silly!) where Mary Winn and I gave a short speech (actually MW wrote an AWESOME poem that she read!). See picture below...we sure were missing my mom and Garin!!!

On Saturday we spent the day in Benson, NC at the Mule Days celebration (big ol' hillbilly fest...it was great!) and then we came back and got to go to a Parent's and Family tailgate and then got 'treated' to tickets to the game (they weren't that great though...we were wishing we hadn't sold our season tickets for the game!).

So about the game...oh my is about all I have to say. Not only were we not playing well but a little before half-time it started raining...then it started pouring! We didn't want to leave since we had driven up there for the game, but then again the thought of sitting in driving rain watching your team play like crap was not appealing either. So we finally left at half time to go back to the hotel. Oh well, we tried to be good fans...our team and the weather just weren't cooperating!

He's BAAACCCKK!

Yay, so Garin is finally back from his cruise on the Eagle. He had a good time and a good experience, but I think he is thankful to be on dry land again!

Thanks for all of your prayers while he was at sea!

On Monday the "shopping list" comes out with the possible jobs and locations. Pray for us as we decide how God would have us fill out our dreamsheet. We are confident that He will place us where He wants us. Just pray for our wisdom to listen and follow Him.

Okay well...7 weeks down now and only 10 more to go!! YAY!

NC State 30, ECU 24

Well to break the monotony of just talking about Garin and the Coast Guard, I thought I'd post something a little different. This past weekend my sister and I made the drive up to Raleigh to watch our alma mater, NC State, take on East Carolina University. The game was starting to look pretty rough, but after a couple of great plays by our defense, the Wolfpack brought the ball back down the field for a touchdown to tie the game with a minute thirty left in the game. Then in overtime we forced a fumble and then were able to convert to a touchdown in the next play. It was a GOOD game. The other great part was that I got to see my great friend Lauren Gainor who now lives in Denver, CO at half-time. I meant to get a picture, but I totally forgot :( Oh well. It was a good day :)

Also, I got an email from Garin this week while he was out on the Eagle. He is surviving, so that is good. He said he felt sick the first day but since then has acquired a pair of "sea legs." Hopefully they will be back on land by Friday so I can hear more about his adventures at sea.

6 weeks down, 11 more to go....

http://www.zachwiest.com/

This is a link to another guys blog. He is currently in Garin's OCS class. Thought some of you might like getting a first hand impression of what life is like in OCS. Enjoy!

P.S. I still haven't heard from him, so its looking like no Port Calls :( Keep praying for him, I have no idea where they are...just somewhere out in the Atlantic. What is cool is that I can pray to the One who knows exactly where he is and is ABLE to watch out for him for me :)

Going through the Panama Canal

This is a picture of the CG Eagle going through a lock on the Panama Canal. They have these cool webcams set up at different points along the canal so I was able to watch as the boat went through...technology is a cool thing!! I told Garin I would be watching and to wave as he went by...guess he didn't listen, I don't see anyone waving ;)

The Eagle...not a fun cruise

Yep, this is the boat that Garin will be spending the next two weeks on. Yesterday he flew down to Panama to catch up with the Coast Guard Cutter "The Eagle." They will be bringing this boat through the Panama Canal (that's today) up through the Caribbean all the way back to Connecticut. He'll get to climb all the mast and will learn all kinds of "sea" things like how to use a sextant and using the stars to navigate. Pretty cool. Garin was excited...although I think he is a little nervous about the sea sickness aspect. I think they are mostly looking forward to a break from the norm. I won't get to hear from him for the next two weeks, but I'm excited that when he gets back it will mark the HALF WAY point!!! YAY!!

5 Weeks down, 12 more to go...

Well the weeks are starting to actually add up now. 5 weeks, actually makes it sound like we are getting somewhere. Its that "12 more to go" part that gets me down...can't think about that part.

Well this week didn't bring too much new news, other than we have email privileges now...that has been really helpful. Garin continues to do well in the academic department (he is currently #2 in the class for test averages after 2 tests) and the physical department, its just that demerit department that is getting him right now. He did say today that he is getting better though...I continue to pray that he'd pay attention to detail and fly under the radar!! He still makes me a super proud wife!

In about two weeks we will receive the "shopping list" for billets. This is when he gets to fill out what he wants to do and where he wants to go. So please be praying for that whole process. Flight school is still our number one choice but pray for guidance as we select Plan B, C, D, and E!

We have E-MAIL!!

Where's Garin? Can you spot him?!

Good news!! We have email now. Even though he can only get 12 emails a day (which actually is a lot I guess) and he doesn't really have time to read and respond to them...it makes me feel good to know that I can write him and get a more immediate response than when writing a letter. If you are interested in sending him an email, let me know and I'll pass his email along.

1 month down, 3 more to go....

Well we have finally made it to the quarter mark. Whew, gotta celebrate every little victory! There is still a long way to go, but at least one month is down. Once again, I don't have a lot of new news. I'm still getting to hear from Garin about every other day, which is nice, but things are pretty much the same. He is now done with this duties as the Company XO, which is a relief to him I think. He says that his favorite parts so far are the survival swimming classes (surprise, surprise) and the cutter simulator, which is like one of those rides at an amusement park that lets you "feel" what it is like to ride or drive a large cutter (boat).

Everything there seems to be about putting you in high stress situations and then keying in on the details. Its all about attention to details...which I guess makes sense. These guys are going to one day be in charge of some major operations where lives are at stake, I guess its important that they are able to handle the stress while not neglecting the small details. Nevertheless, it still makes me mad when I hear about the things they get in trouble for. I just got a call from him earlier today and he said that he got 10 more march tours (each marching tour is 30 mins long and they must do it beside the barracks during their "free" time, which there is not a lot of), so that is 5 hours of marching! Poor thing! He said that his offense was that one of the drawers in their room was not aligned (not sure what that means, but sounds pretty minor to me), so he and his roommate were all given marching tours. I don't know how he handles it...I'd flip out! I'm so glad he is a man of great patience!

As for me, nothing too new to post. Life continues to go on as routinely as possible (that's the way I like it). I'm anxiously waiting to find out where Garin's port calls will be when he goes on his Eagle cruise, so that I can hopefully get there to see him! So, maybe I have some exciting trips on the horizon.

Thanks for reading and sorry for posting the mundane (and no pictures). Hopefully some excitement will occur soon (the good kind of excitement)!