Fat Update.

Well friends, this is going to be one mother of a post. Without further intro, this spans end of our time in MD through our time in UT, road trips both ways, and finally to our house in KY!

Staci and I got to do a farewell brunch at a delicious place in Baltimore. Here's the fab Staci looking gorgeous as usual!

I got eggs benedict on corn cakes- A-MAZ-ING.

Me.

We got to see Staci several times and it was so nice to be near her! I'll miss being just a drive away. Ah!

So much happened the last few weeks of our time in MD that I surely can't summarize it all. One thing that sticks out, of course, is the NCAA Championship game- that's right! Kansas won! Here are a few pictures of Matthew in ecstasy!

The poor people living below us! The game went into overtime and it was after midnight when Mario Chalmers shot his game-tying 3-point shot BEFORE overtime, so it was a long game! But let me tell you, some GOOD basketball. And hey, don't forget that they BEAT Memphis- we may be living in Tennessee but we're still KU fans!

The Wednesday before we left was a ceremony where the 2LT's got inducted officially into the Ordnance Corps. This was pretty neat, and I definitely felt very proud. Here are a few shots (I was in the balcony- this was held at the Ordnance Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds).

Getting ready.

At Ease.

Off they go to receive their Ordnance pins.

The first guy is an LT in the Saudi Arabian Military. The buy behind him is Jesse Cragwall who is here in Ft. Campbell with us! Woo!

The guys going through the line.

Jesse again.

The guys pinning eachother. Can't see Matthew? He's the back row (left) and 3rd from the Left or Right. He's being pinned by Jon Hinchey who you might recognize from other posts.

This is Matthew and Michelle Troesch. Michelle is a 2LT and so is her husband! She was an Army wife before being a 2LT and so she helped me figure a few things out and gave me some great references. She was great! She's back at her post in New York state now.

Aw.

Enjoying the snacks. Matthew, behind him is Lee Smith, and behind him with his eyes closed is Travis Ziegler. We miss you guys!

I just loved this! This is the Ordnance Corps symbol- a little bomb with a flame above. This is right inside the doors of the museum (which really could use some funding) so you can donate and full up the bomb! Woo.

The 02 and 02-a class. The people in Class A's (the green uniforms) are reservists, the dress blues (like Matthew's) are, for the most part, active duty. Pretty much all of these people will be deployed (reserve and active) in the next year and a half. Feel free to pray for them all!

Yay, tanks!

Travis Ziegler, Lee Smith, Matthew, and Wes Turner.

Leslie Cragwall and me! You'll become familiar with her picture, I'm sure. AND if you come to visit us you'll meet her!

So the next few days were filled with meeting some spouses who had come into town for graduation, and doing a few last dinners etc. We are STILL thinking about the cheesey crab pretzel we had the night before graduation. The day of graduation we had to pack the rest of our stuff in the civic and be checked out by 9am. We grabbed some breakfast and headed to graduation.

here is Matthew processing up about to get his BOLC III graduation certificate and shake his commander's hand. Prior to this the commander gave a REALLY inspirational speech, and again that welling of pride in my husband and all our friends was overwhelming. So far, it's pretty wonderful to be a part of all this.

There he is with his diploma and shaking his commander's hand.

Their class.

Yay! The Cragwalls and the Teters.

Matthew and Z saying farewell. It was actually REALLY sad to say goodbye to the guys we always spent time with since we have no idea when we'll see them again. Fortunately it's a small world in the military :)

Turner and Teter, partners in crime. Turner, dear boy, is the one who watched American Idol with us and started the trend within the class (that EVERYONE adopted)
of calling us "the teets."

About an hour after the graduation we were on the road- so strange to go from something like that to "On the Road Again" once more time. We drove like CRAZY and cut an entire day out of our drive so that we left Maryland at about 12:30 on Friday, and arrived in Utah at 8:30 pm on Sunday just in time to see the sun setting behind the Weber Canyon.

Hermann was ready and waiting for us to serve him! We had a great dinner with my folks that night and SOO much wonderful family time. We can't thank everyone enough for making time for us those couple weeks we were home!

The Saturday after we got home we had a bunch of folks over and had SUCH a great time catching up with everyone! Here are a few shots! (Jazz on in the background. GO JAZZ!)

Jeff and Ryann (and Kaytee, Kel, and Whit in the background).

Micah, me, and Brett.

Remember that picture they were taking? Sexy ladies.

Robby and Crystal. The next weekend we got to see their new house and it is FABULOUS. They did such an amazing job!

Ryann and Whitney.

Whitney and Matthew.

Matthew and Robby.

Jeff and Matthew. Yes, they ARE singing Kelly Clarkson!

Here's a picture of the Teters one of the days we got to spend with them.

There are more pictures from Utah but they are on other people's cameras. We're missing pictures of Ashley and Thaddeus, Colby and Crystal, Amy and Pete, and a few other folks that stopped by the party. If you have party pictures please e-mail them to me or post them on YOUR blog cause I'd love to see them!

So... tearful goodbyes aside, we had wonderful time in Utah! We spent time with so many wonderful friends and our families. Of course we missed meeting up with several people (Allison!) and are hoping that next time we're in UT we'll catch you ALL. I'll be back before Matthew so you will have to endure me a few more times alone before you get both of us :)

And so, we drove. On April 30 we left Utah and made it to Colby, Kansas. The next day we made it outside of St. Louis AND we made a stop at Kansas University and stocked up on KU stuff for us and the whole Teter fam (we WILL send that package soon, I promise!). To see pictures of the ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS KU campus (seriously, I was absolutely shocked and fell in love) see Matt's blog (that's right! He updated!). The next day.......

We made it to Fort Campbell!

We cross the stateline almost every time we go anywhere, so here we are crossing in to Tennessee. We listened to Johnny Cash's "Hey Porter" as we crossed. Lots of Alabama once we hit Kentucky and were officially in the "South" too :)

I can't even begin to tell you how beautiful this post is. Kentucky/TN is SO beautiful and green! It is luscious and full of trees and green grass! We arrive Friday, May 2 and stayed in the Turner Army Lodging (basically the post hotel) but we DID get to check into our house that day and see it. WE LOVE IT! Even EMPTY we love it!

The Cragwalls arrived on Monday and we helped them unload, and then we all went to Lowes and bought cheap carpet to put in our two bedrooms (the ENTIRE house is tile- really the only downside).

Here are a few pictures of our empty house!

Master Bedroom.

There is SO much space in these closets, and in the house overall.

2nd Bedroom (where you can stay when you come visit! Eh! EH???)

Bathroom view towards the door- TWO SINKS!

Back the other way.

There's Matthew!

Looking down the hall from the living room/dining room to the front door. Left is the bedrooms and bathroom, right is the kitchen.

Hello!

Kitchen! HUGENESS! And back left is the "laundry room"-- we don't have a washer and dryer though, so this is the Kitten's domain :)

"Laundry room."

The "extra room" within the laundry room.

The garage. Doesn't connect to the house but they USED to be carports, so we're happy they're actually garages now.

The front view. Happily the housing people came and weeded and mowed the first time. It looks SOO much better. The after photos to come. We need to buy a mower and mow again though. If our lawn gets longer than 6 inches high we can get a warning (three strikes, you're out) so there's some incentive to keep your yard groomed.

Here is our area rug in the "living room" and the entertainment center for the GIGANTIC TV we got. It got delivered to us last Friday :)

Our first morning at the place! Making waffles on the foreman, of course.

The big phat TV.

The first real dinner I made. Matthew requested the
Cheesey Chicken Portabello Mushroom Risotto. Mouthful, in the best sense.

And so! We're settling in. A few more pictures to hang, another rug to go under the dining table, and ultimately a couch to buy (I'm waiting patiently) so we can move the futon to the 2nd bedroom and have a real couch in the living room, and THEN we'll be TOTALLY settled. But let me say, I really do feel settled in. We love our house, and every time we walk in here we say it! Come see for yourself! :)