Relocation Number Four

[Pictured above: Us on the road, again.]

Clay & I have now lived in 4 different homes together from the day we got married, 1.5 years ago.

We flew out of Hawaii on December 29th. Each of our flights went well, just the typical long & incredibly boring. I cannot sleep on planes, so that did me dirty. Clay told me he couldn't sleep on his plane either, so we both were feeling all the shift-to-east-coast-time-zone-and-lose-a-day-of-sleep-but-still-go-about-the-day-as-if-nothing-changed vibes. Clay flew into Norfolk, VA (because military orders, per last blog post), & I flew into Baltimore, MD (because, cheaper). We stopped in Pennsylvania for 7 days to visit our families before Clay had to report back to Virginia Beach. Visiting family and our hometown is always a blessing in and of itself. Although Clay & I both do not have a "homesick" personality, we still love our families, & will make our efforts to see them face-to-face when the opportunity is right. This may have been the first time upon leaving PA & saying our goodbyes that we had to make sure everyone in our family knew we do not have a plan as to when we will be back again (Meaning this time, more than just several months may separate us from being in PA again). Although that hurts hearts & may seem unfair, we as a family (of two) have to think not only about what is best for ourselves, but also what is realistic for the time of life we are in. While we are here in Virginia Beach, we will not be coming back at all to Montoursville. Clay's schedule allows for zero non-military travel, & I have decided I do not want to rent a car & drive 7+ hours one way to go home for a few days (Although I clearly am physically capable of doing, I personally just do not want to. I travel frequently, & that frequency is enough for me).

Our driving route that started in Montoursville, PA, was precisely where the entire green (indicating rain) strip covered this map (pictured below). The blue dot is where we were when I screenshotted this. I guess the rain on the east coast just wanted to follow our direct travel.

God has blessed us with a beautiful home here in our town. VA Beach town is a poppin' place...if you're here for the in-season, that is. Clay & I walked the Beachwalk & town streets the other day to see what the day life is like in this popular town, & not to our surprise, 92% stores/ restaurants/ coffee shops are shut down for the winter (makes sense from the business standpoint). I have had various individuals tell me beforehand, "oh you'll love VA Beach because there is plenty to do," but I think they forgot the town hibernates in the winter, or they have just never been here in the off-season, because who necessarily would, unless ya permanently live here. Not like any of this is necessarily important, because VA Beach is just another town we now live in, in the state of Virginia, so it doesn't have to warrant any type of buzz-buzz atmosphere.

There are blood-curdling loud jets that fly over our house on an average of 14 per hour (I made that average up. I have counted 7 in the last 30 minutes though). I was on the phone with Clay's mom, & had to have us pause our conversation twice in the 11 minutes because I could near absolutely nothing from her end (yes, it's that loud). Welcome to living within earshot of the air side of the military!

There is a chapter in the Bible in Exodus (Exodus 40) that shares what it looked like for Moses to set up the Tabernacle (the physical meeting place for God's worship) particularly as how God instructed him to. Exodus 40:34, it says that the cloud (God) covered that tent of the meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the place. Verse 36-38 says that in all the travel of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would then set out, but if the cloud did not lift, they would not set out until it did. The cloud of God was over their tabernacle by day, & fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

This chapter in Exodus speaks to my soul. I believe Clay & I can relate ourselves & our marriage to the Israelites (only in certain aspects, of course). Our tabernacle (our physical home) gets uprooted frequently, but only when that "cloud" is lifted. Although the military turns on the music for us to play musical chairs once again, God directs & preps us to set up our next tabernacle, & we ask Him to give us His cloud of glory in every place. I can always feel the cloud of God over our tabernacle by day, & fire by night, in the sight of Clay & I during all our travels, together & apart.

I do choose to allow a select, yet pretty generous portion of my and Clay's life to be public through my writing (obviously). By doing so, I am freely providing factual information regarding our marriage, our jobs, our adventures, our lifestyle, our personal choices, etc., which is fine & dandy to me, otherwise I wouldn't do it. And with that, I am aware that more judgment can come upon us by "viewers," & that's cool too. Clay & I choose to do what we want because we can. LOL - adulting at its finest, folks. We also choose to act on what lines up according to God's word, & His plans for our lives, of course.

One more slightly off-topic from the above topic that I do not want anyone to forget (it has been in my mind to share for today): You are your own person.

I am my own person. Clay is his own person. God has a plan for my life, Clay's life, & our life together. When we shared our vows, exchanged rings, & legally became married, we certainly did "become one", as all marriages should. But that does not mean we were two halves that made a whole. We were & still are two whole's that made & make an even bigger whole, together. This is what makes our marriage the strongest: I do not rely on him to find my identity, as he does not rely on me. We must condition ourselves to be that independent, free-spirited, self-sufficient, whole being on our own, because God made a Clay & God made a Natalie. That concept should never get lost in a marriage. Granted, different lifestyles & personality types allow for more or less conditioning of solidifying your individual wholeness. It very well may come more naturally to Clay & I to be our own identities than another couple's marriage, & that is OK (& it does come very naturally for him & I by the way God designed us, & by the amount of individual trials God has pushed us through).

And with all of that, Amen. ;)