Jake's Christmas present

So what do you get a man that lives in the desert with very little space of his own? I decided to go with something from the heart. So I decided to write him a song. However, I am not musically gifted, so my friend Jes helped me to shape the words I wanted to say and she put them to music and recorded them with her friend Al Hilgendorf. I could not have done this without them! Jes is so talented and I am so thankful that she was willing to cowrite this song with me.

When going through a deployment there are so many emotions that come up and I have had trouble finding a song that describes my feelings about this. Nothing fit with me. One of my biggest struggles is the dichotomy between how lonely I am and how proud of him I am. This struggle was my starting off point for the song, and the words went on from there. So this was my attempt at making sense of things. Jes is such a talented artist, and her friend Al did such a great job cutting this for me. I couldn't be happier with the results. I am posting the lyrics here, with the slideshow I made (hope you enjoy pictures of Jake and I :) I would love to know what you all think about it. Let me know :)

                 My Soldier, My Husband
                     By: Claire Grimm and Jes VanderRoest

You promised our country, You promised me

You fight for our country, We fight for you and me

The black night accentuates the loneliness inside

My pillow feels damp from the tears I have yet to cry

            CHORUS:

You are my hero

My best friend

My soldier

My husband

You are "The Boy"

My lover

My army man

My over comer

But looking back on that rainy day in June

We stood in the sun, and I made a promise too

That even in the obstacles of army life

I’d honor and respect you, here, as your wife

            CHORUS

The source of my sadness is the source of my pride

I am honored to have a soldier to stand beside

            CHORUS

Our love transcends these miles and these hours

 Revealing the dark night has no true power

 When in the stillness just before sleep comes

I find peace in the promise of our love

            CHORUS

And I get to say that I’m your wife

P90X day 1

I successfully completed day one of P90X.. it was interesting to say the least, I am not as good as the guys on the dvd... but I think if I keep working I can get there, I do have to confess that I took an unintentional 30 min break part way through because Jake called- I wasn't trying to cheat, I have no idea when he is going to call, and it was on a good phone line- not over crapy internet so I had to take the call... I promise next time I'll do it the whole way through with no breaks. Today i did the chest and back workout, and my first goal is to be able to do all the pushups for real- no knees, then maybe one day I'll be able to do the pull ups without the chair to help I'd be happy with just one pull-up... but that is not yet... Baby steps. But I think if I stick with this, I can really become The Buff and Tough Baby!!! :) Jake better watch out, by the time he gets home I will be all sorts of strong! :)

Help Support our Troops!

Right now I am missing Jake a lot, so I thought I would come on here and share some stuff with you folks to take my mind off it.

Tis the season for giving, and there are many ways to help our troops, so take a moment to look over my list of things, and please consider helping out with some of these great outreaches. Remember that these men and women are out there fighting for our freedom away from many of the comforts of home, including their families. These people are very deserving of all the support we can give them! I know I am a little biased, but I know that they appreciate all that we can do to show our support.

1) Mail: send letters and or care packages, take a moment to say thank you and let them know you are thinking of them. These are big morale boosters when they are feeling down. letters from family friends, or even people they don't really know are really important to them.

2) Coffee: Buy a cup of coffee for a service member through this program, you can't pick who it goes to, but it will surely surprise and bless this person's day
http://www.greenbeanscoffee.com/coj/index.php

3) Cookies: Kenmore will send cookies to the troops and all you have to do is click a button
http://www.facebook.com/kenmore?v=app_155844884458429&ref=nf

4)Phone Cards: If you don't have a soldier to send a phone card to that's ok, this program Cell Phones for Soldiers takes used cell phones and turns them into phone cards for our soldiers. We all have old phones that are just sitting around... Drop them off today!
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/locateDropoff.asp

6)Donate: there are TONS of organizations out there that go the extra mile to help our troops, whether wounded, currently serving, or reintegrating, there are programs for all different aspects of military service, look up the things you are interested in and donate directly to them! Help out today!

This is my list so far, and it is far too late. so I am going to go to bed, but let me know if you know of other things I should put on here.

2 years ago today

On December 12th, 2008 a boy named Jake worked up all his courage and smooched a girl named Claire, under the mistletoe. That was the first day of the rest of my life. I could have never known the plans God had for me at that time, but man were they great! I know that I complain often about being an army wife, and about Jake being deployed, but the truth is that I am so proud of what he does for this country, and I know that we were made for this lifestyle. God clearly blessed our marriage and I know that He will not give me more than I can handle. Everyday I am thankful for the life God has given me. I am so glad for the life that we have built together. 2 years ago I was terrified of commitment, I wasn't really sure that I would ever get married. Jake came in and swept me off my feet, and quickly taught me what it means to be in love, and to purpose to love someone through everything. Now we are learning how to love across the ocean and the desert, and though it's not always easy we have negotiated our way around. Thank you Lord for giving us each other. Thank you Friends and Family for your continued support. And Thank you Jake for all the love, commitment, and respect, that you have given, and continue to give me day in and day out. without you, I would be lost.

The beginning

So I have been thinking for a while now, that I should start my own blog, and why not now? if I don't do it now, I probably will never do it. I have many things share with you guys as well. I plan on sharing my adventures with P90X- if anything this will hopefully keep me motivated, if I have to tell you about my day's workout then I better keep up on my workouts right? also I will use this as an outlet for things I am feeling about Jake being gone. and pretty much everything else in my life. so, welcome! Thank you for joining me for my Grimm adventures.