Easter weekend pictures for your enjoyment:

This one is with my fantastic hostess, Mrs. Paula Wilson. Her family welcomed me to Easter dinner after church today. Kelly, her daughter and my friend, is on her other side.
Last night Rachel & Timmy, Tara, and I had a reunion with our respective dogs

Zoey, Addie, and of course Finlay. Just the girls in our bright spring colors.

A message from Nick

Nick was able to e-mail me a few pictures of his living situation in Indiana this week. He also sent a message to include with them on the blog. Here you go!

"I took some pictures to show you what my barracks are like. The layout is open bay with the north and south sides separated by the latrines and showers. I have a section to myself (no bunk mate for now) and I am on the bottom which is nice. It is just our PRT stsff here right now doing some specialized training so there is a little more space. I am in S2 training this week which is about 12 hour days followed by dinner. After that we are on our own to workout, call home, etc. I'll try to keep ya'll updated as training gets rolling...2 1/2 months to go!"

This first picture is of Nick's hurt leg. He fell off a top bunk his first night at Camp Atterbury and gouged out his shin.

This picture is of the barracks area where the PRT teams are housed for training.The inside view.Nick's little spot.

TRUMC send-off and other updates

To kick off my massive update, I want to let all you back in Texas know what the church and our church friends did to send Nick off in style last week. For starters, our friends Kelly and Michael and Kelly's parents, Rex and Paula Wilson, dedicated a floral arrangement to us. It was beautiful! It was all blue and white (Kelly knows they're my favorite color combo) with huge hydrangeas. When Nick saw the note in the bulletin about the flowers, he came the closest to tearing up that he did all day. Then, during the church service our entire Sunday School class of young adults came up to the front of the church. Nick and I knelt at the altar while our ministers and our friends prayed over us. The whole church was involved as our Sunday School leader, Tim, led a responsive prayer. At the end of the service Nick and I were called to the front of the church to stand with the new members during the benediction. The choir sang a special Irish blessing, and we were so touched. Needless to say, Nick left firm in the understanding that he would be well-prayed for and I would be well-cared for. I wish I had pictures from last Sunday, but hopefully you've got a good mental image of everything.

Now for the other miscellaneous updates (mostly in pictures):

We watched the Virginia Tech/Baylor NIT game with our friends the Marshes. Rachel is a rabid VT fan...

On March 24th we celebrated Finlay's 4th birthday with a pup-cake and a new flavored rawhide. Finlay at his cake so quickly that I didn't get a picture of him eating it! Last Saturday we ate some of the Uncle Dan's authentic Texas BBQ that Mom and Dad sent us. I've captured the bottle just to prove that it's the real thing!

Last Saturday we also had our final date. We started things off at the Flying Saucer (picture) and finished up with sushi from Sakitumi and then dessert from Nonnah's. So tasty!

This last picture is how Finlay spent all day yesterday. He loves the porch!

Off he goes...

I will post info from the last two weeks as promised later today or tomorrow, but I know that if you are checking the blog today, you're probably wondering how things went with sending Nick off this morning. Short answer - just fine.
I was really worried about losing it at the airport, but that was not to be. As we pulled into the airport Nick realized that he had forgotten his hat at home. Instead of having an hour to hang out at the airport with him before he had to clear security, Finlay and I ended up flying to our apartment and back with the hat! Fortunately, at 5:30 am there was not much traffic to contend with. I might have been sad about not having much time with him, but as it turned out, the travel agency that booked Nick's trip neglected to actually pay for his ticket. He spent the whole time I was running back and forth to home sorting out his ticket situation. If I had been there, we wouldn't have even been able to hang out! We just had time for a sweet kiss good-bye before Nick needed to go on into the airport.
I think it all worked out perfectly and prevented the morning from getting overly-emotional. I've promised to give you all specific ways you can pray for Nick while he is gone, and here's your first list. First, pray for his adjustment to training. It's supposed to be the worst part of the deployment, yes that includes the nine months living in the Afghan wilderness. Pray for him to remain motivated and energetic throughout the training process. Finally, during these two weeks when Nick and his fellow senior staff members are preparing to receive their airmen, pray that they come together as an effective leadership team.
I promise that the next post will have lots of fun info and lots of pictures. Check back soon!

Coming Soon!

I have tons to post about, with pictures, and it's all coming soon! Right now I'm savoring every last minute with Nick before he takes off, and that doesn't include blog posting. For those of you wondering, his flight leaves very early Friday morning. That means a sad Lindsay with lots of time for blog posting this weekend. See? Now you and I both have something to look forward to.

I can't let any more time go by, though, without giving a shout-out to our TRUMC family. I don't think many of you read this, but for those who do, I am absolutely feeling bolstered today by the outpouring of love and support Nick and I received from you all yesterday. The full report will be included in this weekend's mega-post. I at least wanted to say THANK YOU, though, today. So thank you, thank you, a thousand times thank you!

I hope you all have a great week!

Happy Camper

When Finlay came home to live with us almost four years ago Nick and I agreed that I'd do the snuggling and he would do the playing. We've always thought that we chose the perfect dog because Fin likes to do each equally. When Nick's deployed, though, Finlay simply cannot go an entire year without some good play time. The solution? Camp Bow Wow.

Camp Bow Wow is a doggy day care where Fin gets to play with other dogs, both inside and outside, all day long. I can even watch him on a webcam at any time! You have to have an "interview" and a "trial day" at camp before you're officially accepted. Today was Fin's interview and trial day, and we're proud to say that he passed with flying colors! Here's a picture of Fin with his daily report card and his acceptance certificate. Oh, and a special thanks to our friends David and Mary Beth Ely who told us about Camp Bow Wow. Their pug Pete has been a happy camper for months!Doesn't he look tired after his long day of play time?

Groomingdale's

Today Finlay visited a new groomer. He used to go to Diva Dogs, but they've apparently closed down. After our terrible experience with Petsmart in December we haven't taken him anywhere else - I guess we've been a little gunshy. We got a recommendation from our friends Kelly, Michael, and Mason (their precious pooch) for Groomingdale's, and I am so glad that we tried it out! Fin looks and smells great, and they gave him a discount because his birthday is this month. The even unintentionally dressed him up in Baylor colors today. I'm pretty sure the green and yellow bandana is in honor of St. Patrick's Day, but he's keeping it on for the game tonight. This picture captures his attitude this weekend perfectly. He's spent most of his time pouting since Nick i s in Texas visiting friends and family.

This is Finlay's new best friend, Bear. They love to snuggle.