I'll share the real-camera photos later on. :)
Cheers,
Emily
Showing posts with label Drew. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drew. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Now You Can Simply Walk Into Mordor
Thursday, April 19, 2012
South Korea: The RFO
Now that we finally have an RFO (Request for Orders), I can actually share some factual information about our upcoming move to South Korea for those of you who've been patiently waiting for details! :)
An RFO is a preliminary set of orders, which the Army--naturally--reserves the right to change without warning. So basically, here is the information that we're currently operating on (but which could still change):
-Drew's current training course lasts until May 22, 2012.
-He has been assigned an additional few weeks of training for the specific type of equipment that he has been assigned to for his time in Korea. That training will wrap up on June 22, 2012.
-He has been assigned a report date to the 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Brigade (probably as an FSO, for anyone who knows artillery and is curious) in South Korea for July 9, 2012 (however, he is authorized to report early if he wishes).
-There is almost always a lag-time between when the soldier goes and the dependent(s) follow(s). Therefore, I expect to be stateside until the end of July at the very least.
-We expect to be stationed at Camp Casey, which is north of Seoul in what the Army calls Area I. The larger city outside the camp is called Dongducheon (alternate spellings available depending on how one romanizes it from Korean, I think).
-We don't have any details yet about how long we'll be there or whether or not we'll have command sponsorship.
That's it for now, folks! At least we're not moving in 6 weeks (for those who remember how I was slightly panicking in a previous post about possibly having to pack everything and move with less than 6 weeks' notice)!
Thanks for reading! Further bulletins as events warrant. ;)
-Emily and Drew
An RFO is a preliminary set of orders, which the Army--naturally--reserves the right to change without warning. So basically, here is the information that we're currently operating on (but which could still change):
-Drew's current training course lasts until May 22, 2012.
-He has been assigned an additional few weeks of training for the specific type of equipment that he has been assigned to for his time in Korea. That training will wrap up on June 22, 2012.
-He has been assigned a report date to the 2nd Infantry Division, 1st Brigade (probably as an FSO, for anyone who knows artillery and is curious) in South Korea for July 9, 2012 (however, he is authorized to report early if he wishes).
-There is almost always a lag-time between when the soldier goes and the dependent(s) follow(s). Therefore, I expect to be stateside until the end of July at the very least.
-We expect to be stationed at Camp Casey, which is north of Seoul in what the Army calls Area I. The larger city outside the camp is called Dongducheon (alternate spellings available depending on how one romanizes it from Korean, I think).
-We don't have any details yet about how long we'll be there or whether or not we'll have command sponsorship.
Thanks for reading! Further bulletins as events warrant. ;)
-Emily and Drew
Monday, April 9, 2012
Itinerant Household!
Ok, I've given A LOT of thought lately to the topic of the previous post--being an itinerant household. The reason?
WE COULD BE MOVING (AGAIN) IN AS LITTLE AS SIX WEEKS.
Yes, you did read that correctly. It will probably be longer than six weeks, but there's no guarantee.
That's right. We could be moving in less than two months, COULD being the operative word. The Army, bless them, hasn't bothered to cut us any orders--or even any pre-orders (called RFOs)--yet. All we know for sure is as follows (and we've known the following 3 things since Feb. 28, nearly 6 weeks ago):
1) We are officially moving to South Korea. (More on that in the next post!)
2) Drew will be stationed with the 2nd Infantry Division (henceforth referred to as the 2nd ID).
3) We won't be leaving until after May 22, 2012, because Drew's coursework/training here in Lawton concludes on that date.
Yes, that's all we know. And yes, May 22nd is a mere 6 weeks away. Can you tell I'm getting a bit restless?
I've been reading all about the country, the culture, moving tips, pinning all things moving-and-itinerant-household related onto Pinterest, speculating about all the possible variations of how this whole moving-to-Asia thing could go down, and stressing out some about how little real info we have about something that's happening for sure and may be happening very soon.
If you search Google for moving advice, timelines, and checklists, most of the moving timelines start counting down from 8 weeks...and expect you to actually know where you're moving to. We won't even know what kind of housing accommodations we'll be renting until Drew gets there (he will go first) and signs a lease, by which point in time, we'll have already moved out of our apartment here in Lawton, OK, USA, and put all of our belonging into a) storage, b) a shipment to Korea that has a maximum weight restriction, or c) his and my suitcases. So much for the internet's advice to consider the layout of your new home and label the boxes with appropriate room designations and plan furniture layouts! Ha! :)
I guess I always have said I wanted adventure...I just sometimes wish it didn't involve so many unknowns or so many things outside my control, truthfully. At the same time, I know that these few years of Army moves will be an amazing experience--we'll get to travel to and live in places we might never otherwise see, and we get to grow together as individuals and as a couple through these experiences and the challenges that come with them. So even though I'm sometimes frustrated, I try to remember that--as one of the women at the Army wives' Bible study I go to said recently--"God cuts the orders and the Army foots the bill!" God already knows all the details that we don't, and better yet, He's already planned out each and every purpose He has in store for us in South Korea. We have the chance to carry the Gospel with us all over the world, and the Army pays our expenses. :) I hope to find joy and comfort in that as the move gets closer and closer. God is the God of the whole world, and He goes ahead of us and follows behind us, guiding and guarding us as He gives us a role to play in His Kingdom's work. As we remember especially at this time of year our Lord's atoning death and triumphant resurrection, may we find joy in being including in the glorious project of Redemption.
In Christ, who is the Hope of the whole World (even Korea),
Emily
WE COULD BE MOVING (AGAIN) IN AS LITTLE AS SIX WEEKS.
Yes, you did read that correctly. It will probably be longer than six weeks, but there's no guarantee.
That's right. We could be moving in less than two months, COULD being the operative word. The Army, bless them, hasn't bothered to cut us any orders--or even any pre-orders (called RFOs)--yet. All we know for sure is as follows (and we've known the following 3 things since Feb. 28, nearly 6 weeks ago):
1) We are officially moving to South Korea. (More on that in the next post!)
2) Drew will be stationed with the 2nd Infantry Division (henceforth referred to as the 2nd ID).
3) We won't be leaving until after May 22, 2012, because Drew's coursework/training here in Lawton concludes on that date.
Yes, that's all we know. And yes, May 22nd is a mere 6 weeks away. Can you tell I'm getting a bit restless?
I've been reading all about the country, the culture, moving tips, pinning all things moving-and-itinerant-household related onto Pinterest, speculating about all the possible variations of how this whole moving-to-Asia thing could go down, and stressing out some about how little real info we have about something that's happening for sure and may be happening very soon.
If you search Google for moving advice, timelines, and checklists, most of the moving timelines start counting down from 8 weeks...and expect you to actually know where you're moving to. We won't even know what kind of housing accommodations we'll be renting until Drew gets there (he will go first) and signs a lease, by which point in time, we'll have already moved out of our apartment here in Lawton, OK, USA, and put all of our belonging into a) storage, b) a shipment to Korea that has a maximum weight restriction, or c) his and my suitcases. So much for the internet's advice to consider the layout of your new home and label the boxes with appropriate room designations and plan furniture layouts! Ha! :)
I guess I always have said I wanted adventure...I just sometimes wish it didn't involve so many unknowns or so many things outside my control, truthfully. At the same time, I know that these few years of Army moves will be an amazing experience--we'll get to travel to and live in places we might never otherwise see, and we get to grow together as individuals and as a couple through these experiences and the challenges that come with them. So even though I'm sometimes frustrated, I try to remember that--as one of the women at the Army wives' Bible study I go to said recently--"God cuts the orders and the Army foots the bill!" God already knows all the details that we don't, and better yet, He's already planned out each and every purpose He has in store for us in South Korea. We have the chance to carry the Gospel with us all over the world, and the Army pays our expenses. :) I hope to find joy and comfort in that as the move gets closer and closer. God is the God of the whole world, and He goes ahead of us and follows behind us, guiding and guarding us as He gives us a role to play in His Kingdom's work. As we remember especially at this time of year our Lord's atoning death and triumphant resurrection, may we find joy in being including in the glorious project of Redemption.
In Christ, who is the Hope of the whole World (even Korea),
Emily
Monday, January 23, 2012
Better late than never...
Ok, it's been nearly a year since my last post...and a LOT has happened since then.
I didn't get into grad school. But God had other (better) things in store for me.
Even as I finished up my final (fifth) year at Truman and stressed out about grad school apps and auditions, God was carefully orchestrating the timing on another wild card in my life: my relationship with one LT Andrew D. Tipping, U.S. Army (a friend from Truman who, incidentally, was one of my few avid readers from this blog's inception). Our friendship of 4 years turned quickly into something more after Drew gave his life to Christ on May 4, 2010. We both thought it would be a bad idea to date right away, so we essentially alternated 'breaking up' with each other despite the fact that we weren't officially dating...I'd just been calling him from London on my cell phone for 4p a minute for sometimes hours at a time (in the middle of the night, GMT, I might add), and he was regularly emailing me and more than happy to let me run up his phone bill like that. Well, after 3 pseudo-break-ups in mid-May, early June, and late August respectively, we finally started dating officially in late October 2010.
We dated 3 weeks before he happened to mention it to his parents, and only a week after finding out her son was dating me, Drew's mom proceeded to spend part of their family's Thanksgiving roadtrip bestowing unsolicited upon him her advice about the best time of year to plan the wedding! (People, I'm not making this stuff up.) Anyway, at least we knew she approved from the start! By January, Drew and I were the ones discussing marriage seriously, and we asked God at the end of February if that was His plan for us. It's another long story, but He said yes pretty clearly.
It took another 3 weeks, though, before we figured my parents were ready for Drew to ask permission to marry me. Once he did, and permission was duly granted, he proposed on Monday, March 28, 2011. On Thursday, March 31st, I got my final rejection letter (actually, it was a rather impersonal email) and we knew we'd be getting married in the fall instead of waiting until I was finished with grad school! I've never been sooo happy about being rejected in my life! And so, 6 months after Drew became a Christian, we starting dating, and 5 months after that we got engaged. Almost exactly 5 months from our engagement, we were married in Hermann, MO, on August 20, 2011. (If anyone's interested in more of the story of our relationship, you can take a look at our wedding website, http://tiny.cc/AndrewandEmily2011)
Marriage is amazing and challenging. I've grown so much in the past 4 months that it's almost hard to believe how far I've come when I look back. I thought I was ready for marriage, but I had still so much to learn. God's been good and seen us through a number of challenges since our engagement, including Drew's mother's unexpected death in June, my first of 2 wrist surgeries (Nov), and--between the two of us combined--moving house not once but 4 times since May!
I confess some days I feel a bit like Eowyn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King. Like Eowyn, I have always held in my heart a deep yearning for adventures and great deeds. Maybe it's the traces of a Viking heritage not completely diluted with the passing of generations or perhaps it is an echo of a longing for the glory and adventure of the new heaven and new earth that are yet to come. Whatever its source, settling always felt like a trap, and complacency always seemed the worst of fates. Yet I have come to understand, I think, the change of heart Eowyn felt when she exclaimed to Faramir after months and years of restlessness and fears of adventure and glory passing her by, "I will be a shield-maiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren." She finds solace and a home in sharing her heart with a man--a friend--who understood her yearnings for something honorable, something more than ordinary. She finds someone who understands her and loves her exactly as she is. And growing in that relationship is a new and completely different adventure. I, too, have found adventure in sharing my life with this man that God has given to me. Because being in an ever-growing relationship is a constant source of exploration and discovery, and because God has given Drew and me to one another as traveling companions, I now know that no matter what we do or where life takes us, settling is no longer an option. We have chosen a life of adventure together--the adventure of living for God's glory and the advancement of His kingdom, the most glorious cause possible. As we follow our King, life can't help but become a daily adventure.
It's true that God's closed one chapter in my life--my years of Truman and studying abroad--but He's penning the opening pages of a new and exciting adventure. I hope to be more reliable and articulate in posting about both the adventure of the daily living and about where God's path take Drew and me in the coming years--whether it's Stateside or South Korea or somewhere else. As I look back on all that the Lord has done in my life to this point and how clear in hindsight His guiding Hand is, I am humbled at my own childish impatience and frustration when I didn't understand what He was doing and awed anew by His unfailing Love for me and all His children as He works all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8). I see His hand guiding my wanderings in this wide world so that--as long as I keep my eyes on Him--I may be a 'wanderer' but I will never be lost.
In closing, I leave you with a beautiful song by a talented Christian artist, Andrew Peterson, who shares his thoughts on wanderlust and the adventure of marriage:
In Christ, our great King, Guide, and Leader,
Mrs. Emily E. Tipping :)
I didn't get into grad school. But God had other (better) things in store for me.
Even as I finished up my final (fifth) year at Truman and stressed out about grad school apps and auditions, God was carefully orchestrating the timing on another wild card in my life: my relationship with one LT Andrew D. Tipping, U.S. Army (a friend from Truman who, incidentally, was one of my few avid readers from this blog's inception). Our friendship of 4 years turned quickly into something more after Drew gave his life to Christ on May 4, 2010. We both thought it would be a bad idea to date right away, so we essentially alternated 'breaking up' with each other despite the fact that we weren't officially dating...I'd just been calling him from London on my cell phone for 4p a minute for sometimes hours at a time (in the middle of the night, GMT, I might add), and he was regularly emailing me and more than happy to let me run up his phone bill like that. Well, after 3 pseudo-break-ups in mid-May, early June, and late August respectively, we finally started dating officially in late October 2010.
We dated 3 weeks before he happened to mention it to his parents, and only a week after finding out her son was dating me, Drew's mom proceeded to spend part of their family's Thanksgiving roadtrip bestowing unsolicited upon him her advice about the best time of year to plan the wedding! (People, I'm not making this stuff up.) Anyway, at least we knew she approved from the start! By January, Drew and I were the ones discussing marriage seriously, and we asked God at the end of February if that was His plan for us. It's another long story, but He said yes pretty clearly.
It took another 3 weeks, though, before we figured my parents were ready for Drew to ask permission to marry me. Once he did, and permission was duly granted, he proposed on Monday, March 28, 2011. On Thursday, March 31st, I got my final rejection letter (actually, it was a rather impersonal email) and we knew we'd be getting married in the fall instead of waiting until I was finished with grad school! I've never been sooo happy about being rejected in my life! And so, 6 months after Drew became a Christian, we starting dating, and 5 months after that we got engaged. Almost exactly 5 months from our engagement, we were married in Hermann, MO, on August 20, 2011. (If anyone's interested in more of the story of our relationship, you can take a look at our wedding website, http://tiny.cc/AndrewandEmily2011)
Marriage is amazing and challenging. I've grown so much in the past 4 months that it's almost hard to believe how far I've come when I look back. I thought I was ready for marriage, but I had still so much to learn. God's been good and seen us through a number of challenges since our engagement, including Drew's mother's unexpected death in June, my first of 2 wrist surgeries (Nov), and--between the two of us combined--moving house not once but 4 times since May!
I confess some days I feel a bit like Eowyn in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King. Like Eowyn, I have always held in my heart a deep yearning for adventures and great deeds. Maybe it's the traces of a Viking heritage not completely diluted with the passing of generations or perhaps it is an echo of a longing for the glory and adventure of the new heaven and new earth that are yet to come. Whatever its source, settling always felt like a trap, and complacency always seemed the worst of fates. Yet I have come to understand, I think, the change of heart Eowyn felt when she exclaimed to Faramir after months and years of restlessness and fears of adventure and glory passing her by, "I will be a shield-maiden no longer, nor vie with the great Riders, nor take joy only in the songs of slaying. I will be a healer, and love all things that grow and are not barren." She finds solace and a home in sharing her heart with a man--a friend--who understood her yearnings for something honorable, something more than ordinary. She finds someone who understands her and loves her exactly as she is. And growing in that relationship is a new and completely different adventure. I, too, have found adventure in sharing my life with this man that God has given to me. Because being in an ever-growing relationship is a constant source of exploration and discovery, and because God has given Drew and me to one another as traveling companions, I now know that no matter what we do or where life takes us, settling is no longer an option. We have chosen a life of adventure together--the adventure of living for God's glory and the advancement of His kingdom, the most glorious cause possible. As we follow our King, life can't help but become a daily adventure.
It's true that God's closed one chapter in my life--my years of Truman and studying abroad--but He's penning the opening pages of a new and exciting adventure. I hope to be more reliable and articulate in posting about both the adventure of the daily living and about where God's path take Drew and me in the coming years--whether it's Stateside or South Korea or somewhere else. As I look back on all that the Lord has done in my life to this point and how clear in hindsight His guiding Hand is, I am humbled at my own childish impatience and frustration when I didn't understand what He was doing and awed anew by His unfailing Love for me and all His children as He works all things for the good of those who love Him (Rom. 8). I see His hand guiding my wanderings in this wide world so that--as long as I keep my eyes on Him--I may be a 'wanderer' but I will never be lost.
In closing, I leave you with a beautiful song by a talented Christian artist, Andrew Peterson, who shares his thoughts on wanderlust and the adventure of marriage:
In Christ, our great King, Guide, and Leader,
Mrs. Emily E. Tipping :)
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