Thursday, September 30, 2010

the time spent together.

Collin boosting Devin up.

Devin got back about a week and a half after his original date to be home....which left him with just a few days over a month to settle into Oregon before departing to be united with his original station, CGC Steadfast.
We celebrated our second anniversary August 2nd. I got Devin a netbook so he would have a simpler time communicating with the real world while traveling around on boats, and he got me a nook since I read pretty much constantly. We also both made tattoo appointments as part of our festivities, and there was fun all around.
In the middle of August we were visited by the Trerise family as well as Daniel. It was nice to have a little bit of Utah in Oregon as Oregon still does not feel like "home". We went to the beach, bought fish and chips from a boat (it was delicious!), went to the column, and enjoyed a meals together. It was very refreshing. While Daniel was still here, we checked out another church. I had been struggling to find one while Devin was gone, and I had been going to one more than others, but we still didn't feel God leading us that way. Because of Devin's work schedule while he was home, we only were able to go to it twice as a couple, so that was sad. Devin really feels this is where we are led. I just miss house churches a lot. We quickly discovered that churches out here don't really break down and meet in smaller groups, so no one really ever has a chance to get to know anyone else.
Obviously Devin and Daniel in their natural states.
Devin had to spend a lot of time home working as they prepared to go meet their boat on the East Coast. He built softball fields and painted a middle school. Then the time came for him to leave again. It was disappointing to say the least. Devin really does not enjoy boat life, so it was really hard. I think it's an obvious fact that I don't like the time away either. We're both counting down the days to A-school and praying hard that it comes sooner than expected. Once Devin gets through A-school, we won't ever have to have long periods apart. Well, that's all for now.
love, chianne

Friday, September 24, 2010

always overdue...

I'm very sorry for the lack of updates. I was struggling with making the layout of the blog what I wanted it to be and then I just downright got angry and decided I was going to abandon it. Then I decided that's not what I wanted to do at all...so here goes. I revamped the layout and I feel a lot better now, so maybe I'll stick with this for once. That's something I don't like about myself - I have a lot of projects going at once but I never ever really stick to one and finish it. hmm...
Anyways, now that Devin has finished his TAD with CGC Alert, I can tell you more about where he went and what he saw. (Though I can't post pictures since Devin accidentally deleted them as soon as he tried to upload them to the computer...sigh.)
Devin spent from the beginning of May to the end of July sailing the Pacific Ocean. He got to go to B.C., Canada for the first time, as well as countless ports in Alaska. He got to cross over the International Date Line which has earned him the title of "Golden Dragon". He saw Russia from afar as well as Russian boats. He [willingly] jumped into the Bering Sea (28 degrees) and swam to a nearby boat which earned him a "Polar Bear Plunge" certificate. He got his qualifications completed so he doesn't have to stand as many watches.
This was all great, until he found that because of error in communication, he actually wasn't supposed to go underway with that boat at all. Yep...needless to say we were both very discouraged when we heard that. Devin had spent only a few days here...we had not found a church by the time he had left (and I was struggling to find one alone). To have that much more time together and settling in would have been such a blessings and would have made so many things easier that ended up being a lot harder. I'll never understand why God allowed the miscommunication to happen that led to more time apart. I think I've typed enough for now...I'll get to stories about Devin being home in the next post.
love,
chianne