Brent and Taylor Bowers

Grafenwoehr, Germany

2010-04-26T15:56:00.000-07:00

Home Is Where The Army Sends Us!

...Looks like Germany! Brent's report date is July 15th. Until then it's hurry up and wait.

Show Some Support!

2010-04-07T09:48:00.001-07:00

Still Waiting...

2010-03-31T05:10:00.000-07:00

Still no word as to where we will be moving to in July. We're hoping to find out in the next month or so, but the Army has it's own way of doing things, SLOW, that's for certain.

Brent is doing really well in AIT. He mostly has good news to share, whether it be an A on a test or that he has gained more privileges. He has been made APG and class leader, got to shake a General's hand, and joined the track team. Everyday is not easy, but he sure is making the best of it. Like me, he is ready to get settled into a home again!

I struggled with the decision to move to Georgia for a few months or stay in West Palm and wait it out. I decided to stay in West Palm until we move somewhere together. It will be much easier to get organized and prepared for a huge move, not to mention save money, and I scored a full time position at work that will carry me to the end of the school year.

AIT...

2010-02-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

Brent made it to Georgia!

An Extra Day in OK...

2010-01-30T06:46:00.000-08:00

Sooo, as Brent and I are about to say goodbye, his Captain walks in the room and announces that all flights have been cancelled, Oklahoma City airport is closed, and the guys will get an off post pass for Saturday... What!? Nothing that is happening this entire trip makes any sense.... Brent and I both knew that this all sounded too good to be true, and of course it was. The airport is NOT closed and my flight is ON TIME. Of course, a chance to spend the day together and I have to fly back home.

So, I took matters into my own hands and changed my flight for tomorrow instead of today. I'll tell Brent when he calls... another day in OK. Hopefully, uh no, prayerfully today will be better than the rest!

Hurray For Good People!

2010-01-30T06:28:00.000-08:00

Because of some amazing people Brent and I have met along the way, we were able to see each other for a couple hours yesterday. Once the post had semi-opened, some families were able to get on post to see their soldiers. But because the taxi companies were not running, I was stuck at the hotel. Brent and I racked our brains for hours trying to figure out how I could get to post. Finally, one of his buddy's family members offered to leave post, cut time away from their soldier, drive 30 minutes out of the way, and pick me up. Sooo thankful to God for people like them.

Oklahoma's Stormy Weather

2010-01-30T06:18:00.000-08:00

Although this weather has thrown a wrench in many plans, it is a truly beautiful sight to see and not something us South Floridians get to see very often... or ever!

Family Day at Ft. Sill

2010-01-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

So, typically Family Day at Ft. Sill consists of soldier demonstrations, videos, speeches, and activities for families to participate in, but since the weather on Oklahoma has taken a turn for the worst, Family Day ran a little different than it normally does. All activities were cancelled and soldiers were not allowed to leave post. Here's a little bit of how our rainy, cold, icy day went...

First up was the promotion ceremony. Only about 10% of soldiers receive promotions straight out of basic and Brent was one of them! He ranked up from Private (E2) to Private 1st Class (E3). Very exciting considering he has only been in the service for a few months, it involves a raise, and is another step closer to reaching his goals. It was super special to be able to stand in front of all the other families and friends and pin my soldier's new rank on his uniform.

After the promotions were given, we went to eat at the main PX on post. Walked around for a while and then headed to the bowling alley. We were able to bowl one game before the power went out and the alley closed for the day, but it was fun while it lasted!

This is Brent with a buddy of his (Burns). They are such a cute couple! :)

By the time we had finished bowling, everything on post was closed. Nothing left to do except head back to the battery.

Ready for Brent's Graduation

2010-01-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Since I'm stuck in a hotel room about 1,500 miles away from home I figured I would post some updates!

A lot has taken place since Brent left for the Army back in October... Thanksgiving, Christmas, A New Year...

This Wednesday I flew out from Palm Beach International airport headed towards Lawton, Oklahoma. When I first arrived at the airport, I walked right up to the counter, checked my luggage, received my boarding passes, and thought, "Wow, this is all too easy!" I had a slight wait before boarding the airplane, but was on my way in no time. I had to stop in Atlanta, GA for a connection to Oklahoma City. When I arrived in Atlanta, my phone wouldn't work. I spent my entire layover in tears on the phone with customer service trying to figure out what in the world was going on. All I could think about was traveling to a state I have never been to, alone, and without my "life line" to the rest of the world! By the time tech support was able to get my phone back in working order, I was ready for lunch. I stopped at the closest place to my boarding gate and bought something to eat. Finally, I was where I needed to be, my phone was working, and I had some food... just as I sat down to eat, I hear that my flight is boarding. I had no time to eat and therefore wrapped up my food and placed it in my carry on. I figured no big deal, I'll eat in Oklahoma.
When I stepped off the plane in Oklahoma, I realized that my food had spilled out all over the inside of my bag. No fun at all trying to clean chicken salad and dressing off of a Coach wallet! Next stop was baggage claim. After standing there for about 10 minutes, there were no more bags coming through the hole in the wall, all the was left was an empty luggage belt and no sign of my bag. I walked over to the baggage claim service desk where I was told that my luggage was left in Atlanta and that they did not know when it would arrive. The man with the airline took down the address that I would be staying at and said, "hopefully you will have your luggage by the weekend." The weekend!? Right then and there was my breaking point. Immediately I got on the phone with my mom and lost all control of emotions. While crying hysterically on the phone another service rep walked by and asked if there was anything she could do for me. I got off the phone and proceeded to tell her my story. Long story short, she looked up my baggage claim number (something the first jerk didn't do) and was able to tell me exactly where my bag was and that it was already on it's way to Oklahoma. I told her that I would like to wait for it, but couldn't because I would miss my bus to the town I needed to be in. So, she set me up with a private taxi, meal vouchers, and flight vouchers all so I could wait for my bag and leave with it. I was thankful for her, what a life saver!

Much later than originally planned, I arrived in Lawton, which is the town where Ft. Sill is located and checked into my hotel room. What a relief to finally be here!

Carnival...The Fun Ship!

2009-10-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last week we set sail on the Carnival Imagination to Key West, FL and Cozumel, Mexico. It was a complete blast watching Vegas style shows, laughing at the comedians, playing games, participating in competitions, eating to our heart's content, sightseeing, and of course relaxing by the pool.

Our first stop was to the Ernest Hemingway house in Key West. There we were able to see how he lived, where he wrote some of his most famous books, and of course his cats. At all times there are 40-50 furry friends roaming the acre property. These cats are direct descendants from Hemingway's cats and some of them even have the six toe gene!

My favorite part of the tour was the pool. It was built sometime in the 30's by one of Hemingway's wives while he was overseas. The pool is a saltwater pool and cost $20,000 to install. Unbelievable, considering the house was purchased for just $8,000!

The southern most point in the Continental United Sates...Only 90 miles to Cuba!

Mile Marker Zero... We're such tourists.

A cowboy bar in town where we had 2-for-1 margaritas.

The night before arriving in Mexico. We stopped to take a picture in the library while waiting for dinner to begin.

One of the many restraurants Cozumel has to offer it's guests. This one was my favorite with it sitting right on the crystal clear water.

Brent and I on the boat headed out to parasail. When we were trying to sign up for it in town the adventure companies wanted $90 a person to parasail. We decided that it was way over priced and ventured out of the tourist spot to do some deal searching. We ended up finding a guy that let us parasail for cheap, cheap, cheap. It was really nice. We had the boat to ourselves and we able to be up in the fresh air for 17 minutes.

The gorgeous water we parasailed over.

The "zonkey" at Fat Tuesdays

One last picture before heading back to the ship.

So, Brent and I were laying out by the pool when we heard announcments for the Men's Hairy Chest contest. I begged and pleaded with Brent to go sign up and he did. We were very much under the impression that all he would have to do is stand up on stage and look handsome as we all know he is. However, that was not the case. When the contest started each guy had to dance down a stair case, dance up onto the stage, have his chest felt, and give a tarzan yell! Although he didn't win the grand prize bottle of champagne, he did walk away with a "ship on a stick." Needless to say, it was a total hoot and not at all what we expected!

Us with Fun Ship Freddy during the free cocktail hour on our last night aboard.

This trip was such a blessing for Brent and I. For the past few months we had talked about taking a cruise to get away together before he leaves for the Army. Last month we had finally given up on being able to take a vacation before he left purely due to a lack of money. It was such a surprise when I opened up papers for a cruise in my brithday card from Brent's parents. Thanks to them we were able to enjoy each other without any stress from our daily lives.

Camping Pictures

2009-10-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are some pictures from our camping trip...

Hubert cooling off in the crossing. It was so hot out!

Brent and his dad pulling the barge across the crossing of water. The barge is how we get all our stuff across and into camp when the water is high.

Brent on his fourwheeler... Ready to pick up some speed!

The cypress trees and other scenery is beautiful there.

My dad on a fourwheeler loaded down with our stuff on the way out of camp.

Back to the Grind...

2009-08-28T16:35:00.000-07:00

After a not so relaxing summer working as a camp counselor, the new school year has begun and it's back to school.

I went back to work a couple weeks ago. I scored a spot as a long term substitute for teachers going on maternity leave. The first quarter of school I am teaching PE for grades 6th through 9th. We are going on week 4 and it's so far, so great! The steady full time work (and pay) is great and is really helping to get us through the slow times.

College classes just started this week and boy are my teachers packing on the homework! This is my last semester at Palm Beach Community College and it seems as though my professors are giving out more assignments than ever! That's okay, graduation here I come.

With all that Brent and I have going on, we managed to get away for a weekend. We went camping on a family friend's property out near Yeehaw Junction. Although it was hot, hot, hot (in the middle of August)... it is an amazing place to go and just be with family. We had a great time and I will be sure to tell more about our trip in my next post. Pictures too!

Universal Studios

2009-06-13T16:32:00.001-07:00

Universal Studios June 2009

Hubert

2009-05-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

A Little Bit About Hubert...

We got Hubert in June of 2007 when he was 4 months old. We picked him up from animal care and control in Okeechobee County. The deal was to get a small dog that would only take up a small amount of space, eat small amounts of food, and make only small messes. Funny how plans change...

We ended up with the biggest puppy in the pound! The first couple days Hubert was with us he was super shy, but it didn't take too long for him to loosen up. The house training process was a nightmare and he teethed on everything in our house! If you have ever seen "Marley and Me", you will know what I am talking about... What had we gotten ourselves into!?

After his first year with us, we had seen major improvements in him. He was fully house broken, not chewing on everything in sight, and had become an integral part of our family. There's no parting with him now!

Hubert now knows sit, shake, and high-five!

Hubert chasing his tail.

A Successful Marriage

2009-05-23T11:41:00.001-07:00

Okay, Here it is!

2009-05-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

Heard from Brent today at 5pm...

Drum Roll Please....

He got the job he wanted with a small bonus, but a bonus none the less! It is a job in communications- something to do with computers and satellites? He hasn't been able to explain it to me fully yet. He swore into the military today and they still have to do some security clearence on him, but as of right now he leaves for boot camp on October 27th, 2009.

Brent is still in Miami, no word yet...

2009-05-21T11:35:00.000-07:00

Thursday 21st, 2009

Brent left for Miami last night. My mom and Grammy came over to watch a movie with me and keep me company. My Grammy ended up spending the night with me so I would not have to be alone in the house. I talked to Brent around 9pm for a quick minute. He had just finished eating dinner and said that they had a 4:30am wake up call. That is so so early! They said that if everything goes smoothly, he should be done by 10am.

...It's now 2:30pm and I'm still not sure what is going on down there. Brent sent me a text message this morning to say Hi and Happy Anniversary, other than that no word all day. I am dying to know what is happening!

I talked to mom a little while ago and she was telling me about her morning. She was telling me how usually when she asks Abby (my 5 yr old sister) to pray with her she fuses- she has a pretty short attention span, but this morning was different. My mom said to Abby, "Will you please pray with Mommy? I have some stuff that is heavy on my heart," and Abby said, "Sure Mom, me too." They got down on their knees to pray and Abby wanted to pray first. My mom said she began to pray in detail for "God to keep Brent safe in the Army." What a thoughful sister Abigail is. For only being 5 years old she sure does understand what is going on in life. She amazes me with the things she says. The hardest part of this whole thing will be moving away from her. I think my mom doesn't believe I'm serious, but I am just going to have to take Abby with me wherever Brent and I move to!!

Brent is going to Miami

2009-05-20T06:55:00.000-07:00

May 20th, 2009

Brent leaves tonight for Miami. He has to spend the night down there and in the morning he will do his physical, pick his job, and swear in. The recruiter told him to bring his laptop and a book to read... there will be lots of waiting around.

It is starting to feel real. Emotions are kicking in and I have been a total basket case today. I know that this is the best choice for us to make right now. It will open up a lot opportunities for Brent and I that were not there before, but the reality of it all is starting to sink in. We both understand that this will not be an easy change, but we are here to support each other and we will make it work.

Our 2nd Anniversary

2009-05-19T08:16:00.000-07:00

May 21st, 2009

For our 2nd Anniversary I wanted to do something really special for us...

So I booked a weekend stay on the beautiful Palm Beach Island.

Unfortunately, the rain was pretty much non stop, so we made the best of our one night there and checked out a couple days early. Really great place though- we will for sure stay again on a more sunny weekend!

On Saturday night we went to City Place (which is in downtown West Palm Beach) and ate at a restaurant called Taverna Opa. The place was awesome!! It is a Greek restaurant where the food is rich in flavor and the waiters, belly dancers, and guests are free to dance on the tables. I posted some videos below. (I definitely want to go here for my 21st birthday!)

For those of you who haven't heard...

2009-05-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

May 19th, 2009

For those of you who haven't heard...

For the last few months, Brent has been looking into joining the military. He has been speaking to many members of the family as well as friends to get advice (...and LOTS of opinions!) on what the best route might be.

It has been a long time dream of Brent's to fly. So, naturally we thought Air Force. Brent and I went to speak to an Air Force recruiter and get whatever information that we could. For months we went back and forth with the recruiter getting great news one day and nothing the next. We knew that we had to do something sooner. The Air Force recruiter understood the situation we were (and still are) in and recommended we speak with a recruiter from the Army.

We met with the Army recruiter and liked what he had to offer. To make sure we weren't being taken for fools we spoke with a couple members of the family who have had life long careers in the military. They assured us everything looked right on track and told us what to watch out for.

We decided that the Army was right for us.

As of today, Brent knows the jobs available to him in the Army and is favoring a job in communications. If he can get the job he wants with a bonus then the following will take place: Tomorrow (Wednesday 20th), Brent goes with the recruiter down to Miami. He has to spend the night there and the next day (Thursday 21st) he will do his first swear in to the United States Army.

It's all pretty exciting...and nerve racking... at the same time.

P.S.- Thursday 21st is also our 2nd Year Marriage Anniversary!

Welcome!

2009-05-19T07:23:00.000-07:00

May 18th, 2009

Hey Everyone!

Thanks for stopping by to check out our new blog. We have created this in order to better keep in touch with each of you and update you on our forever changing lives. We know that the recent news has come as somewhat of a shock to most of you, but please be aware that it has been under careful consideration for quite some time now. Brent and I are both very excited (and nervous) to begin our new adventure. As much as we can, we will share with you new information, photos, and updates on what going on.

Sincerely,

Brent and Taylor Bowers