Deployment: Week 23 & 24

Notice anything different about the picture? Keep reading :)

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We're keeping it super quick today, folks, because this upcoming week has the potential to be one of the busiest weeks in the history of my life. I'm talking Halloween on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill on Monday night, David Crowder Band concert in Charlotte on Tuesday night, working at the Coffeehouse on Wednesday night, dad coming to town (woot!) for dinner on Thursday night, and Senior Bhangra/Awaaz on Friday & Saturday night. Plus the standard classes, RA-ing, my internship, working in the Durham Public Schools three days a week, you know...

BUT, I could NOT skip this deployment update, because lots of exciting things have been happening. The first of which is... (drumroll please)

Zach is getting promoted!

In exactly TWO days, Zach will be a corporal in the United States Marine Corps -- such a big deal :) He's worked so hard over the past 34 months to get to this point, especially since the cutting score required to pick up for his MOS is higher than average. Promotion from LCpl to Cpl also means that Zach will now be an NCO (non-commissioned officer), so in addition to more respect and responsibility, Zach also gets the "blood stripe" on his dress blues (depicted in the first picture of this post) I'm SO proud of him for everything he's accomplished during the past three years in the Marine Corps :)

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While we're bragging on accomplishments here, you may notice that the little doodle above not only has Zach in his dress blues with his brand new blood stripe and corporal chevrons, but also a shiny new badge. What might that be, you ask?

Remember last year when Zach had rifle range & shot expert? WELL, this past week, he had pistol range... and shot expert as well (the highest you can get)! The kid is seriously dominating with some weapons. I'm not sure if I should be incredibly terrified or feel incredibly safe, but I'll go with the latter of the two :)

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Since my last deployment update post, Zach & I have gotten to Skype a few more times... on my iPad! Apparently, I'm not the only girl who ran around the house singing "Supernova Girl" with my sisters as a child. Judging by the response on my Facebook, everybody wanted to be Zenon:

What can I say, my life can be pretty awesome sometimes.

• • • • •

While Skyping with Zach last week, we were talking about everything that has happened in the world since he deployed in May, which then turned into every new song that has come out since May. How crazy is it to think that when Zach left, "Just A Kiss" by Lady Antebellum, "Remind Me" by Brad Paisley, and "Made in America" by Toby Keith hadn't even been released, let alone become super popular! (For you non-country music lovers, think "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj.)

Zach hasn't heard any of these songs. Actually, he hasn't heard most of the songs that are currently being played on the radio, period, so we spent our entire Skype date playing clips of the aforementioned, plus "Dirt Road Anthem" by Jason Aldean, "Crazy Girl" by Eli Young Band, and "Easy" by Rascal Flatts & Natasha Bedingfield. I also played a little "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People to balance out the country music overload :) Gotta keep the boy up-to-date.

• • • • •

The days keep ticking away -- Zach & I joked that the first five months FLEW by, but now that we have a return date window, October stopped moving completely. Seriously, the middle of October lasted for about three years :) BUT, November is SO close. We still have a little ways to go, but the number of weeks remaining can be counted on two hands, and I'm sure it will be here before we know it.

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So much for a "super quick" update, but hey, I told you there was lots of exciting stuff to share! If you'll excuse me, though, I'm currently Google-chatting with a certain newly-promoted Marine who just informed me that he cut his finger today. It's supposedly "just a little scratch." Mmhmm, sure, Corporal...


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Birthday Princess

Guess who is 22?

(although my youngest sister apparently thinks I'm 55...)

Yepp, it's time for the official birthday weekend recap! While college is great, I knew that spending my birthday weekend at home would be more special, and let me tell you... home did not disappoint :)

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I made the drive from Durham to Winston on Saturday afternoon, just in time to catch my baby sister at work and get a birthday cookie from the "sandwich artist" herself.

Baby sister was clearly thrilled that I brought my camera to document her first and brand new job (don't be fooled by the lack of eye contact...), but hey, this is undoubtedly my role as the proud big sis.

So profesh.

My brief trip to Subway was followed by an equally brief trip to my church, where the children's department was having their costume party. I was able to sneak in some open-mouth kisses from my favorite three-year-old, Buzz Lightyear...

Just ignore the awkward piece of hair hanging in my face

...before trekking into Clemmons and meeting up with my two best friends from high school at our old stomping grounds. (Isn't that a funny word -- stomping grounds? So thrilled I just had the opportunity to use it.)

Kacey lives in Chapel Hill, Amy lives in Advance, and I live in Durham. I see Kacey frequently (ish), since we live half an hour apart (ish). And I see Amy a couple of times a year when I'm home. Likewise, Amy & Kacey see each other every so often. BUT, if our memory serves us correctly, the THREE of us have not all been together since April of 2009... over two and a half years ago! 'Twas a grand reunion in the Starbucks parking lot :)

And despite the fact that the couches & chairs have been slightly rearranged during the past two and a half years, not much else has changed :)

The hours passed at Starbucks & continued to do the same at Kacey's house, until the wee hours of Sunday morning rolled around and I was 22 years old!

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I went to church with my family on my birthday, but not before mom took official birthday pictures for our last ever sister calendar :)

(dress: Gap)

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Even from 7000 miles away, a certain someone managed to send two dozen gerber daisies -- my favorite -- in addition to seasons five and six of One Tree Hill, of which I may or may not have watched seven episodes on my actual birthday :)

Even cooler (in my opinion), Zach was able to call on my birthday... for free! He normally has to pay for phone calls except for the occasional "free calling days" -- like Fathers' Day, Fourth of July, etc. I have no idea why October 23 is significant enough to the Marine Corps to designate it as a free calling day, but we're all going with the fact that my birthday is a pretty big deal.

But actually...

In a couple of months, I will receive the American flag that was flown on the base on my birthday, with an official certificate saying that it was flown on October 23 in honor of me. Zach got to be the one to raise it and everything -- how COOL is that?!

(American flag, Afghanistan flag, & Marine Corps flag; source)

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I had my birthday dinner with my extended family -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins -- the usual :) My significantly younger cousins spent the time calculating how many birthdays they had left until their senior year of college, because rumor has it that the parties don't continue on to age 23.

My significantly younger cousins also hijacked my camera with the help of my siblings & left me a ton of entertaining photos, like the following:

Buzz Lightyear turned pirate, obviously...

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And upon my arrival back to Duke, my fellow RA loves helped me celebrate the final 30 minutes of my birthday with presents, red & purple skittles, & a semi-hysterical photobooth session. So much love :)

• • • • •

And just like that, my special day (weekend) was over!

Thank you to EVERYONE who made my birthday absolutely fabulous --

I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! I love you all :)

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Birthday Weekend

It's my birthday weekenddd!

I suppose that technically makes this past week my "birthday week." And while a portion of my birthday week was dominated by midterm exams and papers and life without a computer charger (yuckkk!), the rest consisted of early birthday presents, sushi picnics on the quad, meeting up with high school friends, coffee dates, small group dinner (at the Q Shack, woot!), sleepovers, and (drumroll, please...) my official karaoke debut. If you hadn't heard by now, I'm basically the new lead singer for Lady Antebellum---no big deal. See you later, Hillary Scott.

Although you're undoubtedly dying to hear more after that little teaser, I figured I'd save the birthday week/weekend recap for next week (my birthday isn't actually until Sunday, you know---there's still lots more to come!) and instead, reflect on the glorious 21st year of my life.

While I was 21, I...

• spent three months visiting the hospital after my grandpa had a terrible accident. I also got to watch his miraculous recovery, and I'm so glad he'll be at my 22nd birthday supper this year!
• served as one of the coordinators for a weekend Christian retreat in my home church's district
• took an eventful roadtrip to visit all of my friends at Bridgewater College
• dabbled in opening an Etsy shop
• survived my junior year at Duke University
• said goodbye to Zach as he began his deployment to Afghanistan
• celebrated my three year anniversary with Zach and told the story of how we started dating
• moved to Fincastle, Virginia, where I lived for three months
• went rock climbing AND biked the entire Virginia Creeper Trail for the first time
• worked as the summer program coordinator at the summer camp where I grew up
• started my senior year of college
• lived it up at Heritage Day with all of my camp friends
• flew to Florida & spent fall break with my cousins

My year of being 21 had more than its fair share of rough patches along the way, but it ended on a great note which will hopefully continue on into an even greater year of being 22. It's looking promising already: the end of deployment & Zach's return from Afghanistan, MY COLLEGE GRADUATION (praise Jesus, seriously!), hopefully getting a big girl job/apartment/all of the thrilling expenses that accompanying growing up -- big things ahead.

Thanks for the memories, 21. I'm moving on :)

countdown widget on my desktop

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Engagement || Bradley + Rebecca || Roanoke, Virginia

The first little photo montage isn't too terribly belated -- who doesn't love a good "Friday Phone Dump" on Saturday?

Row 1: Duke Coffeehouse; random doodle while on shift at the Coffeehouse; babysitting precious A; babysitting baby J

Row 2: welcome to Florida; Myla flying through the air; Kaylie + Shamu; see you later, Florida

Row 3: 100 levels of Unblock Me on the plane; I often get volunteered by my classmates to write on the whiteboard during my Early Childhood Education class; weekly Starbucks date with Laura

• • • • •

The rest of these photos, however, were taken over two months ago!

I met Bradley the first summer I worked at Camp Bethel (2006), and despite an abandoned ice cream outing & creepy laundry offers, we've been friends ever since. This past summer, he called me and asked if I'd be interested in taking engagement pictures of him & his fiancée, Rebecca! Never in a billion years would I have considered doing photography, but I gave it a shot (pun intended)... and what do you know: I'm doing an engagement shoot for another couple this afternoon!

Enjoy a few of the pictures taken at the one & only Camp Bethel :)

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Deployment: Week 21 & 22

Week 22 isn't completely over yet, but I'm so excited that I couldn't wait until Sunday to post a deployment update.

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Ladies & gentlemen, it has been exactly 150 days since Zach deployed to Afghanistan & since I last saw him. During that time, I couldn't tell you how many times we've attempted to Skype. Literally, I could not tell you, because the number of failed Skype chats is so ridiculously high that I've lost count. It's always something --- there aren't any webcams available in the MWR, he's on another FOB that doesn't have Skype, there's a freak sandstorm in the desert that messes with the internet connection (no big deal), I can't get a strong enough internet connection (it's happened...), etc.

But, on magical day #150, everything finally clicked:

...and we were able to Skype for the FIRST time since deployment started five months ago!

Ahh, check out those blue eyes :)

It was great to finally be able to see each other, even if a significant portion of our time was spent CRACKING UP at a guy in the background who kept looking over his shoulder and staring at Zach's computer screen. I never could seem to catch him in the act, but he was clearly unaware that we could totes see him creeping.

Too funny.
Throughout this deployment, I've constantly been reminded of the words in Romans 8:26-28: "Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter... He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
There are a lot of "something goods" resulting from this time apart; I am confident of that. I am also incredibly grateful for what God is doing in our lives and will undoubtedly continue to do.
Last bit of exciting news: WE RECEIVED A CUT-OFF DATE FOR MAIL! While the return dates aren't completely set in stone yet, the end is in site :) All mail/packages have to be sent before November 1 (it actually has to be at the port of departure in New Jersey by November 1) to ensure that the boys receive everything with plenty of time to pack it up & begin their journey home. I can't believe that we're 70% done with this and already talking about tentative return dates! Thank you, God!

Once again, if you want to squeeze in one last letter in the next couple of weeks, the address is:
LCpl Jones Zacharie K1st BN 9th MAR H&S ArmoryUnit 74095FPO AE 09510-4095
(It's also still posted under the "Deployment" tab :))

I get so excited to share things like this with you lovely blog readers! You've all been so supportive & encouraging from the very beginning, and I love being able to post updates that show answers to prayers -- your prayers -- from the past year. Your comments mean the world to me, and I can't thank you enough for your continued love & support! Oorah :)


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Sepia-Toned Loving

Love is the answer, at least for most of the questions in my heart

Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard?

It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving.

I'll tell you one thing: it's always better when we're together

I spent the past four days at my cousins' house in Florida with their two ridiculously adorable little girls. It's funny; we joked a lot about how we didn't do much since baby #3 wanted to be a party pooper (baby #3 is clearly jealous that he/she has to wait until April to join in on the fun). But really, it was perfect. It was relaxing and low-key... and definitely better together.

All of the "not really doing much of anything" consisted of being serenaded by a five year old and her violin:

...and reading books to a two year old in a new (to her) bunk bed:

...and laughing & being silly:

...and watching princess movies, and subsequently dressing up as a princess while watching princess movies:

...and recording countless videos with the ever-entertaining MacBook PhotoBooth:

...and staying up to play games, because a cousin visiting from North Carolina is a special treat:

Did I mention reading? :) Lots and lots of reading:

And lots and lots of coloring & drawing & dry erase boarding (I think I just invented that...) & paper dolls & Tinkerbell & Sunday afternoon football & Halloween costume shopping & stuffed animals & meowing & homework & stories & Wii games & Angry Birds & car seat buckling & "moo sweaty french fries" & momma cats & Skittles & flipping & giggling & tickling & cuddling & hugging & (occasionally) sleeping.

And all of these moments just might find their way into my dreams tonight

But I know that they'll be gone when the morning light sings and brings new things

I'm quite the fan of "not really doing much of anything."

Easily my most favorite fall break ever :)

But there is not enough time,

And there is no, no song I could sing

And there is no combination of words I could say

But I will still tell you one thing:

We're better together.

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