Hallo...a new adventure

Well I drove up to my sister's house on Thursday to spend the day with her and the boys. She very politely informed me that it was time for me to update my blog, so here I am.

Easter was pretty good. I went to church with mom and dad. We went to Grandaddy and Glendia's for the great food, fellowship, and finding of eggs. I had a lot of fun helping Jack with his eggs and also got in some cuddle time with sweet little Sam. I also engaged in a very interesting conversation with Brooklyn about how she weighs 11 ft tall. :) I love little kids! hehe!

I have been on spring break this week and it has been fairly uneventful aside from a few tennis practices and some spring cleaning. I did get to spend some quality time with big sis and nephews on Thursday. That was fun. Jack was very excited that he was going to the football game on Saturday. This will be his first Ga football game, even though its only a scrimmage. It will be interesting to see how he does.

On a BIGGER note, Jonathan received and has signed his contract. We will be going to...GERMANY!!! Hence, the "hallo" for the title. I am very excited. Now on to making sure everything that needs to get done actually gets done. I need to get my teaching job figured out. I need to get a physical done at the navy base in athens as well as get my military ID. I have already started to look up things to do and places to go that I hope we will get to all of them. The biggest thing about all of this is that I will be WITH my husband!! I am sooo excited. We have 17 weeks to go!!! This has been a trying time and it has definitely made our love for each other grow in a very special way that I will never regret. On the other hand I am ready to see my husband on a daily basis rather than a few months basis. God has been faithful through this time and has kept both of us strong. We are about to truly begin our lives together but it is more than that. We are also beginning our lives together by embarking on this amazing adventure. I am very excited about all of it and for my sister's sanity will try to keep you updated more often! ;)

Annual Cough Fest!

Well every year at some point in time I develop what I tease is my smokers cough. No, I don't smoke but at least once every year I get a really bad cough with a cold of some kind that makes me sound like I put a pack down everyday! ;) My cough started last night but I woke up around 4:00 this morning with a for sure fever. My head was burning up but my body was freezing. Luckily, the fever has subsided for now but I still feel extremely weak but do not really want to eat anything. I need to go to the store and get some gatorade or something but I am soo tired. I need to get up and moving around somehow because I am supposed to go up to Laura and Josh's house to celebrate Josh and mines birthday. I hope I feel a lot better by then. The sad thing is this means I need to stay away from my precious newborn nephew, Sam. :( Oh well. I did manage up the strength to take a shower so one victory accomplished.

I was planning on going to school today to get some serious planning done because this past week has been soo crazy!! We had a tennis match on Monday which we won 3-2. Of course on Tuesday we had our snow day. On Wednesday we had pictures and practice. On Thursday we had an away match at Eastside, about 2 hours away from us. They only had four courts to play on and we didn't get done until 8:30. We had to stop and get something to eat which didn't get us back to school until around 11:30 where I had to drive another 20 minutes to Royston to get in bed!! It has been an exhausting week and with tennis season in full swing there are bound to be more just like it! Well I am going to attempt my next task of going to the store and getting some gatorade to hopefully give me a little more energy!

Hard, Harder, Hardest

I don't complain much about Jonathan being gone in Cuba. I feel like if you were to put in on a meter the number of my complaints, the line would be at the very bottom. Sometimes, it is more how I appear. But there are times when I am by myself when I can't help but think why God has called us to go through this time. In the past year I have spent about a months worth of time with my husband. He left for training last March so it has been almost a year. We are coming up on 7 months in Cuba, 5 to go. When it is all said and done we will have spent the better part of a year and a half apart. Most days I can keep myself busy enough to not think about it too much but I can never trick myself completely because I am always well aware of the empty space beside me that should be filled. I am always aware that when I come home at the end of the day there is no one else there. I am always aware that the amount of communication with my husband that night depends on whether the internetor or the phone lines in Cuba are working. Thank the Lord for technilogical advances that allow me to hear my husbands voice and see my husbands face. Now if only there were a way to feel his touch, feel his arms wrapped around me, and tell him "I love you" whenever I want. People ask me often how I am and I usually respond with ok or fine. People ask me how is married life and I honestly do not know what they expect me to tell them so I always laugh and make a joke.

The truth is it is hard at times, harder at others, and hardest at rare occassions. The truth is that I am painfully aware that I am alone when I come home and am sadly used to it. I have wonderful family and friends that keep me busy and thanks to them and my faithful God most days are good days. I constantly remind myself that there are others who are much worse off than me. I constantly remind myself that I am no martyr be any means. God constantly reminds me that in due time even if I never see why I will forever have the knowledge that this time will bring us closer to each other and closer to Him.

Christmas Day in GTMO

0615 The alarm goes off and Jonathan and I roll out of bed.
0625 People driving by look at us like we are crazy for being at a bus stop so early in the morning on Christmas day.
0630 We notice someone else at a nearby bus stop and begin not to feel quite as foolish.
0700 Begin cooking breakfast for the guys at Jonathan's apartment that just got off work.
0900 Catch the bus back to our hotel room.
0915 Fast asleep in bed.
1000-1500 Lay around watching movies and catching up on sleep.
1900 Begin making dinner with pans we borrowed from the kitchen in the main building.
1930 Enjoy our closest thing to a home-cooked meal we will get for Christmas.
2100 Put on the movie Elf and enjoy the last few hours of our first Christmas together.

For everyone back home, we miss you and hope your Christmas was just as relaxing as ours. We love you all and wish you a happy new year as well!

Love,
Jonathan and Emily Rupard

Merry Christmas from Jonathan and Emily Rupard

In front of the GTMO huge Christmas tree.

Out to dinner.

Well I am sitting in the hotel room and figured I could update this for those few of you that read. I also thought I would put up a few pictures. Jonathan went down to the company because they told him he had a lot of mail. So those of you that sent packages early he might have gotten some of them. The weather has been a little groggy until yesterday. We did get a little bit of rain on Jonathan's birthday but it wasn't too bad. We have been enjoying our time together; swimming, bowling, and just being together. Here are a few pictures to hold you over.

Just a shot of one of the bays.

Waiting on the ferry after seeing each other for the first time in months!!!

Let the countdown begin...

Well I am officially approved to go to Cuba!! YAY! 9 more days and I will not only be in 90 degree weather but I will also be seeeing my husband for the first time since August 15th!!!! SOOOOO excited. That is pretty much it for right now!

Two Week Notice

Well my title is inspired by the fact that hopefully if everything goes according to plans that I will be on a plane to Cuba in two weeks. I am so beyond excited. I have not seen my husband in 113 days! August 15th was the last time I felt his arms around me. I miss him so much and can't wait to spend the holidays with him. I will miss my family time but I will see them when I get back.

I have to finish up the rest of my Christmas shopping today since I will be leaving early. The past few weeks have been good. Thanksgiving was a great time with family. It was tough with Jonathan not being here and I didn't get to talk to him that day either. It was a good time anyways. Jack turned 2 the following Saturday which is still hard for me to believe. Seemed like just a few days ago I was driving up to Demorest to meet my precious nephew for the first time. Now he is 2 and I will be welcoming my second precious nephew into the world end of February. Looks like Josh and I will have to share our birthday celebration with one more, but I don't think we mind! ;)

Well, I got to go make my shopping list so I know what I need to get. Hope you all enjoy your weekend and I got to get going to I can get back before 4:00 to watch the football game.