Five Friends

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...about friends. No, not the tv show Friends; I'm talking about real honest-to-goodness friends and what it means to be a friend and what I appreciate most about some of my friends.

Please close your eyes for just a moment and take a slow, deep breath. Now think of the word "friend" and hold that thought in your mind...and let your mind drift for a moment. Who appears? What do you treasure most about the friend who comes to mind? Why do you think the image of this friend came into your mind first? Second? What emotions come to the surface when thinking about these friends? What makes you smile? What do you appreciate?

That's the journey I'm on right now. And it is very enlightening...a truly rewarding experience.

While I'm working through a blog posting about "Five friends every woman should have," I'd be most interested to hear from you - what are the qualities or characteristics that your most treasured friends and/or meaningful friendships possess?

If you have an interest in this subject matter, then by all means (!) please participate in this process along with me! :)

Here's how:
1. Post a comment in the comment section below and tell me what makes a good friend and/or an enduring friendship.
2. Message me - mollerberg@facebook.com
3. Call me - nothing beats a good, friendly, conversation about friendship to brighten a day
4. If you have your own blog, and would like to write a blog posting on this topic, please let me know and I'll link to your posting when I finish my own posting next week.

I'm hoping to wrap up this project by next Wednesday 6/27 - will keep you posted!

Ciao for now!
A

Red Folder

Marriage. It's new. And kinda fun. 

Invariably, there are little projects that need my husband's attention. I hate "needling" him with a ton of requests scattered throughout the week so, in an attempt to "batch" these requests, I've decided to save these little "honey-do" items for a certain day of the week: Wednesday (unless, of course, it requires more urgent attention.)

Additionally, if it's paperwork, it goes straight into the "Red Folder."

Currently, our Red Folder is really bulging...

Uh oh - that's a lot of stuff that needs attention!

So I feel the need to provide a little "encouragement"...

Sharing a little love note as a "pick-me-up" :)

How do you manage the important day-to-day and week-to-week tasks & paperwork?

To-do

Today is a busy day!

Yesterday was part of my husband's 4-day weekend (also known as "the training holiday") which means that he was home all day with me yesterday. Yipieee!!!! We slept in and spent some time at the pool before running errands and grilling out. It was a nice, refreshing day!

Now I'm playing catch-up...it's amazing just how messy your living space becomes when you spend 4 full days indoors! I'm on my way out the door to go on Post...there are errands to be run, conversations to be had and problems to be {hopefully} solved. I plan on bringing the husband a lunch...and packing some running shorts and tennis shoes for later...!

How I wish my to-do list looked like this today:

Saw this posted on Facebook & just couldn't resist sharing :)

I hope you are having a great day :)

Going to the Chapel

My husband & I said our wedding vows 6 months ago yesterday...and while I do not plan to commemorate the occasion on a monthly basis, I do want to pause to enjoy the moment while we are still at Fort Riley. :)!!

I've mentioned it before - I fully expect that our time at Riley will be complete within the next 11 months (approximately) and then we'll be whisked away to who-knows-where. So I hope you'll indulge my sentimentality about the geographical location where we fell in love & married. :)

We married in the historic Main Post Chapel on 12/17/11...we anticipated chilly temperatures (and of couse, wind!!!!)...and, for a brief moment in time the forecast called for SNOW. What we got, instead, on that day was pure sunshine and temperatures nearing 60 degrees!! Completely unseasonal for Kansas in December.

Nearly every Sunday since I moved to Ft. Riley (a little more than 2 months) we've attended protestant services in the chapel where we married...and it is sweet. I still get giddy when we drive up on Sunday mornings. :) It's a beautiful old chapel constructed from 1897-1898 and clothed, nearly exclusively, in the limestone native to this part of Kansas. I've already started to think about what it will be like when we eventually move from this area and no longer have occasion to visit or frequent the area...and that just makes me want to celebrate these little milestones all the more while we are here!

Main Post Chapel Fort Riley, KS (credit to my friend April Blackmon)

So, in honor of our 6-monthly-versary yesterday, we shared a tiny little kiss when we walked out of the morning church service... :)

Fear of Missing Out?

Especially with summertime here, it seems like every single form of social media is abuzz with exciting friend adventures - sooo many photos of trips, travel, recreation and relaxation! It is wonderful to see such good friends delighting in life...but I also want to shout out from the rooftops for others (who may be tied to a computer or a cubicle) to remember that no one's life is perfect. Sometimes it takes a friendly reminder to realize that it is completely normal that people (yes, myself included!) usually only share the GOOD and the WONDERFUL things in life...rarely do we post about things that are BORING or SAD. So, if you're experiencing FOMO (abbreviated version of "Fear of missing out")...don't despair! There are plenty of us who are entrenched in the mundane from time-to-time...in fact, this is how much/most of our lives are spent in reality!

Look! I'm doing laundry today - totally boring, right? :)

Hang in there...and, when it's your turn to experience something fun & exciting, please post about these adventures so the rest of us can live vicariously too! :)

Love to everyone, 
And happy Friday!

A:)

V-I-C...T-O-R-Y!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ARMY!!

Did you know that there's a week in the month of June that includes concerts, combatives, skeet shooting, water polo, sand volleyball, golf, competitive running, softball, bowling, tug-of-war, arm wrestling, weightlifting, basketball, billiards and paintball?

No, I'm not talking about "field day" in elementary school (but, wow, those were really great!).

It's VICTORY WEEK here at Fort Riley! All week long there is literally a smorgasbord of activities for soldiers and civilians alike! The traffic and parking has been a little crazy, but it's all been well worth it just to see the excitement over the Army's Birthday!

Click to enlarge the image of the schedule of events!

It all culminated with Thursday's Birthday Celebration - which not only honored the Army's 237 years, but also the 1st Infantry Division's 95th year! - held at 10:30am on the Custer Hill Parade Field. It was a terrific Ceremony - the General and the Command Sergeant Major both spoke and there were several thousand soldiers in attendance. Here's a rundown of the events:

These guys kicked off the Ceremony by firing this cannon!

To honor the Army's long history, soldiers were dressed in uniform from each significant period of war.

Members from the Cavalry cut the birthday cakes with sabres - don't the cakes look wonderful?

The Army Band played...you guessed it!...the Big Red One Song and the Army Song. It was great to sing along (loudly only on the words I knew!) with all the soldiers - very memorable. 

Hooah!

Rules of the Road

I have been really excited to share this post for a long, long time... :)

Driving around an Army Installation can be quite an experience. It's a small ordeal just to get on to post...but, once you've gained admittance, you can't help but notice that you're definitely not in civilian-land! I've tried my best to capture some of my very first obvious impressions of driving around the Installation...and, to sum it up, I'd say that if you imagined a mix of/cross between a college campus and a National Park/battleground, you'd pretty much get the idea!

Here's the skinny on how driving on Post is like driving on a College Campus:

1. There are MPs (Military Police) on Post and they mean business. Remember "campo's" from your college days? Campus cops have nothing on these guys/gals.
2. You don't speed. You just don't. (see #1, above)
3. You never, never, never must use your cell phone whilst driving! Did I mention there are MPs? If they catch you talking & driving or texting & driving, you will have your Post driving privileges taken away. And you wouldn't ever want that to happen. If you simply must take a call or text, it is very common/customary to pull off to the side of the road.
4. Just like college campuses, there are reserved and restricted parking spots. And, trust me on this one, if you are ever tempted to park in a reserved spot because you're running late to a function, you will feel a wave of terror. :)
5. You will need to watch carefully for pedestrians. It is very common for soldiers to be walking during the day between/among buildings.  

Here's the skinny on how driving on Post is like driving on a National Battleground or State Park:

Exhibit 1: Random weaponry. It is literally littered everywhere. On the sidewalks, in front of buildings...you simply can not escape the tanks from various eras.

These are tanks from WWII, I believe. There's a collection of 4 of them adjacent to the Parade Field.

Exhibit 2: Horse jumps. These are placed in front of every major building and place of historical significance and are designed to give you pertinent information about the building or monument. These are uniquely "Riley" since Fort Riley has its historical roots deep in the cavalry. As an interesting aside - when driving, you may notice that some of the roads at Fort Riley don't seem to make sense. Again, this is because the Post was designed for horse traffic...and not for automobile traffic. Someday, perhaps, I'll feel confident to write an entire blog post about Fort Riley...it is so interesting!  

 

The Buffalo Soldier Memorial - located just outside of Trooper gate.

Exhibit 3: Memorials. You'll be hard pressed to drive too far without seeing at least a handful of (mostly horse-related) memorials and monuments. They each have a name and, you guessed it, an interesting back story of some sort. Next month my goal is to partner with a docent or a member of the Historical and Archeological Society of Fort Riley to learn more about each of these monuments and memorials. Bonus points if we could do the tour on horseback. :) !   

"Old Bill" - at last week's Change of Command Ceremony on the Parade Field.

Exhibit 4: Bombs, missiles, etc. It's not at all uncommon to see missiles and bombs along the roadways. Most units proudly display these items and sometimes I wish I could just stop the car to get out & investigate!! The photo below is of the bomb from our own "front yard"...in front of our Battalion. It has become somewhat customary for me to get a photo in front of the bomb regularly. You would not recognize me in most of the photos since the Kansas wind is quite ferocious and I usually end up looking like "Cousin It" from the Adam's Family...  

This is the "big bomb" outside our Battalion. This was taken 2 weekends ago (when the wind was unusually calm!). Notice that our grass is already starting to die - it's going to be a long, hot summer!

Exhibit 5: Unusual Signage. I must confess that this one caught me off guard the first time I saw it! Although, after thinking about it, I realize this makes perfect sense: this Post is essentially a giant classroom. Every square foot of it is useful for training and preparation. It is not uncommon to see a convoy of tan tanks or jeeps in a field completing a training exercise or drill. And nighttime is when the helicopters practice their drills and training. It is an interesting community! 

 

These are real photos of places I frequent - I hope this gives you some idea of the sights (and sometimes sounds!) I'm experiencing. Is this typical of every Army Post? In many ways I'd imagine so...but I am sure there are many differences as well. I'm definitely enjoying the flavor and uniqueness of Fort Riley!

Thank you for letting me share this with you!! :) 

A