Rachel’s Reflections

The Sunday before last, November 23, I was able to attend Jeremy’s frocking ceremony at his command.  He got promoted today from Petty Officer Second Class to Petty Officer First Class.  That means he went up one pay grade, from E-5 to E-6.

In the Navy every March and September sailors take advancement exams.  Out of those who pass, the Navy picks those who it will advance.  The number varies for each rate (job).  Jeremy’s rate needs a lot of First Classes, so the advancement was nearly 100%.  My rate doesn’t need so many–the Navy thinks it has nearly enough First Classes for my rate–so the advancement was only around 5%.

I didn’t take the advancement exam because I don’t have enough time in rate.  I won’t be eligible until next September.  Seaman (E-3) can take the Third Class exam after six months.  Third Classes (E-4) wait a year before taking the Second Class Exam.  Second Classes (E-5) have to have three years time in rate before being eligible for the First Class exam.  Jeremy made Second a year ahead of me, so he took the exam this September.

And he made it!  And he did quite well, too!  He scored in the 99th percentile.  That means he did better than 99% of the others who took the same exam.

And so I got to go see him get frocked.  “Frocked” is a Navy term for wearing the insignia of a rank without getting paid for it.  The Navy is different from the other services when it comes to advancement.  In the other services a person gets selected for advancement but has to wait until he or she actually gets paid for the new rank before wearing that uniform.  In the Navy a person gets selected for advancement and gets to wear the new uniform immediately (gets frocked) and has all responsibilities and privileges that goes with the new rank but is still paid at the former rank level until later, when he or she is “actually” advanced and gets paid for the new rank.

Usually at a frocking ceremony, the frockee shows up wearing the new uniform and is read and presented with the frocking letter.  At Jeremy’s the reading and presentation was done while he and the others still wore their second class uniforms, and then after, the first classes presented all the frockees with their new uniforms–the same one, but with a first class crow sewn on.

So now he’s an official first class.  And it will be even more official when he gets paid for it.  Since he scored in the 99th percentile, I’m hoping he’ll get paid in the first increment, which will be in January.  It could be any month between January until June.  Who made which increment hasn’t been announced yet.  (It won’t be “announced” as such–it will show up on the advancement website on his profile sheet–the result page of his exam.)

Congratulations, Jeremy!

Jeremy and I went to two parties today.  First we went to his command’s party at his Master Chief’s house.  We ate turkey and talked and those who wanted to played Guitar Hero (I think that’s what it’s called–where each person plays a different instrument in the band going off of the prompts on screen and the more you match the screen, the more points you get).

After that we went to my command’s party, at my LPO’s house (Leading Petty Officer).  We ate turkey again and played taboo and those who wanted to played Uno and Sorry and some played Poker.

After ten hours combined partying we went home, tired but happy.

So I’m thankful first of all, that I had somewhere to go on Thanksgiving.  So many do not.  I’m thinking of my shipmates who are on ships this Thanksgiving.  Some of them are really taking it hard that they’re missing Thanksgiving.  It made me feel a little guilty for enjoying myself this day.  I wish I could do something for them, but I don’t know what.

And then I’m thankful for Jeremy.  It’s so wonderful to have him here to spend the holiday with me.  It could so easily be that he or I would be out on a ship and be separated as we have been so much.  I’m so glad I get to be with him.  I’m very thankful for him–for his love, for his caring, for his companionship, for him.

And I’m thankful that I have a family back home that is supportive and that loves me.  Thanks guys!  I love you too!

And last, but not least, I thank you, God, that you have given me so many blessings.

Thank you.

Today I was presented with my first ever Letter of Commendation (LOC)!

It was to commemmorate that I was selected as the third quarter’s Junior Sailor of the Quarter.  I received the LOC and a nice plaque.  My OIC (Officer in Charge) told me it was to go on my “I Love Me Wall” and asked if Jeremy had anything like it.  She said if he did, mine was to go higher!  I also have my picture on the awards wall in the foyer of my building.

It’s really nice I got something.  I work really hard and put in long hours and try to do extra stuff for the command and the sailors there; not just do the minimum like a lot of people do.  And I’ve never gotten anything like this before.  At DLI I was just trying to make it–to pass, which I didn’t end up doing.  I couldn’t shine there.  I spent all my effort trying to accomplish the minimum.  And at the John F. Kennedy I couldn’t shine either.  There wasn’t anything to shine at.  We cleaned all day and rarely went out, and when we did I was in training and trying to learn my job.  In a way I was at the bottom there too–among many others at the bottom.  So it wasn’t until I came here that I felt I could contribute something to the command.  Here I’ve been treated as an important and, increasingly, valuable member of the team.  And I feel good about being able to contribute.

I just wanted to share the good news.

Mom’s been visiting me. She got here on the 14th and she goes back soon.  I’m sorry about that; this visit has seemed so short.  But I’ve really enjoyed having her here.

Jeremy and I have taken her around to see various places.  We took her to see several historical sites: a couple of old, traditional Arabic houses where the rooms are built around a central courtyard and to some ruins: notably the oldest mosque in Bahrain and a 4,000 year old village, and an old fort that the Portugese built and also to the Burial Mounds, which just look like mounds of dirt but are actually graves thousands of years old.  We also took her to the zoo where I got attacked by a bird–I’ll try to post pictures later.  We took her to church and she and I also went to base to watch Jeremy play football (American football, not “real” football).  We haven’t gotten to see everything, but we’ve done a lot.  Other sailors are always telling me there’s nothing to do in Bahrain and they wouldn’t bring their families out because there’s nothing to do.  I don’t know what they call “something to do” because I find plenty to do.  We haven’t even taken Mom to see the museum or the other two forts or the Barbar Temple or the Grand Mosque or the Tree of Life yet.  So if anyone wants to come visit us, there’s plenty of stuff to see–unless you don’t like historical things–then maybe not so much.

One way Mom’s been a real blessing here is that she’s been helping me get organized.  I couldn’t get the whole week off, but they did let me work half days, so I would come home at noon and Mom and I would work around the house getting clothes organized and books shelved and boxes unpacked from our move back in the middle of August.  I bought some plastic organizer drawers at the NEX (Navy Exchange), and we used those to organize the clothes.  I have closets and some shelves but very little in the way of drawers, and things like socks go better in drawers, so putting things in the plastic drawers has helped a great deal.  My clothes storage area looks so much neater now.

So I’m glad Mom came.  For those of you in Illinois–thanks for letting her go for a couple of weeks.  I’ve heard that a couple of you (I won’t name names) think she’s been gone an awful long time, but for me it seems that she’s been here just a short time.  I wish she could be here a bit longer.  But I’m glad she could come for the time that she has.  Now if I could just get the rest of my family to come visit me….  (Jeff and Betsy, we should talk about this…)

(Again, hover over the picture to view the caption.  Click to make bigger.)

It was actually cold getting off the plane in Alaska.  We were wearing sweatshirts, but after living in hot Bahrain we didn’t have much in the way of jackets (and no coats at all), and we didn’t bring any anyway.  But it wasn’t too bad, and we didn’t have long to wait until the airport shuttle came and got us.  As I was getting into the shuttle I stepped on the grass and the ground felt spongy under my feet.  That is so different from what I’m used to.  I don’t know if the ground in Alaska really is spongy, especially at this time of year, or that I’m not used to walking on actual dirt anymore, as the ground here in Bahrain is dirt, yes, but quite hard.

It was also interesting how much light there was.  It was after midnight when we landed, and the sky was not entirely dark, although it was black in most places.  It turns out that there are only a few hours of darkness in Alaska at this time of year.  For example at 10:00 p.m. the sun is only just starting to set.  And in June, from what I was told they pretty much have 24 hour daylight.  Of course in winter it’s dark a lot: I was told the sun doesn’t get up until after 10:00 a.m. and it’s down by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.

So we slept a few hours and then got up to get ready for the wedding.  Jeremy’s sister, Jessica, was getting married.  We got to the church in plenty of time to meet the family, talk to them, watch everyone else finish getting ready, take the family photos (very important), and eat lunch (also very important).  Jessica married into a very large family.  Her new husband has 10 brothers and sisters.  The youngest is 4.  And everyone was there for the wedding, including the already married brother and all the college kids.  I really enjoyed my time with that family.  They were really sweet and a joy to be around.  They were very friendly and very accepting; I felt real comfortable around them.

The wedding itself went well.  I think Jennifer, another sister of Jeremy’s, took about 1000 pictures, mostly of Jessica, while she was waiting to walk down the aisle.  Jessica was very beautiful, and her groom, Abraham, couldn’t stop grinning.  It was a very sweet and nice wedding.

After the wedding and after we sent Jessica and Abraham away the rest of us “family” cleaned up and then we changed clothes and went to the mountains and went on a hike.  It was really fun.  We got to see a waterfall and some snow.  Snow in May!

Sunday we went to church there and went to the pastor’s house afterwards, who is Abraham’s dad.  It was real nice to spend more time with Jeremy’s family and Abraham’s family as well as the three members of the bridal party that weren’t technically family but were embraced as if they were.  It was real nice fellowship.

Monday we had to leave to go to Canada.  It turned out there were parks and things to do and see in Alaska.  And we got along so well with the people there, that I wished we’d made plans to stay.  I didn’t really want to leave.  But we had fun in Canada too, and someday we’ll go back to Alaska.  After all, we’ll surely visit Jeremy’s sister.  I just hope it’s in spring or summer.

(There are more pictures in the sidebar.)

The biggest blessing I’ve had this week is that Jeremy got to come home and stay for a whole week!  He’s almost done “playing Navy”, that is, being on a ship, at least for a little while.  It’s been so good to have him home. It’s amazing how my stress levels have been lower this week.

He bought me a new game for the Wii.  It’s called Sims Castaways.  I haven’t tried it out yet as I’ve been too tired and migrainy (I made that word up) but I plan to.

Sunday was “Husband Appreciation Day” according to the sign on the door of the base library.  I meant to write a post about it, but didn’t do so as I was busy appreciating and enjoying Jeremy.  So here’s my late post:

Some things I appreciate about Jeremy (in no particular order):

1. He’s really good at computers.  This includes troubleshooting as well as being knowledgeable about software and the Internet.  When he gets back for good, I’m going to have him help me write some technology related posts.
2. He’s good at research.  If I want to know something and am having trouble finding it, he can usually do so.
3. He’s smart.
4. He’s very gentle.  I really appreciate that.
5. He’s very forgiving.
6. He’s patient and longsuffering.  Sometimes I need that.  <grin>
7. He’s not a complainer.  For example, he’s never complained about my cooking. (There’s been a few “burnt offerings.”  Hey, you try cooking on a Celsius stove when you’re used to Fahrenheit.)  He’s not critical.
8. I love his sense of humor.  He says the most random, funny things sometimes.  He’s crazy, but in a good way.
9. A correlary to the above: I love it that we can be silly together.
10. He accepts me.  I feel that I can be myself around him.
11. He loves me.  And he values me.
12. He’s an eternal optimist.  One of his favorite expressions is, “It could be worse.”  Since I tend to be pessimistic, he keeps me from getting too negative.
13. He sees the best in other people and has been teaching me to do that.
14. He’s my friend.  We have some good conversations.  I love it that I can share my soul with him.
15. We have a lot of the same interests.  This is good as this means we can have fun together.
16. He’s a hard worker.
17. He’s very persistent.
18. He’s a good leader and can make decisions.  Since I have trouble making decisions sometimes, this works out great.
19. He has a vision for the future.  He’s not wandering aimlessly around “like a lost soul.”
20. He loves God.

I could go on, but twenty is a good number.

I love you, Jeremy!

Today is my youngest nephew’s birthday. He is four years old today. He is my brother’s son. His mom regularly writes a blog called “Where the Wild Things Are.” There’s a link to it in my sidebar. I’m sure she will be posting birthday greetings. You can also see pictures of “his cuteness” there. I’m glad somebody in our family was born in April as that’s my favorite month.

Some things I know about Caden. He’s very active. He likes to climb (like his Uncle Timothy when he was his age) and explore, and he’s very athletic. He also has a good mind. I got to see him last May. It was so fun interacting with him. Preschoolers can be great fun.

So Happy Birthday, Caden! I hope you have a lot of fun today!

I love you,

Aunt Rachel