I've decided to write my memories of the different places we've lived. God's seen fit to move us a lot and now my life is divided neatly into segments. I remember events and dates based on where we were living at the time, so why not write some of it down? Who knows? Maybe my kids will find this interesting some day...
We moved into our first apartment all by ourselves. It was on Burton Way. We were on the second floor of three. Ryan had picked it out by himself and signed the lease before we were married, before he brought me along with him on this adventure. It was one bedroom and one bathroom. The kitchen was tiny. I think there are RV kitchens that are bigger. My counter space was the size of the top of a dishwasher. We had a dishwasher! If we didn't have one, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have had a counter at all.
We had a table and 4 chairs, a mattress, an antique rocking chair, a couple of old dressers, Ryan's trunk from the Academy and a heavy old oak desk and an "oak" like entertainment center. We hung our beautiful wedding gift towels--green and ivory and burgundy (what else? It was the 90's!), spread our fluffy comforter--a gift from my mom, and placed our shiny new dishes in the cupboard. (To this day, I can just about remember who gave me what--that's how special those gifts were to me.) It was both a sparsely furnished apartment and a beautiful one. It was ours and graced with the colors of our wedding registry. We had two windows. Both faced a courtyard made up of the apartment buildings on all sides. (Think Rear Window with less excitement.) Every afternoon, I'd gaze out those windows as summer thunder clouds gathered and burst. It was a lonely view.
I had to haul my laundry what seemed like miles to the laundry room. I hated those laundry days. Somehow they reinforced how solitary I felt. I put it off as long as possible. I remember ironing my first uniforms. He wore dress blues there, waiting for his first assignment. Stressful stuff for this bride. Also, driving onto the USAFA base itself, very stressful. "Please don't look at me! I will leave as soon as I possibly can!"
We were only there for a couple of months,so I didn't get a job. It was just me and the four walls and that courtyard view. We had a couple of channels that worked on our "tv". ( Ryan had rigged a computer monitor and a receiver and???) I watched a lot of Matlock. I read some books. I tried to cook. I waited for my groom to get home.
We had been engaged for 2 and 1/2 years before we were allowed to marry. (He had to graduate first. No married cadets were allowed.) It had been a long wait. We were overjoyed when time was fulfilled and we could marry. I was so puzzled at my emotional blues when we had finally achieved our dreams. I know now that it was a normal reaction of an emotional let down after so much build up. But at the time it was a dreary struggle.
Adding to the strangeness of newly married life was the big surprise that I was pregnant. I went to the Academy Hospital for the test. We waited on pins and needles for a couple of days( I think) for the verdict. Now, here is the kicker: Ryan informed ME that we were having a baby! Somehow...and I still don't know how this worked, he got the news first and called me. This happy, crazy news served to pull me out of my dreariness. Suddenly I was very motivated to get those wedding Thank Yous written! There was no way I wanted this news out of the bag until every dish,vase and towel was properly acknowledged! Once that was done, and the last stamp was licked, we spread the happy tidings.
We had some fun while there. We tested the waters of hosting our first dinner parties. Menus included chicken fajitas, and once when we had nothing but leftovers, we made fried rice for our guests. We got to know a fellow newly-married-academy-couple Larry and Tricia. (Hi ,Tricia!) They lived in the apartments across from ours. (Ryan had already known Larry for quite a while from when they were cadets.) They had a bunch of pets including a giant bird (I forgot what kind) named Warlock. They still have him. They would tell their little dog to "go seepies" when it was bedtime. I remember this because we have used the same phrase with all 5 of our kids through the years because of them.
The apartment complex had its share of wild, creepiness going on. I would spy through the peephole at the scariness outside. Ryan made fun of me for being a snoop. He's used to it now.
Soon it was time to prepare for our move to Texas. San Angelo. I'd never been to Texas before. It was greatly mysterious. I got to find and rent our next apartment over the phone. No website. No photos. Just me and the phone and the post office and a lot of faith in the voice on the line. We packed up our stuff. This time Larry came over and helped Ryan so I didn't have to carry all the big stuff with him. We borrowed their vacuum so we could get our cleaning deposit back. It was the first and last time we vacuumed that place. We packed our little U-haul trailer and Ryan's Jeep and my blue Tempo and headed out of town and out of Colorado. I can't lie. I was not sad to go. We left the cloudy Colorado afternoons for the wide open of Texas and I couldn't have been more excited.
