Updates from October 2012 to April 2013

Hi everyone,

So here are so really quick updates since last October:

October 2012

-Took kids trick-or-treating on Halloween (almost got rained out).  Since we lived in the towers at Osan, we took them on every floor of our tower trick-or-treating.  They got TONS of candy

November 2012

-Had some friends over for some Thanksgiving dinner.  Had a blast!  It was kind of like our last hoorah with them since we were starting to pack up like crazy people for the move

December 2012

-We went back and forth on whether to put up a Christmas tree due to our household goods being packed and removed on 26 December... we FINALLY decided to put up a small Christmas tree for the kids and let them open their presents before household goods were picked up.

19 December 2012

-I am relieved of duty (ROD) so I no longer had to go to work, just out-processing stuff.

26 December 2012

-Household goods were picked up and we moved from housing to TLF (temporary housing).

03 January 2013

-We left Korea from Incheon Int'l Airport and landed in San Francisco, then from SFO to Atlanta, Georgia where Emilee's parents picked us up in my truck (I was SOO happy to see it!)

January 2013

-We spent two weeks with my family, then two weeks with Emilee's parents and cousins.  I ended up buying a gun (Springfield XD 40 cal) as well as my first motorcycle (Yamaha 2010 V-Star 950 Cruiser Touring).  I also spent a lot of time with my little sister, Carleigh, and had a blast together!  Also ended up eating with one of my favorite high school teachers and seeing a lot of old friends.  We took mom, dad and Carleigh to Mall of GA Blvd for their very first time.

04 February 2013

-We started driving my truck pulling the trailor from NC to CA.  Stopped in Arkansas to rest for the night, then start on our way again.  Also stopped and ate at Cracker Barrel as our first restaurant on the way out in Tennessee.  OH, and there was this car that was going NUTS all over the road, so Emilee used her giant lens on her camera to get the license plate, make and model, and we ended up calling 911 because they almost hit several vehicles (including an 18-wheeler).  We led the cops right to the car.  Crazy experience.

05 February 2013

-We continued driving from Arkansas through Oklahoma and stopped in New Mexico the second night to rest.

06 February 2013

-We continued driving from New Mexico all the way to our destination in California.  YAYY, FINALLY ARRIVED!!  I took the motorcycle off the trailer and drove it around a little to get used to the area.  Spent a few days in-processing and FINALLY found us one of the new houses to live in (11 Feb) the same day we went to pick up the van.  We moved in on Valentine's Day and then household goods arrived on 20 Feb.

March 2013

-Emilee turned 29!!!! HAHAHA!!  I always joke with her about how she is older than me (though only by 4 months).  We also ate at a LOT of our favorite places!  We adopted two giant French lop rabbits from SPCA and have had a blast with them so far!  They are HUGE!!  We also received a great surprise visit from Fielding Stocksdale and Shua Allen before Field leaves the country with his wife and newborn child to enter the mission field.

-April 2013

-We are pretty much finished unpacking.  I built Emilee a garden in our back yard, and I'm pretty much settled into my job and am loving it!!   Em and I are both currently taking on line classes and will be for a LONG time to come, but are enjoying them.  We're definitely ingrained at the chapel as I'm playing piano and we're both singing again (love working with our dear friend, Stephen, who we worked with the last time we were here).  All in all, life is great and we're having a blast!!

That's it for now!  God bless!

~Brad

October 2012

October 2012

Hi everyone!  So here are some updates for October:

-Motorcycle Safety course postponed from 6-7 Oct to 27-28 Oct

-Em and I both passed our college classes (next ones to start first week in November)

-Finally took my MSF (motorcycle) course on 27-28 Oct at Camp Humphrey's.  The 27th was rainy, so we completed all the classroom portion the first day, then spent 10 hrs on bikes on Sunday, the 28th

-I sent all my motorcycle endorsement validation paperwork to the NC DMV on 30 Oct, received the application on 31 Oct, received my eye exam (and had my eyes dilated for the first time in my life) on 01 Nov, and then mailed all the paperwork to the DMV on 01 Nov as well

-I sold my electronic drum set to help raise the rest of the money for my mess dress

-I acquired a new piano student at the beginning of October (she's 6 like Riley) and she is doing just as well as Riley (I currently have 3 piano students: Riley-6, Cathryn-6, and Connor-8).  They're all 3 phenomenal students.  They've also motivated me to get back into learning more classical piano

-I completed all three of my subordinates' EPRs (two were initial, one was annual).  The one I completed the annual for is actually graduating from ALS on 09 Nov and putting on E-5/Staff Sergeant!

-Emilee is doing very well with home-schooling Riley while keeping Elijah home too (she can't complain too much considering what time she gets to sleep until each day :-P )

-Em and I both helped teach Riley how to ride her bike earlier this month.  She's done very well!

-Elijah is now pretty much completely potty-trained!  No more pull-ups!

Upcoming:

-Em and I start our Political Science course (and she also starts Geography) on 05 Nov (we're trying to make sure we get into the same Poli Sci course to bring up memories of classes we took together at UNC-Asheville, hehe)

-Should be hearing back about my motorcycle endorsement in two to three weeks

-We are now down to our 60 DAY MARK before we leave South Korea, so we should be receiving our flight reservations pretty soon

That's about it for now.  Later!

July - September 2012

Alright, so I know it's been a while.. Emilee is doing better on her blog, so I guess I have to do better on mine now.. sheesh..

So since July, what is new, you ask?  Well, there are a few different things.. for one, we have currently been out of church due to a self-involved chaplain.  We cannot wait to get out of South Korea so we can actually dive back in to church and ministry.. of course, ministry never stops.  We still try to serve.  For instance, Emilee and I are doing games for AWANA's (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed).  

Next, I've turned in all my paperwork, received my orders at 122 days out, and already gone by the Travel Office to get us sync'd for household goods pickup in December and also get our airline reservations in October.  After we get our airline reservations, we'll be able to buy our tickets from San Francisco to North Carolina, so we'll have a much better forecast in October as to when/what time and day we'll be back in NC.

I just recently bought my first motorcycle helmet (thanks to momma Sue and daddy Dave for sending it to me since Amazon would not).  I'm scheduled to take my MSF course in October, then I can send my info in to the military DMV, and within 5 weeks, have my drivers license w/ my motorcycle endorsement shipped to me!

I'm currently saving up funds to get a new head gasket for my motorcycle (which my father in law is giving to me as long as I fix it up).  It's an 80's model Suzuki 750 cc Cruiser (beautiful!).  I can't wait to ride it!

Recently, I've experienced my pants shrinking (no, I'm not getting fat, just experiencing shrinking pants syndrome).  I jumped from about 143/145ish to 150 (but I'm pretty sure it's all muscle weight..)

We currently have about 100 days out until we PCS.  We've already turned in our application for housing in Monterey, CA (I'm going back as special duty to be an instructor for 4 years, get my 2nd CCAF degree, and also get my 2nd Bachelor's degree, a B.S. in Information Technology, then hopefully commissioning with it).

I also recently found out I will be testing for E-6 (Technical Sergeant) this February, so please keep us in your prayers!

Other than that, nothing much going on except getting the house ready for PCS and taking classes with my wife as we both continue pursuing degrees.

I'll try to keep better tabs on this blog.. sometimes, I get too busy, but will try to do better...

Be blessed!

~Brad~Bubba~Carlos~Fox~Daddy~Hubby~Sergeant~

Davis

February 2012 - 25 Jul 2012

Hi everyone!  Sorry it's been so long since my last blog, but I think I can catch you up on the events for the past few months...


In February, Em and I both were preparing for our Unit Compliance Inspections (mine in March, her's in April).  I also finished my first 5-week long Korean language class since I graduated DLI back in July 2009.


08 March, we celebrated my beautiful wife, Emilee's, 28th birthday, 18 April was Elijah's 3rd, and 21 May was Riley's 6th.  We also finished up AWANAS with Riley in May.  In May I think is when our chapel switched chaplains again (not a very great decision, I'm afraid).


June, I moved back to DOA and am currently off 3 days throughout the week (loving it!).  Emilee and I are also taking classes to pursue our degrees.  I'm taking World History to 1650 while she's taking Spanish with Rosetta Stone and Human Anatomy & Physiology.  I was selected in May to go back to Defense Language Institute in Feb '13 in Monterey Bay, CA to be a military language instructor (MLI) for 3 to 4 years.  Em and I are both excited to return to the place our married life truly began and also the birthplace of Elijah.  Without the stresses of studying a CAT-IV language, we'll be able to explore and take more adventures than we did before.


So let's talk Chapel.  Let's see if I can condense a looooong story into a short time line:


11 Sept 2011 - Family issues/kick one of our friends out of our lives; talk w/ chaplain


Sept to Oct 2011 - not on worship team (thanks to the chaplain)


Oct 2011 - return to worship team (and under a newly arrived chaplain)

May 2012 - Prior chaplain takes service back over; decides to do things differently (i.e. his way)


May to July 2012 - I get my butt kicked as praise team leader at one-on-one weekly meetings (examples: told my method of music selection is broken; I or someone on my team is spiritually sick; two other guys get uplifted constantly in my face and I get told basically I have a lot to learn about leading worship though I've been doing it for 10+ years; constantly get told he's praying for another spiritual leader for the praise team (...okay.... so what am I, chopped liver?!?)... etc etc etc).. I'm also told not to do any worship songs before the year 2005, and we're not allowed to do the song "At Your Feet", a 2009 song by Casting Crowns, because it reminds the chaplain of mine and Emilee's crisis in Sept 2011... he also constantly brought up the fact that "we have this history" referring back to Sept 2011...


4 July 2012 - a trustworthy friend comes to me and informs me the chaplain informed him he doesn't want me leading the team anymore and it was clear to this friend the chaplain (even through his body language while discussing the current praise leadership....me) wanted me gone..  Em and I talked to the head.. I sent a message to my team to stop any one on one meetings he was trying to pursue with them due to my fear they would go the same way my mtg's with him went.  Then another member of the praise team provided my message to the chaplain, we met the following wednesday, and he wouldn't take ownership of anything he had done, even the discussion behind my back about my leadership.. he simply asked if I, ME, was apologetic for what I'd done... he didn't really want to discuss the conversation he'd had behind my back... instead, he stated he didn't think I could trust him after this, and then said I had two options, then proceeded to ask me if I wanted to resign from the praise team...


Longer story short... Em and I are no longer on the praise team, and we're no longer at the service because this man has made it clear I and my family are a stumbling block to him and he cannot serve with us, no matter how hard we've strived to do everything he's asked us to do.. even when learning new songs, he'd sit with me afterwards to critique how we "performed"..  I stepped down from the team for a few different reasons.. one, it's better for everyone else in the community.. two, I really had no other choice.. since I'm under contract and it doesn't end til September, any severance of the contract would mean potential for losing my job/clearance.. So I'm kind of forced into not being allowed to fulfill the remaining two months on my contract because I shared information back in September with the wrong chaplain.. lesson learned.. be careful which chaplain you entrust with information you need counseling for..


TAKE-AWAYS:  I will never EVER stop protecting those God entrusts to me under my leadership.  I will never EVER conform to man's standards, but will always do my best to conform to GOD's standards for praise and worship.... it's not a performance, and it's not about us.. it's about Jesus.  Though we have 5 months left here in Korea, and we're not able to return to the contemporary service (the only service my job allows me to go to right now), Em and I are focusing on our family... we're going to also focus on our education more and continue to hone the abilities and skills God has given to us to upbuild and edify the body of Christ.


We miss our church family.. each wkend that goes by that we're not with our worship family is tough, but in Jesus' name, we'll keep pressing on.  We look at it like this: at least there's one less scape goat for him to blame his problems/issues on.  We pray God will work in his heart and his life to get him centered back on Christ.






Em and I are excited about returning back to the states to visit with friends & family between January and February.  Cannot wait to get away from Korea and find a place we can go to church again.


God bless! Please keep us in your prayers.  Go with God!!


In Christ,
Brad

October 2011 to 11 Feb 2012

So the good news is I passed my last two classes of Physics w/ lab and Calculus 2.  I also passed ALS, so I can supervise now.  As a result of passing ALS, I completed my CCAF degree, so I now have 1 Bachelor's and 2 Associate's degrees.

The bad news is that, as soon as I finished my last two prerequisite classes to apply for AECP, the program was suspended indefinitely.  So now, Emilee and I are planning on entering Bachelor's degree programs (my second): hers in Accounting and mine in Information Technology, both through American Military University.  After completing, I'll apply for OTS.

Halloween went well.  The kids had fun trick-or-treating.  We took them through their first haunted house (which we thought was going to be for kids, but turned out to be pretty scary... scared me and Emilee both pretty bad). 

Thanksgiving was pretty well too.  We opened up our doors for the first time since the 11 September incident.  We had about 15 to 20 people this year.  Made for a fun time, lots of food, and some good fellowship.

Afterwards, we put up the tree and started decorating.  Our friend Miranda called, asking if we could watch her son because she was on her way to have her baby.  Elijah, him and Riley had a blast!

On Christmas day, Emilee got to see all the awesome gifts that I got for her this year, and I was surprised myself at the gifts she got me.  We also got a lot of great gifts from the families this year. 

January, Em and  I celebrated our 4-year-anniversary.  We're planning on taking leave from 24th Feb to 27th Feb to celebrate in Seoul and leave the kids with another Christian family.  It'll be nice to have some time without the kids to actually celebrate an anniversary the right way. 

January, I also started my 5-week Korean language class.  So far it's going well.  It's a great break from work.  I take my language test on the 23rd of February, as well as my new CDC test the same week. 

We've been getting some pretty good snows.  I can't wait til winter time is over.  Em and I are planning to enjoy our last summer here in Korea (at least for a while).  I go back to DOA Flight (since I've been in DOX for a year now) 1st of April, so I'm hoping to get new orders cut sometime in June or July so I can start outprocessing and figure out where we're going next.  We're hoping for either Georgia, Virginia, or Maryland (anywhere on the east coast).  We re-enlisted for 5 years, so we should be getting our re-enlistment bonus pretty soon.  We plan on buying a van with part of it as the down payment, and then paying off remaining debts and putting the rest into Savings.  The rest of the year looks like it will have a pretty good outlook.   

Well, guess that's it for now.  Less than a year left in Korea!! 

Dying debts

Oops, I almost forgot... WE PAID OFF THE TRUCK!!!

In November, we plan on paying off my old Sears card, and in December, we plan on paying off our BX credit from where we bought our new couches and elliptical. 

We're also planning on paying off a bunch of Emilee's old debts as well right after the first of the year, so God has been good to us.  Thank you all for your prayers!

Yikesss!!!! 06 October 2011

YIKES!! So since it's been a quarter since I've updated this last, maybe now would be a good time to post an update...

So upon our return from leave in July '11, Emilee had her gallbladder removed.. she has since recuperated and began to work out.

On 11 Sept 2011, we hit a reallllly rough spot in the road in our marriage.  We decided to take a break from the praise and worship team at the chapel to focus on our marriage and trying to get it back on the right path for God.  We had 2 dear friends of ours (Joe and Michelle) here at Osan who bought the Love Dare Day By Day devotional for us and we've been doing it every day since.

One of the activities in the book (particularly Day 2's "Go Deeper") had us read 1 Corinthians 13, then go back and read verses 4 thru 7, removing "Love" and "It" and replacing these words with our name... and it hurt... it reflected to us both what neither of us had been for the other. 

So now we are trying to change our thought processes from being selfish to being selfless for each other and pursuing each other first.  Seems to be working so far and our prayer is that God would keep blessing our marriage through this daily devotional, our Bible readings, Emilee's Bible studies with PWOC, and through our renewed intimacy. 

In the midst of all of this, I am now currently in Week 14 of Physics w/ Lab online and Week 10 of Calculus 2 online, AND not to mention, I just started ALS today which will last 25 days.  So here's what I look forward to EVERY day right now:

~Love Dare daily devotional and reflection
~ALS/reading and homework
~Calculus 2 lectures and exercises
~Physics w/ Lab homework, final Lab, final Discussion Board, final assignment, and final exam
~Bible reading (5 chapters per day)
~helping Riley do her homework OR washing one of the kids
~helping to clean up the house
~working out with Emilee
~Applying for AECP and OTS commissioning programs

Lots of good, but lots of stressful too.  Another good thing is that, upon graduating from my ALS course on 09 Nov, I will also be getting my CCAF degree immediately after. 

Please keep us in your prayers.  Being in ALS is only a 25 day course, but it means more homework to add to my already-existing homework, plus housework, plus time with Emilee and the kids, plus still trying to heal with Emilee from the bump in the road in September.

We love and miss you all. Looking SO forward to getting back to the states, but hoping to get there via a commissioning program instead of normal PCS!