stand firm in faith

Can you believe November is right around the corner already? Wow! October flew by, but November is going to be packed full of blessings and I'm ready. On November 23rd I will fly down to Atlanta and drive to Fort Benning for Tory's 48 hour leave. November 23rd marks the end of basic training for him. The remainder of his time will be spent in job training specific to infantry. It's my first Thanksgiving away from my family, but I know it'll be extra special after not seeing or talking to Tory for so long! Letters, although very special, just aren't the same.

October has kept me busy. My niece, Yuri Nelly, was born September 30th and she has filled our lives with lots of love. With many health complications over the last month, she has truly shown us what it means to persevere. She is recovering at home now after a surgery that removed pressure building up in her brain. She is doing extraordinarily well. She's full of so much strength and courage. We are all in awe of her. God is so good and has led our family through faith. I am blessed to be apart of a family that stands by each other no matter what and will do whatever it takes to be there for one another. XoXo



I spent a much needed MEA break in Las Vegas with Rebecca and we had a blast! There was so much to see and do. I can't wait to go back with my man. We shopped, ate, gambled, walked everywhere, took in the sunshine, danced the nights away, saw a Circus de Soleil show, and much more.




Tory is doing great and eager to move onto Blue Phase. Tomorrow is his first day of Blue Phase, which is the final phase of the basic training portion of his time at Fort Benning. Like Red and White Phase, Blue Phase will last 3 weeks. December 15th (his return to Fort Home -hehe) will be here before we know it. Baby D and I can't wait. We miss our soldier :) Here's what he's had to say in the last week or so.


October 20, 2011
Today was a big gun day. We learned how to operate the .50 cal and MK19. Shooting the .50 cal was one of the highlights of basic so far. You should youtube these weapons so you know what I'm talking about when I use these things. The .50 cal is a huge gun that is usually mounted on top of a humvee or striker that shoots rounds that will literally tear someone in half and send them 20 feet in the air. We were on a hill shooting at old tanks that were about 2,000 meters away. The feeling through your whole body when you fire that gun is awesome. I wish we could fire more rounds. The MK19 (pronounced mark 19) is a fully automatic grenade launcher. I shot about 20-30 rounds with that one. The cool thing about the MK19 is that you can actually see the rounds as they go down range because they don't travel nearly as fast as a bullet. Saw some good explosions today. You feel like the man sitting behind a big gun that size and feeling it vibrate through your chest. Definitely a good day.

October 21, 2011
Today we went to the EST range again. This time we got an intro to shooting targets from a standing position while we are moving. We are transitioning from BRM (Basic Rifle Marksmanship) to ARM (Advances Rifle Marksmanship) which involves more combat situations rather than basic shooting of targets. The simulation today had targets that popped up and we had to raise our rifle on the move and double tap them. Any time you shoot an enemy you double tap to ensure that they are dead and don't try exploding a suicide bomb or anything. I'm excited about ARM training. We will get to run around and do a lot more high intensity training. Tomorrow was supposed to be our 8-mile ruck march, but it was moved to next Saturday. ... I have a wicked blister on my heel so I'm okay with that.

October 24, 2011
We were up at 0345 this morning to march out to eh grenade range. That's right, I got to throw hand grenades today. We did a round march to get there, but it was just in full kit (body armor, assault backpack, etc.) and not a ruck so it was a solid 3-mile workout. It's actually hot here today and we had to sprint around the range in our body armor so I worked up a good sweat today.

After learning how to properly arm and throw a grenade we threw 3 dummy grenades that just flashed and banged when they hit the ground. You can't throw it like a baseball because they weigh a pound and a half and you have to get it over the barrier in front of you. ... You stand in a pit with concrete barriers around you and a Pit NCO in there who gives you instructions. You gotta make sure you so it the right way or they will straight up body slam you on the ground. Some people have actually dropped the grenade or thrown it straight at the wall in front of them or even backwards and the Pit NCO's don't hesitate to mess you up.

Basically it's simple. You flip the safety lever, pull the pin and throw. As soon as you throw it releases the final safety, called the spoon. You better believe I was holding that tight until I threw the grenade. We all had to stand behind this big wall and could hear the tower give instructions to throw the first grenade and I was expecting it to sound like a shot from a big gun but it was WAY louder. The whole ground shook, it was fricken sweet. I threw my 2 live grenades with no problem, except that it was over too fast. You have to duck behind the barrier after you throw so you don't see the explosion but after you throw you get to stand behind a big plexi-glass window and watch the next group throw. The explosion is bigger than I thought it would be for a little hand grenade. It was another thing I never thought I'd do.

Keep you posted :) -Lynette
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13

accept the challenges

Today marks 40 days since Tory left for basic training (only 60 days to go)! Our marriage continues to grow through heartfelt letters. The letters I've received over the past month and a half will forever hold a special place in my heart. I'm so proud of Tory. Together we press on and through God's mighty works alone we rise above the challenges set before us. I am so blessed to have married a man of great faith and conviction.

The time since Tory left has been bittersweet in many ways. I miss him verrryy much and think about him often, but I am filled with a sense of peace and strength that I didn't know I had. God is so good. I continue to rely on Him and He has yet to let me down. This time apart has taught me that marriage has not replaced my independence. It has also taught me that taking out the trash, replacing batteries in the fire alarm, and killing spiders don't have to be "blue jobs" (although I will be happy to hand the reigns back over to Tory when he returns). :)

I addition, I have realized that my friends are angels and they will stand beside me always.


It has also given me the opportunity to rely on the unconditional support and love of my family.


I'm especially grateful to Tory's family for checking in on me and making it a point to spend time with me while Tory is away. It has really meant a lot to me.


Here's a glimpse at Tory's life a Fort Benning this month! I will pull bits and pieces from the letters I've received the past couple weeks. Sorry I haven't been more consistent in updating. Work, school, dinner dates, and Baby D have been keeping me busy.

October 5, 2011
So today was our first day out on the BRM range. 25 people from each platoon who shot well on the simulator got to go and zero their weapons today. Basically that means making adjustments until your sights are accurate. It was awesome to actually shot some live rounds. I got to fire 40 rounds today and will get plenty more in the coming weeks. I have never fired anything other than the .22 and my grandparents farm so I was a little nervous about firing an assault rifle, but I did fine. The recoil isn't too bad, but it's loud. It's hard not to flinch with guys directly to both sides of you shooting. We shot in the prone supported position, meaning laying down using a sandbag. We shoot 5 rounds, go out to our targets, make whatever adjustments the DS (drill sergeant) tells us to, then fire another 5 rounds and so on until we're zeroed in. It was actually a lot of fun. Like the DS say, "This is what we get paid to do, so have fun with it." We could see airborne troops over the tree line jumping from planes. It was so cool. You could see the plane flying low and then a whole line of green parachutes. A lot of guys in BCT are trying hard for Airborne contracts so it was cool to see them in action. Between that and shooting my M4 I felt like I was in the Army today.

October 6, 2011
I had PT (physical training) this morning and now we are doing bay and weapon maintenance. I don't think I ever told you about morning PT. We go out to this big sand pit and do warm-up exercises and then whatever our main workout is. It isn't usually that hard, it just sucks doing it in the sand. It gets everywhere and we aren't allowed to wipe it off. We do it every morning about 5am, eat chow around 7:30, then do whatever training is planned for the day.

October 8, 2011
Good news! Today is officially our first day of White Phase! We had a company run this morning for a couple miles to make the transition as a motivational type of thing. It's a big run in formation where we sing cadences the whole time. I love doing cadence, so I thought it was fun. It's a pretty slow pace since it's the entire company which is 220 soldiers. ...
I'm not exactly sure what will change in White Phase except the DS backing off a little bit. I hope we get some other privileges but these will only depend on people not screwing up. I think we'll be able to walk to church with our battle buddies instead of getting marched by the DS. Stuff like that seems dumb, but it means a lot when your used to having everything you do controlled.

October 10, 2011
The week is BRM week which means shooting all week. Unfortunately, only 2 platoons from our company can go to the range at once so 1st and 2nd went today and us and 4th wont go until tomorrow. ...
I didn't do much today except clean my weapon and clean it some more. I spent a little time practicing my shooting techniques, but you can only do that for so long. I think we have to qualify either this week or next. There are 3 levels you can qualify at; marksman, sharpshooter, and expert. I'm more concerned with qualifying at this point than hitting a certain level, but hopefully I'm decent enough where I can start thinking about sharpshooter or expert.

Until next time, Lynette

ultimate blessing

It's true! Tory and I are expecting and we couldn't be happier! We cannot wait to welcome our little peanut into the world. He or she is due April 10th (exactly a month before daddy's birthday--hurry home daddy!!).

Check out the reactions of grandma 1, 2, and 3 when they found out there's a bun in the oven :)

My sisters are proud aunties! Baby D doesn't know it yet, but he/she has the best aunties in the whole wide world.

I'm 14 weeks along now and feeling great! We are anxiously waiting to find out if it's a boy or a girl. We are praying for health for our little angel.

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139: 13-16

With Love, Lynette & Tory