March 22

Wow, so much happens in just one week (and who knows where we will be next week!) Here are some highlights (I use that word loosely...)

-David's class got in trouble last week for something silly and basically lost their weekend. He had to work most of Saturday and Sunday, and then he had to "stand watch" (aka stand in the cold outside the barracks) from 2am-6am on Monday morning! He was exhausted and was so thankful to have this weekend to wind down.

-We went to a cookout with some new friends last Saturday and met some great guys who are currently SEALs. They gave David lots of encouragement, and it was so nice to interact with SEALs who aren't his instructors :) We also got lunch with our friends Liz and Pete (Pete is a SEAL), and they had lots of great advice too. They basically affirmed the fact that BUD/S in miserable and that you'll want to quit daily, but that it's worth it.

-We finally got his permanent orders, and our furniture is set to be delivered to us in the next two weeks! I can't tell you how ready I am for this... we've been living with just our craigslist mattress and the few things we could fit in our car for long enough! While it's been a good lesson that we can survive without "stuff", I am so ready for a washer/dryer, a place to sit and eat other than our mattress, and more than the ten shirts I've been wearing for six weeks! (I've been to the laundry mat, don't worry...)

-This week was full of tests for David- his four mile beach run, his two mile ocean swim, the obstacle course, knot tying, drown proofing... He's done really well and is glad to have these over with!

-The US Olympic swim team was on the base on Wednesday... even Michael Phelps! They were there to "try out" BUD/S training. They were getting surf tortured and trying surf passage, and they all watched as David's class did the four mile run. That's when it really hit me that David's doing something pretty hard. If a guy on a Wheaties box with millions of dollars in athletic sponsorship dollars will watch him train and try it for a day, you know it's pretty infamous.

-And the big news... David graduated from INDOC on Friday and will start First Phase of BUD/S on Monday. Day one of First Phase is infamously the hardest day of training- they will "get beat" physically and a large number will quit Monday alone. David's class has already dropped from 220 at the start of INDOC to somewhere around 150, and this number will significantly lower after Monday. We also found out that Hell Week will start on Easter Sunday- more details to come about that soon!

As usual in our lives, everything is happening at once- in one month, we will have our furniture, I will have finished The NotWedding, and David hopefully will have finished Hell Week (the hardest week of training). We've had our ups and downs, but we are amazed by and are thankful for all we are learning. Pray for safety and motivation for David (and for some speedy moving trucks for me!)