Observations on Grocery Shopping at the Commissary

So we shop on base for groceries at the Commissary. The groceries are cheaper, there's not tax & the selection of produce/products is just as good there as anywhere else I've found. Except for The Fresh Market in Destin, which I'm not allowed to go to without supervision from Chad. And it's across the bridge which has a toll - so it really doesn't make sense to drive down just for groceries...that's what I say to convince myself.

Now there are all kinds of people that shop at the commissary. Yesterday, while in line to check out, a youngish lady pulls up behind me with her toddler in the seat & the rest of the cart filled to the max. She spots her husband coming down the isle & yells "Honey we need SPAM!" I didn't know anyone ate SPAM outside of the Hawaiian Islands.

My favorite are the vets & their wives. I don't know if it's because I'm a dietitian & absolutely love food & grocery shopping or if it's because I'm just being nosy, but I LOVE peeking into people's grocery carts (and maybe passing judgment in some cases...I won't lie!) and seeing what they are stocking up on.

This week's find: a sweet old man & his cute old wife had a roll of toilet paper, soda...I don't really remember the other stuff because I was so taken with what they were stockpiling. They had 6 (SIX!!) boxes of Oscar Mayer Ready to Serve Bacon. Now I have nothing against bacon at all - we Hogue's love our bacon! But there is something not right about taking already cooked bacon out of the box, ready to eat after briefly heating it in the microwave. Which gets me to thinking...how is this really any different than cooking your bacon in the microwave (which I don't condone but have been known to do when in a pinch)? Maybe because I have the luxury of time (being a stay-at-home-wife does have its perks!) so I like to do things the long way...like soaking black beans in a pot instead of opening a can. And how long does it really take to cook bacon in a pan?! Anyways - maybe I'm crazy & maybe Mr Mayer is on to something with that bacon in a box.

Another find from a week or two ago (and possibly my favorite yet). Wait, let me preface this statement with a quick explanation. Every so often, the commissary piles stuff into huge grocery carts & marks the price way down. WAAAY down. Usually batteries, ground beef, mouthwash...cereal... (another story for another time). Anyways, a couple of weeks ago I was strolling by the frozen food/bread isle & saw a woman going crazy. Filling her arms with jars of Marshmallow Creme. She had at least 5. I have never had a need for 1 jar of mallow fluff. What is she going to do with 5?! I was so tempted to ask, but she was in the zone & I didn't want to get between this lady & her jars of sugar.

I think most grocery stores have their crazy shoppers. But for some reason, there is a higher than average number of these people at the commissary. It's like they come out of hiding for one week to stock up for a winter hibernation.

Or maybe I've just got a limited palate?

Blog Resurrected.

Is it blasphemous to refer to a blog being resurrected?
I'm not convinced that's even the right word for what I've done. I didn't bring my old blog (Adventures in a New Frontier) back to life. I started fresh. Uploading photos to my Wordpress blog caused many headaches, tears & frequent gnashing of teeth. I'm hopping blogger will be a more enjoyable experience. Enough of that though.

I've had the urge for a while to start chronicling life again - especially as things will be changing soon. Chad has been flying through EOD school (with just one little setback so far) and we are hoping to be moving to our next (unknown as of now) station in 3-4 months! They say change is the only thing that's ever constant right?

Speaking of change (pathetic segway, I know!) I wanted to share briefly now & more to come later - about the changes the Lord has been working in my heart. To say that our first year of marriage was easy (or even mostly enjoyable) would be a huge overstatement. This last year has been filled with frustration, anger, pride & many poorly handled situations in our marriage. Not to say that is all behind us or that we won't encounter any in the future. But the Lord has been so faithful! He constantly has been reminding us that we are both imperfect sinners (Romans 3:23) and will both let each other down. But we have been so blessed by grace (...but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more...Rom 5:20)! And we have reveled & basked in that grace over the last couple of months. And while we grow to understand more & more the Gospel of grace in our lives, we see more clearly the sin that entangles us. It is an ugly battle - the killing of pride, resentment, distrust & laziness. Colossians 3 is all about putting off the fleshly self & taking up Christ instead. I am so thankful for a husband who leads the charge against these offenses in our marriage! We are so far from perfect, but we are enjoying this time of growth together - learning what it means to glorify God in all aspects of our marriage!