Fact of Life

I've realized something over the last few weeks that sort of makes me sad. It first happened when a friend of mine from high school said that she and her husband haven't spent the last 2 summers together because of the Army. I then realized that she's in the same boat I'm in. Or was in until this deployment ended.

In about 2 weeks, my husband will have been in the Army for 2 years. This is the first summer we've spent together since then. In fact, this will be the first time in 2 years that we'll have some sort of normalcy. Let me give you the rundown.

July 21, 2009: Joe shipped out to basic {BCT}. 

October 1, 2009: Joe graduated from BCT.

October 4, 2009: Joe started AIT which was approximately 21 weeks long.

December 2, 2009: I moved to GA, where Joe was at AIT. Joe continued to live in the barracks, only coming home in the evenings for 2-4 hours and staying every weekend.

April 2010: Joe graduated AIT. We PCSed to Hawaii.

May 21, 2010 (ish): Moved into our house.

June 10, 2010 (ish): HHG arrived.

June 26, 2010: Begin deployment #1.

June 21, 2011: End deployment #1.

So, yeah. It's been 2 years of constant changes and adjustments. 2 years of never knowing when we'll actually be together again. Looking back, I'm incredibly thankful that I was able to move to GA when he was in AIT. Though we didn't get a whole lot of time together and I still slept alone on most days, I treasured that time. I treasured it even more after he deployed. I can only imagine how I would have dealt with the deployment if I hadn't gotten to be with him during 6 months of AIT. As hard as it was, I think it would have been much harder if I hadn't had that extra time. 

I'm thankful every day that he's here. He's safe and we get to spend time together. Lots of time. Reverse SRP is good for that kind of thing. =) Going in late, coming home early... I don't know what I'm going to do when he has to really go back to work after block leave!! I know there is a TDY in our near (ish) future, but I'm just happy to have him home. I look forward to finding our "normal" routine and having him home every day. Some days it's like he never left and others I find myself reveling in the fact that he's actually home. 

I know there are going to be changes, TDYs and trainings....but today I'm just glad he's here.

{Not} Home Alone

Today I come with homecoming photos!!!! I seriously can't believe it's been a whole week!! I also can't believe I haven't blogged for a whole week either! It's weird, but good weird. I have someone else to talk to so I guess I don't feel like I need to blog to get everything out. I hope that made sense. =P

Homecoming was a very awesome experience. I was so unbelievably anxious/nervous/excited that day. I could barely sit still! The time for the ceremony got pushed back, which was a little unfortunate considering I had already given myself things to do to keep busy before the ceremony. So basically, I finished my list of chores and wandered around the house finding things to do afterward. If someone else had been here, I bet it would have been comical. Finally I was able to get ready and head to the ceremony an hour early. I wanted to get a good seat...even though it really didn't matter in the end.

Jennifer {my photographer for the afternoon} got there before me and kept me company while I very impatiently waited for the ceremony to start. We chatted and took a couple of pictures to pass the time:

With the Blue Star Card poster.

The sign I made. =)

Right at 5:15, the doors opened and all the guys walked in!!! Everyone was screaming and clapping. And of course, I sat on the wrong side. =P I was on the left side and he was on the right side. Lucky for me I can recognize my husband's head! Haha!! They did the Star Spangled Banner, the Army song, prayed somewhere in there...and I was fully expecting a speech from someone... But, all of a sudden, he yelled: DISMISSED!!!!! People started running and all I could think was "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I have to get to him!!!" I intended on ditching my sign and running to him, but....I kind of forgot. Let me tell you, it was pretty awkward running through 200ish people wish a sign. =P Eventually I found him...and it didn't really matter...

Best. Moment. Ever.

All of a sudden all the fear, the worry, the anxiety from the past year melted away and I realized that he's home. Safe. 

I call this "Sigh of Relief." And it's my favorite. =)

I lei'd him. Hehe. ;-)

Happiness.

This is one of my favorites.

Love.

I think it goes without saying that I'm enjoying finally having my husband home. Even with all of the, um, reintegration adjustments. =) 

I promise I'll be back with more updates soon!!

361

It's been 361 days since I lived with my husband. Since we shared a bed, shared a meal, shared lives. For the last 361 days it's been all girl - all me - all the time. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Not all of those days were bad, but they were very lonely. Despite the friends I made and how I spent my days...I always had to come home to an almost-empty house. Goodness knows what I would have done without my Jasper during this deployment. {Sidenote: go check out my sweet boy at Tails to Tell today! =D}

These 361 days have taught me a lot. Mainly that I'm still the independent girl I was before I met my husband. As co-dependent as I became after we met, I suppose it's good to know. It also taught me that relying on God is the only way I'll ever be able to do anything successfully, especially something as hard as a deployment. Over the last year so many people have asked the same question, if in different ways.

How do you do it? 

I always answer with something along the lines of "I don't know," or "because I have to" or "it's not me - it's God." All of those answers are true, especially the last one. I've had a lot of ups and downs...and a lot of times where - quite honestly - I didn't want to talk to God. Most of those were during the first few months of deployment. And then they came around again when I felt like I had a good handle on things. You know, the whole "I got this" attitude. What's funny - in an ironic way - is that's always when God shows you that you really don't "got this." =)


It's been a long, hard year and I'm so happy that it's finally  over. For at least a little while, I don't have to sleep alone, eat breakfast or dinner alone, I don't have to kill bugs {!!!!!}, I don't have to take out the trash, or do any other of the "man stuff" around the house. Hanging up this sign on Sunday really made it sink in. 

He's coming home. He's really, truly coming home. For the last couple of days I've gone back and forth believing this. It doesn't feel like he's coming home. But he is. And by the time you read this, he'll be home. And for the first time in a year, I don't have to worry about him or wonder when I'll be able to talk to him next. He'll be right beside me or just in the next room. 


I want to laugh. I want to cry. Mostly, though, I just want to thank God for getting us through this and bringing my husband home safely.


P.S. Please excuse my absence for the next few days. Don't worry, I will definitely be posting homecoming photos as soon as I can tear myself away from my hubby.


P.P.S. Thanks to all of you who have been with me during this journey, and have supported and lifted me up when I needed it. Y'all are the best!!!

Final Countdown

This deployment is really almost over. I swear it is. I wish it felt like it was though!! Maybe I'm too overwhelmed by all of the ups and downs of the last few days to relish in the reality that my husband is actually coming home. 


Friday night I got word that they pushed back his flights and homecoming ceremony by about 24 hours. Of course there was a glitch. Of course! Because nothing I want to do ever works out.


Oh, you want to spend Christmas with your husband? Sorry, he's coming home 2 weeks early. Oh, you want your deployment sister to take fabulous photos at your homecoming ceremony? Well, how about we just postpone his ceremony to the same day and time her parents get in. How does that sound?


Friday night and Saturday morning I hated the Army. And everyone - including my own husband - thought it'd be appropriate to say something along the lines of "what did you expect from the Army?" Not okay, people. Why? I'll tell you why. Because for once I wanted to do something nice for myself and my husband. I wanted to have more pictures of us, considering we've had zero for the last YEAR. I wanted to do something special to welcome him home. So, no, it's not okay to tell me "that's the way it is" or "things like this happen" or "that's the Army for you." {End rant}


After several phone calls on Saturday, I finally started to feel a little better. Then, Annie decided to ask our mutual friend, Jennifer, to take photos. And guess what?! She agreed!!! =D So I still get to have photos taken. Whew. Big weight off of my shoulders. The only thing I'm concerned about now is the time of the ceremony. There's another one not too long before his....and I'm worried about when I should get there, parking, seating, etc. I'm really hoping they'll get combined because it's a little ridiculous.


Today was a busy day, which is good because it left little time for me to think...or worry. =P I went to church this morning as usual...made Father's Day calls before and after church...and came home to chilll for a while. Annie came over this afternoon to help me hang up my sign, a star banner for the door and a vinyl sign for my living room. I meant to take pictures of the homecoming decorations but forgot before the sun went down. I'll try to share them tomorrow. Sadly, you can't see the vinyl sign. It has our last name on it...which I don't put on the blog. However, it does look pretty awesome. I'm hoping that with these projects I can convince my super-awesome hubby to buy me a Silhouette. ;-) 


Tomorrow I am going to clean aaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllll day. Yay me! {sarcasm} There's not really that much to do, but given my laziness and the distraction that the TV {and Drop Dead Diva} provides it might actually take that long. 


I promise you'll get a homecoming post soon. =) Believe me, I'm more anxious about it than all of you!

Few of My Favorite Things

Cue Music for "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music.


Now that all of you are singing that song in your head, I'll proceed. =)

I needed a bit of a pick-me-up this evening, so I've been watching my favorite new show non-stop on Netflix:

Drop Dead Diva!!! I'd seen previews and things for it all over the place for a while and wondered about it. And for the past few weeks, they've been showing previews for the new season on Lifetime before and during Army Wives. I figured I had to see what all the fuss was about!! After finding it on Netflix Instant...there was nothing stopping me. =) I am in love! It's a really, really cute show. If you haven't seen it, add it to your queue! And now you know what I'll be doing this weekend...other than prepping for homecoming, of course.

❊❊❊

Another one of my favorite shows is this little program. =)

Love, love, love!! It definitely rivals my love for American Idol. The talent that they have had on the show just amazes me. And, for the record, I am totally Team Adam. Some are obvious reasons.... ;-) 

Source: flickr.com via Katie on Pinterest

*ahem*

And others are because I seriously love his picks. Of course, I'm sure that stems from my love of his music and {good} pop music in general. 

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Up next is a product that has saved my life. Sort of. And I might just be the last woman on the planet to know about it/purchase it.

Eye primer. Best. Purchase. Ever. Say goodbye to creased eyeshadow 2 hours after you put it on! Even better, it lasts about 10 hours. =) Love, love, love. I don't know what in the world took me so long!

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This is something I purchased when I got my hair cut last week. Hawaii brings out the frizz in my hair, and I wanted something to correct it. The stylist recommended this:

And I love it. It was only $7 for the bottle and it'll probably last me forever. You just use a tiny bit, run it through your hair {careful to stay away from your scalp!} and that's that. Say goodbye to frizz and hello to pretty hair. AND it makes my hair softer! Always a bonus. Oh, and it smells good too. =)

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Y'all know that I'm addicted to my iPhone, right? If not, you should. This clearly states how addicted I am.

Source: imgfave.com via Sarah on Pinterest

As if I needed something else to attach myself to my phone, I downloaded another game... Called Hanging with Friends. It's basically hangman. But I guess that name wasn't PC, so they called it hanging with friends. Haha!

{source}

Download, and you too will find yourself attached to your phone. Swearsies.

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Last, but definitely not least, I am loving the good 'ole Donut. =)

He's coming home sooooooooooooooooon!! Never soon enough though. I had what I hope will be my last deployment break down this evening....before I got a phone call. =) Come on, homecoming!

*Disclaimer: All photos without named credits are thanks to Google images.*

Bad Day Gone Good

Say what?!

Yes, that's how my day went. It started off a crazy freaking-out mess, and turned out awesome! I so love it when that happens. =)

Hubby told me a few days ago that he was going to ask for certain if his block leave dates got approved, and that he would try to get back to me within 28 hours. {Yes, 28. That's my hubby. =P} He also told me that if I didn't hear from him, I should go ahead and purchase our flights with trip insurance. So, I started looking up flights and trying to figure dates and times and everything. It sounds less crazy than it really is. His side of the family is going to be at the beach in NC in a certain window of time. We had talked about staying later, but never made concrete plans. And I'm supposed to buy tickets without his help!? Right. After two calls to my mom and a call to my MIL, I finally just decided what times. The days weren't so easy, but after about 20 or 30 minutes I settled on a return date. 


Then I tried to book the flights. Over. And over. And over again. I can't tell you how many times I put in my credit card information. I know there's nothing wrong with it because I just used it yesterday!!!! At one point, I flung myself on the couch crying because I was just so tired of dealing with it and I couldn't understand what the problem was. I called my mom again. She suggested I call the airline.... So I did. It's a good thing too or I would have spent the rest of the day in tears. The woman I spoke with told me to call my bank... She said that she'd had that problem with several people - that their spending limit wasn't enough to purchase flights. So, I put her on hold and called the bank. Turns out, we do have a spending limit. And our tickets were just $140 over that. I had them extend it just for today, and I was able to purchase the tickets. 


But guess what? I forgot to add trip insurance. Insert panic attack here. I was seriously freaking out. I finally just grabbed some lunch and sat down to calm down. Then my bestie got online. =) We skyped and she reminded me that sometimes you just have to have blind faith. I told her that was a lot of blind faith. =P I was feelin' frisky. Haha!! But she was right. =) While we were talking, I  put up this lovely vinyl sign that I made at Annie's the other night. You really just have to have a second opinion when putting artwork up on the walls. 

I stinkin' love it! =D

After our 2 hour long chat, I finally got up and mowed my grass!! Although my arms were killing me {and will most definitely be sore in the morning}, it felt great to get it done. Not to mention my back yard no longer looks like a jungle. It definitely doesn't look professional, but the weeds are trimmed. And if Joe doesn't like the way it looks when he gets back, he can take care of it himself! LOL!


After all that work {and a shower}, I walked Jasper out to the mailbox and found some very happy mail!! =D I may have mentioned that my bestie went shopping at Hobby Lobby for me last week. She bought some Americana decorations for my living room. And, she included a little something that I've been dying to have for...well, for a little while. =P It's my early {really early} birthday present, but I love it!

All the goodies. 

This is my present. =)

{The K is for my last name. Probably because there were no S's available. =)}

And in the absolute best news of the day, I got to Skype with my hubby!!!!! =D If you haven't noticed, I haven't Skyped with him in at least a month. Considering the communication we've had in this deployment, that's a very long time to go without seeing his face. It was so nice. =) Plus, he gave me the best news possible. His leave was approved!!!! Which means that it's totally okay that I didn't purchase trip insurance!!! Yaaay!! Actually, that was how he prefaced the news. 


Joe: Did you buy trip insurance?


Me: No... I'm sorry! I completely forgot! =(


Joe: No, it's okay because my leave was approved!!


Me: Yaaaaaaaay! Oh my gosh, that is so awesome! I was sooo worried!! 


Great, great news. =) Oh, and then he told me it had been approved like 3-4 weeks ago but no one had told them. FAIL. Sometimes I really wonder... Anyway. I got to talk to him for a whole hour!!! Again, I haven't talked to him like that in a really long time. It was unbelievable. Even better, I'll be able to talk to him in person soon. I can't tell you how excited I am about that. 


I can't wait!!! 

Almost There...

I have never been more excited about anything in my life! I'm so ready for him to be here! Though I can't tell you when he will be here {nor am I even 100% sure}, I can show you this:

Vertically challenged... Yes, I'll take that!! =D As you can clearly see, homecoming is close. I spent the better portion of my weekend prepping the house and other things for his return. Friday I did a lot of cleaning. I also made a run to the PX and ended up getting a bunch of groceries from the commissary. When I went in, the place was overrun with people so I decided to get what I could think of while I was there. And of course, 2 days later I have another big list of things to get. It also doesn't help that tomorrow is payday! I may wait a couple of days before I brave the commissary again... It was a nightmare last time. Anyway! Saturday I woke up angry because of stupid dreams I had. It's really not fun dreaming that your husband is home...and then that you're pregnant...and then waking up and realizing none of that happened. *sigh* I turned my anger into productivity though and made myself a clutch!!

I am SO loving it!! I bought the fabric last month while I was home and just fell in love with it. Good thing too because it was $15 a yard!! But, it's a bigger yard because it's that decorator {thicker, durable comes in larger bolts} fabric. LOVE. And since I made the clutch a lot bigger than the wallet I made last week, I have room for 3 card slots. This is just perfect!! I have room for my keys, phone, sunglasses and a mirror! Love, love, love. =)


Yesterday after church, I headed over to Annie's house. She has had a Silhouette for like ever and hadn't figured out how to use it yet. I was all too willing to help because I am literally dying to own one. I can't tell you how many times I've entered giveaways on craft blogs for one. Still waiting on that big WIN to happen. Anyway, we had a great time even though I spent 9 bazillion years on her computer downloading fonts...

And it took us over an hour to get dinner!!! We were both mega-hungry by the time we could pick up our pizza. Once we got food in us and watched the season finale of Army Wives, we were both much happier. 

Someone was very excited about her Bradley Cooper Hangover 2 cup from 7-11. Haha!!! 


Today was a seriously productive day as well. As a result, I feel more like an actual wife than I have in a year. Joe needed new uniforms, so I got to go to MCSS {clothing and sales} to get them. =) Then, I bought stuff to make signs for the house... I also found the perfect pair of shoes to wear to homecoming!!! Annie can tell you that I've been searching for them for a while. I knew if I held out for the right pair, they'd show up!! I got what I wanted for almost exactly the price I wanted to pay. And, no, you can't see them. =P My homecoming outfit is a surprise! 


After all of the errand running, Annie was kind enough to let me use her Silhouette again to work on the sign I'm taking to homecoming. =) It looks so great!! I want one even more after playing with hers for the past two days. Not so good news for the hubby, haha!

I'm so ready for him to be home. It's so close, I can almost feel his arms around me. =) I got a phone call from him last night while I was at Annie's. He was so incredibly excited, which just makes me even more excited. It's so nice to hear him be so relaxed. He's been "on" for the last year. And now he can chill out and revel in the fact that he'll be home soon. I don't think we've had that relaxed of a conversation in quite a while. I can't wait to talk to him face to face...and just hang out with him.

For now, though, I need to work on the rest of that list...

And if I'm not really around for the rest of the week, that's why. =)

Crunch Time

Today has been a very happy day. Why, you ask? Today is June 1st!!!! The day I can finally say my husband comes home....this. month!!!!!! That's right!! =D If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe my trusty Donut. ;-)

Told ya!!!

Since my hubby is coming home really soon, that means I have 9 million a few household things that need taking care of. So, its:

Crunch time!!! Saying that phrase always makes me think of a song we played in marching band in high school. =P It was the name of the song, so...it makes sense. Anyway. Like I said, I have a bazillion things to do before he gets back. Not to mention I need to get back into my workout routine. It's been severely ignore for the past few weeks due to travel. *sigh* Oh, and I decided I'm going to really count/track my calories. Restricting calories has been a great way for me to drop a few pounds...and I could use the help so close to homecoming. =)

Just to give you an idea of what I'd like/need to do, I'm going to make a little list here. And maybe it'll help motivate me too.

- Clean out the fridge. {aka the most hated chore ever. Yuck.}

- Organize/clean up the spare bedroom.

- Vacuum 

- Call maintenance about the moldy bathtub grout. {really looking forward to that....NOT.}

- Finish decorating the living room as much as possible.

- Clean up the shelving area in the laundry room.

- Move tough boxes into one of the storage closets.

- Sew 1 wallet and 1 clutch. {This should probably be done prior to cleaning the spare bedroom.}

- Stock the fridge and pantry with enough food for 2...and his favorite goodies.

- Keep the house clean until he gets here!!!

Just a few things to do!! Oh, and I need to turn his phone back on before he makes his journey back home. Also, I get to celebrate our anniversary. Hmph. Not exactly looking forward to that {because he won't be here}, but at least Annie has offered to go to dinner with me! Speaking of our anniversary... Facebook really needs to get its act together. I checked it this morning and this popped up:

If you've followed my blog for a while, you {may} know that my anniversary is not June 6th. And if you're my friend on Facebook and go to the "info" tab, you'll see this:

So please, dear Facebook, tell me why you think my anniversary is the 6th?!?!?!?!!?!

Clearly, it is not. Geesh. So if Facebook tells you my anniversary, don't believe it. It's really the 7th. Facebook has just gone stupid. =P And in light of all that I need to get done before Joe gets back, I may be going crazy soon too. I'm just going to warn you that blog posts from here to homecoming might be a little spazzy, so bear with me!