Opening Presents

Prior to traveling to NY for the holidays, we went to VA and celebrated Christmas with my parents and also opened each others' presents at my apartment. (Luckily my roomie was there, so she took pics for us!)

Here I am opening my presents. I thought this was a great pic because I can only imagine what he could have been saying in order for him to get this facial expression. :-) HAHA. It definitely shows the type of relationship we have...a fun, goofy, loving one!

Kisses after opening the presents!

I got these beautiful Pandora earrings which I will probably be wearing to the batallion ball coming up. I also got a new watch...I will post pics later about that and explain the story of why I don't have it at the moment.

Hope everybody's holidays were wonderful. I can't believe that A has been home for almost 2 months now and that Valentine's day is now sneaking up.

Time Apart

After A got back from deployment we spent 6 days together, followed by 5 days apart, and then 29 days together! It was an amazing 29 days together and I would not have traded any second of it. However, I really hate being apart now. I got so used to having him around. Now he has been back in GA, while I'm still in VA for 8 days and I REALLY don't like it. So, it's a good thing that he'll be back up here next weekend...but it really needs to go by quickly. This whole 2 weeks without seeing each other thing is going to get really old. But unfortunately with my internship, my life is crazy and I can't exactly expect him to come up EVERY weekend. So I will just have to enjoy every second that I get! :-)

Starting this week...look forward to some pictures from his leave!

In the Beginning...

of leave that is! We are still on leave, but I finally have a chance to do a little blogging. So, I figured that I would start with the beginning of leave and fill you all in on what's been going on. Well, A got home in the first week of December. I was able to spend almost a week with him before I had to go back to VA to finish finals. After finals, I went back to GA to spend 5 days there before his leave began. Well, we were traveling to VA to celebrate Christmas with my family and then getting on the road the next day to NY to get to A's parents' before the holidays were here. Our last night in GA, we were having some friends over for dinner. We only had one car (his car was in NY during the deployment) so he had taken my car to work and then came to get me to do grocery shopping. He was only working half days so it was not a big deal. But by the time I get back to the apartment I really needed to finish cleaning up and starting things for dinner. A decided that he wanted to clean out the car some before being in it for 2 straight days. I totally understood, but there was no way that I could help with that. He had no problem with that and off he went to change the oil and vacuum the car. Much to my surprise...when he came home, he had cleaned out the whole thing, got a steering wheel cover, seat covers for the front seats, and put air freshners in. Isn't he something?! :-) A little early Christmas present. As he said, he knows that I do not really have time to clean it out with school and stuff, so he was happy to do it for me when he had the chance. He's so great! Well here are some pictures of the new stuff...

(New seat covers...getting covered with dog fur already. HEHE)

(New Steering Wheel Cover and Air freshner in the air vent!)

Thanks A for being so wonderful!

Merry Christmas!

What do you get with 9 choir members, 1 choir director, 1 pianist, 1 priest, 1 altar boy, 1 lector, and 25 congregation members?...

A simple, but beautiful midnight mass in the north country!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

I hope that you all have a fabulous Christmas with your friends and family. And for those of you who are away from family members this year, I pray that you all stay safe and stay strong!

And The Traveling Begins...

It is that time now...A will finally be starting his leave tomorrow. At which point we will begin our travels. We will start by heading north to my parents' house in VA. We will get to spend the evening celebrating Christmas with them before A and I head to NY, and my parents head to Chicago to see my brother. All of us will be leaving VA on Thursday. Thursday will definitely be a day full of traveling since it is about an 11 to 12 hour drive to his parents' house from mine. It will all be worth it, and hey...it's 11 to 12 hours I get to spend with him, right?! :-) I'm looking forward to every minute of it. Pictures and posts will come later as the traveling starts and the good times continue!

Soldiers and Jesus

I have been doing a lot of driving up and down I-95 in the last couple of weeks. Therefore, I have been listening to a lot of music. There have been multiple songs that have "hit me" while I listened to them and I thought I would share this one with you today. I feel like this song is very appropriate as we approach the holidays. All of our men and women in uniform have given so much up and many of them are away from their families right now. Also, the true reason for Christmas is because it is the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I would like to say, Thank You to all of our troops and Thank You Jesus!

Soldiers and Jesus: By - James Otto

Grand-daddy came home in a B-52
In a pine box covered in red, white, and blue
He was one of the brave and the proud and the few

Twenty-one guns helped us say goodbye
I stood there in silence tryin' not to cry
As the preacher, he quoted, lines written in red
And then folded his bible and in a broken voice, he said

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

It seems like the news loves to run 'em both down
But whenever we need 'em, they're always around
So don't hand me a party's political views
'Cause they're a left side, a right side, and then there's the truth

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces
God only knows who we'd be without soldiers and Jesus

To me, they're both heroes for the path that they chose
'Cause one fights for my life, one fights for my soul

There's only two people who's every died for me
Laid down their lives just so I could be free
They both went through hell, beared crosses and shells
And both got back up again after they fell

They never picked the fight, but they're there
To pick up the pieces

God only knows where we'd be without soldiers and Jesus
Soldiers and Jesus

A Year Ago VS. A Week Ago

Here we were a year ago right before saying goodbye but already having tears in the eyes...

And now, as of a week ago, we have been reunited and I couldn't be happier (even if we were outside in 20 degree weather and we were all freezing)!It is hard to believe that he is finally home, but it really does come to an end. I have been reminded over and over again as to why this past year was worth going through. It has been wonderful to have him back! I love you A!

Flowers...

For what?!? You ask! ....

END of deployment.

I walked in after class one night last week to these flowers (thanks to the roomie for taking them out of the box so they wouldn't freeze on our front step!) On the note it said "X (number) days until we are together again". Well we are getting close to that number and I'm getting more and more excited! YAY! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of you!

I hope that you all have a wonderful day with friends and family. If you are away from your loved ones, I thank you for all that you have given and hope that you can spend it with them next year.
It is yet another holiday spent without A, but I am just thankful that it is another day closer to seeing him! :-)

I felt like this really says it all:
And this is just funny...hehe! -

Changes

...that's exactly what keeps happening with A's return information. A few weeks ago, we were given one date for his return. I had been slightly stressed because of the timing in comparison to my final exams, etc. but had gotten passed this issue after talking to my professors and working it all out. So I was getting really excited as this date was approaching and getting closer and closer.

There is a website where the homecoming ceremony information is posted and I kept waiting to see his flights ceremony information. Well, I was excited yesterday to see this information, but it was listed as being a few days later than I had thought. Ok, not what I was expecting, but this might be better...after all, then I can go to my classes and be in GA when he gets in and not miss as much school. So I was annoyed it was a few days late, but was trying to look at the bright side of things.

Well...now, we are being told that the information that was posted on the website is wrong and that you should go with the information being told to you by your soldier. WHAT?!?! Maybe if they could just get this stuff straight...of course, I know that the date can change ANY time, so I'm dealing with it as it comes and I need to not get comfortable with any sort of "definite" information, but it's getting frustrating! AHHH. Thanks for letting me vent. Regardless, it's just around the corner and I can't wait to be wrapped in his arms again :-)

Happy Birthday Big Brother

Happy 30th Birthday Michael!!

I am headed up to NYC right now on a bus from DC to meet up with my brother for his bday weekend (and more importantly...Notre Dame vs. Army football!)
I'm looking forward to a fabulous weekend with my brother and some of his friends. I have not spent his birthday with him in probably 10 years if not more so this is great.
Pictures of the great weekend to come...but for now, here's a pic of us at his graduation in May:
Oh...and Happy Birthday to my puppy, Jewels, who turns 3 today! Yes...my dog and my brother really do have the same bday. When I saw her and then saw her bday, I knew that I would just have to have her. :-)

Happy Veteran's Day!

And thank you for your service to all of our veterans and our men and women who are in uniform today! It is because of you that we can continue our lives the way we do.

Here is a prayer that I would like to share with all of you:

God of peace, we pray for those who have served our nation and have laid down their lives to protect and defend our freedom.
We pray for those who have fought, whose spirits and bodies are scarred by war, whose nights are haunted by memories too painful for the light of day.
We pray for those who serve us now, especially for those in harm's way.
Shield them from danger and bring them home.
Turn the hearts and minds of our leaders and our enemies to the work of justice and a harvest of peace.
Spare the poor, Lord!
May the peace you left us, the peace you gave us, be the peace that sustains, the peace that saves.
Christ Jesus, hear us!
Lord Jesus, hear our prayer!
Amen

--Author Unknown

I thought this was a prayer that says it all! May God watch over each of you and your loved ones, especially those of you who are separated from your loved ones at this time.

God Really Does Answer Prayers!

I do not tend to get super religious on my blog. However, I am a practicing Catholic and felt the need to thank Him today.

My uncle was diagnosed with leukemia over the summer. He has undergone multiple sessions of chemo over the past few months and fortunately was able to make it to my cousin's (his son's) wedding a couple weeks ago. However, at that point he was seeming very weak and was looking down the not-so-fun road of more chemo. We were told that if a blood marrow donor was not found that he would have to undergo at least 3 more sessions of chemo. His sister has cancer and therefore cannot be a donor and his brother was not a match. Therefore, we had to pray that there was somebody out there who was a match and willing to donate. We, as a family, said many prayers and continued to ask others for prayers. Well...on Sunday night my dad talked to my uncle and found out that a donor has been found and that he will be getting the bone marrow transplant sometime after Christmas! Now let's pray that the transplant goes well and that his body accepts it.

Thank you God for answering our prayers!

Counting?!

Counting up/down the days! Did/do you count the days? We are getting fairly close to the end and as much as I try not to count, I just can't help myself. I don't know the exact number of course because I have no clue for sure what day he'll be home. But I have a pretty good idea about when it will be. I just can't wait! I'm getting so excited at this point and have been trying to focus on my school work and stuff, but it's so hard. I've been having a lot of trouble concentrating lately. I am so ready for this all to just be over.

I think that my fears have set in the most right now and unfortunately I do not think that it will really getting any better until he is finally home. But that's ok. I'll get through it. I know I will! But I definitely have to keep reminding myself of that.

So with a combination of my fears and my readiness/excitement of the end being in sight, I have been STRUGGLING to concentrate and get work done. Somehow, I have been able to pull it all together at the last minute for all of my assignments this semester but I really need to get on top of things. Cuz when I put it off, I end up just adding to my stress. OOPS! :-D

Off to bed for me so that I am rested tomorrow for work and then school work! YIPPY!

So...did/do you count?! Or did you find that you tried not to?

I Know TOO Much

Nope...I'm not talking about being super intelligent and knowing too much. (Not that I'm saying I lack intelligence ~ HAHA!) But that's not what I mean.

What I mean is...

I know too much that has happened in the last 7 (almost 8) years of our country being at war.

I know too much about things my brother has experienced when he was deployed.

I know too much about the bad things that CAN happen.

I know too much about what A has experienced during this deployment.

I know too much!

In an email that I received a couple days ago, A said it himself. He said that he knows he shares too much information with me sometimes and that he knows it causes me to worry. This is true, but I always tell him to talk to me about things if he needs to and not to be concerned about me worrying. I'm going to worry regardless of what I know. I love the fact that he is comfortable talking to me about things, but there are times that I feel like I know too much. And that's ok, I've been dealing with it pretty well throughout this deployment. I am just ready for it to come to an end. Obviously, I have been ready for that since it began, but it has truly gotten to me at this point. I have a lot of things coming up in the next couple of weeks which have me looking forward to them and then into those events comes A coming home. So before I know it, it will be here, but I'm ready to no longer worry about "Knowing Too Much"!

How much does your soldier/sailor/airman/marine/coastie share with you during a deployment? Have you felt like you "Knew Too Much"?

Decisions

First of all...so sorry it's been a while since I last posted. I feel like my life consists of work, school, some more work, school, work again, do school work, and maybe get some sleep and relaxation in there at some point. To catch up real quick since my last post...I had a fabulous time in GA with Expat Girl last weekend. It was wonderful getting to spend some time with her in her fabulous new house. She has really done a wonderful job putting it together. I'm proud of her for all that she has accomplished on her own while Mr Soldier is gone. It was also nice getting to see Maddie again since it had been a couple months since I last saw her and boy is she growing up.

But so onto today's topic...DECISIONS! The main reason that I planned the trip to GA was to try to look into some places to live for when A gets back (mainly for him but for me to go visit and then possible live once I graduate in May!). So it will be "our" first place...at least as far as deciding where to live and I'll get to decorate! YIPPY! We are debating on a few things and seem to be coming to conclusions but I'm really not sure. We are thinking about whether or not to get a place in the city which is about 45 minutes from post or in the suburb which is only about 30 minutes from post. Living downtown would be fabulous with all of the things to do but it's a longer drive to work for A, a little more expensive, and I'm not really going to be there much until the summer (and then he PCS's in August/September) so he'll be traveling to VA a lot on weekends. Also, he has thought about getting a place with some of the other guys so that it's cheaper. The guys he has talked to about this also have girlfriends who live out of the state so they also would be traveling a lot on weekends.

So...downtown or suburb?!?! And roommates or own place?!?!

A Weekend Getaway!

HAHA...yes, that's right ~ I'm getting away from home for the weekend. Wish it was a weekend getaway with A...but for not a weekend in Georgia with Expat Girl will just have to suffice. :-) Heading there tomorrow to have some fabulous girl time (and look at some places for when A returns ~ but that's not the good stuff! J/K Super excited about that!) Anyway...looking forward to the trip even though it's going to be really weird being there without A. I'll see you shortly Expat Girl. And please say some prayers for safe travels and no speeding tickets...I've only gotten a couple on this trip before. :-D

I Want It Wednesday!

CHRISTMAS!!!

.......

because by then A should most definitely be home! If not...the Army will be hearing from me. :-)

I can't wait to be in his arms again and to know that he is out of harm's way!

(So basically I want A to be home...but I figured I'd put a date of some sort on it since I can't really count down.)

A New Month!

Welcome October!!!

I can't believe that another month has come and gone and here we are in October now. This just means that the end is even MORE in sight. So...in September I posted an entire 6 times due to the fact that my life is being run completely by school (and a little work!). My goal for this month is to post at least double that...I just miss you all so much!

Additional goals for this month:
-Continue doing well in my classes
-Go to GA to look at possible homes for A and I (even though I won't be there until May ~ BUMMER!)
-Save (a little) money
-Have fun with my girlfriends
-Let A know that I love him as often as possible! :-)
-Send 2 packages to A
-Spend time with my mom
-Eat healthier
-Work out AT LEAST 4 times a week
-Loose 5 lbs (Hopefully more...but I want to be realistic!)

Well...wish me luck! The new month starts now (well...really 10 minutes ago!)

Suggestions on Video Cameras Wanted!

I need a camcorder for school so that I can tape myself practicing my skills. (No...I am not that vain that I want to "tape myself"!) HAHA!

So I am debating on what I should get. I don't want to spend TOO much money, but I definitely want it to be worth the money. Hopefully I will be able to use it for fun and not just school. I could spend a little extra money and purchase a Flip. (which is shown below...yes it is pink because let's be honest...if I could a Flip it would be the pink one!) picture from Walmart.com

Or...I could be cheap and get something else. I'm not even sure what the something else would be at this second, but there are plenty of camcorders that are cheaper.

Do any of you know anything about camcorders and have suggestions? I really don't even know where to start when looking at these. I've heard that the Flip is good, but is it worth the extra money? I am willing to spend it if that's what the rest of the world thinks is the best way to go. Thanks for the input! :-)