Looking Back

Looking back, I can't believe I actually made it through a year long deployment. But, I did:) Never in a million years would I have seen this becoming a chapter in my life. I being a newly Reservist's wife, had no clue what to expect or how to deal with anything to this extreme. I felt alone, overwhelmed, & broken hearted. I will never forget the day I found out that my husband would have to be deployed. He had just gotten back from his annual summer training in California & I had come in from work the following day & noticed his unusual manner & had a feeling something was up, but never imagined hearing the deployment word come out of his mouth. But, it did & we dealt with our emotions of the moment & moved on enjoying the next 6 months of our lives together, grasping every moment with value. One of the hardest days of my life was having to say goodbye to my husband knowing where he was headed. The first month came & went pretty fast being he was held in Washington state & I was able to take a visit. The second month again went by pretty easily & fast because hubby had just gotten over there & everything was still new. That month I really began to understand "cherishing the moments" as I looked forward to every phone call & hung on to every word I was hearing on the other line!!! Come month 3 & 4 you establish a routine & you start keeping yourself extra busy, but you can feel the time apart weighing on your shoulders a bit & tugging at your heart. Next is month 5 & you're so excited because you can begin to talk & plan out R&R. You get so anxious & start planning for the perfect outfit to wear & where to go or what to do to spend that quality time together. Month 6 rolls in & we're weeks away from his visit home. He makes it home & to see him walk from that plane into your arms after 100 & something days makes your heart skip a beat & melt at the same time. Those 2 weeks become the most amazing weeks of your life because you are back with the one you love & you feel whole again. But, after the 2 weeks are up you know you have to send him back over & it tears your heart into. It's hard, but you have to hold onto knowing you are on the downhill of the deployment & you just have to push through until you have him finally coming home for good. After R&R my emotions really seemed to hit me full blast. I got tired, I got angry, & I became sad. But, I had to suck it up & move on. Thankfully, I got back into my routine & other than having a few down days I made it through the next 6 months. Month 10 I became really excited knowing it would be just 2 months until he would be home...but then the changing of the homecoming date changed so many times I can't keep up. But, it finally was finalized & my hubby came home to me safe & sound. Looking back, it seems that it went by really fast. In it, it went faster than I thought it would, but it had it's moments when it seemed it would never end. I am so happy it did end & we made it through. It's still hard to believe at moments that I went through it & made it!!! I am a dependent person who had to become independent; I had to become strong; learn to control my emotions, but at the same time learn to let them out when need be; I had to learn to show all my love to my husband through phone calls, letters, pictures, skype dates, & facebook chats; I had to learn I would be going from knowing everything about my husband & his everyday life to only knowing certain things; I had to learn to have faith & use it every single day; I had to learn how to deal with "other's" crazy questions or simple concern but unnecessary comments about this deployment; I learned how to be overly proud of my husband & his service & become thankful to all military men/women & families; - it was a lot to learn, but I'm glad I was able to have this year to learn these lessons. I love my husband so much more & we have become stronger through this. I am & will be forever grateful to have him home safely. And looking back - I'm glad I have this experience to look back on!

Catch up Blog!!!!

Ok, so here is a catch up blog...bear with me & I hope you do not get bored with all of this information....

Catch up #1 - Month 12 in Review

- Best friends baby shower

-Girls shopping day & movie

- Watched "How Do You Know"

- Watched Lifetime's "Marry Me"

- Mailed out Christmas cards

- Christmas shopping

- Paid off Credit Card(s)

- Snow x's 2

- Work Christmas Party

- Church Christmas Party

- Church Christmas Play

- Leave date changed

- Still reading "Eat, Pray, Love"

- Leave date changed again

- Pack up stuff @ Mom & Dad's

- Christmas Eve (Matt flew out of Afghanistan)

- Christmas

- Make welcome home signs

- Moved into rental house

- New Years Eve (Matt flew out to the US)

Catch up #2

So, hubby ended up officially leaving overseas on Dec. 31st & landed in the good ole US of A on New Years Day...he had to spend a week in New Jersey for deprocessing & he finally came home on Jan. 7th. He told me he would call me when his bus got close, so as I'm drying my hair...he rings up my phone & tells me they're almost back to the unit. I begin to fly around like a mad woman trying to get everything ready for my grand appearance to this man of mine whom I haven't seen in 6 months which was horrific on my nerves. I get in the car hoping I look halfway decent & together & fly to the unit. I arrive right behind the bus pulling in...I jump out of my car & run to meet the love of my life just as he stepped off the last step. We ran to each other with huge smiles & wrapped each other up in a welcome home hug & sweet kisses. It was awesome! That is one of the best feelings in the world! So happy & grateful he is home safe & sound!

So, we've been back together for 2 weeks now & I love every minute of him being back home with me! He is such a wonderful man & our lives are whole again!

Catch up #3

Our 2 year anniversary was January 10th...so hubby & I loaded up for a quick trip out of town for just the 2 of us & some quality time. We ended up shopping, hanging out, sharing many laughs, & hearing all kinds of stories about his deployment. For our anniversary night we went out to eat at The Melting Pot, which was an awesome experience. We loved it & the food was fantastic. It was such a nice few days away for just the 2 of us!

Catch up #4

And now I leave you with a few pics!!!!

Please don't forget about me....

Hey bloggers! Sorry it has been so long but with hubby's homecoming & the move with no internet connection hooked up just yet, I haven't had the time to do a decent blog, but hopefully tomorrow I will be back with a homecoming post with pictures for you all to see! Please don't forget about me...I will be back to catch up with you all hopefully real soon!

Well....

After 370 long days of deployment....HE IS FINALLY HOME!!!!!!
Pictures to come later:) I'm off to enjoy my hubby!!!!