Late Valentine's Day Post

So, this year my Valentine was home with me:) I tell ya, I am still on this high of having my hubby home. Maybe that's my problem with sleep lol! Anyway...this year he was super sweet! I came home from work to dinner ready & waiting for me with candles lit!!! (hubby is still on leave from his job) He gave me the sweetest card & 2 bags of my favorite candy! He also had vacuumed the house for me! AND *He bought me a new watch* He's the best! We definitely enjoyed our evening of being together on this LOVE day!!! I love this man so much & am so thankful & glad he is my life long partner! Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's day as well & if this time you weren't with your valentine hopefully you will be next year!!!

Sleep Deprived

Ever since hubby got home...I've encountered a problem...I can't sleep. I mean, I sleep but I never rest. I go to bed tired; I wake up tired! Anytime during the night I can wake up wide awake. The other night when I thought I was asleep (and evidently hubby wasn't) he told me the next day, all I do is toss & turn - the whole time! I'm not sure what my problem is. Is it because I'm not used to him being back in the bed with me or do I really have trouble going to sleep & resting? This past weekend, I was able to sleep in which is a great feeling, but it still happened & I woke up with a tension headache because of clenching my teeth so tightly (probably because I'm so tired & stressed that I'm not resting). So, tonight I am trying a Tylenol PM to see if that will help & I have an extra hour to sleep due to the prediction of snow in the area...so we shall see. I'm so tired of being tired. I want to just rest peacefully. Well, I'm off to hopefully catch some zzzz's! Have a good night!

Stressed.....

We are currently living in a rental house that is quaint & cute, but it's an older house & it is costing us a fortune trying to heat this place. So, the hubs & I are on a hunt to purchase a home of our own. Who knew how stressful this would be. We find a great looking house we both like, but then it's in a not so good location or we find a great location & nothing that we like. We've been on the search for a few weeks now & we've come up with a handful we will contact our realtor about to go take a look at...so wish us luck & keep your fingers crossed that we end up finally finding a place of our own to call HOME!!!!

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!!!!