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!!!!

Goodbye 2010

This time last year me & hubby were just a few days away from him leaving for his year long deployment to Afghanistan. This year we are a little more than those last year's few days away from hubby being HOME!!! I can only hope that this will be an amazing year, way better than this past one. Which I have to say, I am thankful that I can look back & say I made it through 2010 by myself without my life partner here by my side, I can say I made it through a deployment (which I never would have dreamed of having to do this in my entire life), I can say I've become stronger than I ever thought I could be, and I can say even though millions of miles apart....we made it through 2010 together! He did an awesome job - he made me proud, he stayed safe & sound, he kept his head up through all of the junk & kept me positive as much as I could be, he kept me filled with his love & communicated with me as much as he could every step of the way, he did it!!!! I did it!!! We did it!!! Here's to bringing in the New Year apart still, but very much together in heart! I will see him soon! I love you babe!
Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

Just an ordinary day

Well that soldier hubby of mine is still not home yet...but believe me, you will all know when he is. Today was back to work from the holidays. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, got to spend time with your families, & got everything on your wish list. My Christmas was wonderful even though hubby wasn't here. We still have one, well actually two more Christmas celebrations to go. We still have my dad's side of the family & then mine & hubby's Christmas when he gets home. We are spreading it out this year, which is nice, keeps the festivity going! But, besides celebrating Christmas I have been busy with the rental house, getting all of our stuff out of storage & moving it there & getting the water & electricity turned on. It has kept me busy & hopefully will continue so this time will really fly by until hubby is home. I actually went today & picked up a few decorative pieces for the house, which felt awesome by the way. It has been forever since I have shopped for a home & I loved it. I could probably get carried away, but I will try not to. Sometimes that's not a simple task! Well bloggers that was my day, consisting of work, shopping, & out to dinner for the best friend's 25th birthday which by the way will hopefully be having her baby girl real soon! I'm so excited! Anyway, that's all I got...toodles!

Merry Christmas!!!!

I hope this will not be going against OPSEC, but I can officially say, my husband is no longer in the desert of Afghanistan. He is not home; I have no idea when he will actually be home, but I am ecstatic that he is out of there! And even though he will not make it home for Christmas, he will still be the BEST Christmas present EVER!!!
Anyway, besides that exciting fact...I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Hope you all enjoy your precious time with your families!!!! Merry Christmas!*Christmas 2009*