I vow to help you love life, to always hold you with tenderness and to have the patience that love demands, to speak when words are needed and to share the silence when they are not and to live within the warmth of your heart and always call it home.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Finale Lonestar

The time has finally come. I'm starting the final exercise in between me and graduation tomorrow at 0600, bright and early! We'll go Wed - Fri this week, then Mon-Wed next week. Graduation next Thursday! One week left and it has honestly has come so quick! This whole course has led up to these last 6 days of exercise. I can't give too much away but we will be integrated in with enlisted personnel to add a little spice of realism. I know I can get through this and out the other side. My day will start at 0600 and end at about 10 pm.  Please keep us in your prayers this week! As for the last push...you can do anything for 72 hours right?

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Potential FL Home

So we're so excited that I'm bubbling over at the seams! We think we found a house that the price is right...and our needs are all met! It's a block from the ocean, 3 bed/2.5 bath and simply perfect. Trying not to get our hopes up in case it doesn't pan out but here are some pictures!
Description: Two-story home minutes away from Tyndall AFB with both covered and uncovered patio and pool. Three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, alarm system, pergo and vinyl floor in bedrooms, living room and upstairs bathrooms, tiled kitchen and breakfast area, updated kitchen, working fireplace, ceiling fans, skylights, large landscaped backyard and frontyard. Master bdrm. 16x12, 2nd & 3rd bdrm. 10x13, living room 23x15, brkfst. area 8x14. Pool service included in rent.










Teach Me


So my husband is home! Picked him up from the airport and couldn't stop smiling...me or our golden retriever. This week will go by extremely fast, so we decided to our to-do list done in the beginning versus waiting until the last moment when that will be the last thing we'll want to do. Since the husband will be away for awhile there are a lot of things to consider, given the length of time. Especially with a move coming up, new job, holidays, tax season...etc. My husband and I had "teaching time" so that he can show me things that he usually takes care of over the year. Hope if you're ever in this situation or know someone, that this may be a good starting point for you:

1. Cleaning the guns
2. Taxes
3. Hooking up our comp, TV, PS3, routers, printer, and webcam
4. Vehicle maintenance
5. Changing the oil on the lawnmower

These are just items that he usually takes care of....that are a must know for the upcoming year. I took written notes and when it came to showing me how to clean the guns even took video. Everything little thing helps!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

The D Word

Denial. Devotion. Devastation. Delighted. Dejected. Delectation. Divorce.

There are many "D" words used throughout relationships. Only 5% of families experience this particular beast...

Deployment.

We went into life together expecting it. Knowing it would come. It doesn't soften the blow. My husband approached me around this time last year with news that his unit that he was currently in the process of leaving, was officially tasked with a deployment. He said he wanted to extend his commitment for a year so that he has the chance to go one last time, and asked me what I thought. I never hesitated.

 Go. Go. Go. I want him to have this chance with every bone in my body.

My friends/family ask me, "Why does he want to be gone for a year? Why did you let him?" One, I don't dictate what my husband does. We are one, and we talk everything to death. We made this decision together. Will I miss him? No doubt. Do I ask everyday if his deployment has been called off with hope? You bet. But I know it has to be this way and it's out of my control. Two, he doesn't want to be away from me for a year. He does want something else more. I told my husband how people we love don't understand, so about 2 months later he showed me something. He said, "When people ask you, and they don't understand why. Show them this."

"Combat isn't where you might die - though that does happen - it's where you find out whether you get to keep living. Don't underestimate the power of that revelation. Don't underestimate the things young men will wager in order to play that game one more time."

My husband has worked many jobs. He's met many people. He's never experienced anything like what he gets from the US Army. He loves those men. Especially one in particular that he couldn't bear the thought of going into war without him. I feel like this person was the determining factor, who joined because of him. He wanted to be there to show him the ropes and have his back for a year. Even though my husband is only a Staff Sergeant and won't have many men under him in command....doesn't mean a damn thing. He's a leader and takes care of his people through and through. He's told me many times, "There's no way I'm letting them go over there without me. No way." I admire him, and honestly want to be just like him when I finally get the chance to lead.

Speaking from personal experience, you just can't get that comradery feeling from any other profession than from the military. You become a family. Hell in most cases you see these men and women more hours out of a week then your actual family. You create bonds, go through the "storming" phase, then solidify those relationships that last.

It was never lost on me why he has to go back. I love him and I will miss him so much while he's gone. Thankfully, I'm pretty independent and self-reliant. I feel like emotional wise, I was built for this. It will be particularly hard over the holidays, but hopefully there will be enough distractions to keep my head up. We will conquer this and come out so much stronger in the end. Everyone will come home safe. Life will pick up where it left off, and be nothing but amazing :)

Tough Mudder - Austin TX



This last weekend my mother, friends and I decided to take on the toughest physical challenge yet....Tough Mudder. It's a 12 mile course with 22 obstacles and it took us about 5 hours to complete. Here are some of the more popular obstacles the course had!


Arctic Enemia - A huge ice tub that you slide into, then have to go underwater to clear a wooden board dividing the pool in half. You end up not being able to breath or feel anything. BBBBRRRRRRRR


Bale Bonds - Huge bricks of straw about chest high stacked into a huge pyramind about 3-stories high. Goal was to climb up one side and down the other! If you're afraid of heights than this one was a bit tricky.



Berlin Walls - 12ft tall wooden walls to climb over. Def a team effort.



Boa Constrictor - You climb into a tub that dips into a muddy water hole...barely keeping your head above the water you must then climb back up and out the other end of the tube! Very claustrophobic!



ElectricShock Therapy - Run through the 30 yards of hanging electro shock cords! OUCH!

I barely made it!


Half Pipe - Run up a 12ft tall, slick skateboard half pip!



Mud Mile - Trek through literally a mile of waist deep think, suck-you-under mud

All in all it was an AMAZING adventure and the most physically tough event I've ever accomplished!

The After Photo