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

Simple Swaps

We have been really focused lately on getting ourselves healthy. I have pictured some yummy foods that we've chosen over others to add more to our diets.

#1. I drink coffee in the mornings and usual sweeten it with Equal (blue package). I have been reading a lot on artificial sweeteners and made a decision to cut it from my diet. Instead, I'm putting only one package of SUGAR IN THE RAW (20 calories) and still getting the satisfactory sweet taste. Easy swap.

#2. Switching from diet soda to tea. I need caffeine for afternoons when I'm running on 5 hours of sleep but hate the idea of drinking a can of diet coke everyday. So I fill up a glass of iced tea then add some crystal light lemonade powder and whala! Yummy caffeinated beverage with only 5 calories and not soda.

#3. My husband's side of the family has a history of high cholesterol and my husband loves protein in the mornings after his cross-fit workouts. We made the switch from eggs to Egg Beaters. Egg Beaters for 3 tbsp only has 25 calories, 5g protein, 0g of cholesterol and 0g of fat. When you add a little pepper or salsa, you can't taste the difference.

#4. Yogurt switch! From Yoplait light to Yoplait Greek. Still about 100 calories, 9g sugar, 10g protein but the down side is only 10% of your daily calcium needs instead of of 20% with Yoplait light. To remedy this, make sure you're taking a vitamin supplement!

#5. Last but def not least...pasta. I love pasta. We switched from regular spaghetti to whole grain pasta like Ronzoni's Healthy Harvest pasta. It's always good to add whole grains to the diet, but make sure you cook it an extra 2-3 mins then what it says on the box.

Hope this gives you some ideas on how to make some simple swaps!

8 Weeks To Go

Ah this month is going by SO quick! I feel as if I welcomed September, glanced down for only a second and  then suddenly sneak a peak at my watch to find it's already half way over! We are busy as ever. Kit is on and off at home with Army training keeping him frequently in Oklahoma.

I am, as usual, keeping very busy at my first home (work)! Honestly, I put in a lot of time...but I really enjoy the people I work with. We just finished our first exercise block, block 15! Only 6 more to go...and 8 weeks left until graduation. It's so close!

Mostly these last couple of weeks it's beginning to set in that our time here is coming to an end. In one hand, we're SO ecstatic to get to our real first base after almost 20 months of waiting. In the other, I'm really sad to leave a couple people that I've met here. I find it amazing to meet people from all over the U.S. and in just 6 months form such strong bonds with certain people. I know that we'll all go our separate ways, but it's so nice to know that not only will I walk away from here with my job badge, but also with 2 best friends that I'll never forget. That is priceless and goes way beyond anything I expected to gain here.

10 Weeks and Counting

We have roughly 10 weeks left here in the lovely town of San Angelo, TX. My husband will be in and out during this time...so as if school (working 60 hours a week) wasn't enough to keep me busy, my classmates and I are planning up a storm to make these last 10 weekends count. These are some trips that I'm SO looking forward to! It's sad that my husband will miss most of these trips, but it's amazing that I have adventurous classmates to spend lonely weekends with. We have always had the attitude that's it's not where you end up, but what you make of it while you're there. When we first found out we would be Texans for 7 months, we honestly weren't stoked, but now we love it. There is a lot to do around here...you just have to be willing to look for it. We'll be ........

Camping and bat watching at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM

Staying/hiking in Fredricksburg, TX

Downtown Shopping

We'll stay at the Hanger Hotel which used to be an old hanger! Even has a flight line behind it.

We'll also hike Enchanted Rock while we're there.

Tough Mudder in Austin, TX

Texas State Fair in Dallas, TX

Can't. Wait.

Hike/River raft/ Camp in Big Bend National Park, TX

Friday Night Lights Football Game in Odessa, TX

This book/movie was based on the hs fb team from Odessa, TX! Who doesn't love football?

Here's to hoping that these next 10 weeks FLY by and that amazing, lasting memories will be made!

Decorating Fever

Now that we know where we're going we've done nothing but daydream about what our new home will look like. We have never really had the chance to make a home our own due to the fact that we have moved at least once every year. This next move will be a semi-permanent one, in that we'll be settled there for at least 2-3 years. We have a housing website www.ahrn.com that allows us to preview rental houses around Tyndall AFB, so we have a pretty healthy favorites list going on. Next step is the idea of decorating!

When we first got here to Texas we went from a three bedroom house into a one bedroom apartment, so we  had to downsize like crazy! We ended up taking four truck loads to Salvation Army. It felt incredible to get rid of so much. Needless to say we don't have much in way of furniture. A couple weeks ago our bed frame broke, so now we are down to a mattress set and night stand as our only bedroom furniture. As for living room furniture we have a set of free couches that I got from a friend four years ago, a TV (which is sitting on a Wal-Mart particle board cart) and a rug.

We went furniture window shopping yesterday for the first time. The experience definitely made us feel a little more like adults. Together we've never purchased home items before. In fact, the most expensive purchase we've made as a couple was two round trip plane tickets to Paris, France last year. We're so excited to finally get to start purchasing pieces for our nest. These are some items we've been drooling over!

We really liked the way the bed was put together, very sturdy and the side support beams can't break off from the headboard (which has happened to us twice now).  And who doesn't love dark cherry wood?

For our TV in the living room

We really like the leather couch idea because of all the hairy animals we have. The hair won't stick and get embedded into the couch. We also love to entertain, so a couch like this can hold many people, but yet it's not so big to where it limits it's placement in a room.

I love trunks, and always have wanted one for a coffee table!

We have always wanted a stand alone desk, one free of clutter and junk and we want to place it in a room like......

this. We want it set up away from any walls, free-standing with a wonderful collage of our family or maps behind it!

We have been married for almost three years and finally get to start nesting! It's been a long time coming but SO worth the wait!

Job Drop Night

Finally drop night arrived! We started the festivities by meeting on the football field for a silly race to determine the order that we'd be told our jobs in.

Then came the actual drop! This table set up made us a bit nervous......

This was the grog that we had to drink from to be allowed to open the diapers, dig through the "poop" and find our dog tag that held the happy news!

AND we're going to Tyndall AFB, FL!! This was our first choice...so you can imagine how excited we are! Our achievement was very much a team effort, and I'm so proud of what we've accomplished thus far. We can't wait to live by the ocean!