Month 4 in Review

So yesterday officially marked 4 months done with this deployment, WOOHOO! It seems like a pretty good milestone, like we have a good chunk under our belts. Here are some of the highlights from this month:

- Had a wonderful Spring Break in Washington State! Sooo relaxing and beautiful (as always!)

- Got through a reallly bad week, including a fun day where I was stuck on post with Nick's broken down truck! Definitely not the most fun day of my life, and not something I want to repeat anytime soon. The truck is actually still sitting in front of my house because I'm not motivated to get it towed to a shop, but I swear I'll take care of it soon! I also got sick with a sore throat and thought I had pink eye (thankfully it was just allergies!)! Good times. But I got through it!!!

- Had my dogs escape from my yard into the neighbors' yards not once, but TWICE! Those boogers! They drive me nuts sometimes, but I have to love them. Honestly, I couldn't imagine coming home after work or at night without them here.

- Got my morning duty switched at work, but its fine. The little kids are pretty cute! And there is much less clingyness. Otherwise work had been pretty good. Only another 1.5 months and then its Summer Break!!!

- Co-hosted another "coffee" with the lovely ladies from my unit! My co-host was absolutely fabulous and took care of most of the stuff. Really, the only major thing I did was the Evite and buying beer (we did beer tasting in honor of St. Patrick's Day). Lots of fun! Can't wait for the next one!

- Got my taxes done, WOOHOO! HUGE load off my back!

- Found out that my Heroes at Home group at church might be overwith in June, unless they can find someone to take over. But, I feel a little better about it, having made some "battle buddy" friends.

- Got to webcam with Nick a couple times. Honestly, those things are our saving grace. Although they're slightly bittersweet (seeing him, but not having him actually physically in front of me), they're totally worth it! Love it!

- Built (not from scratch, in case you were wondering) my two stools for the patio! Really excited about those! And I ended up getting another 2 that are currently on their way!!!

- Had a glorious 3-day weekend this past weekend. I'd say it was the perfect combination of relaxing and hanging out with friends! And Easter was fabulous! I wasn't planning on doing anything special other than church and got a last-minute invite to my friend's house which ended up being really fun and festive. So sweet of her!

- Lots of fun with the awesome friends that God has blessed me with (including some who even come help me fix stuff!!!)

Countdowns: 34% done with the deployment
38% of the way to R&R!!!

Deployment Goals

1- Get in shape- I started "running" on Wii Fit (running in place mostly) and its making a big difference. I supposedly ran 5 miles on Saturday and today! Pretty impressive! And, of course, I continue to walk the dogs every day. Its starting to get really warm, so I'm even starting to work up a sweat!

2- Cook 2 new meals per month- This month, I made my sister's French Dip recipe (mmmm, I love French Dip) and D.A.R.'s Penne Alla Vodka (mmmm). I'm making myself hungry thinking about them. I definitely highly recommend both! The Penne actually kind of reminded me of my favorite dish from my favorite Italian restaurant...and thats saying something!!!

3- Church- Check on that. Still helping out in the nursery, going to church every week (unless I'm out of town), and Heroes at Home. I'm thinking about maybe going to a Sunday night bible study at some point too.

4- Read a new book every month- Since, this last month involved Spring Break, I actually ended up reading 2 books. The first was the book that Nick got me for Valentine's Day- 7 Things He'll Never Tell You But You Need to Know. It was pretty interesting. No huge revelations or anything, but I think it made me think about things differently and gave me insight into how he sees things. I'll probably read it again before he comes home. It was a pretty quick read. I also read a book my sister, Hillary, got me for my birthday. It is called Sink Reflections and it is basically about getting organized and developing a plan for cleaning your house. It is awesome and I highly recommend it! The basic idea is that you do a little bit of cleaning every day and focus on a specific area each week (bedroom, kitchen, etc.). It has done wonders for my stress level and I feel like it is sooo much easier to keep my house clean! Thanks Hill!!!

5- Work on the house- I weeded the backyard, built the two stools and kept it clean with my ne book! I'd say that was a pretty productive month!

6- Budget- Still doing well on this one. We're going to try to do a little bit better though. But, I did start a savings account for Nick's truck (he's getting a new truck when he gets home) and put a fairly substantial deposit in there, which was really exciting.

7- Dog training- My dad sent me this really sweet dog training iPhone application. I just started using it, but so far, I really like it. Speci

Prayer Requests

- Safety for the troops

- Continued strength and perseverance for both Nick and I through the rest of the deployment

- Faith/trust that God had our future in His hands

Upcoming events

- Our SIX year dating anniversary! I can't believe we've been together for that long. I feel like we were just kids when we started dating!

- A baby shower for my friend Meghan from work

- Another "coffee" with my unit- Sushi this time!

- Participating in Relay for Life with a group from work


Can't wait to update for our 5th month!!!

3 Day Weekend

I had a 3-day weekend this weekend and it was GLORIOUS! Friday involved sleeping in, hanging out and getting some errands done. I made a whole bunch of cookies to send to Nick and packed up a box for him for our 6 year dating anniversary, which is coming up (has it really been that long?!). And then I stopped by my friend Michelle's house for some wine and a movie (Taken...good, but intense) with a bunch of girls. It was fun, but I find it funny that out of 5 of us, I was the only one without kids. That seems to happen a lot though and is pretty amusing.

On Saturday, I was realllly unmotivated and managed to stay in my PJs until 2pm....and took a 2 hour nap. It was really nice to have the chance to just relax and spend times with the pups. I can't help but feel guilty about leaving them all day while I'm at work. So its nice to get to spend some time with them. And there's nothing wrong with a lazy day every once in awhile.

On Sunday, I attempted to wake up early for the sunrise Easter service at my church, but there was a MASSIVE thunderstorm. It was actually kind of cool though. I couldn't help but think about the Resurrection with the loud noises coming from the sky. But anyway, since the sunrise service wasn't going to be outside anyway, I went back to bed until the next service. I helped take care of the 1 year olds, who were really cute in their Easter attire. One kid even had a tie on! Adorable! They were all really good too. We had a couple cry for a few minutes, but they got over it pretty quick.

Then, I went to the next service, which was great, and was then invited to a friend's house for an Easter brunch. It was all Army wives (some from my unit), so it was definitely nice comradery. It felt like a real Easter too, since she made ham and we had some good food to eat! And there were a bunch of kids running around getting Easter eggs and stuff. I ended up being there for a few hours and then came home and webcammed with Nick (awesome again!!!).

Then, after a few hours at home, I went back out and went to dinner with a friend from church. Phew! We both didn't really think about the fact that it was Easter, so it was a little bit of a struggle to find a place that was open. We ended up hanging out for 2 hours and had a great time!

Overall, it was a really great weekend. It could only have been better if Nick was around. If only every weekend was a 3 day weekend...

Too Real

So we had another scare over the last couple days. Unfortunately, there were another 5 U.S. casualties in Mosul, where Nick is. Thankfully, I've talked to him and he's totally fine. But, like his mom says, its bittersweet hearing news like that because you know someone else is getting a very different phone call. Please pray for the families of those 5 soldiers.

Although I understand the policy, it is absolute torture to have to wait 24 hours to find out if your loved one is alright (for those of you who don't know, the Army cuts off communication until the loved ones can be notified). You can't stop the "what-ifs" from popping into your head. You know you'll find out one way or another, but the anticipation is excruciating. This is why I don't watch the news. I'd so much rather find out after the fact.

It's days like that that make it all too real. I know my husband is gone and in a war zone, but I don't really think about the implications of that every second of every day. And then something like this happens and you're forced to think about the reality of the situation. And it sucks. All I can do is trust that God has a plan and that he'll come home alright. But not everyone is that lucky.

Anyway, this is kind of a depressing post, but I just had to get it out. I'm actually doing really well considering. It probably helps that I didn't hear about it right before bed this time so I actually got some sleep. And, after awhile, you just know that they're fine and just have to wait for the call to confirm it. Oh, and there is some good news in all this: Nick & his platoon actually caught the guy responsible! I'm really, really proud of him. Lets pray that there are less and less "real" moments though.

Pretty Boring

So things are pretty boring around here. Work is fine, gets me through the day a lot quicker. We got through another TAKS day (yesterday), but this time it was only 5th grade, so I didn't have to cover a class (THANK GOODNESS!). Otherwise, nothing exciting going on. I've kind of just been in the routine and things are just normal. No dog escapes this week, woo! Oh, there was one kind of interesting thing that happened this week. My awesome neighbor randomly and unexpectedly mowed my front lawn for me! I kept hearing the lawnmower outside & was so confused, but he just did it & left. So nice of him! I was planning paying him to do it soon too! I'll have him do the back once I kill all of the evil weeds that keep springing up!!! Anyway, here are a few pictures So, I thought I'd put up a few pictures:

My blooming herb garden!

One of the stools I built this weekend for the patio

My full patio set! Should I get another 2 stools? I'm thinking about it...

So ya, that's about it! Oh, and we get Friday off this week because it's a "Bad Weather Make-up Day" and we never had to cancel school this year! YAY, can't wait!!!

Sunday

This was another really good weekend. Yesterday I went to a festival in a nearby town with my friend Michelle. It's funny how drastically different this town was compared to where we live. I felt like I was in "real" Texas. I thought the festival was going to be more about plants (it was called Bloomin' Fest) , but it was really like a Farmer's Market. We stayed for a couple of hours and got some shave ice and walked around. I think we would've stayed longer, but it felt HOT. It was only 85 (summers here are in the 90s), but man, it was hot! I felt like I couldn't get enough to drink and it made me sooo tired. It was fun, nonetheless though.

Then, yesterday afternoon, I ended up building the two stools that match my patio table. I should take a picture. I'm so proud of myself. Now I can eat outside...if the weather warms up. Its windy and cold again...oh Texas! I'm considering getting another two stools to finish off the set...we'll see.

Today involved church and I ended up going to lunch with a couple of girls after. It was actually the two ladies I talked about last week. We had a lot of fun and I think we're going to get together more often! I'm so glad I found some friends in that group! I might also start going to a small group with one of the girls sometime soon. She works too, so weeknights don't really work for her, but there is a small group that meets on Sunday nights, so we're thinking of checking it out! We were also going to go rockclimbing, but both of us had adventures in the sun yesterday, so we postponed it to next weekend. I'm just so glad there is another person around my age! I feel so young most of the time.

After lunch, I came home & Nick was online! His finally renewed his internet (it expires every month), so we got to use webcams, which was AWESOME! Seriously, greatest invention ever!!! We had tried Skype a couple of times, but it always dropped the call, so we'd only see each other for like a second. So, we used Yahoo Messenger this time and it was glorious! It froze maybe twice, but then came back really quick. Love it! Its still kind of bittersweet because you still can't reach out and touch each other, but just seeing his face makes such a difference!

Well, I'm off to bed. I can't believe its Monday again tomorrow! We get Friday off though (WOO!), so next week will be a wonderful 3-day weekend!!! I can't wait!

Peace

I took my dogs on a walk this morning and it was soo peaceful. I blasted some David Crowder on my iPhone and just enjoyed walking. I wish I could walk them every morning, but I have to be at work by 7:30 and its dark until like 7. Too bad. There weren't any loose dogs (I probably see an average of about 5 a week in my neighborhood), and there wasn't really anybody out...it was fantastic! And I'm totally loving this Spring weather...although Spring in Texas is pretty much like Summer anywhere else, ha ha. Today's high is 85 (it was only in the 60s this morning)!

But anyway, this week has been so drastically different than last week. Ya, there were some rocky moments this week, but I think my attitude toward them was completely different. Last week, I was just overcome by everything and really felt burdened and frustrated. Last week seems like so long ago. This week, I was able to laugh when my dogs escaped not once, but TWICE into my neighbors' yards. As much as last week sucked, I feel like I needed to go through that to just trust that God is in control. It made me so much more confident that I can get through this deployment (with God's help, of course). My focus is so much more on the day-to-day now instead of how many more months I need to get through until Nick's home. So that's good.

Well, it should be a fun, busy weekend. I'm trying to get most of my chores done because I'm going to a plant festival with one friend today and then possibly rock climbing with another friend after church tomorrow!

Again?!

So I was watching TV & eating dinner and all of a sudden the doorbell rings. And then it rings again and again. I usually ignore the doorbell since its usually solicitors. But, it kept ringing, so it made me realize that the dogs were mysteriously quiet outside. So I walk out & see them through the fence in the neighbor's yard!!! So I answer to door & my neighbor says he has them in his backyard. I ran out with him apologizing the whole way and dragged my boys back in my house. Thankfully, my neighbor was really nice about it. And I can hear him fixing the fence now. I swear though, my boys are giving me a run for my money!!! All I can do is laugh. At least I know the fence is getting stronger!

Also, today I took the dogs for a walk, as usual. I got about 90% through my walk on my normal route when all of a sudden, a little dog runs across the street towards us. It followed us for a few minutes, all the while I'm dragging 2 dogs (equaling about 100 pounds) down the sidewalk trying to get away. This dumb dog obviously didn't get the hint from Scout's ridiculous barking that we did not want to play. If I hadn't had both hands occupied, I probably would've sprayed this dog with my dog pepper spray. And, of course, there was no human in sight! I don't know what it is about my area, but people just let their dogs go willy-nilly without supervision. It drives me nuts!!! Here I am, being responsible and trying to control my two dogs and there's this wild card other dog that could attack (not really in this case as both my dogs were bigger, but it could be a pit bull or something!) or who knows what! And all because this person thought they'd just let their dog roam wild. Ahhh, it drives me absolutely nuts!!! I'm hoping its just a problem in my neighborhood or town and I won't have to worry about it in the next place the Army sends us.