Month 9 in Review

So tomorrow is officially the 9 month mark, but since somebody special is supposed to be coming tomorrow, I thought I'd do it a day early!

Plus, I could use a distraction. Especially since my friend (whose husband is on the same flight, funnily enough, enough though he came from Afghanistan instead of Iraq) kind of stressed me out by telling me that her husband isn't scheduled for a flight from Dallas until 5pm...and they're supposed to get in at 8am. Unfortunately, all Nick told me was that he'll be getting in "in the morning", and I haven't heard from him since. So I really have no idea if I should just head up to Dallas or not. I would rather not, since it's a 2.5 hour drive each way, but I also don't really want to wait half a day for him to get down here. Needless to say, I'm a little anxious!

Anyway, back to the review. It feels really good to say we're done with 9 months! That is a long freaking time and there really is not much left in this deployment, thank goodness (and when R&R is over, it'll be October!). And I know R&R will give us the stamina to get through the last few months. Here are a few highlights from the last month:

-Drove back to Texas with my dad. Pretty uneventful drive, except for the 5 prisons we saw along the way.

- Got back into the groove at home and enjoyed my fixed A/C. Thank goodness for that because we've had a heat index of 100+ a ridiculous amount of days since then. Also hung out with my friends a whole bunch!

- I finally sold Nick's ridiculously annoying truck, woohoo!!! SUCH a relief. I honestly haven't even thought about it since I sold it too. I love Craigslist.

- A gross little mouse moved into my backyard while the dogs & I were gone for the summer. I saw it twice, but the last time was a few weeks ago. Rufus has been on the hunt pretty much nonstop, so I think it's gone. Ew.

- I went on a fabulous shopping spree thanks to Texas' tax-free weekend! Gotta love new clothes! I'm wearing a pair of my new pants today, in fact!

- Unfortunately, my family has had some rough times in the last month, including the unfortunate loss of my amazing grandfather. There have also been a ridiculous amount of hospital visits. I ask that you'd continue to pray for my gramma, and uncle who are having some health issues.

- Started going to the battalion bible study with the chaplain's wife. It's been pretty cool. We're going through the same sermon series as the guys are with the chaplain in Iraq on the same day. There are only 4 of us who come regularly, but its a nice, personal group.

- Had another battalion coffee, which was pretty fun. It was a salad theme and was also thrown by the chaplain's wife. Good times!

- Said goodbye to my friend Michelle, who is moving back to Kentucky. :( I know we'll see each other again, but I will definitely miss her!

- I started taking down all the wallpaper in my house. In all, it probably took me about 2 weeks, and that was with working on it 2-4 hours a day. It is finally done, thank goodness! Definitely a good project to keep me busy before R&R, but man, it took forever!

-Tried to keep myself busy with little errands and projects in anticipation of R&R. I don't know how well it worked, because I was pretty antsy. But at least the time didn't wear on too long!

- Thought Nick was going to be delayed a day for R&R, but apparently he's still getting here when he was supposed to. Not sure how that happened, but thank goodness!!!

- Have cleaned pretty much every square inch of my house in anticipation of Nick coming! I also made shortbread cookies and chicken tortilla soup and have the fridge fully stocked! Haven't had a whole lot else to do though since it's been raining for 2 days straight. I thought I lived in Texas, not Seattle.

-Oh, and I got a nice surprise this afternoon when my doorbell rang and it was FLOWERS from Nick! I'll have to take a picture of them (sorry, I'm too tired from cleaning at the moment). So sweet and a total surprise!

Countdowns
0% left until R&R, ha ha! Love it! BECAUSE I GET TO SEE HIM TOMORROW!!! AFTER 9 MONTHS!!!
75% done with the deployment. 25% left -no problem!


Deployment Goals
- No problem with the working out. I've been stepping up my work on my abs too and it is paying off. And the dogs are getting 30 minute walks each, except for the last 2 days when it has literally not stopped raining!!!

- The dog training is alright. Scout is still barking incessantly every now and then. Mostly when I'm on the phone or computer. He's getting a little better. And both dogs are off the bed...except at around 6am every morning when Scout decides he wants me to wake up and I let him in the bed so I can sleep.

- The 2 new meals I cooked this month were: Southwestern Bean Salad (for my last coffee), and my father-in-law's Baked Ziti recipe (yum!).

- Church is still good. It's nice to be back and working in the nursery every now and then. Also, I signed up to help out with childcare for bible studies, which surprisingly is a paid position! So I'll be doing that at least once a week starting in October. Sweet!

- The wallpaper project definitely falls under working on the house. I also touched up some paint here and there, and obviously cleaned it like it's never been cleaned before!

- Other than my shopping spree, I think we're doing a good job saving money.

- Reread 7 Things He'll Never Tell You...But You Need to Know which Nick gave me for Valentines Day. Other than that, nothing new read.


Prayer Requests
- That we'd have a great R&R (although I know we will) without a lot of stress, and that we'd just be able to enjoy being together

- That Nick is able to fly all the way here without an issue and we don't have to worry about driving a long way.

- That the rest of the deployment goes quickly

- That Nick transitions to a new job smoothly (he's a platoon leader right now, but they're going to switch him to a staff position for the rest of the deployment)

- That we would continue to make God the utmost priority individually and in our relationship

Upcoming Events

- R&R (obviously!)...ya, that's about it

On His Way

I got a call from Nick bright and early this morning and he was waiting for his flight out of Kuwait!!! I haven't heard from him since, so he is on his way!!! He said they were going to fly through the night and should be here tomorrow morning! I wasn't expecting him until Monday morning, so this is awesome news! I was all set to sub for my friend in the nursery at church tomorrow too. Now I probably won't even be going to church at all. CRAZY!

Its really starting to sink in and I'm cleaning the house like a mad woman. Of course, it's been raining for like 2 days straight, so there are wet/muddy paw prints everywhere, ha ha. Nothing a mop can't fix, but of course, we haven't had any rain at all in like months! I think Nick is excited though because it's pretty much permanently summer in Iraq. And I'm excited it finally feels like fall. I haven't worn pants since I got back from California.

Ok, back to cleaning! I get to see Nick TOMORROW!!! AHHHHHH! So excited!

All Good

So, seeing as how I haven't heard anything, fingers crossed, Nick is on the way! He reported to the airport tarmac and is on his way to Kuwait, woohoo! FINALLY! It hasn't quite sunk in yet, although its starting to get a little more real. I'm hoping he'll get out of Kuwait quickly and then it should be smooth sailing!

In other awesome news, I finally finished taking the wallpaper down! It only took me what, 2 weeks?! Definitely a good project to keep me busy in anticipation of R&R. Anyway, here are some pictures:

Before

After

Boring, white walls without any texture

Somehow the bathroom seems smaller or more confined at least. I'm gonna call a handyman after R&R and have him texture the walls so I can get painting!!! Very exciting day!

Grumble

So, as it is already Friday in Iraq, I was fully expecting Nick to get on a plane in the next couple of hours and head to Kuwait. But, apparently the weather is completely sucky in pretty much the entire country of Iraq, and, as a result, they have canceled all flights to Kuwait for today (Friday). Awesome. So, hopefully, if they're not totally backed up from this, it looks Nick will probably be getting here on Monday instead of Sunday. Unless by some miracle, he gets here Sunday night. I'm not holding my breath though. Major bummer. Blaaaaahhhhhhh.

I've already called the kennel and am now dropping the dogs off on Monday instead of Saturday. Other than that, our plans aren't really affected all that much (we're going to Austin on Wednesday), but it's still really annoying. And I really wasn't stressed about getting everything ready, so it's really just another day of waiting.

I know, it's just one day. But I've been waiting for this one day for nine months already! Needless to say, it really needs to get here!!! Today is just a grumbly day in general. It's raining outside and I had to say goodbye to my friend Michelle (the one who is moving). Come on Monday!

I'm just a planner and I don't like plans changing for stupid stuff like weather. Obviously I should know better than to trust the Army for any plans, but I'm just so ready for him to come home already, I really hoped he would actually be coming home on Sunday. It'll all work out, I know. So, please pray that he actually gets to Kuwait on Saturday! Because I'm really over this waiting business.

Antsy

I'm sooooo ready for Nick to be home already. It seems like time is almost slowing down. Yes, we only have 5 days, but at this point, that seems like forever. It's probably due to the fact that there is absolutely nothing going on right now. I have random little errands to do this week (vet, recycling center, nail salon), but there's nothing that's really making the time pass quickly. Other than removing wallpaper, but I can only do that so many hours per day. And I really wish the new fall seasons started this week instead of next week because I've seriously watched everything on my TiVo. And of course, all I can focus on is R&R. The 13th really needs to hurry up and get here already!!! Please pray that he actually gets here on that day, because if not, I think I might go crazy!

A Week

I realized today, Nick should be home in a week!!! AHHHHHHH! I can't wait! I'm so antsy. I swear, all of my dreams are about R&R and it is all I can think about. Thankfully there's not too much I still need to get done this week-he could pretty much come home today & I'd be ready for the most part (I still need to go to the grocery store though). YAYAYAYAYAYAY! Time just needs to hurry up!

Taking Over My Life

My life has officially become about wallpaper. I started taking down the wallpaper in our master bathroom and it is taking FOREVER. Literally. Like I think I've spent 10+ hours taking down wallpaper...so far. And I'm probably like 3/10ths done. Seriously. Please don't ever completely wallpaper a room. It is horrendous to take down.

The other rooms I've done so far just had wallpaper borders, and they were sooo quick. If you ever want a job to keep you busy though, take down some wallpaper. I've been totally getting antsy about R&R (we're about 9 days away!!!), and it's amazing how much faster the days seem when I'm completely caught up in taking down wallpaper.

But honestly, other than this project that is eating up my life, there really isn't much going on. My days pretty much consist of running a few errands, walking the dogs, working out, eating, sleeping, and taking down wallpaper. But hey, at least I'm not bored! Here are some pictures of the easy stuff:

The most hated wallpaper...yes those are outhouses

Progressing

Wallpaper everywhere

This is pretty much what the dogs did the whole time...


...unless they were playing the game of who could get the closest to me as possible (Scout usually wins)

All gone! Yes, I know I desperately need to paint now

The office before (the only picture I could find was when we were moving in)

And after! Ta da!

I'll put up some pictures of the master bathroom once I feel like I've actually made a dent, although it's pretty ugly. It's pretty much just drywall underneath the wallpaper. Good times.