Q's and C's and W's

Questions Concern's and Worries oh and not least, Thankfulness.

My husband is my hero... have I mentioned that before? Since his heel is broken from a dirty Taliban's IED I would like to express my desire to join the military with my fellow milspouses to bring them down! I think they couldn't handle us! Thank the Good Lord he is alive and going to return from deployment early. Thank you to everyone who has helped us. Thank you to our family and friends with all of your prayers and words of encouragement. Thank you.

"For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Control

I realized, the things I find important, are not so important, except for my mental state of mind. It's only me trying to take control of situations, since I cannot really do that with anything else in my life; i.e. army. I am taking a conscience effort to eat right, exercise and bring the holy spirit in every part of my life. It's hard though, when your best friend, your spouse, is on the other side of the world and in danger. To compensate for this state of mind, I like to make lists, cross of the things off the list, including things I keep adding. Do you do the same thing?

On another note, at the Px today, the Christmas decorations were already gone and VALENTINE's DAY items were already OUT! I'm sorry, I like the idea of having a little bit of DWELL TIME! How about you??

Merry Christmas

Not the best picture of either of us, but a good memory. Last Christmas in Michigan.

Love this man.

Merry Christmas to all those serving our country this Christmas and to all of the families that tirelessly support them!

"Those Christmas Lights, light up the street" Coldplay lyrics

A tribute...

For all of the women who take their cell phone and home phone to the shower in case your husband calls, I take my hat off for you.

For all of the spouses/girlfriends/mothers who give their soldiers time zone to a stranger when asked the time, I salute you.

For all of the wives that have cold toes when they go to bed because their soldier's toes are not there to warm them up, I pay homage to you.

For any one who has felt grief of lost life deep in their bones, my heart aches for you.

For any one that is asked if your life is like the show "Army Wives," I roll my eyes with you.

For any family member that misses Christmas, Anniversaries, Birthdays, First steps without the presence of your soldier, I acknowledge you.

For every spouse that fights back tears at the sight of closet filled with civilian clothes that haven't been touched in 300 days, I cry with you.

For every wife who gets nauseous when the doorbell rings, I welcome you into my home.

I know I am not the first wife to feel these emotions or take part in the crazy behaviors, but I sure feel a sense of relief that I am not the only one! I pay tribute to YOU this Christmas! Thank you!

My Grown up Christmas List...

"No more livess torn apart,  wars would never start, and time would heal all hearts and everyone would have a friend, and right would always win, and love would never end. This is my grown up Christmas list." - Amy Grant lyrics

Jesus is coming and I suppose Santa too! What if Christmas we didn't buy gifts for each other. What if we each did something good for another person? That would be the gift. Do you think everyone would be happy on Christmas? I challenge all of my readers and myself, to do something selfless for someone else this week.

This Christmas, I won't be spending it with my husband. He instead will be patrolling somewhere in the sand. I will be holding down the fort with our pups and thinking about our Christmas Card photo.

 

HoHoHoHaHAHA!!

Christmas is giving!

Mother Mary, you lived your life by welcoming Jesus in your womb and enabled us to draw near to everlasting life. I am so grateful that you lived a faithful life. I pray that I also have the courage to stand in faith on God's promises. It's hard as a military wife of a deployed soldier who actively patrols scary places to remain strong. I hope since it's the season of Jesus' birth, that I can remain just as you did every day of your life channeling God's grace.

I would like to give a couple examples of women that exemplify this everyday life.



This woman's skills are wonderful. She definitely does not take for granted her God given talents. I love how she combines music, poems, art and life within her blog and photographs. She definitely shows the spirit of Christmas. It's my favorite! Her blog is called "Quiet Life." Check her out!

The Six of Us
It's nice to be appreciated! I am so glad that my MILSPOUSE Secret Santa gift exchange with Wife of a Sailor, went so smoothly! Kim thoroughly enjoyed her "loot" as she put it! She is a wonderful Mom and has such a positive outlook on life! Thanks Kim. I hope you and your beautiful family have a Merry Christmas.

Army Soldier, Army Wife, Army Life!
I may be biased, because she is one of my dearest friends, but this beautiful, young mother really exemplifies Mary. She has an enormous heart that beats for her family and God. I can always count on her to shed a positive light on our crazy life! Thank you!

So this is Christmas...

"And so this is Christmas, for weak and for strong, for rich and the poor ones. The road is so long, and so happy Christmas for black and for white, for yellow and red ones. Let's stop all the fight. A very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear." John Lennon.

Less then one week until Christmas! I hope you all remember the true meaning of Christmas. If you are with your spouse, family or alone, I'll be thinking of you!
Day 13

Water! Toilets! Holes! oh my!

Today was the first time I didn't have my husband or father to call for help about a household repair. Do you know what a toilet flange is? I sure as heck didn't until today! Your toilet sits on it. It's plastic and looks like this.

 Toilet Flange Picture

Apparently, when the builders were putting the finishing touches on my home, they got a little lazy. There was a slice in this toilet flange and instead of replacing the appliance, they caulked it. WELL, needless to say, this lazy attempt to finish a project did not benefit me; the resident. Toilet leaked through the ceiling, which caused a tear, then a hole, then a bigger hole and then finally running water from the ceiling...

Hole. Water. Wonderful! I am blessed that the workers are so pleasant and happy to repair something that should have been operating correctly from the beginning!

Check survived it, with the pups of course protecting me.

Day 2

One day closer.

Today, I spent the morning shoveling, working out and attending Immaculate Conception mass. It was lovely because I ran into an army wife who I met the day before while sending off our husbands. She is a newlywed and beginning her life as an army wife. It was wonderful to meet her again, especially at church. I feel like it was a blessing.

Sitting in front of me is our Christmas tree and a BIG card from my husband. He left it there. He really expects me to wait until Christmas to read it. It's staring me in the face. This will truly be a test of delaying gratification.

countdown begins again day 1

Today he left for his first combat deployment. Luckily, he is meeting his unit over there and returning sooner then a year. The pups were at a loss when I returned to the house sans "dad." Lucy grabbed his glove and wouldn't let it go. Charlie waited at the door expecting dad to walk in too! Luckily, there sense of time, is not the same as mine. They will pick up right where they left off with him when he returns. As for me, today is filled with shoveling (3rd time) and Christmas cards. 

Us. Sad. Cold. See you soon.

days before deployment

Well, it comes that time again... Those of you may know the uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach, when the inevitable occurs; deployment. There it is staring you in the face. HELLO! HE IS LEAVING.. tick tick tic tick...

The waiting is the worst of it. Hopefully, if you share this feeling of mine or if you know someone who is leaving and has left, you are not alone. I will be thinking of you!

wait (waited, waiting, waits ) 1. to remain or rest in expectation 2. to remain or be in readiness,

Surviving holiday feasts and deployment blues

Like Miss Piggy says, "Never eat more then you can lift." Thank you Miss Piggy for those fine words on this 4,000 calorie holiday dinner. (PS It will take 14 hours to burn that off by walking briskly).

Picture

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I hope you all are eating healthy portions of your feast and laughing with those you love. Hug a little longer and be in the moment. Sometimes, the moments slip away so quickly, we barely have time to blink. If you are not with your loved ones, I will be thinking of you and so many others separated by miles, war, feuds, disagreements and stubborness.

We probably will celebrate a little bit of Thanksgiving and Saint Patrick's Day. We are eating Corned Beef and Cabbage. There will be a feast, but from Ireland instead of the pilgrims. I am hoping to also squeeze in something Hanukkah, St. Valentine's, Easter and New Years Eve this coming week. It's also my birthday next week and we are hoping to visit the Christmas tree lighting in new york city. :)

Don't get me wrong, I love our country. I love traditions and family gatherings, but right now I am not too happy. How do some families get to be nestled with their loved ones in front of the warm, crackling fire drinking hot cider, eggnog (if you like that) and listening to Christmas carols and our soldiers have to be overseas...alone? Yes, I realized, this is part of the job of protecting our country and those families who are safe at home, but sometimes I do get envious. . .

One Hundredth Post

Wow! It's pretty incredible. I have been at this for a year and I have finally made it to one hundred posts.

It's nice to have met all of you and thank you for visiting.

I forgot to share this picture of me pinning my LT during Airborne graduation!

Deployment comes again to our family. This time his boots will be in real combat zone. It will luckily not be another year, but this means separation again. I received a book from the FRG leader titled, "Surviving Deployment, A guide for military families, by Karen M. Pavlicin." It provides information critical to facing a deployment and is written by one of us MilSpouses. I encourage anyone facing similar situations to look into reading it or keeping it for references and tips.

I suppose, this means I will have some lists going for activities I will be working on during his time overseas. A couple things come to mind:

1. Read. I have so many books I want to read. The Dragon Tattoo series. I need to finish my book about Susan G. Komen. I would like to read Obama Wars and check out the book Happy Life as an Army Wife suggested While They Are At War. I am sure I can complete these before Spring.

2. ORGANIZE! Pictures, Recipes, Craft Room, etc. Since living this army life, my things have not been tended to like I normally like. 


3. Exercise. LT and I have a saying, E. S. P. Emotional, Spiritual and Physical. It's actually on our wedding bands. We both want to make sure we stay true to these three things when we are separate. 


What are some things you do while your husband is deployed? Any survival tips? I was thinking about making a page on the blog from all of you strong, experienced, milspouses/finaces/girlfriends, that have tips. It might be a good resource for people looking.... Let me know what you think.