Leap Year

   So this year has to be leap year with one extra day in February. I could do without it if it would bring my hubby home one day sooner. Hopefully within the month he'll be home. Now if the days would just stop dragging. At least I know the boys and work will keep me busy. There is always plenty of things to do, it's just finding the motivation to do it.

One Year

   Today marks one year since our family has been apart. In the last year we have been together twenty five days. Thankfully this will all soon be over. I spent the day busy with work and home stuff.

Being Intentional

   So I got a Valentine's card from my hubby yesterday. He wrote it on Valentines and it finally arrived here yesterday. It was very sweet and unexpected. It made me smile and think of him.
   Okay so the point of this post is that I've learned to be very intentional with my time. My job of being a therapist at an elementary school being a mother to my two boys, as well as being an army wife makes me realize just have much I have vying for my attention and time. I've learned that if I can get it done now instead of waiting until another day to just do it and get it done with, such as paying a bill that just came in the mail. I've also learned to try and schedule one fun thing for the weekend but to keep the rest of it guarded for family time and the weekly task of getting my house in order. I've also learned through being intentional with my time, just how much I really have on my plate and am once again looking at ways to cut back on my time commitments so I can be more effective in what I do give my time and talents in, anyways just wanted to share what I'm currently learning and trying to walk in. Hope everyone has a good week.

Little Boys Want to Be Like Their Daddy

   So my youngest son is all into the army thing right now. He is five and is in prekindergarten. I gave him a choice of two shirts to wear today and he wanted the army shirt (which wasn't even an option to start with). I let him wear it, no big deal. Then on the way home he says "I'm going to be an army man". Him and his brother have talked about what they want to be when they grow up quite a bit in the last several months. My oldest thinks he wants to be a teacher and has been pretty consistent in that. However, my younger son has changed his mind several times. First, he wanted to be a police officer, then an army man, and then a counselor. Now he's decided he wants to be an army man and be a counselor the rest of the time when he's not being an army man.
   I've not made it a big secret that I do not want my sons to be in the military. I feel like they and our family have given enough and that they don't need to be involved in the military world personally as they get older. I fully support my husband in his decision to be in the military but there is just something about thinking about my babies growing up and joining the army, or any branch of the military that does not sit well with me. Now I hope that I will be big enough to support my sons in whatever they decide to do career wise and more importantly with their life as they continue to grow. After all it's my job to help shape them, but then I have to let go of control, and let them go. Thankfully for me, the army thing, even if it happens is a long ways off so I'll cross my fingers that my son changes his mind once more.

Put on the Spot

  I had my yearly work evaluation today. It went well but it made me a little bit anxious. I do not like to be put on the spot. My thing is finding the balance in being humble but also being aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I'm glad that's over for another year.

Hurtful Words

   Words really are powerful. People have said some very encouraging things to me during this deployment!
"I'm praying for you."
 "I'll watch the boys for you if you need a night off".
 "How are you hanging in there?"
Then there are the other words that are just plain hurtful, whether it's intended or not.
"You knew what you were getting into when you married an army guy."
"Just think more positively."
"A national guard wife is a guard wife, not an army wife."
Words can either help lift people up or tear them down. Think before you speak, I've been known to speak without thinking but I can tell you as an army wife there has been a lot of thought that has gone into our lifestyle choice. However, that doesn't make it easy, there are some huge sacrifices that come with it. I know I also have a choice on how to react to these words that are spoken into my life I just wish sometimes that people would adhere to the wise old adage of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Four Day Weekend

   Today was church and then I took the boys to the park for a little bit. It was just to nice not to spend some time outside. Glad to have four days off and enjoying it.

Crazy Day

   Today was a Birthday party for one of the boys friends. After the birthday party, we ran some errands. Nathan really wanted to stop by the library and pick up some new books to read so we did, and we needed groceries so we took care of that too. Then we came home and my garage door got stuck, it wouldn't go back down, so I called up my friend and had him come look at it. Moments like these make me feel kind of helpless and overwhelmed. I'm so ready for this deployment to be over and it's so close to being there but oh so far away. Missing my hubby, and wishing he was closer than he is right now. However, thankful for helpful friends.

Taking the Day Off to Clean

   Last week I worked two days because Adam left on Wednesday to head back overseas. This week ended up being a three day week because we had a snow day on Monday and today was a professional training day for the teachers. It's kind of nice how it's worked to slowly get back into work but things are busy as usual at the job. Monday I enjoyed making a snowman with Jacob. Today I took the day and cleaned my house, going through my room and organizing, and doing laundry. Jacob got to relax, watch TV (netflix), and play the wii.
   This evening I went out with the small group ladies for a night out. We had some yummy enchiladas that one of the ladies made and then we went out to cheesecake factory for dessert. Yummy! The boys hung out with Adam's best friend and his son so they got a boys day in :) Looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

The Past and the Present Collide

   This morning and afternoon I spent time at a yellow ribbon ceremony learning about homecoming information. So excited that we are at this part of the deployment. This evening I went with some friends to an alumni basketball game at ORU. I can't remember the last time I was back on campus, I'll have to take a trip there again sometime soon to get some shirts for the boys and I.

Night Off

   Today was a pretty good day. The work day was pretty hectic but that is pretty typical these days. This evening I went out with a friend for dinner and a movie. We saw Joyful Noise, lots of good singing. It was nice to take the night off and relax. The boys got to play at their friends' house with a bunch of other kids from church. This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one.

Getting Back in the Groove

   Today I went back to work, then hit the gym, and finally got to spend some quality time with my small group from church. It was a busy day. It was nice to go back to our "normal" routine for this phase of the deployment.

Saying Goodbye Again (Cya Later)

   I despise goodbyes (because I've said so many and I know the long road that entails afterwards), that's why I choose to think of them as cya later. This morning Adam got on the plane to head back to Afghanistan to finish out this deployment. I didn't think I would cry because there are only a few more months left and the "rough" part of this deployment is over. I was mistaken. I did good when we dropped the boys off at school and they said goodbye to Daddy. Then we headed home and he packed up his last minute stuff. After that, we headed to a local diner for breakfast. His was in his uniform at this point and the waitress was asking him about what he does and where he was headed. She meant well when she said "Come home safely," but that about did me in with the type of deployment this one has been. I didn't talk much during breakfast, I was trying unsuccessful to hold the tears back. I don't know how I managed to eat but I did eat some.
   There was a World War II Veteran that served in the Navy sitting in the booth next to us that told us stories and chatted Adam up while I tried unsuccessfully to maintain my composure. May I just say I'm not to much for public display of emotion so the whole thing was kind of embarrassing for me. And on top of it, I kind of felt bad for the waitress, who told me I needed to stop crying or she was going to cry too and she couldn't work if she was crying. I've been a waitress and it's pretty much impossible to wait tables when you are emotional. Anyways, the Veteran kept an ongoing conversation going with Adam about his service and his son's service who is in the Air force. Then he thanked us (mainly Adam) for the conversation and wished Adam well and headed to start the rest of his day. About five minutes after he left another older guy came through the door, took in the situation, with my red eyes and wet napkins and seated himself in the front booth of us. He waited until I was somewhat composed (this being the best I could do) and then approached us, asked about Adam's service, and thanked him for his service; then he stated that he knows he doesn't get thanked enough for what he does, took our tap to pay for, and told us God bless. It was nice to hear someone thank Adam for his service and it didn't even bother me that he didn't acknowledge me and our family's sacrifice because I was to busy trying to hold together some composure.
   Anyways, after that we headed to the airport. I was going to park and walk him to his plane but by this point I'm pretty much bawling, forget about the composure! So instead of walking him in and sending him off with a smile I gave him a hug and kiss through the crying and waved goodbye as he walked into the airport. I did not want to cry my eyes out in front of whoever was at the airport!
   Then after all that I did the only thing I knew to do and went for some retail therapy! And oddly enough, the rest of the day has gone okay. I miss my man but I know he'll be home for good soon. And I'm extremely grateful for the time we had together as a family. I also know that there are fourteen Oklahomans that won't be making it back to their family and friends after this deployment is over and I can't fathom walking through that heartache so I do one of the only things I know to do and try and appreciate the time I've been given with my love ones. Sleep well world and be safe my love.

R & R

   I haven't been updating my blog in the last two week because my husband has been home on his R&R. We have a few more days together as a family and then he heads back for a couple more months before this deployment is officially accomplished. I took a break from blogging for several reasons. One of the main reason being I wanted to enjoy this time privately with my family. This is the first leave we've gotten in the three oversea deployments that we've experienced as a couple. The first deployment we were dating/engaged.
   This leave kept getting pushed back and cancelled and it was at the point that we had just chalked up that we weren't going to get leave. However, we have finally gotten it and I'm grateful that we have had this time as a family even though it's going to be hard to send him back in a few days. Mainly we've done a little bit of everything. Adam has been ransacking the house, clearing through stuff, and decluttering. One of his first days home he had the carpet cleaning people out cleaning our carpets. While it's been nice to clean and sort through the boys toys at times it's been a bit much for me. He's taken over the house and our routine which has taken adjustment, as sure as it will take adjustment to him being gone again, and then almost as soon as we get adjusted he'll be back for good since he got his leave so late in the deployment.
   Some of my favorite moments of this deployment were 1) our family vacation that we took for a few days to just get away from everything, 2) getting our family pictures done, 3) and getting to go to dinner and a concert with our friends. It's also been great to spend time together just chilling as a family. It's even been nice having him tackling the things around the house that I've just let go because he normally takes care of it and I didn't have the time or motivation to deal with (like the clutter in the garage).
   Mainly I'm just thankful to have him here. I think it worked out for him to get his leave at the perfect time for our family. It'll be interesting to transition once more for all of us again but our life is one of transitions so we are pretty use to them as a family.