Feeling a bit Blue

As the army has it, its done it again. Taken away another sweet friend of mine. I feel like just as we get close, get into a routine and comfortable its time to start over. I knew this was coming well before but that doesn't mean it made it any easier. My sweet friend Gill who I'd met through work when I first started here is moving / pcsing to Germany with her little family. 

A little back story...Gill and her Hubbs where suppose to pcs to Germany back in the fall of 2014 but her husband ended up coming down on deployment orders. With the arrival of their first baby in March G. decided it was best to move back home to Texas to be around family. Spring of 2015 she moved back to TN and came back to work. It was so awesome to have her back, to say we were all excited was a little lie, we where over joyed. However there was that little debbie downer that hung over us all. Those pcs orders to Germany still stood. Around August- September 2015 time frame Gill took over the 4 year old class so we worked hand in hand. As the days came closer to her last day, reality began to set in that she was really leaving. Gill is one of my closets friends at work and not having her here any more is really hard. It truly breaks my heart. I'm lucky enough to have another friend who I adore and who is also a Milispouse step in and take over her class. I love A and I know we will work great together, we have so much in common. You know though, when your used to one person and the way you two work together and jell it just flows. Here's to the next few months of getting into a routine and flow with A and figure things out together. It hasn't even been a week and I miss Gill already. I texted her on Tuesday and told her it just wasn't the same with out her here. I'll miss my morning Hot Chocolate that she would bring me sometimes, I'll miss our lunch dates and all the stories we'd share. I'll miss her sweet little Cammie and watching him grow. I'll miss picking her brain about life and everything we are both going through. What who am I kidding I'm going to miss everything about her. 

Of course we will stay in touch, we'll still have our chats and even lunch dates via Skype, its just not going to be the same. 

I put together a little going away dinner for Gill with some of the other girls we work with at her favorite Mexican joint here in town and we had the best time. I'll miss our Chips and Salsa Dates for sure. 

Our First Full Day

Enjoying our first full day together. Thankfully the hubbs got in so early that we pretty much had an entire day just the two of us. After leaving the Hanger he wanted to stop off at the Company area and see some of his guys and say hello. After a quick visit we headed home and got settled. The pups where beyond thrilled to see their "daddy". 

 I had breakfast planned for us, knowing he was going to be getting in early enough to eat but since he'd eaten a bit at his last layover he wasn't really hungry. Myself on the other hand, hadn't eaten since 3am that morning. Almost 11am and I was starving. We called his mom and dad to tell them the good news of his return and they where behind thrilled. His mom asked him if I knew he was coming home when he did because I hadn't mentioned anything to them the weekend prior when we where together. He told her yes I did, and that he knew better then to surprise me with a Homecoming because he knows how I like to have everything planned out and just perfect. Yes Yes I do. I would have been devastated if he'd ever pulled something like that. 

We decided to venture out and grab some lunch at Noodles and Company, followed by a trip to Verizon to upgrade my phone. Lucky for him he was able to upgrade his as well. That then led to a stop at Best Buy since it was right there, followed by a trip to a couple gun stores and then the local hardware store. Not exactly how we had talked about spending our day but that's ok, he was / is home and we are together so that's really all that matters. After the last store even though it was only 2pm:ish I was exhausted and ready to get home. The lack of sleep from the night before, the early morning and running around for 2-3 hours had finally caught up with me. We headed home to relax for the evening. 

 Since I'd made dinner ahead of time the day before I simply just had to put it in the oven to cook. Talk about a easy peasy first night at home. We spent the rest of the evening lounging and cuddling on the couch watching a bit of TV before calling it a night at 7:20pm. Yup, you read that right we where in bed well before the sun went down. Over the past week between the both of us we hadn't got much sleep. From his traveling back to the States to my house cleaning and excitement, sleep was not something that came easy. 

We are both beyond thrilled and excited that he is home and I couldn't be more blessed that God has safely gotten us through another deployment. 

I can't wait to see where life takes us and what our future holds. 

As hard as deployments are there is one good thing that comes out of them, they most definitely bring us closer together. I love this man more than words can say and I'm truly grateful to have him as my husband. 

Springing into Summer!!!!

I'm absolutely love loving this warmer sunshiny weather we are having. It's done wonder's on my pale skin and brightened up my home as well. I've brought in some beautiful flowers through out the back and front yard. Even added some veggie and fruit plants, well see how long those hold up. However I have been really good about remembering to water them, so fingers crossed. I've been enjoying our back patio quite a bit here lately. It's so relaxing to come home from a long day at work and just sit outside with the pups, have dinner and listen to the birds and bugs. I've spruced it up a bit so its cozy and cute, I've still got a few idea in mind to add to it but for now its just perfect!!! It's much more enjoyable then plopping in front of the tv, which I find I'm doing less and less through out the work week. I am oh so excited about the new season of the Bachelorette starting up this Monday though. Should be interesting to see how this season play's out with there being two Bachelorette's. Sadly I'll have to wait till Tuesday night's to watch it since we do not have cable, only Net-Flix and Hulu. It took a while to get used to not having cable but I can proudly say I don't miss it one bit. We didn't watch it nearly enough before and so it just made sense to do with out when we moved to TN. I don't know that we'll ever go back, I like to enjoy the simpler finer things in life and I grown to realize tv isn't one of those.

Everybody loves a little local Strawberry pickin. Sarah and her sweet little family where kind enough to share part of her mother's day with me. We met out at the strawberry farm to do a little picking of our own. Little AB couldn't stop eating them, she was def. enjoying the her first adventure of S. picking. I didn't blame her one bit though, they are so fresh and tasty!!! 

This past week at work has been absolutely crazy and exhausting. I'm so glad the weekend is here and I hope it creeps by because I'm not ready to start another work week yet. I am scheduled to work a 40 hour work week and from time to time I'll have a hour- two at the most of collective over time though the week. Yesterday when I clocked out at 5 min. till 6pm mind you I am suppose to get off at 4:30pm, I had 46 hours for the week. That's 6 hours "SIX" hours of over time. That's more than a hour a day people. Talk about one of the longest weeks ever!!!! I still managed to come home and walk the pups and pick up the house a bit before settling down for dinner. But boy was I beat, between my weekly workouts, runs and non-stopping working I was more than ready for a break.
I'm not sure though how long this "break" is going to last. I start a new workout / nutrition plan on Monday. (some of you may have heard of the 21 day fix extreme, through beachbody, ya I'm going to do it, wish me luck!!) And we have less then a month till our pre-school graduation, so I'm going to have to really start buckling down with my kiddos even more to get them ready for that. Not to mention there was / is a possibility for me to take a summer course and when I say summer I mean a whole 15 week course crammed into a single month. Through the month of June. A little part of me was kinda hoping it would fall through and I wouldn't feel so overwhelmed but it didn't and here I am. I have the weekend to decide if I'm going to do this or not. Like the husband said, I've got to take it at some point so why not just go and get it over with. But hello its 5 Tuesday night, 2 Thursday nights and 4 Saturday's through the month. 45 whopping hours aaaahhh!!!! I don't know what to do. The one good thing is I know the instructor teaching the class, and my girl A who took the last two classes with is doing it, so at least I'll know someone. And I suppose it would probably help pass more time with the hubbs not being home.
Speaking of that handsome fella himself, he really needs to hurry and get his booty home. I know not like he has any control over that matter. But would be nice if he did. Still no word on when he's coming back either, which totally down right sucks, seeing's as his whole company came back early April and he was moved to another company. Talk about a bummer. But we have officially decided where we are going for his / our post deployment trip and I'm beyond excited. Crazy as it was to it was all his idea, I most certainly didn't see that one coming. We're keeping it under the radar for now but I can't wait to share!!!!

Well now that I've sat out and enjoy the morning rain and chirping birds this lovely gloomy morning I suppose it's time for me to get ready for the day, Sarah and I've got a little adventuring to do this morning. Time with her is always the best and frankly not always that often enough so I'm soaking it in and enjoying it while we can. Because I'm sure gonna miss her here soon, but we aren't talking about that. I'm in denial!!!!!

Life Happens....you've been warned...

....random update of life lately, it's kinda all over the place but wanted / needed to recap. 

Well....its been a bit uneventful but a bit over whelming here lately. Parts of me doesn't mind it but then other parts of me wonders how I've managed to take on so much. When in reality its not all that much at all. With work Monday-Friday and Classes 3 nights a week, my days are pretty full. When I don't have class in the evenings I generally stay late and close at work. I like having the option to stay and close if needed vs. being completely depended on. It makes for some really long day's either way I go but it beats sitting at home alone. Some nights when I don't have class or have to close I tend to find myself hanging out and chatting a bit longer at work. I don't always feel the need to rush home, I mean the pups are there but the nights are the hardest with the hubbs away and it makes for lonely evenings. In the mornings I get up work out and take the pups for their walk before going to work. Two reason: One-when I get off its already dark out so not really ideal for walking the pups. Darn you winter time change. Two-working out before work means if I wanna come home and be lazy I can. Most nights when I cook dinner I cook enough for me to have left overs for 2 maybe 3 nights. This helps my commissary budget, as well as keeps me from having to cook every night. I don't mind cooking at all, I actually love cooking. But the last thing I want to do when I get home from class at close to 9pm is to cook dinner and do dishes. So left overs are perfect for me right now. On the weekends I might cook myself a more time consuming / involved meal because I can take my time with it. 

If I typically have any running around to do or shopping I try to get it all done on Saturday mornings - mid afternoon after walking the pups. This way I have the rest of Saturday to work on my homework because lets face it these two classes have me swamped. I've been out of school for a hot minute now and trying to get back into the swing of things with classes and homework has had its challenges. I've started reading more for pleasure but this whole reading and having to write a paper on it is a totally different thing. It also give me time to do any hously duties I might need to do clean the house, straighten up. The dreaded laundry, its so easy to throw it in the wash, then dryer but I hate hate folding and putting it away. Sunday's I go to church, the early service which is at 8:30 and I'm usually home by 9:45, unless I go to Sunday School. After our morning walk around the neighborhood I'm back in my comfy clothes for the day, vegging out on the couch watching Netflix and Hulu. I'll try and make myself productive here and there but normally I have a completely lazy day. I haven't gone out and really done much lately other than a few random outings here and there. It's been crazy cold and then we will have days in the 50's, it almost reminds me so much of Texas weather. It's been quite a bit rainy here lately as well, I never knew it rained so much in TN. I'm so ready for it to warm up more. I absolutely hate hate the cold weather, that's what 3 years of living in Hawaii will do to you. 

I've slowly been knocking my To Do List down, little by little. Reminding myself everything doesn't have to be done at one time. But oh how I desperately wish it could be. I did finally get our taxes done this morning so that's taken care of. My homework assignments for this coming week are complete and just need to be typed. I'm headed to Nashville tomorrow for a birthday party for one of my kiddos and I'm planning on making a day out of it. Heading downtown right after church in the morning!! Life's been busy and chaotic but I wouldn't have it any other way. At least I'm making the most of my time through this deployment. 

Better than sulking and eating ice cream from the carton every night.

 I mean a bowl is so much more classy!!! Right!?!?!?

And because a post isn't complete with out a picture.....

I slipped on my boots and took the hubbs Glock and HK out for a little swirl last weekend to this lovely setting......

I may or may not share what went on that afternoon. I still haven't decided!!! 

Deployment Update

What can I say its going as best it can I suppose. We are officially past the 2 month's down mark with still many more months to go. We actually got some kinda not so good news in that department today which of course I can't discuss on here but let's just say some tears were shed.

I was going into this deployment expecting the worst. We haven't been apart for more than a month, two at the most in the past 3 1/2 years. Thanks to Life on the Trail. I knew this deployment was going to be just like the first one. It was 15 long terrible, awful, no good months in so many ways. I mean we'd only been married a month and here he was leaving for his first deployment. Deployment #2 wasn't any better, I honestly think they get worse the more you go through. So I was expecting this one to be extremely hard times a thousand but its been much different. Don't get me wrong it hasn't been easy at all and I absolutely hate every minute of it but we are managing and pushing on. Some days are harder than others, and I've had those day's were I just want to pull my hair out and scream. 

But if I'm being honest it hasn't been nearly as hard as I was expecting it to be. We do get to talk pretty often, mainly through text messaging. Which does make it easy on both of us because we are both able to multi task while getting ready for our day or bed. When I'm getting up and ready for the work day, he's ending his day and getting ready for bed and then other way around. So it works out that we are both on kinda opposite schedules so we don't miss out on talking to each other. 

We've been able to FaceTime a handful of times which is always nice. Our 1st deployment we only video chatted a handful of times through out the entire 15 months. Communication and internet service then and where he was, was awful. 

                                      We are most definatly counting down and or course planning a much needed post deployment trip. All in All we are managing and doing well.... ok. Missing each other like crazy. I can't wait for the day life is back to the way it was. Oh and of course I've been dreaming of the Homecoming Ceremony. That first hug and kiss. 

Oh I CAN'T WAIT. Distance and Time makes the Heart Grow Fonder!!!!