Happy Memorial Day

This leave has been pretty awesome. We started out with a fun trip back home to Ks. Got 3 days away just BD and I at a lovely, beautiful bed and breakfast. Spent good time with family, Yesterday was honorary Fathers Day at our house, I let BD sleep in then made him Waffles with strawberries and powdered sugar, bacon and fruit and we went and got his tat added on last night *His fathers day present* then last night I got to stay in the most beautiful, romantic Hotel Suite I've ever been in. BD surprised me with the Executive King Suite, Roses, a beautiful note, and champagne.
It was a lovely, beautiful evening. It's been one of the best 2 weeks we've had in a very long time.
I can't tell you how much this pre-deployment leave differs from last deployment. I was newly pregnant, exteremly sick and my marriage was NOT what it is now. Our marriage was in a way different place than it is now and I can't tell you how much relief it is knowing the state of my marriage now with this deployment coming up. It takes a strong marriage to withstand a deployment. We've withstood 2 of them and this time I know without a shadow of a doubt we will withstand this one. Each deployment comes with its set of challenges, I have no doubt this one will, actually I know for a fact it'll have HUGE challenges but I am already praying for my husbands safety, so I ask, if you pray, to pray for not only my husband but every other soldier out there who is at war, fighting for our Country. Pray for every wife who lost her husband due to war.

To those who have helped us the last few months with everything that has been given to us, whether its watching our kids or helping us with things that wouldn't have happened without your help, Thank you! I can't tell you how eternally greatful I am, how greatful my husband is. I am about to be a single mother for a year, my husband is about to go to war, You have helped us way more than you know. Thank you. THANK YOU! Thank you for your support, thank you for your love, thank you for your generosity. There was a time when we didn't know what a 'date' was, there was a time we were so stressed we just didn't know what to do so thank you! For our children, thank you.

Nobody understands the stresses of pre deployment and deployment unless you live it and the generosity we have been shown means the absolute world to us. You've given us a gift we could only hope to pass on one day!

May you be equally blessed. Happy Memorial Day

home sweet home

Our leave is 1/2 over. We had a great time on our anniversary 'getaway' We didn't get the exact room we had reserved due to plumbing issues but we are So glad we got the room that we did. It was a cottage away from the main house and it felt like we were at an ocean. It was amazing. We had some Cold Stone Creamery *YUM* ate at some really yummy places, If you're ever in Wichita, Ks I highly suggest TJ's Burger House and Jimmie's Diner *Home of "THE" Best malts ever!* We slept in, went shopping, and even went Ice skating. Yes..me..Ice skating. As BD and I walked...er.shuffled onto the ice it was made apparently clear that we were "the Old people" as we watched 50 middle schoolers skate around us. I also got a beautiful present while skating....A huge..ugly..Bruise on my knee. We completely enjoyed the HUGE whirlpool tub in our cottage, heavenly. All in all it was a great time and we soo needed the time away. I missed my babies terribly but yet it was slightly sad to have the 'freedom' end.
We're back home now and spending the week running errands and catching up on "business' and then BD goes back to work.
The dreaded work. The time is quickly approaching. Some days I'm ready for it to start and other days I dread it with every fiber of my being.
I know I'll get through the year okay. We have our schedule which literally keeps me going. Thats my key to survival, that and my TV shows :). Our schedule doesn't change much wether its deployment time or not. Our daily schedule stays the same for the most part..little changes but for the most part it stays the same. Which is my saving grace.
But for now I will be focusing on spending time with BD for the rest of leave and on our memorial day BBQ

Peace!

Tatted up

I always said I would never get a tattoo. Haven't I realized by now that I should never..EVER..say never. Because my 'never' always happens.
A little over a year ago BD and I got matching tattoos. Its BD and My's name in a circle with 2 rings inside the name circle then bound by love on top and the date we got married below. Now, yes, I know the old wives tale, dont get your spouses name on you, you'll get divorced..ya..okay...well, I'll take the chance. A tattoo will NOT cause my husband and I to get divorced. Name tattoos just arent some people's cup of tea and I totally get that, no judging, but for us, thats what we wanted to do and it works for us.
My second is my absolute favorite! It's a hand with a thumbs up and the date April 23, 2002 It's a dedication to my grandma. The date is the day she died. The thumbs up, She had ALS and when she lost the ability to use her voice she would always give us a thumbs up when asked how she was. My grandma was a pivotal person in my life and this is my Lil dedication to her. I got it on my shoulder blade but I really wish I would have got it someplace that I could stare at it constantly. ha

Now, I've gotten a bit of criticismI always said I would never get a tattoo. Haven't I realized by now that I should never..EVER..say never. Because my 'never' always happens.
A little over a year ago BD and I got matching tattoos. Its BD and My's name in a circle with 2 rings inside the name circle then bound by love on top and the date we got married below. Now, yes, I know the old wives tale, dont get your spouses name on you, you'll get divorced..ya..okay...well, I'll take the chance. A tattoo will NOT cause my husband and I to get divorced. Name tattoos just arent some people's cup of tea and I totally get that, no judging, but for us, thats what we wanted to do and it works for us.
My second is my aboslute favorite! It's a hand with a thumbs up and the date April 23, 2002 It's a dedication to my grandma. The date is the day she died. The thumbs up, She had ALS and when she lost the ability to use her voice she would always give us a thumbs up when asked how she was. My grandma was a pivotal person in my life and this is my lil dedication to her. I got it on my shoulder blade but I really wish I would have got it someplace that I could stare at it constantly. ha
I've had numerous people come up to me and ask me "why did you get a thumbs up on you?" So I share the story with them and I kid you not, every one of them says something along the lines of "wow..that is really awesome" or "That is so special, I really like that"

Now, I've gotten a bit of criticism for my tattoos. Some folks I know don't agree with the fact that I've gotten tattoos. Can I just say once and for all, Tattoos don't mean I'm a heathen, They don't change who I am or what I believe, I am still the same person I was before, I will always be the same person, a loving mother, wife, daughter, friend. I will only get tattoos that mean something. Tattoos are my way to show the world who I am and what I believe. No judging those that do that, if that's your cup of tea then by all means, carryon! You just most likely won't find me with a Winnie the Pooh tattoo on my chest or where ever lol I plan to get 2 more tattoos, One for each of my girls and after that I'll probably be done. I'm not out to tattoo my whole body, I'm not out to have sleeves or whatnot. My tattoos are an outlet for me to share what I believe

I'd like to end this blog with a quote by Herman Melville:

It's only his outside; a man can be honest in any sort of skin."
- Herman Melvill

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day mommies!!

This is a beautiful, amazing Mothers day! I have my 2 precious, beautiful, healthy children, I have my amazing, loving, caring husband home with me, and I get to spend it with BD's parents...Great day!!

I love being a mom. I love being a stay at home mom. Yes, its trying, tiring, and the hardest job ever, but I can't imagine not seeing what my babies have for lunch or knowing how their nap went or not helping them color pictures. I love being around for my babies. There's nowhere else I'd rather be!

So, YAY for a holiday for us!

So heres a funny for the day,
We went out to lunch at our favorite Chinese resteraunt and of course I'm dressed all cute, well I go to browse the buffet and this little girl, probably 10-12 years old comes up and so very politely says "ma'am..You have toilet paper on my shoe" *this poor little girl was trying so hard to not hurt my feelings* so I stand there for half a second thinking "how did I get toilet paper on my shoe? I havent even been in the bathroom" so I look down and (whew) its just a napkin, so..quite loudly *I guess its so that the rest of the resteraunt doesn't think I'm walkin around lookin hot, struttin my stuff with toilet paper on my shoe* I go "Oh my gosh..Its a NAPKIN..its JUST a napkin" *insert relieved tone of voice* and I turn around to assure this little girl that its just a napkin and she's gone *poo* Sooooo I sulk back to my table, embarassed but grateful that it was just a napkin!

Ya...........I'm a mom! lol

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day

To all my fellow Military wives..We deserve this day! Isn't it nice to have a day for us..for just being a military spouse?

We're the ones that get the call at 6pm from our husbands saying "sorry honey, won't be coming home tonight" when we had just put the finsihing touches on a nice romantic evening with them.

We're the ones left behind. The 'single mothers' for years at a time. We are everything to our kids, mother, father, for a year at a time.

The ones that have to fix the cars and house and mow the grass.

The ones that have to drop off our husbands so they can go to a war zone then come home to an empty house and be strong and not cry until the kids go to bed, so they don't get upset.

The ones that don't get a call for days and days on end and have to stay strong and believe everything is okay. I can't begin to explain how stressful it is to try to will your husband to call, just so you can hear his voice and know it's all okay.

We're the ones at home all alone during one of the most stressful times in our life without our spouses there.

I cant accuratly tell you all the emotions military spouses feel. How scared we feel before our husbands leave, How scary it is to be all alone, our husband 1,000 miles away and hear a weird noise at night and not have them here to 'protect us'

We're the ones that lay in bed at night crying, praying, that our husbands are safe, sleeping well, eating good and are happy.

We are also the ones who get to go see those beautiful white busses. We are the ones that get to stand there and wait for them to say "RELEASE" We're the ones that get to grab our husband on that beautiful homecoming day and have him back again1 And that truly is a beautiful, beautiful day. We get the privlidge of being there that day. The day my husband comes home are the most awesome days ever!! Those homecoming ceremonies are such a beautiful, powerful atmosphere.

So to all the military spouses out there, We deserve this day! We should stand proud and celebrate today bc we do what many other people can't/won't. We stand by our men through thick and thin. We are strong and courageous.

We are what keeps our soldiers going.

HOOAH!

14 days and counting!

soo I guess I'm feelin extra bloggy today :) * didn't you see that I had laundry to do? lol*

BD and I are finally getting a wonderful Anniversary getaway. No, It's not close to our anniversary but Thats the life. and I am STOKED!!! My parents are watching the girls for 3 days and 2 nights! This year we will have been married for 5 years. Amazing. 5 Years ago a 5 year anniversary seemed so far away and now here we are.

We're staying at a nice bed and breakfast in the nicest room they have.
http://www.collegehillbedandbreakfast.com/rooms.html *the Library Suite*

We plan to go to some of our favorite resteraunts, go ice skating, and best of all...Sleep until WHENEVER we want, bascially we are gonna do whatever we want, whenever we want all by our lil lonesome selves :-)

We figured we deserved a few days to ourselves before this deployment starts so we are going to take it.

14 days and counting!!! WOOHOO

Goodbye Winter..hello changes

Well..Goodbye Winter! How can it already be summer? Today I put away all the girls Winter clothes and it made me sad, which is weird because I hate winter. Maybe it was the fact I had to put away all those snuggly, warm sweaters and PJ's. Remembering the nights snuggled up drinking cocoa. Or maybe it's because of the realization of what this summer holds for us...I don't know.
I've decided to set some goals for this deployment. A way to keep me going and stay busy, because we all know the best thing to do to pass time is to stay busy, So I thought I'd share them with you, my oh so wonderful blog followers :)

1. Lose 20lbs..Now that I have my double jogging stroller I have no excuse
2. Get lana in a toddler bed
3. Pick up a hobby, something crafty perhaps, I know, a stretch for me. Something I can do in the evenings when the girls are in bed and theres nothing on TV, that -is- the most lonely time
and the big one.......... Run a 5K I've wanted to run a 5k for awhile now and it goes right along with #1
5. Paint and redo the girls room, My husband surely can't go on a deployment without me totally redoing ONE room in the house. lol
6. nail down and start working towards a degree

So...6 goals should keep me busy for a year.......hopefully

Well, I've been meaning to dust my bedroom and put away laundry for 2 days now and I'm finally feeling rested and somewhat better from my cold, so I better get at it.

What a weekend

so this weekend BD and I had the marriage retreat at Great Wolf Lodge, thanks to my wonderful 'live in at the moment' in laws for watching the girls, we had a very nice time. It was so nice just spending time with BD. Eating dinner in silence, not getting woken up at night. We went to some classes. The one that did us the most good was the personality class, where we learned about our personalities, quite fascinating! Overall we had a very good time. We ate some very yummy icecream. Had a very yummy 10 dolla margarita. All in all it was a great, relaxing time. We came back home refreshed and I missed my babies so much!

So, those that know me, know that water and I don't get along. I pretty much flunked out of swimming lessons *dont ask* lol sooooo I decided before we got there that i was going to find the biggest water slide and go down it, *I also don't do any sort of water slide/amusement park kinda stuff* So we get to the water park and we head straight to the slides, in my effort to be more adventurous. I make BD get the 2 seater innertubes bc, well, I'm not -that- brave to go alone. It takes me a couple tries to get myself in it, but I do and weeeeeeeeeeeeee down we go. Now, nobody informed me that part of the slide was open, it was not an all enclosed slide. Think Winter Olymics with me for a second, when the luge dudes go around their lil track thing and nearly fly off the side of said track. Yes, that was me. Flying down the slide at 300 mph about to fly off the whole slide. I swear, the whole water park heard my screams of "OMG IM DYING, AHHHHHHH, OH..MY..GOOOOOSSHHHHHH..my BABIEEESSS" We finally make it through that slide and i think, ok..not too bad. almost died but kind of a rush. So we decide to try one of the other slides ( the adrinaline in me was causing me to not think clearly) so we hike back up the 5 flights of stairs, get in our little innertube thingie and then it hits me, oh..my..gosh, what if this slide is like the last, i cant handle it..and of course by that time we're already being pushed by the lifeguard dude, to which i said "dude..push slowly!!!* Heres the thing I learned..slow pushes do NOT equal slow ride. Soooo down we go..and it hits me......I go Pentacostal...."JESUS HELP ME, OMG, JESUS MY BABIES NEEED MEE" yes.......I did..............*can I just add at this point that my husband was having the time of his life, and I was adding to his enjoyment* So we're almost through this slide and I realize it isnt a open slide so Im like..SWEET I can do this!!
Right as that thought goes through my mind we hit the pool area. Now at this point something happened, I hit the water and I fly into the water and 3 miliseconds later BD comes in after me, so I'm nearly drowning, under the water and I stand up and the freakin innertube in ON MY HEAD..like a huge gonga "Great Wolf Lodge" Crown. BD so lovelingly gets the 'crown' off my head as Im choking up water *recall near the end I was doing okay, so my mouth was open, not closed, ready for impact as it should have been* and I do believe I drank 10 gallons of water. I think the poor lifrguard lady was poised and ready to come in after me. lol
But all things considered...I had the time of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'd do it again in a heartbeat...ok..maybe not that darn open slide, but everything else.......I loved it!!!