Sisterhood

Katie, I promise I didn't forget! Katie gave me this amazing award for my attitude (which I am very unsure of at times). But either way, thank you, it really means a lot.

I'm not sure how Katie and I got acquainted either, but I'm so glad we did! Her and her mom and awesome supporters of our troops and sent multiple goodie boxes to Stryker's company during the deployment. Love you girl!



The rules for accepting the award are as follows:
Put the logo on your blog or post.
Nominate at least 10 blogs with great attitude and/or gratitude.
Be sure to link to your nominees in your post.
Let your nominees know they have received the award by leaving them a comment on their blog.
Be sure to link this post to the person who nominated you for the award.

I feel like I have a lot of "sisters" in this Army life we lead. So many of you have gone through or are going through deployments right now. It is hard to stay positive during these times, but so many of you do it...and with grace. The people I nominate are:

1. D.A.R. - She is an amazing woman, student, and military wife. Murphy has not been nice to her this deployment, but she takes every crisis and turns it into a learning experience. I admire her, and hope one day I am lucky enough to meet her in person.

2. Lindsay - I haven't been reading her for that long, but she is so in love with her soon-to-be husband that it just makes me smile. I'm so excited for the wedding pictures!

3. More than an Army Wife - A new mom, with a deployed hubby. She posts pictures of her little "Mootz" frequently, and I've yet to hear her complain about being a mom by herself while Stonewall is gone.

4. Tucker - Tucker is doing a kitchen remodel while her hubby is deployed. Love it! What a great accomplishment during deployment. This girl is clearly not sitting and sulking. Head on over and help her pick the kitchen sink!

5. The Mrs. - Despite being constantly plagued by a crazy phobia of her trunk flying open while she's driving, she trucks on raising two wild young boys, incubating a third, and cooking without eggs, all while her husband flies in and out of town... And get this, she does it without complaint!

6. J.L.S. - Her sweetie just left home after R&R and she's trying to get her bearings back after getting used to having him around again, yet her attitude remains grateful for the time they had together.

7. JLC - JLC's "Bumbee" was just home on R&R and she had some pretty amazing time with her hubby. Don't miss her "humps and pumps" story. It's sure to make you either laugh til you cry or pee your pants.

8. KD - I am inspired by KD's recent attack of CrossFit. All of a sudden she decided she wanted to try it, and now she's a CrossFit machine!

9. ens - Her man deployed recently, and despite not hearing his voice in 6 whole weeks, her attitude has stayed AMAZING!

10. Teresa - She just passed the halfway point in deployment. She blogs daily and is thisclose to R&R.

The end is near

Tomorrow morning I leave cold, wintry Wisconsin, and welcome warm, tropical Hawaii. I am both excited and nervous. I'm nervous about the long flight with Fuzz by myself. I know my nervousness won't make it any better though, so I'm trying not to dwell on it. I'm taking the approach I did with labor. It's one day out of my life. Even if it's horrible, it's only one day, and then I get to move on. With labor and with this flight, I have beautiful things waiting for me at the end of it.

I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that this deployment is almost over. We have done 14+ months apart. I have done 14+ months by myself raising Fuzz, and we've both lived to tell about it! Wow.

At the same time, I know that the end of my journey is just the beginning of other's. I know how they are feeling, but they will get through it, no matter how hard it often seems. Day by day, you just go through it and you do it. Usually you can't explain how you're doing it, you just are.

I attribute getting through this deployment on a few things. The Lord, Fuzz, and you guys. Let me explain.

When Stryker was on leave before the deployment, we were leaving a hotel in his hometown, and the TV was on. Neither of us were watching it, it was just noise in the background. It was one of those televised sermons. We never watch those, I don't even know why it was on. But like I said, it was background noise, and all of a sudden it was like the pastor was speaking just to me. He was talking about how people exercise and eat right, and think it's going to make them live longer. He said that of course exercising and eating right are important to make your quality of life better, but that your number of days are already predetermined. God already knows when your time is up, and all the exercising and eating right isn't going to change that.

This isn't the first time I've heard this message, but all of a sudden it hit home. What use is it for me to worry about Stryker while he's there, when his destiny is already written? I no longer worried about his death, because according to this belief, no matter if he was here or there, the day would be the same. This single thing is the difference between this deployment and his other two. Of course I prayed for him and his comrades, but I didn't have that deep underlying, debilitating fear like I did during the other deployments.

Fuzz's presence is pretty self-explanatory. She has given me so much joy and kept me so busy during this deployment. Yes, taking care of a child by myself was difficult, exhausting, and often frustrating. But oh, she is so worth it. And the sense of accomplishment I feel from doing all of this on my own is oftentimes overwhelming.

Finally, I have been reading blogs for quite a while. In April, I finally decided to start writing myself, and this community that I fell into has been so amazing. I did not know about the blog community during the first deployment. I didn't know that my feelings were normal, and expected.

Reading your stories, and getting so much support and encouragement from you all has made a huge difference. I feel like you are my allies. At times, you know me better than my own family, if only because you often feel the same ways that I do.

So thank you. Thank you for helping me get through this one journey of my life. Thank you for your support, encouragement, and love. You have become a special part of my life that I will forever cherish.

Early Thanksgiving wishes

Early Thanksgiving wishes to everyone! We are heading out in the morning, so Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful:
* to be able to spend it with family even though Stryker isn't home. I can't wait until we can make a big Thanksgiving dinner together.
* that almost 12 months into the deployment, Stryker is still Stryker, mind, body, and soul
* for our beautiful daughter, who seems to be the healthiest child I've ever known!
* for so many more things that I don't even have the time to list them all. I am truly blessed in this life, and try my hardest not to take it for granted.

Have a great holiday everyone!

Veteran's Day

Before I got involved with Stryker I could probably have counted on one hand the number of people I knew in the military. I didn't know what being in the military really entailed. I certainly didn't know the sacrifices involved for the person in the military, but especially for the people who love them.

Oh how things have changed, and I'm glad for that. I'm glad I know more about what it means to serve, because I appreciate it now. Thanks to all veterans past and present. I appreciate you.

Birthday girl

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. They added to my already fabulous day.

P.S. I am definitely keeping the card (and envelope) with the little signature.

My onions

Thank you for making me feel completely normal, and not like a terrible housewife for admitting that you've all been in the liquid onion/potato club. I love you guys.

I have to give Sara the award for best story though. Reproducing onions and then using them...awesome.

Shout out

I know that a lot of what I've been writing lately has been pretty negative. Here is something that is just melt-my-heart positive.

I am amazed by the generosity of strangers. One particular stranger actually. Katie's mom emailed me shortly after I sent all the 4th of July packages to Stryker saying that she had a bunch of beanie babies she wanted to donate for the soldiers to give to the children.

I couldn't believe it. My little blog? It was heartwarming. Tonight she informed me that she has six...SIX large flat rate boxes to send. Not only with beanie babies, but other snacks and goodies as well. Not only that but she also offered kind words of support and encouragement for me. Wow. Most of my friends and family aren't that thoughtful. Thank you. Thank you so much. You have proven to me that there are still wonderful people in the world, willing to do amazing things for strangers.

Wow

Remember, how I mentioned my mom wanted to get a package together for Stryker and his guys?



Besides this, my grandma donated $50 to add to his phonecard. I am so incredibly blessed. What an amazing family I have. They more than came through. Wow.

UPDATE: My mom just called...she found another bag of goodies for Stryker and the guys.

Thanks

Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes and supportive comments lately. I was a blog lurker for a long time before I worked up the courage to start commenting. Now that I have a blog of my own, I know how much the comments mean and I wonder why I was ever shy in the first place!