One year ago today...

January 17th is just one of those days I can't get out of my head. It just sticks there, you know? This time last year, January 17th 2010, I took Matt to the airport and we said a very tearful goodbye. We didn't have any idea when we would see each other again, not really knowing when this deployment would come to an end. We didn't really know anything about, well, anything. It was the beginning of our very first - and hopefully very last - deployment.

Saying goodbye was so hard. I don't even know how to describe it. It was like ... not being able to breathe. I think that's the best way I CAN describe it. Like having something ripped away from my body. Like something very, very wrong.

And all the small talk and retail therapy with my MIL afterwards didn't even hit the surface. I went home, curled up on the couch, invited Oscar to curl up on the couch with me (it only took a couple of hours for me to break all of our house rules for the dog...), and cried. The beginning of a deployment is a terrible feeling - I know that a lot of you can relate. It just feels so ... so vast, so never-ending. So damn long. And I felt so damn empty.

But now, one year later, all of that seems like a distant memory. As I sit here, with my husband safe and sound beside me, I sometimes wonder if this year even happened. It didn't take long after his return for me to feel like he had never left my side. I know I didn't imagine it - I certainly have the muscle knots and frowny wrinkles to prove it. I still remember what it felt like to get in bed that night ... wondering how long it would take me to get used to an empty bed. Tonight, I will curl up a little closer, hug a little tighter, kiss a little longer. And I will be so thankful.

Deployment in Review: Month 9

Nine months down! THIRTY NINE WEEKS. That is a long time, y'all. A really, really long time. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I don't have many of these monthly updates left! Then again, it's the Army, so who really knows for sure?

For some reason, it seems like the end of deployment is harder than anything else. I can't really describe it, I can't really explain it, but my Army wife friends agree with me that for some reason, it sucks extra. I have definitely been on an emotional roller coaster, and have been stuck in a funk for quite awhile. I am trying very, very hard to shake it and just be myself.

This month, I ...

-Enjoyed a fun day out in the country at my SIL's house! Oscar and I always have such a great time out there. It is dog heaven, so he loves it - and I love just relaxing and playing with the animals and hanging out with the fam.

-I started writing for Fantabulously Frugal!

-I got water stuck in my ear and had the worst day ever.

-I cut my thumb open and had to go to the ER to get it glued back together ... and then the garbage disposal broke and my sink backed up and it was a nightmare. Possibly tied for worst day ever?

-I went to the Covered Bridge Festival ... aka White Trash Fest

-I finally, finally CLEANED OUT THE CLOSET! And I found some crazy shit in there.

-I started trying to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project over at Fantabulously Frugal.

-I attended my friend Kyle's baby shower (yesterday).

-And today, I drove down to my SIL's to see puppies! Their dog, Macey, had 9 puppies yesterday and they are so adorable. I have some photos to post tomorrow, probably. She is a yellow lab and they bred her with a silver lab. The result? 4 chocolate pups, 3 yellow pups, and 2 dark yellow labs.

So, this month feels like it's been pretty busy. I have also started nesting ... that's the best way I can think of to describe it. Just trying to get the apartment ready for Matt to come home! I have lots of projects and am quickly going through my list. When I'm done, the apartment will be cleaned and organized to a T!

Finally ... THE CLOSET!

So ... cleaning and organizing the Closet of Doom and Despair was Numero Uno on my big deployment goal list. Then I tried for several months to put The Closet out of my mind ... because, well, it sucked. And then, one day in February, I started pulling things out of The Closet. And it looked like this. Please note how the photo below is not actually of The Closet but, instead, the guest room. The Closet had spilled out. Everywhere.

The closet didn't look so bad then ... cough cough.


The problem was that ... people came to visit before I could actually do any work on The Closet, so instead of doing anything to fix the problem, I just threw everything back in The Closet.
So anyway, it took until September to start working on The Closet. I took some photos after I had taken almost everything out and, well, basically just piled it around the guest room. It looked scary. Like this.
But The Closet looked a little better ... like this.
I had a huge trash/recycling pile. It looked like this.
I sent these "in the process of cleaning The Closet" photos to Matt so he could see that I was really working on it. He told his mom afterwards that he saw the photos and was upset - had he known I was in Iraq, he would have tried to meet up to say hi.

Ha ha. Very funny.

Anyway, it took around a month, but I am happy to say that The Closet of Doom and Despair is now The Closet of Peace, Love, Happiness and Organization! Voila!

I know, I know. You're impressed. I am, too. Sometimes I just go in the guest room and walk in the closet for the sake of, well, walking in the closet. Yay!

So ... cleaning out The Closet? CHECK!

Deployment in Review: Month 8

Wow. Eight months. 35 weeks. Matt has been gone a long time! And it's suckier than ever. That being said, this has been a pretty fun month!

-The school year started! Time has definitely been flying, thank goodness!

Hmm. Okay. Upon review of my calendar and blog, I just realized that literally the ONLY thing I did this month was go to Chicago for the 5k and girltime.

Well. This is a short post.

OH. And guess what else I did? I CLEANED OUT AND ORGANIZED THE CLOSET OF DOOM AND DESPAIR! I finished this afternoon. Life is good. I will take some before and after photos sometime soon so y'all can be impressed.

But for now, I am going to enjoy a roasted acorn squash with some apples from my CSA. And tonight, Jenn, Ryan and Cora are coming into town for the weekend! And I'm running another 5k tomorrow with my friend Jenna - she is a beginning runner so we are going to just take it slow and have fun. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

A touch of the sads

I've been feeling a touch of the sads lately ... just ready for this deployment to be over. And in all fairness ... I have been ready for it to be over since before it began. But lately, I'm even MORE over it. If that's even possible! I sent Matt a mix CD last month and this song was on it ... and I think it's become a bit of a deployment anthem.

I'm tired of being in love and being all alone

When you're so far away from me

I'm tired of making out on the telephone

Cause you're so far away from me

Sigh. Such a good song. So seriously ... is it November/December/whenever-coming-home-time is yet?

Work has been so busy since the kids came back to school ... I have seen my old kids, a bunch of new kids, sat in on a bunch of meetings, completed a bunch of home visits, done a ton of notes, and I've started my data spreadsheet. Whew. Over the summer, when I got to work I would frequently try to open my office door with my apartment key.

Today? I got home and tried to open my apartment with my office key. A coincidence? I think not. I'm ready for the weekend.

Deployment in Review: Month 7

I'm a few days late with this one ... but I guess you'll just have to deal with it. :)

July 17-August 16

Once again, it doesn't really seem like much happened over the past month, but looking back on it I guess I was kinda sorta busy. As cliche as it sounds ... things just aren't QUITE as fun as when Matt is around. Even though I do fun stuff with people I love, I still feel like time is just slogging by. Is slogging a word? Blogger didn't underline it, so I guess it is. It just seems right.

That being said ... I DID have fun this month.

-I went to Canada and hung out with two of my fave bloggy friends and yeah, we had kind of an amazing time!

-That same weekend, my friend Jenn had her beautiful baby girl, Cora Claire, accidentally at home.

-I kept running and kept preparing for my 1/2 marathon - now only 3 weeks away!

-I went on vacation to Northern Michigan with Oscar and my parents, and had an amazing time just relaxing and doing nothing.

-I completed my DSM-IV class ... and got a big fat A!

-I went back to work full-time! School started on Wednesday, and I'm back in the game. Wait - that doesn't count, Wednesday was the 18th. Ignore that. :)

Okay, so maybe I didn't do that much this past month. But I'm SO thrilled that school is back in session. Time always flies from now until Thanksgiving, and this year that's even more important because that's around the time Matt should be coming home! Excitement!

Deployment in Review: Month SIX.

I'm a few days late with this, but hopefully you don't mind. Cannot believe it's already been six months (and 26 weeks!) ... but also, I definitely can. At this point, it seems like Matt's been gone for forever. I don't like it! The good news? We should only have approximately four months to go. Thank goodness. I'm to the point where I think about him coming home nonstop ... which is probably not helping anything! On the one hand, it seems like four months is nothing and he should basically be home tomorrow. But on the other hand ... it's still four months. It's NOT tomorrow. Blah.

Not that much has happened this past month - since I'm on my summer schedule, things have been pretty relaxed. Work is pretty fun over the summer, but over the last couple of weeks, all I've done is make what is adding up to hundreds of phone calls to the parents of incoming freshman, trying to set up meetings over the summer. I have probably left about 60 some voicemails at this point. And guess how many people have called me back so far? ZERO. I am getting extremely frustrated ... but I guess people just don't want to think about school in the summer. Ugh!

Anyway. Over the past month, I have ...

-Spent the weekend at my parents' house and saw my Granddad and his lady friend Doris, who were in town for a visit. While at home, my mom helped me plant a pretty potted plant that is now on my patio. One month later ... it's still alive! Which is very impressive. I don't think I ever posted a photo of my pretty plant ... I'll do that soon.

-Saw my good friend Adrienne from grad school, who came into town with her mom to visit some of her cousins who live in Bloomington. It was great to see her and talk about the old times! Not only did we go to grad school together, but we also both moved to DC after school and worked together at the hospital. Lots of memories!

-Lisa came to visit! We had a great weekend of, well, watching a lot of Real Housewives (both the 3-part NY reunion and NJ!) and some bad movies and enjoying the Taste of Bloomington. Fun times were had by all!

-I discovered that I love eggplant ... and have made it about 800 times since that day. Seriously people - EGGPLANT IS DELICIOUS!!!

-I have NOT been good at posting my CSA share contents each week, but know that I am still getting amazing stuff and loving it! I will try to bring that back ... well, as soon as I can remember. This week, I received eggplant, zucchini (okay, enough with the zucchini already!), a cucumber, some tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes, and a jar of locally made pasta sauce. Delish!

-I also discovered that I LOVE BEETS! I have been getting them at the farmer's market and roasting them to throw in salads. Seriously delicious. I cannot believe I have always assumed they were icky!

-I got out my bike after years of having it in storage, only to discover that biking is hard! But it gets easier every time. And I was happy to hear from so many of you who agree with me ... I thought I was alone! :)

-My half marathon training has gone up a notch, and I am running longer distances than I EVER have before. From here on out, I won't run less than 4 miles, I believe. Even though I rarely feel like an accomplished runner, and it always feels incredibly difficult to me ... I keep thinking back on 1-2 years ago, when I really couldn't run. At all. Now, knowing that I can run FIVE MILES - even if I struggle to do so - well, that's a huge accomplishment!

-My amazing husband gifted me with a Garmin 110 - which is now helping my training each and every day!

-My mom and my grandma came to visit last weekend, and we had a great time just relaxing.

-My class started, and it has taken over my life like crazy!!! I spent the majority of this entire weekend doing reading and assignments for school. This is a big class with a ton of material to fit into a 6 week summer session - whew!

Well, I guess that's it for the month - hey, it looks like I was pretty busy after all! I never really think so until I write it all down in a blog post. :)

Coming up in the next month:

-I'm headed to Canada this weekend to hang out with Lucy!!! I haven't been to Canada in a long time. L, I'll be sure to pack my winter parka and snow boots. I am bringing Oscar along to pull my sled. Hehe.

-I'm going to go to Holiday World with some of my SILs, nieces and nephews, which should be fun! I haven't been to any sort of amusement/water park in a million years. Can't wait!

-I also can't wait to head up to northern Michigan, where I am going to spend a week with my parents at a lake house they rented on Bear Lake. It is pet-friendly, so Oscar is coming with me to frolic in the water. I am really looking forward to the relaxation, and I can't wait to spent some time "up north." It's been awhile!

And then, before I know it - the school year will start back up again and I'll be busy seeing all of my kids. The relaxed summer schedule is great, but to be honest - I much prefer the school year. I love seeing my kids and doing my job, and it's really hard to check in with my kids over the summer.

Anyway! This ended up being a much longer post than I was intending. Are you bored yet? Are you even still reading? If not, I don't blame you. Happy Monday, everyone - time for a workout!

24 weeks later ... goal review

So, as of yesterday, it has been 24 weeks since Matt left. Wow. Okay. That's a really long time! Anyway. I thought now was as good a time as any to review me deployment goals ... and see if I have actually accomplished anything in the last 24 weeks.

1. Organize the scary closet in the guest room (Matt joked that this will likely take 99% of the time he's gone).

Okay. Not surprisingly, I haven't actually started the Closet of Doom and Despair yet. I plan to start it, um, soon. Really soon. Really. I promise.

2. Join the community orchestra

Well. I haven't done this either, and I am still getting into practicing regularly. This has been tough for me, but I really do want to go through with this.

3. Take a yoga class

Well okay. 3 for 3. I haven't done this either! Okay, this is starting to get depressing. I have, however, done a yoga video a few times .... does that count???

4. Learn how to cook lots of good stuff (and remember how to cook for one again)

Okay. I have done this! I have been cooking and trying new things (see Friday's post) and I have kind of been cooking stuff for one. It's usually pretty simple stuff, and lots of salads, but I am getting by!

5. Hang some photos in the apartment

Okay, I seriously do not remember putting this on the list. I haven't done this ... and I don't really think I need to. So there. :)

6. Visit lots of friends - especially those in Chicago.

I went to Chicago once in February but haven't had the chance to go back. I have also been to Charlotte, NC to see Anna, Mae, Cassie and Charlie, and I've been to Clarksville TN to visit Jenn. This summer, I will fit in some more visits, and then in September I will head back to Chicago for the big half marathon and hang out with Jenn (formerly of Jeans Friday), d.a.r. and MTM! Soooo excited.

Okay. I'm a little surprised that this is all I wrote down ... perhaps I had another post with goals somewhere? Not sure. I thought for sure that losing some weight would be on there. I have lost somewhere around 10-15 pounds since Matt left. I have been running, doing yoga, walking, and doing strength training regularly. I feel good and I keep feeling better, thanks to the running. I have noticed my legs really looking more muscular, and I feel stronger. Good things!

As for the other goals ... well, I'll tackle that closet eventually. Really. I will. Promise. :)

Deployment in Review: Month 5

I have been in what seems like an incredibly long blog funk. I'm sure I'll snap out of it ... eventually. I think. I hope. I just realized that this is only my 2nd blog post for June ... and it's already the 18th! Oh dear. I told Matt the other day that I didn't have anything to blog about ... his suggestion was to "make some shit up." I feel like that seems just as difficult as having real, actual blog fodder, so ... I promise everything I tell you is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Etc. :)

So without further ado ... can you believe Matt has been gone for five months? I can. It feels like the first few months flew by, but lately it's just been feeling slower and slower and slower. Maybe that's because nothing much has happened?

I have very little to report for Month 5.

-I went to Michigan for Memorial Day to celebrate my Mom's birthday

-I celebrated the last day of school and am currently enjoying my summer schedule (I only work 24 hours a week over the summer)

-I went to Michigan this past weekend to celebrate my Dad's birthday (late) and Father's Day (early) and to see my Granddad and his lady friend (they were in town visiting)

-Aaaaaand I guess that's it. Hmmm. Oh, also Matt moved to Baghdad a couple of weeks ago and is currently at the Embassy.

Clearly, it's been boring around here. Sorry!! So instead of talking about stuff I've done, let's talk about stuff I'm looking forward to:

-Lisa is coming to visit today! We have a fun weekend planned.

-It's almost July!!!! If things worked out as kind-of-planned, I could be seeing Matt in 5 months! Oh dear. That means we're only halfway. Okay. Stop thinking about that.

Hmmmm okay, that's all I can really think of. My official 1/2 marathon training starts on Monday - up to now, I've been working up a baseline through 5k training. I've really been enjoying it, although I basically took a week off from running this week. It's been so hot and humid - even at 6am! - that I just ... let myself have a some days off from running. I've been doing lots of walking to try to get used to the humidity (seriously. weather.com says we have 99% humidity right now! blech!!!) and then I'll get back to running on Monday. I am a little intimidated about next week's workout - just because it is a definite step up from what I've been doing. Here's the plan:

Monday: Stretch and strengthen (I'll do yoga and strength training)

Tuesday: 3m run

Wednesday: 2m run or cross (I think I will go for a bike ride)

Thursday: 3m run and strength

Friday: Rest (yay!)

Saturday: 30 min cross

Sunday: 4m run

Whoa - did you see that?! 4 mile run! I have never run more than 3 miles, so this will be a pretty big deal!!! I will try to keep you posted. And until then ... I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

CSA Week 3 ... and some other stuff

Happy Saturday night, friends! I hope y'all are out doing something fun. I, on the other hand, am sitting at home surrounded by copious amounts of laundry (both clean and dirty), and I just watched The Bourne Ultimatum on CBS. Now I'm trying my very hardest to stay awake until the season finale of SNL starts.

Yesterday, my friend Kyle and I walked to pick up this week's CSA share. Lots of fun stuff there - and some weird stuff too. I didn't take any photos because ... I didn't feel like it. So imagine beautiful, green photos of lettuce mix, spinach, this weird asian green called Yukina Savoy. Have you ever heard of it? I haven't. I also got a dried bean mix for soup and a dozen eggs. I think that the eggs might have been a mistake, but ... oh well! We pick up our shares in someone's backyard, so there was nobody I could really ask about the eggs. So I took them home. And now I will enjoy them!

I made a salad tonight for dinner using the lettuce mix. Also, I got a salad spinner today!!! And wow, what a difference it makes. I washed my lettuce, drained the water, and then spun it around about 800 times. And yay! Dry lettuce!

In other news ... I was able to Skype with Matt today for awhile which was fabulous. Have I mentioned that he reads the blog now? Everyone say hi! He didn't end up going to Qatar, so he's still hanging out in his pod in Kuwait. I have a lovely birthday present for him that I am sticking in the mail on Monday - can't tell you what it is because I don't want to ruin the surprise for him. But I am really excited about it, and I hope he will be, too!

Annnnyway. That's about all I've got right now ... boring stuff these days. I'll try to think of something more exciting for the next few days!

Randoms

I've been meaning to blog all week, but ... for some reason it just hasn't happened! So, here is a bunch of random stuff that's been happening this week.

1. I'm way behind on my tv watching this week (too much walking and reading, bad Shaina! ha!), but can I just say how much I LOVE Parenthood? And Glee. And Modern Family. And Cougar Town. And Parks and Rec. These shows are all really really fantastic. Do you watch any of these? Which one is your favorite?

2. I guess it's been awhile since I've updated you about Matt, but he's currently in Kuwait and has been there for about a week now. We have been able to video Skype once and talk on google chat a few other times. It's a little crazy how far away he seems ... plus there's the whole 7 hour time difference. Communication is definitely a little challenging, but I think we'll be able to get used to it. There's still a possibility that he may be able to get R and R in August, but it's not for sure. Think some happy thoughts that I will be able to see my husband in another three months!!!

3. My 1/2 marathon training has officially begun, and I'm feeling great. I had a great run today and I'm really feeling confident that when September 12 comes, I'll be ready!

4. I went to a hippie babycatcher the other day (one might call her a midwife) because I have been looking for a new ob/gyn-type, one that I would feel comfortable with delivering my as-of-yet-unconceived baby. I have been really unhappy with the two ob/gyns I have seen since moving to Bloomington, so I thought I would go in a different direction. The doctors I have seen have been very negative about my endometriosis and my chances of getting pregnant. They have admonished me for not trying to get pregnant two years ago - when I was neither married nor ready to even think about babies. So anyway, a lot of people in Bloomington recommended this particular midwife (perhaps because everyone here is a hippie?) so I thought I'd give her a shot. Turns out, I love her and she is my new "doctor." She was very positive about me getting pregnant, and suggested a couple of dietary changes to help things along. First of all, she suggested cutting down on dairy - and making sure that whatever dairy I eat is organic. I love milk - and I refuse to cut down on that. So I'm currently drinking organic milk and trying to cut down on cheese and yogurt. She also recommended that I cut out all gluten/wheat/flour - and informed me that there is a strong connection with gluten allergies/sensitivities and endometriosis and infertility. I looked it up on the interwebz - it's supposedly the real deal. Now ... cutting out gluten seems extremely difficult to me, so I'm not going 100% gluten-free. But I am going to try and make a serious effort to avoid gluten when possible. We'll see how it goes!

5. Tomorrow is Friday, thank goodness, which means that it's time for CSA Box #2! I can't wait to see what we get. Although I'm pretty sure we'll get more salad stuff, since it's kind of like ... salad growing season. Or whatever. Either way, I'm excited for new fresh veggies!

Well, that's all I can think of right now. Hope everyone is having a great week!

Florida!

Okay, so I didn't get around to blogging last night. Mostly because my friend Kyle and I went out for the most amazing dinner. And then I came home and just ... didn't feel like it. I have been a little down since I got home from seeing Matt - happy and down, all at the same time. Does that make sense?

SO. Florida!!! I didn't take many photos, so here's what I've got. We stayed in a hotel in Mississippi after I picked him up, and then Thursday morning we grabbed some breakfast and drove to Destin. It took about 3.5 hours - a really easy drive through some really crappy parts of Mississippi and Alabama. We grabbed lunch at a place on the beach, which was fantastic! Then for dinner, we went for amazing sushi at Osaka. We got the "Sushi Love Boat for 2" which was a lot of fun - we didn't have to order anything, the chefs just make what they want and throw it on a boat! Yummy! LOOK at all of that beautiful sushi:

Holy crap. It was absolutely amazing. The sushi was SO fresh and delicious - really, really incredible. And yeah. It didn't take us very long to finish it off. YUM.
On Friday, we went to the beach in the morning - it was SO beautiful. The water was just gorgeous and crystal clear. And I didn't bring my camera, so I have no photos of that perfect water. On Saturday, it was kinda stormy and the rest of the time, the water was really murky. Bummer! We decided to take a small 1/2-day trip to Seaside, Florida. Seaside is ... really really creepy. It's this little town someone created with a bunch of houses that basically look the same, clustered around this weird town square with little shops and restaurants. I wanted to check it out because it seemed cute, in theory ... but once we were there, it was a little weird. We had some great grilled shrimp burritos, grabbed coffee, and then went off the beaten path to wander around the "neighborhood." It was totally empty ... like, NO ONE was around. Just us. We started joking that it was a great backdrop for a horror movie. Last night, I was talking to my friend Catherine about it, and she told me that Seaside is where The Truman Show was filmed! which makes OH so much sense. Anyway, we checked out the beach on this very stormy, cloudy, windy day:

Matt was SO happy to get some good coffee after months of Army crap!
It was real, real windy. I like this photo but it really looks like I have a combover. Which is awkward.
On Sunday, it was nice and sunny and beautiful again - after brunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe (bananas foster french toast!), we headed back down to the beach.
Also another unfortunate windy photo of the two of us.
Sunday night: dinner at the Old Bay Steamer. MMMMMMMMM. We had a big platter with shrimp, crab legs, and lobster tails. OH MY GOSH IT WAS AMAZING!!! Seriously, the seafood down there was so incredible.
I caught this pretty funny photo of Matt - I had given up several crab legs ago, but he soldiered on and finished everything by himself!
Ew, this is so gross. It's our ... waste pail. EW.
On Monday, before saying goodbye to Destin and heading back to Mississippi, we went BACK to the beach. So beautiful - look at that white sand! I couldn't pull myself away.
So, we drove to a different part of the beach and I got some blood orange and lemon sorbet. Absolutely perfect and refreshing.
And, finally, saying goodbye to the beach. Sad face.
We drove back to Mississippi, went out to dinner, and hung out at the hotel until around 10:30pm, when we left and I drove him back to Shelby. Saying goodbye was tough - I definitely had a little breakdown. But it was a lot easier than saying goodbye the first time - especially knowing that we should be able to see each other in another 3-4 months when Matt (hopefully) gets R & R. We had to drive all around Shelby because they moved into a new building while Matt was on pass (of course), so we had to find the new building. And then move all of Matt's stuff from the old building to the new building. You know, classic Army. I got about 3.5 hours of sleep, woke up at 4am Tuesday to catch a flight out of one of the weirdest, smallest airport I have ever been to (that is going to be a separate blog post!) and eventually I made it back to Indianapolis. The Indianapolis airport is relatively new (I think it's only been open about a year?) and this was the first time I have flown out of it. I think it is the nicest airport I have ever been to! Plus, there was a Sephora vending machine!
Have y'all ever seen this anywhere else? This is the first time I have seen something this amazing. The airport also had a Vera Bradley store, and a bunch of other really neat stuff.

Anyway! So, that was my trip. It feels good to be home, but I'm back to sleepless nights. I got so used to falling asleep with Matt again, that I'm all thrown off. I haven't had a good night of sleep since Sunday ... and I'm really hoping that I'm back to normal by this weekend. I could really use it!

Home again

After a long day of no sleep, traveling and work, I'm finally home in my own bed. This weekend was amazing. Matt and I had the most incredible time, just ... being together. And eating amazing sushi and fresh seafood, and sitting out on the beach!

I am so exhausted tonight - I will write a full post with photos (but be prepared, I hardly took any) tomorrow. Complete with amusing travel stories about tiny airports, and how much I hate sitting in the middle seat of an airplane next to extremely overweight people.

And on that note ... I will leave you with a photo of my incredibly good-looking husband. He will probably kill me for posting this on here, because if there's anything he hates more than having his photo taken - it's wearing his uniform. But I snapped this one real quick right before we left to take him back to Shelby last night. I sure do love that smirk!

I get to see my husband today!!!!

Well, kind of. His pass starts at 12:01 am tonight, so technically, I won't see him until tomorrow. But since I'll be picking him up before I go to bed tonight, I still feel like it's today. Right?

To say that I'm excited would be a gross understatement. I am running on very little sleep - not because I got ready at the last minute (for once!!!!), but because I am just so wired! Stayed up far too late last night, and randomly woke up at 5am - a full hour before my alarm was set to go off. See what I mean? :)

I have quite the day ahead of me - heading to work in a bit, and then straight to the airport. I fly from Indianapolis to Atlanta (change planes), Atlanta to Memphis (change planes), Memphis to Hattiesburg, MS. Aaargh. It will take me about 7 hours to get there. I'm carrying on my luggage because, um, hello, did you just read my itinerary? Yeah, exactly. I am way too concerned that my luggage won't make it there if I check it, and that would just suck.

So! I will get there late tonight, and the rental car place is coming especially for me to give me a car. Why? Well, because the Hertz at the Hattiesburg airport is only open from 9am-5pm. I had to call the 1-800 number to make my reservation, seeing as how I will be both arriving and departing outside of their business hours. This airport is small. That's all I have to say!

I will have to find my way to and around Camp Shelby and somehow find Matt in there, somewhere. He gave me detailed directions last night, like ... turn right at the first stop sign! And then go past the museum with the tanks outside, and then go left, and then there will be a bunch of school buses and I'll be by those school buses. Whew. Wish me luck!

Tomorrow morning, we're driving to Destin and I am sooooo excited. OMG I said tomorrow! It is still a little surreal that I'm heading down to visit Matt at all ... I have been wired to think that we wouldn't see each other until August-ish. This is just really ... exciting!

Anyway, I'm not taking my computer, obviously. So - have a great week-ish, and I'll be back next Tuesday!

One week from today ...

I will be here ...

With him ...

And I'm guessing we'll be just about this happy!
Dontcha just love shameless opportunities to post gratuitous wedding photos? Yeah, me too. Heading to Destin in a week!

Playing Catch-up

Fact: I apparently suck at blogging as of late. Really, ever since Matt left, I haven't been good at blogging regularly - and it's really been bugging me. I think I'm ready to get back on the horse ... mostly because I miss it!

Where have I been the last few weeks? Busy. Busy with work, busy with visitors (my parents were here last weekend!), just ... plain ... busy. And busy can be kind of a bummer. This is my first weekend at home, without plans, in over a month. A MONTH. How crazy is that? I really enjoyed spending some time after work yesterday sitting on my patio, drinking wine, and then making cookies with a friend. We took a nice long walk with our dogs as the sun was setting, and the weather was just ... perfect. This morning, I slept in (slept in!!!) until 9 (9!!!!) and have been puttering around in the kitchen for most of the day. I've made homemade dog treats, roasted garlic hummus, and tzatziki sauce.

I really haven't done much cooking since Matt left, either - just grabbing random things out of the fridge to eat here and there. Sandwiches, veggies, cereal, whatever. But I've really been missing being in the kitchen. Perhaps it took three months to get my bearings as a pseudo-single gal?

As I mentioned above, my parents came to visit last weekend. It was a nice, relaxed few days of eating tasty food, drinking good wine, and playing cards. Even Oscar joined in the fun!

I took my parents to the last day of the Bloomington Winter Farmer's Market, and I bought a few gorgeous forsythia branches. They have been making me SO happy!

The weather has really been warm and beautiful here lately. It was around 80 degrees all week! Amazing. Flowers and trees are bloomington, and everything looks lovely. It really makes me realize how time is just flying. Matt will be home in no time!

Speaking of Matt ... here is the latest. On Tuesday, he moved from Redstone Arsenal in Alabama to Camp Shelby in Mississippi. The conditions there are not ideal ... and he was told that he'll have to be there for five weeks! Which, once again, makes no sense. I cannot believe that I haven't seen him in 11 weeks ... yet he remains in the States. Absurd! At this rate, he will not join up with his unit in Kuwait until May, several months after he was expecting to arrive.

But there's some good news sprinkled in here, too - Matt was informed that he will get a five day pass sometime in the next few weeks. !!!!!!! He absolutely does not want to stay there, soooo ... the tentative plan is for me to fly to Mississippi, meet him at the airport, rent a car and drive to Destin, Florida to spend a few blissful days. I am trying (very unsuccessfully) not to get too excited, but ... I think it goes without saying that I really really really want to see him. He should find out the exact dates of the pass two weeks ahead of time, at which point I'll be able to book flights/car/hotel. I'll keep you posted - I sure do hope this all works out!!

In the meantime, I will continue to spend my nights with the other man in my life, Oscar. I have been letting him sleep on the bed with me since Matt left (a big no-no!), and I have a blanket on top of the quilt for him to sleep on. I walked in the other night to find this:

Yes, he found the only sliver of quilt NOT covered by the blanket and curled up there. What can I do ... he's just so damn cute!

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. I will continue to enjoy this lovely, quiet weekend and I hope you do the same!

Dear Army

Dear Army,

I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you for taking care of my husband the last almost-5 weeks that he has been away from home. He has had the privilege of spending time in the lovely and scenic Fort Benning, GA.

Since he left home he has had:

• No heat
• No hot water
• No internet
• Nothing to do

He arrived at Benning to spend two weeks doing paperwork and having the usual in-processing-related appointments. He has remained for three extra weeks to do ... absolutely nothing. He is so mind-numbingly bored that there is a good chance he's losing brain cells. He spends all day, every day, watching movies and tv shows that his friend burned onto a hard drive for him to take with him. He watches said movies and tv shows on his computer in his barracks room. His computer that cannot connect to the internet.

I certainly would much rather have him spending 5 weeks doing absolutely nothing away from home, than spending 5 weeks doing nothing right here with me. So thanks for that.

Thanks for making sure his day of staring at the computer is broken up by useless formations every 3ish hours. And thanks for sending pretty much every other guy off to where they're supposed to be ... except for my husband. He loves slipping through the cracks...he loves it so much that he's been forced to contact his old commander, and his old first sergeant (who is currently in Korea) for help in speeding up his orders.

Thank you for letting him sit for so long that Redstone Arsenal, his next destination, had to call Benning to inquire as to where in the hell he is.

Thank you for treating him worse on American soil than he will be treated once he actually deploys. Thank you for making him so crazy that all he does is wish for the day he gets on that plane to Kuwait.

In conclusion ... thank you. Thank you for your fine treatment of our country's soldiers. I know that I am personally thankful that I don't have to spend any time worrying about him as long as he's on American soil.

One Month!

I (finally) have some stuff to blog about (namely my AMAZING weekend in Chicago with Lisa, Jenn, and Jenny!) but today, I just have a few brief words.

It has already been ONE MONTH since Matt left! Can you believe it? I can't. It has truly flown by, and I can only hope that time keeps flying at such a rapid rate. How am I doing? To be honest...I'm doing just fine. Do I miss my husband? Absolutely. Every second of every day. But my life has been full - full of work, full of play, full of just staying home alone sometimes.

So, that's that! Happy Valentine's Day, everyone - I hope you are having a great day with your loves, whether they be significant others, friends, or family. I had a great Valentine's Day brunch with one of my favorite valentines, Lisa, and her boyfriend Randy.

Next up - photos from my fantastic Chicago weekend!

Made it through the first night!

Well...Matt's gone. And it sucked. End of story. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of holding everything together, but the closer we got to the airport...the more I started to lose it. When we pulled up to drop him off, I just full-out started sobbing. Gah. It is never fun to say goodbye to the person you love more than anything...and even less fun when you have no idea when you'll see them again.

BUT. My mother-in-law drove to the airport, and then we engaged in some good healthy retail therapy plus Cheesecake Factory, and that was nice. Going to bed last night was hard...I felt really exhausted. d.a.r. told me I should take some Tylenol PM but to be honest, I was so tired I just didn't think that I would need it. Then I got in bed...and was wide awake. For awhile. I ended up popping one Tylenol PM and had a great night of sleep.

The good news? Today is a new day! And, like d.a.r. told me, yesterday was the hardest, and I'll never have to do that again. Thank goodness! I talked to Matt last night when he was getting settled in his barracks room (joy) at Benning, and we've texted a bit today. It is a good transition to be able to still talk to him!

Anyway. For some reason I haven't felt much like blogging or reading blogs, which is silly and I'm sure I'll snap out of that quickly. So in the meantime, I just wanted to say THANK YOU. I received so many emails/texts/tweets/calls yesterday from so many people - the majority of which were blog friends. I can't tell you how much all of that means to me. It feels so good to have such a strong support network of friends! So thank you, so so much. I wish we all lived in the same place so we could go out for happy hour tonight! :)

Just Checking In...

Hello friends. Just checking in to say hi, and to let you know that I won't be around much this week. Matt leaves on Sunday for the Big D(eployment) and I'm trying to spend every waking minute with him until then. Can't believe my D-day countdown is at 6 days...it started at 158! How did that happen? Sigh.

Not much else to say at this point. The emotions are running high and I'm trying to keep things under control and not freak. At least not while he's around! So far, so good. Any helpful hints or tips for handling this would be much appreciated. At this point, going to sleep has been the hardest part for me. Not sure why...I feel fine during the day but have been getting upset at night. At the risk of sounding cheesy, there's just something so comforting about curling up in a warm bed with the person you love. Something that makes everything else just melt away. Know what I mean?

Anyway...that's what's going on here. Be back soon.