Little About Me

I love God.

Raw chicken scares me but I cook with it often and I hate to prepare it.  Touching it grosses me out.

Germs also gross me out.  My home is not always tidy, things are out of place but you better believe
my home is sanitized.

When falling asleep at night I must have a blanket touching my cheek

When falling asleep it scares me to have my hand or arm hanging off the side of the bed.  I always think of something reaching up and grabbing me.  With that being said:

I'm a scaredy cat.  I hate haunted houses, I hate horror movies or anything with suspense. 

I LOVE music of all types.  It's a 4th and counting generation thing.  My grandpa has a love for music, my dad, me and now Ava. 

I don't understand people who drive and are in a hurry to stop. The car that races past me only to stop at the light .02 seconds later. 

I have a slight crush on Oklahoma State's head coach: Mike Gundy

My feet are very ticklish.  I squeal during pedicures.

I don't like it when people clap loud.  The normal clapping I can handle but then you get those 1-2 people in a crowd that have the loudest clap.  I sat in front of one at the Nutcracker and I wanted to turn around and smack the guy.

I'm a cat person.

My happy place is laying in bed at night next to my hubby

I hate Britney Spear's voice.  Just the way her voice sounds when it comes out of her mouth. 

I consider my birthday a holiday.

Homebody isn't even a strong enough word to describe me.  My mom says I could be one of those people who live in the country and only 'come to town' once a month.  She's correct. 

Strangers who invade my personal space irritate me. 

I hate ironing.  It's right up there with folding laundry and putting it away.  toilets are better to clean in my opinion. 

Every morning before Joe left for work he would start my coffee.  I miss that. 

I miss being pregnant.  I would totally be a surrogate for someone if they wanted. 

I am generally a happy person or what people call an optimist.  I don't get the 'debbie downer' or 'negative nancy' lifestyle.  Pessimists wake up on the wrong side of the bed everyday.  That's no way to live life. 





Enjoy your family~

Week 10

Week #10 is in the books. Right now its hard to believe that yes I will be living through week #20 and #30 and even weeks after that.  They seem far far away.  Is this deployment over yet? No?  Wishful thinking... Hope the next 10 weeks go as fast as the first 10. 

Before the deployment I mentioned several times that even though I would miss Joe tremendously over the holidays, at least it IS the holiday season which gives me and the girls something to look forward too.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, family, food, hustle and bustle, Christmas.... I thought those months would just fly by and actually they have been but I was not expecting to miss Joe that much.  THIS much. I am such a 'holiday' person.  I love birthdays, I love celebrations, I love traditions old and starting new and I LOVE my husband being home to spend the Christmas season with us.  I miss him when we go look at Christmas lights, I missed him at Thanksgiving, I missed him when we decorated the tree, I missed him when we did our gingerbread house... So, yes the days are going fast but the emptiness in this house and in our hearts is huge. 

Highlights of my week:

All the Christmas shows were on this week.  We DVR'd all of them and have been watching them.  Its great to watch the same shows with my girls that I watched as a little girl. 

We made our gingerbread house and it wasn't a failure this time.  I learned my lesson from the Halloween haunted house and for the gingerbread house I bought the pre-built one.  Much easier. 

I made a new 'email' buddy.  Another wife of a husband who is deployed with Joe.  HI Tina!  Thanks for emailing this week  :) 

Friday morning before Ava left for school I asked her what I could do for her so that when she got home from school, whatever she picked me to do would make her very happy.  I told her to pick something that she wanted me to do for her to bless her.  Her pick:  Cleaning her room.  Nice move Ava.  The look on her face when she got home made it all worth it.  She ran into the kitchen, had the biggest smile on her face and thanked me for cleaning her room. I loved that moment and that I was able to make her day. 

Sunday afternoon I took the girls to a children's performance of the Nutcracker or Buttcracker as my Aunt calls it.  Ava loved it and was chatty cathy throughout telling me all about the dancers and their costumes, she was excited when the Nutcracker turned 'real' and Emma was ready to go 8 minutes after it started.  Luckily I sidetracked her with a coloring book but when that fun wore off it was time to leave. 





Enjoy your family~

Thanksgiving Week

When I think of all the things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, my list is endless. 

My husband.  He is my life, my everything and spending this holiday without him is only making me more thankful for him.  I miss him and now that he is gone I realize how much of the little things and day to day things we take for granted when he is home.  I can not wait until he is home and I can wrap my arms around him and not let go for hours.  I am thankful for his job and as I've said before I am grateful and honored to be his wife. 

My dad, the other man in my life who I love deeply. 

Mom.  My counselor, my "dr mom" and my best friend.  I love her and I am beyond thankful for her.

My sister, Brother-in-law and my nephews.  Thank you for the dinners and for keeping me company these last 8 weeks with many more to come.  Thank you to my 'rent-a-husband' for coming over to set up my Christmas tree, fix my laptop and my shower doors... the list goes on and on... Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come help me. 

I am thankful for my Aunt, Uncle and my two cousins.  Thank you for watching over us and making sure we are alright.  Thank you for bringing dinners over, countless texts when the kids are ill and for just being there for me.  Your love and support mean a lot to me and to Joe.  I am thankful for our growing relationship and for the friendship that has happened. 

I am thankful for technology. I am thankful for Iphones and FaceTime.  I am thankful that I have only gone 2-3 nights without being able to FaceTime Joe. 

I am thankful for all my other family and friends who have called or text me.  Emailed, texted Joe, mailed him letters, cards and goodie boxes.  Thank you everyone for loving Joe and for loving my family. I love you all. 

Everyone please think about what Thanksgiving is really about.  Be thankful for your family and your husbands. In honor of me please hug/kiss your husbands tomorrow because there is no one else I would rather see tomorrow.



Enjoy your family~

week 7

The day he left was a very bad day and this past Thursday was hard as well. For the past 5ish weeks he has been in New Jersey.  Even though I missed him, I knew he was in the USA.  I knew that I could pick up the phone and call or text him at any moment.  I knew that the time zone was only an hour ahead of me.  We talked several times a day, Face Timed and sent many texts back and forth.  Almost a week ago he made his way to Qatar and from there he has headed to Afghanistan.  Even though I knew that the call from him was coming saying that he got his flight and he's headed out, it hit me hard. He was only able to give me a 4 hour notice before his flight left. I knew it was coming?  I was expecting it.  Why was I taking this so hard? I was scared that he was no longer in the states and now he was going to be 10 hours ahead of me, I wouldn't be able to just pick up the phone and call him.  I knew that when I talked to him now I had to watch my words and there are some things we could/could not talk about, questions he's not allowed to answer over the phone and even the simplest of questions regarding him he is not allowed to talk about.  That puts a damper on our phone calls.  I like to know what's going on and where he's going and what he's doing etc.. but some things I can't know and its just aggravating.  It makes me feel out of the loop in his life and I dont like that feeling.

My girls have been incredible this week.  They have helped me and given me a lot of hugs and kisses. I am thankful for them.  Thank you girls for loving on your momma more this week. 





Enjoy your family~

Anybody can be a blessing

There have been several times in my life that strangers have impacted me, my day or my life. 

I never got their names and I never gave them a proper 'thank you' for being in my life at the right time.  They may not know it but they blessed me and I am thankful for them.  I know they will never read this but I just wanted to put it out there:

Starting from the beginning: 

I want to thank whoever the anesthesiologist was on duty at St. Francis hospital that cold day in February 2006 when I was there having my first child.   It was a man and I wish I would have remembered his name and was able to send him a Thank you card.  The drugs got the best of me and I forgot his name.  So, to him I say Thank you for being patient with me, checking and double checking to make sure I was comfortable.  Thank you for adjusting my oxygen tubes when they were pinching my nostrils and Thank you for taking the time to explain everything the Dr. was doing and for rubbing my shoulder's to calm me down.  Thank you for reassuring me that I was doing great and Thank you for announcing the time of birth of my daughter in my ear. Thank you for staying beside me even after Ava was born when Joe went to look at his daughter. Thank you for loving your job.  I could tell you loved what you did and it made those stressful moments and little less stressful.  Thank you Dr. anesthesiologist man. 

Thank you to the Highway patrolman who pulled me over on the Creek Turnpike after I was speeding on my way to seeing my parents.  Thank you for only the warning you gave me even though I was going over 10 miles over AND I did not have my updated insurance cards in the car.  I could have gotten in uber trouble and I know I found favor when you came back to my window and said that the insurance thing can just be between us and to print out the current insurance when I returned home.  This was the first time I was pulled over with the girls in my car and I also want to say Thank you for taking the time to talk with them and ask them questions about their day.  It made them less frightened of the entire concept on a police man and I just want to say Thank you.  To this day, the second I receive my insurance card in the mail, I stick it in my glove box.  Thank you for blessing me that day Mr. Highway patrolman. 

Lastly, Thank you to the family of four but more importantly the husband and dad of that family who pulled me from Joe's truck when it was totaled in the ditch.  March 28, 2009 there was a freak snowstorm and stupid me decided to go ahead and drive to work and doubly stupid me I decided to drive a truck.  I remember fishtailing, and remember over correcting, I remember thinking I'm going to crash, I remember the impact, looking around the truck shocked and shaken. After looking at the passenger side I remember I was SO THANKFUL that Ava was not in the car because that was the side she sat on and he legs would have been crushed or something even worse could have happened.  I was thankful that I wasn't on the passenger side because there was basically no passenger side left.  It as crushed in.  I had to find my phone to call Joe and by the time I shifted thru all the glass to find it there was a knock on the driver side window.  It was the dad of that family.  They were traveling in the opposite direction and they saw the crash happen.  He asked if I was alright and amazingly I was other than my side hurting a little. The door wouldn't open and the window would only go down a little so he asked me to climb out the window if I could.  Electrical wires had fallen due to the impact and he was very cautious of those when helping me out the window.  He took me to his car where his family was waiting and went back to the truck to retrieve my purse.  He called 911 and soon after the firetruck and Joe arrived he left with his family.  Thank you sir for stopping and for helping me.  It meant a lot to me and to my family.  At the time, I was shaken and emotional and I wasn't able to get your name and I was never able to Thank you properly. 

 

 

                                                                                  

VOTE

GO OUT AND VOTE TODAY!

NOW. GET UP AND GO.

GO WAIT IN THE HORRIBLE LONG LINES OR DO WHAT I DID THIS YEAR AND VOTE VIA ABSENTEE BALLOT. 









Enjoy your family~

Week 6

 

We just finished up week 6. As you all are reading this Joe is making a 14.5 hour plane ride overseas. He will get into Al Udeid air base in Qatar at 4pm Monday (my time) then he will wait 1-3 days there until they are ready to fly them into their destination.  His IPad is loaded with shows and movies to help the time pass quicker.  Normally when they fly overseas they are packed into the plane like sardines sitting shoulder to shoulder but this go around they got lucky and are taking a Boeing 767.  It will make for a better trip and hopefully the guys and gals will be able to rest. 

 

You all don't know this but I had the opportunity to fly to New Jersey and spend 3 days with Joe BUT that didn't happen.  What happened instead?  Sandy!  Oh Sandy.  Sandy tore up the East Coast, shut down airports and Joe was in the middle of it.  He makes a joke of it saying mother nature hates him because back in August of 2005 he was in/around the area that Katrina hit while trying to make it home for his own WEDDING.  In October of 2006 he was in Hawaii when a 6.7 and a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit.  Moral of the story: Don't travel with Joe because natural disasters follow him. The end.

 

 

We have had a busy couple of weeks.  Halloween, trick or treating, fall festivals. Big thank you to the girls Grandma and Grandpa for keeping them overnight so I could enjoy an evening to myself.  It was a very productive day as I got 85% of my Christmas shopping completed. 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your continued thoughts and prayers. We have only scratched the surface of this deployment.  There is still a long time to go.  Even with the busy holidays approaching please don't forget about our military men and woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy your family~