End of an Era

As I am approaching the end of my first deployment, I am starting to realize a lot of things change as you reach the end. My first change...Super Jeni is leaving in less than a week.

Its bittersweet because I actually found myself wanted time to slow down (yes I know?!) time.

This Friday marked 47 weeks down. At week 2, after the holidays, I emailed a few girls whose husbands all left on the same night and said, let's start a weekly pot luck.

45 weeks later, with an exception of maybe 4 or 5 times, we met every week for dinner. It turned out to be exactly what I wanted it to be. Every week, no matter how we felt or how sad or overwhelmed deployment made us on that day, we met. It kind of turned into my deployment family.

Tonight was our last dinner together. Yes, I may actually be getting teary-eyed typing this.

Blessings.

Tonight I am feeling rather blessed so I immediately grabbed my laptop to type away. Considering my last blog consisted of dead bunnies and broken legs, I felt to the need to share.

First of all, Super Jeni welcomed another life into the world! She delievered a 9lb baby girl. Everyone is doing fantastic. I was able to visit just hours after her arrival. I loved sitting in the room with her little family.

I called to check on her tonight and the first thing out of her mouth: "How is Dak Dak?". Um, Jeni, you are lying in bed, in a lot of pain and you ask me about my dog?! One of the millions of reasons why I love her and feel incredibly blessed to call her my friend.

And oh yeah...there is this:

On our 9 year anniversay (plus a few days), he begged me to go to the movies while at home. I wasn't particularly feeling the movies so I fought for ice cream instead. He pulled his camaro, his first car still being stored with his parents, out of the garage. I sat inside and turned to him and said, "This feels like our first date". 10 seconds later, he handed me the blue box above. I really don't remember what he said next. The only thing I remembered..."No one deserves this ring more than you. You have made me so proud during this deployment". Apparently he wanted to "propse" at the movies, the site of our first date, but I ruined it. Well not entirely...

And the best part about this ring?

He goes along with it. That is all that really matters.

Keep on truckin....Keep on laughin...

I truly believe God not only knows I have a sense of humor, but at times abuses this knowledge.

I walked into the house after an awful day of work. I pulled into my driveway and noticed my jungle of a yard. I needed to clear my head so I took the girls for our usual 2.5 mile loop.

When we walked back into the house, I saw bloody paw prints behind Daisy. My heart broke. I learned today from Super Jeni that dogs can get 3rd degree burns on the bottom of their paws in the summer time from the pavement.

I filled my bathtub with super cold water and soaked my baby's paws for about 5 minutes. It helped tremondously and she seemed to enjoy it.

Next up on my list, my awful grass. I gave in and called a locksmith. After some research I realized the lock on my shed is un-pickable.

Forty dollars later, I was finally able to cut my grass. And you bet I mumbled swear words under my breath every minute for the entire 2 hours it took. As I began to clean up, I looked down on the floor of my garage. And what did I see? Clear as day?

The keys to my shed.

I may or may not finish a bottle of wine tonight by myself.

Week Twenty

While talking last night about deployment, my two very good friends and I agreed how time seems like it is flying by since the guys left.

Except when we look at the big picture. They come home in December.

I promised myself and convinced myself I will thrive during this deployment by having things to look forward to each month. And let me just say, its going to be an amazing two months.

May 5th- Cinco de Mayo Book Club
May 9th- Jazz on the Lawn

May 22nd- My college radio station's alumni basketball game
May 24th- BRET MICHAELS!

I am a classic rock girl at heart. During college, I ran a classic rock radio station. That and I am addicted to Rock of Love (whew, admitting I have a problem is the first step)

May 30th- Pool opening and throwing my friend Tiff a birthday pool party

June 6th- Super Jeni's Baby Shower

June 7th- His sister moves in with me for the summer.




Over the years of traveling to WP, holidays, etc., we became best friends. Katie is a year away from her doctorate in physical therapy and needs to complete 3 clinicals. She actually picked FC for her first clinical to live with me while he's away.

June 13th- CMA Festival


Oh so many good things coming my way. I love summer.

I started P90X a week ago. Yes, I did say I would start May 1st, but I hate Monday Moring Dieters (I will start exercising on Monday). And let's just say, I wanted to cry during yoga this morning. Muscles I did not know existed hurt me today. And if I stand for too long, my legs start shaking. I love this feeling.

Week Seven

Oh this morning...not one of my better mornings.

I woke up deciding I wanted a few things:

-Longer hair
-A tan
-More episodes of Criminal Minds
-Summer
-My best friend and better half laying next to me
-Be more girly (actually paint my nails, own make-up, curl my hair more)
-My running partner from Chicago to move here and start training with me

Since I do not have ANY of the above, I manged to pout a little and open up the infamous Ben & Jerry's pint of ice cream. I took 2 bites, sealed it up, put it back in the refridgerator, and realized ice cream could not solve all of my "issues" (gasp)

::Enter Super Jeni::

I will refer to her by this name from here on out in my blog. She called mid-pouting and asked me to join her for lunch and a day of shopping. Needless to say, I am back on the content train.

And yes, we are another week down!

In my seventh week, I manged to accomplish a few things:

-Registered for a different Nashville Half-Marathon in March (not April)
-Completed my highest distance weekly total, including a 6-miler tonight
-Cooked a delicious chicken receipe for our weekly potluck
-Found a job
-Sent his best friend a birthday care package
-Tried a new church this past Sunday
-Started a book by my favorite author, Malcolm Gladwell

So this week, I will hustle to try and complete a few more of my monthly goals before I knock off another stupid month of this stupid deployment.

I swear I am still positive :)

Poo Poo Pants

This is his infamous nickname for me. It all started a few years back and whenever I appeared on the verge of crabbiness, he would pull me into his chest and go "Poo-poo Pants". I would immediately giggle and all of a sudden feel better.

It has shortened over the years to "Poo-poo". If anyone is around when he yells for me, they kind of look at us funny. Yes, a strange nickname I know.

And today, I am sure I would hear "Poo-poo" out of his mouth.

You see, as the days go on, I continue to grow more and more frustrated with job hunting. My problem? I want to do everything, but do not know specifically, same as my senior year in college. Thank goodness my former boss emailed me out of the blue in January of my senior year to offer me a position. I never sent out a single resume until now.

And apparently since I do not have a Masters Degree, I am not qualified for 80% of the jobs that are of interest to me. I want to stay on my career path of anything related to sports or college support staff. We will see what the future holds for me.

I shared my frustrations with Jeni on the phone. After a few interviews and resume drop-offs, I headed over to her house and my wonderful friend pulled a delicious piece of chocolate cake and glass of milk out of the refrigerator for the two of us. Just what I needed.

God bless my friends.

Doggie Adventures

In case some of you could not tell from my blog, I can do crazy things at times.

Our conversation went something like this a few days ago:

Me: I think I want babies
Him: You know what that means!
Me: No, what?
Him: We are getting you another puppy
Me: You know me too well

Both Dakota and Daisy are products of me catching the baby fever for a week or so.

And what do you know? Today I almost brought home puppy number 3. Yes, you heard me right.

Jeni and I were out running errands this afternoon. About 4 blocks from her house, I felt her hand grab my arm and yell, "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness". She pulled a u-turn and out in the cold rain near the woods sat a beautiful black lab, I am guessing 3-4 months old with no collar/tags etc.

The puppy came right up to Jeni and I and started whinning and wagging her tail so excited for us to pet her. I picked her up and we headed to the Humane Society. Of course, it closed at 1pm and we arrived two hours too late.

I told her since she had two toddlers and a dog, I would take her home until Monday. We would both head back to the shelter and drop her off. Jeni, my dear friend, did an excellent job trying to convince me to keep her saying this and that. I put my head into my hands and said, "I am going to end up with three puppies" after I stared at her oh so adorable face.

We headed back to her house and played with the puppy. The kids pulled on her, sat on her, and she just continued to wag her tail. Her temperment was so incredible!

Playing with the kiddos

Aidan playing in the dog's crate

After dinner, another couple came over. They already own a lab, but since the wife is 34 weeks pregnant, I did not hold my breath. Well after 20 minutes or so, they announced that as they walked in the door they knew they would take her home! I am thrilled we found her a good home and not mine.

Jeni and I both felt we did a good deed today saving this sweet puppy.

I knew 3 dogs would be out of the question for me. I only have two hands for rollerbalding.

Also, Daisy goes to the vet on Monday to get fixed so I did not want to take any attention away from her. I am already so scared for her because I am a big baby when it comes to my puppies.

2008

I have no problem saying good-bye to 2008. I felt the year was a tale of two halves for me. I looked back at pictures and my old Live Journal to help me write my year in review. And what did I find...

January-June

I never thought it would happen, but I became a dog person. I fell in love with Dakota. In January I visited him down at Fort Rucker. This would be our last good weekend together for over 6 months. One of my favorite pictures from last year:

I did not realize how freaking much I worked. Looking back at my journal from last year, I updated 7 times in 6 months! I commuted one hour to and from work everyday. I worked at the office from 7am until 8pm every night. When it came to tournament time, I worked Friday-Sunday 6am-1am.

I loved every minute, however, I failed to notice how much I pushed people out of my life. I fought with my sister the first 2 months over her wedding. She wanted a better Maid of Honor. I wanted to work. As a result, I also fought with my mom. I didn't have time for her or him...

We fought and fought and fought some more through January and Feburary. By the time I finally reached out to him at the end of March, it was too late.

For the first time in 8 years, my whole body became numb towards him. I didn't care about losing him, his family, his friends, our relationship. We had the exact same relationship for so long...Visiting on weekends once a month then heading back to our "regular" life. I gave up.

He didn't...Thank God.

We dated other people. Dating for the first time since 15, I found someone completely opposite of him. While fun at the beginning, the newness began to wear away. One month into the relationship, I sat on the stairs and cried telling my mom I just missed my best friend.

However, with work, I didn't have time to reach out.

July

On July 2, 2008. He called and wanted to meet me. I had not seen his face since early Febuary. I drove to Wendy's parking lot, our favorite hangout through high school. He sat on the curb. I headed over to sit next to him and put my head into my knees and just bawled. He placed his hand on my back to console me and I felt my entire body melt.

I missed his touch.

7 days later, I found out about my boss. I immediately quit my job and drove 6 hours to Campbell from Chicago and he drove 6 hours from Rucker. We finally met in the middle.

August

We bought a house together. We bought another beautiful puppy together.

I absolutley loved living with him and our girls.

September-October

I wanted to work again. It defined who I was for so long. I started to define myself in other terms, as a friend. Our Saturday volleyball gang

Instead of being negative about my situation, I embraced it. I decorated and painted our house. I landscaped with his parents. I became a better cook. I took Daisy to obedience classes and worked with both of them every night. I began to blog more frequently. I reconnected with friends.

November

Whether I liked it or not, I threw myself in the Army. With his Pathfinder and Air Assault slot and block leave. November was definitely our Army month. I began preparing myself for his deployment. Every day I told myself I was going to kick ass.

His Air Assault graduation.

December

Our 2 weeks before he left, everything I could ask for and more. It helped tremondoulsy with the hustle and bustle of D-Day. I knew I did everything I could do to make it easier.

This month in this year was a memorable year, both good and bad.

Alone and smiling on Christmas next to his stocking.

I always feel the way I spend New Years Eve serves as a metaphor for how my year will turn out. Last year, we went outside our comfort zone to a fancy club. It was not us. We spent most of the night complaining. After midnight, we left. We left hand and hand in beautiful downtown Chicago and walked 2 miles in a breath taking light snow fall.

This year, I headed over to Jeni's. Her mom made an amazing Korean dinner. I played with her babies, played Scrabble, and rang in the New Year with a glass of wine and a hug from an amazing friend.

I smiled at her after our hug and said, "Our boys come home this year".

So see you later 2008 and bring on 2009. I am ready for it with a whole army of support behind me :)

While I was gone.

Life has been crazy, yet wonderfully blissful.

• My sister is married! The wedding went beautiful. If you're curious about the photos. Click on purchase photos then scroll to "Lindsay and Brett Navarro"


• On the job front, I promised myself I was going to actually try to look after the wedding. However, the whole time is precious keeps replaying over and over in my head. I'm basically getting paid to do nothing. I am studying as we speak for my personal trainer's license, so wish me luck.
  
• Everyone here has been wonderful. My FRG leader is awesome. I had lunch with my realtor, mortage lady, and their friends today. These women are so much fun. Not to mention everyone loves to get out and do something. Last weekend we had football, beach volleyball, racquetball, dog walks/parks. Its a lifestyle I absolutely love.


• Daisy and Dakota have been my sanity as well as the main reason I go insane from day to day. Daisy has learned how to climb over the babygate (smart puppy) so I always feel I have to be on my toes around her. Her puppy class starts on Saturday. Thank goodness!


• He and I couldn't be happier. Things are going really well and he's been so sweet. I love that we are exact same person. For instance, we just started a 750 piece puzzle together.
  

It's weird. Even though I'm not working, I swear I'm just as busy with so many different things. My mom comes to visit this weekend! Yeah! I can't wait to start decorating and turn this place into a home. She's pretty much amazing when it comes to this stuff.

My sister and I

Powder Puff Football

My FRG leader and the winning QB/center combination in Powder Puff