Happy Birthday Avery!

Today my little sister turned SEVEN! Born in 2004, 6 1/2 half weeks early... she's always been smaller, but that's never stopped her from doing anything. 90% of the time we're out together, people think she's my child. And while it used to bother me, Avery has always just giggled and said "that's my sister silly!"

This little girl has brought so much joy to my life.

[at Disney World a few weeks ago]

Today, when I talked to her on the phone, I asked her to take a picture of her cake to send to me. She said "Kate, are you sure? It's a frog cake... I don't want you to be scared" Sidenote: I do have a fear of frogs, so she was being sweet :)

Avery Elizabeth, 

I hope you had a GREAT birthday. I love you, girly.. even if it was a froggy party :)



A is for Avery

When I came across this tutorial at Mandipidy, I knew I had to try it. I decided on making one for Jack's room. Then I had an Uh-Oh moment. Jack's name (obviously) starts with "J" and J is a very curvy letter. Wrapping yarn evenly around the curviness did not sound that promising. So I started searching for other options. And then I thought of my sweet little Avery (my 6 year old sister).

(How can you not love this girl?)

She sends me stuff ALL the time, and I hardly ever send stuff for her! *sadface* And Avery's name is very cooperative with this project.

I highly suggest you go visit Mandipidy and take a look at the tutorial for the yarn-wrapped letter. She is clean-cut with her instructions, it really helps when you are trying something new! And the best part about the letter is that you only need a couple things (that you probably already have. Toilet paper rolls, scissors, tape, modpodge, yarn, and a paint brush. Thank you, Mandy!

I used a multi-shade pink yarn I had left over from a crochet attempt (that may or may not have got finished). After I finished the letter,

I decided it needed more to get that "I'm finished" look. So I turned to two of my favorite stores.. Goodwill and Dollar Tree. I bought a scratched up frame at Goodwill for $1.99 and found an adorable pair of purple butterflies for $1 while looking for something else in the Dollar Tree. I painted the frame with a couple coats of a high-gloss white acrylic paint I already had. (Sidenote: I didn't use the glass for the frame) The background is a piece of scrapbook paper from my collection of crafty stuff as well, along with the pink sheer ribbon I used for the accents in the corners. My handy, dandy glue gun attached the A to the background and the butterflies to the A. I was pretty impatient while waiting for the paint to dry on the frame. I wanted to get it all put together and see what it looked like

Ta Da!

Hopefully Avery likes it! I think it'll go great it her gareden themed room!

Ipod in Singin' T.Swift

That's how Avery walked in my house this morning. Blarin' out her little lungs. If there was a cuter word than cute, that would be her. She spent the next half hour singing to Jack and booy dancing all over my living room. Next on the playlist were, "Flat Top Box", that song that plays while the vampires are playing baseball in Twilight (in her words), and Veggie Tales. She has quite a taste for music, just like her sister! Thanks mama, for passing on the gene!

Jack is finally back to his normal sleeping pattern 2030-0700. It's wonderful. For about a month, he was waking up around 1am to eat. So mommy is relieved to be able to enjoy some sleep. However, my sleeping has been quite a mess. Hopefully I can get back on track soon as well.

The best news I have recieved recently is that my grant for college has been RESTORED! I will be able to continue my education! Phew, it's a big relief for sure. I've been so busy this quarter, my classes have required much more work than the ones I took in the first quarter. I think I will try to schedule some easier classes for next quarter, as I will be making the big move across the country towards the end of it.

There's just over 100 days left of Jeff's "vacation." Just kidding hunny! But really I can't explain how excited I am to see those numbers going down. I've yet to find a house in Washington that I feel good about but it's a work-in-progress. I'm sure everything will work out, I just have to calm done and focus on one thing at a time. Breath in. Breathe Out. Simple as that.

A Little Readjustment

I'm sitting in Jack's room waiting for him to fall asleep right now because of two reasons. One: he has a cough. Two: he has become much too used to sleeping in mommy's bed. Yesterday it took me 2 hours to get him to sleep in his crib. We're only just now going on one hour tonight and he's pretty close to dream land. So this is a big improvement from last night. I am a little worried about his cough and I think if its not better in the morning I will call the pediatrician. Just to be safe.

Daddy is supposed to be calling sometime tonight but we have yet to hear from him so far. Oh well. I know he will call if he can.

Avery and erin are in the living room watching "madeline" through my free trial of netflix. I found the converter box I needed to hook my computer to the tv. So they are watching the movie right from the internet, but they are watching it on the television. Isn't that cool? I am turning in my cable box to time warner either tomorrow or Friday. I just don't watch cable that much at all. (Only for my weekly guilty pleasure of "Bad Girls Club" on the Oxygen channel, but I will survive). Netflix is great for me. And the offer full past seasons of tons of tv shows. And the best part, its MUCH cheaper this way than paying for cable.

Okay this wind is crazy! The rain was comforting, but this wind is insanity. One of my favorite quotes came from a book I got at Hallmark for my soldier. "You look up and find a dark cloud overhead. It makes you feel sad. But then something starts to fall from above. It's rainshine, and it came straight from the silver lining." So in this case I guess the rainshine, err windshine is that I'm pretty sure I won't have to year blush for the next couple days.. wind burn makes a fairly good rouge!

I just tucked Avery in and the house is quiet. Jack is finally resting peacefully and Avery is well on her way to sleep in my room. I'm cuddled up on the couch with a hot cup of tea getting the very last of my Christmas shopping done. Prayers go out to my mama today. She is not feeling very well. May God heal your aches and make you new again. Love to all and goodnight!

Washington visits Ohio

I know everyone is hating this weather we've been having, but I have to say I feel right at home. Welcome to Washington my fellow Ohioans! This gloomy, gray, wetness we've been experiencing is pretty dead on. I actually miss it sometimes, so it's been quite refreshing for me. Yes, I know, I'm an odd one. I'll admit it.

With the big announcement of my weight loss journey yesterday, the daily journal I usually write was mostly overshadowed. Yesterday was a fairly normal day. Jack and I hung out here at home. He was awake most the day and played with his baby gym. I really need to invest in a different model of that gym. The one he has just has one bar that extends over him, and because there's only one, it often gets knocked over by my son's curious arms. I would like to get him one that has to bars that criss cross overtop him. They bars are connected, therefore they are harder to knock over. We will see, maybe for Christmas. We talked to daddy all morning over Yahoo Messenger and webcam. Jack was very intrigued with the keyboard but he looked right at the camera for daddy for a while too. And of course Jeff loves being able to see him. I asked him once if it made it worse when he sees him. He replied with "It makes it harder, but I love to see him anyways." So, every chance I get, Jack sits right on my lap and gets to see his daddy. We love you daddy!

At 2pm Jack and I headed out to Southeastern to pick up Avery from school. The first conversation I had with her in the car went like this:
Avery: "There's Caleb! And there's Caleb's mommy!"
Me: "Oh yeah? Do you like Caleb?"
Avery: "No! He spits on me at circle time!"
Me: "He spits on you?"
Avery: "Yeah, when he says tooth..PASTE!"

Oh my, too be young again. She and Jack are the light of my life. I can't imagine what she'll be teaching Jack in a couple years. And add Justin as an instructor too.. Oh man Jeff and I are in trouble.

We continued from Southeastern to my mom's house so I could get some laundry done. Mom and Max got home about an hour later and did a quick change before heading out to a Symphany concert. The symphany played songs from Star Wars from what I understand, so that was right up Max and Mama's alley. I have not talked to either of them yet today but I'm sure they had a blast. Rick got home and I decided to meet Erin for dinner at my favorite restaurant, Bob Evans! Yum, yum! We ate our dinner, Jack ate his, and the three of us stopped by Wal-Mart before heading home. The rest of the night was pretty boring really, I got some homework done, and put away dishes, did my yoga, and Jack and I headed to bed. 

Nothing really on the schedule for today except our normal Thursday dinner at John and Laura's. I would like to wish Ashley good luck at her meeting today, and say thank you for everyone's great responses to my new lifestyle change and new blog. I will not be importing my weight-loss blog to facebook. So if you want to read it, you'll have to visit the site. The link can be found at the top of the right column on this blog. Love to all! And enjoy a glimpse of Washington :)

So hectic!

No I didn't die! I know everyone was worried since it's been... what four days? since I blogged last.

Anyways, I've just been living the life of a gypsy pretty much. Avery woke up Thursday morning with a temperature of 103, indicating that her flu (h1n1) had relapsed. Great. At this time, I pulled the mommy card and decided that Jack and I would make the trip to Londonderry to stay with my dad for a couple days until Avery was better a.k.a. fever free for 24 hours. Well, we're still waiting. Last I have heard, she is still running a fever. So here we are. And to top it off, my brother Maxwell started running a fever Friday! Just not nearly as high as Avery's. His hovers around 100-101. So Jack and I are staying put here at Grandpa Kevin's and just making sure to keep our distance from Max.

I've also made a big decision over the past 4 days. Yesterday I put in an application at North River Place Apartments for Jack and I. I'm so excited. My decesion is not influenced by any unhappiness at my mom's house. I'm just ready to be back in my own place. It's very hard to move out of your parents house and then go back later, especially with an infant. If everything works out right we will be living in unit d-9 very soon. I'm supposed to get a call sometime Monday or Tuesday. You all will be the first to know! Besides Jeff of course, I think he has a right to know first where his family is living. hehe.

BREAKING NEWS:

Jack just put his pacifier back in his mouth all by himself!!!!!

.........

TWICE!

Now I must go love on my little future honor student! :)

Deployment = Completely Normal

I haven't heard from Jeff since Wednesday night. I'm assuming he is back in Afghanistan. The last time we spoke he had a flight scheduled from Kuwait to Kandahar, so he should be back in theater by now. I'm actually glad he's finally back there, because he has missed his guys so much. I miss him too, but I know that he needs to be there with them right now. For the health of his soldiers, and for the emotional needs of himself. As you can probably tell I am doing okay with the re-deployment. I've done a lot of self-finding in the past couple days. With the help of my son, I've found that I really do have a great life. Everyone says "I can't imagine what you're going through, I couldn't do it." Well, actually yes you COULD do it.. if you had to. You never know what you're fully capable of until you're forced to find out. What kind of life would I have if I walked around moping constantly about how I miss my husband? Of course I miss him, I miss him and worry about him more than you can imagine (like you said). But I refuse to stop my life just because he's not here, I refuse to stop OUR life. He's living his doing his job and I've got to keep things going back here at home. Having Jack has assisted in making me realize just how important completing this task is. Jack needs to know that when his daddy leaves, it doesn't mean anything bad. It just means that Jeff has to work away from home for a while helping other people who really need him. Deployment is going to be a regular part of our lives with a career in the military, so it needs to seem exactly that to our chilren... regular, and normal. I know that I will still have breakdowns, and our kids will too. But thats normal too. As long as 90 percent of the time our life is still our life.

In other discussions for today... Jack slept from 11pm-5am last night. No, you're not seeing things! You read that sentence right, my wonderful baby boy slept 6 hours straight through the night! Gosh, I love him so much. Jack- you are the most considerate little 22 day year old boy that I know :) hehe.

Before his amazing sleeping skills last night, we enjoyed dinner at Papaw John and Grandma Laura's house. Steak, mac&cheese, salad, and chocolate pudding! Yummy. It felt so good to be at their house just hanging out and relaxing. I have gotten a lot closer with my in-laws over the 15 days of R&R Jeff was given, and I'm glad I did. I love them, and I know they would/will do anything for me and Jack that they can. Justin and Lauren are great company as well. Lauren is so very sweet and I'm hoping she and I can enjoy some good girl time within the next 9 months. Justin is always wanting to help with Jack, doing anything and getting me everything I need. Its evident how much he loves his "baby Jack" as he calls him. I'm so very lucky to have such a great ... family-in-law? Is that the correct term?

I would like to clear up what has been going on with Avery. She indeed contracted the H1N1 virus. Doctors diagnosed her without a test and with no offering of any kind of treatment. They said to keep everyone away from her, take tylenol for the fever, and wait it out. I'm happy to report that she is doing much better and will probably be heading back to school Monday. She hasn't run a fever for over 24 hours and is playing and bouncing around like normal Avery today. Jack and I are looking to be in the clear. We've strictly confined ourself to the basement for the past few days as a preventive measure. Both he and I are at a pretty high risk for contracting the virus even without it being in our home. Jack, because he is a newborn, and me because my immune system is low and I have chronic asthma. Mom has played a big part in keeping the two of us healthy, keeping Avery upstairs and cleaning and washing everything she's touched.

In closing, I would like to say how very excited I am for 2pm tomorrow. I will be enjoying an afternoon massage at Looks Unlimited. I chose an hour of a relaxation massage, figuring it was well overdue and will be beneficial to my emotional side to relax a little. Look for results tomorrow! Love to all!

3 weeks and counting

Our baby boy is three weeks old! NO WAY! He is growing extremely too fast. Seems like just yesterday I was heading to the hospital to have him. His face has changed so much since just 21 days ago. He looks less like a newborn and more like a chubby-cheeked baby every single day. Also, to me at least, I see his daddy in him more and more each day as well. (Which I'm completely okay with!). I think that I'm falling into my role as a mother pretty well, and a single mother at that. Avery has been sick since Monday and mom has been caring for her. Since I have such a low immune system and because Jack is so little, we've been strictly confining ourselves to our basement apartment. Only climbing the stairs to the next floor when we have to. As a result, I have been thrown into the single-mothering lifestyle fairly quickly. I went from having a daddy to help and lots of visitors to help to it just being me 24/7. But really, it hasn't been all that bad. Jack is definitely cooperative in the effort. I wouldn't be half as happy with our routine if he wasn't such a good little boy. He sleeps mostly through the night (11pm-8am), only waking up once around 3-4am to eat. He sits peaceful in his swing (which I set in the bathroom) and allows me to shower and dry my hair, do my makeup, etc. Most time he is just content as long as he's close to me. He even does well on our outings, just chilling out and looking around from his stroller. I'm so appreciative of all these things. I think daddy must have maybe had a talk with him before he left about being good for mommy ;) So here's to you Jack, mommy's little man!

Cheddar Bay Biscuits

I thought I'd title today's blog with my favorite part of today! :) We went to dinner with Ramalee, Troy, and Alex, oh and Steven at Red Lobster tonight. I must say that I always forget how addicted I am to those Cheddar Bay Biscuits until I take the first bite. Then I'm reminded by the first, second, and third helping of them at dinner, and the four biscuits in my take-home box, that they completely own my taste buds. They are just so good! Jack made his 2nd trip out to eat in this outing (Bob Evans was his first of course). Dinner was obviously yummy and it was really good to be able to just sit down and talk with Ramalee and Troy. Thanks for dinner guys!

Now for the less delicious parts of the day. Jack is already getting better about sleeping. He went to bed about 10pm last night, woke up once at 2am, and then slept until 7am this morning! Thank you Jack for letting mommy & daddy sleep a little longer today, we really appreciate your thoughtfulness! Jeff got up at 7am as well to go squirrel hunting with Steven in the woods here behind the house. I fed Jack his breakfast, and then we laid back down. I laid on my back and I laid him on my chest/stomach, and after that I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Feeling him there, where he had been for 9 months was just so comforting to me (and him too I think because he went right to sleep as well). Jeff and Steven emerged from the foggy mess of trees around 9am with four bushy tailed corpses in tow. Gross! They decided it'd be best to spare the cleaning of these things from my house and take them to Nanny and Granddad's to do it. Jack and I went with them, dashing to the car in the middle of what felt like a monsoon. Well, Jeff dashed with the carseat and I walked as fast as I could. Nanny made breakfast for us while we were there. Fried eggs, biscuits, and gravy. I don't normally like my eggs cooked that way, but since Nanny cooked them... I'll eat them! And they were definitely delicious (so I guess Cheddar Bay biscuits weren't my only indulge today). We stayed up there until about 12:30pm and then came back to the house to hang out until time for dinner at 5pm. It felt really good to just chill for a while with my husband and my son, and just enjoy having lazy time with my family. I hoped to get Jack's birth announcements all done and ready to send out today, however I ran out of ink about halfway through so I've got to get some more of that and finish those probably Monday. Realizing it was about 4pm, I hopped in the shower and got ready really quickly. We were about five minutes late to dinner but no biggie. I already talked about dinner, so I'll skip that. After leaving Red Lobster, we headed back home and aunt Kathy, Hannah, and Grandma Bouillion were here to have dinner to celebrate Hannah's birthday, Jeff coming home, and Jack arriving. Jeff and I didn't eat because of stomaches full of.. mostly Cheddar Bay Biscuits. Avery was really happy to see Hannah. We always joke that she's a mini-Hannah becuase she has a lot of the same habits and traits that Hannah did when she was younger. She likes dressing herself and does a good job, she is a good cleaner, and she loves smelly good, girly stuff. Just like Hannah, I tell you. Around 9pm I looked back to the recliner and Jeff was passed out cold, mouth open and everything. I went to get Jack from Aunt Kathy who was holding him, and do you know that he was sleeping the EXACT same way? Head cocked back and to the side and mouth wide open. Daddy's little boy is definitely taking after him. That's competely fine with me, I hope he takes after his daddy. Because I think his daddy is pretty darn cute! :)

2 months down, 10 to go!

WOO!!!!! Another milestone in this deployment has been reached. We are one sixth done with it today. Quite frankly, I am pretty proud of myself and of my husband. It has been hard, but we have both settled into a pretty good routine living physically apart but emotionally together. We are stronger than ever in our marriage right now, and we just keep trucking on! Of course, Jack will add a whole new dimension to every aspect of our lives. Deployment included. Regardless of how hard it will be for Jeff to be away from him for a long period of time, and me to be a single mother for that amount as well... We can do it! These past 9 months of pregnancy have flown by, so hopefully the next 10 of deployment will as well.

Today I woke up at 6am. Well, I actually had been up since 4am but I didn't get out of bed until 6. I have no idea why my sleep cycle is so irregular. Well, I'm assuming pregnancy is to hold accountable. I went upstairs and talked with my mama while she was getting ready for school and helped to get Max and Avery ready too as much as I could. After they headed out for school, I got a quick shower, dressed, and did my hair and make up. Ya know, normal morning stuff. I had to go to the lab at Adena hospital to get some blood tests done today. My primary doctor requested them as a pre-requisite to consulting about the new injection they have for asthma patients. I wore my mask like I was supposed to and got lots of inquiring looks from the other patrons. Being at a hospital, I thought I would blend a little more than when I wear it to say Walmart, or the library. But no, I felt just as out of place. I held my head high though. I'd rather be the target of wondering, interested eyes than be the victim of the swine flu! Thats for sure. After I had my bloodwork done I went to visit my aunt Amy and grandma. They are both doing well. We just talked about things currently going on and normal stuff. I stayed there for about an hour then headed to pick up lunch and meet my dad at his work. I picked up our orders from Sumburger and went out to Pickaway Ross around 11:30am. It was good to see him. I haven't been out much since my asthma attack and the diagnosis of bronchitis, so I hadn't seen him in a while. He had a sumburger platter and I, of course, had a plain turkey sub platter. YUMMY! I highly recommend Sumburger to anyone in the Chillicothe area. I got to see lots of my dad's coworkers that I hadn't seen in years or more as well. Everyone wished me luck with delivery and they were all very sweet. I feel very blessed to feel such a warm atmosphere from people I haven't seen/spoken to in ages. I'm a lucky young woman. I picked up Avery from school at 2pm like normal, and we came home to find the best part of our day in the mailbox. THREE letters addressed to me from Afghanistan, and one addressed to Miss Avery Hartshorn as well. She was so excited to see that Jeff had written her. I told her I had to pee and she waltzed right into that bathroom and said I had to read it NOW, she couldn't wait. haha. She said she is taking the letter to school for show and tell next week. Since it came all the way from Afghanistan. My three letters made me get butterflies in my stomach. I fall more and more in love with my husband with each stroke of the pen that I read. He knows exactly what to say to get me to just melt. I know, I know, I'm getting mushy. I'll spare you any more and just say that I am ready now more than ever for him to get home! :) Good thing its SOON! I can't wait to see you my love.

5 going on 15

Avery had her first day of preschool at Southeastern today! She was so excited. She picked out her own outfit and everything. Quite frankly, she did a pretty good job! She is definitely just like her cousin Hannah in this aspect, Miss Diva Fashionista :P

Getting her nikes on, her favorite school shoes

Making sure she has everything in her bookbag

Putting on the bookbag just long enough for a picture. It was WAY too heavy for her today because she had to take all her supplies in

Avery and her proud mama!

She and her Kai-Lan Bookbag, to quote her "available ONWEE at Target"

One last picture before they're off to school!

I picked her up at 2pm and she was just as happy as when she left this morning. The best way to relay information from her will be in an interview type blog so here ya go.


Kate: "Did you have fun today, Aye?"
Avery: "YES! It wasn't as boring as I fought it was gonna be because we got to play a lot"

Kate: "What did you play with?"
Avery: "Lots of fings, play-doh, and I painted! I painted a clifford picture for you!"

Kate: "Awh thanks Avery I can't wait to see it! What else did you do?"
Avery: "We played outside at the playgwound, and we got naptime. But I didn't sleep I just watched the movie."

Kate: "Well I'm sure that's okay too. Who did you play with?"
Avery: "You know that wittle girl Stormy? From the meeting that I played wif.. I played wif her on the playgwound"

Kate: "Oh yeah I remember her, she is nice huh? What was your favorite part of the day?"
Avery: "Snack time"

Kate: "Really what did you eat?"
Avery: "I just ate what my mama packed for me. They had ofer stuff too but I did not like any of it one bit. But I think those wittle round fings were donuts.. they looked like donuts. I will ask my teacha tomorrow"

Kate: "What is your teacher's name?"
Avery: "I have fwee teachas. Miss Louis, Miss Cathy, and Miss Tammy."

Kate: "Three? Wow thats really cool! Do you have papers in your bookbag to bring home?"
Avery: "Yes, WOTS"

Kate: "Okay, well we will look when we get home okay? Did anyone get in trouble today."
Avery: "Uhmmmmm, no. We all got tokens! OH NO! I left my tokens at school!"

Kate: "Its okay Aye! So you had a good day?"
Avery: "Yeah, I like school"

Kate: "Good, cause guess what?"
Avery: "What?"
Kate: "You get to go back tomorrow!"


She just smiled after that, and said that she would just get her tokens tomorrow after she asked Miss Tammy if she was supposed to bring them home or leave them in the classroom. We went through the papers in her bookbag, and she gave me the Clifford picture that she painted :) Mostly the rest is just more forms for mom to fill out, a handbook, and a lunch menu. After telling her they were having meatloaf tomorrow we both made a face and she decided she was going to ask mom to pack her lunch again. She is now winding down for the day playing on nickjr.com on the desktop computer.

Little sister's first day of school? check. Little sister had a good day at school? check. Big sister happy that little sister had a good day? check. Big sister READY for little sister to be in school? Well, its a working progress.

Fun day Sunday

Only slept til 11am today! haha. I'm just telling myself that these next couple weeks will be the last that I get to sleep that long for quite a while. So indulge while you can right? After a much needed shower and a poptart for breakfast, I found myself wanting to paint my bathroom. Yes, I said paint my bathroom. So I said to myself "woah, woah, woah, just wait a minute.." Obviously that is the most random thing my brain has brought to my attention in quite a while. And then *CLICK* the light bulb came on. I am getting the oh so lovely gift of pregnancy's nesting instinct. Obviously I did not paint the bathroom. But I did get some cleaning done and laundry folded. That was enough to satisfy my newfound urge. Speaking of this nesting, why do you think it comes right BEFORE baby gets here? I mean I understand the concept, helps you get last minute things ready and blah blah blah. But don't all you mothers agree that the burst of energy that comes with the nesting is much more needed right AFTER baby gets here? I could be wrong, as I'm not a mother yet. But I'll be sure to let you all know in a couple weeks.

I was supposed to attend my Responsible Driver's Course today. After my wreck in July I was offered the option to take this course in return for no points added to my license. Of course I took the opportunity. Anyways, the class was cancelled and is rescheduled for a Sunday a couple weeks from now. Avery and I made the most of my free time tonight and headed out for a girls dinner, just the two of us. We've developed a system taking turns picking restaurants when she and I go out to eat. Tonight was her night to pick, and she chose Chinese Grand Buffet. She just likes it for the Jello! But thats okay, it sounded good to me too. We had a wonderful dinner and I realized how much I'm going to miss her during the day when she goes to school starting Tuesday. She makes me laugh so easily. One hug from her can make my smile reappear when I think its gone away forever. Goodness, that little girl is such a blessing. I don't have the words to explain how she's impacted my life. I can only hope that I can show her the same support/love she's shown me these past five years. And even though I will probably live far away for most of her life, I vow to do my best to be the same big sister she knows now. I pinky promise ;)

Jeff and I were only able to talk for about 15 minutes total today. The reception was going in and out, we had to reconnect 4 times just to get that much time out of it. He recieved two of my care packages today. One from nearly a month ago, and one from about a week ago. On duty when he recieved them, he had just enough time to take them to his bunk and breifly look through the contents. He said that it looked like everything made it there okay. The bottle of bath and body works lotion (per request from him cause it smells like me) that I sent exploded. But luckily he has a pretty intellegent wife that knew this might happen and sealed it up in a plastic bag :P Other than that he didn't really say much, since we didn't have much time to talk anyways. We both always say how excited we are for r&r and how we can't wait and all that. I told him that he sounded stuffed up, like he had a cold. He said that its because of all the dust where he is. And that the guys are all complaining that he's snoring at night. Poor guy.

New photo album on my profile for all of you facebook-ers. Its called "Blast from the Past" and thats exactly what it is. There's about 30 photos of friends, family, and myself throughout the years. Some are pretty humorous as I forgot how different we all looked just 5 years ago. How different things were 5 years ago. Change is for the better though, always. Even if its unexpected and unwanted, in the end its for the better and allows you to grow as a person in ways you didn't think you could. I'm happy with how my life is so far, that's for sure. But I can't say that I expected any of it fully. Come what may.. I'll be ready.

Love to all!