done

We have done a cross country move once again. I forgot how stressful it was to move yourself, as opposed to the Army doing it for you. It took an entire day to move all of our things out, pack them into the uhaul, then pack them into storage, and clean out the apartment. If I didn't have friends to help I would have lost it. Seriously.

We had a family host us for two nights and one day as we cleared out of our apartment. They are the sweetest family ever, such a good example for a young family like ours. They took days off work to help us, to accommodate us, and to make sure we were comfortable. Who does that? It makes me wonder how many of my friends back home would do it. Not that I'd expect it or deserve it, but it astounds me- their level of love and selflessness. It felt like we we're already on vacation, we hung out and got things done but it felt so much better than staying at a hotel.

During the first week of our vacation we had our car towed and basement flooded. It was a little stressful but we moved past it fairly quickly. We need to enjoy our time as best as possible without outside stress ruining our time. It feels like a ticking time bomb now, just counting down the days until Joel leaves. I want to cherish every moment that he is still around. It's been a lot of fun and we've actually been taking advantage of the fact that Sophia is in bed by 7:30 and my mom is home so we can go out. We've gone to dinner, to the movies, and shopping. I just hope things continue to run smoothly.

Until, he's gone...

The storm

I can't wait until the calm after the storm. Yes, that's right, I said it BACKWARDS! That's just the way it is in the military, especially during a pcs. I know this isn't technically a pcs because I am moving on my own, but it sure does feel like it. I love moving, but I can't wait until that final moment when we arrive at our destination with nothing to do.  

No more packing, scheduling, fixing, cleaning, organizing,  and donating!

 

This is my first move with a little munchkin. She's all sorts of craziness, I mean can't you just tell by the way her mismatched socks are styling on her tiny feet? Love this kid! She's made the entire process a little more difficult. She's a big fan of "helping". She likes to throw out everything I put into boxes, which requires me packing everything, essentially, twice LOL.

 See this here? This is the sun room, aka the shove everything out of view room. We have our deployment gear to the right of the shot, boxes of books, all of my jewelry and crafts by the coffee table and more empty boxes. Oh and what's that pole there? Well that's our floor lamp, it has been evicted from the living room because miss sassy pants like to climb it, which typically results in injury.

 Dirty laundry clothes to the left, and an empty bin awaiting things for storage. and a random headband that Sophia dropped.

 My donations to Goodwill, aka clothes I haven't worn in like 3 years but still like to carry around from state to state.

and viola! this is the end :) or rather the beginning of craziness, I haven't even started packing yet :( 

its coming

We had our first FRG meeting and now the deployment cloud really is hanging over my head. It's like a little rain cloud damping up my Georgia sunshine. I'm getting all teary eyed for no reason once again. It hit me like BAM! YOUREHUSBANDISGOINGTOLEAVEFORNINEMONTHS. This is just horrible.
okay, i'm done being a drama queen. Wait, no I'm not.

I mean, look at this.

Isn't it just lovely? It melts my heart every time I see it. She loves her Daddy so much. I don't look forward to the day he doesn't "Come home from work". She loves that time, it's their special time. My child will play by herself all day long; she crawls, "reads", explores, and eats. BUT the moment Daddy is home she is glued to his side. What are we going to do? Well, for starters, I need to borrow someone's video camera and we are going to record him reading bedtime stories :) I plan on having her watch one every night. I need to stop procrastinating ASAP. I hope she doesn't forget her Daddy during these nine months. I hope I can give her enough love from the both of us to get us through it! Love you Daddy

slacker

Um, oops? I haven't updated in a really long time. I guess I'm slacking! We went a nice long (is 10 days long?) family vacation. We headed to Chicago to visit family and enjoyed it so much that I decided to move back. My decision is firm now and I will certainly be moving. It was hard to come back to Columbus, it's never been this hard to leave family.

 I've had a pretty hard time adjusting in Columbus. I'm not sure if it's because I have a baby now and no car, which means I cant go anywhere or just the lack of fellowship. I just feel like everyone is so busy, like time doesn't stop at all. I hate it. I really loved being at other posts because I was able to sorta join other families. I never felt left out, and we always had several homes open to us to just stop by and hang out. It felt nice, warm, and welcoming. Being here, I don't get that. I know there are a lot of people that love us and will have us over, but it's never like "hey, I'm bored" or "hey, I'm having a bad day, can I come over?". I feel like we have to have a formal invitation to be welcome for a few hours. There's just so much going on. I don't blame anyone, but it's been hard.

I guess I've had it too good for too long huh? I love my church, and I love my friends... but I need more closeness. I will need it even more when Joel leaves. I can't stand the thought of not being able to just drop in on someone when the loneliness hits me. That's why I'm going home. I will keep myself busy with my best friend and family. If I ever need a day alone or some shopping to just push the loneliness away, I know I have my mom and mil. They love my daughter and that comforts me. It makes me happy to know that I can drop in and have them enjoy her for a few months since she's been away from them most of their lives.

For now, I have four weeks to pack, find somewhere to store our stuff, figure out how to haul a trailer and move cross country for the fourth time in FOUR YEARS :) gotta love the army!

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend Joel had a four day weekend, which was AMAZING! It's always fun to have him around for longer than his typical two days off. It felt like a mini vacation, but it's always sad when the last day rolls around.


We enjoyed lot's of time staying up late, listening to R.C. Sproul, eating, and talking. Then Saturday rolled around and we decided to finally take Sophia to the Georgia Aquarium, which boasts to be the largest aquarium in the world. Joel liked it, but the Chicagoan in him still loves the Shedd Aquarium more.

I was skeptical of how much attention Sophia would pay.  

Well, let's just say that I wasn't prepared to have my mind blown. 

She had such a great time! She giggled, stared, banged on the glass, and waved at the fish. She skipped her nap and enjoyed the view. I thought she would give us a hard time but it was easy peasy! I was having such a great time but the "deployment cloud" hung high over my head. I know it's still a season away but I can't help and think of it. I got a little teary eyed as we watched the uber cheesy dolphin show. I was thinking of how much fun we were having and how soon he will be gone. Then I had to snap myself out of it and appreciate the joy we were experiencing now!!!

Now, I will just enjoy my husband until tomorrow morning where the routine starts all over again!!!