2011. I hope it's wonderful.

I hope it's a great year, for us. 2 deployments in a row, it's tough, but we are getting through. I am looking forward to many things in 2011. #1 would be our 10 year anniversary on January 20th. I am also looking forward to the get away my husband has planned for us at the end of Feb to celebrate our anniversary when he is home on his 2 week leave, I can't wait. We will see what Vegas is all about then. If you are all wondering, I have only been to Vegas once, and I was 20, about a month and a half shy of my 21st birthday, so I was not able to experience all that Vegas had to offer then, that was 12+ years ago. Yeah, I KNOW, CRAZY!! I am really looking forward to seeing Terry Fator. But hey, the old saying goes, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. :D

I also hope it's a great year for all my friends and my family. May 2011 bless you all with wonderful things.

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║╔╗║╔╗║╔╣╔╩╗╔╝ ★ NEW YEAR ☆ 2011
╚╝╚╩╝╚╩╝╚╝═╚╝ ♥￥☆★☆★☆￥♥ ★☆..

I'm back..

I know...it's been too long. First off anything I post in MY blog is mearly my opinion and my feelings. I do not set out to offend or hurt anyone, and view this as a tool, a journal, my day to day happenings etc, for you my friends, family and public to read. IF YOU DO NOT LIKE WHAT I WRITE DO NOT VISIT. PERIOD!!! I have been contemplating this following post for awhile and have been wanting to find just the right words without sounding too harsh and to personal.

It has been a very crazy last few months.......my last post was October 4th...I know. Crazy.

I would like to take a moment to say that I am extremely grateful and thankful for those friends and family of mine who have been very supportive of me and my life while Rick has been in Iraq. Nobody knows just how hard it is to be without your other half for such a period of time. The daily calls, chats, and visits, etc from you all really help the time pass and makes it that much easier. Anyone can say they SUPPORT people, but unless you act upon it or show it, in my opinion it is just all talk. There are people who have really stepped up and been supportive in so many ways, and I appreciate that so much. Then there are others who after disappointment have not been very supportive in many ways or not at all. Which is upsetting and adds a whole different realm of stress of it's own. It's not one person or another, but several, people I thought would really step up, and haven't. I am the type of person who would bend over backwards to help someone else out. It don't have to be with money or gifts, etc but a call, a visit, etc does wonders. I wish people truly understood how hard it really is when your other half leaves. You get used to running things a certain way. The man has the things he does, and the woman has the things she does. Well imagine having that taken away from you in one day, and everything he did, automatically becomes your responsibility. So now not only am I left to worry about a husband who may be in harm's way in a War torn foreign country. I am left with grieving kids, a void in my heart and all of the tasks with running a household. All while trying to keep a smile on my face, because I don't want to my kids to know that I too am worried about daddy possibly being in harms way. It is a lot of work and I give kudos to all single parents out there who do this on a daily basis. It DEFINITELY is a job in itself that no amount of compensation is worth. If I were paid for all the tasks I do, I would truly be a MILLIONAIRE. I also give thanks to all the military families past, present, and future who have and will go through the same things I have gone through.


Krissy- You truly are my sister.....we may not be blood related, but you are my sister. I have really appreciated the constant calls, etc to see how things are going. I appreciate the support from you with conversation when I need someone to talk to...I have appreciated it a whole lot. I just want to say THANK YOU for being there from day one.

Lindsey-You too are a sister. You are easy to relate to as we have said we have hubby's with very similar occupations, yours being the Airforce and mine being Army, and similar as in attitudes and demeanor. We can relate on a whole other level. You have been a constant, and I too want to say thank you for being their when I need you. I appreciate you a whole lot as well.

Jenn-God is great! Even when I think he is not. I appreciate him giving us an opportunity for paths to cross. I have really enjoyed getting to know you for you and I know your technically not family yet, but I already consider you as my S-I-L. You are a great person, head strong and I value your blunt opinions when I ask for them. lol. I look forward to meeting all my nieces and nephew aka the other Nicholas when summer arrives. I have appreciated our long conversations on life, and the military aspect of everything. You are a STRONG AND WONDERFUL WOMAN that I am glad I have had the chance to get to know. Thank You!

My Family- My family has been very supportive. My sister and I have become closer in many ways. She has been supportive and there when I need a little breather from my kids. She is going to be a mom twice, as she adopted her first child after thinking she was unable to have kids of her own. My nephews adoption was finalized in May '09, and shortly after- a few months later they found out with much joy they are expecting a little girl and are due in April. Thanks sissy for being there!!
My Mom- Well for being the wonderful person she is. She has too been here for me while Rick is deployed to help out with the kids, to think of fun things to do to get out of dodge, to talk to when needed. She has been a great help too for Rick, if it weren't for her, I would not have got flowers on my birthday, or had a cake at dinner the night we went out. Rick called mom up and said "hey would ya mind doing me a favor" and my mom made it happen. I love you mom. You are a wonderful mom, and an even more wonderful grandmother to my kids. THANK YOU.

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to those who have been supportive to me in many ways, and this is just some of the stuff and ways you guys have shown support to me. You know if you all need anything, I am and always here for you all as well.


Now on to a more uplifting and inspiring blog........crocheting.....Hee Heeee. It too has been a friend and helps me pass the time. lol.

It's been awhile

So I know I haven't been on lately to post anything. Things have been pretty crazy since we saw Rick off. I'm not only playing the role of mom now but dad too.

I did however make it down to see Rick a couple of weeks ago and it was great. Our good friends Joel and Jonnie were very hospitable and showed us around and we appreciated every minute of it. They were absolutley wonderful.

Before leaving to see Rick though things got crazy here. First my dryer stopped working, followed by my washer a day later. But I did it. All on my own, got my dryer working again, and with a little guidance from my dad will be changing the pump out in my washer when it comes in the mail this week.

I hope I can get some pics up of our trip. We spent my last day in New Orleans with our new friends James and Jade, and I have some pics that I would love to share.

I also have been extremely busy plugging out some crocheting projects and want to share those as well. I have been asked by my good friend to make 6 hats for a family member my first commissioned project. I am excited to see how it goes. I am hoping I can expand on what I have learned in regards to crocheting, and maybe I can make some extra money while being so creative. I hope to post examples of what I have been working on.

Also Rick is done with his training in Hattiesburg. He has had a very hard last few days. A good friend of his there went off base and was in a awful car wreck and wrapped his car around tree. Lucky for his friend he came out of it with some would say minor injuries, a broken foot, and a busted lip. Rick has been a good friend to him and has been at the hospital with his buddy for 3 straight days. His Friend was released today, and they returned to base. The sad thing now though is that his friend is unable to deploy with Rick as he has to stay back until he heals.
Speaking of deploying, Rick will be leaving Mississippi this Tuesday 10/7/09. Where he will fly to Iraq with a hour lay over in Germany. Please keep Rick and his platoon in your prayers. I wish them a safe deployment, and know that god will watch over them all, and bring them all home safe.

Attack of the Mosquito's

Even with all the Spray. The kids still managed to look like this after the 4th of July. I put some calamine lotion on each bite, which needless to say speaks for it's self, displaying all the nasty itchy spots. I thought this was a great pic.

Projects continuing to BLOOM.....

SO I mentioned in my last post what I for saw for my kitchen, so to give everyone of an Idea of what I am shooting for I put together a color palate.
Here is the paint I picked out for our walls, this will only be the color for the walls, the door jams, around the windows and misc. trim will be a crisp clean white.
This color is not duly given justice by picture. THE color you might ask, it is a BEHR signature color called......CELERY SPRIG. It is very light with a tint of green, it will go very well with the colors of materials my mom chose to go with it for curtains and table cloth and runner.
Here is the palate of materials we will be working with to make curtains, etc out of.


Okay so the large grape print will be a ruffle with the window in my kitchen. I also have a cafe table that my mom gave me and I will be re-upholstering the chairs in the large grape print as well. The kitchen table runner that will go down the center of the table will be a mixture of the small grape print as well as the accenting green and tans we have chosen. I am not to sure about the purple. I was thinking about changing out the purple for a red grape color to match the red grapes in the large grape print....The wall paint color is in the middle and again pics do not do this color justice, it goes very well with all the materials we have chosen.

So these are the projects that are starting, I will post pics of everything when it is complete, and if anyone has any suggestions before starting just let me know...

On Our way to Kentucky

Missouri River flooding-Hamburg, Iowa 6/11/08

( The river should be behind those trees in the background, but as you can tell there were waves splashing up over the road)

As we traveled to Kentucky for family matters we cut across a portion of Iowa. Leaving Nebraska, as we came into Iowa, we came across severe flooding, it was so bad that they had both outside lanes on each side of the interstate closed and blocked due to flooding of the Missouri River the lanes were under water. I myself had never seen such flooding in my life. It is crazy to see the damage water can cause, such a valuable resource that can cause such devastation when mother nature has her way. As we left Iowa heading into Missouri the flooding continued on for at least 20 miles, once a river, is now what seems to be a lake, which had flooded farm after farm and field after field, affecting people all over that area. We tried getting a pic but I do not think it does it justice. My thoughts are with those who are in Iowa and the surrounding areas, who have had to deal with such a force of nature.

Off to AT for 2 weeks.

Well starting Saturday, my husband will be off to AT which means annual training. He will be gone for two weeks, which is not a long time, but this will be my first time without having Rick home for that long. The longest I and Katelynn have been away from him was 7 days when we went on our cruise to Alaska. Nicholas has not been away from him for more than a day. This will definatley be a tester period for us, the idea of Rick being in the MILITARY will definatley set in I think over these two weeks.
I came across a poem that has extreme meaning, I know Rick is not off to war (yet) the possibility is there, but I just wanted to share this poem with you.

I LOVE YOU HONEY!!!!