Forgive the melancholy

I have been pretty positive this entire deployment, so hopefully I'm allowed one post with a little bit of melancholy in it. If anything to let the feelings out before I burst. And hopefully to eventually just let them go.

So here goes.

I miss my friends and my family. And everyone is so busy with their own lives that it often feels like no one actually misses me. I know that's not true technically, but in an everyday sense I think it might be. People move on and get busy and that's a fact of life. It's silly to think that people are going to go out of their way to keep in touch with me, and I'm sure if Jack were here all this time it wouldn't feel so intense right now, but I guess the fact is that he's not here and it does because I'm away from everyone, and despite that I've tried so hard to live my own life here, it still feels like I'm on pause until my husband comes home to me. (Talk about a run-on sentence!)

But maybe what really bothers me is that I feel like no one understands what it's like to be here all by myself. I know it is partly my fault, since I probably haven't explained it to anyone. But still. No one really gets what it's like to go to church by yourself every single week, to wake up in silence, spend your day in silence, and go to sleep in silence. To eat all of your meals by yourself. In silence. To not eat because there seems to be no point in preparing another meal for yourself to eat in silence. To spend holidays by yourself. To work up the courage to attend events by yourself in the hopes of making friends (and that is not easy as an introvert!). To carry huge objects by yourself because you have no friends or family to ask for help. To leave a blank on the local emergency contact for your job because you realize that you have no one around that you can count on. To move from one house to another entirely by yourself because you aren't close enough with anyone to help you. I could probably go on, but I'll spare you from the impending feelings of pity or annoyance (or both?) by doing so. Things are so much better now, of course, now that I live on post and have *finally* made some friends/acquaintances who can actually spend time with me and not just count on me for babysitting or helping out in emergencies (since I am husbandless and childless!) but for the majority of this deployment, what I have just described has seriously been my life. Of course, I have always looked on the bright side of things and I will continue to do so. I guess I just need one post to get all this out before my husband comes home to me.

Now that I can read all of my thoughts on paper, I know what the answer is. I should find peace in that I have so many people who love me; what does it matter that they don't understand exactly how things have been for me? They love me and I love them, and that's what matters. I need to count my blessings.

And moreover, I am reminded that I need not be offended. That is one thing that all the saints all have in common: they could not be easily offended. Not because they thought less of themselves, but because they thought of themselves less. So I really should too. If I were a better Christian, I wouldn't even think of myself at all! My little sufferings are minuscule compared to the sufferings of so many in this world. If I would spend a fraction of my time praying for them instead of nursing my injuries, I know that I would be a changed person.

So perhaps this is my prayer for the last little bit of this deployment, that I can turn any self-pity or melancholy into prayers for the poor lost souls on this earth.

Breakfast at Tiffany's

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY?

YEP!

I have to devote an entire post to the Bridal Shower.

Planning a Bridal Shower two time zones away isn't the easiest. Especially when you have super busy recent college graduates (i.e. poor) bridesmaids. So although it was extremely stressful leading up to the big day, everyone really stepped up during crunch time and it turned out beautifully. 

Ariel LOVES Audrey Hepburn, so I thought a Breakfast at Tiffany's theme would be perfect. We just had a slight problem...nowhere host it. With 75 people were invited, we needed a big venue, and big venues are expensive and many were all booked up. At several points, we had options that fell through and one was even double booked. So we ended up having it at a bar because Ariel's parents are friends with the owners and it was big enough, a good location, and decently priced to rent.

A BAR? Yes, a bar. I had never seen it, but the other bridesmaid weren't too keen on it. But since no one had any better options, Ariel's mom made the final decision after a stressful month of no luck. It had some pros...it was in a good location, decently priced rental fee, and was large enough for everyone. But it was a bar. I was SO anxious to finally see it when we decorated the night before. I had seen some pictures, and I was really worried about all of the posters all over the walls. When I finally saw it though, I realized we could do it. The wooden tables and chairs were actually quite pretty and despite the wood paneling, it was pretty nice. Of course, we did everything possible to glam it up to make it Tiffany's worthy. All of the other bridesmaids had to work the night before, so one other bridesmaid and I decorated the evening before from 4:30PM to 10:00PM. I might have been slightly obsessive though... ;) I sort of had to force myself to stop decorating.

The morning of the shower was crazy, but it really came together! One of the bridesmaids works at Yankee Candle and she had a wax melt that made the place smell delicious...not like a bar at all. Another bridesmaid surprised us by bringing a huge speaker with a microphone that played music from her phone via bluetooth. Another one's mom bought a bunch of coffee and a beautiful coffee pot to fill it in. All in all the shower was wonderful. One of Ariel's relatives even came up to me after the shower and said that it was one of the best, if not the best, bridal shower she had ever been to. And she made sure to say she had been to a lot of them. That was so great to hear after all the hard work (and money hehe)! But above all Ariel was so happy, and that's what counts.

I didn't take these pictures. In fact, I was so busy I didn't take a SINGLE picture! So here are some that another bridesmaids took..

Days before the shower, one of the bridesmaids said her aunt used to work in a bakery. Ta-da! Our cake box cupcakes turned into a beautiful cake. I bought the gloves and tiara for Ariel to wear as soon as she came in and we surprised her.

Ariel in the center with all of her bridesmaids.

Gift table. (See the pretty peonies on the side and the bird cage for cards?) Ariel did actually get one real Tiffany's present, a beautiful crystal plate from her fiancé's sister.

The table when you walk in. We started off with a game called "ring robber." Each person is given three rings. If someone hears them say "wedding," "bride," or "dress," then they get to take a ring. The person with the most rings at the end of the shower got a prize. One of Ariel's cousin's had like 30 rings!

The main area. I covered all of the beer and sports signs with tablecloth and ribbon to look like Tiffany's presents and tags that said "Ariel and Co. Est 2014). A little see-through but it worked.

I am ridiculously proud of the centerpieces. I arranged the flowers myself. One of the bridesmaids made the favors and glammed them up way more than I had planned them to be. We used pearl strands and tiny "diamond" jewels to decorate the table. This picture doesn't have the main floral arrangements: white roses, baby's breath, and white hydrangea in a mason jar. They looked so beautiful that people took them home! I am starting to reconsider a career as a florist. :P

The bride's chair. One of the bridesmaids bought Ariel a beautiful necklace with a Mickey Modo pearl in it as a bridal shower/wedding present with her mom, and Ariel is going to wear it with her wedding dress.

We played the toilet paper dress game and it was a huge hit! Ariel chose her aunt's dress (behind her) because of the 80's shoulder pads in the dress. 

Centerpieces again.

Here is the main floral arrangement I was talking about, minus the mason jar.  I did take this picture after the shower! 

The food! And the "Future Mrs Koerber" sign I made. This picture was taken before all the food arrived. We had about 50 people, so thankfully Ariel's aunts brought hot food. We had a yogurt bar (which was super adorable) and cucumber sandwiches and we provided the drinks for everyone.


Those are all the pictures I have! My bridal shower present to Ariel was a lace veil that I made...a cathedral veil that extends about 4 feet past her train. I can't post those until the wedding in September....but as you can see I am obnoxiously proud of my handiwork and the veil is no exception. ;) 

The trip was so fun but also super busy. Since Ariel could only travel home once before her wedding, we did everything we could possibly think of for the wedding. Let's just say I was tired when I got back at 2am on Saturday night!

Overall success! Now read the post below. :)

The Final To-Dos

I thrive (and survive) via to-do lists. I have them in several locations: on my phone, in my journal, on the chalkboard in my kitchen. So I am pleased to announce that I now have a to-do list called "Things to Do Before Jack Comes Home."

That, my friends and family, proves that his homecoming is close. And I can finally start getting excited! And I am.

We have a date, which I am allowed to announce because it's now public knowledge and posted online. He should be getting in the morning after Independence day...I'm still praying he can leave one day earlier, but I know that's extremely unlikely.

Jack's flight is one of the last flights out because he hasn't been in Kuwait with everyone else. Basically this means his deployment is a month longer than everyone else's because he also left a couple weeks earlier. So some of the guys are already home and most of my friends' husbands are coming home by early next week. I am surprised that I am feeling a little emotional about Jack's late arrival, but I suspect that it's because Jack and I haven't had a single holiday together during our first year of marriage, and everyone else gets the 4th together. Not fair!

But I need to stay positive, because he's almost home.

I've been quite busy the last month...moving in, making friends (finally finally!), getting our house ready for Jack, but most of all...planning Miss Ariel's bridal shower! I just got back from Baltimore on Sunday and the shower was a success. Pictures in the next post!

I started a Bible study as planned. We are reading "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian. Since I led a Bible study my last two years of college, I've missed it so much. I might even lead another one once summer is over. I've also just missed hosting people. I braved it a couple weeks after I moved in and had some people over from the neighborhood that I didn't know very well and it was really fun. In college, I was a little bit antisocial, mostly because I was so focused on studying, and I've almost felt like this is my second chance to branch out and I'm definitely taking advantage of it and conquering my fears.

Since I just got back from Baltimore, I spent time with several of Ariel's bridesmaids. I was surprised at how old I felt considering they were all my age. I realized it had nothing to do with them, but more to do with the fact that so many of my friends and acquaintances here are in their late 20s to early 40s. So I'm basically turning into an old lady. Although I've made several new friends in the neighborhood who are in my exact stage of life (newly married young college graduates...is that a stage?) and it's been a blessing to get to know them. I also made a friend in the same stage of life who is a faithful Catholic aaand a teacher, and her name is ...guess it... Emily! We have become close quickly and I'm so thankful for her friendship! I think her husband and Jack will get along really well and we're already scheming, I mean planning, some camping trips and that sort of thing for when Jack comes home!

Now that the shower is over, I can devote myself to being a housewife and getting our home ready. Cleaning, organizing, trying to be thrifty with decorating! Today, I went through all of our finances and I hope I'm doing something wrong because we have to pay a lot of taxes. I've been spoiled because of deployment benefits, including non-taxable income, and I've only been tracking our finances since he left. How do people survive??? Okay, I'm being dramatic. We can totally survive but we will have a hard time saving. I guess we are in the 15% tax bracket, but when you add state taxes, social security and medicare, we are up to a quarter of our income. Welcome to the real world, right? I'm definitely going to need to substitute teach a lot this year so that we can keep up the saving.

So I have had a goal this entire deployment, and that is to have ordered wedding prints. It only took 8.5 months, but as of today, the goal is accomplished. I ordered a TON of wedding pictures, like 30 different photos, several 8x10s too and it was only $35 including shipping. I used smugmug.com after reading a blog that rated different services, and I am really excited to see the prints! I am going to check out the thrift stores for some pretty gold frames, because I have a vision for a gallery wall in our dining room. But yes, our house is about to vomit up wedding pictures! It's about time that we have some pictures of our little family though. :)

Speaking of pictures, here's what I've been up to since May.

San Diego with my girls!

Lunch before we went kayaking in the La Jolla caves! 

It's my street! ;)

Justine is about to go to China to be a missionary!

Naughty puppy looking for food

Our new home- dining room area

Breakfast nook right when you walk in

living room area

I am very proud of this sign! I bought a pallet for $1 and stained it using the same stain as the kitchen table. I made the letters from a white satin fabric that I glued into little rosettes.

Our awesome W/D that I scored off a yard sale page.

Molly's first birthday

I'm now officially in three weddings in the next year. :)

Our babies cuddling. Oh, I love these stinkin' animals!

Quote of the week:

Jack (to Emily): "Why do you have to be so smart?"

^For my records

The Last Leg

It's getting close. Not close enough to clean out Jack's car or buy him a new toothbrush, but close enough to feel a sense of relief when I look at the calendar. Kind of like driving through a tunnel in a large mountain; just before you think that it will never end, the walls seems to lighten and you know that the passageway is almost visible. Just a little bit longer and the light will brighten everything.

That's where I'm at. The last two months were difficult- they seemed endless. And it didn't help that Jack's return date was pushed back by nearly a month. But soon enough the tunnel will be so white and bright that I know the last little bit will fly by. Almost there.

Ready for some updates?

First, I have to apologize for the time lapse between this post and the last. Even my friend's mom expressed her disappointment! ;) I have some very loyal readers, even if I only have like 7. And I am very excited to announce that at least two are not directly related to me... Mrs. Hall and the infamous Khalid Rumjan Jr.

As a whole, April was great. I was busy with my show, the Six Women Play Fest. I met a lot of talented actors and directors in the Colorado Springs area, and I am hoping that it will lead to some more opportunities here. It's already started to! One of the fellow actors actually asked me to be in a staged reading of her original one act play, so I am looking forward to that this summer! I also did a commercial shoot last week with one of the directors of the one acts. (It was a sweet deal- took a few hours, got my makeup done, the acting consisted of looking pleasant while using electronics, got free lunch, AND got paid! Apparently commercials are where it's at.) And of course I did a lot of substitute teaching and babysitting.

I started May with a visit to San Diego with my besties from high school. It was wonderful to feel silly and free with them and I miss them dearly!

Ready for some news?! I am going to be in a feature film. I think I posted about the auditions last December- I had gone to Cheyenne, WY for it. I didn't hear back until a month ago, when they asked me to come to their final auditions about a week ago. And then I got the part. :) Our first rehearsal is this Saturday, and I am excited to meet the rest of the cast and read through the script. The film is a quirky Christian comedy about a Bible quiz competition and my character is a high school senior named Sydney. And before everyone starts asking for their ticket to the Emmys, let's just say this is a low budget indie film and I probably won't get paid much at all, if anything. But it's more experience. And the opportunity to do something I love. And it will probably end up on Netflix at least. :) Right now my big concern is the shoot schedule- I'm so nervous that Jack's going to come home and then I'm going to have to leave him right away for the film. Being the wonderful, supportive husband that he is, he says that it will be okay if we have to be apart for a little while. But if you can offer up any prayers for the timing to work out, I would appreciate it.

Okay, so I have some seemingly insignificant but actually really good news.

I moved onto post. Despite it being ridiculously awful to move a house entirely by myself (I told Jack, "I'm never doing this again"), I LOVE LIVING HERE. I really really love it. I have already met all my neighbors. They know my name, they know Molly's name. They know that Jack's deployed. I borrowed the neighbor's vacuum the other day. I got coffee with someone I had just met. I leave my door unlocked, windows open, garage door open. Even right now, when it's dark outside, I don't feel creeped out with all of my blinds open. The duplex aspect is oddly comforting too. I love when I can hear the kids next door thumping up and down the stairs or when I go outside with Molly and talk with the kids through the fence. They love to pet Molly through the fence too! The dog park is a two minute walk down the street. Molly's puppy friends are a walk away and they play together all the time. And my friends are just a walk away too! Instead of 35-34 minutes away, the groups I'm involved with are anywhere from a walk down the street to a five minute drive. This weekend, my friend and I are hosting a BBQ for our friends with deployed husbands, and I'm excited to finally have some people over. I'm even going to host a Bible study this summer. I'm throwing around the word friend a lot, and I probably just mean acquaintances, but still. I think moving on post will help me to make many more real friends.

I do have two actual friends from Bible study who are leaving this month, and that's kind of sad. Another friend from Bible study left a few months ago. It's kind of hard to explain what military friendships are like, especially the ones I have made through Catholic Women of the Chapel. When I first came to CWOC, I was overwhelmed by the differences between me and the women I met. I was a newlywed, fresh out of college, 22, never lived on my own, didn't have any babies let alone teenagers. Some of the women were into their 40s (some even older... spouses of retired service members), and having never had a single married friend before, I honestly didn't know how to relate to them. I even remember telling Jack after the second meeting that I didn't know if I could be close friends with them because we were in such different stages of life. But now, not only was I elected Vice President for next year, but I feel such closeness with them. I have learned so much from them about being a Christian, a wife, and someday a mother. Every single woman at Bible study, no matter how well I know her, is so special to me. So when someone leaves, there's this sadness along with the calm acceptance that this is inevitable, that people are going to move in and out of your life in the army, and also this hope that maybe someday you will run into each other again. Phew. Anyway...

I guess I could stop talking about myself and move onto my husband. ;) He's doing well. He is back in Kuwait for a little while working on his Expert Infantry Badge. Apparently not that many people actually get the badge (which he says in his humility is because of stupid rules during the process), but of course he will be one of the few to get the badge. Otherwise, there is not too much going on for him. At least that he tells me! Besides just plain wanting to come home, he has been pretty positive this whole deployment. It definitely has made it easy as far as our relationship goes. Since we are both positive and supporting of one another, it just makes the whole deployed newlywed thing a piece of cake.

Since its getting close, we have a lot of fun talking about what we are going to do for block leave. We decided that we are going to go camping and explore Colorado. I still haven't been to the zoo here, or Estes Park, or Boulder for that matter. We did only have two months here- technically six and a half weeks here in Colorado-- and I haven't done a lot of exploring on my own. So I am excited. SO excited. I just realized that I actually am starting to get ready for his return. I bought a stake and tie out rope for Molly for when we go camping. It's getting real!

I'll post pictures soon. :)

an eventful month

I thought April was going to be quite uneventful, but I was wrong.

NEWS TIME:

First of all, I'm in a show. Yay! It's the Women's Playwright Fest and it opens on Thursday and runs for three weeks. I feel quite honored to have been offered a role- there were so many people at the auditions. Definitely a bit of a confidence booster after so many rejections!

In May, I'm going with three of my best friends from high school to SAN DIEGO! We are super excited. It's our first "just because" trip ever and it will be amazing.

Another thing to make this month (and the next) even busier...

We are moving!

We're moving into this townhome in May. And it's on post! Jack and I decided that it was best for us to live on post for a ton of reasons:

1) He will live a few minutes minutes from his office, if that. Instead of waking up at 4:30 and leaving at 4:55 in the morning, he can leave at 5:45 to make it to PT (physical training). And then he can come home. And shower. And eat breakfast. And take a nap if he wants. And go back. When he's running errands, he can come home for lunch. Or to say hi. And after work, it will take him 5 minutes  to get home instead of nearly 40. And he can ride his bike. 

2) We can walk to church. And to the PX (mall-type thing) and to the commissary (grocery store). And to the park. And dog park. And other places.

3) Gas savings, for obvious reasons.

4)  I will make friends. And live near them. And that's gonna be awesome... 

....Because as positive as I try to be and as busy as I try to be, I am lonely here. Jack and I met one neighbor before he left. I finally saw him again, and he asked how Jack and I were enjoying Colorado- and I told him that Jack was actually deployed! He was very nice and told me to let him know if I needed anything, but that was literally five months after Jack left and it wasn't because he noticed. 

Contrast that with when I pulled my car up to take pictures of our (soon-to-be) house. Our soon-to-be neighbor, Sarah, was outside with her four kids ("Yep, we are the big crazy family!"), and we talked for a little bit, and she made it a point to learn my name, and she knows that Jack's deployed. I'll take her four kids playing outside any day over the isolation that I feel here. So I am really excited. It will be a lot of work to move on my own, but it will be worth it.

PICTURE TIME:
Let's see, I never posted any pictures from Jessie's visit (in February! eek), or Ariel's, and I also went home at the end of March as well. Unfortunately, the only pictures I have from Ariel's visit are with her in her WEDDING DRESS (!!!), so I can't share it here. But her dress is beautiful and she is going to be the most gorgeous bride.

Our ski trip!

Just gorgeous.

We went cross country skiing. It wasn't physically exhausting like I thought it would be, but it was hard to maneuver because of the shape of the skis and I fell down A LOT. I definitely enjoyed the downhill more, but it was really cool to be in the back mountain trails by ourselves. Except for the bear paw prints. Yeah, then it was not so fun to be in the back mountain trails by ourselves.

Here is the view up on the top of the mountain where we went downhill skiing.

Wolf Creek was pretty awesome. It was so inexpensive and and laid-back... and the runs were HARD! Lots of moguls. I would love to go back though. 

This table here survived my aunt's lake house (including 6 kids) and four years with me (and my roommates and their dinner parties) in college. It needed a makeover or to go to the thrift store. You really can't tell in this picture, but paint is chipping, the tabletop is covered in paint and markers, and the stain is fading. One of the chairs was totally broken and I finally had to get rid of it and come up with another solution. I snagged this bench when it was on sale at target. This was my first major refinishing project, and I'm really excited to share what I did!

I had to sand it inside (lots and lots of sand in my house). Actually, in the throes of this project, my friend had an emergency and I watched her two year old for the afternoon/evening. The kitchen was a mess, but I had a spray bottle full of water and castille soap, and he had so much fun spraying it EVERYWHERE that we cleaned up the entire kitchen. He was even spraying the walls. I literally could not get him to stop cleaning, even when we were done.

I took the final pictures at night, so it seems king of dark and  brooding to me, but it's actually so bright and cheerful. It looks amazing. Trust me!

Here is my cousin Gracie the night before her bat mitzvah. We had the whole family over for dinner at our house after Friday services. I can't believe she's 13 already! I used to babysit her when she was a toddler! Gracie is wearing the heels that I wore to a dance in high school. She's had the shoes for years and they finally fit her, so she had to go out and find a dress that matched them for this occasion. Isn't that cute?

Gracie has always been my little twin; you can sort of see here how we look alike (despite the poor quality picture). My mom helped my aunt put together her slideshow, and it's kind of crazy how similar our pictures growing up are, only her hair has always been darker. We have followed the exact same growth chart too. She's in seventh grade now, and she wears the same size jeans I did then. And she's probably going to barely hit 5 feet tall, like me. Yep, my little twin!!

Here is a picture of something exciting at home! I have to wait a little bit to elaborate though. :)

VIDEO TIME:

Here is the short that I did last fall is currently playing at the WorldFest Film Festival in Houston. Keep your fingers crossed that it wins a Remi award!

<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/76237042" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/76237042">The Beautiful Mundane</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5227252">Cody Courmier</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

Our wedding trailer!
 <iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/89869112" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/89869112">Jack + Emily Wedding Trailer</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/romanticreels">Romantic Reels Media</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

UNRELATED EXCITING THINGS:

My sister-in-law, Katie, got engaged! And my bestie, Jessie, got engaged the weekend later! And after all the time in the next year and a half that they have to get married, they both decided to look at June 20th at different Catholic churches in the same city a year from now. Have you ever seen that movie where someone has to attend two weddings on the same day? Considering Jessie and her fiancé, Kerry, were both in our wedding, how crazy would that be for Jack and I if that actually happened to us? We'd go from one rehearsal dinner to the next and one bachelor/ette party to the next and one wedding to the next. ;)  Hopefully that won't happen, since Katie and her fiancé haven't officially set the date yet and they now know of this conundrum for Jack and I. But it had me laughing imaging the scenario!

lists, lists

Here is what the Holt's have been up to:

Jack:

1. still deployed

2. working out a lot (getting "swol") 

3. randomly ran a half marathon before work the other day

4. although the food there isn't bad, is still (desperately) missing his wife's cooking

5. enjoying weather in the 50s and 60s

(I made these up)

Emily:

1. still without her husband

2. substitute teaching (finally!)

3. actually auditioned for a lifetime movie today

4. ordered a pizza for herself (for the first time), a medium cheese from Papa J's, and ate it all in less than 24 hours (yes, I am proud of this)

5. enjoying weather in the 50s and 60s (okay, okay, off and on- one day its 30 degrees, the next high 60s)

I have to mention that Jessie visited me again a couple weeks ago. We went skiing and it was amazing. I will do a post about it when I get the pictures on my computer. AND Ariel is coming next week! We are going wedding dress shopping, and I can't wait! So much to look forward to. :)

Speaking of things to look forward to,  I'll be heading home the last week of March and into April. My cousin's bat mitzvah is then and I'm excited to see everyone! Hopefully people still remember who I am- This is actually the longest I have ever been away from home!

Genius discovery of the past five months: 

GOOGLE VOICE

When Jack has wifi, he can call me through my phone signal. This is amazing because he can call me when I'm driving or out. Before google voice, we would miss talking to each other if I wasn't at home. And now we can! We have actually only used it once since the big discovery the other day, but it is comforting to know we have the option now. Ah, technology. 

Happy Valentine's Day from Across the Sea

Happy Valentine's Day to my husband across the sea (with a picture of us by the sea!). 

<3

Well, Valentine's Day came and went. I went with a friend to get lunch and pedicures and we went to an event at a Deployed Spouses Group. We had dinner and made edible arrangements. It ended up being a very pleasant day! I got to open a present from my husband too. :)

One thing that is great about army wives is how different we all are. We range anywhere from 18 to early 50s; some of us have 6 kids and some have none; we're diverse races from diverse backgrounds; we have different interests and different jobs...yet we all just "understand" each other. I'm generally a positive person when it comes to other people (some might call me a bit naive), but I honestly have not yet met an army wife that I don't like or can't connect with in some way. Maybe it's because of the people I surround myself with and the groups I go to, but I also think that part of it is because army wives simply have to learn to be positive, learn to be friendly, and learn to be strong. If not, then she can't survive. So we adjust- and we thrive.

I have a funny story! While getting pedicures, I was telling my friend about buying the piano from the thrift store. She stopped me and said: "I almost bought a piano from a thrift store a few weeks ago!" Of course, after describing the piano and the location of the store, it sure enough was the same piano I bought. Turns out her mom is a concert pianist and she recognized the good quality of the piano and was so tempted to buy it. But she also would have needed help to move it, and she is pregnant, and just got out of the hospital, thus she realized that she didn't need to complicate her life any more. So the piano was left for Jack and I to claim and our future concert pianist children. ;)

I was sick over the weekend. It was kind of strange to be all alone in this city without my husband or any family here to help me out. I ended up texting a friend to see if she could bring me some ginger ale. She was out of town but gave me the number of another friend who lives nearby. She was my saving grace, because once I had the ginger ale, I started to feel a lot better. It reminds me of when I came down with the flu last year. Of course, I had a roommate who would have brought me back anything from the pharmacy she worked at, but my sister was the person I asked to bring me medicine. I realize how blessed I am to have had support from my family all these years! My mom, my siblings, my dad of course when he was alive, and even some of my aunts and uncles have always been just a drive away. Now that I don't have that here, I've been pushed to ask for help and reach out to others- something that doesn't come naturally to me. This is a good thing. Just another positive to think about as far as this whole deployment thing goes. In addition, there's nothing like the stomach flu to help you appreciate good health! Whenever I got out of bed yesterday, I felt like a walking zombie. I remember dragging myself over to Molly's food bowl, dumping in a cup and letting it drop down to the floor, without saying a single word to her! And then dragging myself back to bed and collapsing! It feels sooo good to feel good!

This weekend my Jessiekins is visiting again! We found a locals-type ski resort that is southwest of here. We're going to cross-country ski one day (her crazy choice) and downhill ski the next (my choice). Since this is kind of an off-peak peak, it's really inexpensive and the powder is supposed to be amazing! I'm so excited to ski! My family went twice when I was in middle school. My parents put us in ski class and I got pretty good then- advancing to some blacks. I went for the first time in 13 years last February with Jack, and it was pretty easy to pick up again- sort of like riding a bike. We mostly did greens since it was his first time skiing. We went down a blue and he did really well so I convinced him to go down another blue that ended up being slightly disastrous. It's hilarious now but it was NOT funny at the time. The blue was definitely a more advanced one and I had to help Jack slide down it on his bum! There weren't many people on that run but once in a while some 10 year old would ski past us. Anyway, I've learned my lesson and I won't do that to Jessie!

I can't wait for this week to go by and Jessie to get here!

In other news, some of you might know that my maid of honor got engaged at the young age of 16. Finally on this Valentine's Day she and her fiancé SAVED THE DATE for this September! I am so beyond excited for her! We were planning this wedding as roommates during our freshmen year of college and even went dress-shopping a couple years ago, so needless to say, this has been a long time coming. And some more exciting news...she asked me to be her Matron of Honor! 

 Ariel is visiting next month (so is her mom and soon to be sister-in-law) and we are going to go dress shopping! She was such an amazing maid of honor that I have some tough shoes to fill...but hopefully I will do a good job!

And to wrap up this post, I will now share with you a very common screen I see when Jack and I are talking...

Happy Valentine's Day!