Tristan's Thoughts

I was doing some cleaning today and found a book my son wrote last year. His english class had the opportunity to write a book about themselves. The school sent their work in to have them bound in a hardback cover. It was a great project that will preserve memories for years to come. I just want to share a couple of his pages with you. A little side note: I find it ironic that their books were published in the same town that my kids were all born in. Anyhow, he titled his book "Army In Paradise".

The Military
I think the military is a good thing and a bad thing. There are many different things about the military that I like and don't like. I'll start with what I don't like.

I don't like my dad leaving every other year and him being gone for a long time. When he leaves he goes to Iraq and that's not a very safe place. My dad is also always at work and sometimes he has to work twenty four hours straight. When he does that he stays at his company's barracks and comes home the next day and sleeps all day.

I like that the military keeps our country safe. They give my dad a paycheck so we can get food. They gave us a house. I also get to move a lot so I get to see new places. Such as me living in Hawaii.

The military is kind of cool. I like moving around to different places but I don't like that I have to leave all my friends. I think living in Hawaii is awesome though so I'm not complaining.

The worst thing about the military is deployment. When my dad has to leave for a year I don't like it. But when he comes back everybody is happy again. He used to go and not be able to come home on R&R but now he does. When everyone asks me if I want to be in the military when I get older I say no. I don't want to be in the military.

My grandpa is in the military too. He's in the Air Force. He's been in the military for a long time. He doesn't fly planes but it's still cool.


Hawaii
I think Hawaii is awesome. I love to go to the beach and I get to skateboard all the time. North Shore is fun because they have big waves in the winter and Haleiwa is a fun place. The best shave ice is there at Matsumoto's. I always get cherry, apple, and raspberry with snow cap. Snow cap is condensed milk.

I've been to a lot of places on Oahu so I'll tell you a little bit about them. The Pali lookout is awesome. It's on a cliff and there's a very long drop if you look over the edge. It's also very windy. So windy that it took my hat off and blew it all the way back to the parking lot.

Then there's the Punchbowl Cemetery. It's a giant cemetery for people in the military who died. There is a giant building with a statue of a woman on it. There is also a memorial that has the names of all the people who died on it.

Pearl Harbor was a cool place to me. The Arizona Memorial was really cool. You could see the Arizona under you and there were cool fish swimming around in it. There was still oil leaking out of the ship. It is still leaking after being sunk in 1941. It's got a wall in the back with all the names of the people who were on the ship when it sunk. There are almost two thousand names.

In Waikiki there are a lot of things to do. I went there and walked around. There are a lot of shops and malls. Waikiki is my favorite beach too. I go there a lot with my mom and dad's friends. My second favorite thing to do is going to Waikiki at night. There are always people on the streets doing different stuff. There are always mimes and people who draw your face. But sometimes there are more things like beat boxer's or magicians.

I Miss The Little Things

Everyday I think of something new that I miss about my husband. Many of them are just small things, but together they all add up to be something huge. Even though it can make me sad to think about my husband being away, on a much larger scale it also reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to spend my life with him. I can better appreciate those little things instead of taking advantage of them. I can also better appreciate those little quirks he has that can drive me crazy. I'd much rather live with those irritating quirks on a daily basis than to be away from him for any length of time. Today I just want to share some of those little things I miss that I can't wait to have back in my life at the end of this deployment.

*The way his blue eyes sparkle when he looks into mine. I know it sounds crazy, but they really do. He's so sweet and he looks into the web cam so I can see them, but it doesn't work so well when the cam is so fuzzy.

*He will do anything to make me smile. See above for an example.

*Sometimes I think he knows me better than I know myself. I miss his insight and words of encouragement.

*I miss is arm under my pillow at night.

*Watching a movie at home is no fun without having him to snuggle with.

*As much as I'd rather grocery shop by myself to get it done quicker, I miss having him there to remind me of things that I forgot to add to my list.

*I miss sitting next to him in the passenger seat of the car and taking in the scenery as he drives.

*When the kids and I get new clothes, or anything new really, we like to show daddy one by one what we got. We are able to do that on the web cam occasionally, but it's not the same. Plus there's never time for a fashion show.

*I miss having his hand in mine while we're walking.

*He always comes up behind me for a hug while I'm doing the dishes or cooking. It aggravates me because when I'm doing something I just want to get it done, but I really wish he were here to distract me now.

*He takes really hot showers and steams up the bathroom so I have to wait till it cools off and the mirror unfogs to do my hair and makeup. I would give anything to have my mirror fog over and have to wait.

*For some reason I can't stand the shower curtain being open. He always forgets to close it. I would love to be able to remind him to shut it.

In all reality, I miss everything about him. I just have to keep reminding myself that God has a bigger plan for us and in order to reach His goals we must face this deployment head on and rely on God to get us through it. I'm reminded on a daily basis of how blessed I am to be able to spend my life with someone that loves me as much as my husband does. A deployment will put things in perspective and only make our relationship stronger. That has to be one of the reasons God is allowing us to go through this. I'm sure there are many more reasons that God hasn't revealed to us yet, but in time I know we will be able to look back and to see the bigger picture. As much as I would rather not have to be away from my husband, God knows best and He wouldn't put us through anything that we can't handle. I will use this year to reflect on my marriage and to find ways to make it even stronger and even better than it already is. As I go to bed every night and as I wake up every morning I will continue to thank God for my husband. I will continue to thank Him for this experience that I know will only make us stronger. God is great all the time and all the time God is great!