The Past Four Months, Part 1

When I started this blog around the time my husband deployed, I did it thinking that it was a good way for him to keep up with our daily lives back home. It was also an outlet for me to write down my thoughts and share a little bit of what life as an Army family is like. I had decided up front that I wouldn't stick to any particular theme, but simply write down what was going through my mind and what I felt like sharing in the moment. I kept it up for several months, but at some point, for some unknown reason, I just quit. I don't know if I was just too busy, or tired, or just didn't know what to write. Maybe a little bit of all of it. Whatever the case, I'm back now, for the time being anyhow.

So much has happened since my last post. Seeing as that was close to 4 months ago it's no wonder. Honestly with this memory of mine, or lack there of, I can't even remember everything that has happened. I'll briefly share some of the highlights. Okay who am I kidding? Brief? I guess we'll see...

In October I had signed up with a friend to run in the "Strides Against Breast Cancer" 5k. Unfortunately my friend's child ended up getting sick so she wasn't able to go. I'm not one to go to big events alone. For some reason or other I feel out of place when I'm alone in a crowd. This time though, I decided to suck it up, say a prayer for strength, and conquer my fear. As always I arrived there early. I hate being late so I almost always end up early. Not always a good thing. It was a little rainy and pretty wet out so I just stood around waiting. Luckily during a deployment I never go anywhere without my phone in case my husband has a chance to call. That gave me something to do while I waited. Before the race started I heard someone call my name. I just figured that someone else was there with the same name and I didn't turn around. I heard it again so I looked up and to my surprise they were calling to me. Two of my "sisters" from here on the island were running in the 5k too. I was so happy to have someone to run with. Not only did God give me the strength to conquer my fear of going alone, but he went the extra mile and gave me someone to run with, two someones in fact. It's a miracle in itself that we even crossed paths with all the people in attendance. Together we ran/walked the 5k and had a great time together.

Halloween also happened during my blog absence. I'm not one to dress up for Halloween, though occasionally I do. This year I hadn't planned to. My kids were begging me to find something out of the usual to wear so after a little thought and a look in my closet, I decided I had everything I needed to be a biker babe. I knew my husband would appreciate that since he loves Harley's and we were planning on getting him one after his deployment. I called my friend that we were planning on trick or treating with and got her on board too. The only thing we were missing were bandanas so she stopped and got us each one before coming over. We got our kids, with the exception of Tristan who was already out with his freinds, and ourselves ready, took pictures, and headed over to her house to start knocking on doors. Part way through our evening Trint called on skype so he got to walk with us for a little while too. I love it when he gets to join us, even if he is only on the phone and thousands of miles away. He gets to make memories with us even from a great distance.

The number one event that has happened in the past 4 months... My husband came home for r&r! That had to be the best two weeks of the entire year. After about 8 months he was back under our roof, sleeping in our bed, eatting at our table, sitting on our furniture, having fun with our family! We were living a complete daily life once again.
                                         
 During his first few days home we decided to go look at the South Seas in anticipation of getting him a Harley once he was home for good. However, it did not work out the way we had expected at all. Once we got there he saw the perfect bike, a Fat Boy, the exact bike he was wanting. And... it was blue, his favorite color and the exact color I wanted to get him. Just out of curiousity we asked about the price and if they happen to match the prices that our soldiers can get while deployed. Our answer wasn't what we expected. The salesman said yes. My husband gave him the numbers that he was quoted overseas and the salesman took those numbers to the finance guy. We honestly thought it was too good to be true and that we'd be walking out of there with a plan in mind for when this deployment was finally over with. Not so. The numbers were approved and within 20 minutes we were the proud owners of the perfect Harley. I am so happy that my husband finally got his Harley after all these years of waiting. We spent much of the rest of his R&R on his bike, while the kids were in school of course.

When the kids weren't in school we just spent time together as a family, doing what families do. We got to spend Thanksgiving together, went to Wet-n-Wild for Tristan's belated birthday surprise, went to Waikiki, played games, watched movies, and so much more. My parents flew in towards the end of R&R so my hubby and I had the opportunity to go to Waikiki for a night while the kids stayed home and spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa. A wonderful friend of mine had a voucher for a free night in a hotel and she blessed my hubby and I by passing it along to us. We sure have made some amazing friends here on the island.
Unfortunately our two weeks had to come to an end. The kids decided it was much easier to say goodbye to daddy here at home and stay with Grandma and Grandpa while I took him to the airport. Let me just say that I'm really glad they made that decision. I highly doubt I could have been strong for them. I know I wasn't strong for myself or my husband. It was the most awful terrible goodbye ever. It's always hard to watch him walk away, but this time was the worst. After he walked through the tunnel and was out of sight I went outside and watched the plane. I just stood there until it was completely out of sight, crying the whole time. I later found out that he was in the plane, on the side facing where I was, watching me too. I tried my best to gather my thoughts and walked back to my truck. I convinced myself that I had cried enough and I drove home in a daze, just wishing I could turn back time. That or push time forward and jump back out of my truck and welcome him home for good. I prayed the whole way home that God would just keep him safe for the next few months and bring him back home to us once again. To be continued....