Can't SLEEP!

Sometimes I lay here and think about what it would be like to be married to a civilian. I can't see it. I can't see our life outside of the military. It's all I've known since the day I became an adult. I joined the army even before I graduated from high school. Then married him two years later. I gave my life to them 14 years ago. And when I married him, I gave it even more. Even though I am a veteran now, I still have to abide by their rules. I think I have a tiny advantage over some military wives because I did experience soldier life for 5 years. I never deployed, but I do understand that when the Army says pack... there are nooo exceptions. And all I can do is accept it, not ask questions, and wait. No matter how much he loves me, the army will always be his mistress. She will always come first. But I have to believe that what he's doing, he does for us. Because he wants us to have a great life together. He is proud to serve our country and he loves what he does. I love what he does. I may not agree or like everything, but this is what military life is. So forgive me when I roll my eyes because you are upset that your spouse is leaving for 2 days or a month even. Be happy that he is home safe. Because your neighbor is lying in bed at 3am worrying about her husband flying over enemies. Waiting for a phone call that she gets only once every couple of weeks. Hoping for a quick email telling her how much he misses her. And in the ultimate case, actually lost him. This may sound dorky... but Thank a military wife today. They aren't appreciated enough for as much as they give.

Christmas in Hawaii :)

In October, I spontaneously purchased 2 tickets to Hawaii to visit some wonderful friends we met at Ft. Rucker. Suzanne and Chris were our neighbors while John was attending flight school. Suzanne has been there for me ever since. It's funny because we never speak on the phone, and we chat online maybe once or twice a month. But every time we visit, we pick up right where we left off. I can still remember the sadness I had when we moved from Ft Rucker to Ft Campbell. Although we were only stationed there for a little more than a year, we managed to create such wonderful friendships.

Anyways... I needed to take that trip to see them. I was stressed out with work, school, Aidan's school, and this STUPID deployment. I just wanted to get away from everything. I asked John, and he said I deserved it and for us to go and have fun. I love that man for being soo generous and never questioning my requests. And so we were off!!

The flight there was actually better than I expected. We met a really cool guy. It's funny...he could almost be my brother. We kept finding weird similarities between the two of us. Aidan had soo much fun talking and joking with him too. He definitely made that 6 hour flight fly by. Thanks Jon!

When we landed, we met Suzanne at baggage claim and she gave both of us Lei's. She tried to sneak up on us...but we saw her coming...hahaha! We love you Zanne! I already miss her soo much!

Chris and Suzanne had an itinerary all planned out for us! So here's what we did:

Tuesday, Dec 21st...
Went to North shore. Watched the surfers and looked for turtles. Snorkeling at Sharks Cove. Butter Garlic shrimp at Romy's. Shaved Ice at Matsumoto. Stroll through Haleiwa.








Wednesday, Dec 22nd...
Swimming and snorkeling with the fishes and coral at Hanauma Bay. Visit to the Blowhole and Lanai overlook. Dinner at Kona Brewing Co. Visit to the Tripler ER (little Lucy busted her noggin). Frozen Yogurt at Menchies.





Thursday, Dec 23rd...
Hike up to Manoa Falls. Swimming and water trikes at Waikiki. Shopping at the International Marketplace. Dinner and Lava Flows at Lulu's.








Friday, Dec 24th...
Pearl Harbor, Arizona Memorial. Shopping at the Naval Exchange. Christmas Eve Dinner at Seoul Jung.




Saturday, Dec 25th...
Christmas!!! Pali overlook. Lanikai beach.



Sunday, Dec 26th...
Dole Pineapple Plantation. Mall. Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co.



Monday, Dec 27th...
Ko Olina Beach and we saw the Black Pearl.






It was such a great visit. Suzanne and Chris were wonderful tour guides. Hopefully we will see them again this summer back at Rucker!!!!

Changes....

The end of September came with some difficult changes for a few people that I love dearly. It's still painful to talk about, so I won't go into to much detail here. Besides, it's not my story to tell. But things have been different since that day. This deployment has been harder than any we've ever been through. I feel selfish for feeling that way when only weeks from now he will be home. But I can't help myself from still missing him soooo much. John is my life. My honest to God soul-mate. That might sound cheesy...but when I think about him...I feel like I am in highschool all over again. Do you remember that little fluttering feeling you got when a boy you were crushing on talked to you. I still get that with him. Especially when we have our first kiss after a long seperation. I'm not saying we have a perfect marriage. There has to be ups and downs for there to be a balance. So in my eyes...right now...everything seems pretty darn close to perfect "when he's home".

Anyways... back to the changes. Life has changed. School has changed. Work has changed. I was doing a full Fall load at AAU and just couldn't handle it with everything that was going on. So I dropped my worst class (a history class...ugh...I mentioned a few blogs down that I hated history didn't I??) That helped alot. In October, Aidan was having alot of difficulties with his public school. I was getting emails from his teacher saying that he wasn't doing his work. He got in-school suspension for fighting with a bully. He came home every day telling me he was being picked on by the kids at the bus stop. I was fed up! I've toyed with the idea of homeschooling in the past, but this just seemed to be the most obvious answer now. I pulled him out of public school, and we began our homeschooling journey on November 1st!!! What a challenge it is. But at times it is soo rewarding. I am enjoying having him home with me. It does take away time from my schoolwork and from my business. But I think it is worth it. He is doing great! We have a little difficulty with the math, but who likes math!!! He works on the ACE curriculum and completes workbooks. We do go in every 3 weeks to take tests on what he's learned. I love this part because I don't have to be the one testing him. I like having to be accountable to someone higher. And they handle all of the paperwork for us too. I think he enjoys it too. Especially since he doesn't have to get up early in the morning to catch the bus!!!! Ha!!!

Also in November, I made some changes to my appearance. I was introduced to an amazing tattoo artist CJ. I watched her work on a few of my friends and decided she was the one I wanted to do my big project. I have wanted to do this for years, but never quite met the right artist. I just clicked with CJ. Her work is wonderful, her personality is amazing. And most of all she made me comfortable. Sooooo..... the big project...

This outline took 9 HOURS!!!


Here was the first round of color...3 hours.


And I decided to use this concept for my final project in my color photography class. I made an A!!


I actually got A's in all 3 of my classes again. I don't know what I'd do with a B! Hahaha! That's probably why I dropped that class...I knew I wouldn't get an A! The next semster begins on Jan 30th. I decided to only take 2 courses this time since we will be busy with John coming home and homeschooling. But for the most part...I think our changes have made us stronger Aidan and I.

BuzzzzzzzFEST!

More from our summer.



In September, John went back to Afghanistan to finish out the deployment. Booooo! So right away, Reisa and I decided to start operation busy! We heard about Buzzfest in Nashville, and we knew it was a definite MUST! Basically it was a full afternoon of non-stop concerts. We ordered our tickets a few weeks in advance and then found out that rain was in the forecast. A little sprinkle wasn't stopping our fun though!



We saw soo many bands! Sick Puppies, Drowning Pool, Papa Roach, Seether, and Shinedown. I can't remember if there were others...but it was soo amazingly, incredible!




We started off in the center of the field but got pushed back because of a few mosh pits. Hahaha! Don't worry, we were being protected by some generous, big, strong, shirtless dudes. A couple of times I found myself blocking Aidan with my body to keep him safe from the crowd surfers!

Here we are drenched from sweat and rain.



For the final band, the crowd decided that Aidan needed a front row viewing of Shinedown, so we were escorted...yes escorted by another shirtless dude to the front row. The crowd was pleased to let us through! We were soo close to Shinedown, it was ridiculous!



I must say though... Papa Roach stole the show for me. I liked them before...but now I am obsessed!