It’s no secret that some of the hardest parts of deployment are the missed special occasions. Today, my dear friend (and our company FRG leader) celebrated her birthday AND her first wedding anniversary, sans her husband (because he is deployed with my Beloved). BUT… Friends don’t let friends face special days alone! I took her out to a “romantic” lunch at Cici’s Pizza Buffet, complete with flowers, balloons, tablecloth, and a handmade “Reserved” sign. Flat Daddy made it a bit awkward because he insisted on being the third wheel.

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Goodness! Flat Daddy is such a good sport! He agreed to watch Cars 3 with the Tiny Humans for the 13th time (not exaggerating) since deployment see-ya-later day so that I could run the Twitter feed for Army Wife Network during Army Wife Talk Radio’s live broadcast tonight. PS: Notice Malick is not looking at the camera… he’s looking beyond me at the TV because #BeepBeepTrucks!

Deployment Log, Day 15: Brought to you by the Department of Motor Vehicles, Jason’s Deli and incredible Jesus-multiplying minutes.

1. It’s been a good day, Tater. (Not sure why I’m calling people “Tater” at the moment…) [Read more…]

Deployment Log, Day 7: Brought to you by Costco Pizza, the Blessing Box and, as usual, Jesus.

1. Today was probably my “twitchiest” day since see-ya-later day. I was just wound up all day, trying to deal with what Billy Ray Cyrus refers to as my “achy breaky heart.” I’ve still only gotten like 3 text messages and one 5 minute Facetime convo in the last week with my man. His sched is super busy, but I sure miss his face!

2. I think today got off to a wonky start because the kindergartener decided to rebel, starting at 0554 this morning. I was trying to get my quiet time in with Jesus and she had found the skimpiest pair of shorts left in her collection (I thought I had done a recent modesty sweep, but apparently she was hoarding them). The windchill factor this morning was 38 degrees, so I told her she had to wear pants under the shorts.

3. Epic 45 meltdown ensues. #ParentingIsHard [Read more…]

What a crazy last month it has been. Yes, we are still alive. And sorry to confusing being all like, “Hey-o, I’m back!” then disappearing again (briefly). Apparently, deployment prep, parenting two kids and working on a PhD is no joke.

But here we are. And for the next 9-ish months, I will be documenting our deployment journey one time per week (I could probably break them up into separate blog, but this really isn’t a deployment-only kind of blog. I will still be writing about other things too).

These posts will probably be a bit long, but hey, I confess I’m doing this for selfish reasons too– it’s nice to have all of our adventures in one place! (Plus, it is a joy to share the journey with you– it forces me to find the good in the tough seasons!)

So grab your ruck sack (optional) and strap on your army boots. Here we go, ready to #America.

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Welp. Yesterday was “See-ya-later” day for this deployment, hence why I was quiet in the social media world… OPSEC (operational security), folks.

Yesterday was rather lame (of course– it is expected!) But good news, the kids and I are doing well, moving forward and beginning the transition. Thanks to EVERYONE who reached out, called, texted and cheered us on in person and from a distance! It really helped to lessen the sting as we finally “ripped off the band-aid” after talking about it for what feels like 17 years. (It’s only been a few months, but sheesh).

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