I've been M.I.A.

Hi folks,
I've been lazy about blogging lately. It started off with feeling really crummy and not having the energy to write anything. But once I was all fixed and feeling better, it was just pure laziness that kept me from blogging - I just didn't feel like writing anything! :)

But not to fear - I'm still here and everything is going fine. I'm continuing to stay pretty busy and active and that's helping the time fly by.

This past weekend, I got into the gardens and pulled up all the dead overgrowth and all the living weeds. It was fun, dirty, muddy work. I pulled up a whole bunch of potatoes, even though the garden hasn't been touched in more than two years! I'm eager to get in there and get it planted. I'm planning squash, radishes, onions, cabbage, bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I'm also wanting to build a potato box and grow a whole bunch of potatoes. Yay for spring!

I've been to a couple of really great Christian concerts lately, including Chris Tomlin's Hello Love tour and the Rock and Worship Roadshow. I had the opportunity this past Thursday to go backstage and meet Mercy Me! It was an awesome experience.

I also attended a new church. It was a nice place and the people were really welcoming without being too much up in my business, so I'm hoping this will become a new church home for me.

Things are picking up (hey, it's spring, what do you expect?) and as much as I'd like to blog every day, I just don't have the time or motivation to sit down long enough to do that. But I will try to do better on keeping everyone aprised.

And thank you, Tina, for the well-wishes! I've been thinking of you lately and hope all is well in your corner of the world! :)

Ignore that blogger behind the curtain

Ever want to let your friends know you don't really want them to read your blog, but you're too chicken to come right out and be honest? It's the blogger equivalent of turning out the lights and hiding in the corner when someone rings the doorbell. I figured out that you can actually "allow" or "unallow" people on your blog. Technology seems to have stripped our ability to have honest face-to-face interaction.

Still here, hanging on

I've been super busy and now, super sick. I can't believe I got sick TWICE! So I haven't been up for much blogging.

A quick run-down of our latest news:
- Laura's flying up from California to visit me over Memorial Day weekend! We're gonna have so much fun.
- With about 4-5 months left in the deployment, the FRG meetings' focus has shifted to redeployment and reunion...I'm stressed about it.
- Shawn wishes he could bring me tea and scrambled eggs to make me feel better

My head is in a cloud right now, so that's all I can manage to type out. Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive and kicking, though I'm also coughing up my lungs and getting zero quality sleep. I could really go for that tea and eggs! :(

Capturing the moment

So, I contacted three local photographers who are part of the Operation Love ReUnited project about accompanying me to Shawn's homecoming in August. So, hopefully I'll hear from one of them. I'll have to give Shawn a head's up so he knows why some complete stranger is standing there snapping pictures of us while we're kissing.

There are so many memories that I have snapshots of in my mind. It will be nice to add this to the stack of real snapshots.

Planning for Homecoming

Homecoming is still a relatively long way off, but now that we're past the half-way point, amidst all the things I'm doing to keep myself busy I'm also planning for homecoming.

As I posted earlier, I already got the banner via UPS and it's sitting in the corner next to the t.v. (except I pull it out and stare at Shawn's picture every now and then when I'm really missing him). I'm also trying to get the house ready - painted, shelves up, cleaned...bigger job than I thought.

I also just heard about an organization that does free photography sessions, including accompanying you to the homecoming ceremony to take pictures of the reunions. It's called Operation Love Reunited and I'm considering giving one of the photographers a call to see if I can put someone on hold. I figure the entire 81st is coming back, so I better place my dibs on someone soon before I run out of options. I would really like to have a picture of the reunion since I only have pictures of the departures and not the homecomings. Plus, it will be nice to have someone there with me to share in the excitement and joy and jitters and tears.

I get chills just thinking about it.

Changes for the 5th

The 5th Stryker Brigade is stationed here at Ft. Lewis, and the changes in their deployment orders hit the local newswave today. Instead of going to Iraq, like they had been slated to do, they are now going to Afghanistan as part of the President's decision to send a 17,000-strong surge.

My "brother", Pete, is a medic with the 5th Brigade. I think I was okay with the prospect of him deploying to Iraq, but news of his orders to Afghanistan leave me feeling worried. I'm also anticipating the loneliness I'm going to feel with both Shawn and Pete in Afghanistan at the same time. My two best soldiers...

Keep Pete in your prayers. This will be his (and the 5th's) first deployment.

Home, and not happy about it

I didn't post about my trip home right away, because I wasn't real thrilled about heading back to reality. But Monday was definitely a day of beauty. Instead of heading back up 101, I cut across on 199 and then joined the rat race heading north on I-5.

But before I made a conscious effort to get home, I stopped and explored the Humbolt Redwood Forest. It was gorgeous - I really wanted to call in dead and just pitch a tent back in the woods.





One of my friends decided that Angus' birthday was the right day to tell me she was pregnant. I'm not sure if she was really thinking, but as much as I would have liked to congratulate her, her timing left me bummed and without any words for her.

Anyway, once I hit I-5, I decided I'd make it to Eugene, OR before I stopped to eat. I called a friend who is a truck-driver and makes stops in Eugene every week to find out what he recommended for dinner. As it turns out, he was making a delivery there at the same time I was passing through, so I stopped and he treated me to dinner.

(This is us last summer when my mom was visiting and wanted to me my "Tim McGraw-looking" friend)


After dinner, I made the looooong drive home and finally pulled in around 11:30.

Work this week has been less than enjoyable and I got word on Friday that yet another coworker was laid off. Technically he was "reorganized" to be a field tech, but the last two guys who were sent to the field are now on unemployment seeing as how we don't have work for them. So I was pretty devastated that my good buddy is probably out of a job. The bad part is that he indicated to me that he's going to start looking elsewhere so we may be losing one of our best guys.

On the upside, I finally got a banner I ordered online from www.buildasign.com/troops. They had a special going for military welcome-home banners: pay only shipping! So I customized my sign and ordered it. It showed up on Friday.



I ordered the 3' x 6', so Shawn's face is pretty much life-sized! When I rolled the banner out on the floor to take a look, I was so taken aback that I had to lie down on top of the banner and press my face to his. It sent a rush of feelings through me, and I broke down in tears. I really, really miss him.

All I want to do right now is take my banner and run back into the woods and stay there until Shawn gets home and can rescue me from the rest of the world.