Fall Fun and a Pumpkin Run

Well it's been a bit, so time for an update. Nothing really new with school except externship things. I sent in 3 externship applications--2 in the Seattle, WA area and 1 in the Portland, OR. I have a phone interview for one of them at 9am on Thursday, so needless to say I am a tad bit nervous. Other than that clinic, class, and thesis are keeping me hopping.

For Gib, he went to see an orthopedic surgeon about 2 weeks ago; the news was not good. They said there is nothing they can do for him and are sending his medical file for review. If all goes according to how we think it will go (which honestly could mean nothing when it comes to the Army) he will be medically retired or discharged. It could take up to a year for us to know what they have in store for him. If they do decide to keep him, he will be given a new MOS. He was also placed on the most restrictive physical profile, meaning that he is not allowed to do many many many things, and the only cardio he can do is walk or swim. He is also non-deployable. So, I guess for now, we are playing the waiting game.

October has been a busy month for both of us. For me, I attended a wedding for one of my classmates.


And did a 5K through a Pumpkin Patch/Corn Maze, and then got to go pick a pumpkin :)

Gib and I have also been busy making our respective apartments ready for Halloween.

That's all for now!

Let the fun times roll

At the end of July, Gib and I came back to Tucson for about 2 weeks. We visited with family and went Salt River Tubing (see picture below), where I sustained 2nd degree burns. And before you ask, yes I was wearing sunscreen, apparently not enough. A few short days later, Gib and his buddy drove from Phoenix to Ft. Lewis in the beginning of August.


Since then we have gotten back into the grind of our everyday (separate) lives. He has been doing a whole lot of nothing at work--mostly bust work like unloading Conexes. He has been busy working with the education department on base to get classes going again. He is shooting for his BA in Business Administration. I don't want to jump the gun, but this has the potential to open some very big doors for him, so we are both very excited about this.

For me, we just started our 3rd week of classes and my financial aid SILL is not in!! Not a happy camper. I have gone through all the "nice" steps, now I think it is time to play the camp-outside-of-the-office game with my financial aid advisor. I took my first pop quiz in adult communication disorders and I aced it--of course they are meant mainly as an attendance indicator so they are super easy, but it's a good way to start off the semester. My thesis is in full swing...thank goodness. I am hoping to collect all my data this semester so I can focus on all my testing in the spring. If all goes according to plan, me and Gib will be living together May 2011!!!

We are expecting a deployment in 2011 at some point later in the year but by moving up there in May we should get to spend some months together before he deploys again. I am going up to WA in November for Thanksgiving and I am making dinner for us plus some friends of his--should be interesting considering I am not known to be stellar in a kitchen, but it should still be fun :)

Well that is our latest update, I will try to keep everyone posted as the semester goes on.

Homecoming, the 4th of July, and some randomness!

He's Home!!!! Yep yep on July 1st his battery (along with a couple others) came home from Iraq :) It was a big ol' to-do though. I got there in time to watch the live video feed of the guys waiting after they got off the plane at McChord AFB and then they bused them over to Ft. Lewis. With our luck though I-5 was jammed and so they waited and waited and then got off and went some back woods way to get to the gate....and then....if you can believe this....they wouldn't let the buses through security!!!! I know!!! They did (obviously) finally get through and they all marched into where we all were waiting and then after about 5 min they let them all go to their families :) It was a great evening!!

Because of the 4th of July the guys got a 4 day, but we spent the evening of the 4th on base watching the fireworks!! It was great!! There was like a mini carnival going on and the bleachers overlooking the HS football field were packed. They presented all the state flags and said when they were brought into the US and then they set off a canon for every state (very cool). The fireworks were great and it was a perfect night for them. Then we got back to the truck and wouldn't ya know one of the starter cables have broken off (yeah yeah yeah--it's old ok) so Gib climbed under the truck--being his mechanically inclined self--was able to fix it so I could start it and then the next morning we drove to Napa and got the part and he fixed her all up :)

He went back to work on Tuesday and is working half days for the most part. Just doing medical and dental and getting a bunch of briefs out of the way. I finished up my Language Development class that I have been taking all summer today--I am thinking I might have even managed an A :)

On to the randomness--so I also belong to a board for military spouses and one of the girls asked an interesting question--"When you get to see Gib, does he come stay weekends or weeks with you, or do you go stay weeks with him, or how does that all work out?!" So here was my response--

This is kind of an interesting set up I must admit--and as such I am meticulous about planning--mostly out a year sometimes out 1 yr 6 months lol We are still in that getting used to living each other stage and have been for over 3.5 yrs.

So here is how it works. We both maintain apartments in our respective areas--I won’t pay more than 550 a month for our apartments because of how much he gets paid and that I can’t work to make sure BAH covers it all. Next when do we see each other. March almost always because it is spring break and I travel to see him for about 5 days...even when we were both in college that is how we did it. So that generally covers St Patrick's Day and/or Easter. Then November he comes to see me for Thanksgiving for about 4 days because his family lives in AZ and Christmas is spent in NY where we will be spending about a week and half. The past couple years we have rotated 2-3 weeks in the summer--either consecutively or he comes out here/I come out there kind of thing. We haven’t pulled off a Christmas/New Years yet due to weather and the Army but baring anything else we should be able to make it work this year. We also have not done Halloween (which to me is literally like Christmas). This year was our first 4th of July together.

We divide up all our dishes, furniture, bedding, towels, and we keep 2 of everything else--2 toothbrushes, 2 razors, 2 sets of first aid stuff, he has a small TV and all his video games and such in WA, I have a bigger TV and DVD player in AZ, we split the DVDs by pretty much what each of us had when we came into the relationship and by who watches what the most, I have the bed and he has one of the larger air mattresses, overall he has the nicer apt but I have most of our things, I gave him my truck and we bought the Jeep out right so there are no car loans, all the bills including his electricity and rent come to my apt so I can pay them.

So since I like to be thorough here is all the time we have spent together and this is pretty much how it goes :)

March 2007-May 5 2007—lived together at NAU
March 2008—4 days—Flagstaff, AZ
June 4 2008—1 week—AZ and Vegas
July 2008—1 week—NY (3 days before basic)
Sept 2008—8 hrs—Ft. Knox, KY (Basic Graduation)
Nov 2008—17 days—HRAP, Tucson, AZ
Feb 13th-15th 2009—Tucson, AZ
March 2009—4 days—Ft. Lewis, WA
June 2009—2 weeks—NY and AZ (married)
July 15th-22nd 2009—Ft. Lewis, WA (deployed on the 22nd
April 16th-May 2nd 2010—RnR, Tucson, AZ
July 1st-20th 2010—Ft. Lewis, WA (Home from the deployment)
July 20th-Aug 10 2010—Tucson, AZ
Possibly 4 days Nov 2010—Thanksgiving
Possibly 1.5 weeks Dec 2010/Jan 2011—Christmas/New Years
Possibly 5 days March 2011
Hopefully living together May 2011!!

Gone but never forgotten

No, it isn't Memorial Day, and you didn't miss Labor Day, and there are no fireworks because it's not the 4th of July, but there are families suffering today. There are infants who will never meet their daddies, children who won't ever get the chance to see their mommy again, and there are parents who will not have their son or daughter home for the holidays this year. There are men and women who are fighting for this country and some are being injured and some will never make it back--everyday of the year, not just on holidays.

I have the pleasure of knowing many military wives. Two of the wives that I know are currently enduring a deployment with their husbands, like many of us. Recently, their husbands' company lost 5 soldiers. They left behind wives, children, parents, siblings, and other friends and family who are grieving for them and will miss them for the rest of their lives. This is a daily reality for many military families out there.

So yes, today is not a registered holiday telling you to remember the military members in the past and the present who have fought and have or are willing to die for your families and our country, during your 3 day weekend filled with laughing and cookouts with friends and family, but remember anyways. Remember that tonight there are people out there grieving someone they will miss dearly. Remember that their are wives and husbands who are missing their anniversary and their kids birthdays because they chose to fight for us instead. Remember there are parents who are supporting their sons and daughters and have since the day they chose to enlist in their high school cafeteria. Remember all the spouses waiting for that phone call or IM for the chance to hear their Love's voice or see their face on a webcam that will shut off in 20 seconds anyway. I will leave with a photo of those who gave all and will be greatly missed and never forgotten.

Back to the Grind

At 7.15am I put Gib on a plane to Dallas, which subsequently went to Germany, Kuwait, and back to Iraq. For him, it is back to 12 hr shifts, but he completed his last mission of his tour before he came home so he will be staying on the base which means he is safer. For me it meant back to classes, which wasn't so bad, but we will see how much I really missed next week.....finals week. I have 3 finals next week--Vestib, Occupational Audiology, and Neuroscience.

On another note, I was in a fender bender Wednesday night. No one was hurt, but I was significantly shaken considering it was my first car accident. I got an estimate on the car, I will drop it off on Monday and it should be done by Wednesday at the latest.

We have Gib's official dates to come home, and again due to OPSEC no official dates, but I will tell you he will be home by the end of July!!! So excited. I am leaving here on the 25th and driving his truck and all of his things to Washington (state) and getting him an apartment. We already have one picked out now I just need to get it reserved.

Other than that, I have clinic this summer through June and will be taking a business class (mandatory) through the last part of May.

Well I will leave you all with pics from RnR:

Gib is home!!!

After getting delayed leaving Iraq and into Kuwait, he had to spend 24 hrs in Kuwait to wait for the next flight out. Once out of Kuwait he landed in Germany and then into Dallas and finally back in to Tucson where he belongs!!!! It is so nice having him home....although Kieran wasn't so sure at first hehe. As a surprise to Gib, I invited his godfather Jimmy and his family to the airport to welcome him home and even got a hold of a wonderful photographer through Operation Love Reunited and she came and took pics for the homecoming (pics to follow). After getting his bags we headed home.

After being home all day Gib looked and me and said lets go to Phoenix...tonight. So late Friday night we hopped in the car and Gib drove up to Marge's house. While there we hung out, went to see "How to Train Your Dragon"--which is super cute and funny, visited friends who are more like family, and went to the Arizona Science Center!!! (again pics to follow) It was a great time.

We returned yesterday to the apartment and did some errands today and mostly lounged around. I bought Gib a new X-Box for his birthday so he is currently playing as I type lol. For me it is time to face reality again. Classes, papers, presentations, and exams do not take a break despite my avid protests against all things school during RnR, which means I will be starting back up here tomorrow with all that fun stuff while Gib hangs out with his best buddy and plays video games.

Have a Little Faith

Today I went to my friend's daughter's baptism at a local LDS church, it was a wonderful service, and Rachel was beautiful, and her mom and dad were very touching. Now I have never been to an LDS baptism, but it was interesting because I have been to many baptisms and although they are all different in how they accomplish it, the idea behind it is the same--A little faith and love will help you get you through life. It's one of those themes that if you look for it in music, you can find it. If you look for it in religion, it's there. If you look for it in your relationships, it's there. Faith and love are not my only live-by life philosophies but they make up a decent chunk of it.

In our life together, Gib and I hold on to this with every fiber of our being. We love each other dearly and I have faith that no matter how many times he needs to leave or how long he is gone for, that he will always come home. For him, his faith lies in the fact that no matter where he goes or how often or how long it takes, that he will have me to come home to, always. We hear it all the time "I don't know how you guys do it," and really...we just do, that's it. I need my doctorate, it is way more than a want, and he always knew he was military bound, so in our minds' there is no alternative. The only way we get through life is faith in each other, our love for each other, lots and lots of hard work, and continuing on with a "normal" life by going to work, or to school, or to dinner with friends, or to baptisms.

With that I will leave you with a pic of the group of family and friend's at Rachel's baptism.

The Countdown Is On

RnR is less than 2 weeks away. Gib has been gone for 254 days or 8 months and 2 weeks and we are ready for a break. I put in many extra hours at clinic during spring break so I can take off 2 weeks for RnR, and I am in need of a major break from school, and Gib is in need of a major break as well. He is one of the last 3 guys in his battery to get RnR. I can't post exact dates because of OPSEC but we are less than 2 weeks and counting.