Deployment Week Seventeen

Hello middle of May! The next time I write one of these I will be soaking up the Virginia sun. I can't wait to hit the stupid twenty week mark. I am definitely out of my rut that consumed last week's update. I had a fantastic Skype session with Lane on Friday to celebrate our two year anniversary. It gave me the boost I needed to have a wonderful weekend. I am excited to power through this week and get on the road to Virginia. 

Happy Picture 

This was from Lane's short lived bleach blond phase. We went back to our high school in 2007 to watch some of our friend's graduate. It is hard to believe this was six years ago. 

Deployment Gratitude 

1. I am grateful for a truly incredible husband. We had our wonderful Skype session on Friday. I got a wonderfully sweet e-mail to further celebrate two years of marriage. Then he took care of some car paperwork stuff all the way from Afghanistan. I am so grateful that he took care of this onerous chore I had been dreading. I love that he can still be completely there for me from 6,700 miles away. 

2. I am grateful for muddy feet and dirty hands. I spent some time working in my yard this weekend and was reminded of the therapeutic powers of walking barefoot in the grass and digging in the dirt.

3. On that note, I am grateful that my grass is growing back. I have such a black thumb that I am surprised anything is actually growing. I have been filling in all of Asha's lovely digging and trying to coax new grass to cover the bare spots. 

Deployment Projects 

I have been planing on making a padded coffee table/ ottoman and got an old gorgeous coffee table from my neighbor. I just need to get some fabric, batting and foam. I am excited to add this coffee table to my living room. 

I am also excited because my MIL is going to help me make some throw pillows for the living room. She is a sewing wiz and I am excited to make a few to add to my couch. 

Busiest Week Ever

Yay for graduating!

This week holds several huge anniversaries. On May 15th 2011, Lane commissioned as an officer in the U.S Army. One day later he graduated from VMI. The day after that we ran off to the courthouse for our first wedding. It is so hard to believe that all of that happened two years ago. In some ways it feels so much longer. I feel like we have been married for eons, but Lane's time in the Army has passed in a blink. 

We have been together for 9.5 years, and for us marriage didn't change very much. We were still maintaining a long-distance relationship and I was still in school.  We didn't live together for the first few months after our courthouse wedding, and Lane left for Ranger School a week after our big family wedding.

 It wasn't that different from the rest of our relationship. Now, I absolutely love being married. I would marry him every day if I could. I haven't talked a lot about our first wedding, but it was private, short and unbelievably perfect. He left a few days later for IBOLC, continuing our pattern on long distance.

It has been really nice to focus on everything that has changed since this week in 2011. I have moved from Virginia to Georgia and then to New York. We got married (twice). It seems fitting that our two year mark in the Army comes at about the same time as the halfway point in this deployment. It is the perfect time to reflect on how far we have come and everything that we want to do going forward. 

Ten Little Things

My mantra for this deployment has been to choose happiness and be proactive about happiness. Now, this has been tested a little bit in the past week. I just felt out of sorts. This deployment felt like a giant weight on my shoulders. I was just an unhappy camper. I am trying to get myself sorted out, and today's prompt for Blog Every Day In May is perfect for that.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy

1. When Asha and I sit on the floor and she rests her head on my shoulder. It's like our little version of a hug.

2. Whole Milk Lattes

3. Raspberry smoothies

4. Seeing the little green icon next to my husband's name on FB chat. 

Nothing is better than seeing that he is available to chat. 

5. When one of my students graduates. 

I get all giddy watching one of my students complete their degree program and get their diploma. 

6. Paying off one of our student loans.

 We still have a looonnnggg way to go, but it feels good to have one finished. 

7. Surprise letters from my family. My aunt sent me this gorgeous photograph of my grandmother.  

8. This may sound terrible, but I really love the occasional no-show for appointments. 

Having that little breather during the day makes everything so much easier. I can deal with administrative stuff and grab a quick second to eat lunch. 

9. It is Farmer's Market season in the North Country. I absolutely love spending a Saturday morning wandering around the markets in this area. I am especially excited for the local honey. 

10. Seeing my friends welcome their husbands home from Afghanistan. I can't imagine the level of excitement they must be feeling. 

What is making y'all happy today? Link up with Jenni and let us know =) 

Deployment Week Sixteen

I could barely catch my breath this week. Work was quite hectic which meant that chat time with Lane was severely diminished. This week had some hard moments. We are on the cusp of the half-way point, which usually makes me feel awesome. However, Friday I hit a bump on my road to perpetual motivation and optimism. I just couldn't believe that I have to do the same thing again. All of the time that has already passed, which seemed to take a lifetime at some points, I have to do again. I just can't believe I have to do this whole damn thing again. I feel a little bit better today, but I just had a hard time over the weekend. One bright shiny spot in the weekend was that Lane called on Sunday. They all got free phone access since it was Mother's Day and after he called his mom I got a phone call too. It was really nice to hear his voice. It usually makes me tear up at first, but then we just talked about books, Asha, movies and possible job changes for both of us. 

Happy Picture 

This is from VMI's Ring Figure dance during Lane's junior year in 2009. They get their class rings and it is a huge deal. I had a blast and miss heading to Lexington to visit. 

Deployment Gratitude 

(This was not a super positive week so I am digging deep for these) 

1. I am grateful that I found a job I love. I am grateful that I make a positive difference every day. Even if I am having a bad day, even if I don't feel great. I end every work day knowing that I helped soldiers get into college. That is an awesome feeling. 

2. I am grateful for calls from Afghanistan. 

3. I am grateful for how easy it is to make quinoa and red curry. It has become my go-to meal that I can still feel vaguely healthy about. 

Deployment Projects 

I went shopping for end tables for the living room but didn't find anything that I liked. I also have started hunting for a new bookshelf for the office. 

What I Miss

(This was supposed to publish yesterday)
Well this is probably the easiest question ever for the Blog Every Day in May. 

What Do You Miss? 

See You in the fall 

I miss my husband. I miss hearing him come home after PT. I miss watching our favorite TV shows together. I miss all those little moments that together paint the picture of your life together. We still have our life together, just  colored with Skype, fb chat, and sweet letters that take a month to arrive. 

There are other things I miss, but they are dwarf in comparison to how much I miss Lane. I miss my parents. I miss our cabin in the North Georgia mountains. I miss my high school days in boarding school. 

Man I really didn't think this post would get so sad. I miss all of those things, but they are still present in my life. They just aren't there as often as I want them to be. I am so excited to be going home this month! I can't wait to soak up time with my parents and enjoy my hometown.

I am linking up with Jenni at Story of My life

Military Spouse Appreciation Friday

Hello weekend =)
Work was fully crazy this week with everyone getting ready to start the summer session. I can usually squeeze in some blogging at work, but that was just not a possibility this week. Hence all of the super short posts. I am linking up with Lauren to celebrate all of the awesome things that happened this week.

Today is also Military Spouse Appreciation Day. I can't tell you how much I love all of my other milspouse bloggers. Y'all have been some of the best supporters during this deployment. Lots love to all of you!

1. High Five that I made it to the gym every day this week.

Every muscle in my body hurts and my palms look like someone took a cheese grater to them. However, it feels great that I pushed myself this week and did some serious work on pull ups.

2. High Five for being ahead of the game

I was under the impression that Mother's Day was last weekend. So I might have sent out my cards out a week early. My mom and MIL both got theirs last week. Even though they were way early, I'm glad they got there on time.

3. High Five for fitness goals. 

I back squatted my body weight today at the gym. It was so much easier than I thought it would be. I got up to 135 and knew that if I could manage that, it was just a short jump to my body weight. (Sorry y'all not quite brave enough to post my weight on the internet). This wasn't one of my initial goals, but it felt awesome to hit that milestone.  Oh, I also held an unassisted handstand for much longer than I ever have before.

4. High Five for well behaved dogs.
Life is so much easier when Asha is not acting like a crazy maniac.

5. High Five for good friends.
Shannon and I surprised our friend with a mom's day out. I am taking her out for coffee and TJ Maxx shopping while Shannon watches her kids. I can't imagine going through deployment with children. It is hard enough with just myself and Asha.

Happy Friday!

Southern Cards DIY

Sorry for the terrible picture quality 

I have been waiting for this link-up to come back! Today for Saw It, Pinned It, Did it, I am posting my most recent DIY. I have been these hanging wire frames all over Pinterest, but finally decided to take the plunge when I got these adorable Southern greeting cards from Southern Weddings Magazine. I purchased a square wooden frame from Michaels and just used a staple gun to attach wire to the back of the frame. I purchased tiny little clothes pins as well, and used them to hang the cards. 

I posted this to Instagram recently (username: mrsmollyp) and SW Magazine actually re-posted my picture. I felt a little bit famous.
 This was a really easy project. I think greeting cards can made wonderful art for your home. They tend to be way cheaper than full sized prints. How cute would one of these be for your Christmas cards or wedding invitations?

Come link-up with Stephanie and Katie and show off your projects.