We got our pictures from the ball in today. I think it turned out pretty good.

We had a very good Christmas and it was so good having Eric home with me. We had to do our traveling home on Christmas, but we made it home in time to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" before we went to bed, which was our goal. My parents gave us a beautiful curio cabinet and me a jewelry armoire, and I love them. The only problem with them is that I can't use them until we get moved. I spent the morning packing and I got the spare room packed up (except the military gear). I'm so tired of moving, I just got unpacked here. I told my brother that I think I should do it for a living and make some money cause I'm getting pretty good at it! Oh well, once we get there we should have 2 years of not moving, that will be nice. Anyways, I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

We went to our ball and had fun. It was more fun then I thought it would be, thankfully. The commander really let loose and it was hilarious watching him and some of the others out there dancing. I'll post pictures later, when we get home. We're at my parents house right now, and my mom decided to go ahead and make Christmas dinner today so that we could all eat together. Our plans were to come here Friday and then go to Eric's moms house for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We were going to eat with his family, but things changed. The Army decided that it would be a smart idea to give a 4 day weekend and make it Friday-Monday, making them go back to work on Tuesday. Which meant our plans had to change. We came down here on Thursday and we're still going to his mom's on Christmas Eve, but we have to make the drive back home Christmas day. That was a bummer, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Since we have to go home on Christmas day we weren't going to get a Christmas dinner, and my mom is such a sweetheart so she decided to change her plans and make dinner today instead of on Christmas. She said it's a lot better having dinner with everyone anyways, so it was no big deal. I know she's lying, considering she had to work, but it was so nice of her anyways.

Eric is still working on getting everything together so that he can go to ROTC. I'm trying really hard not to think about it because school starts on Jan 8. Which means that we have to be down in Oklahoma in 2 weeks. Which means I have to pack (which I have yet to start doing). Everything is going to be a rat race the next couple weeks, but I'm still trying not to think about it. It does me no good to stress about it, it's not going to make things go any faster (or slower, depending on how you look at it). Right now I'm just enjoying having him home for Christmas. Spending time with Eric and my family makes me happy.

This Christmas season has been wonderful and today we're doing our Christmas dinner and presents. I'm so thrilled. Lots of scheming has went into this Christmas though. Lots of lies being passed out in my family, ha! We all pitched in and got my sister a cell phone, but she thinks it's for my mom, but thinks my mom thinks it's for Eric. We got my brother an IPod and wrapped up a candle in one huge box (he has no patience, so we thought it would be funny to make him go through all this first) and then in a second huge box we wrapped about 5 different boxes he has to unwrap before he can have his real present. Then I bought Eric a gun, but he thinks it's for my dad, only I wanted it to be a surprise when he opened it, and since he knew which box it was in, I took it out of that box, put in tools to make it heavy wrapped it back up and wrapped the gun in a separate box, lol. We all pitched in and got my mom a digital camera (she took photography and loved it and has wanted a really nice camera ever since). It's been fun trying to keep all that straight, let me tell you, ha! ha! Anyways, I'm enjoying myself and having Eric home is just such a wonderful blessing all in it's own. I'll post pictures of the ball when I get home and I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Eric graduated with his associates degree on Wednesday. I'm so proud of him. He worked so hard for it, and completed the last of it while he was overseas. He was determined and it definitely paid off for him. He even graduated with honors! I'm so extremely proud of him!

Then yesterday his unit disbanded so I went to the inactivation ceremony.

Nobody from his unit has been placed with other units though, so I'm not sure what they're going to be doing until they are. Tomorrow is my first military ball. So it's been a pretty busy week. I finished my classes for this semester and enrolled in Spring semester. At the end of next semester I'll graduate with my associates too. We started school at the same time but he was able to graduate ahead of me because he had military classes that went towards his degree. I'm not sure how well I'll like my next semester, I'm taking, Intro to Computers, Web Site Construction, Anatomy & Physiology for the Pre-Hospital Provider, and Intro to Political Science. That should keep me busy lol.

Things are going good around here. We've been busy with school and getting back into the swing of things together. It's been wonderful, and you can definitely tell there is a difference in our relationship and it's all for the best. We've grown in ways I never thought possible and it's all been a wonderful experience. Eric went back to work on Monday and I couldn't believe that his 30 days leave was over already. His unit is disbanding and they're having their demob ceremony on the 14. He graduates with his associates on the 13th, and we will probably be moving at the end of this month or the beginning of January. It all depends on whether everything goes good, and he has lots of work to do, but he will be going into the ROTC program in Oklahoma if everything goes as planned. It's a lot of work to get done in such a short amount of time, but we've been praying about it and I know that if it's the Lord's will it will happen. The down side is that he'll be getting out of the active Army and going into the Reserves until he's finished with his schooling. So, money will be tight, but again, if it's the Lord's will everything will work out how it's supposed to.

I'm so excited about Christmas this year. I got an early start, and have already finished up all my Christmas shopping. The only thing that is left is for Eric to finish shopping for me. Then we'll be completely done, which is rare because I usually leave it all for last minute. My Christmas cards are out and we've decorated the house. We still have to get a tree, but we're doing that this weekend. I love this Christmas and I am so thankful that we're spending it together. I don't think I've ever been more excited about a holiday then I am this year.

We got home today, and it is so good to be here. We had a wonderful time though, and I'm so thankful that we were able to take our vacation. Maui was wonderful, like I said in my previous post. It was such a romantic place to go and I couldn't have asked for a better honeymoon. We've been married for 4 years, but couldn't afford one before now, and it was well worth the wait. Here are some of the pictures from our trip. I took about a million, and I had a hard time narrowing it down, but at last I succeeded. We did one scheduled activity each full day we were there and the rest of the time we just went on our own just sightseeing. The first day was the luau, the second was snorkling, third was the helicopter ride and the last day was the submarine ride. The pictures of snorkling will have to come later because I have to scan those pictures on here. We also drove the Hana Hwy, it's 52 miles long but takes about 2 hrs one way driving because it has something like 623 turns and 52 one lane bridges. It's crazy, but has such beautiful views. The last day we were there we drove the top of Mt Haleakala and watched the sunset. Such magic. I was sad to see it end, but so happy we got to experience it together. It was just perfect for the ending of such a long year.

We made it back Tuesday morning. We had an amazing time in Maui. It's so beautiful there and it was just what the dr ordered after such a long year. We're at my parent's house right now, so I can't put pictures up yet, but we'll be going home next week and I'll update with pictures. It was such a good vacation/honeymoon and I'm so thankful that Eric's home with me again. Thanksgiving went well too, we went to my aunt's house and stayed a couple night's where they live. The only bad thing about that was we stayed with one of my cousin's and his wife is such a witch. She's one of those people who think they're better than everybody. When we came over she didn't say hi or anything then went to bed about 5 minutes later. The next morning she was banging pots and pans around (we took it as a hint she wanted us up and gone, so we happily left) later yesterday my sister realized that she had forgot something at their house so she called to see if she could come get it. The lady didn't answer the phone, but called back a few minutes later and said we left some stuff and needed to come get it, she was getting in the shower. Apparently she couldn't wait 5 minutes while we came and got it. Eric took my sister to get it and she had put it in a sack outside their door. Geez I'd like to slap her attitude right out of her. We usually stay at another one of my cousin's houses but his wife was having her family over so we couldn't this time. My parent's said that next time we're up there if we have to stay at the one's we stayed at this time, we'll just rent a motel room and stay there because that's ridiculous to be treated that way. Anyways, other than that everything went very well and we enjoyed ourselves. I'll write more about our time in Maui when I post pictures next week. I hope everything is going well with everyone else and I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

The new song on here is one we played at our wedding, "Whatever It Takes" by Kellie Coffey. I love this song and I think it's a perfect fit even more today than the day we got married.

Leave is going good. We're at his families right now. We spent 5 days with mine and then came up here. We're here until Wednesday morning and then we're off to Hawaii. I'm so excited. Things are great with Eric and me. It's wonderful getting to spend time together. We went to an art museum yesterday, which was pretty fun. We've been staying with family the whole time, which kind of sucks, but we still go off and do our own thing alone. I'm ready for our trip, so we won't have to worry about family for a while. I love them to death, but I don't want to have to worry about them for a while. Anyways, I won't be back on here until we're back, but I hope everything is going good for everyone else. Have a great next couple of weeks!!!

Charla told me that her's and Courtney's men are home! I'm so happy to hear that. Congratulations on surviving the deployment!!!! You ladies are very strong and I'm so proud of both of you. Enjoy yourselves!!!!!!!! Thank you both and thank Matt and Steve for their service to our country!

Today marks a week since Eric came home. I'm so happy he's home. We've been having such a wonderful time together, just like he never left. The only difference between then and now is that we're closer than ever and we have grown so much in each other over the past year. I know that our relationship is stronger and more wonderful than before. Saturday he starts leave, so we'll be going to Oklahoma for a while, then to Hawaii. I think we're going to spend Thanksgiving with my family this year. Better food there than at his, ha!!!! It was his choice too. Of course then we'll be at his families for Christmas. I'm really looking forward to holidays this year. I dreaded them last year, but they've never looked better than they do this year. We bought new furniture for the apartment. It looks so good. The last of it was delivered today. I also got Eric a Line X bedliner for his truck, which he loves. We have a ball in December for his unit and I got my dress yesterday. I also got my rings back from the jewelers yesterday. I had to put them in to get sized, and I went down 2 sizes! I was excited about that. Everything is going good, but in case I don't update for a while, since we will be on vacation, I hope everything is going good with everything else. Courtney and Charla, enjoy your husbands, and congratulations on very soon homecoming!!!!!!!!

I would like to thank all the blogger girls who helped me through the year of deployment. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for the support you gave me during the rough times and for understanding during the bad days. I can't say now that it's over that looking back it went by faster then I thought it was. I guess some people can, but I'm not one of them. It went slow, no doubt about it, but thanks to the many friends I made through blogger, it wasn't as rough as it could have been. I made it through with relatively few break downs and without making myself and everyone around me miserable. I'm stronger because of this deployment and I know that both Eric and myself have grown because of it. For that, I'm extremely grateful. I appreciate every word of comfort and for all the support from all of you. Thank you all so very much!!!

The last couple days have flown by since Eric's home again. He had 48 hrs off, but had to go back to work today. Thankfully the next couple weeks are just half days and then he gets his 30 days block leave. We're planning on going to Hawaii for a few of those days. Then of course spend time with the rest of the family. His mom and sister were here until yesterday. It kind of irritated me because of course I wanted to spend alone time with him and they were always there. Oh well, at least we got most of the day yesterday alone. We went furniture shopping yesterday. We bought a new couch, table/chairs, coffee table, end table, and dresser. We also bought from three different furniture stores and so we have deliveries coming today, tomorrow and Monday, lol. I think Eric wants to drive down to Oklahoma tomorrow so he can watch the OU game with dad. He told me a while back he really missed that, so I think that's what we'll do this weekend. It's so wonderful having him home. It's amazing how much you really realize that you missed their company once their home. I knew I missed him, of course, but I don't think it really hit me until he got here. My friend is so great too, she stayed up until 3 a.m. the day he came in just so she could tape the ceremony for us. She hadn't even met Eric until that point. I'm so grateful she did that. Here are a couple pictures of when he came home and was released. After they came in (which took forever and I was really irritated when we had to watch that stupid video while they were standing right outside the door!) it didn't take long for the guy to say what he had to say and then release them. Although he said that there were 3 other people who wanted to say something and I about committed murder, lol. But apparently he was either kidding or didn't know what he was doing, because there wasn't, Thank God!!! So, I bolted towards Eric and the first picture is the first hug we had. Also, my weight loss the day Eric got home was a total of 75 lbs. I've lost 11 inches in my waist, and my rings keep flying off my fingers. I hadn't sent pictures of myself to Eric in about two months, I told him the end result would be a surprise. I think he was very pleasantly surprised. After he hugged me he held me out at arms length and said, "Wow." lol... I took that as a compliment. I'm not sure if you can tell in the pictures, but that's my new haircut too.

He's home! Safe and sound!!!!!! After sitting at the gym for about 2 hrs and having to watch a video that they made for the new Army slogan "Army Strong" they finally came in. They saved the stupid video until they were outside. I was so irritated. They couldn't have showed it to us the last 2 hrs we were there? Geez... Oh Well, the Army has their own way of doing things and most the time it doesn't make much sense. It doesn't matter now though. He's home and it's so wonderful. Aahhh.... I finally get to have a good night's sleep, I can't wait.

My MIL and SIL came up yesterday. I'm going crazy here with them by myself. Nobody else is here to take up the slack. My friend was over most the day with me yesterday and she stayed for quite a while after they got here. I was so thankful that she was here to occasionally slip in the conversation and give me a break. I told my mom I thank God for her! lol...It's the truth. She's been a blessing. Of course I can't say when Eric will be home, but I can say, the next time I post he will be here! I'm so excited. Although my inlaws are taking some of the joy away from me because my nerves are being tested very badly with them here. I love them, don't get me wrong, but they sure do know how to test me. My MIL spent about 3 hrs yesterday talking about her crocheting and then got onto me about leaving the lights and TV on. Um...last I checked she didn't pay the electric bill! Ugh...well I just keep telling myself, keep your eyes on the end, it's all worth it! I can take my inlaws, but in moderation. The past 24 hrs have been so stressful! I was telling my friend about them before they got here. I don't think she quite believed me until she seen it with her own eyes. I talked to her today and she said she just kept thinking, "how do you stand it?" lol... Constant talking and droning on and on about nothing. AAAAHHHHHH. Ok, that's my vent for today, actually that's the third time I've vented that today, lol. Anyways, I'll post later, and my husband will be home!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had another FRG meeting today. We mainly talked about the ball we're going to have around Christmas time. We did, of course, talk about the homecoming. They narrowed the day down a little for us, which is super exciting. Of course because of OPSEC I can't say anything about that. I guess the most I can say is soon, very soon. I'm just ready for the whole thing to be over. I'm tired of waiting. Nights are longer than ever and sleep doesn't come easy. All my days of having something to look forward to are over, so the next date to look for is his actual homecoming. I feel like Courtney on the updating thing though. I just feel like I'm saying the same things over and over again. I can't give out specifics and there's nothing else to talk about. Except, classes started yesterday. I'm trying to keep busy with that. Our anniversary wasn't as hard as I expected it to be, thanks to my friend. She came and got me and we went out to eat and went shopping. Then she spent the rest of the day here at my place. She's been so helpful. I'm so thankful that God sent her my way. It's nice to have someone to talk to who understands and who will help pass time away. I told her that my neighbors probably think I'm the one who flew over the coo coo's nest. lol...Sometimes I think I'm going crazy.

Sorry it's been a while. I haven't been busy or anything, it's just been kind of depressing the past week. I know it's getting time for him to come home, but I don't think time could go any slower. Although I thought that during the bulk of the deployment too and low and behold it IS able to go slower. I've been hanging out with my friend and trying to keep occupied, but still time goes by so slow. I didn't go make signs with the FRG yesterday. I thought a few weeks ago when I was still in Oklahoma that I would be handy and change the windshield wipers on the truck. Well, I couldn't, for the life of me, get the stupid things to lock on. I asked my dad to look at it before I left, but I asked him at night and he forgot. So, they are just kind of sitting on the arm, and not actually operable without flying off if I turned them on. Well it rained all day yesterday, so I wasn't about to drive the 30 minutes to the place without wipers. Oh well. Tomorrow is our 4 year anniversary. At least he'll be home soon, if time would go by at a normal speed that is.

I went to an FRG meeting. It was the first meeting (besides the redeployment briefing) that I've been to since Eric left. The only reason I went was because they were going to talk about the homecoming ceremony and I wanted to know what was going on. The time frame has changed a little. They pushed them back by three days, no big deal. I was already expecting that time frame anyways, since Eric and I have talked about the different things we've heard, so no real change. Other than that, they didn't really say much. Everything is still so tentative. They're not even sure where they're going to have the ceremony at yet. Of course I wish they knew more, so family could make plans and such, but there's nothing anybody can do, so no use in worrying about it all. They did talk about the ball they're going to have in December. It will be my first military ball, so I'm kind of looking forward to it. I think it will be neat to get all dressed up with Eric and go for a night out. Right now though, I'm just looking forward to him coming home!

I’ve kind of broken up the time until he comes home with stupid stuff. For instance, on Oct 1 I broke it down by the 3rd I was getting a haircut, today was the FRG meeting, the 12th is our anniversary (celebrating 4 wonderful years of marriage to my loving husband) and so on and so forth, little dates to help make it not seem so far away. I was telling my friend that I’m sure that to civilian people, military wives seem like nuts jobs with all the little things we do to break up the time we’re away from our guys. Oh well, we all do what we have to do to get through, that’s what’s important. They are getting together next week and the week after to make signs and such for the homecoming and I think I'll go, if for no other reason then to add more stuff to break up the time until he's home.

I got two compliments at the meeting too. The first was on my haircut. It was actually my third haircut in the past two weeks, ha! I just couldn’t get it how I like it until this time. I love it! It’s not short or anything, but it has lots of layers. Then another lady complimented me on my weight loss. She told me I was looking really good, which made me feel pretty good. I have lost 70.5 lbs now! My mom said that another 15 lbs and she thinks I'll be just right. My goal is another 25 lbs though, but I'll just have to wait and see what looks best when I get down some more. Not much more to go though, so that's wonderful! I'm pretty proud of myself. I told Eric the other day, no more pictures of me until he gets home. I want the end result to be a surprise. I can't wait until he's home!!! Lord I hope the next few weeks go by quickly!

I did myself a little dance today while turning the page on the calendar over. Why? Because I can officially say, "I'LL SEE MY HUSBAND THIS MONTH!!!!" I thought September would never end, but it finally did. YAY!!!! Now, just a few more weeks and it'll all be over.

I had a bit of a break down today, but I guess it's to be expected. The shorter the time gets the farther away it seems. It just seems that the end is right there, but I just can't get there. I'm thinking it wasn't the best idea in the world to move back up here and be alone. I did, however, make a friend but she's out of town right now, and I'm not sure when she'll be home. When she's home she helps fill my days up. Her husband just deployed last month, so she's just beginning the journey, although this is his second deployment.

I guess the only thing to do is keep on keepin' on. The Lord has got me through this much of it, He'll give me the strength for the rest.

I'm back in Kansas again. I had a hard time deciding if I should go ahead and come back up here or if I should stay down in Oklahoma for a while longer, but obviously coming back home won out. I'm glad I did too now. When I got home there was a note on my door that said my stationary bike would be delivered tomorrow. YAY! My parents gave me the money for it, they said I was doing a really good job, and to keep up the hard work. They're so sweet. The next time I see my family, Eric will be here. Man, it sounds so good to hear that, and to see it. They're going to try and come up, but they're not sure yet if they'll be able to. It's hard to make plans when you can't get a date nailed down. Eric's mom and sister will probably be up here, but his mom's a little anal when it comes to her work. When I called to tell her the time frame she was looking at the calendar trying to figure out if it would fall after she does payroll. Apparently the world would fall apart if she taught the other lady that works in the office how to do it for one week. Oh well, that's one of the many things you have to get used to when it comes to my MIL.

I guess it's because the time is coming up soon, but I've been very on edge the past few days. My sister was getting the brunt end of the deal yesterday. She seemed to be being very rude, and I snapped at her a couple times. When I apologized she said, "Geez, are you pregnant?" lol... Unfortunately, no. I just wish this time would get over with already.

I wonder if my neighbors wonder if I'll ever quit bringing boxes into this place. I swear it's like we have the stash of never-ending crap. At least most of the boxes this time was from stuff Eric sent home! YAY! It's kind of hard to find places to put it all though when you live in a two bedroom apartment. Gotta love the 700 pairs of issued boots! Maybe they do that because back in the day the soldiers had to wear their's for so long that they just ended up walking right out of them, so they don't want that to happen nowadays, so they issue as many as possible. Ok, I'm rambling, that's what happens when you drive 7 1/2 hrs ALONE from Oklahoma to Kansas, with nothing in between but some wheat fields. You go insane.

I'm so very tired, so if this post doesn't make sense, I'm so sorry.

When I got to my parent's house on Thursday I had two surprises that Eric sent me. In the first package I found a Nicholas Sparks book, "At First Sight." I love Nicholas Sparks' books and I love the movie "At First Sight," which is, of course, based off his novel. He also wrote "The Notebook." So sweet! The second package just made my heart melt even more. I opened it and in it was a note that said, "I seen this and thought of you. I love you always and forever, Eric ********." lol...First of all, he signs everything to me with his first and last name. That always cracks me up. Anyways, in that package was the movie, "Fried Green Tomatoes." Oh my gosh, I LOVE this movie. It's one of my favorites and Eric knows that I love it and he bought it for me. How sweet!!! I have also received two packages from him of his stuff! YAY!!! There is one more box on the way and it's the guitar that one of his old roommates gave him.

All three of his roommates have left to go home. He was in a room all by himself for the remainder of the time there. Until one female NCO decided she wanted a room all to herself so they kicked him out and made him move in with two new people that he's never met for the remainder of his stay. Anyways, I was a little aggrivated about that, but hey, it's the Army way.

Yesterday I got up and talked to Eric, then I took my sister and her friend to Oklahoma City to the mall. We left at 10 a.m. and was home by 5 p.m. It was an alright trip, but I was tired after that. Then I got home and my brother's exgf was wanting me to go to a girls night with her. I said alright because she said she wasn't staying the night, just going over there for a while. We went over there and had some fun just sitting around talking and laughing about the good ole days. There was just 5 of us, and 4 of us used to be pretty good friends back in the day, so it was good to catch up. Well, we stayed longer than I expected. I actually just got home, and have had no sleep since I woke up at 8 yesterday morning. I can't wait to climb into bed and catch some zzzz's but Eric's going to call this morning and I know if I don't wait up I won't wake up when he calls, or I'll be falling asleep while he's trying to talk to me, lol. I defintely don't want that, because I treasure every second I have talking to him. I've neglected my homework this week and if I don't get it done today I will be behind, but that's about 10000 on my list of things to do, so I don't actually care about that at this particular time.