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| Just a fraction of what was prescribed to cure me! |
So what's been going on lately? Well, Mr. L left the first week of November for water survival in Pensacola. Despite rough seas and some really terrible weather, he had a great time and survived! He came home and we had 12 days to figure out our lives for the next 6 months...seriously. Everything in Air Force-land is happening much more quickly than we anticipated and we had to figure everything out before he left for more training! Mr. L left again for SERE training on November 18 and I won't see him again until December 11.
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| My silly hubby trying out his new headlamp and water bag for training. |
This week has been the no-contact week and it's been 3 days since I've spoken a word to my husband. In the 5 years we've been together, we've never gone more than 24 hours without at least saying a quick goodnight on the phone. Not even the night before/day of our wedding...we chatted on the phone that afternoon! You really don't realize how much you can miss someone until it's absolutely impossible to talk to them. I obviously support his training and think it's awesome that the Air Force prepares the aviators (and others) for this possible life-threatening scenario (and it's super great to know that, despite being terribly uncomfortable, they are actually really safe), but it's really tough. Simply put, it's tough. I love hearing his voice, I tell him everything and I don't really have many others to share my day with. My mom called me last night and I kept her on the phone for 3 hours!!!!!! Now, I'm a talker by nature, but even that is a little crazy for me. I'll be thankful for Thursday night when he finally gets to call :)
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| Our first date (halloween on campus), 5ish years ago. |
While he's been gone, it's just been me and the Lily-monster. She's acting out like a teenager who's daddy left and she's pushing all her mom's buttons. I remember doing that. Well, now my dog is doing it too. She's biting (she NEVER bit anyone), growling, chewing on things she's never chewed on before, and overall acting like a brat. Not cool.
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| Do not let this picture fool you, she's a monster...sometimes :) |
Since Mr. L was away for Thanksgiving, I spent the holiday with my super great friends, the Duncan's. Chris and Amy have been amazing to me and Mr. L since we moved to Columbus (Chris was Mr. L's class leader) and Amy has become one of my very good friends (I'm not looking forward to moving away from her and her adorable daughter Elli). Our friends Christy and Jeff also had Thanksgiving at their house, plus Amy's dad and it was a great way to spend the day. I'm so thankful that this crazy military life has given us all these extra "family members" with whom I can spend holidays when Mr. L is off serving his country (or getting lost in the woods!) and I'm far away from my parents and other family members.
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| Jeff, Christy, me, Elli, Amy & Chris on Thanksgiving |
When Mr. L was stationed in Florida, we didn't make many friends. His job didn't allow him much social time and I was away in Pensacola getting my Master degree, so we didn't really live the "military life". When we left Florida, we had a hard time saying goodbye to a few friends that we had made at my school, but not really anyone in the military. Over the past year, the opposite has happened in Columbus. I've made several friends that helped me get through this year and they are some of the most amazing and strong women I've ever known and I can't imagine not knowing them. The other spouses in our UPT class became my close friends and I've already had to say goodbye to a few (not fun). Such is the life in the military though...constantly making friends and then leaving, many times going across the country from them. I've known for a long time this was the way it goes, but I don't love it. Last week and yesterday I had to say goodbye to two ladies who I've been close to and shared Assignment Nights and graduations with and it was hard, to say the least. The upside to all this? Having friends all over the country!! The Air Force is actually a small world and I know I'll see these ladies again. It's just not really great in the meantime when you have to say "see ya later".
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| Erin, me, and Brooke...the ladies I said "see ya later" to in the past week. |
Due to our impending move (so soon!) and all the travelling and craziness in between now and when we finally get settled in Dover, I decided not to decorate for Christmas at our house. Putting up the tree would be troublesome by myself and stringing up the lights outside alone would probably be impossible. Not to mention that as soon as I get them all up, I just have to take them down again because the movers come in two weeks. So I'm leaving the tree in the box (yes, we do artificial...it's awful, but easy), leaving the lights tangled and leaving all the decorations stored. It's been very sad when I walk Lily around the neighborhood and see all the lights and see all the twinkling Christmas trees in the windows. So I decided to give myself a little holiday cheer and decorate my office at work! Okay, so I didn't really decorate, but I got a tree!
Alright, it's a little tree. I got it from Hobby Lobby (it's called A Tree For Me!). There's a huge wall full of itty bitty decorations, tree toppers, tree skirts, etc and it's just too cute. I bought silver garland, multi-colored balls and a sparkly tree topper. You probably can't tell from the pic, but I also bought patriotic ornaments. They are angels, snowmen, and santas that are decked out in red, white, and blue flag patterned ensembles. Not only are we a military family, but I also work on the base, so I thought that would be a nice touch.
So now, I'm just spending my time cleaning out all the closets, tearing the office apart trying to figure out what papers stay and what papers get shred, running last minute errands and separating our household goods from our DITY stuff (this is my 3rd move and I still don't like doing that). The movers will be here super soon and we'll be spending Christmas with our parents in Pennsylvania and then more training and finally to Dover!
And I'll be doing it all while blasting Christmas music through my non-decorated house. A girl's gotta have a little fun :)
