Military Monday: Preparing for Homecoming

There is one word you can say that will get any military wife with a deployed husband completely giddy; homecoming. Wives prepare months in advance for this welcome home celebration for their guy. I am no different. I knew I would begin work in the fall so I prepared my homecoming signs and banners in the late summer. Homecoming signs are a pretty big deal among military families. Most of the time you hang them on the gate lining base and/or outside of your home. A lot of times, more than one sign is made. I made three actually. I made one on a twin size sheet for the gate alongside Camp Lejeune, one to hold in my hands, and a small banner for my home. I know it was way too early, but i actually hung my finished banners up on my wall. It's daily reminder that I am getting so much closer to him being home.

Matthew and mine's saying for the deployment is "8 months is nothing when we promised each other forever". We got married so young that 8 months is just a very small fraction of our life together. But anyway, that is what I decided to put on his "big" banner.

The other sign I made was more like a banner, I'm going to put it on our front porch. I saw a sign here from Pinterest and decided that I could "totally make that". So I did. This is sort of the rough draft of it, but I plan on tweaking it a little before it's time to hang it up. 

My final sign is the sign that I will be holding in my hands when I'm at homecoming. I wanted to make a fun sign with pink and glitter, because I'm lame like that. I decided to put something ridiculously cheesy to give Matthew a laugh. This is what I came up with.

Homecoming outfits are a huge deal. It's the first time your guy will see you since he left, so you want to wear something that looks great. I have asked many homecoming veterans about what I should wear and actually got great advice. Here are the tips I got.

• Keep Weather In Mind- North Carolina weather is pretty unpredictable in the fall/ early winter. October/November can be pretty warm, or it can be freezing. So as great as the cute little dress may be, you may just freeze your butt off if you decide to rock it. 
• Dress For Comfort-Even when you get a date for your homecoming, you still may be sitting there for hours. So, as cute as those heels are that match the little cute dress, think about if you could actually stand in them for hours on end. Keep that in mind for your outfit as well. You want to be comfortable. 
• Keep It Classy-Marine Corpse events bring out pretty entertaining people. Some feel the need to dress as inappropriately as possible. Basically, keep  it covered. As much as your marine wants to see you half naked, save it for your bedroom. Keep your bra from showing, and make sure you can jump into his arms without your underwear showing. 
• The Verdict- I will probably wear my signature skinny jeans, a cute top, my riding boots and some sort of jewelry to jazz it up. I may or may not buy a new top to wear. Those who know Matthew know that he will be more impressed if I can make clothes I already have work and look great than go out and buy something new. 

Today, we are at 26 weeks down. We are getting so close to the end. I will be posting a blog post in a few weeks posting pictures of the signs, In Use!!!!