Finally!

For my last official military monday post, I'm going out with a bang! 

  I am so happy to say that after nearly nine months, Matthew finally came home to me yesterday afternoon. 

A detailed blog post and more pictures to come, but for right now I'm going to be enjoying my homecoming bliss. Thank you all for the prayers and support, we did it! 

Military Monday:A Homecoming

It was a crazy awesome Thanksgiving for my family this year. Although I'm not writing about Matthew's homecoming, I am writing about a homecoming that is special to my family. My brother-in-law deployed to Afghanistan about a month after Matthew's unit deployed. It's been a rough road for my sister because she had to take a rambunctious 2 year old and home by herself. But, she did it! It's going to post the photos rather than explain the whole story of their homecoming. I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

Disclaimer: I am starting to dabble with Matthew's camera. I am not a professional. So, please take the quality of the photos with a grain of salt as they aren't the best quality. But, I still like to think I did a great job capturing the moment!

Military Monday: Hey! It's October!

Yes, incase you had to recount, there are 27 tallies up on the mirror of misery . It's crazy, in a good sort of way. Not to sound full of it, but I am pretty darn proud of myself. I don't think I'm weak by any means, but I am not naive to the fact that I am pretty much a pansy when it comes to the department of emotions. I get my feelings hurt very easily and I tend to cry a lot when I'm upset. So, making it past the six month mark makes me want to give myself a pat on the back. God granted me with strength I honestly didn't know I had, and an amazing support system. I can't believe how fortunate I am. But, regarding the blog title, it is officially October.

I was writing out my calendar and didn't realize another month was down until I notice this little bit of information....

That's right, November is quite literally in sight. As lame as it sounds, I literally had tears in my eyes. I just need to make it through this month, month seven.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer-Romans 12:12

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!!!! 

Military Monday: Sucky McSuck

   As I embark on the third month of deployment this month, I have finally realized just one conclusion. Deployments are difficult really really really suck. It's not the "oh your dog got hit" by a car suckieness. Or even the "having to change a flat tire in the rain" type of suckieness. It's just the flat out sucks. I can honestly say this is the hardest thing I've ever had to go through. Don't judge because I've gone through my fair share of "my life sucks" moment.
     Death, sickness, and the common trails of life have all entered my life at one point or another. I had to deal with the alcoholic parent, the loved one walking out of my life, and being thrown into a completely different life all before I was a teenager. Even if it sucks at that moment in time, I always see what God's plan was eventually. Alcoholic parent? I don't drink or harm my body. Plus, it lead to me pursue a degree in psychology. Loved one walking out? It made me a guarded person and that has prevented me from getting hurt, plus another reason why I'm pursing a degree in psychology. Being thrown into a completely different life? It took me a while to realize, but gained an amazing father figure, a sister, and a grandmother. But this deployment is really testing me.
    I think every married person should have to endure some sort of deployment. It really helps people realize how they want their life to be, and see what really matters in their relationship. Does it really have to be an argument if he, yet again, leaves clothes on the floor? Is it really that important to have the garage organized all the time? It's really not. It'd be nice, but it's not important and not worth putting a strain on your relationship.
     Another thing that this deployment has made me realize is that no matter what situation you're in, it still sucks. Oh your spouse is in the Army, Air force or Navy? It's still hard. Just because I'm going through a Marine Corpse deployment doesn't mean that it's any more or less hard on me than if he was in any other branch. Oh you have a child? I'm sorry that because I'm not a mother, you think it's not that hard. And same vice versa. Just because you have a child doesn't mean your deployment is harder. Oh your spouse is going on a "actual combat deployment" while my husband is on a MEU. It doesn't make it any easier. Oh your spouse is admin or a machine gunner? It still sucks for the loved ones at home. So what I'm really trying to say is that no matter what way you spin it, deployments absolutely SUCK!
    Don't get me wrong, I don't always sit around and ponder about how much this deployment can just be over and Matthew will be home with me. I have tried everything. Doing crafts for the house? Check. Girl's nights? Check. Trips to be with my family? Check. Cleaning every surface of my house? Check. Studying at the beach? Check. No matter what I do, I know that when it comes time for me to lay down at night, that's when I will miss him the most. When I wake up in the morning, I just lay there with my eyes clothes just smelling his pillow. I pretend he just left for work and think of what I can make him for dinner. I plan a date night all in my head, before I even open my eyes. Then, I open up my eyes, look at the date on my phone,  and go back to reality. I plan what I would make myself for dinner. I try to figure out what I can do that day to just leave my house. Instead of date nights, I gussy myself up to take photo's for his next care package. But I know that this is one of those situations where a few months, or even a year or so down the road, God will show me how this benefited my life.

I can't promise this will be my last point about sucky deployments because I have over five months of deployment left. But, it used to be eight months so I feel accomplished. The bottom line of this? DEPLOYMENTS SUCK. End rant.

Military Monday: favorite care package!

First off, I have to apologize for the hiatus. It was finals week and I also took a mini vacation to see some great friends for my birthday who are at our previous duty station in Kingsland, Georgia. I will have a few blog posts about that trip soon. But, I am back! And for this “military” Monday, it’s another care package Idea!
 Oh! and we are officially SEVEN weeks down on this deployment! Next week marks the two month mark and I can honestly say time is going pretty fast for the most part. But, back to the care package :)
            I don’t know if any of you guys have read The Hunger Games series, but Matthew and I are HUGE fans! Matthew was the first to read it, and he eventually converted me. I am really into doing themed care packages so I got the best idea to do a fun Hunger Games based care package!

It was a really fun experience throwing the care package together, and I came up with a lot of great ideas. First off, was to decorate the box.

I decided to take the most famous quote and decorate the outside of the box with it. Next, for the amazing goodies! Since there are 12 districts, I decide to put something that represented each district in the care package.

District 1 is known for luxury items. So, for his “luxury” item I splurged and bought him instant Starbucks. And boy, was it a splurge! It just blows my mind that it cost so much!!

 District 2 is known for stone/rocks. So, I bought him pop “rocks”. I know, I’m so darn clever! Haha!

District 3 is known for it’s technology, so I decided to make a mixed cd. I filled the cd with all of the songs I listen to when I’m really missing him and am having a bad day.. 

District 4 is known for fishing. So, I decided to send him some tuna. He's been on a healthy kick since we've moved to Camp Lejeune and really enjoyed tuna for lunch. I thought it would be perfect for District 4.

District 5 is known for power. However, Matthew didn't take anything that needed batteries. Just my luck right? Well a flash drive plugs into a computer right? which kind of give is power I guess. I know, I know. I'm lame! But I send him another video giving him an update of what's happening on the home front. 

 District 6 is known for transportation. This was probably the hardest district because it's not like I could send a toy car or something. So I was really lame and bought this puzzle.

District 7 is know for lumber. So I decided to take a small plaque of wood, paint it a basic color, and modge podge a picture of us onto it. It's nice because it's small that he can keep it somewhere on his rack to look at before he goes to sleep :)

 District 8 is known for textiles or cloth. This one isn't very fun, it's more so practical. I realized when he left that he didn't take any wash clothes with him so I decided to add some to this care package.

District 9 is known for grain. Matthew made the comment that he'd really like some fiber bars so how perfect did it fit for district 9!

  

District 10 is known for livestock. He loves beef jerky and "cowtails". It fits perfectly into the theme!  

District 11 is known for agriculture. Matthew happens to love pistachios and sunflower seeds!

 District 12 is known for coal. So I made "coal" crispies! Matthew loves rice crispie treats so I thought I would get creative and send some edible coal!

This card really has nothing to do with the Hunger Games. But, I saw it on pinterest and decided to make it for him :)

Next, I assembled everything. I also added some things he requested like razor's and such.

I decided to add a little something extra to the top of the box :)

And there you have it! My favorite care package so far. I hope you all enjoy it and can take some idea's from it :)