Ten on Thursday

I'm going to hop on the "Ten" train! Lots of my friends have been doing this lately, so I thought I'd try to come up with 10 interesting tidbits about our lives, too. Well...I said I'd TRY to make them interesting! Ha!

1) We try to take advantage of long weekends, and this one is no different! We're heading out to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA tomorrow. I'm super excited b/c there is a Sesame Street section there, and I think Elli will have a blast! PLUS, our little family gets in free thanks to our military man :)

2) Chris's dad & Donna will be joining us on our Virginia adventure...which makes me even more excited!

3) I heard Baby D's heartbeat again today. Such a sweet sound!

4) Only 3 more weeks and we find out if Baby D is a girl or a boy. WooHoo, I can't wait!

5) I made King Ranch Chicken Casserole for the first time last night, and we all LOVED it! Click on the link for the recipe :)

6) After a brief hiatus, I'm going to be turning on my sewing machine again. I know, crazy! I have so many pregnant friends right now that I just can help but drag out the fabric, scissors & thread to make some fun baby gifts!

7) It is my opinion that window treatments really "make" the house. We finally got the last ones hung last night and I can't tell you the difference it has made!! It finally feels like home.

8) We went to a "base brief" last week at Chris's squadron. We heard about the upcoming deployment schedule, and got a preview of all the bases that are available to us. I gotta say, I didn't leave that brief with warm fuzzies! These past 2 years of Chris's training have really spoiled us both (& Elli!). In 5 short months, we'll be back to the "real world" of long days, deployments, TDY's, and typical military life. I know we'll adjust, we always do...I'm just not really looking forward to it.

9) Elli's vocabulary is exploding! She is such a little mimic, and it makes me laugh. Her current favorite words are: boo boo, shoes, choo choo, up please, and Daddy. She says new ones every day, and she knows many more than just these...it's just that she says these particular ones so often that if you're not careful you'll start banging you head against the wall! And she gets louder each time she says one, until she's screaming SHOES and nearly falling down from the giggling. Who taught her that?! Cracks me up!

10) HUGE shopping weekend in store for me! Well, mainly Monday, but I think 1 day of the crazy sales will be plenty. Did you know that Gymboree has everything in stores and online for $12.95 or less? EVERYTHING! And Carter's is having a 60% off sale. Coach has everything 30% off at the outlets, Crazy8 has everything in stores and online at $10.99 and under. It's nuts I tell you...and I plan on being right in the middle of it!!

Happy Memorial Day weekend, friends!!

On my heart...

I don't usually go crazy with blog hopping. I'm more of a "stick with what/who you know" kinda girl. But today, for some reason, I found myself reading the blog of a blog friend. Does that make sense? Anyway, the blogger is a fellow military spouse and her post was about her husband (who she doesn't name, before the OPSEC freak-outs start). Did I just lose anyone there? Stick with me, I promise not to use any more military lingo :)

As I was reading, the tears just started pouring. I mean, pouring. This sweet woman's husband is dealing with PTSD, a Traumatic Brain Injury (which he got while gone on a 15 month deployment), and several other issues from his past. He's hurting. She's hurting. And it made my heart hurt...for our soldiers, our families, and our country.

Unless you live the military life, you will never quite understand what it's like. Trying to explain deployments, or feelings about deployments, to people who have never experienced them is hard. And honestly, it just doesn't work...there really are no words to describe what those months are like for the families of soldiers who are away. It's not just the separation. It's the fear that holds your heart like a vice from the moment you see your loved one step foot on that plane/bus/transport car, to the moment they return again, that is so difficult. "Oh please, Lord, please please please let him return safely" is a soft prayer that I know all too well.

This isn't a woe-is-me thing. There are a million things about the military that I love, and I honestly think that the good things usually outweigh the bad. Plus, who doesn't love a man in uniform?! What reading that blog made me realize though (once I pulled myself together!) is how important it is to be informed. I realized that I hide behind the fact that my husband isn't (and never will be) on the ground, and it gives me a little sense of security. I cloak myself in a blanket of "well, that could never happen to us" because, well...sometimes I just have to. But the fact of the matter is, our country is still at war. Sometimes the ones we love don't come back. Sometimes they do, but they're not the same as they were when they left. And it's hard...all the time.

The blog, for me, was a wake-up call. There have been several changes this year regarding military benefits, and we need to be informed. We need to elect officials who have military experience (if they will be dealing with military affairs), and we need to get involved in our own future. I didn't know that there was so little available for families who have soldiers suffering from PTSD. I can't imagine how alone this woman must feel knowing that she can't help her husband. But I can pray for her, about the situation, and for our government officials. I can get involved by writing letters. And I can be a friend, maybe not to her specifically (though the Lord may be working on that!), but to other women in my community who I know may be suffering as she is. And you guys can do that, too. I think it's the least we can do.