A Year in Review!

2008 has been a great year, definitely up there with the best years of my life. A lot of things happened, but the best by far is the birth of our little girl Ellie. It definitely changed our life, but for the better. I cannot imagine life without her any more. 

2008 in Review

• Geoff has been to many many schools getting ready for deployment. Air Assault- Ft. Benning, Umo- Ft. Stewart, NTC- Ft. Irwin, Ft. Leavenworth, Ft. Polk, Ft. McClellen, and a week in Yuma, AZ trying to get to a course in Cali. 
• Lots of Weddings- my cousin Brian, my friends Kirstin and Julie, and my little sister Brittany.
• We went to Chattanooga and Blue Ridge on mini vacations
• Lots of Babies were born- Shay, Madison, Cole, Alyssa, Aubry, Finley, Sophia, and of course Ellie.
• Geoff changed units AGAIN! He also changed jobs... driving to Calhoun every day sucks.
• We have been preparing for deployment. You wouldn't believe what it takes to get ready to leave home for an entire year. 
• I had to leave Davis and all my friends there. Christa, Stacy, Terenca, and Paige... I miss you guys, however I started job sharing with Mel and keeping the kids when I am off. It is great and Chestatee has been a great school to work for so far. All the people there have been so nice.
• We have spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and family. I love my friends and family and they are going to be my saving grace next year. 

Looking back at all the great things we have done this year. It really has been a milestone year. I love the way our lives change so much over the course of one year. January 1st always brings new hope and new adventures. 

2009 is already a new adventure. I will spend the year raising our little girl while my husband goes to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. I am going to miss him more than words can say but I am focused on a few important things for 2009.

Here is my list of New Years resolutions:

• Spend more time with friends and developing even better relationships with the girls.
• Spend more time with family and focus on developing Ellie's relationship with her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
• WORK OUT- I have to get this baby weight off before Geoff comes back home. 
• Spend more time on my relationship with God. 
• Spend lots of time with my daughter.
• Keep my relationship with my husband alive across several seas.

Well that is all for 2008, heres to hoping that 2009 brings as many adventures, surprises and as much happiness as 2008. 

Happy New Year!

Vacation

We are having a blast here in Blue Ridge, GA. Here are some pictures from our trip.

10 Things I Wish Someone Would Have Told Me About Military Life

Everyone has their day. Some days are good and some are not so good. I have so far been coping fairly well with this deployment (or at least I think I have been). This past week however it has been a little tougher. I am sure it is just a culmination of different things going on, like Ellie being sick with a cold, the Army pulling Geoff away yet another week in Dec., having nightmares about the deployment and so on. It will pass and I will be fine again soon, however I am going to take this opportunity to vent just a little. So if you are looking for a positive, give you that warm feeling blog you may want to move on. 

10 things I wish someone would have told me about life as an Army Wife. 

1. Things change daily. One minute he is home and you think all is well and the next he is gone. 

2. The Army knows how to make it just barely worth sticking around. 

3. As a Army wife deployments are much easier when you live on post. 

4. You didn't just marry your husband, you married the Army too.

5. Deployments are 12 months long plus 6 months of schools away from home to get ready for the 12 months in country. 

6. The Army likes to appear to care about the Soldier's family.

7. Being in the National Guard instead of Active duty doesn't really mean you get to stay near your friends, family and job. (Well at least as an Officer's Wife)

8. Sure Drill is only once a month but it sure does always seem to be on the same weekend as every other important event in your life.

9. Not being on deployment doesn't mean their at home. 

10. Everyone you meet that finds out what your husband does gives you that I feel sorry for you look then you feel like you have to make excuses, tell them how great it is, and tell them how you really do fine when he is away. 

Okay so I may not really be as bad as all that. The Army has provided us with the life we have today, however it is a huge sacrifice I didn't fully become aware of until recently.  Geoff has been gone a lot through our whole relationship, but never like he will be next year.

2002- 6 months of Basic Training and 2 weeks of AT 

2003- 3 weeks at Airborne School and 2 weeks of AT, 

2004- 4 weeks at Camp and 2 weeks at AT 

2005- 4 week long Activation to Mississippi

2006- 5 months of OBC 

2007- 2 or 3 1 week courses that I can't exactly remember where

2008- 3 weeks Air Assault School, 1 Week Ft. McClellan, 3 Weeks Ft. Irwin, 1 Week in Yuma, 1 week in Ft. Stewart, 1 week in Ft. Leavenworth, 1 week at Ft. Polk and there are still two schools to go before he deploys on Jan. 5th. 

These are only the ones that stand out in my mind I am sure I missed at least one. As always there is more to come like Ranger School, Advance Course, etc....

Anyway enough of my ranting. Please don't say I told you so, or you knew when you married him or whatever you maybe thinking. I am fully aware of that, but you can't help who you love. I would chase him around the world or sit (maybe not so patiently) at home until he returns, and trying to be the best Army wife I can be. (no pun intended). 

Room for Improvement

I received the following in an e-mail from my Grandfather. I loved it so much that I decided to post it on my blog. It is a little lengthy but worth the read. I am challenging myself to focus on one of these at a time and by the end of the list maybe I will have a better life (not that it is bad just that there is always room for improvement). I have decided to focus more on the important things in life. So what if the house isn't spotless if I am working on myself, my families and my friends happiness. I challenge you to try it and see if it works as well. 

A GOOD RECIPE FOR A GOOD LIFE

 

1. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day.  And while you walk, smile.  It is the ultimate anti-depressant. 

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.  Talk to God about what is going on in your life.  Buy a lock if you have to. 

3. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement,

'My purpose is to __________ today.  I am thankful for______________' 

4. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that

is manufactured in plants/factories. 

5. Drink green tea and plenty of water.  Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli ,

almonds & walnuts. 

6. Try to make at least three people smile each day. 

7. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past,

negative thoughts or things you cannot control.  Instead invest your energy in the

positive present moment. 

8. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid

with a maxed out charge card. 

9. Life isn't fair, but it's still good. 

10. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. 

11. Don't take yourself so seriously.  No one else does. 

12.  You are not so important that you have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree. 

13. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present. 

14. Don't compare your life to others.  You have no idea what their journey is all about. 

15. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. 

16. Frame every so-called disaster with these words:  'In five years, will this matter?' 

17. Forgive everyone for everything. 

18. What other people think of you is none of your business. 

19. GOD heals everything  - but you have to ask Him. 

20. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 

21. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends will. Stay in touch!!! 

22. Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need. 

23. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

I am thankful for __________.  Today I accomplished _________. 

24. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.  

25. When you are feeling down, start listing your many blessings. 

You'll be smiling before you know it.  

The Countdown Begins

As of Wednesday we have exactly 2 months until Geoff heads off for mobilization. He will spend most of January at Ft. McClellan, Alabama, most of February at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and most of March at Ft. Polk, Louisiana. They will then head to Afghanistan late March early April. Of course this is all tentative. If you know anything about the Army it is nothing is ever final until after it has happened. I am not looking forward to spending all of 2009 without my wonderful husband. I am sure my friends and family will be glad for him to return in 2010. (I tend to be needy at times when Geoff is away; though I try very hard not to bother people sometimes I just can't help it.) Everyone has been so supportive and encouraging so far. I have had numerous people tell me to call them for anything I need. I can't believe the overwhelming support I have been given and it is still two months away! 

For those of you that have known me when Geoff has spent time away you know how I don't deal with this very well. It usually consist of mood swings, crying and feeling sorry for myself. Well I just knew that a deployment would be much worse and honestly for years I have been dreading it. I could never see how I would be able to survive a deployment. Well things haven't been so bad so far. There are two things that are different that I never factored into the equation in the past. The first thing is Ellie. Ellie is the second love of my life and she gives me a reason to keep going and someone to love in Geoff's absence. She has helped me tremendously and I am so glad to have her. The second is God. He has come back into my life in the recent past. I was saved when I was a young child and then I went off to college straying from my beliefs. Then recently I have begun my spiritual walk again. 

 One day I was driving home from school and the new Carrie Underwood song "Just a Dream" came on and I just began to cry uncontrollably. I decided at that moment to turn all my feelings and fears over to God and have complete Faith in him through this trying time. At that exact moment I felt this feeling of complete peace and have had the same feeling over the past several weeks every time I begin feeling sad again. God is amazing and I have truly been touched by the hand of God! I don''t know how people who don't know the lord can handle times like this in their lives. I just pray that he will touch them too, especially all the wives and children that will be effected by this coming deployment. 

Fairies and Camera Hogs

Today, I decided to try to get a good picture of Ellie in her halloween costume to hand out to our family and friends. So I get Ellie all dressed up and Shay is sitting right next to me. I start taking Ellie's picture and Shay starts crying. I would turn the camera toward Shay and he would stop crying and smile. It was so funny, he did this three or four times. I had to get some pictures of it. Then later he was eating lunch and was getting very sleepy. I can't believe it but he actually feel asleep while I was feeding him. I would take his picture and his eyes would pop open and he would smile. I just had to laugh; he is so cute! Here is the documentation to prove it. Also here are some cute pictures of my little fairy in her halloween costume. 

I thought this one was funny. She is like Come on Mom aren't you done yet!

Pumpkins and Gold

We had a great weekend doing all things that you can only do in the Fall. I love everything about the fall, the food (Yum, pumpkin bread), the decor, the weather, the events, etc...We went to the pumpkin farm, a corn maze, and Gold Rush. We had a blast and of course got lots of great pictures. Here are some of the best from the weekend. John took a few more great ones at gold rush. I will have to wait to post those till he sends them my way. 

Cute Picture

So Ellie is all smiles these days and I just had to post these pictures. It melts my heart every time I see this smile. 

Cousins

As most of you know my cousin Lynn and I were born on the same day 25 years ago on July 14th. Well this year on June 29th I had a little girl and not 24 hours later on June 30th my sister had a little girl. I have always loved having a cousin so close to my age and now my daughter will be able to have a cousin to share life with. We have tons of photos of Lynn and I as babies and now I am working on a collection of Ellie and her cousin Alyssa. Here are a few that we took the other day when Alyssa came to see us. 

Alyssa

Alyssa

Weddings and Babies

This past weekend was tons of fun. We got a lot accomplished but we had a lot of fun doing it. On Saturday I took engagement photo's for my sister and her fiance Nathan. They turned out great if I do say so myself. This is my favorite type of photography. I get to take pictures but it is also laid back and fun. Here are some of my favorites from the photo shoot.

 

I also took some of Britt by herself. I thought Nathan might like to have a good picture of her to frame. Here are my favorites of her mini- photo shoot. My beautiful sister Brittany!

 

After all the photo fun we went to Tam's backstage for a bridal shower for Brittany. She will be getting married in two weeks and I am excited to be her Matron of Honor. Here are a couple of pictures of my mom, sister and I. 

Finally on Sunday we went to my Aunt and Uncle's house to see my cousin's new baby girl, Finley. She is so cute and already has grown a lot since mid-August when she was born. I am glad we finally got to see her before she is all grown up. Here we are with my cousins Charles, Brooke and Finley.

Cumming Fair

Last night we went to the Cumming Fair with Pat, Mel, Shay, Jason, Sandy and Korey. We had a blast! It was a last minute decision to go and I am glad we did. We ate funnel cake, rode the ferris wheel, watched the pig races, went to the petting zoo, and played a couple games. Here are some pictures of Ellie's first trip to the fair. 

View from the top of the Ferris Wheel.

Jason and Sandy eating funnel cake.

Jason and Ellie watching the pig races.

Pat, Mel and Shay feeding the Camel.

Nessa, Geoff and Ellie hanging out at the fair.

Daddy and Ellie having fun.

Mom, dad and Ellie on her first Ferris Wheel ride.

Ellie loves the Carebear Daddy won for her.

Mom and Ellie riding the Ferris Wheel.

Pat, Mel and Shay riding the Ferris Wheel. Shay wasn't so sure about it.

Pat and Mel thanks for inviting us; we had a blast!