Friday, May 3, 2013

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Now that my Hubby has been home for over a month...I am not as worried about OPSEC.  So I am publishing some posts that have been sitting in my draft folder for quite a while.

The Hubby is not only in the United States, he also done traveling and getting ready to go through demobilization.  One more airplane ride and he is mine!

  One of the things I appreciate most is the fact that the DoD at Fort Bliss takes pictures of the soldiers before they head out and when they get back.  It may be a couple weeks before I get to pick him up...but seeing his picture makes my heart thump-thump-thump!

Its like a game of where waldo...only camo instead of red and white stripes.
Hint: Step 1)find the soldier holding the left side of the Montana state flag.
Step 2) moving at a diagonal move two heads back from his left shoulder.
That's him, The Hubby.

Can you find him here?
5th bench up, 2nd solider in. 


 This one should be easier - look for the handsome one ;)
He is in the same spot as the above picture.




Yellow Ribbon

Now that this deployment is over I can look at the past year in a more positive note.  The biggest pro to come out of it is meeting some the strongest, kindest women.  And making some great friends.  I really wish I would have taken more pictures, because there are more than 5 that helped me through it.

The February Yellow Ribbon Event in itself contained a lot of great information, but by far the biggest benefit of it was networking.  The only ones who can truly understand what you are going through, are the ones going through it with you.

260th Army Wives

These two gals are the best ab workout routine ever.  
Seriously, you will laugh so much it will hurt for days...in a good way.

My wonderful friend and her four beautiful daughters.



A Paper Princess Adventure

A very dear friend of mine from college recruited my help in a school project for her daughter.  The 1st grade class made paper dolls (think flat Stanely) to send somewhere, anywhere, in search of an adventure. I immediately agreed...and then began wondering what kind of adventure I could find for a paper doll.

I know, I know, of course she picked me!  Who else would pop into your mind at the first thought of adventure? Luckily I so happened to actually have something penciled in besides.

In February I attended a While They Are Gone Yellow Ribbon Event.  My mom was on deck for watching the kiddos and I was to catch a ride with a fellow wife and wonderful friend...and her 4 daughters.**  I had originally thought the adventure could be hunting for a prom dress for the oldest daughter, or going along with them for some waterslides....or drinks with the other wives. I knew there had to be an adventure in there somewhere. The weekend turned out to be so nice, lots of information and resources about what to expect with our soldiers coming home. It also had the perfect thing for a princess and her paper likeness to present and share with her class.


In case you don't recognize the gentleman above, His name is Arthur Boorman.  Please watch his video below, and get familiar with his story.  Grab a box of kleenex and prepare to be inspired while you are at it.




The Keynote Speaker was Arthur   He is even so much more amazing in real life.  A kind soul, intelligent, and down to earth man.  I especially found his telling about how he and his wife handled deployment and reintegration helpful. He is a special education teacher that used his own journey to teach and show his students that within themselves they can overcome anything.  I would actually also love to meet his wife, they way he spoke about her and his family shines a light that the entire family is nothing short of inspirational all on their own.

** If you are reading this friend, I swear I still stick to my original story, they were fine.  You have done a great job.  They are wonderful girls.  I promise!

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Cha-Cha-Changes

You might have noticed I changed the name of my blog.  I did so for a couple of reasons.

  1. I started the blog as a way to keep our day to day activities available to the Hubby while he was overseas.  Now that he is home Life of a Wife: just a wife waiting on her soldier to come home doesn't really fit. I have decided to continue blogging because I enjoy it and love that family and friends can keep up with us.
  2. My little blog is becoming more of a family journal now and will likely be documenting more life on the farm adventures and memories...and down the road we may end up building a house out of town or maybe on the farm...aka Sandstone Creek Ranch.
  3. With my readership mainly being family and friends I want to be easier to search for. When I started it I didn't have a name in mind.  So with the website of sandstonecreekliving.blogspot.com but named Life of a Wife, it was harder to search for.  If you try you will find hundreds of similarly named blogs that are much bigger than my little one.  Consider the move more grandma friendly.
  4. I'm a bit random, indecisive...and I just felt like it.