2008 was a very good year

So it seems the "cool" thing to do when a year comes to an end is a top 10 list. Never one to be uncool here is mine:

The Top 10 Moments of 2008

10. Starting my blog, I had no idea at the time that I would find so much comfort in it.

9. Turning the "disaster room" into a room that is suitable for guests and my work out equipment!
8. Getting back in shape while DH was away...unfortunately when he came back I fell out of my routine but I think this next time I will be better prepared!

7. Starting my new job, when I left the nonprofit I wasn't sure what I would find but I had my choice of jobs and while this one doesn't pay well and can be very frustrating I have met some good people here and accomplished all the goals set for me.

6. When I came to peace with the fact that my family isn't what it used to and it is OK to grieve that as long as I learn to appreciate them for who they are now.

5. Having my friends come to visit! One was a good friend that I have known online for about 2.5 years that I had never met in person and the other was an old college roommate. It was so amazing to have them with me when I needed them most! I love you guys!!

My old roommate and me , it's pretty obvious where we are haha (but shhhhhh)

"Wife of a Wounded Soldier" Cheryl and me at the piano bar.

4. DH reenlisting, having that security is fantastic, and knowing that despite all the BS he loves what he does

3. Paying off our credit cards! I never thought we could do it but we did. It's like a huge weight has been lifted.

2. The day before DH came home. I was able to look around the house and at my own body and see what I was capable of when left to mine own devices. Yes, it was really hard and there were a few days that I hid from the world but all in all I think I did a pretty good job!

1. This one is obvious...DH coming home from deployment! That moment I saw him get off the bus and our eyes met and he got the biggest smile I have ever seen. It is a moment like no other. I will hold on to that picture in my head forever and I know it is going to help me get through 2009 because it's looking like it's going to be a hard year.

OK 2009, I'm not sure if I'm ready for you but I am going to try my hardest!

update....

...so we got word, no training. He will be heading out with the guys on the next rotation. Then hopefully he will be sent to training as soon as he gets back, then he will be back for a little bit then back out for deployment around the holidays next year.

Obviously it's all subject to change but he was told that he will go to this training this year so they better send him! That being said, I am not looking forward to spending the majority of 2009 all alone.

simple gifts

I don't know much about Shakers, OK I don't know anything about them except for one song.
(If it hasn't yet Music will start to play - just scroll down to turn it off if you wish)

Growing up my father loved NPR, it was on in his truck at all times but on Saturday afternoons it was on in the house, much to the dismay of everyone else :). If you've never listened to NPR on a Saturday afternoon you are missing out on all sorts musical gems (now that I am old enough to appreciate them, at the time I wanted to rip my ears off!), Saturdays were folk music days. All sorts of folk music from Peter Paul and Mary to some dude playing the spoons. For my father it was heaven. There are a few songs that have stayed with me and one of them is "Simple Gifts." It is an old Shaker song written in the 1800's by Joseph Brackett. The tune was just so pretty (you may know it from Lord of the Dance) and the words were, well, simple.

Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,

'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,

To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

For some reason I have been hearing this over the past week. Every time I do I ask my husband if he remembers where he's heard it (as a surprise to my family this is the song I walked "down the aisle" to in honor of my father) silly me to think a boy would remember that! But a big part of me thinks that hearing this tune twice within a week of our wedding anniversary is my father's way of letting me know that he's proud and happy that everything is working out better than DH and I could have imagined.

It may sound far fetched but this is not the only time he's used music to reassure me. He loved Jonathan Edwards (the singer from the 70's not the fraud who talks to dead people) and would sing "Sunshine" off key all the time. It's not really a song you hear on the radio....ever but on 3 different occasions when I was having a really bad day the year after he died that song would come on the radio and make me feel better. Such a fitting way for a man who loved music to let me know that he's always with me.

In army news, we will not know until about 2 weeks before deployment is DH is going or if he is finally going to the training that he has been promised for the past year...He needs to pass a super hard PT test made harder because he's been practicing his push ups so much that he has tendinitis in his shoulders. Please pray that he has recovered enough to pass and head to the training. It's not that I don't want him to deploy - that is his job and should go whenever needed but this training would mean good things for our family.

I don't want to go...

Please don't make me go back to work tomorrow! We've been having such a good time together these last few days. I can't believe the year is almost over...we are SO CLOSE to him leaving again, can't we just pause time for a bit?

26 dec

Today has been a significant day in my life for 8 years now. The events of this day through out the years have changed my life dramatically.

26 Dec 2000, my father's first chemo appointment. He was diagnosed about a month earlier but they needed the time to figure out a game plan and let him enjoy what turned out to be his last Christmas. Every year for the next 4 years I would have a very hard time on this day.

26 Dec 2005, this is the exact opposite to 2000 - this was the happiest day of my life to date. This is the day I went from Ms. P. to Mrs. S!
Here we are 3 years later and happier than ever. It's a good feeling because everyone I knew thought I was crazy to marry a guy I had only known for 4 months and who was in the army! But I knew this was it. In all of the 25 years before I knew him I was never more happy than when I was in his arms. And had 26 December 2000 not have happened 26 Dec 2005 would have just been another day - that I am sure of.

26 Dec 2006, DH and I FINALLY moved in together! Yup a full year after we were married. After the wedding it was back to BCT for him then off to AIT and Jump and lots of other training. We didn't even think that we would be able to live together this soon but when he got to his final school the denied him a room in the barracks and told him I would have to join him. He got that news the week before thanksgiving, we moved him into our apartment the day after Thanksgiving while I was home the next month setting up the move with the Navy base in Newport and working my last few weeks. That Christmas Eve was bitter sweet, I said goodbye to my family that night. We spent Christmas with his family then headed home to pack up a few things. The morning of the 26th 2 men came in and packed up my life and when everything was on the truck DH and I jumped in my old Honda and drove 14 hours to our new place.
This is how we lived for 3 weeks waiting for our household goods to be delivered!

Today and last year it has been just a low key day. I think the 26th will always be the day I take down the tree and reclaim my living room!

Oh and in case you were wondering, on this day in 2005 I didn't think about the days events 5 years earlier even once.

Life is good and I tell ya, DH and I are living the good life.

Christmas Eve

This was always the "big show" growing up. There would be so many people at our house over the course of the night. You could hear laughs in every room. I loved it. After I met DH Christmas Eve shifted to his family home, it was a welcomed change as Christmas Eve had drastically changed for me.

In 2005, our first Christmas together, it was hard. It was the first Christmas since his sister died and while everyone at the house was having a good time you could help but feel that someone was missing. I never met her but I do miss her. Along with that there was a lot of joy as well. His young cousins were running around excited for Santa and all the talk was focused on the 2 weddings in the next week. DH and I were married on Monday, Dec 26 and his cousin was married 5 days later on New Year's Eve. It was an exciting time.

It's 5:15 EST which means that Pop is on his way to Quans Kitchen to get the spread of Chinese food (they will be eating leftovers for days) and the family has started to arrive at the house. I so wish we were there. (DH did remind me that I will be there next year but he will be "away.") Our Christmas Eve looks pretty nice too, I was finally able to get my hands on some duraflame logs! We have a nice gift basket from my stepmother and plenty of "spirits" to put us in the spirit.

I am enjoying this time, even if he is playing xbox with his boyfriend next year he will be away and the year after that, who knows...odds are that I will be pregnant or we will already have a baby! It's insane how quickly life can change on you!

And finally, I don't know his name but a older man slipped on some ice coming out of the store today, he landed chest first on the hood of a car. I saw it happen but couldn't get out of my car fast enough. I was able to help him up but he seemed to be in a lot of pain. Please keep him in your prayers that he didn't crack any ribs or anything more serious.

My dad and stepmother on his last Christmas Eve. Behind them you can see the advent calendar I was talking about.

a family tradition

Throughout the years our family hasn't lacked for traditions. We may have been an "nontraditional" family in our blood lines but that's it. (the quick story on that, I have 3 sisters - 2 of them are my "half sisters" and they both have different fathers so D and I are the only 2 "full sisters and F moved in with my mother when I was very young and Dad raised M like she was his own...then I have 2 stepbrothers, one, J is 6 months younger than me and the other, R is 10 days younger than D...imagine trying to explain this to your friends in elementary school!). I love my family, I do a lot of complaining about D but she's still my best friend and we would do anything for each other.
This is the earliest Christmas picture I found of all 6 of us. I don't know what year this is but I am guessing from the dresses it's like 84 or 85. My dad was a photographer so a family picture was always something we did. Some others that we did every year:

- Daddy would read "Twas the night before Christmas" on Christmas eve after church and before bed (until about 1996 when we were to cool and made fun of it)
- We had an advent calendar that was a shape of a Christmas tree and the days were counted with ornaments and each one had a bible story behind it, Daddy would always put the star up as the last piece in Christmas Eve
- We watch A Christmas Story a few times every year
- My brothers would get cap guns in their stockings and my parents would get up when the guns started, as we got older we started making them coffee too.
- We would get to open one gift on Christmas eve and it was always pajamas.
- Opening gifts on Christmas morning was easy, we would each have our own pile and we would all open one at the same time - they were sure to get us the same amount.
- Breakfast on Christmas morning was always Dough Boys (fried dough) my dad would make them every year.

Obviously a lot changed after April 2001, when my dad died Christmas kind of died for me too. It is still very hard for all of us, I am sure that once I have kids of our own and resurrect some of these traditions and create our own I will get that Christmas spark back. I just wish my kids could have met him. He was the most amazing story teller I have ever met, he was St. Nick. He would go around to the Episcopal churches in the area and tell the story of St. Nick and pass out "gold" (chocolate) coins.
I am excited for Christmas this year, DH and I will exchange stockings and hang out all day. I am making dough boys for breakfast...it's going to be nice.

Life throws you curve balls and not everything turns out the way you had planned but all you can do is take the gifts you've been given (for me it's all the wonderful memories of my childhood) and live life the best you can.
This is Christmas 2003, my brothers and sisters (minus F.) and my paternal grandmother. This is the last Christmas we spent in the house my dad bought for the family, it was also the last time all 5 of us have been together on Christmas. R was a marine at the time and has since settled in CA with his wife and kids, I am far away doing the army wife thing and the others are all back east trying to figure out how you combine your old family with your new one.

We may not have been all born into a family together but were bless to have God put us together as one.

santa?

As I've said before we did not have much growing up but we never knew it. We had a house over our heads and food on the table, some times it was a 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread situation (Matthew 14:17) because somehow we always had enough. And while we may not have had the latest toys or new clothes we always had love and that was really all we needed.

I can't imagine the stress that came along with Christmas time, the year I got my Cabbage Patch Kid my dad and stepmother sold their class rings. Gifts for 5 kids is a tall order.

This one particular Christmas that I am thinking about, I think it was before my dad married my stepmother so I had to be about 5. It was Christmas Eve and my sisters and I were all in our beds when we heard a commotion going on downstairs. We all snuck out of our beds and tiptoed down the stairs and into the hallway outside of the family room.

There he was.

Red suit, white beard, big belly, sack full of toys!!! If I was 5 then D. was 6 and M. was 7...Dad must have let F. in on the scam because she was 9 or 10. Anyway, we silently freaked out. We knew that if he saw us then he would pack it up and leave us with NOTHING! We decided that the old sleepwalk move was our best bet so we all walked up to our beds with eyes closed and arms in front of us (like zombies because that is how kids thing sleepwalkers walk!).

The next day we couldn't wait to tell Daddy that we saw Santa! It was so cool, and my dad and uncle listened to us go on about how we knew he was real and how amazing it was and they were just eating it up.

Years later Dad let us know that he called his buddy with a Santa suit to come over and be "seen". I don't remember one gift I got that year but the memory of "Santa" is still one that makes me smile. My dad sure knew how to make his little girls happy on Christmas.

snow day!

Well not like we had anything to do today anyway but still it's fun to spend the day in a nice warm "house" (OK it's really an apartment but whatever) while the snow comes down outside. And again, the pup had an amazing time playing in it. We didn't lose power last night so that was good but I wish we had parked DH's car under a weak tree...we would love to get rid of th at thing!

Today was football day, the Patriots had the national game so we were able to watch it in HD and they really killed the Cards the the Seahawks beat the Jets so as long as the Jets beat the Dolphins next week we are in!

I also had a little "me" time today which was really nice, I took the pup for a nice long walk in the snow and had a blast - this the girl who hates snow! Being out there while it was coming down with the cold air...I really felt alive. And the smell of the air when it's snowing, it reminds me of home. Here are some pics from our snow day:

He's just a few weeks over 2 years but he's finally starting to grow up, he's now "marking" which is something he's never really cared to do before. I guess I should stop calling him a pup since he's coming into "manhood" now.

Self take in the snow!

I think this week I will post some of my favorite Christmas memories growing up - tell you more about the man who had a big part in who I am today. My dad was Mr Christmas! It wont be sad I promise, I have a feeling he reads this and I like him to know that I am OK. :)

power please stay on!

I am such a worrier, I get anxiety over the stupidest things (I have the pills to prove it!) I don't know if I have been living under a rock or what but I was surprised when I took the pup out and it was snowing! We made a quick trip to the market doe some bread, milk, and Band of Brothers on Blue Ray - unfortunately they were out of duraflame logs so if power goes out we will have to bundle up. Now I am freaking out because what if we do lose power? Grrrr this is what I get for not watching the news but I am not going back out on those roads. Well, we have our cardboard to-be-recycled pile if need be...(oh plus how will we watch football tomorrow without power?)

Yesterday was the Christmas party at work, my friends and I decided the only way it would be fun is if we wore ugly Christmas sweaters...

It was a nice little party but I would have liked it better if DH was invited.

snow!

I hate the stuff. I hate driving in it, I hate it on my car, I hate it being tracked through my house, I just don't like it. We really don't get much of it where we live but when it comes - forget it! Stay off the roads! There are 2 reasons for this, first there are like 7 plows in the whole county and second, people here just don't know how to react.

I am a proud New Englander and I was taught to drive in snow, so I pride myself on my ability to do it. That being said, if you are behind me you will not be happy, I drive what the road allows and not what ever I feel like! If you respect the snow you will not have a problem - if you feel the need to fly past me I will feel the need to wave at you while you try to get your car back on the road! I think DH and I are going to stay home all weekend where it's safe!

One good things about the snow is that the pup LOVED it. He didn't quite know what to make of it at first but he loved jumping around in it.

what a dork!

So DH would kill me if he knew I was blogging about this but the way I see it I really don't have a choice, it's to delicious to keep to myself. I am sure that I have mentioned that DH plays more xBox that a 12 year old boy, it's rather annoying but since he's so darn cute I deal with it. For the past few months his game has been some hockey game that "is so cool because you can play with a lot of different people all at the same time and you each play your own position..." or something like that. He loves it, he's always on the Bruins and it's like at childhood dream come true for the guy.

This is where it gets good.

He started playing with a group of brothers who are spread out over the east coast, they are all in the medical field as well so they had that in common but apparently they were not up to DH's skill level so he went looking for new teammates. This is when DH met the person I now refer to as his "boyfriend in Florida." I guess this guy is from Massachusetts too and lives in FL with his wife. They (DH and him) are in L.O.V.E. Well they started their own team and have been doing really well and since DH is a nice guy he let his other friends play on the team and gave them GM rights so they can change jerseys and things like that if they want. On the weekends DH and his boyfriend will play for HOURS at a time, on Saturday they are usually drinking as well...together but apart how sweet...and they got the team into division 5 out of like 40 or so with all the other loser hockey players out there. Well, his original teammates stole his team! They went in with the GM password and cut DH and his boyfriend and changed the password!

Grown men did this. Doctors did this. Think about that at your next visit - he could he that guy who sunk so low as to take someones FAKE hockey team from them.

Needless to say, DH is not very happy but I think it is one of the funniest things to happen all year. I have so many army wife friends that I know from MySpace and places like that and every now and then there is online drama. DH never wants to hear about it because he thinks that it's dumb that I have friends that I have never met and I shouldn't care what they say...now he knows what I was dealing with!

I love it.

Oh but the funniest part is that he put an ad out on the xBox message boards looking for a teammate - now who's the loser with virtual friends? Life is good.

who is mrs. s? why I wear the "mask"

Yes, every one's favorite kind of blog - the self important one (and even better I wrote my title in the third person - wow even I want to punch me!). Anyway, I know that I have, over the past 10 months or so, given away little tid bits like where I'm from, what I do, I've even posted some pictures oh myself, DH, the pup. So obviously I am not too much of a mystery - I live 3000 miles from home, west coast - 14 degrees out, obviously not southern CA...with little army knowledge it's fairly obvious where we are stationed. Yet I wont come out and say it. I wont come out and say who DH works for either. I am very careful to follow OPSEC (Operational Security) rules, I never give dates, locations, missions...any of that. DH, as I've said, is special operations and me even having a blog where I talk about any of our army life is frowned upon by his higher ups. I really don't care about that! I know what I am saying and what I am doing and I am in no way putting DH or his friends in danger but in order to cover my butt with it all, I pretend that no one knows who I am!

Now the other reason is I like to keep this from my family. I like to have a nice place where I can come and just vent about them. I love and miss them so much but sometimes I thank God that I am 3000 miles away from the drama and questions! Maybe one day I will let them know that I have this but I doubt it. I have given this out to a few of my friends, Wife of a Wounded Soldier is one of my closest friends and we keep up on each others blogs. Also, my friend Erin who sadly just left myspace will hopefully be checking in here soon! I am sure as time goes on I will let others in on my secrete blog life as well...we shall see.

Basically I am just testing the waters I guess - how much do I feel comfortable sharing with whoever feels like reading? I do love having a place to just record my thoughts and some of the goings on in my life and I think it's really cool that other people are interested in it as well!

I am going to add an email address on my page, in case someone wants to contact me. I love comments but I hate that you can't respond to them directly!

baby it's cold outside....

My goodness, who turned the heat off?? I thought that the trade off for me living in this crappy part of the country was that we don't really get as cold as New England. When I took the dog out this morning it was 14 degrees! 14!! That is just not acceptable. OK, I suppose I have to accept it because I don't think complaining will make a big of difference. The dog was not too impressed either, he's not a fan of the cold at all. It does seem that the weather is all anyone wants to talk about today, for me it was a non issue - we didn't get any snow, no ice, a little wind but that's pretty much it.

In other non-news today is the last day for ground shipping on the website at work, if people want their orders by Dec 24th they will have to be shipped express - all this really means for me is that work is really going to start slowing down. I love being busy, makes the days go by so much faster! My job is very strange, we sell chocolate and along with web marketing I take phone orders from people who are still afraid to use a computer...one woman today went on with me about menstruation cycles and when it's best for women to eat chocolate. Seriously lady? That is what you talk to a complete stranger about? I guess I sound to friendly on the phone or something. I have to call AAA later to renew my sister in law's membership, perhaps I will talk to that sales rep about kidney stones...

On final note, I got my gifts off to New England today so all that I have left is to renew that membership and fill DH's stocking and I am D.O.N.E.! Woo hoo! I am sure DH and I will pick up a few things for the critters but once I start counting them on my shopping list I will think that I have finally lost it.

fun with balls

Christmas tree balls that is! Last month I signed DH and me up for "Heroes at Home" with Sears, they are helping military families out this Christmas. They sent us a gift card with $100 on it and on Dec 26th they will take the rest of the donations made and add more money. I am not usually one to take things like this, we have a lot of bills (because I was dumb and went to a private college which cost more than my parents even made a year!) but we get by but I figured what they hell - the people making donations want to made life a little easier for a military family and that is what we are. Well, not only did we get the gift card but we also got $100 to spend on 'trim a tree" stuff at K-Mart and Sears! So cool! So I went to K-Mart tonight and a few things and spent NO MONEY! Anyway, here are my new decorations.






But the big news is...DH (do you all know what that stands for? Dear Husband if you didn't) let me pick either the dining room I've been wanting for MONTHS...or a new mattress. Well since I haven't slept through the night in about 8 weeks I decided that the mattress is the best option. It comes tomorrow!!! I must say that I loved the guy who helped us at sleep country, he was amazing. He knew we were on a budget and well $1500 for a mattress set is A LOT of money, I asked if we found the same set on post (the Army doesn't have "Bases" we have posts) would they repay the tax as part of their price match. Well he deiced to pay the tax for us but to also throw in all sorts of crap for nothing! I know that a few of my readers live in the same area as me so if you want to know where you can get a great mattress from a great guy let me know. ;)

As for right now I am still waiting for the storm to hit...my mom called from Kentucky to worn me about it and I told here that I would be fine but please pray for my family in New England, some are without power - it's just a bad situation up there!

I'm glad he realized the 52" is just to much!

So DH got his reenlistment bonus, the first thing I did was wipe out or credit card debt. It wasn't much but compared to some people but it was enough to drive me crazy. We are now a cash only family and we will stick to our guns about the whole "emergencies only" policy (which will be a lot easier now that DH has shown some interest in our finances and how it all works). The first thing DH did was head to Circuit City...this was OK, he is the one playing soldier for 5 more years so he can get a new TV if he wants.

He has been talking about getting a 52" LCD TV for our living room, our current 37" LCD is apparently not good enough. I have been telling him that 52" is just more TV than we need or have room for. It wasn't until he got an email from Best Buy with an offer for a 46" TV, Blue Ray player and surround sound for $2,000 did he realize that we could work it out to get all of those things for the prices of one 52" TV. Well the deal at Best Buy was sold out and that is why we ended up at Circuit City and I am so glad we did! DH usually likes to bring me along for large purchases because I ask the questions and I do the haggling but I think those days are over, wait until you see what DH brought home... (oh and these products are better quality than what Best Buy was offering, yay!)



He got all of this and 3 HDMI cables for about the original price of the TV! And now that everything is on HDMI we only have 3 wires going into the TV!!!! That is a huge improvement from this! Oh and the Blue Ray player...he picked up Stepbrothers last night (hysterical, crass but hysterical) and for the first half of the movie I couldn't concentrate because I was so distracted but how amazing it looked!

And I thought our old system was just fine, boy was I wrong! Now I just need to learn how to turn it all on...

how dare work interfere with my blogging!

I know I have been a bad blogger and since DH says I am the queen of excuses (I prefer to call them reasons...)I should give one to you - work has been crazy! Don't tell my boss but I do the majority of my blogging in between running reports and creating emails. On December 1st, otherwise known as "Cyber Monday" as it was the first Monday after black Friday we launched a free shipping offer email and the orders have just been pouring in...and I LOVE it! I don't know if I want to stay at this job for much longer but I am getting a lot of experience in web marketing and I have a new goal - I want to take web design classes so not only will I be able to market a site but I will be able to create it from scratch! I will see if I can coordinate a class with DH's schedule so I can do it while he's gone.

Oh I don't think I updated this - DH reenlisted last week! I think it was the best decision for our family so I wont have to change the name of my blog to "former army wife" for at least another 5 years. We are both feeling pretty good about it, my family is being a little weird. It's like my sister thinks that this life is like a punishment or something, I like being an army wife. I don't like sending my husband to war but I do like that he does something that he not only loves but that makes a difference. This is the only life we have knows as a married couple and I don't think I would change one thing about it right now. Oh well - my sister wanted us to move home and "be poor for a little while" because it would seem to her that we are only in it for the money which begs the question - WHAT MONEY? haha

december already

I love December! It is one of my favorite months, people seem to have an extra bounce in their step. And obviously I LOVE Christmas. But there is another important day in December, DH's and my wedding anniversary. We had to squeeze it in while he was home from Basic Training for Christmas. It's actually kind of a fun story...

...DH and I met in late August and spent a lot of time chatting on IM before we spent any real time together. It was a great way to get to know him, when you are not sitting face to face with someone it is a lot easier to say what you really want - there were no games. He first brought up the idea of the military in September - he was just throwing ideas around so I didn't really think much of it. When he started talking to recruiters is when I started to get nervous.

He did all of his testing and scored very well, he had his pick of jobs. I still wasn't sure that I was cut out for this, the guy I had been dating for less than 3 months was leaving for at least 4 years. If we were going to stay together we would be getting married. I let him know that I would be here waiting for him no matter how long he was away.

I was there when his recruiter picked him up and took him away.

He had only been gone for about 3 weeks when we both realized that this was what we wanted. We didn't want to have to spend any more time apart than necessary. One Sunday on one of his brief phone calls he said, "When I come home for Christmas I think we should just get married." I was kind of blindsided and really wanted to talk about it more but he had to get off the phone! Great. So I walked into the living room and told my sister "I think I'm getting married..." I knew he would call on thanksgiving and I would be able to make sure that he meant what he said.

Thanksgiving came 4 days later and we decided that yes, we were getting married while he was home and I was to plan it all...The planning was easy we both wanted the same thing, a very small low key wedding. 4 weeks later DH was home and we were married surrounded by 34 of our closest friends and family.

I know some people thought we were nuts for moving so quickly but when you know you know. We are about to celebrate another year together and in the past 3 years there has not been one day when I think we made a mistake. He is the man God created just for me and I am so glad I found him when I did.