Ok Reality, You Can Go Now

So I like my little river, you know the one..ya that one "De-Nial" . I swim in it everyday, it is perfect, never too hot, never too cold, just right. So today as I am frolicking in the lovely waters of said river nasty old Reality jumps in and ruins everything. Yep, thats right, pesky bugger reality, try to avoid it as much as possible. But somedays you just have to deal with it so it can go away again. Today I got the mail and it said, To The Parents Of ... well you know who,it was for "US". As soon as I opened it I knew what it was, something I looked forward to every year about this time, at least for the last 4 years. It was the NJROTC schedule for the last of the school year and the summer. It was always nice to get so I could plan accordingly. This year it was different, this time when I was looking at it I realized these dates just weren't important to us anymore, the drill camps, the trips to Parris Island, none of these things were for us to worry about. This year my son wouldn't be at any of those events because he was graduating and leaving not only High School but this Unit that has meant so much to him, and to our family. I know he will be getting other letters from ROTC, and that this is the door closing so the new one could open. I realized that he would be part of a new Unit, and this is just another one of those things that happens in life. And even though I know these things to be true, I still feel a bit sad.

Flashback Friday

Michael and his "pops" NOW



Michael and his "pops" THEN and Warren (they were best friends when we lived in Spain.

Supreme+Court+rules+that+Mojave+cross+can+stay

Supreme+Court+rules+that+Mojave+cross+can+stay

This makes me incredibly happy. I am going to the site as soon as I get to 29!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Hubs Security Platoon this time last year, Afghanistan

Empty Nest

Ok, so I started this blog to help deal with some life changes that are about to happen. Selling our house was a part of that and quite frankly it has dominated everthing since my husband came home from Afghanistan. Now that it is behind us and I have some free time to contemplate what is next the thoughts of my son graduating soon have started to weigh on me more than I would like. I mean I am so happy and proud he is graduating and that he has done so well, Principles List, Outstanding Senior and early admission to every college he applied too. I get that those are fantastic things and I couldn't be more proud. But really, I haven't honestly let myself think about him actually going off to college and what that means. There is something so comforting about waking in the night and knowing your child is sleeping safely in the next room. There is something comforting about knowing your child is home safe and sound period. Our son was never the type of child to be far from us. As a matter of fact the longest he was ever gone from home was to Leadership Academy two summers ago and even then I knew he was on a strict schedule dominated by tons of Senior Military instructors. But college...ugh. I take a comfort in knowing our son is responsible, I take comfort in knowing my son has a big goal and partying and getting in trouble are not really in his "make-up". My hubs and I joke about Michael being the "Alex P. Keaton type", he is very conservative and doesn't enjoy chaos at all. Most of all we have to trust that he knows right from wrong and I belive he does. I want him to stay under my protective wings forever but I know that isn't possible and it isn't possible because my husband and I did what we were supposed to do as parents, we prepared him to be a responsible adult, we didn't raise a child, we raised a man. I want to share one of my favorite passages on parenting. It is from a book that was given to me by my mother and I used to read this passage and thought it was so true, now more than ever I need to believe it.

On Children
Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.



What is waiting for him out there? A bright future!

Military Monday

I have had the best weekend in a long time. No moving, no packing and no obligations! After a really emotional week it was so nice to just have time with my family. Friday night my son did an all night Relay for Life. It was a great event and since we are now living in New Bern we were right around the corner from the event which allowed us to bring our son pizza and tents and best of all my hubs was able to see Michael do his thing with his Cadets. Pretty much a full circle moment from the days we dropped Michael off at events as a freshmen and now as a Senior and the Commanding Officer to boot. The Cadets did a great job and my son was proud of them all. He got home about 9am on Saturday and we still had the "big" surprise for him. We were taking him to see the Silent Drill Platoon. He is a HUGE fan and has wanted to see them forever but we just haven't been able to get him to see them. So under the guise of going to my graduation (which is in June) we told him that was where he was going. I knew if he thought he was going somewhere for me he would do so willingly without complaint. I really wanted to get a great "surprise" video of him when he realized where he was but I didn't ... he realized I was videoing and he stayed stoic. But he was surprised for sure. It was so much fun watching them again through his eyes, it made it the best I had ever seen them. On Sunday we had a surprise visit from one of my hubs old Marines from Embassy Duty. We just hung out and had dinner and caught up on our lives. The group of us that were posted together in West Africa are a tight group. I don't think you can live in West Africa with a group of people with out it bonding you for life. Here are some pics, enjoy..we had the best time.




You can take all your celebrities and they will never measure up to the men who wear this uniform..justsayin



Michael made a straight line to the SDP Captain, he wanted to get information on being an Infantry Officer.





Mirror




You better pass muster!




Look how sharp they look.




This is easily my favorite part of the SDP ! Don't mess with them. FYI, all members of SDP are Infantry Marines.

Freedom Friday

I just love these guys/gals. I think they are fantastic and true Americans. They get "it". I love that they come out from all corners of this great country to escort our finest to their final duty station. Did you also know they escort returning vets when they get to their hometowns too? My mother-in-law is very active in the VFW Post in AZ where my hubs is from, when we went home last December we were getting ready to head out to the VFW for a Welcome Home dinner they planned for my hubs. We were all at my MIL's house and like any family trying to move a large group it was taking FOREVER..and then we heard it..the sound of thunder and low and behold we went outside and there they were..The Patriot Guard. Their were tons of them..and they came to welcome my hubs home too. It was fantastic. I had only ever seen them at funerals and I would always make a point to thank them for being there but this time it was a happy occasion so it was extra special seeing them.
What I love most about The Patriot Guard is that a lot of them are Vets themselves, some from Vietnam that never had a proper "welcome home" themselves and they are determined to make sure their brothers and sisters in arms get a proper welcome home. So long story short;




THANK YOU...FOR EVERYTHING

And Now For Something Light for Wordless Wednesday

My blog has been a bit dark lately..here is something to make you smile. I took this when we were home on leave this Xmas, don't mind the date. This was a little baby donkey...

Good News is Welcomed Here

Ribbon Awarded


My son is the Commanding Officer of his High School N.J.R.O.T.C. Unit (in case there is one person who knows me that has missed that lol) His Unit is called the Iron Brigade Regulators. They are an awesome bunch of young men and woman. Last year with some really good leadership the kids kicked it into high gear to shot for "Distinguished Unit" they fell a little short but received "Unit Achievement" So this year it was all my son wanted for the Unit was to get "Distinguished" before he left this year. He wanted it for his Cadets and he wanted it for himself. The process to get it is a bit complicated but mostly it is based off of community service, school service, drill meets and a big inspection. I went to the inspection and it was flawless, and they also were Down East Champions in drill and that was pretty big too. No one does more community service than these kids. Since Michael was a freshmen he has done some type of community service with his unit every Saturday consistently. But it all lead up to them finally getting the honor. I for one am incredibly proud of all the Cadets of Havelock High school Iron Brigade Regulators!

When a Child Dies

Yesterday I woke up to the realization it was the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. I remember how horrified I was to hear about it. It was one of those moments in history that everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news. I was at work, my hubs was in Marine Corps school, he had just gotten finished boot camp. I remember hearing about the children, how horrible, all those children and all the grief for the loved ones. About an hour later I was drinking coffee watching the news and on the Internet as usual. I heard a story about an accident in our old neighborhood, yes, the one we just left a week earlier. I heard a 16 year old had been driving and the 14 year old had been killed and the driver and another passenger were airlifted to the hospital. Again I thought "how horrible" the death of a child. And again I figured my son would more than likely know the child and was worried how he may take it. A little while longer I got a text from my hubs and it said, "call me I know who it was" So I did and he was right he did know who it was and so did I. It was a friend of ours little girl Haley and not only was Haley killed her older sister Amanda and younger brother John were hurt and in the hospital. Amanda is a classmate of Michael's and their dad was my husbands old boss before he retired and they lived down the street from us and we spent time at gatherings at their home. Now it was personal, I thought of Lori, their mother, how she must be. I found out later that Lori actually was at the scene and my heart broke. How many parents send their kids off to school and never see them again, how do you wrap your head around that. I don't even know what to say to Lori, to Top Mills. I hope I come up with something before I am face to face with them. Even though I know not one word in any language will ever make them feel OK. When my son came home I was so worried about him and how he reacted when he heard about the Mills kids. He was OK, probably better than me. I know our kids are all too familiar with death, our military children who hear of it and deal with it far too often in their young lives. But this was different. He said it was sad, he said everyone was talking about it at school and worried about Amanda and if she will be OK. Later that evening Michael was sitting next to me on his computer and he was on facebook, sharing his feelings with his peers, seems the accident was what all the kids were talking about. It occurred to me that is how children also reach out in times of grief. So somewhere in their discussions they all decided to wear black to school today in memory of Haley. I am happy they were able to come together to share how they felt. That is what I do on my blog and via twitter. Just remember the days ahead will be dark for the Mills family please send all your best out in the universe for them. They will need it.

Oklahoma City Bombing Remembrance Video

I am In Love...

With my new camera. I have been waiting so patiently for my Cannon Xsi EOS and I finally got IT!! I have been reading up on it and trying to figure out all the cool new things I can do..I can't wait to share with you all some of the pics I take with it. I am mostly looking forward to our cross country trip where I will be able to really get tons of great shots. But for now, let me share with you my very first pic..its not the greatest but I think I did ok for a complete novice.

A.A. Milne Quotable Quotes

When I was a little girl one of my first and favorite books was titled, "When We Were Very Young" I remember sitting and reading it over and over again. I don't think at the time I knew it was the same author that wrote Winnie-The-Pooh. I started reading before I started school, I guess I was a whiz kid at reading. Last night I was looking through some A.A. Milne quotes because I love quotes...lol.
So I stumbled across this one and as my sons graduation approaches and I am looking for the right thing to have inscribed for him I found this:

Promise me you'll always remember.
Your braver than you believe,
and stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think.

Now I remember why I loved Milne so much.

Freedom Friday HOMECOMINGS

I am going to talk about something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Something I have only experienced as an "outsider", a "friend", a "Marine Family Member" and that is losing your spouse while deployed. My husband has many deployments under his belt and probably one or two still left in our near future. As spouses when we send our husbands (I will refer to husbands since that is my frame of reference) we do so with the wonderful anticipation of the "homecoming". We think about it from the moment our eyes can no longer see one another as they leave on the plane, bus, car or however that moment comes. It is as much a part of us as breathing those months/year waiting for them to come home. It is such an emotional time that unless you have experienced it you could never really understand how many layers of emotions are involved. During the deployments when your husbands Battalion takes casulties you feel like a member of your family has died and you worry, you worry everyday and you think of the homecoming because it gets you through every memorial service you attend while they are gone. When you sit there in your chair crying hysterically for the lose of one of your own, but not really "your" own, you mind tells you how easily it could have been your husband, how the pain you feel is deep but can't touch how it must really feel. Everytime the news reports a death of a Marine/Soldier you stop in your tracks to hear the "who,what when and where" because we all know the media finds out before we do. And again, we start thinking about the homecoming.
Here is what I dwell on when my husband is deployed. I try not to go to this place often because it is dark and scary but inevitable. "If I lost him while he was over there, would I continue to wait for the homecoming?" Would it be a perpetual feeling of waiting? I have heard other spouses explain it like that, and to me that is the worse kind of way to have to grieve. I know our lives are so unigue and we deal with things most never do. But still we wait...and still we hope, that we all get our "Happy Homecoming"
Special thanks to Nadine for posting a great video today on her blog about homecomings to remind me of how lucky I have been to always have a happy ending.

JUST A QUICK ONE

Well today we closed on our house, its official...our big beautiful house is now someone elses to love like we did. I know a bit of the history of the young woman who bought our house, and I don't want to put her business on my blog but I will tell you that she needs a break, and I hope all our love and all our good memories somehow rub off on her and her little girl as they lay their heads down in the house that was our home.
Ok so now that door has closed I can see all the new ones opening in the future..and I am excited!
Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and good wishes and vibes you sent our way.

See Ya Later Friend

Well this has been a nice weekend, an emotional weekend. This weekend we had a memorial service for a very dear friend that we lost in Sept 09 while the hubs was in Afghanistan. Some of you that follow me on twitter will remember. It was tough and extremely difficult when our friend, who we consider a member of our family passed this last year. I will give you a little background information on Jim Hummel and his family. About 13 years ago I went in search of any men that served with my dad who was KIA in Vietnam when I was an infant. I wanted the truth about my dad, the good the bad and the ugly. I figured the best way to do this would be to find the men who served with him in the Marine Corps. I posted a little note on the "Virtual Wall" and was contacted by Jim Hummel shortly thereafter. And to make a long story short we became close, he shared photos he had of my dad, and memories and in a short period of time it was like we were family. His wife Maggie, and his sons were as well. We shared more emails than I can count and we shared important events. His family sent so many care packages to Greg and his Marines every time Greg deployed, and Gregs hardships became their own. They came to my husbands graduation from Det Commanders Course in D.C., We traveled to their home in Pa. And met several times over the years, and a lot of those times Jim was not in good health and still he came. Michael considered Jim a grandfather, he loved him as much as my dad, and would talk to him on the phone for hours. Maggie his wife is more special to us than I can express in writing and his sons, well we love them too. Jim's first love of course was his family, second, the Marine Corps. He was a decorated Combat Veteran and a disabled veteran. He passed this last year, I wasn't prepared, even though he was ill, I guess I just didn't want to believe he would ever leave us. It was a hard week when he passed for the hubs, he has lost some Marines from his Battalion and his best friend another Marine has also lost his life and now I had to tell him Jim had passed away, I just didn't know how to do it. Jim was truly our family, our chosen family member, we loved him. Greg took the news pretty hard. Mostly he wanted to be here for his wife Maggie, to make sure she was ok. To do what Marines do, to look after his own. He felt like he owed Jim that much, to comfort his wife and kids when they need him. He couldn't be there, I tried to tell him that of all people Jim would understand. He knew that the mission was first. But Greg wanted to look after his family like Jim looked after his buddies daughter (me) after all those years. But Maggie as special as she was let Greg know that she was ok, that she was going to wait until Greg got home to make sure he would be included in saying our final farewells to Jim, I think she knew how important that was to both of them. So she waited and this weekend we finally were able to give Jim his send off, our "see you later". Marines truly take care of one another, the young, the old, The Marine. On a beautiful Thursday afternoon, the Marines of 2nd Assault Amphibian Battalion (Jims old unit), took thier brother out to Courthouse Bay with his sons and Greg and Michael and an old Amtrac buddy long retired and paid a final honor to Jim. His ashes were spread in this place that Jim loved as his beautiful and dedicated wife Maggie watched from the shore along with other Marines that had come down to watch. And as the chaplain read a poem that another Veteran that had served with Jim wrote:







It was hard for me to read that poem when Maggie showed it to me, but it is beautiful and it is true, my son said when the chaplain read it the Sgt on the track had a tear rolling down his cheek. And when the ashes were finally let go, I knew that this was a place of peace for Jim and his family, that somehow Jim was looking down on it all and finally he was home. Jim will always be with us, in Maggie and Jeremy and Jesse..and now with his Marine Corps. We feel him all around us.
I would like to share some photos of Jim when he was a young Marine..no different than that face we see today...our brave young Marines (and soldiers) we owe so much too..
Rest in Peace Jim. We got your back. We love you Maggie, Jeremy and Jesse..feel the arms of your military family wrap around you. We will always be here for you.

Blog Award

Ok, well here it is, I am posting my first blog award. I have received a couple others and I didn't put them on my blog mostly because I was a novice blogger and wasn't quite sure how to do it. I received this award from Queen Of My Castle and thought maybe I should start posting them in the spirit they are given and she is a sweetheart so I decided to accept the award in that spirit. I have a few more I was given and will post them as soon as I can figure it all out. Again, thank you so much to Queen Of My Castle

Here are the Rules:
1. Thank the person you received the award from. (check)
2. Name 10 things that make you happy.
3. Pass it on and contact the lucky winners!

Here are the 10 things that make me happy.
1. My husband. He is the only one in the world that really gets me.
2. My son. I have bored you all with endless post about what a terrific kid he is.
3. Time between deployments, it is the most precious time ever.
4. My fur babies, I love them both, cat and dog..
5. Exercise. I know..maybe I don't LOVE it but the results make me happy.
6. Road trips.
7. Watching my son at JROTC, I will miss it when he graduates.
8. Friends.
10.All the Marines and troops that put themselves on the line everyday.


Now for the passing it along part.

Here are the folks that keep me sane everyday...


Nadine at The Albrecht Squad she totally gets the whole Army wife thing. She is also a former Soldier as well so she has a unique perspective of Army Life. I come from a Marine background so she is also a great "Army" translator for me.

Hellcat Betty Hellcat Betty Last year when a bunch of our husbands were deploying we all came together to keep one another from getting to far down the pity pottie slope. Many a night spent "twammered" and "chatting" and she is also one of the girls that inspired me to start my own blog.

There is 2 right off the bat, I could give out plently more but since I am on my way out the door right now I will have to re-visit this at a later date. I think all the blogs I read deserve an award..all great stories about great people going about this life..have a great day everyone.

WORDLESS WENDESDAY

Togo

TODDLER TUESDAY

Just a couple of pics of my niece and nephew...can't wait to be closer to them..

Truth Can Be Stranger Than Fiction

So...I know I blogged about all the drama of our home sale..I know I told you all I was letting the Universe do her thing, I know I told you all we were putting our house back on the market...I know that, I meant that, and I believed that..really I promise, I wasn't making any of this stuff up. I had a terrible Saturday, I came to the realization that our house would sell, but not to this person and not at this time..it was over, as in O-V-E-R over.
I started to smile again, I trusted my hubs when he assured me we would be fine, just a bump in the road and things will turn around all before we leave. I read all the encouraging words from all my well meaning a fabulous friends. And last night I found myself laughing and having fun and believing it all. And than the Universe did her wonderful dance all over again...at about 2130 we get a text message from our Realtor and it was a forward from the "buyer" to her Realtor and it say...FWD: "Hello redacted this is redacted hope you had a great Easter. Tomorrow I should have sometime to come by and sign the papers. And by the way, who do I need to drop the check off with?" ...that was it, out of the blue and after 2 weeks of NOTHING from her..NOTHING..just like that. So of course I acted just the way I always due when I have totally resolved myself to something and it all of a sudden changes, I went in the bathroom and puked my guts out. I know dramatic, but what can I say..my body does not like stress of this magnitude. So today, she really did everything she was asked to do, she went in and signed the last part of the paper work and went by the attorney and produced Verified fund proof. I know..totally insane. All we can chalk it up too is a seriously young person, oblivious to the chaos she was leaving in her wake..due to her inaction for the past 2 weeks.
So really, I am still really worried, I guess I have cause to be, but our Realtor said we needed to relax, she also thinks her Realtor may not have done her part in making sure the buyer really understood the urgency for proper timing and getting things to where they needed to be..so that in a nutshell is the whole last 20 or so hours. I will hopefully be blogging about the end of this in about 14 days! Again thanks to all for keeping me above water!

Happy Spring

Well..things went south on the sale of the house. As of now we have NO contact with the buyer and she has ignored all request from her own realtor and we just have to wait till the 15th and the contract is voided and we will have our home back on the market. I spent pretty much all day yesterday feeling sorry for myself and a bit angry I must admit but today is Easter and the weather is beautiful and I am deciding to be happy and get over it. I can not take things so personally and I need to just believe the Universe has a better plan for us. Of course this means going back to the "sterile" environment of a market ready house but no sweat..the weather is nicer so when I am forced out for showing at least I can just take the dog out for a walk. Funny thing about all this is our realtor told us in all her years as a realtor she has NEVER seen anything like this..crazy.
So thanks for all your great thoughts and words of encouragement during all this crazy..we are fine and we will be fine, what doesn't kill you just makes you stronger.
I hope you all have a great Holiday whatever your religious preference is, Spring is a great time to reflect on everything good..

National Military Family Association

For several years now there has been a great program for Military Kids and since this is the Month Of the Military Child I thought I would share this. If you haven't heard about Operation Purple I urge you to go to this site and check it out,

http://www.militaryfamily.org/our-programs/operation-purple/?ref=operationpurple.com&

Operation Purple is a free week long camp (sleep away) that brings together children of service members that have a parent deployed or who have had one deployed in the past. They try to accomodate as many children as they can. Many different camps participate, if you check you may find one close by that will be sponsoring one. I am not sure what the deadlines are, I think they are all different. My son has attended these camps twice and he had a fantastic time. It was great for him to be around peers and talk about his fears, and help others through theirs. Sometimes kids put on a brave face for their parents but in fact need to talk about somethings with kids their own ages that now what they are going through. Go to the site, check it out.

My Son is A Global Nomad

So today I have been thinking about what the Month of the Military Child Means..(thanks for all the great articles from International School of Lome)..
I am reminded today that my son is indeed a Global Nomad. When we were in Africa my son was given a book titled just that, "Global Nomad" it was written by a State Department brat that describes a child that has lived on 4 continents before the age of 12, and my son had done exactly that. We were first stationed in NC, we traveled cross country from Arizona and settled here when my son was 2. A few years later up we went to Asia, Okinawa to be exact. We loved it there, Michael thrived there and we really enjoyed submerging ourselves in the culture. My son is a redhead and as you can imagine that is quite rare so it was not unusual to see locals snapping photos of him and wanting to touch his head, he didn't mind as much as I did. After about 4 1/2 years off we went to Spain. We moved to Spain when my husband was selected to be a Detachment Commander at the U.S. Embassy in Madrid. Again, it was really a wonderful experience and my son thrived and really won over the locals with his zest for all things Spanish. He went to the International School of Madrid and met kids from Spain as well as some Army Brats that he became very close too in a short time. After about 2 years off we went to another great location...West Africa! Yes, we landed in Lome, Togo a tiny country nestled in West Africa, a french speaking country this time..yep, he went from Okinawan to Spanish to French. And again, the International School of Lome where he was the only (native) ENGLISH speaking student in the whole middle school. You would never know and he loved it. The teachers, some American, his teacher from the Congo, all took to him, of course and he was very happy. He learned how to speak Ewe the tribal language of the local children and it wasn't uncommon for me to come home and find a house full of Togolese children passed out in the rare treat of air conditioning in my living room. The things my son learned living overseas are priceless, the things I learned living overseas are life changing. My son never looks at another human being and "assumes" anything. He knows we are all different and all the same. We all love our families and all want to provide for our families. He gets the whole multicultural lesson, he has lived it. He knows what it is like to live in a country and not speak the language so his tolerance for others is much higher when meeting those that don't in his country. I think his being a "military brat" is something we can not put a price on. He knows our flag and all her glory, he know the price those have paid to defend her and is ready to write his own check in defense of her. He comes from a long proud legacy of those who are willing to defend her. He knows his mom and dad were also Marine Brats, one grandfather fell in Vietnam, and one who went and was lucky enough to come home. He looks at his dad and he beams at the his service and longs for the day he can follow. I for one am the proud mother of this Military Brat..and for all the brats out there..I salute you.

E-Mail From a Gold Star Mother

I received this in an email from a friend today. Her name is Donna and her son Dennis J. Veater was killed a week or so shy of coming home to plan his wedding. He was killed in Iraq another name, another added to that horrible list. But to those of us that know the cost of freedom he is more than that to us all, and even more so to the family he left behind. Dennis was KIA March 9, 2007. He left behind a son and a very large family including a twin brother. We knew the Veaters from Okinawa, I worked with Donna and her husband was a SgtMaj. now retired. Anyhow this is something she sent me today and I wanted to share it.

The Music Stopped
> (For those who are unaware: At all military base theaters, the National
> Anthem is played before the movie begins.)
>
> This is written from a Chaplain in Iraq :
>
> I recently attended a showing of 'Superman 3' here at LSA Anaconda. We have
> a large auditorium we use for movies, as well as memorial services and other
> large gatherings. As is the custom at all military bases, we stood to
> attention when the National Anthem began before the main feature. All was
> going well until three-quarters of the way through The National Anthem, the
> music stopped.
> Now, what would happen if this occurred with 1,000 18-22 year-olds back in
> the States? I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls, laughter, a few rude
> comments, and everyone would sit down and yell for the movie to begin. Of
> course, that is, if they had stood for the National Anthem in the first
> place.
> Here in Iraq , 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at attention, eyes fixed
> forward. The music started again and the Soldiers continued to quietly stand
> at attention. But again, at the same point, the music stopped. What would
> you expect 1000 Soldiers standing at attention to do ?? Frankly, I expected
> some laughter, and everyone would eventually sit down and wait for the movie
> to start.
> But No!!... You could have heard a pin drop, while every Soldier continued
> to stand at attention. Suddenly, there was a lone voice from the front of
> the auditorium, then a dozen voices, and soon the room was filled with the
> voices of a thousand soldiers, finishing where the recording left off: "And
> the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the
> night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that Star Spangled Banner
> yet wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave."
> It was the most inspiring moment I have had in Iraq and I wanted you to know
> what kind of Soldiers are serving you. Remember them as they fight for us!
> Pass this along as a reminder to others to be ever in prayer for all our
> soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. Many have already paid the
> ultimate price.
> Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins LSA Anaconda is at the Ballad Airport in
> Iraq , north of Baghdad
>
> Please share only if you are so inclined.

Thankful Thursday

Sometimes in life things don't actually go your way, and I get that. For those of you that are interested, as I blogged recently our house is under contract. Well recent events have led us to believe that the contract may be voided due to poor preperation on part of the buyers realtor and inaction by the buyer herself. It is a long and complicated story and I really don't want to bother you all with the details but I can tell you by tomorrow we should hopefully have closure on this one way or the other.
So of course this is really stressing me out but I decided to try to focus on the things that are really good in our life, and there is a lot we are happy about. We have a great kid, he's pulling straight A's in his Senior year, he was picked as an outstanding Senior (20 out of about 200 students) and there seems to be no signs of senioritis setting in. We were able to get the whole G.I. Bill fiasco fixed so all of hubs benefits were indeed transferred over and that took a huge weight off our shoulders.
When we initially entered this contract we entertained the initial request of being out of the house by 1 April (today). In order to do that we would have had to sign a 3 month lease at an apartment where we were going to live until PCS time. I think it was smart to wait, and now because of that decision we really have no financial obilgations incurred from the contract if it were to be voided. We did have the inspections but they were all at the buyers expense and we did spend some money correcting some things but those things would have been identified regardless and now if the contract falls through we will have a much better inspection on next go round.
We are really lucky in so many ways so to spend too much time feeling sorry for ourselves is silly I think it would be better to focus on these great things and we have a lot..we are happy, I have a husband that I love more today than I did over 16 years ago when we decided to really do this life together..as a team and we do it well.
Also, before I go..we have a secret to a very happy life..and that is this;
Only one of us gets to be crazy at a time...
Thanks to all that support us everyday and send good thoughts our way. I will surely let you all know how this all turns out..
stay tuned