Atypical Navy Wives Reunite!

Well, it's now official...I am in the same time zone as Justin. When I found that out, I instantly felt like I was on an airplane...about to jump out (with a parachute, of course). If I'm feeling this way today, I can only imagine how it will be on Wednesday morning when I'm driving to the base...or better yet (thank you, Santana for pointing this out) how will I feel when I see the ship pull in and we have to wait for them to get off? All of my nervousness is good...it's like getting butterflies before that first date...only to the one millionth power. Luckily, my husband is amazing. We have an even better level of communication thanks to the US Navy. He called me a little while ago to "use up his last 12 minutes" on his phone card. That's a great feeling...to hang up the phone, knowing that the next conversation I have with him will be face-to-face. In the meantime, I have a sick child to mend back to health. And I have my most favorite friend back in town to help distract me...we will distract each other...We take pride in not being the stereotypical navy wives. In fact, we are quite the opposite. Just ask Natalia, that's what she loves about me--the fact that I "know nothing". Whatever works! She's the best and I am thankful for this deployment because without it our paths may have never crossed. Ok, go ahead :::sniff, sniff::: Don't worry this sappy sentimental entry is going to come to a close, as I must go to my least favorite place on the face of the earth...for those of you who don't know where that is...Walmart! Two...more...days. And then, my heart will be whole...and I will be surrounded, not only by good friends...but the best husband a girl could ask for!

Tick tock it don't stop

Why am I being haunted by this tiny critter? Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. It seems like this week has been ruled by the tick. First of all, I saw Dr. Oz (on Oprah) talking about how ticks are cause for high concern...he talked about how many viruses and deadly diseases that ticks can carry. As if that wasn't bad enough, the next morning when I went for a nice trail run--My friend's daughter had a tick on her arm. Naturally, I assumed that either Alana or I would have a tick, too. That afternoon, I was bored and reading a myspace survey that one of my friends had posted and under a question about their biggest fear, they listed "ticks". So last night when I told my mom that Alana went to bed with a fever, she asked me if I checked her for ticks thoroughly...because she had just seen an episode of House that involved a tick. So seriously...I woke up and inspected Alana for the 100th time. And it's all just paranoia. I'm just wondering why me? Why am I all of a sudden being tormented by a little creature like this? It's to the point that Alana is coming up to me, like the little monkey that she is, and saying "Mommy, I check you for ticks"...In the meantime, the clock is ticking...barely. Tick...tock...it seems like the time has almost stopped. I am so ready for Wednesday to be here...and for today's reality to be just a distant memory. Tick...tock.

Not in this century

Ever have one of those days where you feel like doing something a little CRAZY? Yeah, me neither. All of this boredom/anxiety has made me do some silly things though. I went to the store to buy a mop (not to clean the ceilings, just the floors)...and I came home with --as my dad pointed out-- TWO mops. The other would be the one on my head. I thought it would be fun to see what it looked like. I haven't had hair past my shoulders since 1999. It's been longer than it is now...but that's not saying much! Ever since I got my hair cut about a month ago, and the lady chopped 4 inches off the front that I repeatedly TOLD her not to...I have felt blah about my hair. So here I am, with hair like a movie star. If Britney can do it, so can I! Right Mom? Only difference is that much of this is MY hair. Alana told me that it looks pretty and funneeeeeeeeeeee. Gotta love the honesty that could only come from the mouth of a toddler. Justin hasn't seen it yet, so I'm interested to see what he thinks. Do you think he'll notice? :)

This time next week...

I am happy to report that my evenings of watching American Idol and wasting time on the internet will soon be over! Don't get me wrong, there's always the DVR and I will still find time to do things like ramble here...the only difference is that I will not HAVE to do it to fill my time. Justin will be home this time next week--not a moment too soon! This has been a long journey, but we both agree that it has been an amazing experience. Not many people will ever endure what we have...and the whole saying "what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger"...well, there's some truth to it. I would like to credit God for all the growth, though :) Justin called today...They have left their final port of call and are officially on their way home...I didn't do anything too obsessive compulsive today, unless of course you call jogging a trail with a (almost) 3 year old in a stroller compulsive. There's only so much you can do at times like these. Also topping the list is watching this video:

I have watched this about 50 times today, and I will probably watch it 50 more tomorrow. I don't know why I find it so amusing...but my favorite line is "I don't know we made brownies. I think we're dead."
And on that note...American Idol is on!

Nesting is for the Birds

So I went to the homecoming brief and made complete fun of the people there who said they had been cleaning behind their refrigerators and stoves, in preparation for their hubbies' return. I laughed it off and said Justin will be lucky if our floors are vacuumed when he gets back. Then I woke up this morning...I have no idea how it happened, but I found myself cleaning out the pantry and the refrigerator...Next thing you know I will be mopping the ceilings. I'm not sure that I ever got into the complete "nesting" part of pregnancy, considering Alana was born early. I guess I'm making up for it here. It still hasn't hit me that Justin will be home next week. I think someone needs to pinch me and tell me I'm not dreaming. I'll believe it once I see them tying off the ship. Maybe...So on a completely different subject...I decided last night that I rather like Virginia. It does have its perks. I think I just haven't figured them all out yet :) We went to have ice cream with our most awesomest neighbors after our afternoon naps yesterday. They took us to this quaint little beach and we had Ben & Jerry's and the kids played in the sand and built sand castles. It was nice. It will be even nicer when Justin is home and I won't feel like the odd man out...Melissa has Marc, Alana has Jonah...and then there is me haha. I would love to ramble some more, but I'm sure there is a closet to be cleaned out or some baseboards to be scrubbed. Ah, the life of a navy wife.

Happy Mommy's Day!

People often ask me what I "do" for a living, and my response is sometimes a quick "nothing". But that is far from the truth. I am so blessed to be a full-time mommy. It's a job and a half, no time off, especially when Justin is out to sea. The pay really sucks, but the benefits are far more than you'd receive with any other job. It's easy to doubt your abilities as a mom, but I had a really good teacher :) I have the best Mom in the world! To all you moms out there, pat yourself on the back and enjoy today! I'm going to do my best to have a 'take it easy' kind of day...while my husband is on a tour of Portugal :) I love you, Momma...and I love Alana!

Rockstars and Lots of Cars

I thought when I went back to Nashville for a visit I would miss is incredibly and want to stay there. While I do miss my mom and brother, I realized that I do not miss the traffic. There are a gah-zillion people in Nashville and I think that 90% of them travel on Nolensville Rd. or Old Hickory Blvd. everyday. I forgot what it's like to have to plan an hour for a trip to go somewhere 5 miles away. Needless to say, I realized how much I appreciate SOME things about living in Virginia. I was only home for a day and my super sweet brother came rolling into town on his tour. It was a lot of fun getting to hang out, even if we are dorks who sat in the living room floor playing yahtzee and watching American Idol. It's the little things in life that make me smile. And if you are wondering who won, well...we tied. It was cool to see Relient K play. I hadn't seen them play since Jon's very first show with them. Now I am trying to stay busy and try not to let these last days until Justin gets home drive me completely insane. It's like the last 2 weeks are going to seem as long as the last 7 months have. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with amazing people who have helped me through this time. So you know who you are, and thank you.