Pages

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Here is another.......

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends! Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Copy this entire email and paste into a new email that you can Send, change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times (that means you have lots of friends).


1. What is your occupation? stay at home
2. What color are your socks right now? bare feet3. What are you listening to right now? hannah montana
4. What was the last thing that you ate? blackened fish and green beans
5. Can you drive a stick shift? yep7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? jess
8.. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yep!9. How old are you today? 28
10. Favorite drink? beringer
11. Favorite sport to watch? Baseball
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yep13. Pets? not currently
14. Favorite food? italian15. Last movie you watched? The wedding singer16. Favorite Day of the year? oct. 31
17. What do you do to vent anger? get really pissed off and spout off to my friends! They are good and let me vent!
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? my little pony19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Definitely fall20. Hugs or kisses? KISSES
21. Cherry or Blueberry? cherry
22. Do you want your friends to email you back? sure23. Who is most likely to respond? ?24. Who is least likely to respond? ?
25. Living arrangements? an apartment, just me and the kids
26. When was the last time you cried? ? 27. The friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? krysten
28. The friend you have had the shortest that you are sending it to?laura29. Favorite smell? salt water30. Favorite sound? the ocean waves crashing31. What inspires you? getting out there and trying new things. Doing the things I have always thought about and trying them
32. What are you most afraid of? I am afraid of life passing my by and not doing the things that I want to do
33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? spicy
34. Favorite car? currently an XTerra, but any truck will do
35. Number of keys on your key ring? 5
36. How many years at your current job? To long :)
37. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
38. WHO WERE YOU NAMED AFTER? A Louis Lamour Book
39. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING. sure
40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey41. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 2
42. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? sure, I am fun! :)43. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? yes, see question 42
44. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? yep
45. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? oh yeah!!!!!!!
46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Lucky charms47. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? no, but I should
48. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? I am realizing I am!
49. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? cookies and cream or ben and jerry's One Sweet Whirled
50. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their body type, jaw lines(I know I am weird) , smile
51. RED OR PINK? both
52. WHAT IS Your LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOU? I don't give myself enough credit.
53. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? DH has been gone a long time
54. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? no shoes, and black exercise pants
55. Do you exercise? Everyday!
56. HAIR COLOR? brown for now
58. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? nope, perfect vision
59. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy endings
60. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer61. FAVORITE DESSERT? I love Tiramisu ! good answer Kylene
62. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Harequin by Laurell K Hamilton
63. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? plain black64. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? part of the Biggest Loser
65. Favorite Singer? Jimmy Buffett
66. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Mexico?67. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Lots of them
68. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Huntsville, AL69. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? everyone's

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Got this in an email......so passing it along

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your friends. What you are supposed to do is copy (not forward) this entire
e-mail and paste it onto anew e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to you, and then send this to your friends including the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your friends, that you might not have known.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 5:40 am
2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I am legend
4. What is your favourite TV show? Uh, I repeat Laura........MOONLIGHT.....Is there any other show!!!
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Powerbar, coffee, water bottle
6. What is your middle name? Anne
7. What food do you dislike? onions
8. What is your favourite CD at the moment? jon mclaughlin
9. What kind of car do you drive? Toyota Corolla
10. What is your favourite sandwich? Quiznos, classic club with bacon....yum
11. Favourite item of clothing? cute panties
12. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation,
where would you go? Italy.....yep already bought the tickets
13. What color is your bathroom? boring white
14. Favourite brand of clothing? no favs, just has to look good
15. To where would you retire? The beach, maybe a island
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? hmm, fav birthday.....is it sad I can not think of one?
17. Favourite sport to watch? Baseball
18. Farthest place you are sending this to? Afghanistan
19. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? Chris
20. Person you expect to send it back first? Kylene
21. Favourite saying: Nummmy.......Instead of yummy....HaHa
22. When is your Birthday? August 25th
23. Are you a morning person or a night person? I used to be a night person, but this year , I have definetly become a morning person
24. What is your shoe size? Ahhhh 9.5
25. Do you have a pet? A cat MIA who is now living at my parents, but I am getting a dog next month
26. What did you want to be when you were little? a marine biologist
27. What is your favourite candy? Mr. Goodbar if we are talking chocolate bar.....but lately I have been addicted to lifesavers!
28. What is your favourite flower? white daisys
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking
forward to? November 8th is the set date to leave for Italy! But I am looking forward to some dates in March and April
30. What is your full name?Bryonny Anne Robbins
31. What are you listening to now? The rain
32. What was the last thing you ate? Ice cream cone from MCD's
33. What is the weather right now? raining
34. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes!
35. Favourite soft drink? diet mtn. dew
36. Favourite restaurant? This little bar and grill on Treasure Island in Tampa , FL
37. Siblings? 1 sister
38. Favourite day of the year? October 31
39. Favourite toy as a child? care bears, my little ponies
40. Summer or winter? Summer
41. Hugs or kisses? kisses
42. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
43. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes
44. When was the last time you cried? When Jess was telling me some of the songs for her wedding and the reasons behind it......I kinda teared up.....yeah, I know so not like me!!!
45. What is under your bed? some boxes
46. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Stacey, ever since I met her in the bathroom in 6th grade....
47. What did you do last night? Passes out watching a movie after going to MCD's with Jess and Ben.
48. Favourite smell? Citrus
49. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn? Plain!
50. How many years at your current job? What job?
51. Favourite day of the week? Saturday
52. How many towns have you lived in? 9-10 easily!!
53. What is your pet peeve? Hallelujia Laura! one up people.........move on!!!!!!!

Monday, January 28, 2008

recipe for me~just a little fun

The Recipe For Bry
3 parts Genius2 parts Fearlessness1 part Prosperity
Splash of Silliness
Limit yourself to one serving. This cocktail is strong!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Fun times with the girls




Great party! I can't believe it has taken me a week to write about it. I have been putting in some major hours at the gym, and then of course it was a short week. Time sure does fly. Chris birthday was this week. It was the second year we spent it apart. Last year we got a cake and celebrated. This year , I just let it pass. Sometimes you just have to let days go by. Time is doubling up. I have already lived a January with out my husband. Anyway! STacey came over to go to the party with me as well as my cousin Krysten and her friend Evelyn. We had a great time. There was about 13 of us there including the consultants. The bubbly was flowing and the party got off to a great start! Of course put me and Stacey in the same room and we kind of feed off each other. i love that about our relationship! We had fun posing for some great pics. Had way to much to drink, but had an incredible time. We hooked my girl Jess up! She should have a great honeymoon!!! The wedding is just a few days away, I am very excited for her.
Well I forgot to post highlights of the week so I will now.
1. The party-alot of fun, and its been awhile since I had a girls night!
2. Spending time with Stacey. Its been a crazy year for both of us. We both wish we could have more time together. But that is what is great about our relationship, whenever we are together we always have a great time!!
3. I will add today's run to my highlights. I did about 8-9 miles. I am exhausted but man did that feel good. I feel like I am finally getting back in the groves of things.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

best pictures for the week





It has been another crazy week here. I should be up cleaning the house and doing laundry. Tonight is the bachelorette party and I have some friends staying over. The kids are at the grandparents house and I had last night to myself again. I sat around , finished up my Anita Blake novel, and watched Moonlight. I am so not happy about waiting possible 6 months for the return!!! It was a good episode, but a little bitter sweet knowing it was the last one. Sheesh, I have not been so hooked on a show in so long!




It snowed this week. Wedneday afternoon it came down for hours. Nothing accumulated but it was so pretty. I met Jess at spinning class and we all watched it through the windows as we rode. At the end of class we did this pretend road race(called drafting) We turned out the lights and pulled up the blinds as it snowed. It was exhilirating! Great workout. I have been to the gym a few times this week , but slacked off the cardio a little. Did well on the diet , and did well on the weight lifting but only did 3 days of good solid cardio.




Chris sent some new pictures. Well they were uploaded to the Nuristan website(link on your right). I love seeing pics of him when I have not seem him in so long. Its an odd feeling. We are almost to the two month mark! Better get my butt in gear! I am adding a pic here of him, he is wearing the Alabama Hat I sent him. It looks totally out of place, I love it!



Oh yeah, and I have kept up with the LOAD Challenge. It has been a struggle this week but I did it. I have another card for the deck of me challenge to do as well. I will get some uploaded later.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Brave Girl





Kendal is so brave. We went shopping today with Jess and Emma. Emma has her ears pierced. Well this intrigued K, who constantly goes around with clipons. I will admit I secretly want her ears pierced but would always want it to be her choice. Well we walked into Claires to get some bows, she saw the earings and asked me to get them done. She was determined, even after I told her it would sting or hurt a little. She made it through the first ear, Eyes got real big, but not one drop fell! Second one......She let it all out for about a minute. Them she was so proud. She showed them to everyone! She is still very happy, I am not sure how happy I will be with all the cleanings, but it will be easy I hope! Oh did I mention she picked the most expensive ones out. So my child!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Best of this week

1. Box from Laura.......Laura was continuing with her gifts for the year. She altered a paint can for me. It was absolutely awesome!!! I need a pic of it , and will get one on here soon.

2. My workouts.....I ate great all week, staying on the diet and worked out faithfully every day!

3. I had friday night to myself without the kids. I just stayed home watched my Moonlight and scrapping and that was a great break.

4. Got my new phone, so I am not going around with my headphones on.

5. Moonlight(I can't forget this)

6. Laughing on the phone with Laura over you tubes!



Here is a pic I took yesterday as well. I am still taking them almost everyday , just not uploading them as much! I am really enjoying altering pics. I spend way to much time with this.

keeping busy








Here are the recent layouts for the LOAD Challenge and as promised my Deck of me Cards.


Week 1- Goals for 2008

Week 2-Quote that fits my life right now

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday


First of all Friday.......did you see the episode of Moonlight? Wow! again....Wow! Love it. My friend Kylene called me afterwards. I knew what that phone call was about! We talked for a long time about where the show was going and how hot we think Mick ST. John is! The next day I talked to Laura. Pretty much the same conversation except we spent the evening sending you tubes back in forth. Trying to out do the other. She sent me a "Im to sexy" one, after I had sent her the "naughty boy" one. Then we found a Hey Micky, and a "Im bringing sexy back" video. Seriously , we have nothing better to do........I wish I could post them all here for your enjoyment and some day I will get to it. I will try to put them at the bottom of the page. So scroll down, maybe I got it done!

Saturday was the bridal shower of a friend. And it went over well, took forever to open gifts, but afterwards we had a good time. Goofing around making pics. I love this girl, I tell ya. She has been a saving grace here. Here is a pic of us at the shower. The Bride(jess), me, and Beth. Now I got some really funny pics of her with bows on her head and stuff, but I am not sure we would like me to post that for the world. I am sure next weekend will be some even better pics at the bachelorette party! Can not wait!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Crazy week





I have been crazy busy this week, but I have managed to get the layouts done. NOt much else though! I have been working

out like mad and taking spinning in the afternoons. This is the first full week for both kids and it has taken its toll on me. One thing that did get done this week was the booking of my Italy Trip. I am so stinking excited about this! Going with hubby and sister and brother in law. Trip is in November for 10 days. I have never been overseas. My one place to ever visit overseas is Italy. Of course there are so many other places but if I only get to go once, I wanted it to be Italy. So this is very special, not to mention one of my "things to do before 30".

Other things happening this week......New episode of Grey's Anatomy, and Friday night is a new episode of Moonlight. I can not wait!!

Also I have a friend getting married in a few weeks so I have been trying to plan a "slumber" party for her. Its going to be really fun and a good friend /consultant is going to come over and do the party for us. I am looking forward to a night out with friends. Now to ask the parents to watch my kids. ugh! NOt fun. Same friend is having a bridal shower this weekend so I have got to ask them for this Sat. too. I was really doing a good job at staying away from my parents house. I mean I take my clothes to the laundry mat, pick up my mail once a week, etc. Oh well, it will just be one afternoon.

One thing I have totally slacked off with this week is my picture a day, unless you count taking a pic of my layout. So those will have to do. I need to get more in the habit of taking my camera everywhere. I will get back into this though! I will!

Oh and picked up another scrapbooking challenge. Deck of Me challenge. 52 cards, 52 weeks , one a week. Topic are being posted weekly. I think this will be fun, and its just for me. I will do it on the weekend. I will post some soon!

Sunday, January 06, 2008

Pic for the day



K.K. taking a picture. Verdict is still out on this kid camera. How the heck do I get the pics on the computer? EVery time I try to upload it says there are no pics! One day I will figure it out. Like every other electronic in my house.....If I only had time to read the manual that go with them. We all cleaned the house today really really good. Then the kids played Wii while I scrapbooked. I like the Wii, except I am not liking my son's atitude when he does not get to play it. I believe that until I can work on a reward system for it. It will be restricted for the weekends. End of story! I am tired of fighting over it. With school back in session for everyone this week(yeah!) then there will be even less time for it during the week. I actually think that this will be a fun family system once Chris gets home. Right now, I can not get into it to much. It takes to long for them to talk about how to play and what is going on. Rye is constantly calling me into the room to read the screen. NO thanks!

Well January 6th the dreaded 1 year mark came and went. And now it is just getting through the next few months and this will all be over. Tommorrow is back to the gym. I only have 3 months to look really good for the return!!!!

I will end this week with my weekly blog challenge.

What made me happy this week:

  • Moonlight tshirts from my friend Laura
  • A box of books and a writing challenge from my friend Kylene(We had challenged each other to write things in each other we liked) It was a great gift to get hers in writing(I had sent an email!)
  • The knowledge that I have great friends that interest , challenge , and love me!
  • A year down, and the excitement of this deployment being almost over!
  • Challenging myself to do layouts everyday.
  • Scrapbooking on QVC-definetly makes me happy!

layouts for the weekend



Here is Sat. and Sun. layouts for the Load Challenge. It is great to fit a little bit of scrapbooking in every day. Even if it is just the one layout, its something. But I was able to get more than this done over the weekend. I am crusin through this album. Very exciting because in case you can't tell its an older year. I am going to get all caught up this year on older years!
So far I have done 16 pages in 2008.

Saturday, January 05, 2008

365 days......and still I count

This is the 365th day that my husband has been gone. And do not say that those 2 weeks he came home count! Well they count, but you can not believe how they fly by. All you try to do is calm down, breathe , and find some joy in them.....and then they are over. Chris texted me this morning. Its already the dreaded January 6th there for him. His text said " Do you know what you were doing 1 year ago" , I said "yep, freezing my ass off , holding you, saying goodbye". I will be thinking about it in the morning when it is January 6th here for me, but I will try and concentrate on the fact that the year is gone! And we made it.
I will talk about the emotions of the night before though. How do you say goodbye? How do you squeeze all the hugs and kisses into a night and know that it will be so long before you can do it again? How do make sure you say all the things that are in your head? How do you memorize a person, and hope it is enough? I don't have answers to these questions, I just know that you do the best you can, and that is will never be enough. There is no way it can ever be enough. So I sit here tonight and let those emotions flood over me, and I realize how far I have come. No one can ever get used to this life. It will never get easier. Being away from the person that makes you whole for years at a time will never be normal. But I do not want another life. Being married to Chris is the best thing that ever happened to me. And I will take what I can get. I will wait for him. I will make the most of the time we are together. I will smother him with hugs,kisses, and "I love you's" whenever I can. No it will never be enough but I will just continue to do the best that I can.

Friday, January 04, 2008

Another day down

Here is my layout for the challenge. I am managing a two page layout a day. Nothing more. But hey thats alot! I will get done with this album. I will. But it is fun to look at how little my son was or how young(and fit) I looked! I took some other pic today too. Nothing worth uploading(I am too tired), but I did take it for the pic a day challenge. All I can say is Thank goodness it is Friday. I even got a vampire fix. Even if Moonlight was a rerun, it was still good. New episode next week! woo hoo! I am off to read some Laurell K Hamilton. I have 3 more to finish the Anita Blake series! I need to slow down because there is not another new one until June(I think) Guess I will have to get back to my Outlander series. It is getting about time to have a Jamie fix!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

A few pictures for today








1. Swap Boxes. Out my door!! And one for Chris as well. I am glad to be done with these. I was in 4 jewelry swaps(see examples in Dec. post). I love to jewelry swap! But I need not to do so many at one time. I can get them all done. I just hate the mailing part. I got all the way to the post office today and forgot to put something in them. I will get them done tommorrow! First thing. I hate when something slips my mind. Thats what I get for making myself quit making lists! Lists bogged me down with expectations, and disapointment when I did not finish something. So I quit making them. See where it gets me!
2. My birthday present(Its in August)........ and Christmas......Valentines, St. Patty, Quanza, whatever. I got the best gifts today. They just made me laugh out loud. It is definetly one of my happy thoughts for the week. My good friend Laura sent these tshirts to me. I am a Moonlight fanatic, as is she. If you know the show, if you have ever drooled over Mick the vampire, you will love these shirts. I am sleeping with one...I mean in one tonight!
3. My layout for the day. I thought I would never get this done. I just did not feel well. Its the new diet. Not new, just back on it. I dropped my calorie intake to fast. Ugh, I had a headache and just felt yuck, but I made myself sit down and do the layout, upload it and finish day 3 of the challenge!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Back in the swing of things



I had that familiar feeling today. You know, being overwhelmed. School starts back tommorrow. I had a ton of errands to run, bills to pay, spinning class at 4...............There is never enough hours in the day to get it done. I hope things will be easier when Chris gets back. You really underestimate the extra pair of hands. I was able to get my 2nd layout done for the January Challenge. I am not getting much else done but a 2 page spread a day, but every little bit helps right. This power pallatte(CM-Cabana) is awesome. I am doing the entire year in it. It really helps to limit all the choices and just get it done! Also I took a picture today for the 365 picture a day challenge. Nothing exciting. Just my shoe. Why? Because I need a new pair. See that whole on the top, left side? I proudly gained that hole from all the trail running I have done. I have another , newer pair for the gym, but these are my favorite. I gotta go see if I can find them again. We have one store here that carries athletic shoes. Not a big selection. And I have to buy New Balance. There is no other brand for my foot. So thats my picture for the day. I just said I would take one everyday, not that it would be a piece of art!

Picture a day for the year!

January 1 , 2008

Picture a day for a year seems so overwhelming! But I have been reading blogs of people doing just that. Well I am going to try it and go for as long as I can! I woke up today panicked though because I didnt take one yesterday on the first day of the year. Well except for the layout page. But I did, I did! I took one with my phone at the Cracker Barrell. This is K, playing checkers with Bubba. Our table was right up against it so I enjoyed my coffe and they played, well until Rye got mad because K was not playing right. Oh Well!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

How I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day



New Years Eve
-Well I am pretty boring here. I spent the last 30 minutes of 2007 watching Rockin New Years on TV, sipping pink champagne. Yes, I opened the bottle early. Chris called me about 10 minutes before the new year and talked to me until the ball dropped. He said that he may not be able to kiss me on the lips but he could kiss me in my ear at midnight. And thats what he did! It had been January 1st for him for about 10 hours. We said our goodnights and I went to bed.




On a side note I kinda had de ja vu watching Fergie on TV. Its what I did the previous year, I went out a week later and bought her album. Love it!




-Today, well I have been lazy! The kids surprised me by cleaning up their room before I got out of bed. I told them that they deserved breakfast at Cracker Barrel for that. So we went and ate Sunrise Samplers. I still have not got used to eating out with the kids by myself this year, but I have really enjoyed the few times we have had breakfast at Cracker Barrell. Another plus to having an apartment in town! After Breakfast we came home and the kids played Wii and played. They were a little irritable today due to being up late last night. I tried to let them stay up but neither one made it. Of course they were up at the same time this morning. Ugh! I played around online and did some scrapbooking. I am doing the January Challenge Class on the Big Picture Website. We have to do a layout a day in January. Here is mine for today, I will try to add these in daily.


Hi/Low of 2007

Lets start this on a positive Note. I challenged myself to think of 5 Highlights of 2007. This was hard for me. It was a rough and challenging year. But here are some things I came up with.

1. Road Trip- January- Now if you were on this trip you would be shaking your head at me for adding this as a Highlight, but it was. For a few reasons. First of all 2 great friends came out and held my hand as the soldiers , my husband included, left for deployment. We all loaded into my little Corolla and drove across the country. It was rough! We fought, disagreed, and generally argued about everything. We got no sleep and ran on nothing but caffeine. But you know what it was a hell of a ride! We stoped where we wanted to stop, we even went to San Antonio (which was a major adventure) and took a picture at each state sign. I would totally do it again. Crazy as it was, I can look back at it now with a big cheesy grin and say yeah, that was fun.

2. Seeing my kids for the first time. The kids left for Alabama with the grandparents on Dec. 26th, So I did not see them until January 10th. That was the longest I had ever gone without my babies. And I loved walking in to that house and seeing my son. It was late but he stayed up and waited for me. Later I crawled in bed with my baby girl and snuggled up to her. She woke up the next morning and could not believe I was there. That was a major hightlight!

3. Being close to Ft. Bragg, okay not exactly close , about 7 hours. But, close enough that I got to see Chris more than I would if I had been in AZ. I got a call from him one day and he asked me to drive up. He snuck off the base for 6 glorious hours and it was heaven. I will not add details but it was the best feeling in the world to see his face after 3 months!

4. North Carolina Trip- A few weeks later we all got to go to Ft. Bragg and see Chris before they flew out to Afghanistan. It was heart wrenching but we made the most of it. We visited the outer banks and explored lighthouses. It was a wonderful time and I truly enjoyed it.

5. Not 24 hours after leaving Chris with the kids crying our eyes out , I got a call from him. Come back he said, I have another week of R and R. Things got postponed and viola we got another 5 days with him. I went by myself this time because the kids were in school. 5 days in a hotel with the man of my dreams ......Highlight!

And I thought of some more!
-Finding out I was stronger than I believed
-Getting a new apt., and moving out of mom and dad's
-Finishing a 10k


So here are the Low points of this year

1. Obviously , Chris leaving. January 6th was an awful day. Standing there for hours saying goodbye. It about killed me. The same goes for each time we said goodbye at Ft. Bragg. 3 different times!

2. Chris called from Bangor , Maine right before his plane left the country. I never felt so alone in that moment. I did not think I would survive it. I think I physically felt him leave the country. Until I heard his voice again, I am not sure I breathed.

3. Communication has sucked this year! It took weeks for email /phones. And it is still not great.

4. Our relationship nearly fell apart. Enough said. This is between him and I , I will just say that neither one of us handled this first deployment well and we pulled away from each other instead of trying to come together. Chris and I have never handled time away from each other well and as the months went on we both fell into alot of depression.

5. You can never go home! It can not be done. Nothing like feeling like a teenager again living with the parents, oh yeah but this time with kids! Ahhhhhh!

6. Last but not least. Realizing that family will not always be there for you. That you can not depend on a whole lot of people in this world. I could expand on this but I am working toward releasing my anger instead of mulling around in it. My main goal is just removing myself from the situations that cause the anger.