Pride and Prejudice

I feel like I have been going through a ton of different emotions since Aaron left. There are the obvious ones: lonely, scared, sad, stressed, anxious, blah, etc... But today when I was picking up some of his things I felt something different.

Aaron has a 3-ringed binder that he playfully calls his 'love me book'. (He didn't just make it to make it, he takes it with him when he has to prove he has been to a training or school.) It is filled with copies of all his awards, training certifications and his Officer Evaluation Records (OERs). And by going over all these documents a huge sense of pride came over me. Aaron has only been in the Army 5 years but all of his OERs have great reviews! All of his awards have been hard earned. We are lucky enough to be here in AK because a former Col. (now stationed here) did a by name request to get Aaron in his battalion. Now, maybe I am prejudice because he is my hubby (and I think he he is fantastic!) but that is really something special. Aaron works very hard at every job. Even if it isn't a job he likes, he still gives 100%.

And while he isn't sure what his job will be this time around, I know he will go at it with strength, courage and his can do attitude. I am excited and worried all at the same time about what this deployment will have in store for him. But I know he will be great! I am so proud of him! I am proud to be his wife and proud to stand beside him along this crazy military journey. I am truly grateful to God for bringing us together.

Aaron with his brother, Ryan, in Afghanistan 2006.

My Hair: A Series of Misfortunate Events

I decided to get myself out of my funk I should go to the salon. My roots were showing and well I was a bit of a mess. I made this decision as I was walking past the salon on post and noticed no one was in there, so I took this as a good sign that I could be in and out fast. One of the hard things about moving around so much is that you are always looking for new places (i.e. salons, kennels, etc...). Sometimes you can get recommendations but since I know hardly anyone up here I went out on a limb. Big mistake.

Let me start out by saying the lady was perfectly nice. And when I was in there other clients came in and got their haircut. And they looked great! I think my lady was just having a bad day. After two or so hours, I left the place with white hair and brown skunk stripes. Big brown skunk stripes. You may be thinking 'then why did you leave if you didn't like it', well she tried to fix it once and made it worse. I played it off as if it was fine and got the heck out of there. (No, I didn't take a picture but I should have taken one!)

Cut to me calling JC Penny on my way out the door to set up an appointment for the madness to be fixed. I choose JC Penny because I have been to a few of their salons before and never had an issue. So the next day I went in to be transformed back into my former self.

I had a great girl working on my hair that seemed to really know what she was doing. She turned my hair all brown. Yep, that's right, I am a brunette! I have never been a brunette in my life. I have been getting my hair highlighted since high school so I have always hidden it away. And when I was young my hair was white.

Anyway, she turned it brown to start again with the process. The only problem was she didn't want to highlight it again so soon because my hair is brittle since I take a lot of meds from the transplant. So for the past few days I have been a brunette. She was right in saying the color will keep getting lighter. My hair was so white before that the color can't really hold. I go back in a few days to get it all fixed. Although, I kind of like the brunette. It doesn't actually look too bad. But I miss my old self.

Here is the new me, for a couple more days anyway.

The great news of the week is I got to talk to Aaron the other day. He is in country and doing well. He hasn't quite made it to his final destination so he is getting anxious to get moving on his job. We both had a good laugh over my hair. I miss being able to tell him everything everyday! But I am happy he can call/e-mail and we can share our days together. I don't know how the military families of the past did it when they didn't hear from their loved ones hardly at all and letters took forever to arrive. I am so grateful anytime I get to here his voice, even if it is only for 20 minutes.

First AK Earthquake

This morning I thought Boone was being his normal crazy self running around the house shaking things up. It wasn't until I noticed the windows and desk shaking that I knew it couldn't have been him. I survived my first Alaska earthquake! OK, so it wasn't really a big deal. It was only a 5.4 on the scale but it was enough to knock one thing off our bookshelf.

Read here for more: Anchorage Earthquake

This may sound weird but it was a neat experience. It was cool to feel the earth rumble. Although, I do hope that is as bad as it gets.

Almost Midnight

Summer Solstice in Alaska. I took this photo at 11:05 PM. I didn't use a flash. The sky is still blue and you can see the green of the trees. This place is a trip!

Deployment Round 2

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I was trying to spent every second I could with Aaron before he deployed to Afghanistan. The dreaded day arrived Tuesday. It was awful saying goodbye. Since he left I don't quite feel like myself. I have been sleeping in, watching Lifetime TV and eating random crap. I figured I could give myself a few days to wallow in self pity but I have to snap out of it. I can't spend the whole deployment being a bum.

I will write more soon. I just don't feel like spilling my guts right now. Stick with me though, I will be back.

Random pics of our day

Yesterday, Aaron and I drove toward Seward to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. It was a fun place to visit but most of the animals we saw were animals we saw in the wild on the way up to Alaska. I did enjoy the bears! It was a beautiful day for a ride.

Our First Nephew

My sister, Nickie, delivered a perfect little boy on June 1st, Anderson Lee. He weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Sydney and her little brother.

He is so cute!

He is the first little boy in the family but he won't be the only one for long. My sister, Alicia, is due to have her little boy next month! I can't wait!