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!

Animals We Saw Along/On the Alaska Highway

We started out on our trip excited about the possibility of seeing lots of wildlife. When we entered into the Yukon Territory we were more than amazed to find that the animals own the roads. They would stand/lay right in the road and we would have to go around them. It was so cool! I may have had a different opinion had it been raining or foggy but we got to drive the road on a beautiful spring day. We were able to spot the animals before they became any kind of hood ornament!

Can you believe the bison lay that close to the road? We saw more bison than any other animal. We must have seen over 50(+). They were everywhere. And where you didn't see them, you saw their poo. There was A LOT of it! Nasty.

These elk were the farthest animals away from the road but they were still close enough to see their details.

We were so busy looking at the sheep on the hill, we almost missed the one staring at us on the side of the road.

We scared the caribou off the road. I love their coloring!

These sheep wouldn't budge! They did not care that we could run them over. They were not moving. We pulled up right beside them. They shifted a little when Boone started barking but other than that they acted like we didn't even exist!

We came across these horses just grazing on the side of the road. They were gorgeous! There was no fence holding them back. They were wild horses! Isn't that crazy!? I loved the gray one! If I would have thought there was room in the trailer with Aaron's Harley I would have tried to capture him and take him home. (I know that never would have happened but the little girl inside of me can still dream right!?!)

We also saw one mangy moose but since I already posted some nice pictures of moose in the neighborhood I will leave it at that.

Next post: Places We Visited Along the Way

My Awesome B-day Gifts

It was raining yesterday so we didn't take them out and set them up. So, you get pics of the outside of the boxes. Does my hubby know me or what!? :o)

Also, thanks everyone for the great cards and birthday wishes!

Scenery Along the Alaska Highway

You would think since we have been here a month that I would be ready to post something about our trip up here. Well, I don't have much yet, so I will just share with you some of the beautiful mountains we saw on the ride across the Alaska highway.

If some of them look hazy it was because I took them through the dirty front window. It got to be nuts rolling down the window every time I wanted to take a picture.

We drove across that bridge. We felt so small driving around the base of this one! We followed the road all along the base of the mountain and around a lake that was to the right of this pic. I was one of the coolest things I have ever done.

These pictures don't even scratch the surface to the number of mountains we got to see. And my poor photography skills don't do them any justice. The scenery was AMAZING! God's creations were breathtaking!

For the next post I will share pictures of all the random animals we got to see along the way. You are hardly going to be believe the animals we found smack in the middle of the road!

Wordless Wednesday

Memorial Day

When I was little I didn't really think much about Memorial Day. I did know when I heard that Memorial Day was coming up I thought about getting a day off school, parades and a BBQ. Now that I have grown up and become a soldier's wife I have gained a whole new perspective.

I don't want to say it reminds me of those serving our country because honestly, I think about it everyday. It doesn't remind me to stop and think of those soldiers who gave their life for our country. I think of Ben and others everyday.

It may not a time of remembrance for me but it is a time for me to be thankful. I am thankful to all those who serve/have served in the military. I am thankful to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. I am thankful to all those families who support their soldier, marine, sailor or airmen.

My heart aches for those who have lost a son, daughter, father, mother, sister, brother or friend. But my heart is also filled with gratitude for those who sacrificed and continue to sacrifice everyday so I may have the freedoms I do today.

This Memorial Day also has affected me in a different way. It is another milestone in the calendar reminding me that Aaron is deploying soon. I can't give specific dates. The Army tends to frown upon posting anything that is a security risk! But I can tell you he will be in Afghanistan by the end of June.

This is the second deployment for me and I think it will be easier in some ways and harder in others. I don't feel like saying much about it now because I don't want to get upset. I try really hard not to cry or get upset around Aaron. It isn't fair to him. I don't want to make him leaving any harder than it already will be for him.

I am sure I will blog about soon. And I am sure you will get sick of hearing about him being deployed but for now, I ask for you to keep us in your prayers!

God Bless America!

First Moose in the Neighborhood (this year)

Our neighbor called us over to his house today to show us something in his backyard. Here is what we saw:

This little one was just around the side of the house.

The momma was lying just far enough around the corner of the house into the backyard that we had to go on the deck to see her.

Isn't that so cool? There are moose sleeping/hanging out about 50 yards from our front door. I don't think we will be getting any visitors to our backyard, unless they can scale a fence! Ken (our neighbor) said they tend to come into town with their babies to get away from the bears. They have had them visit their backyard in years past. I really liked seeing the moose. I hope the bears stay far away!

**Update: Ken just called and told us to look out the front door. The moose were up an moving around.

I used no zoom here because I wanted you to see how close he was to our front porch!

I don't think they liked the sound my camera clicks were making!

A Thursday at the Zoo

Aaron and I ventured to the Anchorage zoo yesterday. If you know me at all, you know I LOVE the zoo! It wasn't very big but it was very clean, the animals had good space to roam, and the areas around the cages were really well maintained. I hate when I go to the zoo and you can't hardly see the animals because of over grown weeds or trees.

We saw animals sun bathing, seals licking windows, the oldest looking camel ever, crazy brown bears and an alpaca who had a hairdo that reminded me of an 80's hairband! I didn't take a picture of every animal but below are some of my favorites. (I only took my zoom lens into the zoo with me so there are some extreme close-ups.)