Settled down

I can't believe that this deployment has been a month in already. A month! Seems like time is going a little faster now and thats a good thing! While I'm busy with both girls and school and work has been picking up and the days seem to roll into one another, Matt is busy doing his "workups" still. His training is pretty intense and he is ready to get over there and get the time clock ticking. He is doing some pretty interesting training, from getting a drivers license for hummers and m-raps, military vehicles, to simulators in tanks and hummers and practicing shooting and all kinds of things. His life is getting pretty interesting I think. I told him he would have some really great stories for his grandchildren one day. Anyway, he is doing well and is ready to get going! Besides school, my work has been picking up this past week, which means more money, not a bad thing! This week is going to be busy too! Cant wait! Plus, its a short week with no school on presidents day. It just helps the week go by faster!

We are pretty good in our routine now during the week and on the weekend, Finley loves to have "girls night". Girls night is when we get to pick a movie and eat popcorn and stay up late and since this has been a long weekend, we have had "girls night" 3 nights in a row! I love it too because it gives me snuggle time with both of them. That snuggle time wont last forever so Im going to soak it all up now while they are still young! On Friday when Finley got out of school, my friend Nicole and her 4 month old little precious girl Kennedy, went to Charleston for the day. A much needed girls getaway! We had lunch on the way and went shopping at the outlets and had dinner at Olive Garden and made a much needed trip to Costco. Isnt it funny you can tell you are getting older when your excited to go to Costco?!?! We had such a great day, talking and laughing and most importantly, shopping! Nicole is such a great friend to me and the girls. She helps me out so much, I am so grateful that she is here and that we are able to be such great friends and help each other out! She is a lifesaver! Yesterday, I went on Craigslist and posted my tv stand and vacuum cleaner and the vacuum cleaner sold in 20 minutes! I am thinking that could be a record?! So, the girls and I got ready and went and met the guy who bought it and then proceeded to Bluffton, a shopping area about 25 miles south of Beaufort. There is a Target and all kinds of stores and Bed, Bath and Beyond, two Tanger outlet malls and restaurants. Thank the Lord its not that far away. We hit Target first. I bought the girls some new color books and painting books and Charli got a new learning words book and Finley got a preschool workbook to help keep her up to date on all that she is learning. I also bought a new vacuum while i was there. My mom had been researching vacuums on the consumer reports and I bought the #4 vac on there, a Eureka, and it was on sale for 89.99! An even bigger plus! We went and walked around the outlets for a while, snooping around the Coach store and American Eagle. I could have bought so much stuff...but then the guilty feeling kicked in. So we just grabbed some McDonalds and headed home.

Today we are having a nice relaxing morning at home and then we are getting our hair done this afternoon. I am going to dye my hair back to more of its natural color and just add some suttle highlights. Im a little nervous. I have been blonde for a long time now and I love it. So why am I changing it? Because I get such a good deal here with Nicole doing my hair, that when we leave I wont be able to afford it. So I guess Im being rational, realistic, or whatever you may call it, just doing this so I have time to get used to it and have someone who knows my hair and me and can get it to where I am happy with it. I trust Nicole, so I know that she will get it right. The joys of having a friend in the hair business sure makes it easy! And the thought that we probably wont be stationed together for a while or ever is scary! Thats one of the downfalls of friends in the military, when you find really good ones, its unlikely that you will always be stationed together which automatically makes your relationship over facebook and cell phones. Its always temporary being with them. Such an awful downfall. So we sure treasure the time that we have since we only have a year left! It sure is about to go by fast!

Hope everyone has a safe week!

A little ink??

It would be a lie if everyone went through life without saying they wanted a tattoo. I have been wanting a tattoo since I was 17. There have been attempts but no results. This Saturday, I had an idea in my head of what I wanted and showed it to my friend/neighbor who is quite the artist. He sketched it up for me and off I went to the parlor. It was an experience for sure. It was painful, but not as bad as I thought. I am really glad I did it and will probably get one more. I got 2 hearts with and F and C inbetween the hearts for both my girls. I got it on the back of my wrist and I love it there. Matt wasnt really crazy about the idea at first, but it grew on him. Now he loves it! Hoping I can convince him to get one too!! Haha!

2 weeks in update

Life can be crazy and life can be busy...mine has been both! Time has been flying by! I am leaning to the positive side of that because it just means Matt is closer to coming home! I have been blessed enough to be able to talk on the phone and Skype with him daily now that he is in his "work up" stages of the deployment. I know once all of that is completed, I'll be wanting these days back. The girls and I are getting along great, getting a schedule down somewhat and keeping busy. My dad was here visiting for 2 weeks and that helped me so much, I never wanted him to leave! He is so great with the girls and they jsut adore and idolize him. When he left it was a real reality wake up call for me, now Im on my own and its all on me, everything relies on me. As a mother, as a wife, its a lot to take in. But Im keeping strong, as strong as i can be, and pushing through the days and holding onto my girls as tight as i can. They are so wonderful. They are my blessing in life and I have no idea where I would be without them. The love we have has grown stronger now that we are all that each other have. I know how much they miss their daddy and Im trying my best to be strong for them and hold them close to me. It does really amaze me how strong a love you have for your kids and how much they love you back. A bond that really cant ever be broken.
Back to the update..we are doing well. Busy with school and work and having some really great friends to help me through my everyday life. I am truly blessed! Matt has been really great too. He is very supportive of me and what i am doing with the girls. He is hanging in there and getting through his tough training days. We had our 6 year anniversary on Saturday and that was a hard day, since it was the second year in a row that we have spent the greatest day in our lives apart. I did get a surprise bouquet of beautiful flowers from him. Such a sweet guy! Im hoping this will be the last year we spend that day apart.
I am so proud of him. He is such a strong, determined, unique, special, wonderful man. A wonderful father and husband. I know he will succeed at this deployment and come home safe and sound. We all love you honey!!