On The Wrong Foot

Here we are again

2010-09-22T12:31:00.002-05:00

Just a Test

Thankful Army Wife

2009-09-22T11:12:00.000-05:00

I've barely had any time to sit down and write exactly what's going on inside my head, which is a lot, seeing as how we're about ready to close the page on a big big chapter of our lives. I have huge emotions flowing in and out of my heart constantly...anyway, I've been feeling so bumbed at the fact that I'll become and ex-army wife here real soon that it only dawned on me recently of how thankful I should be. Thank God my husband has come home to me and I can look at him and smile...that I can nuzzle up close to his neck and take in the smell of his skin, natual oils mixed with a hint of shaving cream. I'm so proud of my husband...my sweet husband. It'll be interesting watching him transfer back to being a civilian once again.

How many days: 9 days until the big move.

Hmm

2009-09-15T17:13:00.000-05:00

So I went to Lowes today to pick up moving boxes...brought them up to the cashier to ring them up and she so casually asked me "are you moving?" Kinda made me wanna to say, "nope, building a new house and figured these here boxes would make great walls."

Puppies

2009-09-15T17:09:00.000-05:00

URGH...Tucker got a hold of my best black sandals...even after I put them up out of his way.

This puppy is driving me nuts!

Places

2009-09-15T17:07:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed how places conjure up feelings? I have to go pick up my father-in-law from the airport, so that he can help us move our belongings up north. Alright, small details...moving on. I think of the airport, MCI there in Kansas City, three hours from our first home together. I remember those feelings of elation as I drove three hours to pick my sweet husband up from the airport when he came home on mid-tour...I think of wearing those heels and demi skirts, sitting in those swooped seats waiting for his plane to come in. The only time I've been to that airport, I've been with Michael. I think of leaving him at that airport, watching as he boarded a plane, which would take him from me...far from me, to a place that I could only make real through his pictures and words. There are so many things around Kansas that have touched me in that very same way. I'm looking forward to the new memories, but I feel as if I am in mourning for the old memories. There have been so many first here in the big state of Kansas...it's been wonderful...kinda makes me wonder: "How do you say good-bye to a whole state?" and "Why does it seems so hard to start this new chapter in my life?"

4 A Ride

2009-08-24T00:54:00.000-05:00

It's was a rather nice day today...except for the part that my husband was/is on 24 hr. duty and he wasn't around. I decided to fill some time by taking a short ride with my best bud...we went about 57 miles. The weather was perfect...low 80's with a fair breeze (which is rare for Kansas). I just got back from bringing the husband his dinner...something I love to do...in fact, I love anything to do with my husband (in moderation). Come to think of it, I've only missed one dinner run while my hubby was on 24 hr. duty...and that was only because I was busy repainting the kitchen (urgh). I suppose I should be off to do some housework...I know I'd rather be sleeping, but we can't all have what we want.

Days Left in Kansas: 38

Time flys when you're having fun!!!

Half and Half :Ten things I will Miss or Not Miss about Kansas

2009-08-22T08:23:00.001-05:00

1. Friends...all the wonderful people we have come in contact with...WOW!
Joe and Raylene you're at the top of the list
2. The warm weather...longer riding seasons
3. Our first home together...the memories that we share in it...our first years of marriage
4. The polite people...they wave at you in their vehicles. Kansas folks really are nice people
5. I-70...for those of you in Michigan...this interstate is nothing like those in Michigan...folks in Michigan are really not the nicest drivers...they crowd around you and drive like nuts. I like I-70.

6. I will not miss Kansas allergies...they get worse each year

7. I will not miss having to drive to what seems opposite ends of the state to get to things.

8. I will not miss driving and spend our vacation time going back home. Though I love being with our family...I would love to have a real vacation...some place like Hawaii.
9. I will not miss Kansas winters...cold and boring...there's no snow to do anything in...it's rediculous
10. I will not miss the lack of trees...I like trees...oh...and Kansas wind...there's a reason why Dorthy was from Kansas

The Count Down

2009-08-21T12:09:00.000-05:00

So, the time is coming upon us...our seperation from the military. HOW TERRIFYINGLY WONDERFUL!!!

There a sense of happiness in the household, seeing as how Michael won't be up for deployment again and the long hours he works hopefully will stop once the civilian world has a hold of him. But...all is not without a sense of sadness. I am so proud of Michael and his military career even if he isn't all the time. The military brings a sense of secruity...in an odd sort of way...finacial wise defiantly...emotionally stable??...once in a while if he's not ticked off because of the wacky, insanly ridiculous goings on at work...or in my case, because of deployment. The world seems so scary as we stand at the door of the civilan world. I'm looking at going to work full time as my sweet hubby is finally going to get some schooling in. That's a whole new chapter all together. We'll be seperated once again :( I am looking forward to him using his GI bill...he's earned it...boy has he :) So, let's see what the world will have in store for us in these next few weeks. OCTOBER!!! here we come.

How many days left in Kansas: 41 days left.

Um...Hmm

2009-02-04T15:49:00.005-06:00

I wish I had more to talk about lately, but I've been so wrapped up in getting us a home back in Michigan that I haven't paid much attention to the details of life around me. However, last night was rather entertaining, with our daughter riding the daddy horse and then watching my husband wrestle with the kiddos...they were supposed to be in bed by eight, but I couldn't help myself...watching them play is joyus to me. That's all for now...oh...husband was kind enough to put on my passing lights, so when I drive the bike at night, I'm not wanting to drive with the brights on just so I could see. I would have done it myself, but I'd likely route the lights into the horn or something freaky like that. The bikes looks great...I love the three lights up front...now I cannot wait for warmer weather so that we can ride together.

The Idea of Moving Back Home

2009-01-27T12:42:00.002-06:00

So, by this point, it's been decided by my husband and I that we are going to return home to our home state. For the duration of his 15 month deployment we were up in the air about the future of our lives, or the intended path of our lives. But more recently, we've decided that our goal is to get back up to the great state of Michigan, where we were both born and raised and graduated high school together. There are a few bittersweet moments mixed in with making this decision. You come to grow and love the places you create to be your home, or at least, I have. It's the first home of mine and my husbands, and literally where our daughter was born, so that's something that tugs at my heart strings ever so slightly. On top of that, I made a best friend in our neighbor just south of us, and I am going to miss her greatly. However, good news has it, she's ready to pack up and move right along with us. It'll be a couple of years, for she has to save up monies before moving to a state so unfamiliar to her. There are a bunch of small things that I'll miss, but for the most part, I am ready to go back home. To actually live in our home state together as man and wife will be kinda nice. As many military couples can attest, we were married in a court house, far from our family, and even though we knew each other for years and were from the same state, the military just didn't afford us the opportunity to have a home wedding. It was a, do where you are, kinda wedding if we wanted to be married, and we couldn't hold off being married to each other. It was so great moving away from home, setting down on a new path, a new adventure, but it's time for an entirely new adventure, a chance to settle down a bit. It still seems to be some for of military life for us though, yet that part will be kept under wraps until things have actually settled into place. I have learned that no matter how far away you are from your "home" you can make a "home" anywhere with a little will and heart investment. My husband and children have become my home, and those I've met along the way have certainly made a home away from home for me. I've been blessed to experience the independence the military life can provide you and the chance it also gives you to branch out, and learn how to sometimes depend on new people, and befriend new folks.

So, we're looking to settle down on a few acres of land, no less than ten, and have a home where we can be ourselves, and where we can finally have all our belongings under one roof. Excluding of course the pole barn and garage we desire to have, which will have our mobile belongs...or sometimes immobile belongings.

The Love of Father with His Daughter

2009-01-19T12:27:00.003-06:00

Now it's something else, watching my husband with our son, telling him about the things his father use to teach him about...cars...hunting..and etc. All the typical male things a father and son can bond over, but there's something particularly special about watching my husband with our little girl. Many fathers, though by far not all, might desire to have a son...only a son...and get bummed out when they find they're having a daughter, but not my husband. He takes so much pride in being the father of a little girl. It really takes someone special to be the father of a daughter, to wanna hold on to her still when she crying just to try and get her way. Our daughter happens to be a tough little girl, and rarely flinches when daddy tries to scare her...the typical game of BOO! in our house, and she's rarely one to cry when falling down, and when she first saw the deer my husband shot during hunting season, she just looked, investigated more or less. A real man, when given a daughter, will step up to the plate. He will look at his little girl like a precious commodity and know that he is the one that will help shape her future. A father will show is daughter what type of man she should look for and encourage her to strive for the best love you can get out of life. I want our daughter to see the kind of man her father is, loving, loyal, and very much in love with her mother, and we will hope that she will take that into her adult life. Besides that, our daughter's future suitors will have a handful of trouble is he dare hurt "daddy's little girl". It's been amazing and quite funny to hear my husband talk of "not allowing our daughter to date until she's married" or to know that someday teenage boys will come around for "his" Care Bear. Yes, the love of a father is surely something else to experience, especially with a daughter.

The Simple Life

2009-01-16T08:56:00.002-06:00

I haven't been keeping up with the blog as much as I would like to. I'm on the computer at least once a day to check the bank account and such, but I don't seem to find much to say these days. It was so much easier to find things to talk about while the husband was deployed that, and I was on the computer for maybe 4-5 hours at a time talking on the Instant Messenger. Things are pretty much back to normal...normal being like they were before the deployment...except this nagging feeling that I only have a year with my husband and he's going to deploy again. I think, "okay time, go slow cause by next Christmas he'll be gone again." Truth be told, we're not sure what's going to be going on with our future...whether my husband will be staying in the military or whether he'll be getting out. The job market leaves little to be desired about, but my husband is still ready to part with the Army. Most of his career started before he became a family man, and after a while, the distance, long hours, and deployments makes you wanna find a new work path. It's just a bittersweet decision. We are very prideful in our country, but sometimes the Army doesn't feel like the right path for us. So, we're up in the air...very much so. I'm trying to leave it up to God, but I still wonder if my husband is happy and where we might end up by the next year.

Our sister-in-law Jamie (husband's brother's wife) is pregnant with their second child and final child. (CONGRATS!!!). We already have two kiddos ourselves, but have always planned on having three. Last pregnancy Jamie and I were pregnant at the same time. I'm happy to not be pregnant this time, though I desire greatly to have a third child before I turn thirty :). That's another reason why the job/career decision weighs on my mind so much. Besides, we only have three bedrooms, so that would make for an interesting arrangement in the house we're in now.

Besides all that, I'm awaiting word on my Associates in Arts degree...need to make sure I have all the classes to fullfil requirements. Then I'm going to scrounge around for monies to continue on with the rest of my schooling. I want so desperately to be a counselor...I love the thought of helping others through difficult situations...most other military spouses. This military life is very possible with the right mind set and information.

I'm also going to start writing again, so I'll be posting some new work to the writing website. I look forward to putting up some more posts.

Happy Birthday Carolyn Movie

2009-01-08T11:42:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-08T11:14:00.003-06:00

Okay, so it's been a while since I've written anything on the blog. I'm sure most folks have forgotten that this blog even exsist, and I can't say I'd blame them, I forget it even exsists sometimes. I've been so busy (or something like it) with the hubby home that I don't really get online to write much of anything. The new year will bring more work for my sweet hubby since their stuff should be arriving soon. Of course they'll have to actually have a place to work out of before their stuff arrives. However, that's not going to be the case seeing as how their motorpool isn't even finsihed yet.

I've become accustom to have the hubby home. He's had some extra time off for Christmas and New Years so I'm still not fully into the normal swing of things yet. He just plucked apart a 77 Ford Truck over the weekend. Now we have to find places to put some of the parts, and then the truck will be hauled away here shortly. It's so great watching the hubby work in the garage. It's something he really loves to do, and I just think he's so darn cute when he does it too.

So, it will be interesting to see what the new year brings for us. I am really looking forward to this summer...I have been promised a vacation. The plan is so far to jump on the bikes and just ride...which I am just so excited for. Imagine, the open road, a few essentials, and a camera for taking pictures. It'll be great! Until then, I pray for a safe and healthy start to the year. Both the kids are doing wonderful thus far and I hope it continues.

We, down here in Kansas, wish everyone a Slap Happy New Years!

Note* in the photo are two new Christmas Gifts of my hubby's

Thank You

2008-12-26T14:33:00.003-06:00

As you may very well be able to see, our children do not go without for Christmas. Thanks in part mostly to their grand parents, great grand parents, and aunts and uncles who spoil em rotten. Thank you all so much for the wonderful gifts. I'll be sending out cards to give our many thanks here shortly. Until then...thank you...and Happy New Year.

P.S. I'll be setting up a new album after we open Carolyn's birthday gifts and have some birthday cake. Love you all!

Clips of Christmas 2008

2008-12-21T20:51:00.005-06:00

Making Christmas Cookies

A few of Michael's Nutcrackers

2008 Rice Christmas tree

The Rice Family

2008-12-08T11:08:00.002-06:00

I added another album to the mix of Rice family photos. They're our family photos, so please...take a look and enjoy!!! It's nice to have the family all together again. The best Christmas present EVER!!!

The Wonders of Christmas to Little Ones

2008-12-07T12:05:00.003-06:00

Our beautiful babies looking at all the Christmas decorations at the mall.

I am so excited about Christmas this year. It's all about family...about the smiles and laughs, and all the wonderful smells of baking and all the joys of decorating the tree together. It's a real time for family.

100th Post!!!

2008-12-05T12:22:00.009-06:00

It's finally December!

It's hard to believe that it hasn't been a month yet since my sweetie has returned home from Iraq. Things are going great with him home. Lately, he's been out hunting every day since opening day a few days ago, and I'm happy about that. He's been unable to hunt for nearly five years due to his duties with the Army, and I think he's due for a little relaxation or at least to do something he enjoys. He's in new terrain this time around. He's used to woods for miles and miles, not fields and fields for miles and miles, but I have faith he'll be successful. I really want him to come home with something, I know it would just make him so happy and anything that makes him really happy, makes me really happy.

Coming up this Sunday will be Grey's preschool Christmas program and I am really looking forward to that as well. It'll be so nice to have daddy home to watch these little events that go on with the kiddos. It'll be nice to be a family, spending time together...even dinner time has become a wonderful time of day again. I'll tell you, it was wonderful being a family for Thanksgiving. I kept thinking that I was living a dream or something, but there my husband sat beside me, a plate loaded full of Thanksgiving goodies...he he he...it's like he hasn't eaten real food in a long time.

Lately, for me, life has been filled up with finishing my college classes, housework, kiddos of course, and now, the hubby, so I haven't had much time to write anything on the blog. A few days ago we got my hubby's 78 Ford out of storage. We have a few Christmas decorations up, but have yet to get our tree. I'm bugging the hubby for us to go get it sometime next week and he agreed of course, but we'll still have to find time to get it. Also, I was told that I could get a family picture of us done on Sunday too, so I am really crossing my fingers on that one as well.

Happy Holidays to everyone, and a very Merry Christmas, to whatever religion you are. I leave the politically correctness to someone else.

Thanks a Bunch!!!

2008-11-25T09:42:00.003-06:00

These are some beautiful pictures my cousin Terri sent my way. That was so sweet of her to do, and I have to display them for all to see. Thanks again. You can definatly see Grandma Noom when you look at Aunt Pat.

He's Home

2008-11-23T10:28:00.003-06:00

As of 2 am on November 18th, my hubby is finally home. I would have posted sooner, but I've been enjoying having him home once again thought it's definatly something I'm getting use to again, having my partner back. It's really nice! I've added a few photos of his home coming to the Rice photo album. There aren't much of his arrival, but enough to shake a cat at :) The kids are really loving having daddy home. It gives them another person to play with and on for that matter.

2008-11-16T00:53:00.003-06:00

As I currently sit in our quiet home, typing away, I am struck with the reality that he'll be home soon. Pardon this, but damn, I wish there was a way to insert a tracking device into my husband so I knew where he was right now. Ahh, I haven't cried in the longest time, I'm just so on the edge, waiting on word. I have to admit, the waiting, has been the hardest part of this whole deployment. I am not just talking about the past "few" months he's been away, but that moment when you're so close and yet, so far away at the same time. It's like when your parents put the presents under the Christmas tree and you can only sit and guess what's inside those decoratively wrapped boxes. It's like hmm, will the phone call come today, or maybe tomorrow? The phone is ringing...who could it be? For the a brief moment, before looking at the caller ID I have this heightened sense of excitement. Yes, yes, this could be it!

Upon speaking to my husband, the few times I was able to, I told him to stop procrastinating and just come home already that this "extended" vacation has indeed extended itself far too long. He told me, "you know, every time I talk to you, you tell me that." and so I reply, "yes, well, every time I mean it." Ah, my sweet pain in the butt husband!!! I cannot wait to be with you my love.

I cannot wait until I am able to sleep again. Oh, I've taken that daily part of life for granted and I so desire to have it back in tack. It's one in the morning and I can't seem to lie my head down...I can't seem to go to the bedroom either. I'm between watching another rerun of Golden Girls or doing homework, which at this moment neither sound real tempting. Now, I am going between writing this little snippet to searching the internet for anything that will keep my attention. It's in vain of course, I'm just stalling before I finally realize I should indeed GO TO BED. Sigh*

I'm so excited!!!! There's going to be a lot of joy floating around in this house real soon. :) Oh, I cannot wait (though the reality of it is, I have no choice:)~

Come Home!!!

2008-11-13T22:32:00.001-06:00

I want you HOME I want you home...Only the Lord knows how much I want you home.

Tick Tock

2008-11-11T09:38:00.001-06:00

Tick tock...tick tock..time is slowly ticking away, but I think we're making progress...YEAH!!! I am so excited, I cannot wait!

Reasons Why

2008-11-07T21:51:00.004-06:00

So, there's been plenty of e-mail circulation about the military...in regards to the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make for us. I was recently watching and episode of "Say Yes to the Dress" a TLC show that is taped in a wedding dress shop (hmm not sure if that's technical term for a "dress shop"). There was a bride who had bumped up her wedding date due to her Marine husband's unavoidable deployment. Lucky women, she is able to try on wedding dresses, my wonderful husband and I were married in a court house with two other soldiers for witnesses. The wonderful part, "we were married!" Now, believe me, I've had my many moments of desperate negativity. I still pine for the day I am able to walk down the aisle to my prince charming in a beautiful dress that makes me feel like his princess. I thought, hmm, there are so many positives to being a military wife, things that very few peoplewould think of.

1. Moving is part of the job. As in, you go when it's your time to go, but think of the experiences, being in a new places. I have experienced such freedom, such trust in myself being in a home away from our true "home"

2. Utter pride. Many women and men have pride in their spouses, but there is this pride that swells in my heart when I think of my husband's duty. Sometimes I feel inadequate next to him, but then I know in my heart that our children need me like our country needs my husband.

3. Trust. Not all spouses can say they trust their husband or wife from the very depths of their soul. We have been apart through deployments and through other events in our lives, but there is this trust that we have garnered with each other. I pray that spouses can have the trust within their marriage as my husband and I have in each other. (we all know many other miltary spouses aren't as lucky and experience the exact opposite, but stick with me here)

4. Learning. There has been nothing but learning through this relationship with my husband. I've learned about us as a couple, and I've learned about the woman I am. I am a strong, smart, beautiful, and a devoted woman. I am a great mother who has love beyond borders for her children and a wife who will wait up nights, even if it means she can hear from her husband for but a moment.

5. Strength. I have learned, there's that word again, that I have strength I never knew I had. I can take care of things, I can step up and deal with what life had brought me, what life has generously given me.

6. Education. I took some time for myself to further my own education. And walla, I'll be graduating a month after my husband returns from deployment. One day, he will not have all the stress of finding employment on his shoulders alone. I will take care of my husband one day...and buy him another motorcycle (yes, two motorcycles will never hurt) . (P.S. I also took up learning how to ride the motorcycle my husband bought as a going away gift...okay, so it's not technically a going away present, but I still tease him nonetheless. The point is, finding something for yourself through all the chaos)

7. We have been chosen for something greater than ourselves. God has looked down at us, and yes, I truly believe in God's will, and has noted that we will care out great tasks. Someone else may call it what they like, but I am no fool, I know there is a higher power, choosing us to experience a part of life very few get the privilege to experience (the pride, the joy, the sadness, the learning, the love, the trust, and the opprotunites that come if only you release long enough to recieve.)

Don't get me wrong, life with the military can be hard, but before you think it's all horrible, just remember there are positives to everything as well. Sure, my heart aches when I crawl into bed alone each night, but we will be together again real soon. My heart aches at the though of our children without daddy for Christmas or their birthdays, but we have love and we as a family will prevail. Of course, if this was the start of the deployment I'd be singing in another tone (I know better to be honest). But that's the joy of life's journey. Just because you start off one way, doesn't mean you have to end the same way.