Excellence in All we Do

This week has been super busy for me, yet I've had more energy this week than I've had in a long time.  Maybe it's having to go gluten free? Or the fresh air and easy living of the suburbs? :-)  Needless to say, I've been enjoying my time at my parents house in WI, but I'm ready to see my hubs & my dog.  I head back to Chicago tomorrow after my friend's wedding shower.

This past Wednesday and Thursday, I've been working at the base and preparing for my upcoming deployment.  It's been a lot of computer based training, and getting my shots up to date (Anthrax & Typhoid...not fun at all).  On Thursday morning, I had to take my PT test because I was coming due.  The weather was pretty cool in the morning and I was a little worried for my run because my chest always hurts when I run in cold weather.  We started out with a waist measurement (down 1 inch from last year-yay!), and then it was one minute push-ups and one minute sit ups.  I completed 31 push ups & 42 sit ups.  Then it was outside for my run.  I ran my mile and a half in 13:38.  A HUGE improvement from last year, which was 14:05.  I was pretty happy about that, especially since I had been dreading the run portion.  When our fitness monitor put my scores into the computer, she said, "Maria, you got an excellent! Good job!"  Out of the 8 PT tests I've taken, that was my first EVER excellent.  I was so happy and proud of myself!  I definitely deserve a trip to Lululemon this week :-) 

On Friday, my mom and I went to Kohls and I bought some fall wardrobe items, including brown flats & a poncho.  I'm very excited to wear my poncho!  I think we might go back today for more.  After our shopping trip we went to the Original Pancake House & I ordered my first  gluten free meal: pancakes!  They were so good!  They tasted just like regular pancakes to me, very light and fluffy.  

breast cancer awareness month is coming up!

After our delicious breakfast, we went and saw "I Don't Know how she Does It."  I didn't read the book, but I heard it was kind of depressing, which I could see.  But I thought the movie was good.  Sarah Jessica Parker played the role very well & some of the way it was filmed reminded me of SATC season 1 where she & other people would talk to the camera.  I thought they were very biased on both sides of working mothers and of stay at home moms.  They portrayed the stay at home mom as someone who gets glammed up, sits in the park all day or goes to the gym all day.  I bit stereotypical in my opinion, because I know from other people that's not what it's all about (for most people anyway).

Well, I'm off to get ready for the Wine and harvest Festival.  I woke up early this morning, ran 3 miles & did fitnessista's ab burner!  It was a tough one, but yet they all are.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  

9/11/01

I was a junior in high school when the tragedy of 9/11 happened.  We were outside playing golf for gym class and the teacher told us we had to go inside.  I remember being happy about this because I hated golf.  It wasn't until I got to my next class that I realized what was going on.  Watching the television footage and seeing the second plane hit the tower is something that I will never forget.  Little did I know at the age of 16 how this would effect my life.

I joined the military in 2003 shortly after high school.  I will be honest and say that I joined mainly because of the educational benefits & the opportunity to travel.  I've been extremely lucky to have never had to be deployed anywhere dangerous.  My list of deployments include Colorado, Mississippi, Texas & two weeks in Turkey.

In 2006 I started dating my now husband.  In 2008 our unit was set to deploy to Afghanistan.  They asked for volunteers first.  I said "no" to overseas but if they needed me to come backfill at the base, I would do so.  LC and I had talked about our decisions before hand I knew that he wanted to deploy.  As much as I didn't want him to go, I told him that if it's something that he really wanted to do, I would support him 100%. 

At our next drill weekend, they put up a list of who was going overseas and who was backfilling.  I waited until I got home to cry.

If someone had told me on September 11, 2001 that I would have a boyfriend serving in Afghanistan seven years later, I wouldn't have believed them because that was not how I had envisioned my life.  But I couldn't be more proud of him and the decisions that he has made.  His bravery and selflessness is something that I truly admire about him and that make him the person that he is.

Let us never forget all of those who lost their lives that day, who continue to put their lives on the line for our freedom daily and their families who are supporting their efforts.  God Bless America :-) 

 

1/2 Marathon #3 Recap

Good morning everyone :-) The weekend's almost here!!!! I have to venture up to Milwaukee for drill/a friend's wedding this weekend.  It works out very nicely because the hotel where we stay on drill weekends is where she's having her wedding.  I decided to skip this week's "Wedding Wednesday" post because I didn't have enough time to post it yesterday. But if you missed the past two Wednesdays you can catch up here & here.  I've  been nursing a bad bee sting to my left arm since Sunday night and today is the first day all week that it hasn't hurt to type.  My arm swelled up to the point where I went to see my doctor ASAP.  She said it wasn't an allergic reaction, but that it was infected.  I guess bee stingers can carry a lot of bacteria.  She put me on antibiotics and sent me on my way.  I'm doing much better and hopefully my arm will be back to a normal size by this weekend.    



normal arm



stung arm

Kind of awkward to take pictures of your arm, but it's still pretty swollen.  Even though it's gone down some, I still couldn't get my wedding ring on today :-/

Thankfully, this did not happen during my 1/2 marathon on Saturday.  The morning started out with severe thunderstorms, but cleared up by the time the race was set to begin.  When I heard the thunderstorms and saw the lightning just as I was getting out of bed, I layed there and a small part of me had hoped that the race would get canceled.  I just wasn't in the mindset to run 13 miles and with that I knew this wouldn't be my best race.  I started out running with my friend, who runs at a slightly faster pace than I do.  Mistake #1.  I tired out sooner in the beginning because of it.  There were also hardly any porta potties on the course.  Mistake #2-not going to the bathroom before the race.  By mile 6, I had given up.  The motivation was just not there, so I told myself to just enjoy the race, the scenery and try to finish strong.

Why the lack of motivation?  First and foremost, I didn't have enough time to train and mentally prepare myself.  Secondly, I'm a big city girl & there's nothing in the world like a big city race.  The last two 1/2 marathons I have ran have been in suburbs in WI.  And as much as I love my family & friends in WI I am done with long races there, unless the race is in Milwaukee and it's a big one {Like the Summerfest race}.  This past race, I ran for MILES without seeing one spectator.  I ran through subdivisions, past rummage sales, and onto someones lawn to get past a fallen tree.  I felt like it was just an every day run.  The scenery was peaceful, but at one point a CAR cut out in front of me.  A car on the race course!  The best part about a 1/2 marathon is supposed to be the race and the atmosphere itself.  There's nothing like running the streets of Chicago (blocked off streets) with thousands of people there to cheer you on.  I finished the race is 2:25.  Not the time I was going for, but with all things considered, it could've been worse.  My next race will definitely be a big one.  I'd love to run the Rock n Roll Las Vegas in December.  We'll see! 

What's next? Chicago has finally gotten to the point where it's my favorite running weather.  September/October are the best months for running in my opinion.  The temperatures are just right and the colors in the park are changing.  BUT this year, I won't get to enjoy it because of a possible deployment overseas.  I say possible because I was supposed to go somewhere last December, and the trip got canceled last minute. So we'll see, but as of right now I am supposed to be leaving :-/  No where too dangerous though. 

Fact:Since LC and I have been together (5 years+) we have yet to spend a year in the same state as one another because of our military obligations.  We almost made it in 2009/2010, but then I got sent to Biloxi for tech school. Hopefully one day soon we'll get our year together!         

What Now?

I got a text message today from a co-worker of mine at the base. "Call Kenny ASAP". Right away I get sick feelings in my stomach. I HATE when people add ASAP to their text messages because I always think the worst. So I called Kenny and this how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, "A" told me to call you, what's up?

K: So you know how you were supposed to be going to the "Deid for a month??

Me: Yeah...(what's going through my head: they're sending me for longer and I won't be home when LC gets home and we will have to postpone our wedding!! Dramatic I know)

K: Well, you're not going anymore. They already have active duty crew com in place

Me: Okay. So the smallpox vaccine that's blistering and itching on my arm, that was for nothing?

K: Yep!

Military life is pretty sweet (sense the sarcasm). I called my mom and told her the news and she said to me, "Well don't unpack just yet, you never know!!" She definitely knows how this works. But for now, orders have been canceled and I have enrolled in an online Intro to Nutrution class that's required for the program I'm applying for.

What does this mean for me? Well, I pray that the holidays go by quickly. I hate being in Chicago when LC's not here during Christmas time and with this deployment I was supposed to be going back to WI this Saturday and staying until I left at the end of December. So I would have been with my family and friends. The city is utterly depressing and everything reminds me of him. There are certain Christmas songs that are off limits. This is the hardest part of the year. It also means that I will forced to make NYE plans, because it's simply not acceptable to sit home alone on NYE (wise words of my younger sister). So back to real life I go again. School, work and Oliver.

Happy Veterans Day!

To all the service men and women who have served and are currently serving in the armed forces. This day's for you. And to my favorite airman, soldier and husband-to-be! I'm so proud of you and everything you've accomplished. You are the most selfless person I know. Get home to me safely so we can start our lives together!

All-Expenses Paid Vacation To....(Drumroll Please)

THE DESERT!!!!!!!!! Wahooo!! Bleh...

I'm getting deployed ladies and gentleman. I know where I'll be going but will not be disclosing that information. All I have to say is that it will be hot. I shouldn't complain for a few reasons. One being I will be gone when Chicago will be at its coldest temps. Secondly, it's only for a month and its the last month before LC gets home from his deployment. I will get home, and a week later he will be here. Time is going by so fast! I love it.

When I first found out about this news, I was not a happy girl. My biggest concern was, 'What am I going to do with Oliver??' Luckily, I have an awesome sister who volunteered to watch my little nugget while I'm gone for the month. So Oliver will be setting up camp at Auntie Mel's house :-) My next concern was finishing all my pre-req's for the PA program. I had a schedule of all the classes I needed to take and what semester I would be taking each class. Luckily, one of my classes is online only, so I will be doing that while I'm there. Hopefully the internet works well.

After the week I've had so far, I'm looking at the deployment as more of a vacation from my hectic/crazy/super busy life. Yes, it sucks that I'll be working 12 hour days every single day that I'm there, but I also will have no responsibilities to anyone or anything but myself. On my off time I can read for fun or SLEEP!!! More than likely, I will choose sleep over anything else. I have a year and a half left in this enlistment. I'm not sure if I'm going to re-enlist yet. The military has its pluses and minuses. I will just have to wait it out and see!

4(ish) More Months to Go!

LC's been overseas now for two months and one day (but who's counting). I must say that I'm holding it together pretty well this time around. I've been keeping myself busy, almost to a fault. But now things are slowing down, we're getting closer to the holidays and it's starting to hit me. This is where it will mentally start to get tough.

Deployments are hard. I never envisioned myself being a "military wife". It happened by chance. I truly feel that your relationship has to be strong in order to survive 6 months apart. 6 months without feeling his kiss on your forehead. Without hearing his voice every day. Without a shoulder to lean on and someone to cheer you up when you've had a really bad day. 6 months of lonely Netflix nights (although I have enjoyed having free reign of the queue) and the end of date nights. I will say that I take comfort in knowing he's out of harm's way and that there's no violence going on where he is. Last deployment, he was in Afghanistan and I was a mess. I'm thankful for the wonderful support system that I have in my friends and family. Without their love and support I don't know what I would do. And my mom has been so great and patient. (I call her an average of 2 times a day).

I'm proud of my fiance, and the job that he's volunteered for. He's the most selfless person I know with the a heart of gold. I can't wait for him to get home so that we can begin the rest of our lives together!
"Lucky is the man who is the first love of a woman, but luckier is the woman who is the last love of a man."

Please, Come Home Soon

Here we go again, another 6 month deployment to the Middle East. LC left on Tuesday to go overseas. Another 6 months. We've done it before, and I've learned that it doesn't get easier with each deployment. This time was different though. Unlike the last deployment where I was sad before he even left, it really didn't hit me until the day of that he was leaving for that amount of time. On the morning that he left, we just kept telling each other "no tears" followed by a kiss. And surprisingly I didn't cry...in front of him. As soon as he got on the plane, the water works came. But all in all, I held it together pretty well.
Tonight, I finally got around to watching this youtube/facebook video that's been going around. I've been putting it off for obvious reasons. It's a compilation of military members reuniting with their families. It's wondering and amazing. The feeling you have when you see that person cannot even be put into words so I'm not even going to try. The video is 10 minutes long and I cried from start to finish. I couldn't help myself.

I have some candid pictures of our "reunion" from his last deployment. A friend of ours took them and I think it captures the emotion as best as possible.