1 month down!

Well we've made it to the 1 month mark! This feels like a big accomplishment to me, because the first week Justin was gone, felt like an eternity and I did not feel very strong, and had an extremely hard time thinking I could get through the next 6 months without him, but now I can say we are going on 5 MONTHS, and I feel a lot better about how things are going. Justin is pretty much settled in, getting the hang of his new job, and we are pretty much on a regular calling schedule/routine, and Tristin and I are doing pretty well without dad, we miss him terribly, but have got our routine down fairly well without him.

I'm trying to stay pretty busy, and with the help of my very dear friend Robbin and my parents, they have been my life savers, keeping me occupied and I'm trying to enjoy each day the best I can. Tristin's basketball season has come to an end, and he has decided not to participate in any Spring sports, so we will have a break from sports for awhile. Not sure if this is a smart decision on his part, however; it's a welcome break for me!

Thanks to everyone's continued prayers on our behalf and all the nice comments on face-book from all of my friends, you guys help me get through each day and your supports means so much to me, I love each and everyone of you! 5 more months, here we come!

Loss

Today has been a hard day. I got a phone call from Justin this morning at about 1am our time, and of course when the phone rings that early in the morning and from my experiences, it's usually not good news. My heart started pounding especially since Justin is in Afghanistan of course my mind went straight to panic mode!! Justin's voice was shaky and he stated "I have bad news." My heart sank, and that is when he told me our dear friend Doc had passed away from a massive heart attack the night before. Justin met Doc while working at the Depot many years ago. They became very good friends and eventually became commuting partners to and from work. They also established a very close friendship bond and Justin sometimes thought of Doc as a "father figure." They enjoyed listening to the "oldies" station to and from work, and also established a relationship outside of work. Doc then decided since the Depot would eventually close at some point, he entered a new program in the government, and moved away and entered into the QASAS program, and a year later, Justin too joined him in Oklahoma and entered into the same program and they lived together for a few months before Doc was transferred to Hawthorne Nevada to do an internship as a new QASAS. A year later, we then were transfer to Hawthorne Nevada and Justin and he once again joined forces and worked together for about 9 months, before we were transferred back to Pendleton. In Hawthorne we all maintained a close friendship and then once we moved to Pendleton Doc was deployed to Iraq, and once he returned to Nevada, he and his wife Marna were transferred over seas to Germany, and that is where Doc passed away of a massive heart attack last night. We still don't know the details at this point, but are very saddened by this sudden loss, he was only 58 yrs old. Justin had just received an email from him about a week ago, stating things were going well for him in Germany and that he was glad Justin was safe and sound in Afghanistan. It is so hard to lose a loved one, and especially under the circumstances, Justin feels very much alone, and helpless. How do you grieve a loss of a loved one when you never get to say goodbye??

Also I received news last night that my uncle from California had lost his battle with prostrate cancer...it has been a rough go for our family when it comes to loss. Last year I lost my grandma Mary, my aunt Joan, my aunt Carolyn, and now my uncle Tom, and Doc....life just doesn't make sense to me right now...I know that all things happen for a reason, and God has a purpose for each and everyone of us but right now, I really don't want to hear those words from anyone...I do not understand and someday I'm sure I will, but for now, my grieve is great. Rest in Peace Tom and Doc, I'm sure we will meet again someday, until then, know you will be missed and were loved.

Time flies when your having fun!

Last Wednesday I met my sister-in-law in The Dalles to pick up these two little cuties! Madison is 3 yrs old now and Ryder is 2 , and boy did I have a good time with them. They are so busy I don't think I got a spare moment to do much expect play with them. I figured that since Justin is gone I would give their mommy and daddy a little break, and they could come spend 4 days with auntie. Man time sure does go fast when you are busy with toddlers, and it helped me a little to stop counting the days until Justin comes home...they took my mind off a lot of things and it was some good medicine to have them here for a few days! We didn't do much except play and we did get out one of the days, it was a sunny 50 degrees and went to the castle park and played on the swings, and Madison loved the sand pit....she dug and dug! They both have such different personalities, Madison is a spit-fire like her auntie and Ryder is just a little tender sweetheart, who likes to snuggle and laze around....and his little raspy voice is to die for...I just love these two to pieces!!! They are leaving this morning to go back to Portland, but I will cherish my time with them, they really love coming to Pendleton and I'm happy we can make so many memories with them, that hopefully they will remember for a lifetime! I will be a little lost without them today, but surely need a break, I don't know how their mommy and daddy keep up with them, they are busy, busy that's for sure, I'm glad I could give them a break!

On another note: Justin is feeling much better, I talked to him this morning and he is getting the hang of his job pretty well, he is extremely busy with work, and not much else to report on thus far...he works 12 hour days, leaving little time for anything else expect sleep! He is still working on getting his internet up and running in his room, however the IT guy is going on leave this next week so he isn't sure if it will be anytime soon?? I'm thankful that we get to talk to each other about twice a day, he usually calls me in the evenings from the MWR, and then I can call him at his office in the mornings when he is getting off work, it seems to be working out well, and makes me feel good that I can hear his voice twice a day! Would love to Skype him, and see his face, but that won't happen until his internet in his room gets set up, I really would love to see him, but I'm trying to be patient, which I'm horrible at, this is very hard for me, cause you all know I'm a LEO and I really like to control things, and I'm not able to control much right now with this situation so it's been a challenge, but I'm adjusting, hahaha! Please continue to keep Justin's safety in your daily prayers, we love you all!!!

Under the Weather

Not much new to report on from Afghanistan other than Justin is not feeling well at all. He said he woke up the other night with body-aches, chills, and a cough. I don't think there is anything much worse than being sick and away from home, he said he went to the PX and purchased some Advil for the aches and he said it seems to be helping and his cough is breaking up, so hopefully he won't get much worse...not sure about the doctors on base, I'm sure they are capable of taking care of the sick though. I'm sure his body is pretty wore down, with the time change and the 3 days of no sleep trying to get on a military flight to Afghanistan. I wish I could make him some chicken noodle soup and make him feel better, but there is not much I can do, feeling pretty helpless...

I'm waiting on Justin to get his internet hooked up so he can upload me some photos so I can share with you all, he has told me about some of the pictures he has taken, and I really can't wait to see them, and then share with all of you so I'm trying to be patient as well as he is too, it's quite a process to get internet in your room, so as soon as I get them I will post them..Please continue to keep Justin in your prayers, we appreciate it very much!!!!

Lobster..That's What's for Dinner!!!

Guess what Justin had for dinner at the Chow Hall in Afghanistan???? Yup you guessed it....LOBSTER!! Are you kidding me? Okay this is a funny story because before Justin left on his mission, he told me he really would like to eat at Red Lobster in Tri-Cities, but for those of you who don't know, I'm allergic to shell fish, so of course I curled my lip to that idea! Justin says whenever he thinks of Lobster "his mouth starts watering." So instead of Red Lobster we enjoyed a meal at the Olive Garden instead, however; after we were done eating he told me "his mouth was still watering for Lobster!" I did feel kinda bad, since I was thinking it was his last meal in the states for awhile, but not bad enough to agree on Lobster. So it was about the second night at the Chow Hall, that they served him Lobster, I mean really, who would think they would serve Lobster at the local Chow Hall?? Anyway he IM'ed my mom on FB and told her that he had lobster for dinner, then he called me and informed me he had lobster for dinner, I was shocked, I mean who would of thunk it??? Anyway he said it was delicious and overall said that the chow hall food is quite decent. So do you think that it was coincidence that he was offered Lobster for dinner??? He said he understands why you could gain a lot of weight eating "chow" food, since they offer a wide variety of dishes, that are pretty good I guess. He has been eating 3 small meals a day, and starting Monday he is going to head back to the gym and start working out. He gets up quite early, around 4am, this giving him time to head to the gym, shower, eat and then get to work.

On another note they will be showing the Superbowl today at 4am his time, he wasn't sure if it would be worth getting up to watch since there are so many troops wanting to watch, and a small TV area where it's being shown...He doesn't much care who wins, since his CHARGERS are out of it anyway, however he said he is rooting for the Packers, OHHH and I'm wondering what they will be cooking up for dinner tonight??

Life Line

You see this is my life line to Justin...a satellite phone in his office that allows for me to call him on a daily basis. I call a number and it connects me to an operator in New Jersey, and then she is able to connect us all the way to Afghanistan, isn't that just amazing, and it's a local US number so I don't have to pay those ridiculous International rates, it's just awesome! When I call him, he is usually getting off work, we have a 12.5 hour time zone difference, so my mornings are his nights and my nights are his mornings, so it does make it a little tricky to get a hold of one another, but we are doing fine on the calling times as of now! His work schedule is 12 hour days, 7 days a week....NO DAYS OFF, I couldn't handle it! His hours are 8am-8pm....leaving little time for anything thing else to do, but then again, what else is there to do on an Army Base in the middle of Afghanistan, it's not like he can go site seeing!!! He will never leave post unless he is with an escort and so basically in his 6 months time, he will never see the outside of the fence of his base....I can't imagine! He is working on getting an internet connection in his room, however the Afghans are running most of the internet there, so he is a little hesitant to give his computer over to them, which I can't blame him, so we'll see how that will all work out, he is still trying to figure it all out! I thankful for his safety and well being, he seems to be settling in well and adjusting to the time change, however after a 12 hour shift he is pretty spent, there is a lot of back work he is trying to fill, so he said he is going to be staying busy for a LONG time...I'll write more tomorrow about his meals at the chow hall...until then Chow!

My Journey for the next 6 months

So as most of you know, my husband has been deployed to Afghanistan for the next 6 months, and I've decided maybe this would be a good time for me to taking blogging back up, a way of sorts to kinda keep a journal to help keep family and friends in the loop, since he only has limited talk time and computer time, and usually it's Tristin and I he is calling. This has been a very difficult transition for Tristin and I since we are so used to having him home, and as all of you know Justin is my best friend. So this separation hasn't been an easy thing for me. This will be a way for me to deal with my feelings, a way to put my feelings into words, which is really hard for me. So don't blink too fast, you might miss out on something really interesting from Afghanistan, Justin is going to start taking pictures and hopefully once he gets his internet set up he will be able to send them to me and I can share them with all of you...he has told some funny stories and I will blog of those later, so hang tight, and enjoy this roller coaster ride with me, it will most likely be me telling you stories about my feelings, and how this journey has changed my perspective on life in general! Thanks for listening...