Our First House

Our lease at our condo happened to be ending within a week of the end of Scott's deployment. I had been looking at houses for at least a month, maybe two, but at the beginning of April, I went ahead and put in our 30 Day Notice. Now, I definitely wouldn't recommend it, but I was desperate to find our bear of a dog a yard.

I have to say, I got to a point where it was 2 weeks before Scott was set to come home, and I was wanting to get moved the next week, and I just wasn't having much luck find anything. I got super frustrated. But, then the next day, I found 2 great houses that I was ready to apply for. 

The house we ended up getting was going to be available that weekend. Plus, it came with a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. The other house did not. And wasn't going to be available until the end of April. So I applied for this one. And as I was in the middle of sending Scott an email to tell him about these houses...I got a phone call from the Property Manager saying that our application had been approved. It had literally only been thirty minutes. Just like that, we had a house. 

I think I started packing like 3 days before I was supposed to move. And I hired the movers the day before the move. In fact, I was still packing when they got there, and luckily, they had some large boxes for me to put loose items into. 

Scott was due to come home in a week. I still had to work a 40 hour work week, and things have been constantly busy ever since, so almost a month later, the house is still not put together or completely unpacked. And, it'll probably stay empty for a long while, because we definitely do not have the furniture to fill it. 

But I'm going to take you on a tour of our empty house (pre-move) because I know at least mine and Scott's family members want to see it.

The Front Entry Way/Dining Room

The Living Room/Kitchen

Downstairs Bed and Bath

Laundry Room

(Quite possibly my favorite part of the house)

Upstairs Living Room

(Californians call it a "Bonus Room", but whatever)

Upstairs Extra Bedrooms and Bathroom

Master Bed and Bath

And the backyard for our bear

And yes, Gatsby loves his yard! And we love it, too! I'm sure there will be more posts to come as I go thrift store shopping for old, cheap furniture to refurnish and fill the house with. 

Homecoming Day

Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since my husband came home from deployment. It's been a whirlwind of constant busyness, so I am just now getting to write about it. But here's a little bit about that day.

After 8 months of countdowns, that last week was surreal for me. I couldn't believe he was finally actually coming home. But I stayed busy. Moving. Unpacking. Grocery shopping. And clothes shopping for Scott.

The day before he came home, I decided I needed to make some signs. I decorated my chalkboard that I change about once a month. 

And, of course I needed a sign to hold for when he got there. I weighed a lot of options, and ended up going with words from our favorite song. I knew no one else would really get it, but HE would. And that's all that mattered.

I didn't know how much sleep I would be getting the night before he came home, but I think I managed to get a decent amount, and the first thing I thought when I opened my eyes that morning, "this is it! Today's the day!" 

He wasn't due to get to leave until 6-8pm that night though. So I was trying to find ways to kill time. I did some cleaning. And as usual for me, I hadn't picked out what I was going to wear, so I ended up going to the mall to try to find something. After trying on quite a few dresses, I finally just gave up. I ended up back home, trying on some dresses that I already had. 

And then...I got a pleasant surprise. Scott texted me and said that they were finished earlier than expected, so I should head to base at 3. (It happened to be about 2:15-2:30 at the time.) I very quickly just had to pick a dress, finish fixing my hair, and run out of the house. I had planned on getting more stuff done, but ran out of time, and him coming home earlier than expected was more than okay with me. 

So I raced to base. Meanwhile, Scott was texting me some...and by the time I finally made it to the area on base where they would be getting dismissed, I asked him if he was going to be ready to go when I got there. He said, pretty soon. And I think that's when it actually finally hit me that he was actually there and coming home with me. He then texted me as I was trying to find a place to park, that he was ready to go. 

They really hadn't made this homecoming a huge event. They like to romanticize these things in the movies and on TV, but they had stood in their formation and were released for the weeked. I walked up, scanning the crowd for him, but all I could see was a sea of camo. I texted him, asking where he was...and then ended up having to call him. 

I asked him where he was, and right about that time, I saw him turn around. I told him I saw him and then he saw me as well. We both hung up our phones. 

I left my sign in the car. I had considered getting a friend to come with me, so I could have pictures of the moment. But as fast as it all went, I was glad I had neither. 

His face absolutely lit up as he walked towards me. With the biggest smile on his face I can remember, the moment was nothing and everything that I had hoped for. We walked towards each other till I finally ran the last few steps into his arms. And as cliche as it may sound, everything was okay again. Those 8 months hadn't meant anything. 

I told him I wanted pictures, so he asked one of the guys to take a couple for us.

It's hard to explain, but I think we were both a little nervous as we drove home. Maybe anxious-excited would be the best way to describe it. But to me, it was like nothing had ever changed. Almost like he had never been gone. If anything, it was better than ever. 

We talked and talked. We held hands the whole drive home. And then he got to see our new house for the first time. (I'll share some pictures in my next post.)

And...he got to see our bear of a dog again.

(I decided halfway through to flip my phone, my bad.)

We've been busy with life and are in our "readjustment" phase. But, we made it! I couldn't be happier that he's home. 

Birthday Deployment Care Package

March 17th means a couple of special occasions in our household. One of Scott's favorite holidays, St. Patrick's Day. And more importantly, his birthday! I had big plans to send two care package this month, but things didn't go according to plan, so I was only able to send a birthday care package.

This year is his 24th birthday! And obviously, I wish I could be there or he could be here to celebrate, but this is one of the last big events we have to get through before he comes home. So that's super exciting and worth celebrating! But this box is all about his birthday! 

It's been hard figuring out good presents to send while he's on the ship. But, he's been working out pretty regularly and is interested in fitness and the like, so I thought maybe a FitBit would be a good idea for him. As well as some other small items such as things he just likes a lot, or goes with the birthday idea. And then maybe when he gets home we can get him a really good present...like the Jeep he wants! 

I came across a couple of things that I thought were perfect for Scott and really good ideas. One of which is a new cookie mix that Pillsbury started making. We love our snow cones and deployed military love their homemade goods, so I definitely made some of those. 

Blue Raspberry Snow Cone Cookies

Also, cake or cupcakes aren't typically things that mail well and last for weeks on end. But I had seen the idea of putting cake in a jar. Mine didn't turn out near as bright and pretty as these did, but I really wanted Scott to have some cake for his birthday! So it's a pretty brilliant concept that allows for that to happen! 

Cake in a Jar

(check out how they're made)

My birthday care package includes:

--1 pair Under Armor style compression shirt

--1 pair Under Armor style shorts

--1 pair athletic mesh shorts

--1 pair of boxers

--Men's Health magazine

--Men's Fitness magazine

--Fitbit

--3 pack of gum

--Peach Rings (his favorite candy!)

--Mio drink flavoring

--Beef Jerky

--Can of Silly String

--"Happy birthday" candles

--Spray can of icing

--3 cakes in a jar

--Blue Raspberry Snow Cone Cookies

Wishing a very happy birthday to my sweet husband half a world away!