Deployment #2. Can't wait to be on the other side of all of this. The most comforting thought is that this is the last one! The Marine Corps has had it's positives, but I'm ready to have my husband home and with me!

Right now it may not seem like spring at all, we're drifting and the laughs are few.
But I've got rainbows planned for tomorrow, and all my tomorrows belong to you.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!
We had a great early Christmas with our families in Atlanta and a nice relaxing Christmas together. I'm so thankful to have this Christmas time with my husband and our families! Sadly we never got Travis' wish for snow. Maybe next year in Atlanta. I highly doubt San Diego is going to be seeing snow any time soon.
New Years is right around the corner and is bringing a lot of change for us.
In this next year we will survive a deployment to Afghanistan, decide on continuing as a military family or civilian family, perhaps adopting a dog after the deployment, I will continue to inch my way towards graduation, we will miss a few holidays together but get to spend all of the winter holidays reunited, we will literally see the world. Between Afghanistan for him and driving from coast to coast for me, it will be a busy year!
I'm ready to take on 2012. There will be some rough spots but it just makes us cherish the good times so much more.

I'm downright determined to love today! I have every reason to be in a bit of a funk but I really just want to enjoy today.

I'm loving my husband! His support and love has kept me going these past few days.

I'm loving being back home with the kitty cats, they're so sweet after we've been gone for awhile.

I'm loving the weather! I'm afraid I'm starting to get spoiled with So Cal weather. Unbelievably sunny, not a cloud in the the sky, highs in the 60s today.

I'm loving this song today!

Well we are back in San Diego after an awesome time with family. It was so nice to be able to spend time back in Ga with my husband! It's fun to see. Going "home" was so enjoyable for us both! Makes us dream even more about life after the Marine Corps.

I am finally finished with this fall semester! Still have a 4.0! I'm ready to just power through next semester. I absolutely can't wait to be done. May 2014! Seems so far away.

Now we're just packing up and preparing for the deployment. I am so not ready, though to be fair I don't think anyone is ever ready to send their significant other off to war. Prepared perhaps, ready... never! I've kept it together quite well though. Just a few tears here and there. I think sometimes the tears throw people off. Deployments are very misunderstood unless you've been in those shoes. Yes, I will miss my husband immensely every single day. He's my best friend, of course I want him by my side! But I'm not crying over 6-8 months without my husband. It's about what happens after that. The giant unknown. I wish I could remember the blog, but I read something on another blog that hit the nail on the head. She said something to the effect that she wasn't scared about spending 6 months without her husband, she was scared about spending the rest of her life without him. That's so true. I know we can do a deployment, but what about the after.  As a natural worrier as it seems many fellow wives are, we are plagued with tons of tough questions. How will he be when he comes home? How different will I be? What happens if Heaven forbid he was injured? Will he come home the same man? Will our marriage be just as strong as before he left? Will the lack of communication drive us apart? Will we still have enough in common?

While I am truly blessed to be able to be one hundred percent confident in our strong marriage, war is just a scary thing. It's meant to be. It isn't romantic. I've seen too many lives and marriages ruined.

Bottom line, I can't wait to have my husband home again. Where he belongs. 

We have finally finished with Christmas gift shopping! Whew! Had a whole fiasco with Fedex but after a week of calls that ordeal has been settled and Travis' gift is on his way to Ga! I can't wait to wrap up all the gifts. I think wrapping may be one of my favorite parts of Christmas! We'll be having our Christmas at the end of this week. I'm pretty excited. Christmas isn't really December 25th, though I'm still a little attached to the date. At least this year we're celebrating Christmas in December! That's already an improvement.

Sorry for my brief hiatus!
Life has been moving quickly! Thanksgiving was wonderful. We cooked our first turkey and Thanksgiving meal as a married couple and it turned out fabulous. I am finally two weeks away from finishing this semester and I can not wait to be done. We are preparing to visit our families back in Georgia for a pseudo holiday vacation. It will be a busy trip but we're both very excited. I have been trying my best to stay in the holiday spirit and think I'm doing pretty well. I'm sure the water works will come out at home though! :)
Despite the ever-looming deployment, I am very thankful to spend the holiday season with my wonderful husband! Being together makes this year infinitely better than last year. Last year our Christmas Day together consisted of a phone call which spanned 7,500 miles. While I was extremely thankful for that call, being able to spend Christmas with him this year is priceless! I will savor every moment of hand holding, holiday movie watching, gift shopping, cookie baking, snuggles, and laughter!

Our Christmas Tree