A treat for me!

I got a treat this weekend - my best friend, Becca, came to see me for an overnight visit! We had a great time together. We went to dinner and a movie (Mama Mia - hilarious but you must like musicals to watch it) and got to have lots of girl talk! I think it was a treat for her to get a break from being "mom" for a night. Thanks for coming, Becca! Love you!

Spouse's Tour

This week, I had a unique opportunity to go on the Spouse's Tour. This is a tour they give to the Army volunteers of a unit. The tour itself is amazing...they try to show you and let you experience things your husband does as a soldier. We started the day with a briefing about Ft. Campbell itself by the LTC of the Garrison. Then, we went to the 3rd Brigade's Engagement Skills Training facility and learned how to shoot M4's in their simulators. That was just too cool! Next, we went to the Air Assault School and first saw an obstacle course they have to pass that was demonstrated to us by a soldier. THEN, we went over to the rappelling area and got to do it ourselves! It was insane and scary, but I'm so glad I did it! There are several techniques they use to rappel out of helicopters, but we all used the same technique for beginners. The harness was a rope tied in several knots on us and then hooked up to a caribeaner. I have officially done something in the Army my husband has not done yet!! He will do the school when he returns from the deployment. I will say this about the school...any fear of heights will have to be thrown out the window for any soldier that wants to complete it! After we rappelled, they took us to one of the 101st Dining Facilities to eat lunch. Afterwards, they took us to Cassidy MOUT, a training facility that is designed to look like a middle-eastern city that is full of effects to make it as realistic as possible. It was really neat! They showed us many of the effects they use, like sound, explosions and even smells. To end our neat tour, we went to the Pratt Museum here on base that is for the 101st Division. It is really well put together and it was neat to see it. Overall, it was a great once-in-a-lifetime experience to play Army for the day and I got to do it with other wives in the unit. My husband was so proud of me for doing it and it helped me understand a little more about what they do to prepare him for combat. HOOAH!

My true sanity while Hubby is away...

My true sanity while my hubby is away is....my kitty, Callie. Jesse and I bought her over 2 years ago from a shelter and we both fell in love with her! She is a good little companion to have around the house. I have the need to nurture someone so she gets spoiled when Jesse is gone. She is always happy to see me when I walk into the room and makes me feel needed. As silly as that sounds, it can be pretty lonely when your best friend is gone, but she provides me with company when I need some cuddling, a hug or some attention. God bless Callie for providing me sanity in this hard time of deployment!

The Sweetest Thing

I wanted to share with everyone one of the most thoughtful things a previous co-worker of mine from UT did for Jesse and his unit on July 4th. Kris Ann organized a parade in her neighborhood and emailed me to see what unit Jesse was in to put on her daughter's little float. Here is the picture of Reagan in the parade...how cute is she?! It was so thoughtful for Kris Ann to think of Jesse and his unit and I appreciate her thoughtfulness, more than she knows. Go Army!

10-year reunion...and mostly we are all the same!

Well, I flew home this weekend for my 10-year high school reunion. I was really nervous about going to see many people that I haven't seen in YEARS, but honestly it was a bit fun! 10-year reunions are all about showing off your accomplishments (i.e. education, jobs, spouse, kids, property), so going without a spouse and without a job was a bit intimidating. It turned out that I received a lot of support for my hubby and that was a great encouragement. Everyone understood our situation and offered to pray for us. We had over half of the class come, which compared to most was impressive (seeing how we only had 62 in the class)! Overall, I was really glad I went and it was good to see people I went to school with for 9 years. We have a lot of accomplished people in our class and it was fun to hear what everyone is up to now. We ended the evening by laughing at a great video of our senior class trip to the Bahamas...all I can say is WOW. Next reunion, I can't wait to share with my hubby so he can meet these people that were part of my life for so long. Go Vikings!

4th of July on Post

So it is the 4th of July and my hubby is deployed and in Kuwait, waiting for his flight to Iraq. Meanwhile, I'm here painting the house to keep preoccupied and spending time with our friends...seems kind of off, don't you think? I decided to spend the holiday on post so I could see what it was like being around military during Independence Day. The post itself was dead - most soldiers got a 4 day weekend (Friday and Monday off). Claire and Matt decided to grill out and host a few friends and I was invited to join them. After a wonderful rib dinner, we hung out until the fireworks started around 8:45pm and we rode in Adam and Heather's truck over to a nearby field to watch them. It was fun to be around friends to celebrate, and to top it off, I got a phone call from my hubby!! I hope everyone had the chance to reflect on this special day that represents our freedom as Americans, thanks to all soldiers in the military!

Pictured here are Claire and Matt (friends we met in Aberdeen, MD who were stationed here as well), Adam and Heather (Jesse met Adam during BOLC II at Ft. Benning) and Carly (her hubby is in the same Squadron as Jesse and went over with him last week).

Long-Distance Communication

I wanted to share how it works with communication (at least so far) with my soldier. We have been very lucky to be able to talk pretty much every day at some point. He was able to call me for a few minutes when he arrived in Kuwait, but since then, we have used instant messaging and our webcams. It's been neat to see where he's sleeping and also just being able to see his face and know he's okay. I hope everyone else will be as lucky as we have been so far. Once he arrives in Iraq, we'll have to figure out good times to talk there due to his job so that will change it up a bit, but we'll adjust! Feel free to leave comments for Jesse on his blog or email him. He's able to check both over there, but it might just take him a few days to get back to you with the slow internet connection. So, there you have it...long-distance communication!