Another Christmas Story

First, let me take the time to introduce the amazing people in this picture....

• In the Red... Stephanie's wonderful mother that we'll be referring to as "Grandma" for this story
• and the little face looking up at me in this picture is Stephanie's little niece Makayla.

While everyone was busy opening gifts, Stephanie disappeared for a few minutes, only to return with this wonderful antique looking tea serving cart for her mother! It was absolutely gorgeous and her mom was so excited about it! While everyone was ooohing and awwwing at the cart little Makayla goes and stands by her grandma's side and politely asks (on video tape...)

"Grandma, when you pass away can I have the cart???"

All we could do was laugh while grandma lovingly replied, "yes honey, you can."

PRICELESS!

Christmas

Today I went to Stephanies house for lunch. Her family is so amazing and I felt so at home there. Then I headed to work!!!! Long, crazy night... but I absolutely love my nurses. They are so good to me! I don't know what I would've done this Christmas without them!

me and stephanie at her house!!!

keep in mind these last pictures were taken after a very very long night of sick, poopy patients!!!

my amazing nurses!!!! (dennis wont take a serious picture for nothin!)

my attempt at a picture of me and stephanie!

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!!!

Regrets

Well folks, it's that time of year... the holidays are upon us and just as I predicted, I wish I were going home for the holidays. I told myself that I would be ok, that I didn't need to go home this Christmas, but now more than ever, I am wishing I would've gone home. Knowing that all my family will be gathering in a couple days and celebrating together, makes me wish I could be apart of it. Instead i'll be home during the day, and working in the evening. Christmas day i've been invited over to a friends house, (a nurse I work with) which I appreciate so much, but nothing beats being with family. I chose not to go home because at the time when I made the decision, plane tickets were about $800... so I commited to working over the holidays... now, tickets are less than $400. But now that i've told the hospital i'd work... i'd feel terrible for not going in. On some level I want to say "forget work, they haven't done anything for me, and aren't doing anything for me when I graduate!" but I know that's not the right mindset to have... even if deep down, that's really how I feel. So I dont know. Even if I did go home now, it would only be for a few days. I've commited to a lot of hours this holiday season, and it would be unprofessional of me to call in. But for all my friends and family back home... I miss you terribly, and would like nothing more than to be with you this week. Hopefully I see you all soon!

O' Christmas Tree

I finally put up our Christmas tree last night. The pictures really don't do it justice but you get the idea. I thought it looked good for it being my first tree to decorate with a theme. I'm going to leave it up until Jon gets home so we can celebrate! (he comes home soon!!!)

Countdown

I can't even begin to explain how long i've waited to post this blog!

Time is slowly but surely winding down, but it doesn't seem to be going by fast enough! Now that I know he'll be home soon the days just seem to drag! But deep down I know i'll be picking him up at the airport soon! I'm trying to keep myself busy this last month so that the month goes by fast. I have school all this week except for Friday, when I plan to fly out to St. Louis to go see my mama! I have to be back for work on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, and then I work a bitmore before I go back to school on January 5th. Once I start back to school, I just have to tell myself that my family will be coming into town the next week for my graduation, and then soon after that, i'll be picking jon up!!!!!! So I really do have a lot going on, I'm just hoping that this last month goes by the fastest!!! The holidays are going to be difficult, i'm not gunna lie... but I have my patients at work to keep my mind off being alone. I have our little Christmas tree up (i'll take pictures later) with all our presents for our family under it! I'll be keeping the tree up until Jon gets home so that we can celebrate and open our gifts together!!!! Anyway! We already have lots planned for this coming year, I can hardly wait!!!!

Zoolights

Tonight I got out with my neighbors to go to our local zoo (which is about an hour away) to see the Christmas lights! I didn't realize how small of a zoo it was, but it was cute. It was super cold outside, i practically froze to death, but it was nice to get out. The kids had fun so thats all that matters.

from left to right: Lindzi, me, Karla

Thankful

I'm so thankful for many things, but as this week comes to an end I am especially thankful!!!!

1.- the week is over!!! (thats enough to be thankful for all on its own!)

2.- I have amazing friends that are here for me when I have terrible days like i've had recently. They are so willing to listen to me vent and then actually help me work through my issues and try to solve them. My friends are the best.

3.- For great timing!---tonight while i was at my neighbors (see pics of gorgeous kiddos below in past blog) little Malcom jumped up in my lap while we were watching a movie and fell asleep! Once he started his bear snoring his mom picked him up off of me to get him ready for bed! So, while the daddy is back making his bed up with clean sheets, the mama sits on the couch with little Malcom in her lap... All of the sudden, I get this look from Karla (the mama) and a quiet scream! I looked at her and just busted out laughing! Not 2 minutes after she took Malcom from my lap he pees ALL OVER HER!!!! she was soaked!!!!! Again, great timing! :)

4.- Jon comes home soon!!!!

Depressing-ness

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A VENTING BLOG--DO NOT READ IF YOU AREN'T UP FOR LISTENING TO ME HAVE A PITY PARTY!!!!

So if ya'll wouldn't mind keeping me in prayer... I found out today that there are currently no LPN positions available on my med/surg floor that I currently work on. I'm VERY upset about all this!!!! However, they did ask me if I would be interested in working in Pediatrics!!! HAHA If ya'll didn't read my blog from awhile back where I discovered that I HATED pediatric nursing, you should. It's the LAST place I want to work, but if it gets my foot in the door, I can't complain. I'm just praying that a position becomes available on my floor. It's such better experience, and I love working with the patients on med/surg floors.

I'm just kinda in a depressed mood tonight with all this on top of the terrible week i've had... and not get depress all of ya'll... but i'm having a hard time dealing with all this when I have no one to come home to and vent to, and no one to give me a big hug and a shoulder to cry all my stress and worries onto. PLUS, the holidays are in a couple weeks... and while in the back of my mind I know Jon will be home soon after that, it's still hard going through this time of year alone. I could go on and on about the way I'm feeling and depress everyone more, but I don't see the need!!! I just ask for prayers right now during these next few weeks. I'm super stressed with school and now with work, so prayers and virtual hugs are greatly appreciated right now!!!!

Request...

Last year we received a Christmas ornament that says "Our First Christmas." I absolutely love it, and I already have it hanging on our little tree! This year, I would love to find some sort of ornament to represent us this holiday season... obviously, our big holiday season will be spent apart... (not trying to depress anyone here...bare with me)

I've been trying to find an ornament that has something to do with a solider at war, or two hearts apart.... just something that represents US this year... If anyone happens to find one, PLEASE let me know, because we have an ornament that represents "us" for every year we've been together (all 2 of them! haha-not including this year) and it would mean so much to us if we could find one that shows our status this year... anyway! That's my request! If you happen to see one, it would mean the world to us if you would let us know so that we can have one that properly fits us for this year too! Thank you!!!

Christmas Party

So tonight was the Christmas Party for Jon's lab. His LtCol. was nice enough to invite me, so I hitched a ride with a couple of our neighbors that Jon works with and went with them! It was a lot of fun, and very entertaining. After everyone had exchanged their gifts the LtCol got up and thanked everyone for coming, and along with his thanks annouced to everyone that they currently have an airman deployed, (Jon) and that he's doing very well. Then, he looked around for me, pointed at me and said, "this is his wife, Jalane... we want to thank you for doing what you do and for being so supportive during this hard time. We are so glad you came!" Everyone started clapping and cheering, it brought tears to my eyes. That small gesture meant so much to me. So anyway! Here are a couple pictures from tonight... the little kids i'm with are my wonderful neighbors' sons... I love these kids to death!!!!

P.S.--
Shout out to my mother-in-law, Debbie!!! Today is her birthday!!!! Hope you have a great one!

M*A*S*H

If anyone was to ask Jon what his job is out there, he would describe it like the old TV show MASH. Here's a pic of him hard at work!!!

Thanksgiving

For my thanksgiving this year I decided to work at the hospital!!!! It was nice for me because it got me out of the house, got some money in my account, and it allowed someone else to spend the holiday with their family. My wonderful neighbor called me and asked if she could bring me a plate of food, which I appreciated SO much! The food was amazing, even though I had to stuff it in my face super fast. It was a CRAZY BUSY night at work, but it made the time go by fast!!! All I can say is that I am so thankful for my wonderful God that's blessed me with such an amazing husband. I am thankful for my awesome family and friends, our troops, and the fact that I have a job!!! There are so many things that I am thankful for this year... I can honestly say I call myself "Blessed."

This Christmas Eve and Christmas day I will be working as well.... keeping in mind that my husband will be home shortly after!!!!!! I'm counting down!!!! :)

4 Years

Today marks 4 years that my husband has been in the USAF. Congrats hunny!! I'm so proud of you! 16 more to go!!!! haha :)

My Discovery

For those of you that know me, you know that I absolutely love children. They are so full of life and energy and it blesses me to be around them and their faith. However, today I discovered that Pediatric Nursing is not for me! For one, I want a job where the patients and families that I work with actually like me! Every child that came in today was so afraid of the staff that they would scream and fight at just the sight of them!-and sadly, I really don't think I have the patience to hear little kids screaming at the top of their lungs for 8 hours a day... just not for me! The other thing I didn't like about it was dealing with parents. For some reason, there are some parents out there that think they know best, when sadly, they really don't. There are parents that delay immunizations because they think their child is too young or because they don't want them to have it (which I understand i'll be dealing with a lot...) but as far as the required immunizations, they have to be done, accept it...delaying it will only make your child more at risk for developing certain infections and viruses that could've easily been avoided. It's so hard watching parents do things (medically) for their child when I know it's not the right thing to do. There were some parents today that all I could do was look at with that look of "what are you thinking?!" (all you teachers out there know what kind of look i'm talking about!!!) I know that on some level, these parents are doing what they think is best for their child, but we have doctors and medical professionals for a reason.... anyway! I could go on and on about that! Anyway!!! I love kids to death, but as a nurse, I don't think i'm the right fit for working with them. I'll stick with my geriatric patients on the med/surg floors, thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just and FYI....25 actual more school days till I graduate!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait!!!!!!! Tomorrow is off to discover the life of an OB nurse! Lovely! The screaming, pooping wonder that is the miracle of life!!!! Can't wait!!! haha

COUNTDOWN

Just letting everyone know where I'm at on my countdown till my husband comes home!!!

:)

Final Coin

Here's a picture of the final coin that Jon designed!!!

Lungs

So for school this week we had a project assigned to us and the chapter I was assigned was Respiratory Functions in Pediatric Patients. The assignment is to teach about this topic to "redneck"/mountain families who have an 8th grade education!!! Talk about hard to do! haha... So!!! The presentation itself turned into a major pain because I colored all of my visual aids, but I came up with a craft for them to do to learn how the lungs actually function...and I made a cake to look like lungs to pass out after the presentation!!!!! So I had to post some pictures of the finished cake prodcut because I am so proud of it!!! :)

Don't they look delectable!?!?

:)

GO VOTE!!!

I'll keep my freedom, my guns, and my money, you can keep

"THE CHANGE"

GO VOTE TODAY!

MY Halloween!

Just wanted to post some pics of my Halloween!

It included carving pumpkins and voting for president!!!

MY VOTE COUNTED!!!

Funny story about me voting....

We went to the public library where there was a room full of people voting... when I went to turn my ballot in a lady asked me if I was a first time voter.. I said "yes ma'am" and she yelled..."FIRST TIME VOTER!!!" and every person working in the library yelled "FIRST TIME VOTER!!!! YAY!!!" and everyone started clapping and cheering... it was so embarrassing! But i'm glad I did it! I can tell my grandkids one day that I voted in the election that changed history!!!!!

Now on to the pumpkin carving!....haha

BLAH!!!!


Manny the Pumpkin!

Halloween!

Here's Jon in his self-made halloween costume that he wore all day today!!

Seaside, FL

So today I was off from school so my neighbor took me to a place called Seaside. It's actually where the filmed The Truman Show with Jim Carrey! It was so beautiful and there were so many neat shops and the cleanest, bluest beach i've ever seen! It was so much fun and SO relaxing... so here are a few pics of my day!

Thank You Cards

So last night when I got home from work I had a package on my door step! It was from Jon and he was sending a few things home that he didn't need out there along with over 50 cards from different kids around our country that he wanted me to put in a book!! I sat and read EVERY card last night! I was so touched by these cards that these kids made. Some were very sweet and thoughtful, and some just made me literally laugh out loud!! I wanted to share a few excerpts out of some of these cards... (i'm not correcting their spelling! haha)

"Dear Soldier,

It must be hard being away from your family. Do you like the Lakers? If you don't you will be happy. if you do like them you'll be mad because this is one of their worst seasons because they are losing almost every game. -Lizzy"

"Dear Soldier,

A lot of exciting things are happening since you were gone. One thing is that gas prices went up. We are going to have a new president. It's between John McCain, Barrak Obama, and Hilary Clinton. -Drew"

"Dear Soldier,

Here is a joke for you. Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the shell station. - Taylor"

Awards

So i'm gunna take another entry to brag about my amazing husband!

This week he was presented with TWO awards!!! One was Warrior of the Week. Warrior of the Week Award is where they recognize one person out of the hospital in Iraq for having outstanding performance that week!

The other award was Airman of the Month!!!

So he's on a roll! He was also chosen last week to meet a special guest that was coming down to the base, and to welcome this guest to the base.....the Secretary of the USAF!

He's doing so well out there, and is having so many opportunities to do such great things.

I'm so proud of him!!!

Coin

So, the people deployed with Jon right now were all asked to submit a drawing of a coin that would represent them, and their time deployed there...

Jon drew one up and it was selected to be made into an Air Force coin and sold to friends and family of the deployed in this group!!!

Here's the final picture of it! Hope you enjoy it.

If anyone is interested, this coin can be purchased for (I believe) $5.00

Either e-mail me to let me know OR leave a comment ;)

COUNTDOWN!

Just thought i'd let everyone know where i'm at on the countdown till my hero comes home again!!!.....................

Short Note

Just wanted to let everyone know Jon and I are doing good! We are both just trying to stay busy so that time goes by as fast as possible!!! I know it's a short note, but I wanted to let everyone know we are surviving and staying strong! Thank you for your prayers and support! We're getting there...!

Clinicals

Just a note on my day today... I went to clinicals today to do my rotation in the CardioVascular Intensive Care Unit... when I showed up, a doc was sitting talking about the surgery he had to do today; so i kindly asked if I could observe (having no idea exactly what type of surgery it was.) He said of course and they took me to scrub up and change and stuff... so as i'm walking into the OR I decide to ask exactly what I was going to be watching... the guy looks at me and says

open heart surgery!

OH MY GOODNESS!! That was the craziest thing i've ever seen!!! The heart and lungs look nothing like I was imagining them to look like! It was so awesome to see, but my back is killing me from standing in one place for 5.5hours! But the lady that had the surgery is probably in more pain than me right now, so i'll survive!!

Anyway! I just had to share because it was so awesome!

Oh, and, I got to place an NG-tube (the tube that goes down your nose and into your stomach to decompress it and so they don't vomit) for the first time on a real person today! So that was cool too!!!

Some Perspective

Just wanted to write a little note on something that's been on my heart lately. Last week in church the pastor asked for anyone who had a need to slip up their hand before they went into prayer... as I looked around, almost every person in that church had their hand up. It was an eye opener to me... that EVERYONE is going through something right now. Whether it's in their marriage, finances, health, family, friends, work.... if we got down to it, everyone has a need in one of those areas. As I looked around it hit me that the lady in the 2nd row could've been the lady I yelled at in my car and gave a dirty look to because she was driving too slow for me and wouldn't get out of my way... and the guy on the other side could've been the one I got impatient with at wal-mart for keeping his buggy in the aisle for an extra 5seconds to make sure he got the best deal on ketchup. That those people have something going on in their lives... and who am I to take my anger and my issues out on them?! That sometimes, as i'm walking around wal-mart and I accidently run my buggy into someone while i'm turning the corner of an aisle it would be nice to see a smile for once and have someone tell me "it's ok..."

Moral of the story... be nice to people... no matter how annoying or upsetting they may be, and no matter how bad of a day you're having... because you never know what they're going through... and the last thing any of us need after a long hard day or a rough week is for someone you don't even know to add on to your mood.

Try to be the light in someones life this week. You never know how much they really need it.

New Family Member

Today at 12:21pm my amazing cousin, Randy and his wife, Ashley had their little baby girl!!!! I am so close to them and I love them so much! They are going to be amazing parents, I'm so happy (and secretly jealous!! haha) for them!!!!

So... the new McBroom Family!!!....

Her name is Raley (combo of Randy and Ashley) Jewel 'Anolani McBroom

She's so beautiful and I'm so proud of Randy and Ashley! Congratulations cousins!!! I love you and I can't wait to meet your new addition!!!

Routines

Just wanted to let everyone know that Jon and I are doing very well. It is very hard being apart from each other, but we are starting to get into our new routines and the emotional aspect is slowly getting better. I am feeling much much better. After that episode in the hospital i've been just fine... i've been staying busy with school, and counting down the days till graduation! Today marks 62 more school days till I graduate, and I know Jon will be home soon after that... so that thought really keeps me going. Jon is doing very well over there. He wanted me to let everyone know that it smells like a farm out there, and that it's as hot and dry as good ol New Mexico! So i'm sure with the combination of the two he feels right at home! ha ha.. just kidding. But he is doing well. They are taking very good care of him over there. However, he works 24/7. That crazy kid has been at work since 7am his time, and he had to stay till after 10pm his time to do a get supplies and such in... so he's staying super busy.

Jon and I have decided that we are going to plan a get-away trip together when he returns! We are SO excited about it. It'll kinda be like a honeymoon/graduation/welcome home celebration trip. We have definately earned it! So starting to plan that trip together has given us something else to look forward to... we are very excited!!! Anyway, just wanted to give ya'll a quick update to let you all know we're doing good!!! Love and miss you all!

More to Ask

As if everyone hasn't been praying for us enough... I have another request.

Today while I was in clinicals I had to have a flu shot. No big deal, but 45 minutes after I had a reaction to the shot. Blacked out, chills, shaking uncontrollably, and I hyperventillated on top of it all. Lost all my color and was tingling all over. Thankfully I was doing clinicals in the hospital I work at and they took me to the ER. I lost complete control of my body to the point that I couldn't lift my own head. It was a terrible experience. After a couple episodes of that, they finally got my breathing under control and my color started to return. I had to change clothes as mine were completely drenched in sweat from whatever was happening in my body... but they gave me some med's and sent me home. I still feel weak and very exhausted, but i'll recover. But just some prayers for energy. I need to stay strong for school, and for Jon. He has so many other things to worry about right now... he doesnt need this on top of it. As far as school goes, i'm feeling very overwhelmed right now. I'm trying to take it a day at a time... but it just keeps piling up it seems!!! I know we'll be ok, there are just a few things trying to set us back that we are having to fight right now. So thank you all for your prayers and support. I can't thank you enough. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and I have the weekend to recover and to get caught up on homework!!! (haha, we'll see about that!!!) Love you all!!!!

Arrived

Just to let everyone know, Jon has arrived to his base in Iraq. It was a long long couple days of traveling for him, but he's finally there!! I've already started to countdown the days till he comes home!! Things at home right now are still kinda hard, but getting better day by day. It's hard to come home to an empty house, but I guess that's something i'll adjust to eventually. I'm so thankful that i'm in school right now.. as hard as it is, it's keeping me busy and helping the time go by. I continue to ask for prayers... for Jon's safety, and for God to comfort us both and bring peace to our hearts. I thank all our friends and family for the encouraging emails, phone calls, and text messages. They help me so much.. it's nice to know I have people I can cry to and look to for encouragement during this time. I'm trying so hard to be strong, and I couldn't do it without ya'lls help! So again, thank you so much. Anyway, I better start studying a bit... Americas Next Top Model comes on tonight!!! haha... Love you all!!

On A Lighter Note

Before Jon left, he was presented with his Staff Sergeant Certificate. I am SO SO proud of him!

close up!

My Prayer

Give me greatness of heart to see,
the difference between duty and his love for me.

Give me understanding so that I may know,
when duty calls him, he must go.

Give me a task to do each day,
to fill the time when he's away.

When he's in a foreign land,
keep him safe in Your loving hand.

And when duty is in the field,
please protect him and be his shield.

And Lord, when his deployment seems so long,
please stay with me and keep me strong.

Gone...

Welp... it's official... my hunny is gone. It was one of the hardest things i've had to do to say good-bye, but he's in God's hands. I just pray these next 4 months go by quickly. Our day started off at 2am since he had to be on base at 330am. It started off with of course, an awful nights sleep and tears in the morning... to my blow dryer going out while I was getting ready followed by more tears. Thankfully, the airlines let the spouse go through security and wait with them till they leave. It was so hard... but after our final good-bye, I did my best to pull myself together and make our long drive home. When I got home, I went upstairs to crawl back in bed and my doorbell rang! It was two of our amazing friends (whom I work with at the hospital...see pic below) that had just got off work from the night before... they came to get me out of the house and to take me to breakfast. While I didn't have much of an appetite, i tagged along. It was probably a good thing because otherwise I probably would have crawled in bed and cried till I fell asleep.

(This is Dennis and Stephanie... our amazing friends whom I am so blessed to have!...)

I know these next 4 months will be very very hard, and i'm sure there will be many many more tears, but we will make it. God is in control! And thankfully, I have amazing people to get me through this! Thank you for your prayers... we desperately need them right now! I'm hoping the tears will start to cease once we both get into our new routines.... But thank you all for being there! We couldnt thank you enough. Your prayers and support are greatly appreciated!!!

Request...

Just wanted to request some extra prayers these next few days... it's getting down to the wire and it's all starting to become so real. I think i've sorta been in denial about him going... it's all starting to sink in for real now that he has orders in hand. Thank you all for your prayers and support... it's a tough time for us (me) right now so prayers and understanding would be greatly appreciated. We love you all and know that you all are here for us... and we could never thank you all enough for that... right now, we are just trying to soak up our last few days with each other---we hope you all understand.

I know I haven't been making many phone calls and sending emails much lately, it's just the business of both our schedules, and the fact that we just wanna spend time with each other since we won't be able to over the next 4 months.

Some insight to our mindset/thinking....

We haven't been away from each other for more than a week since i've moved out here in January of 07'. So that will take some getting used to....

and I say this in the most loving way possible.... We are all each other has out here. We know we have everyone to turn to for prayers, phone calls, and such... but in reality, we will both be alone over the next four months. I will be returning to our pet fish everyday. You all have people to literally/physically turn to when you have a bad day and need a hug. So please, please... understand, we are not pushing you all away, we are just trying to enjoy these last few days of being together as a husband and wife should. We love our families dearly and couldn't get through this without ya'll, please know that... but right now, we need each other...

We love all of you, and like i've said, there is no way we will survive through this without the support of our friends and family... but we need that support not just on an individual basis... we need it as a couple as well. Again, thank you all for everything! May God bless you for all you're doing for us!

Surviving!

Just a little update-- things are getting a lot better for both Jon and myself. Since we've (I've) got over the initial shock of the deployment, things have settled down. We are trying to look at all the positives this deployment will bring about... for instance--

• this is the last group of people deploying that go for 4 months.. every other group that deploys after him will have to go a minimum of 6 months.
• By the time Jon gets back, i'll be done with school!

We know that there is a reason this has happened and we're trusting that God will show us why...

We also found out today that Jon was denied volunteer orders to Cannon. :( Again, we are having to trust God on this because we are both very devestated about it. We just know that God has plans that are far better than anything we could ever imagine or plan ourself; and if it's not supposed to happen, it's because God has something better in store for us. There are still a couple options we have as far as getting orders to Cannon. We have it listed as our #1 base of preference and we can keep an eye out on the military data-base for people that currently are going to cannon that don't want to be there. We could possibly trade orders with them if they want to come out here to Florida. We aren't getting our hopes up on anything, but secretly, we still desperately want it to happen!

Anyway, as far as official dates for Jon being gone, we aren't too sure yet. We're thinking he'll leave somewhere around the 14th-15th--but it hasn't been confirmed. As far as a return date, we have no idea. We think it'll be right around the time of my graduation, which is January 15th.

But i'll do my best to keep everyone up to date.. and i'll post pics that Jon sends me while he's over in Iraq. Thank you all for your prayers and support through this! It was just so unexpected and knowing that we (I) have people that will help us (me) through this is such a comfort! If anyone is wanting to take a vacation to Florida anytime soon, let me know! I would love the company!!! :)

Christmas in September

Since Jon will be deployed over this holiday season, we wanted to spend some time getting things ready for Christmas so he could be apart of it, and so that we could try to fool ourselves into thinking we aren't missing out on each other over the holiday. When Jon and I first started dating, I made him a Christmas ornament for his mini tree in his dorm room... it was so cute, and i'd post a picture except since his move out of the dorms, the ornament broke. :( but tonight, Jon and I made ornaments together for me to hang on the tree in December while i'm in Portales.

Call me crazy, but in my mind, I think it might help me get through Christmas knowing that he still had part in it... and when I look up at my grandma's tree I can think of tonight with us celebrating together and it make me feel better. I know this season is going to very difficult, but thankfully, i'm getting to go back to NM to be with my family... and after Christmas, I know i'll only have a few weeks till Jon comes back home. So i'm hoping the little things we do now help along the way.

...

Still don't know much as far as set dates for him going and coming home. I just know this is very hard and it sucks! He's been busy getting his shots, his gear, and filling out all the paperwork and stuff.... it's a lot to do in just 2 weeks. And it's a lot to handle emotionally in 2 weeks too. Anyway, thats all we know so far. Please continue to pray for us... i'm so emotionally drained and not motivated to do anything right now (which is not good being where i'm at in school.) So prayers are much appreciated. Thank you all for your love and support through this hard time...

Bad News...

I'm not quite sure how this all happened... but Jon got called into work this morning and informed that he will be deploying to Iraq in 2 weeks. Yes, two weeks. I'm a bit of a mess right now, so prayers are much appreciated. We know that he'll be gone for a minimum of 4 months, but his return isn't set yet so i'm not too sure when exactly he'll be back.. I'm just hoping it's in time for my graduation in January. But if you all would just keep us in prayer.. his deployment is on such short notice, that i'm not mentally prepared for all we're gunna have to go through these next two weeks. It'll be very hard being in my last semester of schooling not having my husband to come home to to help me study and to encourage me daily... knowing that i'll be without him over the holidays too... and worst of all... no family around here to turn to. It just seems easier to have someone physically to hug you and tell you they're there for you.... so anyway, if you can't tell... i'm an emotional basket case right now.. so prayers and encouragement is greatly appreciated. I'll let you all know more once we find out.

Perhaps Interesting...

I dont know if anyone else will find this interesting, but today as I went to check the mail I had a lovely surprise waiting for me! First let me explain... over the summer we have had wasps take over our mailbox. We would always try to get one another to check the mail because we didn't want our neighbor's thinking we crazy and possessed running away from our mailbox like we're crazy people screaming! We bought tons of wasp spray and all sorts of stuff trying to get those things away but nothing seemed to work! However, now that the weather is getting colder, they don't seem to want to live in our cozy mailbox anymore! So anyway, today when I checked the mail I saw what I thought was a rock! Nope, not a rock! An old wasps nest that was attached to the inside of our mailbox! Lovely!!!!Maybe i'm just easily amused, or I really don't want to do homework... either way, I just thought i'd share about my adventure for the day!!!

Fay Update

Well, Fay just won't seem to go away or make up her mind as to what she wants to do! We got some spinkles of rain on saturday... and that was it! All the worrying and preparing for a big tropical storm and all we got were drizzles!!! But I guess that's reason to be thankful too!

Actually, today we got more rain than we did over the whole weekend! It started pouring on me while I was driving to school this morning... that made for a fun drive... and then while i was in class it started pouring again! But for now, it's all subsided.... Anyway, since Jon and I had never been through a storm we didn't know what to expect.. so we had some nifty contraptions set up around the house! I'll post pics this week sometime... they are pretty amusing now that the storm has passed! Thank you all for your prayers!

Fay

Well, as i'm sure everyone has heard of "Fay" and the lovely storm she is bringing our way. I just wanted to kinda let everyone know where we are at in all of this.

Starting tomorrow it looks like we are gunna get hit with some rain and such. They are predicting some tornadoes and things of that nature.

This is our first tropical storm that Jon and I have had to encounter since we've been in Florida... We're a little nervous, but we are more inland and not near water so i think we'll be ok in that area. It's just the tornadoes i'm a little worried about! We filled up on gas today, got some batteries, candles, and water bottles... we went to go look for "non-parishable" food items, and we had no idea what we were looking for! haha... but we got a few things so I think we'll be ok. Jon is working night shift now, so he doesn't get off till Saturday morning at 7am.. and then he has to drive about 45 minutes home... so again, i'm nervous for his drive and also because i'm home alone tonight and it's really windy out!!!! So pray for our safety! I'm just glad we aren't working the weekend because word has it that my hospital is going on lockdown if it gets too bad! But i'll keep everyone posted once this lovely storm passes! Love you all!

Promotion!

Say hello to my newly promoted Staff Sergeant!!!!

Jon tested in June for this promotion and we finally got the results in this morning at 8am sharp that he is getting promoted!! I'm so proud of him! He's been studying for this test for over a year now, and it finally paid off! At the end of this year he'll attend Airman Leadership School and in January he'll "officially" get his next stripe! (and a raise!!! haha)

I love you so much and i'm so proud of you!

ps...notice my beautiful flowers in the background?!?!

Our 1st Anniversary

Today was the first of many anniversaries to come! Since I started back to school today and since I have to get up super early tomorrow as well, we decided to go out and celebrate this past weekend. We went to a nice dinner at PF Changs, and then we went window shopping at some of our favorite stores!

the yummy sauces at PF Changs... I couldn't resist!!

Jon's fake, yet loveable bird... He named him Sanchez!

But today we exchanged our homemade gifts to each other and spent the night in. We ordered pizza and sat on the couch together with a movie on and my nursing book in my hands! (Big test tomorrow!) We also dived in to our year old cake and some sparkling white grape juice out of our beautiful glasses we used at our reception! However, the year old cake tasted exactly like it sounds... like year old cake! haha... we both took a bite and just looked at each other! But it was still kinda neat to pull it out and see it! Our gifts for each other we made ourselves as it is the "paper" anniversary and to conserve money while i'm still in school!!! haha
I came home from school today and had a painting with our picture in the middle... so gorgeous, along with a scrapbook he started for us! There was also a beautiful vase of white roses (my favorite) sitting on our table as well. It was all so wondeful..
I kinda made a little game for Jon. One of our favorite games to play together is Cranium and one of the catagories in the game is where it shows close-ups of random pictures and you have to figure out what they are! So, i took close-up pictures of sentimental, yet random objects from around the house where he had to really study it to figure out what it was. Once he figured it out he would go to the object where he would find another picture and a piece of a puzzle. Once he had all the puzzle pieces it spelled out a riddle that he had to solve to find where his actual gift was! I had tons of fun following him around with a camera.
It was just a great anniversary all around! (although, i'd much rather be done with school so I wouldn't have to study all kinds, but maybe next year!)
Anyway, i'll post pics of my amazing painting and such tomorrow (hopefully!)
But thank you to those who have supported us and our marriage throughout this past year and for understanding our busy and demanding schedules. You have no idea how much your encouragement and love has meant to us. And thank you for the anniversary wishes! It was one i'll never forget!

Beach Day!

Since I start back to school tomorrow, Jon and I decided to make today a beach day! We both kinda needed a day to just lay on the beach and relax before we start back to our busy schedules this week! The weather was absolutely perfect! It looked like it was going to rain, but thankfully it didn't!

bright sun!!!