Running Army Wife

My husband got his PRK surgery done today! About a month ago, he found out that he got a slot to get the surgery done. The Army will only give a certain number of slots out for the surgery. If you've recently come home from a deployment, you're more likely to get a slot. They also tend to give priority to infantrymen- because, let's face it, they do need it the most. If they lose their glasses out there in combat, that's a bad thing. James had the choice between PRK and LASIK. For those of you that don't know, PRK is like LASIK eye surgery with a few differences. If your eye gets knocked the wrong way playing football years after you get LASIK, it can mess it up. PRK takes long to recovery initially but is more "sturdy" in the long run. Getting PRK also means he gets to keep his "jump" status (apparently jumping out of an airplane is too much turbulence for LASIK). Because he's an infantryman and an overall pretty active person, my husband ...

I’ve been trying to figure out why it’s been so hard for me to keep up with blogging (both reading my favorites and updating my own). It finally dawned on me the other day. I started my blog when I was still living long-distance from my husband because of training. That was about a year and a half ago. Since then, I’ve haven’t a full-time job AND had my husband at home at the same time. Until now. Now I have a full-time job AND a full-time husband*. I’m struggling to find the energy to wake up early and run twice a week. I’m still incredibly happy that he’s home. But it’s a very tired-happy while I still struggle to adjust to this major life change that still has me reeling months later. I miss my family and friends in Illinois so much that it hurts sometimes. Thank goodness for skype and facetime. But we do love Washington. More than once, we’ve swiped over to Chicago on the weather app and giggled that it’s 9 degrees there while it’s 40 degrees here. We decided we love ski...

I know, I've been a bad blogger lately. I just finished my first two weeks of work and I'm still getting used to working full-time again. I do hope to get back to blogging more routinely soon. But I did want to at least tell you about my first BALL experience on Friday. :) Fortunately, the ball was about a block away from where I work. So instead of commuting home (~1 hour each way), I brought my dress, make-up, shoes, and curling iron to work with me so I could get ready right after work and go with James straight to the ball. If that sounds kind of awkward, it's because it kind of was.  awkwardly getting ready in the bathroom at work I tried to pick a bathroom that wouldn't have as many people come in, so I picked this first floor bathroom in my building that is kind of hidden. Some ladies still came in and I apologized for the mist of hair spray hanging in the air. Most asked where I was going and wished me a good night, but I still felt kind of awkward. ...

James has only been active with the Army for two years, but in those two years we've learned something very important. When he finally has time off, milk it for all it's worth. Since my last update, we've had family visit for 2 weeks and then we went off on a cruise together for a week after that. At the top of Crystal Mountain for our 3 year anniversary! Crystal Mountain had a military appreciation day on our anniversary so we got to ski for half price! That's one awesome thing about living in Washington. We are about an hour and a half away from really great skiing. We went two different days with James' family that came to visit us. I love skiing.  Then the day after his family went back home to Chicago, we left for our cruise. Let me just say this... a cruise is wonderful for a post-deployment vacation. We had no phones or internet (well.. we could have but it was really expensive), which was amazing after being attached at the hip to my phone for th...

I haven't been a very good blogger lately. James is still in "redeployment mode," which means he goes to work early for PT and then is home somewhere between 12 and 2pm. It's amazing. I could seriously get used to this. He's got a few more days before leave starts for Christmas and we have a whole bunch of family coming. So we've been trying really hard to get the house ready. I did get Christmas cards done though. I just love shutterfly. Although, I did have to edit it a little so I could post it on the blog. I really wanted to have a family picture with Roxy too (I seriously love MrsMollyP's family Christmas photo ), but our puppy was a little too crazy. I'm not gonna be too awesome about updating for a while. So here's our Christmas card to you. In case I don't check back before Christmas, have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! <3 Amy

I'm sure you are familiar with Murphy's Law. Anything that can do wrong, will go wrong. This is especially true for deployments and you'll hear it confirmed by any military significant other that you talk to. I thought I would share with you the story of my car and the deployment. This is my Honda CR-V.  After James left for Afghanistan last December, my mom flew out to Seattle to drive back home to Illinois with me. On the way to pick her up from the airport (James had been gone only a few days), a truck kicked up a rock and hit my windshield. I ended up having to get my windshield replaced.  On our drive home to Illinois, my engine light mysteriously turned on. We stopped to check the oil. It was empty. No oil. My engine was actually burning oil so badly that we had to add a quart of oil every time we stopped for gas. And it's not like it's a super-old car, since it's a 2005.  I got it back and they had to replace a gasket. The problem came b...

The unpacking is happening. Also, I accepted a job. Starting January 21st, I will be a Data Programmer/ Analyst for a company located in Tacoma. Slowly and slowly, I'm beginning to see the start of "normal life" falling into place. Note the oddly positioned sleeping puppy. When we put everything into storage a year ago, I put aside one box of keepsakes and treasures to take with me. I knew I wouldn't need these things while I was in Illinois, but I brought them anyway because there's always the chance the storage place could have burned down. And- I feel justified now in this fear because a storage place in the town next to ours did burn down, so it literally could have been ours. This box has our wedding album, letters that James wrote me during various times he's been away, and different things that he has made for me over the years. He's actually a pretty crafty guy, and I love how it balances out with the infantry manliness. Besides the let...