Jack-O-Lanterns

Drew and I have been up visiting his family in the Bay Area for the last few days.  They were all so happy to see him and have him home.  It's rainy up here, which is pretty much par for the course when I visit.  But it is fun to start getting all cozy for winter.  We were lucky enough to be up here for Halloween so that we could go the pumpkin patch together, carve our pumpkins & hand out Halloween candy to all of the kiddos.  I love seeing all of the cute kids & creative costumes.  I think a few of my favorites where the Christmas present, blacksmith, girl from The Capitol & the dog squirrel (don't ask me what that is, I'm still not exactly sure).

I think Drew won for best jack-o-lantern this year - he went with the puking pumpkin, which is actually quite fitting considering how much candy we all consumed tonight.  I hope everyone had a happy & safe Halloween!  

The Eagle Has Landed!

As one of my best friends texted me yesterday, we're reunited and it feels so good!!!  Drew made it home safely on Monday night.  I was able to get a military gate pass and met him right at his gate as he got off the plane.  And he was even wearing his sexy uniform!  He was able to make the long journey back to San Diego with a friend he went to training with and was deployed with so I think that made it a little more bearable.  But, after three layovers and an over 24-hour journey, he was understandably exhausted.  Since he got in so late, Drew had the next day off and we planned to just sleep in so he could get over his jet-lag, but the Navy had other ideas...they decided to test the alarm system in our "hotel" rooms at 7:45 a.m.  Really?!  So we didn't have much choice but to get up and get going.  It was just a day filled with errands & relaxing, but it was so good to do it all together.      

I am so excited to have Drew home and finally be together again.  It was definitely a long eight months.  Thank you all so much for the prayers & support for both of us.  God was surely watching out for Drew because as he told me this morning, he never once felt scared for his safety.  That's pretty amazing considering he was stationed in a war zone! God was holding Drew safely in the palm of His hand.

A slightly sleepy Drew with a lot less poundage & a lot more stuff!
He's just too cute, if you ask me.

He's Almost Home!

Drew is officially out of Afghanistan now & on his way home to me!  He has quite a lot of traveling ahead of him, but he'll be back before we both know it.  I honestly can't really believe it.  I'm so excited to see him!

Since he's getting here so soon, I've been busy organizing our stuff (that's not in storage) for the move.  It is really unbelievable how much stuff we amass.  I think each time we move I donate at least 4 garbage bags full of things.  And that is true of the move this time & the move we did just eight short months ago!  Each time I do this I promise myself that I'm going to stop buying & accumulating things since we'll be moving so often, but for some reason that pep talk never works.  I really wish that I did live with less stuff.  It would make moving life so much easier & it would be easier to focus on the things that are really important in life, which certainly aren't my things.  It's a constant battle & pray, but hopefully (even if slowly) I am getting better at it.  I'll keep you posted about how the move from Rhode Island goes!