Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012!

This year was FULL of changes for us... good, bad, happy, and just plain ugly. It's amazing to think that we moved not just across the country, but over the ocean, and now reside on an island! We desperately waited for our current house, fought for my health, and soaked up as much time together as possible.

I thought I'd do a little month-by-month rundown. A blog is a beautiful thing, it allows you to review your travels, keep up with your challenges, and it is brutally honest (if you let it be).

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JANUARY

I started off the year writing about friends and how through-out my life they have changed multiple times. I took a winter-wonderland photo-walk, said goodbye to the piggies, called the police about a domestic dispute (not ours!), and unfortunetely had a "no-good-really-bad-day." 

FEBRUARY

I moved back in with my parents since all of our material possessions had been placed on a ship en-route to Hawaii, evidently I was missing our little town house. Quinn & I celebrated Valentine's Day from across the country. My sister scored some awesome tickets to the Coyotes game and took me along! I managed to chip my tooth... which ended up in an unexpected dentist trip (after 1.5yrs, oops!).

MARCH

Arizona got a lot of snow resulting in some beautiful photos. I spent a very tiring afternoon with my "nieces & nephews" at Jumpstreet! I visited with some college friends while attending Ladies Night Out, I felt very blessed! I tried to visit a lot of people during my time in Arizona, not knowing when I would be back. My best friend got married and I was the MOH, it was a beautiful day despite my anxiety levels going through the roof! We experienced Disney & Family at the same time! We eventually headed back to Maryland to complete the check-out process, I took advantage of still having my car and went to watch the airplanes.

APRIL

Before leaving the east coast we were fortunate enough to visit NJ & NYC. Our trip to Hawaii was full of tears, errors, bumps, and hick-ups... but after 24hrs we finally made it. Amongst house & car shopping we made time to visit Pearl Harbor, North Shore, and family for Easter. We ended the month by purchasing a car.

MAY

This month started out with the news of Osama Bin Laden's death, I wrote my thoughts on the subject. Quinn "suckered" me into attending the SPAM Jam. I shared about my house anxiety, Quinn's newest tattoo, my origami blessing, job hunting struggles, visiting with our "grandparents," hiking up to a lighthouse and swimming with turtles. Quinn was part of the Color Guard for multiple ceremonies, during one I also learned that TAPS has words!

JUNE

Our time in the lodge ran out (hotel living for 2mo!) and we were forced to choose a place to live. We found out we had the neighbors from hell, so we tried to get out of the apartment as much as possible. This was achieved by attending the state fair and my cousin's wedding. Towards the end of the month things really started to go down hill... the toilet broke, I fought with my frustrations, and I was admitted to the ER.

JULY

I started off the month by sharing in detail my ER/Follow-up visits, this month can be deceiving considering the amount of things we did together, but under no circumstances was I getting better physically. We celebrated the 4th, hiked Diamond Head, went to Sea Life Park, and visited the PCC.  Unfortunately I got sick again, but I managed to attend a conference on base, and started seeing a counselor.

AUGUST

Unfortunately this month started with another ER visit. I found out just how wonderful my friends truly are, here & here. I tried to keep everyone up-to-date on my panic attacks and road to recovery. What started off as a terrible month, ended on a high note by celebrating Quinn's birthday in style!

SEPTEMBER

The Lord blessed us immensely by allowing us to move on base! I still struggled with anxiety and panic attacks. I met Jesus, reminisced about the prior year, baked a lot and attended the women's breakfast at our new church, and went through many ups & downs. We were extremely grateful that we were able to attend a marriage enrichment retreat together! I listened to God and a friend was kept out of a scary situation, then I finished off the month remembering my 25yrs on this earth!

OCTOBER

This month I started off alone, Quinn went into the field but I stayed really busy. During my parent's visit I had a panic attack, but refused to let it ruin their trip. I finally saw the GI doctor... ridiculous, but we also celebrated our 2nd Anniversary! I attended a really cool conference just for military spouses! Towards the end of the month I was having a bad week, but God blessed me anyway. We celebrated halloween "Asian" style.

NOVEMBER

I was pretty sick of the whole anxiety issue and decided to voice my opinion on the matter. We celebrated the 236th Marine Corps Ball. Brittany and I took her boys to North Shore while our hubby's were in the field again, we didn't see any surfing and I managed to cut open my toe, but that's okay! Once they got back Quinn and I played tourist (oh, I dyed my hair red too!). We celebrated thanksgiving with wonderful friends, but I didn't feel very thankful. We also celebrated Christmas together, or Thankmus whatever you'd like to call 2 days after Thanksgiving

DECEMBER

Quinn & I snuck in two fun events before he deployed. I felt very fortunate to attend the 70th Anniversary Memorial Ceremony of the attacks on Pearl Harbor! I arrived in Arizona just in time for the lunar eclipse, Alexis' graduation, beautiful Christmas lights & nature, and several Christmas weekend services.

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I would love to tell you that I have completely overcome my anxiety- but that would be a lie. I have sleepless nights here and there, as well as an elevated heart rate and the "weight on your chest feeling." However, I have been making great strides when it comes to getting off the medications. I am sure the first half of this year will have its trials with Quinn being gone. But with God, my family, and friends I know I can conquer this deployment. Thank you to everyone who is constantly there for me in the form of prayers, e-mails, notes, texts, letters, and small gifts... I couldn't do it without you!

HAVE A SAFE & BLESSED NEW YEAR'S EVE!

Christmas Services +Surprise

I've been to two Christmas services, it will be three tomorrow morning.... the first one was at Central Christian on the 23rd. The theme was "Luminous" you can check out a video here. When you came in they gave you an instruction sheet for smartphones. This year I actually have one, so I followed all the instructions and ended up flashing green whenever the green lights came on the tree during the opening song. There were red, yellow, and blue lights as well, it was a pretty cool way to get a lot of people involved!

The message was powerful- "darkness is cheap, light comes at a price." God came as the light of the world and passed that light onto us. We are to go out and light the world, to help bring it out of darkness. During the last song we lit candles and were told to keep them, placing them somewhere in our homes where we would see them daily as a reminder. We were also given a Christmas Devotional to do with our families on Christmas morning.

The 2nd service was at our church tonight (24th). There was a bell choir, the lighting of the advent candles, a huge Christmas medley, a children's story time, the reading of the Christmas story, and Christmas songs. Quinn didn't get to be here this year, but Adam (our soon to be Marine) was! We took the traditional family photos:

 

I also managed to pull together a surprise video for Quinn... in two days. Talk about last minute idea! I am ever so grateful for the friends & family that entertained my idea and helped me out. Despite the fact that it is afternoon on Christmas day for him, I don't think he's been able to see the video yet. I hope their internet works at some point so he can get his "gift." If you would like to watch it, click here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."

~Luke 2:11

Red Mountain Christmas Lights

Mom, dad, the dogs, and I loaded up the truck and headed to Red Mountain Community Church to see their awesome lights display. The lead pastor is actually my parents neighbor, so they see him welding things throughout the year to prepare for this celebration. This year it included a section that was cued to music, however the nativity was still my favorite.

Halfway through wandering around the campus we heard mom shout... "a herd of javelina just ran into the basin!" Naturally, I had to have pictures to document this awesome blessing from God... I mean wild javelina, at night, complete with piglets? So I ran around the perimeter of the basin to do my best at getting a few photos. A good Samaritan driving past warned me not to get too close because they are mean- which is true, fortunately the huge dad crossed the street to scout out a safe area for the moms/piglets to follow before I got close.

They aren't the best pictures since it was night, they are really fast, and I was doing my best without the external flash... but, here they are:

Isn't the teeny-tiny one so cute?! It reminded me of a guinea pig... It was pretty awesome getting to witness these guys. We finished off the night with a self-timed photo:

Comfort in Scripture

When I can't sleep... I tend to do one of two things, pray or read the Bible. Sometimes both.

A couple nights ago this happened, so I flipped open my Bible and landed in Psalm 73. The following verses stuck out to me (23-28):

"Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

I will tell of your deeds."

you hold me

you guide me

you will take me into glory

God is the strength of my heart

it is good to be near God

Alexis' Graduation

December 15th was a day of celebration... Alexis is done with her Bachelor's Degree! She headed down early for the entire school graduation and we joined her for the smaller graduation ceremony where her name was read, she walked across the stage, and fell down the stairs (just kidding, she didn't! No one else had any unfortunate stage errors either). The speaker's were actually relevant to the group of graduates they were talking too, the music was provided by an elementary school band (they did an awesome job!), and everyone got to enjoy themselves. They didn't throw their caps which I thought was interesting... but who cares, they still finished!

Spotting her in the sea of maroon... she has the apple on her cap.

The "Alexis Fan Club!"

I  love that I got this shot... they are cracking up!

She did it!

I dyed my hair just for the occasion... no not really, I did dye it the day before the ASU/UofA football game but that was pure coincidence!

Now... let's eat!

The Lunar Eclipse & Tempe Christmas Boat Parade

I finally sorted through the 90+ photos I took during the Lunar Eclipse on December 10th between 5:30am and 6:30am. I decided on these six to show the time-lapse...

The next complete eclipse will take place in 2014, I have no idea which hemisphere though. I am glad I woke up and was able to see such a miracle- God is amazing!

That night mom, dad, and I headed down to Tempe Beach Park to see the Christmas Boat Parade. There were 50+ entries this year, it was extremely fun! I even ran into some college friends (Jon & Keila) and we made plans for getting together after Christmas! Here are some of my favorite photos from the night:

70th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Memorial Ceremony

On December 7th, I picked Adrien up at 6:45am and we drove to the other side of the island... where were we going?

Here:

December 7th, 2011 marked the 70th Anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor (and other military installations across the island). We parked and walked 1/2mi, waited in line, made sure to grab our commemorative program guides, and began to wander around looking for a place to sit. Evidently the planning committee only set up enough chairs for 2/3 of the people that actually attended, while we didn't get a front row view to the speakers... sitting/standing on our little bench gave us prime views of the military officers/keynote speaker entering, the Navy ship paying tribute, the wreath laying portion of the ceremony, and the rifle detail. I wouldn't have changed a thing. I feel honored to have attended such a historic event, to remember the men and women who died that day... we must continue the legacy of these fallen heroes and survivors, especially since the youngest of the survivors is 87yrs old!

Entering the ceremony site was a long line of servicemen and women waiting for survivors to escort, eat time a survivor walked through everyone saluted.

The USMC rifle detail waiting for their time in the ceremony.

Former Marine & Pearl Harbor Survivor - Keynote Speaker (Mal Middlesworth)

Color Guard Preparing to enter the ceremony... you can see a faint trace of the rainbow forming over the USS Arizona Memorial.

"Missing Man Formation"

"Manning the Rails" Paying tribute to those lost.

Mal Middlesworth giving his speech.

One wreath laid for each location/ship that was bombed that fateful morning.

Rifle Detail just prior to shooting.

Adrien & I under the "tree of life," very thankful we got to witness such an event!

Iron Chef & Tree Lighting Ceremony

Before Quinn left we found out Iron Chef America would be filming on base for a special military competition and tailgating episode. It was first come first choice of seats. Supposedly they are set to air in February & May.... you can look for Quinn & I in the audience for the military competition episode. No cameras were allowed on set so I only have a picture of the sign and us sitting in the stands (from my phone!), I also can't tell you anything about it, we had to sign confidentiality agreements!

We also attended the base chapel tree lighting ceremony, it was pretty cool. The MarForPac Band played Christmas songs and led us in Christmas Carols. The Chaplain said a prayer to open the night, then the base CO invited the winners of the base elementary school's poetry contest to come up and "light" the tree. Santa arrived via fire truck and Quinn and I left the area too avoid being trampled by the massive amount of children and parents running towards him! We found the nativity scene with a missing baby Jesus (because it isn't Christmas yet!) and then went home for a relaxing night watching a Christmas movie and enjoying peppermint ice cream.

I am so glad we got to spend time doing fun activities together before he left!

Our {early} Christmas

Thanksgiving weekend was also our Christmas weekend... quite a lot to pack into 4 days! Add on a sick Quinn and lots of Nyquil, chicken noodle soup, and OJ and it almost felt like winter... unless you peeked outside.

The only decorating I did this year was a small table... and yes, we really did celebrate the Saturday after Thanksgiving... "29 Days 'til Christmas."

I found this and immediately snatched it up... I mean, how can you pass up TWO half pound Reese's cups?! We ended up cutting each one up into pie slices.

Completely unexpected... evidently Black Friday was good to Quinn.

We kept our tradition going... Gingerbread house #4!

So... I did the snowman, front yard, and doors... Quinn is the master decorator!

It will definitely be different celebrating Christmas without Quinn this year... but I am so glad we got to celebrate together even if it was a month early!

Not so thankful...

Pre-Deployment Photoshoot (Nov.  12th, 2011)

I know it's Thanksgiving weekend but I am having a really hard time being truly thankful. It didn't actually hit me until after we got home from a fun and enjoyable Thanksgiving dinner at our friend's house... the quiet of our house, just the two of us. It doesn't help that Quinn has the beginnings of the flu and my stomach is so messed up that neither of us feel like doing anything but laying/sleeping on the couch. I wanted this weekend to have good memories, for us to smile, laugh, enjoy ourselves. Unfortunately, I can't seem to shake the cloud of uneasiness knowing that these memories will be the last few we get to make together for a long, long time. I am so proud of my husband, the love and devotion he has for his country/job, I just wish it didn't mean that he had to go so far away and be in danger daily. My heart is aching and he is still home, this week base has been so joyful. We've had 5 detachments return home in time for Thanksgiving- the welcome home banners, balloons, and photos are amazing. Two weeks ago it was a different story- the men who took their place left amongst many tears, last kisses/hugs, and the bewilderment of many young kiddos. It's a never ending cycle and our turn is next. I am not ready, is one ever? Saying goodbye to the one you love and share your life with is not a "normal" part of life- unless you live "this" life. However, I don't want this to be "my normal" it's incredibly hard. I know that God will never give me more than I can handle, but I feel like this past year has stretched me to my absolute limits and like a rubber band that is held in an overstretched position for a long period of time - I am about to snap apart. Everyday I do my best to focus on the positives but right now it's hard... Tomorrow is a new day. Goodnight all, I hope your Thanksgiving was truly blessed, it's time for me to cuddle up with my sickie hubby and be thankful for the time we can spend together, no matter the circumstances.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
   who daily bears our burdens."
~Psalm 68:19