29 January 2011

Day 19- How has your life changed over the last year?

January 2010 started off with Matt getting called in to do staff duty a day after he had already done it. Then the next day he went out into the field, it was supposed to be for 2 weeks, but he got sent home after about 4 days. He went and played basketball that night and the next morning he was told he would be sent to Haiti. So starting with last January, we didn't really see him. He was gone for 6 weeks, but it was 8 days before we had heard from him at all. Those 6 weeks, which were sudden, helped me understand how a "real" deployment would be. We celebrated a fifth and a first birthday! Matt got home February 26, and we celebrated the boys late birthdays.

Last March, I turned 24. We celebrated my birthday with Chinese food and a good movie! We went to Monkey Joes and the childrens musuem and made time for extra quality family time since Matt had been gone. We got to finally go see Matt jump out of an airplane this month also, and that was so amazing and fun! In April we took our first real family vacation and went to Atlantic Beach, which is about 3 hours from here. It was a wonderful time, and we had a great view of the ocean from our deck. In May we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary, and Matt became a jumpmaster on the same day as well! June was Matt's birthday, July was our long trip to Iowa to spend the holiday with family. August was our first experience with back to school because Bruce started kindergarten. September we went hiking, October we went to the pumpkin patch and did a cornfield maze and we also took the boys trick-or-treating, trunk-or-treating and to a carnival. In November I cooked us another Thanksgiving dinner here. December was just a great overall month, filled with fun, parties, Christmas, family and snow!

This last year has taught me how to be even more patient and how to realize that Matt could have to leave without notice at any time, so appreciate the time that we do have together and cherish every moment. I have learned that the boys are little, but they teach me lessons just as much as we teach them!

Never forget the reason why we are here, and give thanks everyday, not just the last Thursday of November. God bless!

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