Vacation

Sorry for the bloggy hiatus. Joe and I took a much needed mini vacay to Arkansas for a week. We got up bright and early on a Saturday and drove almost 13 hours to get home - plus an hour time change. It was lovely. Serious, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were a few initial navigation errors. But I can read a map. And Joe can follow directions pretty well. And Rigel is a good little nomad.

We spent the first night at Joe's mom's house. Had a breakfast that couldn't be beat. Then drove to my mom's house. Joe spent the week playing with his friends. And I spend the week with my family. And I went to the dentist. I know right, on vacation!! But it must be done when you haven't been in almost 2 years and your grandma works at the dentist. But no cavities, ha!

I spent most of my time hanging with my mom, helping her tend to her mini farm of chickens and ducks in her back yard. Those of you who follow me on Facebook can see the pics. She has 6 new baby ducks that grew tail feathers while I was there. They are just adorable! She also has 6 new baby cows on their farm. They are already huge, but adorable nonetheless.

I had lunch with some friends and went on a mini shopping spree at Kohl's. I've never given that store enough credit. But they have some awesome sales and clothes for every body type. I have such a hard time buying clothes because my legs are so long and I'm not a size 4. But I got 4 pairs of pants, dozens of shirts, and 2 pairs of shoes for my size 11 feet in only about an hour.

Joe and I also went house hunting with a real realtor. We will be moving home in a year (well, I'll be moving home in a year to prepare a future for me and Joe, he'll follow a few months later) and I'll need a place to live. We were thinking about buying my aunt's house. But houses are fairly personal things. And we found the best house ever!! Joe and I both fell in love. I thought house hunting with him would be the most painful experience in the world, as we are both very opinionated. But when it's right, it's just right. The lot wasn't ideal (it has power lines running over the yard and my father said it wasn't good at all, something about our kids having a 3rd arm) but we aren't going to buy that house anyway. But the realtor, Daria (what an awesome name) said that she knows now what we are looking for and she has complete confidence that she can find us the perfect combo of house and yard in the next year. And it's definitely a buyers market. The economy is tanking, but at least I can get A LOT of house for my money. This dream house has walk-in closets, an eat in kitchen, a huge mater bedroom, a nice soaking tub, vaulted ceilings, a back porch, and a LAUNDRY ROOM!! A whole room for Joe's dirty clothes. It's a true dream! Here's the website's description: This 3 bedroom 2 bath home has beautiful granite countertops, wonderful kitchen, new roof in 2009. Open living room with cathredal ceilings, gas fireplace, huge backyard, jacuzzi bath and much more. This is priced to sell and would make a great first home! Why don't they mention the laundry room?? Crazy people! I am so excited about buying a real house and not moving every two years!

Can I vent a little now? (Consider yourself warned)

Joe has 630 days until he is a civilian again. Can I say it again -- I CANT WAIT!!! I cannot wait to get our lives started. This Army life feels like it's holding us back and keeping us down. I need to move home and be a real person. I'm so sick of this stupid game it seems like we have to play. I'm sick and tired of rank. I'm tired of my husband babysitting grown men. I'm tired of people trying to keep tabs on my husband. He's an adult. He should be treated like one. But there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. I can see our bright future in the distance. Every day we are a little closer. Every A I make is another term closer to the rest of our lives. The Army has set us up well. Our marriage is stronger than it was a year ago. We fought for our marriage in this Army life. The deployment helped us pay off Joe's car and set us up financially. We have a nice down payment for a house. And Joe is pretty sure he can get a VA loan. The GI Bill is going to make our lives that much easier paying for Joe's education. I'm trying to see the positive aspects and less of the garbage. But the daily grind and the DEPLOYMENTS aren't worth it to me, to us. There is no reason my husband needs to have another deployment. I'm willing to live in a tar paper shack if that meant he didn't have to deploy again. Like the bio on the side of this blog says, the Army isn't what I thought it would be. And I'm done with this Army wife life. I only have 630 days until I can really be done with it.