Married

Well it's been over six months since I've been home now. It's really amazing how time flies when you're home. I guess the old saying it true, a watched pot really doesn't boil. When you're not counting down the day's you just end up seeing them fly by.

Well in the last six months, I've gotten a new job, a new apartment, and an amazing husband. I just want to thank Steve for seeing me through this deployment; I wouldn't have been able to get though it with out you. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together. I know we will make it though whatever the world throws at us. From him I have learned so much, but mostly what it really means to love someone, and how sometimes that means working together to make the right choices. Also, how wonderful and fun it is to be with the right person.

I know a lot of people say that deployments ruin relationships, and maybe that is true for some people, but not us. This deployment really helped us to solidify our relationship, and while we definitely had some rough spots, we know we have a better marriage because of it.

Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?

Home Again

Hey All. Wow, I didn't realize that it's been so long since my last post. My bad. Sorry guys. I just wanted to let everyone know, just in case, that I am home for my deployment. It's crazy, but it's finally all over with. I am on leave right now, and I will post again when I come home to tell you about all the "fun" we had coming home.

Sometimes

hey all, how is everyone today. well there's not much going on here, just having more fun than you can imagine. hah. i just wanted everyone to know that the SOX ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES. this being my luck, it's the one year that i'm not in chicago, that they go to WS, but that's okay. it's more important for me to be out here, than doing anything else, so it's worth it. just want everyone to enjoy the game for me! and to you red sox fans out there, sorry, it must be the white sox turn this year. who knows, maybe even the cubs might have a chance next year. haha. miss you guys. hopefully i'll see you soon!

Mailing Packages

i just want to thank everyone again who has sent me stuff in the last year. it has probably been one thing that has helped me get through this deployment. but now, my deployment may being coming to an end. there is slim chance that i will be coming home in december; either way i will probably be leaving this address in the next two months. so thanks for the packages, and cards, but if you send them out after the 1st of november there is a very high chance that i won't be ale to receive the package. okay, guys, thanks again. i hope i can see you all soon.

Over and Over Again

Hey all, what's up? not much here, it's finally starting to cool down again. it was only like 98 degrees out today. haha, almost needed my jacket. i think it actually rained out here the other night. from what i've heard that may not really be a good thing, since the raining season isn't really suppose to be until november, and early rain means just a lot more rain during the normal season. all this dust just turns into yucky mud. oh well, only a couple more months. wow, i just can't believe that i am on may way to the end of this deployment.

i just have been preparing and been in this deployment for so long, i can barely imagine a life back in the states. i know it's going to be different that's for sure. it will be my first place all by myself (hopefully not long..steve), it will be the first time i've ever had a place that's not in or around chicago. i think that will be the biggest change. no big city. i think i won't be too much different from here. you know, except that we don't typically get mortared at ft. polk, haha. finally no putting on an IBA and Kevlar (flack vest and helmet) every time i walk outside. oh, and green. wow. like i said, i really miss grass and trees and foliage. that will be nice too. anyway.

so what is everyone up to out there? i miss you guys, and i just miss the normality of home, but you know, i'm lucky. i'm alive, and i'm healthy and i've got the best friends and family i could ever ask for. it's all about perspective. talk to you all soon.

Back Again part 2

well it's been a week since i've left the states, and wow, i never thought it could be harder to leave then when i first came out here. boy, how i was wrong. i'm not sure if its that i have no idea when i'm redeploying or that going home for two weeks was like having a breath of fresh air and then having it taken away, knowing that you can't breath again for months. maybe that sounds a little too much? sorry. i guess it really is just hard to be back, and it really hit me how much i miss everyone. i just can't believe that i'm finally on my down swing. at least i know that i only have four months left at the most. i really miss you guys, i think a lot more that you'll ever know.

i've not been getting a lot of sleep lately, and my countless waking hours give me plenty of time to think. sometimes i'm not even sure what the hell i'm doing, and sometimes i just think about what my friends and family are doing. i think to about how lucky i am, and a lot about our future. i just want to thank everyone again, for everything. you guys, i don't know what i would do without you. that you still care and that you didn't forget about me, and that you still support not only me, but all of us. thanks.

back again

well the last two weeks definitely went by way to fast. everyone kept telling me that it went by in a blink of an eye, and boy were they right. i really had an absolute blast though. so i’m not going to bore everyone with long details about my entire two weeks, so i’ll give you some fun highlights:

1. I’M ENGAGED! (yes, for real this time)

on september 10th 2005, Steven S. Belford proposed to me on the sandy beach of jacksonville, fl! well, i arrived back from iraq on the morning of september 9th and was way jetlagged when i woke up at 4am on September 10th. well, i woke steve up and asked him if we could go to the beach that morning and watch the sunrise- i thought it would be nice and romantic on my first day back, and since he lives only a mile from the beach, it was easy too. well that was at 4am, by 6am i started to get hungry. well those of you that know me, know that very little can get between me and my stomach. i get hungry – i get food. no stopping. so i quickly changed my mind about going to the beach.

by this time steve had already decided to propose to me that morning instead of at sanibel later that week. i on the other hand, had no idea, and wasn’t even thinking about it when i told steve i didn’t want to go to the beach anymore, and i just wanted to eat. well after a lot of debate steve finally convinced me to go to the beach first to watch the sunrise, and then go eat at waffle house (cause i was seriously craving some). so we drove to the beach, i rolled up my pant legs and we started walking. i was immidealy glad that i went to the beach first, beause i love water, and i haven’t see real beach in ages. so it was great, we just walked up the beach watching surfers, shells, and looking for jellyfish. on the way back a wave came in that i had to run from so i wouldn’t get wet. steve had on shorts so he just stayed where he was. when i came back he was kicking around a shell. i looked down at it, and he told me it was an oyster, and that we should open it. so he took it farther away from the water and started to open it with a little gerber knife that he put on earlier that morning.

meanwhile, i kept asking him – is it okay to be opening a oyster like that, and if we were allowed. he kept telling me it was okay, but not to make a big deal. i felt bad for the oyster. well he finally managed to get it a little open, and i saw some purple cloth, and thought; why is there purple cloth in the oyster? then he opened it all the way, and there was my ring, but if course the first thing that ran through my head was that you found a ring. luckily steve asked me to marry him before i could blurt out ‘you found a ring on the beach!’ haha. i was jetlagged. so steve go me, he surprised me, and he really was very romantic about it. not to mention he kept his promise, and took me to waffle house afterwards!

2. i rode my first jet-ski!

when we finally got to sanibel we decided to go on a two hour tour. well steve and i doubled up and he drove for a good chunk and that was a bunch of fun cause he really knows how to drive a jetski. however he let me take the reigns for a while, and i had a blast! not to mention that i decided to floor it at one point and knocked both steve and i off the sea-doo. it was great.

3. i got to eat at kobe- twice. yummy!!

4. i got to see my family and steve’s family!

5. i went to two sox games, but we lost both of them

6. we did a lot of fun wedding stuff- to include our engagement pictures—coming soon!

7. i did a lot of nothing, and it was fan-freaking-tastic!!!


Just a few more months guys, and I get to come home for good. i can’t wait to see everyone again, and for those of you that i missed, i’m sorry- it was so hard to fit everything in.