"Thankful Thursday"

In the midst of utter moving chaos, I am taking a moment with a full coffee cup and this laptop to remind myself the reasons why I don't want to pull my hair out.

I am thankful I have a strong, healthy husband who can move everything for me. There are many things that could've happened nearly a year ago that would've rendered him not able. I am thankful for two years married this Monday. I am thankful for my parents for opening their hearts and their doors to us until we can find a place and get settled. I am thankful for fantastic friends who will come over and help me get organized and motivated. I am thankful for the long road ahead but also for the journey that led us to it. Most of all, I'm thankful for the military for reimbursing us for moving so we don't have to live in the poorhouse!

Thanks to everyone who reads this. It's going to be an quiet week or so around here while we travel, pack, take care of everything, have fun visiting with family and friends, and settle in to our new life. Wish us luck!

Until next time,
xoxo Stacie

Sailing on....

The moving truck is on it's way. My husband is just about done with checking out and we have a goodbye dinner planned for Thursday night. The end is here! Yet I find myself feeling wistful and a little sad, not because I'll miss the military or North Carolina (the heat? no thanks!). I think back of the beginning days of this journey when I didn't know a dang person in the whole state and how lonely it seemed. Now that I'm leaving all the amazing friends I've made here I feel the loneliness creeping in again. I know it's the name of the game with the military, you move away or your friends move away, but it doesn't make it any easier. So I'll get all reminiscent and post some old memory laden pictures.

I've never had a group of friends so fantastic. It's different when everyone's husbands are in the military because you already have that immediate bond of sisterhood. We are have the same things to get through and we can relate to each other like no one else. We've helped each other through deployments, field ops, family troubles, lonely holidays, and we've even experienced the joy of a friend having a baby. It's been a long, hard road these last two years but I wouldn't change it for the world. Without the hardships and heartache I would never have experienced the help and love of true friends. I will miss each and every one of you and I am forever thankful we entered each others lives. Know that there is always a hot meal and a soft bed waiting for you in Maine whenever you want them. We're only a phone call away. I love you guys.

Until next time,
xoxo Stacie

An Update

Things are getting very hectic around here! Our 30 day vacate notice has been put in, the movers are scheduled, boxes filled with stuff have taken over my apartment, and my husband is checking out of everything. Needless to say this poor blog has fallen to the wayside.

We are both so glad to leave the Marine Corps behind us and start a new life back home. I am so thankful for the many wonderful people I've met while we're been stationed here. I don't know how I would've gotten through so many lonely nights without them. I've learned things about myself and about my marriage I never would have if we didn't have this experience. Most of all I'm ready to leave ALL THIS MILITARY CRAP BEHIND. I am so sick of worthless field ops, long days of Mr. Marine at work for nothing productive, mandatory family fun days, and 24 hour notice deployments.

The most important thing is that I'm ready for us to buy a house. I've been saving for a house before I was married and since getting married the fund has grown and grown. It'll feel so good to have sheep, goats and chickens running around in my own yard. People laugh at me but all I've wanted to be since I was little was a homesteader. Looks like dreams are coming true.

I love all of you and appreciate you reading and I'm sorry I've neglected this blog for so long. I promise it'll pick back up once things calm down a little.

Until next time,

xoxo Stacie