Halfway Point

Well folks we are finally on the other side of the hill in this marathon known as deployment!! Just last weekend marked the 6 month mark of Brandon leaving. Now with no set date of return or even a range of dates to go, we are hoping for January as that will be his 12 month mark in this so called 12 month tour. It still feels like we have a LONG way to go but I can also see that we've come a long already! Although right now I feel time is at a crawl, I am also amazed that 6 months have flown by just like that! I never thought this day would come the night I dropped him off... I was left feeling empty and unsettled... and now I am finally starting to feel like I can do this! Its been a wild ride these past six months.. with a lot of highs and some rock bottoms. This was a whole new experience for me in so many ways. We have never faced a true deployment before... yes Brandon has been gone for months on end on several times... we've face the separation of basic training, AIT, multiple TDYs and OSC schooling.. but no true Brandon's gone for a full year with just a 2 week R&R. And on top of this, we bought our first house just a month before he was set to leave and Henry Clay was due just a month after he left. We were beyond bless that Brandon was sent home and arrived less than 24 hours before Henry's birth! As I look past these six months, I've endure more than I could ever dream and know I am only a stronger wive, mother, and person in general for it! So far, I've face multiple snow storms, adjusting to life with 2 munchkins including a newborn, multiple road trips solo, AC breaking twice upstairs, flooding in the area, having to get the car fixed, keeping up with yard work, taking off a locked doorknob off of P's bedroom, unclogging a toilet.. and the list could keep going... the joys of homeownership, parenting, and life in general in the midst of a deployment... and with 6 more months still on the horizon I'm sure I will endure even more to write about. But I've learned and I've grown.. and I will continue to grow. Yes I can already gurantee some more bad days along the journey... but its like what they say what wont kill you will only make you stronger... so I continue on.... all the while waiting for the countdown to truly begin... and see my handsome hubby's face again!!