Lovin' on this man

The last time we were at his parents house for family dinner, he was late. He walked in in his ACU's and our niece, Kodie (2 1/2 years old), looked up from her dinner and said, "*gasp* There's my super hero!" She had never done anything like that before. Zach still wishes that someone had taped her saying it because he thought that she didn't like him. The rest of the day, she dragged him around the house showing him "monsters" in Jordan's room and playing with the laser pen she found. She climbed on his lap when it was time for dessert and wouldn't leave his side. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. <3

Not only is he her super hero...he is my hero too. 

A while back we had family pictures taken, here are a few.

I know this is corny, but he really is the rock that gets me through the hard times. I don't know who I would be without him and his never-ending love for me. I am so grateful for his willingness to sacrifice everything he has and is to go fight for a people that he doesn't know. All he knows is that they are God's children and they need help. 

It's moments like this where I can't even describe how proud of him I am.

"Army Wife: It's not a status. It's a life-long promise to him." ~Anonymous

...with a little bit of Insanity thrown on top

Prologue: I may write 2-3 today because I have SO much to catch up on! 

So...the day has come and gone. Zach left about a month ago. I will get to see him fly out to Afghanistan sometime in the next month and a half but until then...he's states away. I'm surprisingly ok with it. I keep myself busy enough that by the time I get home at night I'm not exhausted to think about the "what if's". 

The other day, we had family day at Camp Williams and I was talking to a retired wife who told me, 

"The first two months are going to feel like he's a training. You'll know he's deployed but sub-consciously you think he's coming home, so you don't get sad. It's that first day of month 3 that is when it's the hardest."

Yay!!!!.... O.o .... I've got a while before it hits then. I'm expecting it'll hit as I'm watching his plane fly out but who knows. It might not even hit me until he comes home. I've heard of wives having that experience.  Anyways, the point is, I tried to avoid it, but it came. Now is the test for how strong I really am.

That also leads into what the title means :) I'm pretty excited about it. One of the goals of every Army Wife going through a deployment is this: I need to lose weight so I can look my best when he gets home!! 

Does it ever happen? Not often. They start but they don't keep it up. This is why my goal isn't for weight. I couldn't care less about what I weigh. In fact, I got rid of my scale. My deployment goal is to finish....wait for it.....

****INSANITY****

For those who don't know what it is, it's a kick-your-butt P90X on steroids. It gives you the results that you've been working for for 3 years straight, all in 60 days. I just finished day 1 yesterday, I am SO sore and I LOVE it!!

My doctor told me that I needed to do something extreme for my PCOS. Is this extreme enough? lol. :)I'll post my stats as I go along...in a different post than this one because I can't find the ones from yesterday.

"Army Wife: It's not a status. It's a life-long promise to him." ~Anonymous

GUESS WHAT!!

I've been sick since Thursday and it's only been getting worse so...I went to the doctor today. I found out that I have Pneumonia. (DON'T STOP READING!! I know, you were expecting good news but that's coming, be patient!) We're hoping that it will be gone by my appointment next week. For the next little while I'm banned from work and, basically, anything that lets me out of the house, so this is all I get to do. That, obviously, is not the awesome news.

Come to find out, that dick-head doctor that diagnosed me with PCOS didn't tell me the whole truth. Yes, I still have PCOS but he told me that birth control was the only way to fix it. LIAR! LeAnn (new doctor) told me today that there's a medication specifically for PCOS that will make my symptoms almost go away completely! How awesome is that?? What an amazing answer to so many prayers!

ALSO! Zach got a job that he absolutely loves! He's a driver. This is a much more military-friendly company than the last place. I'm just so glad they're willing to work with him on this whole school/deployment thing.

Last bit of good news, we found a new place to live. It's a cute little town house in West Jordan so I'll be really close to the in-laws and it's right in between my new school (cross your fingers that I get in) and work.

I'm so grateful that the Lord answers prayers like He does. It just takes so much pressure off of our shoulders, especially right now when everything is coming up so fast. 

"Army Wife: It's not a status. It's a life-long promise to him." ~Anonymous

Castles

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."♥ -C.S. Lewis

My good friend, Majken, posted this on Facebook a while back and I fell in love with it. This was exactly what I needed to hear. I want to post this now so that maybe someone else who needs this can have it too. 

"Army Wife: It's not a status, it's a life long promise to him."

Living in a Hurricane

Dear World,

You know the saying, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!"? Well, what do you do when life sticks you right in the middle of a hurricane?

I stopped writing around the time that Zach lost his job. We both hated every minute of him working for those Anti-Military, Communist, Con-men but it paid the bills. I guess, looking back, that was a blessing in disguise. I started working at Biomat about a week later but because I wouldn't get my first paycheck until AFTER the rent was due we almost lost the apartment. Can I just tell you, we have never prayed and fasted so hard in our lives.

His parents ended up lending us the rent money for December (SO GRATEFUL!) and we saved all our pennies for that month so we wouldn't have that problem again. It helped so much that over the break Biomat had me working full-time. That paid for rent in January and most the bills in December with some money left for savings.

Come January, school started and we both got our Pell Grant returns! Now we finally have money in savings and I'm not holding my breath for the next accident to happen anymore. It had been a couple months since we'd last been to the temple so we decided to take a trip to the Bountiful Temple. It is one of the most beautiful temples I've ever had the honor of entering. Definitely top 5 material! Neither of us had ever done Sealings before so that's what we did. What a magical experience. To be able to seal all those families together for Time and All Eternity was such a blessing to me. Then, we got to sit in the Celestial room for a while. 

Cool little fact:

One of the workers told me that there are only 3 chandeliers in the whole world like the one in the temple. One is at Bountiful Temple, the second is at Buckingham Palace, and the third is lost. 

I thought that the storm was over until I was on my way to work last Tuesday. I called Zach to talk while I drove (I know! Bad habit, but that's not the point of this story!) and suddenly out of nowhere he says, "Hey, they found me a school...uhh...it's from March 24th to April 20th...".

Worst.

News. 

Ever.

Why is that the worst news? 1: We were going to celebrate our anniversary on the way to Jason's wedding. He can't do either now. 2: That's essentially him deploying a month early. He will come home for two weeks then take off for Fort Bliss for the real deployment.

I was sobbing so hard I could barely see the road. I had to call in to work because there was no way I would be able to stay calm there. The donors like to bring up the deployment when they talk to me...not a good subject at that moment. 

I got three days in a row off last week which helped me so much to come to term with things.

I'm mostly better. I'm a lot more reserved now...I don't open up like I used to at work. I still smile when it's necessary...but it's not quite as forced as last week.

The times when I'm about to break I just take a deep breath and count my blessings. I remember the promise given to Zach in his Patriarchal Blessing. I remember the promises given to me in my Patriarchal Blessing. I think about my kids at church who need me to be strong. I think about the scriptures that tell us that the Lord wouldn't give us a challenge that we can't handle...and our trials are but small moments in time. When I'm about to break I let the gospel flow into my heart and fill the void that is starting to be created there. It's like a bandaid for all the new cuts. I love the gospel more than words can say. It can bring a peace to your soul that can't be found anywhere else on Earth. I love my parents for choosing to have us be born in the Gospel. I love my siblings for the never-ending examples that they are to me.

I'm going to make it through this deployment, not because I'm strong on my own. I'm going to make it through this deployment because the people in my life need me to be strong and, with their love-- I can be. I'm going to be strong mostly because Zach needs me to be strong for him and that's my plan.

I am so proud of the choice he made to deploy. Yes, it's the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with but, ya know what? If he hadn't volunteered, that wouldn't be my husband. He is always thinking of others first...he joined the military to be a soldier and he's the best one that I know. He doesn't realize just how proud he makes me, and listening to my rants you wouldn't be able to tell...but being an Army Wife makes me proud. It's hard, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love my soldier and I love that he is so selfless and brave.

"Army Wife: It's not a status, it's a life long promise to him."

Blanket Numero Uno--Korbyn's Christmas blanket

Over Christmas break, work doubled my schedule so I didn't get a chance to work on the blankets. I was completely freaking out. I am so thankful for Tawna and my mom for their help with this blanket. Tawna let me come over to her house and she spent all day long helping me re-cut, sew, buy my missing pieces, and put together. She also taught me how to machine quilt which is really cute! I am so thankful for her sacrifice so that I could get Korbyn's blanket to him.

The top of the blanket

Machine quilting on the back.

"Army Wife: It's not a status, it's a life long promise to him."

All I Want for Christmas...

I've never been one to buy things for Christmas. Growing up, we drew names and bought for one sibling so that it was affordable. Then I married into a family who LOVES presents! It's taken me a year to get used to, but I think I have finally gotten my head around the whole present thing. So, this year, just so I won't have an excuse, I started tonight.

This year, I'm making blankets for all 9 nieces and nephews. If I could find my camera I would post pictures of the fabric because I'm really excited about them. Unfortunately, it cost me twice what I was wanting to pay and I was having a heart attack until I did the math and it's only $12/child. It just seemed like a lot to spend at once. I called Zach freaking out (as you should remember from the first paragraph, I don't do presents) and he had to remind me that it's an ok price.

Hopefully, I'll find my camera soon so everyone can see the before and afters! 

"Army Wife: It's not a status, it's a life long promise to him."