New Normal- Adjusting After A Year Long Activation

Our one year military activation has come to an end. This is always a time of reflection for me. Reflecting on my fears from a year ago, my goals, what I accomplished, and what I wished I had accomplished. I am overall happy with how the past year went. Aj was gone for almost a year and only spent a few months in Afghanistan. The negative was all that deployment money we were going to save didn't happen. he came home safe and sound and I can truly say our marriage is the strongest it had ever been.

I applied and have most finished two semesters of grad school. This ales me excited and nervous. It is a huge financial undertaking attending USC. I know that God is leading me to counsel and guide other military families and veterans. I just have to trust he has a plan. It all has just bent to perfect.

I have fallen in love with Jesus. Growing up and raising our family as Catholic no longer felt right to me. I longed for more of a relationship with him and for Jesus to be a light in my marriage. I was lead to meet a dear soul who has led me to a new church home. Our whole family loves the change and Aj and I get sad if we can not make service. Fear not! We can watch online it download the message on iTunes!

I still struggle with my 3rd baby weight. Screw it.. I'm wearing a bikini in Mexico. I'm going with my husband and he loves me and my curves.

The next few weeks we will be adjusting again. Aj is back to the police department starting with SWAT training all week. Then next week back to nights. Keeping G quiet and out of our room will be a huge stressor. ;)

Blessings

There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of my Mamaw. I have been missing her a lot lately and been a bit down that her Michigan house was sold last week. Aj and I were enjoying our last bottle of wine from our Michigan trip the other night. We told some Mamaw stories and joked that we should keep the bottle because it will be awhile before we get to head up and get more. Well, the other day I was grocery shopping by myself (pure joy) and discovered our local Kroger had our favorite Michigan wine. I know this is something new! I walked around the store with a little grin like it was Mamaw giving me a little gift. ( I honestly believe it was). I immediately texted photos to AJ, my Mom, and my sisters;) If you like a semi sweet wine, look for it! I hear our local Friar Tuck has the white as well.

Our Boys

We were lucky to get away to visit some of our Marine friends this weekend and stayed in a hotel last night. I was getting ready this morning and looked over and I noticed them snuggling, chatting, and kissing their little brother. Love my boys and truly beautiful souls they have.

Breakfast Crescents

I love this recipe! A lady at my small group last week brought these, and I just couldn't stop thinking about them. I thought it would be fun to make them for dinner one night. The kids didn't necessarily think they were as cool as I did... but they were yummy and easy. You will need: 

1 roll of crescents

3 eggs

6 bacon strips

cheddar cheese 

milk

Scramble the eggs with milk. Cook completely. Add cheese and bacon. Roll out the crescents and spoon the mixture into each one. Roll each one up when full. Cook according to the crescent role directions. 

Catching Up

I survived AJ's Marine weekend trip. After the first day, I started to try to remember how I did this all on my own the past year. I sure did miss him and the extra hand he provides. I am a lucky girl. I love that he wants to be involved, we enjoy cooking together, and I have even got him into baking cookies from scratch. LOVE LOVE that!

We are 30 days away from our trip and we can not wait. It has been nice reconnecting the past 6 weeks, but the leave time is coming to an end and it is time for him to head back to work as a police officer. He is super excited about getting to be at a conference all next week with his SRT team (SWAT team). See... I get no break from worrying about him ever. The SRT phone will come home and he will be officially "on call" all the time. He had only one call after he joined the team before he left, but you should see how his eyes light up every week when the test call comes through.

The boys got their first semester report cards. They both are doing amazing and it was so nice to hear how amazing men they are becoming. I love to hear they are doing well in school, but to hear they have beautiful souls makes me one proud momma. We must be doing something right!

Midterms have hit for me. This semester has been a bit more challenging. Of course because I have been completely out of routine, but that one class forces me to step out of my comfort zone. Papers have been submitted... now I wait. I told AJ that I know I will be very hard on myself, because the first semester I came out with all A's. Hard to believe that after Christmas I will start 16 hours of clinicals a week. What is a normal life anyway?

Never Easy

I just sent AJ off for his conference in Oregon for a few days. Every time I see this bag come out, it makes me nauseous. I knew I would cry when I said "see ya later". Maybe it was because our 18 month old was in the middle of a tantrum and the thought of no help the next few days just became overwhelming, or maybe it is just because it never gets easier no matter how long he is away. Truth be told, I hate being away from him. It is a crazy time with school for me right now. Papers and presentations going on. My only hope is that this weekend I can get everything done with school, so that I can take a week off and enjoy it with him before he starts back to his civilian job. Our nights of going to bed together are coming to an end, good old night shift is looming. I'm hoping that I will get some energy to do my school work then, and carve in some prayer time. Well, speaking of school... it is time to log on. My policy class is first, and I know now that I am not cut out to work on policy. I am a clinical social worker through and through. I like to listen and do. Policy and debate just aren't my cup of tea. 

Loving Life

We have been loving family time. Keegan was in DC last weekend so we had a family fun weekend with the other boys. Eating out, movies, arcade games, ice cream. So fun! Keeg had a wonderful trip and we all missed him. We heard from him once the whole weekend. I guess I can believe he is independent and secure enough without us. I know that I am happy with the spacing of our kids as it will be a few years and Keeg says he will be in boot camp. ;)
We had our 30 day Marine Corps Reintegration yesterday. We had G do we couldn't participate in everything. But it is clear we need a uniform family program across the services. The Marine Corps program has just become horrible in my opinion. We had some great presenters, but I think it needs to be more focused on mental health and relationships. Many of the classes were combined with married and single Marines and many spouses did not attend as they have lost faith in the system.
We also had good extended family time. We played with cousins and celebrated by sister in law's 40th birthday!

Cousins

Lunch with Marine friends.

Happy Birthday Tonya!

Brr.. football games have been cold!

Fishing with Pop! (Twins for sure!)

Sleeping in Mom and Dads bed. 18.5 months

Meetings with Mom and Dad

Cousins- 6 weeks apart. 

Chicken Parmesan

This is my husbands favorite dish!
6 chicken breasts
2 eggs
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese

Cover Chicken in egg and bread crumbs/parmesan mixture.
Brown in olive oil. 

1 large jar of Ragu
1 package shredded mozzarella
Olive oil
Oregano, salt, pepper

Wisk the eggs in a pie pan. Mix Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, oregano, and salt and pepper. Did both sides of the chicken in egg then breadcrumbs. Have skillet going with olive oil. Brown both sides of the chicken. When brown (the chicken will not be fully cooked) place in 9x13 dish lined with half the jar of Ragu. Lay the chicken in the pan. Add more sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake at 340 for 45 to 60 minutes depending on chicken thickness.
We serve with angel hair and our favorite Alfredo sauce. Two packets of Alfredo mix is plenty for a box of angel hair. We love to add the red sauce from the chicken pan to the top.

Place in 9 x 13 pan with Ragu 

Cover with cheese! 

www.beyondthecammies.com
Ready to eat. Add your favorite alfredo sauce and noodles.

Post Deployment Adjustments

I can not believe that AJ has been home for over a month now. It has been so nice to reconnect, get to know each other again, and fall in love all over again. I forgot how much I really really did miss having him around. I have even trained him to get up with G in the middle of the night. =)

The adjustment after a deployment can be really really hard. You both are used to being your own person, and now all of a sudden you have to mesh back together. I am thankful that this transition has gone pretty well. We have had our bumps, but a lot more smooth sailing days. He is getting ready to start his last two weeks of leave before he heads back to his civilian job. That will mean working at night, sleeping during the day, and working weekends. I am trying to soak up every minute of the evenings and weekends with him. Part of me is ready for him to be back to work, as I can get back into my school routine. Right now I find myself not wanting to spend time on homework in the evenings, because I'd rather be sitting around the fire drinking a cocktail with my love.

Speaking of school, I am in the middle of my second semester of grad school through the virtual academic center at the University of Southern California ! Midterm papers will be done over the next couple of weeks. I am really enjoying both of my classes! I just filled out my clinical paperwork, and will start with a placement in January. Exciting!

Well, we are off to church. Hubby is sleeping on the couch, Brady is playing playstation, and G is unloading the entertainment center. Time to kick everyone in high gear. =)

Fall ;)

Have you ever just sat in your car so your little one could sleep? Well, that's me today. I need to grab groceries, but I'm thinking that closing my eyes in the parking lot with G sounds like a better idea. Kidding, but I miss the days he could sleep on the go!
The weather has been gorgeous in IL. The colors are breath taking. Fall is the reason I love the Midwest. We have gotten some great bike rides in. I did a route yesterday that last time I had to stop halfway up the hill. Not yesterday! I rocked it!
G and I have been getting the house ready for Fall. I love my mantel. The Halloween items came from Target and the "dead flowers" as my 13 year old will say... Came from Gordmans.