The Countdown Begins...

I said "see ya later" to my husband a couple days ago in the wee morning hours. I'm still a bit in shock -- and can't believe he won't be home again for another two months.

In a way, I'm glad that they gave my husband a flight out at 6am. We had to be up at 4am and out the door before 5am. It was way too early for me to process what was actually going on. I got home around 6am and was able to catch a few hours of sleep again. Everything felt like a dream. By the time I woke up to work, I couldn't believe that it happened!

It was like a band-aid...everything was so fast that the pain went by quickly too. Now that I've had some time to be on my own (with the cat), I feel as though another big change is happening. I got married and moved out of New York City, but it's been my husband and I since then, which I've absolutely loved.

Being married (to him in particular) has been a-mazing! Everyday that goes by gives me more validation on the decision I made to marry him (cheese!!!). Anyway....

In the six months of being together, he's actually been TDY twice already. Luckily, it was only for a week at a time -- and the second one that was two weeks, I was able to visit him on the weekend between the weeks. He was just at Fort Lee, VA -- only about 3 hours away. Easy peasy. Get in a car and drive....

Arizona is a bit further away from Virginia. I would actually have to hop on a plane to visit. Plus, he's being housed in a barracks facility and not in a hotel like his time at Fort Lee. My visit would be completely out of pocket.

I'm looking forward to visiting my husband at the end of his class -- and having time to myself as well as his homecoming! Also, lots are going on to keep me busy too! Hopefully it will be like the last six months and fly by.

Thank goodness for technology too! Being able to see my handsome husband's face helps!

What happens when your co-worker is a cat?

I would say the biggest struggle with working from home is the lack of interacting with people in the flesh. Most of the day, I'm by myself at home -- with the cat.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I have my cat to keep me company. Otherwise, I don't think I would do as well. Maybe not that, but my days would sure be boring. She adds some funny moments to my day and/or welcome challenges (i.e. walking right in front of my computer), but it's never anything that would compromise my daily tasks.

In general, it's nice to have a pet. I love animals and till now, I haven't been living in a situation where an animal would be comfortable in my home. My husband and I are in the position to give an animal a good amount of time and space.

My day starts with Xena (my cat) waking me up. I wake up when my husband does, but I still pretty much stay in bed (no commute!). She motivates me to be productive before I enter my office by stepping on my face.

Then, I get my coffee ready with her dashing back and forth down the hall. When I finally settle in my office, she LOVES to sleep on my printer or go by the window. She occasionally walks back and forth on my desk, which gives me the opportunity to give her a quick hug. Also, she takes some naps on my lap. :)

Yeah, yeah...I probably sound like the crazy cat mom. I'm totally okay with that. She gives me a sense of comfort, especially when I'm by myself. With my husband leaving for TDY, I'm extra glad she's around.

Cabin Camping and Six Flags America

My husband and I have been keeping ourselves busy the past couple of weekends. We're trying to make the most of our final weekends of summer together because he leaves for Arizona again in just a couple weeks.

When we visited Colonial Williamsburg, the concierge suggested that we try camping at Lake Anna because there are cabins and swimming. I'm realizing that a lot of the parks around here don't have any swimming holes -- and my husband and I love to go swimming! Lake Anna has camping cabins and full modern cabins too (the kind with rooms and bathrooms). We decided to try a camping cabin because it pretty much is the legit camping experience without having to pitch the tent.

I have to say, it was a fun experience!

We were actually pleasantly surprised that the inside of the cabin had bunk beds, a sizable table and electricity. Honestly, I thought it was just going to be a shelter, so we brought an air mattress and chairs. We spent the majority of Saturday at the beach area of the lake. The temperature was perfect and we fired up our grill area and cooked some burgers and hot dogs that evening.

Last weekend, we decided to use the Six Flags tickets given to us by an AMAZING organization, Operation Homefront. If you don't know about them already, check them out! They offer some great stuff for military members and their families.

Anyway, my husband has NEVER been to a theme park nor has ridden a roller coaster (I know...crazy, huh?!). Growing up, my family always had season passes to the Six Flags in Texas. It's a fun way to spend the day together. I have to say, I'm a fan of Six Flags America. The lines weren't as bad as Great Adventure on a Sunday during the summer. We didn't wait more than 10 minutes on a line, plus the water park is FREE (included in general admission). After we rode all the rides we wanted to in the main park, we went to the water park. By far the scariest ride we rode was the Bonzai Piplines. It's a vertical drop down a water slide. Literally, my knees were shaking as I was standing up. It was insane.

Do you enjoy camping and/or theme parks?

Adjusting to Married Life

I was brutally reminded that my husband and I will celebrate six months of marriage (again...) on July 25. (We have six months to create our wedding album and we have yet to do it!) It's incredible how time flies. He's actually been back from Korea for six months too.

What makes this six month anniversary different than the last is that we actually spent it together. The year he was in Korea didn't even feel like we were married. It just said it on paper. It seemed more like our engagement because we spent the majority of the year preparing ourselves for life together.

What was going to happen with me? What was going to happen with him? What would that mean for both of us? Also, how would we adjust to being together?

I knew we had love on our side -- and no matter what kind of challenge came our way, we would get through it together. The biggest adjustment has really been getting used to sharing things with a man. Honestly, I'm surprised how smoothly my transition to married life has been. Things are great -- and we're really embracing our live here in Northern Virginia.

I really like spending my evenings with my husband around our home, exploring our duty station and just everything else about life now. Weirdness just bothers me. For example, he leaves dirty dishes in the sink. And that's just a silly quirk! I'm the crazy one that washing things as I'm done using it. All the little nuances will eventually equalize and I'm sure we'll get used to it too. I'm just mostly shocked at how quickly things have been going!

In sad news, my husband will be leaving for a two-month TDY soon. And I'm also working on preparing myself for that as well. It's like as soon as you get a good groove...bam, the military comes down on you. Oh well, it will force me to think about (only) myself again -- and it will be a good thing.

I have some trips scheduled to my old stomping grounds in NYC to visit with friends in August and September. I miss them so much, so I'm looking at our separation positively. Also, I plan to see my husband when he graduates his class in Arizona at the end of September -- another opportunity to see Sierra Vista!