Terry spotted this photo over the weekend, and I had to post it. This was from the St. Barbara's Day ball January 2005 Raimstein Germany. Starting from the left are Pete and Beth Kremzar (Fort Benning - Pete is currently almost half way thru a year tour in Saudi Arabia. Beth is expecting their 3rd child). Next are Peter and Caroline Sittenauer (Fort Sill - I believe Peter is teaching at the Artillery school). Casey and Rynn Randall (West Point). Rynn goosed Caroline seconds before the photo...What a great group of friends.

5 years ago today Terry was in Iraq and I was in Amarillo TX having a baby. I was living with my parents and all the family was gathered for Thanksgiving. I woke up on Friday having contractions and after a call to my doctor (2 hours away) Mom and Dad took me to the hospital, after they decided I was in Labor they went ahead and scheduled my C-section for that day. At around 12:45 I had a baby boy, with my Mother by my side during the whole surgery. My brother John, Daddy and Mom got to see them give him his first bath. John was able to complete the complicated phone call to Terry to let him know (Terry didn't even know I had gone to the hospital). What a sweet 5 year old.....

Someone I knew since childhood died this past week from Carbon Monoxide poisoning. His family lives next door to my parents (over a hill and about a mile away). He was living a very full and successful life. It is very sad. Please go out and buy a Carbon monoxide tester today, it might save your life.

They are building so many 4 bedroom houses that every other one is a 4 bedroom. I guess they are also building a few 5 bedroom, but I don't know what one of those looks like, so I could be confusing the 4 and 5 bedroom ones.

This would be a nice one to have as long as the plant some trees behind it after construction is over.

This is the one I always take a picture of.

The one far off by the woods between these two would be an ideal one for us...I can dream all I want.


In this picture you can tell the difference between the 3 and 4 bedroom. The one on the right goes over the porch, the one on the left does not, and the 4 bedroom has 2 windows in the back and over the garage, the 3 does not.

This was a busy week for me, something that might come to a screeching halt when January rolls around.

Wednesday was bunco, what a night that turned out to be. I guess the hostess didn't check the replies on the evite and was a bit surprised to find out 24 people were coming the day of bunco. There was a slight shortage of wine and confusion on whether we should be drinking bottles that people had brought with them. It was strange but the game itself was fun and we followed it up with a game called Left Right Center, you start with 3 dice and 3 dollar and you play till all the money is in the center and one person has 1 dollar left. It was a very exciting game which somehow I ended up with the last dollar and walked away with 42 single dollar bills...

Thursday was a 3 BCT coffee at the Chocolate Cottage. Always lots of fun.

Saturday was a girls night out and we went to Wild Bill Buffalo Wings. After begging them to turn the sound down we enjoyed some great conversation.

This is one of my all time favorite pictures of Kirk and Derek. Kirk is sitting up tall in the saddle and Derek is slouching. Derek still hates to ride to this day. Kirk was a natural on a horse.

It is strange how grief works, I can be doing something and my mind wonders and I think of Kirk and then a pain hits my chest and it is hard to breath, then I go thru the whole accident in my head trying to "figure out" what happened. And as sad as I am for myself it is my kids that are losing out.

Since I am now 99% sure I will not get a house till these are finished I thought I would show you the progress on one house in one post. I am actually kind of looking forward to the new neighborhood thing as I won't have to "fit in" with all the people already living there. We will all be new and more than likely it will be people I know..so here ya go.
Taken 10-26-08

Taken 11-2-08

Taken 11-9-08

Taken 11-16-08

Here are a few photos taken from the helicopter as Terry was leaving Afghanistan. Terry said it reminded him of El Paso. I am sure there will be very interesting stories coming when he gets there. He won't have all the comforts he had while deployed last time. Keep them in your prayers.

I was looking at the forcast for the next 15 days and there are more days with snowflakes on them then ones without....Gotta love living in upstate NY.

I was looking thru some old pictures and found these, who could resist this face



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Being a wife and stay at home Mom I don't get alot of pats on the back, and Terry usually bears the brunt of my frustration of not feeling appreciated. Today my mother wrote me this and it brought me to tears.

Just read the blog. Just want you to know how proud I am of both you and Terry, You because you have become an incredible wife and Mother which is something in itself but because you have been at Terry's side this entire time supporting all the things he has chosen to do. None of this is easy but because Terry is dedicated to serving his country you both have managed to suck it up and do the job. We love you both and want you to know how much we admire you.

Of course we like the kids too and would take them in a minute {for a short time of course}

Love,
Mom

Since Terry is gone I had to drag the boys on my weekly Construction photo trip. The good news is they are making progress and the even better news is the first picture is a 4 bedroom (you can tell because of the upstairs part over the patio, in the three bedroom the upstairs does not extend over the patio).

In other really good news, my wood furnace is working like a charm. Since we have started using it almost a month now, we have barely used any propane at all. I get so excited going to check the propane and seeing that it hasn't moved at all, we still have well over 100 gallons, which I hope holds us till we move. If we stay on top of the wood furnace it might work.

I missed Terry's call today, but he will be starting his return trip tomorrow (or I should say when he wakes up). We have figured out that he will be 9.5 hours ahead of us.

Today in Church the Priest that deployed with 1st Brigade helped Father celebrate mass. At the end of mass Father Jonathan welcomed him back and he said a few words and including that he kept a journal and took lots of photos and would be willing to share them with anyone. He said he would share the good and the bad. He then talked about that his brother must be deploying soon or already has and he got choked up talking about his mother and asked us to pray for her. I think I can safely say that we were all a little choked up after that.

I do believe we make huge sacrifices for our country, but I also believe very strongly in what they are doing, and from day one this is why Terry signed on the doted line 22 years ago. I am incredibly proud of him and anyone in uniform that serves along side of him. I honestly want to go up and thank every soldier in uniform at the airport.

I often read Spouse Buzz, you can to it is listed under my other bloggers. I was very disturbed by this post. Good thing this didn't happen in my child's school, otherwise Terry and I would have had to pay a visit to this woman....


"What do you all know about the war in Iraq?"

After the last PMS post, I thought I should change my tune and focus on the things I am grateful for. Since Thanksgiving is only a little over three weeks away I decided now to figure out what I am thankful for. Please feel free to join me.

Today I am thankful that my mother went home from the hospital yesterday and is doing so well. I hope she can continue getting back to normal and will come visit me while Terry is gone. I am also grateful that when my kids are sick I can stay at home with them and not stress over a job.

Terry left today for his predeployment trip. Even though he will only be gone 10 days or so, it was very hard to say goodbye. Maybe it bothers me because the place he is going isn't exactly as calm as Iraq is now. On the positive he took a camera so I hope he can get some photos of where they will be. (not that that will make me feel better) Maybe he can get a picture of the tent he will be living in, yes no CHU (Containerized Housing Unit) for him this next year. As much as I dread him going and will miss him and will probably go crazy trying to be a single parent, I hope they make a difference over there as they have done in Iraq. I don't care if you oppose or support the war in Iraq, the US military has made life better for most of the Iraqi people. And for those people who don't think their husbands should be over there, their husbands should not be serving in the military cuz that is what the military does...and I want my husband supported by people who believe in what they are doing, not someone just collecting a paycheck.

Okay don't know where all that has been hiding in my little brain, but there ya go.

DB has found a new sleeping spot. He used to sleep right next to my side of the bed as close to the bed as possible often times putting his head under the bed. For the past few nights he has found the loveseat a cooler and more comfortable spot. I miss my buddy and of course this happens right before I lose Terry for another 10 days or so.....poor me.

Even though Halloween is not my favorite day of the year, the kids always look forward to it. We weren't sure where we were going to trick or treat since we don't know any of our neighbors and I hate to go to people's houses we don't know. So we went to our neighbor Carl's house and then on to post and hit a few houses in a friend's neighborhood. Tyler and Jason got enough candy that they were happy and I was happy their baskets weren't full. Dylan dressed up, but we decided he was too old to get candy. I might add that that wasn't the case for many other teenagers we encountered on our walk.

I know it may not look like much progress, but remember we had a foot of snow this week. Also we didn't take pictures of the many other foundations they have poured over the past week. We saw one by a porta potty we liked...maybe it will be ours.