Here We Go Again

I apologize for the lack of entries lately. I really do have a reason!

Dan came home from being out to sea for 5 days on Thursday. It was awesome. I went to the base to pick him up and ran to him like he had just come home from a deployment. The joy, relief, and love I felt at that moment was amazing. I had made it through the first work-up! I was still alive! Dan and I spent an amazing weekend in each others arms and saying corny little "I love yous" to each other.

On Monday morning at 4:15am we woke to the alarm yelling, "It's time to rip your heart out again!!! WAKE UP!" *Sigh* Somehow I rolled myself out of bed, packed the car, and drove my husband to the ship again. This time he would be gone for 2 weeks. 14 days. It doesn't seem like much until you go through it. I drove to the pier and stared at the huge hunk of metal that would be taking my husband away. Half of me felt pride and love for our country and those who serve while the other half felt disgusted, hatred, and annoyance. I sucked it up, hugged my husband, cried a bit, and watched him walk away. Now it was time for a 9 1/2 hour drive to Canton. I'll be here for a week so please excuse the lack of posts.

Tomorrow I will be visiting my beautiful God daughter Caelan for the first time. I cannot wait to hold her in my arms and tell her how much I love her.

Check It Out

So to my readers out there, you have got to check out this blog:

http://monogramchick.blogspot.com/

She's got the CUTEST things for sale that she monograms. I LOVE monograms and plan to order somethings for future mommies I know. I'm so excited. What's even better is that she has a Friday Freebie going on right now! Visit her blog and leave a message to be entered in the drawing. Be sure to tell her I sent you :)

My New Therapy

Today I spent a few hours in the bathroom. Painting it. When Dan and I moved into this awesome house I new that I HATED the bathrooms. The previous owner decided to paint them all a depressing (and hideous) brown and peach. To make matters worse, she painted uneven stripes in one. YIKES! So, I decided that I was going to paint the downstairs bathroom while Dan was gone. We had seen a $3 gallon of "as is" paint at Lowes that we really liked and picked it up. It's light blue and we were shocked it was on the as is table. We figured we'd go ahead and try it for $3. It was originally $32 paint. Anyway, I've never taken on a project by myself before and was a little nervous.

While painting (and sweating... it's a tough job!) I realized that I was feeling a lot less stressed and lonely. Being stuck in the tiny bathroom with a paintbrush was taking my mind off of all my "problems" and was relaxing me! It also made me feel great about myself because I was accomplishing a task on my own. This is a big step for me.

The bathroom looks great. I love the color and proud of my paint job. I am awesome. (Pictures to come later)

Dan is supposed to come home tomorrow. That will be awesome.

Sisters

It's been a few days since I've written. I just haven't had the motivation to do so. Does anyone read this? Does anyone care? If so, please leave a comment and let me know. I sure don't want to blog for myself.

Today was a great day. Had you asked me 3 days ago if today would be great I'd have cried and hid under the blankets in my bed. I have to acknowledge my sister-in-law for the greatness. She drove drove down from Newport News to spend the afternoon with me. She knows what it's like to be a crazy Navy wife and to be alone all the time. She also knows how important it is to have human interactions every so often.

We went to Panera for a delicious lunch. Might I say that their chicken salad sandwich is to die for? Love it. After lunch we headed back to my house and spent some time wandering through the baby nursery designs on HGTV.com. This only making my yearning and desire for a child even worse. That story is for another day. We spent the next few hours sitting on the couch chatting away. I never thought I could sit and talk to someone for so long, but it came so easily. I realized (not that I didn't know before) that I am SO lucky to have her as a sister. I grew up with 3 brothers and always wanted a sister. I was mad at my parents for robbing me of that "sisterly bond" everyone always talks about. Now I have what I always wanted. Sisters. 3 to be exact :) So, thank you Valli for spending the day with this crazy Navy wife and letting me talk your ear off until rush hour began :)

No one said it would be easy, but no one said it would be this hard either.

I knew when I said "I do" that I was saying it to a military lifestyle. That I was saying it to many nights alone, many fears about my husbands safety, and the unpredictable-ness of the Navy. I knew I would be frustrated with the underway schedules, depressed about the deployments, and extremely emotional. I also knew that I loved the man standing in front of me more than life itself. I knew he was the person who made me live, laugh, and love. I knew he was worth it. What I didn't know, was that it was going to take every ounce of strength inside me to get through it.

For the past 6 or 7 months Dan's ship has been docked at a local shipyard for maintenance. No underways, no deployments, just me and my husband at home together. It's been amazing having him home all of this time. Yes, the occasional duty day (24 hour work day) sucked, but I knew he'd be home the next day. Today started a year full of Dan being gone. The ship is getting ready for a deployment in February which means many months of preparing for it. They'll leave for 2 weeks, come home for a few days, and then leave for 4 weeks. It's a constant in and out and they're out WAY more than they're in. On top of that, they change the schedule so much you never know what's going on. It's frustrating, irritating, and stressful.

Dan's gone until Thursday. He'll be home for 2-3 days and then he'll be gone for 2 weeks. Dropping him off at the shipyard today was one of the worst feelings in the world. I felt like crawling into a ball and crying myself to sleep when I got home. I hate being alone. This will be a very very difficult 11 months.

[IMG]http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x187/ktbabez03/4r0ewc4.jpg[/IMG]

So here it goes. A blog. I swore I wouldn't give in to the craze, but alas! I have done it. I figured it might be a good way to vent my frustrations, fears, joys, and tears. No, I did not mean to rhyme that.

Hang on tight readers (if there are any of you out there) because you're in for a ride. (Not really, but it sounded good).

I guess I should start with an introduction. They're always so boring, but we'll get it out of the way. My name is Caiti and I'm almost 23. I'm a 3rd grade teacher in Virginia Beach, VA. I am married to an amazing man named Dan. Dan is 24 and has been a sailor in the United States Navy for almost 5 years now. We went to high school together and began dating shortly after. We dated for 6 months and new instantly that we were soul mates. He asked me to marry him on December 17, 2004 and we were married on May 19, 2007. It was a long and grueling engagement, but completely worth it in the end. As cliche and corny as it is, I married the man of my dreams and my best friend. We just bought a house in Virginia Beach where we love to fix things, hang out by the water, and BBQ. I am a daughter, a wife, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a God mother, and a teacher. Life is grand.