2am ramblings........

So I am up at 2am, again.  This has become a new norm for me during this deployment.  Between parenting the princess, keeping up with the house, and attending full time online college, there are just not enough hours in the day.  I knew that Josh helped a lot when he was home, but I guess never realize just how hard it would be to accomplish everything without him.

For example, today I had an assignment due.  I had a week to work on it, but it was 1 of 4 assignments that I had over the week and this one had the latest due date.  I woke up determined to get it done early in the day, but after Hannah had breakfast and we were both ready for the day I stopped by parents to ask a favor of my dad, he wasn't home.  My mom, who has MS and a full time care giver, was having an anxious day so I decided to bring her home with me to spend some time with Hannah.  By the time we all got home it was lunch time.  After lunch was made, served, and cleaned up I spent some time distracted by my mom and Hannah.  Before I knew it, it was time to make dinner.  After everyone ate, I had to clean up yet again.  Then I took my mom back home, and my dad was there so I talked to him about some work I want to get done on our house before Josh gets home.  When we got home  Hannah went to her room to play for a bit, and I started in on my homework.  I got a good start on it, when Hannah asked me to build a castle with her.  She asked so sweetly that I could not refuse, so we built castles.  When we were done she helped me pick up the blocks, and we were on to bath time.  As I was getting her pjs on Josh got online. So I let her watch tv in my room while I chatted with him.  After we got off line, I finished getting Hannah ready for bed, and tried to get her to sleep.  She wouldn't stay in bed, and finally I had to lay in bed with her... She still would not settle down, and it was nearly 11pm when she FINALLY gave it up and went to sleep.  I started in on my assignment again, with an hour until deadline.  After 3hrs of working on it, I am calling it a night.  It still isn't finished, but at this point it is already late.  So late it will have to be.

 My very 1st priority of everyday is to keep this face a smiling one!

In reality I should not have chosen today to spend with my mom, because she needs as much attention as my 2 year old does.  I thought that I could get my work done with her here, but between her and Hannah I stayed very busy!  Now, I really should be in bed since Hannah will be up early (even though she went to bed late), but instead I am sitting here thinking about how the life of a single mom is, and how lucky I am to have a husband like Josh.  This deployment has been hard, but in some ways it has strengthen our marriage.  We are proving that our love can with stand any obstacle thrown our way, and we are learning to appreciate each other in ways we never would have if we weren't forced apart for such a long period of time.

I sit here tonight, and try to picture the day when this will all be over.  When Josh will be home, and safe again.  Everyday we get closer to that, and for that I am thankful.  Until then, I will continue to push on, and pray for the safety of my solider and his men.

Life during deployment.

So I realize that it as been awhile since I have "blogged".  Life around the Apel home has not been the same since Josh deployed, and lets face it I have never really been good at keeping up with this anyways.  I have, however, been doing quite a bit of journaling.  This being the first deployment that Josh and I have encounter since meeting five years ago, it has been a very difficult experience for me. It has come with a wide range of emotions, most of which I keep to myself.  Hints where the journal comes in!  I was inspired to write today after coming across a quote on my friend and fellow army wife's Facebook page. 

 "Distance is to love as wind to a flame, it increases the strong and diminishes the weak."

This simple quote made me start to reflect on the love that my husband and I share.  After meeting in a semi-unconviental way, our relationship grew very quickly.  I knew with in a few months that Josh was the man that I was meant to spend the rest of my life with, and we were married a little over a year after we started dating.  Josh and I were perfect for each other in many different ways, but our lives together have not been all sunshine and rainbows.  Marriages take work, but we have always come through any obstacle life has thrown our way stronger then we were before.

Before this deployment I would have thought there was no way possible for us to be any stronger, or any more in love.  The distance has proven me wrong.  Even though we are worlds a part (literally),  our hearts have never been closer.  Sounds corny, right?  Well it is true.  It is hard to explain, but I guess the old saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is true.  Through the ups and downs of this deployment I can honestly say that this experience has, and will continue too, strengthen our relationship and reconfirm our commitment to one another.

So to sum this up whole thing up, deployments are lame.  I miss my husband, and there are no words to express how deeply his absence is felt in our family.  We will, however, continue on.  Knowing that once this is over, we will be stronger.  At the end of the day, no matter how hard or long it has been, I am proud to be the wife of a true American hero.  There is no other man for me, and no other life I would rather live.

Terrible Two's!

Well it's true.  My baby is no longer a baby! She has morphed into a toddler overnight!  Though, I'd have to say she isn't a very terrible two.... not yet at least!  We celebrated little Miss Hannah's birthday almost two weeks ago now!  I have been waiting until I got all the pictures from my friends to post about it, but I am having one of those sleepless kinda nights so I decided now is as good as time as any!

My Princess and her AMAZING birthday cake!

Josh and I put a lot of time and effort (and money) into her party, and I would have have to say it paid off!  We had a "Tangled" theme, because it is Hannah's favorite movie, and well quite frankly my princess LOVES princesses! There was a great turn out, and everyone had fun!  We are so blessed to have so many amazing friends and family! We didn't take many pictures ourselves of Hannah's birthday due to being busy with her party (hence whey I am waiting to get pictures from two friends that took them for us) but I will share this one of her and her AMAZING cake! 

My little miss has become quite the chatter box in the last month of so.  The other day I asked her to get off the table she was standing on and she told me "No, I dancing!"  The girl does love to dance!  She always is always demanding I find either her "Princess" or "Dinosaur", most of the time she would prefer both!  Nothing melts my heart more then when she tells me she loves me!

Other then Hannah's big day, things have been kinda quite around our little home.  Josh just returned from spending a couple days in the field, and Hannah and I have been staying busy by visiting family, and shopping for little things to make our new home even cozier! Our spring deployment is still looming in the not so distant future, but until the day we have to say "See ya later", we are trying to squeeze in as much "family" time as possible!  We have a fun weekend planned so look out for more post and of coarse more pictures! 

Iced in!

So that warm home I was thankful for last night is not so warm today. Thanks to the snow storm turned ice storm we have been experiencing a power outage since early this morning! I am strangely missing Georgia right now! Lol! Thankfully though, we are taking refuge at my grandma's. Getting here was somewhat of a challenge, but luckily it is close and we have a warm place to sleep tonight! God willing the power doesn't go out here too! I'm praying for the thousands (literally) who do not have power and thanking God for keeping us safe in the midst of of this storm!

Sleepless

As I lay awake listening to nothing but the sound of the bedroom fan I feel thankful. I may be feeling restless tonight, but I am at peace because I know I am blessed.

I am blessed with my husband who works hard to not only provide for our family, but fights wars to keep us safe. I am blessed with our beautiful daughter who's sass and endless energy lets me know we are raising a happy, healthy child. I'm blessed with our home that is cozy and warm while the outside world is still covered in ice and snow. I could go on and on about everything I am thankful for, but won't. Not tonight at least! Mostly I just want to say that though there may be things I WANT, I know I am blessed because there is nothing I NEED! I think a lot of times people , myself included, take for granted the simple things we have that others do not.

Snow Days!

Ready to PLAY (Mommy made her put pants on first)

So far January has ceased to slow down!  Hannah is now getting over an upper respiratory infection (fancy name for a bad cold) and her 2nd birthday is just around the corner!  To top if off we have been getting snow on and off for the couple of day making me NOT want to leave the house!  After living in Georgia for the last 3 years this cold weather is not welcomed!  Hannah, on the other hand, is LOVING the snow.  She has been sledding with her dad in the front yard, and is really enjoying it!  She loves being outside, and I guess the cold weather doesn't phase her!

Hannah and Daddy Sledding in what is left of the snow!

With Hannah's birthday this weekend I have SO much to do, but in between all the craziness that has been our lives I have been reflecting on how fast my baby girl has grown up! It  amazing to me to think that she is nearly 2!  Everyday she acts a little bit more grown up!  Today she danced around the house saying "I'm a Princess"!, and  A princess she truly is.  I mean, after all,  she did refuse to go into Target today without her Hello Kitty purse. She is such a girly girl, and I LOVE IT!  I am so glad that Josh and I made the decision for me to be a stay at home mom.  I love spending everyday with our "princess".  This time has gone by so fast.  I would have hated to have missed a minute of it. Even those moments that made me what to pull out my hair! :)


So all in all, life has been busy for the Apels, and there is no sign of a slow down in the near future.  Now that Josh is back to work we are starting to prepare ourselves for a spring deployment, but I will worry about later..........

The New Year Brings New Beginnings

Hannah playing on the porch of our new house!

2012 has barely begun and it has already brought so many changes for our family! First of all we PSCed from Fort Benning, GA to Fort Lewis, WA!  This was a very welcomed move since I am from the area!  I can not even begin to say how amazing it is to be back HOME with all our friends and family!  Hannah is LOVING all the time she gets to play with her cousins, and being spoiled by the rest of our family and friend.  

We were lucky enough to be able to get moved JUST in time for the holidays!  We had a wonderful Christmas with our family and rang in the New Year with friends! After the New Year we started moving into our new home!  It has been a project house, but is really coming along nicely!We are all settling in and loving it!  Hannah especially likes her very pink and very princessy room that daddy painted for her!

Josh signs back into his unit this week, and then the real fun will begin!  He will be back in a line unit and there is a high possibility that he will be deploying to Afghanistan this spring. That is something I am not looking forward too, but it is unavoidable now that his drill sergeant time is over.  We have many fun family events to look forward to before then though!  For example Hannah's 2nd birthday party will be taking place in less then 2 wks! 


Though life has been busy one of my "New Year" projects is to keep up with this blog.  It is more of a personal goal for myself so I can look back on it later in life.  I have our whole lives photographed, but I would like have written memories also! So look forward to many more post and I apologize in advance if they are boring! LOL.