A "quick" update!

What ISN'T going on in our lives right now! I feel more stressed and overwhelmed as Chris begins his journey home than when he left... doesn't seem right. Where do I start? Lets start with Chris. As far as I knew he was suppose to be on a flight out of Afghanistan last Thursday but turns out there was some kind of "miscalculation" and guess who was left in Afghanistan? Yes of course, Chris didn't have a spot on the flight. He didn't seem in to high of spirits that day (and neither was I) but on Friday he messaged and told me the next time I talked to him he would be out of country :) Ahh finally!! So only a 1 day delay so that's not to bad for the military ;) Hopefully he will travel on time through the weekend and be in country by Monday (that's my hopes anyways). For security purposes I obviously do not know his schedule but what I do know is that since I have not talked to him he is on his way out of Afghanistan! After a week in Mississippi he will finally be on a flight back to Ohio! So hopefully by next weekend we will have him home after a very long year. 

While all of this is great news I feel completely overwhelmed. I still have to work, school work still has to be done, and life is going on as usual here. At the same time I am trying to finalize vacation plans, work on moving, worry about finances and taking about a month off of work. Trying to plan his coming home party... hall, food, beer, guest list, getting invites, the list goes on forever in that department. I don't want him to have to worry about any of this stuff when he gets home so I am letting my plate completely overflow as I try to keep my head above water. Chris and my brother are on the hunt for a truck for Chris so he doesn't have to stress about that when he gets home. So I am stressing about that....  I feel as if there are not enough hours in the day to get everything done that needs to be done before he gets come. To top that off someone is trying to steal my identity. No really they are. Apparently someone is trying to take out cash advances in my name with all of my information. The same day Chris did not make it on the flight out of Afghanistan was the same day this whole mess started. Anything else? I spent most of yesterday morning at the police station talking with a detective. Hopefully this will get straightened out because I am not sure how much more I can take.

Okay, let's talk about the good stuff! The finish line is in sight and for once it finally feels like he is almost home. I knew it would sink in once he left country because prior I still had awhile here. Even as he begins his journey home we still have over a week (hopefully) until we see him. But finally we are to the end :) I always have said "good things happen to good people" and I truly think we are good people. Yeah, we like to have a few cold ones on the weekends but we are good people, we do good things, and I think we are a good family. For awhile there I felt like nothing good could happen to us. The bad luck just kept coming and with Chris' deployment it just made life miserable. But now things are finally looking up. Yesterday while at work this woman who I have seen in my work before but have never talked to her about our situation walked up to me and told me through a mutual friend she came across my facebook and blog. She was so cute and kept emphasizing that she was not a stalker but knew what our family had went through this year, thanked me, Chris and Audrey for everything Chris does and how hard it must be on our family. By now I am crying and gave her a hug as she handed me a substantial amount of money and told me to go spend it on something nice for ourselves. I was floored. She insisted I do not spend it on bills but to do something nice. After some more tears and hugs she was gone. It was like as fast as she walked up to me she was gone. What an amazing person! To do good for someone else is so amazing! It really made me realize there really are good people in this world and that good things happen to good people. I must pay it forward, I must take advantage of this to do good for someone else. Even if I cannot hand them a handful of money I could do good. It was a real eye opening especially after the week I had. 

Then I got home from work with a voicemail from an old friend I used to work with that she totally hooked us up at a very fancy hotel for our weekend in Cincinnati. After our family vacation in Tennessee, Chris and I are going down to Cinci for an Eric Church concert and a weekend away. I simply asked Adrienne if she knew a good place to stay down there since she lives in Cinci the next thing I knew she had us booked at an AMAZING rate at an amazing hotel! Ahh!! What an awesome person she is! I mean what good people we have in our lives :) So, we are beyond excited about a weekend away. Things are slowly but surely falling into place. We have a very busy weekend and week ahead of us but it will all be worth it when we finally get to pick our soldier next weekend. Thanks for all the the love and support and over this last year! From just listening to me vent, sending Audrey gifts, supporting our family, sending Chris care packages, and everything else everyone has done for us... We thank you! This journey is almost over and we could not be more excited to finally, after a year apart have our family together for good!