The Whirlwind of 2011

It looks as though it's almost been a year since my last post and trying to think of all the key events that have happened in the last year makes my head spin a bit (thus the title of the newest post).  Let me break it down chronologically.

January:
With spending the holiday seasons without my love but in the comfort of family, boy was I ready to kick the deployment in the teeth and say "don't let the door hit ya on the way out!"

The arrival of Wayne's unit back in the states was probably one of the longest nights of my life.  My parents drove over 3 1/2 hours in the snow to help welcome him home.  We originally were supposed to be on base at midnight, to watch a live feed of the plane's arrival (on McChord AFB) and see them exit the plane.  The lovely snow of the evening cancelled those plans.  The arrival times changed several times, so I arrived at the gym with all the other eager spouses and family members at midnight anyway.  Long story short, after several arrival times had changed, he was finally back in my arms at 8am.  Yes, that's right I was up ALL night, when I could have slept and been bright eyed and bushy tailed for the Welcome Home Ceremony.  It is what it is.  Here are some pics:

The curtain they made us stair at in anticipation of our soldier's return.

 Welcome home banner I ordered for Wayne:

A few fellow spouses + my mom and I holding the sign I made

 The end of a VERY long year...

February:
Finally, after almost 2 years of marriage we had the time and money to afford a honeymoon.  I had planned out in advance and with encouragement from a friend from Hawaii, we decided to visit the beautiful island of Kaua'i.  Here are a few highlights of our trip:

One of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen, and one we visited on our really only nice, sunny day in Kauai, Ha'ena State Park Beach

Kilauea Lighthouse

The tree from the movie "Jurassic Park"

March:
Since Allison and I share the same birthday (and oddly the same middle name), and there being much to celebrate such as my big 3-0 bday, Wayne being home and such, she came up for a fun visit.

Allison "holding" the Space Needle

Goofballs

Visiting the Fiskers, cousin Jesse and Whit came too!

For some reason we thought marker mustaches were funny

April through August were spent getting back to business.  I had completed my Hot Hatha Yoga training (yes, hot yoga done in a 105 degree studio) the past November and began teaching at a local studio at the beginning of March.

August came around and much to our dismay, we had learned that Wayne had come down on orders to move us to Ft. Bliss/El Paso, TX.  We originally found out in April/May and spent most of those months trying to dispute or fight to see if the orders would be deleted.  Wayne plans on ending his Military career after his term is up in November 2013.  We thought it silly to move 1,300 miles away for only 2 years.  Alas, all that we tried was of no use.  So August was spent frantically searching for a place to live in Texas, tying up loose ends, cancelling/moving accounts and all the chaos that comes along with moving.  Luckily, the Army paid for our stuff to be packed and shipped, so all we had to worry about was moving two vehicles, ourselves, plus the dog and cat.

September:
Came all too quickly and soon we were saying our goodbyes to our apartment in Federal Way and headed out for eastern washington, where my parents live.  My mom decided to go with to kind of act as a support, plus admire the beautiful scenery.  The upside to the move meant that our first stop was in Salt Lake City.  My best friend from high school lives there with her fiance and 2 beautiful boys that I had not yet met.  We stayed an extra day to have some fun, catch up and take a break from driving.  Here are some pics from our road trip:

Hanging out in the backseat with Bentley and Neechee (he was on kitty valium for the car trip)

After our first successful day of driving-12 hours

Some beautiful Utah scenery

Reunited with Tonya

Tonya's boys-Landon and Brady

Although I may not agree w/ the Mormon religion, the architecture is something to be admired

After another long day of driving, the GPS sent us 2 hours off course, we decided to detour it to Grand Junction

Surprising Kolby at soccer practice

On our way to dinner.  As you can see Kellon is not shy

Wayne and stepdad, Chuck at dinner

Our fifth state in four days.  It was magical to finally see this sign.

Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assissi

San Miguel Church

Us hanging out, we were waiting for my mom to finish her tour at a museum

Home sweet home? Well, at least for the next 2 years

A special notice and I must admit a few tears were paid on September 19th in remembrance of Grandma Stough.  We think of her and speak about her often.  There is definitely a little piece in our hearts missing.  I often think of my promise to her when saying our goodbyes.  I promised that I would always take care of Wayne and I know she is smiling down on us.  

October:

This brings me current, and I'm here typing my first blog post from the great city of El Paso.  Wayne has lovingly named this place, Satan's (ahem) butthole.  He's been out in the 90+ heat most days.  Now, me on the other hand, I've been enjoying the sunshine.  Dubbed the Sun City for its 300 days of sunshine per year, was a nice change from the ever gloomy, always raining, Seattle.  I missed the sun and I believe it's the reason that I am not really homesick. 

It was so cool to finally see some lighting and thunderstorms again.  Taken from our apartment balcony