A day at Tanners Orchard

God is testing me...

AJ called last night at 12:30 a.m. he was in Ireland. He was excited to be there, but was bummed he couldn't have an Irish beer. I didn't think him leaving the states, would make a difference, but my heart just sank. I just wanted to throw up. I ended up going to sleep pretty early for me and that seems to have helped. Brady woke up at 4 a.m .with a fever. So, not sure what is up with that. He seems fine now. I think God is sending me reminders.. that i can do this and whatever else he throws my way. But, I would like to pass on the added tests for the time being.

I wanted to share this site with you. It is called MotoMail. You can send letters to AJ for free. You type them and they print and send. It is on http://www.motomail.org/. Also, I think we could stay away from sending lots of food, etc. They will be able to get things there. He could use AT&T phone cards and those prepaid debit cards, that he can use as a credit card at the PX. Ask me if you need help finding one of those. The link to buy phone cards is: https://thor.aafes.com/scs/product.aspx . Remember the calling ratio is like 11 minutes to 1.

Leaving the Good O'l USA

AJ has left this great country of ours this evening. I am completely nauseous and nervous. My sister is here tonight to stay, which worked out great. I wanted to pass along his mailing address:
SSgt. AJ Conrad
3/5 H& S Co. Eng Plt.
UIC 40380
FPO AP 96426-0380

Lack of Blogging again...

I am sorry for all of you avid readers out there.. I haven't had much to blog about this week. I have been very busy with work and just really tired when I get home from work. I am not real sure where the week went, honestly. AJ should be leaving country in a few days. I will update this when I hear from him. Start all of your heavy duty prayers for him and for all his Marines. It's suppose to be a beautiful weekend in the Midwest! I hope you all can enjoy it =)

Something to ponder..

The last day of summer!

We celebrated the last day of summer at the beach today =) Happy Fall!

A little get-a-way...

The boys and I decided that we would get away this weekend. We had a weekend with NO PLANS! Never happens. We have a short break from soccer before the tournament starts.. so we decided to go away. We are in MI at my grandmas. She was so sweet. She had spaghetti waiting for me and my favorite cookies =) Before we even came to the house, the boys and I ran to the beach. We had to stick our feet in the sand. The boys were in Heaven. After the week we have had, it was nice to have something to ground us for a few minutes. We are hoping to spend at least the morning at the beach, then I need to do some shopping! My Aunt Marge is coming from Chicago, so that will be fun. Just a real short weekend, but enough to recharge.

A new day...

After finally getting myself to sleep at 11:30, I slept great. I sort of got lost into my computer for an hour and had to make myself go to bed. I feel refreshed today and ready to get going. It's a very busy day with work, a meeting, then soccer practice. So, it will be good. Tomorrow I will work then we are heading to my Grandmas for the weekend. A change of scenery will do us all good!

A sense of relief...

Thank you all for being so wonderful. I want to thank my friends Lois, Clark, and girls for bringing me a yummy dinner. You guys were so sweet to think of me and my boys loved it!!!

I feel such a sense of relief tonight. I think I was so worried about letting him go, and was so anxious tha now that it is done.. I feel ready to go. I miss him terribly and the quietness in the house is wierd, but I know we will be o.k.

I can feel all of your prayers and love tonight. We are so blessed.
I wanted to share this article I came across today. I feel thankful that our deployments are not this long:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20822561/

The Countdown can begin...

We dropped AJ off at the airport this afternoon. We spent a great morning just hanging out. At about 8:15 this morning, we got a knock on our door. It was a Korean War Veteran who is a Marine. He had seen the below article in the paper today:
http://www.pjstar.com/php/index.php?/news/peoria_marine_prepares_for_next_iraq_tour/

He just wanted to meet AJ before he left. I didn't know who was at the door, and walked by to see what AJ was doing. The man had to be maybe in his 80's. He had a cover on his head and still wore it like a Marine would today. I knew without asking AJ that he was a Marine. I wanted so badly to take his picture, but my husband proably would have broken my camera at that point. He got a bit sick of me carrying it around and constantly taking his picture.

We picked up the boys around lunch time. We went and had pizza and then took him to the airport. We ended up dropping him off early, because none of us wanted to draw it out any longer. Brady didn't want to let go of AJ. Keegan started crying when I did. Brady kept telling me to stop crying and knock it off. (He must hear that from somewhere. =) ) Our ride home was so quiet. Brady fell asleep and Keeg just sat and looked out the window.

We now have been home for a bit and I am getting the kids caught up on their school work. I honestly feel so exhausted, I could sleep for the rest of the night. I feel like we have ran and ran and ran. I am so ready to get back into my routine.

I have some more things I want to make sure I add . But any ounce of creativity I have, is lost.

Clearing the air....

Never in a million years would I have thought that at the age of 28, I would be talking about last wishes. Each previous deployment, AJ has dodged it like no tomorrow. He refused to talk about it. Which always left me uneasy. Because, I know my ultimate wishes for him if something happened, may not be what others had in mind. Last night we talked about everything. We have a plan now for an injurey, and also if God forbid a casualty. I now know what his ultimate wishes would be, and feel very comfortate, that if I had to make those decisions I could do them and not question.

AJ's brother has already been over this morning. We will head to see his Grandma next. AJ also wants to go to his Dad's grave site to show the boys. I also have never been there. We then will go Bowling followed, by a soccer game in the 90 degree heat we are having again! So, there will be little time to breathe today, but I will cherish every minute.

I can't even express in words what I feel right now. I am so proud, scared, overwhelmed, loved, and a million other emotions I can't put my finger on. Thank you all for your messages and E-mails. I know I will get through this with all of your love and support.

Last few days...

Well we are down to the last few days of AJ's leave. We have been having a great time and it has been wonderful having him around. I woke up this morning with a big knot in my stomach. I have been so happy this week, and suddenly I felt overwhelmed. I knew that this feeling would return.. just hoped not until we were dropping him off.

I am off the rest of the week. Today, the boys are going to school and we have some errands to run. Then dinner at my parents. Tuesday we are spending the day together as a family and Wednesday the boys will go to school in the morning, then we will pick them up to go to the airport. Totally dreading that. I'm all about getting it done and over as quickly as possible.

Well, I better get going.. my boys need to get moving and get out the door.

Pics from our weekend.

Being Silly

AJ and I enjoyed a night out last night. My friend Jeff came over and watched the kids so we could go eat a nice dinner out. I was so tired after my glass of wine, that I was ready for bed, so we just ate and then came home. We sat outside and drank some more wine and hung out on our porch in our PJ pants and sweatshirts. We have been having an amazing time just being a family. He has been spoiling me by doing my laundry, dishes, and even making pancakes for breakfast after he didn't even go to sleep until 2 a.m. I have tried to tell him to not do anything for me, as I don't want to be in shock when he leaves.

I went back to work on Wednesday. Everyone kept asking why I was there. I was trying to keep some sort of normalcy, but today it all hit me. I thought to myself... why am I here? These very well could be the last moments I EVER get with AJ, and I am working. My job is totally supportive, so I decided that I am not working tomorrow. AJ has work to do at the drill center, but I honestly just want to be with him. So, I won't go back to work until next Thursday.

The thought of him leaving again, has started to toll on me. I knew once I hit the one week until departure, I would start feeling sad again. We have just been so busy seeing friends/family and just getting through our day to day life with the kids. Time is going way to FAST!

If you haven't heard the new Kenny Chesney song, Don't Blink.. you must.

Well, we are off to a walk. Enjoy our silly pics that Brady took of us last night.

Pics for AJ's arrival

A few pics

Here are a few pics of us waiting for AJ.

I am pictured with two other Marine wives in these photos. Also you can tell that Brady was having a hard time waiting. =)

He's Home!

I finally got AJ home around 2:30. It was the longest day ever. I tried to stay busy, but then couldn't focus. Who was I kidding?

We ended up running into the drill center after he got back to file his travel claim, then came home. We laid around for a bit, then went and got Mexican!

Brady will not leave AJ's side. I haven't seen the boys smile so much in a long time. Brady will make comments like" I love my Daddy the best." or "My Daddy is so nice." So of course, I get the backseat, but it's ok.

Well it's 6:15 on a Sunday and no one is up. Can you tell that I slept better then I have in a long time. I was even falling asleep in the chair at 7. Something I haven't done in a long time.

We will go to church today, then just hang out. We will meet some of AJ's best Marine friends for dinner tonight. Then send the kids back to school tomorrow. AJ keeps asking me.. "Now that your off.. what are we going to do?" Duh... Just be together =)

Waiting and Waiting and Still Waiting

AJ called last night around 10:30, American Airlines had called and their flight had been cancelled. He was to have left at 11 p.m. CA time. Something about the crew got in late. So, he now is not leaving CA until this morning to be here sometime mid afternoon. He had to deal with a stupid Marine last night, and actually had to escort him back to base. I didn't get details as it was 2 a.m. but it was very serious. So, we will see what that pans out to be.

Keegan woke up and I have never seen him get dressed so fast. Only to see him be crushed when I told him that we can't got get him until this afternoon. It's going to be a very long day!!!!

Patiently Waiting...

We are officially down to 1 day and counting until AJ's home on leave. It has been a crazy busy week. Thank God for that. Brady woke up with a fever today... so I am forced to be at home. Oh darn. I might get my sheets washed =) I woke up at 3 a.m. and was just nervous/nauseous. Every time he comes home I get those butterflies. I am anxious to see him, but also nervous that he thinks I have been doing a good job and that the kids are well taken care of. Stupid.. I know. Well, I am looking forward to a lazy rainy day with Brady. Hopefully the Doc calls this a.m. and we can rule out strep or anything before the weekend. I will post pictures in a few days of the reunion with the boys. They haven't seen him since the first week in June!

A long weekend..

I never thought that I would be wishing that a weekend would hurry up and get over! But.. this weekend I am thinking just that. I have been trying to get my house back in order and of course had to go shopping for something cute to wear when I see AJ get off the plane. I have gotten to spend the weekend with some friends and with my Dad.. but I am just ready to get this week over!!!

I have spent the morning organizing.. a Marine Mom has offered to come clean for me Thursday. So, I need to make sure that I have all the clutter gone. I am out to mow my yard hopefully for the last time in 2 weeks. Then, we will grill out with my sister today.

AJ had the weekend of in San Diego. I am a bit jealous and thinking I should have flown out to be with him.. oh well.

I hope you all are well. =)