Coming home

The advance party has arrived! :)
They came in three waves. A few one day last week, then Tuesday a group in the morning and another in the evening. GOOD TIMES!

The first group:

The General and Brigade Command Sergeant Major entertain babies while we await the arrival of the bus:

Morning group:

Mingling once they are dismissed from formation:

It's good to be home.

This dad just met his son for the very first time.

Single Soldiers are assigned barracks rooms and receive keys. They don't know that the spouses of their unit, the rear detachment, and the FRGs/FRSAs have been making their rooms homier with snacks, toiletries, bedding, welcome home signs, and notes of thanks. :)

Afternoon group march in:


In formation, the General actually had each one say his/her name to be recognized individually. This won't happen in a main body with hundreds of Soldiers. So it was kind of neat to get to cheer for each one.

See those squares hanging behind them? Those are the quilts of 2 out of 4 companies. (the others are further down) Every Soldier has a square on the quilt of his/her company.

A few of the people there for cheering and support have Soldiers returning with the main body. How awesome that they would come and welcome home some, knowing that it will still be a while before theirs will walk through that door.

This weekend and next week starts the build up to get ready to receive the rest! YAYE!!!

Sevens

I got this little survey a long time ago and kept meaning to put it on the blog. I emailed it to myself, and just today found it in my old mail. It was dated September 9. So here goes:

Seven things I can't do:
Speak any language other than English
A flip flop
Play any musical instrument
can vegetables
make anything from scratch (this is bad)
make myself throw up (ewww, gross)
run marathons...yet (maybe one day I will)

Seven things I do well:
scrapbook
love
write
plan and list make
blogging
read
sleep

Seven things you might hear me say:
"What’s on tonight?" – regarding the television.
"UGH! I hate AFN!" – response to answer to question above.
"I wish I had some cake."
"We don't have to work tomorrow" (I say this Fridays, Saturdays and eves of holidays. it is more a song than a statement).
"STEPHEN!!" (followed Guess What or Come here)
"Wait, what?"
"What-ever. NEW GIRL" (I don't really say this that much anymore, it's an old AFN spot)

Seven celebrity crushes:
Jason Taylor – Defensive End, Washington Redskins (Dancing with the Stars almost winner!)
Tim McGraw – Country Music sensation
Tyson Beckford - model

This one is really difficult. I might have to come back to it.

Seven things that made me love my husband:
his gentleness
his integrity
his history, that it matches mine
his future, that it matches mine
his intelligence
his friendship
his love for me

Blue Snow

More specifically, the Blue Man Group and snow!

Tonight we went to see the Blue Man Group. We agreed we were glad we went, it was a good time and we enjoyed it. We also agreed that it might have been better if we had been able to understand the dialogue. Really enjoyed the musical parts, though. Good stuff.

Then, we drove home to find more snow than has fallen since we've lived here. Hoping for a snow day tomorrow! Actually I don't care if it clears up completely, but not somewhere in between so it's not 100% safe to drive to work, but it's not a MUST to stay home.

This is why I love Country music...

Because it reminds me of the things I love. Excerpts from some songs that remind me:

lightnin' bugs
riding with the windows let down
the sound Of a cooler slushin' on the bed 'a yo' truck
the sound of real country music
the stars Every single one.
--Sounds So Good, Ashton Shepherd

"Jack and Diane"
Livin life with no sense of time
After graduation and drinkin goodbye to friends
And I go back to watchin summer fade to fall
Growin up too fast and I do recall
Wishin time would stop right in its tracks
Every time I hear that song, I go back, I go back
We all have a song that somehow stamped our lives
Takes us to another place and time
So I go back to a pew, preacher, and a choir
Singin bout God, brimstone, and fire
And the smell of Sunday chicken after church
And I go back to the loss of a real good friend
And the sixteen summers I shared with him
Now "Only The Good Die Young" stops me in my tracks
Every time I hear that song, I go back.
--I Go Back, Kenny Chesney

A little bit of chicken fried (steak that is)
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Sweet tea
And my house it`s not much to talk about But it`s filled with love.
the sunrise
the touch of a precious child.
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly, let it ring.
Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice
All the things we love.

--A Little Bit of Chicken Fried, Zac Brown Band

A New Mary Kay Consultant

Are you a Mary Kay Cosmetics fan? Just a quick public service announcement for all my readers! My cousin Kristy Kay is now a Mary Kay Consultant!

Feel free to browse her website and click what you need. :)

http://www.marykay.com/kschwartz/default.aspx

Almost 15 months later...

Last October, we said Tearful Goodbyes to a battalion in our community. These are Soldiers we know, many of whom I welcomed to our community shortly after we arrived here. Single Soldiers like Lori, married Soldiers like Jay's wife, husbands of Marisa, Crystal, Deanna, Christy, Jessica, Nancy, and more.

Today, I helped to put up yellow ribbons and get barracks rooms ready for the single Soldiers of the advance party to come home. The unit will come home in 3 movements. Advance, main and trail. The excitement, anxiety, nervousness and anticipation is evident in those who have held down the homefront for all these many months.

The time seems to have flown by. But I haven't been raising kids by myself. I haven't been glued to my phone waiting for a call from downrange. I haven't counted the days until his/her R&R leave or devoured monthly newsletters hoping for a photo or mention of his/her name. My time wasn't spent sending care packages, comforting kids who miss their mom/dad, or dealing with behavioral issues brought on by a missing parent. I haven't reached over in the night and found the other side of the bed empty. (or occupied by a child who has wandered in)

What have I been doing with my time? Watching the spouses (and friends/collegues) of deployed Soldiers be strong, and brave, and courageous. I've seen how they get to their breaking point and find a way to go one more day. I've seen them reach out to others, use resources available, and find ways to cope when they have hit the wall. And I have watched many of them grow and mature and thrive and go on with their lives because that's what they do.

It's an incredible thing to be a part of, and I am truly blessed to know both the Soldier and the Family members of the 44th, and the US Army. :)