HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND!!!

Today is Aaron's 22nd Birthday! And man am i so proud to be his wife. Not only is he a loving husband and my hero, but he is also the love of my life, the one i truely cannot wait to have back in my arms again within a couple of more weeks!

So since i have nothing better to do than blog and go crazy here waiting IMpatiently (i admit there's not much patience in my waiting these days)I decided i would tell you all that today my husband celebrates 22 years of his life. And im so thankful that God has kept him safe so that we can celebrate another year for him! Doesn't seem that big of a deal, but if you knew all the close calls he's had this past year overseas, you'd be thanking God each and every second of every day for your easy life over here.

Yes, i admit, today has been one heck of a day for me. Very emotional and seems like everything that can go wrong HAS gone wrong today, but i want to end my night with some positiveness...And the only way i can end my day with my chin up is by giving all my stresses, hurts, worries, anxieties to God. Sounds easy right?, but it's not...im struggling because it's hard to admit that im not the one in control....But then again, it's comforting to know that He is in control!

So as i end my "downer/not so very good day" i want to praise my God for all the things He has given me, but most importantly for giving me Aaron and protecting him and me throughout this whole deployment! And for helping me get through this rough day...

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

One Step Closer....

Last night i prepared myself for today to be an emotional rollercoaster. I planned to take my friend to the homecoming ceremony where she would then be reunited with her husband, and i was worried all night that the emotions of seeing all the family members hugging and kissing their loved ones would just be too much, since Aaron didn't come home with this group.

But then after asking for prayers, and praying myself, i stopped thinking about myself and went back to being extremely excited for these army wives that i've gotten to know this past month and throughout this deployment. Most got their husbands back today, but how exciting!!!...it just brought me one step closer to the homecoming ceremony that i'm looking forward to. The one where after they say "dismissed" i will be reunited with the love of my life after a loooong year of ups and downs! But God has definitely helped us get through, thank goodness!

So, Today i took my friend Jessica up to Fort Drum early this morning to go pick her husband up! (They don't have a car so i volunteered to take her up there and give them a ride back home.) Yes, her husband came home from Afghanistan today!!! Finally! It brought tears of joy to my eyes when i was driving them back home and he sat in the backseat in his uniform just in awe of his 5 month old baby boy sleeping away in his car seat. And as Jess was turned almost all the way around in the front seat just smiling so big and in awe of having her husband back! :)
I also met two other of my friends leaving with huge smiles on their faces and their soldiers by their side as they walked arm in arm :) Just one step closer to having my husband home <3 I can't wait to have my Aaron home...just a couple more weeks!!!




This homecoming and all the tears of joy and big smiles on everyone's faces...the long big hugs and excitement made me think of how this is just a little bitty glimpse of the excitement and awesomeness that awaits us when we have our homcoming ceremony in Heaven with Jesus and all other believers! It's amazing how every situtation can be connected to a glimpse of God...sometimes i forget to look deeper into situtaions, but today i definitely caught a glimpse of something beautiful <3

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakenss."
2 Corinthians 32:9

Psalm 112:7

"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord" -Psalm 112:7

This verse has been my comfort throughout this deployment. But last month it definitely rang true in my heart.
As Aaron's deployment is coming to a close, we can see the finish line in the distance. January was a month of excitement with rumors of a him coming home in February. And with the new year i had been trying to get my spiritual life back on track. Thank goodness for that!

January 3, 2011 i receieved a phone call at 7 a.m. from Aaron. It started off with him asking "Are you sitting down?"
I couldn't even think...i just asked him to tell me what was up. He then continued to tell me that when he had been out on mission his truck hit an IED and it blew up. He was injured pretty badly, a big gash in his head, his arms and legs were cut and while he was saying all this all i could do was pray "Thank you God!"

At the end of the conversation i barely knew what exactly he had said as to what kind of injuries he sustained, but i knew that Aaron had called me, not someone else, and he was going to be ok. I had the peace that is so amazing i can't even explain it, except to say that one of the verses i had been dwelling on lately was Psalm 112:7 "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord."

How awesome is our God?!

Now im here in New York waiting for Aaron to get home, and there are some delays and such with other groups returning because of weather and such, but i am confident and waiting on God's perfect timing to have my husband back home with me <3

That's All, i just had to share that :)

Thank you for the continued prayers for Aaron and me, and all the other soldiers over there waiting anxiously for their return home! <3

New Home in New York

I have officially been living in Watertown, New York for 9 whole days! :D Ok ok, i know that's not too long, but im excited because this means that Aaron will be home REAL soon! :)
I thought i'd update with a few pictures of my new home...
This is what my apartment looks like from the outside :)





And here's some from the inside of my new home:



So far it's been great. The people here seem to be really nice and i've had a chance to hang out with a few army wives and get to know them these past couple of days. It's great hanging out with other wives who are going through the same exact thing as me. (I didn't really get that chance when i was in Waco) We're all so excited to have our husbands home soon, but we're able to hang out and encourage one another while we're still waiting. Im so glad i've had the oppourtunity to meet some of these wonderful ladies and look forward to hanging out with them more and more as we continue to wait for our husbands' return! :)

The snow is something im still getting used to. It's pretty but i sure hate driving in it. Here's two pictures of me driving in a "snow storm" ..... Yes, i realize it's dangerous to take pictures while driving in it, but in my defense, i was at a stop light and just had to have take a picture for proof haha




All i have to say is i saw on the News how much time (long hours) and how much effort it takes for snow plowers to work. They work lots of hours and have to deal with all this snow....i definitely respect them for all the hard work they do, because without them we definitely wouldn't be able to get around on a day to day basis with all the snow thats on the ground (and it just keeps coming down and piling up!)
So, a picture of the trucks i am so grateful for!!



I'm really learning new things while im here. Im defnitely having to step out of my comfort zone and having to suck up my pride and ask for help. For example i've been stuckin the snow 4 times since i've been here and each time i had to get help. But God continues to show his faithfulness throughout this new journey in my life and im so grateful for all the little glimpses of His presence that im able to see daily, in even the most unlikely of circumstances :)

Angels of Mercy

TONIGHT was one of those nights where after everything is said and done, im shocked, exhausted, happy, and just plain joyful that God has once again shown me that He is in control, and He will provide. Even in the most dramatic of circumstances.

-I know this is a long blog but it's such a crazy story i just had to share!-
Here's a picture of me and Charolette (just so you can imagine us as the main characters in this TRUE STORY)lol




This afternoon i was invited over to hang out with an army wife that i've only known through facebook the past few months. Since i've just moved up to New York my goal has been to connect with these ladies (and more) face to face that i've been connected to through this deployment. I spent almost 6 hours hanging out with this really sweet, and totally awesome girl, Jessica, and her sweet baby, Leon. I definitely had a great time and im glad i went and hung out because staying home this afternoon would have been boring just full of more cleaning.

WELL TONIGHT when i was finally leaving we looked out and saw that it was snowing (ALOT)!! There was about 4 inches piled up on my car and so i went out to sweep it off the windshield and windows...it wasn't really helping because the snow kept falling FAST and kept piling up again.

When i finally started to back out i ended up getting stuck...totally stuck, my car wouldn't go forward and it wouldn't go back. Thankfully two guys, that live across the street from my new friend, offered to help...after a lot of pushing the car, using a shovel, pushing the gas and trying to go forward and back..they finally got the car on the road! AMEN! i was so thankful for those three guys (1 more from next door came to help)!!!

Because the snow was piling up and coming down so fast i could barely see the road,[it was only after i got home that i read the road conditions were "BLACK"] it was filled with almost too deep of snow to drive and the road signs had snow being piled up on them so i couldn't tell which road i was on (and it didn't help that im new to this area lol).... after alot of driving around i finally found my way back to my new street!!

I was on my way...I saw my apartment complex and the snow was so deep in the parking area. But there were some tire tracks...i just knew if i could follow those tracks i could most likely make it to my building.

I made the turn....
And lo and behold...I GOT STUCK (AGAIN)!
This time Charolette (my new car's name) had her butt sticking out on part of the road! I sat there...didn't know what to do. lol (hey im from texas...and there was no moving it back or forth)

These two college girls showed up and said, we'll push you out! (hah riiight) they tried and then decided they were going for their friend joshua "we'll be right back we're going to get our friend joshua!"
When they left i called my apartment complex. The guy who is supposed to keep our streets plowed said his 5 trucks were stuck too and he would call me later if he could help (great!)

As Charolette was sitting half in the road there was a car who wouldn't go around (it wasn't me). Just sat there holding up all the traffic. So people started honking Finally two cars pulled around and reversed back towards me...these two men after heaving and hawing..finally got me reversed back into the street...Now im blocking BOTH lanes! lol

One of the men had a big truck and decieded to go in front of me to make better tracks so i could try and make it to my building...I gassed it and barely made it to the building when my car just stuck some more in the snow. But thankfully it was in my "make shift parking spot"

(My ten minute drive was turned into an hour drive by the time i made it back home)

After all this...I was exhausted! But so thankful that God would provide these 8 amazing people to come and help me when i didn't know what to do, and couldn't do anything. And here i am, safe and sound sitting on my couch in our apartment!
God is so good!! He totally showed me that He will provide for me even when it seems like im stuck in the snow and there's no use what so ever! He will be there to help push me out of that snow and help me get to my destination! AMEN! PRAISE GOD!!


Below is a picture of how deep the snow is in my backyard a few days ago, it was prolly deeper than this tonight!!! And still coming down!