No place like home...

We have now heard where we are going... drum roll please............

FORT CARSON, COLORADO!!!

 

(This photo was taken of the boys in May at Spring Canyon.  A place we have grown to love and I'm sure we'll make it back there a couple of times before we move!)

Yep!  Staying right here!  We were gearing up for a big move, possibly one to Germany, and of course, hearing that we aren't moving has left us just a tiny bit deflated, though I say "tiny bit" with absolutely no sarcasm.  We are deflated only because we had prepared ourselves, had started to let go of things we love here, in preparation to leave.  It's something you have to do as a military family and it's actually quite healthy.  I have been thinking for a few months that I may have to leave the church I loved at first sight, the friends I've made (at least the ones who aren't PCSing...some are leaving ME, which is a completely different post with a completely different set of emotions...), the house we are so comfortable in...  One must do this in order to be fully "there" when you get to the next place.  Some people get so attached to where they are that they simply can't leave it emotionally, and when they get to their new duty station, they find it difficult to make friends, enjoy their new surroundings, or settle in.  Not this girl!  I'm up for adventure of any kind, and so I was preparing myself for the next PCS, type of adventure.  

As I sit here and write, however, the excitement is growing inside me because this will absolutely make our adoption adventure much easier!  (In fact, I just paused to email our Intercountry Adoption Coordinator to give her the news!)  Now I can start to allow my heart to wrap itself back around the things we love here.  I give that word, in this case, a lot of weight.  I love my coffee, and am currently drinking out of a mug my mother-in-love gave me years ago...it has pictures of Matt and me at around 17, 18 years old.  I love my coffee (and my sweet mug).  But that is a different love than the love we have for Colorado.  We love this place, the lack of humidity, the temperatures, the mountains, the snow, our church, and our friends.  We know the friends we have will weave in and out of our lives again.  This is hard.  For example, TJ and Stephanie are both moving away from me, and I will certainly grieve, and it has already begun, as the tears in my eyes reveal.  I had not yet started to think of not being with Stephanie as we thought we'd be together in Germany.  That will be very hard.  But God is so GOOD and has provided me with so many friends here who I don't have to leave.  I may get in trouble for not mentioning all of them, but one for sure stands out in my mind.  I am so glad I get to be by Corie's side as she begins her first deployment.  Not that I am all that helpful, but I can do some babysitting, for sure!  I love her with a deep love that comes from God.  It was immediate and strong, and I know God put her here for me.  She has been such a blessing to me and I can only pray that the Lord finds unique ways to bless her through me.  

To sum up my current feelings on not moving, I am just a bit disappointed that that adventure is going to be put on hold (because in the Army, it is never far away) but overwhelmingly excited that I get to stay in the place I love, with people I love, and most of all WITH MY ABSOLUTELY HANDSOME PRINCE CHARMING!   

I must write this.  Last night I was watching "The Prince and Me II" and I was swept away in the romance of it all.  At the end where the Prince-turned-king kisses his bride, I thought, "Oh, nice pants...I love a man in uniform."  Then it hit me.  I actually DO love a man in uniform, and it looks a bit like that one!  I love to go out with Matt at any time, but put him in his dress blues and my heart starts flipping all over the place!  My fairy tale came true, and I never dreamed that a dashing uniform would be part of it!  

Not long now and he'll be boarding a plane for Kuwait.  I guess I will give you the breakdown of what we are expecting:

4 FEB - leave Baghdad (Camp Liberty) for Kuwait.  Short flight.

He could be in Kuwait for 36 hours 

8 FEB - leave Kuwait - if all goes well, it is about a 24 hour journey from Kuwait to Colorado Springs.  He'll have a few stops and we're praying they are SHORT stops!

10 FEB - Arrive here in CO!  It could be earlier, could be later.  I have no way of knowing.  He might arrive in the middle of the night and the boys and I will pop out of bed and go to the Special Events Center to welcome our Hero home!   You can bet I'll update then!