New Year. New Decade. Welcome 2011 ...

Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone. I hope ya'll enjoyed your New Year either with your loved ones or if they were across seas fighting for our country, I hope you were able to hear from them one way or another. Another year has passed. I cannot believe it, I swear I just blinked and it was January 2010. Well I can officially say that now .. My Soldier will be coming home THIS year! :) We have a lot to look forward to including, R&R, homecomings, we have been planning a ceremony for our family and friends to celebrate our wedding, and we are also planning on trying to add on to our little family at the end of the year! All very exciting and all are only possible when my Soldier is home safe and sound. Keeping positive thoughts. I have not been able to speak with him in the New Year besides via Facebook wall posts, but I know he is very busy and doing what he needs to. We will chat at least some time in 2011, I am sure of that.

I just stayed in for my New Years, watched the good ole' Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest ring in 2011. They had some good performances that made me get off the couch and dance with my boys. (Video will be posted later). I had a glass of wine .. Or two. And just relaxed with my two midnight kisses that ended up passing out at 10pm. This holiday was a lot tougher for me rather than Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, or even any of our birthdays. I don't know what it was, maybe it was the mark of a new year and he wasn't here to welcome it with me. We have only spent one new years together out of our entire relationship. It also might have been due to I was surrounded by family and friends for the past holidays and now I was just alone with my boys in our house. Either way, it hit pretty hard, so I allowed myself a weak day and it was nice. I don't have those often, or at least don't let myself have those often. I was able to talk to my parents who are over on the West Coast when it struck midnight for me, and also spoke with my in-laws. They helped out a bit with the missing piece.

Now I am just gearing up for another school semester, keeping busy with friends, and patiently waiting for the next several months to fly by. I didn't really make any resolutions other than the typical "stay in shape" ones. I want to stay positive, stay motivated on more things than one, obviously stay fit which I have been pretty good at since Soldier left, I also want to start cooking more so I can become a better housewifey, and lastly to decorate our house a little more. It just needs a few more last touches to it and then I think once Soldier is home we will do some outside work and it will be complete. Then knowing our luck we will PCS and rent it out. We both agreed that the next house we buy, which probably won't be until we settle again, will be on at least some land and be more in the country. We are both country folks and although we have a spacious backyard, I would love to have a big, big open area for my boys to play around in.

Other than that, it was a pretty okay New Years, definitly looking forward to the end of this year already. But I will soak it up and enjoy every day as much as I can and always make great memories to look back on. It's the start of a new decade! To my fellow Military wives who are going through a deployment, I hope that this year is bringing you great things and hopefully some homecomings or R&R time as well. To those who have lost, my heart goes out to you. Sadly, another year has passed but hopefully another year of growing stronger and another year closer to you meeting your loved one again. I know they are always looking down on all of you. God bless you all. Keep your head up. We are all here for you, no matter what.

Oh, yes. I forgot, I started that 30 day photograph challenge on Facebook, so I figure I will share each day on here also. If you do not know what I am talking about, you post a picture for 30 straight days, each for a different reasoning behind it. I figured why not, when I am done with it will be 30 days closer to R&R and homecoming. So here we go ...

Day 01 - A picture of yourself with five facts .. (January 1, 2011)

1. I have a huge heart and want to help EVERYONE even if I barely know them.

2. I sometimes speak before I think and it makes me sound goofy -- "S...omalia, What's that?" .. "So, in Afghanistan do they not pass out mail on Sundays?" Lol.

3. The way to my heart is with laughter, swedish fish, and dogs.

4. I never wear make-up. If I do, it is on occassion. I love my natural look and obviously Soldier does too. :)

5. Without these two deployments, I don't think I could ever be as strong as I am today. It has made me who I am and has not only made me fall more in love, but made me independent, thankful, and so supportive of my Soldier and all other service members. <3

Me and Sam-man dancing on New Years Eve