The rest is history

Our first email exchange.

The time we talked until the sun came up.

The day we got married.

The rest is history.

The 5 minute goodbyes

Remember being in middle school, and when your mom or dad told you it was time to get off the phone with your boyfriend the whole, "Noooo, you say bye first" conversation commenced? Remember how good it felt to know that the person on the other end didn't want to hang up? I remember. I remember how juvenile and carefree it felt to talk for hours on end, with not a care in the world. You're not worrying about bills, or school, or putting gas in the car. Your only concern is squeezing every last breath out of that conversation. And then one day you grow up, and conversations start to end with, "OK, I have to go" and "I don't have time to talk right now." 


Time. Don't we all wish we had a little more time? To everyone that ever says, "I don't have time to be talking right now," I want you to read these next words very carefully. 


I am a proud wife and mother. My daughter is 3 months old and my husband is on the other side of the world defending every hour, minute and second of your life. He's giving up everything he has so that you can have some more time. When he calls me, I pray that just for one day, time will disappear. I cringe at the clock, it's been 15 minutes, only 5 minutes left. We try to start our goodbyes but fail miserably at it. It takes us 5 minutes just to gather up the courage to say it. The "B" word. Bye. What I would give to have just 10 more minutes of talk time. What I would give just to see my husband. Before he got into port this past week, I had not seen him for over a month. Now tell me you don't have time to talk. 


Just take the time out of your day to call the ones you love, the ones that slip your mind, the ones you don't have time for. Because you never know when life is going to interfere and take that time away. I'm not just talking about death, or even a deployment. Anything can happen. I know that now. In the blink of an eye, your whole life can be ripped apart. Sometimes temporary, sometimes forever.


Now when I talk to my husband, I get that giddy middle school feeling back. It's amazing, let me tell ya. I will treasure these short conversations forever, and most of all, I won't forget the 5 minute goodbyes. 


  

"I was with my husband"

I've been in a funk. I hate when this happens. I feel like I have no motivation to do anything, especially write a blog. I haven't been posting songs of the day, I haven't been writing, I haven't been getting out like I should and it's time to change that. Starting right now. 


Today I had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled. It was a very... interesting experience for me.


We were sitting there, holding hands, looking into each others eyes. Just us. Laughing, talking, joking, just hanging out and enjoying each others company. Bobby's face was as sweet as it was the first day I laid eyes on him. The sun was shining from behind him through a window, making him glow, like my angel. We were alone in a room I had never seen before, but it was very modern yet elegant. Clean, organized, refreshing and comforting all at the same time. I would say we were in a foreign country, possibly Japan. This continued on for hours it seemed. It was the happiest I had been in over a month. My heart was at peace, simply... happy. I was in a movie. I had always voiced myself quite clearly in my teen years that one day my life would be a movie. Everyone told me it wouldn't happen. "Don't set your standards so high, it will hurt worse in the end." Did I listen? Of course not. And you know what? My life has always been a movie. I just wanted to star in the romance flick for once. My own personal Noah and Allie story. I had starred in every other category there was except romance. But when I met Bobby, that all changed. And sitting here with my soul mate in this sun-kissed room just confirmed the fact that I had it all. I looked into those big brown eyes and was just about to say- 


"Hello Elyssa, we're all done. You did great."


Are you kidding me? It was a dream?


I immediately burst into tears. The looks on the faces of the people around me were very confused. "I was with my husband," I said. They all knew he was deployed, and the "awes" echoed around the room. I'm sure now that half of them probably thought it was sweet, and the other half thought I was loopy from the anesthesia. Later in the day I got a phone call from my husband, he told me that while I was in surgery he had a dream that he was standing in the operating room. He was my angel. After hearing this, I came to the realization that the dream I had while I was "under" was not a sad dream at all, but a glimpse into the future. I feel a calm around me now as I write this. I can still feel him with me now, my angel. My Bobby. I love you. We will survive this deployment, and we will be stronger than ever.

Merry Christmas

I started writing this blog about my depressing Christmas Eve. How I was sick, tired and missing Bobby terribly. But as I was writing it, I realized my breakdown was from doing just that. Thinking about all he was missing out on and dwelling on how much I wished he were here. So instead, I'm going to stop myself from going back down that road and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I hope your day was as great as mine was. I woke up thinking I wouldn't hear from Bobby, but at 9:20 he called me and we got to talk for about 15 minutes. It was the best present I could have asked for. On top of that, Bobby got his Christmas package that I had sent him a month ago. I was so happy that it got to him on time. Right on time. Those things combined made my day absolutely amazing. 


Brylie and I had a blast at my Grandma and Grandpa Culp's house, and later at my Dad and Dede's. We both were blessed with some amazing gifts. Brylie's favorite is her Dance Star Mickey. She smiles so big watching him "shake that tail." Next holiday up is New Years. I can't believe 2011 is already here! Merry Christmas!

In with the new

Whenever I'm going through a stressful time in my life, I tend to change my appearance. I'm not sure why this is my coping mechanism of choice, but it works... for a while at least. Today I spent six hours in the salon, putting platinum highlights all throughout my 20"+ long hair. I also got bangs! Which is something I've only had a couple times before. I wanted to share my end result :)

 Does anyone else do this when they are going through a rough time?

Day by day

Nothing too exciting to report. It’s been almost 6 days since I’ve heard from my hubby. I just try not to think about it. I try not to think about how long he’s been gone, or how long we have left, and I try to stay as busy as I possibly can. I can't even allow myself to sit and relax for one day. I tried, and I made it until around 3 when I said, "Ok, I have to go do something." 


My best friend Kate came to visit me from Thursday to Sunday and that definitely helped take my mind off the deployment and the lack of emails from Bobby. Brylie and I got a few early Christmas presents. Brylie got a couple new outfits (which are absolutely adorable) and I got what else, but MAC makeup. Thanks Kate! Love! 


Last night, we all went over to my Grandparents house and played Skip-Bo and ate pizza, little weenies, homemade ice cream, cookies, pie, cheese, crackers, salsa, guacamole, what else am I missing here? Martinelli's, soda, coffee, etc. It was a blast! My Aunt Amy, Uncle Jon and two cousins Brooklyn and Travis were over as well. Having children around just makes everything 10x more fun! 


Tonight I am enjoying watching cartoons with Brylie. We just finished Alvin and the Chipmunks and now I'm going to start on the classic Christmas movies. Now to decide on which one. Well, B is waking up from her little nap. Happy Monday :) Tomorrow it will have been 3 whole weeks since Bobby left. One more and I can finally shout, "ONE MONTH DOWN!"

The worst feeling in the world

is missing your husbands phone calls.

If it weren't for Kate and Brylie I would have totally lost it.

Stay strong, stay strong...

:(