sometimes, you just have to be patient

It's been a looooong couple days! Yesterday I went to lunch with the First Sergeant's wife and she suprised me with a going away gift! It was so sweet of her to think of Ronnie & I :). After that I picked up our puppy and a friend and we went to tumwater falls...and let me tell you what! Pooky has forgotten what a car ride was like I suppose...she was freaking out the whole time I was driving with her to Yelm! It was definitely nice to get out of the house for the day though.

Yesterday morning I also got to talk to Ronnie for like 10 minutes which was very nice! His phone card ran out before we had a chance to say goodbye...that was the only part that sucked. I kind of worried about Ronnie the rest of the day for some reason...but last night I had a very vivid dream about him. In the dream, he had a day to himself so he flew ALL the way home just to see me. Pretty much as soon as he got there he had to leave to head back to Afghanistan. All that I really remember is that he gave me a kiss and I begged him to stay longer. He told me he couldn't and that he had to go... (story of my life, right? lol). It's so strange to remember it though..I NEVER remember my dreams long enough for me to even tell Ronnie about them. It must be some kind of a message :). It kind of gave me a sense of peace today...which was nice!

I know I'm kind of rambling but I'm too exhausted to make much sense at this point haha. I've been packing and cleaning the entire day, trying to get everything done before my parents get here tomorrow. I don't even have everything that I wanted to get done, done yet. I'm probably just going to call it a day and head to bed soon...

Well, I still need to email Ronnie and finish his care package before I go to sleep...so that's all for me today :)

Doing better so far

Have I mentioned that I absolutely hate packing yet? I get so bored and tired of packing so easily that it takes me forever to pack up the house haha...this is the 5th time I've had to pack and move since 2008! You'd think I'd get used to it or something...nope, not even a little. I've finally got about 85% of the house packed up. Thank goodness that my parents are flying in to help me move everything to storage...I'm also sending at least one suitcase back with them full of crap that I won't have room for in the cars. My goal is to keep enough room to be able to fit our 52" tv into one of the cars...who knows if that will happen. We both have small cars and neither of them have backseats that fold down. Oh well.

Nothing new to report from Ronnie yet...I haven't talked to him since yesterday morning either. Oh and remember that whole global phone situation that happened? Yeah, apparently his phone doesn't even work out there right now. As soon as I talk to him again, I'll have to have him call that stupid 1-800 number to try and get the sim card changed or activated or whatever.

The best part of my day today? Buying care package stuff for Ronnie :). The theme of this one is some sort of entertainment. I'm awful at keeping suprises but I hope it's sort of a suprise for him. I'm not even sure if he reads my blog so here's what I have so far:
-8 mini squirt guns
-2 large squirt guns
-2 decks of cards
-the hard drive he forgot here
-xbox 360 kinect
-two kinect games
-psp game
-turtlebeach headphones
-Wired (one of his favorite magazines)
-3 mini nerf guns
-what seems to be a million little nerf ammunition thingys

...I'm still working out the details on how to pack it all in there :). It just makes me happy to see him happy, so I really hope he likes it. I'm excited to send it out!

TWO DAYS until my parents get out here! Then, all of our furniture gets moved to storage. I'm still deciding on whether to keep our bed out until I leave or not...It's huge and I wouldn't be able to move it by myself to storage but on the other hand, I REALLY don't want to be sleeping on an air mattress for a couple weeks.

I'll be honest with you, each night when I hear taps play at 11 PM, I never gave it too much thought. Yes, I've always known what it stands for. Ever since Ronnie left, it's been really hard to listen to every night though...and with that, I'm going to go back to packing to keep my mind busy.

When it hits you, it hits hard.

Not really much to report on what Ronnie's up to... and my days are starting to blend together. I got a call early this morning but it was mostly I love you's and I miss you's. I did write him my first real letter and put it in the mail today, along with a card and a picture of us from when we were dating. (Back when he had long hair!)

I also started on our second letter binder today...the first one, as I've said, is from the first separation we ever went through. 15 LONG weeks of OSUT training. Looking back on it now, it was kind of silly to be so sad. I would give anything to just know he's safe again. I think it's finally starting to sink in that he isn't coming home for a while though. I'm actually starting to feel sad about it, to be honest. It's kind of a rollercoaster ride of emotions...and it's really weird. I'm proud to say the least but the Army has made our life very difficult these last couple years. I just want to be a young married couple...laughing and joking with each other without fear of when the Army will take him again.

We were both 18 when we got married... I'm now a couple weeks shy of turning 21 and I feel like the Army has aged me 10 years. To the families that have made the commitment to ride out the twenty years, I envy your strength. It takes a lot to be both mom and dad through deployments, that I'm sure of. I know I need to be strong while he's gone..and I don't even know why today has been hard. What is different from yesterday that has made me miss him more? Maybe it's packing up the house...I don't know. I'm not even sure why I'm complaining. Crying and feeling sorry for myself isn't going to change anything.

Well, that's all I have for today...I'm exhausted but I have to find the energy to keep packing. Please keep Ronnie in your prayers.

Busy, busy...

Not too much new today... I haven't talked to Ronnie at all but I've heard they are officially in Afghanistan. Time actually seems like it's going at a decent speed so far... I think it's all the packing and planning for when my parents get here. I did go and get my new DoD id card today...all I can say is that I'm HORRIFIED! I've NEVER taken such a bad picture...and to top it off, (most of you know this already) but it's a black and white picture & my hair blends in with the background...so I look like a floating head. Awesome, huh?

After that I went to USBank to supposedly fill out paperwork to make sure Ronnie's card doesn't get frozen. I originally called the main line to let them know and the guy said to go into a branch to fill out some form. Well, I get there today and apparently such a form does NOT exist. So, they just made a note on our account and I left...talk about a waste of time.

Last thought of the night: how in the world do you accumulate so much stuff?! We've been married two years and somehow we have a total of 20 boxes so far...not to mention furniture. I hope it all fits into the storage place...anyway I'm off to email Ronnie and get back to packing. I only have about four days until everything (ideally) should be packed and my parents get here.

Tips....

First off, I want to say I keep having to remind myself that Ronnie is, in fact, deployed. It probably hasn't sunk in yet but all I can say is, is that it's a weird feeling. Ronnie has left SO many times for training, I guess my brain just thinks he'll be home in a month or whatever. I kind of feel like something must be wrong for me to not really understand that he's deployed. I've always been the friend of someone who has a deployed husband but it's a whole different ball game when you're in their position. I've been asked many times now 'Are you okay' or 'How are you doing' and even the words "he's deployed" feels foreign coming out of my mouth. Maybe ask me in a month how I'm doing and I'll have something else to say ;-).

Anyway, I called USAA today, expecting to just take Ronnie off of our car insurance but apparently they have this whole "deployment team" to get you the best deal during deployments. Luckily they have an "out of country" discount and with that, I switched our policy over to NE. Talk about a good deal! We went from paying $1300 every six months as a premium to about $700 every six months! How crazy is that? Moral of the story--call your insurance, you might get some hidden discounts :).

Another thing I didn't plan ahead with is Ronnie's debit card...apparently, if you don't call and let them know that you'll be out of the country, they will think it's stolen and freeze the card! (No, it hasn't been frozen, my mom just recommended me calling them) When I asked them if they could write down that he's deployed, they said he had to call them and tell them himself....(uh, do you not know the meaning of 'deployed' there, sir?) But, because I have POA's, I can just do the paperwork in the branch tomorrow. I'm just glad mom told me to do it before it actually happened!


Ronnie is still in the same country he has been for the last few days...and it sounds like it doesn't suck too much! I can't even begin to spell the country but it's somewhere in the middle east. He's been able to call every day so far (even if it's 3 AM, I'm still happy to hear his voice!). I've pretty much always had difficulty sleeping so I take medication to help with that...that's the only concern right now with hearing his phone calls. Sometimes I swear my smoke alarm would go off and I wouldn't wake up... but other times I swear if Ronnie even thinks loudly, I'll wake up. Weird, I know.

There isn't too much to update besides that right now... I've just been packing my little heart out so everything is ready when mom and dad get here. I can't even tell you how excited I am to move home...we've missed so much since we've been gone. One of my best friends back home is expecting a baby,other friends have already had kids, my sisters are growing up, my other friends are growing apart....it's been an interesting couple years. I guess my heart just belongs in Nebraska! (Don't get me wrong, this has been a fun couple years with Ronnie in the Army...we've seen a LOT of things we wouldn't normally have the opportunity to see and I'm grateful for the memories.)

Well, I'm going to email the love of my life and then get back to packing... if you can, say a little prayer for Ronnie. I know he misses me a lot and I hope I'm not keeping him from focusing on what he has to do. Please, Lord, bless him with the strength to get through this year!

Loose lips sink ships!

Yay for phone calls! This morning I got a phone call from my lovely husband, who was in Germany at the time. The prices to make calls are so outrageous that we only got to talk for about two minutes though. He's doing good so far! From here in WA, they flew to Illinois, and then to Germany. Because I haven't got any updates that he's made it safely, I'll have to wait to let everyone know where he flies to next and when he arrives in Afghanistan.

For family and friends who are not an active part of military life, PLEASE read the following regulations for communication! The enemy is getting very smart on how they find out their information. Some times it's not just the enemy overseas that is looking for this information. Last year, because a woman let it be known that her husband was deployed, was unfortunately killed and her husband was notified during the deployment. Talk about ironic.

OPSEC, also known as Operational Security, is the principle that we should all abide by when talking about our soldiers. This means protecting the information you know about your soldier and his unit. Generally, it means that you should not give out the following:

-Your soldier’s exact location overseas

Correct:My soldier is deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom
Incorrect:My soldier is in XYZ Unit and is stationed at ABC Camp in XXX city in Iraq

-Any information on troop movements – this includes any movement while they are deployed and in transit to/from theater (including R&R). Do not ever give dates or times.
INCORRECT: My soldier’s unit is returning from deployment and flying into XYZ Airport at 8pm next Thursday.

-Any information on weapons systems, how they train or numbers – for this reason, many pictures from overseas can easily violate OPSEC

It is important to realize that putting together the bits and pieces needed to create the larger picture can be amazingly simple on the internet. Many mistakenly believe that if they don’t talk about it all at once, the information is safe. This is wrong and dangerous to assume.

When in doubt, just google OPSEC!

BUT enough with the serious stuff! :) I spent today floating down the river in Olympia..and now I'm sunburned and VERY tired! A couple friends came with as well...it was so much fun! (well besides feeling like I needed to be in a hot tub to warm up after the first half of floating...keep in mind it was 90 degrees and sunny out!) Apparently, Washington's water hasn't warmed up yet :). I literally put on a hoodie after getting changed!

I'm not sure what tomorrow has in store for me yet but whatever it is, it'll keep me busy! I've learned that if you're too exhausted to keep your eyes open when it's time for bed, it's been a good day :).

As I promised, here is a list of care package ideas for Ronnie! I wouldn't send anything until I post on here that it will for sure reach him though.  :

1) GAMES! He has a laptop, xbox 360, PSP, and Nintendo DS over there right now. He loves games like Call of Duty but will play pretty much any and all games.

2)Movies! He loves action movies :)

3)Snacks like reese's, beef jerky, cookies, brownies, gum, ect. If you combine the snacks with other things in the package, I really recommend putting them in a seperate zip-lock bag. That way his video game doesn't smell like food (or whatever).

4) Hygiene products: axe essence (not the dry one) is his favorite...he can always use body wash, toothbrushes and toothpaste, scrubby thing (the thing you put body wash on), nail clippers, razors, and anything else you can think of. Any extras that he gets he can always give to other guys that need them more.

5)Drinks--the ones that don't require any sort of sugar though.

6)Letters, letters, letters! Sometimes the guys need reassurance that they are doing the right thing. None of them want to leave their family and friends behind but they do it anyway.

That's really all I can think of right now. On a side note though--in order to send out a care package, please make a list of everything you put in there! When you get to the post office, you'll have to get the large flat-rate box and fill out a custom's form, listing everything that is in there. This is not for the US customs but the Afghanistan customs. If you have any questions, just explain to the workers there that you're sending a care package to a deployed soldier.

Well, my fingers are officially worn out :) Time to go start something on Netflix and relax with our puppy! (She has officially taken up the entire side of the bed that Ronnie normally lays on--she's only like 11 lbs and yet she manages to "keep me on my side of the bed") I hope those who didn't hear from their loved ones from our unit gets a call or email soon! I'll be saying my prayers tonight!

The day has come and gone...

Today was the dreaded d-day...it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, it was still one of the hardest days in my life but it was accomplishable (is that even a word?). Anyway, I will update more when he's safely at his destination! BUT atleast this is one day down...and you can only take it one day at a time right?

I did have one amazing thing happen today... I found out truely how many wonderful people are in my life. One of my FAVORITE people here, (miss Brittany!) brought over food, drinks, and flowers tonight right after Ronnie left AND took me out to BJ's for dinner. How awesome is that? Someone, who truely knows what your position feels like, and only wishes for you to feel better. I can honestly say I've never had a friend do something so thoughtful :).

On a lighter note- my parents will be here in a little over a week! They've never been to Washington yet so I'm pretty excited to have them see how we've lived for the last two years. The only thing planned so far is to hopefully go bungee jumping (this will be the second time for me!).

Well, I know this is pretty short but I'm physically and mentally exhausted...time to go take the puppy and lay in bed!

Well....it's been an interesting day to say the least.

Let me begin by saying I either have terrible luck or wonderful luck most days...today I had terrible luck.

Back in January, I filed an insurance claim with verizon but, because they didn't have any blackberry storm 2's in-stock, they sent me an "equivilent" instead. They assured me it had global capabilities like the storm 2 though. Well, today we made a trip to verizon to switch phones (so he has one that will actually work in afghanistan) and they informed me that it does in fact, not have global capabilies. Fantastic. Naturally, I burst into tears and went outside to calm down...(thankfully Ronnie's still here and he calmed me down). My only option was to file ANOTHER insurance claim and get one overnighted....well that's not going to work for us. Basically, we were told that they couldn't do anything for us. This is the part where I call Ronnie's mom crying my eyes out not knowing what to do. I feel bad now that I know she was in the middle of closing a house....I'm sure a hysterical daughter-in-law probably doesn't leave a good impression on the clients. :) Anyway, she said not to worry about it and that she'll buy him a new phone to take with him. Long story short, I calmed down and we bought a new phone....and no it probably wasn't just the phone that made me cry. I haven't cried over deployment in a long time and I'm sure I was overdue...

On a different note, if anyone wishes to sent Ronnie letters/emails/care packages, please give me a call or email me at argallagher@live.com and I'll get you his address. Ronnie will only be using his phone for emergencies from now on because it's pretty expensive to both text and make phone calls. I'll be posting a wish list on my next blog, just in case anyone is wondering.

If you didn't know, during his OSUT training (BCT & AIT combined) we wrote to each other as often as possible and saved the letters. I literally wrote to him every single day, including Sundays, so he got two letters put in the mail on Monday :). He didn't get to write as often but you better believe that I knew exactly what time our mail was delivered. Sometimes, I even sat on the steps, waiting for the mailman to come. Anyway, after he came home I put together a huge binder with all our letters (by date) and included all the greeting cards and pictures he got. (Oh, and HANDS DOWN, I'd grab that binder first if there was a fire...well right after our dog ;) ). During the deployment, we plan on doing the same thing. He'll be out on missions a lot so we may do more emailing instead of written letters but I'm going to continue the binder--because SOMEDAY all this army stuff will indeed end and this is our way of remembering how we felt. We will be starting on our letters tomorrow! In addition, he's going to sit in front of the camcorder and leave me a message that I can replay over and over again :).

Well, it's time for me to go relax with my other half :) I'll write again soon!

Soon we are starting our journey...

No, Ronnie hasn't left yet! We've been waiting for this day to come for about a year and a half now. It's not really so much as a suprise, but a shock that it's actually happening. FINALLY, we won't have to deal with deployment threats or gossip! To anyone who doesn't know, after tossing around the idea for a while, I've decided to move home to ride out the deployment.
Ronnie's bags are packed and ready to go--which I'm both sad and happy about. Sad that he has to leave of course, but happy our livingroom floor isn't multicam anymore! :) Oh I guess I forgot to mention- (and don't get me wrong, I have my bad days!) but I feel like nothing is worse than being mopey and depressed about deployment. I mean come on ladies/gentlemen, but you CAN'T CHANGE IT. Spend the year focusing on YOU, bettering YOURSELF. How am I going to spend deployment? I'm going to work full-time, go back to school to get my criminal justice degree, and try getting into the police academy back home.

I'm sure it will kick in harder after he leaves but for now, I'm going to spend the remaining hours being happy and laughing with my husband. Speaking of, I should probably go see what mischief he's getting into now :)