Visitors

Jordan's older brother, Matt, is deploying for the first time next month, to Afghanistan. For his pre-deployment leave, he drove here from White Sands, New Mexico. A few days later, Jordan's mom, Vickie, flew in to join in on the fun! We had such a great time visiting and playing tourists in our own town, and Chandler had so much fun with his Uncle Buff Stuff and Gramma Vick!

While they were here, Jordan, Matt, Candace (my friend and Matt's girlfriend) and I went to Denver to watch our LA Angels take down the Colorado Rockies. It was such a great game, although it was SCORCHING hot at 95 degrees at 6,500 ft with absolutely no shade. We all left with a little color (varying from shades of bright red to tan) and smiles on our faces.

Happy New Year!

2011 was a year of many firsts. 

Jordan and I tackled the last half of our first deployment 

(with ease, I might add)...

We celebrated our first wedding anniversary...

We took our very first road trip together (across the desert, in June, in a car with no air conditioning, which broke down once along the way), which included Jordan meeting his extended family-in-love for the first time, our very first camping trip, and a whirlwind weekend in Las Vegas...

We found out we are having our very first baby...

We vacationed in Europe (a first for me)...

We moved to Colorado...

We celebrated our very first holidays together...

 

We bought our first car...

And at midnight on December 31st we welcomed the new year, for the first time, together. 2011 was a great year. 

2012 is going to be even better.

The Countdown Continues

Time is going by quickly, ladies and gents. Only about 9 WEEKS LEFT, until Jordan comes home from Afghanistan!

The choice for this week's countdown photo is Derek Roy (#9) of the Buffalo Sabres, our favorite hockey team. Before we were together, I didn't even know the first thing about hockey. In November of 2009, Jordan deployed to Romania for a short amount of time and asked if I would follow his team for him. I promised I would, without skipping a beat. I learned a lot about the game REALLY quickly, so I wouldn't look like a complete idiot, much thanks to wikipedia, google and sabres.com. I winged a few conversations and impressed him with word-for-word quotes from Yahoo Sports. I like to think my faked knowledge of his favorite sport earned me some "cool" points, as well as a new common interest in hockey.

His Love Radiates

"Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire."-Francois de la Rouchefoucauld

These past ten months have been incredible. I've felt nerves as high as the sky, happiness I never knew existed, love stronger than I've ever read about and pain strong enough to take a life. Through it all, Jordan has been standing right next to me.

When he's away, I can feel his love radiating like the sun's rays stretching ninety-three million miles, through the thickest of clouds, to warm the grass so far beneath it. There has never been a moment, no matter how far the distance between us, that I haven't physically felt his love. When he tells me he loves me more than any man has ever loved, I believe him. To me, Jordan IS love.

I'll always be thankful to him for being my rock, my shoulder, through these tough times. I will forever be grateful. He is, without a doubt, the strongest man I know. It takes a brave soul to endure the things he does. I am a lucky girl to be able to call Jordan my husband. Every day I strive to be half as strong as he is.

I love him with everything I've got, I miss him every single second of each day and dream of kissing his sweet lips each night. 

Self-Encouragement

This morning, I woke up needing a little pep talk. Since I know myself best, I know that sometimes I'm the only one who can get through my own thick skull. The only way out of these mid-deployment slumps, I've learned, is to encourage myself like a coach before a big game. It's a great way to stay positive! Here are some of my self-to-self encouraging words:
Jordan is the reason I'm smiling through this. We're tough like Rocky and Adrien. Absolutely unstoppable. The "A" team. Jordica, for life. No person, deployment or circumstance will ever win. It's us against the world. I love my husband more than any two things on this planet combined. Every single day we spend apart brings us one day closer to the finish line. We're always a little bit closer...
How do you stay focused, positive and encouraged?

The Countdown Begins

Alright, I've given up on trying not to count down... sort of. I'm making a compromise with myself: I'll count down the WEEKS, not the days, until Jordan comes home. Because of OPSEC rules, I can't put exact details online about when my soldier is on the move, so the number of weeks posted will be off by a few days. Each week, I'll upload a new photo of a number, which will represent how many weeks until he comes home. Get excited, people!

[To learn about OPSEC, click here.]

My Own R&R

I spent last week in San Luis Obispo, California, visiting friends and family. I said hello to the ocean, partied like a rock star, and chased a bee down the street, trying to get the perfect photo, probably looking like a maniac. Here are the highlights from my vacation:

I just finished booking Jordan's fight home for post deployment leave. It feels fabulous to finally have a specific date and time to look forward to!