Happy Anniversary

Almost 5,000 miles traveled in two years.

1 Trans-Atlantic move. 1 deployment. 1 reintegration.

There is no one else I would rather be on this adventure with than you. 

I am so looking forward to our third year of marriage. 

To have you in my arms. To see what kind of memories we make. To see where we travel. 

I'm looking forward to making up for those 9 months we were apart. 

We have been given a blessed life and I love living it with you. 

I'm so glad we said "I Do".  :)

Welcome Home my Love!

Two weeks ago today my husband came home! It's hard to believe it's only been two weeks though. Now that he's back it feels like he never left. Life has resumed and everything is finally back to normal.  It's FANTASTIC to have him back safely in my arms and it's wonderful to see our post full of sky soldiers once again! BUT back to the homecoming celebration...

Their arrival time kept getting pushed back further and further. So Sunday was an excruciatingly long day. A sweet friend and I tried to take our mind off of the ever present (and seemingly never ending countdown) and watched an entire season of Nashville. Then we tried to eat dinner, but our nerves got the best of us and we didn't end up eating much of anything. After dinner we came back to the house and watched a couple chick flicks. Finally at around 1:45 am we received our phone call that they were on the buses and finally making the drive back to post. We scrambled around, putting on last minute touches of makeup, and flew out the door eager to get to the gym where the homecoming celebration would be held. We still had over an hour and a half to wait, but who's going to stick around waiting at their house at that point! 

Luckily the majority of my dear friend's husbands/fiances were coming back on the same mainbody as Ross'. So finding each other in the gym to wait together made for even more excitement in the air. We had all been there for each other during these past 9 months and to be able to experience the excitement prior to the homecoming together was the perfect ending. I am so thankful for these girls and their friendship! I truly would not have been able to have stayed in Germany by myself for as long as I did. 

This is what 4 am looks like to wives and children who have missed their soldiers for 9 months. 

Deployment Diary: The Final Weeks

Can you blame me?

Can you blame me for being home seeing these cuties on the regular rather than living alone in Germany?

Not to mention that the temperature has never dropped below 40, there's no show on the ground, and South Carolina's even had a couple days where the temperature reached the 80s! Home sweet home.

Sail Away with Me

Yup, this is going to be us in less than 100 days. We just booked our block leave trip and we're going on a CRUISE

Traveling in Europe is amazing, but in my opinion a cruise is the PERFECT vacation for RELAXATION

And after 9 months of separation that is exactly what we need. Hello, 2nd honeymoon!

Labadee, Haiti + Falmouth, Jamaica 

George Town, Grand Caymen + Cozumel, Mexico 

HERE WE COME! 

Life in Afghanistan

I could never give you a true depiction of what life is like in Afghanistan. RC would have to do that and quite honestly I don't ever see that happening on this blog... BUT the FRG, Rear D, and the soldiers down range have done an amazing job of trying to keep family members in the loop via social media. Almost every month each troop (company) posts an update on the unit's Facebook page. There is always a nice write-up with mentions of promotions, awards, and daily life of our boys. RC was promoted to 1LT a few months ago and I was so proud to see his name mentioned.

The best part of these monthly updates is ALWAYS the pictures! I mean look at the way my husband hams it up in front of a camera! There are usually at least 30 pictures for each update and even if your soldier isn't in them it's always exciting to look through the album. Being able to actually see what it looks like at his COP somehow makes it seem not so far away. Plus I am extremely proud of my husband and I so cherish having these pictures of him. 

And it's not just photographs they are sharing with us. The guys down range even recorded videos wishing everyone a Merry Christmas (which you can watch below)! Through a program I can't remember the name of, they were also able to have each soldier record a video to send home to their family. In RC's video he gave a quick shout out to both his family and mine. He also read a Christmas book for our nephew Brayden since we don't have any children of our own. The video was burned onto a DVD and sent in the mail with a copy of the book he read, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'. Not only did it bring a smile to everyone's face to see RC and hear his voice, but he also scored a big one in the 'favorite uncle' department which is a fierce battle between him and my brother.

I am so thankful for technology. Not only has it made this deployment much more manageable on a day to day basis, but it has given me some fabulous pictures and mementos to remember this time in our lives. Even though it's a time I am not eager to ever repeat again it's still a season that I want to document. 

2012 Recap in a Christmas Letter

Since this blog serves as a scrapbook of sorts I thought it would be fun to include our Christmas letter from this year. It actually recaps our year quite well.  I hope you can pick up on the sarcastic undertones. RC and I wrote it together, but he should get most of the credit. I love his sense of humor. Both the letter and Christmas card were his ideas and it was fun for us to collaborate on both even though we were miles apart!

Dear family & friends,

I hope that this holiday letter finds you well. Since we no longer reside in the Charleston area we thought it would be appropriate to provide a quick synopsis of the past year. Overall 2012 was quite uneventful for the Leigh family. In April Ross went to school to learn how to jump out of perfectly good airplanes. He jumped not once, but five times. I guess it's a good thing he's not scared of heights. In May, we traveled approximately 4,453 miles or 7,167 kilometers to the Land of Schnitzel and Fascism. It was only a 9 hour flight. Ross did not jump out of this airplane only because he spent most of the flight sprawled out over two seats while Emma sat on the floor of the aircraft. We saw castles, paintings, libraries, mountains and a bunch of old buildings. We learned that Germany has one of the strongest economy in the EU and Germans as a whole are pretty OCD about everything. It’s been interesting exploring this country, but honestly you can genuinely sum up most of Germany in two words ‘SECOND BEST’.  

Emma got a job as a teller at Community Bank after an extremely long job hunt of four days. Her resume and people skills were weak; however, since most of the other Army wives were going back to the states in preparation for their husband's deployment the manager at the bank reluctantly gave Emma the job.  In June, the Army decided that life in Germany wasn't exciting enough and sent Ross to Afghanistan. Ross spent the first half of his deployment on an extremely large COP with a booming population of 25 soldiers. Emma spent the summer months drinking her sadness away. She could not bare the thought that Ross would be home in the spring and she would not have the house to herself anymore.

When Emma was not morning the return of her husband she was out traveling with a few close friends she had known for a very long time. Most of her traveling companions she had known at least 5 days. Ross became a Platoon Leader in September. His Platoon consists of 20 of the finest soldiers in all of Afghanistan. He will remain the platoon leader throughout the remainder of the deployment and for at least six months once he redeploys. (Unless he gets fired of course.) Ross has learned a lot since becoming a Platoon Leader. He learned that you should never place someone's mattress in the snow and to never, under any circumstance, refer to your boss as "your sidekick." 

In late October, Mrs. Dianna decided that Emma's drinking problem had become serious and she needed an intervention. Seven days later, Emma and Dianna were in Poland for Emma's rehab, which consisted of driving from Germany to Poland just to purchase pottery. During Ross’ deployment Emma also perfected two German phrases every American Army wife needs to know; "How much?" and "Do you speak English?” .

Despite her severe emotional bonding to H&M, pommes, and radlers (a delicious concoction of beer and lemonade), Emma decided to move back to Charleston, South Carolina for the rest of the deployment. She is now taking reservations for hour increments of quality time with Germany’s favorite red head.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

                        Love,

Ross and Emma 

Merry Christmas from the Leighs

Deployment Milestone

Just wanted to post a quick hoorah! 

We reached another deployment milestone. 

Don't want to say the exact number of days for OPSEC reasons,

 but the daily countdown, in my eyes, is much more manageable now!

I think I may even make a paper chain to countdown the days.

Also, I'm flying out this weekend to head back to the States. 

As if this week could get any better!

I'm so happy to be going home to my family. 

I will be staying in South Carolina for the remainder of the deployment. 

Hopefully the time will fly by while I'm with family.

Halfway There!

Even though everything inside of me doesn't want to....it's kind of hard to say "WE'RE HALFWAY THERE" without making the obligatory Bon Jovi reference. So there you go...

Wooooahh, we're halfway there. 

Wooooahh livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it- I swear

Wooooahh livin' on a prayer

Deployment Diary: Week 14

It's been a MONTH since I last updated this blog. So what's happened since then? 

Well, we are 1/3 of the way through this deployment! Fall has officially arrived in Germany. The temperature has dropped, the leaves are changing, the pumpkin festival in Ludwigsburg has opened, and Oktoberfest is in full force. Fall is probably my favorite time of the year and I must say I love it all-- The crispness in the air, pumpkin flavored everything, and appropriate weather for boots & scarves!

Honestly, the month of September flew by. Nothing terribly exciting happened. I didn't travel anywhere. I don't have any pictures to share and no real exciting news. Instead I thought I'd share what I've been trying to accomplish during this deployment... being healthy in all aspects of my life. 

BEING HEALTHY: 

Emotionally, Spiritually, and Physically

Emotionally: There are a number of things that have helped me keep sane during this deployment. I talk to my family. A LOT. They have been my greatest support system and talking to my parents on Skype for sometimes hours a day makes this deployment life feel a little more normal. I have a schedule. Consistency helps me feel a little more in control and makes the days go by faster. Trying to stay involved. I tend to be a little more reserved and a homebody, but I try to connect with the other wives here. They understand this crazy, awful process and are an amazing soundboard & make me feel a little less crazy.

Mostly I try to remember that such an extreme separation like this is emotional. Sadness, bitterness, anger, jealousy, loneliness, fear, calmness, excitement, or happiness. Whatever it is. It's all normal. And God-willing it won't last forever. I try to remember that and let myself have bad days. I don't have to be happy all the time. It's okay to be mad. It's okay to feel lonely. Ultimately I don't ever want to feel guilty about anything that I'm feeling and I think embracing that is a healthy outlook. 

Spiritually: I'm not going to lie. This element of living a healthy lifestyle has been on the back burner for quite a while. I think it's easier to see the visual side effects of poor physical and poor emotional health, but poor spiritual health can be much more detrimental. Since we've been in Germany (and some time before if I'm being completely honest) I've been pretty fat and lazy regarding my spiritual health. It's been a me, me, me kind of relationship. Always taking and never giving. So I've really been trying to turn that around. I've been consistent in our tithing. Earlier this month I started journaling again and began watching/listening to messages from the church we attended in GA: Crosspointe Church. I'm still looking for a consistent daily devotional and I'm definitely a work in progress.

I've been trying to let go and let God. A healthy spiritual life dips into a healthy emotional life and I know this. I just need to work on it. Knowing that God has a bigger plan has helped me have a better outlook on this deployment. If we are in the center of His will then this is the path He has chosen for us and we will be blessed. Although it may be hard and often overwhelming He is my greatest source of strength.  

Physically: This journey has been an exciting one for me.  I've been participating in a CrossFit style class at our gym on post since the middle of July and I am hooked. I think this video gives you the best description of what CrossFit is. Every day I go in it is a challenge. Every day it's something new. And if it's not a "new" workout I've done before it's still a challenge because I am competing against my previous time. Every day I'm surprised by what my body is able to do. I never thought I would be so into weightlifting, but after doing this style workouts I don't know if I'll ever go back. I grew up playing sports and once I got into college I missed it. I knew I still needed to be active, but running on a treadmill and using some machines DID NOT motivate me to go to the gym. CrossFit is motivating. I wish I had found CrossFit a long time ago. 

CrossFit has also changed the way I think about my body A LOT. Woman are way too obsessed with how much they weigh. Have you ever seen a picture comparing 5 lbs of fat and 5 lbs of muscle? Want another example of how body weight is not a true example of being in-shape and healthy? I'm embracing the phrase "strong is the new skinny". Now I only weigh myself once a month. I've learned that how I look (is there more muscle tone? are my legs/arms more defined?) is more important that what numbers come up on a scale. My ultimate goal does not have a number involved -- it has a physical appearance.  Again I'm a work in progress but I'm loving this journey. 

Deployment Diary: Week 10

LIFE LATELY... So things have been feeling a little monotonous around here. I guess this is actually a good thing; If you want to look at the glass half full! I've gotten in a nice routine between work and Crossfit classes. On days where I have both --I'm only working part time-- the time flies by! On days I have off I spend time on Pinterest. So THIS is my life lately... doing what I think most military wives who move every couple years do- dream of their dream home.

For me right now it's not even dreaming of my dream home.
It's dreaming of not having the restrictions of living overseas in Europe.

CASE IN POINT: repurposed furniture. LOVE IT.
I'd rather have a house full of garage sale/thrift store/Craigslist finds than brand new furniture from IKEA. But I've had a really hard time finding thrift stores/etc. around here. Not to mention that we live in stairwell apartments which make it difficult to navigate any piece of furniture up to our second floor. Oh yah, and the fact that I am husbandless.

WANTS...

ONE thick legged kitchen table: repurposed into a desk

ONE old rustic armoire: repurposed into a storage cabinet for office

Source: thenester.com via Emma on Pinterest

NEEDS...

ONE old dresser: repurposed into more storage for an office

Source: thenester.com via Emma on Pinterest

GOTS TO HAVE... 
ONE MORE old dresser: repurposed into entry way table with storage

Source: southernrevivals.blogspot.com via Emma on Pinterest

Source: sweetpickinsfurniture.com via Emma on Pinterest

Deployment Diary: Week 9

I've been really slacking on these weekly updates, but here we are at week 9! We have made it two months which makes us about a 1/4 of the way through this deployment! I don't have many pictures or updates from this week so I thought I'd leave you with some Instagram pictures from Luxembourg...

Live with Intention

Even when I'm in a strange place. Even when family is far away.

Even when friends seem even further. Even when my husband is deployed.

Even when my job isn't ideal. Even when I feel like my life is on hold.

I must remember...

Deployment Diary: Week 7

This week was definitely out of the norm. I spent the entire week in Wiesbaden/Mainz for work training. No Crossfit, absolutely no gym time, but lots of shopping & wining and dining!  I was lucky to have some amazing girls in our class and we spent pretty much ever waking minute together. We were a nice mesh of Army and Air Force  and we even had some lovely girls from the UK. I learned that my English accent was actually pretty good and thanks to them I'm going to start trying to integrate the words "wag" and "posh" into my vocabulary. :)

Deployment Diary: Week 5

This week started out a little rough. RC and I have had pretty constant communication since he left, but that stopped all of a sudden. Completely out of the blue. For 2 days I didn't hear from him and I was a little freaked out. I knew something was wrong. I soon found out that all soldiers in his region were put on a media blackout because two men, a specialist and a private, were killed. A number of other individuals were injured. With the way technology and Facebook is they are mandating blackouts so that families can be properly notified before someone senselessly posts something on Facebook.  

My heart aches for their families and instantly I was reminded how real this war is. 

The rest of my week was spent at work and continuing the CrossFit/functional fitness classes in the evening. I've developed some nice calluses, determined my baseline for weightlifting, and hopefully gained/toned some muscles! I also conquered round two against these gawd-awful walls and hung some curtains in our living room. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, a retelling of Cinderalla from one of the "ugly stepsisters", is my current read.

Also, here's a picture of one of the Daddy or Hero Dolls. You can place a picture under the plastic piece in front of his face. I'm not gonna lie, it's kind of creepy looking and the dudes got crazy hair. But these are a great tool to help kids deal with separation from their solider.. or errrr wives when there are extra Daddy Dolls left over. :)

Friday's Letters

DEAR GERMANY, this rainy weather needs to stop. I would like to get at least a tiny bit of a tan. I am already pale and don't need to be translucent by the time winter rolls around. DEAR HUSBAND, I got a "hero doll" so now your cute face is going to go everywhere with me. Travels to European countries, Thanksgiving dinner, and most definitely Christmas morning. DEAR NINJA MOSQUITO, must you be so allusive and always attack at night? I've never even seen you yet I wake up with bites on my arm every morning. Also, there are about 5 million of your brothers and sisters in South Carolina. You are one of like 5 in Germany. Why did you have to pick my home to live in? DEAR CONCRETE WALLS,  I may have bent the first nail I used, but eventually I  succeeded in hanging pictures! Emma for the win! DEAR CROSSFIT CLASS ON POST, I'm looking forward to you kicking my butt tonight.
DEAR HUSBAND, We made it one month! And I miss your face. A lot.

Deployment Diary: Week 4

Wahoo! We made it a month! I can't begin to tell you how happy it makes my heart. I know it's a small milestone, but know it feels like we're actually making progress! One month down. :)

Since I've been busier with work I didn't exactly take a picture for everyday. But this week we had two girls nights. One was comprised of pina coladas, homemade pizza, and an app-sharing session. The other was spent eating Mexican food and planning our trip to Poland next month. Sunday I had to pull over to the side of the road and take pictures of the sunflower fields by the gate to get on post. It's so beautiful when there are bright blue skies behind the sunflowers! Downloaded iHeartRadio and have been listening to that and Songza nonstop. Luckily our car has an adaptor so I can plug in my iPhone and listen to country music in the car and not hear German commercials! Hallelujah! Got special nails from Self Help so I could hang pictures on our concrete walls. Our diplomas were the first thing I hung.  Last night I got to catch up with my bestie from Clemson. We gushed about our shows, caught up on each others lives, and she shared a yummy recipe with me. :) All in all a pretty good week. Of course it would have been better if my love was here!

Friday's Letters

DEAR FRIDAY, today you bring a girls night. And for that, I am thankful! DEAR BAVARIA, You are beautiful. Sunflower fields right by the back gate on post? Yes, please. I don't think I've ever enjoyed drives home as much as I do in your lovely state. DEAR HUSBAND, when all of your packages finally start arriving you are going to have a TON of goodies! I hope you enjoy them all! :) DEAR NEW GIRL, as in the TV show. I love you. Zoey Deschannel, you are perfect. Also, Jess and Nick please starting dating. Pronto! DEAR SLEEP SCHEDULE, we need to get back on a good routine.  Without the husband around, I'm naturally a night owl. No bueno. DEAR WORK, you seem to be filled with good people. You take up most of my day and that paycheck at the end of the month is going to be oh so sweet. DEAR HUSBAND, I love you tremendously.

 

Deployment Diary: Week 3

This week actually went by very quickly! Here's to many more weeks like it. RC started a new work schedule this week. Luckily he has the ability to sleep anytime & anywhere when given the opportunity; whether it's AM or PM. I'm hoping that he adjusts well and that our schedules continue to allow us to talk regularly. Our daily conversations have made this so much easier!

// Day 15 // H&M and German restaurant day was a success!! I actually really liked the schnitzel.
// Day 16 // Celebrated two sweet girls' birthdays over the weekend.
// Day 17 // Laid out on my balcony and tried to get a little sun.
// Day 18 // I've been using the Nike Training Club app and absolutely love it!
// Day 19 // Went and saw RIO for FREE on post with Sarah. Yes, we were the only ones w/out kids.
// Day 20&21 // Been busy being a working woman. Thankful for this job! The days go by much quicker.