Oh The Springs

So today I drove to Colorado Springs to go to a doctor's appointment and a dentist appointment.  Since I am currently staying at my mom's an hour north, and all my med stuff is still set up down there I figure the hour drive on occassion is much less a hassle then changing my PCM, etc.  Not to mention a trip to the Springs is always welcome to me.  It holds a warm & fuzzy place in my heart since it was the first place my husband and I had our own place together.  So as I was driving down there I was all giddy and excited to be going back to the Springs after several months.  I admired the beauty of my state and loved seeing the mountains grow closer as I drove further into town. I saw the clouds start to roll in over the mountains and I knew there would be a short afternoon rain, which is so typical for there this time of year.  The rain is always so peaceful, and looks beautiful with all the green trees and the mountains.  And not mention the smell, ahhh it just smells like home.  But then I felt my self quickly change from happy to sad. I began to cry.  And my first thought was "Really Angela?  When will you beable to drive here and not cry!" (This is my 2nd time coming to the Springs since he was injured, and yup still crying!) The reason I was crying is simple.  This is the last place I lived where my life was "normal", before it got flipped on its head and spun around a few several times.  And because if my husband hadn't been injured this deployment, we would be living there now, and it would be home again already.  I long for it so much.  I long for our lives to be there again.  To be normal and peaceful like the afternoon summer rains I adore so much.  So for now all I have to hold onto is a sweet thought, a heartfelt memory, and to keep that place in my heart open and ready for whenever we do get to call Colorado Springs home again.

Pikes Peak driving into the Springs on I-25....

And Cheyenne Mountain, which we always called "Our Mountain" because it was right there when you walked outside our apartment.

♥ Home, the spot of earth supremely blest, A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest. ♥

Late Night Thoughts

So last night as I was laying in bed, I began thinking about our year in The Springs prior to this last deployment.  One specific memory came to mind for some reason.  One night in December (2009), my husband was on CQ with Ochoa and Millet.  I didn't feel like sitting alone at home all night, so I decided to go see them.  We ordered pizza and watched Hangover (my first time seeing it).  I just remeber laughing so hard, especially the part where the cop says "Not you fat Jesus."  It was my first time meeting Ochoa and Millet.  They were both very polite and Millet had us laughing talking about the "blood brothers" part of the movie and how him and his cousins did that once.  Now if someone would have told me that of those three men sitting in front of me, one would lose a leg, one would lose some fingers, and one would never come home...I would have told you you were crazy.  And knowing what I know now, and looking back it breaks my heart to know that is what happened.  People always say you have to live in the moment, cherish the here and now cause you never know what the future holds.  But few people in this world truly understand just how important that is.  It has been 8 months or so since all of this happened. And every time someone see's me they ask how I am.  I find myself saying the same words "I'm fine."  And yes, for the most part I am.  I have learned to deal with things and accept them as they are.  But my heart is still filled with grief everyday.  I still find myself tearing up over simple things.  I feel hurt and anger in my heart about what happened.  And quite frankly some days I want to run to the top of a mountain, scream at the top of my lungs, and then cry until there are no more tears left.  I like to think I have been a good "strong Army wife" and have handled things best I know how.  But sometimes I think I need to allow myself to cry, to be upset, to tell people no I'm not ok.  I have every right to be upset.  Now please don't think that this means I am not grateful that my husband did come home. I know that we are going to be ok, and that life will go on. But that does not change the fact that what has happened this deployment is horrible, and that no one should have to go through the heart ache of missing limbs or losing loved ones.  It's a hard pill to swallow, and though time may ease the pain I don't think it ever completely goes away. 

So with that said, I want everyone to love and live harder.  To cherish every moment you share with your family and friends, no matter how insignificant that moment may seem now.  Watching a movie and eating pizza with a group of friends, dancing to the Cupid Shuffle at a deployment going away party, watching someone walk away from you and studying every inch of that person's being knowing it may never be the same.  And if your heart hurts...ITS OK!  Don't feel bad for your feelings.  Let them out, cause holding it in will only make it last longer and grow deeper into your soul. I have said it once, and I will say it again.  I am honored to know some of the most amazing men in this country.  I love my husband and our friends to the core.  And I hope for many happy, long years for all of us!

♥ We cannot change our memories, but we can change their meaning and the power they have over us. ♥

News Coverage

Over the last 8 months (since Chris was injured) we have been interviewed numerous times.  I know there were several print articles we were in, that I have heard of but yet to see (of course!)  But here are links to three of them at least for those who are interested.

This is the first article, I have posted it before but here it is again. 
Stars and Stripes Article

This is an interview done with Chris after we met Michelle Obama and Jill Biden.
My SA Blog Article

And here is another article from when the first and second lady visited.
La Prensa Article

And of course our article and news clip from 9News done at Christmas.
Denver 9News Article

I know we have been in the San Antonio Express (their local newspaper) and Chris was recetly in the Fort Sam Paper.  Hopefully I can track these articles down as well.

♥ People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle. ♥

Lake Travis

For our anniversary, we went to Lake Tavis in Austin, TX.  We stayed at a resort right on the Lake called Lakeway Resort and Spa.  We checked in on Friday afternoon.  I booked us a room with a lakeside view of course (there is no way I want to look out onto the parking lot!)  These were the views from our room...

And this is the same view later in the afternoon.  I loved how the sun looked on the water...

The first day we were there, Chris was sitting in the lobby and someone who worked there saw his legs and asked what happened.  After telling him, the man went and got the manager of the resort to come talk to us.  Apparently her husband had just gotten out of the Army.  He was apart of the unit portrayed in the movie Restrepo . After chatting with her, she told us she was going to call and make us reservations at the resort's restaurant and that whatever we ordered was going to be comped for us.  So that night we enjoyed a nice steak dinner (I got filet mignon, Chris got a very large ribeye) overlooking the lake.

On Saturday, we hung out down at the pool for a little bit and then went to lunch.  We ate at a Mexican Restuarant called The Iguana, which was on one of the cliffs overlooking the lake as well.  It was very good food, my burrito was HUGE!  We went down to a little shopping center, then watched the new Xmen movie.  I must say, we both thought it was better then we had anticipated.  It was neat how they tied the story line in with actual historical events.  Following the movie we went into town and had dinner at Buca di Beppo, which is definitely one of our favorite restaurants ever!  And as usual the food was great.

Sunday was our actual anniversary.  Chris booked me a very nice spa day as one of my gifts.  I enjoyed a facial, a mud body wrap, and a hot stone massage.  It was very relaxing, my face and body were super smooth afterwards, and my muscles had no more tension!  After I finished, we went to a small little hot dog restaurant we had driven past the day before, for lunch.  We squeezed in a game of putt putt golf before heading out for my favorite part of the weekend.  We got to go on a private sunset sail around Lake Travis.  I was excited, it was my first time on a sail boat.  It was fun and definitely loved watching the sunset with each other, whole sitting on the front of the boat.

Monday was our last day there.  We went down to the pool one last time, before we had to check out.  I was excited to get a good tan in our short stay :)

The resort had several different pools, including a 3 level infinity pool that had a swim up bar on the top level.

This concluded our little trip.  I had a good time and am glad we got to get away, even if it was just a few days.  On our way back to San Antonio we stopped at a Dairy Queen in a small town called Blanco, TX.  I was very disappointed to find out they did not had the cherry dip that hardens. What kind of DQ are you?  But we did see some very cool matching 1930's fords!

Overall, our first year was hectic to say the least.  We had the wedding, the honeymoon, then he deployed, I moved home, and then he got injured and our world got flipped upside down.  It was been an emotional rollercoaster to say the least.  We have had highs and more then enough lows to last a lifetime.  It hasn't been easy.  Our marriage has faced obstacles most people will never have to know.  There have been many times I felt like I couldn't do it, or that my life was completely out of my control.  Moments I questioned "WHY ME!"  I don't know if those feelings will ever go away, but in the end this has definitely made us stronger as individuals and as a couple. 

From our vows.... " I will always be open, honest, and faithful to you.  To have and to hold, for better, for worse, to love and to cherish for all the days of my life and until my last breath."

I am so thankful that his last breath didn't come on September 26th, because I can honestly say I don't know what I would have done. So I count our blessings and am happy to be by each others side. And I like to think that after this, we can take on anything. I hope we share many more happy years together, and that things only get better from here.


♥ We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness. ♥

Anniversary Gifts

This past weekend was our anniversary.  We took a mini-trip for the weekend so the gift exchange took place before we headed out for the weekend.  I of course, made sure everything I did was in our wedding colors.  This has been an obsession of mine from our wedding invites, to the actual wedding, to the wedding thank you cards, to now our anniversary.  I am sure it is a tradition I will keep forever.  So this is what the presentation of his gifts looked like...

I got him a framed photo of me (from the photos Acasha did back in Sept), his summer cologne which was a special edition and is not sold in stores anymore (so I had to search for it!), a new G-shock watch which he has been talking about getting one for months, and made a scrapbook of our last year from the wedding day on. It took a lot of time, and quite the effort to get all the pics rounded up, but it was so worth it. I added different blog entries that had a correlation to the pictures on that page. Looking at it, it really does mean a lot and speaks magnitudes by showing everything that has happened in such a trivial year in our lives.  Here it is...

A few days before we left, Chris came home and surprised me with a big edible arrangement.  It even had a pineapple cut in the shape of a "1".  I loved it, and it was definitely very yummy. It had pineaple, strawberries, apples, grapes, and cantaloupe.  All the fruit made me feel a little less guilty about all the yummy dark chocolate I was eating :)

He got me a very sweet card and a pretty necklace from Helzberg.  We love that store, and it is where we have bought all our jewlery.  He told me that the two hearts, symbolize us, and the key is because he believes I have been the key to his success in his recovery the last 8 months.  It was very sweet and I love and appreciate it so much.

♥ More marriages might survive if the partners realized that sometimes the better comes after the worse. ♥

Mini-Tri

So last Friday, the CFI (Center for Intrepid) had their 4th Annual Mini-Triathalon at Fort Sam.  Since Chris is like Dr. Hsu's (the ortho surgeon) wonder boy, he wanted him to do all 3 segments of the race.  This included a 10mile bike ride, 10 lap swim in an Olympic size pool, and a 2mile walk/run.  I had full confidence in my husband to complete it and do well, even if it killed him.  Can chalk that up to his extreme motivation and a tad bit of stubborness ;) The events took off just before 8am, we were lucky to have cloud cover for a little bit.  It was still pretty hot and definitely muggy though.  I could not have done it in that heat!  Here is Chris just before heading out for the first portion...

This is actually the first time ever seeing him on a bicycle...looks pretty good! He finished the bike ride just over half an hour I believe.  Then it was off to the swim.  Now keep in mind, up until this point he has not gotten into a pool since his injury.  SO not only had it been about 6-7 since he last swam, he is also carrying a heavy ex-fix on his right leg, and is lacking a foot on the left.  I was of course the worried wife for the swim.  It was definitely the hardest part of the triathalon for him, and a lot different trying to navigate with only one foot.  But he didn't give up and he did a great job.

By now the sunwas out and blazing hot, poor Chris was worn out from the pool.  But after chugging a gatorade and a quick kiss he was off to finish.  He was even running when he came through the finish line.  I was very proud of him and everyone else, to say the least.  Most people never run a mini-tri in their lifetime period.  So to see so many wounded soldiers (wounded Canadian soldiers even came), accomplish it was amazing and very motivating.  This experience is always trying and has many obstacles to oversome, but I can truly say I have met and been surrounded by some of the strongest most inspirational people we have in our country.

♥ Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ♥