Coins

Last week we had a few visitors down at BAMC.  On Tuesday we saw 1SG Davis and his family.  They came down for a day or two and saw us and the Ochoas.  Then on Thursday SGT Major Kinloch came and had lunch with us and others from the unit who are also down here.  It is always good when people like this come and visit.  It makes me feel good knowing they still think of us and are concerned with how we are doing.  I really do like our SGT Major.  He is a good guy.  And the fact that he made a point of asking my imput as a spouse and what thing could be improved for the family of soldiers in regards to deployment and if your soldier is wounded, was great.  So many times we (the spouses/families) and our opionons are put to the way side and rarely do I feel as though how I think or feel is really considered.  So I have a lot of respect for him for actual listening to what I had to say.  And hearing his appreciation of the wives here, and the thanks he gave us for what we do meant the world.  Even if you know you are appreciated, it means a million times more to hear it. 

Then at the end of the meeting he coinded all of us.  This is my second time being coined (both times by a SGT Major) so that is pretty cool.  And I really like our brigade's coin!  Then SGT Major had me coin the 4ID NCOIC (Non-Commisioned Officer In Charge) which was awesome since he is always giving me a hard time.  So I can always hold it over his head that I coined him :)

These are the two coin's I have gotten:

♥ Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. ♥

2011 World Championships for Indoor Rowing

This weekend my husband went to Boston to compete in the indoor rowing championships.  He won his division in the adaptive category.  Here is a link to see how well he did!

http://utilities.concept2.com/replays/crashb2011/BHeat18 This shows the race over time lapse, from start to finish.  He started strong and stayed strong. Good job!

And even though I didn't get to go, they broadcasted it online live. So I got to see him do his race.  I was sitting alone in my room clapping and cheering as I heard them announce Chris Champion in first place :)

♥ I don't believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be. ♥

Girl Time

This weekend one of my good friends Megan came to visit me.  I was so so excited!  Timing was perfect since Chris was going to Boston for a rowing competition, now I didn't have to spend the whole weekend alone!  She got here Friday morning.  After hanging out and getting ready for the day, we headed out to get some lunch.  We decided on The Macaroni Grill.  We both ordered the Grilled Chicken Panini sanwhich with a ceasar salad.  It was very good and well priced.  After lunch we drove out to the Outlet Malls at San Marcos (which was about 15miles from the restaurant).  When we got to the outlets and walked into the first store Megan realized she no longer had her debit card.  She used it at lunch, and we drove straight here.  We dumped out her purse, searched every crevice of the car, all her pockets.  Nowhere to be found.  So the only thing we could imagine happened was it got left in the bill fold at the restaurant or perhaps we left it on the counter in the bathroom there.  We check the restaurant and it is nowhere to be found.  We both conclude someone had to have taken it because thats the only place it could have been.  Any who, we went and cancelled her card right away then she transfered money to my account to be withdrawn.  Mystery but problem solved.  After the outlets we went to North Star Mall and looked around there for a bit too.  By 6pm we were both exhausted.  I had ;little sleep the night before, and nor did she.  So we went back to the room to lay down and kind of recharge our batteries.  After a few hours we decided to head out for some dinner.  We tried a place called "Urban Mexican".  Yeah.....not our fave.  It was spendy ( $13 quesadillas), and not the best food I have ever had.  So put that on the lesson's learned list.

Saturday, after we got up ate breakfast and got ready, we headed over to The Quarry Market.  This is an outdoor shopping area. Went to a store or two and looked around, then got our Starbucks fix for the day.  We wanted to do something different so we headed downtown for the remainder of the day.  We went to Ripley's Believe or Not, which was pretty cool and interesting.  It was great because neither of us had ever been before.  And it was even better because our military discount saved us a lot!  We paid $5 each instead of $20!  We spent some time walking around The Riverwalk, then we got dinner at a Mexican Restaurant.  This time, the food and prices were much much better!  I ordered a Sangria Margarita and Megan ordered a Coors.  She got IDed, and I didn't! I decided I don't look old she just looks young ;)

Following dinner we headed over to a place called "Howl at the Moon".  We love the name of the place and they are supposed to have dueling pianos there so we thought it would be a cool place to visit.  However, when we saw a line and people paying to get in, we opted to go to the cozy little martini bar next door.  Very happy with this choice.  It was a nice mellow place perfect for us to chat. 

She had to leave early this morning.  I am so glad she came, we had a great time! And as always we laughed at anything and everything :)


I was mocking the TX glam...big hair & bright blush.

 ♥ Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. ♥

Valentines

So this year Chris and I decided to do our Valentine's Day on saturday (which was the 12th). In the morning I received a box of chocolate covered strawberries.  These are one of my favorite things in the world!  There were dark, white, and milk chocolate ones and they were HUGE strawberries! Then in the afternoon a bouquet showed up for me :) My thoughtful husband. I gave him a coin that says I will love him forever and on the other side it said I love my soldier 24/7.  It was a cute little thing since he always gets coined by other people, I thought why can't I coin him? Also, I found a cute little book called Married for Life that has little advice and stories from couples who have been married 50 years or more.  He really like it and I am so glad he did.

That night we went out to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Texas de Brazil.  We first ate there in Denver, and were thrilled when they opened one here (just in time for this date night!)  I got all dressed up, which I love doing and any excuse to do so is just fine for me.  I was especially thrilled when I realized that the last time I had worn a dress was at our wedding!  I wish we would have gotten a picture but we didn't.  I wore a dress that was black on top and has a pattern on the bottom, it came to my knees.  Then I wore my wedges that I love so much.  I got a few compliments on them too.  It was so nice to get all dolled up. And I think Chris liked it too, he gave me several complimetns throughout the night which I loved.  He looked very handsome himself :)  We had a great night and it was nice change of pace for the night.

♥ Eat. Pray. Love. ♥

The Small Things

Today I was feeling a little stressed out for some reason.  It started with the fact that the rental car we have right now is not my favorite thing to drive.  It's a Chevy Impala.  The car is quite long, much bigger car then I am used to driving (clearly my Tc isn't large).  But on top fo this, the 3 head rests in the back seat are so big, it makes seeing out the rear window a bit of a challenge, and the blind spots on the car are pretty bad. So if you or anyone you know is considering buying one I would not suggest you do so.  Then if you add into this mix the fact that Texas drivers absolutely suck, you could see where my anxiety kicks in.  I was running around trying to find somewhere to get a pair of jeans altered so that Chris can wear them with his big metal ex-fix. The one on post tried to tell me it wouldn't be done until next Thursday, so then I drove around and found a mom & pop cleaners right off post who gladly will have iot done by tomorrow. By this point I was a bit of a wreck, and then started getting home sick all at the same time.  I went over to get my nails done to calm my nerves.  This is where my day began to turn around (thank goodness).  The massage chair felt great.  And I am always thrilled to get a mani/pedi.  I sparked up a little conversation with the man next to me who was there with his wife.  I explained why I was in Texas and he went on to say how sorry he was and how he would have my husband in his prayers and hoped us the best.  They left before me, and come to find out he paid my entire bill!  And I went all out today (so I am sure it was about $65).  It was amazing to be reminded that there are in fact people in this country who truly appreciate the military families and those of us who hold such a burden for the better good of this country as a whole.  I am grateful good people like this still exist.  I didn't even get his name, but who ever he is he made a girl who wanted to cry today smile.

♥ Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver. ♥

Birthday Boy

Wed (Feb. 9th) was my husband's birthday.  This is his third birthday since we've been together.  His first one, when he turned 24 he was in Iraq.  So I am not sure exactly what I got him, but I know it consisted of goodies stuffed into a care package.  Last year he turned 25, and I threw him a surprise birthday party at our place. He had no idea it was coming.  I remeber his friend Burton was my wing man in the operation and took him out for drinks so everyone could arrive.  Chris thought I was being overbearing when I said "You better be back by 7:30" and he was like "Geez it's my birthday!" Little did he know what was up my sleeve.  It was great and we had fun with some of our friends.  So this year I had no idea what to do for his 26th birthday.  I am a big birthday person, I think they are great!  I hadn't planned to even be with him for this birthday, and now that I was and we're stuck in TX with no real home or car I was worried how special I could possibly make it.  Getting his gifts without him knowing was a task in itself (not so easy when you share a very small space with the person you are secretly buying gifts for).  I managed to pull that off though, and am pleased to say he liked his gifts.  We rented a car for the week, so we went to Olive Garden (which is where we had our first date) for dinner.  We love that place, and dinner was great!  We always get the Black Tie Mousse Cake, it is by far one of our favorite desserts ever!

Then the following night we did a get together with some friends.  We went to Dave & Buster's for dinner and some games.  I think everyone enjoyed themselves and it was nice to get out, especially with some of the other couples from our unit who are down here. Ruth Ochoa and I got into an intense gaming session on the Time Crisis 3 game.  Who knew us two girls could be so good at a shooting game?! It was fun and very amusing to say the least, we had a mini crowd as we hogged the game.  Ruth was screaming like we were really in a shoot out (which was awesome) and I kept saying "I got him, I got him!  Yeah I'm an Army Wife, that's how I roll!" hahaha good times for sure. I am glad my husband got to enjoy his birthday he deserved it!

♥ As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed. ♥

First Steps

Yay the day finally came! After much waiting and anticipation, on Thursday 3 Feb 2011 my husband got to put on his first prosthetic leg and walk in it for a bit. Considering he had not walked since 26 Sept. 2010, it was very exciting.  We have been waitiing for his calf muscle to get smaller in order to fit into the socket.  I mean in my opinion they would just make a socket to fit each individual's leg but apparently that is not how it works.  It has to be in a certain shape I guess. Anywho, it took some work to get his leg into it still but after a bit of work we got it in.  According to his prosthesis guy and his physical therapist he did really well for his first time.  And keep in mind his right leg is still broken with the ex-fix on it.  I was very proud of him as I stood there and watched.  Earlier this week he bet me I would cry, I bet him I wouldn't.  I don't know if it is because of this bet, or the fact I was playing tough cookie at the moment, but I didn't cry.  I do actually think it is just because I was so focused on taking pictures and video taping it as it happened to even think about my emotions at that point in time.  Or maybe it is simply the fact that I have learned to grow a bit of a thicker skin since this whole thing happened.  I did tear up though when I got to thinking about it (I quickly looked up at the ceiling to hold them in though, just a trick of mine). Someone asked me if it was weird to see him walking again. And I am not sure if "weird" is the word for it, but it definitely was something else. The last time I had seen my husband walking was on 5 August 2010 as he walked away from me in the gym that day.  I remember watching him and examining every inch of him as he walked away thinking to myself "you better get a good look....just in case. Take it in right now...just in case." And I suppose it was a good thing I did. But I try not to think of that, because that does make me sad and quite a bit emotional. Insetad I think of how awesome it is to see him walk. And how proud of him I am every single day. The road up until now has definitely not been easy. It has been stressful and emotionally draining, but we have made it this far. I am excitied for this step and can't wait until he gets more practice walking in it and can finally have his leg for good!

♥ We have to acknowledge the progress we made, but understand that we still have a long way to go. That things are better, but still not good enough. ♥