Rain, Rain, STOP ALREADY!!!

It's the third day straight of constant downpours in our area.  I just heard the reporter on the nightly news say we've had 20 inches since Sunday. Wow!  AK's school was canceled for two days, as well as her dance class and church Wednesday night.  I guess there is a lot of flooding and several road closings.  Conditions are supposed to get worse as all the rain continues to flow into the sewage drains and into the streams and lakes.  It's truly unbelievable how much it has rained.  My friend and I were supposed to do an 8-mile run this morning to prepare for the half marathon we're running in a couple weeks.  We kept putting it off hour by hour waiting for the rain to stop.  And it never. ever. stopped.  Walls of rain were pouring off our house all day.  It's 8:15 p.m. now and I still hear rain hitting our windows.  Crazy.  Anyway... here's hoping for a little sunshine tomorrow...  and for all this rain to move to Kentucky, where my dad says it is badly needed!

Feeling Better!

I was sitting at my computer diligently making progress on my design work today when Mike's name popped up in my email inbox!  Oh thank God! That's what I said out loud.  I hadn't heard from him in almost a week and the rumors were that I wasn't going to hear from him for 45 days.  I am SO happy that wasn't the case.  My mood has improved 100 percent!

Here's a recent shot of the girls before heading to drop AK at school.  She is loving her class and teachers this year!  Avery is loving being along for the ride. :) No, she's not walking yet, but I know she's going to take off any day now!

Feeling Sad

There has been a stop to the daily emails from Mike now.  I haven't heard from him in two or three days.  The email was the one saving grace to this whole thing.  We found out we may not hear from them for possibly a few weeks because we can't know where they are/what they're doing.  It's such a downer not to hear from him.  Of course I worry, too.  I have no idea when he's flying or if he's on a mission...

I can only find comfort in words that our good friend, Colin, wrote to me shortly after Mike left:

"[Mike's] awesome at what he does and he's an outstanding pilot.  He wouldn't tell you that but it's true.  Watching him take off in that video, I know that somewhere there will be Marines on the ground that will be lucky he's the one up there.  Having trained with Mike over the years, I know he's a dedicated professional, a true patriot...  He's in good hands...his own."

Mike is highly trained in the jet.  He knows what to do in all possible situations.  I feel comfort in that.  And of course comfort that ultimately he is in God's hands.  

Weekend Away

View from the back of the house. Beautiful!

Time flies when you're having fun, and this weekend was a flash!  My friend, Lexie invited us up to the Annapolis area for a long weekend of relaxing by the bay.  We stayed at a beautiful house on the water and enjoyed catching up, touring downtown Annapolis and watching Bailey, AK and Avery play and swim. Lexie's mom and dad were so sweet to come over and watch the girls while we went out one night to enjoy a DELICIOUS dinner at her uncle's restaurant.  We had a fantastic time and I was so thankful to see my friend and just hang out with her again. (Lexie's husband - also named Mike - is in the same squadron, but deployed to Japan right now. While he's gone she has moved back home to get one more semester of law school under her belt while she had the opportunity.)  Thanks so much, Lex. Miss you already!

Deployment Update
Mike is now in the Mediterranean. The package I sent him finally arrived! He really enjoyed the DVD I sent him with video of the girls. They have pulled into a port for the first time and are allowing some of the Marines to get off the ship for a bit.  I'm hoping Mike will be able to call or Skype while on land.  That would be SO great. Just to hear his voice would be so nice.

One Week Down

Nine days have passed since Mike left.  While the days seem to fly by, it still feels like he has been gone for weeks.  In his emails, he says he feels the same.  There is not much to do on the boat but work, so they worked in spite of Labor Day today.  He had to get a small pox vaccine a few days ago.  He says it's starting to sting.  Apparently the site of the shot is supposed to swell up and he may get flu symptoms. He's supposed to avoid touching the area and then touching another part of his body because it's highly contagious.  He also can't get it wet for a week.  So life is good for him right now.  Haha.  He says it isn't so bad.  He says they're still cruising across the Atlantic, but they should see land again in the next couple of days.

Mom came down for Labor Day weekend and we were soooo happy to see her!  We had such a great time going to the beach, walking, shopping, church on Sunday and just strolling around the quaint little town of New Bern.  I hated seeing her go today because I wasn't ready to say another sad goodbye so soon.

While we were walking around downtown on Sunday, we passed a beautiful, three-tiered water fountain.  AK asked for a coin to throw in.  Mom gave her five pennies.  We watched as she tossed them in one by one, closing her eyes tight each time.  Without a word, she turned and walked back over to us and we started walking down the sidewalk again.  I said, "So what did you wish for?"  She replied, "I wished for Daddy to come back home and stay the whole night and to never go back to work again."  I almost started crying right there.  I told Mike it was the sweetest and saddest thing at the same time.  Sweet because no matter where we are or what we're doing, she is always thinking of and missing her daddy.  And sad because as she threw in those coins, I know in her heart she really thought if she wished it, it would come true.  Mike is really missing the girls.  He is hating to miss all the little moments. Many of Avery's firsts.  I am trying to take video of everything I can so he feels like he is seeing them grow along with me.  I can't imagine how hard this must be on him.

Both the girls got a seat upgrade! Avery loves facing forward.

I'm happy to report that we are not moping around here.  We haven't given ourselves time to cry and be sad.  And God is giving me so much strength.  I know it's from your prayers and my own.  I try not to think of how long he'll be gone.  Just thinking about getting through one week at a time has helped.  Not to mention the many packages and friends that have shown up on my doorstep.  We've gotten amazing care packages, special turtle cookies with lightning bolts on their backs (wishing me a speedy deployment! haha) and two friends that showed up on my doorstep one night with a Bloomin' Onion (yum), a bottle of wine and time to enjoy it all with me.  Thank you all so much for your thoughtfulness.  We are blessed.

This week will get even busier with AK starting back to Preschool, dance classes and church on Wednesday nights.  We are driving up to Annapolis to visit my friend Lexie this coming weekend.  I've signed up to run the half marathon mid-Oct. And then we'll be traveling again at the end of Oct.  So we have a lot to look forward to and I'm so happy about that!