Happy Birthday Ryan...

So yesterday was a pretty rough day.  Ryan got a re-start and for a different reason than expected.  He and 19 others did.  Man these budget cuts have the Army seriously down sizing.  My husbands response to getting a re-start was "What a birthday".  It looks like he'll be able to start training again on Tuesday and will graduate the very end of September.  Who knows, this could be a blessing in disguise.  Just as stated yesterday, Everything happens for a reason.  With the re-start comes the chance to test into Aviation so Ryan's dream of being an Aviation Officer may still happen.  We'll just continue to pray that he is doing everything he can and that God will place him where he's supposed to be.
Anyways, today is Ryan's 29th birthday.  Happy Birthday Husband! For his birthday I baked him a rainbow cake.  (I'm going to eat it all by myself or maybe with some help of a few friends/neighbors) These cakes turn out pretty cool.  You put 3 colors of dough in even layers in an angel food pan and the heat waves in the oven swirl the colors and make different designs in the cake.  They are way fun to cut into so you can see the design from all of the colors.  Of course, it is a delicious cake too.

I also made him a no sew fleece quilt out of Army material and a solid blue fleece.  I think he'll love it.  Last but not least I got him a new pair of five fingers that are for fitness activities like running.  Too bad he can't use them while he's in training right now.  

One present that Ryan will hopefully receive soon is the dozens of birthday cards from friends and family.  I forwarded his address to as many friends and family as I could so he could receive lots of love and support through the mail even though he can't have his actual presents yet.   

Happy Birthday Ryan...

Everything Happens for a Reason....

So since my husband has shipped out in the Army 2 weeks after we got married he has had a number of "mis-haps".  So many hurry up and wait moments and so many discouraging moments.  My husband keeps questioning why he did this.  Oh yeah because his last job was a downer and boring.  Now this is making him realize that his job really wasn't all that bad.  He made great money, had decent hours, could get time off when he wanted/needed.  What more could he ask for?
To start off he was in BCT for 4 weeks when he "pulled his groin" well thats what he thought he had done and he didn't want to tell anyone because he's in BCT and he wasn't going to do a re-start for something as simple as a pulled muscle.  A few more days passed and it got worse.  He finally asked someone about it and they pulled him out and sent him for some test.  Which consisted of x-rays and stress fractures.  He had several in his femur, hip and pelvis.  OUCH!  He was crushed because he was getting recycled back through the system.  Because there was no room for him in The Physical Therapy Rehab Place he stayed with his BCT group through the end but he went to appointments when they did activities that he was un-able to participate in.  Finally 4.5 months later he was healed and sent back to training.
His new BCT group was great he had a few more privelleges but it was still extremely strict as it always has been.  Graduation can and we got to go out to Georgia and visit him.  It was frustrating to us to be out there for 7 days and have the Drill Sergeants mess with the families just as they do the boys.  They would never tell us the correct time to see our loved ones and would make us wait.  In 7 days we got to see Ryan 2 half-days and one other time for 36 hours.  Not as much as we would have liked but it was better than nothing.
Now onto OCS.  This training has been harder physically and mentally.  Even though they do not have a drill sergeant yelling at them constantly or "smoking" them.  They have more to do than you could possibly get done in a 24 hr period and are exhausted from all of the physical activity.  For the first 2 weeks it seemed like at least 1 person a day would drop out and have to re-start.  After that it slowed down a bit.  They made it to "senior phase" and now we know where we're going and what we're doing.  As the guys had their last 10 mile ruck march, 1 girl got a re-start for not being able to keep up with the overly fast pace.  Once they finished they had all of the guys empty their packs.  If they were missing an item or had an incorrect item they told them they were going to be considered for a re-start.  Earlier that morning the first sergeant had told the guys if they didn't need the extra pair of boots they could replace it with a canteen of water so they still had the weight.  All of the guys including my husband who replaced their boots with a canteen of water are being considered for a re-start.  UGH!!!  Yet again another delay.
As all of this is going on I have to find the positive in everything.  It will all work out and is part of God's plan for him, for us, and for our family.  We have to have faith in the Lord that he will guide us to do the right things.  This long and stressful journey has taught us to appreciate what we have and to take nothing for granted.  Not our health, our wealth, or our relationship.  It has made us realize the worth of thing.  Our health and relationship mean more to us than anything.  Even if we don't have much money or anything we will make it through.
Everything we do and every "miss-hap" teaches us a lesson as long as we are open to it and willing to learn from it.  Everything happens for a reason....

Fashion Decision...UGH!

What am I supposed to wear?  Its not like I dress trashy or anything, but my wardrobe mostly consists of Jeans and t-shirts.  I have a few nicer tops and a few dresses.  Don't get me wrong, I am a girly girl and I have more clothes than most girls my age, but the majority of it is way casual.  Being a college graduate with my engineering degree and and Army Officers Wife I should probably step up my wardrobe to be a little more business dress (Classy) and a little less college casual.

From always being a very conservative girl, I have always struggled with being busty and trying to cover it up.  What may be cute to others tends to be to revealing and I just don't feel comfortable. So I tend to stick with my Jeans and T's.  I never thought me Ms. Jeans and a t-shirt would be stressing so much about what to wear and how to dress a little more classy and conservative while still dressing my age.

So, I'm the type of girl who doesn't mind to shop, but I have to be in the mood or know exactly what I want.  I love dressing up but never have any reason to as well.  Now as an Army Wife I have reason to dress up from time to time.  I have 3 events to dress up for in June.  The OCS Social, OCS formal, and graduation.  For these events I don't want to be over dressed or under dressed.  I guess I'd rather be over dressed in more than one sense than under dressed.

I purchased this amazing black gown that I was planning on wearing to the formal. When I trying it on to check if or how it needed to be altered I realized that it is lower cut in the back than I remember and shows a bit more cleavage than expected.  Now I'm in a pickle of purchasing a second formal or altering the one I have.  I think I'm going to go with the first option.  I'd rather be more comfortable and conservative for a formal Army event and save the "little black dress" for a night out with my husband.  Maybe, even for our 1yr anniversary.

My second shopping dilemma is that I have no idea how to dress for the OCS social.  Semi-formal, church dress, sun-dress, business casual, casual....I just don't know.  All I even know about the event is that it is on June 7th at a golf course.  To be on the safe side I'm going to go in a church dress/sun dress.  For the graduation the guys are going to be in their dress blues so I have a semi-formal dress to wear.  At least I had it easy for 1 of the 3 events...LOL!  No matter what I wear my husband will love it.  In reality these events really aren't about me so who will be looking at me anyways and who will ever remember.  I just need to stop stressing and go and have fun.  

A new way of life....

As I have been going about my daily life and hanging out with friends being "Miss Independent"  it had not hit me until the other day that I Kristen Rae am an Army Wife.  Getting married and having your husband ship out in the Army right after the honeymoon leaves you without the reality that you really are a wife.  I still lived by myself and with my parents part time.  I still do my own thing, go to school and work, and hang out with the girls like nothing has changed.  It's almost like Ryan is still my boyfriend and we're doing the long distance thing still, but he's further away and harder to get ahold of now.  Everything is about to change....
Last week we found out (after nearly 9 months of training) what Ryan will be doing and where our next move will be.  Finally I'll get to move with him.  So you've got it he'll be an officer for Field Artillery and we are moving to Ft. Sill, OK for 4.5 more months of training.  Finally I get to be a wife.  I am ready for this adventure to begin, so ready that I booked my plane ticket, hotel, and rental car so I can go to Georgia for 2 weeks.  Yup 2 weeks with My Husband.  It will be about the most time we've spent together other than on our honeymoon.  I'm really looking forward to meeting all of his "battle buddies" and their wives.  Especially the ones that will be moving on to OK with us.  
The Army has taught me a lot in the past 9 months.  The biggest is PATIENCE PATIENCE and a little more PATIENCE.  Everything is a hurry up and wait process.  Now that we know where we're going and what we're doing we still have to wait to know when and how long.  I've also learned more of who I am and want to be.  Meeting new people and connecting with other Military wives has opened my eyes to the world.   Hearing their stories and just being their friend has taught me that you never know what someone is dealing with or going through and to have more compassion for everyone.  In the past 9 months I have met some of the most genuine people whom will hopefully be in my life from now on.  Some of these people I have met over facebook, some through our husbands, some just talking to people about being an Army Wife.  Even though I've never personally met them or I've only been around them once or twice I have a whole new respect and connection to them.  
So the new adventure has begun as I begin to pack my things to prepare to "really" move away from my hometown to a location I have never been.  I am anxious to start my new life with my husband, but still hesitant about leaving all of my friends and family in Arizona.  From the experience I've had with meeting amazing people and making new friends I'm sure this adventure is going to one of the best experiences of our lives.  Having faith that everything will work out and knowing that no matter where I am I still have a wonderful and loving family back home as well as an Army family welcoming us to our new home.  I am ready to start this new way of life....