Four months and counting!

I officially have less than 2 months to go before I’ll be heading home from Iraq! That is an amazing feeling. Everything about going home is exciting to me – sleeping in my own bed, seeing Phil again, taking Gus on walks, visiting family, mowing my lawn, cooking in my kitchen…and on and on. It’s funny the little things that I so miss.

I can’t complain at all about this deployment though – This has been an amazing experience for me from day one – I feel pretty blessed to have this opportunity. I get to work with my closest friends here everyday, plan trips that take us all over the country and see places I didn’t even know existed. It’s amazing, because I feel like God really has had his hand in this whole journey. Everything from the timing for me coming here, to my awesome roommate, to the friendships I’ve made and my job position – it’s all very humbling, because I feel pretty undeserving to have all of this wrapped into one deployment. And while I know I’ll be ready to come home when my date rolls around, I can truly say that I’m going to miss the lifelong friendships I’ve made here.

It’s funny, because despite the times we’ve spent running to take “cover”, things don’t seem so grim when you’re in this thing together :)

If there is one thing I’ve learned over here, it’s that life is what you make of it – we’ve taken some pretty ordinary circumstances here and made them lasting memories. I’ve also come to realize even more the blessings in my life that I have at home -- things I don’t want to take for granted – a loving husband, supportive family and friends, and a house to go home to.

Thank you all for the support and especially the prayers during this time – they’ve been felt. You have no idea how much your emails, letters and packages have meant -- words cannot express how special they have been.

I look forward to seeing all of you in the near future – miss you and love you!