Since I have gotten home from Ireland, I have been busy busy busy. I had the drill weekend BBQ that another wife helped out with (Thank goodness). After that, I think life slowed down a little bit.
I was told before my trip to Ireland that the local recruiters were going to put on a car wash and all of the proceeds would go to the FRG. I thought it was going be something that I just show up to. Nope. Simon, this British guy who lives in billings ( of all places ) has donated his main car wash to the army for the day of June 4th. I guess he is the co-inventor to the touch less car wash. SGT James told me that this means he is a millionaire. ooo lala. anyway, he has released this to the media . . . the local newspaper, news stations and radio stations. I have made a flyer that he will be posting around town to get it out there even more. It's gotten bigger than I thought it would be, but that only means more money for the FRG to have to use towards the welcome home warrior ceremony and other activities we choose to do.
I think this simon guy will be a good guy to hook up with though. I walked in and he wanted to know a little bit about myself. I told him I was currently unemployed and his eyes got big and I could see the wheels in his head start turning. So, hopefully this is a stepping stone to something good. I can put my face out there for people to get to know me and recommend me for certain jobs. :-)
I'm starting to put my feelers out for a new place to live. The sooner I get into a new place, the sooner I can settle down and get ready for Brad to come home. He is ready to come home. We had our taste of married life for two weeks and realized how much we both missed it. I mean, we both knew we missed each other, but its the deciding what we want to do for dinner, enjoying a bottle of wine together, watching a movie and just hanging out. It's those small moments that I miss and am envious of those of you who have your husbands home. I've mentioned that before . . . I just have to know that my time will come. Sooner than we know it. :-)
So after this car wash on the June 4th, I have organized a Zumba morning on June 18th at the unit. After that, I start work with the doctors kids on the 22nd. Soon after, my parents will be out here for the 4th of July. Then Kaity and Kelsey Brough will be out here for a night on July 20th. Hopefully after THAT, Christine and the kids will come out for a visit. THEN, Nicole and her handsome son Malachi come out for the first week in August. Before I know it, it will be the end of August and time for Brad to pack up and leave Afghanistan to come home safe to me.
Here is to hoping that time goes by quickly!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Irelands Adventure in Ireland
We had a great trip. Absolutely nothing went wrong. Both of our flights TO Ireland went smoothly. The reunion that I was anticipating was perfect. He was the end of the corridor waiting for me, in my favorite jeans, army boots and amazing smile. We hugged and kissed, and hugged some more. It was awesome to be able to touch his face and hold his hand. The drive up to Belfast took an hour and a half, but I needed the time to just hold Brads hand and take in the moment. I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
People on the way TO Ireland were curious as to my reason for visiting. I shared my story "I haven't seen my Husband in 8 months because he's stationed in Afghanistan . . ." ya know, the usual. There was one couple impaticular who was rooting for me. They were real sweet. I was also very lucky to sit next to a very nice lady who was going BACK to Dublin (without her husband and kids) to visit family. She hadn't been back to visit in something like 10 years. I'm pretty sure she got to witness out wonderful reunion.
We stayed our first two nights I believe, at the McQuitions, who were nice enough to open their home to us. They live in Northern Ireland, in GreenIsland, which is maybe 10 miles outside of the city of Belfast. The first few nights on our own we stayed in Port Rush, which is a quaint seaside town. Lots of people were there because they were on "Holiday", aka vacation. Everyone got 2 weeks off of school for Easter.
We walked around, explored and had a wonderful time. Brad ate to his hearts content, lots of fish and chips. We happened to be wondering around Port Rush, the night before my birthday and met this nice old Irish man. He had shared with us that in about an hour, there is a bar just down the street that has live music and we should come and join him. We took him up on his offer and met up with this nice old man and his wife. The 'live' music he was talking about . . . the accordion. :) The mans wife started chatting with me and noticed my ring, then proceeded to announce to the other women in the bar how beautiful it is. Then out of no where, Brad announces that my birthday was in about 20 minutes. So 20 minutes passed and the accordion man busts out with the happy birthday tune and the entire bar sings happy birthday to me. Pretty awesome way to start my birthday!!
The next couple of days was spent between the town of bushmills and the giants causeway in a cute cottage. We had to cook for ourselves, so before Liz dropped us off, she took us to the nearest grocery store so we could get some dinner fixings. We spent my birthday at the cottages and had a very nice dinner, followed by a glass of wine while watching a beautiful sunset. Perfect!
The next day we walked down to the giants causeway where we wandered around and enjoyed the beauty with all of the other tourists.
We also walked into town, down a two mile path right next to the beach. Once we got into town, we did the Bushmills Whiskey Tour. It was pretty cool to see how it was made. At the end, you get a generous free taste of whiskey. This was my first true whiskey experience. I made quite the face. lol. It was pretty nasty. When we were done, we walked into the gift shop, where we personalized a bottle of whiskey with "Mr. and Mrs. Brad Ireland. May 5th, 2011". This was Brads birthday present! :) We were walking back into town to find a cab to go back to the cottage when we walked into this bar, the sportsman, to get a quick drink. We ended up staying till about 7, sitting and talking to the bartender ( brad thought the bartender thought my American accent was very charming), so he (the bartender) gave me a few free tastes of whiskey with some other mixers with made it much better. He also gave me a bushmills glass, for trying all of his concoctions.
We left our cottage the next morning and that afternoon Don and Ferol, along with their friends Anna and Larry Martin, showed up for a quick visit. We spent the next day with them and they left the following morning.
We stayed the rest of our time with the McQuistons.
Rewind, the day we spent with Don and Ferol, we took a tour of the local castle in downtown greenisland. It was there that a crush was born. Our other family friends, who live next door to the McQuistons, are the Thomsons. Jim and Samantha and their two kids Adam and Pheobe. Adam is 5 and Pheobe is 2. Adam developed a crush on me on Brads birthday. We were walking around belfast and Adam wouldn't leave my side. Then after Don and Ferol left, Brad and I spent some time over and Jim and Samanthas. Brad and I were sitting on one couch and adam was sitting on the other. Brad had gotten up for some reason, and Adam took this opportunity to sneak over and snuggle in right next to me. He took Brads spot. Adam didn't leave till it was time for bed. It was the sweetest thing. :) Better watch out Brad, you have some competition.
Brad and I have started a tradition of every place we go, every trip we have, we have a date night. This date night was at a very nice restaurant in downtown belfast. We had our nice date and then walked around to different bars around the area to experience night life. Now, it wouldn't be in true Ireland tradition if we weren't caught in the rain at one point. It just happened to be date night, in a dress and heels . . . with no jacket. it had a good attitude about it and had a blast . . soaking wet. Needless to say, I was happy to get into dry warm clothes when we got back to the house.
Our last Sunday together, we went to the church down the street. Tom and Liz have a daughter, Niamph, pronounced N-eve. She has many friends at church that she told about us coming to visit. One girlfriend impaticular, "I LOVE AMERICAN ACCENTS!" and told us many times . . . I felt like we were celebrities at church. I was a hit with the guys at bars and Brad was a hit with the ladies at church. lol. They were googly eyed for Brad.
We had beautiful weather for 3/4 of our visit. Funny enough, the time Don and Ferol were here, it rained and the day they left, beautiful weather returned. They brought Washington weather. It was a fabulous vacation.
The hardest part was leaving Brad. I'm sick of having to say good-bye, to the person who you love the most, but you do it because you have to. I had no other choice. We have just about 4 months till Brad is home. 4 months is do-able. The long haul is over. In the meantime, I have event to look forward to. Drill weekends and doing FRG stuff. My parents are coming out for the 4th of july. Kaity and Kelsey will be in town for a night while driving to the cabin. Christine and the kids will come in July as well. The 1st week of August, my very dear friend Nicole and her handsome son Malachi will spend a week with me. Brad 'should' leave bagram around the 25th of August and home by the 5th of September.
I'll be working this summer for a family with two beautiful children, Lily and Cole. So hopefully this time will go by quickly.
My heart anniversary is coming up soon, May 18th. It's amazing what I went through at such a young age and how it has impacted me. My life will never be the same. I had some pretty amazing experiences im my life, most of them because of Brad. But I'm so thankful for all of the memories made and the wonderful ones to come.
On my way back home to Billings, I had a long but much needed lay-over in Seattle. I spent most of the day with my wonderful mother. I had coffee with Kelsey and a nice visit with Judy, kaity and Peter.
From start to finish it was a fabulous trip. I wouldn't have changed a simple thing about it.
Here is to hoping the next 4 months will go by quickly.
People on the way TO Ireland were curious as to my reason for visiting. I shared my story "I haven't seen my Husband in 8 months because he's stationed in Afghanistan . . ." ya know, the usual. There was one couple impaticular who was rooting for me. They were real sweet. I was also very lucky to sit next to a very nice lady who was going BACK to Dublin (without her husband and kids) to visit family. She hadn't been back to visit in something like 10 years. I'm pretty sure she got to witness out wonderful reunion.
We stayed our first two nights I believe, at the McQuitions, who were nice enough to open their home to us. They live in Northern Ireland, in GreenIsland, which is maybe 10 miles outside of the city of Belfast. The first few nights on our own we stayed in Port Rush, which is a quaint seaside town. Lots of people were there because they were on "Holiday", aka vacation. Everyone got 2 weeks off of school for Easter.
We walked around, explored and had a wonderful time. Brad ate to his hearts content, lots of fish and chips. We happened to be wondering around Port Rush, the night before my birthday and met this nice old Irish man. He had shared with us that in about an hour, there is a bar just down the street that has live music and we should come and join him. We took him up on his offer and met up with this nice old man and his wife. The 'live' music he was talking about . . . the accordion. :) The mans wife started chatting with me and noticed my ring, then proceeded to announce to the other women in the bar how beautiful it is. Then out of no where, Brad announces that my birthday was in about 20 minutes. So 20 minutes passed and the accordion man busts out with the happy birthday tune and the entire bar sings happy birthday to me. Pretty awesome way to start my birthday!!
The next couple of days was spent between the town of bushmills and the giants causeway in a cute cottage. We had to cook for ourselves, so before Liz dropped us off, she took us to the nearest grocery store so we could get some dinner fixings. We spent my birthday at the cottages and had a very nice dinner, followed by a glass of wine while watching a beautiful sunset. Perfect!
The next day we walked down to the giants causeway where we wandered around and enjoyed the beauty with all of the other tourists.
We also walked into town, down a two mile path right next to the beach. Once we got into town, we did the Bushmills Whiskey Tour. It was pretty cool to see how it was made. At the end, you get a generous free taste of whiskey. This was my first true whiskey experience. I made quite the face. lol. It was pretty nasty. When we were done, we walked into the gift shop, where we personalized a bottle of whiskey with "Mr. and Mrs. Brad Ireland. May 5th, 2011". This was Brads birthday present! :) We were walking back into town to find a cab to go back to the cottage when we walked into this bar, the sportsman, to get a quick drink. We ended up staying till about 7, sitting and talking to the bartender ( brad thought the bartender thought my American accent was very charming), so he (the bartender) gave me a few free tastes of whiskey with some other mixers with made it much better. He also gave me a bushmills glass, for trying all of his concoctions.
We left our cottage the next morning and that afternoon Don and Ferol, along with their friends Anna and Larry Martin, showed up for a quick visit. We spent the next day with them and they left the following morning.
We stayed the rest of our time with the McQuistons.
Rewind, the day we spent with Don and Ferol, we took a tour of the local castle in downtown greenisland. It was there that a crush was born. Our other family friends, who live next door to the McQuistons, are the Thomsons. Jim and Samantha and their two kids Adam and Pheobe. Adam is 5 and Pheobe is 2. Adam developed a crush on me on Brads birthday. We were walking around belfast and Adam wouldn't leave my side. Then after Don and Ferol left, Brad and I spent some time over and Jim and Samanthas. Brad and I were sitting on one couch and adam was sitting on the other. Brad had gotten up for some reason, and Adam took this opportunity to sneak over and snuggle in right next to me. He took Brads spot. Adam didn't leave till it was time for bed. It was the sweetest thing. :) Better watch out Brad, you have some competition.
Brad and I have started a tradition of every place we go, every trip we have, we have a date night. This date night was at a very nice restaurant in downtown belfast. We had our nice date and then walked around to different bars around the area to experience night life. Now, it wouldn't be in true Ireland tradition if we weren't caught in the rain at one point. It just happened to be date night, in a dress and heels . . . with no jacket. it had a good attitude about it and had a blast . . soaking wet. Needless to say, I was happy to get into dry warm clothes when we got back to the house.
Our last Sunday together, we went to the church down the street. Tom and Liz have a daughter, Niamph, pronounced N-eve. She has many friends at church that she told about us coming to visit. One girlfriend impaticular, "I LOVE AMERICAN ACCENTS!" and told us many times . . . I felt like we were celebrities at church. I was a hit with the guys at bars and Brad was a hit with the ladies at church. lol. They were googly eyed for Brad.
We had beautiful weather for 3/4 of our visit. Funny enough, the time Don and Ferol were here, it rained and the day they left, beautiful weather returned. They brought Washington weather. It was a fabulous vacation.
The hardest part was leaving Brad. I'm sick of having to say good-bye, to the person who you love the most, but you do it because you have to. I had no other choice. We have just about 4 months till Brad is home. 4 months is do-able. The long haul is over. In the meantime, I have event to look forward to. Drill weekends and doing FRG stuff. My parents are coming out for the 4th of july. Kaity and Kelsey will be in town for a night while driving to the cabin. Christine and the kids will come in July as well. The 1st week of August, my very dear friend Nicole and her handsome son Malachi will spend a week with me. Brad 'should' leave bagram around the 25th of August and home by the 5th of September.
I'll be working this summer for a family with two beautiful children, Lily and Cole. So hopefully this time will go by quickly.
My heart anniversary is coming up soon, May 18th. It's amazing what I went through at such a young age and how it has impacted me. My life will never be the same. I had some pretty amazing experiences im my life, most of them because of Brad. But I'm so thankful for all of the memories made and the wonderful ones to come.
On my way back home to Billings, I had a long but much needed lay-over in Seattle. I spent most of the day with my wonderful mother. I had coffee with Kelsey and a nice visit with Judy, kaity and Peter.
From start to finish it was a fabulous trip. I wouldn't have changed a simple thing about it.
Here is to hoping the next 4 months will go by quickly.
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