Time to catch up

Gosh, we haven't done a good job keeping this up since we've been back stateside :(

Well here's a recap of November 2009 to June 2010

November: we spent most of this month traveling to see family while John was still on leave. We had the chance to spend over a week total with the Haines' family. One trip was to Myrtle Beach to see all of John's cousins and Aunts for the family Thanksgiving, and the other was to Hilton Head to see Dad and Sally. In Myrtle Beach, we took Ranger to the beach, where he had a TON of fun chasing birds. We also got to be with Connie and Jason when they got engaged before he deployed to Iraq. Hilton Head was nice to be with Dad and Sal. Ranger had too much fun on the beach, he became our Salty Dog that weekend. Sal fell in love with her new fur grand baby, Ranger.

December: John went on the "trail" as a turtle and LOVED it! I got a job with Aflac's WWHQ and just loved the job!! We ended up spending Christmas together alone at home. I made my first Christmas dinner. Thankfully the only thing that sucked was the crab stuffed mushrooms. Apparently I did something that Rachael Ray didn't explain on her show. I mean I followed the directions, but they were just terrible. Dad gave us a Wii, so John got the new Mario Brothers game for Christmas and I think we spent three whole days playing that game. We also got a new puppy, her name is Sophie. Poor thing almost died on us the day after we adopted her. No worries ... that terror is in perfect health now :) She's a boxer mix ... I think the mix is demon ... but she's now roughly 6 months old and 50 lbs!! I'm worried what we're in for :(

January: We spent New Years Eve at our neighbors house (Espie and V) and had sooo much fun! They've turned into long time friends. Mom also got to come down for my birthday. Too bad it rained the whole weekend.

February: We got our first official snow in Columbus. Took the pups out ... Sophie hated it. She's too prissy for snow. We spent John's birthday togeher, followed by Valentine's Day just before he had to leave for BNCOC. Then rest of February was spent working hard and missing John.

March: Mom came down and I put her butt to work planting new shrubs and flowers :) I also visited Tony & Katrin in Huntsville, AL. Had a great time seeing them ... but I was sicker than ever. I always end up sick around them.

April: I flew up to Virginia to visit John for Easter and we had a blast!! We went fishing and flipped a canoe. Not funny at the time ... but pretty funny afterwards. We went to Bush Gardens and rode all kinds of scary roller coasters. My favorite was the Alpengeist. We spent time with his "extended family" the Pecks. And we visited Yorktown and Williamsburg. We decided to plan a vacation to follow history one day. Starting at Jamestown and following everything through the Revolutionary war.

May: Well May was a roller coaster. I lost my job with Aflac at the end of April, and got a new job with Greystone Properties as a leasing consultant. Spent the month getting ready for John to come home. Bought paint for him to paint our home with. We ended up hating one of the colors. We had a visit from our friends Tony & Katrin on Memorial Day weekend. Had a BBQ. And prepared for John to leave again :(

June: We had just a few days toghether before John left for Drill Sergeant School. Most of this time was spent getting ready, he had a HUGE packing list of Army crap to bring! We said goodbye - or really see you soon - the night before our 1 year anniversary. Tears on my part were included. He laughed at me. It's usual.

Now I've got the challenge of a huge to do list before John gets home.