Deployment Life

It's been a little over 2 weeks since I've posted a blog, and with Bryan home I'll probably be posting more sporadically, but I'm going to keep blogging. The past 2 weeks have been fun, but exhausting. Reintegration is always a sketchy time. On the surface, it's fun. But underneath, it's stressful and confusing. I tried to limit our plans while Bryan was on his 2 week R&R, but somehow we ended up jam-packed with things to do. After Bryan got home, we spent some time getting him unpacked and doing a few home maintenance things that needed to be done (changed out some faucets and got the yard cleaned up, etc.). We spent a couple days in the gym together and a few more hanging out at the beach and crab island. The Capitals made it to the conference finals against Tampa, so we made a last second decision to drive to Tampa for a game. I mean, who knows when they'll get this close to the Stanley Cup again, right? We made the 6 hour drive and only st

He's back! Finally! 8 long months, and it's finally over. Until next time. But let's not talk about that now. Bryan came home on May 3rd after a good 24 hours of travel time from the Middle East. He's home for a solid 8 weeks and then he's off to Senior NCO Academy for 5 weeks in Alabama. At least he'll be driving distance away and not an 8 hour time difference. The days leading up to Bryan coming home are always hectic. I spent the days mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, bathing the dog, doing laundry, and cleaning the house and cars (well, someone came and cleaned the cars because I was just tapped out). The homecoming was really nice. We had over 160 deployers return so everyone came out to welcome them. We had USO volunteers handing out cookies, water, and American Flags. And a local brewery donated cases of beer! Since Bryan has been back, it's been hectic. He's got 2 weeks off from work for R&R and we're staying home (not travel