AAANNNNDDDDD.....

He's home!!!!!!

Colin has officially been home a full week and I couldn't be happier for it! All my nerves went out the window the second he walked through Customs at the airport. If you've never experienced hugging the man you married after not seeing him for almost eight months, it's UNREAL. I'd say the first five or ten seconds it's a big strange, but it quickly comes back. The poor guy had been flying for 18 hours so he was pretty much dead to the world. I had my "welcoming committee" along with me, about 8 friends of ours who came out to welcome him back. It was all pretty overwhelming but in a good way. I think these guys sometimes feel under appreciated and perhaps forgotten after being gone so long. They lose touch with the world and as Colin said, it means the world to know you've been missed by so many people.

Me with his picture from church. Our church posts pictures of the deployed members, I was more than happy to take it down!

Love this one.

He must have been tired, we couldn't catch a picture of him with his eyes open!

The first few days were a little strange. I have no idea why I cleaned the house and thoroughly as I did. Before I knew it I had boots, flight gear, flight suits, BDU's, thermals, and a whole lot other sandy crap all over my floor! It's amazing to see what these guys have to carry with them. Then, yesterday his gorilla boxes, basically glorified rubbermaid trunks arrived. Of course I had finally cleaned up the first mess before the boxes exploded with all kinds of deployment fun. I will say Christmas arrived and I was very happy at the sight of that! Colin bought me a persian rug for our computer room and an Iraqi tea set. I wish we had room to display the tea set but I figure we probably will in our next house!

Colin kept telling Cheddar she was going to be shipped back to the states. Hence the facial expression?

Colin went straight back to work on Tuesday, since we didn't know when he'd be home we didn't have time to schedule leave and a vacation right after he got back. We enjoyed the weekend together and even took Oscar and Cheddar to Haputo Beach on Monday. The wonders of going to the beach while everybody else is at work/school. We had it to ourselves, what a gorgeous beach! The dogs of course had a grand time. They could barely lift their heads after we got home. 

So needless to say, it's been so nice to have him back. We don't "expect" another deployment for awhile but of course it's the Navy, it can ALWAYS change! So we'll enjoy the time we have together for now!

Caitlyn

The end is here...FINALLY.

These past seven months must have done something strange to me because today I thought I'd be frantically cleaning house, running errands and sprucing myself up to see my husband for the first time since last summer. Instead, I almost passed out in the Commissary this morning before going home, breaking down in tears and going to bed for the day. This would not be the first time I've come down with a bug before Colin has returned from a trip, I'm pretty sure stress and nerves are mostly to blame for this (so says my wise mother) but I spent much of the day upset as I could not sleep thinking about the mess my house was and that I would not be able to get a run in today. I get funny when I get stressed, often exercise is the first thing to drive my mind insane. Probably because it is the one thing that usually calms my mind in stressful situations.

Nonetheless I spent much of the day in bed hoping by some miracle I'd be better by tomorrow night. I was able to bake the cake I planned for Colin but my house has most certainly seen better days. At this point I figure a) the house certainly wasn't any cleaner when Colin left. b) Colin's a boy, boys don't notice a dirty trash can or unswept kitchen floor and c) Colin hasn't seen me in over seven months, I doubt he'll freak over my latest project (I made a necklace to wear to the airport tomorrow night) covering the kitchen table than his wife. At least I hope not. :)

I found out Colin was coming home less than two weeks ago. Normally we find these things out at least a month in advance so I've been a little uneasy trying to transition myself from the girl who eats cereal for dinner, goes to gym classes as a social outlet and talks to her dog as if she were a real person (although Cheddar certainly thinks she is) to the girl who married just over a year ago and has to start acting like a real wife again. Even though this is not our first deployment as a couple, it's our first as a married couple. The last time Colin came home, it was a week before our wedding and he was pretty much dumped into the pre-wedding/Christmas chaos of the Barker household (poor guy). So this will certainly be a little different but I know one thing, it won't be the last time.

Hopefully tomorrow will go by without any more breakdowns, fainting or worries. I figure I've shed enough tears over this long deployment to waste any more over silly things. Like a dusty bookshelf. I hope.

Also before I sign off, I checked my mile log (see right hand column) and it looks like I've just about made 250 miles since Colin left last summer. Since I didn't know when he was coming home I never set a goal but I can say I never thought I'd run that many. Maybe I'll keep that counter going to see how many I can run in a year?

Adios,
Caitlyn

Back to the Rock & still truckin'

I'm back in paradise! At least for the next four months! The trip back was painless, no major problems, we even managed to push through those crazy SoCal storms last week, whew!

I've quickly fallen into my daily routine, which these days isn't much. I find myself either running with the dog, at the gym, reading, or out with friends. That's pretty much what we do here! Back home it was easy to fill up a day with errands, shopping, time with family and so on. SO many places to go, so many things to do. Here in Guam, it's a chore just to go and get your tires rotated in town. What takes 20 minutes in the States takes at least 45 minutes here, or more. It's either 25 mph traffic & stoplights. Closed roads. Closed businesses (yes,very common) or a fabulous combination of both. It's the pace of life, what can I say? Which isn't necessarily a bad thing folks. Guam has taught me to slow down, take up things that interest me and appreciate the values of friends and family. And to answer your question, yes it took a full year to realize this.  I love being able to walk over to Julie's house and chat with her while we watch Tommy get into everything (he's approaching those terrible twos!). Bible Study and dessert with a small group of friends from church. Or lunch at this unbelievable crepe and tea restaurant with Abby and Kate. One of my favorites, a hike to Haputo beach with Katie and her giant dog June. Back home my days consisted of crazy work hours, volunteer commitments, church activities, all of which were in separate parts of the city. I would typically leave at 6:30am and not get home until 8:30pm. More often than not I wondered why I paid ridiculous rent for a place I barely saw. It was easy to get caught up in so many things that you lose appreciation for them. I still loved my life back home and the hustle and bustle but this opportunity in Guam has given me a new perspective. I used to think I wasn't "up to par" unless my Outlook was chock full of appointments (all color coded of course). There was something about feeling more validated as a human being when I could complain (or is it brag?) about how crazy my life was when deep down I was really just trying to keep up with the Joneses. 

I often compare Colin's 2008 deployment with his 2009-2010 deployment. We were dating in 2008, so I was in SoCal and he was floating around the Pacific on a ship for 9 full months. Plus the other 2 1/2 months he was in Guam. We were blessed with two 10 day opportunities for me to come out and visit him. A tough year but we learned more about life and each other than many dating couples learn in the life of their dating relationship. Round two has been a tad different. Colin's been playing in the sandbox since August 15th. This time we have not had the luxury to see each other. Something about the military preferring that dependents not hop a plane into Kuwait City or better, Bagdad. Seriously, what's their problem? [Smirk] Instead we have learned how to enjoy the first year of marriage 10,000 miles apart, both of us away from the comforts of home. We've been blessed to learn even more this time around (and might I add, I've learned many men are far less, shall we say "charming" when they're married to you versus still trying to woo you. I'm pretty sure it's a fact of life). We've had many more fights and arguments but we have also shared some great conversations and had the opportunity to write old fashioned letters. We both know that we'll survive these 8 months apart and will be so much STRONGER because of it. I couldn't be happier for having married my man, I'm proud of what he does and cannot wait to see his face in April after 8 crazy months apart. I am sure most military wives can agree we regularly fall asleep each night dreaming about the outfit we plan to wear when we pick our husbands up at the airport. So far, my outfit has changed five times. I expect another dozen changes or so. Tis' the simple things that keep me going.

I thought something was wrong...

Well it's been quite a week and I believe another "quite a week" is about to begin. It pretty much started with a meltdown in the Honolulu customs line today. The fact that my husband is gone for seven months culminated right there! I was doing so well all week with the distraction of having my parents in Guam but I think I remembered that Colin and I spent a small part of our honeymoon in Hawaii and it all came apart. :( I was wondering why I was handling our first deployment so well (I hadn't even cried once!) and I guess it was just due time for a good cry. As a result the whole airport got to see my teary eyed, tomato colored face as I tried to gain some composure and look like a normal human being again. To make it worse, I saw my friend Jack from church and I think he's probably assuming I'm nuts by now although a lady doing upside down yoga poses by baggage claim (no joke, I guess she doesn't like constricting plane travel much) passed me a tissue out of sympathy, what a gal.

So the folks and I are in Kona, Hawaii for the week. Our good friend Karen Martinez has loaned us her vacation home and I must say it's just beautiful. I hope I can get past some of my sad moments and enjoy the next few days on this gorgeous island, it would certainly be a waste not to!

Tough Goodbyes

Quick post as I'm waiting for my kitchen floor to dry! I said goodbye to my hubby last night as he boarded a plane for Kuwait. Funny, I was feeling pretty decent, not happy but decent as I headed home and joined my friends Andrea and Julie for wine and cookies. We chatted and ate, taking turns holding Andrea's baby. I decided that wine and cookies make everything better. In fact I was feeling pretty good until church when I got the first pang of sadness. I miss my man pretty bad right now, I hope he's arrived by now and getting settled. Here are some pictures from last night. I'll write more on everything later.

Mark saying goodbye to his boys.

The Klein Family (a very tearful Monica!

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