ringing in the new year with a deployment part 2

So here it is...my new year's resolution. No, not anything unrealistic or some goal that is just going to sit there all year until I make another one next year.

1. To take better care of myself. I could stand to lose a few pounds but that is not what I am talking about. The weight will eventually come off with my continued exercise and healthy eating which I have been doing for a while now but what I mean is this: to let things go..I don't mean everything, I just mean the little things. Getting angry or upset over things I cannot control is pointless. To be less judgmental: I need to learn that just because people don't do things the way I would do it doesn't mean it is wrong. To be a little more observant (more of a listener, less of a talker): I am pretty good at reading people but sometimes I confide or trust in people a little too much and it has backfired.
2. To be a better mother: I love my children with all my heart. They make my day. I need more patience and strength when they don't exactly act they way I think they should. It is my job to teach them and help them be successful in life.
3. To be a better wife: My husband and I have been together going on 8 years in our relationship. We have spent at least 2 years of that apart from each other. This goes back to all the things I said in number one and two. I need to apply those things to my relationship as well as too my life.
Now this is going to take time and I am sure I will make some mistakes along the way but with me turning 30 in the next couple of months..it is just time.

Ringing in the new year with a deployment

I cannot believe the last time that I wrote was when my husband was at JROTC and gone for a month. Well, now he is gone again for a year. He left in December and we are only about a month in. I have thought about so many things while he has been gone. I never thought of myself as someone that is defined by a man..I mean I have my own career (even though I am just subbing right now) and I am very independent. I can go out with the girls and have a good time. I can create and keep a routine with my children as well as just spend some great quality time with them. Why am I saying all of this?? Well, I am trying to find this confident, independent woman!! I have never missed anybody this much in my life! I am a mess and cannot seem to get out of this! I am trying but it is just so hard. I do think however there are some factors that are adding to this depression:
1. I am hundreds miles away from friends and family
2. It is constantly snowing in Alaska! It has already snowed over 6 feet and it is only December
3. There are only about 5 to 6 hours of sunlight a day and it isn't even sunlight..it is dusk.
4. I have been off work for 2 weeks due to Christmas vacation

So with all of this going on, I just feel lost and like I am just going through the motions right now. I really can't be like that because of my children and just my overall well being.

Finally starting to see the light

Well, here it is! Another month has almost past and I am finally starting to adjust to this new life as a soldier's wife! Right now, my husband is away at training and surprisingly, I have lost 12 lbs! I guess all that running around with two kids is paying off. There are still things that I dislike about Alaska:

It is August, 50 degrees and it rains every single day!!!! I mean every single day!!!

Road Construction is everywhere and it takes twice as long to get anywhere

Other than that, I guess I don't have much to complain about. We had Vacation Bible School this week and it was amazing to get out and have somewhere to go. I have another teaching interview this week...fingers crossed that I get the position. It is right on base and everything would be right there. I am not getting my hopes up...I didn't get the last three positions I interviewed for.

I am finally starting to meet people and make friends. It is nice to be able to hang out and make it to the gym every once in a while but the kids really keep me busy. It is already 8 and it is my son's bedtime so I better go.

Well, it has been about a month since I written. I wanted to give myself time to adjust to my surroundings. I realize at this point I am just going to have to make the best of the situation and wait out my time until we get new orders. In the meantime, I have decided to do my yearly Lemonade diet cleanse...why do you ask?

First of all, I do not have any false hopes about this cleanse. While losing weight is a benefit, I do it to clear out my system and reboot my digestive system. This is the 4th time I am doing this cleanse so I know what the expectations are at this point. Every time I have done the cleanse, I have lost about 20 lbs and combined that with reasonable eating and lots of exercise and not only am I able to keep it off but I actually keep losing weight. I didn't get to do the cleanse last year around this time because I had my daughter who is now a year.

I have always struggled with weight and have been on every "diet" you can think of. So now I am going to log my progress during this 10 day process...hopefully I can make it that long. I usually get to about 7 days and quit but I am feeling confident that I can focus and achieve my goal.

Day 1

I actually started with a juice cleansing for the first day to ease my body into it. I didn't particularly like it because it gave me a headache and I ended up eating a salad for lunch and giving into a scoop of vanilla ice cream (that is my weakness..ice cream), that night I did the tea and the next morning started with my salt water flush.

Day 2

Nothing happened until about mid morning. I like the lemonade so much better and was able to make it through the day without any food. No headache and I was not hungry. I probably only drank about 6 glasses of the lemonade but drank 2 liters of water on top of that. Ended the day with my tea.

Day 3

Woke up early. I am feeling energized and this morning as soon as I did my flush...I almost instantly had a flush. I am having a little cramping but I can already tell a difference in my body. Now you may be asking yourself how the results are so instant. Well, right now I am flushing any retained water out of my system and with it, it is clearing out my colon. I have tried the colothin pills and other things to cleanse but I always come back to this.

*See my main problem is food. I have a sweets addiction. I love desserts and ice cream is just something I cannot give up.

I do well with everything else, we drink skim milk, eat whole wheat only including pasta and eat a lot of turkey and chicken, vegetables and fruit.

I also work out a lot but I have an addiction to sweets. I know there are substitutes to having dessert but it just isnt the same.

Well, I will write to let you know my progress and final results. I should be done with the cleanse by the middle of next week.

Still trying to make it work

So, we are finally unpacked, set up and ready to start our life in Alaska. Then we are hit with some news..my husband is deploying and going to trainings. Over the next year and half, I will maybe see him for 3 months. Wow, this is amazing! I have moved all the way across the country to be with my husband and now he is leaving again. So what do we do?? Well, we make the best of it. I did it for nine months, I can do it again. Hopefully, it will make us stronger and not break us apart. Yes, a lot of you may be thinking..well this is what she signed up for..what is she complaining about? Well, just because we signed up for this, does not mean that it doesn't suck to be away from your husband, him missing time with your kids and you have be a single mom for a year.

Ok, so enough about this. Lets move on to the job situation. I have applied for the Anchorage School District and still waiting on a job. I have been on a few job interviews but no job yet. I am really hoping that I will have a job for the fall for this would be the first time since I was 16 that I did not have a job. I do have to say though that my house never looked cleaner and it is much easier to handle things when you are home during the day.

Here and still adjusting

Well, getting a job anywhere in education is possible when you arrive at the right time of the year...we arrived at the very end of the school year because the school year ends a week before Memorial day here....so still no job...I have not been without a job since I started working at 16. Even in the summers, I would work part time or do summer school...

Times have gotten rough and I do not mean financially. We have been very blessed in that department. I mean emotionally. This is where I become selfish for a few minutes and really just put on paper how I am feeling.

I love my husband and what he is doing for his country. I love my two children and do not know what I would do without them...but I AM NOT A STAY AT HOME MOM!! I do not know how people do it...I give them all the credit in the world because being a stay at home mom makes me lazy...Some people will not understand how I can say that but I am not. It is wrecking me...we only have one car at the moment and are waiting to get another one until I get a job. My kids have been in daycare since they were both 8 weeks old..my three year old is having withdraw. He misses playing with friends, being in class to learn his letters, numbers, shapes and just discover the world around him. Now I will say as an educator..I do all of that with my children but it is not the same when MOM is teaching him or when someone else is teaching him.

Also, I am a social butterfly. I love hanging out with friends and spending time with other people..I need some adult interaction!! It is hard to meet people...(my husband is the shy one and does not put himself out there in that way)...I feel very isolated.

Driving to Alaska from North Carolina...yea I said it!!

So the next year was a blur...my husband joined the military and we were apart for a good part of 8 months...my daughter was 6 weeks old when he left. Now it wasn't bad. I found and learned many things about my friends and myself over that time.

1. Our relationship grew stronger. We missed each other and it was like we were dating again~
2. We visited as much as we could...we probably saw each other every couple of months but when we could we talked, wrote and just got to know each other again.
3. I found out who my real friends were and who I could trust...
4. I really just grew from the experience and did a lot of growing up over that time...

Then, they told us where we would be going...I still remember the text...well, I hope you are ready for the cold because we are going to Alaska..at least Sasha (our Alaskan Malamute) will be excited...imagine the last place I ever thought I would end up is Alaska.
Well, then we decide something even crazier...we are going to have the animals fly by themselves on a plane..(I still owe my best friend so much for taking them in until their flight...that is for another time)
We (my husband, me, my three year old and my 10 month old) will drive from NC to AK..

Well, we made it..and it was an amazing experience. View was fantastic, met some interesting people along the way and even through the Yukon which is the worst road that I have ever driven on (and I lived in PA), it was an experience I would do again in a heartbeat.

A few suggestions:
Buy the milepost...it had some great suggestions and we really got to see some great attractions
Have time to take the trip...we were given 10 days to get there and we used every minute
Have patience...temper tantrums, fights and weird hotels will happen...
Stay openminded..different, does NOT mean bad!!
Watch out for the wildlife..goats, caribou, moose, bears..you name it we saw it and had to be very careful.

One month and still adjusting

There are many reasons I have decided to start a blog about moving to Alaska:

1. People who have never lived in Alaska have this bizarre, made up view of what Alaska is like..so I guess to squash some myths and put some truth out there about Alaska.

2. I went from being in charge of my life to becoming a military wife and sometimes I need to just vent.

3. I miss my work life and need something to do.

I want this blog to serve many purposes so lets start by saying...I am not here to offend or degrade in anyway. I just want a place to feel comfortable to write down my thoughts and sort out this new life I am adjusting too.

So here I am talking a little bit about myself and how I ended up in this situation. The only way to do that is to start from the beginning.

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. I decided that as a career I would pursue it in education...I went ahead and got my bachelor's degree in Elementary education and met my husband along the way. When the jobs fell short in PA, we relocated to North Carolina and that is where I would have to say...life really began.

I got a job, my husband found a job as a mechanic, we bought a house, had a boy, got pregnant again with my little girl and finished my Master's degree in Administration. I had great friends that I still think of as family and miss very dearly. At that point, my husband decided he wanted to join the military. They cut his pay, did not offer any benefits and he was working many hours with limited pay.

I was all for my husband joining the military. He needed a new career and this seemed great! He would be serving his country and doing something that he felt gave him purpose...I could find a job anywhere...I am a teacher..education is everywhere lets do this!