Halfway there!

We are officially halfway to R&R!  Technically today we have 48% left.  Things have gotten so much better for me the last week.  I've gotten into more of a routine and Ricky has been able to call just about everyday!  I am feeling very very very spoiled with all the contact from him.  We have so many fun things planned while he's home! But I can't share just yet, trying to store up all my excitement for a closer date :)

R&R

I have some excellent news everyone!  Ricky found out yesterday his R&R dates!  For those that don't know, R&R stands for rest and recovery.  And Ricky's group gets to have it during this deployment.  His R&R will be 15 full days, that does NOT include travel time.  It starts the day after he gets punched into the states.  For security reasons I can't just put the dates on here, but it is this fall sometime.  And I am super pumped!  Here is an updated DOM (if you don't remember what a DOM is read about it HERE.)

We already have several things we want to do in the 15 days, some wedding stuff including a couples shower, cake tasting, and new engagement pictures.  We will probably also go to Dallas to a Cowboys game because they happen to have a home game (that is if there is an NFL season ha).  I'm so excited!

The last few days have been really good, he has been able to call everyday for the last five days.  No Skype yet, but we are working on that.  But I'll take anything I can get.  I'm starting to have a lot more good days than bad and I am so thankful for that.  When I have a bad day, it's a really bad day.  On those days you just want to curl up and lay in bed with a box of kleenex.  But I don't do that of course, because that wouldn't be healthy for my emotions.  But thankfully I haven't felt that way in about a week.  My days seem managable.

So now that I officially have Ricky's dates, I'm in full weight loss mode.  Not that I haven't been trying, I've just been struggling.  I'll have a really good week then a not so good weekend and blow it all.  So I have got to be stricter on myself.

Donut of Misery

Happy Late Birthday to me!  Yesterday I turned the big 2-6! Shocking I know haha.  I had a pretty low-key day, went to work then had a wonderful dinner with some friends.  I had a big celebration a few weeks ago when Ricky was here :)  


Today I am here to talk about the Donut of Misery.  What the heck is that you may ask? It is essentially a countdown of a soldiers return.  But due to OPSEC rules (See rules here) this is a way I can share how long I have.  I'll be putting these up periodically, but I just wanted to introduce it to you.  

The darker color is what is complete and the light is the length we have to go.  There are TONS of military spouses and families out there that use these.  It's just something to physically show us how long or short we have to go.  As you can tell, we are just getting started.  It also changes based on return dates.  I have a temporary date on there and that's what the graph is based on.  

I want to be 100% honest on my blog here, mainly because I want to be able to look back and remember what I was going through at that certain moment in time.  So the last week has been tough, I was getting so used to him being here all the time and seeing him when I got to my apartment after work.  I do pretty good at holding it together during the day, but I've cried myself to sleep just about every night.  Just out of sheer loneliness and the overwhelming thought of how long I will have to go until I can see him again.  A lot of articles I've read about deployment say you really go through all of the stages of grief.  There is a really good article about it Here.  


But I know "this too shall pass" and "he'll be back before I know it" and "you will both be stronger".....it's just so hard.  


Anyways, enough of the sad post.  I'll put up more Donuts of Misery as time goes along.