I survived!

Yes that's right, I survived the big game weekend in Morgantown!  Sadly, my Mountaineers did not win, but it was still a great weekend and there was lots of WVU pride to be found everywhere you looked.

I had Friday off but I took Kerriann to school and used the rest of the morning to work on an assignment that I forgot was due on Thursday evening (oops!)... after I turned it in I decided to head up to the Mountainlair green to check out the ESPN Gameday situation.

I was excited to see that there were a ton of people hanging around all ready, as well as a mini tent city of people camping out waiting for the broadcast on Saturday morning.

Poor Tiger...

I was so mad, because I JUST missed Erin Andrews!  I was chatting with these guys and right after I left she showed up and then wore his hat as she did a broadcast on ESPN!

There was a rumor that she was supposed to show up around 11, but after waiting for a good 20 minutes I had to leave to go get ready for lunch with a few of my good friends that were in from out of town.  I don't have any pictures, but it was so great seeing them and catching up!

After lunch, I picked Kerriann up from school and then we made the trip down to my mom's house.  Kerriann spent the weekend with my parents and from what I'm told she had a great time visiting!  She went out for breakfast with my dad both days and was able to spend lots of time exploring outdoors at both of their houses.

So Friday night I got back into Morgantown around 10pm and met up with a few of my girlfriends to go downtown.  It was really nice to see them, but going out is just not the same for me these days.  I just don't enjoy the loud music and smoky air anymore.  It was impossible to even talk and catch up so I bailed out early (even though early was still 1:30am!).  My cousin Chris and his friend came to my rescue and after a quick stop for a midnight snack and to say hello to Christiane and her friends, I was home and in bed so we could rest up for game day.

Saturday did not really go as I had planned, but I still had a decent time.  I went over to Christiane's around 1 and hung out there for the day.  I wanted to meet up with some friends but it just didn't happen.  Luckily I was able to meet up with one of my best friends from high school.

It was so great to see Chase and catch up... not only did we go to high school together, but we lived in the same dorm freshman year so we know a lot of the same people and it was hilarious to reminisce about the old days together.  He goes to law school in VA now so I don't get to see him nearly as much as I wish I could!

Around 7:30 we decided to head into the game... well... I didn't make it in... he had to go in through a different gate and I could NOT get in through my gate.  The line was so long and it didn't move for 30 minutes.  I finally gave up around 8:30 and walked back to Christiane's where I watched the game.

So, even though the weekend did not turn out exactly as I had planned, it was still a great weekend and I'm really looking forward to the homecoming game next weekend as well!

PS I can't end this post without a shout out to my awesome cousin Chris who stayed with me over the weekend...

When I came home from picking Kerriann up he had done the dishes AND he took out the trash!  Chris, you are welcome to stay at my house anytime... but I'm sure you already knew that! :)

The Mountaineer's Journey

This week has been a busy one for us.  I've finally started packing for the big move next week.  It's been hard to get motivated, and Kevin has been gone a lot which I think adds to my lack of motivation.  I decided that my plan of attack would be to pick a room and start with the easiest items, so I began to conquer our bedroom first.  The majority of the "stuff" in our room consists of clothing and books, so I began sorting through them and labeling boxes that should stay in storage until we get to our next house, and things that should be unpacked for use in Morgantown.

As I was sorting through the shelves of books, I came across a book that was a gift from a friend titled "The Mountaineer's Journey Through West Virginia."  I know I read it as soon as I received it, but I honestly couldn't remember exactly what it was about so I decided to open it up and take a peak.  The first page I happened to open it to was actually the last page of the story.  It read "Finally, the Mountaineer made it back to Morgantown and WVU's beautiful campus.  He was happy to be home!" and I couldn't help but think about my own journey.

It's crazy to think about how I left Morgantown so abruptly in 2008, not knowing what was in store for my life.  It all happened so fast that I really didn't have time to think about if I would ever be coming back.  Months later I know that I had moments of sadness when I thought about the fact that I would probably never hold the title of WVU Alum, even though I felt that I would always be a mountaineer at heart.

I continued to read... "As he rested comfortably in his bedroom, he thought about what a wonderful vacation it had been.  He was proud to be a West Virginian." This sentence also seemed to parallel my life. 

There is no denying that the past few years of my life have been wonderful, despite the ups and downs.  It has been a long road, but I AM proud to be a West Virginian and I cannot wait to take those country roads back to what I will always consider my home a week from today.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to live in both Alabama and Maryland for a period of time, and I wouldn't trade my experiences living out of state for anything.

The final lines of the book read "The Mountaineer was ready for another year of learning and cheering the Mountaineers to victory.  Holding a football, he thought, "Let's go Mountaineers!!!"

And as I read those lines I couldn't help but get excited for what the next year has in store for me.  As sad as I am to be saying goodbye to Kevin, I feel like our lives have led us to exactly where we are supposed to be.  Things have fallen into place and I know that this temporary separation is going to be beneficial to us both.  It will give me a chance to finish my degree, and it will give Kevin a chance to gain some very valuable experience that I know will help him reach his future career goals.  God has decided that this is the right path for our family, and I am trusting him and trying to view this deployment in a positive light.

So with this newfound peace I feel ready to start off where I left off as a WVU student and tackle 12 credit hours this fall.  Please continue to keep Kevin, Kerriann and me in your thoughts and prayers during our move next week and as we adjust to life in our new home.

Home Is Where the Army Sends Us

This morning while Facebooking around 6am (Kevin's alarm woke me up and Kerriann was still sleeping), I stumbled upon a photo that one of our friends from Ft. Rucker had been tagged in.  It was of a home decor item that said "Home Is Where The Army Sends Us" and listed Ft. Rucker and their current post below it.  I've seen similar signs before, and love the idea, just didn't think one would really work for us since Kevin is National Guard and we aren't required to move every three years like active duty military families.

Seeing this sign got me thinking of all of the places we have been and lived over the past three years.  It made me want to list them out here so I don't forget them someday.  Right now it's all so fresh in my mind, but I know it won't always be like that.  Hopefully we will be able to really settle down somewhere after this deployment, but I never want to forget what our lives were like during this time.

A few days before January 1, 2009, I moved to Baltimore to live with Kevin.  We originally thought we would be there at least until July (and that Kerriann would be born there), but the Army (and God!) had other plans for us.  Soon after I moved there, we found out that Kevin needed to report to Ft. Rucker, Alabama by April 1.  So I quit my amazing internship in the city, we packed up and headed south where we spent the next 19 months.  While we were living in Ft. Rucker we lived in two different houses.  The first was a rental that we found and moved into within two days of arriving, and the second was what I like to call our first "home."  We bought a beautiful house with a pool in the backyard which happened to overlook Shell Field.  We still own and rent this house.

In October of 2010 Kevin completed flight school, ending the chapter of our lives at Ft. Rucker.  It was hard leaving the place where Kerriann was born and where we made all of our memories of her first year, along with all of the friends we had made there, but that's the way Ft. Rucker is.  Everyone is only there for a short period of time.  When we left Ft. Rucker we did some traveling over the holidays to visit family, and then settled in with Kevin's Aunt Patty for a few months until we could figure out what our next move would be.

In February of 2011 we got word that Kevin would be up for his first deployment around the start of the next year.  We decided that the best move for our family would be for him to work with his unit to prepare and forego the civilian job search for the time being.  We moved to a beautiful little condo in Havre de Grace, Maryland.

And that brings us to where we are now.  After learning two weeks ago that Kevin will be deployed much, much sooner, we are gearing up for another move.  And going into this move I know that we will be moving again in another year when he returns.  But hopefully this will be our final move for awhile.  I am so ready to settle down and have a real family life.  I'm really looking forward to Kevin holding a civilian position with regular work hours and actually being able to spend time with Kerriann and me.  The past three years have been crazy, but I know that they have been necessary to get to the place where we want to be as a family.  And if I can just survive one more year I know all of the moves and this crazy on the go lifestyle will have been worth it.

Continue to keep us in your prayers as we pack up our lives here in Maryland and move back to West Virginia, the place where Kevin and I met and officially started this journey!