365 days......

Today is our 365Th day of this deployment!!! One year...12 months...365days...53 weeks...8766 hours and 525948 minutes. Birthdays...Holidays...Going to school for the first time..Loosing Teeth. The list could go on for days. Ive said it before, no matter how hard I think that this deployment is on me, being a geographical single mudder, I couldn't do it on his end. At the end of the day I still get my "hug and kiss and SQUEEEEEZE' from my kids.
James and I have both grown so much as people this last year. The changes are really amazing.
In a recent email to his dad James wrote "It is a historic time and it is very rewarding to see the Iraqi government standing up. I think it was a great thing to see that journalist throw his shoe at President Bush. Not because I don’t like the President, but because it demonstrates the fact the he CAN do that. Eight or ten years ago, the man would have been shot on the spot and his family killed and tortured to death. Now, people can exercise their freedoms much greater." This one simple statement made this last year worth while. Not only because it shows the progress that has been made in Iraq but because of the progress that has been made with in James. I am unbelievably proud of him for seeing the positives in this difficult time. He gives so selflessly because being a soldier is who James is. I am also proud of my kids for being able to see the need for the American Soldier and being so proud of their daddy.

If your loved ones are close by then give them a tight hug and appreciate that our family is apart, so that yours can be together...and MOST days we don't resent it one little bit!! :)

It looks like we have just around 80 days ( not specifically...have to be a little discreet, right?) I am eager to have him home again so that this void can be filled by reuniting the four of us! We cant wait to be a family again!