Married to the Military

Well, I married this guy 4 years ago :) Below is a picture from the day we got engaged. I had NO idea what I was getting into, but am sure glad I decided to accept the proposal!


Here's part of Matt's e-mail to me today. It pretty much wraps up our life in the last 4 years.
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Hey babe --

Happy anniversary! Four years! In some ways it seems like yesterday, in others it feels like it was decades ago. I guess time is weird like that. We have done a lot of things in the past four years...it's pretty incredible when you look back on all of them. 4 years ago you were working at Deere and I was getting ready for LDAC (Leadership Development and Assessment Course) that summer. You moved us while I was at LDAC and I came home to our awesome little apartment in Huxley. I finished up my last semester of school, branched MS (Medical Service Corps), and became a gold bar recruiter. I also had my flight physical denied, then later approved so I could put in my flight packet. I went off to BOLC (Basic Officer Leaders Course) just before our 1 year anniversary and spent the spring/summer traveling while you stayed back.

We met up again to go to Rucker. We got Chaz, and then I went to SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape), and you went to Iowa. Then we built a book shelf and for Christmas we went to Iowa together and bought Kaeda. We came back south and went to the bowl game that year with both families and both dogs. Then you got pregnant. We spent our second anniversary with no champagne and I was just starting to fly. Later that year I finished BWS (Basic Warfighting Skills) and started on SERE detail. While on SERE detail Joella came along. A few weeks later I started flying blackhawks, and then we went home for Christmas with a little thing and two dogs.

Not too much later we had our third anniversary, I was graduating flight school and we were moving to Ft. Hood. We lived in a hotel for a while. Then we found a home and barely got it. I worked long days and then we went back to Iowa for leave. A week or so later I cried when I said good bye to you and Joella as I deployed to Afghanistan. You sent me a lot of boxes, managed ticket sales, and I flew every once in a while. We thought I was coming back in October for leave but instead I got a new platoon leader. Then I came home on leave in January as you were starting up your business(es). Then we went to colorado together with my family. After that we were in CF and hung out with friends, went snow shoeing, and cross country skiing. Then we said good bye again and again I cried. Now I'm back here and you're back there and we're celebrating our 4th anniversary apart, the second time...
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Wow, I read the book Married to the Military a few years ago, but I sure hadn't put it in this perspective before. I wouldn't change it though - we signed up for this life and are doing the best to live it fully. Love this guy, and love the relationship that we have :) Separation and deployment have just made it stronger so far!