Sardinia photos

 A couple of weeks after Nathan left I went on the first of hopefully many trips to occupy my time and keep my mind off of him not being here. I went to Sardinia, an island off of Italy, more specifically to the city of Alghero. Here are some of the photos of our trip. 

It was honestly the most amazing trip for a bunch of wives trying to keep their minds off of things- all we did the whole time we were there was relax on the patio apartment that we rented, eat amazing food that we prepared ourselves,  walk around the city and spend time on the beach. I most definitely plan to go back when Nathan comes home to go sight seeing and to explore a cave system right on the coast.

Behind

So I am going to admit this once and for all: I am not the best blogger by any means! I always have the greatest of intentions of writing a great blog, but these intentions usually come at about 1 AM and then when I wake up they are gone. I was and still am trying to load a bunch of pictures, I have some from Belgium, Sardinia and London to share. However, the internet at the new house is very slow even on a good day and the connection keeps timing out. If I am unsuccessful today I will got to post tomorrow and try again there.

A little update in our lives: Nathan has been gone now about a month and a half, the time has gone by fairly fast so far, hopefully it continues. We are finally able to plan a formal wedding ceremony, it will be in Aug. in Colorado.  I am officially volunteering with the hospital in the PACU 3-4 days a week right now and loving every minute of it. I find taking care of soldiers and their families, especially wounded soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan very rewarding.

Nathan in mind

I have some amazing photos from Sardinia, as soon as I am done playing with the photoshop on them I will post them, I promise. In the meantime I wanted to say a quick word (this is a play on a Hallmark card, I have changed it some):

To Nathan:
I miss you and love you. No matter how many times I say it, yell it and barely mumble it in my tears it doesn't change the fact that you've got a job to do. Even if I yelled if from the roof of the pentagon, you still wouldn't be sent home to me (actually if I did yell from the roof of the pentagon they probably would send you home to deal with that crazy woman you left behind). So I guess I just have to get used to it. The person I love, the person I admire, the wonderful, amazing soldier that I adore with all of my heart is away on business. It may take me a while to get used to it, actually hasn't been that bad yet, still early though. As I am dealing with you having a job I wish and pray that you stay safe and be careful.
Katie
Sorry for the gushy letter, I just wanted to share my mind thought as of recent.

Proud to be an American

I am proud to be an American. I am sure that we have all said this, but have you really given thought to what it means to make this statement?
While Nathan was preparing to deploy we talked a lot about the support that we were feeling from our family and friends. We could not ask for a better support system of our family and friends, we know we can make it through this time of him being gone with all of our family and friends behind us. However, when we were in the states before we left last summer, and even some here, when we would talk about Afghanistan we would hear people talking about it like there were no Americans there, like they had forgotten that it is still a war zone. We would also hear from people who are so against our President or against war that they did not support our soldiers wherever they may be deployed to. It was one of these remarks that made me start writing this post today. I wish I could show every one of those people the sacrifices that our men and women are making, not because they want to but because it is what was asked of them. And to remind those people that the reason that they have the freedom to make such remarks was because of the ultimate sacrifice that soldiers made for our country. I really do not care about what people think about the war or the President or any politics for that matter I just ask that people remember that there are still soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, remember Afghanistan is still considered a war zone, that soldiers are still dying in Iraq although its no longer deemed a war zone, and remember who protects your freedoms. 
I am proud of my soldier. I am proud of the Army. I am proud of all the American military forces. I am proud to fly the flag. I am proud to put my hand over my heart for the National Anthem. I am proud to be an American.

Not wanting to blog

I have to admit that the last couple of weeks I have not wanted to blog, I have not wanted to journal, I have not wanted to do anything except spend the little precious time I had left with him and then this week trying to keep myself busy so my mind wouldn't turn to him. Somehow whenever I tried to sit down to blog or to journal I immediately felt that I was either wasting time that I could have had with him or this week my mind immediately went to him. I have done well this week to stay busy, so busy as a matter of fact that I have not unpacked a single box this week, which I really need to do. I have surrounded myself with amazing women who are going through the same experience I am. On Monday, Valentine's Day, we gathered and had a potluck. We all understand that we have entered this time in our lives where we take the phone to the bathroom, because heaven forbid he should call while nature calls, and we leave our dinner conversation when our phone leaves. We do not mind that conversations are just stopped short if the phone rings, we all understand that we want that minute phone call saying that they are all doing ok.
If you are looking for more travel pictures I will be going to Sardinia soon and London not too long afterwards. I am sure that I will return with some awesome pictures for everyone to see. I promise I will get back to blogging on a regular basis and promise more amazing travel photos and stories.

Wish I had a time machine

With deployment quickly approaching (I cannot say when but I can tell you it is very soon) we have been busy trying to make sure we are ready for a year apart. We are most of the way through our list, thank goodness. To add to the stress of preparing for the deployment we were able to start moving out of our dreaded apartment last week into the house, hooray! After I find my camera amongst all of the boxes I will take some pictures and post. We are both very excited to finally be moving in, we love the new place. To add even more chaos to our lives the girl scout cookies were delayed, apparently a barge was over turned in the river that our cookies needed to come down delaying them for almost a week.. So I am sad to say that we are still selling cookies, I am hoping to be done within the next week. So as I sit here and wonder where all of our time has gone this week I wish I had a time machine to go back, slow down and spend more time with Nathan before his departure. It kills me every time I have to leave for a cookie booth sale or to go meet someone for the house, I wish I could pull out my machine slow down the time we have together. I have come to cherish each minute we have together, I hope he knows how much I am going to truly miss him.
P.S.- If anybody has any care package ideas please forward me your ideas. I have some ideas but feel I have been lacking creativity lately. Also, it is free for me to ship to Nathan from here, so if anyone would like me to send him something let me know.

My new love- Italy

Last weekend since Nathan had a long weekend so we went to Venice, Italy. What a wonderful city! It is unlike any other city in the world. The city has no roads, there is one road leading in and a parking garage at the end of the road, the rest of the time you make your way either on foot, a gondola (which are incredibly expensive), or the city bus system (large boats). The city was greatly influenced by its artists, so there is more art to see in the city than anyone could imagine, it was magnificent. We also visited a couple of palaces, the glass making island of Murano right beside the city, ate some incredible food, visited some awesome markets, took in the traditional venetian carnival masks, etc. There was so much to do, yet in 2 days we felt like we knocked out the city. The city itself is really not very big making it very easy to do lots in 1 day. If you plan your trip to Venice correctly I would say plan on not more than 2 days there, then move to the mainland and explore the rest of Italy, which is on my list to do.