At Home with Heather

Ok, I can tell this story, now that I have told Sam. So the other day while I was driving home from grocery shopping I got pulled over. About 8 months ago, Sam got pulled over at almost the same spot. I should have known, it is a speed trap. The speed limit changes from 45 to 35. So I get clocked going 50. I see the blue lights and the cop motions me to pull into the nearest open parking lot. So, I pull over. He asked for license and registration. I hand them to him. He then tells me to get out of my car and sit in the passenger seat of his car while he writes me a ticket. A bit odd, per say??? I don't quite understand why that happened. He was chatting it up as he wrote me the ticket. I answered his questions politely because he is authority, but I did not "chat it up." I felt very uncomfortable the whole time. I find it odd because they have cameras outside of their vehicles, so if he thought I was going to run, (which come on, do I look like the type that would run???) he would have no worries, he has all my info right there-in his camera...anyway, I thought this was odd. Is this standard procedure??? I am confident I could have gotten out of the ticket, but I didn't really feel comfortable trying to talk my way out of it.

Has this ever happened to anyone else??? Maybe you all are exceptional drivers that never speed. Anyway, I thought this was odd and I was wondering if anyone knows of this happening before....

Well it has officially been over 5 months that Sam has not lived at home. First, that seems crazy to me. Next, people have told me from the beginning that it would get easier. They were wrong.
Each day carries new challenges. Whether it's trying to fix a crazy problem, I know nothing about, or not hearing from Sam for several days.
Recently, it has been a bit difficult because we have not been able to communicate as much as I would like. It's hard not hearing from Sam because our entire relationship is communication. They have him running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I have been working a lot and we have to deal with an 8 hour time difference, so it is really no one's fault, but it is difficult none-the-less.
I can't tell you how many people tell me we have the ideal relationship. "He pays the bills, but you never have to see him." I am always insulted when people say they wish they were in my situation. It really is sad to me, that people do not put enough effort into their marriages to make their relationship work and happy.
I know that both Sam and I have been through our own battles in the time we have been a part. I feel that is has gone smoothly for the most part. But missing him is missing him, it doesn't get easier or less painful with time, I promise. I know we have both learned a lot, especially me it seems, and somehow I know that all this is suppose to happen, but I will be happy when it ends.

Honestly, sometimes I get so jealous of couples who have not had to spend significant time a part. It seems so unfair sometimes, but it's in those times when you feel like you can't control a situation that you really have to trust God.

Every relationship I have had in my life has been, or turned into a long-distance relationship. It's almost like God was preparing me all these years to endure the pain of being a part from the person I would love the most, my husband.

The thing that has made this bearable is A. Sam's constant effort at connecting with me in emails or cards or phone calls. And B. having people that care about us and make an effort to connect as well.

I am so thankful and lucky to have so many loving people around me in this time. Sam doesn't really have that. So please keep him and us in your prayers. Really if we didn't have God to depend on I'm not sure how we would make it through this.

All this to say, thank you all for being there for us and also never take advantage of the fact that you have your loved ones near. Give the people you love an extra hug today or a "thanks for being so great." Having people you love around you is the best gift ever.

On Monday night I went over to my in-laws house to help decorate the Christmas tree. I was really excited about it, because honestly it has been YEARS since I have decorated a tree. Ever since my mom passed away, Christmas has been kinda hard for my family. She always made Christmas amazing and it was hard to be motivated to take her shoes in the Christmas cheer. For years I have looked forward to being married and having a family of my own to start Christmas traditions with. The Chapins got a beautiful tree and all of us girls had a GREAT time decorating it. After the tree was decorated Rachel and I went on a "hot chocolate run" because you have to drink hot chocolate and listen to Christmas music while decorating a tree. =) We also started to get motivated to make cookies, but we didn't quite make it because it had gotten so late. I had many other pictures I wanted to post, but they were either blurry or the lighting was wrong. I can't say I am talented like BA AT ALL when it comes to photos!!!!!
I have a small tree I am going to decorate so look for that post too!
I can't WAIT to have Sam home to do Christmas together, but I am happy and thankful for the friends and family around me that have made this time a part from him so much easier. Thanks and love to all! =)

This year Thanksgiving took place at "our" house. Minus a few members of the family, my dear other half, Sam, my brother Sean and my brother in law-Eric, they had to work. =(
So it was just me, my sister-Katie, my brother-Brandon, my nephew-Adien and my dad. We still had fun even though so many people were missing from our family.
Sam bought me a new camera so we took lots of pics, but the lighting didn't really turn out on a lot of them. And there is also a pic of our semi-Thanksgiving dinner-the table wasn't totally set. We did have the traditional Thanksgiving meal though-minus the cranberry sauce. For some reason we never did cranberry sauce in our family. =) And I have to admit-my dad did most of the cooking.

I am really looking forward to next year when Sam will be home for the holidays. Believe me I would have never thought at Thanksgiving last year that I would be married to the love of my life, but he would be away at war! It's really crazy when I start thinking about it.

It was fun to have Thanksgiving at our house for the first time, but I am really looking forward to next year when the whole crew will be present and I will be able to spend Thanksgiving for the first time with my husband.

So, I realized I have not given a "marathon training" update. Here we go:
Since the weather has gotten so cold, I have to admit I am slacking. It is so great to just go outside and run and let your mind wander-that is a lot harder to do on a treadmill that is counting calories and distance. And with working two jobs, sometimes it is hard to fit in the time to run 8 miles.
Nonetheless, I am still determined to train and hopefully after this crazy Thanksgiving week I can get back on schedule.
While I was in WV, the kids mom got me a week pass to her gym and also a private pilates lesson. She is the one that got me into yoga too. So, I had an hour long "lesson" in pilates-which is very similar to yoga, yet very different in many ways. The girl giving the lesson, also named Heather, gave me a physical assessment. She said yoga has helped a lot with my flexibility, so I am very flexible, but she also I noticed I had a "runner's body." She said I had very strong outer thighs but very weak inner thighs and that contributed to my knee problem-whenever I bend my knees they make a *beautiful* cracking sound. So she gave me all these tips on how to strengthen my inner thighs and give my knees more support. She also noticed that my left elbow-hyper-extended and asked if I have ever injured anything. Well I broke my left wrist when I was 11, and she also told me how to fix that. It was really cool. I know how I can strengthen the weak parts of my body and how to adjust so that I can continue running for a long time.
I was able to run a lot this week at the gym. Needless to say I am looking forward to the cold weather leaving and the warm weather coming back. Outdoor running is SOOO much better! Hopefully the next time I give an update it will be to report I ran 10 miles straight without stopping in record time! ;)

It's time I wrote a new post too. =) Sorry, to say I do not have any pics either!

I am in West Virgina visiting the family I nannied for in Charlotte. They moved here about 6 months ago because their oldest daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia. Their family is here and the hospital here treats many children with the same condition. She is actually doing really well and has grown two inches of her hair back. They also have two rambunctious boys, who I also love. I was with the youngest when he was 3 months old. He's kinda my baby. We have a special bond and I have missed him so much since they have left. Now he is 2 1/2 and he can say my name and speak in full sentences and he is crazier than ever! I love it. I have had so much fun with the kids.

They are all sooo smart too. The oldest is 6 (She doesn't want their names exploited on the internet=) She is homeschooled for now, but she has a 4th grade reading level. It is insane. "The baby" knows all his sounds, letters, colors and numbers. I am not joking. I've witnessed it with my own eyes. Both of their parents were #1 in their class though, so I'm sure some of that brain power was passed on. =)

Well, since the kids don't go to school now, they sleep in, so this has been like a vacation for me. Sleeping in, hanging out, having fun. Whoo hoo!!! I am going to be sad when I have to leave them on Friday.

This week has gone by sooo fast, actually this whole month has. I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving next week and then Christmas is just around the corner. I was telling Sam though, that things may go pretty slow after that, because I will just be counting down the days until March when he gets to come home on his R&R. It just seems so strange we are living such different lives right now and then he'll be home and everything will be "back to normal." I think it will be way more of an adjustment for him than for me. I will just come home or wake up and he'll be there. I'll be living in the same place, doing basically the same thing, but he will be by my side. He will have to change everything, but from what I can tell it will be a much better, positive change. =)

Anyway, I have gone off on a tangent. Hope everyone is great! =)

About four days ago our computer monitor decided to give it's last "breath" and go out on me. So Sam spent some time researching monitors. He found one on Circuitcity.com, ordered it and said all I had to do was pick it up from the store. If only it would have been that easy...
I arrived at Circuit City to find they had no record of the order and had no idea what I was talking about. At this point I could not call Sam on his phone for various reasons, so I had to wait for his phone call to explain what was going on. Also, I could not email him for the information I needed because we did not have a computer monitor.

Sam called me later on in the day to tell me he had a confirmation number and they would be waiting on me at Circuit City to give me my monitor. Yeah, wish that would have happened too. They couldn't track the order and because the emails didn't match on the order and the credit card. They were telling me my credit card was reported as "fraudulent." Wow. I don't deal with these things very well and I hate to say it, but I'm not great with dealing with stress either.

So I texted Sam to tell him what happened and he called me in the morning to tell me, the money was taken out of our credit card, he called circuitcity.com, got a very rude "customer service representative," who told him that she did not have a supervisor and that the store was closed because it was a holiday. Does anyone know of any "holiday" on November 1st??? He called Discover for like the 10th time and Discover TOLD him THEY personally talked to Circuit City to verify our credit card was not fraudulent and that they had already received payment.

So then I go into Circuit City for the THIRD time and ask to speak to a manager. The woman at the front desk informed me they were all in a meeting. Wow. Just my luck, huh? Well, I had my husband who is in the military FROM KUWAIT on the phone and he needed to speak to someone A-SAP. I seriously was on the verge of tears at this point. How hard can it be to pick up a monitor that was ordered online?? Seriously.
Luckily, I talked to a supervisor, who was polite and willing to help. Basically, I handed the phone to him and let Sam explain the situation. After a whole bunch of craziness I FINALLY got my monitor and a $24 Circuit City gift card for waiting WAY over 24 minutes to receive my order placed online.

I am leaving many details out to spare you all from stress I incurred from the situation.

Wow. Needless to say, I have just recovered from the migraine this has caused. Sam was trying to make it easy for me, by just buying it online and sending me over to pick it up. But no, it couldn't be that easy. Plus, it's really hard to communicate when you are a million miles apart and the situation is beyond crazy on the other end.

All I can really say is that I am very happy I have my monitor and therefore online access now and I hope I never have to go through anything like that again. I think I need a week of yoga straight to recover from the stress this all caused!