weeks 11+12

I realize now why I have been documenting week by week of this deployment. I missed a week and ALREADY forget that entire week. What happened? Thank you iphone for keeping track for me...

 IS IT SERIOUSLY THANKSGIVING NEXT WEEK!?!!!HOLY COW!

Ok so here goes a quick review of the past two weeks. A pretty life changing two weeks might I add... ok I know I'm dramatic but really running your first 26.2 is life changing in itself not to mention doing it amongst such inspiring people.

We had a blast at Steven's 'girlfriend' Abby's birthday party ! The theme was Minnie Mouse, and her little minnie outfit was the CUTEST thing you will ever see. Steven was obsessed with the giant Minnie balloon. ALmost to the point of being Awkward for the rest of us, like his little blow up girlfriend. Kaners loved all the attention from Auntie Candace and Robin, lucky guy! 

MR. Kane turned 9 months! Since we couldn't celebrate with Daddy we went to the park and checked out his brick at the Veteran's memorial instead 

Nothing new, just a trip to target. But check out how big he is getting! 

 Then the sickness hit Mr. Pants and I. NO FUN! I could indulge in the gory details, but I will refrain. It was horrendous . I really thought there was no way I would make it for my race and was devastated. Luckily it was of the 24 hour stomach bug variety, and was gone before we knew it!

What an amazing weekend in Georgia. I really do love the south. Maybe it's from being born in Florida, maybe it's because it is where we started our family, or maybe it's just the boiled peanuts and excessive use of y'all but it really does make my heart happy.

The race was perfect. The group of people running for Mat were all so inspiring to be around. I still can't believe how fast my little legs took me, coming in 20 minutes faster than expected. Hitting a marathon under 4 hours is something I had hoped to one day achieve, but something MUCH bigger than me helped me reach this goal the first time around!

Tovah and I were able to run together the first few miles of the course...

Trucking along around mile 18 I think...

FINISHED! 

Our group running for Mat

His family. 

Honoring their Soldier and Hero.

After the race they all headed back to Washington where Gonzaga, his Alma mater, held a 5k run for him Monday morning in honor of Veteran's day. 

I was so happy to return home to my boys after a great trip. We are lucky to have my Mom right here to not only help out while I trained for 4 months, but also to keep them happy and healthy while I enjoyed some peace and quiet :)

This week was a week that we have been waiting for since about February! WHY? BECAUSE the Johnson's are finally in AZ! It took moving to Alabama to find each other, even though we went to high school in neighboring towns. I'd like to call them our " soul family. " You know that balance that forms between people that is too good to be true. The type of oppositional balance ideal in marriages and best friends? That is our family to the Johnson's. We all balance each other out so well that we almost just mesh into one family, and it is perfect. Unfortunately Todd is heading to another desert soon, but we are fortunate that we  have each other here for support for the next 9 months. 

Mr . Pants and Coey eating some grilled cheese. 

Their laughter together is contagious 

Baby Kane loving on Todd

Last night before bed, Mr. Pants picked out a random book about dog breeds to read .He has been very into non-fiction lately, and this was a nice change from the NatGeo book on tunnels.

 Apparently something is really funny about Chihuahuas... 

It is finally getting cool in Arizona! My mom was panicking that the boys didn't have enough warm clothes, which set me into a mild panic about shopping. So this morning I went into the boxes that have yet to be opened since the move... and it was like CHRISTMAS already! Turns out that Kane fits into Steven's entire first fall wardrobe, and Steven still fits into LAST year's fall wardrobe. WIN! The joy of having boys. No shopping needed . Good thing we live in Arizona again and they get to wear hoodies and jeans for a whole 3 months until its summer again... sigh... I need a cold climate ASAP. 

Tonight we got to spend some time with my Cousin and his beautiful family that is visiting from Alaska. Here are the kiddos pigging out on ice cream and cake at Great Grandma Olson's house like we used to do.

After a long couple weeks for Steve...only 6 more days until HE IS HOME! I told Mr. Pants today that Daddy comes home next week and all he said was, TACKLE HIIIIIM. 

Thanksgiving is going to be amazing , we have way too much to be thankful for this year. 

I just hope that the week goes as slow as molasses. The 9 months after with no more R&R is a little unsettling. Do-able of course, but unsettling. 

As fortunate as we are, many friends are without their service member this entire holiday season. Keep everyone of them in your thoughts and prayers please and remember that your freedom is not free. 

HERE is to an amazing week to come . Happy Thanksgiving week to everyone!!

Bigger than us

This is SO so long. But a story that I feel needs to be told...


During our time in Alabama , I met a few different groups of women . Army wives . We had the women from  ST's warrant officer class who formed a pretty tight bond right away , then my closest friends consisting mainly of my favorite Zonies and too cute for words die hard Alabaman nieghbor  , And then there was a group I was fortunate to have found later on in our flight school journey - the FRG from our guys' BOLC class . For those fortunate enough to NOT know ARMY acronyms Basic Officer Leadership course /  Family Readiness Group. These ladies all met on Monday's for coffee which I attended when possible ( not often enough since it frequently ran into nap time, and anyone that knows my son knows we NEED that nap ) but each time we were able to go , I learned a little bit more about some remarkable women from all over the country .

I can be a loud , talk so much I even annoy myself type person. But I honestly prefer to just sit quietly and observe . One woman always stood out to me. One of those people who just radiated positive energy. Her smile never forced , always genuine . Her presence simply warm. When they say that pregnant women glow , this is who they were talking about ( she was just about ready to pop when I first met her)

Months and months go by . Shortly after we welcomed Mr. Kaners into the world , I started frequent morning jogs with the double BOB and boys in tow. Approaching me one morning was a young mom, probably my age , with HER double BOB and two boys in tow AND a beautiful boxer leashed on. Well definitely one upping me - that is awesome and brave! As we get closer to crossing paths I notice it is that cheerful girl I had met at coffee . Of course , being the kind hearted person she is, stopped for a quick chat, and we both continued on.

The following week I must have run into her every day. To the point that we were both probably thinking , ok stop stalking me. This is just getting weird . Whether it was at the commissary , Easter festival, out on the trails , we continued to run into eachother . Only now do I understand why.

The last time we ran into eachother that week was at Sunday Mass on post for Easter . So there we are , those people who are not only late but have a newborn and busy toddler in tow standing in the back . Geeez embarrassing . Not ideal for Easter service . As we rush in , who do I notice is also coming in late and standing next to us with a baby and toddler in tow ? It's my ' run into' friend of course . It was refreshing to see her face that morning and know I wasn't alone in the chaos . Our toddlers played with their thomas trains at our feet and we each held our babies close . After church ended I met her husband for the first time . Obviously our guys started out in the same class but hardly knew eachother .

This part has replayed over and over in my head for months now , so vividly. I remember her cheerfully saying ," well we are graduating this week ! The house is packed , ceremony is this week ,we are SO excited ." She told us that he would be deployed almost immediately but it would most likely be quick . I remember saying " good luck on everything ! Knowing Army Aviation we will definitely see you again soon ." ( the usual see you later among us all) and Steve said to him "Best of Luck to you over there man ! Congratulations on getting out of here ."

I remember that moment. I remember Wondering why god kept putting me in this woman's path. Literally .

The morning of my 26th birthday , I found out exactly why. The news spread like wildfire . Between Facebook, news articles , a couple missed calls, the first thing I heard that morning was that ... A Kiowa helicopter in Afghanistan was shot down .

The most heart throbbing, lump in your throat , sob producing words a spouse of a military pilot can hear . It DOES not matter if your spouse is sleeping in bed at home safe, or on a long tour over seas. It's the horrible awful reminder of how violent this War is and how quickly everything can change .

Most often we hear the names of the fallen and maybe shed a tear , think about them for a day or two, probably pray for them and their families. But this time it hit close. It was someone who had JUSt left flight school at Rucker . A Brand new pilot. A father of 2 beautiful boys , a husband ...It was HER Husband . How could this be ?

Our entire network of ARMY wives pulled together with prayers and encouragement . Her friends were all at her side, their hometown community showed tremendous support. It is a situation in which everyone is helpless . Words do not matter. Nothing can be said .

Even though I hardly knew him at all, and only knew her from our frequent run ins and coffee mondays... I knew they were put in our life with purpose .

Searching for something I could do to show my support , that my heart pours out to her and her two sons, I kept coming up empty .

Before all of this, I kept tossing around the idea of doing a full marathon during this first deployment . Everytime I tried to map it out I found it impossible to get in the miles necessary with two kids and no spouse at home .

That weekend it hit me. Now is the time to stop making excuses . The soldier marathon that I participated in last year is dedicated to our fallen soldiers . I decided to commit to do this Full marathon for her and her husband, for Army Aviation, for all of our heroes , for all of my Army wives , for my deployed husband , for my boys , and of course a little bit for myself .

The most special thing about this race is that participants wear 2 bibs. We wear one for ourself , and one for a fallen soldier . I am so extremely honored to wear a bib for LT fazzari and all that he and his family represent .

Throughout this training experience there have been challenging times. Days that I really wanted to give up.

One Saturday morning I was setting out to run 17 miles. For a pretty new runner of only 3 years , having a self proclaimed limit of 13.1 , 17 miles was outrageous . My mom came over at 5 am , like most Saturday mornings to stay with the kids, and I set out onto the dark sidewalk. I was terrified . How am I going to do this ? Just surviving it ?

At that moment I prayed . I asked for guidance . I said " God, give me the strength of the soldiers we have lost . If I am doing this for them please allow them to help guide me at least !" and off I went . Feeling a sudden unfamiliar warmth.

I caught a good pace quickly , my goal for long runs is always 10 min miles so 9:30 pace was ideal. Mile by mile flew by and I was doing great , felt great . I hit 12 miles and my Nike app informed me I was at 1:51. Noooo. This can't be. I have never hit a half marathon in under 2:10. Sure enough I hit 13.1 miles just over 2:00 !! Fastest ever . And then I kept going . It was like my legs were not my own . I was making amazing time . I hit my driveway at 2 hours and 35 minutes. A 9:09 pace for 17 miles ?!?!? As I took out my headphones heading to my front door I heard a loud familiar flapping sound and naturally looked straight up.

Flying directly overhead was some un-marked helicopter way too close to the neighborhood and completely out of nowhere .

I was carried by something so much bigger than me.

As I go into this week leading up to the big race, emotions are running everywhere.  lol. seriously... no pun intended. I am so thrilled to be doing this, I feel physically ready, and am honored to be supporting our service men and women on Veterans weekend. I'm missing ST more than ever. He is always my cheerleader ( hehe literally) and supports me in everything that I do. Not having a "sole sister" at the starting line with me, or him and my boys at the finish line will be a little different for sure. But it will be a great new experience and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone out there that has trained so hard to get to this point.

So here is to a great last week of training! To some amazing people that have left footprints in my life and heart. And a very happy Veterans week ( is that a real thing? let's pretend it is ) to all of the service members and their families that I love and care for so very much.

10 weeks

10 weeks down! That is just about 1/5 the way through this deployment!
Only 42 weeks to go.

For this week I am feeling like a little photo journalism style is much more fitting- between the abundance of pictures as of lately and the lack of time to think AKA make intelligible words. See there I go, not really making much sense.

We started off the weekend with a trip to Schnepf farms in Queen Creek. If you haven't been out there and live in Arizona you need to check it out. It's highlights are definitely the fall festival but it is open in the winter for Ice skating and Santa, the spring for a Peach festival, and a U-pick garden for all the time in between. My only regret is not planning an entire day out there, our trip was short and late in the day which ... well we all know how well toddlers and babies do during the "late in the day" time. 

Uncle Bob walking with Mr.

My busy boys and I

Loving on Aunt Courtney, like always.

SO happy to have found sunflowers in AZ. You would think there would be more .. right? Sun-Arizona hmmm

Sunflowers+Kaners = HAPPY Mama

Bouncing with Grandpa, his favorite pasetime 

Worn out at the end of the night 

THEN  we celebrated Grandma's 3-5 birthday ( we just won't say what order the numbers should be in...)

Mr. had his first Gymnastics class this week...

How cute is he? 

We had a blast Trick or Treating. It was Mr.'s first year actually WALKING so he was pretty thrilled about it. Of course sweet Kaners enjoyed the wagon ride and his very FIRST Halloween!  We Started off at Papa and Grandma's and made our way around the block. I must say my Mother in Law did an amazing job on their hats! It was an idea off Pinterest I asked her to make, they turned out so cute. I just pieced the costumes together inexpensively with comfortable alternatives to the itchy scratchy stuffed costumes you find in the store. 

Papa and Kaners- talk about BLUE eyes! 

So I SEMI dressed up... Christopher Robin with his Pooh bear and Tigger. 

Always wanting what his brother has !

This week has been all about the tackling. Every night before bed our living room turns into a wrestling match. Poor Kaners.

As fun and sweet-filled as Halloween is, I personally am so glad it is over so we can focus on the REAL holidays of the season. Especially because the NEXT holiday is Thanksgiving, and we get Daddy home for an entire week! It will be his only time home for the year, but we will absolutely make the most out of every second we have together. As a family. 

One week until the Soldier Marathon. I am feeling extremely ready for it, more so physically than emotionally. I have so many thoughts/feelings/ stories about the past 4 months of training. This week I fully plan on sitting down and dumping it all out on here to not only get it off my head, but also to share some tips and motivation! 

It's election week. But I've learned that if you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all. 

HAPPY NOVEMBER! I really hope this month goes by as slow as humanly possible.