Hello! Is it me you're looking for?

I'm back after a long, news-packed hiatus. I've been leaking updates here and there on Facebook and Twitter since those mediums allow for the hurried, half-thoughts, but because Violet is FINALLY taking a decent morning nap, I feel the urge to blog away my thoughts of the last couple of months. There are certain subjects I'll expand on in another entries, but here are the basics.

I posted two months ago that Scott will be in Greenland without family for a year, starting Jan/February-ish of next year. There are lots of cons and only a few significant pros to this, but overall, we are happy with the timing and location. It's better for him to volunteer to go now to this location, rather than being told at a later time to go to some place like South Korea. I'll be ok with the separation for the most part, and I am thankful that Violet is too young to realize all that's going on. If she were older and all of a sudden Scott wasn't around, I would constantly feel my heart breaking anytime she asked where Daddy went. So, instead, she'll be having fun with her cousins and her Aunt Heather and Uncle Jason, as well as visits to her overjoyed Grandparents.

Which leads me to the next bit of news. After considering a lot of different aspects, mostly financial, of the two possible areas of where to live in Colorado, I think I have finally decided on going to live in my sister's town of Pagosa Springs, CO. It's partially because of the cost of living would be cheaper down there as compared to the suburbs of Denver, but mostly it is so Violet can have a lot of children close to her age to run around with, including her very excited cousins. My sister has already checked out a possible house for me to rent and going by her description, it sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to this location because this would be the first time Heather and I have lived anywhere near each other since she moved away for college back in 1998.

And after the year(ish) in Colorado, Violet and I will be packing up to go to Yokota AFB in Japan for Scott's next assignment. This was our top choice and we were pleasantly surprised we got it, considering that Scott didn't turn in his list of preferred orders until a couple weeks past the deadline (it was a misunderstanding of when we were supposed to do it. Who would have thought that some details of the military are confusing? haha.)

So far, the only things I know about Yokota is that it's about three hours away from where I lived outside of Tokyo, I've visited the base as a young child because my parents were friends with the base chaplain at the time and we already know one of the captains for the air traffic control. I will be spending a chunk of my time in Colorado trying to regain my Japanese with the help of my Dad (and a computer program or two.) There are so many details of how to move our stuff, what we can take, about our cars which we cannot take with us, and so many other things, that I decided having a separate notebook to jot down questions and answers would be necessary. Yes, an old school spiral notebook with pages and pens! I remember more when I write things down, rather than just reading it on a screen. Call me old fashioned ;p

With Greenland and Japan on our horizon, Scott and I are still trying to figure out if we can have a wedding celebration like we wanted. It'll be tricky to try to plan this. It may happen sooner than I think or not at all, and there are a couple of families I'd like to give as much heads up time as possible to ensure their presence. But at this point, I just don't know. This does bum/stress me out because I wanted to have as 'normal' of a celebration with friends and family, as belated as it is, but it may not be in the cards for us. I know there are more important things to concentrate on, but it's still something I wish and will try my darndest to make happen, within reason.

Violet is growing like a weed and is starting to show lots of personality. I've been trying to be diligent in updating her own FB page with pictures of her cuteness, but I've been neglectful of posting written updates of what's she's been doing. She's doing her army-crawl at a pretty fast clip now, but has yet to master the hands-and-knees crawl. She's got two bottom teeth, front and center, and I thought it was because of those (and possibly others trying to break the gumline) that was making her thoroughly impossible to deal with several days this past week. Now I think it was because she had a scratchy throat and was fussing big-time during her bottles because she was having difficulty swallowing. Why do I think this? Because couple days since she started fussing like mad, I woke up with a scratchy throat, and this was the morning after she was finally in better spirits to try to give me kisses. However, her version of 'kisses' is to just lick my mouth and nose. (She's still learning.) So, I think I got her scratchy throat germs from that and after a couple days, we are both doing better and are a lot less cranky for Scott. More specifics on Violet in future posts.

Well, I think that's a lengthy, but good first step back from the non-communication. I'm hoping to have more time for more detailed updates soon. It all depends on Lady Violet! ;p

Happy Clocks-Fall-Back weekend, everyone!

As a matter of taste to be exact, He's my ideal as a matter of fact

This is an older picture of Scott, but I couldn't find a newer one with him in his blues.

After 4 months of waiting, the promotion list was finally posted today and Scott has made Technical Sergeant. Considering the fact that he was studying for the exam during the last full month of my pregnancy and went to take said exam about 3 days before my projected due date, the fact that he scored high enough to pass is a immense relief to me (and I'm sure for him, too, but I haven't spoken to him yet =) .)

What does this promotion mean? Well, for the immediate future, it means he can go to tomorrow night's Pass-over Party (a party to celebrate/commiserate with those who have/have not been promoted) and celebrate with the other guys who have also been promoted.

Beyond the immediate plans, this promotion also means that things can get a little interesting for our little household. Because there are not enough people of Scott's rank of TSgt (I've got to get used to the abbreviations and acronyms) with his skill sets, there is a high need for him at other bases. Other overseas bases. Bases that will have us separated for about a year, with only a few visitations sprinkled through his stay.

We've already had several discussions about this and I'm fully aware of the sacrifices as well as the benefits of Scott's strong possibility of being stationed far from Violet and me. I am actually encouraged by the thought that this can happen within a year because this would make things easier on Violet. Rather than her being older and can understand that her Daddy is far, far away, she can remain blissfully unaware of his absence.

Another result of this promotion has a good news/bad news twist to things. When Scott and I got married last July, we had only immediate family and a few close friends (most of whom were already in the Denver area) join us for the ceremony my father and brother-in-law conducted. We've always wanted to have a bigger celebration with more of our friends and extended family. It was tentatively planned for spring of 2012 and we've even gone as far as to looking at a handful of venues around the Denver area when we went to visit my family a couple weeks ago. We already had it in mind that if Scott did make TSgt, these plans will have to be deferred until... I'm not sure when. That's the bad news. The good news is purely based on my vanity. Because of all of the weight I gained while pregnant, I've been self conscience about my (larger) appearance and would rather not be this big for my 'wedding' day. Delaying the celebration gives me more time to lose the weight.

I'm sure there are other implications of his recent title change and more will be discussed when he comes home from work tonight. As of right now, I'm filled with joy and pride for him and for our family. Any other detail will fall into place, as it always does.

I'm 33 for a moment, Still the (woman), but you see I'm a they, A kid on the way, A family on my mind

Things that have happened since my last birthday:

• (Re) Started my life with Scott
• Went to Vegas to celebrate turning 32
• Lost a job in Tennessee
• Had a last minute surprise for Valentines weekend
• Went to my 10th home opener for the Mets
• Moved to Idaho
• Found out I am pregnant
• Got married in Colorado in front of close family and some friends (and 'celebrated' by going to a Barenaked Ladies concert at the Red Rocks)
• Moved into a very nice house
• Found out we're expecting a girl
• Attended 3 out of the 6 weddings of friends
• Found out 4 other people I know are expecting, one of whom already delivered a healthy baby boy
• Had my first Christmas with my new husband and a 'real' home

 All in all, it's been a blissfully eventful year.