It has been a while since my last post! I took off to Colorado for a few weeks to go home and visit family and take care of a few things- I was far too busy to keep up!
I've officially made it just over a month into deployment and so far things are going well, though going home actually made me miss the husband even more because it felt like the old days when we had a long distance relationship.
I think it is really interesting how we can become accustomed to having multiple homes once we decide to take that first step out of our comfort zone. When I first moved to Hawaii I was freaking out- it is the furthest away I had ever moved from home and it felt so isolated. Now, only a few short months later, I love being here.
Yes the beaches are beautiful, but I have really come to love my little daily routine (cleaning, working out, book clubs, teaching at the therapeutic riding center, dog walking...etc.) and my new group of friends are so supportive. They are truly going to make this deployment go by so much faster.
Anyway, visiting home was wonderful and I fell back into my old routine just as easily, though it is much weirder now that my old group of friends are all graduating from college and starting their lives.
Such a pretty view isn't it? Among the time I spent between graduation parties and visiting friends and family, I got in some much needed horse time with my loves.
Aren't they just adorable? I can write a whole separate blog post about my adventures with these guys, but that is for another time.
I spent a great deal of time preparing our house for the next set of tenants, and I have to say I am so lucky to have such a great family that is willing to help me! (My dad is a contractor and was able to repair items and make a few updates, my brother cleaned up the yards and cut the grass, and my mom and I scrubbed the house and cleaned for 6 hours...)
I also took a mini trip with my mom and a couple of her friends to Saratoga Springs, WY for the hot springs! It was such a pleasant surprise in the a quaint little town!
I went shooting with my dad ( I'm getting to have a pretty good shot these days!) Went to WaterWorld with some old friends, and attended a Lindsey Stirling concert at Red Rocks. (She is an amazing violinist that also dances while she plays- I believe she was on America's Got Talent. Definitely check her out!)
But I had to share a picture from the scenery at Red Rocks. How can you beat a venue like this?
My time home went by insanely fast. I was sad to leave because I was going to miss my friends and family, plus my horses and of course my darling little rabbit (Isn't he fluffy and cute?) But I was also really eager to get back to my dogs and my little routine in Hawaii. It's amazing how we can be torn between two places but can consider them both to be home. (I'm sure all of my other military friends can relate- they have moved a lot more than I have!)
My adventure home definitely made me not feel very homesick. I had a two hour flight to LAX from Denver and was in a panic because I only had a 30 min connection, and of course the gate was super far away. I hurried over there to find that the plane had an hour delay due to maintenance. (Nothing like making you feel ready to fly knowing that something is wrong with your plane...) The wait time soon turned into two hours, and finally they canceled the flight because the plane wasn't fit to fly. A flight was coming in from Maui that would be able to take us back to Oahu...in 4.5 hours. (Yay for being stuck in LA!) I debated a number of things of what to do with my time, but I ended up being able to get on a flight standby a few hours later.
In the mean time, this is what was going on at home.
It's safe to say I'm glad to be back home in Hawaii! It is such great coincidence I was able to get on the flight before this thing hit, and that my flight in LA got canceled because the plane decided to malfunction.
Now that you all have been caught up on my whereabouts, I'm happy to say that I'm back home and will be back to my regular blogging of stories, recipes, dog training, and work outs!
