The Love of My Life

I've been going through old photos and found a few that warmed my heart and I felt the need to share. The first one is the photo we have dubbed "Andrew's coming out of the closet" photo. No, not THAT closet. It was the first time I brought him to meet my friends ... I think we became virtually inseparable after that. How cute are we???

This is our first Christmas together.

And this is around the time we got engaged.

I'm so looking forward to having this wonderful man of mine back in our lives again. Not that he wasn't in our lives during his deployment ... we emailed and/or spoke on the phone or via Skype every day. But having him physically present will be such a joy. My mind doesn't quite comprehend that he's coming home. You see, it wasn't just the seven months plus that he's been deployed that we've been apart. We joke that we lived together before we got married (*gasp / cough*), but we haven't steadily lived together since! There have been times when we've shared the same address, but for the most part he was either living and working in a different province, or training for his deployments, or serving stints overseas. And there is also some up-in-the-air-ness right now as to his actual return date so the countdown has kinda hit a wall ... something that always helps put things in perspective.

Regardless, he will be home by this time next week. And absence does make the heart grow fonder after all. I also think, at least in this instance, it has made our marriage grow stronger.

Andrew, you are and always will be my one great love & I can't wait to hurtle myself into your arms once again. To show you how much you're appreciated, and to thank you for choosing l'il ole me.

The Final Countdown

Daddy comes home in just over a week and we have been working hard to make the time go by quickly ... playing at the park when the weather allows, and trying to be creative indoors when it rains. We've also been enjoying gymnastics, the zoo with our zoo pals, baking, playing with See-bina (aka "See-Momma"), visits to Halifax, adventure walks, and shopping for plants for the garden. The month hasn't gone super-speedy, but it hasn't dragged by either. Let's hope the last "dark sleeps" pass just as quickly ... Safe travels, my love! Your family is waiting. xo

It's May!!!!

April showers bring May flowers ... and May brings hubby! Yes, the time is finally winding down and Andrew will be home again (barring any unforeseen major airline or, let's face it, "stupid military" interruptions) before the month is out.

I'm looking forward to just having him home, getting in our way, taking up his allotted space in the kitchen, bed & bath, snoring -- all the stuff you never think you'll miss. Granted, I'm also looking forward to handing over some of the tasks so rudely and abruptly placed on me in his absence: car & house maintenance, scooping up doggie land-mines in the yard, COOKING, and keeping my sanity (which, in his defence, he actually did really well from half-way across the world). And, of course, all the REALLY good stuff ... *wink*

As much as I love her, I'm also looking forward to handing over half of the responsibility where Maaike is concerned. I know it may take a while before all three of us are comfortable with all that entails, but it's also very important for the sake of all three of us to "git 'er done".

So I'm counting. Counting the days until I can wake up Maaike and tell her we're going to get Da-ee at the airport. Counting the minutes until we see him come through the gate. Counting the seconds until I see Maaike catapult herself into his arms. And then, before you can even blink, ya'll can watch me do the same ...