Thank goodness for babysitters!!!

We've been faced with quite a few life altering situations these past couple of years and I honestly think we've been able to handle them pretty well. Coming out of this last deployment mine and Erik's views have changed quite a bit. For instance I struggled so much with the decision to leave the kiddos and escape to Hawaii with Erik just a little bit ago. Now that Erik has been here for almost a month, time alone seems to be a candy dangling in front of us on a string that is just out of our grasp. As cliche and generic as it sounds, Hawaii gave us a new outlook on life and on our future. Being together in Texas has solidified quite a few of the conclusions we've reached before and it has also raised different perspectives. This past week we were hit with a ton of bricks and I was considerably devasted for a few hours. I realized that some of the things I thought were real might not be. I know, I'm being dramatic but within a few hours it appears our past resolutions may have been a bit skewed. And now we are heading in different directions with some new ideas, which is scary yet invigorating. The new challenges will be accompanied with another huge move and another shift in our lives, making it highly stressful. I know it won't be impossible, but I cannot wait to see our future efforts start to see results. I guess only time will tell how long we have to wait for that.
Last night our super awesome babysitter, Jessica, and her bestie, Ashley, were available to come over so Erik and I could reclaim our sanity. For a few moments in our hectic lives Erik and I were able to be adults with Nick and Addy and just be our regular goofy selves. What was supposed to be a night of a few drinks, a movie, and who knows what turned into endless laughter, drinks and incredible fun, not to mention a completely new connection between Erik and I that I wasn't able to appreciate till last night. I'll confess, it came about a bit haphazardly, but it came nonetheless and I'm grateful for it. This morning when I opened my eyes to see Erik sleeping next to me I melted. This wonderful, strong, loving, incredible person usually has a rough exterior that vanished last night. He was vulnerable, uncertain, and insecure. I doubt anyone would have recognized him, his composure slipped away in just a few quick seconds right before he was able to regain himself. In those moments I was aware of how much two people need eachother. This is a need that not everyone knows. The vast majority of people will never know what we, as a military family, have thrust upon us. And then how it feels to be turned into a statistic whether we survive it or not. Lucky for us, we will and always have survived it. 7 years we've been battling life's craziness together and 15 months takes a major toll on our hearts. But thank the good Lord for blessing us with babysitters and irreplaceable friends that let us corrupt them at work so our hearts are able to reconnect when we're are hit with another blow. Our one of a kind love has far surpassed every tiny little thought I used to think love was. This is simply an unbelievably extraordinary life we've created and the best is truly yet to come!!!