So things got crazy in life and I lost track of this blog. I'd like to get it up and going again so bear with me as I *quickly* update everyone on life since November.
Well, after the wedding in July, we enjoyed a beautiful honeymoon to Paris, France. We visited the staple locations such as the Eiffel Tower, The Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, The Louvre, and other remarkable places. It was the trip of a lifetime. Upon returning to the States, we loaded up the Uhaul and headed out west.
A couple weeks after settling in to our new place in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, we adopted a beautiful black lab/pit bull mix puppy who we named Cadence. She's a very well-behaved little girl and she trained really easily and quickly.
I started school in August to continue toward earning my degree in elementary education. The semester was filled with homework, papers, projects and tests that took up much of my "spare" time. Zach also took a few classes to earn points in civilian education.
On August 21st, Zach celebrated his 22nd birthday. We had friends over for dinner and cake that evening and enjoyed time together. We also went to Tucson that weekend with a group of friends to see a stand-up comedian at Laff's Comedy Club. Also, Zach found out (on his birthday) that he made enough points to be promoted from Specialist to Sergeant! What a great birthday it was! On September 1st, I "pinned" my husband at a small promotion ceremony during an end of day formation. What a happy day that was for both of us! I am so proud of my soldier!
In October we celebrated our very first Halloween together. We dressed as nerds ("kick me" signs and all) and put Cadence in a cute little cow costume. Friends of ours had a fun party that evening so we headed over to their house after passing out candy to the neighborhood trick-or-treaters.
In November we adopted our second puppy, a golden retriever who we named Kobe. We also planned a trip home to Illinois to spend Thanksgiving with our families. We made the 25 hour drive straight through and arrived in Illinois just in time to tell my mom "happy birthday" on November 20th. We spent the week with our families and really enjoyed our time at "home". Also in November, we had to say good-bye to some good friends of ours who were PCSing (moving) to Fort Drum, New York. Zach and I were sad to see them go.
December was fairly uneventful, aside from our first Christmas together. Again, we had to say good-bye to some wonderful friends (part of being in the Army, I guess) who were moving to Fort Meade, Maryland. We didn't go anywhere or do anything really significant but we did enjoy spending Christmas Day together for the first time in years!
January brought some life-changing news! On January 25, 2010 we discovered that we were expecting our first baby! Now a whole new chapter of life begins! We were thrilled by the news and couldn't keep a secret for very long. Within a few days our family and friends knew about our excitement and they shared in the joy with us. January was also the start of a new semester at school for both of us. I started an internship at General Myer Elementary school on post working in a 5th grade classroom. I served as an aid to the teacher and the program gave me great insight into what having my own classroom will be like. I spent, on average, 12 hours a week in the classroom for 16 weeks. It was a great opportunity to work with students and a little something extra to throw on my resume.
Not much happened in February that I can remember so we'll move on to March. During spring break, Zach's sister, Chelsie, came to visit us. She spent a week with us at our home in southern Arizona and it was very nice to have that time with her. Zach's parents also visited us at the end of March and that was also very nice. Unfortunately, March brought with it some disappointing news. We new there was a deployment coming up in June, but Zach had been trying to get out of it with a job position in Washington, D.C. Sadly, the job offer came a few days too late and he was "locked in" to the deployment. The job will be waiting for him upon his return from Iraq in June 2011.
In April, I celebrated my 20th birthday (on the 9th). Zach planned with some friends of ours a surprise party for me that I was not expecting at all. He also gave me beautiful lilies...my favorite! Also on my birthday, we got to see our baby on an ultrasound. I was around 14 weeks pregnant at the time, so the baby looked like a little alien but it was still a very cool experience.
May brought the end of the semester and graduation for me! I finished my Associate's degree in elementary education, but was unable to participate in graduation ceremonies because of our trip to Illinois. We visited home again during "block leave" that Zach was allowed to take prior to deployment. This was his last opportunity to see many of our friends and family back home and I'm thankful he got the chance to spend time with them. Upon returning to Arizona, we started packing up our house in preparation for deployment. At the end of the month, we drove to Phoenix where we were able to get a 4D Ultrasound of our baby. During this ultrasound, we found out that we are having a BOY!!! Zach was thrilled to learn that he is going to have a son, and he swears up and down that he knew it was a boy all along.
June was a sad and difficult month. Zach's unit deployed on June 6, 2010, to Iraq where they will be serving for one year. My mom, brother, and Zach's mom were all able to join in the good-bye ceremonies and they also helped me drive back to Illinois to live with my parents while Zach is gone. The four of us arrived in Illinois on June 9th after 3 long days of driving. I spent the following weeks unpacking and getting settled in to my "new" life. Zach arrived safely in Iraq and also got settled in.
By July, we had both settled into routines and had figured out when we could talk to each other whether it be by phone, chat, or Skype. The 4th marked our 1st wedding anniversary; it was a bittersweet day since we could not spend it together. Over the next couple of weeks I spent some time researching and registering for baby items while also enjoying the summertime heat with friends at the pool. Zach started teaching on July 5th and has really enjoyed doing his job.
So that, in a nutshell, is our first year of marriage. I hope you'll continue to follow along (and I hope I can keep it up) with our lives as we prepare to welcome our little boy into the world in October (or September if he decides to come early). Feel free to comment or ask questions about what's going on in our lives.
Until next time,
Tiffany
