updates!

One week from today Billy and I will be in each other's company, probably sitting right where I am now. I'm looking forward to him coming home with all my heart, but in a small way it is a bitter sweet reunion, since his unit will be leaving the country soon. And I'm finding out that I really loathe saying goodbye to him. We aren't sure when exactly he's leaving, or where he'll be leaving from, so more than likely this will be the last visit we'll have until he is on leave at some point midway through the deployment. For Christmas Day we are going to Florence to be with our family. I wish we'd have enough time to make the trip to see Dad in Rhode Island, but he's only going to be here 3 days, and It'll be awesome for my mom's family to be all together and see him again before he leaves. Marisol is coming to Florence too, so she'll be a great addition to our Christmas!

Billy sent me this picture that I've posted, in fact he sent it just a few hours ago. They were bused out from Oklahoma to Arkansas for more training during these final days before he comes home. They are staying in tents and doing outdoors type training. Poor baby, I'm sure he's so cold! Well, that's it for now, Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas time!

Christmas is my favorite holiday, hands down. Today mom and I made Christmas cookies all day! It was awesome, except we somehow messed up both recipes. :) We made some boot shaped cookies too, for Billy. He's been having some trouble with his right foot hurting a little, more than likely because he needs new boots, which he bought today. Well anyway, here's a picture of the fruit of our labor!

Today was fun! There was a pretty sizable weather system that hit us this morning, and is coming back for more tonight. The flooding was pretty bad this morning, almost hurricane status! At least it was short lived, and the waters receded by the time I got home from work. Work was fun today, ever since I got back from Alabama, the girls at work have been wearing yellow ribbons, to show support for Billy and me. It's so awesome to have them keeping my spirits up! Also, there is a group of "anonymous women" who have been leaving little prayer notes and gifts around the office for me since we got back. It's really sweet, although every time I say "thanks," no one will take the credit! I'm sure I'll find out who it is at some point. :) Work was also fun because our good friend John (Juanito) was at work! It was so fun!

On another note, Billy and I decided on using Skype as our primary form of communication when he leaves, so far it's been great. Alright, time to get back to high surf and tornado preparations. :)

Finally! Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I finally have internet access, and although I can't match the prowess my lovely wife has with writing prose, I'll do my best to give everyone a good idea about whats going on in the wild world of the Army.

There's me with my battle buddy, Strango (obviously a nickname). We both came from my old unit in Augusta and have been good friends for quite a while. Coincidentally, we were assigned to the same platoon and are in charge of the same group of soldiers. Lucky for us, because if, as our unit was, the majority of the people in the unit are transferred in from everywhere for the sole purpose of deployment, you may not know right away who you'll be able to count on.

So today is Thanksgiving, and I am enormously thankful for Amy back at home. I'm so thankful that I was able to marry (wow!) such a sweet, lovable, and wonderful woman. She's my little muffin :) It really irks me, to say the least, that I have to leave so soon after the wedding, but it amazes me how great a time we had this summer planning our beautiful wedding, and how wonderfully everything turned out - even with my deployment looming in the fall. I'm so proud of her and thankful for the life we have together. Even though I'll be away for quite a while, it eases my mind to know that she has Mel to live with, and the best network of family, church, and friends to help smooth out the year. Thank you!

Internet!

Tonight Billy supposedly gets internet in his room, so we'll do a practice run on Skype, Ichat and googlechat, and find out which one suits us best. Any suggestions?

Fort Sill Address

Billy's address until he deploys is:

287th TC HET
SSG Slater, William / 1st PLT
930A NW Fort Sill Blvd
Ft. Sill, OK 73503

Fort McClellan to Fort Sill

Billy and I had a wonderful visit this past week. He finally got in last Friday night around 12 am. We had a great going away party for him at our house, I'll post some pictures of it, for sure. It was really nice, and most of his good friends in Charleston came. The only problem with that night was our little dog Arthur was fed too many scraps and oysters! The poor baby threw up four times on Sunday! Aside from that, it was a success for sure, and I appreciate everyone's help! From there, we left for Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama on Tuesday for the Yellow Ribbon Ceremony. It's always so much fun to travel with my baby! For a minute on the plane, we pretended we were going to Mexico and not to a military function. In all reality, however, it went really well and I'm so thankful that we had those few extra days together. Marisol and Billy's mom came as well, they drove from Aiken, SC. We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast called The Victoria. I'll post some pictures of it too. Basically Tuesday was a travel day, Wednesday was full of briefings and conferences, and Thursday was the Yellow Ribbon Ceremony. It was beneficial for me to go to the conferences, despite the complete disorganization of the day, since I learned a lot about military family benefits of all sorts; from counseling, to scholarships available to family members. All in all, my favorite parts were being able to spend a few extra days with Billy, and being able to watch him in action! Since Billy's home unit is in August, GA, I don't generally get to see what he does during drills, and training,etc. We were able to watch a couple company formations, and we heard the commander of the unit speak, and I got to meet Billy's coworkers in the context of the army, which was really neat for me. After Thursday's ceremony, I dropped Billy off at the barracks and drove myself (sobbing) to the airport in Birmingham, Alabama. The following day, just yesterday in fact, Billy flew to Oklahoma for the final training until he deploys in January. As of 11/17/09, he turned active duty, which means we started counting down the days from 400 until he comes home. Also, he has a mailing address at Fort Sill, which I'll post as soon and he e-mails it to me. Other relevant, and good news is that we now know Billy will stationed in Kuwait. This is really great news, as it is considered one of the safer places to call home when you're over seas. I guess that's it for now, although there is much more I'd love to go on about. For the moment we are negotiating Billy's plane ticket home for the couple of days he has off over Christmas. Although that final visit will be short, I'm just so thankful that we'll see each other again one last time before he leaves the country. I hope this post finds everyone safe and well.

Amy

This just in...

Billy just sent me this picture, and it makes me want to drive to California and go get my baby!! Poor guys, they are just laying around waiting for to leave for the airport...

Veteran's Day

I wish I could spend this special day with my favorite veteran, but soon enough I suppose. Unfortunately, Billy will be delayed a little bit coming home. Due to the President's visit to Fort Hood, TX, apparently air traffic was reduced to ensure his safe flight. So instead of leaving this morning from CA to Altanta, they postponed the flight until 8pm tonight, which basically means Billy will be home Friday, not tomorrow. I'm trying to excerise patience and flexibilty. :) In any case, I'm excited about my costco trip tonight with the ladies! I'm trying to get everything done early so Billy won't have to do any errands. Alright, I hope to see everyone who can come on Saturday! ♥

Today I feel very patriotic. I'm getting really exciting about Billy coming home on Thursday. Today is his last day of training, tomorrow is packing, and Wednesday is a travel day from California to Alabama. Thursday he hops on the bus from Alabama to Augusta, stops at Mama's house and then drives home! Hopefully it will coincide with my work day, which ends around 4:30 pm. We just heard that the yellow ribbon ceremony will take place next week, in Alabama. I'm really excited about going, especially since there will be families there that have gone through deployments before, and I can learn from them. Furthermore, there will be training for family members about post traumatic stress disorder, I began to wonder if that was for Billy or for myself... Joking of course. Although it is really stressful thinking about Billy being away. All I know is the Lord has seen us through hard times, and will see us through this as well, and that is where our faith is. As far as my patriotism goes, I'm thinking yellow ribbons, American flags, and so on for our party this weekend. Actually, I'd like to give out our wedding favors since the never were disseminated on our special day. They are red white and blue seeds, wrapped in tule and yellow ribbon, thanks to the hard work of some very special bridesmaids! I'll be sure to have those out for the party. I know Billy is really excited to come home for a little while. I actually just got off the phone with him, and the typical noise in the barracks is much different than it has been. I guess it just seems lighter than normal; more laughter in the background. The boys know they are coming home!

Well, with no further a-due, I'd like the say congratulations to Amanda Moore Varela for having her beautiful baby girl yesterday afternoon! And also, further congratulations are in order for Allie Crutchman, whose wedding I'm in in April. Allie was also a bridesmaid in our wedding, and has been, along with her fiancee, a wonderful friend to Billy and I through out the past couple years. Amidst the turmoil time for Billy and I, we are not left without wonderful life and unions to celebrate! What could make me feel more patriotic than that!

Six days and counting!

I am SO excited to see Billy again! Communication has been really great between us lately, since his training has calmed down a little. They still have classes through out the day, but at least he has more free time after dinner to relax. This is a picture of Billy's convoy truck, he sent it to me this morning, and was sure to point out the armored windows! Billy and I decided last night that we are going to have a party for him on Saturday. Well, if the truth be told, me mentioned he'd like to see all of his friends and our local family together before he leaves again for training in Oklahoma. So I thought, what better idea than to have a party! I really love planning parties, especially one for my hubby! It'll be on Saturday 11/14/09 around 5pm. If you're able to stop by, just send me an e-mail or call.

On a more serious note, please keep in your prayers and thoughts the families of the soldiers who fell victim to a deadly attack last night in Fort Hood. It's such a tragedy, such needless death. All we can do is pray for unity and trust amoung our troops, so that they will stand united. Also please keep in your prayers Amanda and Mikey, soon to be parents of Fallon Riley Varela! She's due almost any day, and I can't wait to meet that sweet baby! ♥

Yes my friends that is a taranchula! Let me tell you, this was quite the e-mail to wake up to! Billy says he found this little lonely character wondering around, and proceeded to pick it up!! There was hardly any consolation when he says he at least had gloves on! I can't wait to hear what adventures he gets into today! ♥

This is Billy on the way to playing ping pong! I really appreciate these pictures he sends me, since I know he can be a little camera shy sometimes!! <3

Missing Billy...

Billy has been gone now for a couple weeks for training in California. So far he's been really busy with classes and special training sessions. I have never been so attentive to my phone before; checking it for missed calls or texts, the occasional e-mail. The three hour time difference isn't so bad, it's just frustrating since the only time Billy has more than 5 minutes of down time is when I'm sleeping... Things are going well here at home, I'm maintaining the house and our dogs just fine with the help of Mel. Fortunately none of the electronics have misfired, malfunctioned or melted down, in which case they would remain that way until Billy gets home. Arthur is keeping me warm and helping to protect the house, I think he likes the added responsibility! I guess that's it for now, Mel and I are going to give the dogs a bath while the sun is still out, since they get so cold afterwords! Billy has sent me some pictures from the base, so I'll try to pick out a few and post them here....

In the beginning...

Well here is the first post on our brand new family blog! This is really going to be fun. This blog will serve as a way for Billy and I to communicate not just with our friends and family, but between ourselves as well. Today Billy left for 3 weeks of training with his unit in CA. As we are preparing for his deployment, we are also considering the variety of different communication tools there are available while he is over seas. Well, why not let this blog be one more avenue of communication we use to stay connected! Over the next few days and weeks while Billy is in training, I'll be changing and playing with our new site, so please add your input!

-A