On the homefront...

Hi everyone, its Sarah. I posted earlier on behalf of Brandon. Now I'm going to give everyone an update on the life of the other half, me.

Well, this evening is my first time back at home in St. Paul since last week. I went to Litchfield with Brandon for "homestations activities" which consisted of signing up for medical insurance and other important stuff. Despite the military's seeming lack of organization, they really DO have a lot to offer for families of deployed soldiers. Which reminds me, the reason Brandon has not yet received his orders for mobilization is because they are updating the computer system and somehow he didn't get switched over before this update began, thus, he is stuck on the one side. So, until that update is completed, he's without orders. We're not concerned though. He still has two weeks of WLC before he needs them.

I got minimal sleep the morning Brandon left, but managed to drive three hours back to Cambridge, go to a garage sale, set up a computer at my mom's, attend a wedding rehearsal and dinner, and still squeeze in some Z's before the next part of my weekend. Saturday, I woke up early, did my hair for the wedding in which I was a bridesmaid, showed up at the Salon, videotaped the bride getting her new do, then to the church, pictures, the wedding, the reception, more pictures and THEN...deep breath...I took off for Walker, MN where my cousin was having a graduation party. I stayed there and chilled out and fished and hung out with family and stuff, and finally returned home today.

This past week has certainly been an interesting one. My work was so kind to give me several weeks off to spend with Brandon and prepare for his deployment. I return to work tomorrow. I'm both dreading it and looking forward to it. I have truly enjoyed this time off and still have so much to take care of at homewith paperwork, laundry, and whatnot. However, I miss my coworkers and it will be good to stay busy.

I have never felt anything like what I felt the day Brandon left. In fact, it wasn't until I had brought my mother home from the farewell and I was on my way to my friends' wedding rehearsal that I really started to feel the absence of my husband. Unlike other drill weekends and summer AT, he won't be coming home anytime soon. Although, he and I are able to talk pretty regularly so far, I still have this awareness that part of me is missing.

One thing I know for certain though, is that God has a lot to teach us during this time and He will not leave us. I have always known during other times that we've been apart that God is always there waiting for us to make HIM our "security blanket." Well, I have no choice but to do that now, and that's good; hard, but good. I'm looking forward to how we will grow in our walks with God and in our relationship with each other. Although its tough without each other, and we haven't felt the worst of it yet, I'm confident that we'll pull through and be stronger for it.