How could I forget???

We now have been living in Texas for over a year! Hard to believe but we have! And living in Texas you must attend these 2 things to really understand Texas living! And I forgot to mention it in my last post when I was updating!

First, we have gone to our first Friday Night Lights in the good old state of Texas where football is everything! It was almost like we were at a college game, just not quite as big! Football down here is everything and we learned that when we attended a game with my MaMa (aka Mrs. Ferrell). High school football games that we attended when we were in high school can't even compare. Just on the visitors side there were probably as many people as what a North/South game would have total! It was very easy to get caught up in all the excitement and we look forward to another Friday Night Lights game!!!

Us with the Ellison Eagle Mascot!!! We are so lucky to have gotten this picture!! Ha

And the second thing I forgot to mention was we went to our first Texas Rodeo. It was probably the most fun thing we have done in awhile!

The rodeo was so fun,

there was music playing,

Ice cold BEER,

A crazy clown that really did nothing but be a comedian,

Little kids riding sheep,

COWBOYS (HOT)

Cowboys riding the bulls

AND

Best of all I got to share these fun memories with my best friend and husband!

Thanks Joey for making these memories possible!

I am loving this adventure we are on!!!

Been awhile....

Since Joey has been home, everything seems to be a whirlwind of activities! Time is just flying by. I wish time would of gone this fast when he was gone and would slow down a bit now that he is home!
But I am so thankful he is home and that we are able to be a family again!

Here is an update of what we have been up to:

~Joey and Duke reconnected and I believe their bond is even tighter now

~A new addition has been added to the Ross Family: Molly (a black lab)

~We traveled home to Wisconsin where we got to enjoy:

**Both of our families

**Got to see Katy in her wedding dress and she looked BEAUTIFUL (can't believe she is getting married) and tried on a bunch of bridesmaid dresses! Can't wait till their very special day!
**Went up north for almost a week, which was just what we needed. It was just Joey, Duke, and I getting to go to our favorite place together and just spend much needed alone time together with no demands put on us! Thank you Mom and Dad Ross for letting us be able to enjoy the cabin...we are very blessed!

**Enjoyed a very fun night with some great friends! Thank you Roeder's for letting us come and hang out! Eli is way to cute for his own good!

**D got to meet his new Momma! Holly and D both seem to be enjoying each other and we are very glad we were able to give D to a good home! Holly will be a great Momma to my little man!

**My parents threw us a great party where we got to hang out with some family and friends. It was so great to see everyone and so nice that we did not have to go chasing to see everyone! Thanks Mom and Dad for such a great party, it meant a lot to us that you did it!

~We have been taking many trips to the Lake to help cool us all off as it is still very warm out

~Met some new friends

~Been working on the house a lot-Joeys big project is painting the trim on the outside of the house! Looks so much better so far! Pictures will come when it is all finished!

~We have started watching the show the office and have become quite addicted and perhaps it is our new favorite show!

~I am back to work and so far it has been a very busy year!

AND

~We just had a WONDERFUL visit from Mom and Dad Ross! Great to see them and spend time with them, but very hard to say goodbye!

He's Home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Joey has officially been home now for almost a month and a half and it is WONDERFUL!!

The estimated arrival dates for Joey to arrive were June 19-20 and AMAZINGLY he arrived about 11:30 p.m. Saturday, June 20th! And if you know anything about how the military works you understand why I find this to be amazing!!

At about 3:00 pm that afternoon though I received a text and it was Joey.

First, I was so excited, I had been waiting for the moment for 4 months and then it came way sooner then I thought! I did not expect to hear from him until the later evening sometime, so I was completely shocked to see I had a message from him saying he was in Maine and would call shortly!

He was STATESIDE!!!!! Very exciting moment for me!

Another very exciting moment was hearing his ring tone when he called me for the first time. I know these are all silly things but they are also things that when you don't have them anymore you miss them! He had a cell phone again, which meant I could contact him now whenever I wanted. I have not had total access to him for 4 months and it was exciting to get it back!

At about 10 p.m. I got another text saying they have landed. It was exciting to know that not only were we in the same country but now the same city together. It was getting closer, but I had to contain myself as I knew it would be another hour to hour and half before I would actually get to see him. One of the most exciting moments of the night was when the D.J. said here come the buses and there they were!!

By the time the everything was all said and done it was after 11:30 by the time we finally got to reunite. Unfortunately because I was all by myself I did not have anyone to take pictures of us once we were reunited, but I do have a video of the ceremony which I think is pretty cool and am glad that we have it.

Here is the ceremony!

(It is dark but you can still get a good idea of what happened)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here is also the video of when Joey and Duke reunite! It is again dark but so sweet at how excited he got. The video doesn't really do it justice because Duke was so excited, hard to describe, but the video gives you a good idea! Turn up the volume because you can here Dukey cry!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Both Duke and I are so happy to have him home!

I feel different, happier and I can tell Duke is too!

Our family is complete again!

AND

Our house is finally is starting to feel like home.

So close......

As the reunion with Joey is literally right around the corner, I am filled with so many different emotions! One of those feelings is disbelief that this not so fun chapter in our lives is just about over!
Thank you God!

But the main emotion I am filled with is pure excitement! I can't wait to have my husband, lover, and my BEST FRIEND back! When I think of seeing him that first time, my heart starts to thump like crazy and my stomach gets all jittery causing the butterflies to go nuts!

There are so many things that I get so excited about when thinking he will be home shortly. Things that I have missed so very much. Even those little things that sometimes get on my nerves, I can't wait to get back!

I have missed:

~his presence to fill the house and make it feel like home
~sitting next to him in the car
~cooking real meals
~eating dinner with him
~enjoying a glass of wine at dinner
~him putting me to bed at night
~sharing a bed with him
~watching him play with Duke
~going out to dinner with him
~his laugh
~his silliness all the time
~watching Sportscenter all the time
~taking walks at night
~going with him on his runs
~shopping for him
~reading in bed with him
~his hugs
~the way he always makes me feel special and loved

AND

~EVERYTHING!!!!!!


But I would be lying if I did not say I was also nervous about him coming home as well! It has been a little over 3.5 months since I have last seen him and a lot has happened since that time. I know I have changed and I am pretty sure he has too, how could he of not. Which is not unusual because everyone changes with time. But most married couples change together, but we have changed separately on completely different continents with limited communication.

So yeah I am nervous! I have a lot to lose! But I also feel like this is normal to have feelings like this.

I also believe in our love and so whenever I begin to feel real nervous I am reassured not only by him, but by his love for me! So whatever happens and no matter how much we may have changed I am confident we will be okay! Because giving up on a love like ours just would be down right silly!

So on Sunday morning when most of the country is sleeping soundly in their beds, I will hopefully be reuniting with the man I love more than anything in this world!
His arms better be ready to catch me as I jump into them!!

Happy 1st Birthday Duke

On June 1st, 2008, Duke's mom Lacey gave birth to 10 little puppies and one of them was our very own Dukey!

Duke is the one all by himself, I had just laid him down. All the dogs with collars are taken, including Duke with his army collar on!

On June 1st, Duke was not even a thought in our minds. Sure we talked about getting a dog, a lab, but not until we were more settled.

At this time in our lives I was ending up another school year and we were preparing for Joey to leave again to go to Washington for about 40 days.

Joey left towards the end of June and a day after he left I sat at my parents house looking at the Sheboygan Press. My whole intention of looking at the press was to look at the classifieds for jobs. I knew I needed something to do to keep me busy while Joey was gone or I would go crazy. I already was having a hard time and it had only been a day that he was gone. Well before I got to the job postings I decided to just check out the animal section of the classifieds. And what do I see....yellow lab puppies for sale! I of course got sidetracked and the job hunting never happened. Instead I got all the information about the puppies for when Joey called. While I was waiting for Joey to call I went into complete research mode in finding out what it would take to bring a dog to Korea, which at the time was where we thought we were going to go after San Antonio.

By the time Joey called I was prepared with all the information and knew I could pretty much handle any questions he would have. He of course was all for this and told me go look at them.

We both knew though that if I went I was going to leave with picking our Duke out. And sure enough that weekend my parents, Katy, and I went to go check out the pups. And after an hour of hanging out with the male pups that were available I picked out Duke. We put his collar on and I put a deposit down. We were now owners of a yellow lab puppy!

I was not able to take him home that day because he was only 5 weeks old and still needed his Mom, so I had 3 weeks to prepare for our little guy!

(The day I picked Duke out!)

I remember the day I picked him up, July 14th. Joey was not home yet and would not be for a couple of weeks. So my mom, Katy, and I went to go get our little guy. I was a bundle of nerves. The moment was bitter sweet because as excited as I was to get Duke, I was also a little sad that Joey was not home to share in this moment with me. But looking back now I realize that being an army wife I might have more moments just like that. Because when everything is all said and done the Army owns Joey and if the country needs him he goes!

Anyways, on the way home Duke fell asleep in my arms. And I was like okay this is going to be easy. Not so much! That night I was up every hour, getting pretty much no sleep at all and Duke was feisty. I of course was so tired and emotional and cried to my mom that I picked out an aggressive dog. Well I was reassured he was just being a puppy. But later that week I went to Petsmart and got Duke signed up for puppy class. Best thing I ever did. Those classes are totally for the owners and they are awesome because I learned so much. And Duke is a great dog now because of those classes! Otherwise I am pretty certain we might have had a Marley on our hands!

(Joey and Duke meet for the first time in the Green Bay Airport parking lot!)

As I am writing this and thinking back to that time, it seems like we have had Duke forever. Hard to picture life before Duke.

I feel in love with Duke the day I picked him out, but never thought I would love him as much as I do. He is truly a blessing to us!

He especially has a special place in my heart because he is always with me! He is my constant companion. I can honestly say that he is a huge part of how I have made it through this deployment. Without him I don't think I could have stayed here in Texas. But because I had him to come home to every night I was able to do it.
And looking back he has gotten me through so much. Including when I first got him, he got me through that time Joey was gone, he got me through our time in San Antonio when Joey was gone a lot, and now through this deployment. Some people may say that we are crazy to love an animal as much as we do but I can bet that those people never had a dog like Duke and never have been through some of the stuff we have. And before we had Duke I probably would of said the same thing. But Duke is a constant companion and loves us no matter what. He brings us so much joy and happiness! Words can't even begin to describe what he means to us and all the happiness he brings us!

So thank you Duke! We love you so much!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of our Duke!

Instant best friends!

Practicing "LEAVE IT"

Duke got a pool to splash around in this summer and he happened to get it around his birthday!!


I honestly believe if humans were just a little more like dogs, who love unconditionally, the world would be a much better place!!

1st group is HOME!!!!

The first group of soldiers from Joey's unit have arrived!!!

On Saturday evening I went to help get all the last minute signs and flags set up for the Welcome Home Ceremony that was held early Sunday morning. Two of the wives that were helping, their husbands were coming home on this flight and they got a phone call from their husbands telling them that they were in Maine and were finally stateside! It was so exciting to hear that and I was just so excited for them. I can't wait for that moment to happen that I see Joey's name pop up on my phone! Something as little as that just gives me butterflies in my stomach!

I was able to go home for a bit in between the setting up and the ceremony. But arrived back at 10:30 pm Saturday night. The soldiers were due to arrive in Killeen at 11:48 and they were right on time! At about that time the D.J. stopped the music and annonced that our loved ones have LANDED!! Everyone started screaming.
It is giving me chills as I am writing this because it was just so EXCITING. It is really hard to find words to explain the feelings and emotions I was feeling. And it wasn't even Joey coming home!

Once they have landed they do all their improcessing and turn in their weapons at the airfield before they come to us. This ended up taking about one and half hours. Than when the D.J. annouced that they had left the airfield and were on their way the anticpation of their arrival just excillated.
And about twenty minutes later we hear "15th STB family and friends here come your loved ones!!"

And than you see all the buses pulling up!

AHHHHHH~I just instantly started crying. It was just such a flow of emotions that words just really can't describe! And it wasn't even Joey on those buses!

Once they were all formed up we were told to yell, "MOVE THE BUSSES" and when they moved there they all were!

They marched forward with the Honor Guard leading them and all I can say is WOW! Words can't even describe the feelings that were going through me.


There were two very short speeches, one given by Col. Phelps who ended his speech with saying, "The only thing standing between your loved one and you is ME and I say GO GET THEM!"
And everyone was off!

Another very emotional moment. I got to just sit back and watch people reunite with their loved ones. It was such a special moment, there are really no words to describe this entire night/morning, except for BEAUTIFUL!

Here are some pics of people reuniting!

Can't wait to reunite with my soldier!!!!!!

It's official!!

Well as of yesterday I received a call from Joey's unit to tell me that Lieutenant Ross is expected to be home the week of June 14th! So I guess I can say it is official (well as official as anything can be when you are dealing with the army) since I have finally heard it from the unit.

Honestly, I can't wait so I can't even begin to imagine how some of the wives are feeling whose husbands have been gone for a lot longer then Joey has! So because I am so excited I have to keep myself even more busy because otherwise all I do is think about it and I get even more excited. But I have to keep reminding myself that I still have a month to go yet.

All I know though is that I hope that the rest of the time goes even faster then it already is. And I know I should not be wishing my life away like this, but without my husband here to share thing with, life is just not the same! Once he comes back then life can move slowly again!