What a Difference a Year Makes

Today I couldn't help but think that last year on Memorial Day was when our world was turned upside down.

On our way back from our Honeymoon we received a call that Tom had been selected for the Marine Officer Candidate School. He had worked so hard for this for a long time and although it had taken me a while to get on board, we were both beyond ecstatic. We moved back down to College Station together for about a month and Tom finished out his year working with Texas A&M. Then back to Flower Mound to live with his mom while we waited for Tom to leave for OCS at Qauntico, Virginia. I couldn't go to VA with him for training so I was going to live with his mom for the summer until I could move up with him and then begin looking for a job. I had a nannying job for the summer while I waited.

One thing I love about being a part of the Hruskocy family is their big family get togethers. Everyone lives close so you can always count on a family gathering for each holiday. Last Memorial Day everyone was together for the holiday and for a send off party for Tom. He was leaving the following Tuesday. Everyone was there! I had been working to help his mom set up and Tom was seeing a movie with my dad. Next thing Tom walks in.."We need to talk."

We walk outside, because remember the whole family was inside, and he breaks the news that his Officer Candidate class was cut due to Obama's recent budget cuts, their was a hold on the spending. (Now... I never talk about politics, I am not informed. But me and that man, we have some personal beef!) Talk about heartbroken and stunned. Our whole plan... we were living with his mom, both jobless with no plan. The tears were flowing, his family thought we were fighting. It was the hardest day of our marriage and we had been married for two months.

Those following weeks were hard. VERY hard. We had to make some big decisions. We had nothing but our faith to rely on. But within that struggle some life lessons were learned. God's plan was not our plan. As hard as those times were and the tears we cried, God was faithful. He was and is sovereign and in control. I am able to see His work in our lives the past year and I am thankful. What an amazing testimony and foundation to build a marriage on...

This Memorial Day THANKFULLY was A LOT less eventful. Spaghetti squash with my husband and brother-in-law and then lounging around relaxing. And after last year.... that was just fine by me. What a difference a year has made. This Memorial Day I am truly thankful.

Living with a Boy

This is what I came home to today. Any guesses what it is?!? Tape from my sweet husband's taped ankle. Yummy!

Living with a boy, SORRY a man, brings me these surprises almost everyday. But I wouldn't change my life one bit. Okay... maybe I said a bad word in the same sentence with his name, but a second later I was laughing.

Finding these little "surprises" makes me think about my officer throughout the day. Tom has been on evening shift for the past week and a half and I have been missing him bad, and struggling adjusting to my new normal. This tapeonthecounter surprise brought a smile to my face.

I'll just add it to the list of fruit stickers plastered to the kitchen sink and nail clippings in the sink. I love living with a boy.

On Monday we had to put down my family's pleasantly plump kitty. Sweet little (okay not so little)Rusty. This is the man... Oh Lord!

He had a long happy life.... full of licking your eyelids at 5 in the morning to get his morning meal. Yes, Rusty was peculiar. He did know a few tricks. My dad taught him to stand on his hind legs. This task was only accomplished if you were holding his food bowl high up in the air. This picture illustrates his love of food perfectly.

All kidding aside... Rusty was the sweetest kitty. He would love on you for hours. Losing a pet jolts your heart. How can an animal hold such a huge piece of you?

I loved this big orange kitty! Tom volunteered Tucker and Laila to my mom if she ever got lonely... how sweet...

Thankful

Tonight I am thankful...

Yesterday Tom was in a car accident while working the day shift. I got the phone call at school and it started with, "Now everything is okay, I am okay but..." My heart dropped, he didn't want to scare me... too late. He was already at the hospital and about to be sent in for x-rays. Needless to say I was a bit distracted at the parent teacher conference I had. As soon as I could leave and Tom was released, I rushed to the station to pick him up. My heart dropped in my shoes when he walked out limping with a pair of crutches.

I am thankful. The police car was totaled and the front was crushed on impact. It is a miracle he is only suffering from a sprained ankle. No one else was sent to the hospital, the woman and her (unbuckled) children were fine. It could have been much, much worse. I shudder when I think of the could haves...

With a few days rest he will be back on the streets on Monday. But until then I am soaking up all my time with my officer. He switches to the evening shift on Monday 3pm-11pm. Yes, I am thankful. I told him this is the one time I will wait on him hand and foot, so enjoy it :) Yes, I will be squeezing him a little bit tighter tonight...

Almost Wordless Wednesday

It's hard to believe my first year of teaching is almost finished. Kinder babies.... no more! A few of my little friends at the zoo. Mrs. Hruskocy's Little Elephants :) Wish I could show you their sweet faces...

Happy Mother's Day

On this special day I want to celebrate my mom. My mom is my best friend. She is such a loving, Godly and compassionate woman. I have learned so much from her; how to love passionately, forgiveness and grace, and to believe in what is right. I am so blessed to have a supporting mother who has always been there for me, and continues to be there for my little family. Whether its something small like letting Kali out when Tom and I are working late or something much larger I can always count on her.

I have learned so much about being a loving wife, as she always was and continues to be to my dad. She has so much love to give and the kind of patience I only wish I could have. Seeing the relationship, and marriage my parents have sent me looking for a fairytale. I am so blessed to have both of them as parents.

I have so many cherished moments from growing up and every memory holds a moment with my mom. She was so good to my sister and I. She threw the best birthday parties with amazing homemade cakes. I got my creativity from my mom. Thank for that. Although now my passion and love for thrifting has rubbed off on her! (Your welcome...)

My mom is my best friend. Being older and having a family of my own, I am now realizing and able to appreciate all she did for our family. Although sometimes I may have taken it for granted, nothing she did ever went unnoticed. She is the best anyone could ever ask for. I can only hope, when the baby fever epidemic takes over that I can be the mom she is to me, and that my children think of me the way I think of my mom.... I love you MOM!

You are simply the best! Happy Mother's Day!

The End of an Era

I would like to observe a moment of silence to remember our late '98 Honda Accord... okay not too long. On Saturday we received some bad news. The Honda did not pass the inspection here in Texas and required repairs way more than the car was worth. This sent us on a car hunt. We knew what we were looking for so within a few hours we were saying our goodbyes to "The Beast" or the Honda. Many hundreds of miles were driven behind this steering wheel.

Goodbye Honda. So glad to see you go.

Goodbye fading paint. Oh how embarrassed I was to drive you.

Goodbye broken knobs... goodbye to the pliers required to turn the knobs.

I guess it wasn't that sad at all... and at 11:30 pm when all the papers were signed

We drove away in this sweet blueberry of a beauty!

Yes just a mere 2 weeks after our first grown up purchase, the new washer and dryer, soon followed a much, much bigger and more grown up purchase. I love everything about our new 2010 Nissan Altima. And no matter how many "New Car" air fresheners you buy, nothing beats the real thing! I am so blessed...