Updates and an Unexpected Evening

Update #1- I can cook! Who knew? Certainly not me or my husband.

Update #2- Being a stay-at-home mom (SAHM) is WAY harder than I expected, it is also a little bit lonely. I look forward to going to Target or the grocery store to have a little adult interaction. I'm still trying to decide if I will apply for a job.

Update #3- Making friends has been challenging. I have discovered this whole new world of pool moms. We have a pool at the apartment and it gives us something free to do during the day. Mackenzie is still pretty young and needs constant supervision (pool or no pool), so my interactions are somewhat limited with the other women. Maybe if I read this book I will have some luck.

Update #4- Nathan was in charge of picking out the apartment since I was 600 miles away and the only thing I asked for was that it be on the ground level. I did not want to be carrying the baby and all her crap up and down stairs. Well, we are on the ground floor......the floor you have to walk down stairs to get to. Hello? If you have to walk down, you're going to have to walk up! Oh well, we all learned a valuable lesson.


Update #5- Overall, the move went pretty well. On the first packing/moving day in Fort Wayne, I was greeted at the storage unit by three, large, tattoo covered gentlemen that I spent the next 7 hours with. One of them was on house arrest, I noticed his ankle bracelet. The next day seemed to go even slower, they had to inventory and put stickers on EVERYTHING before loading it onto the truck. There were only two guys that day and it felt like they took a break every 20 minutes. Blah, blah, blah, the stuff made it with only a few scratches.

Update #6- Mackenzie is very close to walking! She loves her toy from Matt Johnston & family that allows her to walk semi-independently. I'm not too wild about the song I hear 150 times a day, but what can you do?

As for our unexpected evening....

Last night I talked Nathan into going to one of the local parks. I had never been before and it turned out being a bust. I was bummed so he suggested going to get ice cream. We stumbled upon Historic Fredericksburg. It was adorable, the houses, the shops, the streets, everything made me smile. Don't you love finding places like that? We had some ice cream, walked around with Mackenzie and enjoyed our time together. It was great, just what we needed.

Thank You!

We are here! I have so much to update on, but before we can get to any of that I need to say thank you to just about everyone that may be reading this blog. Nathan and I are humbled by the love and support we were shown over the past 5 months. The kind words, encouraging emails and positive thoughts were more than we expected.


The picture above is from the last Muldoon gathering before we left Fort Wayne. The group consists of my mom, four aunts (Laurie, Tina, Joyce and Marlene), five cousins (Krista, Brandon, Jared, Autumn and Melissa) and Mackenzie. We ate too much food and had a great time, thanks guys!

It's Moving Day......And When It Rains, It Pours!

Yep, it's moving day. The movers will be arriving at the storage unit around 9:30, I'm not sure how that is going to play out since most of our stuff is already in boxes. It will be up to me to decide which items will be going to the apartment and which will be going to the new storage unit. I'm a little nervous about this, I don't make decisions under pressure very well. And since Nathan is out in the field all day, I have no one to call to help in this decision making....yikes!

Yesterday was a VERY, VERY trying day. In a matter of 90 minutes I received the following news....

*There is a good chance that Nathan will not be able to fly back to FW so that we could drive out together. That means Mackenzie, Cappy and myself in the car for 10-12 hours! Who's jealous? I don't have enough arms to keep track of everything. I am slightly encouraged by my accomplishment of making the trip (alone) a few months back. The only difference is now I will have the dog, this could go either way.
**We were told a few weeks back by TMO that we would need to install shipping bolts into our front-loading washer. Apparently, the bolts prevent the drum from shifting out of place. This would have been very helpful information to have, oh I don't know, before we already moved the washer out of the house. My brother attempted to install the bolts, they wouldn't go in, the drum has already been thrown off. I called HH Gregg and the guy told me that once the drum is out of place, it means we will be purchasing a new unit. SWEET!!! How come there isn't a BIG YELLOW sticker on the back of the washer saying, DO NOT MOVE WITHOUT INSTALLING SHIPPING BOLTS!
***Lastly, as I was on the phone telling Nathan about the washer I had another call from our property manager. I've come to learn that when I get a call from her, I am usually about to spend a large amount of money. Our renters had sent her an email complaining about water in the basement after a big storm that came through a week ago. Now the house smells moldy and they want to know what to do. (Background info, these renters annoy me. They are young, never lived on their own before and call the property manager over EVERYTHING. One time it cost me $50 to have the repair guy install a lightbulb. Where has common sense gone?) Marla, I am sorry if I was every this annoying when I rented your house! Long story short, the property manager will go over and check things out. I am waiting for the next phone call......

And the winner is....

Almost done.....we can do this.....everything will be fine

Nathan comes home tomorrow for the first time in 5 months. As I rocked Mackenzie to sleep tonight I thought about the last time Nathan was in this house. It was January 18th, it was cold. I remember a lot of details from this day, like how Nathan had a close shave, a fresh haircut and was wearing a blue dress shirt. I mostly sat around, watching him pack a single duffel bag and then checking it over and over again. I begged Nathan to read a few bedtime stories to the video camera so I could have Mac watch them. I wanted her to see his face and hear his voice. Mackenzie was easy back then, not very entertaining, but those were the days when she would sleep for hours in the swing. At one point Nathan looked at her, looked at me and said, "It's hard for me to look at her." This, of course, broke my heart. I remember hugging him good-bye and watching him walk out the door. That was a rough day.

A few days after Nathan left I proudly hooked up the video camera, sat the baby swing (and the baby) in front of the TV, pushed the play button and what do I find??? My sweet husband reading the bedtime stories, only to be drowned out by my crying and sniffling that I managed to direct straight into the microphone. The picture was a little shaky too, that must have been from me wiping away the tears. Oh well, we live and learn.....I clearly cannot handle anything like this on the day Nathan is scheduled to leave.

Here are a few other things I've learned about myself during these past 5 months.
1) I can successfully manage 4 checkbooks without overdrawing
2) I can live off cereal
3) I cannot watch Extreme Home Makeover without crying
4) I don't care about sports when my husband is not around
5) I'm pretty good at writing letters
6) I can survive my workday on very small amounts of sleep
7) I am easily annoyed by people that complain
8) I can be a sometimes-single mom
9) I am very prideful (some might say, um, stubborn) and I like to do things on my own

Its been a while...

Jaq, Jill, Rangersgirl, Melissa, Marla, Jenny, Brie, and of course my DW Kelly...and any others I neglected to mention...not to exclude our random blog viewers...good morning/afternoon/evening...wherever you are. It has been a second since my last post, thank goodness for the DW keeping this bad boy updated. If it were up to me this might be the most boring blog ever. But alas, I am able to make a post. I have spent the last two weeks learning the ins and outs of USMC firearms. It has been a pretty crappy block of time as we had to start our days at 0400, strap on some ridiculously heavy packs and hump 3 miles out and 3 miles back every day. I did get some pictures though, the first is me trying my best to look like Billy Badass but in reality I just look like a midget in camouflage.

The cool thing was that we did get to employ some night optics. The second picture is of me through a pair of night vision goggles (NVGs). Unfortunately for me it is ugly during the day and STILL ugly at night, some folks just can't win. The one thing I can brag about is the distance we shoot from, no other Armed Service brings their rifle qualifications back as far as we do. The third picture gives a point of view of how far back that is, 500 yards (5 football fields to put it in perspective), and fools were still putting rounds in the bullseye...bad news for those Taliban.

We were able to get some video of us firing at night with NVGs and laser sights. The lights that look like flashlight beams are infrared lasers that can only be seen through NVGs. Its short and sweet but you get the idea.


I hope all is going well for everyone, I am looking forward to seeing most of you over the Memorial Day weekend. Thanks for your comments and God bless...
This is a pic of Lt. Gaughan, a true Patriots fan from the heart of Boston, just goes to show you that even the arms of war can embrace peace...even between a Colt's and Pat's fan...give peace a chance...

Semper Fi

LT MILLS

I QUIT

I finished typing my letter of resignation and will be submitting it later today. I have dreamed of quitting this job for some time now, but it was in hopes of finding a job closer to home. I can't help but feel excited and scared about the future (in terms of a career). Will I want to go back to work? Will I have difficulty finding another job? Am I crazy for walking away from such a secure job? Oh wait, I would be crazy to stay here and spend another year apart from my husband! Here is a picture of me in my office, it was taken a few years ago. Notice, I look much younger and refreshed. In fact, my hair looks a lot thicker. Anyway, the student is holding a bottle of hot sauce; he loved hot sauce, I believe he earned that as a reward.