Exciting NEWS.....

I don't know who has been following the blog, but if you notice the countdown is to 3 DAYS!! So what is going on with John, when will he be home, what are yall going to do - those are a few of the questions I get asked about 10 times a day. lol
Here is what I know for sure - John has filled out all his paperwork to demobe. He will hopefully be able to fly out on Friday the 20th to Baghdad for there he will fly to Dubai. He is letting the company send him home so once he is in Dubai he will be flying standby which means I don't know when he will be home! It will be no earlier then Sunday and hopefully no later then Friday, either way it is over. He completed his year with KBR and kicked ass, now its time to come home and see his family!
The Blue's are all very excited, I'm not sure any of us will be getting much sleep the next few days.
Now all I have to do is about a million things - haha I will try to keep the blog and everyone updated!

One for you, two for me

That seems to be the theme while picking berries! For Johnny and me berry picking has become an annual thing. This year we brought along two rookies GiGi and Jenny. Hard to believe with such a big strawberry patch right down the street they had never been. It was the perfect afternoon sunny with a slight breeze. The strawberries were perfect, I think this excites me so much because it feels like the kick off to summer. I love going to the grocery store and seeing the fresh ripe fruit! We all picked a bucket and Jenny won the contest for the biggest berry found, and Johnny for the smallest. It was a great afternoon, and even better evening there is just something about a fresh strawberry shake! mmmmm

Funny we started this year (May) with John a few days before he left picking strawberries and seems we have come full circle, here we are one year later with only a few days left picking berries.

What do you think, has Johnny changed in one year? To me he looks so much older!

Busy, busy!

Well once again I have neglected my blog. Trust me everything that has gone on I have thought of a great blog post to share with the world but lately I seem to be lacking on one thing and that is TIME! Time to actually sit down and put these thoughts on paper is limited. So we will just do a quick update on the past few weeks mkay?

The only time we had all the people we love in that same room (minus the few that couldn't be there) was our wedding. John and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary in April! Most days it feels like we have been married forever, which isn't always a bad thing I just don't remember my life without him. (seriously, I have a bad memory. lol) Every year has had their ups and downs and I really feel like we have become a good team and are always improving. This year challenged us in many ways and looking ahead it will be an adjustment living together again! (weird to think that) But I feel in spending this time apart we have gotten such an appreciation for each other and our love has grown even more.

I know some amazing women, I am very lucky to have them in my life as friends and family. All are very strong, smart, confident and independent I look up to all of them and have really used them as an example to make it through this year. One in particular has been there for me my entire life and I never fully appreciated her until I became a mother. Amazing does not describe my mom she has always been there for me, loved me unconditionally, worried when she should and let me go when she had to. She has been such a great example - a teacher, a nurse, chef, chauffeur, a councilor, a maid and all without a complaint. Thank you mom for everything you do for us!

On the flip side of mothers day I must say I am a pretty to be the mom of such an amazing kid! He is so loving and thoughtful not to mention freaking hilarious. He made me a couple of sweet presents at school including a golden shoe - no dont worry I always wanted a pair of shoes 1 gold and the other normal. lol It was a nice and relaxing day.

Lots of good stuff going on, stay tuned!

Turning it up a notch...

Now that Johnny is in the black belt club he is allowed to spar. He was so excited to get his bag filled with all the gear which included a cup which he thought looked great. Oy ve, anytime now John. He did awesome in his first fight and loved every minuet, shocking I know.

John Blue, kinda a big deal...

Well I think everyone in the middle east knows his name, at least everyone at KBR. While he was in Arramadi the entire incinerator broke down, which is the only one on that base which meant they had to shut it down. Now who would be able to fix this? Only someone with good knowledge on machines, someone who could read and follow instructions and someone with the common sense and smarts - John took the job. He told them it would be up and running in 3 days time. After putting in a lot of hard work and manual labor, he is not able to stand up straight but the incinerator is running. And the good news is he was able to fly back to ALasaid, now he can start getting ready to come home. I know I have said it before but I am so proud of him, and I know all of the higher ups and people around him are too.

He is an athlete, no a rock star no..

Maybe an Artist? There is nothing like enjoying everything you try - Johnny is that kid, the one growing up we all cant stand. No matter what he does he is good at it, I am sure a lot of this is my bias opinion but who cares I think he is awesome. His school is trying to raise money for a new playground so they came up with a great idea of having a children's art show. Every student in the school did something for the show, the school framed it and then displayed it in an art show available for the parents to purchase. Great idea - what parent isnt going to buy their child's framed artwork? It might have been a coincidence but Johnny's was on display in the front of the school and the director told me his was a fan favorite. Alright enough bragging, here it is a rocket ship flying to the moon....

Easter!

Holidays are so much fun, well maybe it is the traditions that are the fun part and the Gold/Wolf/Blue clan have some good ones! The dying of the eggs starts the Easter fun, I prepared 18 eggs for Johnny and myself and between the broken and eaten we ended up with 13, they turned out really pretty. Johnny got very creative making planet eggs and my favorite the striped one which he left out for the Easter bunny to hide. (At our house the EB hides your egg and leaves a basket filled with treats and presents, you cant touch your basket until the egg is found.)

Johnny woke up excited to find his egg and basket right away. We then had a mystery EB leave us 2 baskets outside our front door! It was a good surprise! He gave up bubble gum for lent and went the whole 40 days with out cheating. I am proud to say even when he was offered the gum he did not take it. So after chewingg about 2 packs of gum we headed to the park. I really felt it was important to remember what Easter really means to us and with church being so crowded I thought he would get more out of it by me reading him children's bible stories. It was such a beautiful day so we went to the park. We walked and he listened very carefully asking questions and really understanding what I was trying to explain. There was something special about enjoying the day and teaching him about the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

We headed over to Gigi and Poppy's to find more eggs and baskets and made bouncy balls (so cool)! The wolf pack joined us and we had our annual big kid Easter egg hunt. In the eggs were lotto tickets, pony bottles, itunes and money, it was a lot of fun - who says your too old for an egg hunt? Besides with Johnny being the only "kid" we didnt want him to feel lonely hunting for eggs. A beautiful day with family and good food leaves me feeling good. Like always we really missed John (and the Wolf boys) but I am so happy to think this is the LAST holiday he will miss with us. We are counting down the days, hours and min until we are a family again. Not too much longer!