For the Makers
We are not above envy when it comes to witnessing friends' husbands returning home and their families reuniting. While we're thrilled for them, you can't help but feel that twinge of pain, that wish that it were your time. Your family. Sigh. Only 9 more months. Give or take a few.
To keep myself entertained, I have a few things that have been a nice distraction. John wanted to get my a flower subscription for while he was gone. Basically, a floral service sends you flowers every month. AMAZINGLY sweet idea. Unfortunately, the day the flowers were supposed to arrive he got a call that the floral company no longer offered that service. He was pretty bummed about it. We looked around for an alternative but nothing really struck his fancy. I had the random idea to look for an alternative but the same idea and see if he liked it as much as flowers. I found two sites. I forget the first but the one he ended up choosing was forthemakers.com. It's basically a monthly subscription to diy projects...jewelry, accessories, etc. You get the materials in the mail and then they have step-by-step instructions online. He LOVED the idea because it meant me being creative and doing projects I wouldn't normally do. I've literally been on pins and needles since the day he left hoping for my box to arrive. Well...a LONG month later, my first one showed up and I was not disappointed. Each box has 4 projects. This one was a pair of earrings, a necklace, a little bag, and a glasses string to keep them around your neck. All of them you put together, sewed, etc. So far I've made the earrings, glasses string, and I'm half way through the baggy. It's so much fun and awesome having the instructions. You can put your own twist on things but since it's my first one, I'm trying to stick to the instructions to a T. Next time I might get a little creative. If you know me at all, you know I love surprises and presents...even if the surprise is just a note in the morning or something that costs nothing. This has been great and I know I will eventually be so busy that I forget it's coming and it'll be a great surprise in the mail to brighten my day. Although THIS wasn't John's idea, the idea of doing something monthly for me was. The reason was because this deployment is different in that we don't have the opportunity to video chat regularly or even call regularly. Email has been good but there are going to be periods where there is silence when he has no access to the internet. It's going to get lonely. It already is. The fact he wanted to do something special for me to ease those lonely times reminds me for the umpteenth time of what an amazing man I married and WHY I do what I do. I'm told all the time, "I could never do what you're doing!" and I can't help but want to smack people over the side of the head when they say stuff like that. See previous post. I always wonder what that actually means. Would you leave your spouse if they joined the military and you found yourself in that situation? Or what if they had to take a job that took them far away for long periods of time and you couldn't afford an alternative? I mean, REALLY...what are you saying? Think about it before you say it. I know that I do this because John is the best man I've ever known, best one I WILL ever know and I've said it before and I'll say it again...I would rather go through deployments for a man as amazing as John that have a mediocre one that never has to go away. I will make this sacrifice and raise you a sassy come back. No, but seriously. This isn't fun. But I wouldn't trade it if it meant being with someone else.
I love you, John.
Photo: Forthemakers found via Forthemakers
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