Just a little catching up

Hello everyone. Sorry its been so long since I have last posted. I have been so busy making up for lost time with Jared and our close friends who are now home as well. Our friends Jeff and Derrek made it home from Afghanistan to days ago. I went to there homecoming to take pictures for my friend Sarah. It was strange but I was far more emotional at that homecoming than I was at Jareds. I think it was because since Jared came home with such a small group it was less dramatic. At Sarahs homecoming, the boys marched up in a big formation right in front of the families. Everyone I knew was there and in tears. It was so emotional. As soon as I made it to my car I cried my whole way home. As soon as Jared finally made it home (which was at like 3am that night) all I wanted him to do was hold me. It had finally hit me I guess. I finally realized he was home and not going anywhere. Now that the boys are home, everything is back to normal. Jared and our friends met up at the bowling ally on base yesterday and had a blast. It was just like old times. Right now we have Derrek and Sarah over to celebrate new years with us. Its so nice to have everyone home again.  Well I dont really have much to say so I guess I will get back to our guests. I hope everyone has a very wonderful new years! I will write as soon as I can.

Lauren

Its been a breeze

Hello everyone! Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been so busy making up for lost time with Jared. Im sure everyone is wondering how it is having him home again. I can tell you I have never been happier. It took no time at all to re adjust. Its like we just picked up where we left off six months ago. We havent really gone out to do much. Jared and I are both pretty good with money and put quite a bit back over deployment. So we really have no urge to go and spend any of it. We feel safer having a safety net of money, especially with the baby on the way. Speaking of the baby. The day after Jared got home he got to go to the first doctors appointment since my first one almost eight months ago! It was so good to finally have him there with me. While we were seeing the doctor I explained that Jared had just gotten home the night before. I also told her that I had been having some painful contractions. She laughed and said "yall had sex didnt you". Jared and I just smiled not really saying anything. She then walked out of the room. A few minuets later she walked back in with a handful of condoms! She explained that the prostaglandin in sperm can make you have painful contractions and she said she knew we would be "busy" so she had brought us extra. It was hilarious, and Jared was mortified. My doctor is this little short older woman about 65. I love her because she is just so open and comfortable about everything. I really hope she is on call when the baby is born. It will make the whole birthing process so much better to have a doctor with a good sense of humor. Sine the appointment Jared and I have mostly just stayed home and enjoyed each others company. We snuggle on the couch or in bed and watch movies, or we take Teddy on his walks together. Its been wonderful. Its so stupid but I hate it when he gets up at 5am to get ready for work. I want to be selfish and keep him home. But I know he has to go. Well thats about it. So I am going to go. Its cold and Jared and I are about to get in bed and watch Lord of the rings. I will write soon! Have a good week everyone!

Lauren

My hero is home

Hello everyone!! Finally made it on here. Forgive me if this is a little scatter brained. Im rocking two hours of sleep :D Well Jared is finally home! Last night was so absolutely amazing. Tanna and I got to the homecoming location at about 830. We met up with a friend of mine Katherine, who we chatted with for about an hour. Finally we were told the buses were in route.( I was getting incredibly nervous. We all went out side, had a brief with the guy in charge and lined up along the side of the rode. Finally at about 10pm the buses rolled up. Everyone was screaming and cheering. Tanna and I stood up front by the first bus. One by one Marines filed off. But some how i knew Jared wasn't on that first bus. I took off for the second one. Making several people angry in the process. I could hear them yelling about getting in the way of there photos. What did I care? I was there to find my husband. I pushed my way to the second bus. Losing Tanna in crowd. Right as I made it to the second bus I saw him. He was just about to step off. I ran to him. He didnt even expect me to be right there. Some how in the chaos I had found him. I grabbed his sleeve, he turned. Completely surprised I was there. Finally I got my "first" kiss. It was short and sweet. He needed to go turn in his weapon and locate his bags. I reluctantly let him go, expecting it to be an hour or more before I saw him again. To my surprise 15 min later he was walking twords me. Goofy smile and all. I was so happy. I ran to him and hugged him. It was deffinatly the most amazing night of my life. It is just so weird how in just a few minuets things can go from being sad and lonely, to being right as it should be. I have my family back. I wouldnt trade it for the world. There are no words to express how it felt to have Jareds hand on my tummy. Or to see his face when Ryder moved. I am happier than I have ever been. My hero is home.

Lauren (btw really bad pic of me!)

Not what I expected

Hello everyone! I know what everyone is so excited about! Im getting there. I actually woke up this morning and it felt no different than any other day. I had no feelings about what is going to take place tonight. I don't think its really hit me yet. I don't think it will until I wake up next to him tomorrow morning. I don't want to sound like a bad wife and I hope it dosnt come across that way. I just got so used to living by myself. Its going to be such an adjustment to have him back. Don't get me wrong. I want him home. I have missed him more than anything. I just wonder if this is a normal feeling. Maybe its just nerves. Who knows. Im sure as soon as Tana and I pull up to our homecoming location things will change. It just still feels so far off. I know I shouldn't complain. Its only hours compared to the months I have waited. It just feels like an eternity. I love my husband more than anything. I am so ready to have him back. I am ready for the other half of my bed to no longer be empty. I want to wake up to his happy smiling face again. I just want it to feel real. I want it to hit me. I want to be excited just like all the other wives. I guess its just going to take some time. If anyone has felt this or knows what im feeling please leave a comment.

Lauren

Its over. FINALLY!

Well everyone tomorrow is the big day! Tomorrow I will be in my husbands arms for the first time in six and a half months! Not to surprised that I am pretty cranky today, considering I still have like 35 hours!!!! Thats far to many. I swear though, It feels like the morning he left. We woke up around 8am and from the second he got out of bed all I could do was cry. I feel really bad looking back. I know Jared wanted to enjoy the last day he had with me for the next six months. I pretty much ruined it for him. But heck I was hormonal and about to let go of the love of my life. I was terrified. What if something happened to him? I would never see him again. My son would never know his father.How could I raise my son with out his dad? It was all to much for me to handle. All I could do was cry and beg for him not to go. Even though I knew no amount of crying could keep him home. What made it even worse was we were told to be at the base at 11am. Then we sat there all day until about 6pm before we finally put them on the buses. It was like pulling a band aid off really slow. It was incredibly painful. All I wanted to do was say good bye, go home and crawl in bed. Finally when it was time to say goodbye, I lost it. Jared literally had to pry me away from him. Jared has never been good with goodbyes. I know he just wanted to get it over with so he wouldn't cry. I got one last kiss and he was gone. I wouldn't see his face for the first five months of the deployment. The very first time he finally had access to Skype I cried. This whole journey had been the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I never want to do it again even though I know it will always be a possibility. And who knows. With Ryder being raised as a military brat, he might want to follow in his daddies footsteps. Its a terrifying thought but I need to settle down and realize It something I am just going to have to get used to.  I just thank god every day that he took care of Jared for me while he was gone. I prayed every night for his safety. And honestly since I have never been particularly religious. I now believe my prayers were answered. During this deployment Jared's truck hit several IED's, and some how he managed to come out of each one with little less than a mild concussion. I got lucky. If I had ever gotten that knock at my door, my life would have ended then and there. I know  that sounds dramatic, but I would have lost my best friend, my lover, my husband, the father of my son,and the keeper of my secrets. I would have lost everything. Tomorrow I know as soon as I see him walk twords me I will burst into tears. They will be happy tears but they will also be tears of relief. I will no longer have to go to bed and worry about him. He will finally be right where he is supposed to be. Its over. Thank god.
(The photo up top is a photo taken right after our husbands boarded the buses. Our face says it all)

Lauren

Time flies!

Morning everyone! I feel great today! I actually had no insomnia last night, and I think I slept longer in one stretch than I ever have since I got pregnant! Yay me! I feel great. Now I just need to gather the effort to get out of bed. Im starving but its FREEZING, and my bed is just so warm. Well I cant officially revert my homecoming count down into hours. I still have a few days but its enough to were I think hours sounds better! I still cant believe this deployment is over! It feels like yesterday I was putting Jared on those horrible white buses , and crying my eyes out days afterwards. But now, after six and a half months my best friend and husband is finally coming home! Im not going to lie. I adjusted to living by myself very well, and its going to take a little while to get used to having him back. But regardless I am so happy. He is my other half. More than anything I think I am more excited for him to get to feel Ryder move. I want him to start building a bond with him. I know Ryder knows my voice, and books say he will recognize it after birth. I want Jared to spend lots of time talking to him. I want baby to know thats daddy. We only have 8 short weeks until Ryder gets here so Jared has his work cut out for him. Plus Jared needs to figure out the car seat base in my car. I tried and failed miserably and decided thats a "daddy" task. Well im gonna have to get going. I need to go get ready. Tannah and I are going to go hang Jared's homecoming signs today! yay so excited! I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Lauren

True love does exist

Hey everyone! Normally I dont post twice a day but I just wanted to share a little something with you. Today I got to instant message with Jared almost all day. It was so good to know he is making the journey home after so long. I have missed him so much. It has been incredibly hard being pregnant all alone. Especially when all you want is to share it with the person who created that life along with you. Our conversation was sweet. We exchanged about a million "I love yous" and expressed how much we missed one another. We talked about how amazing it was going to be to finally have that "first kiss" again. Then I told him I was very nervous about homecoming. I told him that last time he had seen me I was barley 5 weeks pregnant and I was tiny. Now he is coming home to a very different me. I mean yeah I havent gained all that much but I still look like I have swallowed a basketball. I have been so worried that all the change would scare Jared. But instead of getting the response I was afraid of, he told me that it didnt matter. He said " Im still in love with you" I laughed and jokingly said even though im all big and pregnant. He told me he loved me more than anything and that I was his life. I love my husband so much. I know we are young. I understand we got married and pregnant before most do, but Its no ones business but ours. I love my little family more than anything, and I think thats all that matters.  Now all I have to do is sit back and be patient. We are seriously so close. I love you Jared Lee. I always have and always will. Im one lucky girl to have found someone as amazing as you.

Lauren

This would put my husband into cardiac arrest

Well I feel like a crazy person. Its 3:56 am and what am I doing? Im blogging. Its really not that weird. Ever since I got pregnant I have developed Insomnia pretty bad. I normally wake up about 3 or 4 am wide awake and cant fall back asleep for several hours. It sucks. Defiantly something I forgot to mention in my pregnancy blog yesterday. Well today I was talking with a old high school friend of mine. We talked about a lot. Her hubby is considering joining the military so she had lots of questions about what the life style was like. I was honest. Its not easy, It has its ups and downs, But if you think your cut out to deal with separations than its a good way to start out. Especially if you are a young mom. It gives you the opportunity to go to school, have steady income, health care, and housing. We talked for a long time about the military then we got on to other subjects like our husbands, our homes, then finally our kids. She is currently pregnant with her second, and hoping for a little girl since she already has a little 2 year old boy. We started talking about girl names. Throwing out all the ones we liked. Now I had already been on Melondipidy.com all day looking at cute baby hats for Ryder but I couldnt help but look at all the adorable little girl hats and headbands. ( If you are looking for cute hats and photo props for your babies melondipidy.com is the way to go!) I told her Jared and I had planned to name our daughter Autumn Grace if the baby had been a girl. She then showed me a list of names she liked all which were adorable. Finally we got on the topic of crib bedding. She would copy and paste the URLS. Finally she showed me this one site that had custom made baby bedding. The web sited was modpeapod.com. Let me tell you, I have NEVER  seen cuter stuff  in the world. I must have been on that site for over 2 hours last night. Its sad and Jared would probably die if he knew about that but I already have our future baby girls bedding all picked out. Its $300 but I will save every penny to get it. I am absolutely in love with it! Plus by the time baby two comes into our lives I should be done with school.So affording it should be no problem. For goodness sake we will still have housing and utilities paid for by the military. Along with Jareds pay checks, on top of my 60,000k salary. So yeah we will be able to afford it. I have attached a picture on top of the bedding. Tell me that is not the most adorable thing you have ever seen! I have a thing for paisley like patterns and Turquoise is one of my favorite colors! Not to mention the fitted sheet is soft mink and the embroider the initials or name of the baby onto the bumper! Lol im completely nuts. Im still pregnant with Ryder and I already have my future Autumns bedding all picked out.I would give Jared a heart attack lol.Well this is what my psycho butt go up at 4am to wirte about. I hope you enjoyed reading. Ill talk to you all soon! Have a wonderful weekend!

Lauren

With new life comes new love

Hello everyone :) Hope you all slept well. As a request I have been asked to write about what my pregnancy has been like. Im happy to know people are coming to the blog. Well Jared and I got pregnant two weeks after he got back from the Mojave Viper training in California. It was a month long field op so I guess it was really no surprise I got pregnant. Three weeks after he got back we drove to Philadelphia to visit his family. I had been telling Jared for over a week that I thought something was "off". I felt exhausted all the time. Which is weird for me since I am normally full of enegry. I told Jared I thought I might be pregnant. So the day before we left Philly ( we had been there 2 weeks) We snuck away to the store and bought a test. I took it in secret so his mom would freak out. It came back negative. Which was kind of a relief, but to my surprise I burst into tears. I came out of the bathroom shaking my head and crying. Which left Jared incredibly confused. I sobbed and told him that if anything happened to him atleased I would have a baby. But a baby had not even been in our plans yet ( lol I look back and see this as my first of many crazy hormonal freakouts) Jared just held me until I stopped crying. He told me it was ok and if I still wanted a baby when he got home we could have one. Well the next day we made it home. Two days passed. Finally three days after we had made it back, I walked into our room and glanced at my purse. I noticed the First response box sticking out. I figured what the hell. We had spent 20 dollars on the test might as well take the last one. So I went into the bathroom and took the test.  I left it on the sink in the bathroom. I went back out into the living room this Jared and completely forgot about it. 15 minuets later I walked back in to start a shower. I looked down and the test said "yes". I turned white, and started to cry hysterically. The first thought in my mind was " omg im growing a person, theres a person in there!" I grabbed the test and ran out of the bathroom yelling for Jared. He looked up from his video games. I was standing in front of him waving the test around. He smiled and said " its positive, your pregnant arent you?" I shook my head and began to cry again. He reached his arms out and signaled for me to come sit with him. He laughed and said " so you cry when your not pregnant, and you cry when you are. I swear you are the most confusing woman on this planet." I laughed still crying.  He then asked me why I was crying. My response was " because im going to get fat" To this day Jared still laughs at me for that one. Which thank god never came true. A week after we found out Jared deployed. He was able to make it to my first Drs appointment and we had a sonogram which all we could see was the gestational sac since I was only 5 weeks along. ( always subtract two weeks from what your doctor says. we had conceived 3 weeks prior to the visit.) Soon after Jared left I began to have light bleeding problems. At first i was absolutely terrified. I thought I was miscarrying. But the doctor told me everything was fine. The bleeding happened again at 14 weeks. This time it was a lot more blood. So I jumped in the car and drove to the emergency room. Again they told me everything was fine and the baby looked great. The next day I went in to my doctors to check up and make sure everything still looked good. I went in for my ultrasound and the tech asked me if I knew what I was having. I told her no ( normally you find out the sex of your baby at 18 weeks) She said well im telling you right now girls dont have those. She pointed at the screen and said "congratulations its a boy". I was so happy! I had been hoping for a little boy. It wasnt until two days later I was able to tell Jared the news. I kind of caught him off guard . I just blurted it out in the middle of a sentence. The phone was silent for a moment then Jared said " Its a boy?" I told him yes then he started yelling at all his buddies in the com room with him bragging that he was having a little boy. Since then not to much has happened. I have gained about 10 lbs my whole pregnancy. I felt the babies first movements at 18 weeks. I have grown out ward alot. I can no longer see my feet , and bending down has gotten harder. The worst part of it all would have to have been my acid reflux and heartburn problems.( old wives tale says that if you have heart burn your baby will have a lot of hair. fingers crossed!) The only other thing is that since i have such a short waist my lungs get squished so breathing is getting harder. Other than that I have nothing to complain about. Its been smooth sailing. In just two short months baby Ryder Patrick Hoinkis will be here. Well thats about it, until I go into labor. So keep reading!

Shopping for bras should never be this hard

Yes. Last night i had another super bizarre dream. Now nothing can top the angry Orange man dream, but this one is defiantly up there. I had this dream that Jared and i were at the mall shopping for nursing bras. Which we really need to do anyway. I was browsing the stores, not really finding anything. I wanted something cute and sexy. I figured if I have to breastfeed I might as well look sexy doing it. So im looking through store after store, Which all had pretty much the same selection. Finally Jared and i reach the store Motherhood. We walked in and i was amazed. They had hundreds of bras so i started looking. Even Jared was interested at this point. Not only did they have the best selection but the were cute and sexy. It felt like hours in my dream that i was looking, when finally I settled on a lacey, shimmery pink one. Ironically it was like 15ft above my head on a shelf. The store kind of reminded me of Olivanders wand shop from Harry Potter, only instead of wands they were nursing bras lol. In a way i kind of have a feeling my subconscious was making fun of my serious lack of height putting the damn bra up so high. So i go to the register and tell the cashier i needed help getting the pink bra down. She looked at me puzzled, and finally said "oh we dont assist customers. We only check them out. You have to get it down yourself" Well there was only one way of getting it down and i knew Jared wasn't going to do it. ( hes terrified of heights) So my big pregnant self climbs up these shelf's to get the bra. Finally I make it down bra in hand. I go to the check out and pay for my bra. Now I dont really think dreams mean anything. I have some super weird dreams. I dont think any psychologist could tell me why i had a dream  about an angry man dressed as an orange. Maybe i have some deep seeded issues? lol no. A dream is just a dream. Mine are only weird and twisted, and pregnancy has made it that much worse. I wonder if i will look back, after the baby is born and think Damn. I had some strange dreams. I cant really tell you if they have always been this odd or not. guess ill just have to wait and see. Honestly i hope they dont stop. I gives me something to blog about in the morning. Well i hope yall all have a great day. I have gotta drag my lazy butt outta bed. so ill ttyl!

Lauren

Its only natural...I think?

Hey guys. Well I woke up this morning to a very active baby boy. I just laid there on my right side and watched him wiggle around. It made me wonder what they think about since the only thing they see is the inside of the womb.But while I was laying there I thought holy crap in just 8 short weeks Jared and I are going to be parents. (This is a thought at hits me quite frequently, but it dosnt make it any less scary) I mean yeah I have been pregnant for 8 months, you think I would have kind of gotten used to the idea. Well I haven't. It still seems very surreal. I dont know if its because my husband has been on the other side of the world for most of my pregnancy, and I haven't gotten to share the things I should have with him, I dont know. I have my days where I am so excited and all I want to do is hang out in Ryder's nursery. Just sit in my rocker and stay there. Then i also have my days where im pretty much in a straight up panic.I keep thinking "omg im going to be a mom", "what if breast feeding dosnt work out,then he would have to be on formula and get colic", or "omg I will never sleep again". It almost seems like a never ending cycle of being super excited or incredibly scared. I need some help. So readers this is where you interject some advice. I know im sure things will change as soon as I hold our baby in my arms. I hope to have that theatrical moment where music plays and we gaze into each others eyes, maybe I start crying. lol who knows but that's what im hoping for. Even though I have been told it might not happen like that. I might be to exhausted to really feel much of anything. I just need some one who has been through what im about to go through to tell me what we are headed for. I feel like no matter how many books, blogs or articles i read it dosnt measure up to advice from someone who has been there. I have probably over educated myself on the topic, and thats probably why im so scared. Just some one please clear the air for me. Give me the facts. I need it desperately.

Lauren

Bloggiddy blog blog

Hello everyone! I just woke up in a fantastic mood! My count down until I have Jared home again has officially begun! It is an amazing feeling knowing after all the hardship, the deployment is at its end. Only X more days and i will never have to go to bed or wake up alone. I will never have to throw out half of a pot of coffee every morning ( Im so used to making some for Jared I always make two cups). I will have my best friend home! This calls for some Bruno Mars. He sounds so happy when he sings! Plus he has a gorgeous voice. Now I just have to get everything absolutely perfect for my man. I need to clean everything, do laundry, Get the stuff for his favorite meals, and make myself look all super sexy. Well as sexy as an 8 month pregnant woman can look. Poor Jared he left and I was so tiny. Now  I look like I have swallowed a basketball. Oh well. A lot of things are about to change for us. We only get a month and a half to our self's before our perfect baby boy arrives. Big changes are in our future, and im not going to lie im absolutely terrified! I mean I can handle babies. I have a sister who just turned two on December 4th and I took care of her a lot when she was an infant. But jeez the thought of having your own, knowing they completely depend on you for everything, is really scary. Dont get me wrong I am thrilled to have him. I want this kid out of me already. I just hope we are able to adjust quickly to the role of being parents. If any of my readers have advice on this it would be greatly appreciated. Im actually thinking I want to buy the books written by Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. I love there show and there children are so sweet and well behaved. I want to know how they did it. I mean I am not as religious as they are, I dont think  I will incorporate that much into our daily life. I want Jared ( who is not religious) to still feel comfortable with our parenting style. I did tell him though, when I first found out that I was pregnant, that I wanted our son to know god and who he was. God is an important part of my life. I believe he is what kept Jared safe all those days in Afghanistan. I prayed for his safety every night. I feel that god answered that prayer for me. So that is why I feel it is important for Ryder to know god as well. But im putting the cart before the horse lol. Baby boy isnt even here yet. Jared and I still have plenty of time to discuss how we want to raise our son. I just cant wait until this time next year! It will be Ryders first Christmas! I cant wait to see him open his presents and eat Christmas cookies, and jam with momma to Christmas music! I know he will still be to young to understand whats going on, and he will probably be more interested in the boxes the toys come in than the actual toys themselves but still. Im excited for our first family Christmas. Ill have to subject Jared to more family photos ( which he hates). lol Im so evil. Well I must get my lazy tush off the couch and go clean something. I need to be productive! Just a heads up for those of you who might be interested. I will be blogging through out my labor. Soooo keep reading! 

Lauren

Better than any Nicholas Sparks love story.

It was my freshmen year of high school. Some how my best friend Lyndsey had convinced me to join JROTC. I had no interest at the time in anything military related, but i did need a PE credit. So i figured why not be in a class with my best friend. I walked in feeling a little awkward. Not sure how many girls there would actually participate in the program. To my surprise there were several of us. As class got started they sorted us into platoons then sqauds. Then the company commander proceeded to tell us about the different extra curricular activities JROTC provided. There was drill team, color gaurd, ranger swim team, orienteering, rifle team, and finally the physical fitness team. That was when a kid got up and stood in front of the class. His name was cadet staff sergant Hoinkis. He was cute. REALLY cute. Turns out he was commander of the Physical fitness team and had decided to go into detail about what the team actually did. Honestly i had stopped listining as soon as he has started talking. I was to busy checking out his incredible body. Soon class ended. I told Lyndsey who was already on the Physical fitness team, that i would see here after school for practice. I was going to give it a shot. Plus this gave me the opportunity to goggle at the cute guy some more. Finally the day ended and i went to practice. We ran, did sit ups, amd push ups, sqauts. The entire time being lead by Mr.sexy. I soon learned his name was Jared Hoinkis. He was a sophmore, and the youngest cadet to ever be put in charge of the team. He was kind of a big shot in JROTC. Soon everyone on the team had all become really close friends. Jared and i became closer as well. He started paying more attention to me at practice than anyone else, then he started giving me a ride home every day. We started talking and texting eachother constantly. Soon we had become best friends. Jared actually knew more about me than my closets girl friends. I just knew i could trust him. For the next three years thing pretty much stayed the same. We were practically guled to eachother. We tried dating over Christmas break of my junior year. He even kissed me outside my dads house, but i soon broke it off. He was my best friend. I didnt want to ruin things with a nasty break up. Soon the school year ended. Jared had graduated and was headed off to Marine corps boot camp. We wrote to each other in our spare time. The letters were sweet. Stating how much we missed one another and what we would do together once he had gotten home. But i soon began to notice that our letters had become increasingly romantic. I had been a gradual thing, and i now realized i was completely head over heels for my best friend. After graduation Jared came home. We spent every free minuet we had together. Just snuggling or watching movies. But soon Jared had to go. He had to go to SOI. So once again we were separated. We still kept in touch. We called and text one another daily. After SOI Jared got Stationed at Camp Lejeune. I haddnt seen him in almost year. The romance was still there and we were clearly interested in one another but in our time separated we had both met people. We casually dated a few here and there. Nothing ever lasting to long. Then finally Jared got word of his frist deployment. He came home for his pre deployment leave. As usual we spent every day with each other. Until finally one night things went farther than they ever had. The next morning i woke up next to him. I smiled. Not having a single regret about what had happened. It just felt right. Jared sat up and held me. finally he looked at me and said " you know what?" he asked. I grinned at him and replied "what?" He said " i woke up and my arms were still around you, I love you" I couldnt belive what i had just heard. but some how over our years of friend ship, telling him everything, and managing to keep in touch and as close as we were. Even separated by 1500 miles,I knew i loved him too. Then to my surprise he spoke again. " What would you say if i were to ask you to marry me?" My jaw dropped. " I would say yes" I said. He smiled and got out of bed. He proceeded to pack his things. His plane took off from Houston at about noon. Finally we said our good byes and he boarded his plane. The deployment was tought. He was gone eight months. I got a total of ten phone calls and two letters. I was worried sick. But he soon came home. To my relief safe and sound. Soon after he came home. Our lives resumed together as if he had never been gone. He eventually went back to Camp Lejeune. On November 21 (my birthday) i flew to Jacksonville North Carolina. The Marine corps ball was that weekend. We pulled into our hotel. Jared carried up my bags. We made it to our room and i began getting settled in. I had gone into the bathroom to put my toiletries away and as i came out, Jared grabbed my hand. He got down on one knee and pulled a ring out of his pocket. He asked me to marry him. And of cores i said yes. About a month afterwards we were married. Since then i have been by his side. I now live in North Carolina, and currently Jared is on his second deployment. Which thankfully is almost over. We are also expecting out first son Ryder in February. To tell you the truth. Looking back as a little high school freshman. I would have never guessed i would be married to that cute guy who lead the Physical fitness team. But it seems things worked out the way they were ment to. Because i am happier than i have ever been, and i wouldnt trade my life for anything. I have my price charming, but instead of armor he wears combat boots

Ready.Set.GO!

Hello everyone! For those of you who dont know me, my name is Lauren. Im 22 and Married to the most amazing man on the planet.( I will post our love story later) Jared is 21 and a Lance corporal In the United States Marine Corps. Which I have to say is incredibly sexy lol. We are currently stationed at Camp Lejune in the oh so wonderful Town of Jacksonville NC. Actually its very boring here. Thank goodness we will be moving Next March to Marine coprs base Qauntico in Virginia. Also Jared and i are expecting our first son Ryder Patrick in February. We are incredibly excited to become parents. I understand we are young and a lot of people i am sure have there own opinions on us starting our family at such a young age. Honestly i dont care. I am at a point in my life where i feel i am prepared for this. I have never had an interest in drinking or partying. I think getting trashed to the point of vomiting and not remembering anything is pointless. So settling down and raising a family is far more appealing. Truthfully if it were like a hundred and fifty years ago we would all be married and have a handful of kids. And if you were not married you were more than likely a spinster. I am incredibly happy with my life. I would never ask for anything different. Now that dose not go without saying, that being a marine wife isnt hard. Its actually very difficult. Currently Jared is on his second deployment ( which thankfully is almost over!)  It has been long and hard. Especially being pregnant. I have my good days but i also have my bad. There are some nights where all i do is cry until i fall asleep. I attribute some of that to hormones. For the most part I have adjusted to living by myself very well. Teddy has been here to comfort me. Like i said, Its not an easy life style but it is worth every lonely second, every tear, and every sad goodbye. In the end I am still married to the most amazing man on the planet, and i still have the best life i could have ever asked for.