Puerto Rico, Prom and a Policeman

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like you have experienced every emotion possible in only a 24 hour period? If your a guy, probably not and you have probably already checked out of this post thinking its going to be some crazy woman venting her feelings to the world. And your right...


Yesterday morning, I said goodbye to my husband. For the next month, he will be making several trips from Puerto Rico to Cape Canaveral to transport some cargo. This is also his qualifying mission before he deploys (for the second time) in October. 

Some of the cargo on board

He's a hard worker, and a great soldier. I'm so proud of him!

After spending four years in the Army as an infantryman, Joe changed his MOS and now drives boats for the Army. This is his bed for the next month! 

People always ask how I'm doing on the day when I see Joe off for his missions, trainings or deployments. On the first day, I'm fine. Its just like he is going to work for the day or maybe the weekend, but I feel like I'll see him in a few days. Now, when day four or five rolls around, it starts to hit me a little bit harder that he isn't going to be coming home for a little while, and those days get tough. Day six and seven, I pretty much keep to myself and deal with my random break downs. Day eight, I settle back into my routine of "single" living and wait, as patiently as I can, for his phone calls. On this mission, phone calls will be minimal. Its tough, but it makes those times that I do get to talk to him so special. If all goes smoothly, I should be hearing from him sometime on Thursday. My phone will not leave my hands that day at all! 


In order to keep my mind off of the fact that my husband will be gone for a little while, I try to keep myself very, very busy! I am a middle school English teacher at Lakeside Christian School, and when the junior class "advisor" asked me to help her out with prom this year, I jumped on board! I love decorating and planning events, and when she told me that the theme was "Rustic Romance", I was beyond thrilled. That theme is just right up my country alley! We found an old feedstore at The Largo Cultural Center that had been renovated for events which fit the idea of "Rustic Romance" perfectly. Below are some pictures from Prom 2012!: 

we used mason jars with tea lights, burlap, pearls, and barbed wire ( don't worry it wasn't real) as table center pieces 

Our chalkboard sign for the candy bar

It was a dessert only prom. The kids LOVED the candy bar! 

We also had a chocolate fountain with plenty of sides to dip in the chocolate!

Some even "roasted" marshmallows over the tea lights! 

beautiful ceiling and floors! 

The dance floor

We lined the porch with TONS of mason jars and tea lights

We hung bunting made from doilies and twine as well as the paper laterns

The dessert table

Prom Committee! Of course, I HAD to wear a pair of boots! 

Even us chaperones had to get some dancing in! 

All the hard work and planning  paid off. The night went so smoothly, and the students really seemed to have had a good time. While I had a great time chaperoning, my mind was elsewhere most of the time. Watching all the other chaperones slow dance with their husbands made me miss mine. One of my fellow colleagues even bought his wife a corsage and they danced the night away! They were so cute to watch, but again, it made me wish that Joe could have been there with me. He, however, was absolutely thrilled that his mission just so happened to be during the same time as prom! Dancing isn't really his thing :-) 


I forgot how late prom goes, and when you have to tear down all the decorations afterwards as well, it makes for a late night! I was definitely running on fumes from all the sugar that I had that night while I was driving home. I hadn't been on the road five minutes when I noticed that a car was following me very closely. I checked my rearview mirror several times and then those blue and red lights went off. As I was pulling over, I was trying to figure out what law I had just broken. I knew that I hadn't been speeding because my trunk and backseat was backed full of prom decor and food, and I didn't want it spilling all over my brand new car. As the cop was approaching my window, it hit me. It was past midnight, pitch black outside, and I didn't have my lights on. You see, in my old car, the lights turned on and off automatically so I never had to think about turning my lights on. And in my new car, the inside of the car lights up automatically, but you have to turn the outside lights on. Sure enough, the cop questioned me as to why I was driving without my lights on. I explained my situation, but the whole time I was wondering how many times he had heard the same excuse. He went through the whole cop routine: taking my license, asking if I had been drinking, telling me to update my address on my license (I don't bother to explain we were military), and he eventually let me off with a warning; for that, I am SO thankful!


Puerto Rico, Prom, and a Policeman. That was my day yesterday. A lot of events, a lot of emotions, a lot of craziness. So what was the point of this completely long, random post? Well, I think this one was more for just Joe and myself. When he calls on Thursday, he's going to want to know everything that he has missed at home. He needs to feel, as much as possible, that he isn't missing out on anything. Its my job, as his wife, to make sure that he knows that even though he isn't here, he is still very much a part of my life and is always in my thoughts and prayers. So, today I have recorded yesterday's events (which I will continue to do) so that I can tell him all about it tomorrow