It is New Year's Eve and I am sitting here with my kids, watching movies. I am sad that I will not get the traditional first kiss of the New Year from my husband and am sad that I ringing in the New Year geographically separated from the love of my life.
A lot of people I know who have had to deal with a deployment this year can only say they are glad this horrible year is over. I know it has been a rough year when deployment is a part of it, but I also know that these experiences have changed me, for good and bad. I know that without this trying year, I would not know what I was capable of dealing with. This year has also shown me to rely more on God and has been a time that has shown me that I cannot do it all on my own, I need help.
New Year's Eve is a time where most people reflect on the year that just passed. So, I of course am doing the same. I have been thinking about what a roller coaster this year has been. It has been one of challenges, that is for sure.
This year, we started out together, thinking we were going to be in Arizona for the whole year. In March, we received orders to move, and moved within a month in order to give us the most time at our new post before Ian had to deploy. My husband deployed two months after our move and I have been on my own with our kids ever since. I have learned to adapt to the changes that have happened. I have lost made some amazing new friends and have set up a small, but intimate, group of friends that support me. I have done a little better at keeping up with friends that I have moved away from, but do need to do better. This year, despite the deployment, I completed a teaching certification program and am provisionally certified. I am working as a full-time substitute teacher at my kids' school which has allowed me to be close to them while still getting the experience I need to become a fully certified teacher. All of this would not have happened had we not moved. So, while this has been a difficult year full of changes and separation, it has been a year that made me who I am now and allowed me to set my career up for our future.
I gratefully say goodbye to 2011 and say thank you to 2011 for the memories and the opportunities to build strength. I welcome 2012 and the reunion it will bring me. I cannot wait for that time and for what else 2012 will bring my family and me. See ya later 2011! A year down, and the New Year is here to bring me closer to my love.
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