I hope that everyone is enjoying their holiday season. I know I am, but I'm also looking forward to it being over. Holidays are too hectic and busy of a time these days. It seems as if we can't slow down for a single minute to just simply enjoy them anymore. With the year 2010 quickly coming to an end, I wanted to take the time to do a "2010 Newsletter." Kind of like a quick wrap up of what's happened in our life this past year. Many things have happened, most of which you all already know about, but I thought that this would be a fun tradition to start now that I'm married and starting a new path in life.
So, we'll start with 365 days ago :) Wow. 365 days ago I was still trying to adjust to Ryan and Charly being gone. The three of us live together and each and every night, I had both of them coming home to me, I had both of them to cook for, I had 2 people to share everything with. On December 11th, 2009, Charly left for his 4th deployment and on December 15th, 2009, Ryan left for his 2nd deployment. Having both of them in Afghanistan at the same time was one of the scariest times in my life. It took a lot of adjusting and it wasn't easy. Many tears were shed and there were countless sleepless nights. But here I am, I made it through and I feel I am a much stronger person! More importantly, Ryan and Charly made it through! In July, both of them returned home from a difficult 7 month long deployment. They came home on 2 separate nights and I can honestly say that those were two of the best nights in my entire life. I will never, ever forget searching for Charly for what seemed to be forever and finally turning around and seeing him standing there with a huge smile on my face and finally being able to hug him. I will never, ever forget the way I felt when I finally saw Ryan pass by me as he and his platoon marched up. I screamed his name at the top of my lungs and began to run with his platoon, sure that right as he stopped and was released, I would be there to finally wrap him in my arms. 7 long months were over. 7 months of worrying were over. It felt so good to have My Marines home. Here are a few pictures:
My Homecoming Sign For Charly
"CPL Mabry, You are the best POG ever. Welcome Home"
Welcome Home 1/6 HARD!
The Day Charly Came Home
My First Hug With Charly :)
I pretty much tackled him.
My Homecoming Sign For Ryan :)
"CPL Haley, Tonight I am teaching you the big bang theory"
Everyone tries to come up with something silly to say :)
My Very First Hug With Ryan :)
It lasted for about 20 minutes.
He's Finally Home.
I couldn't stop smiling, even through the kisses :)
Wow, that sure does bring back some memories... and some tears for sure! So, that was a quick 7 month sum it. A few things happened in between there. I want to take a minute to remember our dear friends Tank-A-Roo and Willy Buddy. They were our English Bull Terrier's that passed away this year, Tank in May and Willy at the end of September. Charly got Tank when he was stationed out in San Diego 6 or so years ago and he quickly became a huge part of our family. Anyone who has met him will tell you what an amazing personality he had... how he could make anyone laugh. Willy became a part of our family in July, right after Charly came home from Afghanistan. We were skeptical about getting another English Bull Terrier... too many "what if's?" after losing Tank, but we got him anyways and were most certainly NOT disappointed. He had an amazing personality as well... brought so many laughs and smiles to our lives. Losing a pet is like losing a part of your family. They were both very difficult times. Especially because they both passed so unexpectedly. Tank was my rock while the boys were deployed. Always willing to listen when I wanted to cry, as long as he could lay under the covers. He was so silly. He was human like... such a personality. We still miss him every day but he's in a better place now... hopefully God is letting him play with all the socks that he wants because he sure did love that! Willy did a great job at filling up my empty heart after losing Tank. Wrapping my arms around him filled my heart with so much love. He was a cute little guy and there isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss him or Tank. They will forever be in our hearts.
I miss you Tank and Willy. I love you boys so much.
Thank you for bringing so much happiness to my life and so much love to my heart.
Okay, I promise, the sad stuff is over. I'm going to try to wrap up the rest quickly since I'm going to make a big pot of chili for dinner and I forgot the cornbread mix and want to have it all ready before Ryan comes home.
On July, 24, 2010 I married the love of my life and my best friend, Ryan J. Haley. We had a very simple ceremony. It was simply the most beautiful day of my life. I relive the moment in my mind and tears fill my eyes. I have been truly blessed with the most amazing man to spend my life with. I don't know how I got so lucky, but I did and I am so unbelievably excited to spend every day of forever with him by my side. My brother put together a little video for us so we can always have a piece of Our Special Day. Watch it here. I hope that those of you that have not met Ryan yet, get to soon so I can share the most special part of my life with you. And for those of you who haven't met me, trust me, you'll be pretty impressed as well :) Haha. Here are some photos from our wedding day:
In November, my Dad and Kim came for a week long visit and we had a total blast. I wrote a blog about it if you want to read about what we did. It was awesome for him to finally meet Ryan... they got along great just like I knew they would. We were planning on going home for Christmas... to Arizona and Wyoming, but plans changed and we'll save that trip for sometime in early 2011. And well folks, that's about it. I'm sure I am forgetting 2/3 of the things I wanted to write about... if I remember, I'll be sure to write a part 2 but til then, this is all I have. I hope you are all enjoying your Holidays and keeping warm. We have had a rather cold winter here and are already ready for it to be summer. Many new and exciting things happening in 2011 so I will keep you posted!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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