Not that I'm counting.
Nick left on April 26th for his deployment. I couldn't talk about the date beforehand, and I can't talk about what he will be returning or where he is. But he is gone.
I've actually been doing pretty well. Of course, he was gone for 2 weeks shortly before leaving so 2 weeks is tolerable. I'm not sure how I'll be when 2 months rolls around.





And fortunately, since he left I’ve been keeping super busy.

Also fortunately, the other Navy Wives have been awesome. They really are such great friends to have…and we’re all on the same boat (pun intended).

That was great. Nick even got Maggie to SIT via Skype. She looked confused when he said the command but she followed instructions.

I have a bunch of little goals set for while Nick is gone. One of the major ones (which I haven’t started yet) is that I really want to start writing a book. I also really want to learn to play guitar but I don’t currently have a guitar. And there are way too many other things I want for the house before a guitar comes into play.
The most important (and most accomplishable) goals involve the house.
We got grass seeds planted before Nick left since the 6 inch “plugs” of grass are taking so long to spread. We hoped this would help move things along a little. They’re all starting to shoot up, and it’s just so darn cute!
When I was little I loved to plant and grow things..it happened accidentally when I made an acorn-sawdust pie and it started growing. I thought it was the coolest thing! So I loved to grow catnip, Chia pets, aloe vera, and whatever else my mom would let me. When we moved to Charleston I was super excited to get a fern. I don’t know why. I just was. And I brought with me some peppermint plants from my grandma’s house.
Both died pretty quickly. It didn’t help that we were in apartments and they were out on the patio we never went out on. And I don’t think the severe humidity in the summer there helped either. The whole fern-killing experience kind of discouraged me.

But now that I’m seeing little baby grass shoots everywhere it got me excited again!
I bought a fern a few weeks ago- which is still alive!- and named it Bob. He sits perfectly on top of our little Tiki man named Gizmo (doesn’t he look like a Gremlin?) They make a perfectly matched couple.

Today I dug right in. Literally. I also made 3 trips to Home Depot this week and got cute patio furniture.


It’s still a bummer in some ways to live here though…I know what you’re thinking. “Don’t complain about living in Hawaii!” But when you’re living here- not vacationing here- it really is different.
I mean the cost of living is a given. It’s insane. The isolation is a big downside to the island. It was cool living in Charleston because if I needed to get back home, it was a10 hour drive and Maggie could come with me. Or the plane tickets, in case of emergency, weren’t insane.
Not here.
Having the dog (not that I’m complaining because she’s my best friend and my bed mate right now) limits a lot of things with the island because I can’t take her with me off the island. And plane tickets? Whew. So expensive to get back to the mainland.

And it’s saddening to think of fixing this place up and putting money into it- knowing that someone else will be living here in 3 years or so.


My house is still a home. It’s up and coming but it’s still a home. Maggie and I will wait patiently- well, maybe not always patiently but mostly, hopefully- for the day Nick will come HOME.