Growth is the Name of the Game
The house is quiet except for the microwave heating up my lunch and I'm, as usual, sitting here trying to find the words to sum up the past month. My husband would laugh and tell you I'm never at a loss for words (and I'm sure this blog post will find the right ones) but in this quiet that I'm savoring - I just don't know where to start. As a military spouse I'm constantly trying to let two emotions coexist which is happiness and sadness, and it has been one of those weeks.
When James got home from his last cruise, we could barely contain our excitement for a getaway to Charlottesville, VA at the foot of the mountains. One, to celebrate belatedly our five year wedding anniversary and two, to savor the first getaway we had managed to take in a year. The trip was amazing, we ate and drank our way through the beautiful town, got much needed/deserved massages at the spa, saw a concert, I had coffee in bed and read the paper (I couldn't tell you the last time I did that) and we were able to shut the world away for a couple of days and just be us.
That's hard to do sometimes when you have children and careers, especially when one career takes one of you away quite a bit but it was just wonderful. After we returned it was my turn to be whisked away by work and I was flying out to Los Angeles for an expo and again, eating and drinking my way through a new town. Southern California is beautiful and the weather is perfect and I had amazing food. I saw a Pacific Ocean sunset and met (so I hear) an NBA legend. It was an amazing opportunity and I'm so glad Mosquito Joe sent me. But, when I landed after five days of being away, James tucked me into bed with horrible jet lag and off he went. Back to the ship and back to another three weeks at sea. When I woke up the next morning I kept wondering "Didn't he just get home?" I felt like I barely saw him.
Grow MoJo Grow
And probably the biggest news of the past month? I've known for a little while that I was going to be assuming a new position at Mosquito Joe. About a month ago we started the hiring process to fill my current position...I haven't spoken about it much because nothing was finalized, but last week I got pulled into my boss's office and she closed the door. I immediately started thinking "Oh gosh, what did I forget?" She sat me down and explained that she didn't want the hiring process to penalize me and effective Monday morning, my promotion with Mosquito Joe would be official. She went on to say some very nice things, but I just sat there in a little bit of a daze. First, the pay increase they gave me was way beyond what I ever expected, and second just a complete inward "HELL YES." knowing how hard I've worked the past couple of years. This just shows how AWESOME this company is doing and the wonderful places we're going. When I took a chance with Mosquito Joe two years ago there were some definite sacrifices because it was a small startup company. We had just started franchising and I was there for the first franchise sale. Now we're in 22 states and have over 100 territories. If you know me, you know how much I love my job - so this promotion just means so much to me because of that. I'm taking on a lot more responsibilities and I'm so proud of myself to be where I am in the company today. I had to keep myself from tearing up during my boss's little speech about my time at MoJo, and as I walked back to my desk silently fist pumping it just as quickly turned to a dull ache I'm becoming familiar with.
Remember, I'm learning to let fist pumping and sadness coexist? I knew James wouldn't be home when I got there for a big hug, celebratory glass of wine and high five and that just made me hurt. Of course I emailed him and got the sweetest emails back from him that evening, but it was really difficult to come home and not have my best friend there to share this amazing accomplishment with. Mason of course attempted to say congratulations, but I wasn't quite able to share a glass of wine with him, so he had juice ;) Its is just an odd place to be - I literally have everything I could hope for, but when James Howard is gone, we've both said "I just feel off." I used to say I didn't know who I was when he was gone but I think I've grown a lot. I know who I am, but just feel lucky that my husband is such a big part of who I am that I don't quite feel like the real me.
You Can Do Anything for Eight Months, Right?
As deployment creeps up on us, we're starting to prepare for that. It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that in just three short months our family won't be together for eight months, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate the waters (literally and figuratively) leading up to James leaving. I'm so grateful for this promotion in another sense because I think it will keep me very busy while he's gone next year. And in happier news, James comes home very soon and is actually home throughout the holidays so we're looking very forward to being together for a long awhile!
We had a wonderful Halloween, Mason dressed up as a cowboy and rotated between Trick or Treat and Yeehaw! He had the perfect amount of apprehension until he walked up to our neighbor who is very cute and in her twenties and you could see a light bulb go off in his head. "Wait, girls are going to give me candy all night?" Zoe came up to keep me company since James was gone and I loved spending a lazy, rainy weekend with her in sweats catching up on life.
Thanks to everyone who has sent their congratulations and well wishes for my new position. Although this blog post does have a tinge of sad to it, I feel so blessed and so grateful. I'm married to the guy who drives me crazy and makes me laugh all in the same five minutes, Mason is a hot mess who keeps me on my toes, and I walk into the doors of the office each morning loving what I do. Not to mention I have the best friends and family in the world. Thank you to ALL the grandparents who made this month possible. Gigi and Granddaddy kept Mase while we were in the mountains, my Dad came and spent two days with Mason to make California a possibility for me, and my Mom just left yesterday while I was in the Outer Banks for work. Keep the Roosevelt and the crew in your thoughts as they make their way back to the Virginia coast - they've encountered some rough seas the past week and I'm sure they're all ready to be back on land again.
Until next time, thanks as always for reading along. Our guest room is the first room in the whole house officially completed and decorated, so come see us!
Lots of love,
Jules xoxo
That's hard to do sometimes when you have children and careers, especially when one career takes one of you away quite a bit but it was just wonderful. After we returned it was my turn to be whisked away by work and I was flying out to Los Angeles for an expo and again, eating and drinking my way through a new town. Southern California is beautiful and the weather is perfect and I had amazing food. I saw a Pacific Ocean sunset and met (so I hear) an NBA legend. It was an amazing opportunity and I'm so glad Mosquito Joe sent me. But, when I landed after five days of being away, James tucked me into bed with horrible jet lag and off he went. Back to the ship and back to another three weeks at sea. When I woke up the next morning I kept wondering "Didn't he just get home?" I felt like I barely saw him.
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| Laguna Beach |
Grow MoJo Grow
And probably the biggest news of the past month? I've known for a little while that I was going to be assuming a new position at Mosquito Joe. About a month ago we started the hiring process to fill my current position...I haven't spoken about it much because nothing was finalized, but last week I got pulled into my boss's office and she closed the door. I immediately started thinking "Oh gosh, what did I forget?" She sat me down and explained that she didn't want the hiring process to penalize me and effective Monday morning, my promotion with Mosquito Joe would be official. She went on to say some very nice things, but I just sat there in a little bit of a daze. First, the pay increase they gave me was way beyond what I ever expected, and second just a complete inward "HELL YES." knowing how hard I've worked the past couple of years. This just shows how AWESOME this company is doing and the wonderful places we're going. When I took a chance with Mosquito Joe two years ago there were some definite sacrifices because it was a small startup company. We had just started franchising and I was there for the first franchise sale. Now we're in 22 states and have over 100 territories. If you know me, you know how much I love my job - so this promotion just means so much to me because of that. I'm taking on a lot more responsibilities and I'm so proud of myself to be where I am in the company today. I had to keep myself from tearing up during my boss's little speech about my time at MoJo, and as I walked back to my desk silently fist pumping it just as quickly turned to a dull ache I'm becoming familiar with.Remember, I'm learning to let fist pumping and sadness coexist? I knew James wouldn't be home when I got there for a big hug, celebratory glass of wine and high five and that just made me hurt. Of course I emailed him and got the sweetest emails back from him that evening, but it was really difficult to come home and not have my best friend there to share this amazing accomplishment with. Mason of course attempted to say congratulations, but I wasn't quite able to share a glass of wine with him, so he had juice ;) Its is just an odd place to be - I literally have everything I could hope for, but when James Howard is gone, we've both said "I just feel off." I used to say I didn't know who I was when he was gone but I think I've grown a lot. I know who I am, but just feel lucky that my husband is such a big part of who I am that I don't quite feel like the real me.
You Can Do Anything for Eight Months, Right?
As deployment creeps up on us, we're starting to prepare for that. It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that in just three short months our family won't be together for eight months, so keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we navigate the waters (literally and figuratively) leading up to James leaving. I'm so grateful for this promotion in another sense because I think it will keep me very busy while he's gone next year. And in happier news, James comes home very soon and is actually home throughout the holidays so we're looking very forward to being together for a long awhile!We had a wonderful Halloween, Mason dressed up as a cowboy and rotated between Trick or Treat and Yeehaw! He had the perfect amount of apprehension until he walked up to our neighbor who is very cute and in her twenties and you could see a light bulb go off in his head. "Wait, girls are going to give me candy all night?" Zoe came up to keep me company since James was gone and I loved spending a lazy, rainy weekend with her in sweats catching up on life.
Thanks to everyone who has sent their congratulations and well wishes for my new position. Although this blog post does have a tinge of sad to it, I feel so blessed and so grateful. I'm married to the guy who drives me crazy and makes me laugh all in the same five minutes, Mason is a hot mess who keeps me on my toes, and I walk into the doors of the office each morning loving what I do. Not to mention I have the best friends and family in the world. Thank you to ALL the grandparents who made this month possible. Gigi and Granddaddy kept Mase while we were in the mountains, my Dad came and spent two days with Mason to make California a possibility for me, and my Mom just left yesterday while I was in the Outer Banks for work. Keep the Roosevelt and the crew in your thoughts as they make their way back to the Virginia coast - they've encountered some rough seas the past week and I'm sure they're all ready to be back on land again.
Until next time, thanks as always for reading along. Our guest room is the first room in the whole house officially completed and decorated, so come see us!
Lots of love,
Jules xoxo
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