2008 in review

2008. What a year. There have been so many moments in my life this past year that have in some way changed my life and its course. Some have been the change that set the path for my year, and some have just made me prove to myself that I can do more than I thought. I've had some great times this year and some things that have really been hard. I think that both have helped me grow as a person in many ways. I was trying to think of a way to remember this year and show you all what I remember most about the year and I think I'm going to show you through pictures. So....here we go. (You might want a snack or drink before you start reading. This will be a long post. :) )

January started off with Blaine gone and training for the upcoming deployment. When he returned at the beginning of February he received a promotion to 1LT. He was promoted at the armory in Danville and I got to be there for the ceremony. Things like this are always funny to me and how the military has their traditions.

February was spent getting things settled for the deployment. We tried to cover everything that we needed to do and get to see everyone. The picture is from the going away party at our house in the middle of the month. Blaine left on the 22nd of Febraury. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do to watch him get on that plane in Indy knowing that it would be a year before he'd be back. I am so glad that this whole thing is almost over. I can't wait for him to be home so we can start our life together again.

March was kicked off with what is now known as the Blizzard of '08. I can't believe how much snow we had this year! It seemed like everytime I turned around I was having to shovel snow, or drive in the crappy weather. The blizzard I spent mostly at my Mom and Dad's house. I slept there for a few days and took some cool pictures. The drift Amy is in front of was about 3 feet tall! The state road my parents live on was totally snow covered still at 1:00pm the next day. Our house was cool with the way the snow drifted about it. Also sometime in the spring we had an earthquake. Talk about a weird experience. It was big news in the area and something that I don't want to experience anytime soon.

These pictures crack me up everytime I see them. This was one fun night in the spring of 2008. Sherry, Amber, Molly and I met up for dinner in Glendale. After we were done hanging out for the night we were walking around and found all these squirrels! We soon decided that we needed to take pictures with them wherever we found them. This was one of the first nights where I was distracted and felt like I was going to be ok without Blaine for a whole year. I hadn't had that much fun and laughed and smiled in a long time. It was like a whole new me was coming out a bit. I don't think these friends of mine knew what it meant to me that night. And I'm not sure they do still.

Soon it was the end of April and it was time for me to go and see Blaine one more time before he left the country. While I wouldn't have traded that time for anything, it was still one of the toughest things of the year for me. Saying goodbye and getting one final hug and kiss goodbye was something that I will never forget and something I don't want to ever do again. Life is always changing and you have to grasp onto the time that you have with the ones you love and I never felt that was more evident to me than then.

The summer was spent missing Blaine mostly. I never really knew how much it could suck to spend so much time alone. My family and friends did a great job keeping me occupied, but it still really sunk in a lot this summer that Blaine was on the other side of the world. We sent a lot of boxes and funny pictures to him during this time. The above pictures are just 2 examples of it. I also managed to break my first bone this summer. I spent most of the summer in either a walking boot, or an ankle brace thanks to my clumsiness. There were other firsts during the summer as well. It was the first time I had ever entered a singing competition. And probably the first time I had ever sung on stage by myself for as big of an audience as I did. While I didn't win the competition it was a major confidence boost for me and a conquered fear on my part as well. I once again proved to myself that I could do something I didn't think I could.

Mother nature was quite furious again this summer. Not only did we have a blizzard, earthquake and lots of storms, but we had some storms that were very rough and did a lot of damage. The first was during the church picnic at St. John's I can't remember the last time that we had so much wind. The tents were destroyed and people were sent running for cover as the tornado sirens went off. I was proved wrong again in September when the wind once again was horrible as we dealt with the remnants of hurricane Ike. The winds were so strong that power was knocked out for thousands of peopl ein the area. Schools were cancelled for days and there was damage everywhere. Our house sustained several hundred dollars worth of damage. All is fixed and fine now, but it was tough to deal with all of that and frustrating to clean up.

The fall was spent working hard on things at school, beginning piano lessons again with my students, celebrating birthdays and actual births. Logan Howard Gellert was born on October 14 to Cory and Jesse. He is a very healthy and calm baby and is doing great. While I'm still not sure about the squishy lump, I think he will be a lot of fun to have around in the coming years. Amy turned 24 this year and we celebrated with dinner out and then we had cake with the family later that weekend. Pap's birthday is also in the fall. We always have a good time for his birthday. Yummy food, fun and lots of laughs.

Soon it was December and it was crazy busy for me. I was booked almost every night with rehearsals, performances, working, piano, and tons of other things. I did make it to Metamora with Amy, Mom and Grandma one night. I think this picture of Amy is really cute! Elizabeth's birthday was celebrated in Indy like usual. It was a Colts vs. Bengals theme this year. Then before I knew it Christmas was here! There were too many good pics to put up so I just chose a few of my favorites. Now it is New Years already!! While I'd like to say that this year has gone fast, to me it doesn't feel that way. It is so hard to go through each day waiting for a phone call from someone or an email to make you feel better. I'm so blessed to have such an awesome family and great friends to have helped me through this year! I truly don't know what I would have done without them all. Blaine will be home sometime within the next 52 days. It seems so long in one hand, and just short time as well. He is doing well and has told me that he is done going outside the wire and will be doing mostly chore like things for the rest of his time in Iraq. I'm so thankful for that at the moment! I think he is getting bored with it all and just wants to be home now since his platoon is done with their work mostly. He spent his New Year's Eve having a cookout and playing cornhole and working out. He said that they were all to be inside for about an hour and a half surrounding midnight for whatever reason. I miss him a lot, but looking ahead the day that he comes back is getting closer and for that I'm grateful. I can't wait to have him home and be able to give him a hug and call him when I need to chat.

I wish all of you the best of luck in the coming year. I hope you have a safe and fun night out and about or with family. I love all of you and I'm lucky to have such great people in my life! Be safe! Happy New Year!!

P.S. Sweetie Happy New Year. You are almost done! I'm so proud of you!! I love you!

From me to you and yours....

I want to take a moment to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. May you have a wonderful day full of great memories, fun, family, and the Christmas spirit! I am quickly collecting pictures to share with everyone from my Christmas memories! Check back soon to see them!

Merry Christmas!

P.S. A very special Merry Christmas to the members of the 38th MP Co. Especially my sweetie. I hope you all have a great day and know that we are all thinking of you and missing you today and always. I love you sweetie!

Blaine Mail Update

Yeah twice in one is practically unheard of for me! I need to update you on Blaine however, so here I am. His platoon will be moving to another location sometime soon and so you should not mail anything anymore. If you have something to mail and you still want to then, you can, but I'm not sure that it will get to him.He may or may not have an address to mail to after this, its more likely that he won't though. Hope your week is going well!

If you haven't already you should come to the cantata this week! We will be at Mt. Sinai Methodist church tomorrow night and then Thursday is your last chance to come see us! We will be at Dover in St. John's. Both performances are at 7:30pm. It's a good show this year. Hope to see you all there!

Take care and be safe in the snow and ice! Yuck!

Love you sweetie! Miss you bunches too.

Getting Closer

Happy Sunday to everyone! I know I haven't updated lately, but alas here I am.

These past couple of weeks have proved to be quite hectic for me. I've been busy with rehearsals and things going on at school as well as the cantata. My school show was Tuesday the 9th. I'm so glad that it is over! It went well and the kids did a good job but I had serious doubts on Monday all day about it. This weekend has begun the string of cantata performances. I had one last night at the Methodist church and have another one tonight at 7 there again. Tuesday we are at St. Peter's, Wednesday is at Mt. Sinai, Thursday is at St. John's Dover. All of those are at 7:30 so they usually make for a late night. Things so far have gone really well with it so I'm glad.

Blaine has been getting lots of packages this month from lots of different people and groups. I know he is really feeling appreciated right now! Starting January 1 however you are asked to not send any more packages because the soldiers will be getting ready to begin sending things back home. It's weird to think that he will be home soon. Exciting and scary and lots to do before he gets here to make things easier. My countdown is down to 69 days give or take a few. It's getting closer!

I guess that's all for now. Not much news to report. I've just been really busy with things and exhausted from the season. I hope you all are having a good December! I'll post again soon hopefully with some pictures of our house decorated! Stop in and check it out if you get time! Take care everyone! We love you!!

P.S. Love you bunches sweetie. Can't wait till you are back here at home with me!

86 Days....

Just wanted to drop in a wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope your day is full of fun and family and reasons to be thankful.

Double Digits!

Alright Matt....here you are. Told you it would be tonight.

And to everyone else...Hi!

I hope that so far you have had a good week. My day so far has been a bit crappy, but oh well. I guess there will always be some crappy days in the life. Especially since my sweetie is still on the other side of the world. Grrr.....anyways.....

Last week was hectic for me between a messed up school schedule and lots of things in the evenings. Monday we got the day off school for Veterans day. Tuesday was a crazy day for me too because I had to work furiously all day to get the brick wall ready that I usually work on. I don't have any pictures with me at the moment since I forgot my camera at school today. Duh. Tuesday was also the Veterans Day show at school. The sixth grade students shared patriotic songs and poems with the school to honor and mark the day. It went well enough for them I would say. Anyways I took Wednesday off and then only had to work on Thursday and Friday. But I must say that those two days took forever it seemed like. The weekend was nice and short as always though. Full of running around and funny times with the family. On Sunday I went shopping with Amber at the Magical Evening of Giving. It was held at Tri-County Mall and we got to go shopping after the mall closed and got to have a lot of fun. I got some things to give at Christmas and some things that I had been wanting for myself.

I guess I should mention that it is officially less than 100 days until Blaine comes home. I have a countdown going and mine says 96 days, but it could be less or more either way I'm not really sure. Blaine seems to know what is going on and when he will likely be here, but he won't and probably can't tell me. He is doing well this week and seems to be in a good mood I suppose. I don't know if he's excited to be coming home soon, or if he even thinks about it at all. I know that when we talk about it he doesn't seem to have much to say or he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. Not sure what that means, but who knows.

School this week will be crazy I think. It's getting close to the Thanksgiving break and they can tell and they are already a bit twitchy. Yikes. We have a long week ahead of us still. I started working on the holiday show at school already. Well actually it should have been done a long time ago, but the kids are picking up the songs really quickly and its been a pleasant surprise.

I guess that's all for now. I'm going to go back to my warm cozy bed, and finishing up my wine cooler and then its off to bed for me. I hope that you all have a great week. I will get the pictures up as soon as I get a chance. Tomorrow looks hectic till about 715 if I'm lucky. Full of working out, piano lessons, and dinner at some point. Happy 96 days till Blaine comes home. Sounds so short and yet it feels like it is forever away.....

I miss you and I love you sweetie. I know I can't wait for you to be back here with me and everyone that cares about you! XOXOXOXO

History in the Making

There are two things I know for sure tonight:

1. I took part in the voting for what will be a very historical election today.

2. I am really slacking in the blog updates.

To elaborate on #2, my brother even emailed me about updating my blog!! Yikes! It must be bad. But Matt when you read this maybe you can let me know what EOM means. I've been stumped for the past couple of days.

I'm sitting in bed tonight blogging while watching the updates on the election. It is really something to remember and tell my children and grandchildren that I took part in this day. I can't tell you who I voted for, but I can tell you that I hope the candidate that becomes the president elect will try their best to change things for the better in our country and in the world. I know that they will have a tough job ahead of them, but that I am hoping they make changes that are best for our country.

It's scary to me to think about the huge effect this will have on Blaine and I's lives in the coming years. It will be a big difference on things like jobs, houses, and of course the military for us. Enough with this talk! Let's get to the updates.....

Ok so I know I promised to post a picture of Logan and I found one today on Jessie's facebook that I saved and will post. So....here you are.... :)

I got to spend some time with Cory and Jessie a week ago when they came down here to visit with Gary and Laura as well as introduce Logan to lots of us. He is absolutely a wonderful baby! In the time I spent with them on 2 different days he cried one time when he was hungry and ready to eat! In my book, a quiet baby is a good baby. We are all blessed to have him with us. Congrats again to Cory and Jessie!

In other news school has been wearing me out a bunch. I'm really not sure what the difference has been, but it seems like when I come home in the evenings now I'm just exhausted. Things have been going well there, I just am getting tired. I have been doing some things to get my students involved in Blaine returning. Well just one really....they keep asking when he will be back and how long it is till Feb. So I decided to show them by making a paper chain. So each day we will get to take a link off the chain and countdown together. Surprisingly the older students were more excited about the idea than the little guys, but maybe they understand the idea of someone being gone more. In case you are wondering it will be 108 days left as of tomorrow. Or at least somewhere around there.

Halloween was uneventful for me again this year. I was all prepared with candy and things to pass out and then I didn't even have many more than last year. I sat on my porch since it was so nice and had some wine coolers while enjoying the night.

Blaine is doing well still at Camp Liberty. He is very busy it seems like and I think it might be helping to pass the time for him. When we changed our clocks here this past week Iraq did not however. So that means that he is now 8 hours ahead of us instead of the 7 he was before. Really it shouldn't seem like that hour should make the difference, but for us and communication each day it is a huge difference. You are now able to send chocolate as well. We have started to send a little bit of it and I think that it has gotten there well. He is glad that the temperatures are also starting to lower and its funny to hear him talk about it being in the 70s and being chilly at times. What a difference perspective for him!! :)

I think that is all for now! I will try to do better on the blogging. Yeah I know I say that every time, but I will really try this month of November!

Happy Birthday Logan!

Happy Birthday to Logan Howard Gellert who was born this morning at 1:09am. He is 7lbs 7oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Congratulations to Cory and Jessie! He is absolutely adorable! Pictures to follow when I get some if I can.

Sunny warm October days

So it's hard to believe that I actually haven't updated this in like 2 weeks! Sorry to all you avid blog checkers!

So I guess I'll start off by saying that I am loving all of this warm weather in October even though it is totally not the norm. This past weekend was the end of the season pool party at Pam's house! It was sunny, mid 80s and the pool water was chilly, but fun. I had a great time and got some fun pictures!

Here's Amy hanging by the pool and supporting the Bengals through thick and thin.

Our wonderful hostess with the mostest, Pam. What would we do without her!

Pap and Rex relaxing poolside in the loungers enjoying the beautiful weather!

Also this weekend I went to a friend's wedding. Jennifer Brewer, well Wisby now, got married on Saturday night. We went to the ceremony in the afternoon that was absolutely beautiful! We then headed to the reception that turned out to be a blast! Here are Amy and I at the wedding. And then of course the newlyweds with their beautiful cake that Molly Gaynor made! And might I add that it was mighty yummy too. :)

Overall things have been going well for Blaine and I. We are getting closer to having completed this deployment and personally I don't think it can be soon enough. I know that the holidays are coming up soon and I can't seem to decide if I think it will be easy and make things go faster, or make everything even more difficult. I'm thinking a bit of both, and that makes me nervous.

Blaine has been keeping busy in Iraq still. I am lucky and still actually hear from for a minute or so daily. He says it is getting cooler over there, but is still in the 90s and sometimes 100. He is spending a lot of time these days working and working a lot. Seems like when he isn't working he is playing Halo with some buddies or talking with me. I'm glad that he is busy....hopefully it makes the rest of the time go faster for him and his platoon too. I know that I miss him tons and I'm sure everyone else's families miss them. My sixth graders sent a box of letters to Blaine's platoon. They all seemed so excited about the whole thing. I was starting to worry that he wasn't going to get the box, but he came through with it today! Yay! Now the kids can start thinking about what they might get sent back. I know they are totally pumped about it.

I wanted to mention that the newest member of the Gellert family is on their way tonight. Cory and Jessie's baby will be born sometime soon! They enduced her labor this morning so it's only a matter of time! Good luck to them and their new family! I will post again when I have more info!

That's all for now! Have a great week everyone! I will be posting more pics on picasa sometime this week. Headed to bed for now. Love you all!

P.S. I love you Blaine! Stay safe this week and know that I miss you and I'm thinking of you! 2 peas in a pod forever!

The Boys!

I wanted to share this picture of the boys from when they got to meet up! It was great to see their faces again! Hope you enjoy and get as much of a kick out of this picture as I did! Don't forget to check out Blaine's hair!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!

So I meant to do this earlier in the day, but better late than never! A huge Happy Birthday to my mom who is turning a young 50 years today!

Hey! Who turned out the lights!

I'm hoping that by this point all of you that are reading this have your power back on. To my knowledge everyone does. But really what a reality check when you don't have power for a long time! I was out of power until Tuesday night around 9, but I know many of you might have been without it for longer. This had to be one of the most boring times of my life. It was hard to believe how much we all depend on the electricity. All the things we do each day, trying to cook, trying to do laundry, work on the internet, see to play games, write on your blog! It was hard to figure out what to do and where to go. I even had 3 days off of school! That's more than we've ever had because of snow!I'm glad it is over and I'm glad that the power is back on. It did cause some interesting adventures though, and forced me to get to know one of my neighbors better and for that I'm glad. It made me go outside and I got to know one of them well enough to venture out and go shopping with her and her little boy. It is nice to have friends down the street again like when I was growing up.

Things seem to be back to normal now at school, and I'm hoping that it has done the same for you and has gone back to normal. This week has seemed to go by faster than last week which is good. I'm sick of weeks going slow. Everything goes slowly all the time in my life it seems. I was hoping it would go quickly after Blaine left, but that does not seem to be the case.

Speaking of Blaine, he is out and about this week for some classes and meetings. He is actually at the same base that Popenfoose is at! And they got to meet up and hang out! I haven't actually heard about it yet since he is not at his room, but I know that they were able to meet up. I think that is so awesome! 3 years after we get married he is able to see him and of all places in Iraq! How cool is that! In other news the 6th grade students at my school are writing to the members of Blaine's platoon. The kids are all so excited and seem to really be getting into it and enjoying it! I hope that some of the soldiers actually have the chance to write back! I'm thinking that some will, but I'm hoping that they all do.

This weekend should be a good time. My mom is turning 50 on Saturday and so we are all going out to dinner on Saturday night! Then on Sunday we will be having lunch with the family at grandmas! How much better do things get!! :)

I hope you all have a great week and made it through last week without too much stress and problem. Take care this weekend!

P.S. I love you sweetie and I miss you! 2 peas in a pod!!

It's a smaller foot!!

Ok so this will be a quick post. I was told that I should share my foot news with all of you.

So Monday I went to the doctor for my foot again. This time the news that I got was totally unexpected and different than the rest of the information that I've been given in the past. The first thing we looked at was the MRI results. He wasn't really sure that the people that did the MRI were doing it correctly or that it was done to the extent it needed to be done. So the first thing he says is that maybe I need to get another one. He took another look at the one he had and decided it was good enough. The MRI showed nothing and that was a good thing I guess. I then found out that "we" may have treated this entire thing wrong. Grr... like I really made any decisions about anything that has been happening. Anyways, now all I have is this little insert thing I'm supposed to wear in my tennis shoes. And I'm supposed to wear my tennis shoes everyday for the next two weeks. Which is actually much better than the rest of the crap that I've been having to wear lately. I'm enjoying seeing my foot in its normal size as well.

School is going well this week I suppose. Sounds like our school is going to be the one to close though. That's not going to be much fun. We have a meeting tomorrow morning about the whole thing, but it sounds like it might be a done deal already. :( For the story check out this link....http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/NEWS0102/809100363/1058

Alright so I need to get going. Almost bedtime for me. Gotta get my rest to deal with the kiddos.

Love you sweetie! I miss you!!

Finally September

Can I just say that it's about time for a nice day that isn't in the 90s. This week was miserable at school with the temperatures so high. Today is beautiful and I'm loving it. Last night was perfect too since it was cool enough to finally wear a long sleeved shirt!

This week at school seemed really long even though it was a shortened week. The students were a bit off kilter this week too so that didn't help. There were subs in the building for the first time this year and the kids were reacting to it differently than usual. I don't really have any funny stories about school yet. Mostly the kids have just been asking me about my foot and Blaine. Its funny to me that they are so curious and wanting to know about my life.

My foot is yet to be determined what the final outcome will be. I'm going back to the doctor on Monday and will then find out what's going on I guess. I'm so sick of all this crap. Hopefully things are going to be clear again soon. Guess I'll be finding another doctor to get a second opinion soon too. Grrrr to foot injuries and the bologna that they cause.

Blaine is doing well still. He has been very busy this past week. Sounds like the heat over there has also been up. The temps have been around the 120s or 130s it sounds like. Add on to that the 12 hour days that Blaine's platoon has been putting in working with the Iraqi police. I'm sure they are hoping for a much calmer week next week.

I haven't put up any pictures on picasa web lately or from the weekend yet. Just haven't found the time and I just haven't felt the desire to mess with it yet. I will get working on it though.

Oh yeah one more thing!!! Each year my family has a homemade ice cream contest to see who can come up with the best idea. Each year a trophy is passed to a new person to take home and keep for the year. This year I decided to make Apple Pie Ice Cream. And guess what..............
I WON!!! :) It was fun to get to do this and know that I had done a really good job. So now on my table the trophy is sitting and I love to come home and see it and know that I did an awesome job! Yay!

I guess that's all for today. I'll try to post about my foot on Monday or Tuesday. Have a great weekend everyone!!

P.S. Love you Blaine! Keep doing a great job!

They're Back!

Well I made it through my first week of school. It didn't go too badly either. Just a few minor bumps on the road to another year at Allison. I don't think I have many good stories yet of kids doing nice things. I do have a group of sisters in kindergarten to look forward to. I'm pumped about them. They are really cute. Other than some kids that were absolutely horrible my week wasn't too bad. My room is still looking awesome. Oh and I'm still so organzied and ahead on my lessons! I'm really proud of that fact. Plus, it is seeming to be less stressful because my lessons are done and I'm not rushing around in the morning working on them. I'm looking forward to working with some of my students again this year. Oh and it appears that I'm going to be in on the ballroom dancing again. I loved this opportunity last year, but my students did not. I am not sure what I'm going to do with it this year. Oh well, I guess at least I know what I'm getting myself into this year.

I still have the brace on my ankle and unfortunately it looks like it will still be when I go to the doctor on Wednesday. I am thinking that he will tell me I need and MRI to take a look at other things going on with my foot. I spent so much time telling all my students about it that I'm so sick of explaining it. I told them all about it when I was wearing the boot and then I had to tell them all again when it went to just the brace. I'm sure they will all keep asking about it as well. It is also amazing to me that they are all still asking about Blaine and where he is. I thought for sure that they would have forgotten it by now. They are funny when asking me about it.

Blaine is doing well this week too. He said that it is usually much hotter than the weather says on the internet. He said that it seems to just be getting hotter and hotter. When I talked to him today he seemed really busy still too. Crazy to think that we still have 6 more months until he comes back. It seems like forever.

Well I guess that's all for now. I'm trying to figure out what kind of ice cream to make for our freeze off this weekend so if you have any thoughts let me know. I'm looking for a winning recipe to get the trophy. I'll post about what the doctor tells me on Wednesday probably. Unless I find out nothing. Have a great week everyone! And a great weekend if I'm not back before then and we don't talk! Be safe!

P.S. I love you and I'm dying for you to be here and give me a hug again! Be safe.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I chuckled when writing the title for this post. Amy has been joyfully walking around singing that song for awhile now. If you haven't already seen the Staples commercial this year then you are missing out. Each year around back to school time there is a commercial put out by Staples about schools starting back up. Amy just gets a kick out of Mom and I having to get up early again and that we have to go back to work.

I for one am ready to go back to school. I am in desperate need of some distractions and something to do with my time now. I will soon be filling my blog with stories from school again. I'm sure that this year will be one to remember. There has been a huge turnaround of staff and admin in our school this year. And on Tuesdays I do not teach any music classes! Who knows what I'm going to be doing with my time then, but I will soon find out. Tomorrow is the teacher's first day and then the students start on Tuesday. My room is in the same place as last year and I'm excited about it. Things have been moved around a bit for me and I've improved some things from last year. I'm making a huge goal of staying more organized this year too! I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

Last weekend my girlfriends and I headed to Indy for a night on the town at Howl At The Moon. It's a piano bar in downtown and if you've never been there I highly recommend it! The piano players are simply amazing and the whole staff puts on a super show the whole night. A big THANK YOU goes out to my aunt for letting us crash at her house that night. It was so nice to get to go back to a house instead of a hotel. We were able to hang out, eat some snacks, and sleep as late as we'd like. It worked out great for everyone and we had a total blast. Check out my picasa page for pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/gellert.k

I'm still wearing the boot around on my foot for a few more days and then I'm going to be back in the brace for a week until I go back to the doctor again. This foot thing is really getting quite old and the worst part is that it is looking like I am going to need surgery as soon as possible on my right foot. All I can say is beware of the curbs in Norwood!

Blaine is doing well and is finally settling in at the BIAP. Sounds like he will actually be staying there for awhile now. Last week they headed back to Rusty for a day for the memorial for the 2 soldiers that were killed. I am pretty sure that was a really tough day for the entire unit. He has been working so hard lately and has been having less and less time for himself. I know he has been enjoying some of the Olympics though.

I guess that's all I have for everyone now. Take care of yourselves and maybe I'll have some good stories about school early this week. I'm sure something funny will happen when the kids see my boot. Have a great week! Please keep both of us in your prayers! We are going through a very stressful time for the two of us as a couple.

P.S. I love you! I miss you!! I can't wait till you are home with me! (Only 188 days)

Song of the moment

I have always been one to believe that music can be found to fit any emotion, or situation in life. The song for me that fits this moment in time is in my playlist at the side. It's called Shine Your Light by Robbie Robertson. I highly recommend it. If you have high speed internet check it out sometime.

Two fallen heroes

I began this post to share with you about things going on in Blaine's deployment. I guess now comes the hard part where I have to share sad news with all of you. Some of you if not most of you have already heard through the news and word of mouth that 2 men in Blaine's unit were killed Monday. According to the press release by the FRG, Sergeant Gary Henry and Spc. Jonathan Menke died of wounds suffered when debris from an improvised explosive device (IED) detonation on an overpass fell onto their vehicle. A third soldier, Spc. John Blickenstaff was injured in the same vehicle. He was cared for in the field and due to the great care he recieved he survived and is doing well. When I talked to Blaine today he said that Blickenstaff was awarded the purple heart while in the hospital in Germany. These men were not assigned to Blaine's platoon, however their unit is very close and small enough that everyone knows everyone else. I know that Blaine has taken this to heart and that the rest of the unit has as well. They will all spend some time together this week and have a memorial for the soldiers before they return to the states. Blaine seems to be dealing with this alright. I know that we will all worry for him and the other soldiers in the 38th. They have truly lost 2 family members and 2 families will be missing them here as well. The following links will lead you to articles about the soldiers.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080807/LOCAL/808070441/-1/ARCHIVE

http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=178&SubsectionID=961&ArticleID=45564&TM=59065.82

We all knew that these things were a possibility and I know that we all prayed that it was something we wouldn't have to deal with. I know that this will make things more difficult for awhile but I truly believe that best thing for use to do right now is be sure to keep everyone in our thoughts and prayers. Especially the families of the fallen soldiers. If you have any questions about things that happened I'm going to ask you to send them to me and not Blaine. I know that he would be more likely to know the answer more in depth but there are a lot of things that he can't tell you and I think that right now he may not want to talk about the situtation. When we have briefly discussed it I know that he feels it is too soon to talk about. But I think that is to be expected. Not to mention he has so much going on for himself with his new location and trying to keep everything in order with his platoon and making sure his own soldiers are doing alright.

On a lighter note I will be updating my picasa pictures tonight as well. http://picasaweb.google.com/gellert.k
I never added pictures from the 4th of July so they will be up. Also pictures from our trip to the Bodies exhibit and of Jessica Doll and Nick Weilers wedding. If you are reading this before 8:30am on Friday do me a favor and say a quick prayer for me today. I'm taking a graduate exam on Friday at 8:30 in order to be admitted to Xavier for grad school. Other than that I'm looking forward to a night out on the town with my girlfriends on Saturday night. Oh and I got my hair cut short again! It's great.

I guess I will end by asking you all to say a prayer for the families and friends of Sgt. Henry and Spc. Menke. Please say a prayer for the soldiers too. Oh and for Blaine and the other members of the 38th MP Co. Thats a lot of requests, but I really feel that it is important.

P.S. I love you Blaine....and I'm so proud of you...only 198 days till we are together again.

Long time again...yep I know

Hope everyone is doing alright this week. It has been a long time since I posted. Sorry for the delay...I'm just not feeling like doing it right now. Anyways not really much good stuff to report on my end of life here. Just getting ready for school and to take the MAT on Friday.

Blaine is at a new place in Iraq again. He moved since the last time that I posted about a new address and I really have it now. So I guess we'll see how long he stays at this place. If you want the address just let me know and I can get it to you. LOL I say that everytime and nobody ever does....guess I just feel the need to offer. Anyways hope you all have a good weekend. Till later....

NEW ADDRESS!!

Happy Friday! I hope you all had a good week and that you are headed for a relaxing weekend! I wanted to let everyone know that I have Blaine's new address. If you are wanting the new address before I might see you then send me a note and I will email it to you.

Blaine is doing well this week! He will be moving to another location sometime soon which is why his address is changing. It has been hotter there this week than usual, but I guess the temperature here has been getting hotter as well.

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep Blaine in your prayers for a safe move for he and his platoon!

P.S. I love you pea pod mate! Stay safe!

A lucky day for everyone

Hello! I am sure you will all be surprised to see posts from earlier today as well as now. Earlier I didn't have time to be blogging about everything that is going on. Now I am thinking I have enough time.

Let's see I guess we'll start with an update about my foot. I went back to the doctor last Thursday and he seemed to think that my foot was getting better. He gave me an ankle brace to wear for the next two weeks. I have to have that on or the boot and so I've been trying to work on only wearing the ankle brace. Sunday I went back to my boot to wear for the festival since I knew I'd be walking around and on my feet all day. Which turned out to be a good decision and I had hardly any pain the next day in my foot. It feels better I guess, although sometimes it is still pretty painful.

My time in Leesburg visiting and Matt and Sharlena was a treat to get away. It was nice to be able to talk to Blaine while I was up there too. We went to Shipshewana one day which is an amish settlement. I have been there before and I really enjoy going there and going in the shops to look at things. I picked up a piece of artwork for my piano room as long as some gifts for people. It was nice to see Matt and Sharlena as well.

Last week was nothing major for the most part. I went shopping with Mom and Grandma on Tuesday and did some work on my classroom as well that day. Saturday I spent a lot of the day baking for the church picnic on Sunday. Which is where things get interesting in this post.

On Sunday July 20 the St. John's Church picnic was held. This is something that is done every year and is always something that provides for an interesting day. This year was no exception. I got to wear the boot all day which was enough excitement for me since everyone that knew me, and some that didn't, asked me all day what happened to my foot. It was the same story each time and it gets a little old to tell all the time. We always work in the Bars and Bells booth because Mom is responsible for that booth. I got there at 10:30am and it was already steaming hot. We knew the weather was supposed to be reallly hot and steamy during the day with a slight chance of showers or storms. That seemed about right since it always rains on the picnic it seems like. Sure enough around 3:30 in the afternoon it looked like it might rain and we soon got word that it was going to storm. It was enough of a rain and storm to run off some of the people that were there, but nothing was too bad and there were still people around. The evening dinner crowd wasn't nearly as big as it might usually be. Around 6:00pm we had the grand raffle. At the end of the raffle we got word that there was another storm on the way. We always tear down the same night as the picnic and with the storm coming in it was decided that we should at least try and get the tents on the ground in order for them to weather the storm better. Unfortunately we only got one tent on the ground prior to the storm hitting. It came up much quicker than anyone thought it would and it proved to be more dangerous than it first looked. The tents we realized were not going to make it through the storm. They began to collapse and bend up like they were made of toothpicks. It was like nothing I had seen before. There were people trying to hold onto the tents to keep them from going onto each other and trying to get them on the ground. People were standing on the buckets trying to hold down the tents as well. Soon we realized there was not much that we could do to save the tents and that we needed to get out of the storm. I have never been out in a storm this bad. I started by trying to help out with the tents and soon realized they were coming down and I had to get out of the way because with the boot I wasn't moving fast. So I headed around the side of the church and then onto the porch of the hall. I was standing there watching and realized I should be taking pictures of everything going on. So I went and got my camera and started snapping. Eventually people came into the hall from working with the tents to take shelter from the storm. It wasn't long before the tornado sirens began going off. We then realized we had to head from the hall into the basement in the school. So there was a mad dash for the school and the basement. We stayed there until we were given the all clear and we headed back to the hall. We tried to work on the tents again but the lightening was just too much. It was by far the scariest thing I've been through in a long time. I am still surprised at how lucky we were to have nobody hurt through all the tents falling and the storms and everything that happened that day. All of my pictures that I took are posted on my picasa page. The link is http://picasaweb.google.com/gellert.k At this point I'm not going to post the pictures on my blog just because it will take so long and there are so many pictures. I encourage you to take a look though.

This week has be uneventful so far. Monday I had lunch with Mom, Grandma, Grandma's sister Jean and her daughter Debbie, and Pam. We headed to Batesvilile to the park to chat for awhile and had lunch at Lil' Charlies. It was a nice day. Last night was cleanup at church and then I headed to Mom's and dumped the pictures of the picnic onto her computer. Today I lounged around and got somethings done and now I'm hanging out with Amber. Tomorrow is shopping with Amber too! We are going to have fun!!

Blaine is doing well. As you saw from the earlier post he will be moving to another location in Iraq sometime this week. I'm still not clear on the details but I know you can't send anything until he moves because his address will be changing. I will post the address as soon as I get the new one and until then just keep him in your prayers because he will be moving around in the country some until then.

Until later this week sometime! Have a great week!!

P.S. I love you baby! Be careful and be safe!

Address Change

Hey everyone! I am planning on a full update for later today, but I wanted to post as soon as I could about Blaine. He will be moving to another location in Iraq sometime this week. That being said if you have packages, or letters, or anything you are thinking of sending to him please hold off. We don't know for sure if he will be receiving them yet or how he will get them. If you have sent something in the past week please let me know so when he and I talk again I can let him know what to expect or ask about. I will get the new address out to everyone once he is to his next location. Thanks! Check back later this evening for another post!

Missing freedom

Well I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July and that it was a relaxing time. My 4th was a good time that was spent with family.

Thursday night the 3rd I went to the Gellert's for dinner with Cory and Jessie. It was a yummy dinner of course. It was nice to catch up with Cory and Jessie as well. I hardly see them and they have a lot going on to keep up with these days!

Friday my Mom, Dad and I finished up the painting that needed to be done at the house. We painted the entry way and up the stairs as well as the landing upstairs. It was a ton of work. There is so much trimming and stuff that is hard to get to in the hallway and up the steps. We started right around 8 and it took us until 2 to finish. All in all everything went smoothly. I have touch ups to do now and then everything will be done for the most part. I have pretty much red paint left and so I'm thinking about maybe painting a wall in the powder room....we'll see. After that I was way pooped and so I showered and decided to rest in my bed for a bit watching a movie....it wasn't too long and I woke up an hour and a half later. Ooops. I went to dinner with my parents after talking with Blaine for a bit. Then we came back home and I watched some fireworks on TV and it was time for bed!

Saturday was the family party at Pams. Saturday morning I got up early and worked on putting the house back together in case people came over to check out the paint. After cleaning and hanging up the pictures and such I worked on my fruit salad for the party. After finishing the salad I got some time to just relax and catch up on some TV that I had taped. Blaine called me on Saturday too! It was so nice to actually get to talk to him and hear his voice. We get more accomplished during those conversations too. He is doing well and was excited to get to take part in a cookout that they had on the FOB for the 4th. I headed to Pams for the party around 4 and had a great time. We had fabulous food, great company, and gorgeous weather. It was nice to get to see some family that I hadn't seen in awhile. I have pictures that I will try to post later on this week if I get the chance.

Sunday was just a lazy day that I like to have. Sleeping in, lounging and then spending a bit of time with the fam.

Monday I had dinner with Donna Tanner and her 3 boys. It is so great to see her and hang out with her. She is such an awesome teacher and a great friend and person to have on your side. Her boys are awesome too! They are so funny and really smart. It is hard to believe how big they are! It makes me feel old!

Tuesday I got a real treat for the next 10 days. I went back to the doctor on Tuesday for my foot. I actually went to a foot and ankle doctor this time. He was much more thorough and I felt much more comfortable about what was going on and his diagnosis, even though it is not fun. He took more x-rays and then looked at those. According to the ones he took I pretty much broke a bone in my foot. So now I have a boot on my foot for at least then next 10 days and likely longer than that. The boot goes from my toes to about 1/2 inch below my knee. It adds about 2 inches to the height of that leg as well. That meant that I had to go and get new shoes that were also tall for my left foot. So mom was kind enough to tote me around and look for cheapo flip flops that made me tall. (Thanks mom!!) I finally found what we were looking for at the 3rd place, Target. So now I am 2 inches taller and wearing a giant boot on one foot and platform flip flops on the other. It is quite out of character for me. Oh well, go figure that the first time I break a bone in my body I would be living by myself and having to deal with everything alone.

It has been an interesting week. Tomorrow I am headed to northern Indiana to visit with Matt and Sharlena. Mom, Dad, and Grandma are going along too. I am ready to get out of my house and take a trip. It might be a bit eaiser without this boot though. Oh well....we'll see how it goes and I'm sure there will be pictures to share as well.

Blaine is doing well this week. He has gotten a lot of packages and is getting to share some things with the other guys. My mom and I made his favorite cookies to send to him last week. He was so excited to get them and he has already eaten 2 of the boxes we sent. He says that he has plenty of chapstick and also plenty of foot powder for the rest of the time he is there. He is thinking that they may get to move into a building somtime soon. Which I'm sure would be nice for him but also probably maybe a pain to have to move everything again.

I hope you all have a fantastic end to your week and a good weekend! Until next time!

P.S. I love you sweetie!! I miss you tons and tons!!

Happy early 4th everyone!

It is hard to believe I know but I'm glad that the summer is already half over. I am probably the only teacher in the world that is ready for school to start again. I'm ready to have that distraction again and to see those people again. I am also excited to start the new routines and new schedule that is coming this year.



Anyways back to summer things. This past week was pretty hectic for me. The Dearborn County Fair was this week and I went to the cattle show to see Trey and Carson who both showed cattle. They did a good job and we were all very proud of them! I think that their familes would agree with me. The following pictures are from the show! The first picture is of Carson during her class of showmanship. She had an advantage in the division however since she was the only one in the class. :) Still....Great Job Carson!!!



Here is Trey showing one of his cattle. He did a fabulous job and I was very proud of him. I know Blaine would be as well. Great Job Trey!!

Of course I can't forget Klay! He's such a cutie and a great helper at the fair I'm sure.

Oh yeah! Katie Coyle came down to visit from Chicago too! She arrived on Wednesday evening and was able to stay until Friday afternoon. That meant she got to experience the fair with us! She was not quite as thrilled to be there as the rest of us but she was a great sport and I think enjoyed it some. ;) The bad part was that the weather was horrible that night. It stormed for a really long time and was pouring down rain for a long time. It was nice to get to spend time with her and it was nice to have another person in the house with me.
Friday night was the second night of Canoefest Idol. For those of you who missed it I sang a song called "Come Home Soon" by the group named SheDaisy. It is a beautiful song and one that I truly love. You can find a clip of it at http://www.brookvillephotos.com/video/video/show?id=2164730:Video:350 . If that doesn't work head to http://www.brookvillephotos.com/ and follow the links for the video section. My name is correct this week so don't let it fool you! I must say that I am really glad that I did this. I reallly put myself out there and I didn't do half bad! I didn't win or get any place but I was someone who stood up on stage in front of thousands of people and sang! It was a great moment and one that I'm not going to forget.

On Saturday we went to the Bicentennial Parade in Brookville. It was a huge deal for Brookville and one that the town and everyone who was there won't soon forget. We headed up to our seats around 1 for the 2:00 parade. It was absolutely amazing to see all the people that were there! Here is our gang that hung out for the parade!

This was our view of main street heading south. I was just amazed at how you could see people lined up along the street waiting for the parade to start. I think that there were probably just as many there for the rest of the parade too if not more even despite the weather. About halfway through the parade we were met with a huge downpour and storm. It was terrible to be in the parade with that rain I'm sure. We just put up our umbrellas and still got wet! We had a good time though. Right before the parade started there were 2 blackhawk helicopters that swooped in over town and got as low as they could. It was so cool!





Pap lead the parade with the other members of the firing squad. He is in the front row on the fari right. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have of it. He did a fabulous job and we were all so proud of him!!





The Bicentennial events are over now and it is a bit of a sad thing! It was so neat to participate in something so neat as this! I don't know that I will ever get to be at something this neat again. The next time something like this occurs in Brookville I will be 75 and who knows what that will be like. I am glad I got to be there for the events and see the cool things that went on.

Other than those events nothing much has been going on here this week yet. I hear rumors of a lunch with friends from school this week and then Friday is the 4th of course.

Blaine is doing well these days. It is most definitely getting hotter there and he is noticing it. Some of the guys are starting to get leave and take breaks from being over there so things will probably changing some for him when people are gone and such. Who knows really. The following picture is from one of the guys in his platoon. It is not in his room, but something that he has seen overthere before. It is called a camel spider and they are native of this region. The thing looks absolutely disgusting to me and it creeps me out! They do sometimes bite but are not venomous and will sometimes appear to follow the soldiers aroud to get into the shade the make with their bodies. Hopefully Blaine will not have to deal with any of them in his room. Ewww!!


I hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July! Be safe and take care!

P.S. Sorry it wasn't before 9:45 mom! LOL

P.P.S. I love you sweetie! Hope you are doing awesome still! Can't wait to chat again!

Paint Pictures and Idol updates

So lots of you have been asking about pictures of the kitchen and living room all painted. So without further ado...here are the pics.

First the red kitchen....



Next the Ottertail living room...

I am pumped about the way that it all turned out. I am going to put another coat of red in some places in the kitchen and I'm still working on the baseboard touching up that needs to happen.

In other news I made it past the first round of the Canoefest Idol thanks to all my family and friends and their support. Here are some pictures of that night. The first is of the stage that I sang on in the middle of main street!

This is Amy laying in the middle of main street in Brookville. How many times in your life can you say you did that on a night they closed Main Street completely! We got a lot of funny looks, but it was a night to remember for sure.

Somehow in the course of the night an orange barrel ended up on Grandma and Pap's front porch! It was the oddest thing! We saw it when we got back to their house to go home and so we had to take Amy's picture sitting on it.

That was definitely a night to remember. We walked up and down Main Street all night. We ate pizza on the corner while having a drink. We danced the night away in the parking lot of Firestone with a live band! It was a neat thing to get to take part in.

I will be singing again this Friday night for the finals of Canoefest Idol. This week the concert will take place in the town park by the pool. I am one of 12 contestants to make it this far and I'm quite pleased with that! I am singing 12th of the 12 singers and so I will go on probably not too long after 8:30. The whole show starts at 8:00pm. I think that all of the singers are fabulous, so come out and enjoy some talent! The winners will be determined this week by audience vote and by a panel of 3 judges. If you weren't able to make it to last weeks show the following link will take you to a webpage with video clips of the singers. I'm listed as Kellie Gellert so don't be confused.

http://www.brookvillephotos.com/

Anyways, let me know if you need directions to the park and I will try to help you out.

Blaine is doing well this week. He has been out off the base last week and it sounds like things are still going well for him overthere. I know he misses all of you and wishes you all well! It is getting hotter there all the time and I think he will be glad when it starts to actually cool down.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Please keep praying for Blaine and I!

P.S. I love you and I hope you are doing awesome podmate!

Canoefest Idol and Paint

So Friday is Canoefest Idol. The show starts at 7pm at the courthouse in Brookville. I'm officially entered in the competition and getting ready for it. I've been practicing the songs that I've narrowed it down to on a daily basis and I'm working on making my final choices. I still have to figure that out, the bad news is I only have until Wednesday to do that. Hmmm....decisions, decisions. I should find out how far into the show I am as well on Wednesday. The audience vote on Friday will narrow the competition from 25 to 12. Unfortunately you have to pay to vote. Each ballot costs $1. I know that some of you can't be there and that is fine. I'm not sure how I feel about having all my friends and family there if I bomb. I guess I will see how it goes. If I make it through the first round I feel like I will have a good chance at the final round since it is then on to judges and not audience vote. I guess I should let everyone know that if you can't be there but would like to vote my sister is taking money to put into votes. If you don't want to do that either I'm totally fine with that. I think it will be a interesting experience for me.

In other news my mom and I are going to start painting my house tomorrow. We are starting with the kitchen that is going to be red! I'm so pumped about that!! We got the paint today and the color is beautiful. I can't wait to see the difference it is going to make on the walls. Dad finished the garage on Saturday and that looks awesome as well! We tried to put up the storm door on the front door, but when we got it out of the box the dumb thing was green and not black. It was a huge ordeal to get the right color at the store that day when we took it back, but we came home with a black door with beveled glass that was originally more than the other for the same price. So now we are going to put that up sometime this week or weekend or later. I'm not really sure, but it's not a big rush.

Blaine is doing well this week. He still is saying he is bored though. I guess for me it is better because he is in his room not doing much, but for him that is bad. Sounds like it hasn't been too hot there this week either.

Hope everyone is having a great week! If you have questions about Friday let me know and I will answer the best I can. Email: kat113_ec@yahoo.com and you can comment on here as well. I'll post on Wed. or Thurs. regarding my slot in the show.

P.S. Love you Blaine! Miss you tons!! XOXOXO

Boo!

Did I scare you? I haven't posted in awhile so perhaps you are startled by the new post!! :)

Anyways....I guess I haven't posted much because I don't really have much news to report. Things for me have meant just getting the summer underway. I have been hanging out at my house, hanging out with my mom, and bopping around trying to stay busy. I have managed to succeed at that most days. New things around the house include the patio and flowers in the backyard and the newly finished garage. (Well almost finished) My dad has been working here at my house lots to help me get things done that I have been wanting to do for awhile. The patio is awesome and is surrounded by knockout roses and million bells. I love it out there! Our next project was to finish insulating and drywalling the inside of the garage. Dad is not quite finished but it is awesome so far!!

Blaine is doing well still in Iraq. I hear from here in some form almost every day still. He is getting a bit bored I believe and I think he is ready for some more things to do over there. It is also getting hotter with each day. It has been interesting to look at the weather over there and see what the temperature is and how they are describing what it is like there.

In other news I have officially entered the Canoefest Idol competition in Brookville next weekend. For those of you who have not heard about this, basically I'm going to be singing in a competition on the 20th of June. This event will take place at 7:00pm on the steps of the courthouse in Brookville. The final field of competiters for the next week will be based on the audience vote on the 20th. So basically if you are sitting around that night and are looking for something to do...you could always come to Brookville and vote for me! :) If you are busy...well I understand. If you need more info or directions just let me know!!

I think that's all for now....so have a good weekend! Take care everyone!

P.S. Love you Blaine! Keep up the awesome work!

School's Out for Summer!!

Well I guess school is not over yet really. But I do only have 2 days with students and one teacher day left. I'm so excited to be out of school. And today I picked up another piano student so that is exciting!


This week is going to be pretty easy and laid back I hope. I'm not sure that will be the case though. Today was crazy at school. The kids are going bezerk and are being so mean to each other! I don't have much planned for the next couple of days at school. Lots of time outside and games if we have to be inside. It is unbelievable that I am finishing my second year as a teacher! I feel like such a beginner still.



This weekend was Memorial Day weekend which means family get togethers for me. My family always gets together on Sunday for the race. The first picture below is of all the peanut cars that we set up on our "race track grid" in order to keep track of who is in the race still and who is not. When a driver wrecks or has to quit for some reason then we get to eat that person's peanut car. It is a lot of fun to do and makes things more interesting.




The blue bear in the picture is the bear that Blaine sent me from Kuwait. He has a t-shirt that says he is from Camp Buehring in Kuwait. I took pictures of him all over the place on Memorial day. It was quite funny. Here is Amy with the bear. She was hungry and needed a snack.




This picture is of me and Pap. He was outside grilling with my dad and they decided we needed a picture. He is growing a beard for the Brookville bicentennial and so it is silly to see him with it.



This last picture is of the bear from Blaine with the two drivers of the day for him. Each year we all buy papers with the drivers of the race on them. If our driver comes in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 33rd, 32nd, or 31st then you win money back out of the plot. Blaine wins pretty much every year and this year was no different. He won 31st place and got back the $2 he had in for that car.




Then on Monday I woke up and got ready for the day to start with the digging of the hole in our backyard for the patio we are going to pour this coming weekend. Kyle, my dad, Matt and I dug in the backyard and tried to transplant some grass into a bare spot in the yard. Amy was helpful with the serving of food and beverages to all of us as well. We got the spot dug out and tonight Dad brought the pea gravel that we needed. Now all that is left to do is to frame it up and pour it. I will post picture of it when it is all finished. Then Kyle and I went to Greenfield where we had lunch with the Gellert family. It was yummy and nice to catch up with everyone.




Blaine is doing well in Baghdad for now it seems. He is able to communicate with me on a fairly regular basis right now. It is nice to talk with him and chat with him, but I feel like I am getting spoiled some. Things right now are pretty busy for him and he is still going through lots of training and classes. He has meetings daily and is also working on getting himself ready and prepared. Sounds like it is pretty hot out there and he is sweating a lot every day. He has been catching up on some TV that I taped for him and playing lots of games and surfing the web in the little bit of down time that he has. He misses home some and says to tell everyone hi and that he loves you all. He has been through a couple sand storms and said they are strange and that they sometimes look like it is just hazy outside.



I guess that is all for now. I hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and that your short week will be easy! We love you all! Keep us in your thoughts please.



P.S. I love you Blaine! I'm so proud of you!!

Now for the tough stuff

Not much has been going on for me at home latley. Mostly I've been working on trying to get some plants going, keeping the grass mowed, and the bills in line. Tonight is my spring show at school which should be interesting if nothing else. Not really sure how this is going to go since I have a 5th grader running the curtain and other random people in charge of students. Turns out this is not a good time for a program since everyone that usually helps is busy. Anyways, I guess we'll see how it goes.

Blaine is officially in Iraq. They arrived sometime yesterday in Baghdad I believe. Not really sure when or where or anything since I haven't actually talked to him yet. I also have his address now if you are interested in having it leave me a comment with your email, or just email me at gellert.k@norwoodschools.org Which ever is easier for you doesn't matter to me. Remember to be mindful of what you are sending as the temps over there have already reached over 110 degrees several days. Nothing chocolate will likely make it, but if you want to try make sure all the melty stuff is in a separate bag. If you have questions about sending things let me know.

I guess that is all for now. I'll post again after I hear from Blaine some. Keep praying for us....we need all the help we can get.

P.S. Love you Blaine! I miss you most.

A little bit of humor in my life.

I talked to Blaine again on Saturday for awhile in the afternoon. He is doing very well and seems to be in good spirits as well. He talked about what they had been doing some and what he'd been eating. Sounds like he is mostly having pizza, and chicken strips, which we all know you love. He has soft serve ice cream and orange soda with every meal too. He has mostly been having a lot of down time and some meetings and briefings. He said most people seemed to be bored and that they are getting ready to start their mission.

While surfing the web today I stumbled across a post on a message board about being a military spouse. I found some of them to be quite funny and true so I thought I would share them with you.

You know you're a military spouse when....

**You tell someone how to spell something using words instead of letters.


**when you cry when you forget your phone at home and are 20 mins late for work because you turned around to go get it. (Ok well I'm not late for work, but it is so angering!!)

....when you can convert time difference faster than you can write down your own phone number (to make it easier for him you give things to him in "his time")

**when it is no longer a big deal if you don't see you husband for a few days... you're just glad he's not gone for months.

**you have to replace your husband/bf with your computer and phone with the volume turned on high b/c since he is gone there might be a chance that he gets on in the middle of the night.

**when you send packages every couple of weeks because making them keeps you busy!

**when shaving your legs is no longer a priority. hehehe

**because you live life to the tune of a countdown calendar. I've not stared at a calendar so much in my entire life.

**you have four months left until you see him, and you say "wow ill see him soon!" in a civilian relationship being apart 2 weeks seems like forever.

**you have no idea what your husbands bestfriend's first names are!

**You wanna punch all the girls in the face when they complain that they only get to see thier boyfriends on the weekends because they live soooo far away.

**you look at your phone every minute to make sure you have more than one bar of service just in case he calls.

Have a great week everyone! We love you!!

Love you sweets....hope you are doing awesome.