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.

We have contact!!

Today started out just like every other day since Blaine has been gone in February. Besides the fact that I hadn't talked to him in a few days, I just kept doing the same things. Then this afternoon I was in the office at school and my phone rang!! I didn't know the number, but that has been a common thing lately. Unfortunately it hadn't been Blaine so I didn't get my hopes up. Boy was I surprised when I said hello and someone on the other end said "Hi sweetie!" I think I must have looked like an idiot jumping around in the office, but I was so pumped to hear from Blaine today!

He is doing well. The plane ride to Kuwait was not too bad he said. Flying first class meant he got to choose his own movies and watch them whenever he wanted. He was also able to plug in his appliances so that he could use his laptop, PSP, and other electronics without worrying about them running out of power. He said that right now they are sleeping in giant tents with about 80 people in each one. Sounds like a tough place to sleep, but I also know that the time difference has been taking its toll on them it sounds like. It was 100 degrees there today, but Blaine said it didn't seem too hot. The humidity was really low and it is different than the heat that we have here. They have access to normal food things like Burger King, Pizza Hut and even Starbucks! When I talked to him he was looking forward to working out in the gym that was nearby his location as well. Overall I would say that at this point he is doing really well. I know he is probably completely exhausted with the time change and all the extra stress he has, but he sounds good and says he is doing fine. He says hi to all of you as well!

I think that is all for now. I'm going to head to bed and hopefully get some sleep tonight since I know that everything is fine right now and he is doing okay. Have a good night everyone!




P.S. Blaine it was amazing to hear from you! I miss you tons and can't wait to hear from you again! I love you!!

Squirrels!!!

One more thing...check the last post for the pictures of the squirrels in Glendale from the great weekend night with Amber, Molly, and Sherry!

The trip I won't forget and the man I am missing

Well there is a lot to tell you all about this week. In case you are not aware last week was my trip to New Jersey to see Blaine. I suppose we'll start there since it's at the beginning of it all.

On Saturday April, 26 I flew to Philadelphia to see Blaine. I got my car first. I've never rented a car before in my life and to be honest I was quite worried about what they were going to give me. I was pleasantly surprised when they told me they only had a convertible left to give me. I was pumped for about 30 seconds till I realized it was going to rain almost the whole time I was there. Oh well it was still a fun car to have for the weekend. Plus it was awesome to have such a nice car with all the luxuries that go with it. Including heated seats, satelite radio, and a 6 disc cd changer. The car is below this first picture of Blaine. After getting the car and getting lost on the way to the hotel I finally made it and got all checked in. After dealing with a cell phone issue and trying my best to kill time I finally just had to leave early to head to Fort Dix and see Blaine because I was afraid I would get really lost on the way there. I made it easily to the base and arrived early so I drove around the base for a bit. Blaine got released in the evening and then we headed to Trenton to drop 3 guys off at the train station. It was quite funny watching them cram in the backseat of our car since it was really only made for 2 people. After dropping them we picked up dinner and headed to the hotel where we hung out for most of the trip. We did go see 2 movies and went to an aquarium while we were there. On Tuesday we finally headed back into Philadelphia to try and see the Liberty Bell. Things didn't work out for the best on that trip and we couldn't actually go in the building to see the bell, but we got to walk around downtown and get some pictures of Independence Hall and of each other too. The picture of the Blaine on the bench is from the park near Independence Hall. I think he was a bit annoyed about how many I took, but oh well. He got over it. The days flew by and before we knew it we had to say goodbye again. I just don't know how it is possible to feel so content at one moment and the next feel like you are drowning. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever had to do watching him walk out the door and knowing that there are 10 months between then and the next time I will see him. I'm not going to lie, I'm terrified. Not really about what might happen while he's over there, but also at the thought of not being able to talk to him, make sure he's ok, and just knowing that if I need him he'll be there. It is time to really stand on my own 2 feet and make all the decisions and I'm scared of how that will all go. Time will tell I guess.




Here's Blaine on the bench near Independence Hall.
Here is a picture of Blaine in our sweet ride for the week.




Here is a photo of us the day he left. We look pretty happy for what is about to happen I think.

Now on to the next part of my blog. It is official. I'm sad to say (sadder than you know) that Blaine is actually out of the country now. He left on a plane overnight on Sunday. I talked to him on Sunday evening and he seemed to be okay with everything that is going on. He said that some of the other people were starting to freak out, but that he was doing okay. I am never really sure if he means that or if he is just saying it to be brave for me. He texted me right before the plane took off and he let me know that he was on the plane ready to go. He was fllying first class which he was totally pumped about. "Seats that lay down!" He said. While I haven't heard from him still and I don't expect to for awhile I am sure that by now his plane is on the groud, and he is probably somewhere sleeping and trying to get adjusted to life in the desert. The weather there is already really hot. I think on Tuesday it is supposed to be 100 degrees already! I can't believe that it is already time for all of this. I am trying to take it all one day at a time, and trying to be brave on my end as well for him. We are really needing prayers now for Blaine and all of his unit. They are going to be having a tough couple of weeks and months ahead of them. I am going to end this post with some pictures of Blaine during the last couple of months of training. I hope everyone is doing awesome. Please keep praying for us! We love you!

Pea #1 I hope you are doing alright. I miss you terribly already and I am so proud of you! I LOVE YOU!!

Here is Blaine in all his gear. I know that most of you haven't seen him all geared up before, but here he is.

Here is Blaine while working on some of his combative moves. Looks like he might be winning this one.

Here is Blaine and another guy named Greenlee. He is quite the character and a great guy all around.