A Sad Day

I sent John off for his deployment yesterday. He will be at Fort lewis in Washington for 2 months before he goes to Afghanistan. I don't want any pity, but I am pleading for your prayers. I know people who read my blog are my nearest and dearest, and I know you'll all have the same questions, so to make it easier for me, I'm going to just explain it all... John speaks Arabic, and is in the National Guard. He has been to Iraq before but with a less than ideal unit. This deployment however will be mainly to create relationships with the people in Afghanistan, and to try to find the "bad guys". We both feel very fortunate because John's unit are all LDS guys, 2 out of the 10 are inactive but still GREAT great guys. His deployment will be for a year, so I'll have him home next February. :) I am beyond proud of him, and I know the Lord will keep him safe. He will be one of a few hundred priesthood holders in the entire country, and the relationships he will build in Afghanistan I know will prepare people for the gospel truth, even if they can't receive it for a long time. Without that reassurance I would not be nearly as faithful and hopeful as I am.

Here's a news clip, you can actually see John passing by in the group of soldiers in the first clip of men...he's carrying a black breifcase type thing :)
http://www.myfoxutah.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=F2B4ECD59E0EA82DBE7448E12777D400?contentId=5886465&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1&sflg=1

While he is gone I will be staying with various family ( I don't do well alone, I need people! ) SO yesterday after he left I moved into Laura's house with her husband and one son at home. (Laura is the Teacher I work with at school who set me and John up in the first place) I will live with her until the end of May when school gets out. Then I will move farther south to live with my brother and his wife and kids, and be close to Ben, Kristen, Dylan, and Kaci. I'm still waiting to hear back from the Nauvoo Pageant for the summer. At the end of August I will move to the country Jordan for 3 months and live with John's parent and 2 youngest brothers. John's Dad Lane is a Colonel in the Army and will be the Attache for the U.S Embassy in Jordan. That means we will be entertaining dignitaries from all over the world for dinner, Queens, Prime Ministers, Presidents and the like...(What will i WEAR???!!!) I'll get to go to Jerusalem and See all the sights in Jordan. John will hopefully take his leave (2 weeks) in September or October and we'll go explore Egypt, and Scuba Dive in the red sea :)!!! Then I will come home to Oregon for Christmas and either stay with my folks for a few weeks, or go back to my brothers in Utah till John comes home in February. Man I am exhausted after just writing that! I'm hoping to stay very busy, maybe the time will go quickly:) Oh, I forgot to say that I'm not teaching next year, I will be getting my masters degree online starting in April, so I'll be busy with that as well :)

I just wanted to give you all the update, Thanks for your support and phone calls everyone- I spent my whole life looking for my best friend to spend forever with, and it's almost unbearable to let him go for a year now.

I know I'll be taken care of, I have an amazing family and wonderful friends who make sure of that, and I know he'll be taken care of too. Keep him in your prayers...