Reunited!

So Brian made is home around 10pm on July 12. He flew in on a civilian plane into Sea-Tac where I greeted him with a huge hug and sobs of joy. It was so wonderful to see him I can't even put it into words. We made it home around midnight and he fell asleep almost immediately and slept through the night. He woke up around 7am the next morning and it was a beautiful, sunshiney day so we decided to ride bikes all around Lacey and Olympia. We have enjoyed beautiful weather since he arrived and have just been taking advantage of the awesome Washington summer by cooking out and having beers. Its been great.

There is one downfall...last Sunday Brian was watching me play indoor soccer and I happened to break my elbow. Who does that?! yeah so we spend a good chunk of Sunday afternoon/evening in the Madigan ER. Thankfully they didn't cast me and I have been gaining mobility as my pain level decreases. I'm hoping that I will be good to go by the time we make it down to Lake Tahoe to go wakeboarding. We are going to head back in for another round of x-rays on Monday, so I am hoping for good news. Anyways, that's all that is new in the Carlson world! Just thought I would share the recent news!

Marianna

He's on his way!!!

So, I just can't contain myself! Brian is finally on his way home and actually back in the United States! I will get to see him in about 8 hours and I'm absolutely chomping at the bit. Since Brian graduated from FAOBC in January of 2009 we have spent VERY LITTLE time together. He departed for South Korea only a few days after graduating and 4 months passed before I was able to make it out to Korea for a week. The week flew by and I started school and did not see Brian again until Thanksgiving when he visited me in Florida for a week. Shortly after Thanksgiving I learned that Brian would be leaving for Afghanistan almost immediately upon reporting to Ft. Lewis, WA. I tried not to think about it though, because we had such fun times awaiting us in January after his tour in South Korea was over. He returned from Korea January 25, 2010 and we had our wonderful wedding on January 30, 2010. We then were able to spend 20 days together before he left Florida for Washington and a few weeks later he was on his way to Afghanistan. The return date got pushed back about 3 times and I was so pleasantly surprised about 3 days ago when Brian called and said that he would be getting on a plane a few hours later to start his journey home! It was the best surprise of my life! So now, here we are, he is somewhere between Dallas and Chicago and I am sitting by the clock willing time to pass faster. I absolutely can not wait to have him in my arms again! After 16.5 months of separation we will finally be together again! We will actually be living in the same state for the first time! I am so excited to finally begin this journey with him!! Now...what to wear?!

-Marianna-

Welcome to our Blog!

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while now. I first started playing with the idea about halfway through Brian's deployment. Each week I send out updates to family members and friends updating them on how Brian is doing and what is going on in Afghanistan. After I filled everyone in on Brian's well-being I would write a small paragraph about what was going on in my life, as it has been kinda crazy since Brian left. With driving cross country, moving into our first house, and attending a plethora of weddings this summer I have had a lot to talk about. I also had a friend tell me that I should never leave my house because whenever I do the craziest stuff happens to me. Generally, I will post about it on Facebook, but sometimes you just need to hear the whole story. With Brian's deployment coming to an end I figured a blog about the both of us may be a good way to keep family members and friends updated. This way, those people who no longer want to receive emails after Brian's return aren't getting mail that immediately gets deleted, and those who do want to stay updated are free to check the blog at their own free will.

So anyways, I'm sure that was more information than everyone wanted to know, but here it is, my first blog! There will be an actual post in here once Brian gets home!

Marianna