Halfway Through

We are halfway through with the academy!! Thank you Jesus! This has been the hardest thing I think I we have ever had to go through!  Being together for 8 years, seeing each other almost every day for the majority of those 8 years, married for 3 months, then apart for 13 weeks could drive anyone crazy!  (Well not really 13 full weeks, but 4 days out of each week). I made a calendar the day Kip left so I could mark off each day to see how close we were to the finish! Today, I realized that June is ALMOST over…a full month down (a month and half really)! It really seems like yesterday we were preparing for him to head off for the first 10 days, and now we are halfway finished! Oh so thankful that time has flown by!

One of the hardest struggles for me is when he leaves on Sunday. Our weekend seems to FLY by, and I hate saying goodbye to him! I still cry a little when he leaves, but get ok after a few minutes!  I try to have something planned to do once he leaves, whether it is going to the grocery store, walking with my parents, cleaning up around the house, or watching one of my shows that he doesn’t like to watch (19 Kids and Counting or the Bachelorette--he really likes to watch them, but he pretends he doesn't).  I try to stay busy during the week as well..makes the week go by so much quicker! 

I think one of the hardest struggles for Kip is leaving as well….because I am usually upset. He tells me he hates to see me upset when he leaves!  I always talk about how hard it is for me with him being gone and everything, but I cannot imagine if I was in his shoes.  He has to be up before the sun is even up for PT (running, pushups, situps, calisthenics, etc.), then he has class ALL day from about 8am – 6pm, then supper until about 7pm.  They only have a few hours at night to get things together for the next day, study, talk to family, and have a little bit of free time. They cannot go anywhere….just stuck in their rooms until the next morning. At least I still have my somewhat “normal” life...I can go where I want, do what I want, eat what I want, etc.

Speaking of class and studying, last weekend, Kip was really stressing about his legals exam. It was a 100 question test that he HAD to pass with at least a 70% or he failed out of the academy.  We studied all weekend, and I even learned the difference between robbery, burglary, and theft and all the degrees (1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd).  His test was last Tuesday morning…and he passed…with a 93! So happy for him..I KNEW he could do it!!! Now all he has left to do is pass firearms (piece of cake for him!) and driving. The hardest and most stressful part of this long 13 weeks is over!

We were going to celebrate with a big ole steak from Longhorn this weekend, but instead…he bought a new gun. And bought me one too. So our celebrating was at the shooting range!

I am so thankful for my hardworking husband…just ready for this whole academy thing to end and we can get back to some kind of "normal".