The End of An Era

Today is sort of a big deal for our family.

You see, eight years ago we were these two little 21-year-old babies, essentially. Still basking in newlywed bliss (well, sort of – we’d been married two years already, haha) … Danny was just about to turn three years old and I dropped my husband off, kissed him goodbye and our lives changed forever … He went off to basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Little did we know how the next eight years would mold us, shape our marriage, change our views on the world, and take us on some wild, wild adventures.

In the last 8 years he went to Lackland AFB and Port Hueneme (Ventura, CA) for training, and we lived at McChord AFB (Tacoma, WA), Kadena Air Base (Okinawa, Japan) and Minot AFB (middleoffreakingnowhere, North Dakota). And when active duty status ended two years ago, we moved to Colorado Springs essentially on a whim, hope and prayer!

During all that craziness, Randy deployed to Afghanistan the day after Christmas in 2008 and spent 194 days in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan, at Manas, Bagram Air Field and FOB Fenty (Jalalabad). We had three more babies during the time of Randy’s time as an airman, two of which were born in Japan and the last of which was born during Randy’s deployment. Noah was two days shy of a month old the first time Randy ever got to hold him – and to this day, they are inseparable BFFs. God bless military spouses, after being one and going through some of the God-awful things we went through, I have nothing but the utmost love, respect and gratitude for the families that “serve at home” with their spouses.

To say Randy was an exemplary Airman is putting it lightly. He won several awards, including Airman of the Year for 18 LRS and he was even awarded “BTZ” (below the zone, allowing him to become a staff sergeant early). I think I speak for my entire family and all our friends when I say that we are all so proud of Randy and all that he accomplished during his time in the Air Force. He led his airmen by example and the lessons of leadership he learned are ideals he carries with him – and will for the rest of his life.

But today – today we are officially closing that chapter in our life. As of today, Randy is 110% a civilian, no longer in inactive reserve, no longer apart of the military. Our military IDs have expired, we no longer have access to the bases and you know what – that’s cool. We’re excited. We are SO stinking excited because we have such an exciting few months ahead of us … And I want to think we aren’t just opening up a new chapter, we are writing a whole dang new book for our lives.

So I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell my husband, my best friend, my co-pilot, my baby daddy, my business partner and the absolute love of my life – THANK YOU. I am so proud of you. So proud of all you have accomplished, so grateful for the numerous sacrifices you have made not just for our family, but for our country. I am so proud to be your wife. I am so proud to have you pursuing your passion for photography. I am just – so proud of you.

So, here is my imaginary glass tipping to you, Randy – here is to the new book!!!

xoxo,

Ashley