Oh my...it's been a while. About a week after my last post, I packed up my stuff and moved back into my parents house for the summer. In my program, I have the freedom to take a summer internship anywhere within the United States. Our classes are held online this summer, and I took the opportunity to spend a few weeks back home with my family. Since Blake is deployed, being at home with my family is about the best place to be. And it helps the time go by quickly because I stay pretty busy!

These last five weeks have been full of learning and growing opportunities. This deployment has been slightly different than the last one, but I expected that. During this past week, Blake's company experienced their first casualty of the deployment. Blake had informed about it around 8 that morning, and my heart instantly went out to his family. That is a tragedy I hope to never experience.

The news of a casualty made me realize that he is actually in a dangerous place. Sometimes it's easy to just think he's somewhere around the world sitting in a shop and working on trucks. It's easy to forget about the danger when nothing is going on. I hate being reminded that it is dangerous. Quite honestly, if you constantly thought about dangerous it is, you would go insane.

Nothing in life is guaranteed. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow, and that is true for everyone-not just soldiers in war zones. You have to live everyday you have to the fullest. That means I make most out of every second I get with Blake...even if those moments come via a phone call. Because no amount of worrying or talking about the dangers will change what happens tomorrow or the next day or even in the next year. I put faith in God, and know that he has the best plan in mind. Everything happens for a reason even if we don't understand it.