Wow

We really need to update this thing!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well! Devon and I and the boys are doing great. The end of this year is definitely more to celebrate than the beginning of this year was! 2009 began with Devon thousands of miles, countries, and an ocean away from his family! He was serving in Iraq as a Military Police Officer. He was (and is) happy to serve this country that he loves, but being apart is never easy. He came home early in June and we were certainly happy to be reunited.

The beginning of this year landed me in Cold Spring, MN. So while Devon was sweating it out in the desert – I was turning into ice during the coldest week that Cold Spring had all season. The temperature didn’t reach above 0 degrees F until I was driving to the airport to leave! Who sends anyone to MN in January??? Work made up for it in March by sending me to So Cal where I made a point of taking a trip to the beach one evening and enjoying some not-so cold weather! Travels for work also took me to Lithia Springs, GA, Dallas, TX, Bradenton, FL and Chicago, IL many, many times. Luckily I had friends to watch my boys while we were both away at the same time.
When I was home without Devon I filled my time with hosting casual dinners as I have found that I really love cooking! I also made sure I went to the temple several times –thanks to an amazing group of women at Church I often had friends to go with. I was able to go to the temple at least 7 times this year and hope to go at least one more time than that next year.
Since Devon came home in June the last half of our year has been pretty full with road trips – oh, and moving yet again.
Our fourth house in four years of marriage! Unlucky for us, the owner of the house we were renting returned home and wanted to move back in to his house…so we were booted. We had 30 days to find another residence and we were lucky to actually purchase a house we really like in so short a time.
Our first road trip was to Arkansas to visit Devon’s dad and his new wife, Barbara. We had a great time seeing family, meeting new family, swimming and horseback riding.

We then had the opportunity to attend a marriage retreat at a resort in San Antonio. With free food, fun, advice and comfortable beds – we couldn’t help but have a great time!
My sister Amber and I had planned a family reunion for the Cooper (our mom’s) side of the family in Reno, NV. So we decided that our annual road trip could precede the reunion. I was just glad Devon got to join us this year! We flew into Reno and drove directly to San Francisco. We had the opportunity to rent Go Cars. Renting a Go Car is by far the best way to tour SF and we would recommend them to anyone. (No I did not get paid to say that). But we were able to see so much more without being slowed down by the stories we didn’t want to hear. The weather was beautiful. Of course we took the time to see Alcatraz and the famous Pier 39 as well.

After a few days fun in SF we headed back to Reno where I was able to see family I had not seen in close to a decade and Devon was able to meet some of my family that he had never met before. We stayed with my grandma and I learned where I got my Game Show Network addiction as the TV was seldom on any other channel. Devon on the other hand enjoyed taking Pixie for walks around the apartment complex. J We also really appreciated the family history research that my Aunt Becky did and the time she took to put a Cooper History folder together for each of us to take home. In fact, it gave me the push I needed to start getting more involved in Family History research and I have found once you get started that hobby can be very addicting! All in all our trip to Reno was extremely enjoyable and we find ourselves wanting to return!

We are staying home for the holidays this year. We had the pleasure of having a Thanksgiving dinner with friends who were also staying home for that holiday. My dad is traveling down right before Christmas to spend some time with us and we look forward to his visit, but otherwise Christmas will be very quiet!
We found out that Devon has little over a year until he is scheduled to deploy again so we plan to continue the fun throughout 2010 until the time he has to leave us again. We hope fun is in store for you too!
We hope to hear from you and learn about your 2009. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and hope that 2010 brings with it much joy for you and your family!
With love, Devon, Sarah, Jonas & Scout Lowery ~ 2009

The "Real" Heroes

Anyone who has family or friends serving in the military knows that those men and women of our Armed Forces are not the "Real Heroes." That title goes to the Wives, Husbands, Moms, Dads, Brothers, Sisters, and other family and friends. Their sacrafices have often gone unnoticed... theirs is beyond measure. I am grateful to have a "Military Wife" and family who unwaveringly support me and especially Sarah who is willing to stand at my side no matter the cost. I could not have done this without her... any success I gain is a direct result of her unconditional love. Thanks for the many prayers, thoughts, tears, hugs, and kisses that go out to our brave men and women! I love you Sarah - Yours Always :)

The Army Wife

Her trials, sacrifices, and devoted life.She is strong, she is brave, and she is loving indeed,Standing by her man in his time of need...

Will there be peace or will there be war?You try to be hopeful but it's hard to ignore.The world seems to be falling apartWhen to a soldier you have given your heart...

His job is ever-changing and takes him far away.You think of him always and pray every day--For his safety, his courage, and his love for you That he may remain steadfast, loyal, and ever true...

Tears have become anything but a stranger.They fall freely in sadness, loneliness, and anger.But he will never know because you will never tell.You've learned to hide your misery only too well...

A few years? That doesn't sound like so long.The letters and phone calls keep your love going strong,Even when they are few and far between,In them, his love for you can clearly be seen...

So keep your chin up and a smile on your face.He is protecting your freedom and keeping you safe.His heart is strong and his love is trueAnd don't ever forget that he is missing you too.

A New Year...a New Job

It's a rule that with the New Year some big change or changes have to come too right? Well - my current position with PepsiCo was meant to be an interim role and my end date was 12/31! I had been waiting for the right opportunity (as instructed by my boss' boss who said there was one coming around the corner) and it finally came last week! I was able to submit my resume for the new position (still with PepsiCo) last Friday. I had three interviews all within the space of Wednesday morning - 9:30, 10:30 and 11 AM...good times! The interviews (if you could really call them that) went great...considering I knew all of the people I interviewed with and have worked with two of them quite a bit. I had a job offer by Thursday morning and an official form sent today. I love it when things work out and work quickly at that!
My old role kind of separated me from the core business side of PepsiCo and placed me full time on an ongoing Project that is occurring in waves. This new position moves me back towards the business where I can have a bigger impact on optimizing current business processes and will be able to get more exposure to the corporate side of life. I haven't decided whether that is a good thing or not...haha. We'll see! The new position is part of a brand new team - so I don't have anyone before me to train me on my tasks - I get to plow my own way through which is at once both exciting and a little scary. Many of the people on the new team are people I have worked with in the past so we get to all help each other feel our way through the learning process. Hopefully it all turns out great!
I can't complain about the new job (yet) - it gave me a significant promotion and better than that allows me to continue working from home the majority of the time and travel when necessary. I officially start my new role 12/28, but I don't have a team meeting until 1/9...that doesn't mean I have free time though. In the mean time I was just in California to support one of the project waves (or releases as we call them) and will be heading to Carlisle, PA and Seattle, WA for the same reason. Good times!
California was great - not only were the people I was training fabulous and easy to train, but I was in Southern California. I didn't realize how much I missed the West until I was driving from Burbank to Ventura and was able to see the mountains again! The weather was uncharacteristically cold, but it was still pleasant weather on all accounts and I could see both the ocean and the mountains from my hotel balcony! Besides my trip to Montana three years ago I haven't been back to the West in almost 10 years! I think I'll have to work up reasons to frequent the west more often...starting with Seattle in January and for sure a trip to Reno, NV in September for our Family Reunion! YAY! I took some pics with my cell phone - so the pics didn't turn out all that great but I thought I would share anyway!

See the ocean back there? See the mountains back there?

She's Alive!

Okay - it's been awhile. A long while since I have posted anything new on my blog. I am posting now only because I haven't posted in so long, not necessarily because I have anything to post about. Though, I am sure I'll find plenty to catch up on!

Starting with September: Devon came home for three weeks - for his R&R. He had been gone for 3 months already. We didn't do a whole lot for those three weeks other than spend time with each other and the boys at home. We did play tennis several times which was a lot of fun. We also won a trip through some contest that I randomly submitted our names for at a mall. We had to drive to Austin and spend some time with the Windham crew while they pitched their not-quite-time-share deal. We had to decline, but in the mean time submitted enough family and friends' names to get some raffle tickets and we won another trip. :) We know we will be using one of those free trips to spend some time in the Reno/Lake Tahoe area before the Family Reunion next year. Devon has never been to the place where I grew up and has yet to meet many of the family that lives there. I am really looking forward to that trip! We did take some family pictures while he was here, but we took them on his camera so I don't have the pictures! I have this one from tennis though! Not the most flattering but it will do.

Devon's Dad also came to visit us with his at the time soon-to-be wife! They are now happily married and living in Arkansas. We have yet to get any pictures of them, but we are happy to have Barbara as a part of our family now! It was great to meet her and see Dev's dad and Molly too. :)

My mom, sister Amber, and her friend Melissa came to Texas for the yearly road trip. Mom and Melissa were happy to be new road trip companions for Amber and I this year. :) We were happy to have them as well! Mom flew into Killeen to see the new house and the new city I live in. I drove her on Post so she can get a small sense of what Army life is like...a very small sense. Then we drove south towards San Antonio - though we made a detour at the San Marcus Outlet Mall....amazing Outlet mall - best I have ever seen. Great stores and amazing prices. :) I look forward to another visit there. From there we headed to San Antonio - checked into the hotel, visited the temple, then picked up Melissa and Amber from the airport. We had an amazing weekend visiting the Alamo, Sea World, and walked the River walk. Mom had to leave Saturday, so we took her to the airport and had a sad farewell-til-Christmas.

We then headed to downtown again, ate dinner, then experienced some of the fun attractions, including a mirror maze, Guinness World Record museum and "the vault" which consisted of us trying to get through laser alarms...very stealthily. :) The next day we slept in really late :) then went to the San Antonio Zoo. The next day we made it to the Waterfall Caverns and then I took Amber and Melissa back to the airport and then headed North home...but stopped at the outlet malls again to pick up some trunks I just couldn't resist! :) Not swim trunks...decor trunks ya know? Anyway! Here are some pics!

In November, Rebekah and I decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner. Neither of us had ever been in charge of the turkey before so we did a practice session two weeks before Thanksgiving. The turkey ended up being the easiest part. Thanksgiving dinner two weeks later turned out to be a lot of fun and all of the food was great! The only thing that would have made it better was if Devon was there.

Did I mention the weather is so nice outside that the boys don't want to come in until they are entirely too exhausted??

Jonas is actually resting his head in the water bowl...this was after he was drinking while laying down...Scout is mid-bark in the picture on the right - Jonas won't let him play with the big ball that wears Jonas out.

Now I have a short span at home - next week I'll be in California for work, home for 2 days, then to Indiana for one week over Christmas, then home 1 day and on to Carlisle, PA for 3 days. Lucky me. I am looking forward to seeing family for the holidays! I am also looking forward to some relaxation after the holidays! Hopefully by that time I also find out what I will be doing with work! I role off my current position December 31st and have yet to figure out what is next in line. Hopefully something great!

Until then - I'll just keep enjoying my boys and looking forward to word from Devon!