Colorado Springs on fire

This has been a sad week for Colorado Springs. On Saturday, a fire was started in Waldo Canyon (one of my favorite hiking places here in the Springs). Because of the strong wind and very dry ground, the fire spread quickly.

On Saturday, Karen and I were driving back from our run in Georgetown, CO. Halfway home, we were informed that the fire had started and the highway we were taking was closed. We had to detour and ended up taking a 5 hour road trip that should have been 2 hours.

Sunday and Monday the fire seemed to be under control but it was 0% contained. The smoke was terrible. I had a horrible headache for two days due to the incredible amount of smoke. Tuesday was when everything got out of control. The wind picked up and the fire quickly switched directions causing it to go straight for Colorado Springs. Thousands of people were immediately evacuated. Sadly, people's biggest fears came true and almost 400 homes were completely destroyed.

It's so sad to see this happen to such a beautiful city. It's even sadder to see people's entire lives burn to ashes. Thankfully Colorado Springs is an amazing city and everyone has been contributing their support, donations, and time. We're also very blessed to have brave fire fighters not only from Colorado Springs but other cities and states as well.

The fire is currently only 15% contained. So far, one person has been found dead. Pray for everyone's safety during this time and the comfort of those who have lost everything.

Facts

Fact #1: I find myself writing March as the date...all the time. It's June! I don't write April; I don't write May. I write March. Really? I've decided this is because Josh left in March and for some reason I'm having a hard time progressing in months :). It's a theory.

Fact #2: Ok, it's not really a fact. But Colorado Springs is on fire and I'm sad. The fire was started in one of my favorite hiking trails about 15 minutes away from my house. Lots of places have been evacuated and it smells like a camp fire in my back yard. To top things off, the high is 100, we are ridiculously dry, and my house has NO air conditioning. Yikes!

I should be doing homework...

So I'll blog instead! :)

Update on the 1/2 marathon yesterday—it was painful! The name was definitely misleading. It ended up being a difficult run. I think a lot of it had to do with downhill running not being very good for your joints. Around mile 6 my knee started killing me. I ran on it the rest of the way, but I'm paying for it! I'm walking like an old lady :).

Here's some pictures:

Slacker Half Marathon

Tomorrow I'm running the Slacker Half Marathon with my friend, Karen. This is my second 1/2 marathon and I'm beyond excited! It should be a fairly easy run (mostly downhill) with a gorgeous view.  We're driving up tonight, staying in Frisco, and then getting up bright and early to run.  I'll update my blog with pictures and stories after the run!

It's HOT

We have record highs this year in Colorado Springs. This might not be too bad, but there's a slight problem in the Bone household. We have NO air conditioning! Apparently this is a pretty common problem in Colorado Springs. We're only into June and it's awful. I've tried little tricks like keeping my blinds closed and doors open (when I'm home) to let fresh air in. I also bought one of those window air conditioning units that cools down all of half of a room. I bought it slightly bigger than our bedroom window so I had to devise some way to get it to stay in the window without crashing down to our front yard. This is what happens when your husband is gone and you have to take care of installing things. Let's just say I'm slightly paranoid and often wake up in the middle of the night making sure that my air conditioner is still in the window. Thankfully it is keeping me and Zoey slightly cooler at night. We'll see how July and August go.

And after all that complaining, I'll leave you with this:

Just a picture

Isn't he so handsome? I love my Skype dates!

Job 1:21

Something strange happened the other day. I was lying in bed about to go to sleep and the verse, "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord" popped into my head. I had talked to Josh earlier that day and he told me he was going on a mission. As soon as this verse popped into my head, I became upset. I can't really describe the feeling but it was some worry and some fear. It is a wonderful verse, but the last thing I wanted to think about was the Lord taking away when my husband was out on a mission.

Come to find out, around that exact time that this verse popped into my head, Josh was in a fire fight. He hasn't given me details, but I know it was bad because he was very close to a RPG (rocket propelled grenade) and he came out with a concussion. He also said that he made his peace with dying that day. He should have died more than once, but God let him walk away from it. I am so eternally grateful for this.

I'm not sure why God placed that verse in my head. Maybe it was to let me know that He was in control and no matter what, His will is best. Maybe it was to tell me that I need to bless His name no matter what the situation. Maybe it was to remind me that He chose to give Josh his life that day. I'm not sure why, but I am so grateful that God was watching over Josh throughout that entire fire fight.

With that said, I'm going to try to talk my husband into becoming an accountant :).

Optomism

I have lots to do tonight—homework, walk Zoey, clean the kitchen....I think I'll blog instead :). Actually, this was on my to-do list since my list of loyal followers probably want a recent update (and by list, I mean my husband).

I realize that all I've talked about the last few months is deployment, but that's all I know right now. It's all I care about. So here comes another deployment blog post.

I've asked myself many times if this deployment or my first one was harder. I'm definitely going with this one. Although we are blessed to only have nine months of deployment as opposed to a year, it's been emotionally harder on me because Josh is in a much more dangerous place. I find myself in constant worry and fear. I completely trust God and have faith in Him, but it doesn't mean that I'm not human either. I'm so blessed to have a husband that makes a huge effort to contact me as much as he can (even when he's tired, stressed, or however busy he is). I'm thankful that he's able to separate his job from his relationship with his wife. I'm thankful that he's able to provide us with enough money that I can get my master's degree. I am more than blessed.

No matter where we are or what we're doing, we never know what God's plan is for us. He could take any of us at any time. I will continue to pray for Josh's safety and trust in God. Even though this is a sucky situation, I'm thankful for the opportunity to grow in my relationship with God and with my husband. Sometimes you need to strive for optimism even in the worst of situations!