While I wasn't blogging...

Mrs. Exnicios did her part to keep things going over at Really Nothing Special. Among my favorites:

Army wife musings, including this NYTs piece (which I didn't like as much as Lauren--it's called a post, Army wife, not a "base").

A recap of our adventures during leave (my mid-tour, Lauren's ETS) with exciting pictures, including the shot of me and Abigail shown here.

Spot-on deconstruction of one of the least socially responsible McDonald's commercials I've ever seen. Not that McDonald's hasn't been positioning itself as a childhood ego and self-esteem booster for years, but still.

I think my Haas colleagues at the Center for Responsible Business have some more work to do.

Notes From the Homefront, Lauren #4: Do Kitties Dream of Electric Sheep?

I do not dream that my husband is home. I am well aware, even in my sleep, that my husband is far, far away and has been for quite a while. The unfortunate part is that in my sleep, I seem to think that my husband is on his way home.

I am constantly having dreams that he'll be home tomorrow, or in a day or two. There is always a ten to fifteen second beat when I wake up after these dreams when I lay there and think wow, Andrew will be home today/tomorrow/this weekend. Then my mind catches up and I'm reminded that he isn't on his way home, but that we're not even halfway through this deployment.

Sometimes even in my dreams my subconscious seems to know what's going on and that Andrew is still far away for a long time and it tries to tell my dream-conscious what's going on, but the dream-conscious seldom seems to listen. Its hard to wake up three or four times a week and relive the same feelings I had at gate B6 at BWI on Dec 18 when I had to put Andrew on an airplane without knowing when I would see him again.

Despite these repeated sad wake ups of mine, I am happy to report that the cat remains undeterred in reaching her sleep goals.

Please join us in celebrating the marriage of Lauren and Andrew, June 16, 2007. . . Dinner and Dancing to follow, June 21, 2009

Save the Date! Andrew and Lauren's wedding will be on Sunday, June 21, 2009 at the Water's Edge Resort in Westbrook, Connecticut!

I realize this information may raise some questions - so I've put together some FAQs regarding the Doyle-Exnicios union.

Q1. You guys are so totally married already!

A1. Thats not a question, but yes. We are totally married already. We were married at a small ceremony at Fort Belvoir on June 16, 2007. It was beautiful and a very sacred moment when we exchanged our vows. That was also the ceremony we needed to have because of time constraints and impeding deployments. (Oh, and love. Right, we got married the first time because of love.)

Q2. Why do you need a second ceremony/reception/wedding?

A2. I will be the first to admit, I want a big wedding. With all the big wedding events. I want to wear a big wedding dress that costs so much I will take its true cost to my grave and never tell my husband. I want to make my friends wear dresses they will never wear again but all proclaim how this dress is completely rewearable. I want my hair done. I want to see my husband for more than 3 days after the wedding.

Q3. So its all about you?

A3. Um, no. Sorry. The real answer, besides all that big wedding dreams, is that there are so many people that we didn't get to celebrate with last time, that we really want to have a big party to celebrate our wedding and our marriage - and Andrew being home to enjoy that marriage! - with everyone we love.

Q4. I was at the first one. May I be excused?

A4. No. Think of yourself as extra special, double Exnicios wedding worthy.

Q5. Will you be doing vows/dress/cake/bouquets?
A5. We are working on reaching the right balance of honoring what we already did at our first ceremony while having a great time celebrating our marriage at the second one. We expect to have some sort of vow ceremony, though this one will be just for "show" since we're already legal. As for some of the other traditions, we'll figure out what is going to work best for us and our guests.

Q6. Is One Tree Hill the most superior teen drama out there?
A6. While not wedding related, I think its a question that deserves to be asked and answered. The answer I think is a qualified no. It is one of the superior teen dramas out there, but it is not the most superior.

Notes From the Homefront, Lauren #2: Damage caused by sonic booms may be deductible

As I (Lauren) continue my time at Fort Belvoir's Legal Assistance Office, I have been tasked to run to Tax Center this year. The tax center provides free income tax return preparation for Active Duty Soldiers, their dependents and retirees. Its been a frustrating process trying to pull everything together, but with opening day (complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony. . . and cake!) on Monday, I think we may actually be ready.

I've been to two weeks of tax training and am now an official IRS VITA/TCE site certified tax preparer. (I have a certificate to prove it.) Through all of this, I've discovered the more ridiculous side of tax law, the minutiae laws regarding every aspect of life (according to the IRS.) While I do not offer any of the below as tax advice, I do want to share some of my favorite tax rules and regulations with you.

You may choose to have your IRA invest in collectibles - including alcoholic beverages.

Reported income must include any back pay and damages received for emotional distress received to satisfy a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Damage or destruction of trees, shrubs or other plants by a fungus, disease, insects, worms or similar pests is not deductible. However, sudden destruction due to unexpected or unusual infestation of beetles may be a deductible casualty loss.

Guide dogs are a deductible medical expense.

Losses due to blackmail or ransom payments may be deductible.

If you receive a bribe, you must report that income.

If you won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize (or similar award) and meet the following criteria, you do not need to include the winnings in your income. 1) You were selected without any action on your part to enter the running for the award, 2) you are not required to complete any future services, and 3) the prize is transferred directly from the payer to the government unit or a charity as designated by you.

Income from the Northern Mariana Islands may be subject to US Federal tax.

Damage caused by sonic booms may be deductible.

Wristwatches are never a deductible expense, even if you need to know the correct time for your job.

Notes from the Homefront, Lauren #1: An Introduction

I hate flying. I used to have to do it a lot - one of the "bonuses" of long distance relationships is the frequent flier miles one accumulates. Its not so much the flying I hate - I'm not a real white knuckle flier. (Now I have no desire to have any flight result in disaster, but I know I've discussed the possibility of me dying first with Andrew and he knows that he must mourn me forever and live his life as an everlasting tribute to me. But I digress.)

What I hate about flying is the entire process - driving to the airport, parking, shuttle to the airport, checking in, people ignoring open check in kiosks, standing in line at security, people refusing to take their shoes off, people claiming that perfume is not a liquid, juggling everything in socks at the other end of security, finally getting to the gate, only to wait for delays.

But lately, I haven't hated it quite as much. I think I realized this change in attitude at Christmas. I was flying to Connecticut to see my family and thinking about how long it had been since I had been a regular flier (basically since I left Colorado this summer). I started thinking about what flying used to mean and I realized that I used to have all these negative feelings towards the act of flying because it would take so long - I always saw it as a delay to get where I was trying to go - to visit Andrew.

To me, if I could just check in five minutes faster, or get through security without delay, I would be able to be with Andrew sooner. While going to CT this year was great and having my family so close right now is such a blessing, I was really sad on that Christmas flight when I started realizing that Andrew wouldn't be waiting for me at the other end.

We were never one of those flowers at the airport couples - but I would always text him "on the ground" as soon as I could turn on my cell phone when the plane landed. He'd always call me and let me know where he was and we would talk to each other as I wound my way through the airport terminal, trying to reach the security point. There would always be the moment when we first saw each other - usually while still on the phone with each other - and all those pains of flying - the hassles of the shuttle bus, the security line, angry babies on the plane - it wouldn't matter anymore because Andrew was there and we got to be together, even if only for 48 hours.

Every time, throughout our two and half year dating relationship, my stomach always flipped a little when I saw him waiting there for me and I often had to keep myself from running towards him in some cinematic moment. So on that flight to CT, it made me really sad to know he wouldn't be there - wouldn't be there for the next ten months of flights. And even if that makes me less anxious in security line, I would be so happy to go back to be a cranky flier if I could know that Andrew would be waiting for me.