22.

So much has happened within the past month past few weeks of November! October was very hard for me, Eric went through special training that I really can't talk about, but it was not a fun experience for me. First of all, he was gone for 7 days with no contact whatsoever. And this was the first time since he got home from Japan that we weren't able to talk, since then even if we didn't get to talk to each other, we at least go to text or call. We couldn't do that during this training and it sucked. It was very hard and it was an experience I don't want to deal with for a very long time.

It also didn't help that when Eric returned, he wasn't himself and he wasn't himself for a long time. The training was so intense that it was really hard for him to break away from what I like to call his "marine mode". Marine mode is where Eric or any marine basically shows little to no emotion, is cranky or mean or is just very stand offish and pushes you away and doesn't let you get close. Eric was in marine mode for a good 2 and a half weeks. Which really sucked because, he got back a few couple days before my birthday (Oct 28th) and he just wasn't himself. I was sad, depressed and just overall disappointed because I wanted my birthday to be special because it was the first birthday we could spend together in almost 4 years.

Eric might of been out of it, but I did have a great birthday because on someone else.

Sunday, the 27th, there was a knock on the door and when I looked through our peephole to see who it was, I saw a bunch of balloons. I was like, what the heck? I open the door and behind the balloons was my mother. I was immediately filled with joy, happiness, relief and all these emotions.

I was so happy to see, I hadn't see her or any of my family since September and after such an intense month where I hardly saw Eric...I needed my mother. The next day was my birthday and while Eric worked, my mom and I went to Topsail Island and shopped and just hung out. We also went to the beach and shelled which is one of our absolute favorite things to do. Later on in the evening, my mom treated us to the Melting Pot for my birthday dinner was fabulous and delicious. Once we got home after dinner, I opened presents and had cake that Eric made for me. 

The cake was awesome! Eric is very weary of baking but he made me a cake anyway, it was white with chocolate frosting and it was really good! My mom brought presents from her and my dad and my grammy and granddaddy. My mom got me a $100 Target gift card was awesome! And also a really cool Pandora charm and my dad also got me a Pandora charm (I'm gonna have to take pictures of it and post it soon!) My grandparents got me a cookbook, a glass pot, a fall themed pot warmer and oven mitt. And also the cook book I posted above.

It was such a great birthday and I was so thankful my mom was there.