Me, Myself, and I

I never thought I’d be the kind of person who had a blog. Im horrible at writing and expressing how I feel, but lately I feel like I need to let it all out and tell people the truth about my life. To start off, I’ll tell you who I am; so those of you who don’t actually know me and want to read and follow my blog will get an idea of who I am.
​My name is AmandaLea Carol Stewart (maiden name Struzyk); I’m 25 years old, my birthday is in October so I’m a Libra. I have been married for 5 years to my husband Cody who’s 24. We have a son named Aiden, who is 3 years old and is the love of my life! I was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. I grew up mostly in Rice, Minnesota, first in a 2 bedroom mobile home with my parents and 3 siblings. Needless to say we were very cramped. My childhood wasn’t some sort of fairytale. It was hard but my siblings and I did the best we could to make it as fun as possible. When I was 14 we finally began to build our families dream home. A log cabin with 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. That’s also when my parents got divorced. All through high school I lived in 2 different homes. I didn’t really know who I was, like most teenagers in my situation I was lost.
​14 days after my 17th birthday I decided to join the Army National Guard. Between my Junior and Senior years of high school I went to Basic Training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina. After my senior year I went to Ft. Lee, Virginia for my Advanced Individual Training, which is where I met my husband. Of course being and AIT couple most people thought our relationship would end the day I went back to MN and he went back to Texas. Little did they know we’d be married and have a son. After AIT I was shipped off to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, where I began my training to go to war. I was there from December 2005 until March 2006. April 1, 2006 I left the Unites States of America and was on a plane headed for Iraq. I was in Iraq until September 2006 when I had to come home early (which I’ll explain later).
​After I got home from Iraq, I moved to Colorado where I currently live. Cody was already out here working for his dad. I got a job at a local restaurant, I hated working there but it was a paycheck. In June 2007 I got pregnant but in July had a miscarriage. 2 weeks after the miscarriage I was pregnant again, but didn’t know it until I was 14 weeks along! In April 2008 I gave birth to a healthy baby boy who changed my life forever! 7 short months after that I was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.
​After many rounds of radiation, chemo, and a handful of surgeries I am health and cancer free. The scars are still there both physically and mentally, but I’m still alive thanks to my amazing doctors! Now I am being medically discharged from the military and have to make the choice on whether to move back to Minnesota to my family, or move to Texas to Cody’s family. Either way WE choose a family is going to be hurt.
I guess that’s the super short story of my life. I am going to start from the beginning, so thanks to whoever made it this far and will keep reading. It’s going to be a bumpy and emotional ride but I hope you put your seatbelt on and ride with me.