helphelp1234

Just one small correction to otherwise good information; the reason for denial was not the 181 day trip, it was the fact that the applicant had clearly broken continuous residency. The USCIS Policy Manual clearly states that trips shorter than six months MAY break continuous residency. So if you spend 10 months of every year abroad and 2 months in the US (returning for 1 month every 5 months) you will still be denied. On the other hand, a trip of 7 months does not automatically mean that your continuous residency has been broken. You may still be approved for citizenship with a 7, 8, or 9 month trip depending in the circumstances.
In this case, the applicant was denied because of the pattern of travel that indicated that he was not living in the US. He would have been denied even if he had no trips over 6 months.
Unfortunately, the 4 year + 1 day rule does not apply because the applicant did not live in the US for one full year before breaking residency. This is a gray area because you can argue about which trip broke residency, but there will be a good chance of denial under the 4 + 1 rule.
The applicant should wait until he has been living in the US for 5 years - 90 days to apply.

You can apply for citizenship when you have no trips outside the US greater than 180 days in a 4 year period. You get credit for all the time in the US up to 364 days. So if you have not had a trip outside the US longer than 180 days since 2013, you can apply in 2017.
I would be more worruied about keeping you GC. What have you done to maintain your ties to the US? You are living outside the US. Your husband is living outside the US. Have you been filing a US tax return? If not, you my already have abandoned your LPR status. You may loose your GC if you file for naturaliztion as you must be IN the US more than out. That means you need 30 months IN the US in the past 5 years. You must list all trips outside the US and they will see that you spend 5 months out and 2-3 weeks in and then 5 months out and 2-3 weeks in. They will give you a notice to appear before an IJ and you will have to PROVE you have maintained your LPR status or you will loose your GC. IMHO, I would wait until you are actually living in the US and meet all the requirement before applying for USC otherrwise you risk loosing your GC.
Dave