So Over It.

After our experience this year, I am pretty much over traveling, or rather flying! On Sunday the 20th, the hubby and I headed up to Phoenix to stay in a hotel since our flight left at 6:30am the next morning and we weren't sure about traffic & making the three hour drive so early! The day started off fine, the airport wasn't too busy, security wasn't a nightmare, and we waited only a little bit before they started boarding. Then it got bad. Our flight took off 30 minutes late, but I wasn't too upset since we had a 2 hour layover in Minneapolis/St. Paul. About an hour into the flight, a flight attendant came over the PA and asked if there was a doctor on board. Apparently, a older man in his 60's had collapsed near the bathroom. He had an oxygen tank, and as he was walking out of the bathroom, the tubing got caught in the door, cutting off oxygen, and causing him to pass out & fall. The flight attendants and a nurse gave him CPR & mouth to mouth for about 30 minutes, when the pilot finally came over the PA to announce that we were making an emergency landing in Denver so the man could get medical help. Yeah, I was annoyed, but I couldn't be mad, it wasn't his fault. So we landed and proceeded to sit there for almost 2 hours while were waiting to re-fuel and be taxied onto the runway again. Long story short, we missed our connecting flight and ended up home almost 2 hours later than planned.
The time home was wonderful though! I got to meet my nephew who is six months now, and is oh-so-adorable. He is a a happy baby for the most part and has the cutest little grin! I love him so much already :] I also got to meet up with Bestie while in the Mitten. Her husband grew up about an hour away from me, so they drove down and we went to lunch. And it felt like we’d never been separated. It felt good to talk to someone who understands me and I can be myself around. And of course, her baby is becoming a boy! He will be two in February and he has changed so much since I last saw him! Along with that, it was good to be around my family, especially my sisters who I love dearly and miss so much.
As if getting my Michigan weren’t annoying enough, I would soon find out that the trip home would be 10x worse. Our flight was supposed to leave Chicago at 6pm, so we of course arrived 2 hours early, went through security fairly fast, and were waiting for the plane to arrive, when an announcement came over the PA: Our flight coming from Atlanta, was being diverted to Indianapolis due to the weather in Chicago, which wasn’t bad AT ALL. They said they couldn’t keep the runway clear from snow, which I don’t understand because it was barely coming down. As soon as they announced this, I knew we were in for a long night, as our we only had a 40min layover and our connection flight was the last one out of Atlanta to Phoenix that night. They immediately rebooked us for a flight out of Atlanta the next day at 1:30pm – a whole 16 hours later than our other flight. I was seriously annoyed, but what could I do? Nothing. We kept getting updates saying our plane would land in an hour, oh then another hour, and on and on. Our flight finally landed at about 10pm. But then the flight attendants had worked their allotted hours and we needed a new crew, who had to fly from O’Hare, which took and hour. It’s in the same city for crying out loud! After much waiting, we finally boarded the plane and took off at 1:30am, arriving in Atlanta at 3:30am. We hadn’t eaten dinner, because we didn’t know when we would board and didn’t want to miss the call to board, and when we got to Atlanta, of course everything was closed. We ended up sleeping on benches on the airport; it was pointless to go to a hotel only to check out seven or eight hours later. The only plus to our big mishap – we got to sit in first class on our 4 hour flight to Phoenix. Free movies, a meal, and larger seats – if I could, I would always fly first class! It was so nice. We finally made it to Phoenix and then had to drive 3 hours home, ate dinner, and went to bed since my husband had to be up at 4:45am for work.
I could understand having a traveling mishap on our way there, but to have such luck on both travel days? Like I said, I am over traveling…until next year :]
Hope everyone had a safe holiday, and here’s to a new year!

Home for the Holidays.

In a week, my husband and I will be traveling to Michigan to spend the holiday with my family (we alternate every year). We will fly into Chicago on the 21st and take the train to Michigan City, IN, where my dad will pick us up. He usually picks us up from the airport, but my sister and her husband and baby are coming in that day too, and there won't be enough room in the car for all of us. We're staying until the 26th, so it should be a good time.

I am looking forward to the snow, even though people think I'm crazy for it! I love snow on Christmas. I hated it when I lived there, but when you live in parts of the country where snow is rare, you kind of miss it - and I do! I'm sure after a week of the white stuff, I'll be ready to come back to Arizona and 60+ degree weather.

I am also looking forward to being with my family! I haven't seen them since my sisters baby shower in April - and that was only for a weekend! So to be together for longer will be nice! I am also excited to meet my nephew! My sister Heather gave birth in May and that was around the time my husband was getting out of the Army, so I wasn't able to make it out there to meet Gavin. Also, my besties hubby grew up an hour away from me, so she's going to come down and see me for a day. I have missed her!

There is so much to look forward to, and just one thing that I know will drive me crazy - people asking me when my husband and I are going to have a baby. That question happens every time we go to either one of our families homes. I find the question rude and really none of anyones business. We're still in our twenties, for crying out loud. But I will do what I always do, just smile and pretend that it doesn't bother me :]

I'm Thankful.

This year I have a lot to be thankful for.
My Husband

My husband is probably one of the greatest people I've ever met in my life. He is incredibly giving and kind, not only to me, but to everyone. I'm thankful for all the hard work he does to provide for us, which allows me to go to school. I'm thankful for his eight years of sacrifice in the military, to include three deployments, to ensure the safety of Americans. Most of all, I'm thankful for his love and companionship. He is truly my best friend, lover, and life partner.

My Family

My dad, my two sisters, my step mothers, and my three nephews are an amazing part of my life. My sisters are truly my best friends and my father is one of my heroes. My step-mother and I had a difficult relationship when her and my father married when I was 12, but we have come a long way and I love her. My family is very close, my husband often tells me he wishes his family were as close as mine is. I wish we all lived closer, but it is not a possibility and we make the best of it.



My Best Friends



I really don't know how I would survive without these three ladies in my life. Rachelle (bottom picture) and I met when I was 18 and she was 19. I had just arrived to my unit at Fort Bragg, NC and didn't know anyone. Rachelle showed up at my door one day and invited me to hang out. We were inseparable after that. We went to Iraq together and she is one of the reasons I made it through. Ashley and I (left picture) met when I was 21 and she was 19 - through MySpace of all places. I had been living in TN for almost a year and my husband had been in Iraq for the majority of it. I felt very alone and had few friends, but Ashley and I had a great connection and a lot in common and we became besties very quickly. We endured two deployments (as wives) together and spent many a nights together, laughing, crying, and supporting one another. The friendship between Kelsey and I (right picture) was completely unexpected. We met in January 2006 in a biology class. We sat at the same lab table and when I made a stupid error with a gradulated cylinder, she made fun of me - not even knowing me. After a few more labs together, we were school friends, until she invited me to a hockey game. I had never been a hockey fan, but that first game, I fell in love with it, and so our bond grew the more classes we took together and the more hockey games we attended. All three of thesee ladies hold a special place in my heart and I love them dearly.

There are many more things I am thankful for - comfy P.J.'s, reality t.v., video games, my cats, and the list could go on. But I believe there is nothing more important in this life than family, friends, and love.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I Need a Vacation.

With my husband currently out of work, a vacation is not in the cards right now, but possibly within the next year. There are a few places now that I'm out West that I'd love to visit, but I'll save that for another day. Anyway, this thinking about vacation made me remember a vacation my family took when I was about six years old, possibly my favorite vacation ever.

For Spring Break that year, my family embarked on our first 'real' family vacation and we were going where every child dreams about going to: Disney World. However, that's not totally why this vacation sticks out in my mind, more so because this is one of the last times I remember my mom not being too sick with cancer. Granted she had been diagnosed, but she had finished her first round of chemo/radiation and her hair had started to grow back. She was my mom again.

Since my family didn't have a ton of money, we made the trek via car from Michigan to Florida. My sister and I kept ourselves occupied, even though back then DvD players, much less portable ones, did not exist. All I needed was a My Little Pony toy and I was set. After a few days in the car, we arrived in Orlando and made it to our condo - another big deal for us. It wasn't a hotel, but a 2 bedroom condo, complete with a kitchen, washer/dryer, pool, etc. I thought we were living large! Every day we went to the park, hitting up the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Typhoon Lagoon. We visited my mothers close friends who had moved to Florida to retire. We watched people bungee jump. We were carefree. My mom was happy.

It's funny how something so simple as a family vacation can turn into one of my most precious memories. I don't cherish this vacation because it was a childhood dream come true, but because my mom got to experience with me. She was able to see her children have fun and be kids without a worry for once. That's the mom I keep with me.