Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

I am incredibly spoiled in that I am able to celebrate Memorial Day with my family and friends.  We remember those that have come before us, but we don't have anyone in our family that has died fighting for our freedom.  I know women that have lost husbands and fiancées to the war, and my heart goes out to them during this weekend.  I cannot imagine the grief that they have gone through, but I am proud and thankful for their sacrifice.

It's been a terrific weekend of relaxing with family.  Yesterday I got to play with my 10-yr-old and 6-yr-old cousins.  It's been way too long since I've visited with them, and they have grown so much since I last saw them!!  I have also enjoyed spending time with my sister and her fiancé, and of course quality time with the dog is pretty priceless.

I'm also gearing up for R&R and I can HARDLY WAIT!!!!  I am so excited to see my boyfriend after 6 months of crappy Skype connections and distant emails.  I am also a bit nervous too - I want everything to go well and I don't want to disappoint him.  I have been very self-conscious about my appearance.  With school the past semester I didn't get to work out as much as I wanted to, so I hope I don't look disappointing, lol.  I'd like to lay out a few times this week so I can 'even-out' and bunch of my weird tan lines.  I leave next week to meet him in Florida - I can't wait!!

Until then, I'm just relaxing and waiting!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Countdown Continues

I am down to less than 2 weeks until I go on leave with my boyfriend!!!  I’ll be meeting him in FL to visit with his family and friends, as well as enjoy some well-deserved vacation time.  If the timing works out right, we may even be able to do a short cruise.  I am so excited to be able to talk and spend time with him without struggling with the internet connection over Skype.  We’ll have five days together alone before his 6-yr-old daughter arrives to join us.  I am a little nervous to meet her; I really hope she likes me.  It’ll be a lot of fun to meet the cutie that my boyfriend talks about so much.  My life has become a lot more complicated since I met my boyfriend (with the deployment and his daughter), but I am still so happy with him in my life.  I can only hope that things continue to go well with our relationship, and I will try to be as supportive as possible during the last 6 months of his deployment.

When I arrive home after two weeks of leave, I’ll have three days before my one and only sister marries the love of her life!  I am very excited to be able to celebrate this occasion with her and family.  I’ll be doing my Maid of Honor duties as well as visiting with family and making sure things go smoothly.  Luckily my sister is not a high-stress/small-detail person.  She has done the majority of the planning herself in the last six months, so we will only have minor things to take care of in the last few weeks before the wedding.  I am doing my best to be involved in the wedding activities, but it’s hard because DB goes on leave for the third and second week before the wedding.  I will be present for the week before, but I have been trying to plan my trip with him while helping with wedding stuff – as well as doing an internship at a local humane society.

I feel like I have been given a lot to deal with this summer, and I am doing my best to make sure that everyone is happy.  I already got an email from my sister saying that I “need to stop planning my life around [DB]” – yes, thank you for putting more stress on my during this already stressful time.  I haven’t seen DB in 6 months, and it’ll be another 6 months before I get to see him after our vacation.  But please, continue to make me feel guilty for wanting to see him while you spend 18 hours of every day with your fiancé.  [end sarcasm]  I will likely just keep my mouth shut and smile during the wedding activities.  No need to cause trouble during this busy time.

In other news, I am extremely happy this morning because I finally have housing for an internship that I have planned in DC!  I am doing a 6 week unpaid internship, and I was really worried about finding an affordable place to stay.  It was getting to the point where I was concerned that I’d have to cancel my internship, but thankfully I was put in touch with a friend yesterday – and I have a place to stay!!  I am beyond excited!!!  All I have to do now is book the flight, pack, then I'll be on my way for a fun end to my summer.

More updates to come!  (I was in some sort of weird Disney clipart mood today - I have no idea why) :P

Monday, May 23, 2011

The blog o' badasses

If there’s still anyone out there that still reads my blog – sorry about my absence.  School kicked into high gear at the end of March, and then from there until finals I was struggling to catch my breath.  Now that summer has started, I have been busy with internships, travelling and reconnecting with all the people that I’ve been ignoring for the past few months.

So far it’s been a whirlwind of activity.  I spent the weekend with my family to celebrate my sister’s graduation from Pharmacy school.  My sister’s a doctor now; she’s a big deal!  Here's a picture of badass #1:
Cap and Gown plus a Hood?  Badass
It was really fun to see all the traditions that came with the ceremonies.  I have always enjoyed formal ceremonies like that.  It could be cause I’ve grown up Catholic, thus attending Church and wearing a uniform to school means that tradition is pretty ingrained in me.  I think that’s part of why the military is so attractive to me because there is an order to it, and many ceremonies take place, with deep-rooted traditions.

While doing graduation activities, I stopped in at the Natural History Museum on campus and saw Comanche, a horse from the Battle of Little Bighorn (better known as “Custer’s Last Stand”).  Comanche was the horse of a Captain in the 7th Cavalry, and he rode into battle along with about 200 other soldiers in the unit.  All of the soldiers perished (including Custer), and many of the remaining horses were taken by the Indians, but Comanche was left with bullet holes and arrow wounds.  The horse was found a few days later by rescue unit, and the horse was transferred to Ft. Riley to be cared for.  Comanche survived the war wounds, and went on to become a mascot for the 7th Cav unit.  When the horse died his hide was given to the history museum where it is mounted.  It’s quite an impressive horse, not at all creepy like I expected.  It’s a real piece of history!

Comanche - badass warhorse
I especially got a kick out of the horse because my boyfriend is now in the Cav!  He is still in his original brigade, but now transferred into a new battalion with exciting new stuff going on.  He was also promoted to Captain!!!  Very exciting and rewarding for him  ;)  I look forward to seeing his Stetson and spurs at the Cav ball when he returns.
My boyfriend's a badass Captain ;)
I’ll write more later when I have time, but unfortunately the place I’m staying at right now does not have internet, so I am at the mercy of the local coffee shop for an internet connection ;)