Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wedding Website
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spring Break/Andy’s R&R
Hello everyone! I’m finally making my debut on the A-Team Blog. Better late than never, right? For the past two weeks or so, Andy and I have been blessed to have some time together since he was back in the states for R&R. This coordinated perfectly with my spring break, so we had plenty of opportunities to have fun stress-free!
A few days after Andy arrived in Dallas we boarded the plane to Las Vegas. For all of you who have been encouraging us, NO we did not get married in Vegas. J I had never been there before, so I was pumped! The only thing that put a damper on the first day of our trip was our super early flight, which turned me into a zombie for most of the day. Andy quickly learned that I was serious when I told him I was not a morning person. He was nice enough to let me sleep on his shoulder on the plane though, and I made him vow to schedule a later flight for our next trip. When we finally arrived in Vegas he gave me the grand tour of the city and we even ventured into the suburbs. I was quite amazed at just how long The Strip actually is! Over the next few days my feet would understand that very well too. During the days we mostly walked around and explored the sights and ventured into all the casinos. I love how each hotel has its own theme and feeling. My favorite was the Bellagio because they had a beautiful garden display in a courtyard in the middle of the hotel. I told Andy that we definitely need to stay there sometime! One night we also watched the fountains out front, which were really cool.
We stayed at Treasure Island, which has a “Sirens of TI” show nightly. I was expecting fun pirate ships, but instead we were treated to skimpily-dressed girls singing and dancing. I had to laugh because it was actually pretty corny. The pyrotechnics were impressive, though. We saw two shows while there; Cirque du Soleil’s Mystere and The Phantom of the Opera. Both were amazing and definitely the highlights of our trip. I think during Mystere my mouth hung open for the entire two hours because of sheer amazement. It’s crazy the stunts those people can do; they’re almost super-human! I can’t wait to see another Cirque show the next time we go back. The Phantom of the Opera was very special because that’s Andy’s favorite musical of all time. I had never seen it before, so it was fun to experience it together.
I left Vegas with about the same amount of gambling skill that I had going in: pretty much zero. We mostly stuck to the slots and found our new favorite…. Wheel of Fortune. It was great because it had a giant wheel that you occasionally got to spin. Every time we got the bonus Andy would stand up and clap and say “Big Money, Big Money!!” Everyone around us was amused. We attempted to venture to the Blackjack and Roulette tables, but shied away when we saw the $15 minimums. We played video versions of them though to brush up on our skills for next time. We didn’t win any money, but we sure had fun.
Andy compiled a great video of our trip, so if you’re interested in seeing it you can check out this link: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=715487166013
When we got home from Vegas, Andy’s parents Randy and Sheri headed to Dallas for a visit. We had a great time with them just relaxing and exploring some things around the city. We also ventured up to Henrietta for a day to see my parents and celebrate my birthday early with them. This was the first time our parents had met each other, but everyone got along great, and I think they are even more excited for the wedding now! On the actual day of my birthday we hit up the Dallas Hard Rock Café for some great food and Andy took me shopping for my surprise birthday gift: a diamond necklace and earrings set! They are gorgeous and he definitely outdid himself. I told him that setting such high expectations before we’re even married might make him regret it later, but he just smiled. That probably means he’s just going to wrap them up and give them to me again for every holiday in the foreseeable future.
Last but not least, the time we had together was a great opportunity to knock out some wedding tasks that required a groom. I took Andy to the Los Rios Country Club, where we’re planning on having our reception, to show him the site and solicit his opinion. He loved it and we’re confident that it will be the perfect venue for our big day. We also shopped for wedding bands and set up our registries, which was much more involved than I ever would have imagined. We probably spent about 5-6 hours walking around Bed, Bath, & Beyond and Macy’s. Who knew there were so many things to buy when you’re planning for your future home? I was glad Andy was with me for this task though so he could help me coordinate things and make sure I didn’t forget about his preferences (the very few that guys actually have when it comes to this stuff). We also met with the woman at St. Joseph’s who is the coordinator for our marriage preparation process. We went over our FOCCUS test results, and it actually looks like they will let us get married, haha! We were happy to see that we scored pretty high in most areas and that we’d already discussed most of the issues presented. Of course, as a teacher, I was looking for that A+ at the top of our paper, but sadly I didn’t get it (it’s not exactly a “test” anyway… more like a questionnaire). We’ll just have to be satisfied with the knowledge that we make a great team (I mean, we ARE the A-Team after all).
Sadly, I had to watch Andy get on a plane to go back to Iraq yesterday. It was heartbreaking to have to go through the process again. It will be hard for both of us to get back to our routines after getting to experience what “normal” couples get to have every day. At least we are now one step closer to him coming home for good! He should be arriving back to Kirkuk within the next couple of days, and when he has time, hopefully he can post and fill in all the fun details that I'm sure I left out!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Stopped In Ali Al Saleem
The A Team will finally be together on 11 March for a short tour before I head back to the sand box. I'm a little hesitant to take leave before the summer, but the truth is, this is the best time for me to go. I just finished my work with Iraq's National Election, and I'm at a point where I can leave the Squadron for a few weeks before we start getting crazy busy again. Las Vegas is going to be a blast, and I'm going to take Audra to a few shows and great restaurants. I'm going to try really hard to avoid the slots, as the last time I was in Vegas, Kenny and I ended up getting drunk and smoking cigars while spending $200 with nickles. The drinks kept coming and I kept spending, trying desparately to line up three blue diamonds. Vegas had the perfect trap! It took all the strength I had to dismount the stool with Kenny before we were nickled and dimed.
I just got off the phone with Audra. I only had a few minutes to talk to her, but I gave her the details of the flight and when I will be in Dallas. I just dropped a bomb on her lap though, because she was not planning for this early of an arrival. Now she has to find a sub and plan some lessons (sorry babes). I know how much she hates surprises. Once she thinks she has it all planned out, I always seem to shake it all up. I do like to watch or listen to her initial reactions, they are classic. Is that bad?
Right now, I'm in a small internet cafe at Ali Al Saleem, Kuwait. I left Kirkuk around 0100 on 09 March to Balad and arrived around 0215. The flight was very short, but we were all crammed in the C-17 and our pilot was pretending he was flying a F-16 I think. We pulled a G or two and we all struggled to hold on to the seat webbing as we slid from side to side. My buddy Austen and I laughed a few times about it, but were relieved when we touched ground.
Balad is huge, that's all I have to say about it. I thought FOB Warrior was big, but Balad is gigantic. I have no idea how we, the U.S., will responsibly drawn down this hub. There are more concrete barriers, scud bunkers, buildings, vehicles, and CHUs than I thought possible. Once we arrived in Balad, Austen and I got some temporary lodging and caught a few winks before we reported in for our next leg to Ali. We ended up watching Season One of Frisky Dingo and we're interrupted quite a few times by some movie with Camron Diaz on AFN that lasted at least three hours. Randy got me into Frisky Dingo, which is a funny show on Adult Swim. I can't stop laughing when I watch it. Anyway, MAJ Hartley and MAJ April caught up with us and we shared a few laughs about a fellow Captain in the Brigade, before we boarded the bird.
Ali is as I left it, barren, hot, and dry. It's only March and soon Kuwait will be swealtering hot. Kirkuk will catch-up soon; the summer, Middle East heat will be upon us all. I'm not looking forward to the 120s. Austen and I did have some Arabian McDonalds and enjoyed a Camel Burger and fries before we hit the sack. I can say that after not eating fast food at all for the last five months, it did not sit well with me. Austen and I felt pretty guilty, but we justified the whole indulgence as a vacation to do.
It's showtime! Time to go to lockdown, customs, and fly out.
