Year in Review

I know I'm a few days early on this, but Heck... I'm snowed in in New Hampshire, what else am I gonna do!? So here it is: 2010 in list form....

New Jobs: 3
States lived in: 5 total (if you include 3 weeks in Florida for Ranger School)
States visited together: 9
Life goals attained: 2 (very big ones- RANGER Tab & Engagement- CHECK!)
Number of trips to see each other: 15
Total days spent together: 86 (yes, I really counted)
Average length of visit: 5.7 days
Total days spent in Ranger School: 103 (and a half)
Total Number of flights taken (to here, there, and everywhere): 76
Number of hours on hold because of canceled flights: infinity
Real number of canceled/severely delayed flights: at least 7
New Favorite Shows: 1- Archer
Favorite Archer Quotes: Every Single Line! This is how you get ants.
New Cars: 0
New ipods: 1 (almost 2)
New apartments: 1
New Family Members: 3 (Julia, Cate & Ava)

I'm sure we have had a lot of other exciting things happen this year, but all I keep thinking about when I look back on 2010 are two of the most important days of our lives: 27 August and 22 October. Pinning Andrew's Ranger Tab on his left shoulder was one of the proudest moments of my life; and--admittedly--placing the ring on my left hand was one of the proudest of his.

New Englanders and Snow Storms

You'd think they had never met before.

The way people are acting this weekend blows my mind. And it happens EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. I don't understand it. This is New England, people! We're supposed to get lots and lots of snow every year! So WHY is this impending storm the only thing they talk about on the news? Not quite sure.

I'm sure you could have guessed that if there is a snow storm within a 1000 mile radius of me, I'll probably have flight troubles. And you would be correct. US Airways called me last night at 8 to cancel my flight for tonight. I'm surprisingly okay with this. I only got here yesterday and I'm kind of looking forward to an extra night at home. The only part that kind of stinks is the fact that I have to wait on the phone forever to get this whole situation fixed. Currently I've been on hold for 83 minutes. And I'm on the house phone so I can't even go out and run errands while I'm waiting.

The Rogers' and Glennons are coming over this afternoon to watch the Patriots game and to have our gift exchange (a Yankee Red Sox swap!) so I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone (and maybe showing off my ring!) and just having a relaxing evening without having to worry about catching my flight. Plus this way I get the day off work tomorrow! The only down side is that I'm missing out on another day with Andrew, but at least we'll have New Years and the week before he deploys.

Other than the snow (which is hardly news) not much else is new. We had a fabulous Christmas- actually several fabulous Christmases! It all started last Sunday at Andrew's parents house and has continued non-stop until yesterday and today! I love this time of year, but after traveling on Christmas Day, I decided that I probably won't ever do that again. It kind of puts a damper on the whole day when you have to wake up at 4:40 am and only have 6 hours of travel to look forward to before you see anyone you know. Plus everyone in the airport is either going somewhere warm for vacation or in a terrible mood because they are traveling on Christmas Day. And with the snow storm threatening, everyone was even more stressed than I think they normally would have been.

And with that (and after my 96th minute of being on hold) I will return to my bed and cuddle up with my brand new Kindle (yay) while I continue to wait..... I'm sure the end of this adventure will be a doozey.

I've got a Sneaky Soldier on my Hands. . .

So after all of my venting and complaining (mind you- the work complaining was definitely warranted) you'll never guess who walked into the office Friday morning at 11:30am?! ANDREW JAMES DOLAN in full multicam uniform! I can't even tell you how excited I was (even though I had a small idea that maybe he was being sneaky- and the fact that his mom hardly said a word to me coupled with Weiss being super awkward made me think maybe something was up). But I never, ever thought that in reality he would actually get here in time :) It was such a great Christmas gift! I am such a lucky girl!

Andrew said he left Kentucky right after work on Thursday (around 6) and drove until Pennsylvania and decided to stop at a truck stop around 3am to sleep until 9 and then make the rest of the drive. Now THAT is devotion! AHHHHH I'm still grinning just thinking about it!

We had a great time at the DDMP party- lots of laughing and drinking and AMAZING food! I am so happy I got to share it with him.... it was the perfect start to the holiday season!

P-L-A-N

... they say it's the only 4-letter word the Military doesn't use. 

Sure for tactical battles and whatnot, they have millions and billions of dollars invested to make sure everything turns out just right. But when it comes to the lives of their soldiers and their families... FORGET IT! 

I often upset at myself for taking something that the Army tells me as "fact", knowing full well that there is pretty much a 100% chance that they will change everything on me and leave me disappointed yet again. Christmas leave 2010 is no exception.

Even though this one is mainly my fault for getting my hopes up that Andrew would be home in time for the DDMP Christmas party tomorrow night, it's still a major blow. I hate that I let myself get excited about the idea of having him home, but guess what? It's human nature- I can't help it!

To top of my awful-rotten-no-good-terrible day my boss dropped a HUGE project on me this morning that she's known about for MONTHS and all of a sudden needs it done by the end of the day today. Do you think she had the courtesy to mention this to me even a week ago? NOPE! I had no idea that this was even on the horizon. Or that it was even my responsibility. Oh and the best part, it's not even work-related! She has me making DVD slide shows, photo mugs and picture albums with all sorts of inspirational quotes for her FAMILY for Christmas gifts. Are you serious? Her email (because she is obviously out of town) said "I know this is a lot, but I just don't have time to do it in time for Christmas. You'll have to have everything ordered by the end of the day today so it will get here in time for me to wrap it." REEEEALLLLY meaningful gift to have your employee making photo albums as if they were from you. But heck with what she's paying me and how long they're taking me, they're turning out to be pretty damn expensive little presents!

Okay, I can be done complaining now. I just needed a tiny break from pictures of somebody else's family taking fun trips that I didn't get to go on.  Hopefully something magically changes and Andrew actually gets to leave tonight or early tomorrow morning, but there I go again getting my hopes up. WHY do I continue to do that?

The Sweetest Place on Earth. . .

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, that would be Hershey, Pennsylvania! (hehe, get it?!) This weekend my parents drove down from New Hampshire so that we could all start on the wedding preparations! For the most part things went really well, and once I get the final "OKAY" From Dear olde Dad, I'll be ready to put a deposit on our dream wedding reception location-- the Hotel Hershey. 

I can't wait to welcome our out-of-town family and friends to Hershey in grande style! The Hotel will be the perfect place to celebrate our love and dance the night away with everyone who is important to us and helped us along in this journey called life so far! 

It was a fun weekend with my parents and Andrew and I even had a chance to get our engagement pictures taken! I've only seen a few of them so far, but I am absolutely in love with them! Shannon's good friend, Amy (another Amy--- they are seriously dominating my life lately; but I kinda like it!) agreed to do our photo shoot last minute (since that's the only way the Army lets us plan anything) and they really came out great. The last location was a field near the State Game Lands and I was only in a short sleeved shirt, so I was freezing cold, but she did an amazing job capturing us and the goofy goons that we are!

So on to more wedding planning for me. I am starting to have an image in my mind of how everything will be, and let me tell you, I AM LOVING WHAT I SEE! This long engagement is turing out to be a blessing in disguise because I don't have to stress about time lines or anything yet. Once I book the Church (still up in the air) and the Hotel I really don't have to start doing anything for nearly a year; but knowing me, I'll definitely want to start diving into this right as soon as the deployment starts!

The one and only hang up we are having is the notion of the Saber Arch. I think it is the most romantic part of a military wedding, and I drool over the pictures we could get from it! (here is a sneak peek I found on Google):

Unfortunately, my groom is not too keen on this idea, but lucky me; I've got 20+ months to convince him otherwise! Plus we have a picture of my grandparents walking out of their wedding in the middle of The Second World War underneath a sword/saber arch (not sure which they call it in German). It's a beautiful tradition and gosh, the pictures would be to die for!

My Very First Dolan Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving week is always hectic and full of stressors, and believe me, this year was no exception. I had agreed to go home to New Hampshire to begin some preliminary wedding discussions with my parents the weekend before the holiday, which left me little time to do all of the holiday prep that needed to be done. In the three days between the weekend and Turkey day I had quite a few things on my to-do list. To name a few:

1. Shop for ingredients and prepare 2 stuffings (My grandmother's recipe and a great way to begin integrating Dolan/Olsen traditions)
2. Pre-Bowl since I wouldn't be able to make it to bowling on Tuesday
3. Michael Buble Concert in Hershey on Tuesday night
4. Get my nails done (I know, it's not a must-do; but come on! I have to look good for the holidays AND plus Andrew was coming home
5. Help to get the house ready for Turkey Day/my parents' visit
6. Bears Game on Wednesday night
7. Pick up my Raaaaaaaanger from the airport

Not to mention, working Monday through Wednesday until at least 5! I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how I was going to make everything happen in such a short week, but then Andrew reminded me that I stay up late most nights anyways, so instead of relaxing, just cross things off the list one by one!
  

So I did! After work on Monday, I pre-bowled with Aunt Mary (and got a 149 on my first game, AWESOME!), then stopped at the grocery store before heading home. Andrew's mom gave me a $50 Giant Gift Card to buy everything I needed; and the grand total of my groceries was $48.60. Pretty perfect if you ask me! I came home to 3 of Andrew's cousins and his uncle and dad moving the huge sectional couch out of the basement! It was quite the project, but it's nice to have big strong men around to do those jobs that otherwise I would have been helping with!

I quickly ate dinner then began on the first stuffing-- My Grandmother's Sausage and Wild Rice Dressing. It sounds gross, but generally its a hit! I cooked for 3 1/2 hours on both stuffings and then Andrew's mom helped me clean the kitchen (which was a huge mess!) and then we opened a bottle of wine.... at 11:30 at night. Totally deserved that special treat! We talked for a long time about wedding plans and the upcoming deployment! I haven't been home in so many weekends and life has been going so fast lately, it was so nice to just sit down with her and just talk. I had really missed that. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I have been so blessed with my future in-laws. I don't know what I did to deserve them, but they are already like family to me.

It was late to bed on Monday night, but it was worth it for all the fun we had laughing and talking! On Tuesday we went to see Michael Buble in Hershey and it was seriously an amazing show. There were lots of couples so it left me really missing Andrew, but I knew I would see him the next night! Tuesday was another late night, by the time he played for almost 2 hours and we got home it was already close to midnight, but if you know anything about me, you know I can never go right to bed. 

Wednesday Andrew found out around 2 that he was able to switch flights and get into Harrisburg 4 hours earlier than we had planned! SCORE! Plus Sean and I decided to shut the office down an hour early, which gave me a lot of extra time to help get the house ready and get my nails done before the Hockey Game! So even though I thought I had a huge, daunting list ahead of me, I managed to get everything done! I'm pretty impressed with myself!
  

Thanksgiving day when off without a hitch! Everyone had a blast, the kids were excellently behaved (per usual) and the food was excellent! We had dinner around 1 with the Dolans, watched some football (Patriots kicked butt!) and then went over to Uncle Doug's around 6 to send some time with the Hummer's! It was such a great day! 

Tomorrow my parents are coming into town and we are all going over to the Hotel Hershey to look at it for a wedding venue! This means as of tomorrow we will have OFFICIALLY started the wedding planning process! I'm so excited!

Cheer, Cheer for Ole' Notre Dame!

Andrew and I just got back from a great weekend at Notre Dame! It was kind of a spur of the moment thing (well as much as it can be, with airlines and travel arrangements needing to be made) but it ended up being such a great weekend.

 

I am so thankful that I have been getting so much time to spend with Andrew before he deploys. I am pretty much dead broke at this point, but I keep telling Andrew, we can always make more money, but we can't always make up for the memories that we didn't make. 

Dierks Bentley (another country guy) has a great song called "Can't Live It Down" and my favorite line is: 

"There's times I've wasted money cause I know that I can always make more cash; but wasted time is something, man, when it's gone you can't get it back" 

So that is my motto for the moment. I'm just living it up and soaking it in as long as I can... and MAN oh man, am I enjoying life!

BUT that is all beside the point! Andrew and I had a great weekend in South Bend. I woke up at a ridiculous 4:45 AM to make my 6 AM flight in Harrisburg to get to Louisville by 10. Then we went to the gym, showered and drove the entire length of the state of Indiana to get up to South Bend by dinner time! The GPS said it was a 4.5 hour drive, but IT LIED! It's okay though, we had lots of fun on the trip! This is what we saw for most of the time:

  We got up to South Bend after a stop at the Cracker Barrel for lunch just in time to eat right across the street from campus with Uncle Dan and Matt. Then we went over to the first Basketball game of the season at the new Purcell Pavillion and watched the Irish absolutely STOMP on Georgia Southern. We headed to bed pretty early cause tailgating was to start early the next morning.
  
... and it did start early; for the boys :) Anne Michelle and I went over around noon after the guys had started around 7:30. I love tailgating with all of them! One of Sean's buddies from college lives in South Bend so they call him Townie. A few years ago he bough an old ambulance and that is now their official tailgating vehicle! It's pretty awesome! Unfortunately, Andrew, Matt and Uncle Dan went out to get some Keystone light and ended up with the most horrid beer in the world. It's called BEER light. On the box it asks "what time is it? BEER 30." It comes in a purple can and nobody (except Anne Michelle; cause she's a champ-- and later Townie because he is Townie) could finish a whole can. So we ended up selling half of the case to some Utah fans (gross) for ten bucks. Horrible deal for them! 

The game was FREEZING and it started raining just as we were wrapping up the tailgate and going into the stadium, but it was still all a part of the experience. Andrew and I sat up near the press boxes for the first half and then took Matt and Anne Michelle's seats three rows back from the 40 yard line. It was definitely an amazing experience, and the Irish were unstoppable. They beat Utah 28-3; their first win against a ranked opponent since 2005.

  

After the game, we went to grab takeout at Rocco's (a family tradition) and then had dinner at Matt and Anne Michelle's which was great. The plan was to continue the party and go out to the bars that night, but Matt was in Sweatpants and Andrew fell asleep on the couch so that was a no-go. (I still hate that term a little; I think it's one of those things from Ranger School that will always stick with me). Andrew and I drove home the next day and another great weekend was in the books.

Or so I thought. Instead of flying back home at 6:10, I decided to switch my flight, stay the night in Louisville and fly back the next day. Great decision! The Patriots kicked the Steeler's butts and we had a few beers and all had a grand olde time! Dierks Bentley really got the right; and I can't live it down... and I don't want to.

Louisville. . . . FINALLY

Well believe it or not I actually made it to Louisville this weekend! It was definitely not the route (or amount of time) I was intending to take, but nevertheless I got there in one piece and got to spend a delightful weekend with my fiancée! I was a little worried about how Andrew and I would find each other since he didn't have a phone, but our timing was perfect! Right as I was walking out of the terminal he was pulling up in his truck! I felt like I was in a movie-- honestly it was THAT perfect.


I ended up getting in two or three hours later than I was supposed to arrive so we just watched an episode or two of How I Met Your Mother intend of going out. This is a show I've loved for years but could never get Andrew into. Turns out his roommate had a few of the seasons on DVD so he's been getting curious about what he has been missing all these years! It was fun to laugh with him!


On Saturday he made Chocolate chip pancakes (my favorite) for breakfast and then we ran a million errands!! I love running errands together... Getting stuff done but not really feeling like we have anything to do! We also went to get massages on Saturday afternoon-- a gift I had promised him for his bday in June (in my defense he WAS in ranger school at the time) that we only mow had time to fit into our schedule! When we see each other there is hardly ever any down time... We just love to soak up all the time we have together and make as many memories as possible :)

We also picked out a bed frame for Andrew's new queen sized bed! That was exciting but going to the furniture store made me really wish the guys had something other than full sized mattress toppers with bean bags on them and a fitted sheet over top for a couch! I suppose it doesn't make much sense to buy a couch when they will just be leaving for a yeAr in less than two months. Wow; this deployment is really starting to sneak up on us! Yikes!

Let's see- other than that we had a really fun weekend! Saw a movie, ate at some great places and even caught up with an old buddy who went to college with us and is stationed at Knox for his BOLC class. It was great to see him again and great to see Weiss too after becoming pretty good friends with him this summer when Andrew was at Ranger School.

We all had a fun night at Buffalo Wild Wings and got a little tipsy but all in all it was a good night and an amazing weekend. Can't wait for our trip to South Bend next weekend! YAY!!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Louisville, KY

It almost doesn't even phase me at this point

Well it's happened again. Flight delayed. Ughhhhhh doesn't even begin to relay to you my frustrations.

So here I sit in HIA trying to figure out how in the world a simple flight to Cleveland could possibly be delayed for a horrifying THREE HOURS. You know, I knew my luck with flights lately was too good to be true. Something had to give, and unfortunately it looks like that "something" is Louisville, Kentucky. I am devastated, but thanks to the free wifi (score) here at the airport, at least I can vent about it.

I was so looking forward to this trip, it was more than just another weekend with my fiance. While Andrew was at Ranger School this summer I helped his roommate Weiss pick an apartment in Kentucky for the guys to call home for the next three(ish) years. I sent down dishes, utensils, decorations, even bean bag chairs and stuffed animals (at Andrew's mom's request.... We found an old beanie baby in storage and she thought maybe Weiss needed a friend). I did everything I could to make this place as much of a home for Andrew as I could before he even go there.

I have visions of the place and the city but I have no idea what to expect. I have been looking forward to seeing this apartment for four full months now and what do ya know.... Flight delays come rushing back into my live. Bah humbug.

The worst part is that Andrew lost his cell phone last weekend so I have no way to communicate any of these changes with him. Slightly stressful but I'm doing my best to keep my chin up. One thing I learned from my mom is to never get too worked up over travel. If it works out, great, you had an awesome trip, just as you planned! If When the poop hits the fan (which it almost always does), oh well, it's only temporary and you'll get a helluva story outta it!

So they just booked me on a flight to Newark and get into Louisville only an hour behind schedule. I sure do hope Andrew gets all of the facebook messages and emails I sent him with these new plans!

Yikes.

Pray about everything, right Luke Bryan!?




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Harrisburg Airport

As Promised, The Story of our Engagement

Andrew and I had been planning on a trip to Boston for almost a month now. My roommate from college, Amy, and her boyfriend are planning on running the Disney World Marathon in January and were hosting a fundraiser in Boston on October 22nd. We knew this might be one of the last times we got up to Boston before the deployment, so we were both really looking forward to the trip. A few weeks prior to the trip, Andrew had said that he wanted to take me out to a nice anniversary dinner (our three year anniversary was on the 19th) so he asked me to make reservations at a place I've always had my eye on, KO Prime.
  
We flew into Manchester (from Baltimore) on Friday morning and my dad picked us up at the airport. It was a VERY early morning flight so after he dropped us off at home I was ready for a nap and I think Andrew watched TV for a while. When we finally decided to get our acts together, we drove down to Boston (about a 50 minute drive) and parked at a T-station outside the city. We took the T to our friend Laura's apartment and left our overnight bags there before heading downtown for our dinner reservations. 
 
It was a brisk day, so we decided to get some coffee-- Dunkin' Donuts, our favorite) and walk around Boston Common for a while before we had to be at dinner. We were sitting on this bench:

overlooking the common and a fountain and we were talking about the future and the deployment and about the possibility of if we would ever get to live in Boston (if Andrew could get an ROTC gig at BU for a few years). 
  
Then Andrew said, "well you know, I was thinking, this is going to be a really long deployment and it's going to be tough on both of us" and I said I know, but I love him and he knows that and I'm not going anywhere. He said "I know, I was just thinking, maybe you need something to keep you busy." 
 
He got down on one knee and I immediately started crying and said "Oh my Gosh, are you SERIOUS!?!" and he said, "Yes, Kristina, will you marry me?!" I screamed and cried some more and hugged him and kissed him and said "YES, OF COURSE!" and "are you serious?" about a million times before holding out my left hand for him to place the ring on my finger. 

Finally, Andrew said "stop crying, girl" as he wiped away my tears, "it's too cold for tears!"

The ring was perfect, I told Andrew it is the exact ring I would have picked out for myself! He did such an amazing job- and it fit my finger perfectly (thanks mostly to Shannon being super sneaky!) I was so soaked up in the moment, it was unbelievable! 
  
Andrew said he saw some guy taking artsy pictures of that fountain and whenever he proposed he turned around and started taking pictures of us! He said he should have chased him down and asked him to email them to us, but we were too focused on each other! So instead of those pictures we had a random couple take this very first picture of us as an engaged couple. It's not great, and I look about 100 pounds heavier than I actually am, but I love it anyways because of how happy we look (and also how cold we were!) 

The next thing we did was call our Moms- because our dad's already knew (Andrew had sneakily asked my dad that morning- which meant the world to me!) and then we headed over to KO Prime. 

Within the first minute of sitting down the waitress complimented me on my ring and I said "thanks, he just proposed like 20 minutes ago!!!" so she went out of her way to make our evening SOOO special! Free champagne, appetizers, wine upgrade, the whole nine yards. On the dessert plate they wrote "congratulations" in chocolate and all the waiters and staff signed a card for us and gave us a $20 gift card! So nice of them! 

After dinner we went to see all the girls at Amy's fundraiser and we were the first ones there so I got to show her first (and asked her to be my MOH) and then waited with my hand in my pocket for another half hour for the rest of the girls to get there so that I could show them all together! Everyone was so excited and I was so thankful to be able to celebrate it with all of them! It was seriously a perfect night! 
  
Here are a few of my favorite shots from the rest of the night:

Showing all the girls at The Greatest Bar... LOVE their reaction!

Asking Ames to be my Maid of Honor!

Goin' to the Chapel. . .

And we're gonnnnnnnnaaaa get MARRIED!!!!!!


Andrew Proposed this weekend!!!! More details to come, but I had to put it out there for the whole world to know! I'm sooooooooooooo happy! And so very very in love!

Here is a little teaser:

YAYYYYYYYYYYYY :) :) :)

Ahhhhhhhhh RANNNNGER: Festivities Post Gradation

So obviously our day didn't end with the Pinning of Andrew's Ranger Tab. But Saturday when I wrote that, it's pretty much all I could concentrate on because it was just SO HUGE!

I'm gonna try to make this a swift as possible, please enjoy my storybook!

After the Graduation ended, we took lots and lots of family pictures (because this day NEEDED DOCUMENTED!)

Then we also had to document that my parents were also there:

Uncle AJ with all the kids. This was just too cute of a series to only put one of them in, plus Gavin's sneezing face is so cute!

Then we got Andrew with all the guys from his apartment complex

A quick stop for photos at the Ranger Memorial:

Dolan & McAdams- First Bearhawks to be Ranger Qualified to serve under MSG Carter at Stonehill ROTC: this is one of my favorites!

After the ceremony and the endless parade of pictures, we all went to lunch at country's then back to the hotel to kill some time before dinner. As a whole, our lives pretty much always revolve around food. I kinda love it. I had downloaded Surviving the Cut: Army Rangers so we all gathered around and watched it in the lobby. I love Sean's face, he looks horrified about what his brother had been put through

Then we went to dinner at Buckhead Steakhouse, which was amazing, but unfortunately I have no pictures of that 4 hour span of time. After dinner we came back to the hotel and opened presents! Shannon (et al) gave Andrew a Red Sox Shirt with the coolest wrapping job EVER!

My Parents gave Andrew a RANGER flask with Kentucky Bourbon and his parents gave him a Kindle and a few gag gifts (like a box of Total Cereal which was enough to send Andrew reeling when that was what he was given at Ranger School) For some reason I can't find a picture of this either, which is weird for me

Then it was my turn to shower my Ranger with gifts and love! First up were the binders I had made with every letter we had sent each other for the past 3 1/2 months. I absolutely love this picture and the way he is looking at me

Then the big gift: THE WATCH!

Engraved on the clasp with "Rangers Lead the Way!" the year and my initials.

So Friday was an amazing day! Saturday we went to the Infantry Museum with the whole family and then everyone hit the road for the 14 hour drive back to PA. This whole weekend still doesn't seem like reality... I guess I really am just living the dream.

Pinning My Ranger

Of all the days I have lived, I think yesterday might have been my absolute favorite day EVER! Jen and I woke up at the crack of dawn (okay, that's a lie, but it felt early since I couldn't sleep the night before due to shear excitement!) We left the apartment by 8 to drive over to Camp Rogers one last time and guarantee that we had a good parking spot. There was lots of traffic, but by the time we were parked and in line it was probably 8:45. We waited for a little while and then I got a call from Andrew's mom.

Standing in line and waiting
to take our seats at Graduation.
Victory Pond in the background

They were lost and couldn't find Victory Pond! I was freaking out and so nervous that they wouldn't be able to get there in time. And if they were late how in the world was I supposed to save seats for SIXTEEN PEOPLE?! I had no idea where they were or how to tell them to get to where we were, and Shannon's GPS wasn't working (which I should have told them would happen before we left). I was getting so nervous.
Twenty minutes later, they still weren't there yet and the line we were in was slowly making its way down the hill and into the bleachers for the graduation. Jen and I got great seats and tried to save as many as possible, but only managed saving 2 for Andrew's parents which was really the only thing that mattered to me at that point. 

About ten minutes before the ceremony started, the whole family arrived! It ended up working out perfectly because Mr. & Mrs. Dolan sat with us, Sean and his family sat together, Shannon, Victor, Lillia and Gavin sat together and my parents offered to sit with Jared and Alisia. Andrew's mom kept saying "Oh I hope they behave for your parents, I feel so bad" but honestly, they LOVED spending the time with the kids! Actually Jared reminds me a lot of my dad, so intellectual and bright. I would have loved to have heard what they were talking about! And to experience the graduation with Jared (especially) must have really been a treat for my parents. He is the oldest of the nieces and nephews and at 8 1/2 he can really grasp everything his uncle went through this summer. He must have loved every second of it.

The ceremony was without a doubt the COOLEST Military Graduation I have ever or will ever see. The first 45 minutes was called Rangers in Action -- a demonstration of everything the guys had done while at Ranger School. Totally blew my mind. Here is a sample of some of the cool things my boyfriend did:

Then we had a small break and they told family and friends to make their way down to the Rangers (now lined up in formation) to pin their tabs on. This was the moment I WE had been waiting for. The past 103 (and a half- if you ask Andrew) days flashed before my eyes and disappeared at the same time. It was one of those moments in life that just don't seem real, no matter how much you pinch yourself. Jen and I stayed together (and Andrew and Zack agreed to stay together in the front of formation) so that we could find the guys easily. Andrew's parents came down with our cameras and took pictures of the pinning process. 

As Andrew handed me the tab and safety pin, he said "okay, so I'd rather have you stab me than stab your toe-thumb" (a long running joke with us- my left thumb is heinously ugly, fat, short and wide. I don't get it cause the other one is normal, but according to Andrew, it's a toe thumb) "so be careful babe".

I didn't care about stabbing or being stabbed.  It didn't matter (even though, I will admit that I was pretty nervous at that point- for whatever reason). The only thing that mattered was that this moment was real and it was happening now! 

As I concentrated on getting that safety pin through all those layers of fabric and velcro (harder than you may think) the only thing I could think to say to him was:

 "No matter what babe, nobody can ever take this away from you. You've earned it! Congratulations Ranger"

27 Aug 2010
2LT Andrew Dolan becomes Ranger Qualified

They finally got their Uncle AJ back!

Today was the day that Jared, Alisia, Lillia, Gavin, Quinn and Austin had been looking forward to all summer (not to mention Mr. and Mrs. Dolan!)!! After months without their favorite youngest uncle (Victor and Sean are awesome uncles too!) and a 14 hour drive over two days, they would finally get to see Uncle AJ!!! I made a DVD slideshow of all the pictures I could find of Andrew on my computer for everyone to watch on the drive down and put American songs in the background (like "Proud to be an American- which Lillia and Alisia know EVERY word to- so precious)! The slide show was a hit and Andrew's mom even said she cried! Not my intention, but always nice to know people appreciate your work!

Jen and I picked up the guys from Camp Rodgers around 4:30 this afternoon and after a quick stop at the apartment Andrew and I were on our way to the Dolans' hotel (he was still riding shotgun at this point) for the big reunion. As I drove up the the SpringHill Suites in Columbus I saw all the kids lined up along the fence just waiting to see Andrew! I pulled into the closest spot I could find, put the truck in park and watched as six little munchkins came running at their hero. I couldn't help but cry. It was the most touching moment you could imagine. It almost meant more to me than my reunion with Andrew yesterday (I said almost, let's not get carried away here). I knew the kids had missed him all summer and I was there to talk to them if they had questions or just wanted to talk about Uncle AJ, but I know that I can never replace him. I am finding it so hard to put into words how much this moment meant to me. To see these six kids-- who I have come to love so much in the past few years-- run towards the man I love and want to eventually start a family with was just so moving. He couldn't have been happier in that moment at Gavin (the youngest at 2 1/2) offered to share his lollipop and proceed to shove it into Andrew's face! I just stood back and took it all in!

Mom was next to get a hug, followed by a handshake and a hug from a very proud Dad! Everyone was so happy to see Andrew again and I could tell that Mr. and Mrs. Dolan were so thrilled to have their WHOLE family together again.

We took pictures galore! And nobody complained one bit! My parents also made the trip down for the graduation and it was so great to see them as always! So the 16 of us piled into 4 vehicles and headed off to dinner at the Mellow Mushroom, a local (delicious) pizza place! We had a great meal, went back to hang out at the hotel with everyone for a while and then it was time to head back to the apartment to pick up Zack and Jen and bring the boys back to the barracks for the last time!

Tomorrow is going to be an early day, but so worth it. Andrew will officially become an Army Ranger! Today he told me that he wants me to be the one to pin his tab on. I had secretly hoped he would ask me, but it is extremely unorthodox to have a girlfriend do the pinning so I am beyond honored. I can't wait to see him tomorrow and be able to say that Ranger School is officially over!!

Probably the Only Surprise I will EVER Successfully Pull Off!

Well the day finally came for me to see Andrew after 3 1/2 LONG months apart of waiting 3 weeks for a single phone call and only writing letters back and forth! I was excited for today because I knew I would finally get to jump into Andrew's arms, Andrew was excited for today because it was one day closer to seeing me and the family and because it would be his first day out of Ranger School in over 100 days. 

This morning at 12:30 I drove with McAdam's girlfriend, Jen, to Camp Rogers at Fort Benning to pick up our guys! Andrew had no clue I was coming (Jen had suggested I hide in the back of Zack's truck so that Andrew would really have no clue I was there, but as we waited and waited (for almost 2 full hours) I got too excited that I couldn't hide from him! We waited and waited outside Camp Rogers basically forever but soon the guys started piling out and all the wives and girlfriends and families started waiting around the gate looking for their Ranger to come out. Some guys were wearing ACUs and others were in Civis so neither of us had any idea what to look for!

At one point Jen ran away from me because she thought she saw Zack, but it turned out that she RAN (in a full sprint) to the wrong guy! She came back and she was so sad and embarrassed, but then we continued looking for our guys together!  A few hours minutes later Jen said "Kristina, there's Andrew! There he is!" I couldn't find him so she pointed him out again! I scanned though the mass of Rangers coming my way and when I finally met his eyes and I let out an absolute shrill of excitement! Haha! I didn't plan on screaming but that's just how it went! I RAN as fast as I could into his arms (by the time I spotted him though, be was honestly only 5 feet from me).  He was overloaded with lots of gear but he didn't even have time to drop them before I was in his arms! I didn't see the look on his face when he first saw me, but Jen said he had the biggest smile on his face and was just shaking his head in disbelief! I wish I had seen it, but I have a perfect image of how he reacted and that is second best!

After the initial hugs and kisses were over we found Jen and McAdams again and loaded all of the guys' gear into the back of the truck and Jen drove us all back to the good olde IP (Independence Place- where Zack and Andrew live). I can't express how excited Andrew was to see a Tupperware container full of his mom's famous home-made chocolate chip cookies! I don't think we had even left base before every single cookie had been eaten! 


It was so nice to hold Andrew's hand and look into his eyes as we drove back to the apartment. Everything that I had been missing for the past 100+ days was sitting there right next to me and it was everything I had dreamed it would be. I kept whispering to him "I can't believe this is real!" It was so amazing, it was so weird that everything Ranger School had put us through was all behind us. I cried for about a nanosecond and then it was like the past 3 1/2 months just disappeared. Every single moment of feeling lonely and sad, every day spent without Andrew, every worry and every last tear was worth it all for that first hug. I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant seeing that smile on Andrew's face at the end of it. God,  I love that smile!

The rest of the 8(ish) hour pass was a blur. Andrew's first priorities were food and bathing! I put some laundry in while he showered and he told me after "do you know how nice it feels to shower without 60 other naked dudes around you?!" I guess it's the little things that you miss! It sure did make me giggle though! After a few phone calls to family and friends, and a jump from the landscaping company (the truck didn't take the 3 1/2 months of neglect so well) we went to Commandos and Ranger Joes to get all the Rangeriffic merchandise we could get our hands on! Commandos is my favorite, because they make every Ranger class feel special with the signage out in front of the store! We loaded up on so many t-shirts, sweatpants, shotglasses, sweatshirts, bumper stickers.... you name it, they had it! And we were all too happy to pay a small fortune for it. (Actually though, their prices were very reasonable, but it sounds better this way!)

Next up was dinner with Andrew's Ranger Buddy, Joe Shane, and his wife, Ashley, at Red Robin! They are such a cute and fun couple and she has the cutest southern accent that I am oh, so jealous of! We had lots of fun and the boys pigged out on burgers, all you can eat fries, and lots of milkshakes and Andrew's (secret) favorite, Strawberry Freckled Lemonade! After dinner we I drove back to the apartment (the guys can't drive while they are still in Ranger School so that only leaves yours truly to drive the Silver Bullet!!) where we watched Archer and played a loooooong overdue hand of Monopoly Deal!

Around 8:30 McAdams and Jen came over and it was time to take the guys back to the barracks. I got to drive again (yay me!) and then filled up the truck with gas so that that was one less thing that Andrew would have to do once he graduated. 

I can't wait to see him again tomorrow! Today was like a dream! I still can't believe this is all coming to an end! Today made everything so worth it. Now the goal is to make it through the next two days and I'll have my very own ARMY RANGER! It still doesn't seem real, but it's not stopping me from getting mighty excited!

Florida's a GO!

Yesterday was the day we were supposed to get our call from Andrew saying that he got his GO for Swamps and would be graduating this coming Friday! I was lucky enough to have a few friends who have had soldiers go through Ranger School before, so I knew that I probably shouldn't expect a call until dinner time. This made the day go by so slowly, but I wasn't stressed or worried at all during the afternoon when I hadn't heard from Andrew yet.

It was Sunday so Andrew's sister and her family were over for Sunday Night dinner after Church and his brother came over for a little while as well. I was calm until about 7:30 when dinner was over and I still hadn't heard a peep. I can't even tell you all of the crazy things that were going through my mind at that point. As everyone started to leave around nine, I was absolutely beside myself. I didn't want to admit to myself that I was thinking the WORST "recycle" but I was... and I couldn't shake that idea. I tried to keep positive and kept reminding myself that this is RANGER SCHOOL, nothing is a given and if they pissed the RIs off they could have taken away their phone privileges. I was dreading the idea of work this morning without having heard from Andrew.

Around 10 Mrs. Dolan and I decided to open a bottle of wine and play cards to get our minds off of it. She called her best friend Dottie and said we hadn't heard from Andrew yet and asked for prayers. We played a round of Skip-bo and I honestly don't even remember who won, but at 10:13 my phone started BLASTING (obviously I had it on the loudest possible setting) with an unknown number! I screamed and jumped up from the table! I was so excited! I put it on speaker and screamed "ANDREW?!?"

"Heeeeeey, Honey!" He sounded wonderful! I started absolutely bawling! I've never ever cried happy tears in my life, but I did, I just was sobbing as I asked "did you get your Go?!" even though the tone of his voice told me the answer before I even asked. I'll never forget how he answered: "Of course I did, girl!" More happy tears as his mom and I embraced!!

I honestly don't remember anything else about that conversation... except for the fact that it was the BEST phone call of my entire life... and that's saying something since it only lasted 3 minutes and 51 seconds!

This morning on my way to work, I saw this sign Andrew's mom left on the door! I can't remember the last time I was this happy!

I love that she signed it "Mom"!

Ranger School is really over! None of this seems real! So now I have lots of packing to get done, and I'm heading out of here tomorrow afternoon to surprise MY RANGER!!!!!!!!!!

The First of Many Posts Where I'll Vent About the Airlines, I'm Sure

If you know me, you know I probably have the worst luck ever when it comes to flying and airlines.

I'm a person who has been flying from a very early age routinely and I never had problems when I would fly with my family, so it must just be me. To date, of the past 8 flights I have taken (all within the past 4 months or so), EVERY SINGLE ONE has been delayed or canceled. That doesn't include the TWO 18+ inch snow storms that hit Baltimore this winter that both happened to fall on the same dates that I was supposed to see Andrew (the first at Christmas time, the second right before Valentines Day). This is not a joke, people! Its my life! It has gotten to the point where I build in time for the delay that I know is coming.

But this story doesn't involve a delay, just utter airline ridiculousness.

I booked my flight on Saturday night to go down to Atlanta early to surprise Andrew on his pass on Wednesday before Graduation. I had seen the tickets for $69 earlier that week, but obviously when I went to book they were $117 each way. On Sunday night I realized that I was flying in way too late so I called priceline and tried to change it. She said I could cancel and then re-book it free of charge, but she couldn't book it for me-- thanks lady, you were completely useless. So I canceled with her and then booked my earlier flight through US Air.

When I still hadn't gotten a confirmation email by this morning, I was a little worried. Also on a whim, I checked ticket prices and they went back down to $69! So I talked to Andrew's mom about it and she said I should call the airline and ask for a price adjustment. When I did there was no record of me on the flights! They had my voided tickets from my canceled flights, but I didn't show up anywhere else in the system! I told her I wanted to book it now and she said she would charge me $40 service charge to book it for me, so I should do it online.

As soon as I got back to work after my lunch break, I booked it at the lower rate (and received my confirmation email this time!)! I was so excited to save over $100, but seriously, I could have been flightless! Could you imagine what a nightmare that could have been?! Thankfully everything is sorted out for now!

On a separate note: Today marks exactly:

• 3 months since I have seen Andrew
• 1 month until my birthday
• (most importantly) 2 weeks until I fly down to Atlanta to surprise him! EEEKKKK! I can't wait!

Shhhhh. . . .

Surprises are fun!!

So all throughout Ranger School our plan has been that I would drive down to the Graduation with Andrew's parents, sister and her 4 kids (a 2 day trip from Central PA to Ft. Benning) and get to Benning on Thursday night just in time for Graduation the following morning.

Welp, little does Andrew know that plans are a-changing! I'm so excited! Andrew's sister-in-law talked me into (really, I didn't need much convincing, I guess I just hadn't thought out all the details) flying down a few days early and surprising Andrew on his 12 hour pass the Wednesday before he graduates! One of his buddy's (Zack) girlfriend is flying down early too (but Zack knows about) and we can both stay in his apartment (right across the hall from Andrew's) on Tuesday night before we go to Camp Rodgers on Wednesday morning and pick up the guys! I hope I can pull off the surprise, I am so excited! AND it means I get to see my man a full TWO days earlier than I had originally thought! I can't wait!

Good-bye Dahlonega, Georgia... FOREVER!

Wow, I have been seriously slacking on my blogging. Not that anyone is reading, but maybe one day I will make this all public. Who knows.

So after 3 weeks of the Mountains phase, 3 weeks of recycle at Camp Frank Merrill, and another 3 weeks to re-do mountains phase, I am happy to report that NEVER again in my life will I address another letter to Dahlonega, Georgia! What a relief! Andrew had his 4 hour pass yesterday and called to give us the good news that he is moving onto the FINAL phase: Swamps.

Friday was a terribly stressful day. I keep telling people I'll be lucky to get through Ranger School without a heart attack or ulcer or something. Sitting at work just staring at my phone waiting for it to ring is not exactly the most relaxing way to pass the time. I hate how Ranger School works on pass days: If the guys get their GO and move onto the next phase they call home on that Friday to tell their families, but if they don't get their GO and have to recycle they don't get to call until the following day. I had no idea when to expect his call, but you better believe that my phone didn't leave my side. And as any military wife/girlfriend knows, you bet your butt it came with me to the bathroom... that is just a way of life now!

The morning and early afternoon went by with no word. I was talking to another girlfriend waiting for her Ranger to call too and she hadn't heard anything either which I was looking at as a good sign. Finally at 4:45 my phone rang with "unknown caller" and a 706 number on the caller ID! Thank God everyone had already left the office because I squealed and shrieked so loudly before I picked up! I jumped up from my desk and said "HONEY! HIIIIIIIIIII!" Andrew's giggle on the other end warmed my heart. I miss his laugh, his smile, his smell-- everything about him-- and that giggle just reminded me that he is still the Andrew I know and love. I started blabbing out everything I could think of and he said "Honey, slow down... I only have like 5 minutes". I was so sad, so we just covered the important things, mainly business but we squeezed in about a thousand "I love yous" before we finally had to hang up. Some highlights:

• Andrew got his GO for Mountains on the first night of the phase, but the RI's (Ranger Instructors) didn't tell them if they were a GO or no-GO until the last night of the phase. He was pretty confident that he was a GO though because one of the RIs told him that he "set the standard"! Seriously, I couldn't be more proud of my man!
• He said its a weird feeling to leave the mountains after nine weeks. He hated it there, but he was comfortable, so he almost didn't want to leave.
• The guys really looked up to him as a leader since he had done the phase before. Even when he wasn't in an assigned leadership position, he noticed that guys would mimic what he was doing.
• He told me "Its a weird feeling. For the past five or six years all I could think about or talk about was Ranger School and now I'm two weeks away from being completely done with it. There has been so much build up, I just can't believe it's finally happening!"

That's pretty much it. It was hard to say goodbye, because I wasn't prepared for such a short call, but it was so totally completely 100% worth it to talk to Andrew again. I forgot all of the things that I had wanted to tell him, but it didn't matter, I got to hear his voice (however tired he may have sounded- it was still him!) and hear "I love you" for the first time in three weeks.

Now we have less than three weeks to go until Ranger School Graduation! The plans are being made and everything is falling into place! I can't wait to wrap my arms around my ARMY RANGER!

Letters From Home

Since the night going into Ranger School, I have been writing to Andrew daily. In the beginning, he told me not to send more than one or two letters per phase, but I still felt the need to put down into words what I was feeling/doing each night. So I would write bullet points (lovingly referred to as my Twitter Updates now) each night before I went to bed and sent a week's worth in one envelope. I decided to make copies of every letter I sent so that if they got destroyed, Andrew and I would always have them to look back on. 

As Mountains started for the first time, Andrew requested more letters, so I started writing every other day and sending them whenever I wrote them. I am so glad I have been making copies of them, it is so neat to look back on my journey while the love of my life is off achieving his dreams.

Today I went to Staples and got some binders and plastic sheets to put all of my copied letters in. Along with the daily pages that Andrew writes about Ranger School and sends home, I think it looks pretty cool!

UPDATE:

Tonight (August 10th) I went over to Aunt Loris and made Andrew's "Book" as he calls it look a little more presentable! Hope he likes it!

Inside

Front Cover

Aunt Lori and Aunt Mary helped me so much! I can't wait to give it to my Ranger, hopefully in only a few more weeks! I LOVE CRAFTS!