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!