Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 11

The day I have been dreaming of for almost six months is finally here (or, um, will be tomorrow)! Red Sox Opening Day! There are no more glorious words to hear in my world as a sports fan. A new beginning. A new(ish) team. New ways to reach the ever-present goal. It is a beautiful, beautiful time of year! All I have to do is make it through the next 17 hours, and then baseball season will officially be in full swing. Yeah, pun intended... I'm that excited right now.

I'll be honest, I've been planning this post in my head for several weeks now (tomorrow is one of those "benchmark" days that feels especially good when I get to cross it off the calendar) and I had been thinking that I would write about the beautiful springtime weather and how it ushers in a whole new season of America's most beloved sport. Well, Mother Nature has different plans for me, as we are expecting a wintery mix tonight and Boston is expecting a full 6 inches (good thing our Home Opener isn't for another week). So even though I would love to write about all the cute sundresses and skirts I'll soon be wearing and how gorgeous the weather has been, I'll be wearing boots, pants, a sweater and a heavy coat and gloves to work tomorrow to ring in Opening Day. But honestly, nothing can get me down, a brand new season awaits! 162 games, I couldn't think of a better way to pass the time before Andrew comes home on Midtour Leave!

Speaking of my favorite soldier, I was so happy to hear that he received my latest care package yesterday-- in under two weeks! That's pretty much unheard of! It was loaded with everything a baseball fan needs for opening day... peanuts, cracker jacks, a Red Sox program that his parents bought when they went to a spring training game, lots of other goodies and whiffle balls! I also decorated the inside of the box so that  it would look like Fenway Park- complete with a replica Green Monster on one panel. I wish I had thought to take a picture, but you'll have to use your imagination on this one!

In other news, and keeping with the theme of positivity, I am happy to report that my brother, Mark, just landed his first full-time job! After graduating from college last May, he worked over the summer and then took the fall off to hunt and fish before diving head first into the real world. (I'm proud to say he took a page out of his big sister's book on this one- I did the same exact thing except I spent my time with Andrew before he started BOLC II training, not hunting). The most exciting part about it is that the job is in Washington, DC, only two hours away from me! I'm so excited to have him close by, and can't wait to start seeing a lot of him and his girlfriend this summer! Here is one of my favorite pictures of us as kids, goofing off after dinner one night:

At only 18 months apart (almost to the day) and with me being small for my age, we were often mistaken for twins!  Here we are practicing some crazy funky dance moves! I'm pretty sure the whole family was in a goofy mood this night and if I remember correctly we were listening to the Beatles... on Vinyls! Something we liked to do every once in a while. You can be assured that my dad was at the sink working on the dishes and my mom was taking a break from clearing the table as she snapped this gem.  

So all-in-all it feels great to cross another week off of this deployment list, and the start of baseball season is sure to make time start flying! I really can't believe this day is finally here! And even though the Red Sox don't start until tomorrow, some teams had their Opening Day today, which means Baseball Highlights were all over the TVs at the gym. I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear when I saw that! This is the best time of the year!

GO BOSOX!!!

Quick Update from A-stan

Andrew's weekend activities consisted of work (no 5 day work weeks on deployment), emailing with me, and oh yeah, running a half marathon. At 7100 feet elevation. On the gravel trails at the FOB. Incredible! I was thrilled with myself when I ran my best ever mile for time last week and then he turns around and runs 13.1 without batting an eye! Pretty darn amazing!

Andrew ran it with 130 other soldiers (both American and Polish) and finished in just about 2 hours. Not to worry though, they stayed inside the wire... they weren't running around Afghan-land unprotected and without body armor or guns! Just all around the gravel "roads" of the FOB. According to Andrew, you get used to the elevation after a while, the worst part was running on that gravel.

So there he is (second from the left if you can't tell) right before the race! A little bit different than the start of the Boston Marathon almost 2 years ago. It really is a whole different world over there... 

Anyways, thought I would share this picture with you all so you can all get a better concept of what it looks like over there. The Striker is in the way, but hopefully you get the general idea!

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 10

YEUPPPP! Week 10! I can't believe we are to double digits! And if everything goes according to plan (which it won't, because we're dealing with the Army here) that also means that as of last Tuesday (day 65) we have less than 300 days left of this beast. Still a long road a head of us, but we're slowly but surely making our way through this.

I've been pretty under the weather this week, so last night instead of going to the gym I stayed home to unpack from my weekend in Boston (those who know me know that this, along with packing, is hands-down my least favorite thing to do; in fact, when I was traveling to Louisville every weekend this past fall and winter I never actually unpacked completely, I just took my dirty clothes out and replaced them with new outfits). While I was putting everything away, I came across our Ranger School books (read about them here) that I made of all the letters we wrote back and forth this summer during Andrew's time at "the bad place", as he and his buddies call it.

I couldn't see it at the time, but Ranger School (and all the stress that came with it) was totally, one hundred and fifty million percent worth it. Part of me misses running to the mailbox every day to see if there was a letter waiting for me, and believe me, I would have never guessed that I would have said that seven months ago. I can't describe the feeling I had when I saw surprised Andrew after over three and a half months apart, and I won't even try to say how much it meant to me to pin his Ranger Tab on his left shoulder two days later at graduation. All the pain from the summer disappeared into thin air the moment I was in his arms again, and it's really nice to know that I have that feeling to look forward to again this fall... only we will have been apart three times as long, so it is going to be three times as sweet!

Reading through all of those letters (yes, I really read them all; it took several hours) made me so thankful that we have that period of our lives documented forever. All the emotions, the stories, and day-to-day happenings are all there for us to re-live whenever we want. We aren't the type of couple that writes ten page long mooshy-gooshy love letters pouring our hearts out, which makes the sweet little "I love you, girl" lines mean that much more. We planned out what we were going to do on leave, different trips we could take, what life was like. The summer of 2010 seemed to drag on forever, but knowing there was a letter coming soon, or a call (even if it was just for 5 minutes every three weeks) was due soon, was something to look forward to and helped to pass the time.

I still get emotional when I think about that summer. It's not easy waking up every day knowing that the one person you love most in the whole world is going through absolute hell, barely ingesting enough calories in a whole day to sustain an average adult for 4 days, not to mention the physical aspect. I read somewhere that it takes the body three full years to recover from the damage that is done during Ranger School. But it didn't matter, this was Andrew's dream, so it was my dream too. Forget about the physical and mental torture and shear exhaustion, Andrew's letters were usually upbeat and positive. I loved when he wrote about blueberry pancakes or sneaking off into the woods to find patches of blackberries, or silly stories of "Sleepy Rangers", like the one who he found giving a safety brief to a group of bushes and trees. It was the little things that made him happy, and they always made me smile. My favorite was always when he fell asleep in the middle of a sentence, which often happened a few times in a row before he would finally start over on a new page.  I love that we have stories and feelings written down that we probably would have never remembered otherwise.

So basically what I'm trying to say in this rather long-winded post is that even though Ranger School wasn't exactly ideal while it was happening, I'm thankful for it. It was so worth it in the end, and so many amazing things came from it that we could have never foreseen. Not only do we have these amazing letters to look back on, but we also were engaged almost exactly two months after Andrew graduated. Even though we were apart, Ranger School really brought us together in ways I could have never imagined, and I really enjoyed looking back on that last night. I can't even imagine reading through all of our emails, letters and cards in the years to come that I'm putting together in our Deployment Communication Binder. A whole year apart is a long time, but I can't wait until the days ahead that we get to look back on this time.

Graduation Day
27 August 2010

"Mid"tour Leave

After an amazing weekend in Boston and New Hampshire, it is time to re-focus and get back to reality for a while. My next big trip will be to Orlando for work in just about two months, and while it is always good to have something to look forward to, it's not really the same as looking forward to being with my soldier once again.

The Army is kind enough to give their soldiers a brief 2 week reprieve from 24 hour-a-day 7-days-a-week work about halfway through a deployment, often called Midtour Leave, or R&R. We have been planning all the amazingly fun summertime activities we'll do over Midtour since before Andrew even left... until he got his tentative dates for leave a few weeks ago. Unfortunately our dreams of basking in the summer sun and catching a game at Fenway Park will have to be put on hold until Summer 2012. Andrew will be getting his leave on the last possible date for his entire unit. I can't tell you the date, because of OPSEC, but I can tell you that by the time he is home again in my arms, we will know who the 2011 World Series Champions are.

A whole baseball season lies ahead of us. Actually, an entire pregnancy (NOT MINE!) is still in front of us. Someone we know just announced that she is pregnant and she is due before Andrew is due to be home. That was a tough pill to swallow, that she will have her baby in her arms before Andrew will be in mine, but I am still excited for their family.

After the initial shock of what lies ahead of us wore off, I realized this isn't all bad. Once Andrew comes home and goes back over to Afghanistan, we will have the vast majority of this deployment behind us forever. It'll be an amazing feeling to countdown from the end of leave to actual, real, beautiful homecoming in weeks instead of months!

So the summer will be tough to get through without him, but so was last summer with Ranger School, but I know it'll all be worth it when I go running into Andrew's arms in the airport one cold fall day! And as we round out day 65 (is that really all?) of deployment, I find solace in the fact that I have one of these waiting for me in a little over half a year:

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 9

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!!

Today I am happy to be celebrating one of my favorite holidays in the most Irish City in the country! 

I love Boston. I love everything Irish, and I can't wait to have that strong Irish name in about 16 more months! 

Today also makes me smile because of one of my favorite memories from my Senior Year at Stonehill. St. Patty's fell on the first nice day of Spring so pretty much everyone was outside enjoying the amazing weather! There was a bagpiper coming by in a kilt, everyone wore green, and I ate a clover plant to prove a point. And you know, what? I'm pretty sure it was excellent luck! 

So raise your glasses, have an Irish Car Bomb (the nastiest drink ever invented: Guinness with a shot of Baileys and Jameson dropped into it) in honor of my favorite soldier and his buddies, and may the Luck of the Irish be upon you today!

When Irish Eyes are smiling you can hear the angels sing

Two Months in the Books!

I can't believe we have made it to another HUGE milestone! Today marks exactly 2 months (or 59 days; but who's counting) since Andrew left Fort Knox for Afghanistan. Two months ago I couldn't even imagine that springtime would ever come, but today I walked out the front door sans-coat! No jacket, no coat, just my pants and a light cardigan! I couldn't have been happier.

It's pretty appropriate that today is also the day that Andrew got back from going out on his first patrol! I haven't gotten to talk to him much about it yet (actually at all; I just know he got back to the FOB safely this morning around 4am my time) but he was so excited to go. I can't wait to hear all about it tonight!

Today is also the birthday of two very important men in my life. My younger brother is turning 23 (yikes, maybe I should have left out the "younger" part- that makes me sound old). Since my dad's name and my brother's name are both Mark, we always called him "little Mark" and sometimes he still gets that, which is confusing since both Marks stand 6'4". The other birthday is Gavin's and he turns 3 today! I still remember Andrew's mom calling my cell phone in Italy to tell me that Gavin was born. I think it was the first time I had ever talked to her on the phone (and I hadn't met her yet) but it was such a happy conversation. Andrew's cell phone was on thr fritz (or maybe he had forgotten it in Italy and I was shipping it back to him- funny how time makes you forget little details like that) so Mom called to make sure I knew!

Today is a great day because I get to see BOTH of the birthday boys and it is the start to my long weekend! I'm flying home tonight to get some doctors appointments checked off my list, as well as spend St. Patty's Day with the only bunch that know how to do it right- the Bostonians! You better believe I'll have a drink or two in honor of my favorite soldier missing his favortie Boston Holiday! As I'm writing this, I just am realizing that we have only spent one St. Patrick's Day together- because of army commitments and me being in Italy that first year. That just won't do. Prepare for a big party next year, folks!

Oh, Hosea!

If you know a little something about Mom Dolan or me, you know that when Andrew is gone (mainly Ranger School) or deployed we wear our prayer box necklaces. I have not taken mine off since the day he left, and I don't plan on it until he is finally in my arms again. It is basically a small box (about the size of a centimeter cube) that has a top that can actually open and close and you can put a prayer inside. Shannon's kids love to sit on my lap and say prayers for Uncle AJ, and they always touch my heart. Just today, Gavin said this prayer: "Dear Father, thank you for us going to church and having pizza for dinner. God love my family and Uncle AJ when he is in Afghanistan. Amen." Pretty amazing for a not-yet-three-year-old!

My prayer box (sorry for the blurry cell phone pic!) You can't really tell but mine has an american flag drawn on the front. I have noticed that whenever I am stressed or nervous or really contemplating a decision, I will fiddle with the latch and open and close the lid over and over, partly a nervous habit, but partially because I find it helps bring me peace of mind to be prayerful about whatever is happening.

On Thursday night (well, actually the wee hours in the morning on Friday) I finished Redeeming Love, a book Mom had given me to read two months ago. It took me a little while to get into it, but once I got going, I could not put it down. She gave it to me because it was the book that introduced her to the prayer box. It is a beautiful story, set in California in the 1850s, about a man, Michael Hosea, who sees a harlot on the street, Angel, and is spoken to by God that he is destined to love and marry this "soiled dove" and help her to find truth in Faith. It is clear that the author is re-telling the story of the Book of Hosea from the Old Testament. I highly recommend this book (mainly to women), it is unlike anything I have ever read before, but I honestly couldn't get enough of it. Even though I finished it several days ago, I still can't get Angel and Michael's story of faith, hope, and love out of my mind.

This was a perfect time for me to be reading (and finishing) this book, as I continue on in my own faith journey. I am currently in the RCIA (Rite of Catholic Initiation for Adults) process, though our parish church at St. Peter. Each Thursday Mom and I go to a two hour class with other candidates and their sponsors to learn, discuss and reflect on the teachings and beliefs of the Catholic faith. Today was my biggest step in the process so far, as my whole class was recognized by our parish and Father Dave and sent to be approved by Bishop McFadden to go forth with the final stage before our confirmation into Catholicism. It was a very moving day, with Mass this morning to celebrate the Rite of Sending at St. Peter and then the Rite of Election at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Harrisburg. It truly stuck me when we were at the Cathedral today, just how many people are on this journey with me, and all for various reasons. In the Diocese of Harrisburg, between 550 and 600 individuals go through the RCIA process and convert to Catholicism each year.

At this morning's mass, we sang a song called Come Back to Me from the Book of Hosea. As soon as I saw the title of the song (listed in the songbook as "Hosea (Come Back to Me)") I got chills. Before reading Redeeming Love, I don't think that I had ever heard of Hosea, and I definitely didn't know that Hosea was a Book in the Bible, and now here he was in my songbook this special day in my journey! The words of this song spoke to me on a multitude of different levels. The refrain is as follows:

Long have I waited for 

Your coming home to me

And living deeply our new life

Although definitely not the intent of this song, my first thought was of Andrew, and how I long for the day he comes home to me and we can begin to build our new life together. However, upon further reflection, and after singing some of the verses, I also began to understand why we were singing such a song in church, especially on this day. Hosea (both in the Bible, and Redeeming Love) loved his wife without fail, no matter what she did to betray him, just as God loves His children unconditionally, even when they do not obey or follow Him.

My experience with Redeeming Love really came full circle today. There could not have been a better time for me to read that book, and having everything click, just made it that much better and more enjoyable. Although I was baptized and brought up Christian, I  was not raised going to church every week and I was never strong in my beliefs or my faith. I am slowly beginning to fill the void that I didn't know existed in my life and in my heart. It will be a long time before I forget the power of this day and the blessings it brought me.

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 8

Week 8?!? Really? For a second I thought I was counting wrong (which wouldn't be a huge surprise, to be honest) but wow, this coming Sunday really does mark 8 weeks since Andrew left! I never thought I'd say this, but time really isn't dragging as much as I thought it would! I love going to write my Thursday entries each week to see how far we have come! I can hardly wait for double digits! WOAH!

Okay, stream of consciousness over, I promise. Just had to include that little sidebar. Focus Kristina! I guess I'm just caught up in all the positiveness (possibly not a real word) going on this week! I work best with lists, so here we go:

• No more cuddling with the Muzzleloader! Last Friday, Mom and Dad Dolan got home from their two week trip to Florida. While they were soaking up the rays and living it up in the warm sunshine, their son was worried about his one and only back home (alone) with a non-functioning garage door (E-town Dolans know what I'm talking about here) and workers always in and out of the house. I felt safe at all times, but Andrew was sure to tell me exactly where the muzzleloader (aka big huge gun) was and that I should be sleeping with it in bed while they were away. At first I thought it was silly, but I did it anyways (obviously not loaded) and by the end of the two weeks, kind of actually felt comfort in having it by my side at all times.

• 50 Days came and went. Last Monday officially marked the passing of 50 days and nights since I have hug, kissed, laughed with and held my soldier. I keep reminding myself that each of these small milestones add up to one big huge gigantic party called homecoming!

• Two Months is also fast approaching! Next Wednesday to be exact! Just another benchmark to check off!

• Surprises have a tendency to drive me absolutely bonkers, but Andrew's parents came to dinner after bowling on Tuesday and told me there was a surprise waiting for me at home! My initial thought was "Andrew's Home!!!", but I knew they could never keep a secret that big, or leave him home when most of his extended family was out to eat! It was driving me nuts all night, but when I came home, I was so excited to see a tv hooked up in my bedroom! I hadn't even asked for it! I was so excited, and to make it even more perfect, the show that just happened to be on when we turned it on for the first time: FRIENDS! 

• My First Care Package came! Yep, folks! You heard me right! It came, meaning Andrew sent it from Afghanistan to me! I knew it was coming, and I knew what would be inside (lots of DVDs he can get for a pretty cheap price over there) but seeing this box, beautifully wrapped in more Priority Mail tape than I ever knew existed, waiting for me on the dining room table when I came home yesterday absolutely made my day! Plus there was a little extra something in there that I didn't know about: aNOTHER Valentines' Day present! I am such a lucky girl! He sent me a blue stone native to Afghanistan, called the Lapis Lazuli in a heart shaped pendant! It is beautiful and I love that he picked it out just for me! That boy sure does know how to make me smile!

• Once again: Dolans are amazing! Not just Andrew's immediate family, but his extended family as well. I am so excited to take the Dolan name and finally officially become a part of this incredible family. On Sunday, Andrew's Aunt Lori and Uncle Dave were having a dinner for their son, Ryan and his new fiancee, Brittany, who had just gotten engaged a week before. They are still in college, so it was nice to have them home for their spring break and talk with another bride-to-be about plans, thoughts and ideas (oh my!)! Aunt Lori cooked a whole turkey dinner that was to die for and when it was time for cake, they all started singing (to the tune of the happy birthday song) and every single Dolan sang "Happy Engagement to AJ, Kristina, Ryan and Brittany" during the third line. They brought the cake over and they had included our names on the cake as well. I was just excited for Ryan and Brittany to be celebrating this joyous time in their lives, I certainly did NOT expect anything like that, but it was a really nice surprise! Sometimes it is a little tough to be spending this engagement thousands of miles apart from each other and not get to celebrate the way most normal, civilian couples do, so it really meant a lot to me that our names were included on that cake. (I am fully aware that this is the timing I practically begged for and we as a couple decided would be best for us- and I wouldn't change the timing of this engagement for anything in the world- I just want to make it clear how thankful I am to be marrying into a family to recognizes our situation and embraces and welcomes me into their lives each and every single day) It was also hilarious that when I walked in on Sunday I noticed Ryan and I had matching shirts on (white and blue stripes), then I walked into the kitchen, and Brittany was wearing a matching shirt too! I felt bad at first, thinking I crashed their matching shirt party, but apparently they hadn't planned it either! Of course we had to take lots of pictures (and Mom even ran home to get mini-AJ) so that he could be there enjoying the cake too!

We all spent the rest of the night going over potential wedding venues for Ryan and Brittany, dates, colors, flowers, guest list, everything under the sun! It was a great night full of more laughter than imaginable and lots of happy celebrations!

Our New Toy!

A few weeks ago, Andrew saw a deal on this awesome camera that we had had our eye on for a while so he sent me off to the mystical and far-away land of Costco to get it (this is when the money transfer woes from Citizens bank started up again). I was so excited to pick it up because two of his relatives have the same cameras and they take beautiful pictures! It's Andrew's second big purchase for us and for our married life (the first, of course, being my beautiful Engagement ring) and I get so excited thinking of all the places we will take it and all of the fabulous pictures we will take along our journey together.

Welp, life has gotten away from me recently and the camera and all of its accessories sat in my room, in a box for close to a month. I didn't even open the box a single time until earlier this week, and even that was just to appease Andrew when he kept asking me to make sure all the parts he paid for were there. But this afternoon, I sat down with this baby, and boy oh boy is it a cool camera! I didn't have any cool subjects to take pictures of today, so I was just messing around with the settings and different functions with things I found around here (including my favorite-ever gift; the ring!) So here goes nothing, my first shot at "serious" (yeah, right) photography! Can't wait to see what other kind of memories this amazing camera will capture!

My rings, a spare Helmet Strap, my wish hear-shaped stone that Mom gave me during Ranger School (from the Eat, Pray, Love store) to keep under my pillow, and my miniature ACU pillow (that serves more as a cuddle buddy than actual head support while sleeping)

Pay no attention to the late-night post; I've got a soldier to talk to in Afghanistan, people! When I'm struggling to stay awake at the wee hour of 0100, he is already done with breakfast and well into his day at work 1030. Can't believe we almost have two full months of this deployment behind us. What a great feeling that will be! 

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 7

I'll be honest, this week was a tough one. I struggled for a long time trying to think of something positive to write about that didn't seem shallow or petty. This week the realities of deployment really hit, and the fact that Andrew is away at war really sunk in.

On Sunday, Andrew's unit suffered their first casualty. Part of Andrew's job as a liaison officer (for these first few months) is to assist with medevacs (medical evacuations) when those wounded and killed in action need to be airlifted to another facility with better medical facilities.

Sgt. Kristopher J. Gould was on his third tour of duty in the middle east and was only 25 years old. His official cause of death has been listed as wounds sustained from an insurgent attack using an IED. Andrew was one of the soldiers who escorted his body onto the plane which was taking him home. He was flown home for a memorial service at Fort Knox tomorrow, followed by a funeral in his hometown. Andrew did not know him personally. To learn more about this fallen hero, click here.

The shock of the first casualty of this deployment hadn't yet worn off yesterday morning when I learned of the tragedy in Germany. A unit of Airmen had just left from their base in England earlier that day for their year-long deployment to Afghanistan. They were at their first stop at Frankfurt Airport in Germany when a gunman boarded the bus they were on and shot the driver and several airmen, wounding many and killing two. As the information came out yesterday, all I could think about were the families of those men on that bus. They had just seen their loved ones that morning, I couldn't shake that from my mind. All I kept thinking back on was Day 1 of this deployment (for me) and what a wreck I was. The emotions of that "see ya later" were overwhelming, but I kept finding solace in the fact that Andrew would be safe for the next week or so, as he was just in transit. Those poor wives and families. I truly cannot imagine the pain and anguish they must have gone through yesterday, adding to the already emotional morning they had.

In news reports (and from some friends who I know were affected personally by this) I have heard that those who were on the bus set to deploy will be returning to their base in England to their families while the investigation is on-going. So there is a small light of happiness!

Please pray for the families of Sgt. Gould and those killed and wounded in Germany yesterday.

I know this is really not what anybody was expecting to read on "Positive Thursday", but after deliberating all day about what to post, I decided that we are at war. And these are, sadly, the realities of war. There is not sugar-coating or glossing over the unpleasantries. This is certainly the worst part of Military life.

But I am thankful for people like Sgt. Gould and all of our soldiers serving overseas or waiting for their chance to deploy. The sacrifices they are willing to make keep us safe. Because of these men and women who volunteer to do this, we aren't fighting this war on our own streets, or constantly living in fear of the next 9/11.

While I really don't want to dwell on this, the reality is that we are at war and I think it is important to be aware of the facts and keep everyone involved in your prayers.

I'm Walkin' Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA

Well, it's official! Mom Dolan and I will (finally) be having our first Disney Vacation together! We just got everything booked today, I am so excited and it just gives me one more thing to look forward to to make this deployment continue to fly by!

I will be in Orlando for work for a week at the end of May, so after my conference is over, Mom is going to fly down and we will stay at the Polynesian for a few extra nights! I feel like this is so surreal! Disney is a HUGE part of being a Dolan, and I am so excited for the first of many, many Disney trips with my amazing future mother-in-law!

I have only done the Disney thing twice, and only once as a family vacation. The first trip was in 1991, a few months after I turned 5 years old with my parents, brother, grandmother and uncle (on my dad's side). My grandmother decided to take us for a Thanksgiving trip, and the only thing I really remember of the trip are the tea cups and Mark ridding on Uncle Robbie's shoulders wearing a coon-skin cap. Right after the trip, we flew up to Pittsburgh (where my grandmother lived at the time) for a belated Thanksgiving dinner, leading me to think Florida and Pennsylvania were the same place for a large portion of my childhood. Oops! The second was for a class trip in 8th grade where one of our teacher/chaperones was later fired for punching one of the students. Not exactly the clique "Disney Experience"!

But, come May 2011,  I will finally be having my first real adult Disney visit! I can't wait, and I am so happy I will get to share the experience with Mom! This trip can seriously not come soon enough! Mickey, I'm coming!!!!!!!!!!