Deployment Positive Monday- Week 10

Wow... Double digits for weeks already. As hard as it is to believe that we have reached this little benchmark, sometimes I look back at X-day and think "really?! Has it only been two months?!" Deployments totally mess with me that way, I guess. It's been so nice to have been keeping busy, but sheesh, this seems like the longest summer ever, er... Um I guess since the last time Andrew was deployed, and if we're really being picky, the summer before that wasn't exactly a walk in the park either. 

Lately our days (or nights, depending on which one of us you are talking to) have been spent planning for the glorious month we get to spend together between Andrews homecoming and SFAS. And let me tell you- if you thought I packed a lot of fun into this summer, wait til you see what we have got planned for that little snippet of time. We're still relatively unsure about when that will be (plus I can't tell you anyways because of OPSEC... Do we all remember OPSEC?) but it's just been exciting to look forward to it! 

This past week I was lucky enough to have an extended period of time off of work, so I went up to visit family in Pennsylvania! It was a great trip! As many people know, I'll take any excuse possible to visit loved ones! This trip was brought to you by the Dirty Girl Mud Run that I did on Saturday with Andrews sister and cousins! It was a blast! We ran 5k though all sorts of muddy obstacles and I couldn't stop smiling throughout the entire course. My army husband would have been so proud of me (loudly) encouraging ladies on other teams to get their bottoms down during the low crawl exercises... Mainly because that just meant they would get muddier, and wasn't that the whole point! 

At the end of the day, this was a fun thing to do for a great cause. They raise money to support breast cancer research and we even finished right behind a team with a breast cancer survivor who ran the race! Definitely a feel-good moment to watch her as she crossed the finish line with her 20+ teammates all cheering her name. 

Deployment Positive Monday- Week 9

Well for a girl who just spent her first wedding anniversary with her husband fighting a war halfway around the world, I must say, I am in an excellent mood! I had absolutely, hands-down the best weekend possible, given the circumstances. 

Andrew and I have known that we would spend our first anniversary apart since we set the date for our wedding, so there was never really a part of me that spent my time dreaming about a super romantic weekend reminiscing in the awesomeness of our wedding and our marriage (does anyone actually do that?) but that didn't make it any easier to spend such a big milestone without him. What did make it a whole lot easier (and fun) was the fact that my college roommate/maid of honor/best friend came down to spend the weekend with me here in Louisville. I still can't believe how lucky I am that she flew all the way down here just to make sure I wasn't lonely this weekend. That is truly the definition of an amazing friend.

I won't bore you with all of the details of the weekend, but in short: I got my breakfast comp'd at Wild Eggs because she told the waitress the situation, we went downtown for dinner and saw 7483728 bachelorette parties and the Louisville Slugger Factory, drank bottles and bottles of wine and stayed up way too late chatting and laughing, drove 35 minutes to the coolest dunkin donuts, got our nails done, laid out at the pool, made an epic wedding video, facetimed my amazing husband TWICE, and went to Buffalo Wild Wings for my anniversary dinner for junk food, beers, bug buck hunter and watched (preseason) football. Basically everything was perfect. 

I think my favorite part of the weekend was looking back through the hours of video footage that she had captured from our wedding. Watching it made it feel like it was just yesterday, and I love all the little candid moments she caught that the professionals simply couldn't. If you have ten minutes to spare, I highly recommend watching the following link, Amy did an amazing job and really somehow managed to show the essence of our relationship... Just goofy, head over heels love 

http://youtu.be/KwCqd1eAzNU

Deployment Positive Monday- Weeks 7 and 8

Yep, well now I've just skipped an entire week. I've been petty disappointed in myself for my lack of blogging this deployment, but for some reason, I just can't get myself to keep at it. I really don't understand it because I can't even put a price on how much my book of the first deployment's blog posts means to me, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It kills me to think that I just won't have the same experience with this deployment. 

Maybe it's because I have been approaching this deployment with a completely different mindset. Part of it still doesn't seam real to me for some reason.  Obviously I know Andrew is away and at war, but everything from our communication to my living situation to his job is different. There hasn't been a single day since Andrew left 53 days ago that we haven't had some sort of communication (hopefully I'm not jinxing it by posting about it). I am working a job that I absolutely love and coming home each night to a home that a share with my husband (and the hardest part of this is that I still haven't adjusted to the idea of cooking for 1- I made about 4 times too many servings of dinner tonight... Hello leftovers!). Andrews job is allowing for us to communicate more, and giving him a lot more down time. Lately one of our favorite activities has been to do the same crossfit workout (same workout for both of us, but he completes it with more weight) and compare times. I kinda love it and can't wait to have him home to workout side by side again! Another favorite pastime has been planning for homecoming and all the things we want to do and trips we want to take before we are onto our next duty station. It's a little weird to think that chances are we won't be living in Kentucky at this time next year, but exciting weird. We'll be on to bigger and better things and we are both so excited to move and explore a new duty station together for the first time. Depending on where we are sent maybe we will even become first time homeowners! The future is an exciting time for us Dolans!

But, not to get ahead of myself too much, I'm still doing my best to keep busy and travel as much as possible while Andrew is gone. Last week I had a great trip to the Jersey Shore with my amazing inlaws then had a friend visit from Nashville over the weekend. It was great to have a girls night and we even went to a wine and paint bar and painted ourselves some "funky trees". It was a blast! 

That soldier husband of mine has been keeping busy too. He has been getting care packages in an average of under two weeks which is great and even received his anniversary care package this morning. It's still pretty hard to believe that this time last year we were in last minute wedding mode finalizing each and every detail. Hopefully this time next year we will be curled up on the couch together watching American Ninja Warrior and loving life in a brand new state. I can't think of anything better than spending our second anniversary together. 

Andrew has been getting lots of time in with his SFAAT team and his Battalion Commander even posted this picture of them on Facebook earlier this week. Can you spot my handsome soldier? 

A Little Place Like Kokomo...

Since Andrew has returned to the sandbox, the best way to put a smile on my face is to look through our pictures from the most wonderful 5 days of the entire year... our trip to paradise.

Andrew and I visited Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for a little getaway while he was home for Midtour Leave. It was simply P-E-R-F-E-C-T. There is no way for me to explain how amazing it felt to sit on the beach, reading our kindles, drinks in hand and have not a single worry in the world. For the first time in a long, long time I was completely, totally 100% happy. We had no schedule, no watches, no where to go and nobody to answer to. I guess you could say we were quite smitten with ourselves and our decision to take this vacation.

Our view from the room!

 Tiki Hut where we got a moonlight massage on the beach

Good-bye Paradise... until next time :)

We sure do miss our mojito's on the beach, maybe someday we'll venture to paradise again!

For now, as the holidays (rapidly) approach, I'll be busy fast forwarding every clock and calendar I possibly can to get through these next few weeks of "joy and happiness on earth" until my soldier is back home safely in my arms again.

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 44

This week has been absolutely fantastic. I have the best friends and family in the entire world, hands down, but more on that later.

Yesterday marked ten months of deployment gone boy. SCORE!

Today, our unit welcomed home our very first soldiers from Afghanistan! These are the times I wish more than anything that I was living down at Fort Knox, I can't even imagine the joy on those families' faces when their soldiers returned home to them. It was just a small group, but the wave has started, and will continue over the next two and a half to three months.

Our FRG (Family Readiness Group- the wives of the soldiers in the unit) is sending out more emails than ever lately, all with new messages about homecoming and block leave and returning to "normal life" once the brigade returns home. It's oddly comforting to know that there really is a light at the end of this seemingly never-ending tunnel, it's not just me imagining it's there. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in a moment in time, and I forgot that this deployment will eventually end. It's almost our turn!

Now, onto the most amazing weekend EVER!

On Saturday morning, Mom Dolan and I set off for a Scrapbooking day at Dottie's (her best friend who lives a few towns away) house. I had my huge scrapbooking box with me (decoupaged with newspaper clippings from the Sox 04 World Series Run- one of my favorite home-made projects ever!) and as we walked in the door I was slapped in the face with the sound of "SURPRISE!!!!!" by what seemed like a million women.

I'll admit, the three seconds before I realized what was going on felt like they lasted for-ev-er. I walked into the room, and put my box down, just as I realized "oh, is this all happening for me?" and as I put my sunglasses on my head, I saw them. My girls. My roommates from college, and my best friend since the first grade. Not to mention the countless family (Em, that includes you!)

It's one of the strangest feelings in the world, and I'll never quite be able to describe it, but seeing people I cared so deeply about, here in an environment that I had never seen them before (nor did I ever think I would see them before our wedding) absolutely blew me away. Thank you thank you thank you girls for coming down and making me feel so loved. I am so very very blessed to have you all in my life.

The last time we (my seven roommates and I) were all together was our graduation from Stonehill in May 2009. I was a wreck. We all were. We had just spent the 4 best years of our lives with some of our greatest friends (and senior year with a couple of legitimately crazy boys living down the hall who loved to put fireplaces in our stairwell) and none of us could accept the fact that that chapter in our lives had come to a close. We huddled. There was nothing else to do, we didn't want to let go of that moment.

So what do you think we did the moment we were all 8 together again for the first time in nearly two and a half years (after I got over my initial shock, of course)? Yup! We huddled!

My Bridal Shower was nothing short of phenomenal! I can't describe the joy I felt that day! I really wish I could post a video of my reaction, but I'm having technology issues at the moment, hopefully I'll figure it out someday.

Thank you so very much to everybody who made this day happen! I feel so blessed to be loved by my family, my friends and to be coming into a family who is so loving as well. Saturday was probably one of my favorite deployment days, and I can't help but smile when I think of myself walking into that room and being completely bombarded with love!

Here I am with my Lexa Lou and my rehearsal bouquet! She did an awesome job!

My Girls!

The seven wonderful ladies I lived with in college are my best friends. I'd be lost without you girls and I think you so much for making my pre-birthday weekend special and hilarious!!

For the rest of you, here's a look into our lives. I love everything about this, and Ames, you're amazing for putting it all together in less than 24 hours! LOVE YOU!!!!

Updates on the rest of my amazing weekend at home coming soon, but this had to be shared!

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 29

Well what do you know, I'm still slacking on my blogging. No excuse except a good clean fun all-American summer. Last week we were at Stone Harbor, New Jersey (although I only went for the last few days because I had to work) with the whole extended Dolan family. Unfortunately we forgot cardboard Andrew here... It would have been way more fun to have the real guy with us though. Instead we decided to pay tribute to our favorite soldier by dubbing our set up at the beach FOB Dolan:




Pretty sweet, right?!? Plus we thought that with eleven children under the age of 10, this would be a great way for any of our little wanderers to find their way back to the family! Plus it made me beam with pride every SINGLE time that flag caught my eye!

When we returned home life returned to normal. I was thankful to have the family home (being home alone is DEFINITELY not as much fun as Macully Culkin (spelling is totally off, but you get the idea) makes it out to be) and also so excited to flip the page on yet another month of this horrid 2011. August is finally here and I couldn't be happier!!






Today is probably my favorite day since Andrew has left. Not only does it mark the 200th day of deployment, but August 4th will forever be a special day for us. On this day 366 days from now (2012 is a leap year, the irony is not lost on me. Remind me to thank the universe for that extra little reminder that I'm not in control of anything in my life) Andrew and I will be married. I am absolutely overjoyed that I finally am within a year of our wedding date and that now the real countdown can begin. Some people might not think a pre-versary is worthy of celebration, but ummmm hello?!? I'll take any excuse to celebrate the days going by at this point, plus it's SUPER EXCITING!!!!

To celebrate, a few of us went to look for wedding gowns today! It was so fun and something about wedding dress shopping can turn any day around! I am one lucky girl. I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful things to look forward to in the next year and so many more in the future. I have a man who loves me very much and even though I don't get to see him as often as I would like, I know that he is living his dream, and I am so proud of him for that.

I can't wait to marry my best friend, my true love and my hero one year from today! Nothing (except possibly his safe return home to me this winter) could make me happier.

NWY

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week TWENTY!

OMG'sh (that's for you, honey!), we've made it through 20 weeks! woo!!! Sorry, I feel like I have been majorly slacking on my blog lately, but now that I'm back in the real world, I promise to get back on track.

Mom Dolan and I had a great trip to Florida, and once all the work was done it was time to let loose and PLAY! It was such an amazing vacation, and it felt so good to just throw all our cares away and just be like little kids again! We also spent a lot of time with her brother, Uncle Steve, who has worked for Disney for over 30 years and gave us all the behind-the-scenes secrets and stories. He works in resort development, which I've decided is basically the coolest job EVER! Also, he introduced me to "Hidden Mickey's" which I quickly became obsessed with. I may or may not see Mickey's when I close my eyes at night....

Here are some of the photo highlights of our trip (all taken from my iPhone, so please excuse the grainy quality):

Checking into the Polynesian! Absolutely Beautiful... with a bride there, no less!

Mickey was waiting for us on the bed!!!

Finally here!!!

One of my only memories from our Family Disney trip 20 years ago was getting these balloons with my brother! We were so upset when my parents deflated them before we got on the airplane (and definitely threw a fit in the airport, I'm sure) but were overjoyed when they were re-inflated once we got home!

Dinner with Uncle Steve. Please note my magical glowing ice cube! 

Back to the park for a late-night visit!

I LOVE THE BALLOONS! The Castle is behind me, even though you can't see it!

My favorite Parade!

"To Honor America!" 

Day 2: Lunch at Coral Reef at Epcot

Mom and I on the Nemo Ride!

Greetings from the Future

Mickey Ice Cream... I felt guilty eating him!!

My Favorite Hidden Mickey... can you see him?!

Last day, about to check out :( My balloon is still going strong though!

So after 5 long days of hard work, we had a great Disney vacation! My favorite part was when I started to get sad about leaving and not getting everything done, and then I realized that this will not be my last Disney trip! I'm marrying into a family that LOVES Disney and goes as much as possible!! I can't wait to come back with Andrew someday and race to see who can find the most Mickeys!! Oh, we've got so much to look forward to... If 2011 would just hurry up and end already, that would be just fantastic!

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 16

Oh, Thursday, Thursday Thursday... we meet again.

Am I mis-counting? I can't believe I'm already on my 16th DPT! I'm not gonna lie, it feels pretty awesome to officially be into MAY, about to be completely done with four full months!

This week has been full of excitement from many different areas of my life. On Saturday my brother's girlfriend came up to Hershey from DC and we went to a great country concert together! One thing I really miss about Andrew being gone is going to country shows together, so it was awesome to be able to go with Em. Our senior year of college, Andrew and I must have gone to at least 10 different concerts together, and each has a very special memory that I will always hold close to my heart. Whether it be meeting Luke Bryan (remember that name, folks, you'll be hearing a song or two of his at our wedding) or walking along the beach after seeing Josh Turner on a late summer night in New Hampshire, each one has had it's own highlights that I re-live every time I hear their songs on my ipod or the radio.

Sunday was also a big day, as one Miss Alisia took her First Holy Communion! She has been counting the weeks until this day, and she is so excited that we are both going to take our first communion in the same year. Of course, the sad part of the day was when she told me how much she missed Uncle AJ and asked why deployment couldn't be like Ranger School where he comes home after 3 1/2 months (PS- as of this week, deployment has officially been longer than Ranger School. Yay? I guess that's an accomplishment of sorts). It was hard for me to explain, but I think all of her sadness disappeared when I came running up to her in line to take pictures with Father Dave and told her that someone special was on the phone. (I know, I know, I really shouldn't have answered it in church, but it's not every day I get a call from Afghanistan, you know. This was exactly the fifth time I have heard Andrew's voice since he has been gone. Can you blame me?) I think Ali was pretty excited about the call; what do you think?:

This was such a touching moment, I had tears welling in my eyes seeing that smile on Alisia's face. It was so hard for her and Andrew to hear each other, but I don't think it mattered to either one of them. She had her own special moment with Uncle AJ on her special day!

Sunday, of course, came the news of Osama bin Laden's death! I don't think I have  definitely haven't watched the news this much as I have this week since years ago; probably since 9/11. I- along with most of our country- am captivated by this. I thought the Royal Wedding was big news, but this just blows it out of the water. I heard somebody say "Hey, England! We'll take your wedding and raise you a funeral!" It's nice to be able to joke about it, but I did get a kick out of that. Lots of people have been asking me what the troops are seeing in response to this and what their reaction is. Honestly, I can't say much because of OPSEC, but Andrew says that our guys are excited, but it doesn't change all that much. We're still at war with the Taliban; bin Laden was the leader of al Qaeda. Hopefully in the coming weeks, this will continue to help to boost morale. The one thing that I have been loving about all of this is seeing America (for the most part) coming out and showing support for the troops again and showing that "united we stand"-ness that was so prevalent in the months following 9/11. It is a beautiful thing to experience as a military significant other; regardless of what it stems from. I love that people have been coming out of the woodwork to rally and show their support for our brave men and women who serve.

The rest of the week was absolutely crazy. Work is getting out of control lately, as we only have about 2 weeks until our biggest event of the year in Orlando. I'm excited to go, but I won't be able to relax until exactly 3 weeks from this moment with the event is OVER and Mom Dolan and I can just relax and enjoy everything Disney has to offer. I feel like I'm counting down the seconds! The best part is that we get back on May 31 which means the very next day will be June, that feels like it's right around the corner!

Mom has been working on putting together cookbooks for her Non-Profit Organization, Children's Playroom, for the past several months, and the whole project came to a head this week. I've been helping her put everything together for several hours each night. It's ridiculous, because it shouldn't be fun work, it should be daunting and depressing and completely overwhelming, but the two of us just couldn't stop laughing and having fun the whole time. She truly is an amazing woman!

Other reasons to be positive and upbeat today:
- I came home to two of the most smiley little faces (Lillia and Gavin) that came RUNNING up to me and demanding hugs from Aunt Tina. Best. Feeling. Ever!
- I saw ads on TV for season finales of some of the shows I watch! YAY! I never thought summer re-runs would come, I feel like we are finally making some headway in this deployment!
- Yesterday marked the 15 month pre-wedding mark! WOW, we're getting down to the real-time now! It's still hard to believe! After Florida I really have to hunker down and get some of this planning done or ya'll are going to be sorely disappointed when our wedding day actually comes! Don't worry though, we're promising one heck of a party, and you bet your boots we're going to deliver on that promise!
- Andrew's roommate, Jordan (also deployed to Afghanistan), is currently on his way home for his Midtour leave! Although we won't see him, it's good to know that at least for a few weeks he is out of harm's way and enjoying all the best things this fine country has to offer. Plus, it's another one of those things that seemed so far away when deployment started. Just another little step to check off that huge deployment list.

Slowly but surely, and day by day, we are making our way through this beast.

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 6

For once: A wayyyy early edition of DPT! In fact: I started this before midnight, so I'm kinda cheating, but I was just so excited about this one, it couldn't wait.

So here it is, the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT:

I finally faxed our wedding contract over to the Hotel Hershey today! Deposit is officially put in, and we are just waiting on the event manager's signature before we officially have August 4th, 2012 reserved for our wedding reception!!! I could not be happier if I tried! This is all starting to come together and everything is falling into place!

I feel like I want to shout it from the rooftops and run up to every stranger I know and tell them! This makes everything official! I am so excited, there are no words! We are so incredibly lucky to have such amazing families who are making this beautiful wedding happen for us! And I am so lucky to have my dad to talk to these people about all the nitty-gritties of the contract; definitely something I am NOT good at! 

Other than that, the biggest news in the past 4 months, I have been so thankful for family and friends this week! On Monday, I met one of my first college friends at the King of Prussia mall for an amazing dinner/catch up session! Keels- LOVE YOU, I'm so glad we got to finally meet up! It was totally worth the long drive home in the snow when Etown plows decided not to start working or salting yet even though there was over an inch of snow on the road. Oh well, positives, right Tines? It was so great to catch up on everything I have been missing from home/Boston lately. I can't wait to get up there and see all the girls again, I am long overdue for a trip. Here we are Freshman year of college, first semester. I love this picture:

Tuesday night (as always) was Bowling and Hennigans. Tonight I had a special sushi date with Andrew's cousin, Michelle and her 3 kids, as well as Gavin, who I was watching for Shannon while everyone else was at CCD. I had gotten wind that Michelle's almost-three-year-old, Landon, loving Spicy Tuna Sushi, so obviously I had to eat some with him; as that particular flavor just happens to be my favorite, too! It was so fun, and I love having someone else in town to get sushi with! I have been looking forward to that for so long. It was a bit crazy with 4 kids 4 and under but we still had a blast and the boys couldn't have possibly had anymore fun trying to use chopsticks on their sweet-and-sour chicken (Gavin's was more like ketchup chicken, as usual)! So fun to watch them all having such a great time! 

So with this week officially more than half over, I am heading to bed. I had one of the best workouts I've had in a long time at the gym tonight and I am pooped! So excited to see what this weekend has to offer.... 

Pre-Wedded Bliss

Disclaimer: If you are a boy, I'll warn you right now, this post is going to either put you to sleep, or convince you that you NEVER want to be around when the woman you love is planning a wedding (Andrew definitely had the right idea with this whole deployment thing)! But you really can't complain all that much, because I write about sports, too! It's not all girly and flowers and rainbows and pink around here all the time.

This was the wedding weekend extravaganza that I have been looking forward to for months! I planned everything around the Hershey Bridal Expo at the ACAA (Antique Car Museum) and things kind of unraveled from there! Friday night, Mom Dolan and I kept it low key and went for manicures and pedicures and out to dinner- where we had one of our famous hours-long conversations and nearly shut the restaurant down! It was the best!

On Saturday morning, my mom flew into BWI from Manchester, where my brother's girlfriend, Emily (future-Olsen, as I introduced her as this weekend), picked her up. Emily lives just outside of DC so she picked up my mom at the airport and they drove up to little-old Etown together. They met me, Mom, Lisa, Shannon, Lillia and Alisia at the Bridal Emporium on Market Street. I'll admit, it wasn't overly thrilled with their service or selection of gowns. Last weekend we went there and it was a totally different experience, but something was off this week. 

After a quick lunch at Subway, we drove down to Lancaster to go to a new Bridal shop, In White. I was expecting the quality and price of their gowns to be higher than other shops I had visited because of what I had seen online and from driving by, but decided to give it a shot anyways! I can't even explain how happy I am that we went there; everything was top-tier... except the prices!! What more could I ask for? They didn't even have the gowns in cheapo plastic bags to protect them, but they just let them hang there so you could really get an idea of what each one was like! Of all the gowns I've tried on (probably 30-35 at this point; I'm not very good at decision making) none of them even compared to the 5 I tried on at In White! AND to top off my perfect experience there, they had the exact color (Infantry Blue) I was looking for for bridesmaid dresses! We even brought a blue cord with us to see if we could find a perfect match! Overall, Day 1 of the weekend extravaganza was a raging success!

Today (Day 2) started out great as well! My mom and Emily stayed here at the Dolan's house for the night (in the midst of a kitchen remodel!) We woke up and Dad Dolan made us all Mickey Mouse waffles (I got Magic Mickey for the first time ever!) and then went to church were I introduced them to fifteen Dolans in about 30 seconds before mass started! After mass, we were off to Hershey for the expo!

It wasn't like anything I could have ever imagined! The best part was that when we bought our tickets, we said we have 2 brides in our party and they gave Emily all the bridal stuff I was getting too! (My brother would have my head if he found out about this, love ya Marko!) It was so much fun to see all the vendors and get ideas of things I had never even considered yet! I definitely got to a point where I was just done and exhausted so we went to get lunch in Hershey. We finished up around 4, came back to E-town and my mom and Emily hit the road so that my mom could catch her flight back home. 

For dinner we went over to Sean and Lisa's for pizza. I finally gave the kids books that Andrew and I have had for them since before Christmas. The books were little age-appropriate stories about being a flower girl or ringbearer or junior bridesmaid (in Alisia's case). For Jared we decided to go the cool-route and get him a book all about soldiers from different eras and wars and branches of military; also they really don't make any sort of wedding book that would be appealing for his demographic. Inside each book we wrote a note officially asking the kids to be a part of our wedding! The girls were overjoyed, Jared was instantly enthralled in his soldier book, Quinn was jumping up and down, Austin was more concerned with the Real-tree camo wrapping paper we used, and Gavin unwrapped and then headed right back to his game of mousetrap--- that he was playing against himself! I explained that Uncle AJ and I have very important jobs for them to do in our wedding, and if they would like to, we would be thrilled if they would like be a part of such a special day for us! It was an overwhelming YES from the whole crowd! Lots and lots of hugs and kisses and "thank you, Aunt Tina"'s going around! It was such a fun moment, but totally bittersweet because I didn't get to share it with Andrew. I meant to have someone video tape it so that we could send it over to our favorite solider, but in the excitement of the moment, I completely forgot (really sorry, babe!). Sean did manage to snap this one picture (after Gavin left the party on the couch) which I absolutely LOVE! I can't wait to officially be these kiddos' Aunt! 

In other news, my better half, over in Afghanistan is doing great. Well, he is really, really cold! They've been getting lots of snow in his province, and a buddy of his who is only about 70 miles away is complaining about the seventy five degree weather! It's crazy! We are still talking online every night and every morning which I will always count as a blessing!

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 2

As another Thursday rolls around, its time for another weekly positive! I have found in the past few days that I have been spending a lot of time (when driving, or trying to sleep, etc.) thinking about what my positive will be for this week! I think it is a good thing to be always thinking about the positives, rather than dwelling on the negatives.. Shannon told me once that studies show that that generally leads to happier people!

Even though this week's positive I knew a long time ago, I also have a few more to add.

First and definitely most important: Our favorite show, Archer, had it's second season premier tonight. We have been looking forward to this for close to a year and even though I haven't watched it yet- not to worry, its on the DVR- I am absolutely giddy with excitement. Some of the fondest memories of my visits down to Knox and Benning were when Andrew and his friends would just quote Archer episodes over and over again. I'd be lucky to insert one or two lines before they would all finish the quotes for me. It was sure to put me in stitches every time.

Second: I got the contracts for the Hotel Hershey today! It needs some adjustments, but as long as we get it back to them signed, sealed and delivered by February 14th, that baby is ours!

Third: Shannon called me today and said that she was doing a lot of thinking today after being able to communicate with Andrew last night. She made me realize how lucky we are to have instant communication even though we are thousands of miles away from Andrew. I will admit, I have done my fair share of complaining about missing Andrew by a few minutes or only getting to say a few things to him each night, but when you think about it that way, we've been spoiled rotten! I would never trade places with a military family from a previous war and have to wait weeks or even months for a single letter... heck, we all know how crazy that made me after only 15 weeks of Ranger School this summer. And that was with a phone call every few weeks, as well as a 3 week period with phone calls almost every night.

I also thought a lot about my maternal grandparents. (Background: My mother's entire family is German, she was born and raised there, just like all the previous generations of her ancestors. She came to the US for a temporary job in her late twenties, met my dad and after a few years of dating and her moving back and forth from there to here, they got married, had us kids and the rest is history) My grandfather was a Luftwaffe pilot in the Second World War. He flew over 1,000 combat missions and was one of the most decorated German pilots of his time. I have a lot of pride in what he did for his country, but also know that the people who were leading that country were very bad people and did a lot of bad things, which leads to me having a lot of mixed emotions on the subject. But, as Andrew always tells people- he fought mainly on the Eastern Front, so he was just ahead of his time-- he wasn't bombing any Americans, so we should really be thanking him.

My grandparents were engaged in November of 1944 and 13 days later they were married. He had two days leave and then it was back to war. Just before the war ended he was actually captured by the Allied Forces and held as a Prisoner of War. When the war ended, because he was so honored- by friend and foe, alike- he was released. (I have been told they later killed all of the POWs where he was held, but I really don't know the validity of that story.) He walked (and I'm guessing somehow caught rides with people) back to Germany to his wife, who for 6 weeks had no idea if he had survived. She often tells me how hard it was in those days and how she would wait weeks for a letter. Their story is heart-wrenching and I ache for her, because I can only imagine the pain she must have gone through in those weeks, and throughout that entire war.

So the next time I go a day or two without talking to my soldier, you can bet I will be counting my blessings that we live in an era of instant communication and lots of planes bringing letters and care packages galore to and from Afghanistan almost every day!

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!!!

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Location:Louisville, KY