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

The Most Magical Day...

I suppose that it is time for my brief (and unintentional) hiatus from the blogging world to come to and end. To say that life over the last six months has been busy and exciting, would be nothing but an understatement. Two moves, a wedding, and a new job for both Andrew and myself is just the tip of the iceberg.

I've been finding myself really missing the blogging world, and now that Andrew's unit is back into full-swing training, I think it's a good time to reintroduce myself as the newest Mrs. Dolan!

Of course, the biggest milestone of the past six months was August 4th, our wedding day. People constantly ask me if it was the best day of my life, and it's a question that's hard for me to answer. Was it the best party of my life? Yes! The most fun I've ever had? Absolutely! But I will always have a very special place in my heart reserved for a mere six months and twenty eight days prior to our wedding day... Andrew's safe return home from his first deployment. It's impossible for me to chose between the two as my "favorite day", and truthfully I consider myself so blessed to have that problem.

Click here to view our Wedding Video!

Back in the Swing of Things

As yesterday officially marked 1 month since Andrew's boots returned to American soil, I realized how very much has changed in our lives in just a few short weeks. Throughout the deployment I would allow myself to dabble in little bits of wedding planning here and there, but now that I have my Hubby-to-be home safe and sound... boy, oh boy, are things rolling!

As excited as I was to plan our wedding while Andrew was gone (and spare him from the "which linen do you prefer? Lavendar, or light lavendar?" conversations), there was always that part that forced me to go to the "what if" place that I spent every day and night trying to keep out of my mind. For each contract I signed, I had to add a clause about refunding the deposit and voiding the contract due to "Military Circumstances beyond the Groom's control". Don't get me wrong, those clauses will most assuredly still be included in all remaining contracts (because, let's face it, we're dealing with the military...) but the implications of that clause are a lot less severe at this point. I spent so much time during this deployment not allowing myself to think of the worst-case scenario (and even now, a month after his safe return I won't even allow myself to type the words), that each time I added that clause to a contract, I felt like I was jinxing Andrew's safety. I hated that feeling.

But here we are, February 2012, and less than 6 months to go until our wedding all of a sudden! Andrew is in the middle of his first of two two-week block leaves, and we are readjusting to life together. I love coming home after a long day of work and having him there waiting to greet me with a kiss! It's so nice to have date-nights whenever we want to, and ride the Harley, watch TV together, and just spend time together. I love that we are just back to "us", no prepping for upcoming schools, or serparations, just living life together in the here and now... something we haven't truly been able to do in years.

It's funny how easily I forgot how much fun we have together. I spent so much time missing the hugs and kisses and stuff, that I almost forgot that Andrew is my best friend, and its just fun to be together! I have to say, it's pretty darn cool (and heck yeah, I'm proud of us for this) that we went an entire year without seeing each other and in many ways it feels like we are stronger than ever. We're finding our way into our next "new normal" and pretty much just enjoying the ride.

Life is good. And I am one very happy girl these days.

RANGER +1 Year

Today I'm just happy. I got a solid 10 emails in with Andrew this morning after I woke up and before communication got shut off; we seem to be out of the path of Hurricane Irene; I met with and put a deposit down for my florist for our wedding (she is wonderful, and sees everything exactly the way I do- I couldn't be more thrilled about using her and would be more than happy to recommend her to any brides who are still looking); and, a year ago today was the happiest moment of my life (to that point).

It's amazing how much can change in a year. I was Andrew's girlfriend, I had just been through the longest summer of my life (or so I thought) hanging on every letter, dashing to the mailbox as soon as I got home from work (twice on days that I stopped home for lunch), and never knowing exactly what was going on in Andrew's world. On this date, 365 days ago, I had the honor to pin that Ranger Tab on my soldier's shoulder. I don't know that I've ever had a prouder moment. He had worked so hard for that tab, and every lonely night and re-read letter was completely, totally, 150 million percent worth it to see that smile on his face when I told him "you did it babe, no matter what, nobody can ever take this away from you, Congratulations, Ranger!"

And now, here we are. A full year later. I am no longer Andrew's girlfriend... I'm his fiancee and planning our wedding while he is deployed. It's days like today that make me so happy... remembering the joy we felt last year, not only at the graduation ceremony, but also two days before when I surprised him on his 8 hour pass. Literally the moment I saw him I screamed and nothing else mattered. That goofy grin on his face, shaking his head as we pushed through the sea of dirty camo and reunions all around us trying to get to one another; that moment made every tear and every worry I had had that summer disappear. Being apart didn't matter- we were together for that moment.

When people say to me "I don't know how you do it" or "well, I could never do that", I actually feel sorry for them. They don't feel the love I feel, they don't get to prove to their significant other every day how much they care. The military tests relationships, the strong survive and the weak falter, and we are lucky enough to not only have survived the tests the military as thrown our way, but we have grown from them. 

I love our life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love that my future-husband stands up and fights for what he believes in, and will do anything possible to attain his goals, even when the road is not easy. The separations and voids I feel from him being gone are filled by the happy faces and giggles of six beautiful little children that will tell you all the pride they can possibly muster: "my uncle is a RANGER! He's fighting in Afghanistan so that we can be safe!"

Well this post got long and mushy in a hurry. Definitely not my intention, but you get what you get, I guess. I suppose all I'm really trying to say is that I can't believe a year has gone by, and I am so excited for this time next year when I will officially be Mrs. Ranger.

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

Easter in New England

Since I missed every major holiday at home with my family last year, I decided to make the drive up to New Hampshire for the long weekend (I had Friday and Monday off). Here are some highlights from my trip up north:

Excited about my new PA license plate!

Stopping for gas on my way out of town. I <3 Hershey!

No road trip is complete without my Medium French Vanilla Iced Latte with Skim Milk.

Long ways to go still....

One of my favorite sections of the drive. Beautiful view around Scranton.

Getting Closer!

I was so excited when I finally got home after 8 hours + of driving that I forgot to take a picture of the house! It was perfect timing though, as I just had enough time to shower and get ready without having to rush too much, before going to dinner with one of my best and oldest friends, Alexa and our families! We ate at a great sushi place that I've been dreaming of ever since. I can't wait to go back!

On Saturday, Lex and our moms and I had a super fun, girly day of wedding dress and bridesmaid dress shopping. Here we are at lunch in between shops!

Sunday was, of course, Easter:

Easter Morning Breakfast before Mass... just the 4 of us (mom, dad, grandma and me). Quiet but nice.

It was a fantastic weekend, filled with lots of food, family, friends and love (and 4 Red Sox wins, which makes everything that much better). I have to say though, the best part was the 17 minutes and 37 seconds I got to spend on the phone with Andrew! No dropped calls, very little delay (only about 2-3 seconds), it was everything I could have asked for! 

And something to be excited about for today: 100 days have officially come and gone in this deployment! Goodbye double digits for Deployment 2011 FOREVER! It feels so great!

Deployment Positive Thursday- Week 12

Another week in the books feels great! We had our last bowling game for this season on Tuesday, which by my early deployment calculations tells me we are almost a quarter of the way through this sucker (if you go off the assumption that Andrew will be gone for exactly 365 days- which he won't). Before the deployment started I set little markers in my mind for what would consist of each 1/4 of our time apart, so it feels great to know that we are so close to being done with the first quarter!

This week Mom Dolan and I also met with a woman who will most likely be designing our wedding invitations! She was AWESOME and had so many creative and fun ideas! I can't wait to start working with her more as the months go by, but for now we have a pretty good idea of what we want (sorry, it's a secret!)... I am just so excited to really be getting into the thick of wedding planning. We have been engaged for almost 6 months and I felt like up until this point people have been looking at me like I was crazy if I was trying to plan anything so early. Now I am still early, but vendors are appreciating having so much time to work with.

Friday will also be a very happy day for all of Red Sox Nation (we can only hope). After an absolutely dismal start to the season, tomorrow is their Home Opener against the hated Yankees, which will be sure to be action-packed. Hopefully all we need is a good solid home stand to turn this all around.

With baseball season now in full swing, I can get used to my new summer routine. It feels good to have something to look forward to every night other than talking to Andrew and crossing another day off of my Deployment Calendar!

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 4

(Sorry I made you wait until literally the last second, Michelle!)

I need to do a better job of not posting in the middle of the night, but my days have been getting away from me lately. I love always having something to do! These E-town Dolan's are THE BEST at keeping busy!

I'll be honest though, today did not start out on a good note. In fact, I was wracking my brain for a good portion of the day trying to write something positive that wasn't about communication again. But, my bummer day really had nothing to do with deployment, it was just a dumpy Thursday. I guess it wouldn't have started so poorly if I wasn't so sick of this freezing cold weather! As soon as you go outside the wind whips through you and chills you to the bone. UGH I'm dreading it tomorrow morning.

Things at work were going fine, although I feel like I wasn't very productive today. For lunch I got sushi and took it back to the office, but first stopped at Citizens' Bank (AKA the worst bank in the entire world) to make a deposit and ask about a transfer. Good ole' Citizens' didn't let me down on my expectation of zero customer service skills. I've been trying to make a transfer to Andrew's USAA account for two weeks now and the guy basically told me it's impossible to do online because it gives me a means to commit fraud.  I can't even get into how utterly ridiculous that is! I need OUT of that bank, every few months, it's another problem with these guys.

On my way home from work one of my indicator lights was flashing (in red) and beeping at me, so I scheduled an appointment for Monday to get it looked at. The guy at the VW garage said "if it's beeping and flashing, you shouldn't be driving it" well, buddy... I've gotta get home somehow! As I was driving, I was seriously contemplating what in the world I was going to write about tonight.

That's when I got the call from the wedding coordinator at our church. After a ten minute call it was like the skies cleared and I could almost hear that choir singing "hallelujah!". I am planning a wedding. Not just any wedding, our wedding. To celebrate our love and commitment to one another forever and to finally start our life together. Andrew gave me the most fantastic gift I could have ever asked for by asking me to marry him when he did (and no, I'm not just talking about the ring- which by the way is beyond gorgeous)! What could I ever ask for that is more exciting to look forward to than the beginning of our marriage? I am so trilled and excited to be planning this and each day that it creeps closer, it becomes more and more real to me.

We are about a week away from signing the contract with the Hotel Hershey and putting our deposit down; the Church is booked; and I'm meeting with a photographer next week. One by one, I'm seeing a lot more check marks in my little book of wedding planning lists!

So forget about all the nonsense that happened before. Not every day can be the best day ever. But every day for the next 18 months I can dream about and plan our wedding! And you know what, as the time gets closer to the wedding, it also gets a heck of a lot closer to homecoming. And homecoming, my friends, is what it is really all about these days.

So basically, I'm happy to be loved by someone who I love deeply, excited to be planning our wedding, and overjoyed to continue counting the days....

The Army Calls it his "Final Destination"

After almost two full weeks of travel, Andrew finally made it to his final destination on Friday (28 Jan). I have been hating that term "final destination" these past few weeks, it always makes me think of those terrible horror movies, plus final sounds so... eternal. Nope. This isn't his final destination, he is at this FOB for the next year(ish). His temporary home, you might say.

For OPSEC (Operational Security) reasons, Andrew and I have decided (along with the Department of Defense and the United States Army) that it is best that I don't disclose which FOB he is at online. We do have his address though, so for any family or friends who are interested, please feel free to email me and I'll be happy to give it to you. Mom and I sent out our first two care packages yesterday filled with... wait a minute, I can't tell you whats in it! That would ruin the surprise for Andrew!

The best part about sending care packages to Afghanistan (or any APO for that matter) is that it is cheaper than sending a package almost anywhere in the United States. I spent a small fortune this summer sending care packages to Ranger School and household supplies to Louisville. It's definitely nice to know that I'll still be able to send some of the comforts of home without being worried about going completely broke!

Other than that big news, things around here have been pretty busy... and snowy. Not snowy like New Hampshire, but kind of worse because we get less snow but the roads are somehow worse. I'm getting lots of wedding planning done and after going back and forth on a million things this past week I think we have the major decisions made, which feels great. Hershey was lucky enough to host the AHL all-star game this year so this weekend was jam-packed with Hockey fun! All the mascots from the different teams were there and I was so excited to see Max- the Manchester Monarch (my hometown team). I told him I was from New Hampshire but he was less than pleased with my wardrobe choice:

We had a great weekend but definitely missed our soldier! Another full week down, though which feels amazing, plus it's the start of a brand new month which is always a welcomed happening when you're living through a deployment.

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!

I'm Officially Never Going to Sleep Again

This week started out wonderfully, and except for the darn Steelers/Jets game the weekend was just about perfect! Not that I was rooting for the Jets, but football is one thing that Andrew and I will never see eye-to-eye on... but that is another story for another day. Moral of the story: GO PACKERS!

Monday was hands-down the BEST day since deployment started.... and it'll be hard to top in the 350+ days we have left. Mom (Dolan) and I spent the day at The Spa at the Hotel Hershey. Ladies: this is something you must do for yourselves every once in a while. Deployment or not, we all have stressors in our lives and I cannot tell you how much a day of pampering can do for you. It was simply wonderful. We spend hours at the hotel. We had lunch in our robes at a special restaurant only open for spa guests and visited all the shops inside the hotel. We even brought home cupcakes so that Dad could enjoy the benefits of our day, too!

I decided that while we were there, we might as well meet with the wedding coordinator since I still don't have the contract I asked for almost 2 weeks ago. She agreed to meet with us and she put my mind at ease. Sometimes I forget I still have over 18 months to plan this wedding! We talked about some details and she recommended a photographer (who I already contacted) and a DJ so I am checking things off my to-do list left and right! I absolutely can not wait to get married at the Hotel. Being there on Monday really made everything sink in and it actually feels real now! Even in the winter, with all the plants dead and the grounds half-covered with snow, it is beautiful. In the summer... it will be simply breathtaking.

Aside from Monday, this week I have gotten back into the swing of things and the fact that deployment is actually happening and will actually be for a full year has really started to sink in. Sunday and Monday night Andrew sent me emails about 10 minutes after I went to bed. I can't express how frustrating it has been to wake up in the morning to emails from someone you love who is so far away and know that you won't be able to communicate with them for another 20 or more hours. I felt so out of the loop with Andrew's whole life, I didn't even know where he was (expect for that he wasn't to his final destination yet) and it was hard to know that if I had just stayed up 15 minutes longer I would have been able to talk to him.

Last night we had our weekly Bowling League. I love it! We are the Bowlin' Dolans (PPF, as Aunt Lori calls it: Aunt Kathy is a Past Dolan; Aunt Lori and Aunt Mary are Present Dolans; and I am the Future Dolan) and even though we (mostly me) don't have the best average, boy do we have fun- and we won 4 out of 4 games this week! It is so nice to have something to look forward to each week, and as always the Dolans are the best family I could possibly marry into! I couldn't ask for a more supportive and loving bunch of people! Everyone was excited to hear any news from Andrew, but unfortunately I didn't have any. It's tough to not have ANY news for people who also care so much about his well-being.

When I got home after bowling and dinner at Hennigans (also a weekly tradition) I thought I would be able to out-smart whatever force decided that Andrew and I shouldn't be communicating these last few days. I went to bed around 11:30 to read, but kept my iPod there so that it would ding if I got an email or Facebook Message. When it "ding-ed" (dung?!?) around midnight I was so excited! I immediately messaged Andrew back and was absolutely heartbroken when he said he only had 2 minutes left on the computer. Memories of our 5 minute calls after each 3 week phase of Ranger School came rushing back to me: each of us hurrying to say everything we felt was important in the little time we had. Not so much communicating, rather talking at each other. We did get our "I love yous" in though so will count that as a plus.

After Andrew signed off I felt defeated again. It was a let down that we didn't get to have a conversation like I have been dreaming about for the past week. Tonight hopefully I will learn my lesson and just stay up all night until I hear from my soldier. This morning I awoke to a long email from Andrew, though which made me feel a lot better about things. I got updated on which FOB (Forward Operating Base) he is at and how long he thinks he will be there (about another 2-3 days).

My favorite line of the email made me giggle. I can totally hear Andrew saying this to me:

".... so all-in-all I'm doing well. The food is good, the sleep is plentiful, the tents are warm, and we [poop] in plastic bags.  What more could a guy want in life?" 

I may have edited the "pooping" word slightly, but you get the picture. He sounds upbeat and happy. He also got word that come April he will most certainly probably get his own platoon, which is exactly what he was aiming for. He will be leading 40 men into battle and I can't think of anyone better suited for that job. It's what he has trained for, what all the blood, sweat and tears (to be clear: his blood, his sweat, my tears) during Ranger School were working towards, and it is what he is destined to do.

The Sweetest Place on Earth. . .

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

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

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

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

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

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