The Packs

April 2nd.

It's finally come, the day I fly to Georgia to see Daniel and I couldn't be more excited. I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to sit and wait for take off. I jump in line to check in and stood behind a guy that immediately starts talking to me. He was on his way to London and was taking the same connecting flight I was taking. He talked to me for about 10 mins before a kiosk opened up that I could check in at and print my tickets, which said "Please take your ticket and check in at the gate"...that's weird they've never said that before. Well of course there's no one at the gate to check in with so I sit and wait. The terminal is filling up fast there is no where to sit and everyone seems really anxious. Finally someone arrives at the gate to check in and they told me that the flight is over booked and they are asking people to take alternate flights. They asked me to sit and wait till they knew if I was going to be able to get on this flight.

Well panic starts to set in. What if I don't make it to Atlanta tonight, I'm gonna miss Family Day with Daniel. NO! NO! NO! This isn't happening. They started boarding the plane and then I hear my name. Please recheck at the gate. YES! They found me a set, so I headed to board the plane and guess who's standing there waiting for me? The same guy that had spoke to me earlier that day. Now he was kinda creepy. He asked where I was sitting and I prayed that we hadn't been assigned sets together. I knew that he would have talked my ear off the whole way and I wasn't feeling up for that. Luckily he was sitting two rows up from me. At least I knew he wouldn't be staring at me the whole time.

Now it was on to Chicago where I was to have an hour layover. I didn't mind, that way it gave me plenty of time to get from one terminal to the next. Well one hour turned into 3 hours and I was getting really tired and still had another two hour flight to Atlanta. I arrived in Atlanta at midnight, two hours past schedule. GRRR! Luckily Daniels parents are used to staying up late. His dad had been super smart and reserved a hotel room just two minutes away from the airport. They pulled up to the doors just outside the airport and I ran and jumped in the back set. Oh so thankful not to be flying anymore.

His parents and I talked for a little while before trying to fall asleep. I was only a few hours away from Daniel now and I was so excited to see him that I didn't get much sleep that night. 5:30 a.m and we were up getting ready for our big day. Family Day! We drove and drove for what seemed like an eternity and then there it was. We pulled up to a check point, where we gave an officer our ID's and he then pointed the way to where we would be meeting our soldier. As we drove through the base I was surprised at how nice it was. There were soldiers walking around and it made my heart race. Daniel was here, I could feel him.

We were one of the first to arrive at the recreation center. There were rows an rows of empty chairs in what looked like a gym. We waited in the lobby as people started to file in. No one was dressed up like we were. I thought it was a little disrespectful not to dress up. Anyway. They started a slide show of pictures they had taken of our soldiers in training up to this point. So many pictures! We did see a few with Daniel in them. :) The slide show lasted forever. I didn't care about seeing pictures of him. I wanted to see HIM! The Sergeant come up afterwards and said that we could meet our soldiers out front in the parking lot, and asked if anyone had any questions before he released us. OMG! Of course some idiot had questions. Just let me out of here! We filed out of the gym and search through four groups of soldiers for Daniel. They were all singing along with their Sergeants. It sounded really cool.

There he was ! Standing in the back of his formation looking straight ahead like a perfect statue. It took my breath away. He looked so perfect in his uniform. I fell in love with him all over again at that moment. When their DS's released them and he was instantly lost in the crowd and I was searching for him again. When our eyes finally met for the first time he was walking in my direction. He hugged both his parents and then I through myself into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and I had no intention of ever letting go. I was so overwhelmed that I cried as we stood there holding onto each other. As far as I knew he and I were the only two people in that parking lot.

After he peeled me off him, we gathered his things and headed for the car. All his buddies where saying goodbye to him, but I never turned to see who there were. I didn't care about them, I was so mesmerized by Daniel no one else existed. I just wanted to get him in the car and drive away so I could have him all to myself. Thinking about it now, I must have looked so rude to all his friends. Oops. On the drive home we listened to him talk about some of his experiences. I just stared at him. I couldn't believe that we were together again, for four hours I didn't look away from his perfect face.

His grandparents had dinner waiting for us when we got back to Blairsville. We visited for awhile there and then took him home to rest for the rest of the night. Being back in their house brought back memories from being there last fall. Everyone settled in for the night and Daniel and I fell asleep holding tight to each other. :)

The next morning we slept in a bit, and then his grandma fixed us biscuits and gravy. The boys washed the mustang and truck while I went to shower and get ready for the day. Then I heard gunshots. Lots and Lots of gunshots. They are out back shooting his dad's hand gun, and I didn't want to miss out so I through my hair in a ponytail and went to find them.Daniel saw me coming and asked if I wanted to try. I sweetly shook my head yes. ;) His dad gave me a few instructions and handed me the gun. I was so nervous. The more I shot the more nervous I got.. I did manage to hit a few things. It was so much fun!

Daniel and I headed off in his mom's convertible mustang to visit his very best friend Kevin. He had no idea Daniel was in town and we wanted to surprise him. Kevin actually recognized me before he did Daniel. It was good to see them together. We made plans to get together later that night, so we set out to visit Kevin's parents for a minute. Ok Daniel is the worst at introductions. I just stood there next to him as he visited his friends and he never mentioned me. LOL. It's fun to just stand back and listen to them talk about old times.

It was off the Brasstown Bald. A mountain Daniel took me too last time I was here to look at the stars. So beautiful, and romantic. I loved it up there. Here I was in a skirt and slip on shoes hiking up this mountain, well it's really more of a hill compared to mountain's I'm used to. My feet start hurting pretty fast and I'm already out of breath. Not super impressive! I wanted to get to the top, but needed to stop a few times along the way. Well I couldn't stop for to long, cuz there were Nat's swarming around me. He kept asking me if I wanted to turn back, but I didn't want to look that completely helpless so we kept on moving. Getting to the top was great. It brought back a lot of memories from the night he taken me there last fall. It was super romantic gazing at the stars with him.

We walked around the observatory trying to catch the breeze to keep the Nat's away. Daniel was a little disappointed that there were other people up there. I wasn't quiet sure why at the time. We tried to find a spot that we could be alone. When your up there you are on top of the world, the wind would catch my skirt and swish it around. I couldn't have been happier finally being alone with him, laughing and talking like we always do. And then. He knelt down on one knee and looked up at me this those big brown eyes and asked. "Will you marry Me?" I thought the wind had lifted my heart away like a kite. I looked down at him and said "YES!" He scooped me up in his arms, and I cried once again happy tears. With the top down we spent the rest of the afternoon driving around singing songs and watching the sun sink lower and lower, casting a golden glow over the landscape. It was beautiful and peaceful, I felt as if it was my heart casting the glow instead of the sun. The day was perfect.

London is turning 12 this year if you can believe it. I know that birthdays come and go and you never seem to remember what you got, but where you were and who you spent it with. I didn't worry to much much about presents this year and focused more on decorating and giving them some things to do that I didn't have to supervise. Who wants their mom hanging around with your friends anyway...Right???
I started her cake the day before, I wanted to try something new so i needed plenty of time. I read about a recipe for Marshmellow Fondant that I wanted to try. Here is my attempt.



At this point I was thinking "Oh Dear, what have I gotten myself into" I was covered in Powdered sugar in no time. Hahaha!

Wallah...It turned out great. It was much easier then I thought it was going to be. It looks really cool on a cake, but not so much fun to eat.



Decorations: <>
Cake: <>



After the girls played lots and lots of Twister and Guitar Hero, London blew out her candles and opened presents.



All in all the the party was a success, the girls had tons of fun.



And they all lived happily ever after. The End.

My Valentine is 2000 miles away but he didn't forget me. He is deep in Basic Training limitation so he had to be very sneaky about my gift. As they were out doing a march, he picked up a couple flowers along the trail and pressed them in a letter for me. So So Sweet! He even got a chance to call me on Valentine's Day, but i missed it, because I was working. He is getting my letters now, thank goodness. I was getting worried that he'd never get them.

The sky is a creamy blue behind the snowy mountains, it's beautiful, but it makes my heartache knowing Daniels on the other side. It's been 25 days since the night I lift him at the hotel which seemed to radiate loneliness, from every future soldier that has every rested their homesick heads there. He says in his letters "Be strong for me", well finding strength when everything hurts, isnt easy, but i'm honored to be the woman that is waiting for him to become a protector of this country. I feel like i'm in training too. Training to be an Army wife, learning how to be supportive from 1000's of miles away. Learning to live with the ache in my heart from missing you every second. Praying to God that he'll keep you safe and return you home to me. Knowing that there will be lonely days, which makes the days I spend with you that much sweeter. I smile back at you when I pass by your pictures only wishing that we'd taken more.

Tonight I took London for her Middle School registration night. WOW! Is she really old enough for this? She was so excited she wants to start tomorrow, she's decided to take Beginning Theater and Choir for her electives. I know that both of those classes will be very fulfilling for her, giving her a chance to come out of her shell a little bit. :) We all love you London and know you'll be great at what ever you decide to do in life. No one deserves success more than you do.

I've gotten many letters from Daniel, but he has yet to get any of mine. Between me and his mom I'm sure he'll have more letters than he can open on the first day. He's doing well from what I can tell in his letters. Getting used to very little sleep, and eating in a hurry, which can't be to hard for him, he's the fastest eater I know. He gets a family weekend in April, so I purchased my ticket to fly out to Fort Benning today. OH man I can't wait to see him!!!

Letters have started to pour in from Daniel :) It's so good to hear how his doing day to day. Sundays are my lest favorite day ...no mail. I still don't have a return address for him so I haven't be able to send him anything, but have been writing him everyday anyway. I saw this statue the other day driving by, It reminded me of Daniel so I had to go back and take a picture.

1:30 a.m my phone rings and I couldn't believe it when i saw through my blurry eye's that it was Daniel :) I'd never been so happy to hear someones voice in all my life, he's voice is sweet and smooth, sings like a melody in my head. My heart flew to where he was at that moment. He only had a few minutes to tell me that he was just getting ready to head down to Basic after being at the reception area for a week. They don't let them sleep more than 4 or 5 hours a night and they are standing most of the day, so his heel hurt him pretty bad. He's making friend's and is anxious to get to basic and get things moving along. He said he's been writing me everyday, but they haven't gotten here yet. It was so great to talk to him, I fell back to sleep that morning with a smile on my face.
I opened my mailbox this afternoon to find one letter from Daniel :) It sat in there like a lighthouse, his word like rays of light. There wont be a forwarding address till he gets settled in Basic, am anxious to write him. I'm staying busy working on London's dress for the Renaissance fair at school. She's so excited about it, she puts it on every step of the way. I know she feels like a queen when it's on. That little girl is still inside there somewhere twirling like a princes. It makes me really see how much she has matured. I watch her and now matter how frustrated we get at each other, she impresses me everyday. She's an unusual girl and that's what I love about her.

9 weeks or so will go by before I hear Daniel's voice again. Tonight is his first time in Basic Training and I wonder what he's doing right now. I know it's late there and I hope that he's sleeping well after a long day of traveling. I can't help but feel like he's needing me right now as much as I'm needing him. I'm lying here and I feel so broken, this apartment is empty and cold without him. My dreams are scattered, I wake up searching for him only to remember that he's gone. I think the hardest part for me will be not knowing what he's going through, or knowing what he's thinking, or feeling. I want to be there to keep him standing when he wants to fall. We have said so many goodbye's each one gets more painful than the last. The only thing that makes me smile is Knowing that I will see him at his graduation. Stay strong baby!

Well we're doing our best to make the most of our last few days together. So we went to the Gateway down town for a romantic dinner at the Thaifoon. We took this picture off the bridge as we walked across it. AWWWW! We held hands all night walking up and down the streets. My heart aches to know that he will be gone in a few days, it just doesn't seem real to me yet.

Sunday we drove out the the Great Salt Lake to take a few last picture of us to get me through the next 15 weeks. London was our photographer, we bribed her with a Happy Meal :) It was very very foggy today, not the best picture day but they turned out ok. London's favorite part was climbing to the top the rock were we took most of the pictures.







It was a great day, despite the clouds. Thanks London for being a great photographer. :)

Well Daniel is leaving in a week:( Last weekend was our last with the kids, so we wanted to do something together. London and Jayke never want to go anywhere, and you can only rent so many movies. We needed new board games!!! Yes that should do it, keep everyone happy and entertained. We'll it only took 45 MINS at Walmart for us all to agree on what games to get. Uno, Swap, and Phase 10, won over board games that get boring and lose their pieces.
We sat around the kitchen table eating pizza and playing games. Daniel and I spent most of the time laughing at the kids and their strategies of winning each game. Poor London kept collecting card instead of discarding them. Jayke started to get frustrated around 10:00 so we put them both to bed, and Daniel and I played Phase 10 for a few more hours. :) So quiet and peaceful...

Christmas is a time for Family and Friends and this year I've finally felt like I have a complete family with Daniel in my life. NO stressing about trying to make everyone happy, happiness has come pretty easily for us. The kids have been back and forth between me and there dad's through the holidays so we just try to enjoy them while we have them, and enjoy our time alone when we get it.

Christmas Eve was the usual family get together, present and chaos... I haven't brought a boyfriend to Christmas in 4 years, so naturally everyone was curious. Poor Daniel was cornered by my dad and uncle and interrogated Ha Ha Ha. They had both already had a few drink so the conversation was interesting. I think i was more embarrassed then he was. He handled himself well, as soon as he mention his joining the army my uncle had nothing else to say but good thing. My family has a lot of respect for Daniel.

Christmas day we slept in only because the kids where at their dad's. Then we headed to my mom's after jump starting the dead battery in my car. We were 2 hours late but there was still food:) After dinner, presents and playing games we looked outside to find the it had snowed about 5 inches since we'd been there. It took us about an hour to get home that night...

I was just thinking today of how grateful i am for having Daniel in my life and here is just one example why. A few weeks back I wasn't feeling well and it was my weekend with both the kids. I did my best to keep up with them, after dinner all i could do was lay on the couch. Daniel scooped me up and put me to bed around 7:00 p.m, promising he would take care of the kids the rest of the night. I think they were more excited to hang out with him then with me... They made plans to stay up all night playing games and watching movies.

I feel asleep listening to my kids laughing and playing with him and it made me so happy that they both enjoy him as much as i do. I woke up the next morning to a disaster in my living room and kitchen but i didn't mind. It was only proof of how much fun they had that night. He said that Jayke feel asleep around 11:00 and London wasn't far behind. Daniel carried us all to bed that night. ha ha ha... Thanks honey for being such a sweetheart.

London and I had a rough night tonight. I swear sometimes i feel like I'm walking on egg shells with her. It seems like she's always mad at me for something, the littlest things set her off these days. She stuck between child and teen, trying to balance between these two emotional states of being is hard on both of us. We're both learning to give and take and mostly to forgive. I love you London!!!

It was a quiet weekend with the kids at there dad's, leaving just Daniel and me. It'd felt like a long time since he and i had spent anytime alone, so we were really looking forward to this weekend. We decide to save money on going out on a date so we gathered up all the Christmas decorations i had and set up the Christmas Tree.

It seems silly that such a simple thing like trimming the tree ended up being so romantic. We turned on our playlist that we had made during the first couple months of dating, and that was fun to listen and remember back to what we were doing at that time. We turned down the lights so we could check the Christmas lights. I had rearranged the furniture earlier that day to make it more cozy, i have a pretty large living room for an apartment and i like things spread out in the summer for more space, but in the winter i squeeze all the furniture together and it's amazing how comfy it is. So we talked and laughed and just really enjoyed each other that night as we decorated my place. After the trimming was done we watch a movie in the glow of Christmas lights. We held each other for hours that night on the couch and couldn't have been happier.

Daniel is preparing to go to basic training for the Army and is trying to get in as good of shape as he can before he leaves. He's been doing lost of push-ups, sit-ups, running and marching. So last night London and I decide to go on a walk with him after dinner. I had to bribe London of course with candy to get her to come walk around in the dark. Shes such a home body, she even brought with her my head lamp and a book. HaHa

We bundled everyone up in coats and hats, Daniel with his 25lbs weighted backpack and set off around 7:00 p.m. We started off on a trail that Daniel had discovered earlier that day and walked and walked and walked. London did manage to read for a minute while holding onto my arm to lead her way. What a Goof!!! We warmed up quickly and had a great time, finding a bunch of roads I'd never known where there. I haven't had a lot of time to hang out with London these days so it was nice just to have a chance to chat with her with no other distractions. She such a great kid...

Well Thanksgiving was a little different this year. The kids spent it with their dads. London's dad is a chef and she just thinks that's the greatest thing in the world to cook with her dad so it was pretty natural to let her stay with him to help out with the feast. Jayke and his dad spent it with some friends.

It was a pretty adult Thanksgiving at mom's this year. Daniel got to experience a big family dinner at mom's house. I had a great time with him and my family, very relaxing, and felt grateful to have him there with me. He's in listed in the army so his time with me is growing short. I can't wait to spend Christmas with the kids this year :)