Vacation, Part 1: Getting There.

Well, due to a tiny hiccup in the government in Kyrgystan, Matt's return home was delayed about a week. Which was lame because: A.) It had already been 8 months, for Pete's sake, B.) We had tickets to fly to the US on vacation four days after his actual return date. Four days is apparently not enough time to tell Marines, "Hey, we've got resources to help you, don't be stupid." Because of the extended transition time, we had to cancel our tickets and Travelocity basically put us out $3800. (That is a story for another time, but needless to say, Travelocity is now on THE LIST, along with Best Buy.)

We needed another cheap way to get back to the States. Enter: the Secret Society of the AMC Flights. Pretty much everyone in the Military community knows about AMC Flights. Ask anyone exactly how they work and maybe one in one hundred can tell you. Basically, when there is a training flight or a flight taking equipment somewhere and that flight has some extra space, military members and their families can hop on for either really cheap ($30ish) or free. This was to be our vacation savior.

There is a lot of waiting for spots on flights in your desired general direction, lots of layovers and lots and lots of uncertainty. But there is also lots and lots and lots of Free Flight-ness. Which, I guess makes up for it.

The first leg of our trip back home was a commercial charter from Okinawa to Iwakuni to Yokota Air Base. We had to arrive at the Kadena Air Mobility Command (AMC, get used to the acronym, you'll read it a lot in the upcoming posts) at something like 4 in the morning. And then we had to wait a few hours to find out if we were able to get on the flight. Then we had to wait a few hours to get on the flight.

When we got on the plane, we noticed that the seats in the middle of the plane were cordoned off with caution tape. We knew we were in for an exciting vacation. Apparently, the plane cleaners had opened the emergency exit over the wings and now those doors were inoperative. Awesome. Equally awesome? When the plane took such a deep dip, less like turbulence and more like Chester fell asleep at the wheel, that the oxygen masks several rows in front of us came down. Waaay awesome.

Fortunately for us, the rest of our travels were significantly safer. We spent the night at the amazing lodge at Yokota (full sized fridge, dish washer, etc for $41), flew to Elmendorf AFB the next morning, got to see the midnight sun in Alaska, then got to Travis AFB by 6am Sunday morning. Which we learned was not a good time to get a ride to the airport in California.

We spent the day sleeping and exploring the base on foot. Pizza Hut for dinner, sleep by 9, then shuttled off to the airport to catch our flight early the next morning. When we finally got to Tucson, I was happy to see my in-laws, happy to not be waiting for flights and happy to finally be home again. Gotta love the military lifestyle.

Buenos Aires.

And now the post you've all been waiting for - Mid-Deployment Leave! WHAT UP! (Yeah, I've been watching too much How I Met Your Mother. I love you, Barney Stinson).

Well, this vacation started out in the worst possible way: with an e-mail from Orbitz telling me that the longest flight of my incredibly long trip was canceled. After over an hour on the phone and many tearful explanations, I was rerouted and an extra connecting flight was thrown in there. I ended up getting there closer to when Matt got there than had been planned. Be still and know.

We spent our first week in the Recoleta area of BsAs at the Park Plaza Unique Hotel. We ate steak. Lots of steak. On one of our first days we took a short bus tour that gave us ideas for the sight seeing we did. We went to the Museo de Belles Artes, featuring both international artists and Argentine artists. We spent some time at the Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried. We spent a heck of a lot of time talking about food and looking for places to eat and eating. On Saturday we went to the art fair and bought our first piece of artwork from Don Roberto Solima.


[Click here for more pictures that I am too lazy to re-upload]

Our second week we stayed at a fantastic Bed & Breakfast in another part of Buenos Aires (I don't remember which part because I have been home for so long - I know I should have made this post right she I got home). We spent a lot of time watching movies (Sherlock Holmes, Valentines Day and Avatar) and a lot of time window shopping and probably should have spent more time sight seeing. We're such home bodies, even on vacation we just want to chillax and not do anything.

We had an amazing time; it was so great to be together again. Knowing he'll be home soon was a good feeling too. Keep his group in your prayers big time and I'll let you know when he's home safely.

So, listen up, all right?

Here's whats going down:

I love my job. More accurately: I love the people I work with now. Wow. My co-clerk says at least once a week how happy she is that I'm there. She tells me she can't understand why anyone (old bosses!) would dislike me or be mean to me. On Thursday she said "You're so weird!" And I love it. Like the Backstreet Boys, I'm back. Back again. Or wait... maybe that was Eminem? Whatevs.

It is currently Friday night. On Sunday morning, I am making that drive (actually, co-clerk is doing the driving!) down to the airport in Naha. The plane is flying to Tokyo then to D.C. and then to the final destination of... BUENOS AIRES! EEEEEEE!!!! I bought a iPod plug in thingie and a new iPod cover for the Baronness. She is pleased. I am pleased. We are all pleased.

Oh right, and I am going to see my husband after X months apart, we will finally be together again. And we will be buying lots and lots of leather and beef. Woot!

Also, please watch Inglourious Basterds, because it rocks. And the Olympics - starting February 12th in Vancouver. That is all. Will post pictures in three weeks.

M is for Matt.

(... or Missing Marvelous Marine Matt)

I met Matt my first night away at college. This is my journal entry the night I met him after InterVarsity:

afterwards, the girls i had been hanging out with were going to someones room to watch a movie, but i didnt want to, so i found another girl who was going back to Reilly Hall. Her name is Kelly and shes in room 737. all the way at the top! Well, she was having some guys from intervarsity help her with her computer, but one of them Matthew wanted to go back to his room to put his big impressive bible away. so we went to the "smart people's dorm" (honors - cowden) and walked around there for a while. and do you know what i noticed?!?! Matthew looks strikingly similar to elijah wood. it was crazy. he even sounded like him a little too. crazy!!

And a week later when I saw him again:

ok there were like a ton of people in the elevator and one guy was asking some scientific question
"how do you tell how old a black bear is?"
and i said:
"by how many candles there are on his birthday cake!"
and matt said "hey thats a really good one!"
(matt is the guy that looks like elijah wood for those of you who dont remember)

(It's obvious I won him over with my stellar sense of humor)

I got butterflies every time I'd see him around campus and every time - oh my goodness - he recognized me. He remembered my name... He asked me to get lunch with him, to sit by him, to meet his friends. I was nonplussed when he told me he wasn't looking for a girlfriend his freshman year of college. But I was thrilled when he asked me to "make it official," and be his GF. October 6, 2002. At 10:38 pm. (Don't tell my mom he was in my dorm room that late...)

I've been so blessed to find someone to complements who I am so completely. He is the extrovert to my introvert, the socks I have to pick up, the one who adds adventure to my life. I love him so so much and I hate being without him right now.

Projects for the Next Year.

Take a photo every day.
One sentence journal every day.
A year in Psalms every day.

Any other suggestions?