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29 September, 2010

Life is NOT fun when your away from your family..


So I havent written in a couple of days an I apologize for that. Things have been very busy and Lauren was in town for the weekend so I have had very little to no time to write. Anyways with that being said I am now back to the ol writing block. I would tell you of the things that went on during the weekend while Lauren was here but it looks like she has already covered that quite well haha. So what has gone down since the weekend. Oh I had my block one test Monday and I passed with great success! It wasnt to hard and I got through it pretty easily. Other than that like Lauren said, we take notes, everyday all day. So the next subject woule be Dallas. I CANT WAIT TILL DALLAS!! I think we have like 22 days now till we leave for Dallas to celebrate me becoming not old, but very old haha, 24 to be exact. It's going to be a freakin blast. A couple friends and I are going with Lauren, Jessica, and Chris to Dallas to raise cain and go to Fright Nights at Six Flags since I can't go to Halloween Horror Nights (the first time I havent gone in 11 years!) this year. That pisses me off to no end, and guess what, my little brother is a zombie in one of the houses and I won't be able to see him, AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Can you tell im frustrated? It sucks but I can't do anything about it but sit here and whine which does nobody anygood. I miss Orlando a lot, I miss Disney even more... But what I miss most is my family. It finally hit me last night that I won't be able to attend the Disfunctional Gather '10. AKA Thanksgiving. And what's even worse is that I will be the only one not attending. It's just such an awesome time when we all finally get together and relax. We always have a blast with each other and this year I will miss it. Speaking of missing Thanksgiving how about I make a list of all the things I did/will miss while being in BMT/Tech School:

-Most importantly my anniversary with my perfect fiance

-Thanksgiving

-My bday

-July 4th

-My moms bday

-My brother at HHN

-Halloween

-The Jimmy Buffet concert

-No FSU games this year

-The oil benefit concert starring 30 SECONDS TO MARS!

And that is to just name a few. So to be on the real here with some of you who may be thinking about joining the Air Force or any branch of the military really, be prepared to miss a lot of important events. But also be prepared to be proud of what your doing and realize that if it wasnt for us then the people on the other side of the line, civilians, wouldnt be able to have any freedoms of any kind. The country needs us and we are willing to step up and answer. With that being said I would like to thank all of my brothers and sisters in the military for stepping up, thank you very much. Anyways on a lighter note who here is ready to see JACKASS 3D and Saw: The Final Chapter? ME ME ME ME ME! I cant wait to see those retarded guys back in action! It has been a while and those guys are freakin hilarious! And Saw? I LOVE those movies, don't get me wrong they are very sick movies, but AWESOME!! So I am sorry but im going to have to stop it here and get ready for class, blah! I will be back on either tonight or tomorrow morning. Thanks for reading everybody and have a wonderful Wednesday!


-A1C Stephen "Goofy" Volheim


P.S. And yes the picture is a pin of Mickey Mouse thanking an Airman, AMAZING!!

27 September, 2010

Tech school visit part 2

Kisses... Goodbye ones are the worst!
Stephen in front of The Falls, awesome accidental adventure!

Roomies Reunited: Hanging out at Falls Fest 2010 :D


Since my other post was so long I needed another one to add the pictures too so here are the pictures from our weekend!
Leaving Stephen never gets easier, but it's nice to now that in just 25 days I'll be back again for an all new adventure! Watch out Dallas.. we will be invading October 22-24 in celebration of Stephen turning 24(old! ;)) Until then it's back to reality. It's not an easy way of life, but it's our Air Force life and I wouldn't trade it for anything! :)





First Tech School visit!!

So last weekend I got to do something really exciting! We decided last minute(Wednesday actually), that I was going to go visit Stephen. Best. Decision. Ever. It was SO much fun! Even though Wichita Falls is less than exciting and actually kind of creepy, we had a blast!

So first of all, I learned a few things this weekend, you other air force spouses should take notes:
1) Don't be THAT guy.
2) If at all possible never put Sheppard AFB on your list of duty stations!
3)If you ARE at Sheppard, make sure you have a very good map or GPS.. don't get lost in the horror movie-like surroundings!
4) Air power.. we take notes!
5)I was right!.. and that's all I will say about that one! :D
6) In Texas buying beer requires coupons..
7)Jack rabbits are huge! The guys are not exaggerating!

Ok enough being silly.. It was a lot of fun..

Friday: I flew into DFW, rented the car then made the drive to Sheppard(anyone visiting sheppard, not a bad drive at all!), Checked into my hotel, then headed to base to meet Bryan(first time getting to see him in 3 months!!), we got pizza at the mini mall(Anthony's pizza is awesome! Ladies, if you visit sheppard.. get anthony's!), then headed over to the dorms to wait for Stephen to get out of class. We watched the whole squad march back from class which admittedly is pretty cool! Then I FINALLY got to give my sweet fiance a hug and kiss again after a whole month! The guys were VERY eager to get off base so we headed into "town" if you can call it that. We went to the mall and had yummy Mexican food and margaritas! (On the Border by the mall.. another good one!), walked around the mall.. not too much to talk about there!, then we were bored so decided to check out Falls Fest. This is the town's claim to fame. It's an outdoor music festival in one of the local parks. Despite all the jokes we made about it, it was a LOT of fun. The night we were there it was a really good cover band playing all different types of music. There was also all different types of people to people watch, and a pretty impressive fireworks display! After a little while it was pretty hot out and it was pushing the guys curfew so we headed back to base. So we thought... we ended up miserably lost in what looked like a scene from texas chainsaw massacre, children of the corn, and the hills have eyes all at once! Ok, so maybe it was just a lot of corn fields with abandon and run down houses, but hey! I have a big imagination! :) So an hour later we make it back near the base, and it's not quite curfew so we head to the hotel for a few beers and some catching up! It was SO nice to hang out with the guys again! Roommates reunited! :) I was sad they had to go back but I was so tired after a long day that I fell right to sleep!

Saturday: Bright and early after their accountability Stephen came to the hotel. We slept in, hung out a while then went to find lunch. We drove through wendy's really quick then headed to base to play golf with some of his friends. We picked Murphy, Keyes, and some other guy I don't know up from the dorm. After much confusion and a dress code violation(on part) later we finally got to hit the course. I, however, am the world's worst golfer so I opted to keep score and ride in the golf cart! Little did I know I wasn't the only one terrible at golf! 5 hours later, we finally got through 16 out of 18 holes. Needless to say, we were all over it! We went back to the dorms to pick up Bryan and Munson then on to the hotel to shower and change. Somehow we let Stephen pick for dinner so no surprise, to Olive Garden we went! haha.. it was really good though! :) After dinner, we had planned on going to Falls Fest again, but everyone was so worn out that a few beers hanging out in the hotel sounded like a better idea! I think this was one of my favorite part of the trips! Being outnumbered tremendously I was able to sit back and listen to all their BMT stories. They had me rolling! It was nice to get to meet the guys Stephen spends all his time with now and get to know them all a little better. Again, they headed back to the dorms, and I got to sleep!

Sunday: This was my favorite day :) Stephen came over early again, and again we slept in for a while and just hung out. Those of you who have your significant other at home truly take for granted how nice it is to just lay around and watch tv together!(I did!) After breakfast in the hotel(At which, I kid you not, they serve Texas shaped belgian waffles!! They were like the mickey mouse ones from disney world, but Texas instead. In hindsight I wish I had a picture of this to share!) We tried going to the mall then but it wasn't open yet, so we ventured to "downtown". It was like a creepy old ghost town. Literally nothing down there, old buildings boarded up, no traffic or people anywhere.. just weird. But on our way we lucked into discovering "The Falls". We walked around the park and waterfall and took some pictures. It was gorgeous! We killed enough time to head to the mall to find Stephen some new clothes. (I used my bargain shopping abilities!) Then had Ghengis Grill mongolian food for lunch. SO GOOD!! We were both beat and decided spending the rest of the afternoon lounging in the hotel sounded like a great idea! There was plenty of football on to watch.(Dallas won but the Saints lost. Boo!) and A Back to the Future marathon. We ordered pizza later and just enjoyed each other's company again. The 8pm G.I. party came too soon and so did the goodbye tears! He studied and then we decided that since curfew was really not til 10 I would come hang out from 9 to 10 so I did. And of course I missed him as soon as I left! :( These "See you laters" don't get easier.. my heart will always heart when I have to leave...

23 September, 2010


So im guessing im going to start being the "early morning blogger". Haha. On Monday Wednesday and Thursday I have to be up at 3:50 for PT and then I have usually an hour break before I go to class and I dont feel like sleeping for 30 minutes so instead I just blog. So what's new today that wasn't yesterday? Well Lauren is coming to see me TOMORROW!!! Holy crap im so flippin excited that I can't hold it in or stop telling all of my buddies how excited I am or how I cant wait till they meet her. I'm pretty sure they are sick and tired of me talking about her but she is just so incredible that they dont understand. So what's for breakfast thins morning you ask? Full Throttle and a bag, yes a BAG, of Hostess powdered Donettes. MMmmmmmmm. Dobt you wish you were here to enjoy them with me? Haha. So I am hoping the care package my sister sent me gets here today, I love getting those and the surprise behind the flaps of the box. Last time I got one of these it was filled with things such as clothes, cookies, dvd's, and a card. It was AWESOME!! Now if I could only get my grandma on board and have her send me some brownies! Haha im sorry but her brownies are the BEST! So anyways back to Lauren coming into town tomorrow, im now EXTREMLY excited! I think tomorrow were probobly going to have an "alone" day until the football game if the fellas go and then Saturday were going to go play golf and hopefully get the whole crew to go out to say, Olive Garden?! Hahaha I love Olive Garden. Anyways and then Sunday were def not going to do anything but just lay around like we did the Sunday I graduated. Aahhhh what a great weekend ahead. So im sorry and I have ADD so this is way off subject but I watched The Crazies last night and that movie was SAWEEEEET!! Oh yah and in case you didnt know, the plane that went down into the swamp was a C-130H, yah that's the plane I work on haha! I got so excited when I saw that. So I don't really want to go to class today but at the same time I don't want to get in trouble and get pink carded and then not get to hangout with Lauren this weekend, so I guess im going to class. Plus I dont mind going as much now because the class has gotten to know each other now so were more joking and relaxed towards each other. Not to mention the fact that our sub for the next 2 weeks, a retired chief master sergeant, is the coolest old guy in the world. He is so chilled and laid back that it makes the class 100x easier to learn. Bringing an outlook on the class to the classroom like he does just eases the tension when we do PC's (Progress Checks) making them easier to take. So anyways I'm sorry that these are kind of short in the morning but by the time I get a shower, sit down, drink my Full Throttel and eat some doughnuts then I only have like 20 minutes to write. So I doubt I write tomorrow seeing as I will be so flippin busy with Lauren and loving her but if I dont I promise I will write Sunday night when I get done with my G.I. Party. Till then CHOW!


-A1C Stephen "Goofy" Volheim

22 September, 2010

The Early Edition Blog


Well since Lauren doesnt seem to want to blog like i do, im just kidding hunny I know things are stressin you to the max right now so I will take care of this. So anyways I thought I might get on seeing as it's only 5:50 and I dont have to be down stairs till 6:40. I just got done with PT (Physical Training) which starts at 4:10, woof. PT here isnt TOOOO hard but still sucks but I heard we onnly have like 5 more PT sessions till we switch it to the evening schedule which means MORE SLEEP FOR ME IN THE MORNING, YAY!!!! Haha so anyways would you like to hear some of the best news ever? Lauren is coming to see me this weekend!! Yup you heard right, Lauren and I decided that she needs to get away for a weekend and be here with me, her bestest fiance in the world. I cant wait to see her!! I'm going to get that hug and kiss that I have so longed for. Anyways enough of the sappyness, although I know Lauren loves to hear me talk about it, and onto the plans. Lauren plans on flying in on Friday morning and leaving Monday morning. So I know im based in Wichita Falls but I will def find us something to do and if I dont then hell we'll just lay around the hotel room all day till I have to go back at midnight! I cant WAIT! So lets see, what else has gone on in the past couple of days? Um...oh yah, last weekend I went to a tractor pull and um, that was interesting. But it all worked out cause they also had a drag strip so I got to watch bikes and old cars and even super drags haul booty down an 8th of a mile track. I saw one super run and 8th in 4.4 seconds, got up to 146 mph in that time, WOW. Oh so here is some other news, my brother Shawn has now STOLEN one of my dream jobs and is going to become a "scare-actor" at Halloween Horror Nights this year. If you happen to be going then look for him in Zombiegeddon, he will of course be a zombie. Lucky bastard. What really sucks is that I have been the past 12 years and the first year I miss it he is actually IN it. Damn. Oh well, I think I might be going to Frightfest at Six Flags in Dallas on my bday weekend in which Lauren will be back for!! Wow, I turn 24 in less than a month now..wow. That is hard for me to believe actually. I thought I was old now, wth will I think when I hit 24? Especially when my fiance will be 21, she's so young and nieve, hahahaha. So here is some good news, Lauren is coming this weekend and I just checked my bank account and I have $969..WOW..i thought I had maybe $750 so that is a very very good early morning surprise. Well I must be going now, I have classes to take and plans to book when I get done so Lauren can get here sooner!! I love you baby and hope you have a WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY!! I cant wait to see you Friday!!


=A1C Stephen "Goofy" Volheim

19 September, 2010

A little bit of the past mixed with the present..







Ok so here we go, my first true "blog" haha. Everytime I hear the word blog I think about that twix commercial where he's like oh I thought you were a person who liked to express their feelings and blog, haha. Anyways so lets take you back to November 29, 2007. That was one of the greatest days of my life, the day I started dating the perfect woman, the most beautiful girl in this entire universe. The day Lauren and i's relationship started. That night was a great night, she came over with Stevie all nervous and cute in her FSU jersey, and we watched FSU beat the hell out of Boston College. After the game and a couple of beers it was time for her to go home but I wasnt ready for that moment. So being the gentleman that I am I walked her to her truck (what a hell of a truck) and with shaking limbs asked her to be my girlfriend and she instantaniously said yes. What a great night. Since then we have done/accomplished SOOOO much that it's crazy. We've been to Orlando (Disney and Universal a million times), Tallahassee (GO NOLES!!), Tampa (Busch Gardens and a Rays game and Gasparilla), New Orleans, Biloxi, Lagrange GA, Callaway Gardens (Our anniversary trip), and our most recent was San Antonio TX (BMT Graduation). Tell me of another couple that has taken that many amazing trips in 3 years, you cant because their are none out their as amazing as us. We've also accomplished a couple of incredible things, we've almost hit the 3 year mark in our relationship, we've gotten engaged (amazing night), we joined the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization and adopted a "little", we got an amazing dog together, we got an awesome apartment, and our latest and biggest accomplishment is that we've become a military family. I joined the Air Force and at the time Lauren didnt know but she joined on as well.

So lets move onto Basic Military Training. I will only dab into it on here because I don't feel like writing a book haha. So first off the part where you have to leave your friends, family, and loved ones behind sucks big time and yes, you will cry if you have a soul. I did and it sucked. So next lets talk about the food. The chow hall sucks and you have about 3 minutes to eat in your first week but it gets better, about the 7th week they give you 10 minutes to eat. The training their is not easy at all, all you other branches that make fun of the AF because you think it's easy can kiss my ass because it's not. Now dont get me wrong were not some jarhead marine gung ho crazy training but it is very difficult physically and mentally. You will wake up at 4:45 every weekday morning and at 5:45 on the weekends. You do get to go to church on Sundays which I highly recommend. Classes suck, dont fall asleep. Make sure you pass your PT (physical training) evaluations. Be sure to have your close family and gf write as much as possible AND be at graduation because you WILL need it. In turn make sure to write them back as much as possible as well. Oh and one last thing, make sure your ok with showering with about 50 other guys at one time haha.

Ok enough about BMT, if you have ANY questions about the USAF Basic Military Training program then just comment on here and I will be happy to answer and questions. So now onto Tech school. This place is incredible after BMT in a sence of freedom wise. They do have a phase program which you phase up every two weeks and it goes to 3rd phase. The town of Wichita Falls itself sucks, so if you are a crew chief or are coming to Sheppard AFB then I am sorry but it sucks. They do have a nice mall and a couple of resturants but that's about it. Oh make sure to visit the Airman's Clube if you are 21 and up asap. They have great drinks at good prices and yes, I did drink a little to much the first time I went, what a night. The recreational things they have to do here are horseback riding, paintball, golf course, skeet shooting, fishing, etc. I wish I had more to write about here but I have only been here for 3 weeks. I can say that being a C-130 Crew Chief is by far the best job in the AF and if you are a crew chief of anykind then you are very lucky because we do have the best job in the force. Then only thing that sucks is the C-130 has the longest class time here, 25 days of fundamentals and 54 days of track meaning I will be here till Jan. 18th of next yea r. Then I go to Little Rock for about 10 days to do some HOT training and THEN I finally come home. I cant wait to get home, to see my friends and most importantly, my dog. I love you so much Natty and cant wait to get home and play and run with you. I also want to say to my friends that I miss you guys to and cant wait to get back and hang out with all of you guys!

Now to my amazing fiance who is writing this along with me. First off, I love you. I love you more than all of the elements of Oxygen in this world (good one haha). I miss you more than Bert could ever miss Ernie. Thank you so much for staying strong and being there for me throught this whole USAF ordeal. You are absolutly incredible and by far the strongest woman I know. I can't wait to call you Mrs. Lauren Volheim next May. You are the most incredible thing to ever come into my life and I thank God everyday for putting you here with me. Though sometimes have been rough we have made it, and will always make it. I cant wait to be home with you in Feb for good so you can fall asleep in my arms again. I miss that so much. You are beautiful, smart, hilarious, spontanious, an amazing cook, outgoing, your willing to try anything at least once, your love for FSU is incredible and right on the $, i love your smile, your cute little nose, the color of your eyes are mesmerizing, i love how you can go to a baseball game and drink a beer and eat a hotdog OR go to a very classy resturant and make both of them look like a piece of cake, i love how you italian and im german but somehow we make it work, i love all the inside jokes we have (I GOT THIS!!), i love your ambitions/goals, i love your family, i love how you LOVE the USAF, i love the way you rock your spouse pin everyday, i love the fact that you put up with my insane Disney obsession, i love that you are a republican, i love that when something bothers you you speak up about it, i love how country you are (although im extreme gangsta haha), i love your cuddling skills, i love you BACK MASSAGE skills, i love the fact that you admit that you are a worse driver than Hellen Kellar, i love that your happy on a Fri night with just staying home and relaxing with me, i love your friends no matter how messed up and cooky they are, i love how soon we will no longer have a dating anniversary but now a WEDDING anniversary, i love how proper and courteous you are, and most of all I love you. Ok well till next time I wish you all the best and keep your heads up, ill be home soon enough.

-A1C Stephen "Goofy" Volheim

18 September, 2010

Life on the homefront...

Proudly sporting my Air Force (future) spouse pin!
Natty keeping mom company.. he's getting so spoiled!!

First week of tech school classes are over, and 4th week of the semester is over me! :) Pretty much back into the routine now, as much as I hate it! But I just have to keep reminding myself it's my last year.. just got to push through! It helps a lot being able to talk to Stephen everynight. Skype is amazing! I want to hug whoever invented it.

Aaaaaand wedding planning. Still in step one. Have been googling venues like a madwoman this week, and my mom and I found a promising one! 5eleven South Palafox. (If anyone has any experience with that place please let me know!!) Until we book it officially i'm also still open to other suggestions! :) We're supposed to go meet with them one afternoon this week and i'm really excited! I have a good feeling about this one!

Also started planning my trip to Dallas this week to visit Stephen! I can't wait! I'm going October 22nd-25th to celebrate his birthday weekend! I've been looking up plane tickets, hotel rooms, and stuff to do in Dallas since i've never been!! I just can't wait to get to hug my love again! Anyone who hasn't been seperated from their significant other has no idea how exciting it is to know a date you will see them again. It definitely makes you appreciate time together even more. As much as it sucks, it has it's positive points. I don't regret it at all. I do have my emotional days. More so when i'm tired and cranky and just want him here to calm me down, but we have phone calls, skype, and trips to plan! We get through the hard days and it all makes our relationship stronger :)

Oh yes... I almost forgot today is the Air Force's birthday! Happy birthday Air Force! Greatest air force in the world, and I love my airman!!




16 September, 2010

Tech school.. the new adventures.. according to Lauren!

That Sunday, it was unfortunatley time to walk back to the dorm, and once again kiss my Airman goodbye. I choked back tears the whole walk as I tried my hardest to make light conversation for both our sakes. We made it to the dorm and that was as close as I could get. I had to stay on my side of the street and he had to cross to the dorm. He hugged me tight and those tears broke free... and didn't stop. I tried to get together enough to seem strong for him, but I don't think I did a very good job! We finally hugged and kissed good bye and he headed across the street. I stood and watched. Again with the tears, and they just wouldn't stop. That familiar pain in my heart was back too... This time different though. I was so proud words couldn't even express. I was so glad he joined, I missed him like crazy, but that wasn't the guy that left me in Pensacola, this new, mature, dedicated, committed, man was my soon to be husband! :) I cried the entire walk back to the hotel after watching him walk all the way upstairs to his dorm. I passed several other airmen and got the same response to my tears.
"It's ok ma'am!" "it will be ok!" I smiled through the tears, cause it was ok.

I'll take a moment here to tell you all how lucky we are to live in this millenium. Facebook is amazing. I know that sounds silly, but it really is! During BMT I was able to meet several other girlfriend/wives through various facebook groups who's significant other was in Stephen's flight. You have no idea how helpful it is to have someone to talk to who's going through the exact same things! I have a feeling this will come in handy all the way through our adventures in the military. (To any other AF wives reading this blog, let me know if you would like the link to any of the groups, you have no idea how truly helpful they are!) Back to my story... I was dreading the night ahead of me in the hotel by myself. Luckily, through facebook I learned that one of the other wives was stuck there alone too in the same hotel! :) We met up and walked to the minimall together and then talked for hours in the hotel. It was SO nice to have someone to pass the evening with! My advice to incoming AF wives.. take advantage of facebook and get to know other AF wives! I've made several good friends, and we are all going through the same thing! Remember, we're all part of the world's greatest air force too! We have to stick together)

As much as I was dreading trekking home the next day, knowing he was off to another school in Texas and I wouldn't be able to see him again for a month and a half. When I got that first text from him in the middle of the night when he got his phone back, I knew it would be a million times better now! And boy was I right!

We talk everyday. Many of you take that for granted, if you are, go hug your significant other cause you don't know how lucky you are! We can chat through facebook, text, call, or skype, my personal favorite! I can actually SEE him everyday! :) The best part is, I can visit whenever we want now! Stephen's 24th birthday will be the third weekend in October and we're currently in the process of planning my trip there! I'm currently counting the days down until then!

None of this is easy. We still have rough days, but at least now we can talk about them. I'll be the first to admit that I took Stephen for granted while he was with him. As I've said before, i'm so proud of him because he has truly grown up and matured thanks to the AF. But before he left I never really truly appreciated him. Little things like cooking dinner and having movie night together now seem like such a big deal. As much as I hate the distance the separation, I appreciate what it has done for our relationship. We have no choice but to communicate, so it has strengthened our communication immensely. Not only that but we can really say we appreciate each other now. I will not take a minute for granted. I'm already planning our trips to visit, and his leave at Christmas...and I really can't wait until our wedding next May! As frustrating as the planning is proving to be, i'm so excited for it! I know there will be plenty of adventures in both the wedding planning, and tech school to come!

Graduation weekend as told by Lauren

Stephen's family at graduation
Hehe...I thought this was funny at Sea World :)

At the Riverwalk in Downtown, San Antonio


After 8 and 1/2 weeks..finally with my airman at graduation! :D



After a long day in planes and airports, Stephen's dad and I made it to San Antonio! I was so excited I could barely contain it, nothing could upset me. We had some minor issues with car rental and what not, but I did not care! One long taxi ride later, we were checked into our hotel. I wanted to go to sleep right then so that the next day would get there faster and I could finally see him! But we went down to the riverwalk in downtown San Antonio instead to get dinner and check it out so we would have a good idea of what to do when the whole family got there. We walked around a little bit and then found this cool Irish Pub right on the river and had dinner. (The food was delicious!) We walked and talked as we tried to make it back to the car. Apparently we're both directionally challenged, and we ended up unbelievably lost! We simply could NOT find the parking garage the was was in! We probably walked in circles for over an hour. Then we tried to drive back to the hotel..no surprise we got lost again.. It was midnight when I made it to my room! (We had to leave the hotel by 6:15am the next day) I made Stephen's sign for the airman's run the next day, laid out my clothes and all, and repacked my suitcase before finally being tired enough to pass out.

The alarm went off and I was wide awake! I got ready in a hurry, all packed up and was in the lobby waiting 5 minutes early. His dad had over slept so we got a late start. But we made it on time to the briefing. By this time the butterflies in my stomach were going crazy! I thought I would throw up right there in the auditorium... after what seemed like an endless briefing they released to wait for the airman's run.. I thought I was going to jump out of my skin waiting for 20 minutes!! Finally, they came running by! Neither of us could pick our airman out of the crowd the first go round.. but the second run by I spotted him! It was all I could do not to run out and hug him then! But nope.. they ran back to their dorm and we had 2 hours to kill! So we went to get breakfast. I, of course, could not eat. We went to the base hotel and luckily got to check into my room since it was ready. His family's room still wasn't available. So we checked in and then headed over to the coin ceremony.. Again with the waiting!( I quickly learned the "hurry up and wait" mentality of the military!) His dad kept laughing at me because I was so anxious! The ceremony finally began and it was awesome! I got chills, and of course cried. I was also stressed because again, I couldn't pick him out of his flight! I kept asking his dad how we were going to find him! Finally the ceremony ended and we were allowed to go find our airman. Finally a hug and kiss!!! We took off down the bleachers and through the crowd and after a little searching, found him! My butterflies were finally gone as I got to hug my fiance for the first time in 8 & a half weeks but the excitement was still there!! We went to find food since that seemed to be the main thing Stephen wanted all weekend! haha So Burger King it was! I was just excited to be with my airman!!!!! The rest of the family made it from Pensacola, and we all got to hang out for a little while, but then it was back to the dorms. Boy did I hate giving him back! I just wanted him to stay with us!!

The next day we were up early again(and again I had no trouble getting out of bed!!) and headed to the parade grounds for the graduation parade. I can't even begin to tell you how incredible this is! If you have a loved one that joins the AF by all means go to graduation it is an awesome experience! I had chills the whole time, and again could not wait to get off those bleachers and get to my love! After hugs, kisses, and tons of pictures, it was on to see the dorm where he had lived all this time. I quickly saw why he was so homesick! This was no ritz-carlton! After a quick tour, open ranks, and loading up in the car again we headed off downtown to venture to the riverwalk. We ate at Dick's the infamous San Antonio restaurant where they're known for their service, more lack there of. It was a trip! Then we walked all over the riverwalk and saw the alamo(less than impressive), the guys went to all the Ripley museums while us girls did a little shopping in the mall. By the time we met back up we were all exhausted and ready to head back to the base. So after a quick stop at Olive Garden(I told you Stephen was all about eating!!) it was back to the base and back to the dorm for Stephen :(

On Saturday, we got him early! We picked him up after open ranks, and after a few quick errands, we all headed to Sea World! We had all been waiting for this! Inspite of the heat, we had a great day! Just all being together again was amazing. After a long day at Sea World, we headed back to the hotel to relax a few minutes and get changed then it was off to a minor league baseball game. Again, a lot of fun. It was honestly one of my favorite parts of the trip. We all just got to relax and hang out. The whole crazy gang was together for a little while. After the game, it was back to the base, which meant back to the dorms. I wasn't ready for this weekend to end!

Sunday was indescribable. The whole time Stephen had written about going to church and how awesome the services were and how much he enjoyed them. I was excited about this the whole time, and even more excited when he told me in his letters that he hoped I would stay through Sunday to go to church with him because he wanted me to experience it too. Boy was I glad that I did! I can't describe to you the excitement in that church. Again, I had chills the whole time. There were points when I thought about crying, but couldn't because I couldn't stop smiling! It was amazing. THE best part of the weekend. After church, his mom, sister, and brother had to head to the airport to get back home. As much fun as it had been to be all together, I will admit, I was excited to have him all to myself for a few hours. How did we spend it? Doing absolutely nothing!! We were so worn out from the crazy weekend, that we just watched tv in my hotel room, ordered pizza, and just caught up. This is why he is my best friend, because we can do this! :) Time went by slowly, but not slow enough. I just wanted time to stop so I could live in that moment forever! That walk back to his dorm was the longest, hardest walk ever knowing I wouldn't be seeing him again for a while....Our incredible weekend had to end

BMT... Lauren's side!

I'll never forget the day Stephen left for BMT. It was June 29th, 2010. His mom, his brother, and I drove with him to Crestview that day. We left really early to go to Duke Field for his in processing. We all waited for about 2 hours while they did that. Then we had time to kill before their flight left. He had enlisted with his best friend, Bryan. They both left that day for bmt. Bryan's mom and his son, Aden were there that day they left too. We all went to Olive Garden and had lunch. After lunch we had time to kill, so we went to the little air force museum right outside of Eglin AFB. It was during this time that I finally allowed it to sink in that he was leaving. I wanted time to just freeze. I spend that hour trying my best to hold back tears. I held his hand tight and just didn't want to let go. I didn't want him to walk away even for 2 seconds! When we got in the car to drive to the FWB airport I thought I was going to throw up! We got to the airport and although there was more time to kill before the flight we couldn't really go inside with them and had to say our goodbyes at the curb. That was one of the hardest moments of my life. I could already feel the tears coming! I stood back and watched first as he said goodbye to his mom and brother, and when it came my turn I could no longer fight those tears. When he wrapped his arms around me that was it, I bawled. I didn't want to let go! I was ready to call the recruiter and tell him too bad, the AF just couldn't have him! But we managed to pull it together... It helped that the ever humorous, Shawn, started singing to lighten the mood! I'll probably never forget that moment either! My heart broke. We watched him walk inside then had to make the 45 minute drive back home and I had to get myself together to go to work. I've never felt pain like I did that day. I literally thought I would die! 8 and a half weeks seemed endless.

For that first 2 weeks I cried at the drop of a hat. Any mention of Stephen, any talk of anything military, even normal little things at work that normally wouldn't phase me sent me to tears. I think people at work thought I was crazy! I've never cried at work before, and there I was standing in the kitchen crying my eyes out! The next day, he got 30 seconds to call to give me his address. He sounded awful, sick, tired, sad.. of course there I was at work again, standing at the wait station crying! That weekend they got their first phone call for 5 minutes. He couldn't even manage to call. He sent me a few texts, but said he couldn't hold it together enough to call. Of course, more tears on my end!

I know this sounds horrible, but it did gradually get better. I won't say I never cried again, but once the first 2 weeks passed, it seemed more bearable. I didn't cry as often or as easily, mostly just after he called, or when I had a bad day at work and wished he was there with me. I kept busy, and the time flew right by! I measured time in phone calls and in weeks til graduation! Before I knew it I was booking my flight and hotel for graduation.. and THEN.. it was finally Wednesday, August 25th, and several meltdowns, a minor degree change, class schedule overhaul, and whirlwind packing spree later, I left Natty dog with a close friend and I boarded the plane at Pensacola Regional Airport with Stephen's dad to FINALLY head to San Antonio! I was so excited, yet so nervous!!

15 September, 2010

Welcome!

(April 29th, 2010.. our engagement!! :))
Thanks for stopping by our blog! I hope you all find it entertaining if nothing else. :)

We both like to blog but rarely keep up with it, so we're trying a new concept. We're blogging together. Most likely I(Lauren), will end up doing most of the writing, but we'll see! The idea is this blog will follow both of us on this adventure into the Air Force and on the road to becoming a married couple. Both aspects have plenty of interesting twists and turns to tell! You'll find everything from Stephen's basic training and tech school stories, to my adventures with work and wedding planning! These first few blogs we'll back track a little to get caught up. From dating, to engagement, to basic training and graduation, we'll back up and then be caught up to the here and now of our tech school/ last year of college/ wedding planning edventures, so stay tuned! :)