And She's Back!

Oh my. So much has happened since I last wrote a post! But because I can't tell you everything in one post, I'll give you a quick recap.

My dream came true!!! And it hurt like hell...

My cousin had her bridal shower and it was SO much fun and she is just SO gorgeous!

DILLON PROPOSED!!!! We are gettin' married people!!!

We went to Ring Dance and it was the best weekend ever!!!

 My roommate got a kitty and he's adorable but also a little shit.

My cousin got married and it was hands-down the best wedding EVER.

Are you excited?!? I won't promise it's coming soon because who the hell knows when the next time I'll blog is, but at least now you know I'm not dead!

Road Trippin' It

I just got back from an amazing weekend in Colorado. This was probably one of the best trips I have ever had for multiple reasons. Of course, being with Dillon is always wonderful. We didn't do too much but we had a lot of time together which was great. But what made this trip better than the others is that I got to go on a road trip with three other girls. Some (most) might think I'm crazy for enjoying driving that much - it is a 13 hour drive from Tucson to Colorado Springs, so twenty. six. long. hours. total of driving in a car. How crazy is that?? Us USAFA girlfriends are known to be pretty crazy, though. ;)

I had a whole huge paragraph mapping out every detail of our trip, but that bored me, even. Haha. So let me just say we broke up the trip into manageable driving times and I have never had such a blast being stuck in a small car with three other people. We talked about everything, you never would have guessed some of us had just met for the first time. As hard as it was for me to be supportive of Dillon going to the academy, I have to say I am so incredibly thankful that it has brought me to so many amazing friendships with even more amazing girls.

And then we finally made it to the Academy!! Dillon and I went and bought some wine and a movie and stayed in at the hotel for the night, which was perfect. We watched Gravity, and after splitting a whole glass of wine, that movie got to me. Spoilers if you haven't seen it. But when George Clooney let go of Sandra Bullock so she could live I legitimately started bawling. Like huge sobs. I think it's also because Dillon fell asleep on me, but whatevs. Don't mix that movie and wine people, you will get irrationally emotional.

Saturday we went to lunch and then we caught the last few innings of the USAFA baseball game. It's strange now that Dillon isn't on the team, but his roommate's girlfriend was also in town and we have been talking for a few months so we were excited to finally meet! Also, the Falcon's swept the number 20 team in the nation and are now on their longest winning streak in the program's history. So that's pretty sweet! That night we met up with Lily and her boyfriend Taylor (Dillon and Taylor went to Germany together last summer so know each other) at Edelweiss, which is a German restaurant in the Springs. We got some beer which was really good and then went and saw Oculus together. The only way I can watch scary movies anymore is if I am slightly tipsy...so we spiked our Icee's and enjoyed the movie. ;)

Sunday was really nice because instead of waking up and only having a few hours before I had to be at the airport, I had all day since we weren't starting our drive back until 7pm. So we went and ate breakfast, saw Captain America, and then went to my cousin's house for Easter dinner. And oh my goodness, their dog just had puppies and they were the cutest. things. ever. And they made Dillon happier than I have ever seen him. Just look at this:

This is Dillon while waiting for Easter breakfast.

And this is Dillon holding a puppy. He was seriously in love. We had been talking recently about getting a puppy after we got married and Dillon's dream is to get a lab. And then here they were. These adorable lab puppies just begging us to take one. We seriously considered it for a while, but then decided against it because having a puppy is ruff. Lol I'm funny. But my goodness it was great to hold those adorable pups.

It was so hard to leave without one of those adorable puppies, but alas, we did. We had a little extra time before we were meeting with the other girls, so Dillon and I played a quick game of bowling. And let me tell ya, I like playing against 10 and 6 year olds much better than Dillon. I at least broke 100 so whatevs. Then we went back to the academy and took the mandatory couple pictures in front of the chapel. I had actually never been so close to the chapel before, even though it's gorgeous and like the highlight of the USAFA campus.

Muh love. <3

And then it was back in the car for another 13 hour drive! I have to say though, it was one of the easiest goodbye's we've had. Of course it always sucks to leave him, but the fact that I was getting back in the car to spend more time with three amazing girls made it so much better. We are definitely hoping to do it again next year! And now it's only 27 days until I'm back in Colorado for RING DANCE! 

My Sweet Valentine

First of all, thank you so much for all your support about my Facebook page for my blog, which I mentioned in this post. It was comforting to know that so many people feel the same way I do! It is a scary thing, putting yourself out there, but I'm so grateful for all the support I have.

So...thank god I was able to see Dillon this weekend. It had only been a little over a month since I last saw him but I swear it seemed like six. We had been going through a lot which didn't make the time apart any easier. This weekend together was exactly what we needed.

I have to say though, our weekend wasn't too eventful, so I won't bother you with an exact play by play. I was wanting to do something fun and exciting. My suggestions ranged from getting a tattoo to skydiving to going on a hike. Unfortunately, since I hurt my neck I wasn't really feeling up to anything adventurous. But here are the highlights of the weekend:

Picking him up at the airport. I cannot explain the amazing feeling I get when I see him walking towards me. I get the dumbest smile on my face and the first hug and kiss is just perfect. And then his first words..."can we go get food?" Just melts my heart. ;) I even tried to curl my hair for him, but I turned out looking more like a lion.

Night out at Azian. Two of our friends from high school work there so we decided to stop by and see what it was all about. We sat at the sushi bar and had a sake-politan, which I thought was pretty good! Truth is, I actually hate sushi. I hate anything fishy. It creeps me out. But it was actually pretty cool being at the bar, and I even ate some of the sushi and didn't absolutely hate it!

Hanging out as a family. We took Tuck out of his tank and let him walk around the house a little bit. In order to not lose him we tried tying the balloon Dillon got me for our four year anniversary to him, just in case he tried crawling under a couch or something.

It didn't last very long. As soon as he started walking it slipped off and it is now hanging out on our ceiling which is too high for anyone to reach. Whoops! We also took a family photo, which I think is pretty darn cute.

Seeing Dillon's family. On Sunday we decided that we would drive up to see his mom and brother. I have to admit at first I was being a little selfish and just wanted it to be only us. But we got there and played tennis with his brother and watched the Olympics together and it was a lot of fun.

Just being together. Despite the very low-key weekend, I am just so happy we got to spend time together. We mainly spent it sleeping, watching TV, cuddling, and kissing. And I wouldn't have it any other way. The fact that we can simply hang out without needing to always be doing something shows me that I can spend the rest of my life with him.

Cheesy enough for you?? Sorry about that. ;) I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day weekend! Our presents to each other was his plane tickets, and I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Come Back, Weekend

I guess you can call me a rebel, because I'm doing my weekend recap today instead of on Monday like all the "normal" bloggers do. Really, it makes so much more sense to do it on Monday, but what can I say, I'm weird unique.

Friday's have been a little weird for me now that I don't get off work until 8/8:30. My roommates and I ended up going to Applebee's and we didn't start eating until 10pm. I don't know about you, but to me that is a really late dinner. Afterwards we went to Frost to get gelato...yumm. Then we finally got around to watching the Pretty Little Liars Halloween special. The fact that it took us so long to watch is just sad. Anyone else big PLL fans?? Honestly, I didn't think the episode was that great...but I won't say why because I don't want to give any spoilers for those who are even worse than me and still haven't seen it.

I spent most of Saturday lounging and playing with the stuff that came in my ipsy bag. I really had nowhere to be, but you better believe I used every single thing that came in it on my face...hopefully the people that did see me that day didn't think I looked like a hot mess. I was lucky enough to see a fellow USAFA girlfriend on Saturday, though! She is from Albuquerque but her and some of her friends drove to Tucson for a fun day trip! I met them on campus and showed them around Greek row and the main part of campus! It was a short visit but very sweet. We decided that since we're only a four hour drive from each other, we should try to plan some more weekend visits next semester!

 Although I really should have gotten some more homework done than I did, I ended up watching Supernatural all. day. long. I honestly didn't start my homework until 9pm. Whoops! I really don't know why I think it's a good idea to leave all my homework for Sundays anyways. All weekends should be homework free, am I right?

Randoms from the weekend:

 They were at home together and I was at work when they did this...I was destined to lose this one!!

My adorable turtle in his new rock. It is seriously so cute to see him sleeping inside of it with his cute little hands sticking out the little hole in the rock.

I hope you had an amazing weekend! Did you do anything fun?

Also, quick question: would my lovely readers like to see an Ipsy review on my blog? To be honest, I tend to skip over any type of review posts, but I know that some people like them. Tell me what you think either way!

Parent's Weekend III

*I have put off this post because I was waiting on pictures, and although I still haven't gotten all of them, I just can't wait any longer!*

This Labor Day weekend was spent similarly to my Labor Day weekends for the past two years - in Colorado with Dillon for USAFA's Parent's Weekend.

It is kind of hard to explain how absolutely incredible this weekend and those past weekends are, so I'll just map out the weekend for you instead.

Friday - The journey to Colorado is always a little painful. The best way for me to get out there is to fly from Tucson to Colorado Springs. That means four airports, three flights, and 4+ hours of travel time. All completely worth it, but very long and exhausting. So to be completely honest, I wasn't in the best mood when I got there. I have no idea why but the final days leading up to when we see each other again can sometimes be the hardest. Anyways, Dillon picked me up from the airport with his mom and brother, and then we went to Texas Roadhouse to eat, and then went back to the hotel room. But it wasn't until Dillon and I went on a walk, just the two of us, that we were finally able to get into our lovey-dovey selves. This may sound selfish, but I like our reunions to be just us. So when we finally got some time to ourselves, that's when I became truly happy and it finally hit me that I was in Colorado to spend the entire weekend with my man.

Saturday - Woke up bright and early so we could go to the football game! Even though the game didn't start until 1, we got there around 10:30 to hang out at the tailgates! We first went to the baseball tailgate and had some burgers and hot dogs, which I'm surprised I could do with it being so early.

Then we headed over to his squadron's tailgate and I got to meet all of his friends that he talks so much about. It's a really small thing to get excited about, but I love being able to put a face to the names. It makes me feel more connected to him and his life here at the Academy even though we are so far away. Then back to the baseball tailgate we went to hang out for a few more hours.

 Since Dillon was helping out with the tailgate, we actually didn't go to the game. Once the tailgate was over we had to load up his truck, bring it to the baseball field, and then unload it all. But trust me, we were looking at the score on our ESPN app the entire time!
Afterwards we went and saw The Butler, which is an extremely touching movie that I would definitely recommend!! *Quick sidenote: It's really interesting to see things about the Civil Rights Movement now that I'm old enough to fully understand what it all meant and the atrocities that the black population had to endure. Learning about it in school could never make me understand in my heart what this all meant.
Then we went shopping! Of course this was not my kind of shopping because it was all for Dillon. ;) When mom comes out, so does her credit card, and Dillon is in heaven, haha!

Sunday - White water rafting day! When Dillon's mom first recommended we go white water rafting this parent's weekend I was all for it! I had never been and it sounded like so much fun! But once we got there and once they gave us all the talk about what it would entail, I was scared shitless. That's right, I said it. I can do things like roller coasters (something Dillon hates because he doesn't trust them), but for some reason this made me so nervous. I was certain we would be the one boat to flip and I would go floating down the Arkansas river down a waterfall and to my death. This may have been slightly overly irrational, but that was my thinking. But after all is said and done, I can say that it was easily one of the best days of my life. True, I didn't fully enjoy it because while Dillon and his family were happy-go-lucky chatting up a storm, I was sitting there gripping my paddle and listening intently for our guide's instructions on what to do next. But really, despite that small fact, it was amazing. The views were gorgeous, it was a nice sunny day, and we never flipped our boat!

A smile! Proof that I enjoyed myself! :)

High five for staying alive!

Luckily, Dillon's mom paid for the picture package! Since we (obviously) were going to get wet I didn't bring my camera or phone so I couldn't snap any photos of the amazing scenery or our amazing lunch. When they said we would be getting lunch, I was like okay cool, I can dig a sandwich and a bag of chips. No. They grilled us steak and loaded us up on salads, fruits, and a large M&M cookie. That steak was probably the most delicious steak I've ever had, probably due to the fact that I figured it was my last meal since we took on the Gorge (the hardest part of the trip) after lunch. And I'm only slightly joking about that.
Sunday night was spent lying in bed eating delivered Papa Johns pizza, and me complaining about how sore I already was. It was a good 5+ hours on the water, under the sun, gripping that paddle, and getting bumped all over the place! I still can't understand why Dillon wouldn't agree to give me a full body massage. ;)

Monday - The dreaded last day of the glorious weekend. After checking out of our hotel we headed over to Cracker Barrel for brunch. If you have never been, you are seriously missing out. The food is absolutely amazing, and all at a very decent price.

Playing checkers while waiting for a table. I totally kicked his butt, naturally.

After eating we went to the mall for more shopping, and then his mom and brother had to leave. As much as I do love spending time with them, it was really nice to have some time with just the two of us before I had to catch my flight. We ended up going to see We're The Millers, another movie I would recommend because it was hilarious! Then we went and ate Panda Express and afterwards we headed to the airport. One of the perks of flying out of a small airport is that there are no lines. Once we got there and I checked in we realized I had plenty of time to get through security and to my gate, so we decided to hang out for a while. He brought in his playing cards and we played 21 together. We didn't play for money, but I'm 99.9% sure I kicked his butt once again. ;)
We talked about our future and how we are now halfway done with USAFA. As much as the last two years have dragged, and as much as I hate thinking that we still have two more years of this long distance crap, I definitely find some happiness in knowing that we are already halfway through it. We also talked about the next time we'll see each other, which we are hoping is Columbus Day weekend in October. I asked him if it would be for sure and if I could put it on my countdown, and then I broke down. There's always something that triggers my tears, and this time it was the word "countdown" in which it just really really really sucks to have to even have a countdown until the next time I see the man I love. But he always knows just what to say and after kissing my tears away, we could smile and be happy with the time we did have.

Although that's the end of my weekend with Dillon, I just have to add that the travel back is way worse than the travel there. With every airport, every plane ride, and every hour, I became that much farther from him. Also, my last flight got delayed and I didn't land in Tucson until after midnight. Luckily for me I have an amazing roommate who stayed up, despite her 8am the following morning, to pick me up and bring me home to my comfy but lonely bed.
End sob story.

Take away all that sadness crap, and I had one of the best weekends with my man yet! :)
Stay tuned to my next couple That Time I posts to see what we did on our first two Parent's Weekends!

Truth Be Told: A Mini Series

Okay people, it's time to get real here.

One thing I hear a lot from bloggers is that you should be completely honest on your blog in order for people to relate to you more. That instead of just sharing all the great things that happen in your life, you should share those shitty things, as well.

So here we go, "Truth Be Told" will be a mini series where I will share some of my "worst" moments, maybe once every other week. (I can't be too negative, right?)

And to start it all out, here's my truth be told: I wasn't a supportive girlfriend.

When Dillon first told me that the Air Force Academy had reached out to him about going there to play baseball, I honestly thought it would never happen. Although it was always his dream to play baseball in college, it had never been a thought in his mind to be in the military. He took the time to think about it and decided against it. As much as he wanted to play baseball, the bottom line was that he did not want to be in the military. But then came the pressure. The pressure from the coach to come out just to have a tour, the pressure from his family to "live up to his potential," the pressure from himself to "ensure a better future for us." So he went on the tour, and decided that he would go to the Academy that coming Fall semester.

I was hurt. I was confused. He had always talked to me about coming to UofA, and although I was the one that kept telling him to keep his options open, that he didn't have to go there just because I did, it was what I was expecting because that's all he would ever say. And he also said he would never play baseball somewhere that it would snow........interesting. ;)

Even though I should have never felt this way, and I should have never made him feel this way, I felt as if he chose baseball over me. Despite his insistence that he was doing it so that we could have a better future, I couldn't see that far ahead, all I could see was the "here and now" and that was that he was leaving me.

From the time he decided to go to the Academy and all through the first year of him being there, I wasn't supportive. It wasn't that I didn't want to be, I honestly just didn't understand his decision. I didn't want to talk about the Academy, and if it was brought up I would get quiet. I literally cried when he got his hair cut (pathetic, I know, but it was just one more reminder of where he was going and that it was somewhere I couldn't follow). Truthfully, we almost didn't make it through that year. I was slightly depressed that whole year and it definitely took its toll on our relationship. We would fight a lot or constantly be in a bad mood.

It wasn't until I joined the USAFA Girlfriend's facebook page that I started to warm up to the idea and become more supportive of Dillon's decision. Well at first it was hard because they were all so proud of their boyfriends and they all seemed so supportive, so it just made me feel like shit. In my defense, most of them would say things like "It has always been my boyfriend's dream to go to the Academy/be a pilot/be in the Air Force" etc.  So it was rough because I felt like I was the only one whose boyfriend went solely for sports. But then they had a "big sister/little sister" program and my "big" was absolutely amazing. I really believe that it is only through my relationship with her and a few of the other girlfriends that I was finally able to wake up and realize that I had to be more supportive of my man.

I still might not fully understand why he made the decision to go to the Academy (and sometimes I don't think he does either!) but I definitely think I have become more supportive, and I really hope he agrees. The Academy has brought some amazing opportunities for both him and us. We probably wouldn't have been able to go to Canada for a whole week if it weren't for the Academy, Dillon probably wouldn't have been able to go to Germany for three weeks this summer, and we probably wouldn't have the opportunity to live in other states (and hopefully countries!) if it weren't for the Academy.

We all have faults, and this was a major one of mine that almost took me away from the love of my life. If there does happen to be a girlfriend reading this that feels/felt the same way I would love for you to email me! It is okay to not understand and to feel sad and hurt, but I have learned that it is not okay to not be supportive of the people you love.
And for Dillon, I love you and I support you in everything you do at the Academy and beyond. As long as we get to live abroad...;)