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! 

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!

That Time I (Spent the Weekend in Denver)

I now interrupt the That Time I: Cruise Edition for a weekend update!

I know, I know. I already did this to you once before and you hated me for it, but this is the first time I've had the chance to sit down and write about my weekend, and I'm way too excited to share!

This past weekend I was able to fly up to Colorado to spend the weekend with Dillon! I can't even start to explain how happy I am that we finally had a weekend to ourselves. The last time we saw each other was around the end of May but we really haven't gotten any quality alone time together in a few months. Since we last saw each other I started my summer job, turned 21, and Dillon spent three weeks in Germany; a lot has happened so this weekend was much needed!

I flew into Denver late Saturday morning, which was really nice because we pretty much still had the whole day together. Since my cousins were camping this weekend we ended up just getting a hotel in Denver since that's where I was flying in and out of. Plus we hadn't spent too much time in Denver (which is about an hour from Colorado Springs) so we thought it would be fun to explore! We were pretty lazy to begin with, just hanging out at the hotel and enjoying finally being together! That evening we went to California Pizza Kitchen and had a double date! Dillon went to Germany with a guy named Taylor and me and his girlfriend Lily had met when I drove through Albuquerque on my way to bring Dillon his truck. We really hit it off, and texted pretty much every day when they were in Germany, mainly just complaining that we missed our boyfriends, haha.

Me and Lily! We went out for FroYo in Albuquerque together! And you gotta love the awesome photobomb. :)

Dinner was great! Dillon was a little hesitant at first, he hates small talk, but I told him it would be fun, and it really was! After dinner we went to the theater and saw This Is The End. Yes, I had already seen it before, and yes I think it's good enough to see twice! D hadn't seen it before and he loved it!

On Sunday we went to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival! You can check them out here. They have an amazing non-profit mission in which they aim to "provide access to art experiences and support art education." Artists from all over the country came for the weekend to show off their artwork, there was even a guy from Tucson!

Okay this guy...amazing! We happened to stumble across his show right as his last one was starting. He is a performance speed painter who paints portraits of celebrity faces in a matter of 4-7 minutes. His first painting, on the right, was of Frank Sinatra and it blew my mind. He started painting and I was like, okay yeah that can be the top of his head/ear...then all the sudden it was the eyes/nose! You should definitely watch this video so you can see what I mean! And neither Dillon or I could figure out the left was Einstein until he drew the hair/mustache!

We walked through the booths for a good hour or so and we would point out pieces of art we would like to have in our future home together. Awh. ;) <3

Monday was a great day! Even though it was the day I was leaving, my flight didn't leave until 9pm, so it was really nice that we still had the entire day to hang out! There was an IKEA only a few miles down the road from our hotel, and call me crazy but I was begging D to take me there since the first day! I had never been in an IKEA and it just always seemed like so much fun. I actually had a a really good time, walking through the show floor, and again imagining the furniture we would have in our future home. It sounds super cheesy, but it's a really nice thing to talk about with this crazy long distance we have had to go through for the past three years, and the next two ahead of us.

After IKEA we ate lunch, stopped by GNC, and then went to the theater to see another movie! This time we saw Monsters University! I know a lot of people don't want to see it/don't like it because it doesn't have Boo in it, but I thought it was a super adorable and funny movie!

We still had a few hours to kill before I had to go to the airport, so we ended up going to the Denver Downtown Aquarium!

  Can you tell I like turtles?? That's pretty much the only thing I took pictures of...

 Even this picture...it's my "Let's take a picture with the turtles behind us!" picture. Can't see the turtles? Me either. But you know, we're cute too, even with the weird shadows across our faces.

What?!? You mean to tell me tigers don't belong in an aquarium?

I thought it was weird, too. But the Denver Aquarium doesn't give a f what we think! They had tigers and snakes and parrots and other weird non-aquarium things.

Squishies!

 This is the last picture we took "together." I thought it was rather cute because we were sitting at the aiport after finishing dinner, right before I had to head to the security line, and he says "Wait, take a picture of our bracelets for your blog!" Such a cutie pie. ;)

I won't lie, there were quite a few tears during our goodbye. We have 52 days to go until we see each other again for USAFA's Parent's weekend. And although we had to say goodbye yet again, I am so happy we had this weekend together. I can't say enough how much we needed it as a couple. It was a much needed refresher for our relationship, and I really do feel so much better now that the weekend has past, even if we are apart. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing best friend and boyfriend. <3

Rhonna Designs

As always, don't forget to check out Alex's That Time I post over at Let Life Be Like Music!

Linking Up: Random Wednesday, Weekly Wednesday

That Time I (Didn't Root For The Home Team)

I have been seriously slacking in the blogging department.

So I sincerely apologize.

However, if you read my last blog post, then you'll know it's because I just spent the last four days in Colorado with Dillon! That's a pretty darn good reason.

So in order to combine telling you a little bit about what we did and my That Time I weekly post, I'm going to tell you about the time I didn't root for the home team.

Clever? I don't know - I'm really tired. Our flight was at 6:15 this morning and I only got like four hours of sleep. Plus we almost missed our flight. Too much stress for that early in the morning. 

Anyways.

We did some fun stuff the last four days! One of the best was going to the Diamondbacks vs. Rockies game Monday night.

I was not incredibly excited because as we were driving up to Denver it was raining and freezing. And the stadium is not a closed one. And I do not do well with cold. At all.

But we got there and it had stopped raining, and even though it was still pretty cold, being this close to the field was just really exciting.

Dillon has brought me to a couple Diamondbacks games before but now that I understand baseball a lot more I was definitely more into it.

Once the people around us realized we were Diamondbacks fans and not Rockies fans, the shit talk started. Okay, not really, but this girl behind us realized it and said jokingly that she would give us crap.

And then Dillon said "All I'll say is look at the score."

We were winning. And stayed winning. The entire game.

Our pitcher was amazing.

It was a sweet, sweet win.

And it was just a lot of fun talking with my sister and Dillon.

We had an amazing time!

Oh, and at the beginning of the game I asked only one thing of Dillon.

Catch me a ball.

And then he did. 

Am I using too many italics? Probably.

So he didn't technically catch it. It hit the area between the two levels, bounced off and hit the guy's head who was sitting next to us, and then Dillon got it. Still counts, right?

I jokingly said to Dillon, should we give that guy the ball since it hit his head? And the guy heard me and was like no, gosh no. And then when I was taking this picture, the guy was like hey I can sign it for you! Hahaha, it was great.

But you know, what would I actually do with the baseball? So Dillon gave it to the three little boys who were sitting in front of us. They were so happy! It was adorable.

So there you have it! That Time I Didn't Root for the Home Team and totally kicked butt.

Don't forget to check out the lovely Alex's That Time I post, along with Hayley's!

Also, today Heavens to Meighan is hosting a "That One Time" link up!