here you go.

I truly don't want to sit and upload pictures all night to blogger when you all can see them on facebook. All of them!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197285&id=41103028&l=094ccd0be3

There's the link. Even if you don't have a facebook, you should be able to view my album.

In case you are too lazy to copy and paste, you can CLICK HERE to view the pictures!

But just to tickle your fancy, I will go ahead and post some random pictures from my trip:

at the bus stop waiting and waiting and waiting... and kissing and kissing..

right before we left each other :[
and right before I busted out crying.


we love orange. can you tell?

coming back.

Remember when I told you about traveling to Texas and missing my flight? Yes... I thought that was bad. And it was. But just when I thought my traveling issues were over, life had something else in store.

I arrived to the Wichita Falls Airport. It's pretty much one room. It's about the size of my house. Seriously. Anyway, the electricity was out. Great!! So I sat in the dark for an hour. It wasn't so bad, and the electricity finally did come on. Our plane came, and it was surprisingly on time. We boarded and took off.

Now, this airline is called American Eagle. The planes that fly out of this airport are tiny. They actually have propellers. The flights are extremely bumpy, twisty, and horrible. You know when you're on a roller coaster and it drops really fast and your belly button jumps? Well, that's what I call it... well, these planes do the same thing. They will fall mid-air and then come up really fast. It does feel like a ride at Disney World. Like, an airplane simulator. It's that animated.

The lovely and feminine steward passed out drinks. I was looking out the window when suddenly the pilot turned nearly 90 degrees and the plane was sideways. He did this about 6 times throughout the flight, but I wasn't prepared. I looked down and saw my coke and my cup about to turn over (see, gravity would tell us that my cup should just stay in place in a time like this - but no... the plane was literally sideways. My coke can had no chance). So I tried to save my coke can and my cup.. and failed. Coke flew everywhere. My coke can literally flew out of my site. The dude 2 seats back found it rolling on the floor. I looked down and my purse was covered in Dr. Pepper. Ice was all over the floor.

Great.

I used that teeny 4x4 napkin and tried to mop up the coke from my purse. Blah.

Also, you should note that my purse is all white. So the brown coke stain really makes it stand out!

However, we actually made it to the Dallas airport on time. Yippie skippie. I got to my terminal, grabbed a sammich, and waited. And, to my surprise, my flight was ON TIME! I was thrilled, to say the least.

We boarded the plane and I took my seat in 24A. The dude next to me was a Seabee. Mark taught me this term this weekend. It's a Navy dude!! I saw his military ID. He was dressed like he was straight out of NYC. We were at our terminal, and I noticed it was starting to sprinkle. I looked out the window and saw it starting to lightning. But, planes were still taking off, so I wasn't too worried.

We backed out of our spot and inched around the parking lot, or whatever it's called. I knew something was up. We finally came to a halt, and the pilot goes, "Ladies and gentleman, due to the recent lightning in the area, planes are unable to take off. There are 20 planes in front of us waiting on the runway."

Great. Just great.

An hour and a half later, we zoom down the runway and take off. Yay! I was thrilled.

For about 4 minutes. Until we got to the clouds. And I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.

Keep in mind - the pilot gave us no warning about what was going to happen...

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We are zooming through the sky. I can see lightning in the distance. It isn't raining, and there are some breaks in the clouds where I can see the city lights. We fly higher and higher. We become engulfed in dark clouds. Suddenly, the plane literally starts shaking. Uncontrollably. I look out the window and all we can see are flashes of lightning all around me. The plane is literally going out of control. Everyone on the plane grabs their arm rests. The Navy dude beside me grabs the arm rests so fast and we're both screaming, "OhmyGodohmyGodohmyGod," (not taking the Lord's name in vain, but we actually thought we were going to die. No joke.) I'm sweating. It's getting worse and worse. We are falling really fast and coming up even faster. We can see lightning right beside us. We finally made it out of the storm. I really don't know how.

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Ok, I can't serve this memory justice on my blog. I can't portray how bad it really was. It was just like the movies. I mean, the plane was like going bonkers. I don't know how we avoided being struck by lightning. The pilot never said anything about it. Ever. I think he pretended it never happened. If anyone had been out of their seat (including stewardesses), they would have been thrown from one side to another. It was absolutely HORRIBLE. And I'm not exaggerating. I had a buff Navy dude next to me who was freaking out as well. We both thought we were goners.

Excuse me while I breathe deep and hard, because reliving that experience takes a lot out of me.

Anyhow, we finally landed at 11pm. Home by 12:30. What a long night.


Next time? I think I'll walk.

Speaking of next time...

Other AF wives have told me that Airmen get off the Friday and Monday around July 4th. That would be 4 solid days with Mark. I really can't turn that down. We had planned on me going the weekend of June 19th, and then coming back July 17th. I really don't know what to do. Especially since I was planning on going to St. George Island with my sister and her family. I would have really loved to have seen my nephews on the beach. Argh. But 4 uninterrupted days with Mark? That's paradise, in our world!

The only thing is, I wouldn't be able to go in June. Well, I could, but going once every two weeks seems a little outrageous, due to the expenses of it all. He doesn't know about any of this yet, because he's in school and he can't take his cell phone to class. But tonight we will discuss it and make our final decision. And, don't worry, I will let you know!

Oh, and many, MANY pictures coming soon. I took nearly 300, so I will try to divide them up into different days so I don't overload you with photos.


Seriously, I am happy to be alive. I was sweating like crazy on that plane. Horrible experience. Hopefully some type of drought hits Texas the next time I fly, because I do not want to be in another thunderstorm!!!

love it.

this afternoon, Mark called C, our 4-year old nephew.

M: Hi, C!

C: Mark...?

M: Yep! Whatcha doin, buddy?

C: *silence*

M: C?

C: This isn't Mark. Mark is in the Air Forrest.

M: This is Mark. Shannie's here too!

C: Oh.. okay.. Mark, when are you going to come back to life?


:)


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On the same note, sometimes I do call my nephew "C" in real life, in case you wondered.

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I am absolutely dreading Monday night. And I'm dreading Tuesday even more. We are totally in paradise. I really can't describe it. We saw each other at BMT graduation, sure... but this is like actually having him home. Sort of. I can actually hold his hand in public. It's amazing!!

We never stop touching. Ever. And he is super protective of me.

It's like having my own personal soldier! Oh, that's right... I do!!!!


and now I am going to wake Mark up and we're going to eat hamburgers at the dining facility. I am totally loving every single second of this trip. You have NO IDEA!

We have the best marriage EVER! evereverever. Only 3 more months until we are together for good. Ohhh we are counting down the days...

saturday silence.

a little something to hold you over!

Finally together!!

sitting at the mall:

Sheppard is full of planes, so I make Mark pose for me constantly!

Yesterday was a TERRIBLE day. Up until 6pm, I mean. I got to the Nashville airport around 8:10 to catch my 9:50 flight. I checked in and found out that my flight was delayed. Lovely. I found my terminal, and the lady announced that the plane isn't schedule to leave until 10:40. It's a two hour flight from Nashville to Dallas.

My connection flight was scheduled to take off at 12:45.

That left me with five minutes to catch my flight. The lovely airport lady told me this was impossible. See, Dallas airport is huge. Like, it's 4 separate buildings. You have to ride a Skylink to get to the different sections. We landed, and I bolted off the plane. I ran through the airport (I'm sure I was a sight to see!). Somehow I managed to find my terminal in about 2 minutes. I arrived just in time to see my plane backing up from the terminal. Sigh. Thanks, American Airlines. So I got put on a different flight, which was schedule to take off four hours later.

Blah.

I ate McDonald's and sat in my terminal. It was awful. All of the Air Force wives and girlfriends arrived at the terminal. We were all set & ready! Our boarding time came and went. Then our take-off time came and went. And we started to get mad.

After another hour delay, I was fed up. Five hours in the Dallas airport. Argh! We finally boarded at 5:30 and arrived in Wichita Falls at 6pm. The only bright side of this whole deal is that Mark was able to pick me up from the airport!


[Clarification: We left home at 7am to head to Nashville. I didn't arrive until 6pm in Wichita Falls. It took 11 freakin hours to get there. By plane!! I could have driven there faster. Seriously.]

The whole airport is like a tiny house. So I walked in and there he was, smiling and waving! Ahh what a dream come true.

Then we hugged and I started crying, as usual.

We arrived on base & went to Popeye's. It was extremely hot in there, and I started to get nauseous. Plus, the food was gross. We rented 3 movies and came back to the hotel! We didn't even arrive at Sheppard Inn until 7pm, so our night was short!

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Today we decided to go to the mall! It's only $1 per person to hop on the bus and go to the mall. This town really stinks. The mall's stores are also in our mall has at home, but it's 1/5 of the size. We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings, and it was great!

I was full after 3 chicken wings and a few french fries. I'm that excited. I'm so happy that I can't even eat!

Tonight I think we're going to Olive Garden. Don't worry. I've taken a lot of pictures!

oh, and Mark makes me pose too!:

edit: I forgot to tell yall - he didn't have curfew last night! Hallelujah! He was able to spend the night with me! He also doesn't have to be at accountability!! So, he's able to be with me nonstop until Monday night. Yippie skippie!!

also, I forgot to mention how huge my room is. It's literally like an apartment. Almost. So, for all of you wives whose husbands are at Sheppard, stay at Sheppard Inn!! Only $27 a night, and it's GREAT! :]

final blog! until this weekend, of course.

I'm leeeeavin on a jet plane
(unfortunately) I know when I'll be back again...

I leave in 12 hours for Nashville to catch my flight! I am a total wreck! Seriously. I nearly threw up this afternoon thinking about it. No exaggeration. I thought I was sick, but it turns out that it was just nerves! I'm crazy. You would be, too, if you lived my life!


Ok, so no, my bags aren't packed. I still have to pack my carry-on and put my dress in my bag and.. stuff. I am so anxious that I can't do anything right now. I'm a wreck!

I'm not bringing my laptop to Texas. Only because I refuse to check it, but it won't fit in my carry-on. So... it's staying here. However, PM has a laptop in his dorm. So he'll just bring it over to our hotel, and I'll blog from there! Hopefully. That's the plan, at least!

Tomorrow I'll arrive at Wichita Falls around 1:30pm. M doesn't get out of class until about 5pm. So, while I'm waiting, I guess I will take a shower, change clothes.. put on new make up (flying can really suck the life out of ya!), and get ready to see him! Plus, my buddy Sujen is also staying at my hotel too! Our husbands get out of class at the same time, so we might hang out!

When we finally see each other, we'll most likely eat supper first. And then... who knows. He can't spend the night on Friday night. But he IS back in Phase 3! WOOHOO! He also still has accountability checks at 6am during the weekend. He hasn't got his hotel waiver paper yet, but he will get it tomorrow! Yippie skippie.

I've added my Twitter Widget back to the blog. It's located in the left upperhand corner. See? With the birdy. My page is now a jumbled mess. Sorry about that. Once I return, I will redo my blog. The whole freakin thing. I've been researching blog layouts, but I haven't got a single idea. When Brittney is all settled in from packing, I will probably nag her to death about it. She is like, the blogging master. There is a website where you can pay someone to customize your blog. I would totally do it, too. But I can't, for the life of me, remember the URL for that website. Darn my memory!! In any case, expect 1,000 pictures upon my return.

And I'm not exaggerating, either.

I will document every single thing we do. Well, nearly every single thing we do. This is a family-friedly blog. Mwhahahahaha.




Keep up with me on Twitter!! I'll be tweeting away all day long. Pray that I can navigate my way through Dallas Airport. I hear it's ginormous and it's a heckuva big place. I even have to ride a Skyline to get to my terminal! Geez oh peas!!

I've never traveled by myself like this.

Argh. I'm scared.


The next time I blog, I'll be sitting on M's lap. Can you believe it? Cause I sure can't!

C & me!

one of my favorite things to do is sit in my backyard and talk to C. when he doesn't want to take a nap, he comes outside, climbs up in the chair across from me (where I have a pillow to prop my feet on!). then he stares at me with a squinched up face.

then today he sticks his hand up and says, "High five!"

I move my hand up to smack his, but he moves it up higher and says "Up high!"

I miss.

He swooshes it down, "Down low!" ...I miss again

"TOO SLOW!"

like, where did he learn that? hmph. outsmarted by a 4-year old again. drat.

and then we have our life talks. he tells me that he wants to join the Air "Forrest" (again, for the 10th time), because he wants to be with Mark. isn't that sweet? yes, I thought so too. later this afternoon, we were playing out front on the porch. I was checking facebook with my phone, and he looked up at me and goes, "Aunt Shannie? I miss Mark..."

How sad. So I just say, "I do too."


So as I was saying, we like to have long talks outside in the backyard. He tells me all of the events of his day at preschool. That's always fun to hear. Except I hear bits and pieces of events, so it's really hard to put them all together to make one story. If you know a preschooler, you know what this is about.

This post isn't going anywhere, really. But I know that my long talks with C are coming to an end. That is really, really sad. He is my bestest little buddy. And, though his massages aren't top-notch, he is still the best thing in my world. It is hard to watch a child grow up. I don't like it. At all. I want to keep C & H little forever.


and somehow I think that in 6 years, neither of them will want to be photographed like this. and yelling "DOODLE BLAA BLAA BOOO!!" to get them to look at the camera won't work. In 6 years, Mark and I will be finishing up our "term" in the USAF, and we will almost certainly sign up for more! And in 6 years, C will be 10 and H will be 6. Unfathomable!

Quick, go grab your kids and hold them real tight! Maybe if you squash them hard enough, you'll stunt their growth. And they will stay little and cuddly forever! :]

Note: I have spit up on my shoulder! Yummy: