Home Sweet Minnesota

{Disclaimer: This is going to be a long post.}

Our travel from Texas to Minnesota did not go quite as planned. Which shouldn't surprise anyone in the military...nothing ever does. It started with our last night together being completely ruined by a late night work "emergency" followed by another "issue" and something that needed to be "handled." I won't go into detail, mostly because I am weary even thinking about it, but it was an unnecessary use of Al's time and completely screwed our evening. We both went to bed exhausted and stressed. 3 hours later, Al started his work day and by the time he was off at 1500, we were on the road to Minnesota.

The drive itself wasn't too bad. We hit a storm in New Mexico and followed it for at least 6 hours - all overnight hours and all driven by Al. He's a saint because I would have been very stressed driving through a thunderstorm at night. The next morning, I took the helm and let Al sleep a bit (for which he was very grateful.) About 3 hours into my drive, I was flying along Hwy 77 and a ever-so-wonderful NE State Trooper pulled me over.

This is interesting for a couple reasons. Remember the last time we made this drive? (When the Trooper asked Al if I was a hooker....good times...) Well, apparently we have a knack for getting pulled over on this drive. First Missouri. Now Nebraska. The first time Al was speeding, this time I was the guilty lead-foot. Both times we were let go with only a warning and carried on with our trip.

[Of course I don't have a single photo of the trip. I'm a total photo-slacker. (I keep telling myself if I had a cool newfangled photo-machine that maybe I would do it more...or at least look super-awesome the few times I remembered to snap a pic.) I do, however, have some pictures from the rest of the weekend (the wedding and a few family shots) which I will share once I am done editing them.]

We reached Minnesota on Friday afternoon and were greeted by Al's family and a delicious steak dinner. In fact, we ate like royalty the entire weekend. Steak dinners, blueberry pancake breakfast, burgers and corn-on-the-cob and lots of other delicious indulgences.

After a wedding, some time at the bar, a family reunion, and a round of hugs, we left the Minnesota countryside and headed into the city to see my family.

My mom wanted family photos taken and since we had the rare pleasure of having both Al and my sister in one place for more than a few hours, she jumped at the opportunity Monday morning. And at the first chance to do so, Al and I ran off to spend our last few hours alone. After four days of go-go-go and tons of wonderful family time, we really just needed time to be "us" before he left for Texas.

Monday night Al left and is now back in Texas in our marital bed, without me. I think that would be harder then what I'm doing. I have my parents, my sister, my great friends. And I have my blog (of course!) He has the Army and an empty apartment that I worked hard to make our "home." I'm here, in my beloved hometown, transforming the guest room at my parents (which, interestingly, I was living in right after college when Al and I first started dating 3 years ago) into a nice little refuge to inhabit for the next 9 months.

Then, I will join my husband at Ft. Carson and the delightful life of marital bliss we got a taste of this summer will be a permanent reality. And that is worth every moment of stress and sadness. These 9 months are going to fly, right?