Day 3: Missing this Man

Day Two: AMERICA Misses You, Dylan! Happy 4th!

{This was us in 2012 when Dylan came home from his first deployment. I can't wait for that day in October!}

Today I slept in a little bit. Woke up and went on my almost three mile walk in the 100 degree heat. Yuck. I'm sure Dylan doesn't miss that at ALL.

Around 1:00 Mom, Dad, Kate and I packed up the car and headed to the lake house to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents for the 4th.

I was nervous about this. This was the first outing without Dylan. I was going to have fun without Dylan. I was driving our backroads that have been made so familiar to me because of Dylan, but without him. And I didn't like it. But my family being there helped.

We even brought Lexie

She did really well on the way out there and we were surprised because we don't take her out much :)

The drive out there was LONG and on bumpy dirt road. But it was worth it to see this view

I immediately grabbed a beer and my towel and went to relax in the sun on the doc. It was so fun to be around the family and have fun on the boat with all of my cousins. We haven't been to the lake house together since we were kids, so it was really neat to kind of relive our childhood.

{My mom and all of the girl cousins, minus one}

Lexie even got to go swimming! She didn't like it at first, but she hates being away from my mom, so she suffered ;)

Kate got a great tan last week in Florida with Cody!

We got home late and I was exhausted, so I hopped in bed pretty quickly. Dylan called around 12:30 and I missed it, but he sent me messages letting me know everything was OK and that he'd call me in the morning.

I am missing him every day, but the days are getting easier.

Day One: Trying

I spent the entire day trying to stay busy and develop a new normal. And while I don't like it and wish my boy was here… I know it is something that I have to do. I don't want to document EVERY little thing I do every day for the next 3 months, but I do think that Dylan will take comfort in knowing I'm carrying on when he checks this blog for updates. Plus it might be comforting for him to see little reminders of home and how much I miss him.

I woke up at 5:40 to a text from Dylan at 4:00. He said they arrived at the midpoint in Germany and that he didn't have data so He'd call when he got to their next destination.

I laid in bed for a long time, snuggled up to his worn T shirt from Sunday night that smells like him. Since I last talked to him late yesterday afternoon, I have emailed him 4 times and written him one letter. It is getting easier. I still feel sick to my stomach and sad, but I know it'll get easier as time passes.

I got up around 6:30 at put on my tennis shoes to take a jog (walk :) I went around the neighborhood and the park for about 40 minutes. 2.70 miles. It felt really good to get out and clear my mind. I also started eating better today- I've got to work off those pounds I've gained eating at all of Dylan's favorite restaurants.

{Lunch}

After doing some cleaning and organizing around the house, I went to run some errands :) I told a friend that I'd watch her daughter while she went to work this afternoon, so with time to kill I drove up to Mt. Sequoyah to get a picture of Fayetteville to send to Dylan. I said a prayer for him and all of his friends and their families that are also going through this deployment.

{Fayetteville}

It was good to get out of the house for a bit, but weird not having Dylan there in the passenger seat! We've spent a lot of time together in the last few weeks… maybe that was a bad idea ;)

I sat outside with my parents tonight and fed the animals and watched the sunset.

{Momma chicken and her chicks}

This is a new app I downloaded that counts down the time between two dates. For Safety reasons I probably shouldn't put his arrival date out here on the internet, however, if there is one thing I know about the military, its that NOTHING is certain. That date will change, it is only a matter of time.

{Isn't that cool? I can't wait till the whole thing is GREEN!}

I just got off the phone with Dylan, he is doing good and his voice sounds calm. In true Dylan fashion, he is already complaining that my emails are too long :) But I still love him.

Dylan's Gift

Sasha and Justin were so nice and got Dylan some snacks for his trip and some magazines to keep him entertained. Being sneaky, Sasha put a bridal magazine in his gift bag, too :)

No Pressure, Dyl :)

Dylan Deploys

Dylan and I made the drive to Fort Smith on Sunday night around 11. I drove 65 pretty much the whole way. Dylan would say, "Babe, the speed limit is 70," and I would say, "I know." I knew the drive back home would be long and hard without him, so I wanted our last little drive to last.

After settling in the hotel, we got to sleep around 1:30. He woke up around 6:35 and started to get ready. I dropped him off on base at 7:45 after buying him a quick breakfast at Braums. He had to wait in a LONG line of others to get checked in. It took him almost an hour. While that was going on, I was back at the hotel getting pretty to see my man off!

I met his parents at a parking lot across the street from the base and they rode with me to park the car and find Dylan. He must have been bored because he was waiting on a corner for us shortly after we got past security. Poor guy. He jumped in the car with us and told me where to park

We sat with him in the "hanger" I think they called it… It was like a big garage where they usually hold the airplanes and work on them.. from 10:30ish until 12:45 when they called his group to load up. It was probably one of the hardest goodbyes I've EVER made. I HATE goodbyes. Hate them

After that he went into a holding room where we could still peek at him. His boss, Sarah, came over to comfort us after he left. ALL of his coworkers and their wives were so helpful and comforting. I came home with several new numbers in my phone that they gave me incase I needed anything. I think they all think very highly of Dylan, and that makes me happy.

I couldn't bring myself to leave Fort Smith after I dropped his parents back off at their car. I went to get an iced tea at Chick Fil A and then I sat in a parking lot close to base and waited for the plane. I know this picture is terrible, but it happened so quick, I had literally 2 seconds to jump out of my car and take it

I held it all together pretty well until that plane took off. I got back in my car and just cried. I didn't know how I was going to make it home.

It has been really hard since he left (yesterday) and I've had minimal contact with him. I woke up to a message from him this morning that said they made it halfway there. Sometime this afternoon I expect a phone call from him. I can't wait to hear his voice. I miss him so much already.

Catch Up

Dylan was supposed to report (work) in Fort Smith on base last Thursday and Friday. Well, he did work on Thursday, but they got everything done so he called and said "Surprise! I'm off on Friday!" Which I was happy about… and sad about… I was dependent on spending time that Friday preparing for his SURPRISE GOING AWAY PARTY! I had no idea how I was going to get it all done, but I did know that spending time with Dylan was a priority. So I packed up and headed down to Fort Smith to go on a date with my man! At his request, we ate at our favorite Indian restaurant and then went to see "That's My Boy" at the movies. He laughed through the whole thing- that whole movie was full of "dylan humor" and I was glad to see him enjoying himself. On Friday we drove back to Fayetteville, did a little shopping at the Promenade, did some driving around the lake and such, and then we went to visit my Aunt Mary and Uncle Richard. Dylan was really sweet and requested to visit a lot of people before he left. I just love him.

On Saturday morning, I made up an excuse to go home and help my mom bake a cake for a party that she was going to that night. I had been texting Cal, Dylan's best friend, and planned for him to entertain Dylan so I could get some stuff done for his party. They went on a motorcycle ride and swimming at the lake. I was so thankful that he was preoccupied that day, and also that she was able to spend some time with Cal, doing what they loved, before he left.

Meanwhile, I was preparing stuff like this:

Meanwhile, his mom texted him and told him that she made reservations at a restaurant here in town for 7:15 and that she and his dad wanted to take us out to dinner for one last big meal before he left. He texted me about it and we both agreed that we'd go… little did he know.. :)

My mom and dad worked so hard to host this party. I'm so thankful that they love Dylan and wanted to do this for him (and me!) I had lots of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins that were here helping, too! I can't say enough how lucky I am to have those people in my life. Between them, Dylan, and my friends, I'm just THANKFUL.

Dylan got home from his little journey around 4pm and decided to shower and nap. Perfect! I was still getting everything ready!

My Uncle Kevin grilled up some delish tritip and steaks. He's the best! And my mom made everything else you could ever dream up. She goes all out when she entertains and I LOVE IT until clean up time ;) NOBODY was going to walk away from that party hungry- and they didn't! I wish I would've taken more pictures of the goodies.

Around 6:00 all the peeps started showing up! I was getting SO nervous. Over 30 people came. Dylan's parents, sister, brother, and brother's girlfriend. Pretty much my whole family, and then 3 of Dyl's friends and their wives/girlfriends. I knew he'd love having everyone there, but I wasn't sure how he'd do being the center of attention… that worried me a little because I didn't want to embarrass him.

The boys passed the time waiting for Dylan by drinking beer and playing horse shoes

I loved having everyone there! Around 6:30 I started texting Dylan (I couldn't call him because I am a TERRIBLE liar and it was hard for me to even "lie" about as much as I had already) and telling him he better hurry up because we couldn't be late for the reservations! At this point, everyone was there snacking, drinking, laughing, and waiting. Around 7ish, my boy pulled up the driveway…

We were all standing there on the patio in front of him, waving and cheering. He pulled up a little further, smiling ear to ear, then in true Dylan fashion, he jokingly put his truck in reverse and acted like he was going to back down the drive way… :)

He was SO shocked, and to tell you the truth- I was, too! I had NO idea I could pull something so big off for him without him even being suspicious! I was so excited! He walked around for a few minutes just taking it all in- he was so out of it because he was so surprised.

sweet cousin, Jared there to show his support!

Aunt Florence, Dylan and myself

Thankful for Sasha and Justin!

Couldn't have pulled this off without these two… so so thankful!

(I realize this post is getting a little too long, but I want all of this to be documented for Dylan. Also I realize that the pants I'm wearing in these pictures make me look like I'm not wearing pants at all. I got teased a lot by my loving family for that :)

I'm just so THANKFUL for this guy and glad I could do this for him and make him feel special and appreciated- because he is. It brings tears to my eyes how much my family loves and supports him just like I do. We are so lucky to have the friends that we do, too!

Getting Closer…

I cried and cried and cried last night as Dylan loaded his bags in the back of his suburban and drove me to my house to drop me off. The anticipation of him leaving has been tense and last night it was all becoming real. He is at "drill" right now and had to have his packed bags there so that they could be checked. He leaves in July… I don't think I'm supposed to say exactly when because of safety reasons, but it is soon (obviously.. his bags are packed.)

I started this blog because I want to document daily things that happen here, for Dylan. I want to document how I feel, upload pictures, and keep track of how we stay connected while he is gone. MOSTLY because I just want to remember all of these things, but also, I think other deployed military couples will be able to gain something from this blog in the future. It is good to share ideas :) I haven't decided yet, but I might even share this blog with family and friends to keep everyone updated. I'll have to work up some courage on that one…

My goal is to write daily. I don't want Dyl to miss a beat. As manly and tough as he is… I know he'll be missing home.

We've been packing his up for three days now. We have this little routine going where we drink coffee, eat, pack, then nap. He's an "over-packer" and when you ask him about this deployment and if he is worried his response is always, "my biggest worry is forgetting to pack something." :) He'll be fine though. I woke up to a text this morning with a list of things he's forgotten that I'll have to get to him. I'm such a trusty girlfriend :)

So last night after a trip to Wal-Mart for things such as batteries, deodorant, and a headlamp, we went back to his house so he could load everything up and head to Fort Smith. I think it was seeing his room so empty that got to me. The tears started flowing and I couldn't stop. He put his hand behind my neck and played with my hair while he was driving and just reconfirmed that we were going to be stronger because of this deployment. He's right.

The next few days are going to be exciting and fun, but hard. While he's in Fort Smith today I have a lot to accomplish.

And just because a post isn't fun without pictures… here are some of our short trip to Branson last week. (Dylan's personality really shines through with that first one :)

We LOOOOVE food, so there will be lots of food pictures. In Branson, there was a new Indian place (one of our very faves, but the only other one we've eaten at is in Fort Smith) The other picture is of a chocolate covered jalapeno. We also love spicy food (Dyl more than me) so that was what he chose at the chocolate shop! He was getting ready to head down to the pool at the hotel in that first picture. My sister works at Old Navy and bought Dyl that tank top because he is obsessed with the American flag and being "an American" in general :) He wears it ALL the time and just embarrasses the crap out of me. Silly boy.