It's another vacation!!

This time we took a cruise to celebrate our anniversary, the first one together, and Christmas. It was so much fun. We went to Cozumel and Costa Maya Mexico, as well as Belize and Honduras.

Mexico was just okay. A hurricane had just come through and it showed. Most of the shops had closed down and the landscape was destroyed. The food was good and the people were nice though. We went on a Segway tour and did some snorkeling. I especially love the goofy helmets they made us wear while we were riding. Cause you could fall and die you know. We did look stupid. Oh well, it was a blast.

In Belize, we did a cave tubing tour, which was awesome. We were in a small group and it was a guided tour through these beautiful natural caves in the Mountains. At one point, our guide had us all turn off our headlamps and it was one of the coolest things I’ve even done. It was completely black. All you could hear the water and the people around you breathing and you could see absolutely nothing. That's something I’d do again in a heartbeat!!

The cruise ship was great. We went to the pool, played mini golf, went hot tubbing, ate ice cream, went to comedy shows, slept in, and pretty much did whatever we wanted. It was the first time Conor had ever been on a cruise and if you ask him, I think he'll say he'd do it again. He really enjoyed the cute little towel animals they made for him every day.

Driving the California Coast!

We took a few weeks off when he got home and drove the coast of California. It was tons of fun. It felt like it took forever but it was nice to just drive, listen to our music and books on CD, and just be together.

We stayed in St. George the first night before we headed to LA. We hung out with Conor cousin, his uncle, and a bunch of his friends that all live there, before heading North and doing our thing.

We visited the Hearst castle. That place is ridiculous! First, it's in the middle of nowhere. Second, it's just huge!! Everything is over the top. The pool is covered in gold leaf, and it has got a movie theater in it. They finished building the thing in 1948 for crying out loud. I just couldn't believe how much had gone in to making this place.

In San Francisco we had so much fun. Neither of us had ever been there before and it was really cool. We took one of those bus top tours all around the city and across the Golden Gate Bridge. We took a boat tour out to Alcatraz as well. How cool is that?

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We stopped in Lake Tahoe, which was freezing by the way! Good thing we were only there one night because I couldn't take it. Then the long and dreary trip back through Wendover. It was a great trip.

Iraq Call

Just one month of marriage and Conor got a call to serve a tour of Operation Enduring Freedom with the Marine Corps in Iraq. We both new it was possible, but never expected it to come so soon. He spent months training and get ready for deployment before they left in June 2007. While he did not return home again until May of 2008, I did get to see him a couple times during that year.




They were training in North Carolina from June until September before they actually left for Iraq. I went out there for a 4th of July visit. We drove to Washington DC, and went to the beach and had a really great time together. Leaving him that time was significantly harder for me than when he had left a month earlier. It was so great to have a four hour plane ride home to be miserable to myself and just miss him before returning to real life. He was also allowed to come home the end of September for just enough time to tell me that he loved me and give me a hug before they boarded a plane and I wouldn’t see him again for just over seven months.

I spent my time working, snowboarding, playing soccer, and basically just living an awkward "married but single" life. Some days were harder than others were but I made it though just fine. That's mainly because Conor was lucky to be in a position to call me often and email when he could not call. I had the wonderful support of my friends, and my family during this time. I'm pretty sure the main reason I didn't go insane was my beautiful puppy Keira. I knew I loved that stupid dog but during that time, sadly, she was my life.

Conor doesn't talk a lot about what happened in Iraq. If you get the lucky chance to talk to him about it and he does open up, take advantage of it because it doesn't happen often. I do know that in general he felt pretty safe while there. With the exception of a few convoy runs to Baghdad, they were pretty much on base going to the gym and watching movies. No one in his Company was seriously injured and there were no casualties, thank goodness.

I've very lucky to have him home with me today and proud of his tour in Iraq. He's a great man and a better person than I’ll ever be. It was hard for us both but I really believe that I’m a better person for it. Hey, I’m not afraid of the dark anymore. You just can't be when you are living alone.