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.

Hawaii

April 13th, 2007 my big brother Nathan got married on a beach in Hawaii. What a great reason for a vacation. Excellent times, great beach, good company, good tan. We took Jeremy and Krista with us for an added adventure. Gotta love Maui.

We stayed in a little condo in Kihei and hit the beach everyday. I'm pretty sure I got knocked out by a wave once. Krista and I went under after a huge wave and didn't come back until three others had hit us pretty hard. I just remember going under, being there for a good long while, then Conor running in to get me. Couldn't even stand on my own feet.

The wedding was beautiful. Nathan was so cute and Kristine looked gorgeous.

Italia

For our Honeymoon we went to Italy. It was so much fun.

First we went to Rome. I don't think i've walked so much in my entire life. We visited the colosseum, the Pantheon, the Fontana Di Trevi, the Spanish Steps, and so much more. For three days we walked around the entire city. We even took a tour of the Marcus Aurelius Museum and Vatican City.

Our hotel there was probably the coolest place i've ever stayed. Everything was really awesome. There was this amazing winding stair case that was a blast to use... Can you imagine what I would have done if they hadn't put in the elevator from about 1860 and I actually had to use this thing? Sure the elevator was probably the 2nd one ever made but I was extra grateful for it. No joke, this elevator was the oldest thing and barely fit the both of us and our luggage.

I ate more gelato than I can remember. It didn't help that I wouldn't really eat much else while we were there. It just didn't look very good and they don't keep anything refrigerated. Talk about disease!

The first day we got there we say everyone selling umbrella's on the side of the road. It didn't even look like rain so we thought nothing of it. Boy was that foolish. It rains a lot in Italy in December. We should have realized this by the simple fact that every where you went people either already had one or were trying to sell you one. Needless to say, we got drenched. Several times. I don't know why we didn't buy one after we learned that. Maybe it's because we like to live on the edge.

For the second half of our trip we took a 4 hour train ride up to Venice. Which i'm sure is just wonderful. Too bad we couldn't find our way around the place until we were about to leave. It's like a maze. Everything is an alley and some of the roads turn in to rivers and you have to go back the way you came. It was a mess.

We still found a couple cool places, well really just one. St. Marks Basilica. Which after seeing the Vatican and St. Peters Basilica, just really wasn't that impressive. The enormous amount of birds just chillin' outside however, were impressive. Impressive indeed.