A Little Bit of R&R

(Warning this is LONG)
That's right everyone Nathan finally got to come home for some much needed rest and relaxation. When the army sends you overseas on 12 month orders they give you 15 days to come home and relax and see your family. Nathan and I decided that we wanted to save his R&R for the end the deployment so that when he had to go back it wouldn't be for very long. We also decided to be a little selfish and plan to spend R&R together in Florida away from family and friends so that we could get as much alone time as possible. As you can imagine we have been looking forward to R&R ever since he left 10 months ago. The planning didn't really start until October 20 when we found out Nathan's official leave dates. He was to leave Iraq on November 19th and with travel time hopefully arrive in Florida by the 21st. That's right he would be back for our 1 year anniversary. I booked my plane ticket so that I would be in Florida on the 19th and that way if everything went right I would be able to be there waiting at the gate when Nathan got in. I wish that I could tell you that everything went smoothly but of course it didn't.

To start off Nathan got his official leave dates but they didn't really mean much since he had to wait for some Sergeant to get back from leave. We crossed our fingers and hoped and prayed he would show up on the 19th and Nathan would be able to leave with out a hitch. The 19th came and Nathan wasn't allowed to go. While Nathan was dealing with that I was dealing with the stress of trying to make my flight while a nice little winter storm that was headed for the Cascades. Luckily I was able to get all my packing done, drive over early and stay at my sisters. I am happy to say I made it to the airport without a hitch. I was stressed out but at least I was on my way. Nathan on the other hand was still waiting for his replacement to show up so he could get going. Once I got to Orlando I picked up the rental car and got to our beautiful vacation home that a friend graciously allowed us to use for free! I got all settled in and the waiting game began. The 20th and 21st came and went and no sign of the Sergeant, then on the 22nd Nathan walked into the bathroom to get ready for work and who did he see? His replacement!!! He was finally able to start his journey home. Of course now he just had to get a flight from Taji to Baghdad and then from Baghdad to Kuwait and then from Kuwait to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Orlando. Well it took Nathan almost 24 hrs to get a flight to Baghdad, and then another 24 hrs to get from Baghdad to Kuwait all because of the stupid fog! We were both so miserable, all we wanted to do was see each other and it seemed like it was never going to happen. Finally on the 24th/25th of November Nathan was able to get a flight out of Kuwait and he arrived in Atlanta at 0700 ish on the 26th (Thanksgiving) and was able to get a flight to Orlando that was scheduled to arrive at 1030. After a agonizing week it was finally really happening!

Nathan was finally HERE!! I was so excited as I drove to the airport I could barely breath. I got my pass to go meet Nathan at the gate and I couldn't stop smiling as I went thru security. When I got to the gate I literally had to remind myself to breath and I had to walk around so I didn't pass out. When Nathan's plane showed up I hoped that he would be the first one off. He wasn't and I thought that maybe he missed the flight because it looked like no one was coming off anymore but then I saw him. It was the most amazing moment, as soon as he got off the gang way I ran into his arms and we just stood there hugging and kissing, and yes I cried, until we finally were able to let go. I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't believe how nice it was to be able to talk to Nathan in person I don't think I shut up the whole 40 min ride back to the house.

Nathan and I spent Thanksgiving thankful we were together and although we didn't have the traditional turkey dinner like we had hoped we did go to TGI Fridays and had a delicious meal. The 27th - 30th we just hung out, rented movies, went out to dinner or made frozen pizza, and just spent most of our time doing absolutely nothing except enjoying each others company. We did manage to make a little excursion to the Kennedy Space Center on the 28th, it was really neat even though we didn't make it out to the launch pads. On Dec 1st we went left the vacation house and started our week of Disney, well sort of, the first night we stayed at some cheap hotel. The 2nd - 4th Nathan had planned a mystery hotel and I had a romantic dinner planned. The hotel we stayed at was the Grand Floridian on the Walt Disney Resort. It was AMAZING and it just so happened to be the hotel our fancy dinner was at. We checked in and got all dressed up and headed off to dinner. We had 2100 reservations at Victoria and Albert's! It was amazing, we had a wonderful 7 course meal and we ate things like salmon caviar, octopus, veal, buffalo, duck, and other yummy food. We had such an amazing time and we were treated like royalty. The next day Nathan and I just hung out around the hotel enjoying each others company and riding around on the monorail. We bought our tickets for Disney World which was an amazing deal, we got two 5 day park-hopper passes for around $140, because Disney had a awesome Military deal where Nathan got in free and I got a discounted ticket. On the 4th we went to Epcot and had a awesome time even though it was pouring rain and we got soaked. We had so much fun going to all the countries, watching the firework show, and riding most of the rides. On the 5th we sadly checked out of the Grand Floridian and checked into Shades of Green, Disney's military resort hotel, which gives you all the resort privileges at a discount price. We spent the first half of that day at the Animal Kingdom where we went on safari and saw the Yettie on Everest and went back in time to see some dinosaurs. The second half of the day we went to the Magic Kingdom! It was so much fun, we saw two parades, rode Splash Mountain 3 or 4 times, Thunder Mountain Railroad at least twice, toured the Haunted Mansion, rode Small World, Snow White, Peter Pan and watched the amazing firework show from Main Street USA. It was magical to say the least, we were there until the park closed at 0100. On the 6th after all that Disney fun we headed back to the house for a little more rest and relaxation. Okay so we only relaxed for one day and then headed back to Disney on the 8th so we could get some pictures and ride some of the rides we didn't get to ride the first time we were there like Space Mountain and the Train that goes around the park. The 9th- 11th we went minature golfing to celebrate my birthday and I made Nathan chocolate cupcakes in bed for his birthday. Other than that we pretty much just spent the rest of the time snuggling and watching movies.

Sadly R&R couldn't last forever and on December 12th Nathan and I had to say goodbye. I was able to go to the gate with Nathan and it was really hard to let him get on the plane. It took two attempts and a lot of tears but I was finally able to let go. That day was hard, but a couple of things made it a little bit easier, the first was I had to let him go so he could come home for good, and the second was this time I was only saying good bye for 7 or 8 weeks instead of 10 months. Nathan and I both made it back to our respective homes safe and sound and ready to get thru the next few weeks as fast as possible.

PS. If you read this entire post thanks. I know its long, but I was in Florida for 22 days, and well a lot of stuff happened so it was hard to condense it all.