How was vacation you ask?...i'll tell you. Great!

Ok friends, it's been almost 3 weeks being home from vacation now. I’m sorry it took so long to get this posted…I’m sure you’ve all been dying to know how my trip to Virginia Beach to see John was….but then again you may have forgotten about it by now. I’ve been having internet issues at home, so I’ve had this all typed up, but no way to post it. Lucky for me, I have internet at work for backup.

It's a bittersweet feeling being home again. There really is no place like home, but i miss my husband. But, vacation was great! Despite traveling for 15 hours both ways, the extreme teeth pain from flying that felt like my face was trying to explode on the airplane (which i hear means i'll probably need a root canal), the humidity that trashes my hair and makes me look like C-R-A-P, the crazy drivers and millions of roads to get lost on because there really is no way to tell which direction the ocean is unless you're driving next to it, the inevitable break-out of my skin (still haven't figured out if its the sun or the new climate that causes it, but it happens every time i travel no matter what time of year or where i go).... It was all worth it because i got to see John :] I can't tell you how much i miss him, more and more each day. And the trip was not enough to quench the need. The first few weeks when he left were the worst, but it got easier after a while. Seeing him again started it all over, again. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder. But this time i think it'll be a little easier.

I got to see friends as well as john too, so that was a bonus. I managed to get myself healthy again just in time to get on an airplane and remember that i need dental work done. My ears where great though, so i was grateful for that, and in a stroke of genius on the way out of the house in the morning on my way to the airport, i remembered to grab the Kanka Pen (Blistex makes it) i had from the last time i flew to numb my mouth enough to make the pain bearable. it only lasted one flight though... I took every reasonable form of transportation except a train to get there, and 15 hours later i arrived in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, grabbed my rental car and stayed with one of my best friends in the world, Rachel, the first night i got in. I spent friday with her until i could go pick up john. We traded clothes (i got a super cute white bathing suit from her as trade for the dress i mentioned in a previous post), went to the beach, drove around, ate some lunch and then she came with me to pick up john. John didn't know what time we were coming, so when we showed up he was sleeping and came down to meet me at the door still rubbing his eyes. it was cute :) I got to see his barics finally. After talking to him for so long and having a made up picture in my head of what it looks like, it was nice to see how he's really living. It smells funny. Not his room, but more the entire building really. I won't try to guess why. Then we went for Mexican (something PA doesn't have a great selection of) and i got to see a little of Elizabeth City NC. I wanted to see it so i could decide if it was one of the places where i wanted to move to for sure since its one of the few options we have.... I don't want to move there now. The best part of it was that, besides the good mexican food, it has a Super Wal-Mart. Wow right? (I only say that's a plus because PA doesn't have the "super", just the regular. haha). It was a ghetto swamp land rolled into one in some areas. i didn't even know that was possible. I wasn't impressed, so i'm over wanting to go there now.
I was given a Toyota Prias Hybrid for a rental car. John hated it when i told him about it. He thinks they're ugly and that they don't have any power because they're Hybrids. I thought it was kind of fun to drive though. It has a backup camera and push button start, the "key" is just the key chain remote that you slip into a little slot, and you can't even tell its on when you start it. The Valet guy just about had a cow when we pulled up in it and he couldn't hear it running. He thought it was the coolest thing in the world, couldn't believe it was still on. By the end of the trip john was asking if i would like one of them. i think he had more fun driving it then i did.
After we dropped Rachel off we drove to the Hotel we were staying at. Our hotel was NICE. Fancy, and pretty, and great. And the whole trip was like being on a second honeymoon.
Saturday we went to Busch Gardens with our friends from back in the hood, Doug and Jenny. I met Jenny when i was 12 on the first day at church when my family first moved to West Virginia. She had some of her Bennie Babies with her at the time (this was back when they were at the start of super cool to collect). That was the same time i met John too. We were friends from the beginning. And then i met Doug at a church dance i went to a few years later....or maybe it was at Youth Conference when we went on the Church History tour through New York and Ohio. Either way, i thought he was a cool guy and it was obvious (to me at least) that he was in love with Jenny from the beginning. Doug is also one of Johns best friends. But yeah, we met up with them at the theme park. They had got stuck in traffic, but lucky for us, john hassled me all morning to be ready on time so we wouldn't be late and we ended up not having their traffic problems.
Busch Gardens was great. John and i got in free because he's military and they'll give one free pass to military and their family a year, so it worked out great. We ate some breakfast while we waited for Doug & Jenny, and i tried to share mine with the birds and take a picture of them but they always flew away when i got it in focus. I think they have a 6th sense or something. But it was good to see Doug and Jenny, and we all had a lot of fun. i felt like a party pooper by the end of the day because my feet were killing me from wearing the wrong flip-flops. But we all had fun, and at the end of the day we went to dinner together and had some more.
Sunday we got to sleep in together. It was great since john had made me get up early so we weren't late the day before and my feet were still sore. I had brought church clothes with me so we could go to church together, but john left his back at his dorms. John went out and got lunch for us though and after a little wait we went to swim at the indoor pool they had at the hotel. I think swimming in the pool was my favorite part of my time with john. The whole trip was great, but there's nothing like playing and having fun with your husband. i love not having to worry about anything except enjoying each other. After swimming for a while, we got ready and went to see Angels and Demands, got some dinner and ice cream, and then went to the new Star Trek movie too.
Monday was our last day together. We drove around trying to find the good beach, but went too far and found the wrong ones and got a little lost... but we got some lunch and got going in the right direction, and ended up at a mini golf coarse on Virginia Beach for a few hours. Another day of fun and play. After that we saw the X-Man Beginnings movie. We were a little late so we had to sit in the front corner seats where the screen is all out of whack, but i didn't really care in the end. We picked up Rachel after that and she came with us to take john back to the base :( I did really well not crying too much in front of him when it was time to go so he wouldn't worry about me, but it was sad. I ended up crying more on my first flight the next morning. The poor lady sitting next to me kept looking over at me not knowing what to do.
All in all, the trip was great. Worth the money, and the time. I miss my john, but he’ll be home in 5 more weeks, so I have something to look forward to now. I can see the end of the tunnel. We still don’t know exactly when we’re moving to Cali, but it’ll be 2-4 weeks after john gets home. I’m hoping I can go to girls camp with my ward, but it’s the 2^nd week of August, so I don’t think it will work out L I’ve been wanting to go to girls camp for years since graduating, but it never seems to work out. Oh well. Maybe next year.
I’ll be posting all the pictures from the trip in my next blog…I hope.