Party #3: CJ and Cara's going away party

We somehow made it to this last party between midnite and 1 am. Joe's old fraternity brother/a friend of mine and his girlfriend are moving to Indy this week. They had a big get together at Lil Cheers so they could say their goodbyes. It was good to see everyone, since a lot of our friends have already moved to Indy. Everyone came to town for this night, though. I forgot about my camera by this point of the evening, but somehow I captured this picture of Joe and my sister. My sister is holding the beer she got Joe to buy for her. Joe and I decided we had ENOUGH to drink that night and left at about 2:30 am. Pizza rolls were sounding delicious at about this time & we were both ready to crash!

Needless to say....Sunday we didn't do a thing!!!

Joe's platoon party....party #2!

Party #2 of the day: Joe's platoon party. I was a little nervous about this little event, because I didn't know anyone in his platoon. I knew some of his military friends, but they weren't in this platoon. Thank God, his buddies are party crashers, because a few of them showed up later! Everyone got along so it was a really fun night....

We decided that we needed some more pictures of us...and I needed some more for the scrapbook I'm making...haha! Thumbs up for alcohol???

The aviator glasses were apparently the traded accessory of the night, because we all had them on at some point. We all looked ridiculous, too! The more you drink, the cooler you think you look, though!

Joe was pretending to be sad about something....probably because I wouldn't let him call me stupid "nicknames." This also started the next phase of our night. A group of us left the VFW and went to Leroy's on the westside for some more drinks and a little karaoke...yeah, it got interesting!

The guys thought they had the song "Chicken Fried" down.....they did not! It was definitely a show!

I can't remember what song they TRIED to sing here, but they were definitely into it! Noone got a picture of all the wives & girlfriends singing "Girls, Girls, Girls." Now THAT was something!

Last picture of us at Leroy's before heading to our last party of the night, which was at another bar....Lil Cheers, here we come!

Sally's baby shower

One of my best friends from college was told she could never get pregnant. She got married to a guy from Newburgh, and she moved back home to Fort Wayne. About a year later, we get this little memo from her that she's pregnant. We were all shocked and couldn't believe the news. She always acted like a mom to us, so we knew she would be a great mom! She had a lot of friends who were still living in Evansville, so she had a baby shower down here on Saturday. (This was just the start to my hectic day!) The night before we all went to dinner at Hacienda as a girls night out occasion. It was nice to catch up with everyone. Sally was glowing and looked more happy than ever. Sally had the shower at her mother-in-laws in Newburgh. She recieved some really creative baby gifts, and we played some funny games. She is due at the beginning of February; she is keeping the sex of the baby a surprise, but already has names picked out. Grace Elizabeth Martin if it's a girl. Jack Donald or Owen Donald if it's a boy. All the names are family names. It's exciting to know that next time I probably see her, she'll have a little one with her too!

Midnight showing of Twilight!!!

So I'm a big dork and decided to go see Twilight with my sister and some friends the Thursday before it came out. I worked all day, maybe got a 30 minute power nap, and then chugged a caramel macchiato from Starbucks. Everyone who went with our group made shirts, too. I have the front and back of mine in the above pictures...yeah, we went all out...hence:dorks! I was also sooo tired that I accidently put a burn mark on the back side...oops! The rush of seeing a movie from a book I fell in love with gave me the adrenaline I needed to stay awake. We went to Stadium 16, and the place was PACKED! There were crazy moms and people everywhere! The book was intended for teenagers, but I know more 20-year-olds and up that actually read it. The second grade teacher at Holy Spirit FINALLY jumped on the bandwagon! haha!! Not only did I see it for the midnight showing, I also went that next day/Friday to see it again with my mom, aunts, and yes, sister again! It was definitely worth it, and I'm ready to go see it again. I think I may read the book again, though. I still have a boyfriend who hasn't seen it, and I think it'll be a great date movie! ;-)

Venting!

This is going to be a picture-free post. I just need to get some stuff off my chest. I've been pretty stressed out lately. I have too much going on and I somewhat feel alone dealing with it. Well, first of all, I absolutely love my job at Holy Spirit; however, that job & my other job hardly pays the bills. This is very frustrating since I have a degree & a teaching license. I have an interview at my alma mater, which I would take if I was offered the job. I really hope I don't have to switch schools though, because I love it there. I want to see the students I have now down the road; I can't wait to see how they grow up! They are all so sweet, and I can't wait to go to work to see what they will do next! I would be absolutely excited to have them in class in 6 grade. I really hope that is the road life leads me to! It's just crazy to think that in 2 months everything could change!

My other stress doesn't come from work. Not that work is causing me stress, it's the lack of income that comes with the work. :-/ I knew dating someone in the military was going to be hard, especially someone who is fighting oversees. I never would've thought that it would the way that it is, though. I feel alone a lot, even though I have my friends that I hang out with a lot, it's just not the same. What makes it really hard is when the person I love treats me like shit. I know it's all probably displaced anger, but it's really hard to deal with sometimes. I'm here waiting for him to return, taking care of stuff for him, and doing everything I can to communicate with him everyday (even if it's just me sending him an email or message). Instead, I'm yelled at because I'm not sitting around doing nothing all the time. It's like he would rather me sit around and be depressed rather than talk to my friends. I'm sorry, but I can't do that. It seems very selfish of him, because I know he wouldn't do that if the tables were turned. I have to live my life! I'm not a loner. I have to be around people, because I'll go crazy. He's mad at me for having fun on Halloween. I know it sucks, because he can't have fun right now but what am I supposed to do?! I haven't talked to him for like a week, and he won't respond to anything I send him. He's being hateful to me. I can only take so much. I can only be so strong. I don't know if I'm cut out for this drama. I know things will probably be fine eventually, but am I going to have to deal with this every time he leaves for something? even training? He talks like he's so unsure about ever getting married to anyone. I'm so concerned that I'm wasting my time with someone and it's going nowhere. I honestly want to get married and have kids before I'm 30. I'm half-way there! I just don't know what to do. A chunk of me says to end this all & find someone who can truly make me happy, but my heart won't let me leave entirely. I'm in limbo. It's hard to believe someone loves you in return when their actions speak louder than their words.

Boo Bash

So people are interested in seeing pictures from my Halloween party appropriately entitled "Boo Bash." It was definitely an interesting evening, and the apt looked amazing with the decorations I borrowed from Jamie. The costume choices are even more interesting! These are only a few pictures. I have plenty more; I'll have to post them later.
The rockstar host of the party! Elvis is in the building!

The coy Alice in Wonderland!

Aww, how cute! I love their costumes!

Can you tell which sister is the crazy one? haha

My little Queen of Hearts! She's even equipped with the flamingo!

Yeah...we pretty much go hand in hand!

Alice and the beer girl....I'm pretty sure Alice in Wonderland isn't old enough to drink!

Annette as a crazy lumberjack...If you knew her crazy family, it would all make sense...They are goofy!

Zach and Katie as Kendra Wilkinson from the Girls Next Door & her football player!

Kyle the lumberjack and his girlfriend, Casey, the 50s girl.

Can you believe these guys are straight?! Boyscout, Terry (from Reno911), & Ryan hiding his green man suit. It's a shame you can't see Derek's rollerskates. That was priceless!

My best friend, Chelsea, and her husband.

Umm yeah.....those are my friends....Andy had to show off his awesome marker tattoos on his stomach!

The green man suit is only funny if you watch It's always Sunny in Philadelphia!

Andy being Lil Wayne.....it's sad that he looks the part too well :-/

Elvis and a mile high captain.....hmmmm....haha

The ETC crew! Well, Chelsea used to be! I'm glad the pink power ranger got to come out and play!

If you don't get the middle guy, look it up on youtube. It's from an SNL skit w/Justin Timberlake.

Elvis and Amy Winehouse: what a great duo! It helps that our beer girl is right beside us!

Rob Zombie made an appearance!

My sister as Alice and Mike as the Joker....hmmm, interesting pair there!

Joe's first time at the ocean!!!!

So Joe has never been to an ocean before. I hadn't met anyone who has never been to an ocean! I told him that it was my duty as his girlfriend to take him there. There was a lighthouse near the beach, but we didn't feel like going on any more tours. The water was also a little too cold to actually go swimming in it. At least he got to put his feet in and collect seashells. It was probably the cutest thing I have ever seen! It was like he was 4, and experiencing it all for the first time....but he was 24. It just made me so happy that he could finally experience the ocean! We sipped margaritas and strolled down the beach. It was perfect! I can't wait to take him to Florida this summer so he can actually swim in it! Of course there were a million seagulls, but I had to take a picture of the one on the post. It reminded me of Finding Nemo, and I kept saying "mine, mine!" :-)

My visit to Fort Stewart & Savannah!!

It's March!! Joe has a 4 day pass, and I took a mini-vacation to go visit him. I've never really stayed in Savannah, so I was excited about that too. I did all the work on the planning since he really didn't have time to. I got our hotel, which was right behind River St where everything happened, I got a rental car, and drove down there by myself. It was my first big trip by myself. It wasn't too bad driving down there. I had a thermos of coffee, a few cd mixes, and he called me a few times to check on me. It was nice to enjoy the scenery and figure out my destination without anyone bothering me. Atlanta to Savannah was the most boring part....it's like the drive from Evansville to Terre Haute: nothing to see & it's the longest 2 hours of your life! Joe was trying to get a nap in before I got there so I couldn't talk to him either.

It was almost weird to see him after being away for 3 months. It was like meeting someone for the first time. It was silent at first, but then everything was back to normal. It's hard to know what to say when you don't see anyone for so long. There was a St. Patrick's day fest going on while we were down there, so we decided to check it out and have a few drinks. I was pretty tired from the 10 hour drive I made that day, but I wanted to spend time with him. Needless to say, it took 2 seconds for both of us to fall asleep that night. The next day we walked around the town and did some shopping. I found a Marc Jacobs store, so I was in heaven. Later on that night, we went on a ghost tour of the town. I took pictures of haunted areas that had a bunch of orbs around it. I thought it was fun, but Joe thought it was a little lame at first. I love spooky stuff, so I was hooked. After the tour around the town, we had dinner at the Pirate House. It was actually the hangout of pirates when they would sail by. There was a "drunk" pirate walking around the restaurant who sounded exactly like Captain Jack Sparrow, so I had to get my picture with him! After dinner, we went to the wine cellar in the basement. It just had an eerie feeling. You could see where they boarded up the tunnel that led to the ocean. This was apparently how they would drag out victims to sail their ships. I took more pictures of orbs surrounding the people in our tour group. If you can blow up the picture, it's very creepy!!!

Joe's ceremony in Indy

In order to keep everything somewhat recent and accurate, I'm starting this whole blogging thing with Joe's leave for Iraq in January. This was definitely a big step and challenge in our relationship. It's kind of one of those tests to see how strong of a couple we are. It's one thing to have a long distance relationship, but it's another thing to have the person you love in a war situation. You don't know what could happen in any minute. This was very hard for me to deal with at first. I didn't have a job, because I just finished my student teaching. I wasn't starting a new job for about another 2 weeks after he left. I don't think I've ever actually felt depressed til this point. I didn't do anything but sleep. It felt if I just slept away the days, he would be here sooner. I didn't eat much either. It was such a horrible situation. I didn't get back to normal until I started working again, and that got my mind off the situation a little more. It's hard going from talking to a person every day, and then speaking to them a few times a week.

We had to be up in Indy on January 1st since the going away ceremony was on the 2nd. It was at the RCA Dome. I held my composure the entire time until we actually got there, and he started taking his stuff into the assigned area. He came back and asked me a question.....then I just starting crying. I was so mad at myself for losing it. I didn't want it to be such a sad time, because I wanted to enjoy our last minutes together and be happy. When you see everyone else crying, it also doesn't help! He just held me until he had to go and kept telling me everything will be ok. I knew it would probably would be, but at that moment I was just thinking of everything bad that could happen. I took pictures of all the soldiers walking in and sitting with their unit. I could actually see Joe, which made me so excited. At least, I could still have him in my sight until it was time for them to leave.

After the ceremony, he called me. I didn't think he would be able to, but he talked to me until he absolutely had to go. He called me a couple more times on my ride back home and then I didn't hear from him until a couple days. He was stationed at Fort Stewart in GA. He was still in the states training, so I could talk to him still...just not as much. He would call me occasionally while I was at work and I would be able to talk to him. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but then again he wasn't overseas yet.

A little About Myself

My name is Brittany, and this is the start of my soon to be blogging addiction! So many of my co-workers have done it, and I thought it could be fun. I am an English teaching major, and I hope to get a full-time teaching job soon. Right now, I love the school that I work at and hopefully I can stay there and obtain a full-time position. Working takes up the majority of my time while I wait for my boyfriend to return home from Iraq. It's his second tour, and he's miserable. We're hoping he doesn't have to go back for a long time. My friends have been great to make sure I don't sit around & be depressed. I love them for everything they've done! So I guess this is my little introduction for now while I go crazy with pictures and blogging in the future!