Road Trip & Wedding Bells

After 31 days of traveling the Western United States with my best friend, I am finally back in the great state of Alabama. As I begin writing about my recent journey, I must admit there is a lot of truth in the term, “There’s no place like home.” We rolled into Alabama with the video camera recording and the very familiar song “Sweet Home Alabama” blaring in the background. Kaden and I were singing at the top of our lungs, because our 30 hour drive from Las Vegas, Nevada was nearly over. Familiar territory- Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The beautiful city where I began my sophomore year of college living with my best friend, attended football games, met new friends, worked at a cupcake store, graduated college, and fell in love with a man I can now say I get to spend the rest of my life with!! Now, before I go off on that, let me back track and reminisce on my road trip of a lifetime!

The day had finally arrived for Kaden to come home! I boarded my airplane in Birmingham, Alabama bound for Omaha, Nebraska later that evening. The flight went smoothly and in no time I was in Nebraska with snow ALL around me. People quickly picked up on my southern accent and wished me well as I told them my story. I spent all day Thursday in the Holiday Inn watching tv, reading, and sleeping. Kaden called me from Baltimore and it all set in at once that he was truly coming home from Afghanistan in less than 24 hours. Let’s just say falling asleep was quite difficult for me on Thursday. My alarm was set for bright and early, my outfit was prepared, and I was more anxious than I think I’ve ever been before. Friday was here and Kaden called me from Chicago saying he was less than 2 hours away. The airport shuttle picked me up and I was on the way to the airport!! I first bought a pack of gum (to make sure I didn’t have bad breath of course), and sat down against a wall facing security. Not one other single person seemed to be there waiting on a loved one and I immediately became nervous. About half an hour later, a wife and a few military men came with a sign that read “Welcome Home” and that assured me that Kaden was about to walk into my arms.

I cannot begin to describe the feeling to you as I saw Kaden for the very first time. I just stood there in shock right before I ran his way. For the last 6 months, we talked countless hours on the phone or Skype, wrote letters, and made each other laugh as we tried to mark off just ONE more MONTH. Kaden instantly grabbed me as I hugged him for the first time and for a few minutes, I couldn’t do anything else but smile and cry. Talk about a mess. Walking to the baggage claim, we held hands and just smiled because we had no idea what to say to each other. It was by far one of the most sentimental and rewarding feeling knowing that God brought an incredible man home safely from such a despicable and terrible place.

For the next week, we stayed in Omaha, Nebraska doing the small things we had missed so much for the past six months. Going on dates, eating a lot, laughing, holding hands, and just enjoying each others company. In Omaha, we:

1. Ate Mexican

2. Put up a Christmas tree

3. Made homemade stockings for each other

4. Ate sushi

5. Caught a mouse in Kaden’s room

We obviously did much more than that but these five memories will always be very special to both of us. Now, it’s time for our road trip!

We were packed and ready to set out on a trip of a lifetime! We drove over 5,000 miles our entire trip…Here is our route.

1. Left Omaha, Nebraska and drove to Lubbock, Texas. Went through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas (My first time!)

2. Spent a few days in Lubbock (Kaden’s hometown: Got ENGAGED on December 21 at Santaland (a display of Christmas lights and trees!!!) Ate a steak dinner with his Dad to celebrate! Visited Lldean and was impressed with his wood working skills.

3. Drove to Odessa, Texas and spent Christmas Eve with Kaden’s mom! Had a wonderful Christmas together and we received 6 inches of SNOW. Built a snowman. Enjoyed homemade cooking. Opened presents. Played monopoly. Bought my first wedding magazine. Loved sitting next to the fire.

4. Left Christmas morning and headed towards Lameisa, Texas to eat with grandparents. Ate way too much. Experienced a cute little town way smaller than Oneonta. Opened presents.

5. Back to Lubbock and ready to head to Clovis, New Mexico to visit grandparents. Got delayed one day because of my trip to the Emergency Room. I had an allergic reaction to a antibiotic I was taking and broke out ALL OVER MY BODY. Kaden drove like the Dukes of Hazzard the whole way there. Got an IV. Slept all day.

6. Drove to Clovis, NM and enjoyed eating with family. Loved all the different looking houses. Looked at baby pictures of Kaden. Fun visit.

7. Left Clovis, and headed towards Angel Fire, New Mexico to snow ski. Long curvy roads. Beautiful sunset. Coffee stops to re gain caffeine. Started to see snow. High elevation.

8. Arrived in Angel Fire and ate dinner with Andy and John, Kaden’s brother. Laughed the whole time because John is hilarious. Settled into our room. Went to bed early.

9. Woke up and spent the whole day on the slopes. Had one of the best times I’ve ever had. Fell 3 times. Someone stole Kaden’s sunglasses. LOVED the ski lift. 10,000 feet up. Ate pizza for dinner. Slept very hard.

10. Set my alarm early so we could get to the Grand Canyon by sunset. Arrived in Arizona. Route 66. Still some snow. Lots of red dirt. Winslow, AZ…sang the Eagles famous song. Did not make it to the Grand Canyon by sunset. I cried and cried because I thought I would never see it. Luckily, there are hotels by the Canyon (should have known). Checked into hotel. Ate Mexican.

11. Woke up at 5am to get ready for sunrise at the GC. Grabbed McDonalds but was too excited to eat. Took pictures in parking lot. Walked fast to “Mathers Point.” Experienced the Grand Canyon. Brought tears to my eyes. Tons of people. Tons of foreigners. Kaden overheard someone talking about me in Korean saying “that girl looks crazy with no hat”(it was cold) Took lots of pictures. Got a souvenir.

12. Hopped in the truck and headed towards Nevada. Stopped at the AZ/NV state line to take a picture. Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge. Jumped the fence to get a better picture. Rolled down the windows as we drove to the Hoover Dam. Thought about Chevvy Chase the whole entire time. Found a great parking spot. Took lots of pictures. Scared because Kaden acted like he was throwing me over. Very deeppppp. Ready for Vegas.

13. Drove through Vegas. Arrived and met his dad and family. Ate lunch at the In and Out burger place. Got ready for New Years. Sketchy people in Vegas. 300,000 people on the strip. Watched fireworks. New Years Kiss. Won 27 bucks on the slot machines. Got crammed up against a fence. Scared for my life and worse than World’s Wildest Videos. Stupid people. Military ID saved our life. Got back to our room as fast as we could.

14. Watched football with family. Ate pizza and wings. Rode dirtbikes. Kaden flipped me off. Cut my hand. I pouted. Told Kaden, “You are shaky on that dirtbike.” He thought I said “Sexy.” Laughed about it afterwards. Watched is very talented sister dance at dress rehearsal. Amazed at her talent at only 11.

15. Started our journey back to Alabama. Drove 15 hours one day, and 15 hours the next day. Arrived in Tuscaloosa and met up with my Gigi’s friends for wings and pizza. Stayed the night with Hannah and Tyler and had a great time catching up.

16. Made our last 100 miles to Oneonta! WE MADE IT!

17. Kaden left for Omaha, Nebraska. See ya soon!

As you can see, I simply just jotted down a few things here and there that either made me laugh or meant a lot to me on our trip. I had the most amazing time and I have Kaden to thank for that. I got engaged to a wonderful man, and if you haven’t met him yet, don’t worry… you will! We set the date for August 18, 2012 so mark your calendars people J I will continue to update on our wedding plans! Thank you to everyone for all of the support, it means more than you will ever know!!! We are BLESSED with great family and friends. Hope you all have a better glimpse of our trip and our journey over the past 6 MONTHS. Welcome home honey!