We Jumped! + Update On Don

*Update from the "Sandbox"!* Don has safely arrived in Afghanistan & all is well! Hip hip hooray! He's been able to send me text messages still {how amazing is that?!} & emails as well! He says that it looks a bit like Southwest Oklahoma...with more sand :)

Remember my post from a few days ago? The one where I was a bit down in the dumps & needed a lift {pun intended}, so I posted some pictures of celebrities looking cheery & free as they jumped into the air for their TIME magazine photographer? Well, my fabulous MIL reminded me...Don & I did just this for a few of our wedding photos!  Now that I think about it, I wish we'd done some this way with just Don & me, but that's ok!  We have a lifetime for that :)  Having the entire bridal party jumping together was an awesome look!  It seems to be a pretty common trend in wedding photography lately, but I still like it :)

I can't believe this was almost two years ago.  June 14, 2008 was our fabulous wedding day!  It's almost time for our anniversary, baby ♥  Don bought me a beautiful bouquet of red roses before he left.  I love that man!  {Oh, & yes...I am barefoot in this picture!}

We had so much fun taking wedding pictures together!  Our photographers were fantastic.  It was a man & his wife, which made it all the more perfect! 

In just a few days when it's actually our Wedding Anniversary, I will post a few more of my favorite wedding photos.  I can't believe that it's already been two years!  And they have without a doubt been the best two years of my life.  I know that everyone says that; it's pretty cliche!  But I mean it.  Being with Don, no matter where that is or what life is throwing at us at the time, is exactly what I've always wanted.  Even now, with this deployment just beginning & an entire year of separation before us, I wouldn't have it any other way.  My husband is my hero.  My husband is my best friend.  My husband is mine & I am his!  Nothing in the world can change that!  ♥

So, here's to jumping for joy at all of life's blessings!  {I'm hoping that I'm blessed with a Skype call today!}

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Hooray For Modern Technology!

First of all, thank you so very much to each & every one of you who wrote to me through email, Facebook, & here on my blog letting me know that you're thinking of Don & me & praying for us both!  Your support was overwhelming & I cannot thank you enough!  I know we're not tackling this alone!

Don was able to call me about four times yesterday, send text messages, & I even woke up to find an email waiting for me! Hooray! Isn't technology amazing? I'm so thankful for telephones, cell phones, wi-fi internet, email!  Don is so far away from me right now, but that distance does seem smaller when we're able to communicate!  Thank you thank you, brilliant inventors of the past!

Image courtesy of Flickr.Com

If you've been following my blog for a while, you may remember that Don went to Ranger School back in the States last year.  While he went through this grueling process, I moved back home to Colorado to live with my parents.  Don was only allowed to call me twice during the School to let me know how he was doing, & our calls only lasted a few minutes each time!  Other than those two precious conversations, our only form of communication was through writing letters.  Every day, I would walk to my parents' mailbox hoping to find a letter from Don inside!  Whenever I did, I would hold it so close & read it over & over.  I know that people don't write letters as often as they used to, but my oh my there is something wonderful about that tangible form of conversation.  Knowing that the other person held that paper too :)

It made me think about the men & women who served our country decades ago when the ideas of cell phones, internet, & Skype hadn't even been born!  Can you imagine saying goodbye to your soldier & knowing that he wouldn't be home until the war was over?  Can you imagine waiting for months on end to receive just one letter in the mail?  This was the way that my Grandparents stayed in touch during World War Two.  And my goodness, if they could do that then I can do this!

Love letters straight from the heart
Keep us so near while apart
I’m not alone in the night
When I can have all the love you write

I memorize every line
And I kiss the name that you sign
And, darling, then I read again right from the start
Love letters straight from your heart

{From the song "Love Letters Straight From The Heart" sung by Nat King Cole, Elvis, & many more.}

I love you, Don!  You're doing great, sweetie ♥