my phone call!

the first call came in on friday! i should have known he passed, because he was calling on friday (recycles didn't get to call until the next day) i answered the phone and he said hi, he started talking about something and i was like "that's good and all but did you pass!?!?!?"  i could hear the smile spreading across his face and he said "yes." he told me he didn't receive any of my letters :( he said he was starting to worry i had forgotten about him, but he told him self "no i am pretty sure i asked her to marry me and she said yes" lol but on that friday he did get my package and the bubble envelope i sent him with our pictures in it. he said he was just walking around looking, hoping and he recognized my name before his own on a big brown box among a bunch of smaller ones! he picked it up surprised by its weight (22 lbs) turned to his buddies and said "fellas we are eating good on the car ride today!" he opened the box, first thing he saw was the blue peeps i picked out for him! he thought to him self, 'she really does love me!' Duh of course i do!! lol...he told me he shared with his buddies too:) he told me how all his joints hurt and he couldn't close his hands :( i am worried about my man out there, about all of our men....

my second phone call only lasted a few minutes, he was calling to tell me he was headed back to base, he didn't sound as excited as he did during the first phone call...he had a list of things that we needed to accomplish when he graduated, getting a place ect...he told me he had it all written down and he would mail it to me (i told him to copy it twice and send it twice lol) he told me i needed to be ready to jump on a plane at a moments notice....he kept telling me that everything would be ok, that we could do this, we just had a little bit longer to go! hang in there, hang in there, hang in there....he was trying to soothe me, and all i wanted to do was soothe him. i love this man, even tho he is the one out there killing himself he was still worried about me, how i was holding up, if i was ok. he is amazing! he told me he loved me three times before he got off the phone....i miss him so much.

Hang in there baby! I love you!

Our last night together until the end of ranger school!

SO PROUD OF MY RANGER!

HE PASSED! HE PASSED! HE PASSED! Moving onto mountains! i am so so so so so proud of him, and i even got a 51 minute phone call! i am one happy girl right now! he got his care package, he was so happy! he shared with his buddies too! he told me he only got one of my letters, which sucks, and he has sent out two to me, but i haven't gotten either one :( oh well i know he is ok and that is all i care about!

It is on its way!

ok, so i couldn't wait for USPS to open up tomorrow, so i went ahead and mailed the package UPS, the lady looked at me like i was crazy when i asked if i could pack it myself "we pack it for you, it's included in the price." "but i need to pack it with love!" lol. so the package weighed 22 lbs and will be at the fort Benning post office by Wednesday! just in time for the 8 hour pass, which i think is Friday or Saturday...i hope it gets to him! if not i am hoping he calls me so i can tell him to go get it! but i am going to let his mom know to tell him to go get it, in case he calls his family instead, either way as long as he gets it i will be happy! so the total cost of the contents of the package and the mailing of the package was about $90.00 and worth every penny. the thought of how happy he is going to be when he looks inside that box would be worth a million dollars, as i said before he is worth every single sacrifice. i have yet to get my first letter, i am hoping tomorrow will be the day! i am going insane over here! been spending lots of time with friends trying to take my mind off of it...i'm also getting a few extra hours at work, which is amazing, so at this point i am only missing out on four hours, at least for this week.....

time stops for no one!

49 days left, that is 7 weeks. i underestimated how hard this was going to be.....i was planning on just working and spending time with my friends and family...good plan until they cut my hours at work! everyone is losing hours, with my now extra free time i am looking for a second job....

i know that in the grand scheme of things 49 days isn't that long, but for me it seems like a lifetime....i am still waiting on my first letter, i don't know if that is normal, i only know that it has been too long!

ok so i joined a group online for ranger wives/gf ect....i guess it is time to ship the first package, i have yet to receive a letter and i don't know what company he is in still...but i am sending it anyway. i also read that lots of ladies have yet to get a letter, so i feel so much better, just hope he is getting mine. i am going to the store after work tonight, i will take pictures and let you all see what i bought for him!

I am missing my ranger so much....but the group i joined is helping! they have pictures uploaded and everything!

ok so here is what i am sending in the first care package!

3 gatorades

10 snickers

10 crunch bars

10 kit-kats

3 fruit buddies

6 honey buns

banana chips

dried mangos

dried fruit trio (mango, kiwi, pineapple)

5 packs of gum

2 ice cubes (chocolate)

1 ring pop

1 cherry mash

blue peeps

i pack of tuna

1 can of pringles (loaded potato)

11 granola bars

beef jerky

13 slim jims

pepperonis

crunchy cheetos

white cheddar popcorn

gummy bears

4 cheese crackers

i think that is everything i put in there, i also included a 5 page letter! :)

i just really hope it gets to him, i wasn't sure exactly when to send the package and i am afraid i may be to late since i wont be able to send it until tuesday (day 16).....i also don't know which company he is in because i have yet to receive a letter from him letting me know, so although i have sent him about 10 letters i don't even know if he is getting them, i just hope his rank/ name and class number is enough(along with the address of course) i don't know how to find out what company he is in without him being the one to tell me....so here is to hoping.

anyway...i just hope he knows i haven't abandoned him! ok it is late here! i am going to be heading to bed soon, working and shopping took it out of me! :) it is after midnight, so only 47 days left! that is 6 weeks & 5 days!

who i am, who we are.

So i guess i should tell you all a little about myself, and my favorite man!

My name is Lori i am 25, my ranger, and the reason this blog is necessary is Dale, my best friend, glove (i'm his hand), future, blood type buddy and birthday buddy( we were both born September 14th 1987). Don't worry, we made sure we weren't brother and sister :)
people are always shocked when we tell them we were born on the exact same day, to the year, and that we also have the same blood type. what are the odds? he was how ever born he was born about 9 hours before me, so i guess technically he is older, which i think he is pretty smug about lol :)
we like to think that we couldn't exist in this world with out each other, and that is why we were born on the same day. every time i think i couldn't love him anymore than i already do, he does something and i fall even more in love with him.
 i can be most myself when i am with him, we are so goofy together. one of my favorite things about him is how he laughs at his own joke, like how when he tells the joke, he is laughing so hard he cant get the punch line out, I LOVE THAT!

What I am doing.

Ok so i am going to try and go through all the things i have done, or am doing pertaining to ranger school communication and stuff.
lets see if i can organize my thoughts....
so here are a few must buys:

1. envelopes, i bought 3 kinds the longs ones, the regular sized ones and a pack of 2 5x6 bubble mailers for the pictures i sent (i got them all at big lots for $1.00 each, i work there btw)
2. stamps (the 'forever' kind) and then a sheet of the 20 cent ones (if your letters are like mine you will need them both)

ok here are some suggested buys:

1. gum (i bought 9 different flavors, i mail a few different flavors each time)
2. a plastic bin to store your letters in( i got a clear 6 QT. bin with a lid for $1.00 at big lots)
3. a pack of pens
4. cute paper ( you can use any kind you want, i choose a note book with fancy paper so if i decided to put them in a scrapbook later it will look nice).
5. self laminating pouches for pictures, this way they wont get ruined if the get wet. ( i bought the 4X6 size they were under $4.00 but they have other sizes at wal-mart too. make sure you buy the self sealing ones, other wise you need a special machine.)
6. and i suggest you read this book it is nice to have:

ok, so that is what i have done so far....oh and about the gum, tape it down, that way it doesn't slide to one side and become to thick to send. and make sure it is caffeine free.

here are the address:

[Name and Rank]

4th Ranger Training Battalion

ATTN: Class [class number]

10850 Schneider Road

Fort Benning, GA 31905

Mountain/ Phase 2 Address:

[Name and Rank]

5th Ranger Training Battalion

ATTN: Class [class number]

1 Camp Merrill

Dahlonega, GA 30533-1802

Florida/ Phase 3 Address:

[Name and Rank]

6th Ranger Training Battalion

ATTN: Class [class number]

6069 Walkers Lane

Camp James E. Rudder

Eglin AFB, FL 32542

i think the most important thing to send your soldier is encouragement, love and support. let him know how proud you are and how much you love and miss him. i tell Dale all of this constantly, i know it will help him, and i know it will put a smile on his face. 

waiting for my soldier.

The alarm went off at 5:45 am, I was already awake. I didn't want the time to come for him to have to leave me. After about 10 minutes I finally convinced him he should get up. We got dressed grabbed his bags and headed to the car, loaded the car, and hit the road. we got to the ranger compound at about 6:40 am, just enough time for a kiss and a hug, and then I watched him walk away from me, I stood outside the car until I couldn't see him anymore, I sat in the front seat and cried for about 30 seconds, shook it off and started driving. I cried most of the drive back to my hotel. Watching him walk away wasn't easy, but I know why he is doing this. This is his dream; he is doing it for his future, for our future.

I am counting down the days until I can hold him in my arms again, if all goes according to plan that is only 56 days away. 56 long days… this has been the longest 5 days of my life so far, still waiting for his first letter. I have sent out four already, and am working on the fifth now. I plan on sending one out every day the mail runs. I have gotten a lot of advice from other army ranger girlfriends/fiancés/wives on what to send and things like that. I am sure to send plenty of encouragement I will never let him forget how wonderful I think he is, how I know that he can do this, and how proud I am of him. I have also decided that, although he bought about 10 packs of gum the day before he left, he could always use more, so I bought about 10 different flavors and stick some in each letter, I also printed off some pictures at the little photo center in wal-mart, I took it a step further and laminated them just in case and wrote on the back of each one, letting him know how much I loved him. I got these ideas from reading other blogs, made by other women who had been through this already, so thank you ladies.

this blog will be one of the ways i get through each day, so far it isn't as hard as i feared it would be, because for us, when he is done with ranger school, our happily ever after begins!! i am still amazed that all our happy things are still ahead of us, God willing. i feel lucky and blessed to have met this wonderful man, i cant wait to spend the rest of forever being silly and insanely in love with him, the best part is i know he feels the same, it is an amazing feeling.

what i call the 'purple hair tree'