A seriously long day.

I'm bummed that I couldn't update this much for the last two days. Monday was crazy busy with finals and closing things up at school and yesterday I was literally traveling ALL day. First I will tell about my long day yesterday and then I will get into details about the town and the base. Hang in there, this is going to be a long blog...

Yesterday morning, after saying all my goodbyes, Cassie and I left for LAX at 9am to make sure I would have plenty of time to check in to my flight that left at 11:50. I checked in and checked my bag, which by the way weighed EXACTLY 50 pounds (that is the limit), and everything was going great. Then I went to security and I showed my military ID (which I still think is so cool!) and they put a red circle on my ticket. I was thinking "oh that must be because I am military or something", thinking I was special. Turns out that was NOT the case. After walking through the security line, they pulled me aside, grabbed all my bags and took me into a separate room. They proceeded to pat me down and empty all my belongings out of bags (which made me mad because I barely got everything to fit in my suitcase to begin with). Then the questioning began..."why are you only flying one way?", "where are you going?", etc. At this time, after I had been in the room for almost a half hour and was very upset, I asked "Do you treat all your military members this way?". The ladies in there looked at each other and said "You are military?"and so I showed them my ID. They said "We're so sorry, you can go ahead and go". I then strategically repacked my suitcase and bags and ran to my gate. I thought it was so weird that they would check me like that. I mean I originally showed them my military card. Did they think it wasn't real or something? Anyways, not a good way to start the day.

So then I got on my plane and of course I ended up sitting next to "chatty Kathy". Oh yes, she wanted to know all the details of my life story. I just wanted to sit and read my magazines, listen to my music, and fall asleep. Oh well, at least she was nice. Then I landed in Atlanta, which by the way is a HUGE airport. I had to run to make my connecting flight and get on a train to switch concourses. Of course, my two terminals were pretty much the farthest apart from each other. But, I made it, and with a little time to spare actually. So then I boarded the smallest plane EVER to take me into our town of Columbus. Thankfully, the plane was only half full so I got two seats to myself and tried to get comfy. This flight was great in that it was only 45 minutes long; it was like as soon as we took off, we were ready to land. Although, I don't think the flight attendant ever stopped talking and she had probably the strongest accent I had ever heard. I mean, she really loved that plane microphone. She then said that we would be there in 2-3 minutes so I pulled my window open to try and see anything, even though it was really dark and foggy. It was honestly the creepiest thing ever. There were no lights below, no signs of life, and nothing to indicate that we would be anywhere near ground. And then the wheels touched and I was so weirded out. Definitely not Los Angeles.

Here's where the story gets just wonderful. My checked bag was lost. Oh yes, of course that would happen to me. Turns out, it never even made the connecting flight in Atlanta. This was just wonderful considering that all that was in my carry on was shoes because they were too heavy to check. So I had a ton of shoes but nothing to wear and none of my bathroom stuff. Luckily, it was at this time that I got to see Jake, and it was hard to be upset when I was so happy to be in his arms again. We talked to the worker there and he said that my bag was not actually lost but it was definitely still in Atlanta and it would be on the next flight out here. Even still, I had no clothes with me or anything comfortable to wear, and I definitely wanted to change after traveling all day. Time to hit up the super Walmart! Yep, Jake took me there and I got to pick out some wonderful Walmart clothes. Actually I got some pretty comfortable sweat pants and a shirt (and a toothbrush of course). Then we got some good food and took a nighttime tour of the town.

The town is so cute! Its like we went back in time a few decades. Lots of little shops, and gorgeous historic southern buildings and houses. Then we went to the other side of town and I was SO pleasantly surprised! Guess what?! They don't just have a Walmart; they have a JCPenny's, a Sears, and an Old Navy! Not to mention that they have all the food places that I like. I was totally wrong about the town. Its not much worse than Turlock used to be as far as things to do. Jake couldn't stop laughing at my intense excitement about Old Navy and Chilis (haha!)

After getting the tour of the town, we drove to base which is about ten minutes down the road (literally down the one main road that goes through town). It was so comforting that the guards at the front of the base check the ID of every person in the car. I already felt so safe in my new home. Jake drove around to show me the base and, while it was pitch black because it was like 11pm, I could tell that the base was perfect! It was just what I had imagined. Its like a little town in itself, with everything you need right there. We drove by our house (that we move into on Monday) and I could hardly contain my excitement. Actually, I didn't contain my excitement at all. I made Jake pull into the driveway while I studied every detail of it and jumped up and down. Its our house! and it looks way better in person than it had in the pictures! I still haven't seen the inside yet though :/ Basically, I am so so excited. And can I say that it was SO nice not to sleep on a couch and to be able to sleep in as much as I wanted. I must say that the time difference is really throwing me off though.

So today is my first day here. And when the Revalie (you know that military trumpet song) played this morning at 6:30am I like jumped out of bed, scared to death. Apparently, every morning that song goes off blaring SO loud all around base at 6:30. I guess I will have to get used to that. It is weird here to finally be in winter weather. Its not too cold today but it is SO foggy and dreary. Its kind of sad that the grass is all dead and yellow and the trees are bare but I can imagine that this place is so gorgeous in the spring! We don't have Internet access anywhere yet but right now I am in the library on base and they have Internet. Although, facebook is blocked so I can't check that except on my phone. Hopefully my luggage will get here soon too; the flight from Atlanta got in at 11:30 this morning so hopefully my bag was on there. I really hope so because tonight we are going out with a couple that Jake met and we are going to go to dinner and then go bowling. I really would love to shower and wear something other than sweats for that.

Well, there ya have it; every detail of a very eventful day. I'll write more soon! Also, if you are reading this, please post a comment or something so that I know that someone is actually reading this and I am not writing all this out for nothing (haha).