Flights and Car.......... Check!

I found out today that Skyeler won't know that he is graduating till the Tuesday before graduation. Seriously! So since it is so close I reserved my flights and my car! Relieved but now ever so much more stressed. Now it is official, I'm flying all alone across country. I have never done anything like that before and it just really makes me miss Skyeler. I need him. I am so anxious to see him and be able to receive a hug from him. I am starting to stress about the next 1.5 months and moving and getting everything ready.... I'm thinking I'm stressing so much because I haven't received a letter yet this week. I haven't heard anything since Saturday. I think my Skyeler withdrawal is taking its toll on me. So maybe I'll go cuddle with my soldier bear Patriot and watch a movie. I seriously can't wait till I see Skyeler.

3 more weeks!

I swear I'm the most emotional person ever right now.....All I do is cry when I see a picture of him or look up basic training videos on youtube. But then I am so excited to see Skyeler 3 weeks from TODAY. I am having a VERY difficult time thinking about anything else. All I want to do is find him in that crowd of soldiers and get my hug. I need it badly. It has already been 50 days since I have seen Skyeler. Only 20 more and a few hours. I hope that time continues to fly by. I know I have said most of this 1,000 times already. But when the biggest person and your best friend is gone for 3 months you can't really think of anything else. (Especially Homework) No worries I get my assignments in on time. But I do apologize if I am slightly annoying and repetitive but you are making the choice to read it. :) So you can't complain. oooh did you know that April is next week. I do want to thank those of you who have been willing to help me out and listen to me complain and carry on about how much I miss Skyeler. I really do appreciate it. And another thank you to those who have gotten me out of the house for various activities and CRAFTS! Yes, that means you Becky. I have LOVED coming over and sewing with you. Maybe I'll eventually get a sewing machine of my own. I have never been so excited to make stuff. You'll probably have another thank you post when I talk about what we have made! Just know that it means a lot to me and I am very thankful. Thanks again for reading.

I got a Picture!

Every Friday pictures come out and I seriously have not seen one picture of Skyeler and we are just finishing up week 6. But I got one today and I KNOW it is him because you can see the name tag. I was so happy and excited to see this. It made my day. I would have to say I have had a really good week. Saturday a 5 min phone call, 5 letters, and a picture! YAY!!!!! I can believe that there are only 3 more weeks of training. Technically 4 but that 4th week is the week of graduation. Time has been flying and I feel so blessed that it has. I seriously get so excited when I even think about seeing Skyeler face to face. :)


(Sky is 3rd from the left. He has changed so much I can't believe it)

In the letter I got today Skyeler was telling me about how much fun he has been having on the shooting range and how he was able to use the night vision goggles. Sky also mentioned how much better he is looking and what muscles have been appearing, such as abs, and his Adams apple is starting to show. He doesn't know how much weight he has lost because they don't have a scale, but I'm sure he has lost around 30lb's. Just look at that picture. There is such a difference. I'm so happy for him. I'm sure he feels great about all of his hard work.

I LOVE letter day.

I got 3 letters today and they made my day just perfect. I love getting letters from him. Especially when they are upbeat and optimistic. My first letter was written just after our phone call last Saturday. I think he misses me. :) Skyeler did have an interesting conversation with a fellow soldier. This guy was making fun of his friend because he cooked meals for his wife. Skyeler asked him why he was making fun of him because he also cooked for his wife (ME). He went on to explain to him about husband and wife roles and mutual support.
Anyway Skyeler has been working on his Advanced Rifle Marksmanship and they have been working on their movements with the weapons while wearing full battle gear, including the body armor and tactical vest.
It is amazing to me how being away from each other can really strengthen relationships. I think it is just mainly that you appreciate that other person more and you realize how important they are to you. Especially when they are gone for longer periods of time.

BRM Qualified

Skyeler qualified with his Rifle. He didn't tell me his score but he at least got 23 or more out of 40. So one more requirement checked off. He is also improving on his PT stuff as well. He said he was 2 sit-ups or something away from passing the AIT PT tests. They have different requirements and AIT is more challenging. He will also have to improve a lot for when he goes to Airborne. Good thing he has 7 months at AIT to work on that.

This week I noticed on the Facebook page is Advanced Rifle Marksmanship and they are doing night shooting so he will be learning about the lasers and night goggles. Should be fun.

Phone call!

So earlier this week we were told that it was possible that we would be getting a phone call sometime this week. Well long story short we were told between 8:30-11am eastern time (6:30-9 MST). Well around 10:30ish I FINALLY got a phone call from Skyeler. not a moment to soon either. My nerves were about to drive me crazy and I was so anxious I could barely do anything. When he called I was so overwhelmed all I could do was just sit there and cry. I bawled the whole 5 min I got to talk to him. I am such a cry baby when it comes to him lately. I had so much I wanted to tell him but our phone call was basically making sure that the other person was okay emotionally and that we missed each other and just a few other things like me telling him I got us new phones etc...
I feel so blessed that I got 5 min. It has been the only thing I've wanted in so long. I don't think I will be taking for granted my phone calls anymore. It really makes you put things into perspective all that you have and what you take for granted. I would be willing to give so much of my worldly possessions if it meant being able to be with Skyeler. I never really miss those..... but oh boy have I missed Skyeler more than I could have ever imagined. Oh my heavens I am crying now just thinking about him and our 5 min.
Like I said bawl baby. Only 1 more month and he will be graduated. Time has flown by and I again feel so blessed and lucky. We are more than halfway through March. I can't wait till I get to see him. It is basically the only thing I think about all day. I barely give enough time for homework.
OOH and to make things even better I got a letter today to. It was a good letter. He was really optimistic and things have been going alright for him. Time to write to him and apologize for crying through the whole phone call. :)

Graduation is Right around the Corner

Today I got my graduation gift to myself in the mail! I admit it was kinda expensive but I knew Skyeler would let me. He always says I can get whatever I want because he knows that usually go without just because of the price or bills and other things come first. Plus my parents said to get it as well.

So in just under 2 months (probably closer to a month and a half) I will have my bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Family and Human Development from USU. It really has been hard work and very frustrating at times but I am so glad that I made the choice to go to school and further my education. I can't believe that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting really big!
So here is my gift to myself.



The only thing that I am hating about graduating now is that I won't have Skyeler here to be excited with me. It has been really hard not having him around to talk to and him giving me the support in person. I know he does what he can from Basic Training but there are just those days that I need him here with me. Especially when I'm trying to take a test or finish an assignment. He has always helped me out with my papers and reading through them and just taking the time for me to help me out with school. I am so blessed to have him as my husband, he supports me in everything.

So yay me for graduating. I chose not to attend an actual graduation ceremony. It just seems weird for me to do that without Skyeler. So that is why I got an expensive frame for my expensive piece of paper! Now I just need to print off my picture so I can send it to Sky in my next letter. :/

Weird correlations.

Yay for second Sunday dinners. This is seriously my favorite Sunday dinner ever, especially since it is the March second Sunday. In celebration of St. Patrick's we have corn-beef and cabbage with green jello. I really do enjoy it.

As we were talking after dinner we realized that in 5 years many of us who are married will be having an interesting thing happen. In 5 years we will be married for as many years as the day we got married. On June 17th Dad and Kandie will be married 17 years. On March 13 Will and Becky will be married 13 years. Skyeler and I will be married 10 years on November 10th and on August 9th Ryan and Alex will be married 9 years. WOW! Talk about weirdness. So this happens in 5 years and that will give us enough time to save up for an awesome anniversary celebration.

Another interesting fact is that we have 5 grandchildren in the family and all of them are born on either the 13th or 21st. Yup. We are special. :)

Anyway just wanted to put that random fact out there.

Goodbye to some...

I haven't received to much from Skyeler lately. My letter for today was Skyeler telling me besides family the thing he misses the most is sleep. Then he jumps to another day and he said that the other platoons have been working on their weapons and they were just doing some drill and ceremony stuff. Well I guess the individuals who have been causing problems for platoon 1 have either been sent home or moved to a new company and having to start all over. Intense.... I am glad though. It was really effecting the whole platoon and it isn't right for them to stay there and make EVERYONE miserable because they can't be adults. So hopefully some of learned their lesson or got where they wanted to be. (I only say that because what if some were just trying to act out because they didn't want to be there and wanted to be sent home.) Who knows but I hope the platoon can now work as a team and be able to get along and not have so many issues.

Time to work together.

My letter today was Skyeler saying that after the shake down they had to go crawl a lap in the sand pit and the private that caused all the issues wasn't even there. :/ Some of the others were really upset that this individual wasn't there (I would assume this individual would have had her own punishment that was worse off than the rest (my opinion)). But I guess after all was said and done Skyeler's platoon had a meeting with themselves and set some goals on how they can improve and work together as a team. YAY! So I hope that their meeting works and that they can get things done and have a more positive experience from now on. So Skyeler was very excited about that and I am excited for him. (I just might get a phone call) Again I assume that they have seen that just because you do something and think it only effects yourself it really affects everyone! That one person who got caught made everyone suffer with extra pt and crawling through the sand pit.
That was basically my letter. I hope I get another soon because I felt that was really short. Especially when you wait and wait and wait for a letter. But I am glad I got one and that he is more upbeat about his platoon.

Shake down

Skyeler is doing well. He was able to answer my questions from my first letter. YAY. The little bit he did write about his experience is that he is enjoying the training but his platoon is causing some problems. He asks for some prayers that they can pull together. Some reasons for this is that he has a lot of immature individuals in his platoon and they are always causing problems. This past weekend they had a shake down. This is referring to the Drill Sargent's having to go through EVERYONE stuff in order to collect contraband items. Some of the guys in his platoon had been sneaking into the personal bags locker and taking their phones then taking them to their bunks. (BIG no no). They also had food items and other things they are not suppose to have. So for those who had these items will or were punished and those who don't have anything are fine. I'm positive he didn't have anything. He is there to learn and get it over with.
So it was interesting to read that. I just hope that the guys in his platoon don't mess up a phone call. I should be getting a call after he qualifies with his rifle. So. hopefully soon.

This is basically all I got but I should bet getting a letter tomorrow. (I usually get them Mon, Wed, and Sat). So this was as of yesterday's letter.

Skyeler vs. the Gas Chamber

Skyeler went through the Gas Chamber Tuesday Feb, 28th. I got his letter today of him describing his experience. I will again just type up what he has written me. I don't think I could explain it quite as well and plus he paints a good picture.

"so we really did it today. We went to the CS (Gas) Chamber. Holy flipping crap! That was quite possibly the most physically horrible thing I've ever gone through and in so short a time. I've never felt that close to dying before ever. If anyone ever tells you, " The gas chamber isn't that bad.", they are full of crap. Now the overall experience wasn't terrible. Like the march, the briefing, the chamber, the aftermath. But the minute and a half or longer that we had the mask off was absolute hell. The reason I say the overall experience wasn't terrible is because it did in fact end, and we quickly got better..... Well not quickly but faster than I imagined.
When the gas contacts the skin it burns. Especially where I shaved. At first we had to lift the mask slightly to break the seal, then clear and reseal it. That wasn't too bad. We got a small taste of it, but after a few coughs and deep breaths with the mask resealed it was almost back to normal. We did some simple head movements and jogged in place, again not bad. Then we lined up in front of the back door in groups of ten and were instructed to remove the mask completely and place it back into the cover. They told us to breathe as they gave us a quick pat on the back. HOLY CRAP! That first inhaled breath that followed was painful and incomplete. I felt like I couldn't breath at all towards the end. We were all spitting and coughing up wads and wads of slimy phlegm.
Finally the door opened, the heavenly light poured in, and we ran our sorry butts out of there with a speed that would have guaranteed us all high points on the PT test. Many fell to the ground in agony grasping for air, coughing, barfing, loogying, spitting. Some of us stood, flapping our arms in order to remove some of the gas from our clothes. I never vomited but I came close with some "cough, cough, dry heaves!" After about twenty minutes, most of the crappiness went away. We were all soaked in the face with our own tears, vomit, and mucus. Most of us have been sick with cough and congestion and we were all cleared out very effectively. I hope it lasts. Now I can say I have gone through the gas chamber. No matter what happens from here on out, I have that bragging right."

Sky then continues to say that he got my novel. (I sent 12 pages front and back) then the birthday cards. I'm so relieved to know he got them. Funny story. In my first letter that was written on Feb 26th he asks if I remember Elder Mackelwrath. He was a ward missionary in our stake in Orem. We had given them a ride to a church one day and Sky helped them out with some stuff. Then when we moved to Richfield we saw him and his companion at Radio shack there in town. We thought that was funny. Skyeler went on to tell me that he saw him at the chapel at Basic. Crazy huh. What are the odds. He originally from Florida.
Skyeler loves going to church on Sundays. Even if it is only for 1.5 hrs instead of 3. I even got a letter from the church there on post. That was interesting.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading his experience. He did draw me pics and I wish I could put it on here but I'll just have to share my letters when I see you next. They are quite funny.