Once Upon a Time...: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and The Week of Stress

Thursday the 22nd was Thanksgiving, and it was definitely not the ordinary Thanksgiving with family and friends that usually happens. We both still had an amazing day and we made the best it!

The day started with us waking up and still not having any hot water to shower to. Sorry, but people need hot water. So, I called the front desk and they moved us to a different room. This took about 2 hours to do because of all the stuff and bags we have, plus I had the room all decorated in Christmas decor so we had to move that without ruining anything. While doing this we had the Macy's Day Parade playing in both rooms so we could watch some of it. I love that parade, even though some of the performers were weird this year ha ha.

After we got our room changed we got ready. The water in the new room, by the way, is scalding hot water so we have to be careful now. Can't ask for perfection apparently. After we got ready we left for the movie Breaking Dawn! I had already seen it with Danielle, but I was so excited for Jake to see it! He has read all the books, and I'm going to tattle on him a little, he really does like them. He was really shocked at the (SPOILER) end when Carlisle has his head pop off. I loved it the second time and Jake really liked it too. ( And from what I have heard so does my dad ) :)

After the movie we decided to go on our favorite car ride here. It's the drive to George Washington's home at Mt. Vernon. It's about 8 miles long and absolutely gorgeous! We got out about half way there and took a little walk and took pictures. It was a beautiful day as well and we couldn't have asked for better weather. I think we are going to take that 8 mile trail on our bikes soon. The homes on this drive are to die for. I have to ask myself, what do these people do for a living to have these amazing homes! Ha ha. I was very happy to see a couple Romney signs on the drive as well. Virginia has a little hope in it still. After the drive it was about 4:00 and Jake was starving. We were planning on going to a buffet restaurant, but the Chow Hall on base was doing a special dinner for families so we went there and spent a mere 10 bucks for a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Jake was also able to watch the Cowboys game on the TV there (not as cool as our best friend Jason who was actually at the game). After dinner we headed back to our hotel room and watched Brave (yes the Disney movie) because I love it and Jake has been wanting to see it since I love it so much. Also, we just love our Disney movies. :D

We decided not to go out at midnight for Black Friday because Jake was still experiencing jet lag and I didn't want to deal with the crazy people from back here (there are a ton). We did however wake up early on Friday and go to the stores as early as 9:00 AM. We went to Walmart first because we were in need of a TV since we sold ours before the deployment (it was OLD and HEAVY) and didn't have one for Germany. We ended up getting a 46" TV, a crockpot, 13 movies like Snow White and the Huntsman, X-Men First Class, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Princess Bride, Sherlock Holmes, and many others! I was able to get Jake a nice Christmas present for a good price (Yeah, he reads these so I'm not saying anything ha ha), some pants for me, and a shirt for Jake. Next we went to Kohls and I got Jake a tie for Christmas Sunday, and he got me some things for Christmas but because I have been trained by my mother to do so I have wiped it from my brain until Christmas day ;), I also got Jake 2 other shirts that he is going to look HANDSOME in! Can't wait! Then we went to Hobby Lobby so Jake could get some stuff for his projects he works on. I just pointed out about 100 things I would like from that store lol. After Hobby Lobby we left and went to the mall at Pentagon City! I LOVE THAT MALL!!!!! We had Panda and kept on going. We went to Forever 21 and Jake got me something that again has been wiped from my brain. We then went to a hat store and got something that has again been wiped from my brain lol. We went everywhere in that mall and I freaking love it. We left there feeling very accomplished, but also feeling like our wallets had been lightened a ton in just one day ha ha jk.

On Saturday we had a lazy day and just watched movies all day and went to the gym. I love lazy days by the way because I am pro at them!

Sunday we woke up and went to our old ward here for Sacrament. It hasn't changed a bit! lol. But in some ways it has. The bishop has done an amazing job with the ward and it's new converts. Everyone recognized us and came to us for hugs and loves, but we bolted out of there before too many loves could be made ha ha. We went back to the hotel and I made a crockpot dinner that was going to take 5 hours to make. After that we went to Bolling because some people were interested in our truck, but then they cancelled on us so it just ended up being a nice drive together.

(by the way I do play by play so family knows what we are up to lol, sorry if it's a boring life)

Monday Jake took me out on a date. I LOVE DATES!!!! We woke up and went to the gym (Ah, I love running), then we got ready and went to my favorite city of Fairfax (favorite because I worked there). We first went and saw my old co workers and I just love Dr. Mihalache and Diana. They are both so kind and warm. It was good to see them again and to catch up. After we went to a hobby works shop that Jake loves. He paints models as a hobby and is REALLY good at it. So we went there for more paint and supplies. Jake knows me best because after we were done shopping his stuff, it was my time to shop! We went to Marshall's and I saw a jacket that I really like there by Guess, but because I love buying stuff for other people more than myself, I ended up pretty much finishing Jake's Christmas. We also got Eve a cute little necklace for Christmas that will make her jingle all the way. ha ha. I finally found something for me to buy at Famous Footwear, but we will have to wait for Christmas to find out what it is.

For our date we decided to get massages together. Unfortunately the Massage Envy here doesn't do couples room, so Jake went in one room and I was in another. 1 1/2 hours of massages was amazing!

After massages we were both hungry and Jake has been missing his Olive Garden, so we went to Olive Garden for dinner. (It's our favorite to go to).

Tuesday is when all the drama started. In a nutshell: We are moving to Germany. Our report no later than date was the 15th of Dec. Jake wanted to see his family and so do I, so we asked for an extension to January back in October. Found out Tuesday that we didn't have the extension and were still expected to be in Germany on the 15th (2 weeks away), but we still didn't have orders so we still haven't moved any of our belongings. Plus the people wanting the truck backed out. So we have an extension to worry about, a truck, a motorcycle, and possible chance of not seeing family except Jake's mom and dad. Wednesday comes and still nothing. Thursday comes and they say wait until Friday, but we find a guy who wants the truck and a guy who wants the motorcycle. Friday comes and we sell truck, find out we got extension and don't need to be in Germany until February, go to bike shop to pick bike up to show possible buyer and bike shop tells us the bike wont start because they still need to clean the carburetor because it's been sitting for 7 months, guy shows up to look at bike and likes it but wants to wait until it's clean, we find out that someone didn't do their job and Jake doesn't have leave approved like he asked for a month ago, and now we possibly can't come home for Christmas which is the only reason we asked for the extension in the first place. Yep that is how my week has gone. My emotions go UP and then they are shot DOWN. We go in tomorrow to find out if we can get leave since we have emails stating that it was approved, I may just brake down right there in front of Jake's flight chief in tears if he says no.

This week has not been the greatest, but at the same time it's been the greatest. My emotions are going crazy! I'm hoping we find more good news out tomorrow and that I can rest in peace and buy plane tickets to come home and see our family and my brother who I haven't seen since last January and wont see for another 2 years if we don't go home.

Pray for us please.