Busy with nothing to do

The past couple weeks I have been all over the place! I drove to my good friend Abby's house in Kentucky for about 5 days, stayed a night with Alyssa at SVU, then came home with just enough time to pack and make it to the airport with my mom to visit my grandma in Florida for 5 days. We got home this past Monday afternoon and I had to rush to class about an hour later. NOVA has been hassling me about this and that and prerequisites for a bio class and yadda yadda. Needless to say, I've been running around. So, I'm not really sure how it is that I'm not getting anything accomplished.
Expect more updates on these trips and such later.

Mail Call!

Travis is now all settled in at training and has an address. I got a phone call from him yesterday, 4 minutes total, and he had just been worked so hard he couldn't even talk. It was really hard to hear but this will all be worth it in the end, at least that is what I keep telling myself. It doesn't seem like it is going to get any easier on him in the next few days but it should be better as the weeks progress on. We are coming up on finishing 2 weeks this Monday... 12 more to go. His graduation is August 12th!

Travis would really appreciate getting some mail if you want to send him some words of encouragement. Don't expect too much of a response but it is lonely and tough there and the best thing he gets is mail.

232 PFC Mueller

Alpha Company, 2-19 Infantry

198^th Infantry Brigade

9050 Kinsman Drive

Fort Benning, GA 31905

Osama Bin Gotten

This past Sunday I got a text around 11 pm as I was on my way up to bed from my friend, Kayla, to turn on the news. This was very out of the ordinary, so I did! That is when Javi and I heard the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed!! This is HUGE news for all Americans but especially those of us who live right outside the nation's capital- the hub of all exciting political happenings.
Long story short, Javi convinced me to go into DC with him and join whatever festivities might be going on there. I was not all that into the idea but thought I may as well go along. We threw on some clothes (notice my patriotic red shirt) and grabbed some flags. We got into DC after midnight and drive up and down the streets with our flag out of the sun roof. It was AWESOME! Tons of people were heading towards the White House and as they saw us with our flag would yell and cheer.
Javi parked and we too went to the White House with a thousand+ other young adults. It was pretty cool to have so many people there cheering for the same reason. Surprisingly people were really friendly- not something you would usually experience in a large crowd in DC. After an hour or so we decided to head home (that was when the drunks started coming out and we realized we were tired of standing in a hot crowd yelling and cheering and singing).
I'm glad we got to go- it was a really cool experience and if it weren't for Javi I would have missed out on something really great! Now we are all praying for no retaliation.

Eventful weekend

On Saturday I graduated from college- can you believe it??!! I still am in shock that I'm done with SVU. That place has changed my life for the better. I've become a better person through the activities, friends, education, and atmosphere found there. I'll be attending JMU this fall doing some prereqs hoping to get into the nursing program. I'll miss SVU and all it has to offer. Luckily we will only live an hour away so we can visit our friends :)
It was nice that I had so many people at my graduation. My mother-in-law, Lori came and brought Sarah. Lindsay and Kris brought Josh, Sophie, and Nate and my parents and Javi came. We all went out to eat afterword- it was a nice day. Couldn't have asked for better weather. 
Travis is doing well.. alright at least. He texted me this picture of himself in his his uniform- isn't he so handsome!! He looked up where the LDS church was this morning and tried to go. There was some miscommunication and he ended up going to a Protestant church. Trav was really disappointed because he'd wanted to make it to sacrament meeting. We are hoping next week is better.
He's been doing a lot of paperwork and getting shots (in the butt!) this past week. This week is when it really gets tough. I know he is worried so keep him in your thoughts- he's always in mine.

Not much of an update

Poor Travis. If you look at my previous post you can see a picture of what he looked like when I dropped him off at the armory on Monday. He doesn't get to use phone very often because "they" take it but the DS let them use them briefly before they took off for Ft. Benning.

This is the current Trav:

Isn't that so sad!! I've spent years getting him to wear his hair a little bit longer than his liking and then they go and do THIS, are you KIDDING me. Well, they didn't ask me and that's the army for you.
Of course I'll love him no matter what his hair looks like. Counting the days- 3 down, infinity to go.

For me- SVU graduation is on Saturday so... I'll be doing that. I'll be done with this place, which I love, and have a degree under my belt. Oh happy day. Most of my time is spent making plans for the summer and sending all my love and prayers to Benning.

Sad goodbyes...

Monday at 7 AM I dropped Travis off at the armory to start his journey to Army basic training. We had to get up at 5:00 to make sure everything was ready to go so we could leave the apartment by 6.
It was the saddest morning, drive and departure I've ever experienced. I mean, what is there really to talk about when someone is about to leave for 14 weeks? We both cried a lot last night and this morning. It felt worse to see him sad than it was for me to cry.
As soon as he walked through those doors at the armory I felt the instant need for one more hug but it doesn't look like that will happen soon. Travis goes to Ft Benning, GA on Wednesday. I really don't know anything other than that. I'll find out dates I can/ if I even can visit him and what his graduation date will be as time passes.
He is doing this because he loves this country and he loves me. I know that he is sacrificing a lot to be able to provide for us. We've only been married for one short month (which passed entirely too quickly and has been filled with so much love and happiness) but I am thankful every day for the time we've had together. Travis is the best man in the entire world and I will miss him so much.
If I find out anything or have any contact with him I'll let you know. Otherwise, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
We are all so proud of you Trav.

Whoops

 So, our ward had an activity this past Saturday. It was a chance for everyone to get together. We were asked to bring a dessert or appetizer to share. My mom had sent me this recipe a while back and I'd kept it. It's a brownie cake with sour cream. The topping is a a sour cream and whipped cream topping with vanilla and powdered sugar. The recipe suggested strawberries and kiwi but we liked blueberries better. We got to put the cake on a really cool crystal cake platter we got for the wedding, carefully walked it to the car, drove to church and... arrived at an empty parking lot. Long story short- the event was Friday, not Saturday... we missed it. I was pretty bummed but Travis was good about helping me laugh it off. We ended up having a good night and watched The Social Network- worst movie ever.

 Saturday, before the ward activity fiasco, we decided to try a restaurant called Aroma for our date night. I thought it was going to be an Italian joint from how the sign looked outside. We walked in and to our surprise it was an oriental buffet with ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI!! It was all delicious! Usually I'm wary of buffets like that but it was really nice inside. The service was great and the food was awesome. They have a great salad/fruit bar, soft serve ice cream and all the desserts you could want. Travis enjoyed some steak and I enjoyed some noodles and Burbon chicken- among other things. Best part- it was only 9.99!! We will definitely be going back.

Our church has a scripture study program called Institute. They provide optional classes on the various books of the Bible, as well as teachings of the living prophets and The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price. It is an opportunity to learn and grow spiritually in a great environment. Institute is one of the major reasons I love SVU. The instructors are great and I have grown a tremendous amount since I have been at SVU as a result of institute. The classes are similar to college courses in that you pick a class and time to go to- most people take one class which meets twice a week for an hour. Certain courses will transfer over to the university for credit which is great!
This Sunday we drove down to SVU for my institute graduation. Each course is 2 credits and 14 credits are required to graduate. You can continue attending institute if you'd like to get higher certificates of achievement. The service was really nice. It was a great night and feel proud in my decision to have attended institute.

Our brothers Javi and Todd and their friend Vihn came down for the weekend. Monday they went to JMU's open house and loved it!! We hope they come back to visit- we enjoyed having them around. We all packed in the car for the hour drive to Buena Vista and Institute graduation. It was nice that they were all able to support me. Thanks guys!