June, 2006, I was living in Cold lake, Alberta (IE the frozen hell on earth) and not enjoying the
place at all. My job as a Carpenter was getting to me, I was tired of being an accomplice to ripping people off by charging them exuberant amounts of money to do simple jobs like trim and tile work. One day, when the boss came in and angrily questioned me for taking the extra time to do a cabinet and counter top installation
properly, I decided that I had enough and needed a vacation, so I QUIT! Instead of just sitting around, I thought it would be fun to work the front desk at a hotel for a couple of weeks before looking for another carpentry job.
Meanwhile, back in Clovis, New Mexico, a very handsome gentleman was in the fast paced life of
an F-16 fighter pilot. He was about to, or already started, upgrade rides to become a four ship flight lead while the rest of his squadron was preparing for Maple Flag (a pretend war just like Red Flag.) After a series of unforeseen events, Trey found himself on the list of people going to Canada. The hotel I
decided to work at just happened to be the hotel the 524 Fighter Squadron was going to be staying at. So there I was in the middle of a bunch of foreign hotel guests when one very charming gentleman decided to strike up a conversation. For the next week and a half we hung out almost every day and became fast friends, then he left to go back to America.
Trey and I continued getting to know each other over
the phone and the Internet. After a month apart he decided to make his way back up to Canada to visit. We spent an amazing 10 days together in Jasper and Edmonton, and then he was gone again.
Trey went to Iraq for four months and I was still in Cold Lake, though I am not sure who had it worse! Fortunately we were still able to talk to each other daily. After what seemed like forever, he returned back to the civilized world. Then I came to America, for the fi
rst time, for a two week visit with Trey and his wonderful family. I think it was then that we truly realized how great we would be together.
A month later, I had sold my house and Trey was flying up to Canada one more time to jump in my truck
and drive Bear (my dog) and I across the border to live in a foreign country! Well that is how it started but there have been many other adventures over the past year and a half since we moved to Wichita Falls.
Between then and now, we have:
- Attended my brother's wedding in Mexico and Trey's brother's wedding in Mississippi.
- Travelled to 21 of 50 States.
- Learned to rock climb
- Got a hot tub which we enjoy nightly (except for about two months in the summer)
- Watched many movies and plays
- I became an advanced open water scuba diver
- Made lots of new friends at First Baptist Church
- Spent days on the lake water skiing and wake boarding
- Learned that the sun burns much faster and harder here than it does in Canada
- Lived in a small hotel type room at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama for five weeks
- Visited lots of zoos
- Spent a week in Phoenix
- Went scuba diving on the USS Oriskany Aircraft carrier that is sunk off the coast of Pensacola, Florida.
- Joined the YMCA
- Attended a Herndon Family reunion
- Saw my first tarantula (not a good time)
- I discovered that I could list 48 of 50 states (and learned that New Jersey and West Virginia were states)
- Taxied the runway at Shepherd AFB in a military jet.
- Gained a nephew, Riley, through my brother Joey and his wife Aimee and another niece or nephew is on the way via Trey's sister Katie and her husband Tim!
- Went the longest period of time in my life without stitches or a broken bone.
- Started learning a second language (German for Trey and French for me)
- Went rappelling
- Planned/planning our wedding
- Flew up to AirVenture 2008 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin and were part of one of the most incredible events in aviation.
- Took many pictures and made tons of great memories along the way and most importantly
- Learned a lot about each other, and are becoming much stronger and closer as a couple every day!
Surly there are many more that I am not thinking of right now, but the point is that we have been really busy, having fun, being adventurous and enjoying each others company!
We camped under the wing of the Cardinal the entire time. Our usual daily ritual involved hitting the "showcase area" early and taking it back to the "house" to eat sandwichs and watch the flybys and airshows through the binoculars in the afternoon. 
The evenings were spent chewing the fat with our neighbors before hitting the sack. Not a bad vacation!
Guess that means we need an airplane now!
