Great Expectations

Remember Great Expectations? Charles Dickens's book about the life of Pip, a boy born into a low social class who desires to become a wealthy, respected nobleman. During his childhood, he meets the extravagant and contemptuous Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, who he falls in love with despite her coldness and cruelty. Pip begins his climb toward the upper class with the hope that one day he will be wealthy and distinguished enough to marry Estella.

Trevor claims that when reading Great Expectations in high school, the character Estella reminded him of me as a little girl. I don't believe I was totally Estella-esque but Trevor does have an impeccable memory and he remembers just about every exchange we had as kids...

As the story goes, Trevor moved into my neighborhood when we were ten or eleven years old. He began coming to the community center where my friends and I played after school and he claims that that's when he fell in love with me. But just as quickly, I broke his heart. I was allegedly manipulative and cruel, toying with his feelings. An especially Estella moment: during our brief time as boyfriend and girlfriend, he gave me a reversible ladybug/bumble bee stuffed animal as a gift (he seriously remembers these details) but I soon dumped him for another boy.

Before we entered middle school, Trevor moved away. But he never forgot about me and I never really forgot about him. We saw each other two or three times throughout the middle school and high school years. He kept tabs on me through Facebook and I sometimes clicked on his page to see where he had ended up. I had always wondered why he'd never tried to contact me (he would later tell me that he never had because he could never settle for being "just your friend.")

Last May, on my birthday (which is the day before his own), he wished me a "happy birthday" and suggested that we hang out over summer break. Little did I know, he had finally contacted me after seeing my relationship status on Facebook change to "single."

I didn't think anything of his invitation to hang out and I certainly did not think he was still interested in me after eight years. We finally saw each other again at the end of June. He later admitted that his ten-year-old crush was rekindled that night. And the rest of the story, you already know.

So I guess our story is kind of like Estella and Pip's. Minus the escaped criminal turned secret benefactor and the bat-crazy old lady with the permanent broken heart.

SAN ANTONIO

HERE I COME!

My first trip to Texas

Adam bought a plane ticket for me to come visit San Antonio! It's only going to be a short weekend trip--I'll arrive Friday March 20 and leave Monday March 23. But I'm still excited to see him and to get out of Ohio!

Congratulations, Soldier of the Cycle

So, I have been putting off writing about my Georgia trip because...no matter how I phrase it, it inevitably sounds cheesy and lovey dovey. It was an incredible weekend that I want to share but I'll cut the real cheese "You complete me" kind of lines.

The trip got off to a pretty rough start. On Wednesday Dad, Sarah and I didn't leave Cincinnati until six in the evening (my Chem final in Columbus caused the delay) so we reached Atlanta, exhausted, around two in the morning. And a mere four and a half hours later, we were waking up to drive to Adam's 10 AM graduation at Fort Benning.

After carefully maneuvering around busy traffic and nearly hydroplaning in the schizo Georgia weather, we arrived on the base. The graduation ceremony had been moved indoors due to the torrential downpour - although, by the time the ceremony had started, blue skies and sunshine were peering out from behind the thick clouds.

Walking in the packed gymnasium, I saw over 200 uniformed young men standing perfectly still, facing the audience. I searched the sea of completely stoic faces only to find Adam standing apart from the other men, front and center. Tissues damnit, I thought to myself as a half sob, half ecstatic laugh escaped my throat.



We soon learned that the reason Adam stood apart from the other graduating men was for his recognition as Soldier of the Cycle. From what I could piece together (because Mr. Modesty didn't provide much of an explanation!), the award is given to the soldier with the best score on a board which tests overall Army knowledge, and who also receives the best PT score, best marksmanship score, etc.

I was beaming with pride as he received his honor - it made the whole eight hour drive through the night on no sleep entirely worth it. More than worth it. You know the person you love is special already but it feels good for others to recognize that, too. Facing all of the men, the Soldier of the Cycle recites the Soldier's Creed line by line for the other men to repeat back to him. Reverberating throughout the room, the cadence sounded so impressive:

I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.



When the soldiers could finally greet their friends and families, I was unsure how I should approach Adam - the soldier version of him. I didn't want to embarrass him or break his tough facade but I wanted more than anything to push passed everyone and jump into his arms. He was surrounded on all sides by people wishing to congratulate him...so I settled on wrapping my arms around his midsection and squeezing the life out of him.

As I stood beside Adam shaking hands, a woman came to face me, asking, "Girlfriend or wife?" I laughed for a second, taken aback - of course no one has ever mistaken me for a wife before. "Girlfriend," I replied. "Well, I hope you become an Army wife someday," she said, embracing me. Again I just laughed, too surprised to respond.

For the rest of the day, Adam was free. We spent the better half of the afternoon in the nearby shopping mall - which was teeming with newly graduated soldiers and their families. Even if we were simply walking through the bookstore, sitting in the Food Court or checking my Chemistry grade (A!) on a Verizon store cellphone, it was an amazing perfect day. Because for the first time in two and a half months, I could kiss the person I love whenever I wanted to.



I pick Adam up from the airport in Columbus on Friday!! Then we get to spend his two week leave together. YAY! I can't wait!

Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Two Year Anniversary

A very very very happy day.

Today just goes to show: if ever you lose faith that you'll never climb out from rock bottom, look to the future. Eventually, you will find the strength to get your ass out of there and you'll find happiness at the top.

I'm so unbelievably happy right now. I have so much to look forward to... Mashing potatoes with Mom while she listens to Frank Sinatra in the kitchen. Watching football with Dad and Seth. Continuing the Viall sister tradition of wearing pajamas to the dinner table on Thanksgiving. Sitting by the fireside, talking to my family and the friends we consider family. Reuniting with all of my friends. And, most of all, being with Adam two and a half weeks from today!!!!

I'm a lucky girl to have so much love in my life.

"Cocina Sabrosa"

An e-mail from my Uncle Ned on how to cook his famous dish:

"Here's how I cook it: I start out sauteeing the onions, and when they're just getting brown, I add the garlic and mushrooms (and if you can find mushrooms with a lot of flavor, like shiitake, it's worth the extra bucks). The garlic and mushrooms get brown quickly, then I add tomatoes, broccoli and zucchini (I just cut up the tomatoes into small chunks and let them kind of boil down into sauce). When everything else is ready, I throw in the marinated artichoke hearts just to heat them up -- they lose their flavor quickly if you cook them. I cook the sausage separately (cut it up into small pieces and sautee it or broil it) and add it with the art hearts, cook the pasta (al dente -- just past rubbery) and then mix it all together."

Uhh, sounds easy for a beginner cook with experience only in pouring cereal and making grilled cheese.

As part of Adam's Christmas gift, I want to surprise him by cooking a romantic (and edible) dinner. And Uncle Ned's pasta dish - or, as we like to call it "cocina sabrosa" - came to mind as the perfect meal Adam and I could share together.

I'm going to give it a trial run - with my mother close at hand, prepared with a fire extinguisher - just to see how badly I screw it up. Then, hopefully, it will be perfect by the time Adam gets home for Christmas!

I'm the happiest person on Earth

December 10: Complete final exam at 3:18 PM, immediately get in the car with Sarah to drive to Cincinnati, pick up Dad, drive straight to Abby's in Atlanta

December 11: Drive from Atlanta to Fort Benning for Adam's graduation from Basic Training!!!!!!!!

December 12-14: Hang out in Atlanta to celebrate Abby's 30th birthday!

December 17: Adam is home for two weeks!!!!