Knoxville, Tennessee

Good morning! Its 2 in the morning here in the winding state of Tennessee. Boona and I have risen the white flag! We are so exhausted. After driving from 3 pm till 1:30 am, and driving 40 mph up and down winding mountain sides, we are ready to catch some Zzzz's. Today was such an adventure though, my goodness!

For starters, we raced to clean his apartment. We started at 10 am and didn't finish till 2:45 pm. It took FOREVER! We cleaned even nook and cranny, every crooked fanny, (ha ha ha from Snow White). It looked so good. So good! We got the 'Passed' card from the landlord and ran for Betsy (Boona's Jeep.) It was a bitter sweet goodbye to Clint's roommate, Nick. He is such a fun guy. Full of whitty remarks and good stories. With promises to visit, we said goodbye for now, and headed East. It was about 3:00 p.m. when we shoved off.

With the sweet commanding voice of Lucy as our guide (the GPS unit Nick gave us) we crawled onto Highway 40. And when I say CRAWLED, I mean we went as fast as a Jazzy Scooter with the biggest obese guy you can imagine trying to run it up a hill, flabby rolls flappin in the wind and everything. Jeeps aren't great for towing. Don't get me wrong, we'll make it home, but the 5'8' trailer we're towing isn't the lightest.

With songs from Counting Crows, Collective Soul, NIN, Gene Autry, Thriving Ivory, Atlanis Morriset, Kerli, Elton John, Katy Perry, City of Angels Soundtrack and yes, even Miss Britney Spears, we made good timing to our first stop.....Chick-Fil-A. Never been to one. I would totally go again. Random life-size cardbooard cutouts of cows posting 'Eat More Chicken' signs really made it worth it! Not bad prices either. The Chris Cringle hats atop thier heads made it more homely. Mmmmm......home. (Homer Simpson voice)

From there it was Mt. This and Mt. That. (Appilation Mountains) We slithered our way to the top and slunked our way down. It was pouring 'fat rain' as Forrest Gump would say. I've never seen it rain like that in my life. The windshield whippers couldn't move fast enough. No reflecters and badly painted roads made it worse. It was pitch black, fog as thick as whipped cream, and rain drops the size of dimes. On several occasions I had to stop my heart from beating so fast.

Hydroplaning became a norm. But on three occasions we almost lost it. Luckily, Boona being such an expertise driver.....brownie points here ;) .....we made it!

Well, I need to hit the sack. I'm the navigator of this shin dig and I need a sharp mind for our adventures. Take care. Don't freeze out there in Utah! He he he.

PS- I have picks of today, but its pitch black in this hotel room to find any cords to hook the camera to the laptop. Speaking of camera, its in the Jeep. There's no way I'm going out there in this strange place, in the dark, while its pouring rain. You'll have to suffer one more day without seeing my B-E-A-utiful face. Tough love.

Shout Out!
Hey Baby! I'm almost home! 3 days till your lovin arms! 3 days till I kiss your lips again! 3 days till I can snuggle next to you to sleep! 3 days till I can look into your amazing baby blues! 3 MORE DAYS!!! I love you so much. I miss you! Later. I love you!!!!

ALOHA!!!

No. I'm not in the resplendent state of Hawaii, but it sure feels like it. I am in North Carolina with my brother, Clint. He is the coolest thing out there. Boring is not in his vocabulary. (Ladies, he's single! And by definition, 'a man in uniform.' ) Chuckle. He'll tie my arms behind my back and hang me upside down from the railing if he found out I'm selling him on the Internet. (Psst, ladies, twenty bucks for a movie and dinner ;)

I arrived in this muggy state Tuesday afternoon. And by muggy, I mean foggy, rainy, and very musty. Not so pleasurable for the eyes and nose. My first plane left 11:59 p.m. Monday night. Yeah, of course, I waited till the last minute to pack. Duh! I would have been so disorganized if I didn't. I had to be at the airport by 10:30 p.m. Because I have a Buddy Pass I had to go through special security searches. Kinda cool. I felt like an intruder. Or at least a Hollywood Star. Ha ha ha. My aunt works for Delta Airlines and can get plane tickets dirt cheap. She gave Reese and I plane tickets to Miami, Florida for our wedding present. That's where our Honey Moon started. From there we boarded our cruise ship. Good times, good times. Again, she helped us out so I could come visit my brother, bless her heart. She is the sweetest!

I wore a coat and scarf on top of my shirt and jacket while on the plane. I define 'plane' as a flying tube of freezing cold air and picky, stubborn people. I've officially decided that I am terrified of flying in a plane. Take off and landing always freak me out. Mention the seat belt light coming on because of turbulence and I get white-lipped. Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of going 300 + mph and about 3,000 ft up in a tube. It just scares the living crap outta me when the tube starts shaking and riding up and down as if it was on a roller coaster. Just rattles my marbles a little, ya know?

I landed in the busiest airport in America...Atlanta, Georgia. There I waited three and a half hours for my next flight from Atlanta to Willmington, NC. The reputable busiest airport in America didn't seem so. It was dead. Yet, I did land there about 4:30 in the morning. All the shops where closed. No Starbucks for me. Dag nabbit! Thank goodness the rest rooms never close. ;) I couldn't sleep. I didn't sleep on the plane ride from SLC to Atlanta for several reasons. One- I was placed in the back of the plane by the stinky potty that was constantly being used. Every time the door opened, the odors wafted my way. Gag!!! Two- I was forced to stare out the window by a, should I say, 'physical' couple. Cute couple, so I thought. They are from France and were visiting their families back here in the States. Well, Paris is the city of Romance. Ha ha ha, I sure guess so. I heard noises that, well, I didn't think could be made by humans. Okay, TMI, I know. I'm stopping.

I couldn't sleep in the Atlanta airport. Just too awake by then. Oh my goodness, the plane from Atlanta to Willmington really wasn't a plane. It was more like a jet. I still chuckle when I think about the first thing the pilot said over the intercom. He said, 'Alright, welcome aboard Delta Airlines, bear with me, I'm not used to small planes. This'll be my third jet plane that I've flown in my carrier. If it gets a little rocky, forgive me...' Sigh.....yeah.... That's what I thought too. Just about peed my pants. The flight attendant on this flight left me in the worst mood. She was someones old nanny that had dealt with too many horrible children. RAUNCHY! describes her personality....and face too. Sorry, but its true. I checked her shoes out and they were square toed. Conclusion...Witch for sure.

I arrived in Willmington about 12:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Willmington has the smallest airport I have ever seen. One could never get lost in it. Meandering through the halls of the airport, I repeatedly got double takes, strange looks, and even open mouthed stares. I thought nothing of it. I just continued all hum drum like. I spotted the front doors and proceeded to exit when I suddenly couldn't breathe. It felt like I had been slugged in the stomach.

The EAST baby. Musty, THICK, humid air. I immediately put two and two together. People where thinking I must have been an Eskimo in my former life to where so many layers. As soon as I jumped into Betsy, my brother's sexy black jeep, all the layers were off! No joke.

What a sweet reunion it was to see him again! Total bliss. It took an hour to get back to his place. As soon as we did, I grabbed a bite to eat and crashed. I was now fat and happy and exhausted. I hadn't slept for 27 hours. After a five hour cat nap, Boona, Nick (his roommate), and I went out on the town and got some Chinese food. It was delish! Not as mouth watering Joy Luck, mind you, but it sufficed. On returning home, we were all so tired. We hit the sack. I woke up about 2:30 a.m. My body said, 'Alright, enough slumber for me. Its time to be awake.' I pulled my book out and began reading.

I'm reading Stephen King's 'The Stand.' Its a must read before one dies. I'm about half way through. I've been on this book since August! I'm dying to finish it. I haven't finished a book for a long time. I'm on a quest to read it cover to cover. I finally fell asleep around 8:00 a.m. I had the weirdest dream. Its never left my mind. It won't, I've tried. Ever since that dream, I've felt... kinda like I'm not really here in North Carolina...? Like, if I lay down on the futon, take a nap, I'll wake up on my plaid couch that's full of holes back in West Bountiful. Like this is all a dream. Nothing is familiar here. Places, people, smells, etc. I feel like I know nothing. Lost. My thoughts keep returning to that its some psycho-Freudian manifestation of something that I have yet come to realize. Who really knows?

Since then, my days consist of dishes, cooking, vacuuming, and deep movies. Fargo- excellent movie. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- I want to own this movie! Clint and Nick go to work from 4:30 a.m. to about 6:00 p.m. I chill here by myself. Its kinda cool. Grooving to music and checking emails is the newest adventure.

Last night Clint took me onto the Marine Base here in Jacksonville. He showed me where he worked. I felt so cool. Like I was 5 years old and we were snooping around in Mom's jewelry box. All of the file cabinets there were made of steel and heavy has heck! They also had a combination lock on them too. Ooh! Top Secret! I felt like a spy or a character from Breach. All I needed was a brief case, spy glass, top coat, and a miniature camera. Clint had several passwords he had to enter in order to access his files into his computer. Also, someone from inside the building had to clear our names and let us in. Totally top secret! Loved it! Maybe in my next life I'll venture into being a spy.

Well, that's all of my adventures so far. I need to start making dinner for the men so it'll be ready when they return. They'll tie me up if I don't!

Shout out!
Hey baby, I love you! I miss you like crazy! Just six more days and I'll be home! I can't wait for our first Christmas together! I can't wait till we wake up at 2 in the morning and play Santa Clause for our kids. I can't wait till I'm in your lovin arms again. I miss them. I miss falling asleep with my head on your chest and your arms around me. I miss your smells. I miss your lips. I can't wait for that welcome home hug. I love you Reese. Later babe! I love you.