Once Love graduated AIT, we packed up our things and made the long drive back to New Mexico. We were allotted 4 weeks to go home, pack up all of our belongings (most of which we left in Love's Parents' garage), and spend a little time with family before heading to North Carolina- where we were to be stationed.
While we were in Virginia, my Mom had spearheaded all plans for our reception. See, only a few people from our family were able to attend our ceremony with two days notice, so we decided to go ahead and have a reception as soon as Love was done with training. So, we arrived in New Mexico a few days before the reception. It was a whirlwind of dress fittings and last minute plans. My mom was pregnant at the time and, unfortunately, lost the baby right before my reception. It was very hard for her and for all of us, but invitations were out and plans were drawn. So, we took over. Luckily, my mom being the organizer she is, had everything drawn out, where the decorations were to be placed, she had people doing food and everything was set. When the day arrived, I took my sisters to get our nails, hair, and make-up done. We went to the church to help set up and get last minute things going. Then I went and got into my dress and the party started. It was a wonderful day and, even though I missed out on the bridal showers and bachelorette parties, it seemed so worth it.
We stayed for a few more weeks, then packed up and made our third trek across the country to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. We arrived there nearly poor, living off credit cards, and ready to settle into our new house on base and really start our lives together. Unfortunately, we arrived at a busy time and they wouldn't have a house for us for two months. They would allow us to stay on post in a hotel for a short time, but we would have to pay up front and they would reimburse us. This was the way of the army. Thankfully, Love's best friend in AIT already had a house and an extra room they offered until our house was ready. We gratefully took them up on their offer and moved in. The next couple of months were hard as tensions rose. It's hard to cram two newlyweds into one small house and work out meals. Soon, it was all over, though, and we got into our cute little townhouse.
Everything was going fine, I found a job working part-time and Love was doing well at his job. We'd made some friends and things were working. Then Love started changing...very gradually. His mood would change, we would fight a lot, he was turning into a different person. Finally, around Thanksgiving 2004 we were sitting on our friend's front porch talking and he said, "I think I might be depressed." His family has a strong history of depression and suddenly it all made sense. He went to talk to the Chaplain- kind of a religious advisor to soldiers- who referred him to a psychiatrist. After meeting with her a few times, they determined it was, in fact, depression and put him on meds. She also put in a recommendation for him to be medically discharged from the Army. We were promised it would be anywhere from a week to a month. So we put our lives on hold, I told my boss and we waited. And waited. Seven months later, after much arguing, tears, heartache, and a very angry visit I made to his First Sergeant, we were released.
It was a long and troublesome fourth trip cross-country that included several U-haUl breakdowns (don't ever use them!!!), a few crappy hotels, and our dog, Daisy and her two puppies Bella and Jack:
After a stop off in NM to get the U-haul fixed (twice), we finally reached our new home, Salt Lake City, UT. Love's sister and brother-in-law were kind enough to let us stay with them (making the fourth family we'd lived with during our short 1.5 year marriage) until we could find jobs, a place to live, and get back on our feet. We did and we've been doing great to this day!
So that is our story, at least the short(er) version.
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