12 Days.

Jeffrey and I will be getting married in 12 days.  I cannot believe it!  I'll finally be able to call him my hubs, and he'll finally stop calling me his fiance in a terrible French accent.  It is so funny, but he cannot say the word "fiance" in a normal tone of voice.  Well, I guess he can sometimes. :)

Too cute.

Anyways, I'm getting the first real taste of military-dom right now, meaning that I'm experiencing a tiny taste of what it's like to have your man away and to not be able to communicate with him or access him.  Jeffrey left on Friday morning for SERE school and gets back Thursday evening. SERE stands for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape and is part of his training in the Navy.  Here is an "official" description I found "The SERE/Terrorism Counteraction Department teaches courses in two areas - courses designed to help military personnel avoid capture or exploitation by the enemy, and 

courses designed to make military and civilian students more aware of terrorism and protective measures against it".  In layman's terms (or how I explain it to myself and others) he's getting experience in a POW (prisoner of war) type environment, so that if he were ever to be captured and made a POW, he would know what to do, how to respond, etc.  Basically, it's not a pretty experience.  They have to survive in the wilderness (in the desert...in the winter...in 30 degree weather...with nothing) until they get captured...and, well...you can only imagine what happens next.

When some of my military wife friends found out he was going to get finished with SERE school 8 days before the wedding, they awkwardly laughed and....let's just say it was a funny experience.  Basically, they felt sorry for me and warned me that there is no telling what shape he will be in.

8 days before the wedding and my man's going to be beat up, tortured and who knows what else!

Want to know what has been such a blessing though?  I have been so at peace about everything.  It's been a constant outpouring of peace and comfort in which I recognize I have no control in this situation.  Such a God thing, thank You!  Don't get me wrong, I think and pray about him often and don't know HOW he does it, and my heart saddens for him and the possibilities of what's happening to him, even as I type.  But this is what he's training for, and although he knows it's not ideal, and it's going to "suck", he knows it's something he has to get through.  And get through it he will.

God Bless America, and Bless our Troops.  I am so thankful to be entering into a life with someone who so passionately stands for something, and who is willing to sacrifice his life for our country. Bless Jeff for believing in what he's doing...because many of us 9-5ers may not feel the same way.  Eek.

This is going to sound funny, seeing as we're engaged to be married, but throughout these past few days, I have realized how crucial of an element he is to my life and how I depend on him.  It was weird the first few days because something would happen and I'd reach for my phone to text or call him and put it back down, realizing I couldn't.  I have to say that I think there are few people in relationships and marriages who can say they've been in situations where their significant other was unreachable for long periods of time, and this will become of a norm for me at times.  It's certainly an eye opening experience, especially when you're planning a wedding and it's down to the last 2 weeks and they've just up and disappeared on you!!!  Come on Jeffrey, I need you to tell me what kind of napkins you want, the white, eggshell white, or ivory white...no, TOTALLY kidding.  I'm beyond over wedding planning, and was basically over it about the first day I stepped into it.  Just let me be married! :)

I certainly do miss him!  He comes home on Thursday afternoon and already warned me he's going to need sleep, and lots of it!  So I won't see him until Friday, but I'll be such a happy girl when I do!

Pray for Jeffrey and SERE school...poor guy.

12 days...12 days..

SERE school description found here.