2012, The Year of Goodbyes

    Well, I've decided to start a blog. I probably should have done this a while ago, but 2013 seems like a good time to start since it is going to be a crazy year. I thought I'd start by filling everyone in on what happened in 2012.

    Most of 2012 for Matt and I was dominated by the military. We knew he was going to be deployed since December of 2011, but it came up quickly. On Monday, May 21st, and 5 days before our third anniversary, I said goodbye to Matt.

     He flew to Texas to do some training before heading to Kuwait. He was there for about two months before he was given a few days of leave, during which I drove out to visit him. We were able to explore a lot of Texas, and had a blast in San Antonio at the river-walk and the Alamo. The three days flew by, and then I was once again saying goodbye as I drove back home. Matt flew to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, to begin his deployment. 

    From there, our stories split. I have been busy working on my Master's in Management, with an emphasis on Human Resource Management. I've been taking two classes every two months from the American Public University, so my schedule has been chaotic and busy. The craziness of school has helped preoccupy me while Matt is gone. I've also spent a lot of time with my family, and with my dog, Tonks, who has had my tears soaked into her fur more than once during this deployment.

    Most of all, I've been focusing on an upcoming service project I'm doing in Namibia. I first read about Harnas Wildlife Foundation three years ago, when I found a dusty book in Barnes and Noble that obviously hadn't moved in a while. There was a picture of a giant lion on the front, and since they are my favorite animal, it caught my eye. I read the story of a volunteer who spent several months at Harnas, a wildlife refuge in Namibia where animals are given a safe haven from poachers, hunters, and farmers who are increasingly pushing into their natural environment. Harnas is one of the only wildlife sanctuaries in Southern Africa, and is unique in the fact that it will accept any animal, no matter the species or the condition in which it arrives. It is non-profit, and run by the same family that started it decades ago. The organization only survives because volunteers who love animals come from all over the world to run it. They build enclosures, drive out to rescue injured or threatened animals, prepare food for them, take them for walks, sleep with the babies who can't be alone, complete research projects, help with the breeding program of the severely endangered African Wild Dog, and interact with the local tribe who own the surrounding lands. It is an extremely hands-on experience, with direct contact between volunteers and animals of all kinds, including carnivores.

    Since marrying Matt, I have never wanted to do something so much in my life. For the last three years, I've been in contact with Harnas, and the timing is finally right for me to go. Matt has made it possible. Because of his deployment, I'm able to take a month off of work to go to Harnas. I'll be leaving February 18th, and my brothers, Deron and Doug, will be joining me. We will be flying from Salt Lake City, to Chicago, to London, to Johannesburg, and finally, to Windhoek. There, we'll drive to the remote location in the middle of wild Namibia, where we will be able to protect and care for the animals that we feel so passionate about.

     I will return to Salt Lake about five weeks before Matt returns. He has been extremely busy in Kuwait. He has only been able to take one tour while he's been there, when he got to go to a Kuwaiti restaurant, the Persian Gulf, and a famous museum. Hopefully he'll get to do at least one more before he comes home, but with the military, you never know. When he gets back I will have him do a blog post about his experience out there, since we are restricted on what we can write until he is home safely.

    The theme of 2012 was "goodbye", but 2012 will be very different. Matt comes home in a few months, and we have a lot of traveling to do. The army is sending us to Denver, Nashville, and Chicago. We'll hopefully be going to Cape Cod to visit Matt's grandparents. And in August, we are headed to Ireland, Scotland, and England, to spend some time with our best friends, Charlie and Lynee, and to revitalize. Matt and I don't plan on being apart in 2013, and for the first time since our first, we'll spend an anniversary together. I look forward to sharing our adventures with you, so stay tuned.