2011 | A Look Back

Big things happened in 2011! Life was lived and change was inevitable! We had some amazing adventures and made a lot of memories. Here are some of the highlights:

I started out the year with my 26th birthday. It was a wonderful night of fun, celebrating with my closest friends in Oklahoma! In February I was challenged to start training for a half-marathon set for May. I convinced Matt to buy me a nice pair of running shoes and I started training. I went to WPPI in Vegas and had one of the best times there yet! I also photographed a beautiful wedding while I was there. The first for the year!

Spring came early in March and the cherry blossoms were already in full bloom. I went to Minnesota for a business visit and they were pounded with some fresh powder! I got to enjoy a spring snowmobile ride at the cabin! In May I ran my first half-marathon in Oklahoma City with three other amazing ladies! Before training I had only run 2 miles max at one time. I was so proud of myself and everyone else who ran. May also brought some traveling to Minnesota for weddings and visits with friends and family.

June started off with a girls trip to Denver! One that we will never forget! Then, I feel like our lives literally turned upside down starting in June. The rest of the year was a roller coaster of events! June also brought Matt’s last flight in the T-1 at Vance AFB and assignment night. THE night we have been waiting for our entire time in Oklahoma. My family came down to show their support! The assignment Matt received was MC-12 with a KC-10 follow-on to McGuire AFB!! Whoa okay what! So we knew we were going to be stationed in NJ at McGuire AFB at some point, and he would fly the KC-10s there. But first he would be going overseas for a 6-7 month deployment in the MC-12. Literally our lives turned upside down, but okay we can deal with that, right?

The 4th of July weekend was also Matt’s graduation and winging ceremony. His family came down for all the fun festivities! It was now official that Matt was an Air Force pilot! At the end of July Matt left for SEER training (POW/survival training) in Spokane, WA and I headed home to Minnesota to photograph a wedding and bring Ally, our pup, there to live with my parents until we had a permanent living situation. Matt had a week off between his SEER training and water survival so I flew to Spokane, WA to visit him and celebrate our five year anniversary. We drove out to Seattle and spent some time there. Matt finally came home a week later. We had to say goodbye to the chickens and give them to a local farmer. The movers came to pack and move all our things! 🙁

Matt’s brother came down to Oklahoma to help with the move and go with Matt to NJ. Matt said goodbye to Enid, America and started his drive to New Jersey. I stayed in Enid for two more weeks since I still had one more wedding scheduled there. I had fun living with a good friend on base while her husband was gone! Love my wines nights with my girlfriends! For Labor Day weekend I flew to Wisconsin to photograph a wedding for one of Matt’s ROTC friends who is stationed in Alaska! Then I closed out the wedding season a little early with my last wedding in Oklahoma. The next day I packed up what was left of my belongings and drove everything to Minnesota. I had plans to stay in Minnesota for a couple days and then fly to New Jersey to meet back up with Matt. Little did we know our plans were about the change!

While I was in Minnesota Matt was getting everything ready in New Jersey. He even found a fun condo for us to live in downtown Philadelphia for the three months we were planning to be in New Jersey. We had planned to head to California sometime in December to start Matt’s deployment training. The day he sign our lease for the condo he found out they canceled his deployment assignment and were sending him to a different base in California right away to get him training in the KC-10 so he could start asap! So we had to cancel the lease, drive my car to New Jersey from Minnesota, and try to find a house to rent for when we were going to be back. After living in a small hotel in New Jersey for a week, we flew out to Sacramento for three months.

We made it to Sacramento the first week in October. Hello beautiful sunny California!! We made our home in a two room suite complete with a microwave and mini fridge! Needless to say I learned how to master the crock-pot! From October to December it would be an understatement that we really enjoyed ourselves in California. We traveled to Disneyland, Redwood National, Napa, San Francisco, the Pacific coast, and Oregon! Matt started the initial phase of training for the KC-10s. I flew to Minnesota to be the MOH in my best friend’s wedding! It was fun to be on the other side of the camera! We started the holiday season spending Thanksgiving in Oregon where our good friends has just moved! We relaxed, went to Crater Lake, had bon fires, and watched movies!! Such a great time.

Our last couple weeks in California included a visit from Krista of Never Miss a Moment and long-time friend and our friends in California having their first baby! We were so happy to be there to welcome baby Ryiah into the world! We flew to Minnesota just before Christmas to spend time with family. Nearly everyone in the Campbell house got the stomach flu which made it a Christmas most want to forget but never will! The rest of our time with family was so great. Matt flew out to New Jersey right after Christmas to get ready for his next phase of KC-10 training. I followed shortly after with all my stuff that had been hauled to Minnesota (for the deployment) and the dog. Matt’s parents and I drove out to New Jersey over a two day period and arrived just in time to celebrate the new year in our new state and new home!

Looking back I can’t help but say, “Really, did that all just happen?” But I also can’t help but feel blessed to have had so many wonderful opportunities. Matt and I just starting the unpacking process after enjoying the new year in New York City and Philadelphia with his parents. We are looking forward to getting settled and then staying in and relaxing in our new home for a while. We want to take it slow and just breath in all our new surroundings. I am looking forward to what 2012 has in store!