Hint:The beginning starts at the bottom.
Wed., Dec. 19, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well I am now Mrs. Nicholas Hein...very different yet much the same feelings. I still miss him now that he has come and gone. Going thru the whole name-change process for everything of course. I think things will feel real once he is out of the military and home for good 100% of the time. The wedding was wonderful and surprisingly short - but sweet. I FINALLY met my wonderful friend Connie from Florida and her husband Julio, we all had a blast Friday night. Well I can't wait to get some pictures back and post them, hopefully soon. Take care -
Love,
Amanda HeinWed., Nov. 28, 2001
Dear Journal,
Apartment here we come! The details are taken care of so now we are just waiting for time to pass. Moving is such work! You have to get the phone connected, cable connected, lease signed, mail box keys, all this junk! It's a lot to keep up with when you are doing a wedding at the same time...but hopefully all will go smoothly. The invitations still aren't sent out yet, having some small problems with that, but hopefully will be sent out soon. Well other than that, nothing much else to say so hope you/ya'll are having a wonderful week and try to stay warm here in Texas.
Love,
AmandaMon., Nov. 26, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well today is the day...the big 21 for Amanda. It still doesn't feel like any special day, too much wedding stuff going on I think. Tonight will be the big invitation-party. My friend JJ is coming over to help me stuff and seal and all that good stuff, hopefully they can be mailed tomorrow. We have to find out if we are in the apartment first, hopefully they will call today. Well other than that, nothing much else going on today - school of course as usual and work. Well maybe this weekend will be more exciting! Ha ha.Have a great week.
Love,
AmandaWed, Nov. 14, 2001
Dear Journal,
This has got to be the most hectic week ever!!! Yesterday I had a major exam in Geology which I now would like to forget ever happened. Today I am going straight after work to look at an apartment I hope will be perfect, then to school, then at 7:30 I'm meeting with the Wedding Coordinator to pick out music and order some things, then after that I'm meeting with a friend (love ya JJ!) to do invitation stuff...cause it is almost a month away and um, no invitations yet...whoops! Anyhow, then Friday at 5pm (right after work) I meet with the flower lady, then Saturday is the cake lady...it's just all piling up! Hopefully after this week it will just about be settled. Also Friday is my wedding shower with the work friends...that's exciting. Anyhow, busy busy week. Hope your week is more relaxing than mine!
Love,
AmandaWed, Nov. 7, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well good news! Nick is coming home this weekend and we are going to look at apartments. I'm so excited to be getting a place of our own. Of course, it comes with a lot of work but that's alright. Well I gotta jet.
Love,
AmandaTues, Nov. 6, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well...things are speeding up that's for sure! Over the weekend we took on the task of registering at Target. Thankfully Tricia was there to make sure things didn't get out of hand (ha ha). It's kinda a cool process for the first...5 minutes. You get this little scanner gun and go around the entire store clicking on things you want. But when it's two people it gets complicated. Our most exciting venture was the bathroom department. We clicked on tons of duck stuff, it will be real cute, like a little kids bathroom but oh well. Other than that, the rest of the stuff required negotiation. Then yesterday we accomplished A LOT. We went to Ascot and picked out the tuxedos for Nick and the groomsmen. Then I got Nick to complete the Absentee Affadavit so that I can apply for a marriage license without him being present. That required a notary...fun fun. THEN we went to dinner and back to Target to add some things to our registry like tools (hammer, screw driver, etc.). Then after rushing home to try and make it in time to watch Ally McBeal, Nick fell asleep within the first 5 minutes. But oh well...to be expected. Today he is going to Fort Hood. Well I better go, write more later.
Love,
AmandaWed, Oct. 31, 2001
Dear Journal,
Things are going quick now that the wedding date has been set. Nick and I have two huge books full of invitation designs and stuff to look through. I just know how excited he is about it too! ha ha. Tricia is freaking out about the shower. Things will be crowded in December. We will have a shower, final exams and then the wedding and then Christmas...busy busy month. My mom has bought lots of chocolate candy to help relieve the stress (ha ha). Tomorrow is my final fitting for my wedding dress - so I'm hoping with all the Halloween candy I've eaten I can still squeeze into it. Well I better go for now. Hope you've been able to see the pictures of the chapel, it's looking really pretty.
Love,
AmandaTues, Oct. 23, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well things have been good since Nick got here yesterday. Yesterday was also Mom's birthday so we had cake and ice cream. Nick's flight didn't get here till around 8:15 PM so it was a late night. He was really tired. Today was kinda relaxing. Did some errand running AND we went by the chapel...it is looking really good!!! We took some pictures of it with Mom's camera, so if they turn out I can post them on the website. We also ate lunch with Tricia - in her lovely nurse uniform - stay tuned for a picture of that too :) Well right now it's about 10 PM and I'm waiting for Nick to get back from a soccer game. I still had to go to Geology tonight which wasn't all that exciting, but life goes on even when Nick is here...ha ha. I will write more later and try to take lots of pictures. Take care!
Love,
AmandaFri, Oct. 19, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well the day is almost here...I'm actually wanting the weekend to go by fast this time. Today we are going out for work to Main Event so that will be fun. Tomorrow night Katy and Tricia are coming over to try on the dresses and hang out. The dresses are soooooooo pretty, I am so glad I found them. The sequines and design on them are really cool. Anyhow, next week I will be on vacation to spend some time with Nick. That will be really nice. Vacation is always good. Well I better go, hope everyone has a good weekend!
Love,
AmandaTues, Oct. 23, 2001
Dear Journal,
Things are going so AWESOME right now. Every day I am happier...less than a week until Nick is here in Texas, finally! After two years of living outside the U.S. It seems like just the other day I was taking pictures at the airport-dreading the next two years of being so far apart. Anyhow, work is pretty cool, and school is school. Katy is coming home this weekend. We got the bridesmaids dresses I ordered, the ones from David's Bridal did not turn out well. But these are soooo pretty so I think they will do just fine. My dress will finally be finished on Nov. 1. Things are slowly coming together and it's really exciting. I could not be happier right now -- of course, Monday I will probably be estatic (Nick will be here). But other than that, things right now are going real good. Well hope ya'll are doing good, take care!
Love,
AmandaMonday, Oct. 8, 2001
Dear Journal,
I know with all the news this weekend and today, many of you are questioning how Nick is doing. So far, so good. He will begin paperwork to come to Fort Hood tomorrow. Until, he actually gets here - it will mainly be a lot of hoping and praying. My weekend was alright. I saw "Joy Ride" which was pretty good, and scary. Hope all of you had a good weekend - take care!
Love,
AmandaWed, Oct. 3, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well I am very anxious - Nick received his orders and is due at Fort Hood by the end of this month! I hope it works out. I can't wait to see him. I can't believe I was able to go 8 months since Christmas without seeing him, for some reason it's harder now. Maybe because the wedding is getting closer. I thank God that we are so fortunate to not have anything scary happen to him right now and hope all of you will be praying for us. Well it's getting late so I better head to bed. I am going to call him and wake him up though, cause its about 5AM his time - ha ha, he'll like that I'm sure. He still owes me for what he did to me yesterday - worrying me to death. If you don't know that story, well - email me and I'll fill you in. Cya! *SMILE*
Love,
AmandaFriday, Sept. 28, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well I'm so excited...I have so many pictures to share, today is Friday so here comes the weekend, Nicholas graduates PLDC today so that means it will be easier for us to talk more often and hopefully I can talk to him a lot this weekend and my tests and quizes in school are finally over. I made a 107 on my Geology exam which I was a little worried about because it was a lot of short answer questions where you have to write two or three sentences on the topic and make sure you hit the exact points the professor is looking for. So that was relieving. But on a not so good note, my dad ended up getting laid off from American and I feel so bad for him. I can't imagine working somewhere for so long and then having that happen. I can relate when I worked at Sabre and they went through a lot of layoff periods. It was very depressing. But God works in mysterious ways so maybe this will be a brand new and better beginning. Well I better get to work, hope ya'll have a good and safe weekend, take care!
Love,
AmandaTuesday, Sept. 25, 2001
Dear Journal,
Well I don't know if I will always write this often, but I had to get this off my chest. This morning I was driving into work, listening to the news and they were reporting all the numerous military couples getting married because of the war coming. Judges are waiving the 72-hour wait thing (whatever that is) as a "patriotic" thing and it just made me so sad. Nick isn't even here if we wanted to do that. He had mentioned it before, but still having a ceremony whenever the chance came...but now he seems so optimistic about being able to have the ceremony without a problem. Although really no one knows for sure, nothing is in stone (he is in the Army ya know). Sometimes I care and I really want to have the wonderful ceremony with all the family and friends, but sometimes its scary and you never know what will happen, if we will even get to see each other again by the end of this year. Who knows...all I really know is that all this talk about war and people not knowing if they will see their loved ones alive again is really depressing and scary. I want to fight the bad guys as much as the next American, but at the same time I also feel a slight bit of guilt standing on the sidelines and saying "let's bomb them" when I'm not the one having to go in and drop the bombs. I'm not the one signing myself away to fight for people back at home that maybe think of me or maybe not. The millions of Americans who serve as an audience to the fighting our military does for us. How can someone not feel guilty for that, or maybe not guilty, maybe at least lazy. But it's not everyone's calling and there has to be people at home making sure each other don't go crazy. But I think it would do everyone good to have a loved one in the military...to make you more aware of what it really costs to live in a country such as the USA.
Love,
AmandaMonday, Sept. 24, 2001
Dear Journal,
I am so excited to be starting this journal. It will be a great way to keep family and friends updated on the wedding news. Although there isn't too much stuff happening, little by little things are coming together. Last Saturday the "bridal party" - me, Katy, Neha and Patricia went to order the bridesmaids and maid-of-honor dresses. It was really challenging to find a style that came in the color we wanted..and of course I'm sure they loved trying on so many different things (ha ha) but we finally decided and they are on the way. The dresses should arrive around Thanksgiving.
Today I also was able to talk to Nick, which made me feel so much better. I had been unable to talk to him since Thursday and my weekends go by so much slower when we can't speak. He graduates PLDC Friday and he is so looking forward to that. Hopefully we will have more information on whether or not he is returning to the states soon. It makes me worry so much with all the stuff going on right now, but Nick gets mad at me when I worry so I try not too.
Well I better go for now. I will write more as things happen.
Love,
Amanda
