Mrs. Ullrich and I drove down together on Friday afternoon for AJ's last Army ball, more commonly known as Dining Out to Army folk. This was my fourth one, but his mom's first, so it was really fun to have her there. AJ got to see a new black dress of mine, and he got to wear his new dress uniform for the first time. It makes him look pretty good. Errr...the other way around. ;) There's a lot of ceremony involved in these things, so they always take longer than I remember. But I always love to get a glimpse of AJ's world and to see the people he spends so much time with. We really enjoyed the evening, and my man got another award! So proud, as always. We got to see a lot of pictures of AJ in the slideshow the cadets put together too. Such a fun night. By the time we got back to AJ's apartment we were exhausted, so we hugged Mrs. Ullrich good-bye and watched a little bit of TV before calling it a night.
The next morning AJ went for a run with a friend, so I just hung around until he came back and we made a couple delicious omlettes together. Yum. We didn't have much time before he left again to hang out with some Cru friends one last time. I spent the next four hours between Starbucks and the apartment writing a paper, napping, and studying for finals. It turned out to be a very productive afternoon. After AJ got back we didn't have long before our double date with two of his married friends. We attended their wedding last year, and this was the first time I had seen them since then. They were such a blessing to us that night. It was so great to be able to talk with them about the joys and challenges of our relationships and what married life is like. They both took an interest in our lives and listened while we talked about some tough stuff. I don't know them very well, but I know they care very much about AJ and have always been so warm towards me. It's rare that AJ and I have a chance to sit down with a couple our age and talk through our struggles. I only hope they know how much they blessed us, and spending time with them was definitely a highlight of my week. So glad they will be at our wedding! We will miss them very much, and I hope we can plan a visit whenever we return to Illinois.
Sunday morning we decided to take it easy as we had been up pretty late the night before and I was having a tough day emotionally. Eventually we had lunch one last time at our favorite sushi restaurant and then I treated us to frozen yogurt, which we enjoyed on the quad. Such a good time. After that we hopped into the Echo for the drive back to Peotone. Yep, my fiance drove me all the way home just for an extra hour and a half with me! It actually turned out to be a little bit longer due to some crazy weather. We took advantage of time spent sitting under an overpass due to a tornado warning by snuggling in the front seat and watching the storm with Josh Garrels playing on AJ's iPod. The people behind us probably thought we were weird, but that's okay. It was awesome.
It was definitely a bittersweet weekend. Leaving U of I today was yet another reminder that we are leaving all that is meaningful and familiar to us for life in the Army. It's hard, because I don't quite know what I'm trading all that is near and dear to me for. Our future is so uncertain, and it is so easy to focus on all that I'm losing lately. But this is sometimes what happens when you follow your loved one (or the Lord, not sure which it is right now) no matter what. I keep thinking this is how Abraham and Sarah must have felt when God told them to leave for Canaan.
