A weeks worth of planning proved to be successful! With my parents as my secret contacts, I planned a trip home for the weekend. We hid it well from everyone and no one had any clue. My parents arrived Thursday night and stayed overnight so they could rest up before the drive home Friday morning. Even when my parents arrived here and they visited me, I was on the phone with Abi but I had muted the call so she couldn’t hear anything. I was excited! We left about 630am Friday morning and arrived in Jax about 3pm. I drove the whole way and not once did I feel too tired. With careful phone calls, we made sure Abi was home, but unfortunately her parents would not be there when I originally arrived. My parents first entered her house, then a few minutes later I walked right in. She thought it was her parents, but when she saw me her first words were, with an extremely surprised look on her face, “What are you doing here?!” Then we had a big tight hug. Great stuff! She was crying. I’m glad I was able to surprise her and make her happy. All the planning was well worth it! My parents left not too long afterwards, and then Abi had to go pick up her parents. So it was their turn to be surprised. I was in the living room on my computer when they walked in the house. First papa saw me, and I said “surprise!” I greeted him with a handshake then a hug. Then greeted mama with a hug. We talked for a while just chit chatting about whatever. Papa and I had the chance to just talk one-on-one about whatever. Not nervous or anything. It turned out well.

When Abi was ready, we left to go to my parents’ house. I got ready and what not for our night out. Mom and dad went with Abi’s parents and the Taguinod’s to the Alhambra. Abi and I ran some errands and then made our way to the SFC CLP graduation. Obviously no one knew I was coming, but Kate may have gave it away to some people. None-the-less, it was a surprise that I was there. I was a bit disappointed when I found out that the Sumbeling’s and JB weren’t going to be there. I called Kuya Raul and gave him a piece of my mind. =) Oh well, next time I guess. Anyway, the CLP went well. Had a good number of people dedicated and the food was great! I was asked to do some stuff, but I declined mainly because I didn’t want to be a strange face to the new people and be up there leading something especially since the service team has been there the whole time. I did, however, do several prayovers so that was cool. I got Bundang to go to the CLP by asking her to deliver my DVDs that she borrowed so long ago. But because of some certain circumstances, I told my main reason why I wanted her to go. So we got to see each other and talk a bit. And I finally got my DVDs back! Woohoo! After the CLP, most of the service team went to Eucharistic Adoration.

It’s weird… at Adoration I felt… distracted. I mean, not distracted in the sense that something was catching my attention, more distracted in the sense that my mind was lost. I felt, empty. I’m not sure why. I’ve never felt like that at Adoration. My prayers were jumbled, my thoughts were kind of mixed, but I just felt like I didn’t know what to say or do. It was weird. In all honesty, I have felt that my prayer life hasn’t been where it used to be. I’ve struggled with that ever since I left back in October. I want that back, but I’m slowly getting there. Little progress, but I think I will get back on track with my relationship with God. At least I was able to be there with my wife so we could be there in prayer together, even though I was feeling the way I did. It was great to be there with her. I prayed for us and our marriage. I always do that. I love her so much! I’m so thankful that God brought us together.

Well, after Adoration we made our way back to her house to grab some things because we were going to be staying at my parents’ house that night. When we got there, both our parents were there talking still. When Abi was ready we made our way to the other house. We were already tired, it was a long day for the both of us. When we got settled in, we hopped into bed. It was nice to be sleeping next to my wife again. I definitely missed that! CB… wow! Super-duper, ultra to the max wow!

Day 2. It was an early start, well not too early thankfully! We got up around 745am to get ready because we had to take her parents to the airport for their trip to Cancun. SFC played tennis in the morning, but of course I opted to go with the family to the airport instead. Dropped Kate off at the house and waited for my parents so we could go out to lunch. While waiting, had a moment of “liberation,” as Abi put it. It was just as the book had described. See, reading can be beneficial. Craziness! We had lunch at Olive Garden with my parents and then ran more errands. When we got back to the house, we chilled and rested a bit before we had to get ready for the rest of the day. One thing I was looking forward to for this weekend was an appointment Abi had scheduled for me. The results were outstanding! I was impressed with the outcome. Thanks baby for looking out for me. You’re so thoughtful. I love you baby! After my appointment, we started to get ready. Took a shower, got dressed, and off we went! Fun fun fun!

Our first destination for the night was the CFC Youth meeting. It was their turn to be surprised by my visit. Upon our arrival, we first surprised some of the FCJ-ers because they had a meeting there. It was good to see them. And Tito Lito was there! It was actually a national meeting. Didn’t talk to him, but it was definitely nice to see him. He gave some of the best talks I’ve ever heard. Walked into the Youth meeting, said hi to the CFC that were there, and then people started seeing me. We walked in during the praise and worship, so the people in the music ministry saw me first. Then other people turned around and saw me. Yah… I was a distraction. Hahaha. Oh well, it’s all good. Definitely great to see them! Lots of new faces so that’s a good thing. I had fun being there. I missed them.

I was supposed to stop by a birthday thing for one of my friends, but that feel through because of some family issues. Mom called and wanted to talk to me and Abi. It totally ruined our plans for the night! We had already planned on hitting up a club with Kate and some others. Didn’t happen [that’s the second time mom has done something like that]. So we ended up going back to her house and waited until mom called so we could head over to the other house. Freakin’ horse crap! Whatever… I don’t want to dwell on that. We were there for probably almost two hours. Afterwards we just went home. Not in the greatest of moods. We were actually thinking of ways to get our minds off of what went down. Oh well. Drinking doesn’t solve anything. =) Not that we were planning on getting drunk or anything. It’s funny, when we were sitting on her kitchen floor looking at what drinks she had, she just happened to be on her hands and feet. She was about to say “What?” When I heard the “wh-“ I busted out with a “woof” because I thought that’s what she was going to say. Hahaha. I guess you just had to be there. It doesn’t sound as funny as when it actually happened.

Sunday. A sad day. After mass we headed back to my parents’ place so I could get my stuff together. Stopped by the commissary one last time to say hi and bye to some people. So finally our trip back to Mississippi began. Not a fun ride, only because it meant I had to leave my wife again. I drove the first half while Abi and dad slept occasionally. We had to switch because I was getting really tired. When we got back to Keesler, we rested a bit before they left. Sucks. Oh well. Oh! On the road there was this truck that had this cool dog in the back. It looked like a husky, but mixed. And at a rest area, we saw a beagle and a hound. It was cool because I want a husky and Abi wants a beagle.

Well, I guess it’s back to work for me. Oh joy. I didn’t do any homework after formation. I just ended up cleaning my room and putting all my stuff away. I’m alone in my room with no roommate so I was just chillen in my boxers. After taking a shower I called Abi. We stayed on the phone for a bit while she was still on the road. They got home around 230am.

Monday. For real back to work. I was tired, but not as tired as I thought I would be. I got to call Abi during my lunch break so that was cool. PC was rough today. Another hot one out there, but I survived. It turns out I’m not all alone in my room anymore. I got a roommate today. Oh well, not a big deal. One night of being alone here, it was cool. I miss my baby.

Well, there you go. An extremely long blog. Great times, despite the set backs we experienced. I’m glad I was able to surprise my wifey with this visit. She cried, that was nice. I love you beb! You make me so happy! I can’t wait until you come here in several weeks. And to think, you’re parents will be here also! Thanks again baby for a wonderful weekend! And thanks to everyone else as well! Hope to see you all soon!