Thanks Ben!

Kara Branstetter, friend of 15 years visited this weekend and it was SOOO good to have someone from home. I would have written about it earlier but I couldnt find the camera cord, sorry Mom. She flew in to Fargo ND via buddy pass, thanks to Benjamin David Howell the best older brother ever. She got in at abot 11:00 PM the 31st. To be extra safe we had a friend with a big winterized jeep take us down. Besides neither of us wil ever drive that road in the dark again as that's where we were hit and we get too nervous. Anyway, we went to the Olive Garden since there is one in Fargo and not in Grand Forks, and then went to the airport and waited for about two hours. Her plane was on time, but we were early. She got in and I saw a huge metal brace on her middle finger. The story is that her twin, Adam, shut a door on her finger, but I think she gave someone the bird and they broke it, jk. We drove back to GF AFB, and got her a pass on to the base. She kept forgetting which branch Kevin is in, and several people laughed a little when she called them marines, soldiers etc. It's the Air force if anyone else forgot, but we won't be sensitive about it if you did. It was late and we were all tired so we crashed pretty much as soon as we got home. We do have an awesome Hide-a-bed couch which Kara claims was comfy, but it's pretty springy to me. Everyday we went to the gym, which has been part of my new routine, woot woot! We got some snacks and rented some movies. Kara helped me shovel the driveway one day and it was a hard work out! It had snowed more then a couple inches the night before. I thought if it kept up she would be stuck here but the roads were absolutely wonderful when I took her back to Fargo. We went to town one day, and did some shopping and stopped at the pet store. Kevin came with and let us play dress up, even some of the store attendents joined in, and we all had fun, including him. We went to one of my favorite restaurants here which is China Garden and I had sweet and sour chicken with consomme soup, kevin had curry chicken, and kara had seafood delight, they were all delicious! Oh and we had cream cheese wantons, which are my favorite, with sweet and sour sauce. It was fun to take her to church too, since she's been in the singles ward in Boise for awhile she was shocked by all the kids and babies. There are probably at least two to one adult. I'm so glad she came to visit and it was so nice to have a girl around, Kevin stayed up in the office a lot and tried to give me lots of girl time since he felt it was important for me to bond and have a break from all the manliness here. I appreciated it. 84 days until we move, haven't started packing yet even though I REALLLLLLY want to. We are on the waiting list for two apartments, and Kev starts school again next Monday. Yay. I'm planning to start just after we move, YAY OH YAY OH YAY! Things are going oh so well, and today is a super good day, oh and I got one of those cool dish like chairs from the airmans attic (free donated stuff for airmen and dependents) Life is good, and keeps gettin better. My foot hurts a little from running so I've eased up a bit, but that should be better soon too. Happy New Year to everyone, and I can't wait to come home in June!