Let Me Explain

About 4 years ago (4 years, 1 month, and 28 days ago to be exact...but who's counting?) I met the man that I would later fall in love with and marry. I won't bore you with a minute by minute account of every mushy, puke-inducing detail that is our relationship. BUT I will tell you, it really has been nothing short of a fairy tale. To summarize; We met and immediately clicked. Now let me preface that by saying that I completely had my guard up in the beginning, when it came to him. "Surely he is too good to be true", I thought. Eventually, those walls came crashing down when I realized that he was as genuine as I prayed he was. We dated for about 2 years, balancing our relationship between two counties and two different schedules. I was in college and he was currently working 2 hours north of me. Eventually, the subject of joining the Marine Corps came in to the equation.

Wait, WHAT!?

That's right. Here I am, crazy in love with my version of the perfect man, and now he's telling me that he feels that he wants to join the Marine Corps!? Though I managed to remain supportive on the outside, the war being waged on my emotions raged on the inside. I hate admitting that but it was true. At the time, I knew nothing about the Corps other than what you learn in history class or the ever traumatic accounts on Fox News. Horrific questions and scenarios reeled through my head. "That's so dangerous, what if something happens to him?" "I'm scared." "Whatever happened to a normal 9-5 job?" and the most daunting question, "How long are we going to be without each other?" In the blink of an eye, our routine was turned on its ear. He left for boot camp and 3 months later, in September 2011, the man that I tearfully watched pull away in a white van that was bound for Parris Island, South Carolina, was now PVT Copeland. It took some adjusting for both of us. After all, up until that point we hadn't gone more than 48 hours without seeing each other. Through hundreds of letters, our love grew tenfold. When we finally reunited at his graduation, it was apparent that the time apart did nothing but pull us closer together and we were both in this for the long haul.  

Time marched on through all of the months apart, numerous military schools, and rank promotions. On December 24, 2011, my dreams came true when he dropped to one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. Of course I said yes. Duh. He left a week later to head back to his base. Shortly afterwards, he got orders for Okinawa, Japan. 

 8,000 miles apart. Eight Thousand. 8 multiplied by 1,000. 14 hour time difference. 2 continents. Whoa.

Fast forward. He came back to Alabama in late September and we became Mr. and Mrs. Cody Copeland on the 22nd. Our wedding was sheer perfection! Then, our all too familiar routine continued and he left again.

The difference now, is that we are officially on this journey together. For the rest of our lives, we have a best friend to share these experiences with. On December 1, 2012 I moved to Okinawa to join my husband! I'm married to a United States Marine and we are living in Japan for a 3 year tour. Although I still have emotional bouts with his constant absence, I have learned to embrace the precious time that we DO get together. I wouldn't trade it for the world. If anything, the Marine Corps has drawn us together. It's taught us to differentiate between what really matters and the pettiness in life. Our life is amazing. We live on a beautiful tropical island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and occasionally (when the Marine Corps agrees) we are enjoying it together. Instead of boring Facebook with every detail of our new life (which I am awesome at), I decided to give them a break. As a result, this blog was born. With that said, if you chose to read this....you have nobody to blame but yourself for your boredom. I hope you choose to come back though, I can't wait to share our lives with you!

With Love,

Heather Michele