Now, this is a story all about how my life got flipped-turned upside down...by an Airman.

Yes. This is such a story.  But not one that relates to any guys in Bel Air. This is a story about an Airman.

This a a story about the most intense, adventurous and amazing year of my life.

Approximately one year ago we did this.

JoJo's going away party, August 7th, 2010. (I would be the chick with the rebellious head of hair. JoJo would be the one burning all documentation of his past, pre-military life)

August 8th I hugged him goodbye for the last time.

August 9th I cried my eyes out (...continuously...) as he called to say one last goodbye before weeks and weeks of silence.

August 10th he started earthly hell Basic Military Training in Lackland, Texas.
While I was here, still crying my eyes out. Totally confused and terrified that I had just lost my greatest friend and the most amazing person I had ever met. Just trusting God and crying my eyes out like everyday (ps: I am not a crier. Really. I just care about him THAT much.) One year sounded agonizingly long. 4 years sounded impossible. BMT alone sounded longer than I could ever manage. But I did. We both did.We made it through basic and several months of tech school, until he was able to come home at Christmas for 10 days.

Though, of course, that ended too. Commence with more crying.

But one magical day in February my amazing friend JoJo made a phone call to my dad and became my incredible boyfriend JoJo. Best thing ever, I tell you what.

Then, two months later, that crazy boyfriend of mine lied to me for three weeks and surprised me by coming home for Easter. See video here! 7 Days of absolute incredibleness. Obviously he had to return to his military life, but this I knew he would come back. For me. I would never lose him again. Ever.

Just as some background, I, Isabella Kiss, never really planned on winding up in a long distance relationship with an Airman in the United States Air Force. Of all the hoping and praying I did for my teenage years, that was never really what I was imagining. I had incredibly (almost impossibly) high standards. Compromise of any kind wasn't an option. From 14 years old on I was regularly praying for the right guy and I stubbornly stuck to my standards to the point of other people thinking I was crazy.  I've always been interested in the military and I've always been strong and able to handle a lot, but now all of that makes sense. When, at 17, I became friend with JoJo my life from that point on changed. But I never would have imagined that all of that would bring me HERE.

(Also, as background, JoJo never really planned on being in the Air Force. Just out of the blue he felt like that was what God wanted him to do, and though it scared us both, he did it. And as strong and stubborn as I can be, JoJo is even more so. By far.)

Let me just tell you, a long distance military relationship is hard. It is without a doubt by far the most difficult thing I have ever done. But God is faithful and I know this is all His doing. He answered both of our prayers in really surprising ways and now here we are, one year into this adventure, with something like 3-5 (or...more) to go. It is unbelievably hard, and statistics like to tell us we are going to fail. But the will of God isn't defined by stats, and people as hardcore stubborn as us don't quit.

Yes, this has been the craziest year of my life, but it has also been the best. Any relationship done right and to Godly standards is hard. A relationship done right, with the Air Force and distance thrown in there isn't for the faint of heart, as it is more than enough to totally break you down and ruin you. Sharing he whom I love with the US Military isn't always a lot of fun. I do not recommend such craziness, UNLESS you have a lot of faith and trust in God and unconditional love for the person on the other end of the distance. If you have those things, then it is completely worth it.

There is so much I could write in this post about the last year, but I wouldn't know where to start or end. For the last 365 days I have seen JoJo for 17 of them, but those 17 of 365 have been THE BEST. In one years time, and about 6 months of this long distance courtship we have been through so much and still have so much to go through. It's certainly an adventure and be are both quite possibly insane for being on it together. But I love it. WE love it. Needless to say, we are in it for the long run and we are ever so happy about it.

*also, on the topic of love and anniversaries, today is my amazing parent's 25th wedding anniversary. Pretty awesome, eh? They are incredible and I love them!