I'd Have It No Other Way

This poem was shared with me by another military wife. It's so very true, in case you were ever wondering what THIS life is really like. : )

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house; Moving curtains that won't fit; Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home,
For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a checkbook;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...

She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move...
.....all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS; Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships.
They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed; the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband, She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.

The Wild Cat - Ms. Penelope

My husband and I have always liked animals. We’re not like those 20-cat families. But, we do enjoy our share of 4-legged cuddly furries. My husband in particular is really fond of cats. I like them as well, but the litter box maintenance drives me insane. (I learned this in college.) So, I was pretty certain that we’d never adopt a pet cat. My dear friend Marian, has a sweet and slightly crazy cat named Oswald. I spent several days babysitting Oswald over Thanksgiving break (2009) because she was out of town. I love my dear Marian, so I was happy to do the favor, but I was dreading the litter box smell. The first day to change came and I was greeted so delightfully by Os. He is such a sweet and playful (i.e. crazy) cat that I couldn’t help but play with him for awhile before changing his litter and leaving. When I proceeded to change his box, I noticed that it looked different than any other litter box I’d seen. It also smelled, like… fresh linen. What?!?!? This litter box was a large deep plastic bin with about 10 to 12 lbs of litter in it. The large amount of litter masked the smell of any bodily fluids concealed within. I also noticed that the high walls of the box helped prevent Os from kicking around excess litter on the floor. I was so relieved. Cleaning his box was surprisingly pleasant and so easy! From that moment forward, I pushed myself to think outside the box (lol) about getting a cat.

Days turned into weeks and my husband and I spent more and more time together in front of the TV. We watched a special on Animal Planet on the top breeds of cats. We fell in love with the idea of getting a cat after watching that show. Since I had experienced a change of heart on the litter box issue, we began looking into breeds. Fast forward a month to Friday, January 29, 2010. Our gorgeous Bengal cat, Penelope arrived via Continental Airlines at Reagan National airport.

She is quite the cat. Bengals are known for being very feisty and active. Their ancestors are the Wild African Serval cat and the Asian Leopard. So, I was prepared for a rambunctious pet. My dear husband went out in the snow and ice to grab us BBQ to go yesterday. As I dug into my BBQ chicken salad, my dear Penelope decided she wanted a bite. She walked toward me and of course I pushed her back. She tried again and I pushed her back again. This continued quite a few times. I realized she wasn’t going to let me eat in peace, so I closed the Styrofoam container and went back to reading. Penelope proceeded to chew off the top layer of the Styrofoam container. I was shocked!! I then put the Styrofoam container under my thick winter comforter hoping that’d deter her. She seemed to have let it go for the moment because she began walking to the edge of the bed. She then sunk her teeth into the comforter and began to walk backwards pulling the comforter OFF the bed! Oh my goodness. I was shocked at her strength and persistence. She’s so tiny! As I cracked up at how hilarious this situation was, I also decided the kitchen was a better place for my Styrofoam container. We have a wild cat on our hands! Who’d have thought, she likes BBQ!

She is truly a beautiful cat with a very loving disposition. We’re so excited to have her! Who knows what she’ll show us next!

Tardy Christmas Abduction Story

Yes, this story comes about 30 days late. But, I’m sure you all are wondering how Christmas went with the grandparents. Traditionally, holiday dinners are held at Grandma and Grandpa’s! That’s the way its always been, and always would be (so I thought as a child.) As I got older, I realized that sooner or later, the children and grandchildren would get married and begin to sprout roots in different areas. What I didn’t realize is how this process happens FASTER than you realize. As a newlywed, I was thrilled to learn that my grandparents, after a good 30 minute guilt trip, were willing to push tradition aside, and have Christmas dinner in the DC area with their eldest (and most loved, I’m sure) grandchild…Me.

As Christmas approached I was certain the nervousness would settle in. I didn’t realize just how anxious I’d be! The weeks leading up to my grandparents arrival, I’d made an entire list of all the things I “needed” to be ready for Grandma. This included: a spare blanket, a few more decorative pillows, lots of dust rags, liner for the guest RR shower curtain, a top of the line mixing bowl and roasting pan, as well as a camera to capture all the greatness. With the list prepared, I felt all ready for my beloved granfolk.

A few days before their incoming flight, our area was hit with the largest blizzard this area has seen since 1922. We were buried in snow. It was definitely a winter wonderland, realized. But, it didn’t make for running errands. The city shut down for awhile. Church was even cancelled, and that NEVER happens. Grandma and I were so nervous that their flights were going to be cancelled. Fortunately, by the 22^nd, flights were coming in from most areas as scheduled. Their flight came in slightly late, but with the holiday and weather traffic, it took my grandparents literally ALL day to board, fly, and take a $90 taxi ride to get to our home. They left their home in Houston around 6 a.m. and arrived to my home around 8 p.m. (It’s only a 3 hr flight folks with a 1 hr time difference. Come on!) Very slow indeed, but at least they arrived, safely….without luggage. Yup, that’s right. After all that traveling, their luggage didn’t make it. *Sigh* No worries, it was the Christmas holidays; nothing could get our spirits down!

My grandparents were wiped out and slept well. The 12 hours I spent dusting and cleaning every centimeter of my house paid off, because Grandma’s first words were: “You guys sure have a really nice place!” SCORE! (It makes me very happy to know that my Grandma is pleased with my homemaking skills, because her standards are very high, let me tell you!) We started cooking the very next day. The tree was lined with presents, my Grandpa spent the day chatting it up with my husband. We baked cookies on Christmas Eve, and enjoyed them over hot chocolate while opening a few gifts. It was such a joyous visit. I was so terribly sad to see them go! We took lots of photos because with such a great Christmas with the elders, you just never know which Christmas holiday together will be your last. Sadly though, the camera was abducted from my job a few weeks later. So, I’ll have these memories etched in my memory for years and years to come. Even sweeter.

Next Christmas, who knows…maybe we’ll break tradition again….hmmm, maybe this is the beginning of something new.

Game Night officially a success!

I'm so happy that I'm able to communicate through typing because I don't have much of a voice right now. No, I'm not coming down with a cold. Actually, I'm hoarse from screaming and yelling during our game night extravaganza. It literally just ended about 20 minutes ago and I had so much fun I wanted to share about it right away. Let's rewind and recap...

This morning I was determined to let myself wake up without using an alarm. I always hope that means my body will sleep until Noon like it did in college. But, instead I typically start becoming aware of sounds, the temperature in the room, the birds chirping outside, and my need to use the restroom by 930am. This morning I actually slept until about 1015am. Once up, I made a list of ALL the things I needed to do to be ready for guests at 5pm. I had several errands to run before cleaning the house. You're probably wondering why I didn't do some of this before today. Well, yesterday was our last day of school for the semester. So, I wanted to have a 100% restful day without any chores (NOT something I have often, if ever!). Anywho, I realized that this would be my first time showing our new home to some of our friends, so I wanted to finish hanging all the pictures and curtains and fill out a few of the empty spaces. With that in mind, I needed a few odds and ends from a variety of stores. After 3 hours of driving all over the DC metro area, I'd acquired picture hanging hooks, nice sheer curtain panels, a suede armless chair for our bedroom, a few frames for hanging our degrees, and I even managed to put my Christmas cards in the mail.

(Can I just say that my trip to get this beautiful armless chair for our bedroom from a Craiglist seller led me on a 1 hour trip to downtown DC, including a trip down a dead end alley way in which I was sure I'd get mugged, several wrong turns, bumper to bumper traffic, and being honked at very rudely for not driving fast enough!) Although, it was quite a scenic trip as it was my first time driving in the city.

Once I arrived back home I realized that I had more things on my list and very little time to get it done. I decided to take off manicure and just allow my nails to exist in desperate need of a refill! I began hanging frames in the office, adding the sheer panels to our bedroom and putting the new chair in place. Finally, my house feels complete! (For the most part. There are still some spaces I'd like to better fill.) I breathed a sigh of relief. My husband vacuumed and took out the trash as I hung photos, so we were all ready for company. Then, I realized it was 15 minutes until guests were to arrive and I hadn't showered, tweezed my eyebrows, or done my hair. YIKES! (I feel like this happens to me a lot.) As the first few guests trickled in, I snuck into our bathroom to shower and wash my hair. No time to style it so I let it flow naturally. Now my hair is a HUGE curly mess. (still cute, though.) I greeted guests for about the first hour. Things were a little odd at first because there weren't enough chairs for anyone. However, when we jumped into games, that no longer mattered. We spread out, as hoped, in 3 different rooms. Cranium in the sun room (on a coffee table); Clue and Fact-or-Crap in the living room; and Monopoly and Texas Hold 'Em in the dining room. Worked beautifully. All in all there were 17 human beings + 1 very cute dog at our party. We fit well.

I played Cranium with Carrie (fellow Marine wife), Danielle (friend from college), Nikki (friend from college), Deborah (teacher at my school), and Deb's husband Nick. There were 5 folks on the Clue / Fact-or-Crap station and the Marines gravitated to the monopoly / poker area. (Imagine that!) Let me just say if you haven't ever played Cranium, go buy and play it with friends asap. Its a hilarious good time and the single reason I am voiceless right now! First of all, it's very competitive and you play on teams. So, my partner and I were trying to beat the other teams. There's a race against the timer involved which heightens the excitement. We did it all: from dancing like James Brown, imitating Martha Stewart and, drawing pictures blindfolded to pondering the Berlin Wall, humming the words to Michael Jackson jams, and acting out Scuba Steve (so I thought)...we truly did it all!

After Cranium, people began to leave but a good number stayed and we played a round of Battle of the Sexes (girls against guys). We learned a lot: from the year that Porsche's stopped using air intake to cool their engine, to the official name of a hammer (claw hammer)...we covered it all! Now, we did stump the guys a few times with questions such as, how you stop a run in pantyhose and naming a film Audrey Hepburn played in. In the end, the girls won! (It was close though. The guys did well.)

Such a blast. We cannot wait to host another game night. I neglected to take photos! So so sorry. It was so incredibly fun. : ) Michael and I enjoyed playing host.

I'm a social creature...

If you've known me for 5 minutes, you know that I'm a social creature. I enjoy chatting for hours on end. I love inviting people to our home to hang out and have fun! Since Michael and I are so blessed with this condo in a great safe neighborhood near my job, I feel that it's my duty to share it with everyone. I try to host get together's at my house often. Anytime someone's not sure where to have a meeting, I try to volunteer my space. It's our blessing, but we should definitely share it. In fact, in my small women's Bible study group we are reading a great book by Max Lucado. It's called "It's Not About Me." It has truly shed light on my purpose in life and it reaffirms my desire to share my blessings with others. One of the chapters we reviewed last night was entitled: "My Success Is About Him." It's based on the idea that so often "the man (or woman) who begged for help in medical school ten years ago is too busy to worship today," (Lucado 135). It made me reflect on the many blessings Michael and I have received and how we utilize those blessings (or "successes") to glorify God. Inviting others into our home is one way that I try to do this.

Well, this Saturday we have orchestrated a Game Night. I absolutely LOVE to play board games. In fact, I collect different editions of Monopoly. With this night of socializing and fun, I hope to bring together folks from different areas of my life in hopes that they can enjoy one another as I have enjoyed them. A little over zealously, I put together the invite list....and 35 folks later, I realized I live in a condo....not a mansion! Not all guests invited can attend of course, however we have a solid list of...hmm...oh geez, I haven't tallied a total number yet. Let's see, there's Marian, Kim, Kenny, Carrie +1, Tim, Heather, Trineka + 1, Hang, Deborah +1, Lindsay +1, Sarah, Danielle, Nikki, Elaine, Marquet, Alex, Michael and I. So basically, I need to clear out the living room of furniture and we can sit in rows wall to wall and THEN we'll all fit. LOL. I'm so excited to host but BOY OH BOY how are we all going to fit?!?!?!?!?!?

Okay... I must think outside the box! Clearly 20 + people cannot play ONE game. So I've selected 4 of my favorite games (Fact or Crap; Monopoly; Cranium; Battle of the Sexes) and I'm going to setup different games in different rooms. 1 game in the sunroom, 1 in the dining room, and 2 in the living room. Sounds like a great plan! I hope it all works out the way I envision it. I'm very very very excited to see it all come together. I promise to report back with details and photos!

PS: The Max Lucado books is an easy read and so incredibly enlightening. It wasn't expensive either. Seriously, it's like $5 from Amazon. Here's a link if you want more info on getting it: BOOK.

Typical Newlyweds!

We spent Saturday exploring Annapolis, Maryland. We started with a tour by a colonial era tour guide. She was great! She dressed the part. She explained everything from the origin of "putting your best foot forward" to the desperate desire of women from that era to take a little arsenic to appear more pale. We explored houses built in the 1700 and 1800s. We toured the Maryland State House. (It was TINY compared to the Texas State Capitol building!) We then headed over to the US Naval Academy and took a tour. It was very beautiful. The Academy sits right on the harbor and we arrived right as the sun was setting. Nothing more beautiful than a pink and orange sky. : ) As we headed back to the car, we popped into Starbucks for hot cocoa before heading off to dinner at Medieval Times restaurant. That's right, a reenactment of a medieval tournament, complete with horses, goblets, and jousting. It was so much fun! (I know, we're dorks.) We enjoyed our Saturday, it was so incredibly beautiful outside.

1st Thanksgiving as MRS = A Success!

Oh the nerves as Thanksgiving approached! I was so incredibly stressed and I didn't even realize it. Let's rewind to the week prior to Thanksgiving.

Word spreads fast. My dear husband, in his desire to look out for some of his fellow Marines on the "comfort food" holiday, invited a few Marines over to eat. Now please understand, each Marine eats the portion of at least 2 normal people. 2 RSVP equaled 4 folks in my head. My good friends were also planning to stay in town, so I invited them over as well. With a party of 6 to cook for, I began planning my menu. I've heard the horror stories about baking a whole turkey and the inside NOT being completely cook. So, I decided to modernize the process a bit, and cook the breast of the turkey only (with homemade gravy of course). I found some great recipes for cider glazed stuffed turkey breast, so I thought I'd try that out. Great. Now, let's see... what else sounds yummy? Grandma's stuffing. Oh yes yes yes! And... yams, of course. Green beans and cranberry sauce. And um, pumpkin pie. Yes...the PERFECT menu for my 1st Thanksgiving dinner as a MRS. I started my grocery shopping and $200 later, I felt 100% prepared to start cooking.

So as Saturday came, Thanksgiving felt closer than ever! The natural next step was to figure out what to cook first. As I began thinking through the dishes, I realized that it was physically impossible to cook my entire menu in one day. (Then I recalled my grandmother cooking days before Thanksgiving in years past. I finally understood.) When I finished backtracking time, I realized I'd need to start cooking on Tuesday for dinner on Thursday. WOW! I had no idea this was going take that long. Well, with cleaning the house and picking up a few last minute items, I may as well start setting the table 4 days beforehand. Geezz. In an effort to not over stress and cut down on the work, I decided to take out Grandma's stuffing and substitute bag stuffing. (Love Grandma's stuffing but it is a 2 day process by itself!) We'll talk about why that was a terrible idea later!

Fast forward to the day before Thanksgiving: Bright and early, I awoke...cooking and cleaning. I began by unwrapping my turkey breasts. I felt the cold mushy flesh of an animal for the first time. (Yuck! I usually get boneless skinless chicken, so this was very new to me.) I almost lost my stomach as I put them in the apple cider brine. After 17 hours of absorbing the sage, thyme, and apple cider mixture I was ready to manually de-bone and divide up my turkey breasts to prepare them for being stuffed. All in all, the turkey process was not only long...but incredibly...uneasy on the stomach. I ended the night with my hair all over my head. I'd worked up a decent sweat just getting the house in order. I spent the remainder of the day preparing a few dishes so Thanksgiving day was dedicated to finishing the turkey, making the gravy, and reheating other dishes. The table was set, the beautiful bouquet was on the table, and the cranberry was chilling, stuffing ready to be baked, green beans ready to boil, yams all done, and pumpkin pie ready to be devoured. I finally fell into bed around 1:30a.m. (On my way to bed, I noticed, my dear husband had cleaned the guest room and vacuumed the carpet. So sweet.)

Bright and early, my alarm woke me around 8:30a.m. I knew my dear friend Kim (and her husband) were coming over around 9 to help me finish cooking. Michael got up and finished cleaning up the house as I finished cooking. Kim and Kenny showed up (with their beautiful snuggly 3 mo. old daughter, Addison). Cooking commenced. Throughout the process, I realized I didn't have a roasted turkey wing to make my gravy. (It wouldn't be memorable if I didn't forget something!) So, Kenny and Michael went to the grocery store to hunt down a roasted turkey wing. Well, the closest thing they came up with was a raw turkey leg. : ( So, homemade turkey gravy left the menu as fast as it had come. No worries, that shaved an hour off our cooking time. Finally we were down to putting the turkey in the oven. The final step, such an awesome feeling. Kim and I excitedly stuck the turkey in the oven and then realized we had NO idea how to tell if it was done. Trip #2 to the store. Kim and I went this time to get a meat thermometer. Sold out you say? Almost. We found the last few. (So we bought 2 just in case!) Back home, thermometer's in and meat was cooking! I smiled a sigh of relief as the work was finally done! I even had a few extra minutes to video chat (SKYPE) with my family back home in Texas.

Time for me to get myself together. As I walked toward my room, it dawned on me that I'd been staring at those same pants for at least the past 2 days. I looked in the mirror and realized I hadn't slept but a few hours over the past 3 days. I'd gotten so lost in getting ready for the holidays that I completely forgot to put myself back together. I took a little time to myself, and thanks to Bobbi Brown, MAC, Olive Oil (the brand), and Victoria Secret... I was back to my fabulous self.

That night, I slept for almost 14 hours. Clearly, I was worn out. The dinner was great. Truly truly great. (Seriously, Kim's husband, Kenny ate like 10 slices of stuffed turkey!) My husband enjoyed the food. Our friends hung out after dinner and we spent the evening with pumpkin pie, cool whip, a snuggle doggy, a cuddly 3 mo. old, and Transformers 2. What a blast!

PS: Bag stuffing is a NO GO in the future. It was bad, but it WAS NOT GRANDMA's stuffing!

Married To A Marine Officer Means....

Some wonder. Some will never know. Well, I'm hear to tell you all about being married to a Marine Officer. Here are my top 6 observations of this very unique lifestyle...

1) For starters their haircut's will never be what they were before. If you haven't heard of a HIGH-N-TIGHT, then Google it. Don't worry, I'm more a tapered-fade girl myself too. However, I warmed up to a "medium-red" (which is a less dramatic version of a high-n-tight) pretty quickly. If you still don't know what

I'm talking about, the next time you see a Marine, ask him. : )

2) The color olive green begins to permeate every part of your life. [As I write this I'm wearing olive green sweat pants.] You'll find that everything from water bottles to boot foot cushions come in olive green! AND, that the Marine Corps will REQUIRE Marines to have 10 of everything! If green is not your color and you plan to join the Marine family, Id encourage you to find a room (or closet) to dedicate to all things green your Marine will collect and just throw it in and CLOSE the door. : ) I personally like green, so it's been quite nice. **wink**

3) The amount of food a Marine Officer can consume is quite impressive. I mean, I was raised in Texas where the men pile their plates a few inches high but, soon after you can typically see exactly where this food sticks to their body. The Marine Officer can put away thousands of calories easily and stay in perfect trim shape! They burn so many calories everyday with all of the PT (working out) that they need to eat hearty and hefty meals. This past Friday, Michael and I entertained (and fed) 5 of his fellow Officers. I don't believe I have ever cooked that much food in my life. Within an hour, it was all gone. Leftovers? Please!

4) Random outbursts. Umm, I'm not sure how else to describe it. Whether he is singing cadences to himself as he cleans his boots, or reciting motto's while he takes out the trash, the Marine Corps spirit, as they call it, lives in him! This spirit is contagious...I admit, I've caught it. Anytime one of those Marine Corps commercials with the men in uniform twirling their rifles comes on, I get chills up my arm and a big goofy smile on my face. I love it. "Ooh-rah!" may also be randomly shouted at very exciting moments." It is an expression of camaraderie an

d pride. I love seeing my Officer so motivated and driven by his passion for the Corps. What can I say?! There is no man happier, than one who loves God AND loves his job. : )

5) Marine Officers have a high standard of cleanliness and order. Something about OCS (Officer Candidate School) transforms them into men (and women) that crave order, obsess about planning, and maintain impeccable cleanliness. This can create quite the list of tasks for the wife that isn't a fan of housework. However, my grandmother raised me well...and I happily maintain our home. (The fancy dishwasher, extra large washer/dryer, frequent house guests, and my

natural OCD desire to clean also help motivate me to get the job done!) ***Now if I could only get him to buy me a Dyson. Hmmmm....

6) The odd hours begin to seem normal after a few days. I mean who would think it's strange to get up at 3:45 a.m. to travel to work, only to return 16 hours later...if you're lucky. And I thought a 40-hour

work week was demanding. Boy oh boy! Although, there's nothing more appealing than a man in uniform coming home from a hard days work ready for one of his wife's yummy meals. Ahhh... I love it! (If you're wondering if I get up to make him breakfast as well in the mornings...the answer is YES!) <-- We'll see how long I can keep that up. **wink**

All in all, married life is great. I'm married to a man that loves his job. Work isn't work to him and that makes me very very happy.

Such A Fulfilling Line of Work

Education is very dear to my heart. I enjoy all of it! I spend the majority of my day surrounded by 3-foot tall bodies with permanent smiles and a desire to hug you every 5 to 7 seconds (depending on the child). Despite the chocolate smeared all over their face, the snot running down their upper lip, and the fact that you know they just go over the flu 2 days prior, you decide to hug them lovingly anyway! I find that working in a school is the most rewarding job I've ever experienced. My role at my school presents it's challenges, but all in all, school administration is where I see myself staying for awhile. The most interesting aspect of working at a school is the 'where'd the time go?' moment that you have at the end of each day. When the kids depart and the teachers empty the parking lot, I'm left sitting there thinking: "Wasn't it just 9 o'clock?!" The day is so fast-paced. I mean hours will literally pass and feel like just a few minutes! One of my teachers best explained this phenomenon during our first week back to school: "The day was so fast Jessica. I mean one minute I'm helping a kid go to the bathroom and then next minute I realize I'm eating my lunch without having washed my hands!" While I haven't had an experience quite like that, I do understand the experience!

Where can my career in education take me? On an endless journey I hope. I find providing quality education to children is such a great way to pour positivity into their lives. It gives children a foundation to work and grow from. I love being a part of that development. I sincerely hope I am blessed to spend the rest of my life working in education in some way.

Many updates to come on my experience at school. It's ever-evolving. **SMILE**

Wedding Bells were ringing!

The wedding was a huge success. I'm in awe. Words cannot express how beautiful everything was. Please visit my photographers site to see our photos: ALAN_MAYO

With 9 days to go...

With only 9 days to go until the wedding, things are more busy than ever. It is so interesting to me that regardless of how much preparation I've done in advance, the week of the wedding is destined to be hectic. Most things are squared away at this point. However, with graduate school and the new job, a few logistical things are still on the TO DO list. The seating chart needs to be created, my dress needs to be altered, my shoes need to by dyed, song list needs to be finalized for the DJ, vows need to be finalized, name needs to be changed, rehearsal reminders need to be emailed, wedding party gifts need to be wrapped, and programs need to be printed/scored. Whew! Aside from all the stress, I am very excited to exchange vows in front of God and all my friends and family on August 28, 2009. I'm so excited to see Michael standing there at the end of the aisle in his formal Officer uniform. Oh, he's going to look so handsome. I cannot wait to see my parents tear up at the sight of our exchange of vows. I know it is going to be a beautiful occasion. I'll be sure to update photos as soon as possible. I'm so excited about our honeymoon I can barely contain myself! The thought of relaxing on an island after the stressful summer sounds so great.

I'm so grateful to God for where he's brought Michael and I in life and in our relationship. I feel so incredibly blessed and I certainly hope we build a strong marriage with our faith as our guide.

Michael, the 2nd Lieutenant Marine Officer

It's official. Michael accepted his official commission today to serve the United States Marine Corps as an officer. He signed an air contract and after about another year of officer training here in the DC/Virginia area, will be on his way to flight school!

So many women ask me how it feels to be married to the military. I tell each the same thing: "This experience has made my husband the happiest man on Earth. It has given him a once in a lifetime shot at his childhood dream and that makes me the happiest wife in the world."

Congrats honey! Officer Candidate School was no joke.

Showers of Love, Rain, and Tears (Happy Ones)...

Boy what a summer it has been! I cannot believe it is already August. Last weekend I had quite a time. Where do I start?? Oh yes, my tendency to overbook myself is something that I really need to work on. Here's a little context to last weekend: Michael is nearing the end of training and he only has 24 hours off (referred to as 'liberty') each weekend to run personal errands, use a cell phone, see loved ones, et cetera. This past weekend was particularly important because it was the last 'liberty' before graduation. So, there are all sorts of things he needed to do to prepare. Typically I pick him on Saturdays around 3 p.m. and have him back on base around 3 p.m. on Sunday.

This past Saturday was my bridal shower in Austin, Texas. I had been looking forward to it all summer. My mom and cousin worked on putting it together with the help of my bridesmaids. I knew it would be fun to see all my friends from so many different parts of my life all together in one room! I couldn't take off too many days from work with the school year rapidly approaching. So, I decided to fly out on Friday morning, the day BEFORE the shower. This will give me PLENTY of time, I thought. I had to make sure I was home for at least part of the weekend to run errands with Michael during his last liberty. So, I booked a flight leaving Austin, the very next day, Saturday at 5 p.m. (My shower was from 2 - 4pm - tight window, I know!) I was sure I could make it happen!

Well as time wore on, I began to think of all the things I could accomplish with my full day in Austin. I hadn't met with my wedding venue owner recently, so I went ahead and booked an appointment to do that first thing when I arrived to Austin! Great...now I'll have the entire afternoon/evening to hang out with my friends and family. Oh...but look, an invitation to speak on a panel from 2 - 4 p.m. I can probably squeeze that in too, right?! Sure! Okay, now I'll at least have a nice evening of dinner with my family.

Boy did Saturday FLY by! By the time my cousin finished running me ALL over Austin, literally, her gas tank was practically empty and so were our tummies! We were able to have dinner with the family that evening which was very nice. Then, I went to my cousin's and fell sound asleep. After a good 7 hrs, I was up again ready for my shower and to fly back. That morning I decided I should run errands. I stopped by the jeweler to order my wedding bands, I checked out my Austin apartment to ensure everything was in good working order, then, I checked my watch and realized I was going to be LATE for my own shower. I hurried to the clubhouse and made it within minutes of 2p.m. The party came and went SO fast. It was very very fun. The lingerie gifts were adorable and my cousin did an amazing job of setting up the room so beautifully. The food was delicious and all my good friends came. It was great. When the clock struck 350p, the madness BEGAN...

I asked one of my guests to rush me to the airport. She very eagerly took me along. Traffic wasn't bad. I made it there in 15 minutes. WOW! Security line was short. GREAT! Rushed through to my gate sure that I would find the attendants closing the doors... and guess what. Nothing. No one was at my gate. I sunk into panic. Oh NO...I've missed my flight. I won't be able to get home. Oh Geez! I spotted a United Airlines rep and frantically ran over. She patiently informed me that I had read my boarding pass wrong. My flight didn't depart for another 45 minutes. I was in fact, TOO early.

I boarded the plane eventually and arrived in Chicago for what should have been a 40 minute lay over. 40 minutes turned into hours and hours. By the time I left Chicago it was 11:15p.m. CST. Michael was pushing himself to wait up for me to pick him up once I landed back home (which was now several several hours later than expected.) Eventually I arrive home to the BWI airport (more commonly known for its cheaper airfare compared to Dulles and Reagan). Oh but there is a catch! BWI is cheaper because it is 45 minutes away from where I live. Oh...and where I live is 20 minutes from where Michael is. In total, I'm looking at over an hour commute to pick up Michael. I eventually made it to my car parked in the garage at the airport at 2 a.m. I exited the garage and entered the open highway. It was such a cool breezy night. No traffic for miles! Great...I'll be there at 3 a.m.

Then, the thunderclouds above released the worse rain I've seen in years. Out of nowhere I was in the middle of what seemed like a hurricane. The rain fell so hard and piled on top of the highway. I eventually couldn't drive and like so many of the other cars, pulled over on the side of the road until the rain slacked a bit. At a steady 20 mph pace afterwards, I finally made it to Michael at 410 a.m. I was so overwhelmed with the day that I just fell into his arms crying. Then, it hit me... my husband-to-be will be an Officer in 7 days. He made it through training!! I'm so proud of him. I cried even harder. We were standing outside the car, on the very wet street, in the pouring rain. I was so tired...but so happy!! Michael drove us home, another 20 miles away. On the way, I had to make a pit stop...nothing was open...so I'll let you put that part together. Eventually we found ourselves parking outside home around 5 a.m. As the sun rose, we laid down and fell asleep.

What a shower!

Looks like chicken salad, smells like chicken salad...so, I guess

So I recently totaled the amount of money I've spend the past month eating out. I quickly realized that it was time to go to the grocery store. I began by dreaming up all the dishes that sounded yummy. On Thursday, it was quesadillas. After a trip to the grocery store, I made quesadillas for the very first time. They were absolutely delicious. I made 3 variations on the quesadilla just to mix things up a bit. They were: 1) spinach, mushroom, avocado, black bean, mozzarella, swiss, chicken; 2) grilled tomatoes, mozzarella, garlic, Ragu, chicken; 3) Stubs BBQ sauce, chicken, cheddar cheese; They were all very yummy. Plus, I have tons of left overs. I wasn't too nervous about making the quesadillas because, first I'm from Texas (this explains a lot) AND it seems very straight forward. 'Put it all between a tortilla and heat it up!' However, today my task was a bit more ... unfamiliar: chicken salad.

I began by dreaming up foods that sound yummy and look pretty together: celery, cucumber, red bell pepper, onion, and purple grapes. Then, I chopped everything up and put it in a bowl. Hmm, now that I have a bunch of pretty chopped items and chicken in a bowl, how do I make it salad? I HAVE NO IDEA. Well, I really don't like mayo, so I tried mixing a small portion of Dijon mustard. I tasted it. ***YAO!!!!*** Boy was it spicy. Okay, throwing that batch away. Hmmm, what about Mayo? No...nope. I refused to make my chicken salad a sad version of tuna salad. I was determined to mix together a tasty blend of... something. Then, it hit me! I remembered my grandma mentioning that she makes a crab dip with cream cheese and sour cream. Those both sound tasty so let's try that.

In a small bowl I combined a spoonful of sour cream and a healthy portion of cream cheese. I mixed it together and tasted it. Ewww too sour. So, I added the entire container of cream cheese. Tasted again. Uh, reminds me of a bagel. Added a touch more of sour cream, some garlic power, salt and pepper. NOWWW it was 'muy bueno!' I mixed it all together and VIOLA! My first homemade...from scratch...no recipe...just good instincts CHICKEN SALAD. : )

Next time, some dill pickle and avocado!

Officially mailed...

Today's trip to the post office was interesting to say the least. First let me explain that I am extremely under the weather. My 101 fever and sore throat made this post office trip one that I'll never forget.

I visited the post office about a week ago to weigh my invitation to see how much postage would be. The kind gentleman responded "Oh! You're getting married...Why?" I smiled and was unsure if that was rhetorical or if that was standard response in DC. He said "Well, good luck with that. It will be $0.98." I smiled and explained that I was hoping they would come in under a dollar. I purchased my $1 stamps and left, prepared to put the finishing touches on my invites. After a week of wrapping and unwrapping invitations (silly mistakes - that's another story), I eventually finished a set of 37, complete with the ever so unattractive 'Rockefeller' $1 stamp. I smiled at the progress I made and looked forward to taking them to the post office first thing Wednesday morning.

Wednesday night came with a high fever, body aches, and a terribly sore throat. Needless to say, I wasn't going to the post office that day. Thursday rolled around and I was not much better. Thursday night seemed promising...or so I thought around midnight. Friday morning I awoke and decided that regardless of my health I was dropping those invitations off TODAY! I mustered up enough strength to put on decent clothes and carry this heavy box of invites to the car. Once I arrived at the post office, I was deep into a jogger's sweat. Drenched, I waited in the infamous post office lines to drop off my envelopes with the postal worker.

As I approached the desk he said, "if they are all stamped just leave them there and I'll get to them." A voice in my head said: 'Id have to be crazy to leave these here without knowing for sure that they have been processed and received.' I smiled and said that I didn't mind wait. THAT WAS A LIE. The post office was packed with people. At some point the room seemed to be spinning. Eventually, the nice postal worker was ready to stamp and receive my mail. He decided to verify the postage weight! BIG MISTAKE. Apparently our marriage-cynic wasn't much of a mathmatician either. He quoted me $0.98 when in fact each was $1.56. Great! More $$. He said these things are too big to run through the meter, so I am going to have to do each one by hand. He seemed more disgruntled at that fact than I. (Which I later realized is because I didn't know what 'doing them by hand' actually entailed.) About 55 minutes later, he finished processing each individual piece of mail. At this point, I was sure I was going to pass out. My throat ached, I was dizzy, hungry, sleepy from not eating, and just all around tired of being at the post office. I paid my $22 for additional postage and left the post office. Boy oh boy am I happy to say...that is over.

Let's just say when I take the final 25 to be mailed, I'll be sure to be well rested and bring a short novel to read.