237th Birthday Ball

I know that you have all probably read 100 different posts about the ball so I will leave you with a few facts and pictures.

The facts of the night were...

-Husband choosing the moment the guest speaker took a pause in his speech to pop open his can of beer. I was mortified but every marine laughed.

-I found out the big beautiful cake is mostly cardboard.

-I did not dance once which was good because my dress required me to go commando and I was anxious about a peep show all night.

-I met Urkel. Not really but this guy looked just like him once he's transformed into Stephan. He had a nickname but once I pointed the resemblance out everyone called him Urkel. (He's cool and didn't mind).

-I met a female MGYSGT. Her husband is a GYSGT and is probably the closest to a greek god I have ever seen. She was really beautiful as well and I couldn't help but be jealous of the amazing, god-like couple talking to me.

-My husband ended the night with his head in the toilet. Not exactly how I imagined the ball but I'm sure he and all of the other plastered marines had a great time and that's all that matters.

I can only order prints of our professional picture but I have a couple others to share.

Oh hey I've been gone

So as you can probably tell I am not blogging so often anymore. I hate to say it but I think this chapter in my life has come to a close. I don't get the urge to run to my computer and blog about life anymore. It's probably due to the enormous amount of responsibilities that are in my daily schedule but that's neither here nor there.

I am feeling an urge to update everyone on my recent decisions.
We are exiting the military lifestyle in March of 2013. My husband has decided to become a police officer and he has been offered conditional employment by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. Therefore we will be moving to Charlotte (or a nearby town) very soon.

I'm excited about the move but the transition makes me want to throw up. He won't start the academy until June it looks like so for 3 months he won't be employed. That means I don't have a lot of time to search for employment. Unfortunately this stresses me out to no end.

I am almost done with my first semester of my MBA and will soon begin my second. I take 2 twelve week classes at a time and they are back to back. Thankfully I do not ever feel overwhelmed but I do stay quite busy.

Unfortunately simply being enrolled in my MBA program does not mean I am anymore qualified for certain positions than only having my bachelors degree. It's a little disconcerting but I know eventually I will complete the MBA program and then hopefully it will advance my career, should I be lucky enough to find the right company in the near future.

As far as leaving the military goes I am on the fence. I think it's ridiculously foolish to give up a job in this economy especially one that leads to such great retirement benefits. But I know my husband is unhappy and it is easier knowing he already has a career lined up. That is if I can take the reins on my stallion of a husband and make him stick with this new career.

I find myself wondering if I could be in the military. The answer always leads to if I didn't have Abigail. I would never be able to leave her for the length of time I know would be required of me. My husband is a much stronger person than I could ever pretend to be. Although it would be delightful to feel important in a career for once in my life.

I desperately want to find my purpose in life. Professionally that is. I hate settling for work that I would be accepted for without any college education. I have earned my degrees and should be able to use them. I'm very hopeful for Charlotte and yet dreading it at the same time.

I suppose maybe I did need to vent on here a little bit.
I am on here nearly every day reading all of the blogs I follow. I just haven't written in a while. I'm not saying goodbye forever I'm just officially stating that I probably won't be keeping up with posts on a regular basis like I used to.

Well Hello Again

I know, I know. It's been way too long. I can't even remember the last time I was on here. Life has been crazy and stressful lately so I've neglected my blog.

I'm back because I have to write out some stress and frustration.

My husband has decided to get out of the military. He is officially done in March. He has a conditional offer of employment with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police department. He just has to pass the polygraph I believe and he will be accepted into the academy. This is awesome news because until this I had no idea what our future was looking like and I'm not comfortable being that blind.

There are a couple huge obstacles we have to work through though. First, as of right now the academy doesn't start until June of 2013. So that means he will be without work for 3 months. That puts a lot of pressure on me to be able to financially support us during that time.

So the second obstacle is that I need to find a job in Charlotte relatively soon. I would transition my job with Sears out there but I don't make enough to be able to cover rent and bills all by myself. So I need to put my degree to use and hopefully find a finically supportive career. It has been the goal all along obviously but when you put a time limit on the search it becomes a lot more stressful.

The third obstacle is going to be convincing my husband that we need to rent for at least the first 6 months. He wants to buy a house right away but in order for my income to be on the loan I would have to either be transferring my job to Charlotte or have been working in the area for at least 30 days. He thinks I should go out there by myself in January to start working and live with my aunt and uncle until he can join me. I have absolutely put my foot down on this. Renting is our only option and I don't see why he doesn't see that. I refuse to leave my daughter for that amount of time and I think it is just too big of a decision to make so quickly. Plus it puts a lot more stress on us that is unnecessary.

On a positive note, I finally got my NC license. Third times the charm I guess.

I am so stressed. I have no idea how people transition out of the military smoothly. I feel like we are about to be jobless and homeless.

Advice?

The Ball!

Our Marine Corps Birthday Ball is just over 3 months away. This year it's November 20th. We are yet to make it to one of my husband's balls in the 3 1/2 years he has been in. So this one has be be perfect because we might not get another.

One thing that I am super thankful for is that I already have my gown. I showed it before. It makes it really easy and motivates me to keep in shape. I know what I have to fit into and I can continuously try it on to make sure it works.

I can't believe it's the second half of the year already. My husband's military career could be over at the beginning of next year so it's a crazy thought.

But here's to the beginnings of ball preparation!

And I'm super nervous

I received a call today from the Dance Theater of Jacksonville to let me know that my class will be starting tomorrow night.

My first reaction was "Holy cow that is really short notice!" My second reaction was "OMG I don't want to do this anymore!" and my third reaction was "I can do this. I can definitely do this!"

I have to say that I am super happy that I have Allie from My Marine And Me going with me. It always helps to overcome nerves when you have someone going through it with you.

In other news, I have decided to start eating healthier. Since starting work at Sears (about 2 months ago) I have gained 10 lbs. Yes, 10 flipping pounds. Why? How? Well it's simple, my jobs has a ton of down time and I'm a bored eater. The only snacks in our break room is vending machine junk so I've been eating junk for 2 months. It's horrible and I have shamed myself.

BUT I'm not giving up. I am annoyed at all of the downtime that comes with my job. I much prefer a high paced career but this is what I've got. So I will beat the boredom munchies by bringing my own snacks.

I just purchased the Women's Health Wightloss Guide at the store and it's my healthy lifestyle bible. It has fantastic food ideas, meal plans, workouts to get thin, and tons of knowledge and inspiration! It helped me realize I was gaining weight and it was my fault for eating horrible things but it showed me how to fix it.

Seriously, it's the best $10 I've ever spent. Since I started working I stopped running which also didn't help so I need these quick workout ideas to throw into my schedule every day to get back into shape.

I will admit that the Olympics is a great motivator as well. I am so proud of team USA. They make me want to do my best all the time.

Speaking of doing my best and just to make this blog a complete ramble, I start my MBA in like 2 weeks! I think I already mentioned it but I'm so nervous! More excited because I really love school and learning. I'm a huge nerd. But I'm really nervous because it's so expensive so I have to do my best to make it worth it.

Ok, that's my daily, or lately weekly-ish rant.

It's been a while

It's been quite a while but I have been busy/nothing to talk about.

I have been struggling lately. I enjoy my job for the most part but I can't stand that I support a company that I despise. Not Sears, but M&G that we use for our jewelry repairs. They are a horrible company and it makes me sick having to promote them. Plus, I really don't make a lot of money so it barely makes it worth it.

I have been thinking about applying to other jobs and I finally applied to one tonight. I figured if I get it then it's meant to be and I will quit my current job. As for now, we need the extra income even if it's just a pittance to what I could make elsewhere.

Also, I start my MBA at the end of the month! I'm excited and nervous. We just bought a new desk top which I'm hoping will make my school work easier. But really my husband bought it so he can play this ridiculous racing game. I hate video games so I'm not really happy with that. But oh well.

Other than that I don't have much to talk about. My life is hectic but boring. I have been seriously slacking on working out and have gained some weight which also is not a happy thought. I'm falling apart lol. I really need some guidance and motivation.

It's official, sort of

I talked about getting back into dance in my last post. Well it's sort of official! By that I mean Allie called the Dance Theatre of Jacksonville and they gave us a price we can live with ($44 a month). That was the deal sealer for me.
I guess the class wont start until September or so and it will be Tuesday nights. I'm a little bummed that it's only one day a week but you have to start somewhere right?

When I used to dance as a kid I had practice at least 3 times a week so I think that was burned into my brain. But I am lucky enough to have a baby girl who loves to dance so I can just practice every day at home with her :-)

I have to admit that I am super nervous for a couple reasons. First of all, I have no idea what to expect. It's an adult ballet class that is open to anyone. If it's open to everyone I'm assuming it's not going to be unbearably difficult. At least I hope not.

Also, I'm nervous because I don't remember any of the ballet positions. I know a lot of them I just couldn't tell you what position they were. Most of my dance was clogging (or tap) but I always loved ballet more.

I can't wait to go ballet clothes/shoe shopping. Yes, I will find any excuse to buy new shoes but really I just love dance clothes. Leotards are super comfy and ballet shoes just make you feel pretty. I'm not a huge fan of the tights part but I'll deal.

The little girls ballet class has to wear black leotards with pink stockings. I kind of hope they don't make a bunch of adults dress the same. I would like a little freedom even if it just means I can wear a blue leotard instead of black lol. And I prefer to wear shorts over my leotard. I always have so I hope that's allowed.

I hope it all comes back to me. I would love to jump back into it and have a good grasp by the time Abigail is old enough to start ballet class. Not that I want to do a mother daughter class though. I saw a couple of those at my little sisters recital and they look ridiculous. Except one. One was really beautiful. It was a mom who is like a pro at pointe and her daughter. If I get really good at pointe I might consider that.

Anyways, this is super long and dull I'm sure so I'll leave it at that.