I need a pause button!

Boy has time just continued to fly by! I feel like I just sat down a few days ago to write my last post about our moving news. Um…NO! It’s been almost a month! EEK! So much has gone on in this last month, and I would love to sit down and break all the big things into separate posts, but, let’s face it. I don’t really have time for that. So, I’ll just give you all a brief run down of everything!

Let’s start with 3 weeks ago – My brother graduated Air Force Bootcamp (AF BMT is what they call it.) It was such a wonderful experience to get to go and watch. I find it fascinating just how different every branch of service does their graduation ceremonies. The Air Force is actually the only branch of service that allows for family and friends to attend the actually graduation. All other branches just allow spectators for the parade and the actual “graduation” is done in the days leading up to the parade. Then there is the actualy parade for the Air Force graduation. I only have the Navy bootcamp graduation to judge it to so it was a completly different experience. The Air Force actually quite a bit of marching whereas the Navy stands still for the majority of theirs. I’m a tad biased and really love the Navy parade (pass-in-review) but the Air Force parade/graduation was definitely something to see. Ok, forget all the formalities. Seeing my brother finally reach his goal was such a wonderful feeling! He was so happy and he appeared to have grown up so much just in those eight weeks. It was great to see that this was something that he really needed and wanted to do. He is now off to his tech school already and is doing great. I’m trying to convince him to request to be stationed up by us for his next part of tech school or his first base but we will see.

Now let’s fast foward a couple days. Munchkin got to take a plane ride to Georgia! And she LOVED it! The only time that she was bad that day was when we weren’t getting on the plane fast enough! I was so proud of her, especially because I know the behavior that she is capable of. The next few days we spent just hanging out at my mom’s house. I had to get some things planned for the upcoming move. We did learn that we are unable to stay at home until this summer like I was hoping. We could stay, but we would be stuck paying for housing for home out of pocket and we just don’t make enough money for all of that. It’s ok though. I had somewhat been mentally preparing for that in the back of my mind but I have quickly learned that it wasn’t enough preparation by any means. We did manange to get housing set up and our shipments scheduled. At the end of the week, we headed to Florida to watch my wonderful husband graduate from A-school!!! I was so proud of him! He graduated with honors and he really deserved it! Munchkin did so good at his graduation and my baby brother and baby sister were able to come to his graduation as well! We hadn’t seen them in over a year so it was a wonderful surprise. I really wish we could have spent more time with them but I will take every second I can get.

Following graduation, we headed back to Georgia, and Texas, with my hubby in tow! He was able to get on the same flight as us which really helped with taking care of munchkin. And he was able to spend 1 1/2 weeks with us! He participated in RAP duty here at home which is a great program. For those with loved ones new to the Navy, I highly recommend RAP duty. This is a program your loved one can participate in following A-school that allows them to come home and not have to take claim leave for five days. The only requirement is that they work at their recruiting station during those five days. My husband really enjoyed it and so did we. While he was home, we managed to get some things done for the move. The most important thing was that we sold our house! It wasn’t pretty but we are out from under it and that is what matters most!

Now, the husband is up in Maryland and we are still home preparing for our move. We have less than three weeks until the movers come and around three weeks until we head north. Of course, we will be going to spend time with some family before we leave. But for now, I am stuck stressing about everything! We do have our house that hubby has moved into, although he has no furniture. But it’s better than paying for a hotel the whole time. Now we just need to get through these next few weeks and we will be good to go. I pray I don’t totally lose it between now and then!

Where has the year gone?

I just realized it’s been over two months since I posted anything. Holy heck! Where has the time gone? I feel like I just sat down to type that post. Obviously have been failing at my plan to blog more…I NEED to work on that. My other New Year’s resolutions aren’t going so well either. And some of them I really NEED to work on. Well, enough crying about what I need to do. Here’s a little recap. My darling hubby classed up at A-school the day after my last post. While I was hopeful that would be the case, I have learned not to hold my breath when it comes to anything related to the military. So he has been in class for over two months now. He is doing so well! Top of the class! I am so proud of him. His A-school should be done in April sometime (I actually know the date but can’t really post it for OPSEC reasons…all these rules!) We should hopefully know about orders in the next 2-3 weeks. The time has really been flying by but knowing that we will soon be learning what the future has in store for us makes it feel like the slowest weeks ever! We are actually hoping you can go to C-school as soon as he is done with A-school. I know that sounds weird that we are wanting this since we will have to be apart longer but it is really what is best. I support anything that will help his Navy career and it will also give me time to get the house stuff situated and allow me to work a bit longer. We would definitely only stay here until the apartment lease is up and then probably head to stay with mom until his school was done. So fingers crossed that he can get that school.

Since my last post, my younger brother has also joined the military and is currently at bootcamp. He joined the Air Force and is doing really well and really enjoying bootcamp, or so he says 🙂 I just know that I am so proud of him. It has been a dream of his for as long as I can remember to be in the AF. He went off track a little because of a stupid girl a few years back but he is now in a much better place and the timing fell together perfectly. He will also be graduating in April so our month will be super busy!

Work has been even more stressful lately and I don’t see an end in sight until we move. I am really looking forward to vacation in April and getting to see my parents, brother and husband. It will be one whirlwind of a trip and I’m a little nervous at how my daughter will do but it will be worth it.

Well, I guess it’s time to get myself and the munchkin ready for the day. I look forward to getting back into blogging…and I will do it this time! It does help that I have finally remembered by password 🙂 Have a great day everyone!

Happy New Year!

Oh it has been a long time since I have posted. Life remained and continues to remain crazy, but that’s okay! I wouldn’t have it any other way! First off…HAPPY NEW YEAR! I cannot believe that 2014 is already here! If someone is able to locate the last half of 2013 please let me know! I feel like I slept through all of it! A lot has happened in our little family and I know that a lot is going to be happening in the near future and I cannot wait! Here’s a little recap of our 2013:

-The hubby joined the Navy. We truly believe that this was the best thing for our family!
-We rented out our home and moved into an apartment prior to the husband going to bootcamp. I really miss our house and I really don’t like apartment living but it definitely was the right decision.
-Our little munchkin turned two! I can’t really believe we are now close to her being 2 1/2 but it’s here! We began the Autism evaluation and it is still ongoing. We started speech therapy, behavioral/coping/social therapy and it is ongoing as well. Cardiological issues were ruled out (Yay!) and the physical therapy evaluation showed a bit of concern with her bone structure in her legs but only time will tell on this. She is slowly starting to use more words but we are still struggling to understand her. We sure do try our hardest though!
-Hubby left for bootcamp on 10/9/13. He was in a 900 division, a section leader and a fly boy. He graduated bootcamp on 12/13/13 and I am so incredibly proud of his accomplishment! He was able to come home for a week during the holiday standdown which was fabulous since our munchkin did not attend the graduation with me. We had a lovely visit that went too fast and he returned to school today. We are now just waiting for him to class up (what they call classes starting.) Once he is able to class up we will be one step closer to starting our new lives as a new Navy family!

Well, I’m pretty sure a lot more happened during the past year but these were the big highlights that I will always remember. Now we are in 2014 and I am anxious to see what will be brought our way. As the saying goes, God will not give us more than we can handle! I have lots planned in the near future and have made what is probably the longest New Years resolution list I have ever had. But that’s okay…it’s good to have goals! I won’t share them all with you right this second but don’t you worry! I will end up sharing them soon! The largest, and longest running, resolution I have is to lose weight. My weight has been a struggle for me over the past four years but unfortunately I have not done much to fight it. I have decided that this is the year I WILL make a change. I have to. Not just for me, although it has to be for me first and foremost, but also for my family. It’s so important to get healthy so I can be here for my family. And I just want to feel healthy again and I don’t want to be embarrassed about myself any longer. So buckle up because it’s going to be an interesting year! I took the first step and reactivated my gym membership. I want to go all in and do multiple workouts at the same time but the hubby has strongly encourged me to not overdue it. I guess I will listen to the hubby 🙂

Well, I guess I will wrap it up for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that you are all excited to take on the new year! I am also really working to keep the blog updated…at least so I can remember all of our craziness!

Day Zero!

Hi everyone! I apologize for the absence. I decided to go off the grid for a bit so I could spend as much time with him before he left. And I was successful! We dropped my hubby off with his recruiter yesterday. 😦 He is headed to MEPS as we speak and then will be flying to bootcamp tonight. I have so many feelings right now… Happy, Sad, Proud, Scared, Excited, Anxious, Nervous, Stressed… the list goes on and on. I am so proud of him and know that he will do great! I think my nerves will be set at ease just a bit when I get that call this morning that he has sworn in (again) and has his plane tickets in hand. I miss him terribly already but I know that it will get easier. As for my nerves…those won’t go away until I get the “I’m a sailor!” call, which I am beyond excited to receive!

The past few weeks I have learned a lot about what we were going to need to prepare for his departure to bootcamp. Here’s the catch…we don’t need much! Seriously though, they really don’t allow much. The main things that they can have are: a wallet with id’s, small amount of cash, stamps, calling card (they will be given one at the initial processing and potentially have the ability to purchase more but it’s smart to send one anyway), cell phone and charger (this is to be used for their “I’m here” call only and then will be put into their box to send home), bank account information to set up direct deposit, and maybe a debit card. Once they are there, they will be asked to put all of their personal belongings in a box and it will be mailed home at the recruits expense. Don’t worry! They won’t need cash to send this box; the funds will be taken out of their first check. Now there is still some question on what they can keep with them when it comes to clothing. I know that they can send their clothes home, throw them away or donate them. Where the question comes from is if they could keep the clothing with them as a just in case. The jic would be if they weren’t able to complete bootcamp. Please don’t stress about this! The Navy will spending a lot of money on each recruit during this process and there is no way that they are going to just let them go (unless the recruit chooses to not complete) without working with them and giving them the opportunity to pass.

Ok, going to go figure out a way to get through this day without an emotional breakdown. I’m sure today won’t be near as bad as tomorrow since I will be able to talk to him a few times today but I’m just a bit emotional in general. 🙂 Have a great day everyone!

Half Marathon is in the books!

No worries! I am not the crazy one! On Saturday, hubby and I both competed in our own races. He finished his very first half marathon in less than 2 1/2 hours! I finished my third 5k and managed to shave 6 minutes off of my PR. Let me just say that I am no where near a decent time but that was huge for me and it is something I can build on. We started the year setting a New Year’s resolution that my husband would complete a half marathon and that I would complete a 5k. For the first time in the six years we have been together we actually kept a resolution! I am so proud of us but even more proud of him for reaching his goal! Watching his transformation has really inspired me. I have decided that I will complete a half marathon at the end of February. I know I’m not ready just yet but I have a little less than 8 months to train and with him being at bootcamp for a good portion of that time I know it will help push me to get ready. I really enjoy seeing the fitness transformations that we have made. It is such a wonderful journey that we are on and I am hoping that we can be good role models to our daughter as she grows up. I am looking forward to continue with our fitness transformations and I can’t wait to share them with all of you!