Worst Timing ever..

Its been a busy couple days...

Got rear-ended, spent 7 hours in the ER then got to wake up and do 2 presentations worth a huge chunk of my grade...

But, my presentations went well and I can officially say that I am done with COLLEGE!!!!!

Im hurting, Im tired because I cant sleep well, but I am trying to enjoy the fact that I am done with school...

just a quick update on me!

I'm...DONE?

I finished...I finished the 3 projects that needed to be finished to graduate...

--START FREAK OUT NOW!---

I thought I would be more relieved to have them all finished but now, literally, nothing is standing in my way of graduation....I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!! WHERE DID TIME GO? IT FEELS LIKE I JUST GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!!

One project I turn in tomorrow, 2 other projects I present on Tuesday then come 2pm on Tuesday, I am done with school...D-O-N-E! I cant describe the feeling...im excited because class is killer but terified because now I have to enter "the real world".

I know I am ahead of most people my age in the "entering the real world" phase since I am married, am a home owner, have an established savings account, etc. but when I was in school at least I was able to relate to my peers that way...now there is no denying I am a full blown adult!

I also feel major pressure to find a job...which I would love a job, but there just are not any right now! With all the budget cuts to schools, the least on their mind is hiring PE teachers...the closest PE opening is about 4 hours away! Now, I say I feel a lot of pressure but its all from myself. My parents, who have paid for not only college but for my living expenses so that I didnt have to work while going to school have said NOTHING about me not having anything locked down, Kale who is the only one who brings in the income into our family hasnt said anything about making all the money...but I still feel like I need to find something, and quick! I know that I realistically wont be teaching next year...so now I am working on my back up plans...I want to do something in the physical realm but deciding what is so difficult.

Personal Trainer- Im too out of shape to become one, I would have to get into shape, which takes time in order to get into the shape that I need to become...so although this is doable, it isnt the immediate fix I desire.

Substitute- LOVE this option, but unless you have an "in" at a school, its hard to get called to sub. Now, if the county I did my student teaching in wasnt under a HIRING FREEZE, then I would be GOLDEN! But it is frozen and they arent hiring subs so I first need to take a 30 hour class to get my "subbing certification" and find some schools that would be willing to give me a shot...I hope this summer to get the class complete so I can network in time for the 2010-2011 school year to start!

YMCA, County Recreation, etc.- This is also a pretty desirable option but again, finding the openings will be tricky! So much of finding jobs is about knowing people and since I wasnt raised here, Im at a great disadvantage...

Its so frustrating, I am going to make an effort to go to schools and organizations with my resume next week and hope that there is an "un-announced" opening somewhere...

After graduation my life is so "up in the air". Im used to relying on class and all that comes with class to keep my busy while Kale is gone and although I have lots that I want to accomplish while he is away, I would feel so much better if I had a stable schedule...

My goals...

As a general fact about me- if I write something down, I will be a lot more likely to do it...

That being said, I figure I might as well write my starting list of things that I want to achieve in the next year during work-ups and the deployment itself.

Physically:
-Tone my body...I know how to do this, heck I am a physical education graduate, but I lack the motivation at the moment...Im great at procrastinating to the point where I run out of time during the day so I dont do it!
-I want to get certified in some sort of group exercise, such as becoming a Zumba or Step Aerobic instructor

Spiritually:
-I used to go to Church all the time, now I rarely go. I want to change that, I really miss going but I am always coming up with reasons not to go lately...

Financially:
-I used to be really into couponing and upon the stress of moving and school starting up last year, I didnt have time to keep up with it. I want to get into "super couponing" again!!
-Along with couponing, I want to continue to cut down my groccery bill without having to sacrifice serving well-rounded meals.
-I want to become a certified CPR instructor, although this could go under "professional goals" because it will make my resume a little nicer, it would also bring in some extra income!
Others:
-I want to learn to sew, and sew well! I have a sewing machine now I just need to learn to use it correctly!
-I want to actually decorate my house! It doesnt have any actual personal touches except for a handful of pictures...when Kale comes home, I want him to go "wow, you were busy!"
-I want to become a better cook, I already am a pretty good one (not to toot my own horn or anything) but there is always room for improvement!

Those are some of the things that I hope to accomplish in the next year...so, FORCE ME TO DO THEM!!!

Dear USMC...make up your mind...

So, for the 4th day in a row, Kale was under the impression that he would get on ship that day, and for the 4th day in a row, he was wrong! Today though, he actually made it onto the little boat thing that takes them to the big ship, but the little boat had to many humvees and trucks on it so they kicked off the last one that was loaded which happened to be Kale's truck. So, no ship for him!! Im glad he is home, its so much better when he is, but man...what a waste of 4 days!!

Here's hoping that they just keep him here (that is the current plan) until he has to go to the field next week! But, since they couldnt make up their mind on when he was getting on ship all week, Im sure they will keep trying...they rarely give up!

Today was my last day of my internship...my expectations were that the kids would give lots of hugs and a few teachers would say good luck...what happened completely threw me off! I come into the gym and there is a big bag of yumminess from my teacher I worked with! Then throughout the day I got TONS of hugs, actually got knocked over by about 85 first graders giving me a group hug! Then the staff was so awesome and stopping me in the hall to give me little bits of encouragement for my future then I got a card from all the staff with a gift card to my favorite restaurant...its so sweet!!

Tonight is the elementary school's talent show and it should be fun, long but fun...I am hoping that Kale gets off work in time to come with me! Now I just have to finish my tri-fold presentation, my portfolio, and my exit presentation...then hello graduation!!

How much McDonald's can Marines eat?

As I stood in McDonalds waiting for my 80 dollar order, I asked myself this question OVER and OVER! Kale was waiting to board ship and of course, they delayed it another day but instead of sending them home they made them sleep on the beach so I told him I would bring him dinner...and then I get a text message with 12 orders with the text following saying "people heard me say dinner and they requested an order"...so I go to McDonald's and the poor guy taking my order kept asking "anything else?" and finally, the grand total came to $80 bucks!!! 30 minutes later, my food was ready and I headed to drop it off...

The smell in my car was DISGUSTING!!! Having that much McD's in such a small area overwhelmed the senses!! So I get to where they are waiting and a bunch of Marines come to get their order and I hear "Thank you Mrs. Fisher for the food"....Mrs. Fisher? No one over the age of 11 has ever called me Mrs. Fisher...I told Kale that if one of his Marines ever calls me Mrs. again and not my first name, they are going to be in trouble!! It was just so funny to me!!!


Today:

I volunteered, well technically "volunetold" because it was part of our internship, at Special Olympics...it was so fun!! I loved it and really hope that I can volunteer with them some more!


Im currently waiting on the Schwan's man to deliver my order so I can leave and go meet my friend's baby- ABBY! She was born yesterday and looks sooo cute in the pictures, I cant wait to meet her in person...hurry up Schwan's man!

Hurry Up and Wait...

So like I said on Sunday, Kale was packing to go in the field/ship for 2 weeks...so he leaves at 4:30 am and I get a text at 4:30 pm saying that he is coming home...so he comes home and tells me how the people in charge couldn't figure out the plan so they are gonna try to work something out tomorrow...so then he goes in Tuesday morning and the same thing happens!!! So he left this morning, and I really think that this time is going to stick!! So all that running around to pack was a waste seeing he got 2 extra days!!

It was awesome having those extra two nights with him...i just sleep so much better when he is around!! I had a plan to get all these projects for school done but I would much rather watch TV with Kale!! The pups really enjoyed the extra time too...we took them on a walk yesterday and they LOVED it.

Pack...Say Bye...Say Hi...Laundry...REPEAT

That feels like my life right now...it felt like just 2 weeks ago that Kale came home from training, oh wait...it was 2 weeks ago! He was at Ft. Pickett and now he is getting ready to go on ship then out to the field! He, of course is going to be missing my birthday for the 4th year in a row because of it...normally, I am okay and don't mind that he misses it, I know it isn't his fault but this year, I am bummed about it...I guess it doesn't help that he gets home the day after my birthday!

He has also been cleaning like a fool in "his" areas of the house...he picked up the garage and man cave all yesterday! Normally its like pulling teeth but he was so motivated yesterday! Then I realized, the day after he gets home, my parents arrive!! Obviously the last thing that he is going to want to do the day he gets back from 2 weeks of training is clean, good planning on his part to get it done with now!

I'm trying to convince him to go to the movies, I really want to see bounty hunter...but more importantly, i really want movie theater popcorn! haha!! I also want to take the pups on a walk...for being 7 and 10 pounds, you think it would be a breeze to walk them...but no! They pee on EVERY mailbox, bark at everything, and love tangling up the leashes, I think Kale and I spend more time getting them to actually walk then doing the actual walking!

Basically, I am coming up with any and every activity to avoid the inevitable...packing!! I hate packing days, even if he is only gone for a couple days...just the idea of having to pack up his things sucks because I know that it'll be just me for however long he is gone...I get way to bored when it is just me!

And this time, I actually am going to fully alone...normally, Jesse (our roommate) is here because he is broken and cant train with the rest of the guys but he is going home for a week so I wont have anyone that I can force to hang out with me!! Normally I break out the board games and make him play them with me, he hates it! I have already made my gym schedule though, and I have a ton of final projects I need to work on...I cant believe that I only have 2 more days of teaching left!!

An Intro to why....

I have always wanted to start a blog, it was just coming up with what to say! As a spouse of a Marine, we are given our fair share of obstacles and challenges. I have learned that it isn't the challenge or the obstacle that is important but how you deal with that given situation. During my husband's second deployment, he was in Afghanistan, his Commanding Officer told us that he did not want us to just survive this deployment, but to thrive during it. It was that simple statement that made my attitude completely change.

During our first deployment together, I was miserable. I was solely to blame for my misery too...I lived for 6 months with the mentality that "my life is so awful" and did not realize that I was the one making it miserable. I knew that for our 2nd deployment, that I could not live that same way for 7 months. I vowed to better myself, and made a set of "rules" that I enforced to make sure I did not slip back into my old ways! I'm sure I will share my rules once I kick back into "deployment mode"! During Kale's 2nd deployment, the time ended up flying by! I became actively involved with the Family Readiness Team and volunteered to work for many events, I made a lot of new friends, and I got closer to the friends that I already had. I truly had a family away from my true family. We all became inseparable, if I went more then 3 days during deployment without seeing one of my friends, it was a RARE occasion.

Now that training for the 3rd deployment has started, I want to continue growing and learning new things while expanding my "family away from family". In the next few weeks some of the ladies who I have gotten to know over the past 3 years will be moving away, the thought of not having them around me is surreal. These ladies were my rock, and now we are all going to be living all over the country. Some are staying at Lejeune, which I am so thankful for, and can not wait for the adventures we will have when they are deployed.

I hope to use this blog to show the struggles, surprises, ups and downs that come with a deployment and the lead up training which proves to be just as stressful as them actually leaving sometimes. I want to focus on bettering myself both professionally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, and socially all while strengthing my relationship with my husband from hundreds to thousands miles away. With graduation just around the corner, and no Physical Education jobs avaliable in the area, I hope to better my resume with various certifications that I will begin my adventure on recieving in the next few weeks.