USMC

The USMC is how John and I met. It is also taken us on many adventures before and after we met. John spent a year in Okinawa after bootcamp, then Camp Lejeune- where he deployed to Iraq. Once home from Iraq is when we ended up meeting. Our wedding was incorporated with the Marine Corps, and it then sent us on an adventure of our own to Okinawa, Japan. Living in Japan for 2.5 years was such an awesome experience that most take for granted, even us. Now that we are back stateside, oh what I would give to be back in Japan. I miss that place like something crazy. So here we are ending this journey in the MC and it is stressful, exciting, scary, and bittersweet. We have met some awesome people in our journeys through the MC, especially my BEST friend, Whitney. It is March 31st and to date we have 19 weeks ( 4.5 months roughly) left in the Marine Corps. John has applied for several jobs, and put out a ton of resumes to companies all over. We know it has only been about 2.5 weeks, but you have to understand the fear of the UNKNOWN. No idea where we will be going, no idea about a for sure job- it's a scary thought at the moment. We have decided on a back up plan and that is for John to go to the Colorado State Patrol and we will move there. I have a better chance at getting a job there with better pay, so that's where the decision came from and obviously we talked about it! This is a whirlwind and I'm hoping we have some FOR SURE answers soon. There is a difference in the unknown within the military and the unknown AFTER the military. Let's just cross our fingers for a job offer. This week the stress level is running high, and patience is running low. Being military family we are OBVIOUSLY use to the hurry up and wait game, but this time it is totally different. I can't believe that our journey in the Marine Corps is SO close to ending. I remember when we first got married and John re-enlisted, and here we are 4.5 months away from his EAS date. Man, does time fly by! The military has it's pros and cons, but I know that we will miss some aspects of the military life once we are no longer a part of it. It is totally bittersweet because there are so many times when I get fed up with the military and how it operates, but we are taking away some great friendships and memories! That I am grateful for, and always having a roof over our head, always having a for sure paycheck. My thoughts are all over the place, but this is going by oh so fast. I will keep updating as we find out information and our plans.

Just a few pictures!
                                            
                                              The BEAUTIFUL water and beaches there!

                                                                   Shuri Castle

                                                        
                                                  Early 2008 outside our base housing

                                                   Our last and final Marine Corps Ball 2008

                                 Going to Denver on Emergency leave- we flew through Taiwan

Coupons!!!!

I've never really paid close attention to coupons unless they crossed my path. I always hear about people getting things for free and stuff for really cheap but could never get my hands on these deals. In Jacksonville we don't get the big newspaper so we don't get a lot of inserts to find coupons but a lot of girls have family and friends send them coupons. One of the girls here has started getting really into it and she let me go through her HUGE stack of coupons that she had! It seems like it took me forever to go through them, but I picked out quite a few that we would definitely use! I made my list and went off to the commissary. I got some really good deals and even lower prices since I went to the commissary. I ended up saving a total of $34.09 !!! I was pretty proud of myself for it being my first time reallyyy getting into the coupon thing!!

Here are a few of the GREAT deals I got!

I got 2 deodorants and 2 body washes for a total of about $5

The deodorants were $3.12 a piece and the body washes were $3.12 a piece as well. But I had TWO BOGO free, and then a $1/off 2 items. 

The other deal I got was power bars. John eats them all the time so it was PERFECT! 

I got 6 power bars for 30 cents a PIECE. They were on sale for 80 cents and I had 3 coupons that were buy 2 save $1. Can't beat that! 

Just thought I would share my excitement!! I got a bunch of other great deals but these two were the best ones I got that day! 

I will definitely continue to find coupons to save us some money!! 

Pacifier

The story behind the pacifier.. When Kayleigh was a baby she would NOTTTT take the pacifier(binky as we call it). We tried and tried but it didn't work. So we gave up for a while. One night it was about 2am and she would not stay asleep for some reason and she couldn't get comfortable. She was about 4 months old at the time and so we both laid on the living room floor, she took the binky, as I held it in her mouth and we finally got some sleep. John got up for work the next morning and was confused as to why we were both on the floor! haha! You do what works sometimes! 

So fast forward. She was doing well with only getting it at nap and bed time, and then we reverted back to ALL THE TIME with it.  A friend of mine told me a 3 week process to get rid of it and I figured hey why not. It's about that time. Otherwise she is going to love this thing WAY too much. We've been going strong for TWO days with no binky, unless it is nap or bed time. I'm hoping this process keeps going smoothly. I can't lie- today there have been a few times when I wish I had it with me, but we stuck it out! So here's some good luck to us in this process. I KNOW the hard part is going to be bed time. I'm saving that week for when school is out for 1 week in case I get NO SLEEP. 

Day at the Park

So today was an amazing day!! It was about 80 degrees outside! John came home early from work(luckily) and so we decided to pack some food and go eat lunch at the park and then let Kayleigh play! We got out there and it was SOOOO NICE outside! It was really nice to be able to have the family time!! Here are a few pics to recap!!


                                                  Her stink face before we left for the park!!

                                   Pointing at the helicopter as it flew by! She LOVES them!

                                                      Eating her yummy mini cupcake!

                                                   Being a big girl on the monkey bars!!

                                                
                                                             Being goofy at the park!

                                                                    

                                                        Eating her yummy picnic lunch!

Being silly in the car! Gosh I love her!!!

Just a few pictures to share our great day out of the house!! :)

School

Most of you know that I am going to Kaplan University Online since last June.. Some days are better than others to say the least! I love the college and the way the classrooms are set up, but I have found 2 professors that I am not very fond of! Of course the professor is what makes the experience better or worse and for this current term my english professor is making it worst. We just started week 7 out of 10 and I don't think week 10 can come fast enough for me. Since I started at Kaplan I have been holding a GPA of higher than 3.5 the whole time and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. I have strived to do well in school and to keep my grades up & so far so well. I get so excited ( like a little kid who got honor roll in school) when the certificates come in the mail. I run STRAIGHT to the fridge to hang them up!! Well here I am in week 7 and not wanting to do my work, I am burnout at the moment and all of a sudden I get an email from Kaplan. It was letting me know that Congratulations you made the PRESIDENT'S List last term for my hard work. HOLY COW! :) It couldn't have come at a better time because it reminds me that I am doing well and that I CAN DO THIS! The ONLY downfall with Kaplan is that we really don't get breaks like most colleges do. We got a two week break over Christmas and New Year's, but as most of you know, Kayleigh and I were both so sick we could barely move. She had infants RSV and I'm sure I had the adult version of it. We were literally sick for almost 3 weeks straight, so yup you can guess that we were the at the worst part of the sickness over my school break.
Anyways! Just wanted to share the great news!

You have earned a place on the President's List for your extraordinary work last term. An accomplishment such as this one is something to be proud of. I applaud your efforts and your ability to maximize your talent.

Sincerely, Wade Dyke President

Plus! today is suppose to be 80 degrees outside! We are going on a picnic at the park with Kayleigh to enjoy this weather!! Hope its here to stay!

A day at the park!

John's older sister came to town and I just had to share! She is a professional photographer and she took some amazing pictures of our little Kayleigh! It was a little windy while we were out there and we weren't dressed for that so we didn't stay very long!!


                                                    We were being bad influences on her!!

                                                                Loves from her daddy!

                                                            Going to slide next to daddy

                                                                       Swing time!

              

                                               This is my favorite picture of the day!!!

That's all for now! I will post more later!

Welcome to the blogger world!

Hello everyone! This is my first time in the blogging world!!

Hopefully this will keep family and friends updated on what is going on in ours lives!