I said today would get better.... :)

July 27, 2011

Denise C.
address deleted
for security reasons :)


Dear Ms.Denise C.,

Congratulations! On behalf of Walden University , I am pleased to offer you conditional acceptance to the Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Trauma and Crisis program. This email will serve as your official letter for classes beginning September 6, 2011.

Please work with your Enrollment Advisor to complete the next steps to accept your offer of admission. This offer is valid for one year from the date of admission. If you do not begin classes during this time, you will be required to reapply to the University. You are bound by the program requirements of the most recently published Walden catalog at the time you begin your Walden program.

Your admission is conditional on receiving official transcripts from your prior college or university. The following official transcript has not been received at the time of this letter:

University of Maryland University College

Please contact your school and have them mail all official transcripts to the address below (Attn: Office of Admissions) before November 30, 2011. If you have applied for federal financial aid, Walden cannot process your loan and you will not receive a disbursement until Walden is in receipt of all your official transcripts. If we do not receive your official transcript by November 30, 2011 you will be dropped from your courses and administratively withdrawn from Walden University .

Please note, as we informed you in the application process, the M.S. in Mental Health Counseling is designed to prepare graduates to qualify to sit for licensing exams, and this program is designed to meet the academic licensure requirements of many state counseling boards. Walden University's M.S. in Mental Health Counseling is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP), which is a requirement for licensure in many states. It is your responsibility to evaluate and understand the licensure requirements for the state in which you intend to seek licensure.

Please note your admission status is conditional. This status is permanent and will not change at the time your condition is cleared. Walden University cannot provide updated or amended letters of admission. You will be notified via email when any conditional holds have been cleared.

At this time, we have reviewed all applicable materials provided to us for transfer of credit opportunities. Attached you will find your preliminary program of study including any approved courses. Once you accept your offer of admission, you will gain access to myWalden university portal, which is your official source for tracking academic progress. The degree audit, available through myWalden, will reflect all transfer of credit awarded once official documents are received.

Once again, congratulations on your conditional acceptance. In joining Walden University , you join a global learning community that is dedicated to professional excellence and positive social change. When you complete your degree, 38,000 distinguished alumni are waiting to welcome you to their ranks. I look forward to receiving your confirmation and to welcoming you to the Walden community.

Sincerely,
Reena Lichtenfeld





Director of Admissions
650 South Exeter Street
9th Floor
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

Opinions please

This isn't necessarily the platform I wanted to use but the only one that I could easily manipulate to get my fonts out there.
I am putting together my home office and wanted to get this Charles Dickens quote for my wall. I know the color I want (boring ol'black) but am not sure on the font yet. Of the eight below, which do you like best?
You can comment on my facebook post (preferably) or you can add your comment after this blog.
Thanks for your feedback!

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.
-Charles Dickens

A new old blog.

After updating my status on facebook I started looking through old blogs I had written. I was looking for a specific one but found this one and thought, 'since our anniversary is one week away, what the heck.' This is what I was thinking three years ago:

5.3.97 (Monday, April 28, 2008)


As this weekend draws near so does my anniversary. Eleven years married to the man of my dreams as well as surviving 11 years of him being married to the Corps too. It's definitely not been roses and perfect all the time and we've made our share of mistakes along the way but that doesn't change the fact that everyday our love becomes more defined and perfect and yet simple and amazing.

We started off young and impatient, getting married at least 7 months before we planned, or should I say talked about. There was no planning when it came to us getting married. Working on borrowed time we squeezed some time from nowhere we made it to Lake Tahoe just days before his rescheduled flight to deployment number 1.

How simple that first one was, the days before e mail and before I even really knew what a Marine was. Those six months dragged like nothing I'd known before, the phone bills consumed us and the letters couldn't come soon enough. I knew when he was on ship and when he was in the field by how many letters came in or how many days or weeks passed between them. That deployment was tough, I had my share of tears and unanswered questions, especially since I was nowhere near his base or anyone who could help me but it wasn't more than I couldn't handle. The tough times were definitely ahead of us, our road had just begun.

Shortly after Brandon was born and our second anniversary he was gone again, deployment number 2 and again, a UDP with the "Dirty-worst." This time I had an idea of what to expect and the mail system was a little friendlier. They kept him longer this time, to protect the world from the hell of "Y2K". I missed the turn of the millennium with my husband for something that seems would have only affected computer systems. Something we'd yet to have in our home.

Somehow we dodged the deployment bullet for a few years after that and we enjoyed the amazing weather and everything else that sunny Southern California had to offer. Things were amazing and we had our perfect family, the five of us. September 11th changed that for us. September 11th changed that for most everyone we knew, it's still changing people and sadly I see those changes continuing to occur in Derrick.

Orders came down, with next to no notice for some random base in North Carolina. Who's ever heard of Cherry Point? Nobody we'd known. Derrick was a comm guy with the grunts, what could the wing need with him? We'd soon find out. Another two deployments, this time in different sand boxes, and many bumps in the road gave us the character and drive to fight for what we had and what we wanted to keep. As much as I hated the idea and the actual move from coast to coast I can now look back and say that I found home there and so much more. I found my best friend all over again, the man I have loved all along and was reminded how amazing life is. Our time ended there with the decision to manipulate fate and jump for the opportunity that is Okinawa, Japan.

Almost 2 years ago we arrived here and jumped right into everything that Okinawa has to offer, that was until deployment number 5 snuck up on us. I've always been a pretty independent person so, though deployments are hard on everyone, I tend to shut down my emotions and truck through with tending to everyone else. This time it wasn't as easy as the four before. I can analyze all aspects of the situation to explain that, but bottom line is, this one- the shortest of them all was the hardest for me.

It's been great since he's been home. In looking back it was even great while he was deployed. I mean, we didn't not explore the island. We made the best of every moment and when he returned we had so much to share with him. He's been home about a year now and it seems that we're back on track in every aspect of life. We have the stresses that go with three children in school and our love hate relationship with the Marine Corps and even little struggles in our relationship with each other but we've gained a new perspective over the years.

I don't know if it's that our anniversary is less than week away, simple raging hormones or the idea of this next deployment that has me emotional and my nerves frayed, in any case I am and they are. I hate the idea that my best friend is leaving again and going to another new place with a whole new avenue of approach and for the longest time yet. I'm proud of him for everything he is, everything he does and everything he stands for, but I worry for him and know that I'll miss him more this time around- as everything that was said in our vows almost 11 years ago is so much more intense and amazing then I could have ever dreamed or imagined.

I am truly blessed to have married my high school sweetheart, my best friend and the most incredible man alive.

(& if you actually read this Derrick, You are my mowwat and I love you more every day we're together. You are my best friend and my soul mate. You complete me- in every cheesy Jerry McGuire way)

Taking it back.

Today marks the third day, or the 65.5th hour of my 72 hour juice fast and I feel incredible! It wasn't always a wonderful feeling, at times it was down right hell but I made it through the tough moments and feel better for it.

A few years ago Derrick and I attempted a week long juice fast, definitely not for the faint of heart. We lasted 4 and 5 days respectively and the results were fascinating. It had been a while and recently I have just let life take hold of my body. I realized I needed to take it back, I needed to regain control.

As I sit here sipping my cucumber juice (very refreshing btw) on this beautiful Friday morning I can tell you that Tuesday evening was the last meal I ate. A very yummy home grilled cheeseburger and mixed steamed veggies. I wasn't 100% that I was going to start my fast after that meal but looking back I'm so glad I did.

Wednesday morning I juiced a pineapple (huge mistake for me) and drank it all over the course of the morning and early afternoon. I LOVE pineapple but have a tendency to eat too much which causes my mouth to get numb and tingly. Magnify that times 10 and that was me by Wednesday afternoon. Aside from that I was really motivated, Mind you though, this was when Derrick was still at work and the kids were at school. I knew that after school snacks and dinner were soon to come and I was doing this fast solo. I made a trip to the commissary to get the fixins for Derrick's special spaghetti, which is not a favorite dish of mine. I thought it would ease my cravings for food.

No such luck! I took my tomato, celery, carrot, pear juice upstairs and sulked in my room with the beginnings of a killer headache. By the end of day one and through much of day two that's just something that's going to happen. Endurance though reaps the reward. The headache was caused by all of the toxins leaving my body.

Yesterday was even harder than Wednesday evening. I had a doctor appointment on one end of town and knew I was leaving there with at least one script, had to make a stop at a jeweler on the other side of town then had to run back to my pharmacy (inside Walmart) back across town before going home. Of course, the bulk of my running took place right around lunch time and I swear I passed EVERY stinking fast food restaurant in this town. Places that would never catch my attention did and oh how it sucked!

As we reviewed my lab results and vitals at the docs office I realized my fast was not going to be in vein. I thought I was doing well when I told my doc my blood pressure was down and I hadn't been taking my prescribed medication (because I didn't like the side effects). He then very tough lovingly told me that my 130/88 was still too high and that I was at a 2x greater risk of a heart attack or stroke than someone with a BP of 115/75. This being day two of my fast I can only imagine how high my blood pressure was on day one or even earlier.

The pharmacy was just around the corner so I wasn't bombarded with food distractions. I was in and out and just had to pop back in 45 minutes later to pick 'em up. Now off to the Jewelers to get Derrick's ring repaired. I had just finished a glass of mixed berry/orange juice I had made for the road and I was feeling good. Then I passed Taco Bell, Mc Donalds, Subway, Duncan Donuts, BK, Dairy Queen, Wendy's, quite possibly a Hardy's and maybe even a KFC in addition to all the Mexican restaurants that line just Hwy 17. On any other day I can tell you which places I would actually stop at: Subway and once in a while Taco Bell but yesterday EVERYTHING looked, and worse, smelled uh-may-zing! I made it down 17 without hitting a drive thru, though mind you I was fighting reason the whole time and now I am traveling down Western. I've past all the fast food and now I'm in land of the sit down joints. Ahh look it's Ruby Tues, Chili's Olive Garden, Cracker Barrel, O'Charlie's and then some. Will power where are you now?

In and out of the Jewelers quicker than expected so now I have time to kill as I make my way back to the pharmacy, back past each and every one of the torturous restaurants. I can't tell you where my will power came from because honestly I could probably list all the excuses I had in my head for why I just had to stop in at Wendy's to try their new Asiago Chicken Club- but I didn't. I kept on driving, hungry and now very grumpy. I made my way to the pharmacy with about 15 minutes to kill. I needed a few things for the house, one being butter so I have to walk past the amazing deli that I had never paid any attention to before and continue through the whole store just to grab some butter. Hunger pangs were killing me. I grabbed the other household stuff and made my way to the pharmacy. I watched as 4 techs walked around in what appeared to be circles all the while ignoring the fact that I was in line. What seems like an eternity passes and I'm hungry and now very grumpy too when a tech acknowledged my presence only long enough to tell me that it'll be another 15-20 minutes. I wonder if they saw the smoke coming out of my ears and the whole head spinning deal. I just left.

It was time for me to be home. I was in no mood to be out in public. One more mishap and I might have hurt a person. The feeling of hunger sucks. It makes me a very mean person and it took all I could to control myself. I came home and quickly learned the facebook has no room for me either. I had never noticed how much people talk about food on that darn site.

The rest of the day was full of struggles, the worst was dinner. Melanie has been my biggest cheerleader through this fast and to help out she cooked dinner last night. She threw together a great meal too: teriyaki chicken, steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes. My favorite- mashed potatoes :( This Irish girl loves her potatoes, not eating them, that was a huge test, and I passed. :)

I survived the first two days and woke up this morning feeling fantastic and ready to face day 3. The headache is long gone, I feel a sense of clarity and love the medical benefits of no sodium, processed foods or additional hormones/toxins from food have been washed from my body. I took a look at my blood pressure this morning and it looks even better today: 122/88. I still have a few more points to drop but it sure beats the 140s/90s it used to be. Another added bonus to my 3 day juice fast is the 7 pound weight loss. A few more hours and this fast will be a success!

*A side note for anyone thinking about doing a fast. Do your research. Know why you want to do it and make sure you have moral support. It is TOUGH but if you're doing it for the right reasons, have the dedication and support the reward is so worth the efforts.

When doing the right thing turns out to be the wrong, and oh how hit bites ya...

This blog is just a huge vent. Ignore, skip past or endure because you're just plain bored.

So, most or many of you know or have heard my backwards story about Derrick and I. It wasn't until The Real Housewives of DC that I heard something that summarized us in a nutshell. One of the cast members said she and her husband "met, fell in love, got married and had a baby... just not it that order." Well that's us perfectly.

In our backwardness I decided what I thought was right all things considered. I was in CA, he was in TX and we were far from the happily married couple we are today. Not in a million years did I expect that three and a half years later we'd be on speakng terms let alone getting married. Honestly, I didn't think I would ever speak to him again (on both our accords). 

September 22, 1993 Melanie was born and I decided, to be fair to her and Derrick, that I would give her my last name. Fair to her because I didn't want her growing up wondering why she was different than the rest of the family that surrounded her, and fair to Derrick because I felt like he should have a say in giving his name to someone else.

Wow has this decision bit me in the ass time and time again.

(Now mom, if you're reading this I blame you for some of the run around I've gotten and don't you worry, I'll get to why in just a second.)

In 1997 we have our whirlwind craziness (I may have a blog about it, but you'll have to scroll a good long ways to find it) which included a wedding. Shortly after that I updated my drivers license with my new last name but I probably waited 2 years before legally changing my name through social security and for whatever reason, I didn't think to switch Melanie's at the time.  It wasn't until we enrolled her in school that I realized my mistake.

I attempted to do what my mother had done when she married her second husband, she changed her last name and ours to her married name. I applied for a name change using the documents she had used. An original birth certificate and my marriage license. I assumed because Derrick is her biological father AND on the birth certificate that these documents would be enough. Apparently 10 years makes tons of difference. I was told that Derrick would need to adopt her, his own daughter, in order for her to take his name. We moved from CA to NC, deployments happened and happened again then we were in Okinawa (where more deployments ensued). Family legal issues like this are hard to do from there so we choose to wait until coming back. Now we're back.

I decided since it had been another almost ten years I'd give Social Security a call and see if anything had changed. Thirty plus minutes of being transferred put on hold and finally... SCORE! All is a go. Fill out an application and bring in previously mentioned documents and presto chango, we have a Cordova!

But we don't. We made the trek- an hour each way. Waited almost an hour and hit the same roadblock we'd hit before. Apparently the gentleman we spoke to was a little confused. So with a very emotional Melanie in tow we left the SSA building. It was devastating for her (and I). We were told it was a go, even in the office they told her she would be leaving a Cordova then in the last minute the woman changed her story. Melanie was so excited and for them to tell her it isn't going to happen, it broke my heart. Is it bad that that I got a little pleasure in the fact that her emotional breakdown made the woman at the SSA office teary too?

On the drive home we started making phone calls. The courthouse was a bit rude and base legal was ... well, base legal (you military folks know what I mean).

Another week and a half and we're finally starting to make some headway. Derrick does not need to adopt his own child but we do have to go through the courts to change her name. I had to laugh this morning when our lawyer explained the barbaric process we have to go through to do it but I guess in some wierd twisted North Carolina way it makes sense. So through the hurdles we will go and hopefully by the middle of March (if not sooner) we will have our newest Cordova. :)

It's got to happen, and soon! Melanie said in no way, no how is she going to boot camp as a...

Private Johnson

(they already teased her this past weekend about that while she was at MEPS.
*& as a side note, this is clearly not the only reason for the name change)


A cautionary note to all unwed pregnant women, save the hassle- give the baby his/her daddy's last name from the get go. The Lord only know's what your future may hold.

Isn't it crazy how time just flies?

I was looking through old photos today and had to pause for a minute when I came across this picture. This is Melanie at just a few days old with my grandfather, her great grandpa Tom.

I sat and thought about how quickly our children grow. This seems like it was just yesterday but really this is her, just yesterday.

Melanie, Sgt Rowan and a small glimpse of dad back in the corner.

This was her second meeting with him and in the few hours with him, that black book, an additional big ole binder and some plastic cards she started to make up her mind.

Sgt Rowan gave her ten goal cards. All you Marines out there, you know the cards. Each card has a goal that one might wish to attain while in the Marine Corps. The game is for the potential recruit to prioritize them, then see if mom and dad can replicate their childs goals. In the few months since our last meeting Melanie has grown and matured so much it was a little easier to pick her top goals this go round.

This is what Melanie wants to get out of her service in the Marine Corps:

 Something tells me she'll get it all.

By the end of the night Melanie was dubbed an 'honorary poolee" in the United States Marine Corps. To Derrick and I that's just a title to give her a little more motivation. What ever it is 'honorary' will be short lived. Next week she'll sign the paperwork that will allow her to head up to MEPS in Raliegh and soon after that she'll be an official  no longer honorary "poolee". One step closer to Recruit!

I know so many of you have questions about why she's chosen to enlist and how we feel about her decision but I've decided to leave the meat and potatoes of that conversation out of this blog (there will be another coming). Just know that she's thought long and hard about this and we fully support her decision. She's a smart young lady and we're very proud.



Trading Recipes

We all love to share our favorite recipes for that amazingly yummy dish. Here's a recipe that is totally low cal, high stress but the prize more than makes up for it. Many of us already know the dish but I think at times we forget how great it is/we are.

Some of the following ingredients might need a little tweaking as duty and locations change.

Recipe for a Military Spouse

1 1/2 cup Patience
1 cup Courage
3/4 cup Tolerance
Dash of Adventure
1 lb of Ability

To the above ingredients: Add 2 tablespoons elbow grease, Let stand alone for one year, Marinante frequently with salty tears, Pour off excess fat, Sprinkle ever so lightly with money, Knead dough until payday, Season with international spices. Bake 20 years or until done. Makes unlimited servings.

SERVE WITH PRIDE
~Author unknown

PS. Thanks Gretchen for sharing. :)

Life is about compromise

So is love. Compromise, compassion and communication. That's what I've learned through the years. And the one constant certainty as we are preparing for our first retirement. What we'll do and where we end up...


More on this at a later date.

MD in May or stay?

That is the question.
Looking back to my high school graduation I remember there being all this hype, but for what? A bunch of home schooled kids to walk the stage of the high school none of us attended among our "peers" though strangers to one and other. Then to top it, the cassette (really, I am not that old) that was supposed to play the graduation march was never rewound from the previous year so when they hit play it was at end which left us without music for any part of the ceremony. Aside from knowing that busting my butt working as my teacher and the student, pushing to graduate almost a year and a half early was over and physically receiving my diploma the ceremony was a bust.
So now,16 years later (wow,I just realized how long it's been) I am at nearly the same place. With my university based in Maryland, my professors scattered across the world and me for 90% of my schooling it was online in Japan. I don't know the campus, have never physically met an instructor, administrator or a huge majority of my fellow classmates for that matter, so do I make the 6-7 hour trek to a place I've never been to be among people I do not know for one little ceremony?
I would have to pull the kids out of school early on Friday so we could be there for the morning ceremony. We'd be lucky to have the rest of the afternoon and some of Sunday morning before hitting the road for our trek back home. Not to mention having to take time off work for this weekend (oh yeah, I got a job-start on Thursday).
So the question is, is it worth the craziness of a whirlwind, barely two day trip to MD just to throw on a cap and gown and pick up my degree? Thoughts and opinions please.