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.