Autumn Dreaming...

Hello all! I hope everyone has had a good and eventful July. Only one more month of Summer! I'm so thankful. Even though this summer has been incredibly mild, I'm definitely ready for fall. I know July isn't even over yet, but I've started to look at fall tags on Pintrest and Tumblr. I even went crazy and ordered two cute pairs of boots online today. I'm going to look so cute this fall.
I don't know why but I have good feelings about the upcoming season. Work is finally settling into some normalcy now that I finally found a replacement for my old position, we'll be going home in a little over a month, plus fall is just beautiful. I get as eager as a little kid on Christmas this time of year. It doesn't seem to last very long here though. It seems like one minute it's summer, the next the leaves have changed, a week later it's snowing. Which is depressing because I have always been so in love with East coast autumns. I think I may need to go to Connecticut or something to get a more substantial fall season. Sigh...
It hasn't been too eventful around here lately. We work, we come home, we go to work again... We still haven't been kayaking. It just never seems to pan out. We have made it to the pool at least. We spent the fourth at our friend's apartment, poolside with drinks in hand. It was nice and relaxing. I still can't believe I haven't been to the beach this summer though. It is a drive, but I mean, we're on the East Coast... Aren't you sort of required to go to the beach??
In other news.... I think I may actually be going back to school this fall. I applied and signed up for classes, but I was hesitating on the tuition. I knew we wouldn't get any aid and I was worried once I saw the total I'd freak out and bail. Luckily, it seems that it is going to cost half of what I thought and student loans should cover it! I was really concerned about having to take out a whole bunch of private loans that would just eat away at us. But student loans I can live with. I figure everyone has student loan debt they have to deal with and mine really won't be too bad once I'm finished. I could always save a little from each paycheck and have the amount basically ready to go when I finish. I'm excited and nervous about starting school up again. I've been out for awhile and I'm worried I'll be a little rusty or won't remember how certain things are supposed to go. I mean, I haven't written a research paper in over 4 years... I think I have to go in knowing I may not do as well initially as I'm  used to doing in school. Straight A's my first semester may not be realistic. I'm also a little apprehensive about the tole it will take scheduling wise. Working 40 hours plus school plus being married... it's going to be a lot to handle. I'm going to have to stop any and all time wasters and schedule out my days and follow accordingly.
I hope it works out though. It's well past time that I did it. Tyler will be out of the military sooner than we want and I want to be prepared for anything.
That's all for now! Have a good night!!
Chrissy

Fourth of July... Poolside.

Dinner??

Car selfies for life.

I am my own best date ever.

I may have went a little crazy at the used bookstore...

Enjoying cool weather...

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New Year, New Problems...

Hey look! The first post of 2014! Only 25 days after it began... Oh well.
How has everyone's year been so far?? Have we kept our resolutions or already thrown them out the window? I made a few, but have really only stuck to one which was to read more. I finished Anna Karenina and started and completed The Road already. All of the others I don't think I even began to fulfill...
This year has been quite stressful so far, I'm sad to say. We received some pretty depressing news a few weeks ago. I won't go into all of it, but basically, there's a chance that Ty could be involuntarily removed from his contract which means that by next January we could be out of the military. When we first found this out, I couldn't believe it. My mind went racing with thoughts on how we were going to be able to afford rent or anything really. We can't exactly live on my salary. He doesn't have a degree and really doesn't want to do anything with what he has been trained for in the military. He wants to be a paramedic which will require at least a two year degree. I started to worry that we may have to go back home and live with our parents for awhile. That is not something I want to do.
But after a few days to let it all sink in, we began to be a little more proactive about what we were going to do if he was let go. With the GI bill, if he's in school full time, we'll still get a housing allowance. That instantly relieved me since rent is the biggest bill of course. However, when he would be let go would be just a few days after the start of spring semester at pretty much any school. Of course. So we thought maybe he could do online the first semester. But we found out that if you are full time online, you don't get housing. Well crap. So we're trying to see if perhaps they would release him a few days early or if he could do half online half in school or something. We're optimistic that it'll work out.
Unfortunately this means that a lot of things are going to change. If he's in school and only working maybe part time, our funds will be incredibly limited. And who can say if he'll be able to get a job right away when he finishes. Things could be tight for quite awhile. This is fine with just the two of us and we'll get by. But it definitely  means that a baby is not in our immediate future. There's just no way. It really breaks my heart to have to admit that, but it's reality.
Sigh...
So that's been our year so far. Besides that, we're currently on the hunt for a new place. Somewhere smaller and cheaper. Unfortunately, Ty is THE pickiest person ever. He doesn't want to live in a townhome and wants a little bit of land for chickens. Considering we live on the East coast and near major cities, that's hard to come by. He's given in on the land for chickens but is still being difficult about a townhome. I've been scouring homes.com but haven't found too many prospects.
I'm hoping that this year turns around. And soon. We could use some good news.
Sorry to be so depressing. I hope that the new year is being kinder to all of you!
Until later.
Chrissy

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Summertime and the Living is Easy...

So summer has officially arrived. And I'm ready for it to leave. I hate the heat. HATE. I hate being sweaty and uncomfortable and feeling like you can't breathe.. Add to the fact that I haven't had a real summer in almost 3 years. Monterey rarely saw 80 let alone 93. Sigh... Is it fall yet???
In other news...
I got a promotion! After 4 years I'm finally moving up. Thank God. This means more money and more responsibilities but also more time away from the love and less freedom with my schedule. I'm excited to finally be in a leadership position and to finally be making a step forward. Plus the extra money is nice. But I'm reluctant to leave my current store where I already feel like family. I'm also not excited about working nights away from my husband and starting out at a new store (yet again). Luckily, I don't NEED the extra money so if it ends up making me miserable or compromises my relationship in any way, I'm not afraid to step away.
It's exciting for something to finally be changing and progressing for me. I've been stagnant for a long time. I've also been looking more and more into getting certified as a personal trainer and nutritionist. There's a grant I'm looking into for military spouses that may cover it and as soon as I find out whether it will or not, I'm signing up! I figure it could turn into something and even if it doesn't, I didn't waste my money. I've also been contemplating career choices. I was thinking about possibly becoming a nutritionist or dietitian, but I really don't enjoy chemistry or science and I don't necessarily want to use it in a hospital. I more am interested in nutrition as related to health and fitness. I have, however, been looking more into getting my bachelor's in psychology and  going on to either be a marriage and family counselor or a guidance counselor. I've been reluctant to major in Psych because I know you can't really do anything with it without a higher degree. I'm definitely not interested in a doctorate but to become a marriage and family counselor or guidance counselor you only need a masters and observed training. I'm still thinking about it because it will take a while to accomplish, but I'm definitely leaning that way. It's nice to finally be at least semi sure about a field. :)
I had my first physical in five years today. I suck at being an adult so I haven't done anything medical related in at least 3 years... After my eye exam trauma, I was a little nervous about the physical. It'd be my luck that something would come up. But it went really well. I didn't even freak out too much about getting my blood drawn. lol. On deck next is finally getting to the ophthalmologist, getting to the dentist, and getting to the gyno, which I've never been too (I know, horrible). I'm getting better at this stuff at least.
My husband ran his first sprint triathlon last weekend. He decided to do it about a month ago and barely trained (didn't have access to a pool) but he did amazing. Under 2 hours! I was really proud of him to do something like that completely on his own.
The park where the place was held had the most beautiful lake which made me finally break down and agree to buy kayaks for us. He's been wanting to for awhile but I didn't think it was practical and figured we'd never actually use them. But after his race I figured why not? It's something to do on the weekends and could be a great hobby. I was surprised by how excited I actually was when we got them. I'm so excited to try them out and spend hours on the water. I told him that I could see us becoming one of those "granola" couples who camp and hike and kayak every weekend. Doesn't sound so bad...
July is going to be a crazy month for me. I start my new job, our anniversary is the week after next, and my mother is coming to visit with her boyfriend. Is it bad to say that I'm not too excited for her visit? It's just that the week she's coming is the week I'm supposed to be starting the job, but I got it worked out to where I'm doing a training week so I'll have some actual time with her. Also it's going to be so awkward having her and her boyfriend that I've never met here. I guess I'm still getting used to the whole "my parents aren't together anymore and have other people" thing. I don't know what we're going to do while they're here considering Ty will be working all day and I haven't actually been anywhere. I hope they like to drink at home because that's all I have planned...
I hope you all are enjoying your summer so far. Less than 3 months until Autumn! :)

5 am is kind of pretty I guess...

Stud.

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Life is Too Short to do the Same Thing Twice...

This post is going to be sort of all over the place. I don't really have a specific topic in mind...not like I ever really do.
Anyways... Let me just start off by saying how horrible I am with keeping in touch with my family back home. You'd think after three years of being the long-distance family member I would have become a pro at keeping up with people, but sadly I just get worse. I rarely talk to my parents unless they contact me first and I talk even less with my in-laws. I'm such a bad daughter. I just get caught up in our little world and forget everything outside of it. I feel bad about it, but I am grateful that they seem to understand. Besides, they have lives of their own. Which seem to be a lot more exciting at the moment. Lots of changes it seems. First off, my mother is getting pretty serious with a guy. I'm happy for her, but I don't think it will ever not be weird that my parents are divorced. Or that she's in the "dating scene" and I've officially become the old married woman of the family. I'm hoping things work out for her. She seems really happy with him and that's all anyone can ask for. My younger sister graduates college (with an associates) at the end of May. It's crazy to think she's where I was right before I got married. It's even more strange since she's in her first real adult relationship and moving in with the guy! And they've already begun the marriage discussion. It's actually quite surreal to think about my baby sister living with a guy let alone getting married. But she's the age I was. Actually older. Crazy. My father and his new (as in recently married) wife are moving about an hour away. That's going to make holidays interesting... all of my families are going to be an hour away from each other. But I can't think about that stress right now. And my older sister is...well, how she always is. And that's all there is about that.
With all of this exciting and life changing news going on back home, I can't help but feel a little jealous. I'm ready for something new and exciting (I guess a cross country move didn't do it for me). I suppose I mean something new and exciting for me personally. Like a new job opportunity, finally going back to school, or what I'd really like....a baby. :) lol I guess I just feel like I'm falling back into the routine I was in in California. I don't want to stay in the same "place" I've been in for the last three years. Not really doing anything with my life. I know I just need to get back to school that way I can at least say I did something. While the decision of what to go back for has been an unimaginably difficult one, I feel like I'm getting closer to deciding. I actually even have a tentative online university that offers degrees in both of the fields I'm considering and it's relatively inexpensive. I am just at the point where I need to make a decision and not be afraid if it's the wrong one. At least it will be a step forward. A degree in something, even if I don't end up in that field, is more recognizable than no degree.
I always thought that college and career were going to be the "easy" decisions for me and finding someone to spend my life with was going to be the impossible task. Funny how life works out, isn't it?

Forever posing with a coffee mug...

Oh spring...

I'll take a little sunlight with my vodka please.

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