Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving! I look forward to turkey and gravy all year. Haha

This year felt a little weird. It was actually my first Thanksgiving without any family at all. Our first year of marriage I was stuck in Florida, handling the move of all our stuff to Washington, so I spent it with my family and without Andrew. The second year my brother David came to visit us for Thanksgiving. Last year, Andrew was in Iraq, but my 4 oldest siblings came to visit and keep me from being alone. So this year it was just us. I am so thankful to have my husband home though that nothing else mattered.

One of the best things about military life is learning to find "family" when your blood family is far away. I've been so blessed to meet so many people here who are truly family to me. They have been here for me in the good times, the bad times, and the random in-between times. We have shared tears and much, much laughter, and formed the kind of bonds that can only occur between people sharing the same experiences, trials, and joys. I love my military friends so much. Even when we all go our separate ways (which happens far too often in our world), I'm going to treasure all the memories I've made the past few years and the fantastic people I've made them with. Anyway, I think that sums up what I'm most thankful for this year: spending holidays with family, even if they aren't my blood family!

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Dinner at Gabe and Tasneem's

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The girls: Aimee, me, Kristi, Gina, Jennifer, and Tasneem

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I was tasked with baking the turkey, since I'm the only one who knew how, haha.

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No family holiday get-together is complete without games. Yay Rock Band!

Snow!

We had our first snowfall of the season this week! "They" are calling for a very cold winter this year, the coldest in decades. If this storm was any sort of sign, I'll believe it!

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Snow-covered trees are so beautiful.

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We took the kitties outside in it, and they were Less Than Impressed. Normally the kitties will do anything to go outdoors and frolic in the grass, and getting them back inside again requires a vast amount of speed, wits, and grabbing-of-tails. But in the snow? They cannot get back inside fast enough. Reilly was actually jumping up and clawing at the window in his agony to get out of the cold, wet, fluffy stuff. Here he is waiting longingly for us to open the door for him:

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I love snow. But it's not very fun in a state that doesn't know how to handle it. So it's rather a relief that it should be all melted by the end of tomorrow!

New Adventure

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Guess where I'm going in January?

Pierce College, Ft. Steilacoom campus. =) I have been accepted, taken my placement test, attended orientation, and decided what classes I need to take first semester. Next step is registering for said classes and getting the military financial aid to pay for it.

I'm very excited and very nervous! I haven't been in school in 8 years, and never been in a typical school environment. It's intimidating, but I'm going to do my best. Pierce College seems like a great school and it's only 7 miles away. I'm going for an Associate of Arts in Health Education/Wellness, with a future goal of a degree in Nutrition. We'll see how it goes!

Washington, D.C.!

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One of the highlights of this year is definitely going to by my trip to Washington, D.C. for the annual FRG and AUSA conference!

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Six days of amazing classes and sessions with some of the members of the Army's top command team, getting our heads pumped full of information, and sharing ideas. I went home with so much enthusiasm for making our FRG better and with a fresh view of what my goals are.

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We heard from such inspiring people such as....

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Mrs. Shenseki, wife of retired 4-star general and Secretary of Veteran's Affairs

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General Thurman, commander of FORSCOM

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Secretary of the Army, John McHune

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and General and Mrs. Casey

I also made some new friends, Trina, Jenn, and Julie:

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And got in some good sightseeing!

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Someday I'm going back to D.C. so I can spend a whole week just sightseeing!

Playing Catch-Up

Have you ever noticed that the farther you fall behind in something, the harder it is to catch up? Well, that's how I feel with my blog. I have so much to update on that the thought is daunting. But today the goal is, "catch up or bust!"

The biggest news is that I am no longer a full-time office employee.

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It was hard saying goodbye to a job and coworkers who have been very good to me for the past two+ years, but it was the right decision. I was completely burnt out on office work--it was time to leave and focus on other things.

My last day was October 15th. I spent the next three days packing for my trip (more about that in my next post), tackling a huge to-do list, and doing such housewifely things as roasting my own pumpkin:

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and making pizza:

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I have a new part-time job, working at the commissary for Nestle. I stock things like canned pumpkin, Purina dog/cat food, holiday candy, and chocolate chips for an hour at night and 10 hours every other weekend. It's not a bad gig and pays at least one of our biggest bills. I'm also planning to start school at Pierce College in January. I am taking the placement test and going in for an advisory session next week, and class registration is at the end of the month. I'm going for an Associates in health/wellness, with a degree in Nutrition eventually.

Anyway, I'm loving life! One last picture, the hubby and me at Halloween. This was the first time we've ever dressed up together, haha.

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