Random Thought

Sometimes I feel like having Aggie as a child is like living out my childhood dream to have a fairy in my pocket. I don't know exactly why? Maybe because thinking about her gives me a secret delight and makes me smirk, and no one else knows why.

coupons

So after owning a binder for 2 years, and many pep talks later I tried my hand at couponing for the 1st time today. I got the binder organized over the weekend. Bought my 2 papers, the kids helped me clip, (good practice) and away we went to the stores today.

I didn't take pictures, but here's my stats.

CVS

Spent $37.53 Saved $44.22

Walgreens

Spent $59.63 Saved $41.64

Wal-Mart

Saved $8.30

Not bad for a newbie. I bought all stuff we would use and normally would buy, with the exception of trying a couple new brands on random items, like mayo and rice. Doesn't hurt to try, especially when you are paying significantly less for the item.

Lessons learned were:

1. Go to Walgreens on Thursday not Monday it's Military Appreciation Day and I would have got an additional 15% off. Oops.

2. Wal-Mart will not except coupons that they can not scan. Good to know, only lost $.90 though.

I have a lot more to learn I'm sure, like how to trim down my planning time, but I hope that this serves our family's budget well.

Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps."

This week has been eventful in the "future plans" department. Mike spoke with a Marine Corp career counselor on Tuesday. This person was also surprised Mike was passed over for promotion, and did not know for certain why, telling him that "his fit rep looks good". We learned if he wanted to try and stay in the Marine Corp he should volunteer for a deployment of some sort aka "IA", and write a letter to the promotion board stating his plan in hopes to be reconsidered for promotion. However only 3% of people being looked at for the second time do in fact get promoted. This news pretty much ruled out the "staying in" option for us. We've always held to a principal that if Mike deployed it would be b/c he needed to go with his unit or if he was selected to do so by his superiors. We are not of the mind set that volunteering for a deployment in hopes that it will gain some sort of credibility is a good idea, though many people do it.

Up until last Friday the 20th, our plan was to stay in Florida. Mike was going to get into the Marine Reserves, apply for a simulator job, and then transition to the Navy reserves. And I would work part time for supplemental income as needed. Mike has spoke with many people on how to make this happen and had a plan to execute it. This is still a viable option. But friday Mike found out some interesting news.

Prior to our decision to stay here we were looking into the the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve squadrons. We were considering ones closer to family, close to a good church we knew of, and ones with an aircraft Mike was interested in. We never really found the perfect one. We were considering C17 squadrons b/c Mike thought he would enjoy their missions. We weren't crazy about the locations. We looked into an Ohio squadron, close to family, but he wasn't crazy about the aircraft. Another turn off for us was to get into these squadron's you have to "rush" them much like a fraternity and we will readily admit that we aren't, especially on first acquaintance, known for our social graces or being especially cool, or making others think we are cool. So we weren't really sure how to handle that.

Well anyway Mike found out last Friday that the Dayton, OH squadron that we checked out has decided to stand up a C17 unit. How amazing it that. A location and aircraft we were looking into. To put the icing on the cake this squadron had decided to come to VT-3 at NAS Whiting field (mikes squadron) to do some recruiting. What....???? recruiting????? This is unheard of...... We couldn't believe it! At first we were a little annoyed almost that this was messing up our newly decided plan to stay here. Then we moved to..... well God must be telling us to move to OH.... Then we said "ok, this is a great opportunity to learn more about all this Airforce Reserve stuff with minimal effort on our part. Lets get some good questions together and take full advantage of this opportunity". So we did, kind of. Well.... actually Mike ended up missing the guys b/c he got stuck in KS on the day they were here b/c of some bad weather. Thankfully he was stuck with his XO who told the guys that "his top recommendation for them was currently stuck in KS with him". It turned out to be a real blessing b/c Mike had some one on one time with them the morning before they left. It went well and they said they would be glad to have him as part of their squadron.

Mike plans to go up to OH the first weekend of March to check it out and check out a church there to see if we would be a good fit. If all goes well we will start the mound of paper work that is required, that can take 1.5 - 2 years to complete. Thankfully we have a year and a half before Mike's Marine Corp commitment is up. We see God's kind provision in this and are thankful to Him for guiding our steps.

Visitors from the East

We were so happy that some dear friends from North Carolina were able to come see us for a short visit, which was out of their way, but on the way to see some family. God has been so kind to bless us with sweet relationships as we have moved around.

We had such fun with them. We did some relaxing, some playing and some chatting. I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked, but at least a couple came out. It was so nice to see them! Thank you Team Steel for making the trek down and over!

Mike and Jesse playing with a coin; a game they invented.

We had a nice fire one evening complete with hotdogs and s'mores.

The children enjoyed lots of playtime together and got along very nicely.

7 years and counting

Aunt Martha's Bed and Breakfast

(I stole the picture from their website, as we did not take the camera)

On January 15th Mike and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary. I was so thankful for the efforts he took to surprise me with a night away at Aunt Martha's bed and breakfast at Fort Walton Beach! It was my first night away from the children with my man since I was pregnant with Hosea. And I suppose in that case we could say Hosea came with us. :) But that was a trip to Germany, pretty extravagant. Also my first time ever in a bed and breakfast. Anyway, all that to say it was a huge blessing to me! I was a little nervous leaving Aggie, and giving instructions about her over-night tube feeding and such. Mike told me in the morning, so I had the whole day to prepare for the sitter coming that evening. There were many typed out detailed instructions. A good friend from church volunteered to say with the children, on her birthday no less. It was so kind of her, as I especially feel comfortable leaving the children in her care. She has a gift for enjoying them.

So we left Friday night, the 13th for Fort Walton, just over an hour away. Found our room situated cozy on the water front. Then walked to dinner at a nice restaurant, where I had some delicious salmon, rice pilaf, and roasted veggies, and Mike had steak, fancy mashed potatoes along with the veggies. It was tasty. Mike got me a pretty ring as a gift and presented it at dinner, very thoughtful. I think my favorite part of the whole time was in the morning. We tried our best to sleep in..... started stirring at 6, and gave up at 7. We're officially adults. We got around and went down stairs to read before breakfast. Breakfast was elaborate. We were the only house guests that night, so we had the place to ourselves. After breakfast we sat comfortably on a sofa over looking the water out many large windows with the intention of reading, but had the pleasure of conversation uninterrupted until check out time. It was perfect! Thanks babe for all your efforts to bless me, it did!

Amusement

We've been amusing ourselves lately......

I got my sewing machine out and tried my luck with the "pillowcase dresses" I've been hearing so much about. I found a cute pattern on pinterest that was very simple. I made Shiloh 2 dresses, and had enough extra fabric to make 2 for her dolls, and one for my little doll. She really likes it. :) This would be a perfect project for a beginning seamstress, or someone learning. It is quick, easy and fruitful.

On to other exciting things.......

This may not appear to be much to the random on looker, but my boy, until recently has refused to try and write his name. Since he is not yet kindergarten age I didn't push him. I want learning to be fun for him, not a fight between us. Though that may come someday. Any who....... he's been sitting in on "school" more lately, ( i give him the choice) I usually copy him a page to color or something if he's interested. A new skill is emerging, he's been trying to write his name on the top of his page just like his big sister does. The first occurrence was super cute, he was so proud of himself. He showed me as if it were a big surprise gift for me "look mommy I wrote my name". With a gleaming grin! I loved it. A perfect present.

Last but not least......

This has become a regular morning activity for the children. Thrilling....... Who needs a Jack-N-the-Box when we have a toaster. They crack me up.

Staying in Vs. Getting out........ Take 2

I don't know if your remember this post back in April. But I shared Mike and I's struggles of whether or not to stay in the Military. We've leaned heavily both ways on more than one occasion not certain what would most please the Lord, which is our chief concern. In April we settled on trying to stay in, and prayed the if that was not the will of the Lord that He would make that clear to us. I can say with certainty that our exact prayer has been answered. It is not looking probable that the Marine Corp is going to be an option for us anymore. We learned the week prior to Christmas that Mike was "passed over" for promotion. This came as a huge shock to us as Mike has had outstanding "fit reps"(military grade cards), his last 3 were 100, which is as high as he can get, his lowest was in the mid 80's about 5 years ago, but still not the lowest score out there. We honestly thought he was a shoe in for promotion. But as the Lord has sovereignly seen fit, we were "passed over". If one is passed over twice they are essentially kicked out of the Marine Corp. Once one is passed over it is less likely for them to be promoted the second time around. All this to say, we aren't anticipating much forward progress in this area. We fully believe God to be sovereign over all things and are trusting in His goodness. Mike is looking into possible post Marine Corp jobs. Many of them will involve a transition period of no employment or part-time employment for one reason or another. In preparation for this time we will be saving money and I will be working on getting all my nursing credentials in order. I am excited at the opportunity to serve my family in this way, and grateful to the Lord for equipping us for such an option. As of right now we are planning on laying roots here in Milton/Pensacola area, unless the Lord should guide us elsewhere. We are excited at what the future might hold for us. It will have it's joys and struggles no doubt, but we have the promise of "a hope and future" and we eagerly anticipate what that might be.