Great thing are happening!

In the past week or so, we have gotten a dog, a church to get married in, ordered invitations, picked up my dress, picked out tuxes, and taken engagement pictures.

Yep, that's right. We got a dog. His name is Baron.
He is a black "retrievador" from the Atlanta Humane Society. He is 6 months old and is such a good puppy! He is such a great ball player! He loves to play all the time, too. We are so glad to have him.

We finally have a church. For some unknowable circumstances we couldn't get the Cathedral at St. Phillip's. But we do have Church of the Atonement in Sandy Springs. The wedding will go at 1:30 pm on the 4th of December 2010.

I can't tell you much about my dress because Evan reads this too. And he doesn't want to know anything about it until 1:30 pm on Saturday, Dec 4, 2010. So, you all will just have to wait with him unless you visit me and see it hanging in my closet.

We went with a nice black and white, monogrammed invitation. Be expecting it in the mail soon.

Tuxes. We went with Savvi formal wear. The groomsmen will be in black tuxes with gold vests and ties. Evan will have a red vest and tie. And Joey and Cameron will be wearing black vests with a striped black and white tie which I think will go great with the newly finished ring bearer pillows, thanks to Kim.

And to finish the day off, Evan and I had our engagement photo session with Jason Travis. We had a blast! We started out at Tanyard Creek Park off of Collier Rd. We spent about an hour and a half there. Then we changed outfits and moved to a location in Midtown between Ponce de Leon and North Ave. It is part of The Beltline, an former train track that is being restored to bring back attention to it. We had so much fun! I know I said that already, but Jason made the photo shoot very enjoyable. We should be getting the pictures back soon and I don't think I can wait that long! You'll see some when we get them.

Baron

After much begging, pleading, and debating, Evan and I finally got a dog yesterday.

His name is Baron. He is a 6 month old labriever (black labrador/ retriever). We think he has something else in him. Looking closely at his face and legs, you can see specs of gold. He is partially trained. He can sit, fetch, and he comes to you when you call him. The funny thing about Baron is that he's scared of dogs.

I went walking with him last night. We were in sight of a smaller puppy (maybe a foot tall). When Baron spotted this puppy, he stopped and if it weren't for the leash he was attached to, he would have been around the corner of the building. But he loves people!

As we were leaving the Atlanta Humane Society yesterday, the adoption-mobile drivers were returning. Once they saw our new dog leaving the shelter, they were so happy for him. One of the ladies commented that we had made her day because our wonderful dog whom she adored was being adopted finally. The other lady said that he was a wonderful dog and fabulous to play ball with. It almost made me cry because they were reinforcing the decision we made to get Baron. We literally spent hours at the shelter trying to find a dog to take home. We don't regret our decision one bit.

WHARRGARBL

Don't you just feel like that is life sometimes. Just Wharrgarbl.
Yeah so a whole lot to do and so little time

This weekend I am going to be hashing out the whole church thing. That needs to be done pronto.
And then we met a photographer today and need to nail that down. Then catering needs to be finished. And Jennifer needs a dress. WHARRGARBL!!!! See what I mean. So much stuff.

All this on top of school, navy, and apartment life (bills, supplies, etc.). WHARRGARBL!!!!

Being a grown up stinks...

At least I have Jennifer here to help me

OCS: Overall Completely Satisfied

The past week, I heard people putting OCS down saying that they would rather have been doing their paid vacation than running through the mud[dy water] and getting yelled at. But I am fully prepared to tell them that OCS is not about suffering for six weeks straight...well, it is, but there is more to it than that.

Of course there is suffering involved at OCS. They want you to suffer so that Candidates and future Marines can look into themselves and find that through the suffering, through the pain, and through the thoughts running amok that it can't be done, the Marines find a way. Through all of the adversity, the Marines use their will and strength to overcome and succeed. That is what makes us great. That is why we are sadistic and put ourselves through hardship.

We gladly run distances no one else will, do the dirty jobs, and get messy for someone else all because that is part of being a Marine. Self-sacrifice just because it needs to be done. And if you cannot see that in those who proudly wear the uniform, then you are missing something within and will never be able to see it until you have worked hard for anything.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. It is what we work hardest for that we hold dearest to our hearts." Thomas Paine

OMG, we're back again

Yeah, just like that song everybody used to all sing in elementary school. Evan and I are back at sweet Georgia Tech. While Evan is not so happy to be at school again and for his final semester, I am more than willing to go to school as long as it's not Officer Candidate School.

My sleep schedule is about the same as it was while I was in Quantico. I still get tired around 2100 and wake up before my alarm clack and I'm still tired throughout the whole day but can't quite seem to let my body fall asleep. I'm very much eager to start Marine and Battalion PT. I am so much faster now than I have ever been. I made a 300 on my final PFT with an above maximum run time of 20:16 (max is 21:00 min). My goal is to continue that same time plus get faster.

I did have some trouble getting through OCS, but I graduated. And as long as I graduate, people will still call me "ma'am" just like every other female in my platoon, to include the number one candidate. We started out the first day with 64 female candidates in my platoon and we graduated 41. We lost ten the first week due to medical and physical fitness disqualifications. The others that we lost were due to medical reasons, their desire to no longer be a Marine Officer, or various other reasons (such as eating an MRE in the middle of the night). Luckily, I was not one of those who got sent home earlier than when she should have been. I successfully completed the required 44 days stated on my orders.

It was tough--there is no doubt about that. But I did have an experience unlike anyone else I've known. The first reason is that I am female. The second reason is that my staff was female. That had a lot to do with my experience. And for the sake of professionalism, I'm going to leave it at that.

I'm back. I graduated. And I never have to go through that again.