Job Corps

After working for a month or so in a min wage job, I realize that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life. Seeing my pitiful pay check just gave me a big wake up call. I don't even make enough to pay our rent, if I had to. If all the responsibilities of our bills were on my shoulders, I would not be financially able to do it, and I want the lifestyle where I can pay my bills and have money left over and have those nice things like a nice car and not having to scrounge at the end of the month. I needed a plan and I was pretty desperate since I had just dropped out of college.
  I decided to enroll in the Wilmington Job Corps. I am not new to Job Corps. I attended the Wolf Creek JC when I was 17. I had to move to Oregon and live on a dorm with 10 other girls. I got really homesick and begged my Dad to let me come home. It was the first time being away from home and I was scared.
  I am older now and we just happened to have moved right next to Wilmington JC who does not have on-campus dorms so I can live off campus with my husband and Tubbles. Thank goodness, because if I had to move or not be able to come home to them every night, I probably would not do it and this is a big opportunity for me to get a good paying career where I am not on my feet all day like I am with my current job at the mall.
  I start on Monday. I am going to be a business student. I did the same thing when I went to JC in Oregon. I will be working at the mall on weekends. It can take up to two years to complete. It is pretty strict there and you have to dress in suite-like clothes... you pretty much dress as if you already have a career in business.  Oh and I have lost 10 pounds since I started my diet, Clothes are looking a lot better on me but I am not stopping there. Hope everyone is having a great week. Monday I start a big milestone in my life. I have always had a passion for business. I feel kinda sad that I will not be pursuing a career in animals any longer but I feel I am still helping them by volunteering at the SPCA.
  If anyone is interested in learning more about Job Corps, visit www.jobcorps.gov

Working and Volunteering

Yep, I am a working girl now slash homemaker. I have been so busy. Steve has been even busier. I can't imagine going to school full time and working full time. He is getting things done and I am very proud of him. I am happy to be the one that takes care of the home and make a little extra cash. I tried to get a full time job since I dropped out of school (weird to think of myself as a drop out) but my new employers were only hiring for part time. I work in customer service.
  We also have became volunteers at the local Delaware SPCA. The SPCA is the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Its a no-kill shelter. Its a beautifully wonderful cause for those animals that lost their way in this world. We walk, feed, bath, cuddle and love these animals until we can find homes for them. So before going to buy a dog or cat, go rescue one from your SPCA.

  I started back up with my fitness and eating healthy. Glad to be back in that mindset. My Fitness Pal (Iphone app) is amazing and so glad to have that on my side.
  Not much as changed. We are saving up to move back to IDAHO!!! Yep, we are moving back as soon as Steve graduates college in 2014. We are going to be driving a Uhaul across country. Sounds like a fun adventure. Can't wait to be back in my home state buying a home and settling down. No more moving. I am very excited. Its a ways off but I just wanted to tell you our plans for those of you wondering when we will be moving back over to that side of the country. Hope you all had a good Independence Day. I spent mine working a 10 hour shift. Fun!

Long overdue update

So much has happened and I feel silly for cramming it all into one blog post. I feel like if I wait and wait and let all these events happen without blogging about them, I lose some of the excitement of everything and I am pretty much just listing off things that have happened instead of telling a story. So I will do my best to record what I can. Also, my Iphone's camera is so not as good as my Fujifilm so the photos can be better. I need to start taking my camera with me more but its just so much more easier to grab my phone and go.

We made it up to Maryland to pick up the Honda. We took a Greyhound bus there and it was exciting to see what other places out here on the East coast look like besides this part of Delaware. While waiting for the Greyhound to take us, we sort of explored downtown Wilmington a bit and walked along the River Front park. It looks so much like the River Front park in Spokane Washington. That is where we are from, the Washington-Idaho area. But it really felt like we were back in Spokane. I felt at home for the first time in a long time. Here are a few photos of our day-

Downtown Wilmington

Riverfront Park in Wilmington

Pretty view of the river from the dock

Bird houses lining the river. They are so cute and creative.

Wilmington from Riverfront

A little friend we made

Dreaming of New York

The first toll we have ever been through. Pretty exciting and a little expensive.

Steve putting on our new plate.

Once we got back to Delaware, we went and got our Delaware licenses so we could become residents. The DMV here is pretty big. Steve and I both has a funny story from there. Since we are.. well, were Washington residents, we had to renew our drivers licenses through the mail so our photos were not on the license. Since Steve had no photo ID except his Military ID, they accused him of identity theft. Then the lady who was doing mine straight out told me I was too young to be married. Wow. I know marrying young is not a new concept to people because my own mother was married at 16. As for Steve, it was all worked out and they finally gave him his license.

So we decided to get a Costco membership and it actually has some good savings. Since we got the membership, we have not yet ran out of toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies.. nothing. But maybe I did go a little over board. I had never really shopped at a Costco before and I was expecting to get everything on my list there. I spent a total of $400.00 and didn't get half of what I needed. I realize now that is only good to buy stuff you use the most of. I guess I had to learn the hard way. But the endless samples is a huge plus. We went to Walmart after that and got the rest. Oh and another thing we got at Costco a few weeks ago is a Vitamix. Has anyone ever heard of one of those. It is a really neat blender. Sure, it was $500.00.. yes, we spent that much on a blender and Steve had to beg me and I had to have lots of samples of everything it could do but we did get it and it was such a great investment. Its seriously so much more then a blender. I helps me eat so much more healthier which I have been slacking on. My dieting it on a total halt right now but that has been helping a lot. I am a horrible yo-yo dieter and I get completely burnt out really easily. I feel like I will never get results.

Steve started school a few weeks ago and he is going full time. He leaves in the morning and doesn't return until 4 or so and then he is home just long enough to change into his work clothes and then is at work for 8 hours, yes he works full time as well, and does not come home until I am long gone asleep. It has put a real strain on us and I feel just horrible that he is having to go through all this so the bills can get paid. I have been searching and searching for a position in a clinic and even had an interview but nothing is working out for me. I am just about to give up and start applying to restaurants and things like that. I also have dropped out of my Veterinary Technology program at Penn Foster College. I didn't like the program at all and the school just wasn't for me. Medical math is just too much and knowing I will have to be doing that everyday is just not for me. I am horrible at it and I realize now that I am not a good fit. As much as I love animals and the medical field, I decided to go on another path. I was in my first semester so it wasn't a huge blow. I feel really stuck right now. Not in school and don't have a job. I need to get my own life started and I just don't know how. I have thought about maybe talking with a life coach but I really have no idea how to do that nor have the money.

My sweet girl having a cat nap on me

Steve got his new security uniform.

A sign by Steve's school. I just love visiting the Geese.

Walk it off

The Christiana Mall had a Walk It Off event where you get a gift card for the mall if you walk 3,000 steps in a certain amount of time. My husband and I both decided to do it so we got to the mall before it even opened and walked around, did some window shopping, tried some yummy food at the stands the event had up and got some info on healthy eating and avoiding disease. Very informative stuff.

The Event.

Empty mall.

Our little gift bag we got.

Pedometers with our steps on them when we were done.

Some other fun news is we finally got our licenses and we will be taking a trip up to Baltimore MD next week to pick up the Honda! YAY!  Also, Stephen has found a job with theft prevention with a department store while he goes to college. So proud of him.

How cute is he in his new uniform?

Blog Hop

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day 2012!

For this special day, ridingtherollercoaster and household6diva is hosting a blog hop where all of us Military Spouse bloggers can share each others blogs. So for all of you Mil Spouses here checking out my blog, here is a quick review of what my life, and this blog is all about-

My name is Crystal. I married at the age of 19 to a young Airborne Infantryman who is my Highschool sweetheart. He was fresh out of basic training when we eloped. I then sent him off to his first Duty station which was in Germany. He deployed soon after he got there and we never were able to have me command sponsored in time. The Deployment was tough and I lost my father to lung cancer. I had to make such hard decisions on my own at such a young age while wondering if my new husband was coming home to me alive. I really didn't have a support system at all.

   I was finally command sponsored and got to Germany just in time to be there for my Husbands Deployment Homecoming. That is where I started this beautiful record keeper. 

   I blogged about our "honeymoon phase" after Deployment, starting our newlywed life, experiencing Germany, traveling, all the cute things our feline does, life as a homemaker with no kids, FRG meetings, field trainings ect. I tried to record all aspects of Military life in Germany so I wouldn't forget a thing.

   We have recently decided to leave the Active duty lifestyle and now we are currently living on the East Coast for the first time in our lives, experiencing a new place once again. We are both going to college full time and being fun young kids again. I also record us transitioning out of the Military lifestyle. I blog about both the good and the bad.

My husband and I at the landing zone after I got to watch him jump out of a perfectly good plane in Germany.

I love reading other blogs so place comment below with a link to your blog as well.

Never thought I would miss it

I really didn't think I would ever miss Germany, and to be honest, its not the country itself that I miss. I miss the Army wife lifestyle. I miss having some sort of routine in my life. I can't seem to get back on track in school or in my housewife duties. In Germany, I would always wake up in the mornings and clean the house while Steve was at PT (Physical Training). Now he sleeps in until 11:00 and I never really have the will power to get the housework done. Maybe because the house is still full of boxes and it all seems hopeless. I am one of those people that needs structure in their life. Everything has changed and is still changing.. and I think I am a little panicked and confused what we are supposed to do now. Is this our lives now?

   Its the little things I miss as well. Like the two sinks I had in Germany. Here I keep forgetting to make sure all the dishes are emptied before starting to fill the sink. Then if I find some liquid in a glass, I have nowhere to dump it out at. It may seem silly, but there is a few things I still need to get used to.
  I also really miss my friends and the support system I had with the FRG. I have not made any friends here, but how could I when I am cooped up in the house all day with no real opportunities to meet people. I still talk with them on Facebook and what not but its not the same.
  I guess its all part of moving to a new place.

A new lifestyle

It has been really hard to of been thrown in to American civilian life from the Military lifestyle in Germany. We really are experiencing America for the first time as Adults. We entered our adult years while in Germany. This is our first apartment that we have had in America, ever. We are still navigating these things called "bills" and "finances". As a wife, I am having a hard time trying to keep track of what bill needs to be paid when and how I pay it, and in what form it needs to be paid in and so on. Any of you other women have tips on how to keep track of everything? I then got the idea of making a "family binder" where I keep the bills, grocery lists, passwords, reminders, ect. So far, the binder has been working out great. Since we are just moving in to a new place and signing up for everything at once, of course we have all these "first bills" with "start up" fees coming our way as well. Cell phones, Electricity, Internet, deposit for our apartment, ect .. the list goes on. Its a bit over whelming especially since we have our other bills as well. But once those first bills are paid, they all will be down to a reasonable price.
  I have made a calendar for the next months so we can put our appointments and things we need to remember on it so we are kept updated with each other. Why spend money on a calendar when you can make your own, right?
  Our apartment here is much smaller then the one on post in Germany. We had a two bedroom there and here we only have a one bedroom because its all so expensive. Our apartment complex has the largest floor plan in the New Castle DE area and its still much smaller. I have no idea where we are going to put everything. I know we are going to sell a lot of it at the farmers market here.
  The unpacking process has really been a drag. I have not had the energy to do anything after my workouts in the morning. If I am going to start working soon, I really need to figure out what my body needs to have energy during the day while still losing weight. I think I might need to up my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500 a day. I even took a nap today from being so exhausted and I never take naps. What is going on with me?!
   We still haven't got the car back from Germany. Actually, it is here in country but now we are just waiting to get our drivers licenses back. Both of our licenses expired when we were in Germany and we could not renew it over seas. So we send in the forms to have Military status be put on them. Last we heard was that they were both approved and they were sent to us in the mail. We should be getting them in the next few days.

Here are a few updated photos of the last few weeks. Enjoy.

Tubbles would always lay on Steve's Army gear when he has it out right before a long field training like she knew he was leaving. Well he had it out today and she went right for it. If only she knew he is never going to leave her again ♥

Trying on his pack. Think he is missing the Army a little?

My cousin, Anna on Easter. (Nicole's daughter)

love this Housewives shirt.

Hubby carrying my bags for me at the mall. Such a wonderful husband.

Tubbles admiring herself in the mirror.

Another peak at herself.

Funny closed sign I found at the Hot Dog stand outside of Home Depot.

The two loves of my life.

Amish rice cakes and spreads. The Amish community makes such yummy foods. This was at the Farmers Market.

Inside the Farmers Market.

sleeping on my shoe

I see a tongue

"I want to work out too, Mommy"

In a PetCo bag

Scary spider web right outside of the apartment complex

About to go for a run. Love his new toe shoes.

Wondering what she should make for lunch

Tubbles and her hat.

Went to the Cheesecake factory for the first time!

Yummy East Coast spinach and cheese dip

Dinner. SO good.

Of course we had to try the famous Cheesecake.