Random sevens…
Posted by Gypsy on Jan 18, 2010
Lately I find myself following a lot of different bloggers that I wouldn’t have followed a few years ago. One of my favorites that I’ve found in the last year is “This Is Reverb”, written by Ryan; father, husband, pastor, photographer and generally all around interesting dude. Recently he wrote a post about seven random things then went on to challenge his readers to post their own random sevens. He went with seven random (and adorable) photos. I’m just going with seven random whatevers.
1. I hate the hassle that comes with moving, but I love living in different places. I’ve lived in seven different places on two continents. I’m about to move again to somewhere new and while I’m stressed at the process I can’t wait to explore my new home.
2. I miss being in the Army. A lot. However, being in the Army would’ve meant not being married to Andy and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. Except maybe Nathan Fillion. It’s ok, though, because I know Andy would trade me for Zooey Deschanel.
3. To avoid having serious discussions about the risks Andy faces on deployments I tell Andy if he dies I’m taking the life insurance money and using it on drugs and buying things for whatever hottie I use for solace. I explain to him that I don’t want to do this but I will be left with no other option if he has the audacity to go and die on me.
4. He responds by telling me he’s going to haunt me. This might seem small but as I’m completely terrified of ghosts (something he’s fully aware of) this would likely leave me committing myself to an asylum for the rest of my life.
5. We love each other, I swear. I just don’t do mushy romantic stuff or getting all weepy. Not my thing and I prefer to avoid it at all costs.
6. Andy bought me a PPK because I wanted something smaller and easier for me to shoot. Yet when he’s gone for more than a few days it’s his XD 40 that is loaded and by the bed.
7. I hate that a third of my life is wasted on sleep. It’s so frustrating that there are all these things I want to do that I don’t have time for. Total design flaw.
So those are my seven randoms. If you want, add your own in the comments or on your own blog and link them back.
Who really needs stability anyway
Posted by Gypsy on Jan 10, 2010
I always knew what I was getting into when I married a Marine. With two wars going on it’s just expected that Andy and I will spent significant amounts of our marriage on different continents. Even so, I’ve still spent the last month or so in total denial, which is why I’ve been avoiding writing this post. However, now that things are actually going forward at a Flash-like pace, I guess it’s time to spit it out.
Andy and I are moving. Roughly 3,000 miles. In opposite directions. Andy to a one-year unaccompanied tour in Japan and me to either DC or Charleston.
This all started a couple months ago when Andy was told he didn’t have enough time left on his contract to go recruiting (as we had initially planned) and was told he couldn’t extend his contract. We later learned this was misinformation, but by then it was too late to really do anything about it. In the meantime, orders to Japan came down, likely because the monitor (aka the guy who tells Marines what units they are going to) figured he wanted to leave here. The way overseas tours work for married guys in the Marine Corps is it’s either one year without your family or three years with them. Since Andy doesn’t have three years left, he has to do the one without me. This is a total bummer, though there is one bright spot: he might be deploying to the middle east shortly after arriving. Worse than him going to Japan without me would be him leaving me alone in Japan while he goes on a deployment. And the reality it I should probably consider myself lucky. I got my husband for 14 whole months (16 by the time he leaves), which is more than many military wives get. We’ll soon be celebrating our second anniversary and will get to actually spend it together, though it’ll be spent on the road (more on that later). So far we are 2 for 2, which doesn’t happen much in our world.
So on to the plan. When I said things were going forward at Flash-like speeds, I wasn’t kidding. We will be on the road and leaving California in 26 days. Transportation will be packing up our house in a little over three weeks. My car will likely be stored here in California as the USMC will pay for that because Andy can’t take a car with him to Japan. Unless we can find an affordable method of shipping it east, which seems unlikely based off quotes I’ve already received. Andy and I will be driving his car across so that I have a vehicle while he’s gone. Andy has about three weeks from when he leaves here until when he’s due back to catch his flight to Japan. Our plan for that time is to drive to Minnesota so we can spend a week with his family, then head off to New York to spend some time with Jason and Amanda. By this point our anniversary will have just passed (likely on the trip from Minnesota to New York), but we’ll also be an hour train ride from New York City, so I’m sure we can find a way to celebrate. (Note to my friends in the city: let’s find some time to meet up, maybe dinner at Juniors?) After New York, we’ll head to Maryland to stay with Maria and Kevin before Andy had to head back to San Diego.
Transportation will be shipping all my things to Maryland as they will be in storage near Kevin and Maria. I’m sending it there because Andy and I are hoping that after Japan we can settle in the DC area, so it’s a good place to leave everything. On top of that, I’ve been looking for work in the DC area. If I have a job offer by the time I get there, I’ll move forward with looking for an apartment in that area and getting settled. If I don’t have a job by then, I will instead be moving down the east coast to Charleston, S.C. where I’ve been wanting to live since the first time I ever visited. Hopefully this, along with a couple visits to Japan to see Andy, will make the time fly by.
So that’s where we are at right now. At this point there is a ton to do to get things ready. I have pages of to-do lists to start working on so everything can be ready. What an exciting way to start the year, eh?
Capricorn… and some housekeeping
Posted by Gypsy on Dec 15, 2009
As we are about to enter Capricorn, I figured now was a great time to post my progress on that particular cross stitch project. I’ve been working on it for about 6 weeks now, though I only have 4 weeks’ worth of photos at the moment. More will be coming soon as I attempt to completely organize my life in the 4 days between now and when my parents arrive for the holidays.
As you can see, she’s going to be beautiful when she’s finished. However, that will be a long time from now as this is where I’m at:
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In other news, I’m hard at work on some new blog stuff that will be starting shortly after the new year. I rarely make resolutions, but I do intend to actually start blogging more and not let school get in the way of that. I didn’t realize how much harder a graduate degree is (especially with online classes) but now that I’m a semester into it, I’m better prepared for the next one.
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On Black Friday I became the owner of a fancy new Nikon D3000. I haven’t uploaded a single thing from it, however I have taken a ton of photos. As has Andy. This means more Christina Cooks! posts will happen because I finally have a camera that takes great photos for it. I’ll be cooking tons over the holidays, so expect lots from there in the new year.
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There was some big news I left out of the last update because we had to tell some people, but now that it’s out there I can share on here: Andy got order to Japan. Unfortunately, it’s a one-year unaccompanied tour, which means that I can’t come with. We tried to find a way to make it longer so I could join him, but it’s just not possible unfortunately. Last many of you had heard, he was going to become a recruiter, but that is now on hold. So he’ll be heading that way sometime in March.
I’m still unsure of my plans for that year. The USMC will move me almost anywhere I want to go (I say almost because they won’t move me to Japan). The big decider would be a job offer, but though I have applied at a few places I haven’t heard anything definite yet. So if you know of something in your area, let me know. I’m open to just about anything at this point. If I don’t find something, there is the likelihood that I’ll just stay here. I do know a few people (though not many), and I can still visit people from here. I just don’t really feel like ANOTHER move all the way across the country unless there is some sort of employment waiting for me.
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That’s really all I got. I’ll leave you with this wonderful photo I just found of Andrew from when he visited this summer:
And what’s new with you?
Posted by Gypsy on Nov 10, 2009
I realize I’ve been the worst blogger every lately. I’d say there is a reason for that, but the reality is I’m not doing very well with that whole time management thing and school is kicking my ass. I’m not fully immersed in my MBA program and have been doing everything I can to keep myself on track to graduate with at least a 3.5. I’m only a few classes in, but if I stay on this route I’ll actually end up with a 4.0. This is why school takes up all of my time.
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I’ve been working on a ton of new recipes for Christina Cooks! but unfortunately it’s going to be a little bit longer before I have new posts up. It’s not a matter of having the time to cook or write, it’s more an issue with the photos. As you might remember, both our nice cameras have died untimely deaths, mine from being dropped at Sea World and Andy’s from a sneaky storm in Charleston. The only camera we have left is just awful. On the plus side, this gives us a great excuse to move on to a new Nikon SLR. We are still deciding between the D3000 and the D5000, but whichever way we decide we are waiting for Black Friday sales adds so we can try and get a good deal. If I could win the lottery, it would be all about the D3, but at $5000 it’s a little out of our price range. It’s not possible for me to explain how excited I am to start using a real camera again. The hardest thing about leaving the Army was leaving my D2h.
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So as you might have guessed, I ended up not running the half marathon on August. Summer found me sleeping in a lot more than running. I have tons of excuses: I get more migraines in the summer, I went on vacation, I had people visiting, etc., but the reality is that I just got lazy. That has changed and now I’m back to logging at least 20 miles a week. I don’t have any plans for a race in the foreseeable future, but really at this point I’m just focusing on fitness. Apparently even though I eat relatively well I have high cholesterol. I don’t want to be on long-term maintenance meds at 27, so it’s past time to fix things early.
In that vein, I’ve also been nicotine-free since Labor Day. Giving up my Marlboro’s sucked at first, but at this point I rarely miss it. Don’t worry, I’m not going to become one of those annoying former smokers, because honestly I’d have kept smoking forever if I could. However, I do have to admit that it’s nice being able to breathe easier and I really feel the difference when I’m running in the mornings. I’ve already cut almost a minute off my average easy run pace and I’m constantly improving.
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I’m kicking around some ideas for a new blog series that I’ll likely start after the new year. I’d rather not get into any details as it’s still up in the air because I’m not sure if it’ll produce a lot of material. I’m mainly only saying something about it now to force me into doing it.
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I’d like to wish the United States Marine Corps a very happy 234th birthday. My gift to you is that I will be refraining from making fun of you for the whole day. To kick the day off right, I sent my favorite Marine to work today with five pans of homemade cinnamon rolls for the guys in his shop. I figure it probably took 15 minutes tops before they were all gone.
