A Humble Heart is Worth More than Gold or Diamonds.

These past few days have been very emtional for me for various reasons.   I'm up North visitng my husband's side of the family in Philly and Brooklyn, NY.  His side of the family is very different than mine in many ways but one thing that is the same is the humility and love they have for eachother.  I just hate seeing such humble people have to struggle.  We are staying with one of my husband's aunts in her apartment in Brooklyn right now and her stove oven doesn't work.  We decided that we had enough money to buy her a new gas oven.  I feel so blessed to have the house and cars that we have.  Even our oppotunity to be able to go to school.  I thank God that we are so fortunate to be able to give to them.  I cant wait to see his aunts expression tomorrow when the new stove arrives.

Now to switch gears quickly, my mother in law showed me a song by Celine Dion today called Because You Loved Me.  It left such a longing in my heart.  I can't stop listening to it.  Its so romantic and you know how much I love romance.  It makes me think of such beautiful things and I can't help but smile dreamily when I listen to it. 

Let me stop rambling on about romance...so Saturday, we are meeting a bunch of family on my mother in laws side. This should be fun.  Tomorrow we head to Manhattan to visit ground zero.  Now stands the memorial site and I know its going to bring tears to my eyes.  I'll post pics soon. 

My Christmas Message

To all my family,

I say this with all sincerity that I miss you all very much and I wish we could be there to celebrate this special night together.  I want to continue our traditions with my new family so I've written my own Christmas message this year.  I pray that you will enjoy it as much as you have enjoyed the messages my Dad brings to us every year.  It's probably one of the things I am going to miss the most about Christmas Eve with you all tonight.  I love you all very much.  Merry Christmas! 

Christmas is a special time of year.  It's the only holiday recognized almost all around the world and is not just celebrated on the 25th but the whole month of December.  Think about it, that's one twelfth of the year.  This season is a whirlwind of the holiday routine: lighted houses, ornaments, presents, Santa, TV specials, church services, tinsel, wreaths, stockings, and eggnog.  One thing is for sure...when Christmas comes, you can't miss it.  It's everywhere!  But tonight, I want to bring us back to the reason why we all gather together during this time every year.  

Have you ever realized that when you look up an event on your calendar, you are using Jesus Christ as a reference point?  Jesus' birth divided history into BC (before Christ) and AD (anno Domini, in the year of our Lord).  Every event in history and today is dated by how many years and days it has been since Jesus appeared on Earth.  Even your birthday is dated by his!  Tonight is not just a night to celebrate being together as a family but also to celebrate the birth of God's Son who was brought down from Heaven in the form of a man to give us the ultimate gift...salvation.  It's a night to celebrate that Jesus loves us, that he wants to be with us, and not just with us...but FOR us.  

John 3:16 says "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  The entire reason for Christmas is the love of God.  The love he has for us and everything in the universe.  He created us for his enjoyment and everything on Earth for our enjoyment.  God could have created a colorless, tasteless world but He didn't.  1 Timothy 6:17 tells us that God "richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment."  Our sensitive ears for music and rhythm, eyes for all the colors of the world, and taste buds to experience all the incredible flavors as well.  The Bible doesn't tell us that God has love, but that God IS love.  Love is the essence of God's character...his very nature.  The reason everything exists is because God wanted to love it.  If God didn't love something, he wouldn't have created it.  He loves it all, even when we mess it up with our sin, he still has a purpose for it.  He is unconditional and loves us regardless of our thoughts or actions.  His love is unchanging.

Some people often feel alone at Christmas.  Maybe right now you feel like God is not with you.  But his presence has nothing to do with your feelings.  Emotions are unreliable and can change easily.  But there is good news for us.  We can't hide from God!  Psalms 139:7-8 says "Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there."  No matter where you are God is always with you but you must tune-in to His presence.  No matter what situation you are going through right now, God is there.  He promises this to us in Isaiah 43:2-3 "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."  In Hebrews 13:5 God ensures us "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."  God will always be with us because He loves us.

But just because God is always with us, it doesn't mean it is to condemn us.  Many people feel like God is out to "get" them but it's quite the opposite.  When the angel came to the shepherds, the angel said to them "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people."  As a matter of fact, 365 times in the Bible, God tells us to fear not the things of this universe.  That's one for everyday of the year!  I want you to know that God is not mad at you but mad ABOUT you.  He doesn't want to rub in your mistakes, he wants to rub them OUT.  That's what Jesus did for us when He came to this Earth and died on that cross for us.

None of us knows what we'll face this next year, but we can know that God LOVS us, God is WITH us, and God is FOR us.  One plus God is a majority in any situation.  This is what we are celebrating tonight...the fact that God sent Jesus on this night thousands of years ago FOR us so that we can be WITH him forever because he LOVES us. I pray that God touches your heart with this message I've brought tonight.  It is not a coincidence that you are listening to this message on this very specific night.  May God continue to touch and bless your lives in this year and the next.  God bless.

A penny for your thoughts...

A penny for your thoughts?  A nickel for your time? What would be the cost to make what you and I have divine?  I could stay all day in the shadows of your world but my heart still feels so hollow and deserted.  I dive deep into these waters because I want to uncover the truth.  I want to face the reality and regain all of my lost youth.  But instead I begin to drown...choking on the waters that surround every inch of my body...or is it me that won't come around?  Am I the one holding me down?

A penny for your thoughts?  A nickel for your time? What would be the cost to make what you and I have divine?  My eyes search far into the horizon...looking for the Sun.  I can tell it's there...the pinks and oranges flood the sky...but Sun, why do you seem so shy?  Why won't you rise high into the sky?  I will wait...I will sit in your shadows because they are the only shadows I know.  But someday your rays will melt the frost that covers my heart...I know...I think....oh, please have faith...at least I'll try...

A penny for your thoughts?  A nickel for your time? What would be the cost to make what you and I have divine?  My heart aches with pains I've never felt.  I carry tears on the brim of my eyelids...I don't dare let them fall.  They are forbidden cares...hopeless hopes...empty dreams.  And yet it seems that they will never fade from the depths of my soul.  Soul keeper, lock them shut...away from my heart and mind.  Maybe this way I can reach cloud nine...

A penny for your thoughts?  A nickel for your time? What would be the cost to make what you and I have divine?  It seems that you and I have run out of time.  The Sun is on the horizon and I can see it rising...slowly...yes, slowly...spreading light across this pale and torn skin.  But when the grass is no longer green...and when the sparrows have no song to sing...When words stop telling stories...and the angels stop giving God glory...that is when I'll stop loving you...isn't that so divine?

The "D" Word

If there is one thing I appreciate about my parents, it's their commitment to God.  I think it's what has kept them together for 27 years and counting.  My parents called me today and shared with me a positive message from Dennis Rainey (Real FamilyLife speaker).  I'd like to share it with you all as well.  I plan on applying this to my marriage as well.  I believe I'm adding another resolution to my list and I plan on keeping it for longer than just 2012.  I will admit the "D" word has been thrown around in moments of anger even though we don't mean it.  But that word does bring a high level of negativity and create wounds that do not heal easily and always leave scars.  No more "D" word in my vocabulary.  Cheers to better days.

The "D" Word

Gingerbread People!

Good morning everyone!  It's a brand new day and I'm loving every minute of it so far.  This morning my husband didn't have PT so we slept in until 7 together.  We got up and had our morning coffee and breakfast before he headed out for the day.  It was nice to be able to spend the morning with him since we really don't get to do that often anymore.  I'm realizing now even more than before that this time off from school was much needed...not just to rest from school but to reconnect with my husband in a way that we can't while I'm in school being a busybody and studying and going to sleep by 9 to prepare for the next day.  Everyday this week, I've been reminded about the things that make me love him so much.  The things he does to make me smile.  I think he's noticed how little the time we spend during the school semester because he has even stopped playing his video games to sit down and watch movies with me (those who know my husband realize how sacrificial that is of him lol).

Last night we watched some TV together and then we made homemade gingerbread men.  Our friend Brian helped us out too.  It was a lot of fun.  Our first batch of gingerbread men came out very fat lol.  We improvised well though and they ended up coming out pretty cute.  Brian made one of his into a snowman and another into a soccer player.  My husband made one into a karate kid lol.  I made a candy cane girl and Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread.  Take a look at our batch of gingerbread people.  I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday.  Everyday so far has been an adventure in finding new and old things to appreciate.  T.G.I.F!  Have a great weekend everyone.  God bless. <3

Our gingerbread people =)

Karate Kid to the left

Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread

Candy cane girl and Baby Gingerbread

Snowman to the left

Snowman

Candy cane girl

Soccer player

Soccer player

Camera Snaps...

Don't Save It All For Christmas Day

Final grades have finally been posted and I couldn't be more proud of myself.  I made 4 A's and two A-'s.  Which is really all As in my opinion.  Whoever made up A-'s are crazy.  I guess it's okay though...keeps me humble lol.  I'm great but I'm not perfect.

I haven't been up to much since school let out.  I've done some Christmas shopping but really it's my excuse to walk around and be out of the house.  I've forgotten how bored I can get at home.  I'm ready to start up another semester of school after this week.  I could just be taking this vacation for granted though.  Lord knows I need the rest after 4 months of drilling my brain on programming languages and calculus. 

I really miss my family right now.  Everyone is on this "family" cruise (I say with quotes because I'm not there, so it's not really all the family...yes I'm being bitter lol) and I can't call my parents or even my aunts and uncles.  My aunt Yomi didn't go either though...I think I'll call and chat with her tomorrow.  =)  I call my parents almost everyday.  I miss hearing their voices and chatting with them about how life is here in NC and them updating me on news of the family down in FL. I want to tell them about my grades and hear their enthusiasm.  Making them proud has always been a motivation for me to continue to succeed in life. 

I bought cookie mix and icing pens today and a few days ago I got some cute cookie cutters so maybe tomorrow I'll get motivated to start baking and getting artistic.  I think I'll give some to my neighbor.  They are always so sweet to us and they have a little boy that is too adorable.  I know he's gonna love them.  I think this is what I like most about Christmas....giving and making people smile.  I wish people would give the way they give on Christmas all year.  It's never a bad time to bring joy and happiness into another person's life.  This reminds me of a song on my ipod.  It's by a group called Avalon.  The song is called "Don't Save It All For Christmas Day".  It's a beautiful song that really reveals an amazing truth to how much the world needs love everyday no matter the circumstances.

I think I will make this the first thing on my new year's resolution list:  Give a little love everyday.
Have a blessed rest of the week friends and family.  God bless you all.

Finals...almost done!

Finals weeks is coming to an end...quickly I might add.  Tomorrow I take my last final.  I can't believe that the semester flew by this quick.  I'm not complaining by all means, let these next two and half years fly by too!  I'm happy to say I've done exceptionally well this whole semester.  I hope that I can keep this same momentum the rest of my time here at UNCP.  I'm thinking my final grades will either be straight A's or all A's and one B.  I will give an update as soon as the grades are out.

Today has been a good day for me.  This whole weeks has been pretty good actually.  I think the only day I stressed a lot was yesterday.  I get very emotional when I let my mind think too much on things I can't really change.  On top of that, I was bidding farewell to Calculus last night so I spend most of the day studying for the final.  I'm happy to announce that I got a B on the final and an overall A in the class.  Hard work and studying definitely paid off.

Sometimes I think about how unperfect I am as a human being.  It really bothers me at times.  There are times where I wish I could be a better daughter, sister, wife....a better student, teacher, friend...a better athlete as well!  But no one is perfect they say...and the more I think about myself, that saying couldn't be anything but true when it comes to me!  Self-evaluation....I do this constantly throughout the day trying to figure what I can do to better myself...physically, mentally, spiritually.  And of course a list as long as California comes to mind.  I wish the thinking part was as easy as the doing part.

Wish me luck on my last exam!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit

So I've had my Christmas tree up since the beginning of November but that's about all the effort I've put into making my home "Christmasy".  I'm a little sad I won't be with my family this Christmas.  It's the first one away from them.  We are going to visit my in-laws instead.  I can't be too mopey though.  My husband hasn't spent a Christmas with his family since he joined the Army.  But this weekend I started to get myself into the holiday spirit.  I bought a gingerbread house kit and we made that on Friday night.  For breakfast on Saturday, I went all out.  I made eggnog pancakes, french vanilla french toast, and a huge ham and cheese omelet.  Needless to say we needed a few hours to recover from that breakfast lol.  Our stocking are up now and a few other little decorations around the living room.  I'm still debating on doing anything more around the house since we won't be here for Christmas.  I might go and get some lights to put out in front but not much.  Maybe only some to put around the two pillars in front of our house.  I plan on getting a lot of things after Christmas day since things will be half off and I can just save them for next year.  I want to get a new tree and the new LED lights as well as some ornaments that fit on a tree bigger than 4' (which is what we currently have lol from two Christmases ago).  It didn't really make sense to buy a new one when we won't be here.  Maybe next year we can spend it at our house.  I also tried making Christmas cookies but my little cookie mold pan was a fail lol.  I will just have to go out and buy the real cookie cutters and make them the old fashion way...which I'm not all too upset about.  I think it's more fun that way.  Here are some pics of our small touches of Christmas.  Hopefully I will have some cute cookies to show on my next blog.

The first year is the hardest they say...

Precaution:  This is going to get a little personal...

I can't believe this year is almost over.  Around this time last year, I was busting my butt in a full time job while juggling 5 classes to finish off a dual associates.  I was also preparing to see my husband after a long year of him being deployed.  It was a pretty emotional and stressful time of year.  It was the first year after being married almost two years that we were to spend the holidays together.  Actually, it was our first time spending them together ever.  I was happy to have had him home during that time of year and looked forward to the many we would spend together in the future (if the Army's calling didn't get involved of course).  I remember thinking about the new year and all of the new things that were to come in 2011 and just being filled with excitement and ready for the new adventure.
And here we are now...a whole year has passed by.  My husband came back from Germany permanently in March, we moved to North Carolina in April, and its been a solid 9 months of being together all the time.  I'd like to think that we have made it pretty far.  We have a brand new house, two nice cars (one paid off), and we aren't drowning in bills, even without me working right now.  I'll be honest though, this road we are walking has not been easy.  Marriage can be difficult and everyone warned that the first year together everyday would be difficult.  I remember rolling my eyes to the fact and thinking "we've made it this far away from each other, what could possibly go wrong?"
As these months have past, we've gotten to know each other more and more.  We've gotten to know the likes and dislikes of each other...the things that annoys us about the other...we've had really awesome days...really horrible never-want-to-think about-again days..and then the normal go-about-the-routine days.  The summer was pretty hard for me.  I didn't have a lot to do being that I was jobless.  I had applied for school again but that didn't start until the Fall.  I had dinner plans already in mind by 8 in the morning and done and prepared by 5 in the evening.  Then I would sit and wait...for whenever the 82nd decided to release my husband from duty.  Sometimes I was patient, I know its not his fault he had to stay late...and sometimes I wasn't and I would be angry...not at him...but since he was the one coming home and not the 82nd, he usually got my wrath unfortunately and those arguments never ended well.  Needless to say we always came together in the end and got our marriage back into motion again.
Then Fall came and school started up for me along with ROTC.  I became more livelier.  I was happy again because I had become active again mentally and physically.  I made friends and once again had my social  life back.  My husband started a new job as well.  We had a new routine at home since two days out of the week, I had night school.  The chores around the house were becoming evenly split instead of me doing everything.  It was coming to an even balance and I liked it.  It worked well for a while until I started noticing that we weren't very active with each other.  I guess I shouldn't say not active because we are...but we weren't as social with each other.  We were and still are so very busy and sometimes I feel like it takes a toll on our marriage without us even knowing.  We've become in a way distant with each other...not in a mean way but just that we weren't taking time to talk to each other much...about feelings or love.  And it bothered me.  Everything felt so materialistic and not enough emotion.  And yes I realize...men tend to be a lot less emotional then women.  Anyways...we had a rough month in October.  November things started to get better.  And now we are in December.  I can only hope that things will continue to get better.
I guess I just need to get accustom to the way he expresses love.  I'm an extrovert.  I love to display my affection with words, and actions, and pretty much anyway that it can be seen or felt and I'd like to receive love in that same way. My husband is more an introvert I guess and I'm just starting to see that.  His moments of affection are brief but sincere all the same.  It's hard to believe that we'll be going on 3 years married in March.  I feel like we are in the first phases of our marriage still.  I'm seeing now the language he uses to express love.  Now we have to build on how to satisfy each other equally despite the differences in our love languages.

I don't know why I wrote this really.  I guess I'm so tired of seeing everyone's perfect relationships on Facebook and the blogs I read.  I have to admit, even I omit all the bads in my blogs and status updates.  Today I just wanted to be real...and get down to the wire.  don't get me wrong though.  I am happy and love my husband.  But maybe there is someone out there that needed to see that they aren't the only ones out there with relationship problems.  Having problems is not a sin.  But learning to overcome them is a priceless lesson to learn.

Lots to be thankful for...

Last Wednesday I had my very important APFT.  I'm happy to say I did surprisingly well.  I didn't get a 300 but I was very close.  I ended up doing 52 pushups (I only needed 46 to max), 82 situps (80 is maxing), and I ran a 16:35 on my two miles (I needed a 15:36 to max).  My overall score was 290 out of 300.  I'm still extremely proud of myself.  My last APFT score was 255 so I improved by 35 points!

This past weekend was our last FTX for the semester.  It was very well.  I had a great time even with it being extremely busy and exhausting.  It really makes a difference when you are working with people you enjoy being around.  We slept out in the woods so I had to build my own hooch.  I wish I would have taken a picture of it.  It came out awesome.  I came prepared with stakes, bungie cords, and 550 cord.  Below is an illustration I found that is pretty close to how my hooch came out.  We use our ponchos to make them.  Basically what I did is used the bungie cords to attach my poncho to two trees.  I used two more bungie cords to go completely across the inside of the poncho to build a makeshift type roof.  I also used 550 cord to tie the poncho hood and tied the other end to the tree so no water would come through my hooch.  Then I used the stakes to hold the sides of the poncho to the ground.  After all that, I was able to put my sleeping mat down and then my sleeping bag inside.  I actually slept very well.  It was like a tiny little room...only big enough to sleep in haha.

This week has been good too.  Today was my last day of school before Thanksgiving break.  I'll be heading down to Orlando tomorrow so see my family.  I can't wait to see them even though it's been only a month since I saw them last.  It's never a dull moment with them. 

Being that Thanksgiving is around the corner, I've been thinking about all the things I have to be thankful for.  So here is my list of the top 10 things I'm thankful for:

1. God - If it wasn't for Him, I would even be here today.
2. My Family - They are what keep me together
3. School - What keeps my mind active and my way of staying independent
4. My Friends - I'm thankful for the friends I've kept throughout the years and also the ones I've made along the way.  They all have made a difference in my life.
5. Love - Being able to feel love and give love.  It brings both joy and sadness but I'm thankful to be able to feel both all the same.
6. My dogs - They keep me active and always bring me happiness when I'm around them.
7. ROTC - Yes, believe it not I'm thankful that.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to surround myself around great people.  People that are helping to mold me into the leader I'm becoming.  It's also going to provide me with my future career.  =)
8. My house - I love being able to come into a place and call it home...MY home.
9. My car - It's reliable, economical, and get's me where I need to go.
10. My health - I'm a healthy woman who likes to keep fit and cares about my appearance.  Today I received a lot of compliments by my ROTC classmates today since I came to class without my uniform today.  It's a nice reminder that I'm a pretty lady who is valued inside and out.  =)

Well I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving!  Stay safe everyone!

Lazy yet Busy!

I have been quite lazy with my posts lately.  But only because life has been sooooo busy! So lets back track to almost two weeks ago...

November 4th was one of my best friend's birthday.  We have been friends since our first year of college.  We spent a year in Air Force ROTC together before she left me and then I eventually left the program too since I didn't have my favorite wing'woman' to motivate me anymore lol.  She lives in VA and was heading to Raleigh for her birthday to watch her favorite hockey team (Washington Capitals) please the Carolina Hurricanes so she invited me since I live in NC now.  It was awesome to get to see her.  We usually try and get together at least once or twice a year since neither of us live in Orlando anymore.  It was a good game.  She got a puck that was played in the game and even better, the Caps won!   Here's a view from the top of the arena:

The following day (Saturday) I had to participate in a detail for ROTC.  I had to be an usher for a football game at NC State in Raleigh.  It wasn't too bad though since NC State was playing their all time rivals UNC Chapel Hill.  It was an awesome game to be at being that these two schools are lifelong rivals.  And the fans here are serious!

This past weekend was Veteran's Day weekend so my husband has a nice four days off.  I had to do a color guard detail that lasted most of the day on Friday but I was able to attend a Veterans dinner that UNCP hosted.  It was awesome.  The food was great and so were the speakers.  I had no idea that we had a Student Veterans Association at UNCP until that night.  It's nice to know that my university has such a huge appreciation for our men and women in uniform.  I was happy to have had the honor to attend that dinner.

This past Saturday we hosted the Marquez vs Pacqiuao fight.  Thank goodness we actually had a good fight out of this one.  It lasted the whole 12 rounds and Pacqiuao won but it was a very close fight to the end.  I love having get togethers at my house.  I'm always having new people over and it's great to make new friends. 

Well, tomorrow is the BIG day.  The day I take an APFT that will determine my future for the next two and half years.  I'm excited and super nervous at the same time.  I've been training hard for this event.  There isn't much more that I can do at this point except hydrate and stretch well tonight.  Wish me luck everyone!  I will reveal the news as soon as I hear of it.  =)

Scholarship Nominee!

So this week started off bad but it is definitely coming to a great end!  On Monday morning during our formation after PT, one of the Senior Military Instructors from Campbell Battalion came to talk to us about the downsizing that the Army is doing.  Campbell Battalion has been producing more officers than actually needed in the Army so they wanted to let us know that the contracts were going to be limited.  On Tuesday, our Captain came to brief the MSII class about the same thing except he had even more bad news.  Campbell Battalion was only going to contract 43 MSII cadets (class of 2014).  Let me explain this a little further...Campbell Battalion is made of four companies at four universities in this area: Campbell University, Fayetteville State University, Methodist University, and lastly University of North Carolina at Pembroke.  Our Battalion has to be at least 300 hundred strong and just at UNCP we have 24 MSIIs and we are one of smaller companies in our battalion.  This had me pretty nervous because liked I've said many times before, this is my dream.  I've planned the next three years of my life around this and now I was being told my chances were going to be slim to none.  About 15 of those 43 will be green-to-gold cadets (active duty enlisted transferring to become officers).  We have no say in how many we will actually get and there really isn't a limit.  Maybe another 10-14 who are on scholarship.  So for us who aren't contracted it's like having 40-50 dogs fighting for the same bone!  I was pretty depressed for most of this week.......UNTIL TODAY.

Today I came into the ROTC house to work on some homework for another class and our Msgt came up to me about the APFT coming up.  He asked if it was possible to make it to the APFT they were holding at Fort Bragg for the contracted cadets.  He told me that he knows I'm not contracted yet but since I have my packet already submitted he wanted me to take it with them anyways.  That was a pick-me-up!  About an hour later, our Captian comes into the house and asks to see me.  I was pretty nervous since he's been having people come see him about contracting and letting people know whether they might be able to contract or not.  I was pretty nervous I'm not gonna lie.  As I'm standing at parade rest he tells me "Here's the deal Gilfranzo" (Yes that's how he says my name lol) "There's only one MSII scholarship they are giving out this year and you've been nominated for it. You're competing against one girl from FSU and she's high speed like you.  So you better be at the APFT at Fort Bragg and score a frikin 300 on that PT test you hear me!"  I felt my body go numb....a scholarship!  I was freaking out about not getting contracted and now I'm up for a scholarship!!!!  I want to hug the crap out of him LOL.  I've never felt so nervous and so proud at the same time!

So for the next week and half I will be training hardcore for this PT test.  I need to be in the best shape of my life and run the fastest I've ever ran in my life if I want this scholarship.  Which I do!  I want it more than anything else!  I really do hope I get this, it would seriously make my year official. So I'm asking ALL my friends and family to keep me in your prayers while I train hard for this and the pray REALLY hard for me at 0600 on the 16th of November LOL.  Tomorrow is Friday! Yay!  Have a great weekend ya'll. =)

High speed short girl in the middle?  Yeah that's me lol

Hello November!

Well hello again!
So its the first day of November and I really can't tell you how we got to this month.  It feels like only yesterday I was starting the Fall semester.  Anywho,  my birthday was last week and it was great.  I had a mini party with my husband and one of our neighbors.  They sang for me and cut a cake (Tres leche cake to be exact! Yum!). Then I was surprised with a beautiful Coach purse by my husband and we topped the birthday off with a big party with our friends and neighbors on the weekend.  The only thing that was missing was my family but they sent me nice gifts.  I atleast was able to visit them though a few weeks ago so that counts for something.  :)

So its official, school ends in a months time and I'll be one more step closer to graduating and my dream.  Sometimes I get goosebumps thinking about it.  I can't believe I'm actually back in the game again going for what I've always wanted to do which is become an officer.  I mean there are times of course where I feel like I should be in the having-a-family mode but then again I'm only 23!  I have plenty of time for that.  By the time I commission I'll be 25 and ready to take on whatever life throws at me and that includes being a mom.  :)
Today I will be putting up my Christmas stuff.  This is my absolute favorite time of year.  Bring on the bells, tinsle, turkey, and cranberry sauce!  :D

During my Fall Break...

It's been a while friends and family but a very busy while indeed!  Between the 5th and the 12th, I was taking my midterms and I'm happy that my midterms grades resulted in four As and one B.  Hard work pays off!  After my midterms I took a flight down to Orlando to surprise my mom as a belated birthday present.  My mom has been wanting to see me really bad and since I had a small break after my midterms, I decided to take that opportunity to fulfill her wish.  :)  She was so shocked to see me.  My dad and I had it planned for a few weeks beforehand so he was the one that picked me up from the airport.  When I arrived at the house my mom was a crying mess which resulted in me being a crying mess too lol.  The last time I saw my parents was in July.  I know that doesn't sound like too long but for my close-knit family, that's like an eternity.  I had a great time with my mom and I know it really made her feel better to have her middle daughter home with her for a few days. I also got to see a majority of the family while I was there including these two little gorgeous rugrats below.  Every time I leave, a part of my heart always stays with them.

My mom and I

Daddy's girl =)

The apples of my eye

I flew back on Sunday and was back on the books and studying as soon as I got back.  I can't believe I am already half way through this semester.  It seems like it just started.  Anyways...my husband is back on the books as well.  Since he changed his MOS he's got a whole lot of studying to do.  This new MOS includes a lot of work and it requires him to take some college courses as well as learning a different language.  He's really excited and I'm just as excited for him too.  This weekend has been pretty relaxed so far.  We went into Fayetteville for the day and ended up getting a Plus membership at Sam's Club.  We are starting to fall in love with this store haha.  After that I made a quick stop at Kohl's to get these J-Lo shoes I've been dying to have.  They finally went on sale and I had a $10 gift certificate from Kohl's since my birthday is this month.  I was able to pick them up for less than $23!  Talk about a GREAT deal!  Let me also include that these heels are amazingly comfortable.  No squishing of the toes and no feeling like you body is leaning forward.  J-Lo's whole collection at Kohls is amazing.  I also love the Marc Anthony collection too.  I picked up a shirt for my husband and boy does it look great on him. ;-)
Anywho...tomorrow is church and then back to the school schedule.  I hope you all have a great rest of the weekend!

My Italian skills put to the test = Success!

Last week was a VERY busy week for me.  I had three midterms and I'm proud to say that I ACED all three.  Yep...100% on all three.  I'm so proud of myself. Especially the Calculus exam.  But I will admit I did study very hard.  I never thought I would be doing this great in college.  I guess my first experience in college helped me to learn not to waste my time and money all over again. This week I have two more and then I'm finito on midterms. =)

This weekend was great.  Saturday my husband and I woke up early and had breakfast and then went to see our neighbors' girls play soccer.  It was so cute.  The teams were made up of little boys and girls between the ages of 4 and 6.  The little 4 year old kids were so cute with their tiny soccer cleats and shin guards.  It really puts me in baby fever mode haha.  After the game I had to head out to Pembroke to do a color guard detail for UNCP's homecoming game.  When I got home my husband was gone (out to the mall).  I did some homework until he got home and I got a nice little surprise from him.  He bought me a cute dress and I must say he has great taste in clothes. LOL

Sunday we went to church (Rivers of Living Water).  We decided to check out their Sunday school classes.  A couple weeks ago, one of the ladies informed me of a marriage couples Sunday school class that Rivers has called Couples 4 Christ.  We actually enjoyed the class very much!  My husband and I are going to make it a point to get up a little earlier on Sundays so we can make it to this class from now on.  We also got to meet other couples through this class which is nice since we don't know very many people at the church.  For Sunday dinner I decided to try something new.  One of my aunt's has a lasagna recipe that is to die for.  It's very unique in the fact that no ricotta cheese is used in the recipe.  (I can't let out the secrets though!  It must stay in the family hehe)  So for dinner I decided to attempt to make it and I must say I did a great job!  My husband had three plates last night and we ate the leftovers for lunch today.  I guess this dish will be a regular in this house from now on.  A big thanks to my aunt for coming up with this recipe!  =)

The night ended with a movie and reading an entry of The Love Dare.  I had bought this book for us years ago when we first got married but being so far away for such a long time, we never got around to doing it.  We are on day 4 and I'm loving this book.  I truly believe that by the end of this 40-day challenge, my husband and I will have learned more and loved more of each other than we have in the almost 3 years we've been married.  I'm looking forward to finding out what our next dare will be.  =)

My first time making lasagna from scratch!

Good news!!!

I don't know how I forgot this but Monday I took my APFT and I passed!!!!  Yeahhhh yuhhhh...I did 45 push-ups, 60 situps (counted) I got cheated out of like 15, and I ran a 17:18 on the 2-mile run.  Not too shabby eh? 

That's not all the good news though.  I just finished my packet to contract with the Army ROTC...so the $$$ should be in effect pretty soon.  I can't believe I'll be getting paid to train to be an officer....too cool lol.

And last but not least....my husband passed CA selection! Yay!!!  Good things to come for us.  I'm not gonna lie...it's been a tough week not being able to talk to him and motivate him but prayers work miracles....and so does having my parents that I can call who encourage me to stay strong and positive.  =)

I feel so blessed and I'm excited for what to come.  I wish we could spend tomorrow celebrating BUT I have my FTX this weekend so I guess we'll have to wait.  But for a small celebration, I have cooked one of my husband's favorite meals...rice, beans, and fried pork chops!

The Power of Words...(blog-share)

So I was skimming through my FB friends and came across one that has a blog and decided to check it out.  Behold I never knew how talented she was with words.  She goes by the name Psyqsol in her blog.  Her last post was quite deep and sobering to say the least.  Like I said in my last post, words are our footprints that we leave behind.  I would not be surprised if years from now some of her work gets published.

Here is her most recent poem: "Til' the Glass is Empty"

Where would we be without books?

So I've been spending a lot of time lately at the school library.  I've almost forgotten how much I love being around books!  Nowadays we spend so much time on the internet.  You can google just about any question you have and for the most part you will get a decent answer.  Now we have e-books that can be accessed through a computer or mobile device such as a cell phone, tablet, kindle, or nook.  I am a victim of this...I do have a kindle lol.  But it just isn't the same as a good old book in your hands.  Walking down the aisles in the library skimming through the titles and names of authors I felt them whispering to me "Read my story" "Hear my voice" "Welcome to my world of..."  Words are the physical proof that knowledge exists.  It's our way of leaving a footprint behind to others...so that this knowledge can be passed down from one generation to the next.  These books of yesterday are what have helped us become what we are today and what we will be tomorrow. 

This week my MSgt informed my class to start preparing a briefing which each of us will give to the class in two weeks.  I've decided to do mine on Airborne history and Airborne school.  Can you guess where my first stop was?  The library of course!  I decided to test my library's topic content to see if by any chance they had any books on military Airborne operations.  And to my surprise I found absolutely everything I needed for my briefing and more!  I'm excited to get started on this project.  I've always had an interest in Airborne operations so this is going to just as fun for me as my briefing will be for the class.  I will also be doing a demonstration of the jump commands with the help of some prior service cadets who are Airborne qualified.  A big thanks to a good friend who suggested it.  =)

If my book fascination wasn't enough already...I've also checked out some books for free time reading.  I think I love non-fiction books just as much as fiction.  Non-fiction books allow you to experience a real-life event that could have taken place hundreds of years ago...or maybe during your lifetime but it was in a place far away.  Fiction books are great because you get to jump into an author's imagination and experience a world only known to the author and the readers of that book.  Since I couldn't decide what type of book I wanted to read I picked one of each.  My fiction book is a fantasy called Alanna, the first book of a quartet.  It's juvenile reading so I should finish it pretty quickly.  I've actually read this book before in middle school.  It's part of a quartet (a series of 4 books) by the Tamora Pierce.  She actually wrote a series of quartets and the characters are all part of the same world...and it's always about a female warrior of some sort.  (Does it sound like someone here? lol)  I just like how I can go through one book after the next and still be in the same world of people getting to know everything about it.  I remember wondering how someone could just come up with something so fictional and immense in just their mind.  I guess that's why I want to re-read these books.  To be able to get lost in an amazing and magical world.

The non-fiction book that I picked is about a specific company from my husband's old unit.  The book is called WAR by Sebastian Junger.  Many of my 173rd family and friends have already bought and read the book when it released to the public last year.  I've heard that it's a must read but it takes a lot to get through the whole thing emotionally.  Well I started the book a few days ago and only got through the first few pages before I had to set it down and compile my thoughts and emotions.  Just knowing that these stories being told actually happened and there are people right now with an emptiness lingering in their houses and hearts because some of the soldiers in this book didn't come home....it gives me goosebumps.  I know that as a cadet training to be an officer, I will eventually have to face the loss of a soldier and the heartbreak of a family.  It could even be me in the brink of action and how will I react if I'm to encounter an attack like Bella Ambush?  Yes, I know you can never be prepared for death and reading this book is going to be hard but I know reading this book will give me a good picture of what war look likes and supply me with an awareness of what I could encounter in a few years.

Fair or Unfair???

It's been a crazy busy week and weekend!  School is still going great and ROTC as well.  Friday was a big accomplishment for me.  We had a four mile run and I was really nervous that I wasn't going to be able to survive the run.  But to my own surprise I did very well!  I stayed with the head of my group the whole run.  I'm very confident that I will pass my APFT next week.  My endurance has really built up in the last few weeks.  These last two weeks I've been running a minimum of two miles so I should definitely be good for the run.  Pushups and situps will definitely be no problem.

Yesterday was the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight.  We had a bunch of our neighbors and friends over to BBQ and watch the fight.  We made homemade burgers, grilled Italian sausages, and roasted marshmallows on the firepit for s'mores.  It's always a good time at our house lol.  We laughed and joked about how no one really makes s'mores the old school way anymore.  Many of us reminisced on our childhood memories of making  s'mores over a fire.  I know we all enjoyed the fun of sticky marshmallowey fingers, melted chocolate, and crispy graham crackers that night.  The kids definitely loved it.

And now for the BIG debate!  What was up with that fight huh?  I know the crowds were definitely leaning more towards Ortiz winning but lets look at the facts of the fight.  Mayweather's punches were more accurate first of all and Ortiz wasn't in the mood to play fair either.  Mayweather landed 73 out of 208 (35%) punches that night while Ortiz only landed 26 of 148 (only 18%).    Also Mayweather almost tripled the amount of power punches thrown.  You can't deny that he was dominating the fight.  And the headbutt???  Come on now Ortiz...we all know that was definitely intentional.  Check out the first 10 seconds of the video below.  It was intentional.  With that being said, remember we are dealing with Mayweather.  One of the most arrogant men I know!  He is not a gentleman and if you open the doors to play dirty, you damn well better be ready for the Pandora's box that's just been opened.  Not only did he headbutt him....Ortiz decided to mock him right after with a kiss.  Yeah he definitely pissed Mayweather off.  So with that being said yeah the fight ended unfairly but Ortiz is really the one responsible for it.  As for the apology from Ortiz afterwards..........???  He should really be apologizing to his managers and fans for letting them down.  It was an unfair win and Ortiz didn't even really get to show his boxing skills.   

Now with all bets aside Mayweather had no right to tell off Larry Merchant like that.  And I hope Larry Merchant gets a raise for that little episode.  So Mayweather continues to be undefeated...but the bigger question that lingers in the minds of all us boxing fans is......when will Mayweather get his panties together and fight Pacquiao?????

To be continued.....

T.G.I.F

Gosh am I glad it's Friday!  It's been a long weekend for me even with having Monday off because of Labor Day.  PT has been pretty tough for me this week.  We've been running every day.  Between Tuesday through today, I've ran around 9-10 miles.  I strained my hamstring on Tuesday from sprints and it didn't help as we continued sprints on Wednesday.  I was able to get through by stretching my legs many times throughout the days. Stretching is one of the most important parts of exercise.  If you don't stretch right it could really ruin your whole workout.  Here are a few stretches that I used to get myself back to speed.  There are several different ways to stretch the hamstring but these are what I found that fits me best.

Standing Hamstring Stretch #1

This is a good one to do before doing any exercises.  What you do is bend over until you touch your toes. (You can bend you knees if you need to.)  Once you are touching your toes, try to straighten your legs.  You will feel that back muscle tighten a little but remember it shouldn't feel painful.  Stretching is suppose to help not hurt.  =)

Standing Hamstring #2

This is a good stretch to do after you exercise.  It is stretching the same muscle but you are keeping your head up and elevated.  The worst thing you could do is bring your head down after a hard workout and have all that blood rush to your head.  It could lead to lots of dizziness and it could make you feel even more faint.  For this stretch just extend one leg outwards points your toes up.  Then slowly bend the opposite leg and you should feel that hamstring tighten some.  Remember to always stretch twice as long after your workout.

Hamstring Stretch sitting

If you find it difficult to stay standing after your exercising, this is a good stretch to do as well.  You still have your head elevated to stop from getting very dizzy or faint and still stretching that same muscle.  For this stretch just bring one leg inwards with the other leg extended all the way out toes pointed upwards.  Then extend your arms all the way out as you try to reach your toes on your extended leg.  

I hope you enjoyed my little stretching brief.  =)  It really helped me a lot especially for today on our 3 mile run which turned to 4.  I feel real good though. I never thought I could improve so much physically in such a short time.  I think I'll be more than ready for the PT test on the 27th if I keep up like this.  

I hope you all have a great weekend!  Stay blessed ya'll! 

Healthy Music

 Update! 09/7/2011


Il Volo has a sweepstakes to go see them in LA!  How cool!  Check it out.

Combat Water Survival Training

Let me just start off with saying that the physical aspect of Air Force is easy peasy compared to Army.  LOL

 So to end off my second week in ROTC, we had Combat Water Survival Training (CWST) this morning.  Now I knew we were going to be doing stuff in a pool with our ACUs on and I was actually looking forward to it.  Well let me tell you now that this is not one of the easier trainings we have to do this semester.  Land Navigation is a piece of cake compared to this stuff. Anywho let me explain what CWST is.  It is a requirement of all ROTC cadets.  The first part is to jump from 3 meters into water blindfolded.  Once you hit the water you can remove the blindfold and swim out.  The second part we have to demonstrate the removal of our gear while submerged.  If your head comes above the water before your gear is off you have to do it again.  The third part is to swim 25 meters (remember this is all with full ACUs).  The forth part is to swim 15 meters with your gear while holding your rifle above water.  And lastly (does it sound tough yet???) we had to tread in water for FIVE minutes.  Yeah treading in water doesn't seem to hard but after you've done the first four parts, your uniform feels pretty heavy in that water.

3 meter jump blindfolded

So the 3 meter jump was pretty easy.  I will admit I got kinda of nervous as I blindly walked off the diving board into "unknown" waters.  But that was the easiest part I'd say.  The second part, removing the gear was pretty okay.  As soon as they pushed me into the water I repositioned my arms to be inside the straps so all I had to do is extend my arms upward and the gear fell right off.  The third part I did was the 15 meter full gear swim.  This part I failed the first time.  I got half way and swallowed water and I panicked.  I immediately let go of my rifle and flailed over to the side of the pool gasping for breath.  It really isn't an easy task when your weight is almost doubling with soaked ACUs gear with full canteens AND a rifle.  Luckily we weren't allowed with our boots in the pool (school rules) and I was able to use my light tennis shoes but with any shoes period it's hard because it's adding weight to your body.  The main reason why I failed is because my swim technique was off.  When swimming with full gear you have to be as parallel to the water as possible to shift the weight around evenly.  You also have to take big breaths.  The more air in your body the better you'll float.  I practiced this technique with no gear during the 25 meter swim.  Once I finished the 25 meter swim I came back to do the 15 meter gear and rifle swim again.  My technique was great the first half of the swim and then  I couldn't hold my rifle up any longer.  BUT I didn't give up.  I still had my rifle in hand but just wasn't above the water.  I trucked it out and got across to the 15 meter line.  (I seriously used all I had and it was written all across my face lol).

jumping in for the 15 meter swim

Removing gear while submerged

 By this time my body was so exhausted and ready to hit the showers and take a nap!  But nope!  Still had to do the 5 minute tread.  I thought I was gonna pass out on this one.  Luckily though we were aloud to float as well.  I made through the whole 5 minutes because of the wonderful float technique!  Thank goodness!  We ended our PT session with 10 pushups and 10 situps.  (I think this was by far the easiest part of the morning even with being super exhausted with all the water exercises.)  Many people had to redo certain parts.  Some even failed the parts completely.  I think I did pretty good for my first time.  Anywho just thought I'd give you guys a taste of CWST.  We will be doing this once a month.  I don't think I will be as "excited" as I was this time but I am looking forward to getting better at these exercises so that I only do each just once lol.  The pictures provided are not from my company but I found them online so you can see some of the stuff we did this morning.  Enjoy and have a great weekend!

15 meter swim

treading water for 5 minutes

Wipe the sweat and keep truckin

So my PT test wasn't the greatest today.  I failed :(  I missed the situps by one but that was my own fault for not looking at what score I needed to pass.  I surely could have pushed out one more but I was thinking passing was 38 situps so I was good with 49...nope!  Passing is 50 situps.  Pushups was fine...35.  And oh boy...the run.  Well I was doing great the first 6 laps 2 minutes or less per lap and then as I was curving my 7th lap, I felt a sharp pain like a knife digging deep into my rib cage.  Yep...it was a cramp.  And boy was that thing fierce!  I could hardly breathe.  I tried to stick it out and keep running but nope, my body wasn't having it.  I walked that 7th lap having to stop about 3 times just to stop myself from curling into a fetal position (Trust me those cramps hurt bad!) It started to go away as I started my last lap so crazy me decided to sprint to catch up on lost time...NOPE!  As soon as I got 3/4 around the lap the evil cramp returned but I didn't stop running.  I pinched my right side and kept running even though I felt like I was dying lol.  Didn't do much for me because my two miles came out to 21:07 and you need a 19:36 just to get a 60.

I'm not sure why my body decided to cramp on the day I needed it to work.  I ran 2.5 miles this past Friday just fine.  As a matter of fact I was doing great on the run.  I would have finished with around 16 minutes for both miles if I didn't get that cramp.  It really took a toll on me.  I was really bummed afterwards and was so mad at myself.  Did I hydrate enough?  Did I stretch enough?  Was I breathing right?  My answer to all this was yes but what can you do when you get a cramp like that?  And the crazy thing is after I finished about 15 minutes later, the cramp was completely gone.  I felt like running the two miles all over again just to prove I can do it.

But in the end I just have to suck it up...realize I may have lost that battle but I'm not going to lose the war.  Tomorrow I'll be back on the track working on my sprinting to get my stamina up.  Maybe that way I won't cramp up again. 

Army vs. Air Force

My first full week of school is over and I have to be honest, it sure has taken a toll on me!  Between classes and my ROTC schedule I am crazy busy.  I get up at 4 every morning and have barely enough energy to do my wifely duties around the house before climbing into bed around 8:30-9 exhausting.  I had a headache three days in a row and I do believe it's because of how my daily routine has changed so drastically.  Nevertheless, I'm extremely happy about the change.  My life is back on the move again, doing bigger and better things than before.

My classes have gotten off on a great start.  I have some programming homework to finish today but other than that, I'm scotch free the rest of the weekend which means...time to catch up on cleaning this house!  (Which I've already started on early this morning lol)  ROTC has been going great too.  I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up in PT but I've been doing better than I expected.  I love the fact that I'm back to being active mentally and physically.  I believe both of these are needed in order to maintain a balanced life.  PT is really a love/hate relationship.  I hate waking up so early and working out beyond exhaustion but after it's all said and done I feel awesome and proud of myself.  Yesterday we did a  company run around the school about 2.5 miles total.  Mind you, this is my first "long" run in over three years.  Believe or not I didn't fall out and I was actually ahead of the company since I was doing road guard duty.  Now I'm not gonna lie, my lungs were on the floor by the end of the run but the important thing is I didn't give up.  =)

This makes me feel pretty confident because Monday we have our APFD which pretty much means practice PT test.  I know I'm not at the point of maxing out on points but I'm at least confident that I will pass each section just fine.  I have plenty of time to work my way up to a 300 since our real APFT isn't until Sept 27.  I will admit the Army is more strenuous with PT than the Air Force.  In the Air Force ROTC we only have to complete one PFT a semester.  In the Army ROTC, we do one once a month.  Also, the Air Force is only 1.5 miles, 1 minute situps, 1 minute push-ups.  The Army is 2 miles, 2 minutes situps, and 2 minute pushups.  Oh and another thing...the Army situps are different than Air Force.  In the Air Force, we did our situps with our hands crossed in front of us.  The Army does them with your hands behind your head.  I don't really understand this concept because to me it just puts more stress on your neck but oh well...rules are rules right?

Well wish me luck everyone!  I will break the news of my APFD scores Monday.  Hopefully I do well.  =)

Arrogant and Negative people

If there are two things I hate most...it would be:

A. People who only talk about the negative in their life and think the whole world wants to attack them.
(and)
B. People who think their life is just soooo much better than everyone else and make a point to try and shove their "successes" in your face.



When I see people talk so negative about their lives, I feel sad for them because instead of focusing on the good, they want to breathe and live in the bad.  Everyone is going to have bad days or even a bad few months.  These are called struggles which we can only overcome by thinking positively and looking forward to a brand new day ahead of us.

Also...people that love to say things like "mine over yours" blah blah blah.  What is that supposed to mean? I guess in that person's opinion their stuff is better than mine but my response to that is: "Do you want a cookie for that?"  Because seriously, in reality no one really gives a rats behind if you think your stuff/life/etc is better than theirs.  In fact it may just end your friendship with that person. 

Anywho...I'm in no way upset today.  These are just random thoughts running through my head today since I was thinking about things I've heard people say to me in the past. 

What am I trying to say with all this?  Appreciate what you have and be humble about it! 

The letter E is a number???

"Whaaaaaaaaaa" *In my Minion voice*

I'm up early this morning...the hubs got home from PT with his eyes swollen.  Apparently he used my acne face cream and got it in his eyes so by the time he got home both were swollen! lol  Ok back to the subject of the day.....

How the letter E is a number is still a mystery...or X or Y or B or M!  And unfortunately I will have to learn understand this concept in the coming months.  My first day of classes didn't go so bad considering I only had two classes: Intro to Algorithms (which I have a professor with a sense of humor that deeply concerns me) and Calculus with Applications.  As I was sitting in my Calculus class waiting for the professor to walk in, I stared blankly at our assignment for the night which I printed out before leaving home.  At that point I began to sweat lol.  Slope/Interceptions; Domains, Ranges, Non-linear functions; Asymptotes.....the list goes on...I literally had no clue how to solve any of these problems.  Knowing that I haven't had math for 4 years now, I was beginning to question whether I should even be in this class.  I began to get discouraged as I thought of how to drop this REQUIRED class and retake Algebra and Trig again which would ultimately set me back on my already delayed schedule to graduate....

Next thing I knew the professor walked in with a great big smile on her face.  She's a slim matured woman with short grey hair accented with frosty whites.  Her presence calmed me down a little as she began to explain the steps of our class and how she knows many of us have probably not taken a math class in a while being that the majority of us were Juniors and Seniors.  (wheeewwww)  As we started to go over the math problems for the night I started to got more confident.  I could literally feel a tiny Windows NT (if you have a crazy look right now...that's a very old and obsolete operating system)  computer turn on in the back of my head searching for all this long lost information and before I knew it I was solving the problems!  Whooohooo!  I stumbled on a few problems but for the most part I got the jist of our assignment that night.  I was very proud of myself but I'm not gonna lie, I did have a migraine before the end of class.  It took a toll on my brain...downloading past knowledge on the subject and uploading new information.  The crazy thing is we are just on the refresher section which means this class will slowly begin to get more difficult.  But I'm alright with it...it's not learning if I don't get introduced to new topics!  So I say bring it on Calc!

Today I have my programming lab and ROTC.  Wish me luck!

Jitters are back!

So tomorrow I am officially back in the game!  Education game that is!  My stomach is all in knots and I have no idea why!  I mean it's not like this is my first time going to a different school or even a different college.  And it's not like I don't already have a feel of what my classes will be like so what is the fuss Beba!

It could be that it's my first time going out-of-state (Florida I mean) and on my own....plus the husby of course!  Since I left the "nest", everything has been a new adventure.  Which I guess jitters do go hand in hand with trying new things even if the actual adventure isn't really that new.  UNCP is a bit different from UCF and even Valencia.  It's way smaller than either and I've never had to drive through two whole towns to get to school either lol.  But with jitters or not, I know I'm ready to get back to the books.  I love learning and doing new things.  My two semester vacation has been great and all but I need more than just sleeping in and being lazy all day.

I've decided to not take a light load this semester.  By all means, I'm not working so why should I right?  A total of 17 credits.  Here are the classes on this semesters schedule.  Wish me luck everyone!

-Intro to Programming (This should be easy)

- Intro to Algorithms

- Website Development

- Calculus with Applications

- Military Science II (Army ROTC)