Christmas Time Is HEre!

I havent really had time to blog lately...hopefully I will have more time when we move! I have left than a month left in Alabama...not really sure how I feel about it...bittersweet for now. TJ came home yesterday and he has 10 days! His flight was suposed to be at like 4pm but he called the house phone at like 10:30 am and ask me what I was doing and I told him about to go eat with Mawmaw after I changed out of my pjs and brushed my teeth....then he asked if he could go! He is so good at surprises, he was in the front yard! The airlines offered him an earlier flight at 8:10 am and he got a taxi home from the air port...he is so sweet! I felt sortof bad because our room was a mess from me wrapping gifts and stuff, but he didn't mind! He has a cold but hopefully it will be better soon! He is meeting me at work today for lunch and we are eating with Christal and Mark!!!

I will write more soon, we have a very busy week ahead!

Getting ready for Christmas!

I wish I had more time to blog...lately I have been SWAMPED with Christmas preporations (is that even a work?) and shopping! This time of year always makes me miss my Dad....deep down I know that he would be proud of me! I know that he really would have prefered me to finish college and not to use such bad language, but I think he would like the person I have become! I really wish TJ would have gotten the chance to know him, my dad would have liked TJ, i think, lol! ...Anyway...Christmas is a time for family and this year is going to be extra special since it will be our last in Alabama...for a while at least. TJ is flying home December 20!!! He will be here for like 12 days I think and we have like 2 months worth of stuff to get done! The plan as of now is for him not to come back to AL before New Mexico, hopefully it will work out so I can go pick him up from Texas and head to New Mexico with out him ever coming home!

I have been sortof stressed lately because for some reason a lot of people think that I am not good enough for TJ. Well...that being said, I don't care. I mean, I did at first once I realized what was going on but after getting some advice from a good friend who has similar issues and my Mom I have came to a conclusion. SCREW YOU! TJ choose me and if that isn't good enough for you then screw you. It is not your life...you have one of your own so go live it and leave me alone! TJ and I are really happy and if you can't accept that, then move on!

On a more happier note...............WE GOT A NEW CAR!!!!!!!!!!!! TJ's sister, Halie bought his GTI and we got a new 2010 Corolla S!! I hated to buy it before TJ comes home but we both knew what we wanted so I went ahead and bought it, we got a really good deal!!!! We kept my focus, but we will both drive the Corolla...I really like it!

I have been thinking a lot lately about true friends so hopefully I will have time to blog some more about that tomorrow!


Much Love

Happiness

I am really in the mood to talk about attitude right now…because some people need to read it and mainly because I need to learn to accept others for who they are….Some people are just bitches and I can’t change them and I am working on that. My argument about happiness; it is really easy to live a happy and productive life and it pisses me off to see people making other people’s lives miserable just because they are having a bad day. I am by no means saying that I am always in a good mood, but it is very rare that you find me in a bad mood. Even with a bad mood on my shoulders I try to never take it out on other people or let it affect them in any way. I find that letting your negative mood affect others is very selfish. (Bottom line is I really needed to vent and since it is my blog, I can do that! One day I will try blogging about things I should do to improve my life.) Everyone has reason to be in a bad mood..Today I could be in a bad mood – but I choose not to be… I am a little peeved because TJ couldn’t talk to me - he got woke up this morning with only 3 hours of sleep so he needed to nap during the time we normally chat. (We can only talk on my lunch break – he goes to school/work at night)..I know that he would have loved to talk and it is in no way his fault that he got woke up so even though I am upset with the Air Force a tiny bit today, I am not going to let that affect TJ or the people I work with. And lets get this out in the open EVERY WOMAN MENSTRUATES (unless of course they have had their baby making stuff removed) ……….either way, we all do it….we all PMS….stop being selfish and bitchy when it is that time of the month. Take a midol, put your big girl britches on and DEAL WITH IT. Some people act like it is the end of the world when they are cramping…ugh HELLO you are not the only one..women have been dealing with PMS symptoms long before we were ever born AND without midol, so if they can do it..so can you. Ok…that off my chest. If you are in a bad mood because you are jealous, OMG…get over yourself. Of course we all get jealous at times, that is natural…but to bitch and moan because you know has more or looks better than you is just pathetic..I mean, grow up. When you act like that it tells the world a few things….First, that you don’t love yourself. If you truly love yourself then you shouldn’t be jealous of someone else, everyone in the world is different..you are unique..learn to love who you are..if everyone was the same the world would be lame. Second, it shows that you seriously do not love that person. If you really love someone, then you are happy when they are happy and when they succeed. Also..on this note, take a moment to think about why you are jealous and what you can do about. If you are jealous over someone’s special someone, then go out and find you one….if you are jealous because someone is prettier or thinner than you bygod…go to the gym! If you are mad because someone is smaller than you, that is just immature, be happy for them and take on some of their habits and learn from them. No one is stopping you from going to the gym or drinking more water or walking more. And remember, no one is perfect…so the person you are jealous of might have a 6 pack and perfect skin, but their shit stinks, too! They might have cankles or something, there has to be something about them that is not perfect. Some people seem perfect or happy all the time just because they choose too! You can choose to make the best out of every situation. Just love yourself and make yourself happy…don’t live by the mindset that the world owes you something. No one or NOTHING can make you happy…Happiness is a choice. It is an easy choice; some people are just so selfish that when they are unhappy they have to take it out on the people around them. Sad really.


*A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.

*Happiness is an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. ~Francesca Reigler



*If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it. ~Mary Engelbreit



*He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts. ~Samuel Johnson



*Every thought is a seed. If you plant crab apples, don't count on harvesting Golden Delicious. ~Bill Meyer



*To be upset over what you don't have is to waste what you do have. ~Ken S. Keyes, Jr., Handbook to Higher Consciousness



*The only disability in life is a bad attitude. ~Scott Hamilton



*No life is so hard that you can't make it easier by the way you take it. ~Ellen Glasgow



*Optimist: someone who isn't sure whether life is a tragedy or a comedy but is tickled silly just to be in the play. ~Robert Brault



If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.



The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles R. Swindoll


The envious die not once, but as oft as the envied win applause. ~Baltasar Gracian



Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. ~Jennifer James

A show of envy is an insult to oneself. ~Yevgeny Alexandrovich Yevtushenko

Not going to worry about tomorrow today...

I have always known that a good attitude and open mind can get you far in life and help you maintain good relationships…that theory of mine has really been tested lately….People say that money can not buy happiness, I believe those people are crazy. No, money can not buy you emotions, good health or a good family and friends, but money can buy you a car that works, and plane tickets to see your husband!! We are going to be needing a lot of money here soon…it is going to cost a lot to get Tybee ready to go cross-country and moving cost. We have 2 choices, let the AF arrange everything and move us and us pay anything over 5,000 pounds, or us arrange and move us our selves and the AF reimburse us for some of it…either way, we are going to need moving money…And we are going to be living in a hotel until we find an apartment so we will need cash on hand for that! Either way…here goes my story…It is really not anything important, I just need to get this off my chest!! ….TJ technically took a cut in pay when he joined the USAF but since we get a housing allowance, he is making decent money…I make what he makes with his housing allowance, so we do make enough to survive and we make enough so our bills are paid….but I really hate not being able to save more. Since I live with MawMaw, I don’t have to pay for near as much as I would if I lived at our house. And TJ only has to pay for food, uniforms and any entertainment that he might want or need. Since our house was on the market from April-November we had to keep on all the utilities, maintenance and mortgage. We decided to rent it out and go through a property management company to handle all the drama and money…but it has caused so much more drama…new carpet, fixed hot water heater, fix under the sink, new door frame, new locks, and new paint……………ALL WITHIN A DAMN WEEK…I mean…gah, can’t you space it out a bit. That means this month, we have to pay for all that PLUS the mortgage….Since TJ has been gone, due to a stupid dentist, I had to have a root canal and crown, then a different stupid dentist messed that one up, I am now on crown two! Although we only had to pay half, it still sucks.. Ok…now on my car. It was just that time for tune ups…new belts, water pump, and a whole bunch of other crap that needed to be cleaned out or replaced that I don’t understand…we spent $672 one week, then $160 the next….NOW I NEED (4) NEW TIRES….just when I thought I could see the light at the end of the car tunnel….Then someone left all of the interior lights on inside TJ’s car (thanks a lot!) so we are about to buy him a new battery…oh what joy! Plus, to be taken cross-country, he will need (2) new tires, new brakes and an oil pan, oil change and god knows what else…I am trying to keep this short….lol….We decided we needed to down size to a queen bed before we move so we swapped back with my mom (long story) on our bedroom suits..thing is, the queen bed had no mattresses…$850 bucks later, we have new mattresses, couldn’t really do much about that…”they” say buying a bed is more important than buying a car so we couldn’t just get cheap mattresses (although we could have spend way more…mattresses are insanely expensive) especially since TJ has a bad neck, he needs all the help he can get…..I am learning more any more each day just to go with the flow…Yes, it sucks..I mean really sucks right now, but at the end of the day, I am grateful. I have my life, which I am very fortunate to have good health and I have a job which can be trying on the nerves, but is still a great job. At least we have money, I have to say that, I mean, all of the bills are paid and we are still able to eat real food, I know it could be a lot worse. More importantly, I have TJ. He is really an amazing man and even more amazing husband. I am really grateful for him and all the sacrifices that he is making right now! I will not lie though, it is hard. We have been living apart since May 4, but it could be worse, we still have each other!! Either way, I guess the point I am trying to make is, even though my entire life has been turned upside down in the last couple of months with no hopes of flipping it back over anytime soon, I am still smiling! I smile because I know that some people in the world don’t even have clean drinking water and I am able to drink and waste (not that I do) what I want! I smile because I live in a country where I am free and can smile when and how I want to! I smile mostly because it is not the material things in life that are important. I know it is hard sometimes, but you have to step back and remember that our next breath is not promised to us and we can not take anything with us when we go. I am not worrying about tomorrow today; it is not fair to today. People waste so much energy worrying about stuff that they have no control over that they make themselves miserable. On a more selfish note: It also makes everyone around them miserable when they pout and whine about it. We should be thankful for today, we need to just take a minute to remember all the things in life that we do have….Like a heart that wants to keep beating and friends and family who put up with us. Sometimes life isn't fair...if it was fair it would not be interesting or fun at all...

Started off a concern, turned into a rant about money, education and sex!

I have to warn you that my brain is on over-drive right now and this will probably touch on many topics…pretty much…I have some stuff on my chest right now that I would really like to get out in the open…hopefully typing it all will get it out of my head for a while and relieve some pressure, so here it goes…It all started while I was bored at work today, looking for a good quote to write in TJ’s Veteran’s Day card and found this little quote, “I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" ~Eve Merriam. That really hit home in so many different ways. TJ and I want a big family (in a few years) and one of the things that are stopping us from starting a family soon is the financial situation, war situation and education system going on in our great nation. Even though I watch the news daily, I still barely understand anything about the war we are in now or the yoyo’s that are running this country. I know that none of what I do understand about the war makes any sense to me since we are barely allowed to defend ourselves but trust me….you don’t want to hear my opinion on the way we are fighting over there so lets just move on……Not only does my generation have to worry about raising children in a time of a war….but we also have to worry about the entire nation being under economic crisis. TJ and I both had an amazing childhoods and we both feel that we will make great parents ourselves but I can not help but to fear raising a child in a time with the nation in such shambles. Growing up, my parents told me stories of a happier time when they could safely walk to school alone or could just hop in the back of the truck on a Friday, drive to Panama City, sleep in the truck or on the beach and head home on Sunday with no regrets. What will I be able to tell my children? We could not take spontaneous vacations or road trips because gas was nearly $3.00 a gallon and there was fear your dad would get laid off work every week (before the USAF)??? Or that we could only take walks around the block when we carried our handguns with us to defend ourselves? Also, even though TJ gets a steady paycheck will we be able to afford a child…or will we have adequate health insurance to be able to afford even the birth of a child???? We pretty much give babies and money to people who refuse to work but hard working, law abiding citizens can not afford to raise a healthy family due to the rising cost of healthcare and education. I by no means have any problems with getting financial help or food stamps from the government if you really need it, after all that is what it was designed for…IF you can and do work for an honest living…I know it sounds harsh but I do feel that I should have a little say so in who gets those benefits since it is hard working people like TJ and I who provide the tax dollars to fund such programs. I myself have a relative that has 4 children, who doesn’t support or have custody of any of them…the kids all need help with insurance and lunch money at school because the grandmother is raising all 4 of them on just her deceased husband’s social security…It is sad because it is not the children’s fault nor do they deserve the fact that they have shitty parents but why were the shitty people even allowed to get pregnant since neither had jobs and neither were and are still not trying to live an honest life??? It is so easy these days to just get knocked up by any Tom, Dick or Harry that you meet not have to take responsibility since it is so easy to get food stamps, free insurance and help with schooling… You can…well…rephrase, not you…but basically any dishonest person can practically live for free all because they are making bad choices in life…I just want to scream..It really gets on my nerves that those kinds of worthless people are allowed to take advantage of the system like that and make honest people suffer. Something else I feel very passionate about….I think we should be teaching better sexual education, current events and financial education in middle and high schools as well as in the home. You can not rely on parents to teach their children about these things so we should teach them in public school. More children need to know what is going on in the country around them…I have a fairly intelligent 14-year old cousin who goes to public school that could not tell you the difference between a governor or mayor much less who those people are or why we are at war….Sad, I know…our children should be educated on not only world events but events happening in the United States and learn to care about these things so their generation can make change happen. I personally went to a high school where the teachers (no offense I know not all but most of the ones I had) didn’t really care what happened to you after high school and I was never taught to be responsible with money or anything like that. To be honest I had just about the worst guidance counselors ever…. one of them (bless her absent minded heart) basically told our senior class that if you went to college for four years you could get a job making six digits, easy. I mean WHAT A JOKE WOMAN…Neither of my parents went to college so I had no idea that she was lying…2 semesters at UAB and a few thousand dollars worth of student loans later I learned the real truth about college….Yes, everyone could benefit from it but some of the smartest people I know can’t afford it…and just because you have a degree doesn’t mean you will make good money, I mean, hell, look at teachers, 4 to 8 years of school and they make just as much as a manager at Lowe’s with out a degree. And a lot of times in the real work force, it is not what you know but who you know! Ok, enough Brookwood bashing…I think if more kids knew at an earlier age the risk of having pre-marital sex or even sex with multiple partners or hell…even sex with out protection then maybe we could cut out some of the unwanted or unneeded pregnancies and STD’s in America. If we didn’t have so many unwanted pregnancies then we could re-direct that tax money to go towards higher education for anyone who wants to go to college to better their lives. Too many grandparents are having to be parents to their grandchildren on nothing but their social security checks and that is barely enough to cover the rising cost of Medicare and utilities much less a child. I hate to point fingers towards the area that I live in, but in the past couple of months I have had two run-ins with parents that bothered me a lot…..One that would not let their daughter (who is of legal age so she could get it if she wanted too bad enough) get birth control all though she was admitting to having unprotected sex, and one who’s 15 year old daughter is pregnant by a 14 year old boy. Let’s stop to talk about that…what were you doing at the age of 14? I mean, maybe I was naïve or sheltered but damn…my mom would have never left me alone with a boy long enough to get pregnant at the age of 14…honestly, she still held my hand while crossing the street when I was 14 and I had never even seen a picture of a penis much less how sex really worked…. Ok, back on subject...Especially around where I live (no disrespect intended) a lot of parents do not want to ask their sons and daughters if they need birth control pills or condoms because they think that if they don’t talk to the kids about it then the kids won’t do it. WRONG! Hormones are hormones people, their will always be curious teenagers. Some (even in my own family) feel that if they give kids the birth control that the child would think it gives them the “right” or “permission” to have sex…I understand that is a touchy subject for some but come on it is 2009 people…if the child is admitting to having sex already then they need to be protected. I know a lot of parents are in denial about their child having sex but the bottom line is that yes, you might know your child is smart and that they aren’t ready for sex but you have no idea what the people around them and their friends are pressuring them into doing or talking about. And let me get onto another sore subject here and once again, I am not meaning to offend anyone, I am sure my views will change after Motherhood but for now, I believe in all of this wholeheartedly…No one can deny that sex is everywhere these days especially in media…You can not blame the child for being interested in sex if you are letting them listen to most of the music out their right now (yes, I know it is hard to admit but lets face it…even country music talks about having sex and even if the song has the dirty words beeped out your kid is smart enough to figure out what the beep means…) or watch pretty much any main stream television. OKAY…wow…way off subject there…Back to me and my family!! Basically I am just worried about the future of the nation. I don’t want to get on the subject of health care reform or Obama because I have to leave work in little over an hour and that just isn’t enough time for me to tell you what I think about those two subjects. At the rate education is going, our children are not going to even have schools to go to or teacher’s to teach.…..Let me get this off my chest before I explode….PEOPLE OF ALABAMA LISTEN CLOSELY…IF YOU WANT BETTER EDUCATION FOR YOUR CHILDREN BUT DO NOT WANT HIGHER TAXES THEN VOTE YES FOR THE LOTTERY OR COME UP WITH ANOTHER WAY TO RAISE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR…enough said, Alabama doesn’t have enough money to pay teachers what they are worth or to pay for updates for schools which are very important and much needed. If we want better schools then we need money. I don’t care how much you think gambling is a sin (you are not entitled to judge anyway) or how much you pray for Alabama to have more money, simply put, with out real actions being taken the education system will just keep going down the can. Okay, once again, off subject, you can be sure to blame the ADHD for that….I pretty much wanted to say that I am scared to have kids right now because I think the nation has gotten severely off tract…Not just with education, but a lot of parents are relying on public schools and television to teach children everything about life and that just can not happen (especially with the no child left behind bullshit)….I am not going to pull the religious card so other than that kind of thinking America (and Alabamians) need to wake up and take action. We pretty much let any dishonest person with money into office…pat on the back …I stopped my self before I said too much…..I have to leave work now but maybe I will blog soon about over-crowded prisons and dirty politicians but right now I don’t have the time.

BMT and Tech School

After we found out that he was leaving in May we decided to try to sell our house (which didn’t work so it is now a rental house). We moved in with his grandmother in March or April, I can’t remember, either way, she had 2 extra rooms so the plan was for me and Tybee to live with her while TJ was gone for BMT and tech school. It really worked out great since she only lives like 9 miles from my work but still close to my family, only downside is she lives the ghetto! The time went by really quickly. After our friends and family said good-bye to the shaggy-haired TJ that we all love, I drove us to Montgomery. That night, May 4, 2009, we stayed in a hotel room and the next morning after a very sad good-bye, I followed the bus Maxwell-Gunter AFB in Montgomery. I waited the entire day for him to go through his final trip to MEPS. After hours of sitting alone in a freezing cold room, they called me to a room where I watched him swear in. I couldn’t help but cry, I knew it was extremely hard for TJ to leave me behind but I was so proud to be the wife of a man willing to do that for our future and our country. It was the most bitter/sweet feeling I have ever felt. Pride and honor rushed through me as I watched him raise his hand and promise to serve and protect our great nation. When it was time for me to leave he walked me to the car. It was so hard to let him go but I knew I had to be strong for him. I actually surprised myself with being so strong. I had a 3-day field trip with my nephew the day after he left so I didn’t have time to really dwell. When I got home that night and pulled back the covers I found little notes that TJ had wrote! He put them under pillows, in jean pockets, in my makeup vanity, just the sweetest thing ever! I wasn’t expecting the first call so soon but 2 days after he left I was walking up the huge staircase to the Gatlinburg Aquarium with my suitcase, cooler, pillow and back pack when my phone rang. When I saw that it was an out of state number I dropped everything down the stairs to pick it up and frantically started looking for my pen and pad. He calmly said, Bonnie I miss you and I love you and I am safe, I only have a few seconds so here it goes, this is my address. And that was it, I didn’t hear from him again for 2 weeks. He only called 6 times the 8.5 weeks he was there and I got a letter every Thursday. The time went by quickly; I went to work, spent time with family and basically went on with life as usual. He was scheduled to graduate July 3. Since it was a holiday week we got to spend a whole extra day wit him! His parents, sister, grandmother and I all drove to San Antonio on Sunday or Monday (memory is failing me!) His other sister flew in on Thursday and surprised TJ! We got to see TJ for his coin ceremony on Wednesday. We watched all the guys run by during the Airman’s run but we couldn’t pick TJ out of all the bald heads bobbing up and down!! It was amazing seeing him for the first time. I have always been proud of the man that TJ is, he is so humble and kind, but seeing him marching in his blues took my breath away. I could not take my eyes off of him, I knew from the letters that he had changed and matured a lot but I had no idea how much he had really changed. After the way- to-long ceremony in the 109 degree Texas heat we got to go find him in the big crowd of Airman and families. His parents got to him first but he totally ignored him when he saw me, I can not describe what I felt when he wrapped his sweaty arms around me!! Of course he could only hug for 3 seconds and no touching while in uniform and that was hard to get used to but we managed! His parents were nice enough to leave us alone in the hotel while they went to eat and explore Lackland. It was so strange; he was like a whole new man. He had lost more than 50 pounds before he left for BMT but he was down 90 pounds total and he was nothing but skin and bones. His waist was smaller than mine, it was bazaar. We got to spend about 2 hours together alone before his family came back! He couldn’t leave the base that day but we enjoyed just sitting in his presence. We had to take him back to the dorms at like 7:30 which was hard, but just knowing that we were at least in the same city was nice. We were lucky enough to get a room at the Air Force Inn on base. The next day was the longest, he had a parade and graduation ceremony then we could have him again until about 8 or 9pm. Friday we got him at like 8am and could keep him until like 9 that night, Same for Saturday. We did a lot of sight seeing, eating and SeaWorld. You should have seen him eat, he didn’t have caffeine or any fried foods for almost 9 weeks so to watch him enjoy each bite was really fun. Sunday was really sad. We went to a Church ceremony with him and went to the main exchange and to the bowling alley. We didn’t get to say good-bye alone, but that was probably for the best. I actually didn’t cry but it was so hard to let him go. A lot of people don’t realize that it just as hard for the man to be gone. I was lucky enough to have his family, my family and all of my friends to support me the entire time he was gone, but he had no one. He handled everything really well to be strong for me, but I could really tell how lonely he was. That very night after we left he got on a bus and headed to Keesler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi. He was actually born on that same base. He wasn’t allowed to have his cell at BMT but he was able to text me all the way to Keesler which was very nice! We were able to go see him 3 or 4 times while he was there and he rented a car and came home twice! His actual school there was for general electronics and it was 8 weeks long. He did really well and got something called Distinguished Graduate!! After he graduated Keesler he got on a bus headed for Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas. He didn’t start school right away, I think he had to wait a month and I am almost sure his school there is either 26 or 18 weeks long. He is training to do Avionics on the F-22 Raptor. It is a really cool job and he is really lucky to have it. He has always been extremely smart, but in high school and college he didn’t really apply himself, I can’t begin to tell you how good he is doing in this school and his school at Keesler. He gets mad when he misses 1 question on a test, I am so proud!! He seems to really enjoy learning about the F-22 and he is really passionate about doing good so we can put all this school behind us and start the fun part of our Air Force journey!


This is where this part of my story ends. He is currently still at Sheppard, scheduled to graduate January 21, 2010(possibly the week before)!! After his graduation we are moving to our first duty station, Holloman AFB in New Mexico! At first we wanted somewhere a bit more exciting but after lots of research we have found that Holloman actually has a lot to offer and we are really happy about moving out west! TJ gets to come home for Christmas December 20 – January 1, 2010!!

A little more on my past

My very exciting journey in this world began March 13, 1987 in Sweet Home Alabama! (I even have the thick southern accent to prove it!!) I was blessed in having the two most loving and caring parents I can imagine. I was raised to be an honest and opened-minded person and to seek the best in everyone. Unfortunately, My Dad/ best friend died June 5, 2000 of cancer, I was 13. Even though it was hard to say good-bye and I still miss him very much; I have his amazing life’s journey to thank for the person I am today. He is my role model. He lived every aspect of his life for God and everyone who got the honor to meet him loved him. He was a musician who could dazzle you with his voice or amaze you with his drumming skills, he could pick up any instrument and learn to play by ear…Unfortunately, I did not get my voice or musical talents from my dad. My Mom is an amazing woman; it would take me all day to tell you just how wonderful she is. In my 22 years I have yet to meet someone with as big of heart as hers and she has the outside beauty to match her inside beauty. Her smile and eyes can light up any room and she has a huge personality that everyone is drawn to! I have a big family and I love them all but when I think of the people who mean the most to me 2 of my aunts and 2 of my uncles come to mind. After my Dad died, my Mom and I were lost and with out the support of those 4 people I would not be here today. I also have a very special uncle that is mentally retarded but that has never stopped him for living for God and he means the world to me! I also have to admit that I have a criminal for a sister and she also helped mold me into the person I am. I learned how NOT to live my life by her example. The problem with her is that she is very nice, just very naïve and believes anyone, it is sad really. She has blessed this world with 4 beautiful children. My Mom (Ganna to the kids) has custody of all of them; Austin (12), Dawson (10), Dalton (7) and Alexus (3). My mom is now with Bruce and to be honest I really didn’t like that at first, but now I love him. He is one of the wisest men I have ever met; he can amaze you with his common sense and knowledge of this world and the Bible. He has 3 children; Bruce who has 3 kids, one step child and 1 grandbaby on the way, Stephanie who has 3 kids and Jessica who is one year younger than me and she has Destiny who is about to turn 4. I know Jessica the best and Destiny just lights up the world. I have a cousin, Dominique who holds a huge part of my heart in her hands, she is 14 and one of the most important people in my life. We help each other in so many ways I can’t even begin to explain. Not really sure while I felt so compeled to write this, I guess I just needed to get some stuff off of my chest.