Done standing still!

I seriously think that when you turn twenty five, a light bulb goes off in your head. While I haven't been twenty five long, I feel as if I am finally starting to figure everything out. Not that I am a person that never has things figured out because I'm not. I have always been the girl that planned and planned and planned for EVERYTHING. In high school I of course thought about my future and what I would be when I grew up. We all think about who we are going to be. I was never that person that had that one thing that they were good at. Nowadays it seems like everyone is good at one thing and then they go to college for that one thing and then they do that one thing as a career for the next thirty some years. Since I didn't really know what that one thing was, I took the business type route because that was the route that my father took. I was so focused on getting my business degree from our community college and then transferring to our university to specialize in a more in depth business major, and then I met my husband.

I then became a military girlfriend, something I never thought I would be. Then I was in a long distance relationship which turned into me being a military fiancé and then a military wife. My whole outlook on the future changed. I was thinking about being a military wife and all of the responsibilities that came with it. I was thinking about the life that we would have together and all of the things I may have to sacrifice. I stopped thinking about my education and career. I literally only thought about marrying Jarrett and moving to Virginia with him. Well because my husband is so darn amazing, he continued to push me to obtain my education and then move with him, so I did. I finished my business degree from the community college and then transferred to the university. I then realized that I wanted to pursue a degree for me. I pursued my Bachelor's in English Literature instead. At that point, I just wanted to graduate with some sort of degree and move with my husband. I still really didn't care about anything except being with him.

Right now in my life, I have never been more determined to have a career and be a military wife at the same time. I am determined to show everyone that it can be done. As I've stated before, even with my degree, I have had a rough time finding the right full time job for me. I thought it would be easy and non-stressful, but I was so wrong. This was one big disaster that I had NEVER planned on. I found myself standing still, not knowing what to do. Well, I am not standing still anymore. After much considerable thought, I have decided to go for my Master’s online in either English or Business. I figure I will do it all online just in case we get transferred to another state. It will be so much easier for me to accomplish if I do it online. I do feel lucky to have any kind of job right now even if it is just retail, but I do intend on still trying to find a full time job. I wouldn't mind working full time and going to school at the same time. For the first time in a while, I feel like my head is on straight. I actually want to pursue a career in both of my fields. Not just one career, but possibly two. I think I want to obtain my Master's in Business Administration and work my way up the ranks at a really good company. I can honestly see myself being some sort of corporate queen. I wouldn't mind it at all. I could do so many things with a Master's in Business. Even my English degree would lend a hand in a business environment.

Aside from the whole business career, I really want to use my English degree meaningfully as well. Writing and reading has always been a passion of mine. This passion has never died in me. The biggest thing that I want to do in my life is write a book series. There are so many amazing authors out there and I want to be one of them. I want to be the female Nicholas Sparks. Honestly I do. His books are so inspiring and the stories are phenomenal. I could only be so lucky to come up with stories as wonderful as his. I either want to write a romance series or a series for teen girls. I'm not sure quite yet, but I want to write something incredible. I use to think that I wanted to have a publishing career and help discover those remarkable authors, but after a lot of thought, I really want to be one of those authors. Who knows, maybe this blog will be turned into a book. Hey a girl can dream right, and this girl is certainly dreaming. Okay I have certainly rambled on long enough about further education and career aspirations. I just had to get it all out there and boy do I sure feel better.

Katie<3

Visits!

Caroline and I at my wedding

Chris, Matt and I

I love when we get a ton of visitors in a row. It's amazing how much time we've gotten to spend with our families even though we live three hours away from them. Over the past two weeks Jarrett and I have gotten to spend a lot of time with our awesome siblings. First, Jarrett's sister Caroline came to visit. Jarrett's mom and step-dad moved here to Virginia at the beginning of the year so she also came to spend time with them. Caroline is the closest I have come to having a sister and I really missed her. It was so nice to just hang out at Jarrett's parents house with her as a family like old times. Her and I also went shopping, got some yummy froyo and then her, Jarrett and I went to Busch Gardens. Perfect.

Our next visit consisted of my older brother, Matt, coming for the weekend. He hadn't been to visit in almost a year so it was about time he came. I had to work a ton that weekend, but he did get to spend some quality time with Jarrett. They just hung out and did "guy" stuff. haha. On that Saturday when I got off work, we went to Busch Gardens. Yeah we have season passes there so we go a lot. I love living so close to Williamsburg. We road a ton of roller coasters, ate amazing food at The Smokehouse and then had some delicious sweets at the sweet shop. I seriously can't go there without getting chocolate covered oreos or chocolate covered smores. Amazing. It was a short trip, but it was enough for Matt to clear his mind of some unnecessary stuff happening in his life.

Our last visit was my younger brother Chris and his girlfriend Erin. Erin wasn't able to meet Leo when we picked him up in Maryland, so this was perfect timing. She is a huge dog lover, so of course, Leo really took to her. They have a strong bond now. Anyways, Jarrett had to go to work as soon as they got in to town, so I got to spend the day with them. I took them to our favorite sub place, Firehouse Subs, then we went to Peninsula Town Center, our outdoor mall. We then chilled at the house with Leo and later I took them to Cancun, the best mexican restaraunt next to La Tolteca in Maryland. Delicious. They left the next day to go spend time with Erin's grandparents who also live in Hampton.

All in all, it was wonderful to get to spend all this time with my sister in law and brothers. I love my families so much. I am so greatful to have these people in my life.

Katie<3

7 years ago sometime this month!

Us when we were 18!

Us 7 years later at 25!

I can't remember the exact day in June that we met for the first time, but I know it was in June. We were 18 when we met at the restaurant that we worked at. We knew eachother for 8 months before Jarrett finally asked me on a date. Took him long enough. Haha! Yeah, there's not really too much of a difference in the pictures above, but I really do think we look older in the second one. I somewhat feel that 18 year old mentality in the first picture and that "we're a bit wiser now" feeling in the second. And we are wiser now. We have been through SO much in these past 7 years. I would literally be here forever if I tried to retrace our steps. We have grown from two immature 18 year olds who had no clue to two strong willed 25 year olds who are working hard towards hopes and dreams. We have had to learn a lot of things the hard way, but we learned them and are better for them. We had to grow up FAST. Military life came way too fast. We were dating one minute and then before I knew it, he went off to boot camp and we were married four years later. Where does the time go? It's amazing how the years just fly by. Pretty soon we'll be starting a family of our own, our kids will be grown and then we'll be grandparents before we even know it. Yikes I'm getting way too ahead of myself. But this is all so true. Life moves so quick. Even though it seems fast, I can't wait for the next 7 years and forever with Jarrett. I can't wait till we are old, sitting on the porch in our rocking chairs at 6 o'clock in the morning, watching the sun come up.

Katie<3

A weekend of childhood reminiscing!

Okay okay...I've been really bad at updating lately. I'm just going to go ahead and blame it on the puppy. I have literally had my hands full with him when I'm not at work. Jarrett and I are on opposite work schedules right now, so when I'm coming home, he's going to work. This means I have the whole entire evening with Leo until Jarrett gets home at midnight. Needless to say, I'm a bit exhausted. Anyway, this past weekend was mini vacation time for me. Jarrett wasn't able to come because he got sick at the last minute. Total bummer, but the weekend was still amazing just the same. Every summer since I was a kid, my dad would take my brothers and me camping or white water rafting. Now that we are all grown up, we have kind of left the whole camping trip every summer thing on the back burner. I had decided that it was time to go back to it. Although my brothers couldn't make it this time, I was able to spend some quality time with my dad and, for once, there was a woman on the trip, my dad's long time girlfriend, Kelly. Every summer we went it was always just me and the boys, no other girls or women at all. This time was really nice to have another female to hang with. I needed this weekend so bad. I needed to get away and enjoy the fresh air. I needed to clear my head. I didn't have a care in the world for once. I didn't mind at all just spending time with my dad, one on one. Going back to Cherrystone with my dad brought back so many memories. All these thoughts came flowing back all at once. Things that I hadn't thought about since I was twelve. Yes it had been twelve years since I had been there. We took many strolls around the campsite while we were there. My dad even remembered so many things that I remembered. Me falling off my bike and skinning my knee pretty bad. Me crabbing for the very first time. My dad taking us to get ice cream at the Little Neck Cafe. My little brother and I making our own tye dye shirts at the craft center. Playing tennis together as a family. Riding paddle boats together. My dad making his famous hobo meals for dinner. There are a ton more memories, and I could go on forever, but then I would be writing a book. It was a simple weekend full of the simple things in life. It was one of those weekends that reminded me of just how blessed I truly am and how blessed I've been my whole life.

Katie<3

Home sweet home!

This weekend was full of puppy shenanigans, great family time and of course, great food! Saturday was the big day. At 2 o'clock Jarrett and I would officially be the owners of Leo. So excited and nervous all at the same time. My heart was literally pounding as we drove to the breeder's house. Yep, this is just another thing to stress me out. I might just be posting random rants here and there about the fun process of puppy training. Beware. Besides our new addition, we got to spend some time with my brothers and we all went to Red Roost for dinner that night. For those of you that don't know, Red Roost is one of the best places in the world to get crabs. Going to dinner there is one of my favorite past times from living in Maryland. It is a summer must for the whole family. After dinner, my sister in law, Caroline, came over. I haven't seen her in forever, so it was certainly awesome to get to spend some time with her. We played with Leo then went to Cold stone to get some delicious ice cream. Great times like always. On Sunday my dad had a cookout full of beef brisket, BBQ ribs, potato salad, baked beans and lemon pie. I'm telling you, every time I come home my dad cooks like there is no tomorrow. He always makes so much food and then sends half of the leftovers back to Virginia with me. I'm not complaining though. After lunch it was time to brace the three hour ride back home with an eight week old puppy. Yeah, he wined and howled a lot, but for the most part he slept. I must say, the past couple of nights with him have been pretty darn exhausting, but I know they will get better. I wouldn't trade him for the world!

Katie<3