Bye, bye hubby.

Well Jake left yesterday morning for training. I wish I could say that I was really strong about it but I cried like a little baby. For me, the hardest part is right when he actually leaves and we have to say goodbye. I absolutely hate when he is gone! Usually at work I just look forward to coming home and hanging out with him. He really is my best friend and we have fun doing just about anything (or nothing at all) but now I just come home to Bailey and homework. On that note though, I am so thankful to have Bailey. Yesterday she comforted me and snuggled on the couch with me when I was missing Jake. We go on walks and take naps together and she is so wonderful to have around. I even find myself talking to her sometimes...that's weird right? 

Anyways, this training time for Jake won't be too bad and I think he is going to try to come home for Easter weekend in 2 weeks which would be so wonderful! Basically he is gone for 6 weeks in Alabama and then back for 2 weeks and then we are apart again for 8 weeks while he is in Colorado and I am in California. I am definitely being introduced to the downside of the military. I know that I am independent and perfectly capable of being okay on my own but I still feel like a part of me is missing when he is gone. These next few months will be the longest time we have ever been apart :( Oh well, at least I am keeping busy.

Jake seems to be doing just fine with being apart. I am a believer in the saying that it is easier to be the one leaving then the who to be left. He is enjoying a change in his daily schedule and being out of Columbus for some time. Its good that he is busy because I know he has been so bored lately waiting for training to start. He has also had a rough month in that 2 of his grandparents passed away. Please keep his family in your prayers as this is a hard time for all of them. 

Well theres my updates for this gloomy Monday. The weekend went by too fast!  

10 Random Things About Mississippi

Here are 10 things so far that I have learned about Mississippi that I am not used to (Please note that this excludes people that live on base and is referring to true Mississippians only).

1. Everyone here has accents; I mean thick, slow accents. It is becoming a problem for me because whenever I am around it, I unknowingly start to mimic it. I don't realize it until someone points out that I have just picked up an accent out of nowhere. Its awful when I am making phone calls at work and sometime during the conversation I get an accent. Really though, by the end of the work day I sound like I have lived here my whole life. It never sticks though (at least not yet). Once I get back on base or talk to people from home, I am back to my normal self.  
2. I have never seen so many strange, huge flying bugs in my life. Its getting warmer here and with that the bugs are coming out all over. I recognize the mosquitoes and bees (although I usually don't see them in such huge  quantities) but there are tons of other weird colored, noisy bugs that I have never seen. I'm sure people are amused when I start screaming and running from a huge bug that is probably harmless (Hey, better safe then sorry!). 
3. The weather here is crazy and sporadic, which is so much different than the never-changing weather of LA. I actually really like this part about Mississippi. One week here it was 80 on Monday and snowing on Saturday. Every day the weather is a surprise and wow do we get it all! It's fun to see seasons and rain and snow. One thing that is not great about the weather is the humidity. Anytime it gets hot it gets muggy and humid. It's that kind of feeling where you feel like you can't breathe. I can't  imagine what it will be like in the summer when its 100 degrees and 100% humidity...eek! Good thing I'll be gone for 2 months of it. 
4. I think that the first thing that surprised me about Mississippi is that there are more trailer homes than regular houses. It's normal for a large family to live in a small beat up trailer. Seriously, thats the norm here. There are tons of trailer parks and dealerships and people seem honestly quite content with trailer life. 
5. One great thing about Mississippi and the South in general is that people are so nice and hospitable and genuinely want to get to know you. Its strange to me that anywhere I go, complete strangers start to talk with me about everything going on in their lives. It really annoyed me at first (probably because people in LA stay in their bubbles and do not talk to strangers at the store) but now that I've gotten used to it I find myself doing it too. 
6. This is random but I think its so weird. When you are in a public restroom here there are NO toilet seat covers! I have yet to see one of those dispensers since I've been here. That is so weird to me and is so unsanitary. Seriously, thats strange right?
7. The big grocery store chain here is Kroger. I had never heard of a Kroger before and am used to things like Albertsons or Vons, but out here its Kroger all the way. Apparently its one of the biggest grocery chains in America. Shows how much I've been out of California...
8. It always surprises me to hear the use of the word ma'am. People are so courteous and respectful when they talk. Ma'am is used so naturally by the men here and I like it! 
9. In Mississippi, nobody is in a hurry to get anywhere. This is completely opposite of everything I am used to and completely opposite of me. Where as I am always sticking to a strict schedule and am always on time for things, people here don't seem to be aware of the time. They care more about the quality spent with what they are doing then meeting a deadline. Again, this was very annoying to me at first but now I am kind of starting to become somewhere in the middle of these two extremes and I am a much happier person because of it. In LA everyone and everything is always go, go, go!
10. My last one is really funny to me and it is that Mississippians have a completely wrong view of California. Not joking, almost every person I've met (outside of base) has asked me if I met a lot of celebrities in California. They also say things like "I bet you miss living on the beach" or "How big was your house there?" I always laugh and try to explain to them that I grew up in the middle of nowhere in central California and that even when I was in LA, I never saw celebrities and maybe got to the beach once a month. They are completely shocked at this and it makes me laugh. 

Well, there is some info about my new home here in M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I! I'm sure I'll have much more to add to this list as time goes on.

Monday morning blues.

Wow! What a wonderful weekend. Not that anything particularly exciting happened but I just have never valued weekends so much. See, this is the first time I have ever had a typical 8-5, Mon-Fri job and so I'm beginning to see why Friday afternoons are so exciting and why Monday mornings are so gloomy. Its not that I don't like my job or anything but weekends are fun. Its nice that having a job makes me appreciate the time I do get to spend at home with Jake or with friends. 

Although I am getting sad already that this will be my last week with Jake for a long long time. He is gone in Alabama from March 29 to May 8 and then comes home for 2 weeks. Then we will be apart again for 2 months (June and July) while he is in Colorado for his initial flight school. I know I am supposed to get used to this, being that we are in the military but it is so hard. I hope that we can find a weekend or two during his first training while he is close in a Alabama for me to come visit or for him to come home. Oh gosh, I just hate thinking about how hard it is going to be to be apart...

As for this weekend, we had a lot of fun. Jake and I went to assignment not on base which is like a big party where the current class who is finishing training gets their next assignments. Our neighbors were getting their assignments and both got their first choices! Very exciting! One will be heading to McChord (near Seattle) and the other is headed to McQuire in New Jersey. Both are great bases so we are very excited for them. It is sad though that two of our closest friends will be leaving in just about a month. Anyways, Friday night Jake and I went out to this great restaurant for dinner and relaxed with a movie. Saturday was filled with lots of spring cleaning. Our house was in desperate need of some deep cleaning so Jake and I just turned on some loud music and cleaned away! It felt great afterwards to have such a clean and nice house. After that I settled in for an exciting night of homework (woo!). Yesterday we went to sunday school and church and went out to lunch with our sunday school group. I always look forward to going out to lunch with everyone after church on sundays. I really love our church group! Yesterday afternoon Jake and I were invited to a BBQ at a house right around the corner. The nice thing about living on base is that everyone can walk to eachother's houses. The weather was great for the BBQ (it was mid 70's) so we just ate lots of food and played outdoor games. There was about 15 of us there, most of whom are either going to be in Jake's training class or in the one right before his. It was nice to hang out with a big group of people that are in the same position as us, having just got here and waiting for training to start. Everyone was so nice and it made me realize how much fun we are going to have with these people over the next few years. Sunday night, I did another 4 hours of homework and tried to get to bed at a decent hour.

This leads me into the Monday morning blues. Waking up at 6:30 after sleeping in all weekend is no fun at all and even coffee did not seem to help this morning. All in all though it has been a good morning and I'm excited for a brand new week!

A much needed update.

I know I have left everyone hanging for a while now on my life out here in Mississippi. In the last week, my life has gone from boring to busy and its wonderful. I'll start with the big things first...

I got a job! Not just a college job or a random job, but a real grown-up, 9 to 5, career job! A lady in my Bible Study told me about this company that she works for and said that they might be hiring. I told her that right now it would be hard to get hired for me because I am leaving for 2 months this summer and I don't technically have my degree for a few more months. I told her though to definitely recommend me and at the very least I could brush up on my interview skills. I sent them my resume and they called first for a phone interview. The next day (last Friday) they called me back and asked me to come in Monday morning for a formal interview. I went in for the interview and they actually hired me on the spot and I started working that day! Isn't it crazy how God works? I wasn't even looking for a job (even though I desperately wanted to work) and I was convinced that there were no jobs out here suitable for a career. It seemed like God found this job and then just handed it to me. You're probably wondering what the job  is by now. It is at an advertising and PR firm called Quest Group. They do anything and everything from event planning to print ads to commercials to consulting. Basically they do everything that I went in to business school hoping to do when I graduated. Also what's great is that both the owners of the business are Christians and so are most of the employees. That makes for a great work atmosphere. It is about a 20 minute commute from base which is not bad at all considering base is already 15 minutes out of the nearest town. Right now they have me in a temporary position managing the office. I am doing just about anything I can to learn the business including helping with accounting and client files, to assisting on accounts and presentation preparation. For the next few months until I leave for the summer they are basically trying to get to know me and my where my strengths are. They also want me to get to know the company and how every detail works in the different departments. When I come back in August, the plan is that they will move me into a permanent salaried position working on my own accounts in whatever area of marketing they feel best suits me.

I can't describe how wonderful it is to be working again. While I don't enjoy waking up at 6:30 every morning, I feel so wonderful and productive and needed every day. I am doing something beneficial with my time and helping bring in extra income for Jake and I.

The reason though that my life has become extra busy is because I am working full time and still doing my 12 units of classes online. This means that for the next month I will be working all day and doing homework at night. It actually worked out okay though because Jake leaves for training in a week and won't be home for 6 weeks. Me being busy will help a lot to keep my mind off of missing him and being lonely. Once again, God's timing is amazing and perfect!

Jake is doing good too. He is really not looking forward to going to this training thats coming up but he has to get it over with before he can start flying. He's been wonderful this week at helping me adjust to my new schedule. I don't have as much time to take care of the house and the meals as I did before I was working and he has been doing so much around the house to help me out. It is so wonderful to have a husband that supports me having a career. He values me and my goals for what I want to do and who I want to become. He was so excited about me getting the job and says he can already see a difference in my daily attitude and self worth. I don't know what I am going to do without him for 6 weeks... Let's not think about yet.

Our little puppy is somehow not a puppy anymore. Bailey is pretty much full grown now and no longer looks like a puppy, but she is still so darn cute! She has been in puppy training school now for 3 weeks (she goes once a week) and she has 5 weeks to go. It's amazing how much professional training has made on her and on us. She is so smart and loves learning tricks and doing lessons. She is slowly growing out of the puppy craziness and into a wonderful and well behaved dog (Yeah, I know, we never thought that the day would come, Ha!). I'm excited for her to come home with me this summer. I am so attached to her and couldn't imagine being away from both her and Jake this summer. Oh and we did finally get our fence up and wow, that has made such a difference. It is really nice because now that I working she can stay outside and play in the yard all day instead of being cooped up in the house.

Well, I think thats a pretty good update for now. I'm actually feeling excited and motivated to start writing again so check back soon!

Can't seem to write...

I have not posted in so long! Its not that I've forgotten, but I've just been avoiding posting updates for no good reason. Hopefully I will get some inspiration to write again soon. Sorry if you keep checking back...I promise I am not stopping my blog, just taking a bit of a vacation :)