I love you...

I posted this picture on Facebook from Dougie's graduation. Everyone loved it! Him looking up at us in the crowd and signing "I Love You" seemed to melt all your hearts. As I promised, there is a story pertaining to this picture. I'll never forget the day when he was in fourth grade and he got to that point where he was too big to kiss his mother good-bye for school in front of everyone. It's the day we lose our babies for good! So, I showed him the sign for I Love You and he decided that was okay to do when we said good-bye. And that is what we did everyday when he left my car and entered the school building. It then followed onto the football field. When his team took the field, the first thing he did was find me and sign I Love You. When he flew for the first time last year by himself, I didn't leave until he got through security and he turned around and signed, I Love You. So, last Saturday when he looked up and signed I Love You, it was a natural thing to do. It's been our thing for many years. In fact, I do the very same thing with Cameron. Just because they are boys and don't want that physical attention from Mom anymore doesn't mean they can't be affectionate in their own way. I love it, and wouldn't change a thing!

Homeless...

First, let me explain the process of our military move to Germany. There are three shipments we are allowed. First is household goods (HHG) which is the bulk of the move. This shipment gets put on a ship and makes the long trek across the Atlantic Ocean. Second, is unaccompanied baggage. These are items you don't want to travel with but need to have around, such as extra clothing and handy housewares and are put on a plane to Germany. Last, there is storage which will sit here in the states until we move back and include our washer, dryer, and our extra fridge. 

We had reserved our dates of when the movers were to come. On Monday we were expecting the unaccompanied baggage movers, however the HHG movers came instead. To say I was unprepared is an understatement! I was planning on packing our suitcases Monday after the movers left. I had NOTHING packed. After a little (okay, maybe huge) meltdown I kicked it into gear and went through each room of the house one room at a time grabbing what I needed and then allowing the packers to come in and pack up the room after me. It worked out, but I think I aged 5 years in the process. 

We are currently staying in temporary lodging on Ft. Bragg until we leave North Carolina next Thursday. I still have a full schedule as relatives have come into town for Douglas's graduation this weekend. But, the physical packing and moving our household items are done. 

It's always comfortable when they pack your furniture

My wall of boxes in the kitchen

Living Room

Our dinner among the boxes. Cam is thrilled, right?!

This is Tuesday loading up the crates on the truck

New Bern, NC and Ocracoke Lighthouse

2009 was our first summer in North Carolina. The first time we went out to explore the coast we saw Cape Lookout Lighthouse and I thought it was so cool. At that time I made a goal of seeing every lighthouse in NC and I can say after 4 years, I finally have. On Saturday we spent the day in New Bern, NC. They have a neat historical downtown that is located right on the water. We spent the afternoon walking around and checking out the scenery. Cameron is the only Pepsi drinker in our house and thought it was so neat that New Bern was the birthplace of Pepsi. Yesterday we then made our way to Ocracoke Island to see Ocracoke Lighthouse. It is a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to the island. Once we made it to the island we saw the lighthouse, ate a yummy lunch, shopped, and took in the scenery. The Island itself was a little too busy and touristy for my taste. Growing up in a tourist town, I don't like vacationing in these kind of spots. Give me peace and quiet any day!

Cam in front of Bradham Pharmacy where Pepsi was invented

My fellas in front of Ocracoke Lighthouse

Cam enjoying his crab legs

Look at this pretty lady! 

Bald Head Island

As our time in North Carolina is coming to a close we are trying to get in as much beach time as possible. We are going to miss the beach. If you have never gone and are looking for an awesome summer vacation, consider the North Carolina coast. Yesterday we went to Bald Head Island. We just planned on seeing the lighthouse, but the island was so cool. We ended up renting a golf cart to explore and got some swimming in as well. We had a great time!

Old Baldy Lighthouse

The road around the island 

Marsh land in the middle of the Island

The beach

Season of Change

As our move to Germany approaches, to say I feel unprepared is an understatement. I keep adding things to our to-do list without ever marking anything off. I need a couple of house fairies to appear and help me! I was going to work until the end of May, but forgot I had to ship our vehicle. Logistically there is no way for me to work with only one car between Doug and myself. This will also give me 2 weeks to get the house in order before the movers come the first week of June.  I have to split everything up as there are 3 different movers coming. One will be for storage items, such as our washer, dryer, and fridge that we can’t take with us and will be stored here in the States during our time overseas. The second set of movers will be for unaccompanied baggage. This is for things we need to live our daily lives, such as basic kitchen items and clothing. This shipment gets there relatively fast. The last shipment is our household goods which includes everything else and will take 2 months.

So, the movers will be at our house the first week of June. That weekend Douglas will be graduating from high school and that following Wednesday Doug will start flying to Germany and the boys and I will be going to South Dakota. Douglas has been accepted into the Summer Bridge program for freshman at SDSU and will begin classes on July 22^nd. Cameron and I will then start traveling to Germany in early August.

My main goal for this week is to get my car shampooed before I ship it out. It is 6 years old and has hauled many stinky, sweaty boys and has never been shampooed before. It will sit on a ship, in a metal storage container for 6 weeks while it goes across the Atlantic and I don’t want anything to grow in there during that time. Is that gross or what?!?!
 

How I Walked Away From Student Loans

I just read an article titled "3 Ways to Avoid a Student Loan Debt Crisis". I thought it was a great article as a lot of my friends I graduated with in the spring will soon be dealing with that monthly payment. Here is the link

3 Ways to Avoid a Student Loan Debt Crisis

In my opinion, the best way to avoid student loan debt is to not take any. It can be done! I did it. Here is how:

• When I first started I attended community colleges and took as many classes I possibly could in this setting. I was even ridiculed saying that nobody would take me seriously because I attend community college. I beg to differ! While attending community college my actual books were more expensive than tuition and being a non-traditional student it was a friendly setting for me. I don't feel like I received any less of an education because I took my basic classes there.
• Speaking of books, instead of paying for the obscene prices at the book store I purchased my books from a website call bigwords.com. This site would scour the web and find the sites where the book was being sold and listed them from cheapest to most expensive. I probably saved hundreds of dollars using this site. Also, I would re-sell them after the semesters on Amazon and get premium dollar. There was more than one occasion where I made money!
• Once I utilized all options at the community college level, I transferred to a university. I picked a university not because of it's name or prestige, but one that was affordable and offered me what I needed. I could have went to the more prestigious university on the other side of the street but I would have paid triple the costs and their business program didn't even have the high accreditation as the one I chose. 
• I also took advantage of the school's payment plan. For a very small fee it allowed me to make my tuition payments on a monthly basis during that semester.
• If I had a semester where I could only pay for 4 classes instead of 5, that is what I did. Yes, it took me a little longer to complete my degree but I have no regrets.  
• Once I was at the university level I was more active in pursuing scholarships and grants. There were two grants I found that applied to me and helped immensely! In fact, one of my semesters was free.
• Lastly, when I needed help instead of walking into the financial aid office I got a job. One time I worked in a shoe store (not fun!) and then I worked on campus. Would it have been much easier on myself to just take a loan? Sure! But I just kicked in my time management skills. 

I am very proud of myself for sticking it out and getting my degree, but I have to honestly say that I am really proud I graduated with no student loan debt. Please understand I am not putting anyone down if you took loans, but I just wanted to share how I did it. Although I did not use my husband's GI Bill, the two grants I received were solely because I am a military spouse. In addition, my husband has a decent income and he shared it with me. 

I do know for many, student loans are inevitable and are a great resource for getting an education. But I do see too many instances where students walk away with an exuberant amount of loans and got a degree that does not compensate for it. This was addressed in the article.

I am working full-time and come January, I will start my graduate program. Looking ahead, I should be able to pay for schooling without going into debt. I will be attending the same university as I can not beat the price and the graduate program I will be studying in is ranked very highly and has the coveted accreditation I look for. 

Checking In

My life feels very "in limbo" right now. I have been very busy but with nothing exciting. It seems all I do is just countdown the days until Doug gets here for his R&R (by the way is 20 days, give or take a day).  I should do a better job of posting and I promise to TRY and do better.

Last weekend the boys and I drove to our favorite beach, Onslow. The reason why we love it so much is because it is on a Marine base, Camp Lejune, and we don't have to deal with tourists and crowds. Over the summer my cousin Joe, who is a Marine, relocated there. So, we spent a night with him and his family which was great. I can't tell you how nice it is just knowing family is only 2 hours away! I had a good time talking, catching up, and reminiscing about when we were children living in North Dakota. You know...the Good Ole' Days!

Douglas had a rough week. He dislocated his thumb during football practice. Thankfully he did not fracture it, but still is out for a while. Hopefully he will be cleared to play after his follow-up appointment Thursday with his doctor.

Douglas and I also got to preview his senior pictures this week on his photographers blog page. Click HERE to go check them out. I'm excited to see them all later this week.

Cameron started football practice this week. I'm telling you, between the two boys this is always the most stressful time of year but I sure do enjoy watching my boys out on the field. I will work on getting some pictures of them in their football gear.