So... It's Been A While.

Wow.  All I can say right now is: Wow.  Well, not really.  I've got lots more to say.  I can't believe it's been nearly 2 years since my last post!  I've been thinking a lot about this blog lately, so I've finally gathered the will and energy to write a new post.  I only hope I can keep it up as I like looking back every now and then.  Forgive me for being scatter-brained in this post... I just can't pin down what I want to write about since it's been so long and so much has happened.

Looking back, I think I've changed a lot throughout the past two years.  I mean, someone actually called me "outgoing" yesterday.  Outgoing.  Me?  Well, I guess I have gotten out of my shell a little.  Couch Surfing, military life and my job in the human services field have all had a hand in that. 

Since my last post, what happened?  Dave became 1st Lt (I don't know how to spell the word and I'm too lazy to check right now, so there.), we moved to Great Falls, MT (Malmstrom AFB) in October and we went on an awesome spontaneous backpacking trip via Space A (thank God for that great financial help!) and we wound up in Spain and Gibraltar.  We lived in a tiny rat hole of an apartment that must've been made out of rice paper in downtown Great Falls with the best neighbors in the world.  Oh, you know the type.  They kept us entertained with domestic fights (the cops were common guests) and were nice enough to grace us with lovely fumes of weed and cigarettes in the halls (mind you, it was supposed to be a smoke-free environment).  I was so happy when we finally found and bought a home, you have no idea.  I guess "living below our means," as the Rich Dad, Poor Dad dude puts it, paid off in the long run.

We have officially been in this home for a little over a year now.  Are we all settled?  Hah.  No.  We still have some boxes to go through and right now... I need to finish painting our bedroom.  I think it would've made more sense to get as settled as possible before we went and rescued Toby (Jack Russel Terrier) from the pound the day after we got the keys to our house!  It's ok.  If we waited any longer, we wouldn't have gotten him.  He was only at the shelter for 1 night.  He was an owner-turn-in due to them not being able to have pets... supposedly.  My guess is he was too high energy for them and they didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they got him, haha.   And then Dave surprised me with our little Koa on Christmas Day 2011.  Dave was super sweet and remembered me saying that as a little girl, I always wished for a little puppy for a Christmas present even though I knew we would never have a dog or any other pet... it was just known.  We had already discussed wanting another dog, but I thought we were going to wait until we at least had Toby for 1 full year.  Well, he surprised me with a male chocolate Cocker Spaniel, who was just 5.5 weeks old and barely had his eyes open.  His eyes were overtaken by his thick tan eyebrows anyway lol.  He's got a white chest and he is so adorable.  We actually just got him neutered.  He's now about 6 months old and finally stopped chewing EVERYTHING.  Now he's a little more selective and actually knows the word "no"!

On another note: A big recent change is that I am going to be a student again!  Woah.  I'm actually really excited.  And I'll be a University of Southern California Trojan.  Yuck.  Haha... See, you have to understand that after months of researching master's degrees, I finally decided to follow the pull towards social work.   I didn't want to do it entirely online, but I didn't want to go to the closest program to here as well.  The program is through Walla Walla University and required me to drive 3 hours to Missoula every weekend to fulfill their "distance" program there.  I stopped in and visited and it just didn't feel right, especially since the staff were kind of joking about being surprised  that they passed the national social work requirements to even have the program.  Although, I do know people who went through the program and really liked it.  And to be honest, they are really good at what they do.  So then anyway, I looked into online programs for social work.  Tough stuff.  It's so hard for schools to offer an MSW online due to its focus on community building and personal/professional face-to-face relationships.  Thus, only 3 schools offered an MSW online: USC, Boston University and University of North Dakota.  At first, I really wanted Boston University, but was really unimpressed with their communication and what appeared to be lack of organization.  UND's application wasn't due until June, so I completed BU and USC's application by the end of March.  Apparently, there was a hold up in my BU application because my recommenders needed to fill out an additional form.  BU told me I wouldn't even be considered to start until January 2013.  USC called and emailed me and helped me complete the application process (all I needed was another transcript).  I got accepted in April to start on 5.7.12, and I was really impressed with the beginning process enough so that I decided to not even worry about the other applications.  I wanted to start sooner so that I'd graduate sooner and we can be on track for baby making. :-)

Although the program is online, every class of mine will be face-to-face via webcam with no more than 10 students in each class.  So it's perfect for me.  I get the personal time and it's online.  The semester hasn't started yet, but I already feel like a legit student since we've had a live orientation and live tutorials already.  USC definitely tried to make the program as personable as possible, and I thank them for that.  There are countless ways for me and other students to contact and help each other - I like it!  So anyway, the reason why I said, "Yuck," earlier.  I didn't like USC as a kid because I went to a couple of Univ. of Hawaii vs. USC football games and I always thought the USC fans were mean and arrogant.  I guess I mixed it up with school pride?  And UH always lost... So I guess that just left a sour taste in my mouth.  But now, I'm starting to change my thinking.  Of course, not long after we learned I got into USC, Dave (the biggest football fan in the world) informed me that UH's first game of the season is against USC.  Oh boy.  Well, I think UH will always come first in my life, sorry USC!  UH is my home school! 

Like I mentioned earlier, I think I've changed quite a bit over the past couple of years.  Not so much changed as grown.  I think I finally knew what it was like to feel proud of myself.  I didn't think I'd get into USC.  I mean, it's not the top school in the nation, but ya know... I just thought I'd only be able to get into UND, if that at all.  Obviously, my self-esteem isn't very high.  But now, I think I respect myself a little more.  I'm just going to drown in school work, I know it.  I thank God that He's helped me to reach out to my fellow classmates and I've made some connections already so that it won't be so awkward for me asking for help in the future.  Well, I've got 6 more days until my first graduate class!  Wish me luck!