little miss majah

I never really used to like animals as a kid. I got tired of them really fast. Even as I got older, the furthest I'd go was fish, and I went pretty far into that. Strange as it sounds, I was pretty committed to those fish. I stayed up all night to fan water into one's gills because it was paralyzed. And I put my brothers fish in solitary confinement for making my fish's life miserable.

When I was in middle school, my brother bought a dog. We named him Soljah, because all of our dogs were ranks and we just ran out so we went with soljahboy. Oh man, did I like playing with and training that dog. But he wasn't mine... and when the time came to turn him over to my brother, I let go. Sometimes I regret it. It's one of the few that I have in my life, and to this day I can barely stand to see what I let happen to him. When we moved here he was tied to a tree and attacked and I didn't think he was going to make it. Thankfully, he did. I decided to get a new dog to watch the house we just moved into since Soljah was so badly injured and getting old, and to keep me company since Dats was leaving and I was always home alone. That's how I ended up with Majah.

She was supposed to stay out on the porch where she could watch the house and be safe from those vicious boonie dogs. But I couldn't stand keeping her out there and feeling like if I did she'd just end up outside like all the rest. So she became my best friend. Dats and I took turns walking her every 4 hours, and then every morning at 4 am he would get up and take her out and then I'd take her before I go to work, and then I'd rush home to see her again. I'd take her jogging every night to meet up with him after his workout. I gave her expensive medication that was wayy out of a college students budget everyday for months to get rid of her mange, and I got my first speeding ticket rushing home to let her out of her kennel. She'd make this funny chewbacca noise in the mornings when I'd be too lazy to get out of bed... and when ever I'm away for too long, she sticks to me like glue when I come home. I go to use the bathroom and when I open the door she practically falls inside. She spent her first night away from home the night before she got spayed, and on Saturday will be her last night. She's been on me like a magnet since she's been back... Sometimes I wonder if she knows what's happening. Dats says she can probably tell somethings up because she always does this when I'm sick, she just hangs out in my room with me even if the door is open and I'm just sleeping. My only solace is she'll be going to a wonderful home.
I was never really an animal person... I get tired of things incredibly fast. There are things I love for one month and hate the next... but I never got tired of coming home to her. And I can't believe she won't be here waiting when I come home again.

I love you Majah. I know your new family will love you just as much as we did. And thank you for being my friend.

Majah keeping guard

Taken as I write this blog entry,next to my bed just like ol faithful.



I bet my baby would love her.

Our own little fruit basket!

Hello readers! I know it's been awhile since I've written, and trust me, it's not without reason. I know you all are just getting to know me, so I'll add a little backdrop to this story before I tell you why I'm so excited.

Last year, I was diagnosed with PCOS. In short, my hormones were all screwy, resulting in weight gain, changes in my hair and face, and it was difficult to lose the weight I was putting on. Apparently I may have had it as early as middle school, when my severely irregular periods first started, but it was masked as I joined sports to maintain a healthy weight and was put on BCP to regulate it. I got off the pills about a year ago, as I thought that might be what was the reason it was so difficult for me to drop the weight I was gaining, only to find out there was a deeper problem. The doctor told me that my body and hormones were not in the right mix to have kids anytime soon, and I was put on medication to remedy it. I love kids, and I've always wanted a family, so this was pretty crushing. A lot of crying took place, and my poor husband (we weren't married yet) took the brunt of it and he stood by me and always calmed me down... and he waited with me as I did whatever I could to just address the situation. Eventually I was taken off the medication, and told not to expect anything for awhile as my body was still normalizing. By now I've already kind of adjusted to the fact that we may have to wait for awhile and to the fact that we may not be able to have kids of our own at all. I tried to look at it as a chance for us to have time for just the two of us before we started a family, and that made things a little easier.

Fastforward to this July, we get married, and as of a few weeks ago, we find out we're expecting! I'm so excited, nervous, happy, but most of all I'm grateful. I let go and I let God, and as always, he knows when we're ready more than we know ourselves. I sometimes still can't believe how unbelievably blessed I am... to have a loving and supportive  family, a husband who stands by me in my most difficult hours, and now for this opportunity for us to start a family of our own. We've already came up with a name if it's a girl : Mara / Maia Elizabeth. (goddess of springtime and God's Promise)

I was going to wait until I was at least 2-3 months along, but my parents can't seem to hold it in so I might as well spill before I have no one left to tell! It's going to be a long and difficult journey ahead, seeing as Dats will be deployed, we're currently 8000 miles apart, and I'll be in the process of moving, but it's all doable. By the time he gets home I'll be about 7-8 months along so he won't miss EVERYTHING. (He's already wanting me to come out now so he can "help") I don't know what he could do aside from get me food though. I think he really just wants to be here for us, and he feels bad that he can't, and I think he's going to be a great father even though he's worried he won't be. So far he's been an amazing husband and partner, far or near. I couldn't ask for more.

work and working out.

My cousins left, the final signal that summer is coming to an end. I miss you guys already, especially considering you're my only followers at the moment.
 I normally use the first day of school as the signal, but that no longer matters to me, because I'm DONE! Done attending here, anyway. We'll see what Georgia's got going on , and if I have time considering I plan on flooding myself with extracurricular activities when I get there. I plan on taking up knitting, for example. Practical and calming, or so I've read. I'll be able to make meaningful personalized gifts for everyone! I think my hands need to things other than typing, and this ought to be good exercise. 


I've just been moved up at work again, and I suppose I can't complain! It's a lot more work and responsibility, but I think I need that right now. I don't want to get lazy now that school's over. I'm easing back into my work out routine as well, to keep me occupied at night. I usually workout alone, mainly because it gives me time to think and really get in tune with myself. I tried doing some basic yoga poses and a few months really takes a toll on flexibility, so I'm starting up on that too. My goal is to lose my last 20 without gym equipment or drastic changes to my lifestyle. I know myself, and any major changes = major bounce back. My previous method worked quite well, I lost weight consistently for months and have kept it off since then. Another reason I want to get more fit? I can't wait to do the Warrior Dash next year with my husband, cousin, and brother! I refuse to be the one lagging behind. I have good endurance, it's my speed I need to work on. Speed and upper body! I can walk, jog, and squat all day but I don't recall ever being able to do a pull-up. Better if I lay out goals, just to solidify things, isn't it? Here they are.

1. Do 5 pull-ups
2. Get to size 7 by January 2012
3. Complete the Warrior Dash with my family

I considered doing the Zombie run being held in MD this October (my brother's joining it!), but I won't be able to make it. My new passport isn't in yet, and I've got this new thing at work, so I'm kind of stuck. I also watched the trailer and will admit that it freaked me out. I seriously do not like being followed, much less chased. I'm a big zombie fan, but I'm not down for that. I'd be terrified. It sounded more fun than it looked. I'll just stick to watching the movies, thank you.

I guess it's work and working out until I get on the plane!

Note: I'm using the Georgia font, how fitting!

The weekend is over...

and thankfully it's been a busy one. I finished 2 books (I miss reading, I picked it up again now that I'll be moving to a place that has bigger libraries and Books-a-million), spent time with my cousins, took care of a few errands, did some more research on my soon-to-be-home, and started making arrangements for my departure. 

I've had a lot of time to prepare for leaving so I've been trying to do it in tiny baby steps. Like with the paperwork, the easy stuff is out of the way. I've sorted through my things, and separated what I'm bringing, what I'm selling, and what I'm giving away. Some of my things have been sold at the fleamarket, others sent to the Philippines. Used that money to purchase and pack the big things I know I won't be able to find in Georgia, namely

Walis Tingting / Coconut Broom

Soft Broom

Kamyu Blade (It's for grating coconuts, you attach it to a small stool, sit on it like a horse and grate away.) I'll make you some coconut candy if we ever meet =)

Everything else will be pretty easy to part with, or to put in storage. I won't be bringing much because we're paying my relocation out of pocket. We postponed the wedding due to a family emergency, and since I wasn't included in his orders to his current duty station, it's complicated things a bit. In the long run it may have been a better move for me to stay though, since I was able to finish up and get my degree, continue various projects at work, and to get all my junk here squared away before moving. It's given me some extra time to find a job out there, at the very least. ( I still haven't found one. Hopefully that will change soon as I do like to work and keep busy)

The hardest part for me will be letting go of this sweet girl.

Since she was a puppy until she's had puppies of her own. I'd bring her with me but right now it just isn't in our budget to relocate her and then pay an additional pet deposit, and we'd need a place with a yard... I feel terrible about leaving her, so much so that I sometimes try to distance myself. It's difficult when I've had a long day and I come home and she's always waiting for me with a smile though... then she ends up back in the room with me. My jogging partner, my security system, my morning alarm. I now understand why Dats misses her so much. I haven't even left yet and I miss her already.

 Mommy's trying to find you a good home Majah.

Sleepover!

Today was a productive day! I've been car-less for the last 2 weeks or so, so whenever I get a ride or a car I try to jam-pack whatever I can into the day. Today I took the day off to spend it with my cousins who will be heading back to California in a few days. We headed to the usual spots so that they could buy "pasalubong" or "gifts/souvenirs" for home. We picked up a mango lava and some Yogurtland before we went to ABC Stores and Chamorro Village. I ended up buying shrimp pad thai for another cousin who's celebrating her 20th birthday tomorrow!
Not sure what else to write for now because I'm getting distracted by cable (I haven't had cable for almost 2 years now) so when it's on I go into a trance. I'll be back with more for you when I can remember what I wanted to say!

here comes the paperwork.

Quick background before I dive into the fun stuff. Dats and I got married mid-July, just before my birthday, and then he left a little more than a week later. Prior to that, we haven't seen each other aside from 2 weeks in September last year, and a few weeks in the spring before that. We've been together for about 6 years before the whole military picture, but as a military baby I'm accustomed to long breaks, paperwork, and never knowing what's next. I really didn't expect him to join, but I fully support him as I always have and will.

I just detest standing in line.

We got all the big stuff out of the way days after the wedding. He was here on RAP but I was able to take care of most of it myself since conveniently, I live here. SS name change, passport, re-enroll in DEERS, Tricare, POA's, a joint account to supplement our individual ones, a trip to Finance, all that good stuff. I canceled our honeymoon hotel booking and opted to surprise him with a night camping on the beach to watch the sunrise where America's Day Begins. We missed it, but managed to catch a glimpse the day before, so it wasn't so bad. Odd that we missed it, seeing how we're normally early-birds, but we enjoyed the secluded beach and short hike all the same. Caught the dinner show at SandCastle later that evening, and to top it all off, I was invited by the magician to participate! How did he know it was my birthday? I'll never know.

With all that taken care of I thought I would be off the hook for a good month or so. Spared from the lines and the waiting so I could enjoy my single-y spent newlywed bliss (since he had to go back so suddenly). I was wrong. He called last week to inform me that he's going TDY for 2 weeks and then slotted to deploy in September. Good grief, that changes things. Now we have to deal with wills, more POA's, more paperwork, authorization, account cancellation/suspension, finding a new place, and MOVING...while we're already 8000 miles apart. Now it takes about 2 days of straight travel to get from Guam to Georgia and I'm out of leave, so he's got about a week to get stuff straight. Pray for him please! I won't be following him out there until November at the earliest, so right now it's getting his stuff in storage and making sure I'll be able to get it out when I get there. Then comes my mess to deal with. If you have the answers to any of this, please share! It would help so much, and I'd really appreciate it.

Do I need a Georgia Drivers License? If so, can I just trade in my Guam one?
Do I list Georgia as my new domicile? I won't be returning to Guam to live anytime in the foreseeable future.
If I list Georgia as my domicile, will I be filing taxes there from now on?

I've been scouring the web all day trying to figure some of this stuff out, so brains fried as to what else I might need to think about. I'm going through the predeployment checklists and over half of it doesn't apply to us (yet). I'm filling it out anyway, to err on the side of caution. It helps a LOT. I'm trying to customize it so that it's easier to navigate. I'll probably post mine up when I'm done for whoever else may need it.

This is our first deployment, so I'm not exactly sure what to expect of it as a spouse. I've got the being lonely part down pretty well so far, so I'm going to try staying busy and thinking of it as just a few extra months apart. I won't be leaving Guam until at least November, and he'll be gone by then. It's August... and he'll be back next year. He'll miss our first Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and his birthday (he's turning 28!) as a married couple. Its only been what, 3 weeks and I miss him terribly. I don't recall how I managed to do this multiple times before. I can't wait to see him again.