It's Coronation Day!

"It's coronation reenlistment day!" (haha...get it?)

Well, yesterday was at least.

My husband reenlisted for another 4 years in the Marine Corps.

It's crazy for me to think that this may very well be the last time he "reenlists" in the Marine Corps.

When he commissions as a 2ndLt (in a few years), there will be no more "reenlisting".

The last time Nick reenlisted was 5 years ago when he was a drill instructor at MCRD San Diego.

I was 5 months pregnant with Dannika, and we were newlyweds.

 It's insane to think about how much has changed in our lives in that short 5 years since the last time he reenlisted.

Deployments, field ops, training exercises, TAD assignments, dual active duty parenting...

All of that packed in such a short amount of time.

In that time, Nick got promoted a rank higher, he deployed to Afghanistan twice,  and moved across country to Boston from California...

I got promoted a rank higher, EAS'ed from the Corps, moved to Boston, and I've had TWO babies!

WOW!

My husband chose to do his reenlistment ceremony on the USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides").

The USS Constitution was named by President George Washington, and it is the oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat (thank you Wikipedia).

Unfortunately, today was a rainy New England day, and we didn't get a chance to really look around the ship as thoroughly as we would have liked.

(photo cred goes to Phyllis...BU NROTC's adminstrative guru)

 We took a gazillion photos of our family, and if you notice a recurring theme with our son....

 Yeah...he's not looking into the camera in ANY of these photos!!! 

We did manage to get these two....

What the heck kinda face is that?!?

Anyway...

I know you read this, Nick, so I thought I'd give you a shout out...

I am SO SO SO proud of you and your accomplishments thus far in the Marine Corps.

You inspire me every day to be a better person, a better mom, and to work harder at everything I do.

You make me believe more in myself, and you cast all the doubts I have about anything away.

I am in awe and in amazement of what you do every day as a Marine.

There are things I see you do, and I really am taken aback at how hard you work, and how much you care about your work.

If every Marine in the Marine Corps had your worth ethic, your dedication, and your unwillingness to fail, our Marine Corps would be absolutely unstoppable in every sense of the word.

You have taught me how to take failures and turn it into successes, just by example.

You deserve everything good that comes your way in your career, cause I have never seen someone work their ass off like you do.

You have spent the last 13 years putting others in front of yourself, and it's finally time that you do something for YOU.

I love you.

The Marine Corps is one lucky branch of service to have you serving in its' ranks.

Semper Fi, devil...