The Grand Ole' 2ndLt of the Marine Corps

August 11 was not only graduation day for Nick and me, but it was also his commissioning day! For those who don't know, Nick was accepted into an enlisted to commissioning program that the Marine Corps offers called MECEP (Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program). It's a competitive program that he applied for and was accepted into. It's how we ended up here at Texas A&M. He basically was getting paid active duty to get his degree. Pretty awesome deal if you ask me! Another unique thing about Nick commissioning is his time in service and rank in which he was enlisted. As far as we know, he's one of only two E8's in the Marine Corps to be commissioned as a 2ndLt (this was based on a google search). Oh, by the way, Nick was promoted to Master Sergeant (E8) on the first of this month!

 Yes, that makes his time as a Master Sergeant exactly 10 days, because on the 11th day, he became a 2ndLt. Also, Nick has already served 16 years in the Marine Corps. Some people have called it career suicide to decide to "start over" from the bottom of the Officer ranks after serving so long and making it up so high on the enlisted side. But this was a decision we made as a family, and it was not made lightly. A lot of personal reasons went into this decision, and ultimately, as long as Nick is leading Marines and taking care of Marines, he is most happy.

Nick's commissioning ceremony was truly special. His former battalion CO drove down from Ft. Worth to speak at his commissioning. He had some really kind words to say about Nick. Of course, because I am his wife, I think Nick is pretty amazing. However, hearing someone else speak so highly of him is truly humbling. He even mentioned that him and his SgtMaj thought that Nick would eventually become the next SgtMaj of the Marine Corps! Like wow! For someone to say that about him, speaks volumes about his character, leadership, and work ethic. Also, a good friend of ours from Orange County, CA came to administer the oath of office to Nick. LTC Dore Gilbert became like family to us while we were stationed in California. Him and his family really took care of Dannika and me while Nick was deployed to Afghanistan. He is an extremely busy man (he's the Mayor of Laguna Hills, CA, and runs a very successful dermatology practice in Orange county), so for him to make the trip to Texas to be here for Nick meant a great deal to us. Last, Nick's former battery gunny (retired) flew all the way down from Virginia to be Nick's first salute. He had a huge influence on Nick as a Marine, and gave Nick more than enough chances when he screwed up as a young Marine. He probably has stories about Nick that I don't want to know about! lol.

Nick received a Mameluke sword from our local Marine Corps League!

He was the recipient of their "Retreat, Hell!" award!

I love this photo of Nick and my parents!

I know Nick's mom watched her son accomplish some amazing things up in heaven with a proud heart.

My parents will never replace his mom, but they have been at every big milestone for Nick throughout his career.

They absolutely love him, and I am so grateful for parents who are so supportive of our family, and especially, Nick.

Huge congrats to my hubby for his amazing accomplishments! I am so proud of him, and can't wait to see the next big thing he does for our Marine Corps!