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!

An Offical Aggie!

I've been an Aggie all my life, but....

I officially have the coveted Aggie bling and a diploma! Like I'm "officially official"!

Nick got me a Ring Wrap for Mother's Day this year.

I've waited 33 years for an Aggie ring...he figured, he'd go ahead and bling it out for me!
I waited longer for an Aggie ring than I did a husband....seriously.

Husband and wife Aggies!

I have neglected this blog because of school, family, graduation, vacation, and everything else that has been going on in my life the last month! I finally have a moment to sit down and share on my blog about everything that has happened!

First off...
Nick and I GRADUATED from Texas A&M on August 11! We are officially the newest members of the Texas A&M former students' association! I got the sticker on my car to prove it too! Some reasons why this graduation meant so much to us...

1. Nick never got to walk the stage at his high school graduation. He failed math his senior year, and had to take summer school to graduate high school and join the Marine Corps. Getting to (finally) wear a cap and gown and walk the stage was monumental to his life. He had a picture of his mum inside his graduation cap. It was so sweet and sentimental.

2. Nick is the first person in his family to graduate from college! HUGE!

3. My parents immigrated here to the good ole U.S.A. more than 3 decades ago. They had hopes and dreams. One of the biggest reasons why my dad worked so hard in starting his own business was to be able to put my sister and I through college. He truly wanted to invest in our education and our future. My mom and dad never went to college, and they didn't want that same fate for their children. It broke their heart when I chose to skip college upon graduation from high school to join the Marine Corps. Of course now, they are two very proud Marine Corps parents, and have expressed how proud they are of my life choices and how I have turned out. But I know a little part of them still dreamed about having BOTH of their children be college grads. Well, mom and dad....BOTH of your daughters are college grads and so are BOTH of your son in laws!

4. I've dreamed of becoming an Aggie graduate. There's just something different about calling yourself an "Aggie" while wearing an Aggie ring. I've whooped and "gigged" all my life, but having this piece of gold on my finger makes it feel so much more official. Like...I finally became part of the "club".

5. Statistically speaking, children of parents with college degrees are more likely to attend college, and excel in school. Of course, this is just a statistic, and we know many successful people without college degrees with successful children. However, just having a little more security in our children's future is well worth the little piece of paper saying "hey, I went to college!". And no...college isn't for everyone, and a college degree doesn't make you better than anyone. However, there are just so many more doors that open up as far as opportunities go with a degree.

And last...
6. Nick and I finished college while raising a family. Two kids, marriage, a mortgage, bills, etc. We volunteered in our community and stayed active at A&M. It literally took a village (thanks to our nannies, babysitters, friends, and family). But accomplishing college as 30 something year old undergrads with two kids is something that I will cherish forever. I hope that my kids will remember this and takeaway that nothing is impossible if you have the drive and the will.

Mark, me, and Nick! 

Mark is also a Marine veteran that graduated with us. 

All three of us had a class together last semester, and needless to say, it was probably one of the most fun classes I've sat through because of these two!

We were so blessed to have my entire family join us on our special day!

Special shout out to my sister and her family for flying all the way out here from Nashville to celebrate our accomplishment with us!

Oh, and my sister is pregnant with ANOTHER baby girl!!!!

I get to be an aunt again!

I will have to catch y'all up on everything else that has been going on as well in future posts! Nick is officially a Marine 2ndLt, I dunked my Aggie ring (and beat Nick), and our family also just got back from a vacation in Mexico! So much to talk about and so little time! Thanks for all the well wishes and congrats! 

Summer Lately (and Picture Overload)

A few weeks ago, I made the comment to someone that this summer has been pretty mild (for Texas). I guess mother nature overheard, and decided to "show me up". It has been hot as HAYLL lately! Thank goodness for A/C, popsicles, and pool time. We've been making the best of it and enjoying the heat! After all, I did say that I would never complain about the heat ever again after living in New England for two brutal winters. As Nick and I wrap up college (eek!), our kids have been troopers. They've become experts at entertaining themselves while mama studies, and have been very patient (most of the time) with my school schedule. We do find fun things to do in between classes and studying! We created a "summer bucket" list for our kids, and have been diligently knocking each one off, one by one!

S'mores in our backyard was one of our bucket list items!

So Zima made a comeback!

It's actually a pretty disgusting malt liquor that I enjoyed back in my underage drinking days...

It was more nostalgic than anything.

My goofy husband drinking one with his pinky up!

 Family game night ✅ (another bucket list item)

ice cream for lunch!

Cheer clinic!

Summer reading shopping trip ✅

Who remembers "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry"?! 

It's a classic, and I was so excited for Dannika to read it!

Fun 4th of July photos!

Bluebell ice cream on National Ice Cream day!

Who knew that was even a thing?!

Bake cookies ✅

I can hardly believe that it is the end of July and graduation is so close!

That Time a Stranger Spilled a Coke on Me in White Pants

I like my rather long and catchy title. I'll get into that story in a little bit. This blog post is actually about the 2nd wedding that Nick and I attended this summer. So much summer love! A Marine that I was on recruiting duty with recently got married, and Nick and I were honored to be invited to their wedding! Nick was asked to lead his sword arch (like he has done faithfully for all of our Marine friends' weddings). The wedding was in Pomona, California, an hour and a half east of LA. It was a short, quick getaway for Nick and I, and we were so excited to watch our dear friend marry the love of his life. The wedding was held at the Kellogg House. The Kellogg house is a mansion on Cal State Pomona's campus. It was originally owned by the Kellogg's cereal guy (hence the name of the venue)!  Here are some photos from our fun little trip, and, yes, the story about my white pants and a stranger spilling coke all over them is coming up...

Airport selfie at the bar!

One of our favorite things to do when we travel is to grab a drink before we board our flight.

For whatever reason, drinks taste better at the airport.

So here's the story:

Nick sat in the aisle, I sat in the middle, and this young man sat next to window on the plane.

We all ordered drinks, and the man next to me ordered a coke.

I watched him doze off with his coke in his hand, and for a moment, I thought...

"Huh...that would suck if he spills it on himself while he's asleep."

I glanced back over, and noticed that he had put his coke down on his tray table, had his arms crossed, and had fallen back asleep.

 I started reading my trashy tabloid magazine (like I always do on airplanes), when all of a sudden, the guy had a random reflex while asleep, and he knocked his coke off the tray table....ALL OVER ME AND MY WHITE PANTS!

I was furious. Livid. 

"Seriously, dude?! I'm wearing freaking white pants?!"

Then I glared at him.

He apologized profusely (which still didn't help the situation).

Luckily, I had my carry on in the overhead compartment, and went to the lavatory to change clothes.

The flight attendants gave me a can of seltzer water to soak my pants in.

So that's not the end of the story...

Once I got up to change, Nick looked at the guy and told him (in a completely non confrontational way), "dude, you need to be careful."

The guy took one look at Nick, and begged him not to hit him.

He actually said, "please don't hit me."

Seriously! 😂😂😂😂

I can't make this up!  

He offered to pay for my pants, to which Nick said no.

But either way, the rest of the flight was extremely uncomfortable....for that guy.

He avoided eye contact with us the entire flight.

Airplane selfie before taking off...because we're basic like that.

This was pre "coke all over my white pants" incident.

We stopped at this random fancy restaurant in Pico Rivera, CA on our way to Pomona to have a quick dinner.

My gracious parents watched our kids again for us.

I can always count on my super Korean mom to be hooking up my kids with great skincare.

Photos from the wedding and reception.

I love the expression of the pastor during the first kiss as husband and wife!

wedding cake!

This wedding was the last time Nick would wear his Enlisted dress blues!

Next time he wears blues, he'll be wearing the Officer blues.

I spent the majority of the evening dancing and partying it up with these two handsome men.

Preston (on the left) is the groom's brother, and Whitney (on the right) is his fiance. 

I met so many fun, friendly, and amazing people at this wedding!

The wedding was an absolute blast.

Congrats to our friend Thomas, and our new friend (and his new wife) Roxanne!

Thanks for letting us share your special day with y'all!

They Say 8 is GREAT

My first born...my angel...my baby girl just turned EIGHT this week! I think I've said this a million times, and I've worn the saying out, but "they really do grow up so fast"...in the blink of an eye. Every year, I end up reminiscing about my baby girl on my blog. I go on and on about how it feels just like yesterday when we brought her home from the hospital, and how I still remember her first birthday party. I'm sure everyone is tired of me saying the same things every year. I'm not gonna do that this time.

Nick posted on his Facebook that I always get sad when our kids turn a year older, because they'll no longer be "babies" (they'll ALWAYS be MY babies...but they won't be little). However, Nick wrote that he is happy that she is a little older because it means there are more things they can do together. 

I love his outlook. He truly enjoys every precious moment he has with our kids, and I am so grateful that our kids have such a strong dad (both physically and emotionally) to look up to. 

As for Dannika, year 7 was full of love. You still have the same positive outlook on life. You see the good in EVERYTHING and EVERYONE. I feel like I am too hard on you sometimes, and ask too much of you. I hope you know that I only do that, because I know that you are capable of so much more than you realize. You still have a sensitive soul, and you wear your heart on your sleeve. Your daddy and I laugh at you when we joke around with you, because you take what we say so literally (when we're just joking). You love people unconditionally. You're an amazing big sister to Mattis, and even though he can really be a pesky little brother, thanks for always stepping up when it counts as his big sister. Thanks for still letting me pick out your clothes, and put ridiculously large bows in your hair (although we have toned it down a bit). You're loyal....fiercely loyal to your close group of friends, and I love that you know the importance of that at such a young age. Thanks for teaching me and reminding me every single day to be a little kinder, be humbler, and see all that is good in everything and everyone....even when it's bad. Never lose your positive energy, and never let anyone steal that from you. I don't care if you're the smartest or the fastest or the best at anything, but I do care that you stay true to yourself. You keep doing you, baby girl! God has AMAZING plans for you, and I can't wait to see that plan unfold.

Last night as a 7 year old!

Morning of her birthday! Shipley's donuts of course!

I had class on her birthday, but my sweet mama friends got cupcakes and gifts for my sweet girl.

As soon as I got done with class, I rushed over to my friend's house where the girls had been swimming all morning, and we had a mini birthday celebration for her!

I am so blessed by "my village".

Dannika's sweet friend Ava came back from Indiana for a short visit.

It was perfect timing with her birthday, and the perfect birthday surprise!

#squadgoals

Thanks to everyone who gave Dannika well wishes and "happy birthdays"! 

She is one lucky gal to have all y'all in her life!