January 6, 2012

Posting is long overdue, so with this new year I thought I would add a few thoughts.  As many of us do when we ring in the new year, we reflect back on the past one.  For my family we had a lot of changes happen.

Our son Ryan left home (again), this time to join the Air Force (following in his older brother's shoes).  We are thankful he has found a path in life that will give him many adventures while allowing him to do what he enjoys.

I completed my associate's degree, and even more exciting...was named the 2011 Coast Guard Spouse of the Year.  This has allowed me to meet many people that I may not have had the opportunity and advocate even more for my fellow Coast Guard spouses.

And then there was our biggest change, a change of scenery, a cross country move to the east coast...specifically to the Washington, DC area .  We are a west coast family, the farthest east we have ever lived was Kentucky and we rushed right back to the west coast as soon as we could.  However, I have found several positives in this move.  First and foremost it gets me closer to my two grandchildren.  We were able to spend an early Christmas with the entire family, as everyone made it to our house to celebrate.

Now to look forward to the new year!  Hopefully I'll get accepted into the Dental Hygiene program here, but until then I will continue to enjoy the area we are in and take advantage of seeing everything I can before we return to the west coast.  That means taking another trip to Walt Disney World, visiting Atlantic City, and of course at some point that trip to New York City.

I am looking forward to see who becomes the 2012 Coast Guard Spouse of the Year!  The luncheon will be this spring where I will get to meet him or her, along with all the other branch winners.

I will continue advocating for Coast Guard Spouses, especially considering the area I now live.  So with that, if anyone has any suggestions, concerns or comments of things they think should have more attention given to, or where we should put our efforts toward, please feel free to let me know