Sweet Home Cincinnati

I have some big news to share with you all, we're going to be moving...again.  No, it was not a part of the original plan but as we've come to learn, it's not always about what we plan but where God wants us to be.  After moving to SD, we discovered that Jason wouldn't be able to complete nursing school on our original timeline.  There was some misunderstanding on when and how Jason could apply to the program at USD that he wanted to get into and it was going to delay him an entire year.  That wasn't something we were thrilled with so we decided to explore other options.  Unfortunately there weren't any other options in San Diego, at least not any we were willing to consider (He was looking for a 2 year post baccalaureate masters of nursing program.  There were plenty of 2 year bachelors programs but that wasn't what he wanted.).  One of those other options was Xavier University in Cincinnati, where we're both from.  Last week I came home from work to find Jason had bought me blue & white flowers and prepared an entire blue & white dinner, including white fish, blue mashed potatoes, and white corn.  Since it was the night of the UK vs. UConn NCAA champion ship game, I had assumed it was a "UK" meal.  Jason informed me that it was not a UK meal but and XU meal, it was his super sweet way of letting me know he'd been accepted to XU's MIDAS program.

While Jason is thrilled to be a Musketeer (he's always been a big Xavier basketball fan), and I am ecstatic to be living near my family again, the next several months are going to be complete chaos.  Moving without the support of the military is not going to be fun.  Jason has to finish up his prerequisites here and we're going to finish out our lease and then we'll have just a few weeks to get ourselves, and all of our belongings, across the country.  For now we're going to try to soak in as much sunny California as we can.

oops!

I had been doing so well blogging a minimum of 2-3 times a week and this week I completely slipped and barely even noticed!  OOPS!  I haven't even been doing anything to keep me off the computer...in fact, it's been the exact opposite.  I'm finishing up my last semester of my associates degree and this has meant a lot of time spent on the computer.  I'm taking a word processing class that is very time consuming but I have learned a ton of useful information so it's been worth it.  I spent all last week trying to fight through the work and managed to complete all of the assignments (minus the final exam) in about 10 days.  When I was finished with that, I took a much needed 3 or 4 day sabbatical from the computer. I just have to take that final, complete 4.5 more assignments for my history class and take the mid-term for that class and I'll be all finished.  I'm so close!

I took some family photos for our CZ best friends last weekend and I didn't even touch them until  this weekend (it's never taken me that long, it's a good thing they're good friends and were understanding).

I love this family and we're praying they get their first choice of duty stations for their PCS this summer so they'll be just a days drive away from us when we move to San Diego.

I missed this weeks #ilovejapan post but it'll be back next week...I hope!

CTC vent session

I don't even know where to start here but I feel like I need to get this out.  (it's eventually going to be a letter written to the Commanding General and Garrison Commander of Camp Zama, but I might choke someone if I don't get this out now)  I started attending Central Texas College back in January in an attempt to finish my degree before we leave Japan.  The amount of trouble and stress I have had to deal with while trying to complete a simple general studies associates degree has been unimaginable.  I am so disgusted with the standard of service provided here on Camp Zama and would not recommend taking classes though the CZ CTC campus to anyone!  Let me see if I can list all of the incorrect, partial for flat out lack of information I have received.

1.  I was never told that I needed to apply for graduation.  The (former) site rep knew my intent to graduate in May when I went into her office on 15 Jan and she never mentioned that I needed to apply for graduation before 1 Feb.  (Graduating in May may or may not be happening now, I still don't know.)

2. I was told the government class I took at EMU 10 years ago would transfer as the govt 1 class required by CTC so I took govt 2 last term.  Come to find out, nope, my previous class transferred as govt 2 so I then had 2 credits for the same class and none for the other.  (After MUCH struggle, this has been fixed)

3. The midterm I took for my history class last term is currently MIA.  I took the proctored exam in CTC office but my instructor never received it.  (As of right now it is still currently MIA.  Without it my final grade is a B, with it, I am certain my grade will be an A. All I can do at this point is pray that it turns up.)

4.  While I was waiting to hear about my transfer credits I was told that I could register for classes that started yesterday through this week.  Come to find out the deadline was actually 2 weeks ago.  (3 phone calls, 2 emails and a fit full of tears, I was granted an exception and permitted to register late for the class)

There were more but these are the ones that stand out in my head right now.

The only positive in this situation is that in less than 7 weeks (God willing!), I will be done with all of this nonsense, my husband will be done with 18+ months of company command and we will relaxing on the beaches of Okinawa!  7 weeks, 49 more days, I can do this, I know I can, but prayers are definitely welcome and appreciated!

I'm going back to school!

This past weekend I was looking into a few things and discovered that I could complete my associates degree by simply taking 5 or 6 classes at the "college" here on base, Central Texas College.  It's not the most ideal school to graduate from, but at this point, I just want to be able to say I have a degree and I didn't waste $20,000 10 years ago!  Today I went to the education center and handed over my credit card {so we can get our airline miles, it'll be payed off right away...we're not playing the debt game again!} and now I'm officially a college student again.  I have 3 required classes to take and then I can take 2-3 electives and I'll be all finished!  I decided to knock out the 3 boring classes this semester while it's cold out and I'm not quite as busy as I will be in the spring.

It's been 6+ years since I've cracked a textbook so I could use a few prayers!