Mil Spouse Friday Fill-In (compliments of Wife of a Sailor)

1. If you were a famous movie star, what types of movies would you star in? Definitely comedies!! Anything to make people smile and laugh :)
   
2. What is a vacation you would like to take if money were no object? I would goto Hilton Head Island and stay until... well forever, because I could never get enough of that place!
   
3. Did you have pets growing up? We had a poodle named Trooper and he disliked me terribly because my parents got him a few months before I was born :(
   
4. What do you do for exercise? Wii Active every other day and walking when I can ~ I was doing Zumba but it's too much of a project in Korea to get there so definitely Zumba when we are back in the states.
   
5. What is the best piece of advice you've ever received as a MilSpouse? Oh wow.... I think to keep a positive attitude for my soldier as much as I can :)

How would you answer these questions? Look for new ones every Friday :)

Infertility sucks!

So I'm sure most people that know Josh and I have a burning question as to why we don't have kids ~ and then of course there are the people who don't care or just assume what they want. Truth is, we suffer from unexplained infertility. Can't explain that to you, because no one can explain it to us. We have been trying for 4 and a half years with no success. Before we left Pennsylvania, we were seeing a doctor for almost a year, including 6 total months of the fertility drug Clomid and 3 unsuccessful cycles of IUI. These months were all monitored with plenty on ultrasounds where it was seen that I was producing beautiful follicles. However, we had no success. We would really love to have a baby, and my biological clock is not slowing down :( Will we not be complete without a baby?? No, not at all. We are complete now, a baby would just add some more blessing to our marriage. Instead we have furkids for now that we love very much. Layla, our chihuahua is 10, Cooper our Cocker Spaniel is 3, and Zoey our crazy cat is 2. We also have a cat, Marleigh, back in the states, and our cat Ziggy was put down a few months ago. A few months ago on a military spouse board another wife insinuated that I had no idea how hard it could be to travel with kids LOL Well let me tell you.... showing up in Washington D.C. with 3 animal crates to fly to S. Korea was no picnic LOL Okay, maybe I didn't have a baby buggy, but traveling with pets was quite a project. But anyways, we try not to let infertility bring us down and we do a good job with that making the best of time and do the things we want for now. Also, people in the military community really are not as interested in hanging out with you when you don't have kids, even though there are things to talk about in life besides pregnancy and kids, sadly I don't think some people realize that :( It's sad to lose friendships because someone gets pregnant, why discriminate everyone has a story and infertility is no joy ride, believe me. On top of that, believe it or not there are people that just chose not to have kids, does that mean they shouldn't be accepted? Hell No, they are people, too! You may think you know, but you have no idea until you have been there. I still haven't quite figured that out since people are people regardless of if they have kids or not because we're still really cool, fun people, but anyways...... We are happy to have each other and if God has a plan for us, we will eventually see success. Enough of my rant..

Josh, My Love and Best Friend

So, I figured I would tell my love story :) I had been through my share of dead end relationships that went NO WHERE.... One very boring day, I decided to make a profile on Yahoo Personals, kind of as a joke with a friend of mine. Let me tell ya, there really wasn't much going on on there LOL One random Friday, I got a message from a guy who had just moved to the area on recruiting duty. I checked it out and thought about it for 2 days until sending him a message. Long story short, we ended up talking on IM the rest of that day and on the phone pretty much all night. He invited me over to his house the next night for peanut butter and jelly and wine :) I know, it was weird and I didn't know if this guy was a serial killer, but I had a good vibe so I followed my gut (plus he was also from PA, so he couldn't have been that bad!). Online dating is not for everyone, and I can't even say I online dated really, but I have seen some epic failures with it. That was 8/1/05. I show up at his apartment as he is walking in, so I sat there for a few minutes to gather the never to ring the bell LOL From the moment he answered the door I felt as ease and this was when BDU's were still worn, so he looked oh so sharp! He asked if I minded if he went to take a shower, so I chilled out and watched TV while he did and the whole time he kept yelling out from the bathroom, "are you still there?" LOL I guess he thought maybe I was going to bolt ~ but instead I had called my mom to let her know he was very sweet and not a murderer ~ Ha! We hit it off instantly and as cliche as it might sound fell in love at first sight :) The rest is pretty much history ~ We moved in together shortly after, got engaged 12/17/05 and married 7/8/06, best day of my life so far :) And that brings us to now ~ We are a VERY happy couple. We do everything together, but we also know when the other needs some space. Our greatest thing is communication. I find it sad how many couples we have met that have no communication skills :( It's so easy! We are each others biggest fans and no matter what we keep our love alive. Is what we have perfect?? Nothing in life is perfect, but it is the next best thing. Currently we are on this big adventure in Korea, but in a few months we get to start another adventure wherever the Army decides to send us, and we couldn't be more excited! As long as we are together, that's all that matters. And even though his job may keep him for long hours and someday we may be separated by deployment, we have what it takes to be strong and keep our love alive. So that's the short, sweet version of Josh and I, true soul mates. P.S. our online love story was featured in a newspaper article :)

Job Interviews

So I have had 2 job interviews since I have been in S. Korea. Let me tell you about the first one first... When we moved to Uijongbu in April, I was having lunch on post with the girls, and this guy (an officer) turned to our table to ask if any of us were looking for work. Well heck yea! So he proceeded to tell us that his wife works at a school teaching English and they were in desperate need of help, because someone who was on the their way over from the states, through a recruiting agency was having doubts. He gave me her info to get in touch with her. I emailed her my Resume ASAP and she called that afternoon and set up an interview for the next day. Went to the interview, it went well, and it seemed like something that was going to work out ~ Sweet! Well the weekend passed and then a few days and finally I emailed the girl to see how things were looking, and 2 weeks later she FINALLY emailed me back to tell me the day after my interview she quit, the place sucked, and that she left my info with them, oh and good luck LOL About 2 weeks after that I'm woken up by a call on my cell phone one morning and the lady on the line wants me to do a job reference for the girl who interviewed me. Not gonna lie, so I told the lady I had met her once and hung up ~ WEIRD! Second job interview was today, and I was really nervous, it's an on base job at Camp Casey. I haven't had a "real" interview since 1997 when I got the job at the shelter, so I just feel really out of the loop. However, it went so good, and I am really proud of myself. Only one problem, of course, our DEROS (date we leave) is too close, and by the time I would be hired and trained it would be time for us to hop on the big bird back to the states. I'm a little disappointed, but I'm not sad, pretty much because It was nice to hear again that we are leaving soon ~ YAY, and because now I feel very confident about going back to the states and jumping right in to the job search. I still think 2011 is going to be an awesome year, so I'm gonna enjoy the next couple months of unemployment and S. Korea and look forward to new beginnings :)

I Quit!!

Smoking that is... :) I decided a few months ago that 2011 was going to be the year to quit smoking. I even bought the 1st step of the patch and put it where I would see it atleast once a day to get me mentally prepared. I decided trying to quit on the 1st of the year was setting myself up for Epic failure, so I decided to go for 1/10 (which then turned into 1/11, because 1/11 was a much more interesting number and it was 7 months from our DEROS and leaving Korea ~ Woo-Hoo!) I think I started smoking when I was 16, because I remember coming home and having wads and wads of gum in my mouth thinking it would mask the smell, only learning a few years later that my parents had caught on early on. I never really thought I was addicted to smoking, I just liked it. Especially with a few drinks :) It was always more of something to do with the hands. In Korea, Marlboros are 2,500 won, so around $2.30 a pack, so that makes it very easy to sit around and smoke all day. One of the first people I told I was going to quit said this, "are you crazy?" Nope not crazy, just tired of the cough, the expense, the bad breath, the smell, etc... Today has been a week, and honestly I have never felt better in my life. Research says that your body starts to heal itself as quick as 24 hours after you quit, and I believe it. The cough is gone and my circulation has improved, my fingers and toes are no longer freezing non-stop. I'm happy I decided to quit, and I'm even happier that Josh has quit with me. We will have a longer life together now and there is nothing more I want then that. We are going to start a savings account to take a trip with all the cigarette money we are saving, destination unknown as of now, but I know when we board that plane or boat or whatever it may be, we will be proud of where that money came from :) P.S Dum Dum lollipops have become my new best friend, try it they work!

If you must know..

I guess it would be nice of me to post some sort of intro LOL I'm Jen, I'm 38, and I'm from Carlisle, PA. I graduated from Kutztown University in 1995, with a BA in Psychology and a minor in criminal Justice. Right out of college, I worked at an awesome place called the Hoffman Home for Youth with court appointed juveniles with mental health disorders. Aside from the 4 day on 4 day off schedule and having to live their during the 4 days on, it was an awesome starter job. I loved working with youth and the people I worked with were amazing, too. In 1997, I started at Safe Harbour, a homeless shelter, and stayed there until moving to Korea in October 2009. I started at Safe Harbour as the Parent Support Program Coordinator and moved my way up to Associate director through the years. It was a great experience working there, and I met many people who changed my life, but the job burned me out eventually and by the time I left, I was more then ready. What will be my next career move?? That is yet to be determined, but I don't know at this point if I want to return to the human service field. I do miss working with people, but I want a job where I feel more satisfaction at the end of the day then I did there. Aside from that, working for a non-profit is really no picnic. I guess we will see where the Army sends us next, and I will determine my next career move. I do know that I have enjoyed my year+ of a break from work, but I am 100% ready to work again, and put my people skills to good use :)

But anyway... I'm an only child, my mom still lives in Carlisle, and my dad passed away unexpectedly in 2005. I love to read, golf, dance, shop, listen to music, bowl, bake, tan, drink Miller Lite, get manis and pedis, and most of all spend time with my hardly ever home Hubby, Josh :) More on him later, he gets his own post, he's pretty amazing!

Why the title??

I've titled my blog it's my party and I'll cry if I want to, because this is my blog, and I'll write what I want to and that goes with the tune to the song... or something like that... Anyways, this is the 3rd blog I have attempted to start.. I started one when I found I was going to be able to come to Korea with Josh, never followed through, started another one when I got to Korea, because I wanted to journal all the cool things we saw and did, but never followed through. In all honesty, all the pictures we have taken, tell a good enough story of our adventure here, along with the memories. So this is my 3rd blog, and I can't promise I will write daily or weekly, but I'm pretty sure that I can commit to updating atleast monthly. 2011 is going to be a pretty exciting year, I already have a feeling, and I have been thinking of all the things I'd like to blog about recently, so I need to start somewhere. Maybe no one will read this, and maybe a lot of people will read this but with either way, let me start by saying ahead of time, I'm sorry If I offend anyone, that's not my intention whatsoever, but I think there is a lot people don't know about me, maybe because they have never taken the chance to get to know me, and maybe it's because they just don't give a shit but either way, this is my blog, so welcome and enjoy the ride :)