Well, today marks 7 days until Jon ships off to join the Army. This week will be a whirlwind of last minute visits, last minute planning, last minute cuddles, and last minute tears.
For those of you who are just finding out, Jon has signed on the dotted line and will be joining the ranks of our nations finest. He will be shipping off to basic training exactly a week from today. After training for the better part of a year, he will be a Military Intelligence soldier, working with mostly human intelligence gathering. Jon has always wanted to serve others and our country, but wasn't willing to leave me. When he graduated from high school, our relationship was at about 2 years and we were (and still are, madly in love.) So, naturally, he found himself a home in the IT world. After years of working in the field, he knew he wasn't happy there.
After some drama with A&M and budget cuts, Jon stopped working at Texas A&M in March. We decided that this was the perfect time for him to fulfill his dream and enlist. He worked very hard losing weight (about 60 pounds!) and training to get ready, and Jon was able to go to MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) about a month before his 27th birthday, sign up, and start us on our new path. We're very excited to see where our lives take us, but we will miss everyone at home dearly.
Currently, we're recovering from a fantastic weekend. Around 70 (Wow!) of our beloved friends and family joined us yesterday to send Jon off in a grand way. We had a few hours of great conversation, advice, games, and great food. Jon's mom was amazing at planning the whole thing. His grandparents bought a ton of delicious barbecue, his parents hosted (thank you thank you!), and my parents provided the beer. Thanks to everyone who was able to join us and those who sent their best wishes, we are feeling very loved and supported as we embark on our new adventure.
I have to admit to some jitters though. Jon and I have hardly been apart for the last 11 years, so these next 8 or so months will be very interesting. I plan on filling my time with lots of visits to friends and family all over Texas, working on my freelance graphic design business, taking some art classes, spending lots of time with my mother-in-law, and I'm thinking about joining the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Brazos Valley. I'm definitely up for any suggestions for get-togethers or events to attend. Send them my way! I'll need all the distractions I can get.
I'm going to try my best to keep this blog updated as life happens to us. I'm not always the best at regularly updating (or regularly doing anything for that matter), so if you want me to, send me a message (or five) and I will. :)
Love you all!
-Brie
2 comments:
Mom here. Dad and I are extremely proud of these two. Jon, you go take care of business; dad and I are taking care of your sweet wife until you return.
Feel free to visit Winnipeg if you want lol. It was pretty bad spending 6 months with Alex in training while I had to endure my first winter here!!! So you can always visit while we are having a blizzard so you know that at least you have beautiful Texas being friendly to you :)
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