Summer Updates!

Redskins vs Colts @ FedEx Field

 

 

Hello Again Friends!

 

This is again, another attempt to update this blog and keep it going! I've edited what I believe needed to be OPSEC appropriate, and after reflecting on the 30 posts I've made over the past 2 or so years; I'm quite sad that I did not continue to update as I continuously promised, but I'm glad to have documented the memories that I do have. 

 

Yet, what I believe is not appropriate at this time is for me to go back over the past year or so and give an extended update. Therefore in a nutshell since July 2011 we moved back from South Korea, to Fort Huachuca, AZ. We lived there for approximately 10 months, where I worked for the Southern Arizona VA Healthcare System with the HUD/Vash Homeless Veterans program as a case manager, and B continued his Army gig. We enjoyed our time in the desert and made a few memories, including one weeked visit to the Grand Canyon. 

 

 

This all leads us to the present, where we have once again moved and are now residing in Washington, DC. Our anticipated and promised time here is approximately 4 to 6 years, pending extensions and how much the Army changes it's mind! :o) I of course mean that in the most loving and caring way possible.

 

 

Since we arrived here in June, we've been quite busy. We're finally moved into our home here on Joint Base Anacostia Bolling, this is an Air Force base and a new adventure in military living for us. We are enjoying the joint base concept, but with so many military bases and government oriented organizations around, it's not hard to stay in sync with the Army ways.

 

 

You'll notice the above picture in this post is from a recent football game we attended at FedEx field! B prepared this day as a surpised for his best buddy N, who serves our country as well here in the DMV (DC, MD, VA) area with the Marine Corps. The 3 of us, as well as his wife S, had a fantastic time at the game! Yay for the Skin's win!!

 

 

 

These lovely photos are of fellow Sigma Sister's and I at Nicci and Keenan's summer vineyard wedding in MD earlier this summer. The lovely couple is of course pictured in the first photo. This wedding was a bundle of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing sisters that I haven't had the opportunity to see in quite some time. It was a special treat to spend some extended time with Jodi as she drove up and was able to stay with B and I throughout the festivities. B and I are looking forward to Jodi and her hubby John visiting with us again!

 

 

This photo was from even earlier in the summer (June) time frame, when B, S, N and I attended the annual Army's Birthday ball. We so happened to get some tickets to this years event in DC, and it was just a fantastic evening! We are so blessed with great friends who love attending these events as much as we do!

 

 





 

This above photo is our most recent, and was taken just this past weekend. For Labor Day, B's parents came up for a visit and in addition to spending some time together, we celebrated Kay's upcoming Birthday! Kay and Bill (B's parents) will be out of town leisure traveling to Utah during her birthday, thus I made reservations off some fellow spouse reccomendations at a restaurant on the property of Mount Vernon. The restaurant is right off the beautiful Potomac River and it made for a beautiful setting. The Mount Vernon area is just simply beautiful, and I'm looking forward to exploring this historic area more during our time as DMV residents!

 

This brings us to the present, and as fall is approaching I'm looking forward to seeing what this new Army chapter brings.

 

XOXO from DMV,

Mrs. GC

 

 

 

 



 

 



Proceed With Caution! Construction Zone... Again...

Hello to all my loyal blogger friends!

Hello to all my friends who've tried to follow my blog but I so so SO stink at updating...yeah, that's more like it!

So to cut to the chase...it's true... I'm attempting to be a better blogger, update this lovely tool and USE IT!

Hopefully 3rd time is the charm! Hopefully I'll be bringing you more frequent posts in the near future.

Yet, first I'm doing a little revising of the posts that are on this blog, in order to make them more OPSEC friendly. So bare with me while I edit, and I'll be back shortly.

Have a great weekend!
Mrs. GC

My personal blog has went to the wayside of...

this blog!!

https://sites.google.com/a/une.edu/hkg-s-msw-portfolio/home/ssw-503-learning-log

Yes, there you have it gals (and guys, ha!)! I now have a weekly learning log to keep up with, and a gabazillion other things related to school, moving and the Army...that I just once again (I know!!) have forsaken my REAL blog!

Please feel free to follow along with the above link! It may be ultra boring to you who have no idea about social workers, or on the other hand very interesting! Either way...I hope you understand that this blog is for a grade, and well that's a HUGE incentive to blog! ha! :)

I promise to be back soon, just can't promise when!

Till then,

XOXO Always from Korea (for only 48 days!!)
-Mrs. GC

We're Dancin'

Courtesy of  http://theclassywoman.blogspot.com/

So, fellow blog followers; I mentioned in a previous post that our life has been much like a storm recently and we've just been dancin' in the rain to move through it all...I'm sure you're wondering just what has been going on...I'll give you a quick re-cap.

In no particular order, heres the skinny:

1) To date we are under 100 days out from PCSing back to the states from Korea. Talk about a "To Do" list that is a mile (or two) long...it's growing and doesn't seem to stop. I just keep thinking to myself, I will NEVER get everything done. But then, my fellow Army spouses who have PCS'd before me and are what you would call PCSing veterans, continue to remind me that it will, and CAN get all done. In the meantime, I've got to crank out the actual "To-Do" list, and then cross off "crank out to-do list" off the actual list...and why am I writing this blog, it looks as though I should be writing a to-do list!! ha!

2) I'm in search of a job back stateside. Oh, what a headache! Currently, there is nothing available in my field of expertise: social worker, family advocacy. Heck, I'd even take an admin. job just to keep my government status! It doesn't help that there has been a hiring freeze within the federal government, or that our fearless leaders in Washington STILL can't come to a budget agreement! (That's another thought, for another time!) I'm really praying that it will be the Lord's will, that this hiring freeze is lifted soon, and the hopefully the flood gates of jobs will open and I can start applying again.

3) We are still slotted to PCS to Ft. Huachua, AZ. We are pretty excited, but sad that our friends who are currently in San Diego are now moving back to the east coast...we we're so hoping to have them on the same coast as us. But, luckily for them they will have a gig with stability and no deployments for a few years. We're looking forward to making new friends when we get to Huachuca, and I'm super excited to live out west...this will yet again be another adventure for us!

4) We recently found out that B's packet he put in (months, and MONTHS) ago for a gig in DC is continuing to be worked on, secretly I think we both forgot he put the packet in! ha!  So once again, we're not sure what is going to happen with this gig...which puts a slight wrench in our plans for moving to AZ. Yet, as with the Army nothing is definate and we're just simply in limbo. For now, we're still moving to AZ...but that plan could change at a moments notice... Did I mention that we are 98 days out from PCSing...ha! I love living life by the seat of my britches! ha!  

5) My dearest sister is getting married July 23rd. So I am in the process of planning her bridal shower from Korea! ha! Now, let me tell you how much fun that is! ha! Luckily, she's been a great help with getting our hometown church's fellowship hall booked. And, thank goodness for online shopping! I've got some great ideas for her shower, but I won't share till it's over because I want this to be a surprise for her!

6) In my freetime, ha! I've been trying to make it to the gym. Recently, I've been working on the "Couch to 5K" program, and a Kendra Wilkinson video! It's been a great way for me to relieve stress (from the above stated items), and work on my figure. To date, I've lost about 8 lbs. It's coming off slowly, but thats okay...hopefully that means this time it will stay off! 

Well, like I said before! We're dancin'! And, we'll keep dancin' till the Army life settles down a bit! For now, I'm thankful to have our faith, our health, our home, each other and the stability of the Army life (financially speaking). After that, the rest is just another day in the life of an Army family! 

Till Next Time,

XOXO from Korea! 

Mrs. GC  

The GREAT Dress Debacle!!

Spring has sprung, and if you're living in or around an Army community (Signal Corps to be exact), than you know that it's just about that time of year again... for formal balls!!

There are many perks to living in Korea, one of which is that there are custom tailors everywhere, to make just about anything your little heart desires. So of course, I have been researching for weeks on end and found 2 dresses that I would like to have custom made for me for the 2 balls we have coming up in May. May 5th is the 304th Signal BN Ball- "Ready Always Ready" Hooah! While, May 20th is the 1st Signal Brigade Ball- "1st To Communicate" Hooah! (Okay, so enough of that!) Ha!

The two dresses that I choose are:

Option #1:

Photo Courtesy of Nordstroms

Now with dress option #1 (mind you, I need 2 dresses for 2 different balls, where I'm going to see the SAME people within the course of about 3 weeks!), the plan is was to get this dress made in a solid black, probably satin material; and I would accent with silver shoes, black and silver clutch and silver and diamond statement jewlery, most of which I already have in my closet, with the exception of a bracelet I would borrow from a friend. 

Option #2 

Photo Courtesy of Nordstroms

For this dress, I plan planned to get made in an emerald green satin material (much like shown in the picture), and accent this dress with gold jewlery and clutch, both of which I would be adding to my closet after purchase. So of course, after bringing budget into the picture and finding some awesome deals on accessories, I opted to still continue my plan.

Now on to the tailor search... I recieved a price quote from the tailor who made some awesome looking suits for B, and he quoted me a reasonable price for each dress, I would say comparable to what I would pay in a department store. The only issue was, in his shop I never saw any dresses that he made...only suits. Now ladies, we all know that there is a HUGE difference between the fitting of a suit on a man and a formal gown on a lady. This was my first red flag.

Then I decided to consult some of my friends who have had dresses made for events. After speaking to 3 different friends, who both stated that they were middle-of-the-road satisfied with their end product (from 3 different tailors in addition to the one mentioned above), and later found out they paid an outrageous price for a cocktail dress (knowing that my dresses would require double the material of a cocktail dress). I started thinking about whether this whole tailored dress idea was going to be a complete bust, and if so would I be pleased with my end product. Finally after all of my research and talking with friends, I basically determined that I will most likely end up with a dress looks like I should be attending my first high school prom, or one that I should be wearing down the aisle at a wedding, neither of which is the look I am going for.

Therefore knowing myself (yeah, I know I'm being a little picky...but I'm okay with that), the look I am going for and wanting a dress that I can re-wear again at another duty station...I opted to scratch the entire above plan, for fear of ending up with a product I've dumped money into and am completely disastified with.

So, onto plan B. 

I scoured good ole' Nordstroms from page to page and came across these two beauties...

Photo Courtesy of Nordstroms

Photo Courtesy of Nordstroms



The teal one shoulder has been ordered and will hopefully arrive within the next week or so. This gown will be worn to the May 5th ball, and I still plan to accent it with gold jewlery and clutch. While the black gown will be worn to the May 20th ball, and of course will be accented with silver tones of jewlery and accessories.

So there you have it... the GREAT dress debacle: extensive research, a little frustration, 4 dresses narrowed down to 2, and hopefully 2 that can be worn, re-worn and even maybe loaned to fellow Army spouses a few times throughout the next couple of ball seasons!

Till Next Time,

XOXO from Korea!

Mrs. GC

Continuing Education...The Next Chapter!

Hello Again Fellow Bloggers!!

I know you all think that once again, I've fallen off the Korean peninsula, but never fear...I'm still here! We've been swamped with life, and I think we are finally starting to catch up with the whirlwind! *Shew, thank goodness!*

So, with that being said...TODAY I have a HUGE announcement to make!!

During some of my blogger break (please know this was once again unintentional!), it was a priority of mine to complete and submit my graduate school application. It's been about 3 weeks since I submitted it and I recieved an email this morning with an update....

I am proud exstatic to announce that I am one of the newest members of the UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND's CLASS of 2013 Masters of Social Work program!!!

This program is one that will be completely online, which is perfect for our ever changing life with the Army. It will take me 2 years to complete, with each course session lasting 8 weeks. So in other words, I will take one 3 credit hour course every 8 weeks! I know that I'm going to have to crank the work out, and stick to a very tight schedule...but the upside is that after 8 weeks, that course is under my belt!

Returning to school for graduate work has always been a goal of mine. Well, really more than a goal. It's something that I have known for quite sometime that I would HAVE to do before moving on with life... ie: starting a family! But let me be the first to say, that I am SO very glad that I took a few years off from school, got some "life" experience under my belt, and I NOW more than EVER feel completely prepared to return to school. I actually even feel as though I will contribute more to my class sessions and hundreds of papers I'll be composing now that I have this "life" experience, and after living overseas, I certainly see the world through different eyes! For this experience, I am ever so grateful!

So here's too...stratigically planning my schedules, late nights researching, reading and writing papers and furthering my career and my family's future by continuing my education!

Till Next Time,

XOXO from Korea!

Mrs. GC

Valentine's Day 2011-Part II

As promised in this post ... here is part II of our Valentine's Day extravaganza!!

We'll make this as short and sweet as possible (with pictures of course), but I just couldn't let this wonderful evening with my B go undocumented. So here's the skinny...



B came to me a week or so before Valentine's Day and explained that he had tried to make reservations at this fabulous hotel, The Walkerhill Seoul. He explained that he was having some issues because the site kept coming up in Hangul, instead of English and would need my assistance with making the reservations! He tried really hard to surprise me and have everything all planned out (which of course rarely ever happens when living overseas), so I know that having to of course tell me the surprise ahead of time kinda made him feel bad, but no worries as I promised him...it would be a great night for us to get a much needed get away! So we booked our room for the weekend after Valentine's Day! After a busy Saturday of running errunds and getting our pooch situated at the kennel for the evening, we were off! 

When we checked in, I asked the desk attendant if it was possible for us to be placed in a non smoking room (because when booked online all that was available was smoking), thankfully the receptionist met and exceeded our needs by upgrading us from the "Wonderful Room" to the "Spa Room." It was explained to us that once we saw the spa room, if we were not satisified we could have our originally booked Wonderful Room. Yet, as you can see in this picture below...after one look at this fabulous room we were sold! 

The Room

(Unfortunately, this picture does not do this room justice!)

The Spa

(This jetted spa was so large and deep that I could have swam laps in it...B was thrilled to actually be able to fit in a tub for once since leaving the states! ha! Once again, this picture does not do the spa justice (and pardon the water marks), there was lots of "mood" lighting in this room! ha!

The Lovely Couple!

So, once we were all checked into our room, we scoped out the restaurant options at the hotel and came across a superb Japanesse restaurant! Luckily, we did not need reservations for this quite swanky place and were able to score a table overlooking the Han River while we dined. After dinner, we took on a few hours of entertainment at the Walkerhill Casino! I of course tried my hand at my trusty game of roulette and B at his good ole' faithful game of Blackjack! After a lovely dinner, some fine entertainment and a few adult beverages...we retreated to our room where we indulged in the various selections of cable TV (ha!). It was not Korean cable and had several selections of English programming which within itself was worth the room. After 20 months of watching primarily Korean cable, I'm pretty sure that once we return stateside B and I will spend a large majority of time glued infront of a TV! ha! (sad, I know!)

We wrapped up our getaway the next morning with a yummy breakfast at the signature restaurant "The Kitchen", also located in the hotel! 

So, there you have it... a lovely night to remember for the two of us in Seoul!  

XOXO from Korea!

Mrs. GC