Saying Goodbye to the Marine Corps

We all know that sometimes in life we have to say goodbye to people we meet and things that we do. And, it's exciting to think of what's to come; moving, making new friends, etc. But, it doesn't hit you just how hard it will be to say goodbye to the friends you have made, until the time comes to actually say goodbye. We're not quite there yet, but I think it hits some of us sooner than later. And with that, I think I would consider those of us more fortunate, because, when you know the end of something is coming, you may not be completely prepared for it but, you can make the moments worth it.

I'm sure by now, most of you have heard the rumor that BOTH Josh and I are getting out of the Marine Corps. We have all known for sometime now that I was for sure getting out. Josh, however, was a little undecided for a while. Well, in these last few weeks, Josh has for sure decided that he wants to get out of the Marine Corps. Not because of anything bad, but because he's ready to move on to new things. He has given his all for the Corps over the last 7 years, and now he is ready to concentrate on his family. Because one of these days, we're gonna have little ones running around!! And we've decided that him being deployed every year and a half is not how we choose to raise our children. And we're ready for new things (job wise) as well. Josh is really hoping to land an awesome job with the National Park service or something of equal liking until he gets his degree done. He may not get that amazing job at first, but, it's ok because we have plans to get school out of the way first. It's gonna be tough for a while but, we know it is not impossible! Especially with our friends and family keeping us in their prayers. (Thanks guys!)

Here's Josh and I @ Kyna and Rafe's new Condo!

And it has really been exciting for us. As well as very stressful! We're excited about buying our own house and getting dogs one day and having a backyard... and well, the normal stuff that a lot of people just take for granted that they have. We'll be buying our first house within the year! WOW!!! Isn't that crazy! And we know that year is just going to fly by, even tho it feels like a lifetime away! Oh! And, no offense to my side of the house, but, we've decided to move back to Lubbock, Texas, where Josh is from. (Less snow and humidity!!) Granted, we won't live there forever. But, we want to get school out of the way and then hopefully Josh will get a job as a Park Ranger at a National Park. Which will be amazing! But for now, Texas works for us! (We all know my feelings on Indiana...)

Here are the Scar's @ Del Mar Beach, March 2008! Josh and Jason worked in 121 together but, never really knew each other until this last Iraq deployment. During that time, Jason's wife Tami and I became pretty good friends. Which is, of course, how the guys became friends! I am definitely going to miss them and their 3 kids: Tyler, Tori, and Jake! They've been our home away from home family! In fact, I lived there a lot more than I lived at our apartment while Josh was on deployment!! = ) These guys are the greatest bunch and we wish them the absolute best of luck as they get ready to move again so that Jason can attend EOD school in Pensacola, FL.! Good luck you guys! You'd better always keep in touch!!!

The thing that will be hardest for us, we have figured out, will be saying goodbye to people we love and have grown close to over the years! Friends that you know you will never be able to replace, but with hopes that you can make some that will be just as good.

Who remembers this picture of Coop and I running around in capes and masks in Australia?! I don't think I've ever had a bad time out with Coop!

For anyone who had kept up with my old blog, you know all the trouble that Coop and I got ourselves into! We were CRAZY!!!! And I know that, even tho we don't see each other a whole lot anymore, I am going to miss her the most. We've been together the longest since we've been in, following each other from school to school and then around the fleet. We traveled to foreign countries together, eaten crazy foods together, and gotten very bad sunburns together!! = ) Ask anyone who has known us... where one is, the other was not far away. Especially in 'Kuni! When anyone would talk to one of us, they would always ask, "Where is your sister?" = ) I hope we keep in touch. And who knows, maybe we will visit each other on family vacations (more like we go visit her in Hawaii!!! Haha!). But, no matter where we all end up one day, Coop, I want you to know that I am really going to miss you!!! You will always be foremost in my mind when I watch my kids run around the house in diapers, wearing a towel as a cape! And whenever I try some crazy food I've never heard of before, I will thank you for that. If not for you, I would most definitely be boring! = )

Jake and Krysten... these guys actually started out as our "separate" friends. = ) Josh knew Jake and I knew Krysten and, well, we sorta built on the fact that they liked each other. Actually, we MADE them come out to dinner with us one night! And BOOM! They hit it off like fireworks!!! = ) Good thing Josh and I were pretty good at plotting, huh? These days they are Mr. and Mrs. Pedigo. = ) I think they're still teetering around between the idea of staying in or getting out. Either way... I would love to keep in touch with them!! Get together with our kids one day and hang out like in the good old days!!! =) We love you guys and wish you the best!

I remember the first time I met Rafe Beresh. He was a new guy in the shop, arrived in Iwakuni a few months after I had. He was pretty nice and we became pretty good friends. I learned so much about his high school sweetheart, Kyna, that when I finally got a chance to meet her, I already felt like I had known her for a lifetime! Lucky for me she didn't think I was a nut when I dragged her off to Hiroshima on like, the second day I met her! It ended up going pretty well! It was a lot of fun! And since then, they've followed us here to California and we've gotten closer as "couple friends"! In fact, this past week they've actually moved into a condo right across the street from us! Yea!! We love our Beresh-es!! These two are great to hang out with and talk to! And our kitties all enjoy play dates from time to time~! (Except Pyro, but, she's just a big baby!) We'll really miss you guys! Hopefully we can keep in touch once we've all moved away, and who knows? Perhaps we'll get "stationed" at a National Park near Washington somewhere! Field trip to Mt. Rainier anybody? =)

And to those of you who we haven't made mention of in here, please do not be disappointed! Unfortunately, we just weren't able to fit everyone in!! = ) We do love you all tho and we hope that everyone we know would keep in touch with us! One can never have too many friends!! = ) We plan to keep up this blog over the years and well, for what time will allow, keep up our Facebook accounts as well. Of course, email always works!!

Other than missing everyone, I cannot WAIT to get out of the Marine Corps!! Especially on Mondays like today, where it feels like it could drag on forever. It feels like 334 days will not come fast enough!!! UG!!! ( I know, I know... STOP COUNTING DOWN! It's so hard!) My End of Active Service date is 23 Feb 2009 and Josh's is October 26th of this year! Like I said before, we are really excited!! Please continue to pray for us and our future.; we really appreciate the prayers!

God Bless!

Jess and Josh