Travel Information

Philip got the dates of his leave and has filled out his leave forms.

We are planning on being in Kansas July 1-7 and flying to Oregon, July 9-16.

We look forward to visiting all of you!

Courtney and Philip

Got the news!

As promised the next time I blogged would be to tell you when Philip will be home!!! I just got the call from Rear Detachment that Spc. Philip Gosvener will be arriving on the 10 am flight on Saturday, June 13th!!! I'm thrilled! This is sooner than I was hoping for! I have lots to get done, but being a chronic procrastinator who works best on adrenaline, now that I know the date I think I will be getting into gear!! LOL!!! Wish you all could be here to welcome him back!!

P.S. We will not know the dates of his block leave until at least a few days once he is back. They will probably tell him during his reintegration training that will be held after he returns. So, until then I do not have any information when will be visiting Kansas/Oregon/Washington. All I can tell you is the month of July should be his block leave, realistically the 2nd week is when it will begin and when we fly out is up to my lovely husband, Philip.

Update

Well, things are moving along at a nice pace..although, they can't move fast enough for me! I am estimating 14 days until Philip returns, although I hope it is a few days sooner than that! No official word from Philip or the Rear Detachment. Guys are coming home all this week...in fact, all of Philip's company should be home no later than next Monday.

For all of you that don't already know, I put in my two weeks notice and my last day is Friday. My rational was two fold. One, I didn't know any set in stone dates for Philip's return and Walmart makes schedules 3 weeks in advance. Of course, in my mind Philip's return is more important. Plus, Philip will be visiting his family in Oregon/Washington in July and again..Walmart doesn't have a nice "vacation" allowance for part time employees who have been there less than a year. My second reason is I plan to start working towards my alternate teacher certification for the State of Texas and that means if all goes well I will be teaching next year and would like to prepare and relax before teaching full time.

I am looking forward to getting the house ready for Philip's return. I purchased an electric weed eater that I successfully put together and like using!! Also, so excited about another purchase..a "Secretary Console" which shall look nice in my living room area. I got it for $55 which it was originally $219! What a steal! Gotta love Walmart furniture clearance....haha! Now the only dilemma is the lack of a pick up truck or a male person to help...hopefully that will be worked out. ;)

Well, hopefully the next update is the DATE of Philip's return!! Yippee!!!

Old Phone

Last night, someone got into my car and stole my purse. Nothing valuable was taken. The police said it is just kids probably. However, my old cell phone (620)605-8556 was taken and I called the company to have it shut off just in case they try to use it. So, that no longer reaches me. Please use my home or Texas cell phone. Email me if you need these numbers!

I am just thankful nothing of real value was taken. Yes, and I will lock my doors from now on!!! Just a bad habit I got into, because I used to lock my keys in the car...lol!

Just had to share....

Well, as some of you know, I am an "Angel", that is a TAC (The Angel Company) demonstrator, although I currently just use this for personal use and don't actually "demonstrate" anything..LOL! I hope to get into this more at a later date.. However, I was sooooooo happy to see that featured on the TAC website is something that has some sweet personal meaning to me!!! My loving husband's "pet name" for me is none other than "Honey Bunny" ......Of course, I HAVE to get this stamp set!!! :)




A picture of the stamp set for the Spring Into May Rewards promotion!




www.theangelcompany.net

Hip Hip Hoooray

Well, I was very scared about my final grade for statistics. That course really kicked my bottom! I have always been a slight procrastinator and this course wasn't an exception. Mostly, I just didn't understand it! But, today, I got some GREAT news! I have been checking back everyday to see if he has posted the grade for my final paper..which by the way is worth 25% of my entire grade!!! A lot was riding on it! Guess what I got!!! A 91%!!!!! This was no small feat! Here is the feedback comments the teacher gave me: "You did put forth a good effort. I think you should feel good about this. No big problems, just some areas that were good instead of great. " Needless to say, I am very happy about this!!! :)

I'm Finished!! Officially a College Graduate!!

Well, after MANY years of college, I am finally done!!!!!! My classes were officially over last Sunday, but it will be a while before I receive the Diploma in the mail. I opted to not go to Virginia for the ceremony...obviously traveling so close to when Philip is coming home is not feesible. It is soooooo nice not to have homework! I can honestly say that I may not miss school...I will always be a "student", but I prefer to learn when it is on my own terms, in my own timeframe and for free!!!! I am not sure what the future holds for me, but I know that I will probably pursue something within the education realm, such as teaching or tutoring of some sort. That is where my heart has always been.

~Courtney

Some news....

Found out Philip is going to be in the trailing party...so that means the last one back...mid June. So two weeks later than I thought! :( Guess that gives me more time to get things ready right? Hmmm.....not good news, but at least he will be home soon...

Woot Woot!!!

They have finally posted the tentative homecoming ceremony schedules on the 4 ID Website! I'm so excited!!! I've been checking the website for the last month and it has had other homecomings....now it's our turn!!

The Great Design Challenge

Sooo...I have been watching HGTV and reading DIY Magazine a lot. It never occurred to me that this was something I could actually do for my own place! I have been pretty concerned with getting the house spotless and organized before Philip returns. I have done little projects here and there in the lines of organization and cleaning consistency...but have been giving a lot of thought to actually adding some color and design to our living room and bedroom as a little "Surprise!". Of course, Philip is the typical male. He isn't all that concerned by what is on the walls of the house as long as it has 4 walls and a roof in which he can sleep and take leisurely baths. However, I think redesigning these two "hot" spots with dramatic change the look of things and add another dimension to our "home". There are limits to what I can do...since I am in a rental.

I really don't have my own sense of style. So, I think it will be fun to see what inexpensive and creative things I can do and use to "paint" the canvas of the empty walls. If you have any ideas or suggestions...let me know!!! :) I'm getting really excited about having a crisp, clean house to present Philip with!! Something he and I can be proud of and entertain and show off!!

It's getting closer.....

I am allowing myself to start thinking about the day I get to see Philip again and hug him...I know that it will be here before I know it! Although it still is hard right now because he is working so much and isn't able to be online that often.

I am finishing up my FINAL course for my BACHELOR'S DEGREE...it's about time right? This class is SERIOUSLY killing me.... Statistics, basically I am to run statistical analysis on my research variables which are Attachment style and its affect on the quality of romantic relationships. I composed a survey that my fellow classmates took and now I must decide which type of test to run on my data: t test, ANOVA, or correlations. Then I must discuss this data and the results and make this all stretch to be 8 pages!!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I understand about as much as you probably do after reading the above sentences!!!!!!!!!!!!! I pray that God bestows much guidance over the course of the next two days!!!

Also, I made a card which you can see on my other blog. http://cardsbycourtney.blogspot.com/ I am proud of it. I haven't done paper crafting in a while and it felt good to get it all out and play with my stuff! After this class I plan on doing A LOT more of it!

Welcome Home Party

Hey guys,
As the time draws near for Philip's return, I have been thinking of putting together a welcome home party! I was thinking a B-B-Q at Blora. I don't know the logistics of this...but I know that with my work schedule, it is going to be very hard for me to get days off to drive up to Kansas...so the most likely it will have to be visitors here. Hopefully Hollie and Jared and Ethan can come down and see my place!!!

I want to welcome Philip back and acknowledge how much his sacrifice means!!! It hasn't been an easy year over there...anytime you are away from your family, home, and country it's got to be rough!

I'm not sure if this will work out for anyone...but I was thinking the end of June.

My Craft Room!!!

Take a look at my other blog! I added pictures of my craft room!

http://cardsbycourtney.blogspot.com/

MY man is coming home in about 75 days!!!!!

Gosh, I can't tell you how much I miss Philip......but with the onset of Spring comes the excitement that he will soon be home!!! He deployed June 23 roughly, but his unit deployed officially around June 15 so if we are lucky he will be home around that time as well.

They have been REALLY busy over there...working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week without a day off for about 2 weeks now. Please keep Philip in your prayers as this is hard for anyone, but he is just completely wore down. He says he goes to bed tired and wakes up tired.

I have been working a lot of hours at Walmart....about 30-34 hours roughly. Full time is 34 and above...I am only supposed to be part time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! With Philip's work schedule and me working all day...we haven't been able to connect as much as I would have liked,,,so that has been rough. We probably get to chat about 30 minutes once or twice a week if we are lucky...sooo in the grand scheme of things that is not a lot! :(

Buddy and Ava are doing good...but their Momma is looking forward to real human interaction! LOL! Oh and I hope they don't mind when Momma kicks them out of bed to share it with a human being again instead of two of the furry persuasion! ;)


I still think I am having gall bladder problems, but have elected to wait it out and if I have surgery it will be after Philip returns home. I saw the General Surgeon today at the Army hospital and he said I have two options: "Get on the schedule now or wait until your hubby returns and go from there" Since I am not crazy about the idea of losing an organ...I think waiting is the best and we will see if I have any more severe episodes.

Keep me in your prayers...as I would be remiss to say that loneliness mixed with Walmart and gall bladder pain keep me a little less than perky! :)

New year, new job

Well, for those of you who don't know, I have joined the working ranks again....WAL-MART. Ummm...It is okay. The only complaint I really have is that it kills my back and my FEET. Basically you twist and turn and STAND so much. Other than that, the job is very easy. Today was the first full day since Payday. Now, payday is a big day anywhere, but for an Army town, PAYDAY is a big deal...trust me, I know...LOL! I checked out a woman with three little screaming kids who had THREE, count em, THREE carts full of food (mostly junk food...LOL), clothes, and random stuff. Talk about working your booty off! Today was the first day I truly "felt" it...meaning, that I felt that I truly, truly was working and couldn't run and hide...haha...no I am dead serious...part of me wanted to tear up a bit...but that's what being an adult is all about right? I also had individuals with 2 carts full of stuff....oh and a lady who was grouchy mean and when I didn't give her money back, because she didn't click "cash back" called me a "dumb B*&T$" when she walked away.... Obviously, I can't give back money, when she clearly didn't click it....my register would be off and it wasn't charged to her card.

The job really isn't that bad..the people I work with are really nice. They are helpful and I do not feel "singled" out for being new. I do feel a sense of accomplishment getting up everyday and going in to work. I can't say it is my "dream" job...but it is a job.

On another note: Philip will be home in 4 months!!!!!!!! I cannot contain my joy. I miss him sooooo much! :)