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It is my pleasure to receive this Bloggy Award from Wife of a Sailor, one of my many mil friends on Twitter! It's the first award I've ever gotten on my site and I'm very excited about it!

Before I express who I've nominated, I'd like to say a few updates, since it's been a while since I've been here!

1) I began my new job at a law firm last Monday, and it's been...well, not easy. It's my first new job in 2 years and is so far the only job I really have cared about because how I do here can determine basically the rest of my life (if and where I attend law school, if I'll be working there later, etc.), so it's been challenging but I've enjoyed it.


2) Some of the craziness from my last post has died down, and I think things will be good for us this year. We have a lot of growing up to do and big decisions have yet to be made about  A LOT in our lives, but I think this year will be a good one. :) 


3) I got a new fishy! His name is Pauly and he's a betta. He's pretty neat. You might think it's kind of lame for me to brag about owning a fish, but most of the pets I had as a kid I didn't take care of; my mother was the pet caregiver. So having him is going to be fun! I have his fish bowl set up just perfectly and will transport him back into it tonight (his water needs to regulate to room temp. again, since I came back to my apartment at school.


And now, for my award:

 
Whirlwind! 01/24/2010
 
For those of you that are friends with me on Twitter, you've read a little bit about the headache that has been my life as of late. Between going through an educational crisis last week, to some craziness in my relationship over the weekend, I'm really hoping this week is calm in comparison (though that's doubtful, as I start a new job tomorrow). 

In a nutshell, a lot of the dramarama happened because of talking about future plans with the boyfriend. We were really dead-set on tying the knot earlier this month, but one big roadblock has been that I'm in school for a while and was considering law school. However, I started to ask myself, "Do I really want to do this?" Looking up statistics and finding a few blogs from former law students, I found that the option is a risky gamble; you invest six figures in loans, only to **maybe** have a job when you graduate, unless you have stellar grades or have connections.

So I started looking at every program under the sun outside of law that 1) I would enjoy 2) would be semi-lucrative and 3) would provide me a way to do school while Steve and I get married, settle at his base, etc. 

Some of the options I came up with were an MBA after working two years; a graduate studies program at the university near his base; online programs; etc. I pretty much scoured the Internet for any possible way to do law school online (clearly, there's no way), or to find Army bases near law schools so there could be some chance (a slim one, but still a chance) that we could be married while I'm law school.

Well, needless to say I've regained a little faith in my abilities to do law, so I'm happy THAT panic is over! Well, for now.
 
 
This past year, I have encountered multiple women who have experienced and ended an abusive relationship. These have ran the gamut of women who, married for years, finally commit to separation from that person because he was emotionally abusive, to women who, after subtle signs of abuse came to light, discovered their boyfriend was not who they thought he was and were forced to leave.

Statistics show that about 1.5 million women are raped and/or physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually, according to the National Violence Against Women Survey (NVAWS). This is just in the U.S. alone. And while domestic violence is usually understood as a woman suffering physical abuse, there are other types of abuse as well. 

 
 
So, here we are, once again. I couldn't sleep and began thinking about what the future holds in the following months and year. It's quite possible I will be engaged for real (not just on Facebook...long story) in the next 6 months to a year, and married at the end of next year or perhaps sometime the following year (which will be here sooner than you think!) and I'm not even really sure what to do with my life. 

I know I have no rhyme or reason to plan it all this second, but it's who I am. I'm a planner, and what I do now reflects on my future. Not having a set A to B to C, etc. plan drives me crazy. So it's stressful thinking about marriage so soon after undergrad and also considering the possibility of law school while married to a soldier. Throw into the mix of Steve's reconsideration about reenlisting, and it's the perfect recipe for insomnia. 

With Steve stationed at Bliss, I scoped out law schools close by, for if we were to marry I would still like to pursue that degree. Turns out the closest law school is in Lubbock, an 8 hour drive away, and I assure you the program is most likely not Tier I. There are graduate programs around, but they wouldn't be law. 

I know I'm worrying for nothing, and I should focus on what's in front of me: a new job I start in less than 72 hours, along with a new school year, not to mention the fact that I can actually talk and text to my boyfriend instead of waiting for Skype to kick in while he's on another continent. 

I have a lot to be thankful for and much to do before graduation day (it's about 11 months and 2 days away!), but goodness, I should have a plan in place by now, right? Sigh. We shall see what happens soon!