Questions: So with the AF since you have left does that mean you dont have any ties to it anymore? Or just for now? I have no idea how that work. Technically speaking, I'm in the Inactive Ready Reserve for a few more months...so theoretically they could call on me if World War III breaks out. I already gave away all my uniforms though, so you can see how worried I was about that. I really wanted to do the Reserves (which means I would continue to serve a few weeks/weekends a year and deploy when needed) but because I took a severance package to get out, the Air Force does not want me to serve anymore as that would be more $$ out of their pocket.
What tattoos do you have and where? My first tattoo is a blue star on the front of my upper leg. It's my college color and I got it the first time I qualified for NCAA Div I Nationals in cross country. I planned to get another star each time I went, but that didn't happen. In college, we basically ran in underwear so you could see it when I ran.
My other tattoo looks like a strange question mark down my spine. I was drunk in Vegas...oops. My husband thinks it's hilarious.
Do you guys celebrate both anniversaries? We do celebrate both...but we celebrate our elopement date more and with bigger gifts.
Pre-Mommy life
I’m the oldest of three girls in my family. I was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina while my dad was stationed at Ft. Bragg. Being a military family, we moved a lot. My parents actually met and married in Germany while my Dad was stationed there and my Mom was teaching at an American school. As a child, I lived in North Carolina, New York, Kansas and Germany.
7 months old
People say I had the typical first born traits…fairly outgoing, self-assured, confident, adventurous, driven and competitive. I was always the leader of my play groups/friends (ok, you can say bossy). I was CRAZY energetic in school and always got in trouble for being loud or talking. I often had my desk in the corner facing the wall. Many teachers asked my parents if I had ADD but my parents don’t really believe in medication for that diagnosis and so they kept me super physically active and engaged.
My sisters and me
As early as I can remember, my schedule was jammed packed of activities and stayed that way until college. I literally did everything…sports, piano, percussion, singing, acting, dance, bible school, science camp. My parents shuttled me around to everything….my poor younger sisters were towed along to everything too. My parents were older parents and, as I say, spent WAY too much time reading/thinking/studying about having a child before doing it. So, I was sort of their own project.
By the time I was in high school, we were living in Kansas. If you knew me in high school, you might describe me as a nerd, jock and/or straight laced. I was very religious in high school. I saw the world as black and white and took, what I thought, was the moral high ground on all matters. I was a perfectionist about my work to the T. My parents were very strict with me, but I was even harder on myself. I HAD to get A+s or I would freak out. I survived on 3-4 hours of sleep per night in high school. I played volleyball, basketball, cross country, track and did gymnastics on the side. I also did Science Olympiad, drama, mock United Nations, student council….yeah, big dork. I worked at a restaurant in the evenings too(my parents didn’t care if I had a job or not, but I was really weird about using their money to pay for anything.) I would get up at 5 am and do extra running practice. School was easy for me and I never really studied and did not have organized study skills. I was able to super speed read my texts and recall the stuff for tests (this would come back to haunt me.)
I didn’t date in high school at all, never had a boyfriend…super awkward around boys. I had a few good friends, but not too many probably because my schedule was nuts. I definitely did not enjoy high school and would never want to repeat it. I also remember high school as feeling really awkward for me because I had beginning symptoms of PCOS which included terribly heavy periods, acne and weird body hair. It was probably worse in my mind that anyone noticed, but it made me feel socially isolated.
I guess I was an interesting study in contrast. I was definitely an “outsider” in school, but yet was voted Royalty Queen my senior year. I remember I had to go to the Royalty dance without a date. At the last song, I was literally the only person sitting on a chair while everyone else danced…..super duper awkward!!!! I wanted friends/boyfriend so badly but no one really talked to me. That said, no one was really mean to me either so I’m not sure what that meant.
Royalty Queen....this guy asked to take a pic with me...not my date or anything
Me running in State....I'm in the green
I graduated first in my class in high school marking the end of 4 long years of stress. I also finished 2nd in State in multiple cross country/track events that year so I started getting recruited by a lot of schools (My claim to fame is I still hold the school records in the 2 mile, mile and 800 meters at my school.) I had always planned to go to the Air Force Academy after high school. But, I think I was burnt out and ready for a break from all that structure. I took recruiting trips to quite a few schools around the country and fell in love with Columbia University and New York City.
My life plan out of high school was to be both a pilot and a doctor. I also wanted to be a professional runner. NONE of those happened, haha. My parents didn’t have the money for Columbia so I took a full ROTC scholarship to cover the tuition. I literally got my butt kicked at Columbia in every aspect of life. In high school, I was the top student and had, what I thought were great test scores. In college, I was probably in the bottom 25%. It was a shocker. I was so lost in classes my first 2 years!!! It was insanely competitive to another level and I just wasn’t prepped for it. I pretty much almost failed out of school. At the same time, I discovered boys and alcohol and the mix was super fun but not so pretty grade-wise. I partied like a Rock Star in NYC instead. I also had a blast running competitively in college.
Partying in College
I changed my major 7 times in college and barely graduated on time! The Air Force was threatening to make me enlist if I didn’t graduate, so I ended up majoring in anthropology because it literally had the least number of required classes, haha.
By the time I was out of college, I was almost unrecognizable from the girl who started. I was now crazy liberal, an atheist, had tattoos and multiple piercings, was laid back about pressure/grades, was somewhat boy crazy and was generally a free spirit without many long term life goals. (Pretty sure my parents were choking but they didn’t say much.) I also now had the PCOS “diagnosis” and felt much more confident about myself.
Through a twist of fate, my paperwork to be an Air Force pilot got “lost”. I had a choice…I could either stay and work as basically a gloried secretary after graduating to resubmit my pilot paperwork or I could take my chances and go into the Air Force in another career field. Being the impatient person that I am, I took the latter. The Air Force kindly assigned me to the Space and Missile career field and sent me to California for training and then to North Dakota. WTH!!! That was not my idea of the military at all! I wanted to fly, to be deployed overseas, to do obstacle courses. Instead, I found myself watching a radar screen in cold North Dakota. Oh well.
I did really well in the Air Force and started considering making it a full time career. That said, my heart was never in my career field. I wish I could have switched to another job in the Air Force but it wasn’t possible. I made some great friends in the Air Force….mostly guys and I thrived on the competitive nature of my job. I really really wanted to try and get out and go to medical school, but life kept getting in the way….and then a husband also came along (more on that tomorrow). While I was in the Air Force, I finished my Masters degree in Human Movement. I think that was the first time I realized I was moving a different direction from where the Air Force was going…I really enjoyed my masters….it was completely different than my career and I liked it.
In the Air Force...with hubby here
When the Air Force needed to downsize last year, I made the break. I had no plans and was super scared, but I turned in my paperwork to leave active duty and was approved! The rest is history I suppose.
The Story of Eric and Liz
In college, I gave up my conservative ways of high school and I decided I would be a self-proclaimed “player”. I wanted to be just like one of the frat boys in terms of dating. I was very upfront about being a “player”. Overnight, I turned into a huge flirt/party girl. I would laugh at guys and warn them I was a player and that they shouldn’t get too attached or fall for me. I dated loads of guys and had a blast. My roommates thought the parade of men was hilarious. I pretty much dated every type out there, geeks, jocks, pretty sure I dated a gay guy once. I say “date” in the loose sense…..I never officially was “boyfriend/girlfriend” with any of these guys. I never introduced any of them to my parents or even told my long distance friends about them.
I continued my player ways into the Air Force. On my third assignment, I found myself moving back to California after I had been stationed in North Dakota. Let me tell you, I had BIG plans for California….boys, boys, boys. There hadn’t been too many prospects in North Dakota. I arrived in California in June and planned to dive back into my old lifestyle.
I met Eric my second week in California. I remember losing my breath a little the first time I met him. He invited me to a big party at his house. I was so nervous the whole day. When I finally got to the party, we talked the whole night. Later on that night, people were crashed everywhere sleeping around the house. I was sleeping on a love seat. I remember he came and woke me up and said he felt bad I was sleeping on the love seat and offered his bed. My player self was thinking “score”! We laugh at what happened next….I went to his room and told him I had to take off all my clothes because I was super sun burned (which was true, wink wink). Eric said, "that’s fine, make yourself comfortable" and turned over and went to sleep! Who was this guy?????
Here's a picture from that party where we first hung out
We were inseparable from that day on, but still not “together”. Eric made me work for him. He didn’t even kiss me for another almost 2 weeks! I once invited him to stay the night at my place and he told me “no”!! He was the first guy who told me “no”. About 3 weeks after I met him, we took a weekend getaway to Sacramento. I knew in that weekend, he was “the one”. Usually, I get tired of guys after 24 hours and I need my own space. With Eric, I just wanted to hang out with him MORE even after 24 hours.
Here's another pic from our first weeks together....collectively bad hair or lack of
Eric and I initially met in July. He proposed in September in San Francisco (on a bluff overlooking the city). Everyone thought we were crazy as we moved so fast.
We got engaged on Sept 19th and then decided to elope on Sept 27th. We went to the courthouse early in the morning before we had to report for a full day of work!
Here’s the crazy part of my story. We decided not to tell any friends/family that we got married! I knew my conservative parents would think I lost my mind. I hadn’t even mentioned I was dating anyone, let alone married!!
We just let everyone know we were engaged (my parents still thought I had lost my mind) and then planned a wedding for the next summer. We were married on a cruise ship. It was the laid back wedding ever. Eric and I were working long hours at that point, so we didn’t plan a thing…just picked a “package” off the cruise ship’s website. I bought a dress for $100 and pretty much just showed up. No stress, no worries, no nothing. And after all, we were already married.
The wedding on the cruise ship
We will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary this September. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone. A lot of people thought we wouldn’t make it and the odds were stacked against us. But, I always explain that we both knew what we were looking for and had lots of dating experience. We both knew we wanted to get married in the first week of meeting…..and it was super scary, romantic and fun to take a leap of faith like that together.
One of our recent pics...also from a cruise ship
Wednesday - Emmett's story
I don’t really know how to write today’s entry….I’ve already re-written this quite a few times. The story of Emmett is really a story of loss and then hope. If you don’t mind, I’m going to put some links in here because I think I’ve said some of this better elsewhere.
(I actually ended up on JM while recovering from my second miscarriage and D&C. I was out of my mind with grief and was looking for help. I stumbled into the Pregnancy Loss forum. I eventually became a regular in TTC after Loss…that was my JM home for a while before I met all of you!)
Here’s the story of my first 2 pregnancies….first story is in post #1, second story is in post #3 in this thread.
http://www.justmommies.com/forums/f2...s-journal.html (Liz's journal)
The above thread kinda ends with us finding out we had lost our second pregnancy in October of 2008. I had to have a D&C. The D&C was terrible....no anesthesia and a very rude doctor. I looked for my post on my D&C but couldn't find it. I was screaming/crying during the whole procedure. Physically, I was a wreck afterwards for quite a while. I had a few scary experiences with cramping/bleeding while working out even a few months after my D&C. I was very very depressed for about 6 months after the second loss. I cried all the time, I started drinking a lot. I was really mixed up about a lot of things. The pregnancy/miscarriage had some lasting effects on my career too, which I resented.
Here's a link to my blog where I talk about some of my feelings post loss:
Step by Step, Ooh Baby!: A time of reflection...
Emmett was quite the work in progress. I have PCOS so my body is not exactly normal. I was also diagnosed with a MTHFR mutation which can cause clotting issues in tiny vessels...ie the ones that a baby is working hard to make. I met with an endocrinologist, a perinatologist and my ob/gyn to make a plan of attack. (see link below for medicine description)
I started charting my cycles and using OPKs. Eric and I tried to the point that TTC wasn't fun anymore. It took almost a year to get pregnant with Emmett. We finally got pregnant on the month we were going to "give up". In fact, Eric had eye surgery that month which just happened to fall during that time of the month. He was so out of it on pain medication, but he was still a good sport and we "tried" anyway. October was our lucky month!
Here's my very first blog entry:
Step by Step, Ooh Baby!: No, I'm not dying
Emmett was such a different pregnancy for me. I refused to bond with the pregnancy for a long time. Everyday, I woke up and prepared myself to lose the pregnancy. We didn't tell any family until I was in the second trimester. We didn't tell anyone else until I was about 22 weeks along. Didn't announce on Facebook until I was 26 weeks along. We didn't buy any baby stuff or make any plans for Emmett until after 26 weeks.
I had a great pregnancy with Emmett! I'm so glad I started the blog with him so I can remember how I felt and what I was doing.
Delivery, unfortunately, was TERRIBLE. If you haven't read that story, it's in our delivery forum. Just about destroyed me. But I'm getting better, little by little.
This is my favorite picture:
I love my Little Man so much. He is so mellow and sweet and wild all at the same time. Every time I look at him, I think about what a miracle he is and how hard we worked for me. It's been an emotional roller coaster through my losses, pregnancy and delivery recovery. DH and I have struggled sometimes to find the balance with this little guy in our life. So much has changed since Emmett was born. I quit my job and stay at home with him most of the day (still work nights). I'm trying to learn to keep up a household and entertain the little guy. I don't really know where the future will take us but I'm looking forward to whatever is ahead.
so I know how it is.
Linear Mode
