Military Couple

Did I tell you about how awesome our life has been since we joined the military on November last year? Man, it is the best! Actually, the best decision that we have ever made yet so far. We got to see two states since then... been in the chilly place of Great Lakes, Illinois on the winter, and been here in San Antonio, Texas at the moment. We are about to receive our orders for our first command, and what can I say? Everything went by so fast I can't believe in a week's time we will be graduating (for the 3rd time within the military) and we are off somewhere else after that!

When we joined there were a lot of questions hanging in my mind, and we've been getting different answers here and there. Now that we are in here, the experience is totally different. I would say that for those of you who are contemplating on joining the service, you need to feel it for yourself to understand better if it will work for you. The basic training (bootcamp) was great, it was not as scary as it sounds. All it takes is getting used to the lifestyle for a while and opening your mind to take orders from those above you. The "A" school was a challenge, it was fast-paced, but every program in the military will ensure that everybody gets out euipped to carry out the mission in whatever field they are in. At first I thought we would just do probably 5 years, but now it has changed, we would like to venture and do the whole 20 years.

Being here, though we get annoying questions all the time like:

-Is that a common name in the Philippines or are you guys related?

I revolutionized my answers by the way, from just telling people straight out that we're married, to:

-I didn't do my laundry so I just happened to borrow his uniform for the day...
-We're twins...
...or... -Yes, we're married, sucks for you... just kidding :)


They just find it strange that we both went to bootcamp together, came to school together (and we were classmates at that), and we lived in the same barracks (separate rooms of course). Everybody our senior would tell us they've never seen a couple went into this together, at least one will come in first and the other one will follow, but not join together. Well, I guess we're just lucky like that!

I could write endless thoughts about this military career but I don't have all the time. It is definitely a good feeling to serve and have an awesome career at the same time, and it feels great to become a part of something big.

Hit me up if you want to know more about enlisting (in the NAVY), I'd be more than happy to guide to the best of my knowledge. Until next time blogosphere. I'm happy I recovered my blog at last!

Weekends in San Antonio

This is a cool laid back place, kinda like Los Gatos, California with the same ancient Spanish feel, but only a little bit affordable.

We stay in the hotel every weekend to unwind a little bit from the barracks. We need to breathe in some civilian air too you know,  but still sailors 24/7. It's nice actually.  It's manageable.  We are liking the lifestyle. Although of course it is a little bit costly,  but we have to have this kind of break in order to maintain  a normal mental status.  The 50% discount the hotel gives to military members help us survive somehow.  The food,  the car rental,  and the recreation is of course another story. 

We are still in our fast paced crazy EMT course so we still can't focus discovering San Antonio. I promise I will give you a better preview in the next weeks. In the meantime,  it is like this - pretty laid back,  and of course just studying in between.  As long as me and my love are together,  I couldn't ask for anything more.

54 Days to Bootcamp

I just thought about doing things for fun, and documenting every moment of it in an album called 54 Days to Bootcamp.

We never really had a real traveling the world adventure since we got married, but I t guess this time we have to do something that we could bring to cherish while we are in and not talking and seeing each other in 3 months. We have been in a 3-year long distance relationship, and we are 100% sure we could pass the 3 months away from each other, or something like that since we will be in the same facility anyway.

The album I am referring to will be in Facebook, of course, where else? I am cooking one southern food tonight and that will be my very first photo in the countdown. We will eat dinner tonight on our bed, at 11:30, while watching Saturday Night Live. Hey, that is something, right?

That's What You Call "GENES"

My husband is not the type who would speak his mind, as with the majority of the male populace I guess. Never, ever, in all the years that we have been together have I heard him comment anything about me, at least physically.

Until one day, he said...

"Baby, you walk just like your mom, do you know that?" - yup, blew it in my face just like that.

Hey! That wasn't fair! I hate the way my mom walks! Simply put, I couldn't take my husband's comment! IT HURTS! It HURTS REAL BAD!

Tutorials by JFotography

Tutorials by JFotography

I just found another source of inspiration for my photography ambitions! In fact, I am trying her tutorials right now. Tomorrow, if it will not interfere with my daily exercise schedule, I will pose as my own model. I need to learn playing with lights first. See ya!

Please visit JFotography and see for yourself!

Again

... I'm afraid this is going to be on a day to day basis now. I'm good with my milk and fruits, plus I take my multivitamins, I have no idea why my ankles are so sensitive. I'm pretty sure it's not my shoes too because I got a good running shoe... Must be my age.. Tsk!

Injured Everyday

Aha, that is exactly what I get for not letting my feet recover. I am getting used to running though, and if you have a husband who takes care of your injury, you would rather be stubborn right? More running! Two months to go!

On Joining The US Navy

At first thought, I know you would be shocked.

Patriotism is a call to everybody, but it is not everybody's calling to serve his country by joining its Armed Forces.

So... Honey is a US Citizen and he decided to serve this awesome country, and I have nothing against that. At first I said okay, you join in and then I'll follow you wherever you will be stationed, I'll just keep my job or maybe look for other jobs. After a lot of thinking though, I decided to serve together with my husband and get a career while in service. Now, we are in the Delayed Entry Program to the US Navy and we are both shipping out on November 14.

I am a Permanent Resident Alien in this country. So much for the spouse support I'm giving, I want to give back by joining the service because I felt I was given equal opportunity here as with its citizens. I was able to advance myself and was able to help my family overseas. Serving and at the same time getting a career inside is actually a fabulous idea.

We have less than three months before we leave. We have informed our present jobs that we are joining the service. Right now we are thoroughly preparing physically and mentally for the basic training which will be in Chicago for about three months. I am working twice as hard so I can do a 1.5 mile run in 16 minutes, do 13 push-ups, and do 43 sit-ups. The only thing that I am not confident about doing yet is the swimming, I thought I need to enroll in order to learn the very basic and be comfortable in the water at least.

The hardest part for us couple might be just the bootcamp. We will see each other inside but we will not be allowed to talk. We signed up for a 4-year contract and we will be working as dental assistants in a hospital. There is a possibility too that one of us will be deployed at sea, but the Navy said as long as we will be good sailors, they will try to keep us within 50 miles from each other.

I am actually excited and couldn't wait to be done with boot camp and a school! Will give bits and pieces from time to time.

New Space Preview

I have been slacking, I know... I have to many things going on as of the moment, but as promised, I will give you a sneak preview of our own little space...

When we moved, pretty much we brought a lot of stuff with us. Bed and appliances, and then we bought new stuff too. Below are some of the accents that are recently acquired:

...that really chic rocking chair...

...that Standing Oval Mirror that I requested since day 1...

...and a study table and chair replacement...
Moving is fun, I tell you it was a walk in the park for me and I could do it again. We have moved like 10 miles from where we have lived last so the move wasn't that bad. Plus, I was really so prepared that I boxed a lot of our stuff weeks ago, that on the date of move in, we just loaded and unloaded our stuff. That's how I do it, I was a trained girl scout after all.

These three accents make up everything that's in here. I would love to take a photo of our TV stand only that I have no enough lighting anymore at this time. I really love to keep our space here, and I don't want to accumulate things ever again. It helps to just keep the stuff that you really need and break free from the sentimental bondage and throw away the useless things.

I will talk more about this apartment community some time soon. We have been here for a month, and so far, it has been awesome!

Successfully Moved-In

We officially started our lease on our new apartment yesterday. We have found this new place a month ago and we both fell in love with its homey atmosphere. Compared to the other apartment communities that we scouted, this one has a serene atmosphere, it is clean, it is quiet, and you would never see personal stuff hanging outside the balconies. Pool is quite inviting too.

We are in the second day of unpacking and arranging our stuff, Honey is still sleeping but I am already up and running excited to get us all set here. I love the independence. I love the fact that I at last own the kitchen and I can live in a clean well-maintained pad. I love the walk-in closet, I love the bathroom, I love everything about this place! There are trees and flowers outside too and the parking is generous! How did we get so lucky?

I will be taking photos of this place to send it to my mom in the Philippines, and if I remember I'm gonna post some here to share with you guys.

I just sneaked out, I'll update soon!

We Have Been Eating Math

I am still in awe why in every test that we have to take we always have to deal with loud mathematics. If not all, at least the basics. My brain is getting old and lazy and its not fun to do some long mathematics refresher in preparation for that one test you've been dreaming to score the highest. Duh...

In between Honey and me, he is the most susceptible to mathematics learning. I know that I need not stereotype or give in to the stereotyping, but I admit, in our case, the guy is always good at numbers. I just hate numbers forever! That doesn't mean though that I could not deal with them. I have been trying.

The test that we are about to take on the second week of July will have Arithmetic Reasoning and Mathematics Knowledge. I have been doing well with the previous and I am battling with a lot of formulas in the latter. We did a short test together last night and it seems that I have so far retained and absorbed all that I have reviewed so far, and it feels great! Really.

Two weeks to go before the big day. This test will determine if we will qualify in the Military. This is part of the steps we are taking to join the United States Navy.

Looking For A New Nest

It has been really busy. Honey's 29th birthday even went unnoticed. We had a dinner for five at a local fancy buffet and that's about it. The TV killed all the excitement, which is pretty cool as far as I am concerned, that way, we both got what we wanted with lesser hassle. Parties are not for us anymore.

So I took a two-day time off from work, plus a day off which is my regular day off so that makes it four days in a row without work! Exciting isn't it? Or at least the thought of it. We thought we would be going away for Honey's birthday but he got a note from his doctor to rest for five days because his shouldered was injured, and I really hope it gets better. He moves a lot and plays a lot of active sports and I couldn't afford the thought of him being badly hurt. Anyway, so since we were looking for a new place, I spent the most of my time off scouting for apartments near Interstate 880 and 101 so that we could move closer to where Honey works his second job.

The three days have been productive. We found two places in different locations that we are comfortable living. One is a one-bed one bath apartment for $1250 a month at a cozy place in Willow Glen. We fell in love with the place instantly and thought of just moving there, but then last night we both feel that the place is just too big for the two of us, and it is not even likely that we could utilize the living room, so we switched to another option. This morning we went to a studio apartment in a quiet neighborhood and found the place really okay at $1050 a month. The place is still huge, only that the kitchen doesn't have a divider and I worry about the smell that would stick into our bed after cooking. Right now I am in the middle of scouting for dividers of folding screens that we could use as partitions at my favorite Bed Bad and Beyond! I am scouting for a little bit of home remedies too to make our space really livable and clean. I don't want to go out of the house smelling like bacon!

We just faxed our application two hours ago and I am pretty sure that we would be approved for the unit. I like everything about that studio except for the outdated kitchen appliances, which is pretty much the least of my concerns. The neighborhood is superb, parking shouldn't be a problem, plus the bathroom is really pretty and it has a lot of storage space.

I can't wait to move!

The TV is Here...

We went early after noon to Sears to get the much awaited Samsung Smart TV. We got a good deal today because there was an ongoing sales event because of the upcoming memorial day tomorrow. The supposed to be $1000+ inclusive of taxes was paid at $917, a very good deal for a 2012 Samsung Smart TV. The feeling right now is unbeatable. Huge slim flat screen in front of our bed, high definition and all, it is awesome!

The downside of the story though came when we switched our Netflix subscription to streaming from dvd. Originally, we just thought about buying a bigger TV, but lately the thought of streaming Netflix unlimited excited us. Until we logged on to Netflix on our new TV and found out that the content is only limited. I called them to explain to me the difference of the contents in between the streaming and the dvd, and they said the streaming only has 14,000 movies and shows and that they are kind of outdated. I was surprised too when I browsed the streaming and did not find the classic movie Forest Gump.

Oh well, a little bit frustrated with Netflix here, but what can I do. We are in the middle of deciding of whether to keep the dvd or the streaming subscription. I for one still want the streaming, but since we are in the middle of a test preparation, I figured the streaming could really be a huge distraction at this point, especially for Honey! Need I say more? I though I was pretty clear about this in my previous post! :-)

We have another milestone we are about to take together as a couple. We are enlisting in the US Navy! More about it and the preparations we are taking in my upcoming posts. Right now I swear I could use another math refresher!

Oh My...

That was Honey this morning, curled up after a pee. Saturday. I had to work, but took a second to capture his winning sleep moment! Today he went out with football buddies for their memorial weekend barbeque football and volleyball. He would never miss it.

I had to share that he spends time watching TV before going to sleep, he usually passes out in between 2 to 3 in the morning, that is when he has to come from work at 11 in the evening. No matter how tired he is, he wouldn't miss his TV. First thing in the morning before completely waking up from bed, he would turn on his TV again and watch his sports channel. He would always spend some time with his TV before anything else in the world! That is why we are getting him his new TV tomorrow, and I am so excited! I could only imagine unlimited Netflix streaming, and I like that I would benefit from his gift too.

Back to his sleeping position, I swear this was the most endearing sight. I don't usually witness this all because normally I do fall asleep way before he does, and first thing in the morning I will work myself in the shower, dry my hair, and do my make-up as quick as a lightning. What a good catch this morning huh? I wish I used my DSLR, this photo is priceless...

Honey's Future Birthday Present

We are getting a Samsung 40 inches class LED 120Hz Smart HDTv!!! This is his 29th year so he deserves to get an expensive toy, not quite as expensive as my DSLR but still, it is something fancy! We are excited to stream Netflix unlimited!!! Another 15 days... I will keep you posted!

Honey on Maxi Dresses

While picking up our Mother's Day cake at Goldilocks this morning, honey noticed three ladies wearing maxi dresses. He asked me wondering, and said, Baby, are these dresses supposed to make you feel comfortable on this weather?! It was hot this morning, hot not warm, and the guy was really having a dilemma looking at those ladies strutting their long gowns!

Well, what could I say? I guess this guy is lucky that I don't like dressing up that much, or I could be wearing those dresses too!

The Savings Project

Our savings plan is working. Our tiny fortune has been left untouched and it is growing little by little every payday. As I was working on Mint minutes ago, I noticed that our net worth is already positive, that is to say, that we have more cash saved up compared to our regular expenses. We have not been struggling financially really, but we only have been negligent on what we spent on. Little pleasures like movies, eating out, and buying stuff like clothes, shoes, makeup and whatever clutter that would go unused most of the time anyway had to to go away.

Honey will be turning 29 next month, and me 4 months later, and the more that we have been thinking about improving our net worth. We have about $25,000 in loans as of the moment, most were from Honey's student loan which was $22,000, and the rest for his pickup truck. Like I told you, I am the most lucky wife to have a husband who is financially smart, he was able to take advantage of a Citibank credit card with 0% interest for six months and paid off the loan with the most interest. Unfortunately, aside from the awesome taxes and bills here in America, there is also this staggering rates of interests from left to the right that we have to deal with.

As of the moment, we are 51% away from joint savings goal for the year, thanks to the tax refund from the federal government. Our joint savings will serve as our emergency fund. Since we are building our personal savings at the same time, I thought about putting what's saved up by year end to the joint savings to add more to it and then we could start building our personal savings again. On the other hand, we are at 1% in our mortgage savings goal which is by the way so unimpressive, but that is because we set to save about $60,000 for down-payment of a future condo or a house if we could afford it in two to three years. This savings project is really becoming exciting to me.

We have another monthly add-on expense starting this month for our life insurance. Me and Honey bought a term life insurance for $30 monthly in order to protect each other if in case something unpredictable happens in the future. We are also looking at a retirement plan that would work for both of us, hopefully one that is non-taxable, if only it is possible!

The Much Awaited Avengers

We planned to be here in the morning to avoid the rush but unfortunately did not make it until 12:30, thus, we waited in line for two freaking hours! The guys that work here at the mall theatres must really hate this job in times like this...

Honey has been waiting for this movie, and me too I guess, so this will all be worth it at the end. This is our first of two movies for the month too.

As Long As I Have You...

Kilig moment!

Honey and I were talking about something silly earlier... Told him to work hard so he could buy me a Prada from his own pocket, it was half-meant but... Haha! He said --> "... that would be too materialistic, I don't care... As long as I have you, my football and my surfing I am good! I can live with that! <-- Okay??? It's alright, I'll just wait until we won the lottery before I'll ask for a Prada again...

Hearing that somewhat far out statement as a valid excuse for not buying me a Prada is priceless!

On Cash Management

With all the bills, taxes, utilities, and a savings account to build up, effective cash management is really a must. Honey signed us up at mint.com so could have a visual map on our budget and our cash flow. We actually started last month but the results were not appealing, we figured we should wait until this month when we would already have dis-positioned our budget and expenses altogether. Good news is, April is almost over and we are still within our budget and that is really a job well done. Before mint, we would just go watch a movie every weekend that would cost us about $100 a month, buy fastfood if we feel it and end up spending $150 or so. Little things that are actually very affordable usually get us into spending more, and so we figured it was time we set a budget for certain spending categories because little expenses just add up. What's good with mint is you would know instantly where you are at with your budget and how you are doing wit it because it gives you a graphical data, and you would really want to see color green to yellow on that graph and avoid becoming red, and we really feel excited about it.

With a mortgage savings, an emergency savings fund, and our personal savings to build up, Mint isn't a bad idea at all. Not to mention student loans, car loans, and small credit card bills. Ohhhhh America!