Change... For Better or For Worse

I haven't updated for almost 3 weeks, I figured it was about time. I have been crazy busy doing mundane things, who knew they could be so taxing?! If you haven't already stalked my facebook and already know, we just got back from Disneyland!!!! It was SO much fun! Evan was so funny there :) We had a LOT of good memories. Here are a couple pictures and videos (the rest you can find on facebook).



A lot is going to be changing within the next couple of months. We are leaving the happy, grey and raining state of Washington to go to the poor state of Florida filled with nonstop sunshine and white sand beaches :) I could not be more excited and more nervous. Will I find a new job? Will Evan pass Phase II? Will we make good friends and be split up again?

Military life is not for the faint of heart, and I forgot how much of that type of person I am. I miss my family and friends on a daily and frequent basis. I LOVE my husband more than life itself, but it's hard being away. Moving to all these new places and not having a support system. I'm not good at being alone and by myself. We fly home almost every other month and it's extremely hard not going home more... now we're moving to Florida with higher plane ticket costs and many more miles inbetween. But thankfully we will be coming home a couple times before then! Once for Evan's birthday weekend (he'll be 24!!!) and one last stop before heading to Florida :) Anyone want to drive with me to Florida? We possibly might have to move ourselves so we can drop off some winter and extra stuff before heading out because we're going to be having roomates! Since we're only there for 6 months, and the fact we have enough "stuff" to fill a small house, we are hopefully borrowing some space from my parents storage unit :) That means... we have to drive our cars to Florida. Evan with the Sorento in tow behind the moving van, and me driving the scion solo. Can you say road trip? Blasting music and driving to Florida?! Who's with me?!

Not only that, but my sister is moving even farther away to attend college at BYU-Hawaii! (Here are her Senior Pictures done by Selena Sorensen!! Kayla Senior Pictures)

Kayla, I just want to tell you how PROUD I am of you! You are an amazing woman and have grown so much in the last year. You may not know this, but I've always been jealous of your courage, determination, fortitude, wittiness, strength, and hysterical wordplay. I'm so amazed at the choices you've made in high school and how I wish you were MY older sister. You have been such an example to me Kayla and I love you dearly. I'm extremely sad you are moving in the opposite direction of me and Evan, but I'm trying not to entertain the excitement of possibly meeting up with you come next year at our great State :) Stay confident and sure of yourself as a daughter of God, and a daughter/sister of the Atkin clan. Show them how Hawaiian's really are! Swing away Big Butt, keep up your ninja skills, and stay in touch often. I LOVE YOU!!

Swim Suits? Sun?

Swim suits? Sun? A warm beach? What are these miraculous things I've read in stories? Oh yes... what the rest of the country (besides Alaska for half a year) gets to see almost every day! Not for rare glimpses twice a year. FLORIDA HERE WE COME!!! YAY!! He's in dive school! He is officially a Phase I Dive School graduate :) Ever seen "Surviving the Cut?" Google it :) Well that is all I have to say because if I go into my soapbox rant about the fact my husband isn't getting paid anymore I think I might lose some friends :) LOVE YOU ALL!! Be blessed for paychecks, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, shoes on your feet, warmth, food in your stomachs, and a bed to lay your head on. Love eternally, apologize often, and hug your loved ones. xoxoxo

Water and Night

Yes Evan has made it through ALL the physical tests of dive school. Now just today and tomorrow will be all written material. Dive physics, dive diagnoses, and math.. yay!! ALMOST DONE!! He gets home either Friday if he passes everything and can get discharged, or Saturday morning if it takes too long to catch the late-night Friday plane. HERE WE COME FLORIDA!!! PLEASE pray for him, because if he doesn't pass the written portion, he has to re-take it, and if he doesn't pass the re-take (which is highly unlikely), he will have to sit there for 5 weeks until the next class starts!!!! I CANNOT STAY HERE ALONE FOR 5 MORE WEEKS... so extra prayers would be greatly appreciated :)

Ever slept alone at night? Ever slept in paper-thin walled apartments in the middle of the ghetto alone at night? Ever have the loudest upstairs neighbors that bang and crash and stomp around like they're breaking through your apartment door alone at night? Ever have a dog that was a wimpy dog that perks his ears and growls at any sound alone at night? Well... yes I have, thank you for asking. IT SUCKS... never in my life have I appreciated having an enormous, muscular, strong, military-trained husband laying next to me every night (EVEN THOUGH HE RUNS 102 DEGREES AS NORMAL TEMPERATURE!!). Thank heavens for shooting days in Utah, because yes now I sleep with a loaded gun next to my bed (so no one try to sneak in please, I don't want to have to use it.) I hate all the sounds an empty dark apartment makes when you're home alone, at night. You never notice them during the day when there's sunshine and it's quiet, but the dark is an evil time and Satan has gotten the best of me. I've had many nights where I can't fall asleep or I have to leave the light and TV on just in case, or I've woken up at 3 am scared because Buddah thought he heard something. I CANNOT WAIT FOR SATURDAY!! I'm hoping he comes home Friday though so it's one less night I have to be alone. So be grateful for husbands that sleep next to you all night, regardless if they smack you while rolling over, steal all your covers, put a divot in your bed so you roll into their ditch half the night, the husbands that snore, talk in their sleep, or want to cuddle all night until you sweat like you ran a marathon... because he's next to you. And you never know how much that actually means until you sleep alone at night.

On the bright side... I lost 5 lbs!!! WOOT!!! (Sorry Kayla there is just NO other phrase that can possibly describe my excitement!) This love/hate relationship with the gym is paying off. Oh yes and the fact that I have to give up sweets and carbs... BOO. But that's what the weekend is for :)

I LOVE YOU all and I miss you all terribly. I hope everyone has a FABULOUS week and has trials that make them stronger, people that test their patience, and children who remind you what you used to be like with your parents. xoxoxoxo

So instead of re-writing my blog and deleting everything... HE PASSED HIS FIRST WRITTEN EXAM!!! He got 97%!!! YAY!!!