Ultimate Blog Party 2013

OK so I am a bit behind the eight ball here as this is the last day to do this blog post for the Ultimate Blog Party, but with Jerry gone life gets a little crazy some times!

This is my post for the Ultimate Blog Party, sponsored by 5 Minutes For Mom
 

For those of you that are new here, I am Patty and this is my blog. The title of my blog just recently changed, as my husband of almost 18 years (July 8th) retired from the Air Force in December after 20 years of service. I didn't want to confuse anyone too much so I just added the retired. :-)

My blog is mostly about our family and our adventures that we have. It started way back when as a way to keep our family and friends from around the world updated with our lives, and has evolved, and even gone through some really slow posting times as life has changed, and Facebook has come about. I have promised myself that I would get back in the habit of posting and sharing on here, as I do have family and friends that don't do Facebook (gasp), who have reminded me of such lately. :0)

There are times when I will do a promoted post, or a political post, but it has to be something that I feel strongly about, or something I really enjoy. If it is a political post you can almost be promised it will have to do with education or the military as those are both near and dear to my heart.

I was born in Iowa, moved to Arizona when I was 9 and have lived a little bit of every where since getting married at 21. As an Air Force family we have lived in Florida (twice), the United Kingdom (for 8 years), Georgia, and now South Carolina. This is the first move that was for my job!

I am a proud Arizona State Sun Devil, where I graduated with  a degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in English as a Second Language. As well as a proud alumni of National Louis University, where I got my masters degree in Instruction and curriculum.

As I said Jerry and I have been married for 18 years, and he just retired from the United States Air Force after 20 years of service to our country.  He is currently working overseas as a contractor, which makes me a pseudo single mom. There were a lot of discussions, prayers, and head banging before we made the final decision if he was going to take this job, but I figure if I can handle being an Air Force wife for 17 1/2 years I can handle this too!

We have three beautiful children.

Kelsey is almost 20 (April 21st), and working and living in California. She works at Disney, and has had several of my friends visit her, including one that she didn't know would be there, who recognized her and said "Are you Patty's daughter?" and then had to explain who she was and how she recognized her.

Natalie is almost 17 (April 17th), and a junior in high school. We are in the middle of getting ready for her to take the graduation test for South Carolina, as her exemptions that she had in Georgia* don't apply here, as well as getting ready for PROM. She is in the process of looking for a job, so if you know of any good ones for a teenager in Columbia, let me know! :-)

Declan, DJ, is 8 and a third grader. He is full of energy and runs a full tilt most of the time. When he is sitting still you can almost guarantee that he is not feeling well. He has a slight learning disability, that took quite a lot of prayer and tears, threats, and emails to get finally acknowledged by the school district in Georgia (and I worked there!) He is thriving in his class and has been since we were able to get his IEP, to get him the help and accommodations that he needed and deserved. He missed honor roll this quarter by one grade, which is pretty darn good considering everything we have been through!

I currently teach English as a Second Language here in Columbia, at the DDESS schools on Fort Jackson. I love my job and I love my students. For once in our married life, this move was about my job, and not Jerry's. It was a hard decision to make, as we had been in Georgia for almost 5 years and Natalie was that close to graduating, but for the good of our family we took the leap of faith. DoDEA is where I have my most years towards retirement, and it made the most sense for me to get back into the system now.

I take pictures as a hobby, and had a small side business in Georgia, doing prom, senior pictures and a few small weddings. I haven't decided if I am going to start back up here or not. The market is pretty saturated here I think with the University, but I do love getting to meet new people and getting to help them remember their special moments in life. So we will see if I decide to pick it back up, or not. My next project is Natalie's prom pictures next week.


*If you ever need to know about moving your high schooler in the middle of a year, or even the middle of high school, just ask! I think between moving to Georgia Kelsey's freshman year, and moving to South Carolina the middle of Natalie's junior year, we have come across almost any problem you can face!*



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