1.1.11

Happy New Year! I am a former blogging addict, I started well over 10 years ago before blogging was considered "cool", back when I was 15. I've gone through Xanga, LiveJournal, and even had a blog here when my son was born (that I have neglected to keep up) but I figured I need a new outlet to write since that's something I know and love.

I suppose for this first entry I should introduce myself. My name is Amanda, I've been married to my (pain in the butt) husband, Jon, for almost a year now, but we have been together for nearly 5 years. We have an adorable 19 month old son together named Tyler and 2 cats, Toby & Angelbell. We live in a little house in Virginia, the epitome of suburbia at its finest.

I got off of 5 years of active duty Navy last July and have been working the stay at home mom role for some time now, while being a Navy Reservist (drilling one weekend a month). I will be going back to school in less than 10 days to eventually achieve my master's degree in computer engineering. While on active duty and taking care of Tyler, I managed to earn my associate's degree in applied marine engineering. Hence my blog title... I'll soon be a busy full time college student and mama!

Jon is still on active duty in the Navy with Riverine Squadron One. He is planning to make a career out of it, so I'm planning to be the supportive military wife. :o)

Tyler is just growing and into all the typical toddler things... he loves Elmo, his Magna Doodle, playing with Matchbox cars, building blocks, and running around yelling in his crazy toddler language. He brings so much joy to our lives, and he is always smiling and laughing. On the rare occasion that he has a temper tantrum, we can't help but laugh, because he is 95% of the time a happy-go-lucky kind of kid. It's been a lot of fun (and learning) watching him grow and develop and seeing all of his new milestones and achievements.

So... resolutions for this year? I'd like to label them goals rather than resolutions, since many a resolution has been broken. This year Jon and I will be having our formal wedding ceremony in July. (We went to the justice of the peace to get married last year right before he deployed.) I will be running a half marathon in March. I'm going to train for and hopefully complete a sprint distance triathlon this year. I'd like to lose about 50 lbs before May, and in May we would like to work on making a sibling for Tyler. I hope to do well (or at least my very best) in school. I'm looking forward to all of these things.

But for now, enjoy the blog posts as they come. :o)