Well, it’s been a few weeks now since my website launched and while I had great intentions of keeping my blog up to date, it seems that life has a way of throwing unanticipated scenarios into the regular mix of things and as such, my business has taken a temporary backseat. I’m taking this rare free moment however to get a few more words typed so that you know I am still here and committed to my goals, but also to let you know that I don’t expect my blogging (and business) endeavors to really take off until early in the new year.

Now getting back to my previous blog, it was in June of 2005 that Jade and I joined Erik on Camp Pendleton, California. Seeing as the school year in New Zealand begins in January and ends in December, we decided to let Chantal stay in New Zealand until the end of the year (she arrived in California the first week of December 2005). With the four of us finally reunited and the girls settled in daycare and school, I set out to look for a job. Having just spent several months in New Zealand working as a gym instructor at a busy fitness center I initially applied for a similar position at various fitness centers on and off base. During this time Erik learned that he was going to deploy again and being a brand new resident in the States (i.e. culturally clueless), I considered the option of going back home again to New Zealand with the girls. So when the offer came from a fitness center out in town to work as one of their fitness consultants, I reluctantly turned it down. In hindsight though, I’m glad I did because the hours were such that I would have had to leave my girls in the regular care of a babysitter, not an ideal situation as far as I was concerned. As it turned out, I ended up staying in California after accepting a position with the Armed Services YMCA on Camp Pendleton, working as an after-school facilitator in a program that catered to “at-risk” military dependants. I also made the decision at that time to go back to school part-time and start working towards a second bachelors degree, this time a degree in sports nutrition, a far cry from my bachelors degree in communication. My new job helped supplement my college fees and also allowed for enough time to study; I couldn’t have been happier!