This morning at the crack of dawn (okay, before dawn) Josh woke up his last morning as a Specialist. We were at the hall at 0500, and at 0600 my wonderful husband was finally promoted to Sergeant! And to explain what a feat this is, I'm going to go into a little detail. All jobs in the Army use a point system to get promoted to SGT. When I was promoted to SGT 4 years ago, I needed at least 500 points out of 800 to get the promotion. Most MOS's probably require somewhere between 500 and 700 points. To get points, you have to have awards, college credits, military correspondance courses, physical training scores, weapons qualifications, etc. It's pretty easy to get around 550 points. Beyond that, you really need to excel in college, weapons, PT, and awards. Well, Josh's job is typically very overstaffed. So points required to get promoted are usually around 770, making it extremely hard for anyone to get promoted. This has frustrated him because he has been in leadership roles the last few years, just without the credit, rank and pay. So I am SOOOOOOOOO proud of him for working his tail off the last few years to get college credits, finish military classes, excel in PT and weapons, and do extra details to get awards. Sweetheart, you have worked so hard to get this promotion, and I know you will be a great Sergeant!
This is Josh as they were reading the order to promote him. Camera blurry because I let an amateur do the photo taking! (aka a BOY!)
You cant tell (again, because its blurry) but Josh is giving a speech here thanking me for all my support and telling everyone about his baby girl on the way. And yes, the auditiorium was packed full of soldiers from the hospital. AWWWWWWWWW...... (yes I did tear up and almost made a fool of myself crying on stage)
HA! I finally got a hold of the camera and got Josh in the recieving line.
Lastly, this is for ADULTS!
REAL SERGEANTS:
1. Can cuss for ten minutes without ever repeating a word.
2. Have a spine.
3. Can play a cherry Lieutenant like a finely tuned instrument.
4. Can see in the Dark.
5. Have eyes in the back of their heads.
6. Still don't trust the Russians.
7. Still hate the French.
8. Don't know how to be politically correct.
9. Don't give a damn about being politically correct.
10. Think that "politically correct" should fall under S### in the UCMJ.
11. Love deployments because there is less paperwork and more "real work."
12. Can run 5 miles with a hangover.
13. Do not fear women in the military.
14. Would like to date G. I. Jane.
15. Still know how to use a buffer.
16. Can tell you anything you want to know about an M1911A1 although they are no longer in the inventory.
17. Believe that they do have a rendezvous with destiny.
18. Believe that "Nuts" wasn't all that Brigadier General McAuliffe said to the Germans at Bastogne.
19. Don't know how to use a "stress card".
20. Idolize John Wayne.
21. Don't believe that AAFES really needs a "commander".
22. CENSORED
23. Would have paid money to see Custer getting his clock cleaned.
24. Really don't like taking S### from those who haven't "been there".
25. Know how to properly construct a field latrine.
26. CENSORED
27. CENSORED
28. Might admire the Germans, but still realize they got their butts kicked twice.
29. Aren't afraid of the Chinese, who probably don't have enough rowboats to invade Taiwan.
30. Would rather be OPFOR than MOPP 4.
31. Don't believe a darn thing the Iraqis say.
32. Don't need a GPS to find themselves.
33. Have enough BDU's in their closet to start a surplus store.
34. Think that MRE's taste good (with a little hot sauce).
35. Are convinced that "wall-to-wall" counseling really works.
36. Have more time on the front-line than most others have in the chow line.
37. Know how to make coffee when the measuring scoop goes missing.
38. Know that it's not good coffee when you can see through it.
39. Don't blame poor marksmanship on their M-16.
40. Know that inept leaders will always say they have inept soldiers.
Grilling with the new grill...enjoying the weather and the view.
Josh putting together our new grill/smoker. Right now I can smell the wood chips burning and it sounds like many of our neighbors are grilling as well. Getting ready to watch some (taped) Sunday night football.
Me and my lap dog...watching football. Although the Vikes did rather poorly (eh hem, QB TJ) at least the Patriots won. Now, to make everyone and their brother mad, I say "GO COWBOYS!"
This is (obviously) Josh and I at a "mandatory fun" outing this weekend. Surpise suprise, the Army mandatory fun actually turned out to be a really good time. And at the end of it all, we got let in on Hawaii's best kept secret....flavored shaved ice! It definitely pays to know the locals.
There's Josh...
And me.....
Below is a picture of the Hale Koa Hotel, where military members and their family can stay for pretty cheap. As you can see its right on the beach, in tourist central. All you need to stay there is an active duty or retired person with an ID card to sign you in. When Grandpa and Grammy Johnston come to visit us, they are staying here for a few days to get away from a newborn screaming. Sorry, I mean they are staying there to have a few romantic days on the beach!
You cant tell (again, because its blurry) but Josh is giving a speech here thanking me for all my support and telling everyone about his baby girl on the way. And yes, the auditiorium was packed full of soldiers from the hospital. AWWWWWWWWW...... (yes I did tear up and almost made a fool of myself crying on stage)
HA! I finally got a hold of the camera and got Josh in the recieving line.
Lastly, this is for ADULTS!
This is a picture of Matt and Vicky, whom many of you may remember from our wedding. Vicky was one of my bridesmaids.
It was a hot San Antonio day, but we sat here for about 8 hours, one of the last times we all hung out. I miss my friends!
and of course, the view from her room.
My parents have an amazing picture similar to this one from their wedding. Their picture turned out really well, though.
Such beautiful girls...they are the best~! Anyone who can make a pregnant bride-to-be laugh is the best in my book.
The happy couple....minutes after being officially married!
Cant forget the parents! This one is definitely getting blown up and put in our living room.
Isnt that tree behind us amazing?
My hubby's favorite car...
Ha! Lets see Josh do that now!
Cant forget my bros!
Awwwwwww! I miss you baby girl!
This is my favorite picture from the wedding. I think she stole his heart!
Josh and I went snorkeling this past Sunday and brought an underwater camera with us. It actually was a very windy day, so the water was very murky and it was harder to see the fish. The first time we went the water was crystal clear (wish we would have brought the camera then!). We both really love snorkeling and we plan to do it a lot (its free with Hawaii state ID) so we will get better, clearer pictures in the future. So anyways, here are some of the pictures from a few days ago.
This is the sea turtle we swam with for awhile...just brought his head above water.
Hawaii state law prohibits touching them....but its still amazing to swim side by side with them.
In the middle of painting baby girl's room we checked on Nash, only to find him in our room, looking out the bedroom window. See....even dogs can appreciate how beautiful it is here!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Johnston for this beautiful crib! Mom & Dad, we know that Miss _______ will love this...and we love it.....so thank you for buying her the crib!
Thank you Grandpa and Grandma Hathway for this beautiful dresser! Its huge, which is great because we have lots of baby clothes. We love it! Thank you :) 
Isnt this the cutest shirt ever? 
This is what I call nesting! This weekend, we painted her room on Saturday and Sunday. We also have a lot of her furniture in boxes so I think thats what we will be doing this week. I am also feverishly looking for a job so wish me luck! (uh....going to the beach every day does not count as a job!)
My husband....I know I say it a lot, and I know we are newlyweds...but he really is the greatest. He kept telling me, "just sit and relax honey, I'll do all the painting. Just watch me to make sure I'm doing it the way YOU want it."
I just want to share this funny story. Those of you who have lived in Army housing or less then perfect housing may sympathize with this. First of all, in most of our place the walls are made up of exposed cement brick, painted white. So my husband and I are hanging pictures this weekend. We get everything lined up, drill the holes in the cement brick wall and hang the pictures. Only to find out, upon looking at it, that everything is crooked. So we look at our measurements, pull the handy dandy laser level out, and find our measurements were perfect. So we contemplate what the heck went wrong, and are going crazy trying to figure it out....and then, we find out that the cement bricks are actually crooked! So even if you hang something straight, the wall sort of is an optical illusion. Hang it straight and level, it looks crooked because of the lines of the brick. So we had to go back, hang all our pictures crooked, but it actually looks right. Weird.
