Search Makings and Musings

December 10, 2011

GRAB BAG SATURDAY: A LITTLE ABOUT ME!

Okay, I know I already have a snippet of a bio posted.  I thought however, that you might want to know a bit more about the chick who rambles on about make-up, crochet, crafts, etc...I must get around to writing my book one day.  I have started it several times, its just such a daunting task!  Anyway, if you'd like to know a bit more about my crazy life read on!
 


I am from Huntington, WV originally.  I currently live in Hampton, VA.  I just landed here when I got out of the Army.  I really like it here, but would love to be closer to my family.  I grew up in Huntington.  I left home at 15.  Its a long story and I won't get to all the details, but I was pregnant with my first daughter and thought that I was grown.  I got married (huge mistake!) and started my adult life.  It was soooo hard!  I eventually had to drop out of high school.  It was just too hard to work, raise my kid, try to figure out how to be a wife, and go to school.  I made it to 1/2 way through my senior year.  I was an awesome student and this was not an easy decision for me.  I swiftly got my GED and started college before my class, so it all worked out, it always does!  My daughter, by the way, is GORGEOUS, she is 26 now, the time flew.
I told you...GORGEOUS!  I moved to Atlanta, GA when I was about 18.  It was a chance at finding a job, and trying to save my adolescent marriage, which had major issues.  Of course it did.  We were incredibly too young to be doing that sort of thing.  Eventually the marriage broke down and we moved back to Huntington.  There was much drama, I will spare you the details.  So, back in Huntington, I went back to college at Marshall University (Go Herd!).  I did that for a bit, but I had a blossoming romance with someone I had met in Atlanta.  We kept in touch after I moved and before I even knew it, we fell in love.  I moved back to Atlanta and in with the man who would become my second husband.  We were married for almost 8 years.  I had my second child, a boy when I was 22, still a bit young, but it was so exciting!  He is the best son I could ever ask for, and such a good looking young man.  He will be 20 in a few weeks.

That's him with his first car, which he totaled after only a few months.  Shortly after he was born my then husband joined the Army.  It was a last ditch effort to save our marriage which was now pretty rocky.  Again, I will spare you the gory details, but it sucked!  I did the Army wife thing, it was cool.  I loved being around the Army.  I also found work at a theatre at the time.  I was in 18 shows, musicals mostly, but some straight plays as well.  That I truly loved.  Eventually my husband was discharged from the Army due to a knee injury.  Everything fell apart after that.  Even more drama, not worth repeating except to say that he kidnapped my son and left me abandoned in Leesville, LA.  It was horrible.  I did not know where my son was for about 8 months.  I hooked up with yet another loser and I absolutely could not believe it, but I was pregnant again!  We moved back to Huntington, my family was awesome and really helped us out.  My poor mother was suffering from cancer at the time.  We very nearly lost her.  Thank God she is now alive and well, even after a second bout with an unrelated cancer.  I had my third child, a beautiful girl in 1997.  She is now 14.  She is smart and talented and so, so pretty.
See?  Told you!  Once back in Huntington I yet again went back to college.  This time I needed a way to pay for school and I kept hearing commercials on the radio for the Army National Guard.  I checked it out.  They told me I was Officer material.  At the time I didn't even know the difference between Officers and Enlisted, but hey, it sounded like a plan.  I would serve in the National Guard while I was completing my degree, and once I graduated I would go on active duty in the regular Army.  Sure!  Sign me up!  I went to basic training, came back, and hit the books.  Again, if it weren't for the support of both sides of my family I would have never pulled off being in the Guard, School, Working, and the babies.  They were phenomenal!  I finally graduated in 2000.  I was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant on July 12th, 2000.  No one attended the ceremony, but I don't think they realized what a big deal it was.  I entered active duty on Dec 18th, 2000.  My birthday.  What a present.  Did I mention I shed the loser that I picked up in Louisiana?  Yep.  Well more accurately he shed me.  Ran off with a training manager at work, who was visiting from Chicago. I was WAY better off without him!  I had to go to Arizona for my Officer Basic Course in Feb 2000.  I left Arizona (after a short visit home to see my kids and family) to my first duty station.  Yongsan, South Korea.

Okay my lovelies.  That is all you get for now.  I will continue this story on next week's grab bag!  Stay safe and as always...
Love and Hugs!
Jillie

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