My Strength

I realized this morning, as I was laying in bed thinking about the day, one of my biggest motivators, my hubby, Colin!

Since we pretty much started dating, Colin has always been a provider. Okay, since before we knew each other, Colin has always been a provider.  Every story I ever heard about his child hood, were not the typical, we went to Disney World stories, like I got to tell!  Colin's stories were more of a boy having to grow up very quickly!

When Colin was 17 years old he joined the U.S. Army, that was 1999. Two years later, 9/11 happened.  While Colin was finally getting into a routine of school his unit, being one of the first out of Minnesota after the towers, was called to duty into Iraq.  Colin was gone for 14 months. Since that time, a lot of unfortunate events occurred, things that never really allowed him to get to live a "normal" life. Including two more over sea deployments and a year of active duty at Ft. McCoy.

Now at 28, my husband FINALLY gets to go back to school! I am beyond proud of him!! He gets to get that degree that the Army decided to not allow him to get!  I've heard some people say "Oh, he's in the Army, he doesn't need a degree!"  There's more to degrees than just needing, it's actually accomplishing something great and knowing that someday you'll be able to look at your kids and say "Yes, I did go above and beyond what was needed!" (P.S. good luck getting much above an E-7 without a degree, even as an enlisted! :) )

However, one major factor of this degree was, how in sam hill are we going to pay for everything?? My job at Huntington sure isn't going to pay the bills, post 9/11 G.I. Bill is great, but it pays for rent, and that's about it! Finally, that's where I step in! FOR ONCE, I GET TO TAKE CARE OF COLIN!!  For the last 5 years, Colin has been taking care of me! He is been the best provider, but now it's his turn to be taken care of!  I think a marriage is a 2 way street, we both allow each other to live our dreams!!

With my joining, we both get to do something we've wanted to do!!  I get to join the military, and Colin gets to finally go back to school!  With his new found college bound self, he also is going to be hooking up with the ROTC! With his degree, he will also be getting his commission as a 2nd Lt! In civilian terms, as soon as he gets done with school, we're going to be the Bennefer or the Brangelina of the military!!

Watch out Army, the Raineys are coming in!!