An End and A New Blog

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while, a really, really long while.

I've learned so much from writing this blog. I've gone over my posts and saw how I've grown over the months I was writing "Winging It". I've found some friends and had some laughs through my blog. I've shared some things I've never had the guts to even speak about.
And I've changed. I've changed as a person through the year.
I've come to the conclusion that I need to discontinue "Winging It".

However, this isn't goodbye. I've started writing another blog. It focuses more on me and not on Austin and Me. He's still a huge (extremely huge) part of my life. I'm still madly in love with the guy. I'm still taking all my vacation time to fly and see him whenever I can. I'm still waiting for the day when he calls me his wife. I've just got other things going on in my life then just our relationship. And though, this may lose me readers, I'm moving away from the whole "Marine Girlfriend" blog theme and moving on to something more personal and different and....refreshing.

Introducing "Daughter Of The Star Breather". A blog about me. Truly about me.

The blog name refers to the most important thing in my whole entire existence; the fact that I'm a child of God. A follower of Jesus. A young woman walking in love.
If you've been reading my blog, most of you know me. I'm now studying to become a Paramedic; an Air-Medic to be more specific. I'm still working at Burger House. As stated before, I'm still dating the most amazing, gorgeous man in Corps and entire universe ( and beyond!).

So, feel free to find my new blog here:

 http://daughterofthestar-breather.blogspot.com/

 It's not as pretty and trendy-looking as "Winging It" (at least, not yet), but it's still got all that yummy-word-goodness.
Thank you everyone who's been following and reading. You've what made the reading worth while. Hope to see you at my new blog!

So long,

Sarah <3

Guest Article: Emma Banks

Hello everyone! I hope your week is going fine and dandy; I know mine is, it's my day off. (winkwink) I'm happy to introduce something new to the blog that I haven't done before; a guest writer. I'm very, very excited about the topic in hand. I know that a lot of military families go through this at least once in their lifetime and it's a very stressful experience.
Without any further ado; I'm very happy to introduce our authoress and her article:



Emma is a mid 20-something year old with a passion for life, love, fitness, and helping others. She loves to be active and get involved in as many sport and community activities as possible. Emma is currently studying to become a Career & Life Coach, and loves to network with people from around the world! Check out Emma’s blog at http://smileasithappens.blogspot.com/



Post-Military Employment and the Myths That Get in the Way
By: Emma Banks




It’s no secret that transitioning into civilian life following a military career comes with challenges. Regardless of the amount of time you’ve spent in the service, reentering the civilian workforce can appear daunting. Of course, buying into some of the job myths that exist won’t help to lessen any anxiety you may have either. Let’s take a look at some of the myths you’ve probably already heard and learn the truth behind them.


Myth #1: The jobs you can get after a military career are limited and difficult to find.
Truth: Many programs exist to help veterans find employment in a wide array of fields. Dozens of today’s top companies have joined forces to form the 100,000 Jobs Mission, a service that lists information on current job opportunities as well as statistics such as projected growth rates in various fields, average salaries for each field and educational requirements.


Myth #2: You will annoy colleagues and superiors if you ask for referrals.
Truth: Most people who appreciate your skill set and admire the work you have done in the past will be happy to put in a good word for you. Additionally, today’s employers understand that everyone has a busy schedule. In order to make it easier for individuals to get and provide references, many companies have partnered with mobile recruiting services, like JIBE, that allow you to request referrals directly from social networking sites such as LinkedIn or Facebook.


Myth #3: Because of your service-connected disability, no one will hire you.
Truth: Many disabled veterans have found and maintain gainful employment outside the military. The U.S. Department of Veterans offers several programs to help, including rehabilitation services, job coaching, on-the-job training programs, case management for disabled veterans and personal counseling.


Myth #4: You should quote job postings as much as possible in your cover letter.
Truth: All this proves is that you can read. Instead of quoting the job listing, reply to it with specific skills, talents and experiences you can bring to the position. Use your cover letter to illustrate why you are the ideal candidate for the job, by putting in the extra effort to set yourself apart you’ll be sure to rise to the top of the application pile.


If you think civilian life will be markedly different than your life in the military, you are correct. Life does, however, go on and any opportunities will present themselves if you remain open to them. Disregard the rumors you hear, and learn the truth. Success comes more readily to those who prepare for it.

Thanks Emma, we'll (or I know I will) be looking forward to more of your work at http://smileasithappens.blogspot.com/

A ReCap

So sorry for the late update; so much has gone on it's been crazy. I have lots to tell. You've been warned.

My birthday has come and gone; (June29) I'm now 19 years old! We all had a great dinner at The Golden Corral (for those of you who haven't been; it's a very nice buffet filled with every type of food imaginable. Yum! Yum!). Here are my siblings and I:


(Aren't we a very attractive bunch? Lol.)

It was a wonderful birthday though. I got a manga-fantasy-drawing-book. Some very beautiful-hand-crafted-hobo-jewelry. A Polaroid Tablet. And a hot-dog toaster.

Yes, you read that right. A hot-dog toaster.

It works very well. Makes great hot-dogs when I don't feel like cooking. Yum-yum! Probably my second favorite gift...


My all-time favorite gift was given to me in North Carolina. Yes, we went on our trip to see Austin. It was amazing. It was so fun. And like the last time, I never wanted to leave.
We stayed from a Wednesday to Sunday. Austin and I had a date-night to ourselves Friday. We all just had the best time together. The first day I got to see Austin he gave me my favorite gift. It's so beautiful. I love it. I love it so, so much...



I love this ring to the very depths of my soul. It's so beautiful and Austin picked it out all by himself! I love it! He got it from Kay Jewelry. Every kiss begins with Kay... (and ohhhh yeah, he got a kiss for it.) Austin said he couldn't wait to give it to me on our date night, so he gave it to me early. (So impatient...) I think its the most beautiful thing in the world. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I love him. God has blessed me.
 It killed me to leave him. I just wanted to stay...I wanted to take him with us...I didn't cry as much as the last time (thank goodness with his parents standing around), but some tears did fall. Goodness, I miss him already. So, so much.


That's all for now. Til later.

-Sarah

Hopefully This Fall

College, college, college! Oh how I want to start thee this fall!


Seriously, I just want my degree. This is another touchy subject because I've struggled with another certain college for about a year now. I'm now trying my luck with EKU. Hopefully, it'll be a better experience. I'm really praying on it.

Yesterday I drove all the way into town (I live fifteen miles out, so this is a thing for me) to talk to the Higher Education Center that's located in the town square...only to have them tell me they don't offer EKU classes there anymore. They told me to go talk to the campus in Danville.
Which I really need to do soon. Very soon and hopefully get some classes scheduled out. Yep. Yep. Yep.

To find the time to go do that...is the toughy. I work everyday the rest of this week, besides Sunday, but I don't think the campus is open on Sunday. I might get up early and go tomorrow morning. Get my paycheck tonight (YAY! PAYDAY!) and run up there and pay whatever I need to pay them and get my classes scheduled.
Hopefully, I'll my financial aid to come in easier than at BCTC.
Which I got my refund, by the way. A whole $4.25 in my HigherOne Account. Mhmm. Dollar Tree time!

But ya know, every dollar...

Thanks for reading!
    

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I Get To Go!!!

Good news! I got my days off for in July! I'm going to be able to go to North Carolina with Austin's parents to go see him! I'm so excited!!!

I just wanted to share that with you all.
 :)


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How To: Clean Your Makeup Brushes

Okay, I haven't done a How-To in a while. I feel this one is very, very necessary though. Ladies, listen carefully.
Okay, I have very acne-prone skin. It's a toughy subject for me to talk about because I'm so insecure in this fact. And bad skin isn't something you can just ignore so easily. It's just so...there. On your face and in everyone elses'. So you can understand I go to lengths to cover up my imperfections as much as possible. Meaning: cover up and foundation.
I have a special, very soft brush I use for my foundation. I love it.
However, a week ago I really started noticing how it was feeling on my skin...it was very...gunky feeling. Weighted down. Gross.
When I originally got the brush, it was white. Now, it was dark brownish. Yuck.
So I decided to clean my brush. (And all of my brushes)

I got this method off of Pinterest. (Ah, my love!) It's really easy. All you need is Olive Oil, Water, Shampoo and some Paper Towels.

First, run your brush under some water. You can really see just how dirty it is when the water hits the bristles.


After you've wetted your brush, put some Olive Oil in your hand and twirl the bristles of your brush in the oil. Then you can start massaging the oil into the brush; make sure you do this over sink! It gets messy. You really get to see all of the gunk that gets stuck in your brushes. Yuck!

This was just me, it didn't say to on Pinterest, but I started squeezing out my brush while massaging the oil into it. I did this for a good ten minutes and I was still getting huge globs of makeup out of my brush. I'll be cleaning it more often, I can tell you that much.
After you've massaged your oil into the brush, run it under some water and squeeze the water (and makeup) out of your brush! Hot or cold water, it doesn't matter. You'll be amazed at the gunk that comes out!


Yuck! I sometimes wonder what I'm putting onto my skin...it just looks so...bleh! I can only imagine the bacteria that could just live in that...it makes me sick and so, so glad I did clean my brushes! 

After you rinse your brush pretty good, you don't have to get every out, then you'll move onto shampoo. Try to use a mild shampoo or baby shampoo. You don't want to ruin your brush's bristles. Gently lather the shampoo into your brush and try to keep the shape of your bristles. You don't want to cause breakage. 

Then rinse when you're satisfied. And repeat if you wish. I shampooed mine twice. 

You can then squeeze the water out of your brush with paper towels then lay it out somewhere safe for a couple of ours. My brush took overnight to dry, but it's thick. Yours might dry quicker. 

I'm more confident in my brush now. It's so soft and feels great! You can bet I'll be cleaning it a great deal of a lot more often. At least once every two weeks!

I'm thinking about making a Natural Foundation soon...keep in touch!

Thanks for reading!


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Things Are Looking Up

Good morning everyone! Well, I'm a little down-hearted because I just got finished watching the episode "Journey's End" on Doctor Who (the newer series). The Doctor should have just taken Rose with him...the 2nd Doctor be darned. Someone else could have watched him. The real Doctor and Rose could have flown away in the Tardis and lived happily ever after...until Rose got old and withered away, but whatever! Still a better love story then Twilight.

All Doctor-Who-ness aside, I've got some good news! My financial aid at BCTC has finally been taken care of! I accepted and submitted it yesterday, actually. Now I'm just waiting for the "pending" notification to go away; then my tuition and books are paid for and I'll get a refund sometime in the next month or so. Woot! Woot! God is good-all the time. : )

I've been thinking about starting another small blog on Tumblr. Something has been eating at me lately. I've got this blog all about my Marine and me...which is so, so important to me. It seems to take up a lot of my time...but I'm spending more time worrying and thinking about it then my God. And He should always come first. 
I've been eaten by condemnation and guilt though. How could something take place before my Loving Lord and Savior? So I've decided to start a blog about faith and love in the Lord on Tumblr. I don't have a name for it yet, and I'm not quite sure how it's going to go...but I think it'll help me keep on track more. I'll have something public I'm obligated to; which is embarrassing to say that I have to be obligated to work harder for God...but distractions have been all around me. I think I can get more focused on Him with something physical that I have to write about everyday. 
I'm still praying on it. I'm going to continue praying on it, and I'll let you all know if and when I get it up. 

Some side news-good new! 

I have the best most-likely-probably-yeah-they're-gonna-be-future-in-laws in the world. Yesterday I sent a text to Austin's mom telling her that my dad and I had decided to have a pizza/movie night (Avengers and supreme if you wanna know) yesterday night, so I wouldn't be a church. Well I got a phone call from her not even a two minutes after that. 
We chatted a little and then she said that her and Aust's dad were going to see Austin in NC around the weekend of July 4th. I think Austin gets a day or two of leave or something. Anyway...then she asked if I could take off work and go with them as my birthday gift!
Of course, I accepted and said "yes". How could I resist? 
However, I still have to see if I can get off work for five-ish days...I'll take it as my vacation or something. My boss can't say no (well she could...) it's my birthday! (My birthday is really June 29th but whatever...). I'm hoping and praying that I can get off. I'll work on my days off or something to make up for it. I can do that much at least.
The trip is just in the planning stage though...so who knows? I'm just excited at the thought of seeing Austin. I miss him. 

But I'm going to get some exercise before it rains...maybe go to mom's house for a swim or something. I haven't visited her in a while. I miss her too! 

Thanks for reading everyone, things are looking up,

My God's good<3

-Sarah

No Motivation

I don't know why, well, I might know why, but I don't have any motivation to write lately.

I hate that. I really do. I've been doing a bunch of stuff...I just don't have the motivation to get on here and type it all out. I'm going through a..."transitional" stage in my life right now though. Making some big decisions. Things to keep in my life; if they're worth it; things to take out of my life; my career path; schooling; finding a new job (my current isn't cutting the bills); ect.

I'm having a hard time figuring everything out. I've been distracted a lot lately. I don't know. Call this a funk. Call this a rut. Whatever it is, I'm in it.

I've been thinking about moving out lately too. They're some apartments in town at a good price. If I get a new job like I think I might, I'm thinking about moving out of the house...I'll be closer to school too. I just hate to leave dad by himself though. I don't know how he'd do without me. I'd be constantly worrying over him...

We'll just see.

Oh, and I finally got a reply out of Austin after about 2-3 weeks of non-comunicato. I got told I was loved. I guess that's what counts. Still...a talk will be issued. An overdue talk. Wish my luck and send prayers my way.

Thanks for reading,

-Sarah

"Everything"


My God is my everything, but I know I don't always treat Him that way. In fact, that's most of the time.
I'm so ashamed of that. God gives me so, so many blessings; my family, my health, my house, the fact I woke up this morning, I can breathe, I can walk, I can share the gospel freely! God gives me these things and so much more, but I take it all for granted...I take Him for granted. I break His heart daily and somehow, someway, God always finds the patience and mercy to forgive me and love me.
My Lord died for me; why is it so hard to give Him everything? It sounds like it should be so, so easy to just give yourself and everything over to God. For some reason, I always seem to go in circles.
It feels like I get so, so close to Him...and them I mess up and I drift away. Like a slow fade. I don't even notice that it's happening until I'm so low, I'm on my knees crying out for help.
But I've found that's the perfect position to pray. And I always find that He's always there. Always waiting. He didn't walk away, I did. I'm really tired of walking away. Of drifting away...

There's a song by Lifehouse called "Everything". They hosted a skit for their song. It's beautiful. It's so touching.


Every time I watch this I cry. It just reminds me how thankful I am of my God. How much He has given me. How much He protects me from. He takes away dangers I don't even know exist. He's always constantly working for my well-being...and He just wants me to love Him with my whole heart.

So I'm asking for some prayer, because I'm going through a big trial. I've been questioning a lot of things in my life right now, and I've been doing my best to listen to God and do the right thing and make the right decisions. There are things to be taken out of my life...but there are things to be given. I'm just not sure what those are yet.

"-And be amazed and be changed by a perfect God," - "Perfect People" by Natalie Grant

"If God is for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31

Thanks for listening,

-Sarah

No Idea

I've got a wedding to photograph tomorrow...

...and I have no idea what to wear.
 :'/

Fishing @ Green River

Oww. Oww. Oww. Ow.

I went fishing at Green River yesterday with my grandfather, Goable and my little cousin, Amber. It was really fun, but now, I'm really sun-burned. Bad. I look like a lobster who's got a sunburn. It's terrible. But anywho, here are some photos:


















It was a great day. :)

-Sarah

I'm Geeking Out!

Howdy everyone! Hope you're having a great morning! I know I am.

It's around 10:04 and I've already went out to jog, got the mail, and played with my little kittens! Oh how I love them~! So cute! But I'm about to be on my way to Richmond...why?

That's why. Look at that contact. I put that in my eye yesterday! My contact was bothering me really bad, and I put a couple of eye drops in before I thought to take it out and look at it. I didn't like what I saw. Luckily I had carried my glasses with me. I wore them the rest of the day and I'm wearing them now. I hate my glasses though. I got them when I was in my teenage-emo-stage that every adolescent goes through at some time or another...they're black and blocky. I think they look bad on me.

You can tell the difference.

Without glasses:


See? Subtly decent. Triple points I happen to be sporting my Batman shirt today.

With glasses:


Awkwardly geeky. That's all I can say. The Batman shirt does help though. I guess I'm just geeking out today. I really hope I can just go pick some up today and they have mine in stock. I have to watch little babies at VBS tonight. That's hard enough without having to guard your glasses from their cute, grubby little hands.

I have to pick up a part for my poor Monty too. I have to get him some break pads because they've been squealing. Hopefully I can find his year today too and not have to wait to order some. I've procrastinated on getting some, and he's been squealing for about two weeks now. Let's hope my breaks don't give out on the way to Richmond today.

Thanks for reading, I'm out and on my way,

-Sarah

P.S. If any of you have been following on the Facebook page; I'm not gonna be updating it for a little bit. In fact I'm not gonna be on Facebook at all-my personal page or Winging It's- for a while. I'm not too sure how long. But be sure to check back in here every once in a while for a good update! Thanks!

He's Been Promoted!

If you all haven't noticed the changes to the left side panel of my blog...I insist you look. Particularly around the first sentence of Austin's bio.

Yes, he's a Lance Corporal now! (If you're reading this; congrats baby!)

I'm so proud of him. I'm so, so proud. I'm the proudest girlfriend in the history of forever on this planet. (Well, graduation was pretty awesome...) No longer is he a private, or a pfc, he's a lance corporal! Which, no-isn't the highest rank in the world, but it's some rank and it's taken a lot of hard work. Anyone who says otherwise can suck my toes and die.

What? I'm a tad protective of my own. I can't help it.

But I'm proud of him; I just had to brag a little, ya know? And I'm gonna ask that you all be praying for Austin. I haven't gotten to hear from him lately; but his parents have. They say he sounds tired and worn out. I'm just a tad worried about him. I know Austin is in God's hands, but I can't help it. I worry anyway. And it's bad that I do that, and I'm working on it.
I just love him to little pieces and never want anything bad to ever happen to him. If I could move there now and take care of him all the time, I so would. I really would.

*sigh*

Anywho, I'm getting some sleep. I watched seven babies at VBS tonight and it has worn me out.

Thanks for reading!

-Sarah


So Tired Is I, Sleep Is What I Has Not

So tired is I, Sleep is what I has not. Yep. I so just pulled a Yoda.

Anywho! I got some blood test results done if you guys remember; and I have good news today! It's taken so long for the results because I actually had to go in for a second test. They didn't have enough blood for the first one, somehow. Anyway; I have a type of mono called "Epstein Barr" or something like that, and I've had it for so long without knowing it that I'm in the recovery stage. So fluids, vitamins and rest should do it. The best part: I'm not contagious! So there's no hassle at work! I love it. :)

I'm so excited though! I might get to see Austin within the next 2-3 weeks! I'm counting down days, literally. He said he might get to fly down if he gets leave after he gets back from Cali. I'm hoping. I'm praying. I really miss him.
If he can't then I plan on flying over to see him sometime SOON. I've got enough saved up; I've got paychecks coming in. I'll make it work.

I'm nervous too though. I have a wedding coming up that I have to photograph. Well, TWO actually. Just that this first one is on the 7th of June. That's like, a week away. I still don't have a purple shirt to go with my slacks. I need to go shopping. But I'm just worried I'll mess up and ruin the bride's perfect day. This is my first wedding! I'm not getting paid for it, I'm doing it as a gift to the couple (it's my cousin's wedding...). I've been working my camera all week though. Practicing on shots, finding light...ect. Just be praying for me and the couple.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah

Memorial Day


Remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice today. There isn't much to say but thank God that there were and are men and women willing to put their lives on the line and give it all.
Remember to take a moment of silence at 3pm today to remember the fallen and their families.

 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
John 15:13

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! Safe Travels!

-Sarah

I Hate My Immune System

Ladies and gents, I hope you've had a great Friday!
I'm trying really hard to enjoy it myself, and I am, when I'm not sleeping or so unfocused it's like I'm not really awake anyway. Yes, I hate to say it, but I'm sick.
Again. I hate my immune system.
On Memorial Day weekend. When I have an 8-hour shift tomorrow. When I've missed TWO days of work already. When I get Sunday AND Monday off. I'm sick. I have the flu. Poo. :(

I've been so, so tired the last couple of weeks, it's killed me. I haven't been able to focus. No matter how much I sleep, I'm tired. (I slept for 15 hours total out of the 24 hours of my day Wednesday, and I was still exhausted). Then Tuesday, I was nauseous and throwing up and all that good stuff.
I finally got tired of being tired. I went to the doctor.
After getting checked out, it was found that I have a fever, but the initial check-up said I was fine. The fever and my extreme exhaustion and headaches were odd, so the doctor ordered blood tests.



I hate needles, and I usually get sick watching my blood get taken. I took the notion to watch this time though, because why not? If I'm interested in being a pediatrician I should get used to it. I did good. Pretty okay...I only got sick after the nurse left.

Anywho, I got a CVC test done and a Mono (short for Mononucleosis) test done. I got the results for my CVC today. I'm normal, thank the Lord. The doctor said it looked like a viral infection, well, the flu, to be more specific. Lots of rest and fluids. Yes, ma'am!
My mono test results come in tomorrow, or they're supposed to. I'm kinda nervous. I've had mono before, and I know it's in my body still, just in-active. I know the resting period for mono is 30 days. I can't have that. I have a job. I have bills. I don't have time for swollen spleens and body aches and fevers.

I hate my immune system.

I have to be taking like eight kinds of pills right now, so I don't understand. I'm taking women's vitamins, regular vitamins, Biotin, vitamin B, Clariton...and now Tylonol every eight hours! How much more help could I give my body???

Well, please be praying. That's all I'm gonna ask. I'm going to sleep.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah

Oh, before I forget:




  Remember those who have served and whom have paid the ultimate price for your freedom. Thank a vet this weekend. They deserve it. Have a great weekend!

E-Cards! And Upate!

Hello Everyone, sorry for my terrible update habits. I've been so busy, and my priority right now is updating my May Marine Motivation Tumblr page. (Which I'm pretty bad at to so...) I've just been busy. So many decisions. It's terrible.

An update on Austin:

Austin's been training at 29 Palms for a few weeks now. Well, about 3-ish. I've gotten the blessing of hearing his voice once a week. Which, you military girlfriends/fiances/wives will understand, is a very, very, very beautiful thing. We still get to text on and off. Mostly I just send little things because I don't want to bother Austin while he's over there. I have been finding these hilarious e-card pictures I send to him though...






I just thought these were so cute and hilarious! I love them! If you haven't sent a couple of these, I recommend that you should! Your boo will love them. :)

It's almost the end of May though, and Austin should be leaving California sometime early June. I'm excited! I really can't wait, because I plan on going to see him as soon as possible! I've already got money saved for the tickets, so yeah. I'm ready. Ready-freddy.

Gah, I just can't wait until he can come home for good.

Thanks for reading,

Sarah



Miss Him

I'll have to thoroughly update you all later, right now I only have one thing to say:

I sincerely, dearly, utterly, and crazily miss my Austin to bits right now. I think I'm gonna go insane. :(

Off to work,

Sarah




Something That Makes You Sweat

I have so many adventurous things I want to do with this blog I can't think straight! I might just start another one! I already have my May Marine Motivation Challenge side-blog currently hosted on tumblr. I think that's enough for now. I might switch this one up a bit when Austin deploys though. Maybe.

I don't know. I'm just blabbing.


Wishing everyone a good weekend!

-Sarah