My husband, Sean and I live a pretty exciting life. He is in the Marine Corps and we’ve been apart for most of our relationship. In our case, saying goodbye was more often than saying hello. Sean and I met in high school; he was a junior and I was a sophomore. Sean and I had a class together and we both hit it off pretty quickly. We spent a year together before he started his new life in the Marine Corps. Since Sean joined the Marine Corps, it’s been nothing but an emotional roller coaster. The first hardship we faced, which probably was the worst, was boot camp. Sean left for boot camp on July 22^nd, 2012, two days before our one year anniversary and a week before his birthday. Our motivation to make it through boot camp was writing letters. Sean and I wrote to each other every day for three months. On October 19^th, Sean graduated boot camp and that night was the first time I saw him in three months. I saw him walking towards me at the other end of the airport and butterflies filled my entire body. We ran to each other and hugged for what seemed like forever. That night at the airport was just like a scene of a movie. Sean got to come home for ten days, then it was back to training in North Carolina. He was gone for another month and a half, and he ended up missing thanksgiving, as well as my birthday. I got to talk to him for one minute exactly on the phone on my birthday. While Sean was away for training, I would always look forward to the little things, such as, a letter in the mail, a text, or a phone call. Sean was able to come home after each round of training, but only for a couple days at a time, which made me upset because at that point I had to see him leave more than spend time with him. He knew I was struggling with the distance and he hated leaving me so he devised a plan. In December, he told me he didn’t know when he would be home next, which made me think I would be alone for another holiday, and a big one at that. On December 7^th I was asked to babysit by Sean’s mother for Sean’s little brother. While I was there Sean and I had been texting but he told me he was tired and was going to take a nap, I didn’t think anything of it because he always took naps. At around 9pm, I finished babysitting and went home and I ended up falling asleep around 10. About ten minutes later I was woken up by someone…it was Sean and he was holding a huge bouquet of flowers. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was so happy I cried and didn’t let him go for about 20 minutes. In the back of my mind I was sad because I knew Sean was only here for a short time; come to find out, he was going to be home for 40 days! This was the longest amount of time we got to spend together and we were inseparable the entire time.

In February of 2013, Sean bought me a plane ticket to Virginia Beach where he was in more training. He booked a hotel for us for the weekend and once again, we had our little airport movie moment. As soon as we got to the hotel room, I started unpacking my things. I turned around to see Sean down on one knee holding a box. I couldn’t believe it was really happening. He couldn’t wait to “pop the question”. Sean took a deep breath and asked me to marry him. He gave me a beautiful ring and of course I said yes! I was the happiest I’ve ever been. Things were going really well for me and Sean, and we were really happy. Then, in the spring of 2013, we found out Sean would be getting stationed in California for four years. This broke my heart because I was already enrolled in my first semester of college and he would be so far away. We both knew it wasn’t going to work out if I stayed in Boston so we didn’t know what we were going to do. In the summer, I flew out to California for a few weeks to see Sean. After being there for a week, I did not want to leave. Sean suggested that I move out there and I could just transfer schools. I started looking into a couple community colleges just to see if I had options to go to school out there. Since we were engaged and there were so many benefits of marrying in the military, we figured why not? We didn’t want to miss out on all the opportunities the Marine Corps gave us if we were married. So, in August of 2013, we were married by the courthouse on the 11^th. I finished my first semester of college in Boston and then transferred to a college out in Cali. I moved out of my mom’s house in January, and into a house of my own with the love of my life. After all the struggles we faced together and all the time we spent apart, we’ve only become stronger as a couple. Now we live together and we couldn’t be happier. In a way, we have to thank the Marine Corps; we are stronger and happier than we’ve ever been, and they gave us a life we would have never imagined if he didn’t join.

My husband, Sean and I live a pretty exciting life. He is in the Marine Corps and we’ve been apart for most of our relationship. In our case, saying goodbye was more often than saying hello. We started out in high school in Boston when Sean began his training a year into our relationship  after he graduated, and since then, its been an exciting roller coaster. After two and a half years of being together and dealing with the struggles of the marine corps, we got married in August of 2013. Sean ended up getting stationed in California, which is where we live now.

October 25th was the day my real little family started. Sean bought me my first little ball of fur at the pet store. My birthday was in a month and Sean and I had talked about getting a puppy, but we weren’t sure when because we were still trying to figure things out for the big move to California.  I was still in Boston finishing my first semester of college and Sean was already across the country getting our house together. Sean called me and told me he was at a pet store just browsing for dogs and he wasn’t actually going to buy one. About an hour later, I get a call from him again saying he found the perfect birthday present for me. He had bought me my own puppy; a long-haired Chihuahua named Mac. Sean watched him at the pet store, jumping around and so happy. Sean immediately fell in love with his spunky and friendly personality. Mac was the happiest pup and everyone seemed to gravitate towards him; that’s when Sean knew, he was the one he wanted. It wasn’t until a month later I got to fly out and meet my new little friend, but as soon as I saw him look at me with those beautiful green eyes, I instantly fell in love.

Ever since Mac and I first met, we’ve been inseparable. He never leaves my side and he has become very protective of me; (even though he’s only 7 pounds!). Mac ended up flying back to Boston with me so I could take care of him until we were ready to move to Cali. I felt lonely in Boston without Sean there, but Mac seemed to make me forget about being sad and became a great distraction. He knows to cuddle up with me when I’m sad, and we sleep next to each other every night. Mac really is a good friend, he has always been there for me. He is a huge part of our family and I cant imagine my life without my little guy.

Family is what’s most important to me, therefore I will be writing about relationships and family because they are the ones who make me who I am today. I feel that in my memoir I can write about my relationship with my husband and how meeting him as well as being the wife of a marine changed my life for the better. For an observation, I can discuss the life of my grandmother and watching her live in a nursing home and watching my parents grow older. For my argument, I will discuss the pros and cons of being a military wife. I plan to write detailed essays on these topics because there is a lot to discuss within the family theme and my experiences in life.

Alternative themes:

Technology:

*How smart phones impact people today

*The negative effects of social media

*How cell phones distract you while driving

Education:

*How I got to BCC

*How education can give you more opportunities in life

*An online classroom vs. a typical classroom

I have been reading and writing since I was very young. I mostly write from experiences and memories over time, but also things that interest me. I read occasionally but I wouldn’t say its a hobby of mine. I read books that are required for school and maybe some short novels from time to time. The things I’ve written in the past are all topics that apply to me and my interests. I usually only write when I have to for school, but I also don’t mind writing a couple pages. I would say I am a pretty good writer. Writing and grammar usually comes easy to me but I do make mistakes. Last semester I took an English at BCC and my professor really taught me great tips and tricks for all different kinds of writing. After taking her class, I feel like I became a much better writer.My first couple pieces of writing were all personal narratives or my opinions on certain topics. I remember writing about the times I’ve been injured, experiences during vacations, and stories about my family. From my personal narratives it’s safe to say that my life hasn’t been very exciting or interesting, but recently my life has taken an exciting turn and now I have more exciting stories to start writing about. I recently just moved to San Diego, California because my husband is a marine and he is stationed out here. My life went from doing nothing in boring old Mansfield, to living the life in sunny San Diego! I have so much more to write about and I can’t wait to get started in writing about my experiences moving across the country.