Big Changes, Coming Soon

This post will probably be pretty long winded, so I am breaking it up with a few random pictures.. yay!There are going to be some big changes in the Vermeulen household pretty soon. Big changes, that honestly I didn't see coming.

No, it's not another baby!

Asa is in the works to join the Army! Now, before your eyes pop out of their sockets just hear me out. He really wants to be a firefighter. But in the real world that means he has to go to school for four months, then work as an EMT for six months, then look for a job. And he doesn't get paid for most of that. But, if he signs to become a firefighter with the Army, they get him trained, give him a few years of experience, and then help him find a job, paying him for all of it. Veterans get moved to the top of the stack of any job they apply for.
So, September 15th is the end of the Army's fiscal year. At that point, the firefighters whose contracts are up will be letting the Army know if they plan to keep going of go home. So, then Asa will find out if they have any openings for firefighters. If they do not have any fire fighter positions, then he is not interested in any other jobs and will not be joining.

If they do find a job for him, they will assign him that job and he has 72 hours to get to Dallas and claim the job. There, he will be told when he goes to boot camp (which is nine weeks long and in Oklahoma), when he goes to AIT (firefighter training, thirteen weeks long and in San Angelo, TX), and where he will be stationed for his first post!
We have been getting some crazy looks from people when we tell them what the plan is, but we are so excited. This really feels like the right thing for the three of us, and I am already so proud of Asa for being willing to do it. We have applied for 20+ jobs for him in the past few months, but it is so hard to get into what he wants to do. Being in the Army will give him a huge boost with that.

So, with 6 months worth of training ahead of him, Marley and I will be staying in Nacogdoches until he's done with that. After this semester, I will have about a year left of school. But our plan is for me to take a break and move to where Asa is stationed. If they are offering any classes I can take online, then I will take them. But we both really agree that I should be where he is. I really think that is the right thing to do, since he will be making huge sacrifices to make our lives comfortable. And delaying it a few years will really not make a difference. If he is deployed, I will go back to Nacogdoches and do some schooling until he gets done.
That also means that our little girl gets to be a little flower girl! As soon as Asa starts boot camp, he will be getting health insurance for himself and for us, we can finally get married! That's one of the most exciting things about this, but we won't have very much time to plan it! It's not going to be a big thing, maybe at a park or in my mom and Joel's backyard. But, it will be a fun party, that's for sure. And, we will hopefully be able to take a little family vacation/honeymoon before he starts boot camp.

We are both really excited about all of these changes, but I am also a sad to be leaving our families. I spend a lot of time with my family and it will definitely be hard to not be with them. And I'm sure they will miss Marley. But, my heart really tells me this will be the best thing for us in the long run. We will be able to have the future we want, money for Marley to go to college one day, health insurance for all of us, a great job around here when Asa gets out, and a steady job for the next few years, and we can get married!

Like I said, I am already proud of him. But I keep picturing the moment when both of our families are there to see him graduate and he is all dressed up in his uniform. I will be beaming with pride. I can already tell I am smiling more, it feels so good to have a plan.

So, cross your fingers that they have a place for him. He is taking the ASVAB, the qualifying test for the military, on Tuesday, but he did really well on the practice. The recruiter said he should be able to get any job he wants. And, of course, I will keep this updated. Since school has started, I will be a little slower, but I really want this to be an accurate journal of how we are doing and feeling about things.