The Gowan Journey : crash course

Wow. I have definitely been slacking on my promise to update this blog! Another month has passed so quickly. August flew by due to the wonderful visit by my sister, Denise, who stayed for a little over 2 whole weeks. We had a lot of fun together, so I'll let the pictures do the talking for anyone who hasn't seen them on Facebook yet.

She got to meet one of my good friends, Lucy, and we all met up for a nice lunch in downtown New Bern.

This was our last night together at mine and Caleb's favorite restaurant, Amos Mosquitos.

Denise just fell in love with Angel!

We took a road trip to Kitty Hawk, NC, which is about a 3 hour trip to the outer banks. We spent the day at the beach and at her friend's parents' beach house.

Me, Stephanie and Denise. Stephanie has been her friend since middle school and is also one of her bridesmaids!

Sisters. SO blessed to have a wonderful family.

It's the start of a new month for me and it's going to be jam packed! For those of you who don't know, I will be starting school on Tuesday, September 11th, to get my real estate license. It's a mandatory pre-licensing class that is 8 weeks long, 3 days a week from 8am-12pm at the community college that is about 35 minutes from my house. After I finish the class, I will be able to take the state exam, and if I pass, I'll obtain a provisional broker's license. I'm really excited about it and can't wait to start the class!

I also completed a 125 mile run that the CO from Caleb's squadron challenged both the Marines and spouses to do before September 1st. I am very proud that I stuck through it and I'm happy that I have gained the strength and stamina to run 3-4 miles during my workout! I've also joined the OSC (Officer Spouses Club) on base and I'm looking forward to getting to know more of the wives and participate in their social events. I went to the first meeting last Wednesday, and last year, they raised $96,000 which they donated to the community with scholarships for individuals and programs that need financial aid. A couple of weeks ago, some of the wives from my unit got together for a nice dinner:

AWANA starts this Sunday. I'll be busy Sunday nights co-leading the Trek classes (middle school). We'll be missing a lot of the kids that have moved up to high school, but I'll be excited to get to know the new ones coming in. I'm also on the committee that is planning a Couples Dance at the Barn on September 28th. We're titling it the "Hee-Haw Dance" and have hired a DJ and a line dance instructor for the event.

With school, church events, AWANA, worship practice, small group meetings, and social events with the USMC wives, and of course, Angel, I have no more time to Zumba! I'll have to try to squeeze in some room for that! There were pictures posted online from a class a couple of weeks ago, and I found myself in it! I'm the girl that's cut off, ALLL the way to the right in the white tank and shorts! Can you spot me?!