Time flies...

A year ago this weekend, I had my retirement ceremony from the U.S. Navy. It seems like the ceremony and subsequent party at the Boat House was just last week. The past twelve months have been a blur for me. A few days after my ceremony, the movers came and packed up our belongings at the Beach House, and I came home to EGR. Almost as soon as I returned home, Deirdre and I had to say goodbye to Allie, our trusted and loyal companion of almost 14 years. A week later, my knee was scoped and as soon as I recovered from that I took a road trip east to see my siblings and my roommate from my first ship.

Soon after I returned from my road trip, we began our bathroom remodeling projects. Well, technically, all we did was provide the funding, the professionals at HWC Homeworks did the heavy lifting! We celebrated my actual retirement date (1 November) from the Navy with a trip to Lake Huron, and then we did something we had never done during my entire 22 year career in the Navy: we were able to spend consecutive Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays together in our own home. That accomplishment might not seem like much, but when was the last time you were NOT able to spend the Thanksgiving and Christmas in the same year with your family? Just before Thanksgiving, we adopted a rescue dog. We were still mouring the passing of our beloved Allie, we also knew that we had room in our hearts to give a home to a wonderful dog whom we named Samson. It was a rough couple of weeks with him at first, but he has evolved into a goofy, lovable companion who is nothing but 95lbs of fur and love.

A few days after we celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on New Year's Day, work began on our second bathroom project. Lots of dust and entropy later, that project was completed and I looked for my next adventure. In March, I decided to start to look for my first post-Navy job. I was interviewed for positions with the American Red Cross, the U.S. Department of State, a local District Court, Gentex, General Electric and a few head hunting agencies for executive management positions around the country. I thought that it would take 6-10 months to find a position that matched my knowledge skills and abilitiesHowever, I was off by a factor of 6-10. About a month after I started my search, I was offered a position with General Electric, working for GE Aviation here in Grand Rapids.

Deirdre and I have settled into our rhythm together with both of us working, providing a home to Samson and generally getting on with our lives, post-Navy. We recently began our next home remodeling project, a kitchen where we are looking forward to making new memories with our friends here in the western edges of the Enchanted Mitten.

To say that the past twelve months have is an understatement. We never could have imagined our good fortune to have such a great year, and we are looking forward to our next adventure.