The Big Search

As David and I make the decisions for our future, my big job search has officially begun. I'm looking for event coordinator jobs. I've been searching every day, asking family and friends if they've heard of anything, and applying for the positions I've found.

Right now I'm interning at the Avera McKennan Foundation, and I'm LOVING IT! The people are so awesome and I've gotten to do a lot of different things. I'm getting to help with the Avera Race Against Breast Cancer (too bad I can't actually go to this huge event because I have to graduate from college instead) and The Big Grape, plus all the smaller kick-off's for those events. Because of all the cool stuff I've gotten to do at Avera, I have decided that this kind of work is exactly what I want to do! I really like the hospital/foundation-esque atmosphere. There is so much that goes on, and I love it! However, I wouldn't mind being the in-house event coordinotor for a larger venue somewhere. That way I'd get to work with other event planners, they would just have to come to me.

I'm quickly finding out that many job openings require so much experience. My question for some of those employers is, how are any of us supposed to get any of that required experience if you don't give us a chance?!? After all, we might surprise you!
I haven't heard anything back yet, but patience is key...or at least that's what I'm told. I'll find something, all in God's time.

So, here I go...IF YOU OR ANYONE YOU KNOW HAS ANY EVENT PLANNING JOB OPENINGS AVAILABLE, LET ME KNOW!!!

As far as Dave's job search goes, even though he's been deployed, he's been made a conditional job offer with the Rapid City Police Department. He's currently in the running for a position with the Sioux Falls Police Department as well. We are thrilled that he's been considered in Rapid City, but Sioux Falls would be a much better fit for us.

Dave has decided to continue his pursuit of the Sioux Falls position. We'll keep the Rapid City position on standby in the event that Sioux Falls wouldn't hire him. Lets just hope for Sioux Falls. Niether of the jobs would actually begin until Dave returns from his deployment, but it'll be a comfort knowing that they would be here waiting for him.

This may sound a little silly to some, but what can we do, really? Rapid City would be a great place to live and work, but, so would Sioux Falls. Until we find out more, everything is just hanging in a balance. Thanks to all of our family and friends for your support and understanding! We love you all so much!!!

PS-JARED AND MOLLY WILL OFFICIALLY BE MOVING TO IOWA CITY FOR JARED'S RESIDENCY!!! CONGRATS TO YOU JARED, YOU DESERVE IT!!! LOVE YOU BOTH!!!

J&M are trying to sell their house in Harrisburg, SD before they move to Iowa City. It's the cutest little place. If you're interested, go to:

http://www.hegg.com, and search for this listing number: 21001014.

Dancing With The Stars=FAVE!

Dancing With the Stars has released the list of cast members for their latest season. I can't wait to see what happens, but I'm also really sad that Jonathan Roberts, Lacey Schwimmer, Kim Johnson, and Karina Smirnof will not be dancing this year. They were A-MAZING!

So here is the the list of cast members!

Kate Gosselin- Ex-wife to the biggest dead-beat dad in the nation. Everyone calls her the b*tch, but if you were married to that guy too, wouldn't you be a little irritated?

Chad Ochocinco- Football player who legally changed his last name because he can't remember his number. I wonder if he'll tattoo the dance steps onto his hand or something extreme like that.

Shannon Doherty- Former 90210 actress with a short temper. She does an occasional appearance on the newer version of the show with pal/nemisis Jenny Garth, just when she feels her career is in the toilet and neeeds a re-vamp. HELLO! You're on DWTS, that's what this show is all about! She better be paired with Derek Hough. Then he'll have two 90210 alums to over-dance/compensate for.

Evan Lysacek- 2010 Olympic gold medal figure skater who gets my vote. Anyone as straight as an arrow that can pull off spandex and feathers the way he does has my support by default.

Erin Andrews- ESPN "reporter" with very obviously fake boobs...wonder how she got that job? I bet it's because she interviews all those professional athletes so well.

Aiden Turner- All My Children actor. They should really recruit people from As the World Turns. Those actors are really the ones that needs work because their show got cancelled.

Jake Pavelka- The Bachelor, now engaged to a cross-eyed crazy Vienna. She the girl who carries around a little dog, probably named Twinky or HoHo, tries way to hard to look like Paris Hilton, and has the most hideously obvious blond-ish hair extentions in California...really Jake? I had hi hopes for you. I was mad at Jillian when she got rid of you, but now, I'm on her side. You silly hottie.

Nicole Scherzinger- Pussycat Doll who will probably demandd wearing her own faux leather-plaid-rhinestone and spike studded-freak me out with how insanely tight they are Halloween, I mean, concert constumes while she dances. But ballroom dancing is NOT: walking about the stage in huge clod-hopper shoes (she probably has to have an outstanding life insurance policy), while licking your lips (sexilly?), adding a few hiney slaps, crouching down (again, sexilly?) and scratching your thighs, and "singing".

Pam Anderson- "Actress/Model/Magical Assistant" who should have stuck with

Bay(boob)watch. After all, we know those things could keep her afloat in the water, but probably not on the dancefloor.

Niecy Nash-Reno 911 actress who isn't doesn't want to lose weight as a result of the show because she "likes her jiggles".

Buzz Aldrin- Astronaut...from 1969. DWTS, what are you thinking?!?! You do NOT wa to be responsible for the death of this American hero. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen!

This should be very interesting!

Military Husband+Military Wife=Military Life

"Drop and give me twenty" is simply an old catch phrase that we Americans might think of when the Army is concerned. Well, "drop and give me a year" is the new sing song for the Collins family.

That's right. My husband, Sgt. David B. Collins of the 113th Cavalry in LeMars, IA has been deployed for one year to Afghanistan. Let's take a look at the inner workings of the Army National Guard, shall we?

The 113th Cavalry was put on mobilization alert back in October 2009, while Dave was in the process of applying for an Officer Candidate School (OCS). We were not going to find out whether he got accepted into the school, or not, until May 2010. If Dave were to get into the OCS program, he would have been able to forgo the deployment. Well, that's all fine and dandy, until the 113th decided that Dave was just too valuable a leader to let him hang back. So they called him last week with a promotion to Staff Sargeant (E6 rank). They gave him a little time to think about it before telling him there is no option; he is required to take this promotion, thus taking him overseas.

The thing that I like about the military now is the fair warning they give the troops about deployments. Back in the day, troops had day(s), to get their affairs in order before they shipped out. That's barely enough time to kiss good-bye, let alone figure out your next move.

Another good thing is the training. Four years ago, the unit had 3 months of training in the U.S. before they went to Iraq for 1 full year. Now, the training is considered deployment time, making it 3 months training in the U.S. and 9 months in Afghanistan. That's three months of worrying that hopefully won't be SO stressful as it will be when he's over the pond.

Okay. This may not exactly sound like an ideal situation for a young married couple that just graduated from college, and have the world at their fingertips. However, we have been through this before. WE CAN DO THIS! My heart has always gone out to the spouses and families of the soldiers, I know what you're going through. BE STRONG.This is not the end of the world. If David didn't feel like he wanted to go overseas, he wouldn't have joined the military. Dave is a strong person, and I believe that he gets a strong sense of fulfillment from serving his country and knowing that he's making me proud. I love that about him, and if proud were a paycheck, I'd have as much money in my name as the US has in debt.

So for the next few months, I will be searching for jobs (wink, wink) and trying to figure out where to go. I guess that will all depend on where I can find work. I think, for now, we will move into my parents basement, as we are eager to end the USD/Vermillion chapter in our life. Plus, that will give us a little more time to be close to family, save some money, and just be husband and wife with all thoughts of wars and deployments set aside...yeah, right.

Bring on the rain. Bring on the worry. If God didn't want wars to go on, he wouldn't have created the strength of military men and women to go off and settle some disputes. This is the hand He had planned to deal, and we are ready to play. Faith, love, and trust.

Thank you for the kind thoughts, prayers, and advice,

Megs and Sgt. Collins

ONE MORE THING:

Our families have been so VERY loving and supportive of David and I, and now they've upped the anty. We would not be where we are without them, so to you family, THANK YOU. We will get through this TOGETHER.

Hello blogosphere!
In the essence of finding a job, I've decided to put my love of writing "out there" for all the people to see. Why? Simply because this is what every single professional I've talked to has told me to do. "Start a blog and get an account on every social medium you can find." So, here I am.
I don't know why I didn't start doing this before. I guess I just wanted to be sure that I would have something riveting to tell my readers, or as of right now, the internet space that this is using up.
I feel like I have so much to tell, but with all these different media to utilize, it gets exhausting figuring out which status I've updated, how many characters I get, and how to adjust each update accordingly so that it still makes sense.
I've got a lot of things about to chang in my life, so I've claimed this blog space to tell everyone about the life that I lead, the job I'm searching for, all the other juicy details.
Enjoy.

War Puppy

My husband Dave and I have recently found out that Dave has been deployed for one year to Afghanistan. He will be leaving in August 2010 for three months of training, and then jumps the big blue for the remaining nine.

While I'm super worried about all that he and his comrades will be going through, my mom got this great idea to help keep my mind from whirling. Now, my mother is a very wise woman, and when she makes a suggestion, I've learned through time that she is usually right on the money. So, without further adue. Blogosphere, meet Camouflage the puppy (Camo for short).

Camo is the cutest little Shih Tzu puppy in the world. He's eleven weeks old and weighs about 4 pounds. I got him for free from a lady that goes to my parent's church, Pam. She was so awesome about this whole thing and I'm so glad she's a friendly neighbor.

So far, Camo is doing very well in the potty training business. I started out taking him outside every twenty minutes or so, but he's up to about two hours spaces between breaks. Yes, he still piddles every once in a while, but he's getting much better.

Now for the business with the kennel...Pam suggested that he not sleep with me until he's 100% good to go on the potty training front. The first time he went in the kennel with the door shut behind him, he FREAKED OUT! Let's just say I slept with one arm off the bed so that I could pet him through the holes in the kennel. Those first couple nights were rough. Dave insists that he won't have a dog in bed with us, which is fine, but while he's gone I'll need someone to cuddle with.

While we still live in a no-pets apartment until May, mom was willing--much to the chigrin of dad, bless his heart--to keep Camo at their house until we can move somewhere else. During this week though, I've had him with me...don't tell the landlords...and got the roughest of the potty training days out of the way.

I think that this little guy will help take my mind off things quite effectively. Though I will never stop worrying until David is in my sights again, I will hopefully be able to keep busy long enough to make the time go by. He's my buddy. He's my comrade.

Thanks Mom, for all your advice, and for keeping Camo until I graduate!