Temporary Address

At least for the next week, use this address: (Only the class is changing...I'll let you know when to use 03-08)

OC James Gouger
Officer Candidate School
H Class
Officer Training Command Newport
291 Kollmeyer St.
Newport, RI
02841-1641

Three more weeks...

Unfortunately, James has been rolled back. He failed his four week inspection and the re-inspection, so as of Monday, he will be in the class of 03-08. This means that he will be in Newport for another 3 weeks and that I won’t be able to see him for at least 5 weeks. I am thinking about going up there just to see him at church, because I’m not sure if I can handle not seeing him for 9 weeks straight!! The good news is that I have been able to talk to him for over two hours these past two days, which was much needed! He is disappointed, but the rest will do him good. He’s only been getting about 2 hours of sleep a night, and last night he was able to sleep for 8 hours! He sounded so much better this morning. David Walsh failed the first inspection, but passed the re-inspection, so they are now in different classes. David is really mad James didn’t pass, because he felt like James did a better job than some of the other people who did pass. They said the inspection is very subjective, and basically they had to weed out 10 people from the class, and it didn’t really matter who they were. They just needed to get the class down to 40 people. So, James is currently in “holding” until he starts with the next class. He basically got through the hardest four weeks of OCS, and now he has to start it all over again. He has been able to eat more this weekend, though, except before he was only allowed to eat with his left hand, and while you are in holding, you are only allowed to eat with your right hand. So, that has been an adjustment for him. He said he also doesn’t have to ask to use the bathroom or shower now, which is nice. And…we were only 2 weeks away from seeing each other…and now we are 5 or 6 weeks. Sadness. So…he definitely needs people to write him right now!! His NEW ADDRESS is as follows:

OC James Gouger
Officer Candidate School
Class 03-08
Officer Training Command Newport
291 Kollmeyer St.
Newport, RI
02841-1641

Although I haven’t verified this yet, his anticipated graduation date will be Dec. 21st. Happy Birthday to me! :-)

Bluebonnets

Our Texas Bluebonnets are doing great! I just hope they bloom before we start getting freezes...which I believe will be fairly soon!

Single Gouger

Apparently, the Navy doesn’t think that James is married, despite them having three copies of our marriage certificate. This explains a lot about why I never received paperwork for an ID or anything, despite them saying it was coming. So, I emailed them, and they said that they were aware of our situation, but that they were working on. James called last night and we only got to talk for 10 seconds, as he verified my social security. It made me sad. :’( This is week four for them, and they have a huge inspection at the end of the week, which determines whether they continue or get rolled back. James was really worried about it, as his roommate has already failed two inspections, and this is going to be his third. He said that the roommate was a great resource though, as he’s already been through two! They have been doing all sorts of things to get ready for inspection, including measuring creases in folded uniforms and hair spraying them in the perfect spot. How crazy! Last week, someone left a Powerbar wrapper on the ground, so everyone had their Powerbars taken away, so they are hungry. I was so sad for them, because they aren’t getting enough food to do all of the physical things they are doing, and James doesn’t have much reserves on his body to lose! I still don’t know when the dining out is, but I have a dress! Hopefully James will be able to call before Sunday to verify, because I need to buy a plane ticket, and it is probably only going to be a few weeks out. I can’t wait to see him! :-) Keep writing him! He loves getting mail!

Cool Bug

William & Mary Tailgate Awesomeness

My dad is finally back from Iraq, so my parents came to visit me in the Burg for a football game. James’ parents were kind enough to give me their tickets so that we could enjoy a weekend at a game. We spent the morning tailgating with very dear friends whom I hadn’t seen in forever. Tailgating is a fairly new experience for us, as we were all in band for four years. So, unless we were traveling to an away game, we didn't get to tailgate. We have now discovered how AWESOME gameday is without morning practice!! We've also realized how hard it is seeing people after you graduate! Laura, Stacey, and Megan had quite a grill going by the time we got there, so we had some awesome hotdogs and hamburgers. Blacksburg pretty much sells out of hotdogs on football weekends, so we had some slim pickings at the store, but we were at least able to get some! The William & Mary game was…well…it was William & Mary. Why were we playing a division AA school again? But, the game was fun nonetheless. It is always a great experience to be in Lane Stadium, no matter what game it is. I sat with one of my co-workers, and we had a great time! We were sitting only a few rows in front of my parents, but we didn’t find them until the very end of the game. We were both looking for each other in the wrong directions! My mom, dad, and Lizzie stayed the whole weekend and slept on the air mattress while I slept on the bed. (I’m still not sure how I pulled that off!) Lizzie and AJ are really cute together, but she didn’t feel like dealing with him this weekend, so she became territorial and claimed the kitchen as her own. It was too cute.

Maroon Effect