The proposed "new" GI bill

I don't know if anyone is following the news about the 'new' GI bill debate. But this article from Military.com just shows how ridiculous things are in our government. The proposed GI Bill is so much better than the MGIB we have now. Not that were not thankful for the current bill, but really it's time that the military (especially those members who have toured during this time of war) receive improved educational benefits. Now, normally Dan and I don't get too political in public, despite our everyday heated discussions with one another about certain political topics. But seriously, the way things are going for here in the U.S and in the world (which in our opinion has had it far worse then our country for quite some time now), the least we can do right now is support our military and provide them with the best education possible when they return home.
Now, you may say we are biased and following this bit of news closely because Dan's in the CG and intends to go back to school...and it's true. But everyone should be concerned with the fact that our President (and others...ahem the 'presumptive Republican party nominee') wants to deny our military men and women affordable and top-quality schooling just so that they can keep troop numbers up in Iraq...the place where over half of American's think we should NOT be fighting. It's just difficult to swallow I guess. Especially, because Dan and I know how valuable our education as been. Everyone deserves the chance to obtain an outstanding education (if they so choose). Especially if they are going to serve our country in such a demanding and outstanding way. It also reminds me a little bit of how Barack Obama has a plan to offer paid college to those who serve the US for a certain amount of time. People could serve their country by doing volunteer work, serving in the military, ameri corp, peace corp, developing a project, teach for america, etc. It's a good idea and people should get rewarded for doing things to better our country and the world.
So anyways here is a little clip of an article about the proposed GI Bill and following it is an article about how it passed and current opposition/other ideas.

"Webb's enhanced GI Bill would be available to any member, active or reserve, who has served at least three months on active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. The level of benefits would be tied to length of service. The $1200 member buy-in under the current Montgomery GI Bill would be returned.

The bigger change would be in the value of benefits. Maximum benefits, earned for 36 months' active duty, would cover tuition for up to four years at a level to match tuition at the most expensive in-state public school. The average across states is about $1900 a month. MGIB pays $1100.

Webb's bill also would pay a monthly stipend to cover living expenses. The stipend would reflect local housing costs near school and would be set to equal military Basic Allowance for Housing for married enlisted in grade E-5.

A feature added to win Warner's support would encourage private colleges to make their schools affordable to veterans. Schools that agree to pay half of their tuition in excess of the most costly state schools would see the government cover the remaining half. Thus academically qualified veterans could attend some of the best schools in the country. Warner said it's the kind of opportunity he got after World War II using the GI Bill."

Here's the other article:
http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,168277,00.html

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And once again....

Okay, nix the discharge news. We're pretty sure every thing is still up in the air. It's too frustrating to describe. Europe might be out too. Hrmph! Guess we sit and wait (in the nasty humid sticky Florida summer weather) again....

But on a happier note we are fixing up our bedroom. We've started a DIY project, involving paint, doors, hooks, curtains, and our bed. We'll post pictures after it's done. We were going to buy a bed, but we've decided to hold off for awhile. So we are making our own headboard, etc. Hopefully it'll turn out.

We hope everyone is enjoying the start of summer. Let us know what your summer plans are!!

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Almost there...

Well, we've finally heard a little bit of news about grad school for me and the coast guard for Dan. First off, I heard from Willamette Univ. and I've been accepted into the Master of Arts in Teaching program. I am VERY excited! My acceptance is conditional upon me passing my PRAXIS Biology test (because I want to be a high school biology teacher!) but I am fairly sure I passed. I did however sign up for a re-take, just in case. I should hear back about my scores end of May/beginning of June. So that is exciting. Next year is going to be busy busy.

We're also fairly excited because we found out that Dan is on the top of the list of his paperwork getting filed for his discharge. He was told that the paperwork should arrive in no more than 2 weeks. Well, we've heard similar before, so we are trying not to get too worked up about it....but seriously it's been long enough hasn't it? Although we are enjoying Clearwater so much better now and saving money, it really is time to move on. We are planning our Europe trip for this summer (yes, we've finally decided on Europe) and so the CG needs to get the ball rolling so that we can actually have time to go to Europe before grad school starts for me Aug. 18th. So we are trying to push this discharge thing just a bit.

In other news, Dan's back is getting better. Slowly.... He has lots of PT appts, but in general he can actually function like a normal human being now. Except bending and lifting heavy things.

Really, we've been boring lately (we even started playing SCRABBLE!) and don't have any exciting pictures to post. But maybe I'll find something of interest to post later.

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Quickie

Still no news.
Back hurts.
Doctor appointment filled week (M,W, 2 on F)

BUT we got a mattress!!! It's so wonderful...but it hasn't been delivered yet...it'll come Friday! We need to pick out a bed now. But someone has an injured back and isn't able to go out shopping - hrmph! We'll be sure to take pics of our new set-up if were not too busy napping away on it!

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A miserable time

Well, we've both had the most miserable week ever! I'm sure most of you heard about Dan hurting his back while in the bahamas a couple weeks ago. Well, the pain seemed to go away after seeing a physical therapist and doing some stretches. But he still had an MRI done, just to find out what was causing the pain. Unfortunately, on Wednesday night all the pain came back again and he could hardly move! They still hadn't gotten back to us about the MRI results, so we went back to the doctor and we found out he has a herniated disc!!! A herniated disc is when one of the discs in the back sort of ruptures and leaks out into the spinal column, irritating and inflaming his nerves. The disc in Dan's back is protruding into his nerve that runs down into his leg, so it hard to walk or put pressure on his leg.

Nobody bothered to get back to us with his MRI results, and it was extremely difficult to even find out that he had a herniated disc in the first place! He had been walking around for nearly 3 weeks with a herniated disc! We drove around all day going to various doctors and trying to figure out how to get someone to help us....I won't go into the details of how ridiculous some doctors are and how hard it was to find someone that actually cares about helping him....but in the end we found a PT that is really helpful and sincere and hopefully will be able to convince the CG doc to send Dan to a specialist.
But until then, Dan is pretty much immobile, and can pretty much only lay down. I have been trying my hardest to help him out and get him things he can't get for himself. He has stretches to do, ice every hour or so, pain meds, etc! It's a lot of work and it has made me so thankful that we are generally in good health. Just from these past few days it makes me really appreciative of the people that spend their lives caring for others with disabilities, etc. Phew!
Unfortunately, I've also come down with a cold. I had to come home from work early today because I just couldn't stop sneezing!! So now I'm trying my hardest to not get Dan sick, because if he starts sneezing that would be excruciating for his back!

Also this week, Dan managed to take both sets of house/car keys with him to work. He got a ride to work that day and when I went to leave for work, I didn't have any keys to drive to work with! I had to call in to work.... so it's been a very frustrating week!!!

I hope all of you are doing much better than we are!

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