We are in the process of PCSing back to the States after just under three amazing years in Spain. Here in Spain, I have been able to fulfill my three professional goals I have set for myself when we got here. I have studied bulerias, I have bought a bata de cola (the long skirt we dance with) and I have performed in Spain. Of course, to be a flamenco dancer stationed in Spain seems like a special gift from the Navy Gods That Be.

Well, the book I’ve been gestating is 3.867% more done than it was last year. But my kids are doing well (I think…who pays attention to such things?) and my laundry-room Woodchuck is thriving. I taught her how to sort lights, darks and delicates. She is my new best friend.

Right now, I’ve got bigger problems than the lack of progress on a novel.

How Different Artists Can Participate in the 100 Day Project The 100 Day Project is a celebration of process that encourages everyone to participate in 100 days of making. It's beautiful in its simplicity and flexibility allowing creators of all disciplines to participate. It produces incredible results, sometimes even life-changing.

In 2017 we PCSed to Tampa, FL. I was fortunate enough to make connections with a few people before we moved. The University of Tampa hired me to teach, and is where I am still teaching in the Dance Program.

I have a friend here in the UAE who had been to the Jaipur Lit Fest in the past and kept asking me to go with her. This being my last year in Abu Dhabi and therefore the last time I would be just a quick jaunt from India, I finally said yes. And it was tremendous.

I did manage to have a solo show of my watercolor paintings early in 2018, but the momentum didn’t last for me, unfortunately. I bet many of you reading this can relate to the feeling of “holding down the fort,” and I found myself in that position a lot in the past year. Even in August, when we finally enrolled my youngest in preschool, I found that I was constantly using the extra time this gave me for any number of tasks other than painting in my workspace at home.

Half of me feels like the time has flown by, but the other half spent a few months of the summer feeling like I was trapped and would never leave here. Fortunately, that fog has lifted quite a bit and I’m just trying to get back into some kind of normal-ish routine.

I continue to paint every day and constantly stretch the boundaries of my abilities. I belong to a group of four mentor/friends that travel together and show our art at different venues.  We have been to Waterworks Art Museum in Miles City, Montana,  are currently showing at the courthouse Art Museum in Clarksville, Tennessee and are looking forward to a venue in Japan!  Travel is always a plus to getting these shows.

In April, I published my second collection of poetry: Permanent Change of Station (Middle West Press). The poems revolve around the move that brought us from California to North Carolina. My daughter was two, and all of the changes of environment, coupled with all of the changes associated with coming into her toddlerhood, was quite traumatic for her.

The past year since my interview has been full of changes and excitement. We moved to North Carolina and it took me a while to find a studio to begin dancing again. I was fortunate to find the Carolina Performing Arts Studio that just opened near my house. I met the studio owner and ballet teacher, and immediately found my new home there.

Over the past year since my last guest blog, I've had so many wonderful things come about. I'm excited to share these as I look back on our military life journey of over twenty-six years. We've been “retired” from the Navy for eleven years now. Our current home we've been in for ten years – the longest we've been anywhere in our entire adult lives. I finally have that picket fence I always wanted...it ends up in so many paintings of mine, a continual theme of home and stability.

I’m sitting on my terrace, preparing to attend a fùtbol (of the World Cup type) match between rival attaché groups (Navy/Marine v.s. Army/Airforce). At the game, I will be sitting with Las Mafiosas, a group of women that represent about fifteen different countries.

I must confess, when I received Jessica’s invitation to write a guest post with an update of what I’ve been up to this year, my first thought was: “Well, crap. How do you stretch abject failure into 500 words? ”How’s my new book coming, you ask? Well…that depends on how you define “book.” If you call a 1/3-filled pink heart-covered notebook scribbled with an outline, scene ideas, random notes and tidbits of research a “book” - then it’s going fantastic!

I’ve been blessed in the last year to work with some incredible artists on interesting and challenging projects. It took a little bit to get going the first six months but then things just really picked up in a big way. Now I’m involved in something art related at least every month. Which is fabulous because I’m motivated to continue making work and working towards my goals.

Since I last graced MilSpoFan screens…I am back in Abu Dhabi, which has been a pretty terrific place to live for the last four and a half years. This past fall I cobbled together what I like to self-indulgently refer to as “The Confusion of Languages Middle East Book Tour,” making stops at book clubs, schools, embassies, here in Abu Dhabi as well as Dubai, Oman, and Bahrain.

Being a military spouse and a mother certainly have their challenges but we were thrown some extra curve balls. During my last interview, my husband was serving as an Air Force squadron commander in Japan.

This past year has been filled with testing of my health, figuring out a balance of work and family, working on our home and so much more. I wish I could say it's all been great. But some of the struggles have helped me grow significantly.