You know you’re a military spouse when:

You’ve mowed more lawns than your husband because he’s never there to do it himself.

You can unpack your entire house in two days and make it feel like home instantly.

You know that it’s normal to set fire to shoe polish and that the best way to spit-shine boots is with cotton balls.

You have copies of EVERYTHING.

You know and understand the importance and difference of a GPOA and SPOA.

Your husband is a land/sea nav expert or can move through the ocean blind in a submarine, but he cannot get to the store without GPS. Continue reading →

Well, I can’t say that I enjoy the gym and the actual “working out” process that I have been doing over the last month, but I can say I am addicted to the ‘high’ that you feel afterwards. It’s a shame you don’t get the feeling before you work out, because getting to the gym would be a heck of a lot easier.  I come home and instead of sitting still and writing or working on my business plans, I clean or go do something. I feel like a bottle rocket pinging off walls in the room of life. It’s awesome, yet very, very distracting.  Continue reading →

Thank you to all of our service members past and present who have the courage to serve, the strength to walk away from those they love, and the selflessness to give your life to something bigger than yourself. ~ Marie Hobson

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.  ~ G.K. Chesterton

And last, but not least, Thank You to those who serve in the Silent Ranks. Continue reading →

My daughter’s Elementary School held a Veterans Day assembly yesterday. My Fourth grade little girl gave a speech in front of the school about her Dad and his Service. She wrote this with another little girl whose Dad is in the Army. Here is their speech: Continue reading →

I was writing today about the Holidays approaching and since The Husband is now on Shore, I thought I’d post this one for spouses of the deployed first. I wrote this during our last deployment. 

Holiday Emotions Can Build Up

 Ah Christmas! I love this time of year. My tree is up at Thanksgiving and our lights are turned on the night after. The house feels warm and full with the decorations filling any space that we have through the rest of the year. It can be magical. But, that magic can fizzle when going through a deployment. Continue reading →

Your husband calls unexpectedly to tell you he’s going out to sea in less than a week and you respond, “Ok, are you going to soccer practice tonight?” before asking where he is going or for how long.

Moving to Washington state was exciting for many reasons, but for me, I had a very selfish reason. I am a closet fashionista. I live for rich fabrics, fun patterns and soft color palates. I can’t even tell you the excitement I feel for vintage clothing and I could write a page on accessories. But most would never have known this about me. Living in the hot and humid South, I just wanted to be comfortable. On days that I worked outside the home, I would try to throw something together that I wouldn’t die in just walking from the parking lot into the air-conditioning. There were sun dresses that I adored, but being 5’10 made everything a *risk*. Dresses ran short, airy and far from child proof. So, on most days that I wasn’t volunteering or working, you found me in simple shorts, airy tops, and flip-flops. It was easy, but so boring.  Continue reading →

A Marine’s Death, And The Family He Left Behind

by TOM BOWMAN  www.npr.org

November 3, 2011

A year ago, nearly 1,000 U.S. Marine officers and enlisted men of the 3rd Battalion, 5th Regiment deployed to restive Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. By the time their tour ended in April 2011, the Marines of the 3/5 — known as “Darkhorse” — suffered the highest casualty rate of any Marine unit during the past 10 years of war. This week, NPR tells the story of this unit’s seven long months at war — both in Afghanistan and back home. Continue reading →

I haven’t been posting as much as I would like or want to over the last couple weeks. Why? Because I have been unorganized, unfocused and all over the place. I have been tired and frustrated complaining to myself that I just don’t have enough time in the day to get it all done. And that’s also the reason I gained 6 pounds. I am now at 173lbs. I stepped off the scale angry. Angry at myself. I know exactly what I need to do to take care of myself and I have chosen to put myself last. I. hit. bottom.

I worked out for years every day and felt my absolute best. I also felt good in my clothes. I could walk into my closet and put anything on. ANYTHING….and I didn’t have to do the turns in front of the mirror to see what flaws were showing. I just got dressed and left! It was an incredible feeling and I know other women feel the same. You can have hundreds of items in your closet, beautiful things, but if you don’t feel good wearing them, you might as well be wearing a trash bag.

Yesterday, I walked into the closest gym and joined. Later that night I laid out my clothes/gear, put my shake mix out on the counter with a glass, went into the bathroom and laid out my inhaler (yes, I’m wheezy), and hair ties, all because I wanted to be able to get up and get going without “searching for things”.  I then went to bed at 10pm. I didn’t stay up and watch my shows, I didn’t even read. I just went to bed.  Continue reading →