A Military Wife

Stole this from a friend's Facebook wall today, and I loved it, couldn't have said it better myself. 

A Military Wife

Lots of moving...
Moving...
Moving...
Moving far from home...
Moving two cars, three kids and one dog...all riding with HER of course.
Moving sofas to basements because they won't go in THIS house;
Moving curtains that won't fit;
Moving jobs and certifications and professional development hours.
Moving away from friends;
Moving toward new friends;
Moving her most important luggage: her trunk full of memories.

Often waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting...
Waiting for housing.
Waiting for orders.
Waiting for deployments.
Waiting for phone calls.
Waiting for reunions.
Waiting for the new curtains to arrive.
Waiting for him to come home, For dinner...AGAIN!

They call her 'Military Dependent', but she knows better:
She is fiercely In-Dependent.

She can balance a check book;
Handle the yard work;
Fix a noisy toilet;
Bury the family pet...
She is intimately familiar with drywall anchors and toggle bolts.
She can file the taxes;
Sell a house;
Buy a car;
Or set up a move... .....all with ONE Power of Attorney.

She welcomes neighbors that don't welcome her.
She reinvents her career with every PCS;
Locates a house in the desert, The Arctic, Or the deep south.
And learns to call them all 'home'.
She MAKES them all home.

Military Wives are somewhat hasty...
They leap into:
Decorating,
Leadership,
Volunteering,
Career alternatives,
Churches,
And friendships. They don't have 15 years to get to know people.
Their roots are short but flexible.
They plant annuals for themselves and perennials for those who come after them.

Military Wives quickly learn to value each other:
They connect over coffee,
Rely on the spouse network,
Accept offers of friendship and favors.
Record addresses in pencil...

Military Wives have a common bond:
The Military Wife has a husband unlike other husbands; his commitment is unique.
He doesn't have a 'JOB'
He has a 'MISSION' that he can't just decide to quit...
He's on-call for his country 24/7.
But for her, he's the most unreliable guy in town!
His language is foreign
TDY
PCS
OPR
SOS
ACC
BDU
ACU
BAR
CIB
TAD
And so, a Military Wife is a translator for her family and his.
She is the long- distance link to keep them informed;
the glue that holds them together.

A Military Wife has her moments:
She wants to wring his neck;
Dye his uniform pink;
Refuse to move to Siberia;
But she pulls herself together.
Give her a few days,
A travel brochure,
A long hot bath,
A pledge to the flag,
A wedding picture,
And she goes.
She packs.
She moves.
She follows.

Why?
What for?
How come?
You may think it is because she has lost her mind.
But actually it is because she has lost her heart.
It was stolen from her by a man,
Who puts duty first,
Who longs to deploy,
Who salutes the flag,
And whose boots in the doorway remind her that as long as he is her Military Husband,
She will remain his military wife.
And would have it no other way.

--Author Unknown

I hate being a girl

I hate being a girl sometimes!! I'm sure you all know exactly where this post is going, emotions, all the dang emotions, which turn into over thinking, which turn into even more emotions. If you're stuck in this same rut, raise your hand. So did you raise your hand? If you didn't then you're one of two things, a guy, or lying to yourself!!!

Yesterday I felt so free for taking on this venture, then I received many emails, texts, calls etc, about my initial post, and guess what the emotions came flooding in. Mostly Guilt, I felt guilty for baring my soul to you all. I didn't do this to have one GIANT Jenna pity party!!! But I can tell you that every one of those texts, messages, etc made me cry, not a bad cry, a good (and much needed) cry!! You all are too dang sweet and I can't believe I have this much support, from some of my best friends, to ones I barely know. You all are awesome, and I am sure I would not be able to do this without you all!!

On that note, I wanted to pep it up with a bit of thanks!! You want to know what I am most thankful for, the fact that I will be doing this journey with many special Ladies whose husbands are also deploying. They are awesome wonderful ladies who have kiddos the same ages and I see on a regular basis. I am thankful that on the mom's night out we get once a month, we will get to go grab dinner together and chat about how we're doing!! I am thankful that on of my husband's co-workers will be going with my husband, same time, same place, same job. I am thankful that I have so many awesomely, wonderful people in my life!!! To these ladies (or anybody else out there going through crazy times) repeat this mantra, something I totally believe in. "I will be OK, I am a strong person who will be OK. At the end of everyday, whether my house is a mess or whether it is spotless, I will be OK!!" And yes I do know that I will be OK, but that doesn't mean I won't have some crazy and fierce emotions along the way.

I heard this awesome song the other day and want to share it with you all. I heard it on Wednesday, downloaded it on Thursday, and by Thursday night even my daughter knew the words. And here's the kicker, even my husband loved it!!! This is a rarity in my house I tell you. I think it is a song that we can all relate too, and the beat is awesome and certainly a pick me up!! I just love it.

Here it is Bruises by Train with Ashley Monroe (of Pistol Annie's)


Hope you all love it as much as I do, I know we've all got "Bruises" and they do make for better conversations!!

And it begins....

A week ago today our lives changed, one sentence can change a family, isn't that crazy?!?! One sentence. My husband is deploying, deploying for six months to Afghanistan, for six months. That's 183 days, 183 nights, 183 nap times, 92 bath times, both kids birthday's, our 7th anniversary, Madison's preschool graduation, Madison's first day of school, Conner's first day of Preschool, and many, many more "normal" days. 183 days..... I know I seem a bit dramatic. However this is my blog, and I choose to use it to let out my more dramatic feelings, rather than blast my friends and family with them. In fact that is what this blog is going to be for the next nine months, maybe a year. I plan to use this blog as my journal of this journey. Even though I may look back someday and realize that this was not a time worth documenting, right now I feel I need a place to vent my feelings, where I can get feedback, thoughts, and just to air it all out there, cause let's be honest, I've never been one to hide my feelings, anyone who knows me at all, knows this is true!!!

Speaking of friends, today we had our weekly playgroup at a local park. These playgroups have been an absolute godsend, I plan them, but I do not own them, and I love that we have a standing date every Thursday with my good friends and their kids. Our kids have grown up together over the past year and truly love them like their cousins. And I have made some of the best friends I could ever hope to have, in this respect the "military life" has truly blessed me. However I felt like today's playgroup was different. I felt different. I felt like the kid in high school that has terrible acne, and is socially awkward. I felt like now I am the black cloud of the group and no one knows what to say to me, because my husband is deploying. I know it sounds silly, but I felt different. All I wanted to talk or think about is this stupid thing that is consuming me and all anyone else wanted to talk about was the normal everyday things. Basically I feel like this is consuming me, and I just wonder if I will ever be "me" again, you know, wanting to just talk about the normal everyday things without being overcome with "deployment".

My friend was chatting about bath time and how her son is now terrified of them, and out of no where it hit me, I have to start doing bath time. This is a daddy job, and it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I blurted out "Crap that's another thing I have to do for the next six months by myself!" I feel horrible now looking back on it, I totally took that conversation over and turned it on me, and that was not my intention, but it hit me out of no where. To all my wonderful friends, this will probably happen many more times over the next 3 months,  all I ask is to be patient with me, I'm just trying to find my way.

Have I mentioned the guilt I feel for all of this?!?! The other night I was crawling into bed and I looked at Rob and said "I won't get to sleep-in for 6 months!! Not once, not at all for six months!!" I feel bad about this now, while I'm complaining about not sleeping in and giving baths, he's probably so hurt inside because he won't get to see any of us for 6 months, and the biggest complaint I have is that I won't be able to get away!!! I feel guilty for this, really guilty. The worst part is, I just can't stop, I can't keep these feelings to myself.

I remember going through similar situations when my husband (then my boyfriend) was leaving for the Air Force Academy, every time he'd come home it would be great for a little while and then we'd start fighting and bickering, because at the end of the day he just had to go back, and basically it's my defense mechanism. Anyone have any great ideas of how to keep that from happening?

That's probably enough for one day. I hope you can come along with me in my Journey. I know I'll sure need it :)

Madison Dancing

Here is a video of Madison rockin out to Single Ladies at the recent 4-H dance that we had after achievement night. She obviously had a blast, and the kids were just awesome with her. Enjoy!

Mothering

So having two kids has made me a better mother, and I think a personal overall. I think that when you have two kids, you realize that you don't have any time to do anything, so when you do have time, you use it wisely. I no longer take naps on the weekends like I used, instead I use that time, to pick up the house, fold laundry, prepare dinner, etc. Speaking of Dinner, I have even started cooking dinner every night. I know crazy right, but it's true. I even cook dinner on the weekends, infact its sunday, and I have cooked lunch and have a Roast in the crock pot for dinner!

I have to thank my kiddos for making me a better person, the person I always knew I could be, but never had the motivation to become. So thanks to my wonderful Family for getting my butt in gear!

Family Pictures

Family Pictures

Pictures from the UW Game

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Madison was all dressed up from church and she was so proud of her dress, so we got some pictures.

Madison and I

Little Conner in the cutest outfit ever!

Bailey and Madison at the UW game, couldn't they just be sisters!

Cousins

Last weekend the girls got to spend a lot of time together, Robbie and my brother-in-law spent a lot of time working on their basement. We snapped this photo of them snuggled all together for a nap, while watching Princess and the frog! Aren't they just too adorable!

This weekend we are all going over to Laramie to watch the UW vs USAFA game. I've already got Madison yelling Go POKES!!!

Sunset

So last week the Hitching Post burnt down, it was a sad day and apparently it was arson. First off I can't believe that someone would do that! Anyway, it started burning at 6:30 in the morning, and burned through the day and through the night. Well that evening I was watering my plants outside and the sunset was absolutely gorgeous because of the smoke. So I grabbed my camera and got a few pictures, here they are.