Mil-Spouse Friday Fill- In

1. What romance movie scene reminds you of your s/o or spouse and the LOVE you share? submitted by Simply Sunshine and Daisy’s Kind of a lot of scenes from the movie You've got Mail. Don't ask me why because we didn't meet this way but the two character have very similar personalities to us and the end scene at the Empire State building reminds me how they got together almost under impossible odds. Like what are the odds. That's how it was for us. We came together like it was fate. We sure had a lot of obstacles but for some reason it all worked out.
2. If you were allowed to deploy with your husband to a war zone would you and why? submitted by I & J Yes Possibly Iraq. It seems like these people will need a lot of help in rebuilding. Although I am not sure if it is considered a war zone anymore. Maybe then Afghanistan. I think the women and children there need to be protected from the Taliban. I would love to work in an orphanage in a place like this trying to make a difference.
3. Have you ever done anything (intentionally, or unintentionally) to embarrass your spouse/significant other in front of his military cohorts? submitted by Marrying the Navy No.
4. What is your most irrational fear? submitted by Eights on the Move I hate to park in certain parking spaces. I don't like 3, 5, 8, I won't usually park in spaces with these numbers attached to them. For instance I love the number 7 but would not park in a space marked 37. I have lot's of fears when I'm in the car and someone else is driving, the parking space thing is the least of them.
5. If you could only live in one kind of climate for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? submitted by Many Waters The climate we lived in for 8 1/2 years in Hawaii and the place we plan on retiring in. It's always perfect and rarely changes. I can't ask for more.

For more Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-in head on over to Wife of a Sailor

Jiffy pop the magical treat as much fun to make as it is to eat

Sometimes the Commissary carries Jiffy pop. What is it about this stuff that kids love. I remember liking to make this too and then it seemed to disappear. All of sudden it reappeared and now the kids like to make it as much as I did. I wonder if it's the fact that this small plate of popcorn turns into a big ball of tin foil. I will admit it's not my favorite tasting popcorn, we already have a carnival sized popper, but it is the most fun to make.

On a more idiotic note the Army has blocked my hubby and all his peeps from viewing any blogs over in Afghanistan so I will be posting more pics on FB. I prefer this format so I will continue to blog, but as of now I will be jamming up my FB with pics of every little thing we are doing. As my friend Pamela said "the Army is blocking blogs but not Facebook?" Go figure.

Darrian fell asleep with his deployment doll last night. I think these are a great idea. If you don't already have one, and are in the Army, you can suggest the deployment doll to your FRG and they can try to locate them. I am not sure if they have them for the other services, but I don't see why not. You can put a picture of your loved one in the face and it is just something a little extra to hang onto while daddy or mommy are away. We have 2 because I got one when my husband last went to Iraq and then they gave them out here. So I put one in my older boys room and my younger one sleeps with his, and me of course. He has stolen daddies spot since dad has been gone. He tells me he doesn't want me to be lonely. I tell him that when dad get's back he get's his spot back. I know this is probably not a good habit in the normal world, but he no longer lives in the normal world. In the normal world dad's don't go to war. So sometimes living the military life you make exceptions. Not many, but some. Anyway I thought some of you might like to know about these if you have kids.

Happy Birthday Raya

My grandaughter Rielyn (Raya for short) had a birthday on March 20, the day before my son Brandon. So we had a birthday party for her at her second Mama Rachael's house last Saturday. There she is in the middle with the right sided pony tale enjoying her pizza. We had a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it.

Today I got an e-mail from Dominic so at least for now I know he's safe.

Goodye Jeremy Sherwood

Yesterday a soldier on Army Wives was killed in action. The episode was heart breaking yet so well done. Normally I would not watch something like this with my husband being deployed, but I've watched the show since day one and I wasn't going to miss this episode. Apparently in the following weeks the death of Jeremy will cause the wives to question everything they believe in. I think this has to be done. In fact since I have been at Ft. Lewis there have been many of us wives in my neighborhood and their kids who have questioned their beliefs. You see there is a lady around the corner from me who lost her first husband in Iraq. My son's play with her daughter. Her daughter is only 13 and an Atheist. She told me she lost her faith when her dad was killed. IT saddens me when I pass her SUV parked in front of her house all the time and on the back is a magnet that says "we love our hero Sgt. So and so," that was her dad There isn't a day that this doesn't impact me. Then their is my sons friend who lives next door. His dad was wounded in Iraq and has very little use of his arms. We have become friends with both families. Both families go to our church. What they have gone through is more then anyone should have to. My hat goes off to Army Wives for not only portraying the death of Jeremy accurately, but of following up on the impact of his death in weeks to come. Was anyone else affected by this show, especially this episode? I know my friend Sandra (Diary of a stay at home mom) was because the episode barely ended and we were chatting about it on facebook. I could tell that it was heart wrenching for her too. She is also a military wife and Knows many others in the military. So I think for us it was just a little too close to home. So with tears in my eyes I will finish this post.

Congratulations Darrian

Yesterday Darrian got an award for Student of the month for responsibility. He struggles a little in school so he was very happy to get this award. There he is scratching his head as his principal looks on.

Everyone who knows me knows I love the cooking show Extra Virgin. I act like I know Debi and Gabriele personally. Last night I sat with the boys until 10:30 pm catching up on the episodes I missed. Today I made Gabriele's Bruschetta Pizzaiola. It was delicious and so easy to make. I gathered all the ingredients, went to work chopping and mixing and then put the mixture on sliced Italian bread that had been toasted. Popped them in to the oven for 10 minutes and the next thing you know we were eating Bruschetta to die for. There will be many recipes over the next few months I make after watching Debi and Gabriele. I will share them with you. In the meantime check out Extra Virgin if you like cooking shows. It think it's one of the best for authentic Italian food. After all Gabriele is from Tuscany.

MilSpouse Friday Fill in

There is a wonderful blog out there called Wife of a Sailor and she has this Fill-in so that Military spouses can get to know each other better. The questions could pertain to people outside the military also. So if anyone wants to participate I would go on over to her blog Thursday and get the questions and answer them for Fridays blog. I'm finding this to be great fun. I love reading the other spouses answers. Here goes: 1. What is your must have gadget? submitted by Flying High With My Flyboy: Cell phone with a qwerty keyboard. I love being able to text my husband and friends all day and I especially like knowing the kid's and their school can get in touch with me at any time. Also my Kitchen Aid blender, is this a gadget? DVR, can't forget this one.
2. How does your adulthood compare to what you imagined it would be like when you were a little kid? submitted by L to the Third: I think it's better then I imagined. I always thought I would work in the Medical field and have a family. I ended up volunteering at my kid's school and having 7 children. I still love anything Medical, but my heart lies in working with kids. I found my soul mate and nothing could have prepared me for this. This has been the best thing that ever happened to me. I always imagined a white knight marrying me and I got one. So my adulthood definitely is better then I could of ever imagined. Also being able to travel all over the place: Germany, Spain, France, Hawaii, doesn't hurt either.
3. What is your favorite chocolate recipe? submitted by Our First Deployment: Brownies, brownies, and brownies.
4. How do you deal with military life when it gets to be to much or to hard? submitted by Combat Boots And Pointe Shoes: I watch mindless tv, or lose myself in a book, or just imagine what it would be like if I couldn't show my kids their is a whole world out there that the Army is enabling us to experience.
5. What piece of advice would you give a new Military spouse facing their first deployment? submitted by The Albrecht Squad: You don't need to go home. Staying close to the base and helping the FRG is a lot of fun and who else can support you better then the spouses going through the deployment at this moment. In fact that is what I am doing right now, Immersing myself in the FRG. Blog, there are spouses out there who can give you a world of info. Have a life of your own. Whether that's work, volunteering, anything. Hobbies help too. I scrapbook and blog when my husband is gone so he can feel connected. Can you tell this is old hat for me.

Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with tomorrow!

Surreal

Surreal...How else to explain the first few weeks of deployment. It feels like I am walking in a fog. Today I found myself wandering around the commissary without even glancing at my list. I have been down this road before and the feeling never changes. Until Dominic is safe on the ground, settled in, and able to shoot us an e-mail here and there, I know this feeling will hang around. I plan on it being different every time but it never is. It's hard getting used to being by myself. I have the kids, but it's not the same. No more listening for the van to pull up front at night, no more "I love you" texts during the day, and no more impromptu lunches. If the hubby was here I know just what I'd text..."How bout that sun Eyore?" I call my hubby Eyore because when it comes to weather he only likes sun and we live in WA, need I say more. I tease him about it all the time. Anyway that's what I would text him. He would of course text something amusing back, but for now I will have to wait. His last text was from McChord AFB last night as he loaded the plane. Tonight I will take over all the stuff that dad likes to do. It will be the first time I drive 20 minutes to Lacey to take my son to youth group. His dad always gets home on Wednesday night by 6:30 to drive him, no matter what, even if he has to go back into work. It will be strange, but it will be my job. Until he returns things will be like looking through glass, but I know he is trained well and will do his best to keep him and his soldiers safe. For now, we will survive.

Goodbye my love....see you soon...Godspeed

This is the last picture I have this morning of dropping the hubby off at his company (he looks like a polar bear, overdressed as usual, trying to recreate the Hawaiian heat he enjoys so much). Please pray for the 54th MP company to have safe travel and a safe deployment. Dominic is supposed to be home in July so we can attend a family reunion. I am hopeful all goes well. Also please pray for my new blog friend Mari's son who is also deployed to Afghanistan. I will be praying for my husband, Mari's son, and all the men and women of the Armed Forces. Please join me. Thank You.

IHOP

Dad is deploying tomorrow night so we have been having a bit of fun as a family. We went to the IHOP last night for dinner, which was fun, except for the fact that my hubby chose chocolate chip pancakes and was not happy when he ended up with chocolate chocolate chip pancakes. I told him to try the Cinn-a-stack, which my good friend Pamela recommended, Thanks Pamela, but he stuck with his old favorite, except for his old favorite doesn't include the pancakes being chocolate too. That's why you should always read the description before making your choice. I'll have to say the Cinn-a-stack was to die for though. Tonight we are going to the Red Robin and surely we will all be reading the hamburger description's before making our choices.


Can we all say YUMM-O!!!!!!

Milspouce Friday

Join us for MilSpouse Friday Fill-in over at Wife of a Sailor


1. What are some of your ideas for staying connected with family…you know, those people we moved thousands of miles away from? Skype. Also I keep my blog so my husband can look at it any time he gets the chance and so can my relatives and friends. This keeps them up to date on our lives past and present.
2. What’s the most romantic gift you have GIVEN? My hubby always try to buy me red roses on my birthday and Valentines day. I find red roses very romantic.
3. Would you encourage your child, if they came to you and wanted to join the military? Yes. I would encourage my children in any path they want to take. I have a son in college now who plans on enlisting in the air force afterward.
4. What is your least favorite bill to pay and why? Cell phone. we all have a phone and the bill is high and we barely have any services. I can't imagine what it would be if we all had internet capabilities.
5. What is the proudest moment you’ve had as a military spouse? So many I wouldn't know what to put. I'm always proud of the men and women in uniform. They really impress me.

New book....and deployment time....

I'm now reading "The Book Thief." I know many people have read this one and I just wanted to give it a try. I read mostly Christian fiction but once in awhile bear off the beaten path. I did not really like the last book I read because It was a little to progressive for me, but I liked knowing how other people think, so it was a worthwhile read.

Dominic is leaving for Afghanistan next week so it has been a busy time for us. I will have a whole year by myself so I'd better get used to it. It's always hard in the beginning but settle's down to a normal pace rather quickly. We just try to go about our day to day business and keep our mind off dad being in deployed. This seems to make the time go a bit faster. It will be strange with just occasional contact but he knows that I like to talk and that I will save up all I have to say for that phone call. Same with the kids. We write down things that are happening in their lives and then they won't forget anything when dad calls. And then there is my blog. This was the way we kept in touch last time. I post lot's of pictures of what we are doing and then he e-mails me all about what's going on. Thank God for modern technology. So be prepared for my blog to be filled with many pictures in this year.

Putting Away Childish Things

This is the first piece of fiction Marcus Borg wrote. Although I don't agree with many of his beliefs, I'm more of a C.S. Lewis type, I like to read about what other people may be thinking. So far I am enjoying the book but finding it very controversial. The main character has some Christian beliefs that are definitely not along the lines I believe in. All in all it gives a good picture of what a progressive type of Christian looks like.

The Veganist

I am reading "Veganist" by Kathy Freston and am really enjoying it. Most people who know me know I am a food nut in a way. I am a very picky eater so going Vegan would probably be rough for me. I do eat meat, minimally, and only bought at Whole Foods, but much of my diet still consists of dairy (ie, cheese, milk, eggs, etc.) which is not exactly Vegan. I am trying to eat less meat so I am on the hunt for the best alternatives out there. I do make a wicked baked ziti made with vegetable crumbles, which no one ever guesses is not meat, and I make a wicked fettuccine, shown above, which people also love, but not Vegan. So on my quest this year I will be showing some of my dinner's and letting people know how they taste when I veganize them. So Sat. it's hello again "Whole Foods" this time on the search for a perfect Vegan cheese...and of course a caramel sea salt gelato, my bad!